The elusive moon

The moon was full and beautiful tonight.  A crappy day ended by driving toward a big, beautiful moon.  I was soothed by the sight.

I know that you can't get a good picture of the moon, but it was so PRETTY!  There were some light clouds dancing around it, and I couldn't wait to get the shot.  I was more than 2/3 of the way home before it was safe to pull over.  I did, and it was too late.

The clouds were taking over.  I wish you could have seen it.  I took the shot anyway, but it's so disappointing.

I'll try again another night.  Or another morning.  I drive to work in the dark, and I drive home in the dark.  It's not tough to see the moon.

One. More. Week.

God help me.

Ready for bed

OK, I'm ready for bed.  I left early, sure that school would be cancelled.  At 5:15, it wasn't, so I put the phone beside Monica's bed and told her that, if school was in session, I'd call to wake them.  The streets in town were a sheet of ice, so I was SURE that there would be no school.

I slid down the road to the highway, and went to work.  The interstate was clear, so I was at work by 6:30.  School still hadn't been cancelled, so I kept working, and watching online for this little town to do the right thing.  They never did.

At 6:40, I called to wake the girls, and told them that school was in session.  They were less than pleased, but they got up and got ready.  They had to walk in COLD temps, on ICY roads, to go to school.  It wasn't uphill both ways, but almost! LOL

I'm not a fan of useless school closings, but EVERY bus route in this town is rural, and nothing was cleared.  I guess, from what the girls said, a lot of  bus riders were late today, and some had stories of scary stuff.

I logged 10 hours at work, and had about 2 hours of work left to do when I headed out at 5.  My BWF Michelle sent some hand warmer things home with me, for the girls' walk to school.  She's awesome.  I'll go in a couple of hours early again tomorrow, and try to keep up with my work.

I am NOT complaining about being busy.  I was worried that the busy season wouldn't happen, and my job would be in jeopardy, but all is good.   I am as busy as a one-armed paper hanger!  My job shall remain viable for a while.

OK, goodnight.

Blog ya later!

Slip Slidin' away....

Jeez, Louise!  You get an inch or two of snow, and everyone turns into a moron.  Leaving work, I have to climb a pretty steep hill.  For those of you in the KC area (or Traci) it is just south of the stadium complex on Blue Ridge Cutoff.  My car can do this.  No. Problem.  However, many people have NO idea what their car can do.

They just head right on up a hill that their POS cannot deal with.  Therefore, I was stuck for 15 minutes behind cars spinning, sliding, and turning.  At one point, a car going the other direction, slid past me sideways, his front bumper coming within inches of the driver's side of my car.  I just flinched to the side, closed my eyes, and prayed, "Dear Lord, if he hits me, make it a good one.  I'm buckled, not moving, and I need a new car."

He missed me.  Barely.  *sigh*  And then we move on.  Finally, I had the opportunity to weave into the oncoming lanes to go around Dr. Spins-a-lot, and rocked and rolled right on to the interstate.

I-70 wasn't much better.  It wasn't slick, but it wasn't moving.  I got really excited when I saw this?

That was the fastest I'd gone in over 30 minutes.  *sigh*  So THIS is how it's gonna be, huh?  At about 6:00, when I should have been home, I was halfway there.  I had to pee so badly that I was pretty sure I'd die.  I exited the interstate and hit a QT.  I love QT.  I totally HEART QT.  Then, back on the road.

I got home, safe and sound, but a bit late.  Here is my radio when I got to my driveway:

Yup, a full hour later than usual.  Oh well.  I never slid, slipped, or had any issues, all the way home.  My little car, no matter what gripes I have about it, did an awesome job as usual.  Now, I'm gonna sit in my warm home and relax.  I have to leave early to make it in on time.  

If school is in session, I need to get the girls to Mom's by 6:00.  (a little warning, Mom.  Sorry.)  If there is no school, I'm leaving at 5.  This is busy season, and I have FAR too much work to do.  I can't just arrive at the normal time, and now we have ice issues.  

*sigh*

I still love Missouri, and I stand by my winter mantra:  "If it's going to be cold, it may as well be pretty!"

Several co-workers wanted to punch me for that one today. 

"Sleigh bells ring, are ya listenin'?  In the lane, snow is glistenin'!  A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight, walking in a freaking absurdly freezing land!"

