Couldn't Wait....

It's end of month.

And end of fiscal year.

And being closed for 2 days for

Hurricane Irma

put us a little over $1M behind budget.

Management is FREAKING OUT!

I post the biggest insurance carrier we have.

Last week's payment was all messed up.

I got the $ on Thursday, but the files

came over corrupted.

Then on Friday we got new files.

Still corrupted.

Then on Monday we got correct files.

So the push was on.

Could I get it all posted before this

week's payment arrived?

(NO question... lol)

The money came on Wednesday.

A BIG amount.

(Not enough, but still pretty darn good.)

Now... files?

Management (various representatives)

"dropped by" repeatedly during the day

to check on the status.

PEOPLE!

I will tell you when it gets here!

I DID get a tiny file,

but the big 1.3M file was still a no-show

by the time I left Wed evening.

Thursday morning (this morning)

I was here bright and early and so was my file!!!

YEA!

But that's not good enough.

Here comes management.

 Management:  Did we get the file?

Me:  Yes.

Them:  What does it look like?

Me:  Pretty big.  186 pages with about

450 interest entries.  I'm looking at 4 - 5 days

to get it all posted.

Them:  So will you have it done by month end?

Me:  Pause.  You know month end is tomorrow, right?

Sigh.

This is what my days look like.

Anyhow.

An hour or so later, I got called into Managment's office.

We need to know if you can get it posted by end of month.

Me:  NO!

Them:  What if we hold off on the interest entries?

Me:  I could probably get it done then.

Them:  If you don't get it done by tomorrow, could

you come in on Saturday and finish it?

Me: Yes.  But I should probably tell you now...

This is my 2 week notice.

Crickets.

Looks of total shock / disbelief.

Not sure if my manic grin looks like

I'm kidding or if I'm just insane.

After convincing them I'm serious

and October 13th (yes, Friday the 13th)

really IS my very final day...

I headed back to my desk.

As I came around the corner to where all

my co-workers are waiting to see what happened,

I said... So.  I should probably tell you now.

I just quit.

It was SO worth it!

LOL

So... I'm here late this evening, working on

getting this monster posted.

Mostly because there was a wreck on the highway

and it's a traffic jam for about 2 miles.

Sit here (and get paid) or sit out there.

NO duh.

And tomorrow I can just come in and not worry

about what I'm going to say and how I'm going

to say it.

Whew!

I feel 10 pounds lighter!

(Now if I just LOOKED it!  LOL)

Random Thoughts

My birds aren't happy being contained.

This is what I found the other day

when I got home from work.

She was trying to squeeze out the tiny hole

we have to reach our hands through

to open / close the gate.

She was stuck.

(But when I came over she freaked out

and backed into the coop again.)

Silly birds.

(They are good layers, but not particularly

PRETTY birds... their feathers have a pretty

green sheen in the sunshine, but their faces

leave a little to be desired...)

Rod and Kyle are leaving tomorrow to drive

down to Marathon in the Keys.

They are "team lead" on a group who have

been asked by the Area Seventy to help

down there.

The guys have been working both Saturday

and Sunday every weekend since the hurricane

hit and they are pretty pooped.

The Stake President said we were going to

take this weekend off and recharge our batteries

while participating in General Conference.

But the Area Seventy contacted him Tuesday

and said that, like the Saints in SLC who dropped

everything (including the lady's petticoats to make

clothes for those they were rescuing) to rescue the

folks who were stranded in the snow,

we are being asked to continue our efforts.

Its a 5 hour drive (but add Miami traffic and

it usually stretches to 7) so they are leaving 

on Friday, working Saturday and Sunday, 

and driving back on Monday.

Rod's new employer is AWESOME.

He is taking a "floating holiday" on Friday.

And with a letter from the Stake President

they will pay him for a "volunteer day" on Monday.

They say this will be the final weekend.

Unfortunately, we can't get to Puerto Rico.

Those are the people who REALLY need 

our help.

The Keys were damaged, but they are

pretty resourceful and are already back and

open for business.

It will be 6 months before many of the people

on Puerto Rico even have power again.

Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

And maybe a special line on your next tithing

form with a donation for assistance to those folks.

