Official 1st Week

Tomorrow is Dear Husband's (DH) official first week of retirement. This past weekend we went to the coast for 2 days and one evening. We went to Cannon Beach and Seaside and spent the evening at Seaside. It was quite cool in Cannon Beach but Seaside was warm and sunny. We had a nice time eventhough it was brief. Our little Harry Barker spent the time at the kennel. This evening Harry doesn't seem to be feeling very well. We'll see how is he is in the morning. If no better DH will take him to the vet. Poor little guy is cold and not eating. Hopefully he will be feeling better tomorrow. ==== Been straightening up the house today and nearly have it all tidied up. ==== Dear Son and daughter-in-law will arrive end of this coming week. ==== Next Sunday is DH's retirement party we will be having at our local pizza place. There should be about 30-35 people. We have decorations and one time cameras for folks to take pix at the "do". Should be a fun time. ==== Now we can start looking forward to my retirement this coming March. Its going to be a long 6 months but certainly will be worth it!!! ==== Better go, have to get up early. Hope you all had a good holiday weekend! ==== Stine

Life to do list

Life's to do list - Completed items are bolded (don't know who made this list, but I think I live a very sheltered life) - - - - - - - - 01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink 02. Swam with wild dolphins 03. Climbed a mountain 04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive 05. Been inside the Great Pyramid 06. Held a tarantula 07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone 08. Said 'I love you' and meant it 09. Hugged a tree 10. Bungee jumped 11. Visited Paris 12. Watched a lightning storm at sea 13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise 14. Seen the Northern Lights (they were purple) 15. Gone to a huge sports game 16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa 18. Touched an iceberg 19. Slept under the stars 20. Changed a baby's diaper 21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon 22. Watched a meteor shower 23. Gotten drunk on champagne (just a bit giggly) 24. Given more than you can afford to charity 25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope 26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment 27. Had a food fight 28. Bet on a winning horse 29. Asked out a stranger 30. Had a snowball fight 31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can 32. Held a lamb 33. Seen an eclipse 34. Ridden a roller coaster 35. Hit a home run 36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking 37. Adopted an accent for an entire day 38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment 39. Had two hard drives for your computer 40. Visited all 10 provinces or all 50 states 41. Taken care of someone who was drunk 42. Had amazing friends 43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country 44. Watched wild whales 45. Stolen a sign 46. Backpacked in Europe 47. Taken a road-trip 48. Gone rock climbing 49. Midnight walk on the beach 50. Gone sky diving 51. Visited Ireland 52. Been heartbroken longer then you were actually in love (but what do you know when you are in high school?) 53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them 54. Visited Japan 55. Milked a cow 56. Alphabetized your cds 57. Pretended to be a superhero 58. Sung karaoke 59. Lounged around in bed all day 60. Posed nude in front of strangers 61. Gone scuba diving 62. Kissed in the rain 63. Played in the mud 64. Played in the rain 65. Gone to a drive-in theater 66. Visited the Great Wall of China 67. Started a business 68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken 69. Toured ancient sites 70. Taken a martial arts class 71. Played D&D for 6 hours straight 72. Gotten married 73. Been in a movie (do home movies count?) 74. Crashed a party 75. Gotten divorced 76. Gone without food for 5 days 77. Made cookies from scratch 78. Won first prize in a costume contest 79. Ridden a gondola in Venice 80. Gotten a tattoo (several) 81. Rafted the Dead River 82. Been on television news programs as an "expert" 83. Got flowers for no reason 84. Performed on stage 85. Been to Las Vegas 86. Recorded music 87. Eaten shark 88. Had a one-night stand 89. Gone to Thailand 90. Bought a house 91. Been in a combat zone 92. Buried one of your parents 93. Been on a cruise ship 94. Spoken more than one language fluently 95. Performed in aisles at Rocky Horror 96. Raised children. 97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour 98. Created and named your own constellation of stars 99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country 100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over 101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge (drove it, does that count) 102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking 103. Had plastic surgery 104. Survived an illness that you shouldn't have survived 105. Wrote articles for a large publication 106. Lost over 100 pounds 107. Held someone while they were having a flashback 108. Piloted an airplane 109. Petted a stingray 110. Broken someone's heart 111. Helped an animal give birth 112. Won money on a T.V. game show 113. Broken a bone 114. Gone on an African photo safari 115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced 116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol 117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild 118. Ridden a horse 119. Had major surgery 120. Had a snake as a pet 121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon 122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours 123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (does Tijuana count) 124. Visited all 7 continents 125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days 126. Eaten kangaroo meat 127. Eaten sushi 128. Had your picture in the newspaper 129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about 130. Gone back to school 131. Parasailed 132. Petted a cockroach (ew!) 133. Eaten fried green tomatoes 134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey 135. Selected one "important" author who you missed in school, and read their books. 136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating 137. Skipped all your school reunions (no one would know me anyway) 138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language 139. Been elected to public office 140. Written your own computer language 141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream 142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care 143. Built your own PC from parts 144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you 145. Had a booth at a street fair 146: Dyed your hair 147: Been a DJ 148: Shaved your head 149: Caused a car accident 150: Saved someone's life 151. Riden in a helicopter 152. Seen a comet (Hale-Bopp) 153. Survived a car accident that you shouldn't (went thru a telephone pole in an old ford)

