Pain

I don't like to complain much in public, it isn't really my way. Usually I can just suck it up, and deal, and show the world, if not "shining smile" then at least not "tear soaked mess".

I was never really a fan of the mainstream holidays after Halloween.  At least, not once I got old enough to get over the whole "OOHH!! Shiny presents!" portion of my childhood.  I feel we expect too much of ourselves, and those we invite into our lives around this time.
  This has been a particularly bad season for me.  In the course of this month, I was unjustly fired, accused of theft, did not receive all the pay due to me from that unjust firing, my unemployment benefits seem to be in limbo with no human to speak to about it, my car is in the shop looking at, on the cheap side, 5-7 hundred dollars worth of work, I have little money in the bank, and now, to top it off, my sister has told me "You're a BITCH!  I hate you right now" all because she said "I have lost everything I cherish in the last 3 weeks" and I was hurt by it.  Yes, I know it sucks to break up with a guy.  I know it sucks to be broke.  But as long as I have my family- my kids, my parents, my sister, and, distantly, my friends, a roof over my head, a bed to sleep in, and all that implies, I have not lost *anything* I cherish.  And to imply that because she and her boyfriend broke up is so much worse than what anyone else has to deal with, implying that this part of her family is not cherished, is hurtful to me, insulting to us, and quite frankly childish.  And for telling her that I was offended that the people she knew less than 5 years were more cherished than the people that have been here for her her whole life, she called me a bitch, told me she hated me, and when I blasted her for that, (and admittedly, told her the truth which normally I would have kept to myself to spare her feelings) she unfriended me from fb, and I haven't heard from her since.
http://youtu.be/BpIUr7WjjRs
So great, I shouldn't have lost my temper, I know that.  Maybe I'm here seeking validation that what I'm dealing with now constitutes enough stress that I was temporarily insane.  I must've been because in 35 years, I have never told her the truth about how I feel.  That she is a one upper, that if I hurt, she glosses over it and tells me how *awful* everything has been for her.  That she's acting like a child,  that (and this is the unadorned truth) if I put her fb statuses next to the ones from a 15 year old I know, I can't tell whose are whose.

I think the term "temporary insanity" was coined for just this situation.  Or maybe, just maybe, I was finally sticking up for myself in our relationship.

Okay, I promise. Done with the drama now.

Thanks for Noticing me.

Still at it.

How was everyones Thanksgiving?  We had a quiet day here.  Just the same 4 diners as every other day, and my sis stopped by after for dessert. (:   I must say, if you're going to step away from the norm, and try new things, then doing it while you have no company is definitely the time to do it!   We had the nastiest sauce for the broccoli, and the sauce for the potatoes disappeared into them leaving no trace of flavor behind.  Next year it's back to plain veggies and mashed with gravy!
Also, if  you like broccoli, try this if you can find it...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanesco_broccoli
It's a Christmas tree! LOL!  And it *does* taste exactly like broccoli, I wouldn't lie!  Now it's the boys second favorite veggie!

I have so many ideas to make, and no time to make them!  Now is the time of year I make those orange air fresheners, you know the ones, with an orange, cloves, and ribbons and bows? (:  We had one hanging in our coat closet for *years*, before it finally lost its scent.
All holiday gifts have been started, and all but 2 are "done", in total 4 still need to be "finished".  Done meaning made, finished meaning all the finishing touches are added.
 Ddasha has been behaving extremely odd lately, I mean, even more odd than is her normal odd... (:

  

The little fruitcake.  

Well, that's it for now... 27 crafting days till the big one!  And as usual,

Thanks for Noticing me!

Guess what I found?

I just found a bunch of the scraps of paper I wrote out about life in the world of retail.  (:  I'm in the process of sorting them, categories being,

 A) Stupid actions,

B) Stupid comments

C) What not to wear

Case in point...

A) Kid came in for cigarettes, fairly regular, but I couldn't remember if he normally bought them so I ID'd him.  "Oh, uh, it's in my glove box..."  Got in the car and closed the door, so I knew he was gonna take off... He punched the gas, and scraped the entire side of his truck along the bumpers for the pumps. (:

B)  Woman came in looking for a certain cigar.  I was confused because of the way she asked, but eventually I got the product, *showed it to her*, and she agreed that was what she wanted.  Paid, left, came back 10 minutes later and said it wasn't the right one.  We cannot take any tobacco, or alcohol product back once it has left the store. No exceptions.  "Well, I'm just saying, if a person can't take it back, you should be sure it's the right product!"  Lady, I showed it to *YOU* the person that *should have* known what it was they were buying before they left the store!