Counting Down

BIG NEWS!

After 17+ years,

it's time to call it DONE.

I am going to give my notice

at my "day job" on Friday.

I'm going to keep teaching.

I love it.

And I get paid really well.

And I love it.

But my day time job has gotten

to the point where I no longer love it.

We used to be a small-ish medical

practice where the Doctors and the

support staff knew each other

and cared about each other.

Now we are a large corporation

headquartered in New York.

We have dress codes.

They measure your heels on your shoes!

(No, really!  Well, not MINE... lol)

We have to drive 30 miles up the highway.

We get a "red box" on our electronic

time card if you clock in as the time

is clicking over from 7:30 to 7:31.

You get "counselled" if you have 

"too many" red boxes.

You also get a red box if you come in early.

Or stay late.

But the biggest issue is they took half my 

job away from me and gave it to someone else.

Which means I spend pretty close to 

half my week "looking busy". 

I've always gotten high marks on my 

annual reviews because I'm fast and accurate.

We have to report the total number of

transactions done each day.

My numbers are the highest of anyone and

when I'm on vacation or working on a special

project, it takes 3 other people to cover me.

(Sounds like I'm bragging, but I'm not... it's

just how it is...)

Anyhow - they said "You can afford to lose

some numbers."

I can't......  I just can't.

I wasn't raised to not do my best.

So......

Friday I am giving 2 weeks notice.

And I'm so excited I almost can't stop smiling.

Think of me Friday!

New Skills

Since I've aced the power stapler...

LOL

Kyle thought it was time I

learned how to drive the mower.

Someday I might even actually MOW!

(Don't tell anybody but I got

dizzy while doing doughnuts...)

It's fun to drive!

Chicken Pox

My chicken coop has the pox.

LOL

I took a sick day from work.

The chicken coop needed work!

If you look closely, there's a GIANT gap between

the board and the bottom of the chicken wire.

And that chicken right there is getting ready

to flew the coop!

The girls just hop on out whenever they feel like it

and I'm pretty sure they are laying eggs

SOMEWHERE out there!

(And there's too many sneaky places for me

to find them...)

Plus the dogs find them and eat them.

So I fixed it.

See my tools?

Yes, I used an air compressor

and a power staple gun.

It was FUN!

And now there are no giant gaps.

The girls are contained.

Whew!

Mission accomplished!

Waterton Alpine Stables

Wow.

This is all that is left of the iconic (in my mind)

Waterton Alpine Riding Stables.

So many memories!

Rozann and I driving down and renting horses

together and riding up into the mountains for

a 3 or 4 hour (half day) ride.

Complete with a MAP!

(scariest thing EVER!)

(but super fun)

"Skinny dipping" (not exactly) in the FREEZING

mountain lake and just after we got in a troop

of Boy Scouts showing up.

So we couldn't get OUT of the water!

Reid taking me over there on the back of

his motorcycle so I could "audition" for

a job there the following summer.

(They said I was hired, but in the meantime

I got a "real" job and couldn't take 2 months

off to work in a stable for minimum wage...)

(darn it!)

Thankfully they were able to move the

horses to a safe location and nobody

(man or beast) got hurt.

But it is devastating to lose all your

buildings.

They will rebuild.

And they will love their new facility even more.

But old friends are hard to say goodbye to.

Alpine Stables

we bid you Adieu.

Back to Normal

We are all back to normal again.

Not that we veered that far off course anyway.

But there is always that little kernel

of stress hiding deep in your belly

when there is a giant, history making,

record breaking, red and yellow

blob heading your way.

However, the boards are off the windows

(at least the windows we take them off of)

although they aren't yet put away.

(Jose is still churning out there.)

We won't put them away until hurricane

season is officially over.

November 1st.

Circle the date on your calendars!

(Not really, it winds down pretty quickly

in October...)

Yesterday Kyle took the rest of the shutters

off Linda's house (did the 1st floor on Tuesday

and the 2nd floor yesterday) in preparation for

her flying in today from Utah.

Spent the rest of the day picking up branches, etc

and then raked her large front yard.

Didn't want the house to look un-inhabited.

As usual, there are unsavory characters

bouncing around looking for empty homes

to break into.

