Relocation

My company has made some major changes.

Starting with being bought out.

And then getting new management.

It slowly trickled down to new supervisors.

And then to making up new groups.

I'm still a payment poster.

And I got to keep my supervisor.

But I didn't get to keep my totally

awesome spot in the back corner.

I was all the way around the corner.

Nobody knew I was even there.

It was terrific!

Now I have a new desk in a new spot.

Same computer,

same stuff,

(no light bulbs in the light above my head)

(which is why I have a little lamp)

BUT

This is my view.

I now sit just inside the employee entrance door.

Everyone who comes in or leaves

goes by my desk.

I have a cloth divider thingie.

But they all poke their head in

to say "Good Morning".

It's very friendly.

And annoying as heck!

LOL

This hermit is being forced out of her shell.

Sigh.



Merry Christmas!

There was a little miscommunication.

Rod decided to get me a small fridge for

our eggs.

He told Kyle.

Kyle told me.

I didn't WANT a small fridge

for our eggs.

(I'm picturing a SMALL fridge.)

(Like for a dorm room.)

So Kyle told Rod not to get it.

And he didn't.

After Christmas he explained what he

had planned to get me for Christmas.

And then I was sad.

(lol)

So.......

Fast(ish) forward 5 months.

Over the weekend there were a bunch

of Memorial Day sales.

So we went to Lowe's.

And found an 18.2 cu ft fridge.

For a GREAT price!

We bought it and brought it home.

We put it in the laundry room

where the tall freezer used to be.

(The tall freezer is now out in the tack room

next to the chest freezer.)

(empty)

(Waiting for a steer.)

(or ice cream)

We got it all set up.

And full.

That, right there, is 25.5 dozen eggs.

It took just under two hours to

wash and put into cartons.

Now I can collect the day's eggs

(usually around 4.5 or 5 dozen)

and wash them up and put them in

the fridge!

It should take about 15 minutes.

My back thanks Rod.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ME!!!!

Thank you darling!

I'm a little slow on the uptake.

But once you convince me,

I'm VERY happy!!!



Lovin Life

I love living in Florida!

"They" shot off a rocket this morning at 9:05.

It was TOP SECRET!

(ok, the rocket wasn't top secret,

but the payload is...)

Since it was TOP SECRET I didn't take a picture.

But frankly, a rocket's a rocket.

They are all great,

but still...

Anyhow.

My co-workers and I all went out and stood in the

parking lot, scanning a perfectly clear sky,

watching.

Watching.

Watching.

OH THERE IT IS!

There's just something that stirs in your heart

when you see a rocket shooting up into the sky.

Although unmanned ones don't give quite the

same thrill and trepedation as manned ones.

It is just wonderful to see stuff shooting into the sky again.

After the shuttle program ended,

the skies were empty far too long.

Long live space travel!

Feet

We were busy this past weekend.

We have been raising "meat" chickens.

They are Jumbo Cornish X.

Those suckers grew like crazy!!!

One of the larger roosters weighed 10 pounds!

So...

It was time to fill the freezer.

It took longer than I had hoped.

I'm not good at it yet.

I got faster the more I did...

but I'm still slow.

I'll bet Sam could have done them

in half the time!

Whatever.

My freezer is looking good!

I didn't take a picture of the dressed out birds.

Frankly, I was over it.

(grin)

Nobody tells you how bad processing

chickens STINKS!

Especially these babies.

All I wanted to do was take a shower.

BUT.

I had these left over.

I heard they make good dog treats.

Look how HUGE these things are!

They look like turkey legs!

My 10 pound turkey dressed out

at just over 5 pounds!

There's enough meat on one breast

to feed both Rod and I.

And those thighs!

Whew!

Anyhow.

I soaked these overnight in some clean water.

Then I put on some gloves and scrubbed them.

Then I put them on a cookie tray and put them

in the freezer.

Then an hour or so later I opened the freezer

to put something else in.

And nearly was knocked FLAT by the odor.

So I tossed them all in a double freezer bag.

And I'll probably toss them.

Unless my disgusting dog decides they are tasty.

I know they make great stock.

But first you have to scald them to

get the skin off.

Frankly, I don't have a pan I'm willing

to put them in to scald.

So the dog can eat 'em stinky...

Or the trash man can take 'em away

for the raccoons at the dump.

PEEEEEEEE UUUUUUUUUUW!

YUMMY in my TUMMY

I try to drink lots of water each day.

But let's be honest.

Unless you are drinking CALGARY tap water.

Water is BORING.

So I've been making some fun things to flavor

my water with.

This one is my current favorite!



In the morning I pour some unsweetened,

vanilla almond milk into my little jelly jar.

Then I use my handy dandy eye dropper

and put two droppers each of

Almond Extract

and

Butter Extract.

Then 1/4 tsp baking soda

and some Truvia (Stevia) sweetener.

When I get to the office,
I pour it into my 34 ounce mason jar/cup
and then top it off with cold water.

