I Couldn't Wait

You see, I've been working all this here overtime, and making all this here money -- to pay bills and such, you know.

Sometimes, I get just a little rebellious, though.  So it was that while I was sitting here over the weekend, I said to myself, "Self, by golly, I'm going to spend some of this here money I've been working all this here overtime to make."  And, by golly, I did.

I was going to wait until everything I'd ordered arrived and post it all at once, but when I saw what had arrived today, I couldn't wait.  And what was said arrival that got me so excited, you may ask? Well, I'll tell you.  It was a new wax stamp!

This one is a compass rose.

Naturally, the first thing I did was to try it out.  It's a bit larger than my Yggdrasil stamp, so it's going to take a minute to get the hang of it.  I didn't quite get enough wax melted this try. 

I would have played with it more, but after thinking about it, I decided I needed to mow my back yard before it got to the point I had to apply for a safari permit to go outside. 

But I digress...

And of course, what good is a fancy schmancy wax stamp without some fancy schmancy parchment looking paper upon which to write things to put into those envelopes I will then seal with said fancy schmancy wax stamp?

And just for the heck of it, I threw this movie into my shopping cart, too.

I haven't seen it yet, but everyone who has said it's really, really good. 

Maybe I'll watch it this weekend, while writing letters with with my fountain pen, on my parchment, and sealing them up with my wax. 

Yeah, I can't wait!

Then I Cried

I couple of days ago, I was reading through some old blog posts.  See, at the bottom of each blog post is a widget that provides three links to older posts that are supposed to be related to that particular post.  I often click on those and just reminisce about old times.  

On this particular day, I ran across a post from October 22, 2013.  In that post was the following passage:

Work was exhausting today. Group Leader Fernando wasn't there, and the person they sent over there to ...well, lead the group...um...is..um...well...as my co-worker likes to say, she'll worry the horns off a billy goat.  And she did exactly that.

The irony is, she worried us so much about doing our work, that we couldn't get our work done because of her worrying us, and ended up having to stay late to get the work done that we didn't get done while she was worrying us to death.  Then she came over and started worrying us about staying late.

I guess my co-worker got a little fed up because she told her, "We will get the work done, and then we will leave."

First I laughed, until I realized that the worrisome group leader is now my permanent group leader and this is my life every. single. day.

Then I cried.

Then I really didn't want to go back to work this morning, but alas, the bills must be paid, so off to work I went.  And so, my Memorial Day weekend came to an end.

Over said weekend, though, I was able to get out and work in my flower beds a little.  I got mulch spread over about 1/3 of the bed. 

 I was going to get out this evening and mulch around those four zinnias, but I didn't.  I didn't do the rest of the bed because in that space between the salvias and the moss rose, I've got some seeds planted.  I think it is Chinese Forget-Me-Not.  I'd bought them last year and never did plant them.  A week or so ago, I threw them into that space, just to see if they'd come up.  Lo and behold, they are.

I wasn't sure if they'd germinate, what with the seeds being old and all, so this is a nice surprise.

Speaking of my salvias, I thought this one had died, but look, it's putting out new leaves.

The other two also look pretty sad, but not as bad as this one.  Maybe they'll recover and grow, too.  Oh, and one of my dahlias is blooming red.

I have three.  One has yellow blooms, and this one has red.  The third one hasn't bloomed yet, so I'm anxious to see what color those will be.

I'd planted some wildflower seeds in this spot, but very little has come up here.  I've got a couple of zinnias and a couple of vincas.  Other than that, nothing.  I guess the grass has choked everything else out.

So, after taking my pictures, I spent a few minutes and started pulling the grass out.  I haven't decided if I'm going to try again with seeds, or just plant something already started.  I'll let you know. 

Finally, I spent most of Monday -- as is my custom -- watching war movies.  I try to watch one about each major war the U.S. has been involved in, except the Revolution.  I save those for Independence Day. 

Anyway, for my Iraq/Afghanistan era movie, I watched a new one:  Taking Chance.   

I'd seen it pop up in my Amazon Prime recommended movies, but it wasn't until someone in one of the Veteran pages I follow on FB recommended it that I decided I need to watch it.  Oh my goodness, you need to see this movie! 