After work yesterday Rod drove up to New Smyrna

and picked up the feed for the month.

He usually does that on a Saturday, but

he and Kyle will be heading somewhere for the 

weekend to assist in the cleanup efforts.

(They don't know yet where they will be assigned.)

(They thought they were heading south west to Sebring,

but there has been talk about Naples and even

Jacksonville...  Doesn't matter, it's all the same.)

I'm teaching this weekend.

My classroom in West Palm Beach survived

the storm and got power back on Tuesday.

I emailed all 51 registered students and even

got a couple of RSVPs.  (never happens!)

As long as I have 5 humans in the room,

class will go forward.

I also discovered there is a Costco just a couple

of blocks from my school!  (Off the main road,

so I hadn't seen it... I only travel between my

school and my hotel - my 3 restaurants are located

in that small square as well... I'm not very adventurous

after a long day in the classroom.  Even with GPS.)

Although THIS weekend might not be a great time,

I do plan to drive over one evening and check it out!

Costco has WAY better stuff than Sam's.

(Including the soap Kyle fell in love with using in 

Sondra's Heber upstairs bathroom and has been

trying to duplicate ever since...)

They also carry Rodelle baking cocoa - but only

in the fall for the Christmas baking season.

I buy it on Amazon, it's the BEST (even better

than GASP Ghiradelli!  Never thought I'd say that!)

It's a better price at Costco too!

Anyhow.

We are doing well.

Life is getting back to normal.

(Although the girls cut back on laying 

a little...or they are hiding their nests

out in the pastures somewhere...)

(Discovered SEVERAL holes in the wire,

and watched them hop in and out like it was

something we put there for their convenience.)

The wire needs to be replaced.

But we are planning to move the whole

thing to the back.

I hate to spend the money to fix it when it's 

going to just be temporary.

But I'm losing money if they are laying

somewhere that I can't find.

Conundrum.

And I'll leave you with that.

HA!

Irma 9-12 Update

Whew!

I tried to stay in touch with family

via text and facebook

throughout the day.

But decided we should really keep a record

here, since this is kind of my journal.

First off.

All is well.

I am at the office this morning.

(Blogging is SO much easier on my ergonomic

"wave" keyboard on my one computer

where I know where everything is!)

Driving in to work this morning was

actually nice!

I left a little early and the roads were

nice and clear with light traffic.

South bound was getting heavier, but

nobody was heading north!

My normal country music radio station

was coming in and out, so I switched

to the oldies station I use as my

mid-way station on my way down south to school.

They were completely off the air.

So then it was to my oldies rock station here in town.

They were coming in strong.

Listened to the end of an Elton John song,

then they put on another song which had a big

skip right at the beginning.

I thought CDs couldn't skip!

Nostalgia!!!!!

They quickly switched to another song.

Singing along, buzzing up the highway.

Suddenly the CD lost it's mind and the song

moved to 78 rpm!

Aaaaaand the chipmunks are singing!

And the engineer / DJ  went to get coffee

or something.

Brought a smile to my face.

Once at the office, our brand new building is

all open and operating well.  The front door

is not opening, so we are using the back door,

but everything else is good.

However, our other building (which they refurbished

after building ours... all the people moved into our

building for 6 months and then they moved back again

and we moved in... logistic NIGHTMARE I'm sure!)

Anyhow - the other building didn't fare as well.

They have no power.

We are running GIANT (noisy) generators out back

but I guess only enough to run our building.

So all the people from the other building are 

squished in here, working on laptops and sitting

at counters and just making do.

They seem in good spirits and friendly.

So it's all good.

(And I have headphones)

********************************************

Meanwhile, back at the ranch (farm)

all is well.

There was some minor puddling in the front yard.

Lots of branches down from the oaks.

We spent some time gathering the big stuff

and carried it out to a big pile by the street.

(I forgot to take a picture - as we finished,

it started to rain again, so I put my phone away

and we went inside.)

My oaks won't need trimming for a couple of years.

The hurricane really cleaned out all the dead stuff.

You can DEFINITELY see the sky through them now.

Nothing fell on the house though.

Didn't even lose a single shingle!

Yea for strong roofs!