But here's the shocker,
it tastes exactly like...

Vanilla Cake Batter.

Seriously.
Like you are licking the beaters.

It is SO yummy!

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Speaking of yummy - this was my
mid-morning snack this morning.

Obviously I didn't take the picture soon enough.
There were some HUGE strawberries at the
store yesterday.  I sliced up 3 or 4,
put them in my jelly jar,
sprinkled with a teaspoon of Stevia
and then poured some heavy cream over it.

By the time I brought it to the office and
gave it a quick shake, it was a thin
whipped cream.

DELISH!

And, I've lost 20 pounds eating/drinking this stuff.

Immediately

What does the word 'Immediately' mean?

Like RIGHT NOW.

STAT.

Drop everything and do THIS.

Right?

Yah.

I went to my monthly Trails and Greenways

meeting on Monday night.

We had a guest speaker from the FDOT

(Florida Dept of Transportation)

come to talk about the proposed

widening of our main road.

It bisects our town.

And you have to cross it to use

our main Trail Head.

It's kind of sketchy.

He had a Power Point

and nifty charts and graphs.

I had already gone to another meeting

so I knew that they were testing and

planning for 2028.

BUT.

He said they had done several studies

and there are two intersections

that grade an F.

People get DEAD at these intersections.

FDOT recognizes this and has funding

and plans and is going to address this

immediately.

(His words.)

So I asked him to clarify.

(Since one of those intersections is MY street!)

He said, proudly, that he was actually on the

committee addressing this issue.

They are on it.

They have the funding.

They have the bids.

They have the plan.

And they anticipate construction beginning....

2019

Aaaaarrrrrrggggg!!!!

Working with the government.

Makes everything else, including a root canal

look like a walk in the park.

*by the way... I actually take a little dirt road,

much to Kyle's annoyance

(he is the family truck detailer)

and come out 2 blocks away from the scary intersection.

Whew!

Oh What A Beautiful Morning...

Oh What a Beautiful Morning...

(HA!  Bet you have THAT song stuck

in your brain for the rest of the day.)

You are welcome.

(Especially if you have it in Mom's voice...

crystal clear and strong)



This is not this morning.

But it is a reasonable facsimile.

Less clouds though.

I'm sitting in my office.

But I REALLY want to be...

I went out to the barn this morning

(I was actually EARLY)

to say good morning to Andy and sneak him

a little horse cookie.

BOY did I want to call in "well".

Spring in Florida is amazing.

It was probably in the low 70's

(7:00 in the morning)

with very low humidity.

(for Florida...)

(my lips weren't drying out or anything...)

SUCH a beautiful day.

Sigh.

I'm off this weekend.

Wonder if it will last.

++++++++++++++++++++

Completely unrelated to anything.

Did you hear who is missing?

How do you LOSE Casey Kasim?

(I'll also miss listening to

Magic 102.7 out of Miami on Sunday

mornings on my way to teach school.

They play all the old America's Top 40

programs with Casey.

Talk about nostalgia!

CASEY!  Where ARE you????



Random Rambles

Random thoughts today.

It's the end of an era.

Sort of.

Again.

(grin)

This weekend was my final weekend

teaching down in Boynton.

I will NOT miss driving down there

every weekend.

And living out of a suitcase.

And being away from my family.

And missing out on all kinds of stuff.

I WILL miss having company paid

meals out at my choice of restaurant...

and all those points I get to cash in

every year at Christmas.

I'm still teaching.

I'm just going to be teaching locally.

Which has definite advantages!

Last night I handed off the keys to the

new instructor.

The folks who own the office took the

weekend off, so I didn't get to say Goodbye.

But that's ok.

However, since I was working out of town,

I pretty much forgot it was Mother's Day.

(I haven't ever been a huge fan of that holiday...)

(Treat your Mother like a Queen every day!)

(grin)

(Sorry Mom!!!!!)

This was my lovely Mother yesterday,

with her Mother's Day flowers.

(Not from me, by the way.)

(Also, can I just say, I am still always a little

taken aback when I see the front door

without the wooden shelf thingie that was

there for my entire childhood.)

(Can I just ask, WHERE DOES DAD PUT

HIS CAR KEYS?????????)

(see, I told you, random...)

However, I did stop at Taco Bell for some dinner

and the guy at the drive-thru wished me a

Happy Mothers Day.

"If you are even old enough to BE a Mother..."

(good save...)

I smiled and told him MY children were old enough

to be Mothers.

Except for that whole "BOY" thing.

My darling husband did text me first thing in the

morning to wish me a Happy Mothers Day

and tell me one of my baby bunnies died.

He said the others were fine.

And the one who passed away looked healthy.

To which my student replied

"Well, except for that whole DEAD thing!"

See?

Random.

But now I have to get back to work.

Big Brother is Watching.

LOVE YOU MOM!

Daily Reading

Ok.

