Back To Work

 Well, that weekend went by way too short.  

I'm telling you, when that alarm went off at 2:45 this morning, I could have cried. I seriously thought about calling in and taking another day off, but if I'd done that, I'd have lost my holiday pay.  So, up I got and off to work I trudged.  

Where I spent the entire day whining that I wanted to come home.  

Sunday morning, I woke up with one heck of a headache.  Sinus pressure, stuffy nose, the works.  And I couldn't get warm, no matter how much hot coffee I drank, or how many blankets I put on my lap.  I finally got up and took my temperature.  

100.4

Dang!  No wonder I couldn't get warm.  I took some Tylenol, and settled in to take it easy for the rest of the day.  By evening, my fever was gone, and I felt a lot better.  I briefly considered using one of my taxpayer funded COVID tests, but since my fever broke so quickly, I decided it couldn't have been the 'rona.  Just a normal for this time of year sinus thingy. 

Other than that, my biggest excitement for the weekend came, as usual, courtesy of this creature right here.

Oh, what did she do this time?  Well, I'll tell you.  She brought a live chipmunk into my house and let it go!  Sigh...I spent two days trying to catch the thing.  I finally set out my live trap, and finally succeeded. 

You would be proud of me.  I didn't kill it.  He was just so little, I didn't have the heart to.  I carried the trap way out into the woods and released him -- hopefully far enough away he won't find his way back to the house. 

The bad news is, the plumber still hasn't come back to fix my sewer line.  I know he said he was swamped, but it's been nearly a week, and he hasn't shown back up.  I'm going to give him a few more days, then I guess I'll try to get someone else out -- if I can find someone else.  I swan, I'm running out of options here.

More bad news.  They changed the date of Fiber Fun In The 'Sip.  I'm going to have to go see if I can rearrange some of my vacation days to get that weekend off, now.  Then see if I can get a hotel booked, and the dog booked into his hotel, aka, the vet.  It's been three years since I've hung out with my friends, and 4 years since all of us were able to go, since Amy couldn't come in '19.  I was so looking forward to seeing them again.   My supervisor is good about pretty much giving us whatever days we want, too, so here's hoping.   

Finally, I know you're probably tired of hearing me go on about that show The Chosen, but you're just going to have to live with it.  It's too good of a show not to talk about incessantly.  Anyway, I was poking around on  YouTube, and ran across this video.  Watch it.  All the way to the end.  

Memorial Day 2022

 

Be Proud Of Me!

I'm free!  Well, until Tuesday, at least.  Three whole days to do just what I want to do!  And what have I done on this first of my three days off?  Exactly what I'd said I was going to do.  I vacuumed and shampooed my carpet, and mowed the yard and put out the weed killer.

 Be proud of me!  

I'd actually mowed yesterday when I got home, just to get it out of the way, but that's neither here nor there.  The point is, it got done.  Then, this afternoon, I got out and spread the weed killer, and watered it in.  I hope it actually works against this dollar weed.  The stuff is taking over my yard.  Seriously.  It's also supposed to prevent fire ants from building mounds, and if it does that, it'll be worth every penny I spent on it.  

The only other thing I did today was vacuum and shampoo my bedroom carpet, and once again, I was shocked and appalled at how much dirt came out of it.  I'm sure you don't really want to hear about that, though...  

All that to say I got up this morning and did everything I said I was going to do, except....I didn't go to the Farmer's Market on the Square.  

I do this every summer.  Anytime I have a (rare) Saturday off, I say I'm going to get up and go to the Farmer's Market.  I'm going to get me some fresh tomatoes and have 'mater sammiches, and maybe  some pattypan squash and make a pie, and get some Tea Cakes and jelly... But when the day comes, I don't.  I don't want to get dressed.  I don't want to comb my hair.  I just want to sit and be still for a moment.   Relaxing in the morning is such a rare thing for me, you know...but then, after the market has closed for the day, I say, "Oh, I wish I'd gone to the Farmer's Market!  I'm definitely going to go next time I have a Saturday off!'

But then, I don't.  And the next Saturday, and the next, and the next...ad infinitum.  

That was about it for my Saturday.  Maybe someday, something interesting will happen, and I'll have something worth talking about, but for now, here's a photo of the cat.  She knows how to nap, that's for sure. 