Its been a good day!

Sunday evening, nearly time for Deadwood, then toddle off to bed. Yes, its another weekend nearly all used up. A week from THursday, DH will have his last day at work. He will be retiring!!! He is so excited and soooooo gald to be leaving where he works. He has bene there for 25 years and really hates it!! Who-Ray for DH!!! -------------------------- This afternoon I was going thru the papers that always collect on flat surfaces. I came across the paper from my work that lets me know how much $ is in my retirement account. I turned it over and happened to read the last paragraph. I've been getting these papers for 20 years and never read the back before. So "happened" to turn it over and read is incorrect. I know it was God stepping in. ANyway, it said Tier 1 emplyees (me) can retired at 58 without being penalized. I figured out our finances and we can do this and still be able to save money. My birthday this coming March I will be 58. I will talk to the HR folks at work tomorrow and if it all goes as I think it will, I will be retiring this coming March. OOH MY GOSH!!! This is wonderful!!! So DH and I will be able to have some good healthy years retired together while we still have all our marbles etc. GOD is good! ---------------------------------- I did a bit of re-arranging in the closets this weekend. I cleared out the little bit of stuff in one closet and moved all my yarn into the empty closet. Have a look. Top shelf is cotton and cones of acrylic, middle is wool and bottom is acrylic and acrylic/wool. Its soo cool to be able to see all the yarn at once and know what I have. ------------------ Did a bit of carpet cleaning this afternoon also, with our new Bissell thingy. With a puppy there are always spots on the carpet. We considered and even got bids on a laminate floor. But the lowest bid was $10,000. We thought that was a bit steep and decided to purchase the carpet cleaner thingy for $200. It works a treat and the carpet looks like new!!! --------------------- Better go for now, Deadwood is beckoning (in 15 minutes). Gotta keep up on the latest. We'll talk later. -Stine