There were 3 small-ish pines that fell on the

back fence, so the guys took those down.

And another pine along the side where

we are putting the new chicken yard they were 

planning to take down anyway,

so while they were out there with the tractor

and the chain saw, they took it down.

Sniff Sniff.

I hate taking down trees.

I love shade.

But it was kind of in the way and pretty close

to the fence, so I understand.

Sniff Sniff.

The barn lost one piece of trim.

(Well, it's not lost, it was right there...)

We have Scott's OLD Jeep (that was junk

years ago when he was keeping it at the shop.

Kyle loaded it up and put it in the back of

our property because Scott was going to work

on it and maybe sell it.)

Anyhow - the engine hood blew up and backwards

taking out the windshield (but the glass landed in the

front seat so not a problem for horses, etc walking

back there) and landed near the fence (instead of

floating in the neighbor's pond like I kind of expected).

And the back door of the old shop trailer

(where we stashed the kayaks) 

blew open and bent a little,

but we fixed it and all is ok with that as well.

So over all, we had about 2% damage and

98% A-OK.

We'll take it!

Lots of my coworkers had rain / water damage

coming in through / around windows and under

doors.  Several of them still have no power.

Jim had a couple of trees down, but the guys

went over and took care of that yesterday.

We forgot to ask if he had power yet

(his went early) but since he didn't ask to use

a generator, either they still don't but are ok

or they have it and are ok.

LOL

Kyle is going to take one over this morning

if they need it.

So, thanks for stopping by Irma.

Glad to see you GO!

Thank you everyone for the prayers on our behalf.

Keep praying for those not so lucky.

And of course, Montana, Idaho, Texas, etc etc etc

who are still dealing with so many problems.

Irma 9-10 am Update

The storm is S L O W L Y arriving.

We have had some good heavy rain.

And several tornado warnings and watches.

Rod has been outside making sure everything is ok.

I have been cooking.

It's our love languages.

I have a big pot of chicken and wild rice

soup in the pressure cooker.

I love that stuff!

And if we lose power, it is easy to reheat

on the little propane stove.

But more importantly,

my office is a brand new, state of the art,

Cat 5 rated building.

Which means I will be expected to be at

work on Tuesday.

And it's COLD in there.

Soup will be SO welcome.

I might even make a big ol' crockpot

of (not on plan but delicious and comforting)

crockpot spaghetti.

SUPER easy and yummy.

Break a box of spaghetti noodles in your crock.

Add 2 jars of your favorite sauce.

Add a can of mushrooms (if you like them)

Add a brick of cream cheese.

Turn it on low and 4 hours later, when

people are ready for lunch,

lunch is ready.

My coworkers BEG for it!

Meanwhile - we are doing well.

The power flickered off for a minute
awhile ago so Rod turned off the A/C.

But the power and the A/C are both back on.
The dishwasher has finished it's final load.
The dryer has finished the final load of towels.
The pressure cooker is nearly up to pressure.

My blog is updated.

And now I'm heading to the couch to
curl up with a good book.

(I downloaded the entire Work and the Glory series
to my Kindle.  I'll come up for air later...)

How the dogs spend the hurricane.

We'll put them in their crates tonight

when we are expecting the worst of it

just in case the door blows open or anything.

(And they are happier in their crates)

I would take pictures of everybody else,

but Kyle doesn't allow photos,

I haven't put on any makeup,

and Rod is curled up on the couch,

possibly napping.

Irma 9-7 Update

Good morning!

This is what we have this morning.

Right where it says Mon 2AM is where we live.

The little blinking dot behind the words.

That's the light on my house.

LOL

I feel prepared.

Yesterday I filed off my fingernails

in case I have to do a bunch of work

after the storm.

Don't want them to snap off at the cuticle.

I'm pretty sure that was the absolute LAST

thing on my "to do" list.

(grin)

(But I really did...)

(mostly because they were driving me crazy while

I was typing...)

Rod mentioned this morning we could use

a new sponge mop in case we get some water

in under the patio french doors.

They don't fit super tight.

I normally just lay some towels there.

We have a sponge mop, but we use it 

in the garage / dog room.

Get a new mop / go to Walmart vs 

lay down towels.