Random Thoughts Of A Tuesday Evening

1.  Yes, you read that right, and no, I did not forget what day it is.  This was actually the post I was going to write yesterday, but when I opened up my computer and heard about the horrible school shooting in Texas, suddenly, it didn't seem so important. 

2.  I have this sinkhole by my back fence.  

It's been there ever since I had all that plumbing replaced right after I moved into this house.  No matter how much dirt I put in there, it keeps coming back.  My fear was that it was somehow getting into the sewer line and washing down the drain -- so to speak. 

Today, I got home from work and checked my cleanout, and sure enough, it was backed up again.  I got my trusty Drain King and began flushing it out.  While that was going on, I put in a call to the plumber, and wonder of wonders, he answered the phone!  Well, it was his wife, but still.  

I explained what was going on, and she said it would be in the morning before they could come.  I said I'd be at work, but for them to just come do what they needed to do.  She called back a few minutes later and told me they'd had a job cancelled, so they could come today.  Cool beans!

They came out and ran a camera down the line...and right there where that sinkhole is, the pipes were full of mud.  Apparently, my fears were valid.  I told him I'd had the whole sewer line replaced just five years ago, and it had been that way ever since.  He asked who'd done the job, and when I told him, the look on his face told me everything I needed to know.  

The bad news is, they're going to have to replace the whole sewer line again.  The good news is, this time, it'll be done right.  It'll be a couple of days before he can get to it, though.  He's got a church whose whole line is collapsed, and they've got a Bishop coming this week.  Yeah, take care of them first.  I'll be OK.  

Before he left, he got his reamer thingy and cleaned out the lines as best he could, so it should hold me until they can get back to me.  I told him to do whatever he needed to do -- he didn't need to clear it with me first, just get it fixed.  It'll take a chunk out of my savings, but hopefully, this time, I'll be done with that fool sewer line.

3.  It was raining so hard this morning, Jesse wouldn't go outside to do his business.  Before I left for work, I told him if he needed to go, please, please, please go on the vinyl flooring and not on the carpet.  He's such a good boy, he did just what I told him to do.  He went on the vinyl and not the carpet.  I reassured him I wasn't mad, and I just cleaned it up.  That's a long time to expect a dog to hold it. And I'm thankful he didn't go on the carpet.

4.  Amazingly enough, they've given us the weekend off!  My plans for the weekend are to vacuum and shampoo the carpet in both bedrooms, then mow and spread my weed killer.  Notice, I said those are my plans.  Whether it happens or not is a different story.  

5.  I was practicing my piano the other day, and started learning a new song.  On the top of the page, I saw this note:

Hmmm, I thought, I ought to try that.  I went into my snake/craft/computer room and dug out my button box.  Inside, I found five large buttons and....let me tell you, it's not easy playing these things perfectly five times in a row!  

I'm used to multi-tasking when I practice, but to do this takes concentration.  It's also very time consuming.  If I continue to use this method, I may have to cut back to only learning one song per week.  Either that, or stop blogging.  Or stay off Facebook.  

6.  By the way, they're opening a Milwaukee Tools factory here. That's been the talk of the plant ever since they made the decision sometime last year.  I have debated back and forth over whether to apply once they start hiring for peon positions.  By the time they get up and running, I'll be 59 -- or nearly so.  I'm not sure I want to start completely over so close to retirement.  That's a lot of seniority and vacation time I'd be giving up.  

7.  It's been a week since my oral surgery, and I can finally have carbonated drinks again!  Naturally, the first one I had was a Dr Pepper.  Everything is healing well, though the extraction sites are still tender.  I'd tried to put my partial in Monday, but it was too painful, so I'm probably going to wait a few more days before I try again.  

8.  I guess that's all for today.  Laters  

Almost Forgot

 I almost forgot to blog today.  

I had a long, complex, interesting -- well, hopefully anyway -- post in mind, but I got so caught up in playing the piano, that I almost forgot to even blog.  But now, it's too close to my bedtime, so I'll just leave you with the photos of my new candles from my friend Kristine's shop.

Stormy Blue, on ETSY.  She's got so many good smelling candles, and these are two of her newest ones.  Petrichor smells just like wet earth, and Yellowstone smells like...well, like the sky before a thunderstorm.  Hmmmmm, I wonder what it would smell like if I burned them together.  

This being Memorial Day weekend, and hopefully, they'll give it to us, I might just try that, in the midst of all the other things I have planned to get done -- which I will tell you about later, and also which I probably won't get done.  