You have simply GOT to go check

these two blogs out.

www.TheGreatFitnessExperiment.com

A very talented writer - Mormon mom of 5 (one

still birth) who has survived all sorts of life's

challenges and yet sees the lessons in them.

Some of the most inspiring stuff comes out of her blog.

(And the comments are GREAT!)

When you have some down time, instead of playing

hours of mindless Solitaire, read the archives.

What a writer!

www.TheArtOfDoingStuff.com

The opposite end of the spectrum.

VERY talented writer (you Canadians might recognize

her, she has been a TV host on several shows up there)

who can teach us lots of nifty things about

all sorts of nifty things.

Her commenters are awesome as well.

Today's post was especially good.

Anyhow.

These two women start my day.

Every day.

And I'm usually better for it.

Oh.

And thanks for stopping HERE!

(grin)

It's a tough week around our house.

So reading of other's rising above is helpful.

Oops

Oops!

It is Wednesday already.

And I haven't done any blog posts!

Sorry about that!

I didn't fall off the earth.

I just got busy.

Ha!

I taught this weekend.

A much smaller class.

But a good one.

Except I'm pretty sure I got audited.

So I spent the entire afternoon on Sunday

going back over everything I did/said

to make sure I didn't mess up.

(I'm trying not to think about it anymore.)

Monday, I took the day off.

It was a beautiful spring day!

We've had 90's with 90+ humidity.

Summer in April.

But now that it's May, the humidity dropped

WAY down (after a TON of rain over the weekend)

and the high was only in the 80's.

Which is good.

Cuz we drove up to Samsula to get feed.

And the A/C in my truck is broken.

We couldn't just drive with the windows open

cuz I was reading out loud to the guys.

A CRAZY SCARY book called

One Second After

by William Forstchen.

About a small town in N.Carolina in the days,

weeks, months and year following an EMP strike.

The first time I read it, I found myself mentally

trying to figure out what to make for dinner

that didn't require electricity.

Ha ha ha

(And I decided to keep one rooster after all...)

Anyhow - we are enjoying reading it.

It really opens your eyes and is a good story

to boot!

We got our feed,

stopped for a burger,

and headed home.

Unloaded and then headed to Lowes to get

some wood to extend the height of the fences

in the chicken yard.

(See previous post)

While we were gone, Jim stopped by!

So we all hung out in the dog room/garage

and I read some more while they cut the

2 x 4's in half and we enjoyed the beautiful day.

Jim finally had to leave and we had to get to work.

Again.

So I read, while they installed the new posts.

Except the battery died on the drill.

And the other drill's battery was dead too.

Darn.

So we gathered up all the necessary stuff,

Kyle went into the house,

and Rod and I butchered our first rabbit.

(Last time Kyle shot them for me,

we tried a new method this time.)

(We will be going back to shooting.)

(ick!)

This was one of my does who doesn't

earn her keep.

BOY there was a ton of meat on that rabbit!

I put it in the pressure cooker with some

apple juice, water and seasonings.

After 45 minutes it was done.

TASTY, but still tough.

So I put it in the fridge and last night

put it BACK in the pressure cooker

and did it again.

It was "fall off the bone" tender!

(But by then, I'd already made dinner...)

(since I wasn't sure if that would work...)

After work I had an FDOT (Florida Dept of Transportation)

meeting over at the hospital about the

plans to widen the main road in our town.

Since our trail crosses that road, we as

the Trails and Greenways Committee are

very interested/involved in the process.

The meeting was shorter than we thought,

so I met Rod and we went upstairs to visit

a friend who had his appendix removed over the weekend.

Tonight is "wash eggs" night

and the guys have Scouts.

So we still don't have the fence finished

on the chicken yard.

But I think I'm going to let the

meat chickens out after work

and let them run around in the yard for awhile.

They are BIG (ready to butcher)

and boy howdy do they stink!

LOL

We need to get them out of the coop

and get in there with some lime/shavings.

Luckily we have a little tiller, should make

quick work of it.

Anyhow - its been a busy week so far!

Hope your's has been as well!

Penny

All of my red chickens are named Penny.

When you have 60+ it's easier.

(everybody else is Chicken)

(Except the Silkies - they are Fluffy)

Anyhow.

One of my Penny girls is quite adventurous.

Several of them have discovered

that they have wings

which means they can fly.

So they fly over the fence each morning

and some of them go back to lay their egg

but many of them don't.

Eight of them lay on top of the feed bin.

But ONE has taken to finding interesting

spots to lay her eggs.

The other day, Kyle said she was in

the garage/dog room.

Just hanging out.

Drinking water.

Eating dog food.

And making herself at home in Duke's crate.



That thing was HARD to get out of there!

But THEN......

the guys left the door open for the day

while they were working on stuff around the farm.

Yah.

Time to nip this in the bud.

This weekend the guys' job is to extend

the chicken wire another 3 feet above

the existing fence

and teach those girls to stay HOME.