Nearly Friday

Could the month go any slower? Probably, but it doesn't seem possible right now. DH (dear husband) only has 15 more working days until he retires. As you can imagine the days are barely creeeeeping by. He retires on the Aug 31. That means he will (sort of) work til noon. At noon there will be a going away party for him in the lunchroom. I will take that day off of work and I will have arrive earlier and I'll bring some clean clothes so he can clean up and look nice at the do. After the do, he can stay and visit or leave. I guess we'll see what he wants to do. ........................................................................................................................................................................ ...Sept 1 is his 62 birthday. That is a flex day for me so I will be off work. I imagine we'll need to do something way fun on that day - since its his first day of being retired and his birthday and such. I think I'll look into renting a fun car - maybe a hummer for the day. That sounds fun. ......................................................................................................................................................................... Sept 2 (Sat). we're planning to head for the coast for 2 days. We'll meet up with our friend C and have lunch at the casino to celebrate her birthday. Then we'll go to the two small towns we like the best at the coast and spend Saturday evening. ...................................................................................................................................................................... I contacted our vet asking for recommendations for kennels for Harry Barker. We toured one and decided it look pretty good. So Harry will spend his first evening away from home on Sat, Sept 2. We'll see how he does. .......................................................................................................................................................................... On Sept 10 (Sun) we're inviting about 30 folks to meet us for pizza at our favorite pizza establishment to celebrate DH retirement. Our son and daughter-in-law will be flying in for the celebration. ............................................................................................................................................................................ On Monday, Sept 11 we're flying out for Los Angeles for 4 days. We're going to go visit Mickey. My email friend G and her daughter will meet us at Disneyland for the day. G and I have never met face to face, only by email and phone. It will be fun to spend the day with them. The last time we were at Disneyland was before the California Adventure was even built. I hope none of the new rides are throw-up rides. I don't do them. ......................................................................................................................................................................... On Sat. our friend CC is having another big garage sale. We'll be heading over to her house to see what she has and give some morale support, maybe help price some things, if its needed. Last time we went to her sale her sister and daughters were there to "help". What a joke, they sat on their collective tushes and did practically nothing. CC's mother was there also (driving CC bats) so I tried to chat-up her mom and keep her out of CC's hair for a bit. Why is so much easier to entertain someone else's mom than your own. Probably because you don't have any history with her and you don't have to take her home. enough on mom's. .......................................................................................................................................................................... enough for now, take care of each other. . . .

Capt Jack

Didn't go to work today - felt crummy. Worked on a new crochet toy. I was testing a pattern for a very talented lady that makes fun toy patterns. The pattern was for pirates. I made my version of Capt. jack. He turned out ok. The pattern had a bandana sort of head covering but I wanted the tri-corn hat instead. I sent a pix to the lady who made the pattern. She seemed to like it and even asked for the pattern for the tri-corn hat and asked if she could include the pattern on her sale page for the pirates. Then I had to write it out - easier said than done. But I sent it along. I'm sure she will give it a try and fix anything that needs its. This is DH last month at work. He is really chomping at the bit for Aug to be over, so of course, August will ddrrraaaaggggg something terrible. Poor bunny. I still have 4 1/2 years before I can retire. Once he has reitred he and Harry Barker can bond a bit more. Right now Harry is more likely to sit on or by me rather than DH. When its just DH and Harry, I imagine they will bond. Hopefully. Not much else going on. Have a good evening. Stine

Don't we LOVE Monday's?

(a resounding) NO!!! Howdy peeps! Went to bed way too late last evening and its now 3:15pm and I'm dragging. Hopefully I can get to bed early this evening. Only trouble is, I want to start a crochet project. I've been asked to "test" a pattern from one of the "Crochetville" pattern designers. Her name is Kristie and that woman is amazing. She sells toys and patterns on www.etsy.com - http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=26966 . They are very easy to follow and really cute stuff. Please have a look. Yesterday I finished a faerie pattern she had me test. I was please with the finished little faerie (see pix). Making toys is my favorite thing. We found a nice kennel where Harry Barker can stay when we need to go out of town. Its only $15 per night. We had a tour of the place. There are lots of people to interact with the dogs and cats and take them outside and play with them. We will leave Harry there on Sat. Sept. 2 while we go to the beach for one evening. Its been a year since we were last at the beach. We also have a reservation for him to stay while we are visiting Mickey Mouse in Los Angeles. Someone gave us a recommendation for a place to eat near Disneyland. They said the food was really good and its just across the street. We'll see. I really hate to try a restaurant someone recommends - they think its great and we try it and its crap. Of course the next time we see the person they ask what we thought of their "favorite" restaurant. Its really hard to say the food was crap. So you say, "it was ok". (I'm sure Judge Judy is going to pop up and say "LIAR"). A while back we (DH & I) decided we wanted to get laminate floors for our home. We had a "boutique" sort of floor place give us a bid. Holy Crow! The bid was over $11,000. A friend at DH work suggested we see Home Depot and get a bid from them. We went to Home Depot (they were having a 20% off sale) and talked to the flooring person. He said "Oh sure, we can do that, probably be about $4,500". We thought "WOW" that sounds more like it". Made an appt. for their person to give us a bid. Got their bid a few days ago. Even with the $20% off, the bid was $10,000. Holy Crap - I think I'm in the wrong business. Where do I sign up to install laminate floors! Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) - we decided NOT to get the laminate floor! Instead we invested in a rug/floor cleaner machine thingy to clean the carpet. It heats the water etc. Its made by Bissell. Those folks have been in the business for years and should know what they are doing. $200.00 for the machine certainly beats $11,000. Whoever thought of putting beige carpet in a home should be drawn & quartered!!! Better go for now. -Stine