The movie is set in 2004, and in it Kevin Bacon plays a man named Lt. Col Michael Strobl, who -- as he puts it -- crunches numbers in a cubicle in Quantico.  Every night, he reads the casualty reports from the combat zones, and one night he spots a young man from his hometown on that report.  Immediately, Col Strobl volunteers to escort the body.  He is told that it's very unusual for such a high ranking officer to escort a PFC, but he says he wants to do it anyway. 

All along the journey, the kindness and respect he is shown touches him, and teaches him a little about himself.

I won't go into any more details, but let me just say, even old stone hearted Becky cried a little at this movie.  OK, I cried a lot.  I started tearing up about 5 minutes in, and didn't stop until the movie was over. 

Seriously, if you don't see another movie this year, watch this one.  You'll be glad you did.

Memorial Day

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. 

Abraham Lincoln 

November 19, 1863

Sunday Hymn

Greater love than this hath no man, 

when any man bestoweth his life for his friends.  

John 15:13

*Geneva Bible

Still Breathing

I'm still breathing, just not blogging.  I had a cute little throwback Thursday post all thought out for you, too.  After working a 12 hour day, I came home and decided I really needed to mow before the next round of rain.  By the time I finished that, I was too tired to post it.  Maybe next week. 

I'm so tuckered that yesterday I went to second shift supervisor and said I didn't want to stay late any more.  "But you're my top floater," she said.  Sigh..

Two things.

1) How the heck did I get to be the top floater, and more importantly, how to I become NOT the top floater?  In other words, how do I go back to being a bottom feeder?

2)  If they need me so badly, why is there never anything for me to do?  Why is the supervisor saying, "Oh, just go find something"? 

To make matters worse, this morning the third shift group leader said he was going to ask if I can start coming in at 3 AM.  Sigh, again. I would still be limited to 12 hours, so no more staying late, but I don't know about going in that early. 

I'm getting too old for this.

All Is Right

I woke up this morning in the wee smalls, and went to work before the sun was up.  I walked across the parking lot in the dark, got some ice from the nearly full ice machine, and went over to my work area.  I set up the front of my line, figured out what and where everything was, and began working on partial orders.  I was able to get myself sorted before a bazillion people began accosting me with a bazillion questions.  And all was right in my world...

Until I saw the second shift production superintendent walk around the corner.  It created a sort of cognitive disconnect in my mind, and I just stood there and stared at him, wondering where I was and what I was doing there, and why he was in my world that had just seemed so right a moment ago, and had now descended into total chaos.  He laughed at the look on my face, and that snapped me back to reality.  Our own production superintendent will be out all week, so he will be filling in.

Anyway, I worked an 11 hour day, and am not nearly as tired as I was when I was working 7 - 7. Group Leader tried to get me to start coming in at 4, but I said no.  I told her I don't want to push my luck too much.  I overheard one of the other supervisors saying they were starting grumble about the over time again.  Only my plant would pay an entire shift of workers to avoid paying a few people a couple of hours over time. 

I realize I have been remiss in showing you my new smile.  But first, for comparison, my old smile (and my dear friend Christi)

And my new smile.

Kindly disregard the disheveled state of my hair.  I'd just gotten home from work when I took this photo.   Big difference, isn't it?  I might not be so shamed to smile now. 

Finally, lookit!  I have a little bitty tomato on my little bitty tomato plant!

I can't wait to turn that bad boy into a sandwich!

Sunday Hymn

There is a country song that has been going around recently, sung by a guy who claims he wants to live "on the outskirts of Heaven."  Dude, you have no idea what Heaven really is. Heaven isn't green fields, or rolling hills, or streams to fish in. 

Heaven is where Jesus is.  And wherever Jesus is, that's where I want to be. 

Typical Day

This is how my day at work typically goes.  I arrive, find a parking spot, fill my lunchbox with ice, clock in, and begin making my way to my work area.  Before I even get there, someone from tubing runs over with a bin of adapter tubes, "Becky, somebody on a previous shift ordered these legs.  Do you know what they are?"

Um, no, I just got here.

I take the bin of parts, saying I will figure it out, then continue on to my brazing stand.  I get there, but before I even get my tool bag off my shoulder, the dispatcher runs over asking, "Do you know anything about these 30 headers someone on a previous shift ordered?  Do you know where the legs (adapter tubes, for those of you not up on ADP vernacular) are?" 