C)  Watched a man leaving the store, in October mind you, wearing, very dingy white socks in black sandals, I never got to his shirt though, because I was too lost staring at his leopard print cargo pants.  WTF?!?!?!  I think my brain was just having too much difficulty processing 'leopard print' 'mens' and 'cargo' all in one grouping.

Stay tuned! And as usual,

Thanks for Noticing me!

Wow, just, wow.

Long story short, I am now unemployed.... Surprisingly, after the initial shock, and anger, I'm good with this!

I hated being at the mercy of whoever wanted me to work wherever! Whereas I have a tendency to find a job and drop roots, when I'm cut down, I'll happily look for a new situation.  I'm thinking HHA, or even civil service.  I have to admit, I'm a lot faster on a keyboard than I was 20 years ago when I took my last civil service test. :)

And I do so love being home!  Everyone asks, "Aren't you bored?"  No!  Never!  There is always something to do.  Since I've been unemployed I got to clean a room (that always ends up last on the cleaning list) from top to bottom *just* the way I like it done.  I've completed what would have normally taken me over a week, while working, of  crocheting on holiday gifts. I've gotten to make dinners, bake, clean, craft.... I'm just THRILLED!

Tune in for more cutie kitties, and rants from an unemployed lunatic!

Thanks for Noticing me!

Busy, busy!

 I was doing *so* well, really! I thought I was ahead of the game.  Then came the roses....  Well those are gonna eat up some serious time!

 

 Check out the date on these pics of snow...

Really?!?!  I don't know if we're in for a hard winter, or just a long one!

*Some* of what I've finished so far.

What  a weirdo!

D'awwww!

Just to make up for being a slacker. (:   

Have fun! And as usual,

Thanks for Noticing me!

Toast.

Yup, that's what I am.  I'm toast!  Nearly burnt.  2&2/3 gifts finished, 6&1/3 to go.  I finished the one tonight, and decided that instead of picking up that 1/3, I'd fart around on here. (:  Remember those shawls from a few posts back? Mom and daughter goodies...

I suppose I should post some more pics of our awesome trip, like I promised...

We're pretty sure that's #1's arm going by...

 This is the car we rented... HOT!

Cute!  By the ticket windows so you know which  tickets to buy.

  

 

The goofballs, showing off their ill- gotten gains... 

Well, I suppose I should try to go to sleep at some point this morning...

Thanks for Noticing me!

(In)tolerance

I have been livid all day!  I did something I rarely do, I read the paper this morning.   Apparently, 2 of the elementary schools in our district will not be doing the Halloween costume parade, and school party, because the celebration "Violates some families beliefs".  Our Superintendent thinks that there should be "a district wide talk about the issue" of having Halloween parties and parades in the school.

Historically, All Hallows Eve was the day the veil between the living world, and the spirit world was the thinnest.  People disguised themselves so evil spirits could not take them, and carved frightening visages in gourds to frighten off the spirits.

Historically, when a person sneezed, the belief was an evil spirit was being expelled, and someone would say "God Bless you" so said spirit couldn't re-enter the body.
I bet those "families" that feel Halloween is not something that should be celebrated in school, the ones that feel violated, I *bet* they still say "Bless you" when someone sneezes.

 So much for tolerance.  Isn't that what you hear all the time? We should practice tolerance toward those that want to illegally enter our country, get free medical, housing, and food, or live 12 to an illegal basement apartment so they can send all the money they earn back home and live like kings.   We should be tolerant of radical Muslims that want nothing more than to see our entire Country blown to bits.  Tolerant of awful children because they had a rough upbringing, tolerant of anyone that doesn't have pink skin doing whatever they please because their great- great- grandparents *might* have been slaves, or been some other way oppressed by our great-great- grandparents.

Apparently we are not to educate in schools, we just go with allowing fear, ignorance, and intolerance to reign free.  And as usual in America, the wants of the few, outweigh any input from the many.