No contest.

Tonight Rod, Kyle and Rod's HT comp are

heading to another high council member's house

to put up his shutters.  He had back surgery this week.

Poor guy!

We are in that weird holding pattern.

Everything is ready.

(Ok, we haven't boarded up yet, but we 

still need to be able to function... only takes an hour)

So life is sort of normal - with this strange

butterfly feeling constantly in your stomach.

But we are all at work today.

SpaceX is sending up a "secret" rocket this morning.

(in about 2 hours)

I left early for work anticipating the highway being

gridlocked.  I got here so early I stopped at McD

for an egg mcmuffin!  LOL

My office is closed tomorrow.

I'll do a post - but it will have to be on Rod's computer.

I HATE posting from my iPad.

Meanwhile - we are doing well.

Keep us in your prayers, but don't panic.

We aren't.

And we really are intelligent adults.

Despite all evidence to the contrary.

(grin)

Irma 9-6 Update

This is the latest map.

We have Irma.

She is the main player and the one heading

over to visit late this weekend and early next week.

Then we have Jose to the right

but looks like it's only going to

raise the waves on the beach.

And then if you look over to the Gulf of Mexico

there's a bunch of red and yellow.

That's Tropical Depression Katia.

She is crossing the state starting

at Tampa and hopefully leaving

north of us.

They are predicting rain today.

The weathermen are having a field day.

However, we as regular citizens are 

experienced, prepared, and dealing with it.

Yesterday Kyle put the shutters on the Samual's house

and made sure her farm is prepared.

He will be prepping the animals later in the week.

(they have a pasture in a pasture - they go in there...)

Last night after work Rod found the wood

that goes over the remaining windows for our house.

(We never "got around" to taking down some of

them from last year.  Scott requested we leave his

on his windows since they face East and it allows him

to sleep a couple extra hours.  And the office is still

shuttered - basically we took the shutters off Kyle's

room because he NEEDS sunshine to survive.)

The generators (yes, we have 2 of them) have been

serviced and we have plenty of fuel for them.

Since we have a well (actually 2 of those as well)

and generators to run them, we don't store

much water.  (We also have access to Brock's 

artesian well next door if need be.)

I did a little final grocery shopping last

night - we have freezers full of meat,

(beef, chicken, rabbit)

but I was a little light on veggies.

This morning I got fuel at 5 am before

there were lines at the pumps,

and picked up some batteries and

stevia sweetener (that I can ONLY get 

from Walmart and 5 am is the ONLY time

I'm willing to go in that store!  LOL).

By the time I left at 5:40, the store parking

lot was filling and the gas station was

doing a brisk business.

Glad I was early!

We have already taken down all big pine trees

that were threatening our fences and 

shored up / strengthened our perimeter fence.

All the animals will go the cow pasture.

Again kind of a "fence within a fence" situation.

The chickens will be locked in their coop.

The dogs will be in their kennels in the garage.

There's only one small window and 

that gets boarded up.

We are anticipating (right now, and it changes)

wind and rain beginning late Saturday or early

Sunday with the "real" stuff coming on Monday.

They are saying 120 mph once it hits the area

my schools are located in - that's 100 miles

south of us.  Which means it should drop again

by the time it gets to us.

But that is still 100+ mph.

A good strong storm.

But not the catastrophic stuff they 

will be getting to the south.

We have a cement block home.

With a relatively new roof.

(12 years - our shingles are rated for 20 years)

The only thing that might be in danger is our barn.

Since it's not actually a barn.

It's a sheet metal car port.

And it's getting a little long in the tooth.

I wouldn't be shocked to see it peel away

some of the roof / walls.

But as long as it doesn't hit anything on it's 

ride across the pasture, it's ok.

We are prepared.

We are ready.

We are respectful.

We are nervous, but not freaking out.

And we are ALWAYS grateful for any prayers

you might chose to send on our behalf.

But we are fine.

And we'll stay in touch.

Hurricane Irma Current Guess

This is the current guess on what they think
the hurricane is going to do.

It changes almost hourly.
We are keeping a close eye on it
and our plans are in place.

Hurricane Irma

In case you are wondering,

we are NOT in the pink. 