Um, no, I haven't even gotten my bag off my shoulder yet.  Just set them down and I'll figure it out.

I set my tool bag down, and go get a schedule.  (For those of you not up on ADP vernacular, the schedule is the list of customer orders we are going to make that day.)  I get back to my stand to find Third Shift Sub-Brazer and Third Shift Group Leader having...let's say, an enthusiastic discussion.  Right in the middle of my work area.  They finally clear out, when my Supervisor comes over and asks me what they were arguing about. 

I don't know.  Maybe he was fussing because she didn't leave us any headers on the line.

Now, for those of you not up on ADP procedural policy, each shift is supposed to leave approximately an hours worth of parts set up for the next shift.  In terms of header assemblies, this is 50 or so.  This morning, there weren't but about 15, which put us behind from the get-go. 

Before Supervisor and I even finish our conversation, someone is tapping me on the shoulder, "Do you know what these unlabeled parts are?  Do you know what this unmarked order is?  Do you have two extra headers for this order third shift ran two hours before we even got here?  Do you know what happened to the headers for this partial order that's been sitting in the floor for two weeks?"

And all this happens before my shift even begins.

At this point, I threw up my hands and told Group Leader, "This is why I need to be coming in early!"  Whereupon she replied, "I would never have stopped."  Yeah, no...

When Production Superintendent tells you to stop coming in early, you stop coming in early. 

Sometime later, I talked to Supervisor about starting to come in early again, recounting the tale of my typical morning.  He said, "I don't have a problem with it, at least not until I get fussed at again."  So, starting Monday, I'll be going in at 5 again.  At least, I'll have a little bit of an evening, until Production Superintendent tells me to stop coming in early.  Second Shift Supervisor will be disappointed, but he'll get over it.

Good news is, I have a little bloom on my little tomato plant!

Tomato sandwiches coming soon!  Unless I kill it. 

Which wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Dear Coworker

Yeah, I know you think you've got the whole world figured out, but trust me, you're still young.  You don't know nearly as much as you think you do.  So, let me offer you a bit of advice from someone who has made a few more trips around the sun than you have.

You will not make yourself look good by trying to make me look bad.  What you will actually do is to make yourself look petty and churlish.  Furthermore, you will not impress that man you are trying so hard to impress with this kind of behavior. 

So, just get over yourself already, ok?

Thank you.

That is all

New Things

Still working long, long hours, so don't expect too much from me in the way of blogging.  It was rough in the plant today.  It was so bad, my supervisor threw up his hands and said, "I give up.  I just give up!"

I did want to show you the new things I've gotten.  Mary Maxim had a sale on sock yarn, so I picked up a few skeins to add to the blanket.

 I bought these, too, not realizing when I ordered them that they are single ply. 

I don't really like single ply yarns for something such as a blanket.  I'm not sure it would hold up to hard wear.  Maybe I can make a few scarves out of it.  My favorite scarf is knit out of single ply, and it's held up for several years now.

Finally, I've finished my front little flower bed.  I've added two marigolds.

And this celosia.  I think that's what it is.  I don't remember right off hand.  

And I finally found some zinnias.  

The one on the lower right has white blooms.  Now, I've just got to weed and put down mulch and it'll be done for this go around. 

Now, do you want to hear something freaky?  We really don't have privacy any more.  Seriously, we don't.   While I was in the Wal-mart garden center, I ran into a coworker.  We chatted a minute, and he said his wife had sent him down to buy a grill.  She wanted a grill, but he just wasn't that into grilling...blah, blah, blah...what we said is not important.  We were talking about grills, that's all.

As I was checking out, some few minutes later, I opened my Facebook app on my phone to make a snarky comment about long lines and only three registers open.  Do you know what I saw?

Ads for grills

I kid you not.  Ads for grills.  I have not searched for grills anywhere, nor priced them on Walmart.com, or Amazon.com.  I have not recently bought a grill.  I haven't really even thought about grills -- until my friend and I had that conversation. Fifteen minutes before I started getting ads for grills.

Maybe that Snowdon fellow was on to something. 

Sunday Hymn

Children of the Living God, come and sing, sing out loud
Children of the Living God, sing to the Living God

Coronation Day!

Today was my coronation day.  I am now a queen.