Where in world is Stine???

I'm baaacckkk! I just had a look and discovered that someone actually made comments on some of my comments. Who knew!?! But I've been gone so long, they have probably given up on this blog. Well, maybe someone else will discover it. We'll see. Where the heck have I been - absolutely no where. Going to work, at home, same old same old. Well not exactly the same. I did apply for and got a new job where I work. Same agency, different job. I was the Exec. Asst to the Administrator (color it very stressful!) I had the job for 5 years and 3 different administrators. With each successive boss, I liked them less and less. Then the woman who had the Permit Invoicing Coordinator position retired. I applied (along with 5 others) and got the job. I've had the job since March 27. Its to do with permits for gold mining, sewer systems etc. in the state. I'm still learning the job but I do like it much better than the old job (color it less stressful and a different - less trying sort of stress). I don't have to deal with folks all day long. Folks that always want something yesterday. I'm in my cubicle (cave) and can just do my work. Funny thing is, the new person they hired in my old job has managed to talk the powers that be into hiring two other people to help her do her job. Hmmm! Enough of WORK (a four letter word!) Something new with us - In March we bought a chihuahua puppy from a friend at my work. He is now 6 months old. Last week he was "taken off his roller skates" (he got snipped). He is doing really well and didn't have any problems. They also gave him a gps chip. Not that he is ever out and about on his own to get lost but better safe than sorry. His name is Harry Barker. I'll put his pix so you can see how adorable he is. This is Harry now (6 months) This is Harry Barker when we brought him home (7 weeks) He is such a sweety. Something else exciting - Dear Husband (DH) will be retiring last dayof August. He will be 62 Sept 1. We decided he was ready. He has been at his job for 25 years this month and he works very hard everyday - he works very hard physically also. We figured he should get out while he still was in good health and had brains left in his head. Sept 10 we will have a retirement do at a good pizza place. We're inviting about 30 people. Our son and daughter-in-law wiill be flying in from Indiana for the do. Then on Sept 11 DH and I will be winging our way down to Los Angeles to visit with Mickey Mouse for a few days. We haven't been down there in about 6 or 7 years. It was before they built the California Adventure part of the park - so however long ago that was. Recently I discovered the knit or crocheted toys called "Amigurumi". Its a Japanese word meaning crochet toy (I think). There are all sorts of folks making new patterns. Lots are for sale and quite a few patterns are available for free if you know where to look. If you are interested - join up on "Crochetville" and go to the forum. Look under original patterns. There are lots of new free patterns there. I really enjoy making the small toys (instant gratification). Most of the patterns call for yarn to make them. I like to make some of the toys with the #10 crochet cotton so the toys end up being much smaller in size. That is what I like, the small size. Good grief, where does the time go? Its way past my bedtime and 5am comes pretty early. Tomorrow is Thursday (nearly Friday) - Huzzah for Friday!! -Stine