We are where the orange splits from the

pink on the left side. 

Click on the picture or the link above

to make it big enough to see.

Blogging on an iPad is a challenge.

LOL

Why We Don't Play The Lotto

We never play.

We used to.

But we don't any more.

We're not good at gambling.

Take the year 2005 for example.

That was the year after all the hurricanes.

Our city house needed major repairs.

And the farm house also needed major repairs.

We were a little short of money.

We had also decided to get Kyle

braces to see if it would help his headaches.

The company I worked for introduced the

Flexible Spending Account 

that year, but they did it wrong.

All you had to do was provide proof of

coverage and instead of taking their health

insurance, they would give you a Visa card

with a $3,000.00 balance.

So I found some garbage insurance

(turns out it was a scam, but I just wanted the card)

provided proof of coverage,

and got the $3,000 Visa.

Handed it to the dentist.

Voila - free braces for Kyle.

And then promptly cancelled the coverage.

Back Track

We NEVER use our health insurance.

We are blessed with amazing health.

We all get annual physicals for our birthdays.

Other than Rod's broken collar bone

WAAAAAY back in the day,

we don't have medical issues.

I get a blood test each 6 months

and thyroid medicine each month.

($4)

If you have to have a disease - pick this one.
It's CHEAP!

So once we took care of Kyle's teeth (headaches)

we had no need for coverage, so I got rid of it.

(I was already pretty sure it was a scam... 

after all I teach insurance law...)

So we were buzzing along,

working on the farm house to make it habitable,

and then once it was and we moved in,

working on the city house to make it saleable.

Then Jim joined the Navy.

Except he had an ingrown toenail.

They required we have that fixed prior to swearing in.

So we paid for a quick surgical solution.

Out of pocket.

It grew back.

We paid for a second surgical solution.

Out of pocket.

It grew back.

We paid for a THIRD surgical solution,

this time with a Podiatric Surgeon

who essentially removed the nail at the ankle.

Yup, out of pocket.

Whew!

We made SURE the Navy approved his toe prior 

to his swearing in.

This was August / September / October-ish.

Then Rod had his first round of retina detachment.

Of course, we still didn't have any coverage.

3 hours of emergency laser surgery runs about $25,000.

Fortunately, I not only teach about health insurance,

I also work for a medical practice so I know the magic words.

Uttering the magic words (and considerable charm),

we were able to negotiate a 50% discount on all 

but the Anesthesiologist.  He gave me a $50 discount.

Which I appreciated.

Seeing he had my husband's life in his hands.

Fair trade.

So we paid $13,600 instead.

For which we were grateful.

But still it was a tough nut to swallow.

Meanwhile...

I was walking in the woods by myself.

I had completed my walk and was returning 

to our property via the back trails.

I was next door - I could hear Rod and the boys

just on the other side of the fence.

(Pretty dense woods on the side I was on, so

they couldn't see me / didn't know I was there...)

I fell.

Tripped over an errant root.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Dislocating my left shoulder.

We STILL have no health insurance.

So...  I sat there on the ground and 

... uh... relocated? my shoulder.

Popped it back in?

Except that sounds so easy and pain free.

HA!

But I did.

Adrenaline is a WONDERFUL drug.

And then, I knew, from Rod having 

dislocated his shoulder in the past,

all they do is strap it down and allow it to heal.

Well, I can do THAT for FREE!

So I did.

I didn't strap it down - I didn't want anybody

to know I was hurt since they would take

me to the doctor and we didn't have coverage.

And I was tired of paying out of pocket.

So I just pinned my arm to my side

and didn't use it.

For about 6 weeks.

At which point I tried to use it.

But it still hurt.

So I held it pinned for another 2 weeks.

At which point I discovered

it was frozen.

Oops.

But by then, it was the new year.

And we picked up the health insurance again.

So...

I went to the doctor and got yelled at.

And 4 weeks of Physical Therapy.

And considerable discomfort.

But my shoulder is all better.

(I now have bursitis, but it's in the other shoulder...)

Kyle - braces

Jim - 3 surgeries

Rod - 1 surgery

Collette - who knows... lol

And now you see why we don't play the lotto.