I went back to the dentist and got my crowns.  Tomorrow, I will show you a before and after picture.  Right now, my top lip is still numb, and I can't quite smile.  The dentist said it would take a couple of days to get used to my new teeth, and I haven't quite figured out how to chew yet.  This will be interesting. 

Note to self:  When someone says I have a nice smile, the correct response is, "Thank you", not, "It ought to be, as much as it cost."

As for today, my nerves are absolutely shot.   I've said for a while now that my group leader depends on me too much, and it's the truth.  Every so often, she pushes me just a little too far, and let's just say it's not pretty.  Today was one such day.  And it was not pretty.

After work, my supervisor and I discussed things.  I told him it's the little things.  I'm not an assistant group leader.  If I'd wanted to be a group leader, I'd have applied for the position when it came open.  I'm not her fetch and carry do-girl, or her personal servant.  I'm not her special helper, but that's what she treats me as.  I'm a sub-brazer, and that's all I want to be.  There is so much she could be doing herself that she's passing on to me.

Take this morning.  I told my supervisor that I knew we had a lot of partial orders to complete, and I was prepared to deal with that.  What set me off, though, was this.  Group Leader and [Other Coworker] were about halfway down the line.  Now, for those of you who work there, they were by the blower.  For those of you who don't, they were about halfway down the line.

Let me step out of my story for a moment to tell you that when need parts for something, we put in a request to the dispatcher.  He's the one who puts the work into the system, and assigns it to whatever machine/department/process is the one who makes those parts.  The dispatcher's desk is across the aisle from my line, about half way down.

Group Leader and Other Coworker were standing about halfway down the line, just a few steps away from the dispatcher's desk.  Group Leader gave Other Coworker a paper, and told her to bring it to me and tell me to request those parts from the dispatcher.  Other Coworker then walked right past the dispatcher's desk -- with the dispatcher sitting right there in his chair -- and brought the paper to me, saying, "[Group Leader] said for you to order these parts."

As I said to my supervisor, there was no reason that either one of them couldn't give that paper to the dispatcher.  Yet, they are so helpless and dependent on me that they had to interrupt my work and get me to do something they could have easily done.  It's almost like they forget I have work of my own to do.

What I didn't tell my supervisor is that even if one of them had given the paper to the dispatcher, he wouldn't have put it into the system without checking with me first.  "Do I really need to put this in, or are these parts laying around on the line somewhere?"  Which means, I still would have had interrupt my work, and walk all over the line hunting for those parts before he put them into the system.

I didn't sign up for this.

My supervisor said he's working on her not being so dependent on me.  I told him in the morning, I'm putting in for a vacation day.  He asked which day I wanted, and I said, "The first one that is open."  And this time, I'm not going to spend the day at the dentist!

My friend Ann posted a picture of her sock yarn blanket on Facebook.  She's sent me yarn for my blanket, too.  I thought it was time to post a new picture of mine.  This is the one I'm supposedly making for my sister.

I say supposedly, because at this point, I'm not sure it's ever going to be finished.  Well, maybe when she is old, she can cover her lap with it as she sits in her wheelchair.

I'll post a picture of mine another time.

In Flanders Fields

Normally, I post this on Memorial Day, but what with recent events in France, I couldn't wait that long.

This is a photo of the American Cemetery in Normandy.

Each cross -- plus many, many more not in this photo, and those in other cemeteries across France -- represents an American who died so that the French could live free.  They tossed the torch, and the French people dropped it.  No, they threw it down, and in so doing, spit on the grave of every one of these brave men. 

If you listen closely, you can hear their voices whispering, "If ye break faith with us who die, we shall not sleep" 

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Hitting The Fan

Friday morning, there I was at work, just a working away, when Third Shift Supervisor Josh stopped my stand to let me know everything was going to be alright.  He had [another day shift coworker] from [another line way across on the other side of the plant] to start coming in at 3:00 AM and help braze. 

"Oh, that's nice," I said through gritted teeth.  I wasn't going to say anything, because I'd already had my little arrangement with the second shift group leader, but it did make me mad.  If my production superintendent said he didn't need for me to come in early, why is it OK for someone that doesn't even work on that line to come in and do the exact same thing I'd been doing?  It's my line.  If anyone should be coming in early, it should be me -- or at least someone who works on that line.

