3 Old Bags

I did something today. Some people would say I was heartless but I did it. I tossed 3 old bags to the curb. No hesitation. No mercy. They had it coming I tell you! They had been haunting my every move in my own house for months. I couldn't walk in my own basement without them staring me down. I know you're wondering what the 3 old bags were doing in the basement: well, I put them there. I did. I couldn't help it. I didn't mean to leave them down there so long but you know how it goes. You get embarrassed at first that you did it at all. I mean what had they really ever done to me? Oh, sure, they got in the way, cluttered my life in a way that I was tripping over them constantly. I tried to be polite and gently push them out of the way but you know how old bags can be. They fall apart at the least nudge and then collapse in a pile. I was through with it. Done. They had to go and I'm not sorry in the least. Good-bye and good riddance!

5 of 5 Finally!

Let's do this backwards ... End.
Dresser is done too...

The beginning ... ugh!

4 of 5 - Yes, I know it's late!

It was too embarrassing to show the before picture. I pulled out all those clothes that are out of style, stained shrunk or I just hate. Same with the shoes.


And the end result.. ta-da! And NO $$!!

Paper Works

This wasn't the real start but I forgot to

take pics of what it really started. This

is the recycling from 5 boxes of kid art.

Those 5 boxes turned into 3

labeled and lovely.

New Posts 5 of 5 Day 3

Okay, I know it's 5 days late but it's finally being posted. This was
what Jim and I did on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
you get the picture. I only had about 10 Advil over 3 days... Not bad.

5 of 5 Day 2

Poor pics, what was in my head didn't translate to the lens obviously. Jim is building a deck, taking out the walkway and possibly front walkway as well. I am his lackey. I am totally counting this - even though it will be spread out over days and not done in one - as one of my 5 of 5. I know the rules but when your husbands says let's build a deck since I have 3 more weeks off you pretty much are helpless to say no. BBQ at our house when it's done, or pretty close to done.... ;-)

5 of 5

The corner of my office has been a collecting place for pet products, scrapbooking and miscellaneous stuff for a while. I decided not to reinvent the wheel but to add just a couple of cogs. I bought three small containers for the pet food and spent a good deal of time sorting, tossing and arranging the paper products (I don't nearly have the paper obsession Debbie has!).

This file is rolling so I can take it into the craft hall aka dining room and work on projects. I had to toss a lot of things that I had just been hanging on to just in case I need them. I don't, I won't, I will buy more if necessary when I need them.

Garlic Pepper Burgers

We needed a new burger recipe so I made the following:

Garlic Pepper Burgers

2 garlic cloves minced fine

1 lb ground sirloin

2 tsp pepper - I used a pepper blend of red, black and green

2 tsp garlic salt

2 tsp basil

1/4 cup Italien bread crumbs

Mix all thoroughly. Form into 4 patties with the center thinner than the edges. Heat grill to medium high. Grill about 7 - 10 minutes per side depending on how well you like them done.

Serve on Pototo buns with Wasabi sauce (Safeway Deli), tomato, pickle and avocado slices. (We were out of lettuce) Ketchup and mustard were delicious too!

Offer on the Table

In these slightly improving but still challenging economic times my husband managed to get a job offer after one week of unemployment. He says it's his sparkling personality and charm: I'm thinking possibly his skill set.

Jim managed to get walked out from the old job with a 5 month and one day (that one cracked me up) pay package plus 2 months of accrued vacation and enough vested stock to pay for a year of school. He negotiated a signing bonus (Is it too late in the season for Aruba?), a significant raise, and bonus package plus 3 weeks of vacation with a week added every year he is there up to 8 weeks (seriously?) and a very generous stock package.

I'm thinking the Lord is kind and loving in the tender mercies he doles out to me. He knows how stressed I have been with this and how much I can take until I break. Prayer works. He knows the path we need to take and if we let him guide us He will pour out blessing beyond what we can count. This is one more example of the Lord testing my impatience and making me wait (it wasn't' just a week for that part) and things happening on his timeline not when I wanted it.

Say it Like An Umpire...

..."You're outta here!", "Vamoose!", "Take your leave.", "Be gone with you.", "Depart!", "Hit the pavement.", and my favorite, "Clear out.". Jim got his walking papers on Friday morning. As he so aptly put it, "I'm not fired. This is an agreed upon parting of ways.". Whatever. He is still unemployed. This position makes me nervous. He might get an offer from the Livermore company next week - sorry Suz, I was pushing for the CO one!. I have to say that it doesn't feel quite right. I get the feeling it's not where we're supposed to be. Don't get me wrong, a job - any job with insurance - is good with me.

Jim on the other hand is happy, a bit flip and prone to a bit of couch potato-ing right now. Not that he doesn't deserve it but as long as he isn't working for $$ I have a honey-do list half a mile long... He may think a job is a good thing by the time I'm done with him!

Yes-Man .. uh, Woe-man

I am a Yes-Man. Many in my family are: we come by it honestly - genetically. I'm sure Mom was a Yes-Man. Dad, well, to a point and if he can include his point probably. I don't want to speak for him but I've seen him do his share of Yes-man work.

I've been saying yes too often for my families liking and my sanity. I don't begrudge most of it but there are things that I'd rather not do but I think to myself, "If I don't do it, or help, I will end up doing it anyway or fixing what has been done instead of doing it right the first time.". That's really the crux of it, doing it right the first time. If I heard it once I heard it a thousand times, "If you have time to do it then you have time to do it right!". It must have sunk very deep into our very cells because I have a need to have things done right. Not that there aren't many ways to do things mind you and many of them end up right but there are people who do it wrong, sometimes on purpose I'm sure (my brother David was one of those people).

So, I will go on feeling a bit like a bobble head and doing things that I get pulled into. I guess it gets me out and involved with people when I would rather be solo or in smaller groups.

But here is the the Bobble Head Yes-Man group. May your neck springs never give out!