Hawkeye is a wussy

Nala is the most timid animal in the house.  She would rather live alone, if someone would provide food, water, and a clean litter box.  However, she's stuck with 4 loud humans, an aquarium full of sharks, a big hairy dog, and her brother.  She used to avoid all of us like the plague, especially Hawkeye.  After all, he's a DOG.

Being to lazy to go downstairs for a drink, though, she's taken to drinking out of the dog dish.  Oh sure, it's usually when he's outside, or sleeping in another room.  Tonight, she got brave.  She walked slowly toward his dishes, where he was having his dinner.  She stared at him.

She apparently decided that she was too thirsty to care, or that he was too busy eating to give a darn about her.  She actually drank his water within inches of his huge, canine teeth.  What was she thinking?

She's realizing that he's a wimp.  The most he EVER does is growl in a low tone if the other cat actually touches him.  Surely he won't do anything about a bit of water.

Poor dog has lost his edge.

The spoils of a day among the Christmas shoppers.

I did it.  I shopped.  I didn't die, but I wanted to kill a few strangers before we were done.  Overall, though, it was fun.  We even ate lunch out!  Natalie and Monica-blue-tongue show off their new coats:

Monica's new boots (Natalie is still gonna look for some.  She didn't find any that fit AND suited her needs):

Here are my new kicks:

Monica's Chuck Taylor (in black) shoes that she's wanted for so long:

Natalie's skate shoes:

I am so thankful that we were able to do this.  I spent a ridiculous amount of money today, but $200 was an unexpected surprise, and we all needed the items that we got.  Well, except for that lunch at 54th Street.  *burp*

I'm poor, OK?

OK, so we're poor.  I've come to grips with it, and so has my family.  I'm talking about money, here.  I'm quite rich in many things, but when it comes to money, we're one paycheck away from losing everything, all the time.  There, I said it.

This type of living causes certain things that folks with money wouldn't understand.  An income tax refund is something that we work toward.  Folks with money try to make it work out to where nothing is owed to the government and nothing is due back.  Not us!  That refund is "white trash Christmas" to us.

Another example of this is "sick check" week.  We get 5 days of sick time at work.  Whatever isn't used is paid to you at year's end.  If you have perfect attendance, there's a little something extra in it for you.  This is my second year of perfect attendance, and today was "sick check" day.

I knew it was coming, and most of it is spent for bills, etc.  HOWEVER, it is white-trash Christmas, isn't it?  Because of this, I stopped on the way home for a few things that we usually don't indulge in.  We had Taco Bell for dinner, I got GOOD beer, and I bought a couple of scratch-off lottery tickets for me and Kevin.

I told the girls that we'd go shopping when I got my sick check.  We are all three wearing horribly crappy tennis shoes.  I mean ugly and old.  Bad. Shoes.  We need shoes, and I told them that we'd get name brand tennis shoes (we usually buy WalMart shoes) when I got my sick check.  Kevin and I discussed it, and decided we wanted to do a bit more.

Last night, I told the girls that we would get tennis shoes, and they could choose between a second pair of shoes (Natalie wants some boots or something) or a new winter coat.  They have coats around here, but they're kind of sad looking.  They've been thinking about their decision, and I've been thinking about the best places to shop for good  bargains.

OK, back to tonight.  Kevin and I scratched our lottery tickets, and.  Ummm.  I saw something weird on mine.  I won $200!!!!!  That means, I can pay those bills that had to be paid, but I can also get the girls 2 pairs of shoes AND new coats!  WoooHooo!  The girls almost cried when I told them!

They don't expect a lot of "stuff" and they always have what's needed to get by.  It's just a wonderful feeling to know that they get to have something that isn't exactly needed.   Natalie can have her cowboy boots with pink stitching if she wants to.  Monica can have her pink Chuck Taylors.

  

Life is good, my friends.  Life is great during White Trash Christmas.  I'll get back to you during tax season, while my rich friends are worrying about owing the government.

BWAAHAAAHAAAHAAA!

Nonsense

I am so crazy busy at work that I can't stop to think.  Instead of thinking, I thought I'd share a video from a few nights ago.  Hell, Remo started it!

I didn't realize how loud the motor would sound when I zoomed, or that the lighting would suck when I zoomed, so I'm sorry.  To sum up what you missed during those times:   The biggest shark is insane, and Kevin's socks are on the floor.  Also, I should clean the house.  Also, the house is messy.  Natalie doesn't like her baby pictures, and I need a cleaning lady.  The end.

Goodbye.