Still, I kept my mouth shut and went on about my work, inwardly seething.  Sometime after lunch, My own supervisor stopped by to talk to me. He said, "There's something I'm a bit puzzled by..."  He said he'd gotten chewed out by the production superintendent for me coming in early, so he's a bit confused why it's OK for someone from another line to come in and do what I'd been doing.  Basically, the same argument I'd had.  He said he was going to ask about that.  I don't know if he did, because when I went in this morning, she was still coming in early, and I'm still not.  Group Leader Theresa gets back from vacation on Wednesday.  That's when it's really going to hit the fan. 

I'd pay money to see those fireworks. 

I only worked a 10 hour day today.  I told Second Shift Supervisor Rod that I was going home at 5:00.  He asked me, "Do you want to go?"  I said, "If you really need me to, I'll stay, but I'm just tired."  For some reason, working 7:00 to 7:00 exhausts me even more than 3:00 to 3:00 did.  It didn't help that I spent most of last night trying to avoid getting eaten by King Kong. 

Some of say you have nightmares about being naked in public.  If you think that's a nightmare, you have NO idea what nightmares really are.  You have NO idea. 

I long for something so tame as just being naked in public.  

Trust me, you do not want to be in my head while I'm asleep.  I don't even want to be in my head while I'm asleep. 

If I could live without sleep, I'd never close my eyes.

Naked in public...

Amateurs.

Sunday Hymn

Someone posted this song on Facebook earlier this week.  As soon as I heard it, I knew I had to share it with you.  This man is new to me, but I think I'll definitely be listening to more of his music.

And Just Like That

I have my overtime back.

And the way it happened was this.

It was the end of my work day, and I was cleaning up my area, getting ready to go home, when I spotted the second shift supervisor.  I waved.  He waved back, and came to speak.

"Are you still coming in at 4?" he asked.

I told him no, that my production superintendent told me I couldn't any more.  Now I'm coming in at 7.  As soon as I said that, his eyes lit up and is face began to glow, and he said, "So now when I need you, I can have you?"  Taken in the proper context, that is not nearly as kinky as it sounds by itself.

"Yes," I replied.  "And please need me."  Taken in the proper context, neither is that.

He said, "Oh, I will, especially on the weekends.  I'll tell you what, go ahead and stay until 4 every day."  He went on to explain that though the lines start working at 3:00 PM, the floater pool doesn't arrive until 4:00 PM.  I thought that was odd.  Since half the lines start at 3:00, you'd think they'd have floaters coming in at that time, too, but no.  He wants me to stay that first hour, then when the floaters get assigned, he'd reassess the situation and see if he needed me to stay until 7:00. 

We also made sure my Supervisor Calvin knew about it this time -- after what had happened with Supervisor Josh.  Calvin said, "Oh, she can't stay past 3:30.  She gets cranky and downright violent.  It wouldn't be a good idea."

I told Second Shift Supervisor Rod, "The way to solve that is very easy.  Simply retreat to a safe distance and throw chocolate.  I'll calm right down." 

Today, I stayed until 7:00.  If this keeps up, and I hope it does, I'll have to pack snacks to take with me.  I was so hungry when I got home, but my electricity was out.  I didn't have any way to cook anything.  Around 8:00, I'd decided I was going to fix me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and just as I was getting the bread out, the lights came back on.  I had scrambled eggs instead.

Yes, I'm allergic to eggs.  Yes, I eat them anyway, and yes, I'm feeling it right now.  That, combined with it already being past my bedtime, is why you get a short post today.  But I did want to let you know the good news. 

Oh, and show you my gardenia is blooming. 

It's got more blooms open now, but I haven't taken a new picture of it yet. 

Oh, and I'd planned on watching my old Star Wars VHS when I got home it being Star Wars Day and all -- but what with staying late and the electricity being off, I've postponed that to the weekend.   Still, May The Fourth Be With You.

Work By Day

It felt weird going to work with the sun already up.  Everything was visible.  Bright new day.  Clear skies, trees budding with new green life.

I didn't like it.

I felt like something that had escaped from Mommie Fortuna's Midnight Carnival.

Creatures of night, brought to light...

If you don't get that reference, it's from the novel The Last Unicorn, by Peter S. Beagle.  There is a cartoon movie out, too.  Someone had given it to my sister when we were kids.  A few years later, I was in a bookstore in the mall and found the novel.  Remembering how much she loved that movie, I bought the book for her.   I said to myself, "I'm just going to read this really quickly before sending it to her."  So, I did, and promptly went back and bought myself a copy.

I don't know if my sister ever read hers -- she's not much of a reader-- but I read mine so many times I can still quote you the first line.

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone.  She was very old, though she did not know it, and was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. 

If you haven't read it, I highly recommend this book.  It's not a good read-aloud book, though, because the chapters are really long, and there aren't many good stopping points.  If you're reading to yourself, this won't matter, because you won't want to put it down until you're done.

But I digress...

I woke up this morning at 2:15 and thought, "It's so nice to roll over and go back to sleep instead of being up to be at work by 3:00".  I woke up again at 3:45, had a brief moment of panic in thinking that I'd overslept, then realized I don't have to be at work by 5:00, and rolled over and went back to sleep.  I woke up a third and final time at 5:15 and thought, "Normally, I'd already be at work by now.  Oh, my overtime!  I want my overtime back!"

Alas, no overtime for me.  And apparently only for me...but we won't get into that here.

I got to work, and the morning seemed to go by so fast.  Before I knew it, it was lunch time, and I hadn't even finished my morning coffee.  It's amazing how much faster a four hour morning goes, rather than a six or eight hour morning. Because I got so much sleep last night, I had more energy than I knew what to do with.

All things considered, I'd rather have the overtime.

The Demeter perfume samples I ordered a week and a half ago finally arrived.  

I tried to test each one, but ran out of room in places my nose would reach.  So far, Petrichor is my favorite, though I do like Dirt -- which smells just like dirt when you spray it on, but dries to a kind of musky scent.  Ocean does not smell like the ocean, and Sunshine smells kind of vanilla-y.  Mountain Air smells really good, too.

I'll be bringing you more scent reviews as I try them.  The biggest disappointment was the shipping.  I paid $8 for shipping, and it took 10 days for the package to reach me.  I've had stuff sent from China faster, and for less money.

The good news is, the samples are pretty big, so I won't need to reorder any for quite some time. 

Just Like That

No more overtime.

Just like that.

Third shift supervisor Josh had asked me to come in early to help get the new line up and running.  Apparently, he had also asked half the plant to come in early to help get the new line up and running.  And it would seem that he didn't clear it with the production superintendent first.

When the aforementioned production superintendent saw all those people in the plant, he was not pleased.  The result of his displeasure is that he nixed all our overtime.  And I do mean all of it.  I don't even get my two hour set up and partial pick up time any more.  

Supervisor Calvin told me not to be mad about it.  I said, "I'm not mad, I'm just stressed because  I am having all this dental work done, and without that overtime, I don't know how I'm going to pay for it."  Calvin told me to hang in there.  Sooner or later, something will come up and he'd be able to get me a few extra hours.

On the plus side, when the second shift supervisor asks me to stay late, I can get many of those hours back.  Second shift is usually very short handed on the weekends, so he almost always asks.

On the plusser side, I get to sleep now.   It's been so long, I've almost forgotten what sleep feels like.

On the plussest side, you get blog posts again!  I know you're thrilled.  I actually had a post mentally composed for yesterday, but after working a 12 hour shift, I had to run to the store.  I briefly thought about coming home first, but I figured that as soon as I got here, I wouldn't want to leave again.  So, I went straight from work to get the few little things I needed.  When I did get home, as I was unloading my groceries, I looked at my front yard and said to myself, "Self, you need to get that grass cut before it gets out of hand."

As soon as I got my groceries in the house, I went back out and cut the grass.  The last thing I did before coming inside was to plant the new little plants I bought.

These are called Portulaca. Wal-mart still doesn't have any zinnias, so I'm thinking about going back up to Lowe's this weekend to see if they have any.  I need some topsoil anyway, to start filling in some of these holes and low spots in my yard.

And I got me a little tomato plant.  

This is a variety cultivated to be grown in containers, so I thought I'd try it.  I hope to get enough tomatoes for a few tomato sandwiches this summer.  Then I took a picture of my dahlia that is finally blooming.

Anyway, that is what I was going to post yesterday, but by the time I got finished doing all that, I was too tired.  I just took a bath and went to bed instead.

Now, we'll just see how long this no overtime thing lasts...