By the way, I'm starting to feel better, both physically and emotionally.  I always get in a bit of a funk after family visits.  No, not because they visit, but because once they're back up in  Memphis, or El Paso, or Alaska, I miss them so terribly much.   

If I had but one wish in this life, it would be that all my family could be together again.  

Now, I'm in a funk again.  I think I'm going to go play the piano a minute more, then go to bed.  Goodnight. 

Hi Ho, Hi Ho

 It's back to work I go.

It was rough, too.  Oh, the work day wasn't all that bad.  We only had 4 brazers out, which is good for us, and the work I got was pretty easy.  It was just me.  I felt awful. My teeth weren't really hurting, even though my face is still very swollen.  No, I just didn't have any strength.  I was dragging and listless.  I think my biggest problem is that I haven't really been able to eat since Tuesday.  I've been living on cottage cheese, protein shakes, and mashed bananas.  

For a moment there, I seriously considered coming home, but I didn't.  

I didn't go to the store after work, though.  I was sitting in my car and decided there isn't anything I really need to get today.  I might go tomorrow, depending on how I feel.  I'm hoping I feel somewhat better, since I managed to actually eat a full meal this evening.  OK, it was a Banquet microwave dinner, but still....  

Thus, there really isn't that much to talk about, but I wanted to show you my new Chosen swag.  I got the black Against The Current shirt

to match my bag, which I will be carrying to Fiber Fun In The 'Sip.  I'd just tossed the shirt in when I ordered, because I wanted both colors, but what I really wanted to buy was these:

They are the Bible study books that go along with the episodes in the series.  I can't wait to get started!

Does anyone else have these and want to go through them together?  That would be so great!

Let me know.  

P.S.  If you want to participate, but need to order the books, I am more than willing to wait.  

Well, That Was Interesting

 Yesterday was the big day.  

The day I was going to see the oral surgeon and get these diseased teeth out of my mouth.  Cody and Brennan had come down to drive me there, then hang out for several hours afterwards -- just to make sure I didn't have some sort of bad reaction to the anesthesia.  

Because I was going under the IV sedation, I couldn't eat or drink anything for six hours before the surgery, I got up that morning and kept myself busy cleaning the house -- after staying in bed as long as I could stand it -- to try to keep my mind off how hungry and thirsty I was. Oh, I wasn't going overboard with the cleaning, just sweeping, dusting, wet jetting the spots where the dog dripped food onto the floor -- that kind of thing.  

The house was actually looking fairly decent, until...the toilet in my bathroom overflowed.  Not only did it overflow, it did so when I was outside sweeping off the porch.  By the time I got back inside and heard the water dripping, my entire bedroom was flooded.  I could have cried.  

I hadn't had any problem with my sewer lines in weeks, and it had to pick that day, of all days, to clog up again.  I grabbed every extra towel I had and tried to sop all that water up, after I stopped the toilet from running, that is, but there was just too much of it.  Luckily, I had bought a wet/dry shop vac shortly after I moved into this house, so I grabbed it and began vacuuming up water as fast as I could.  

In the midst of all that, I grabbed my trusty Drain King and flushed my main sewer line again, then put in a call to yet another plumber.  He didn't answer the phone, naturally, so I left a message.  I told him to call after noon, as I had an appointment that morning.  Wouldn't you know it, he called right in the middle of my surgery.  Sigh...

After we got home, I asked Cody to call him back, and explain what was going on, and why I couldn't speak clearly, but he didn't answer, and never returned that call.  I swear, they must think we have nothing to do but sit around and wait on them to get around to calling, or showing up.   

My surgery went well, by the way.  When I woke up, the surgeon said, "You did great." And I thought to myself, "Why would he say that?  All I did was lay there and sleep."  

But seriously, I haven't had any problem out of these extractions.  So much so, I didn't even get my pain prescription filled.  Plain old Tylenol is doing a fine job.

I'm getting ahead of myself, though.  We got home from the surgery and my new work boots I'd ordered had arrived...aaaand they sent the wrong size.  I got onto the computer and started a return, and since we have a UPS store here now, I chose the option of taking it there.  I didn't even have to pack it up or anything.  I took it up there, gave it to the clerk, let her scan my QR code and she gave me a receipt.  "That was easy, " I said as I was walking out the door.  

Ahh,  I'm getting ahead of myself again.  I did that today when I went to get my antibiotic prescription filled.  While I was in town, I also got my oil changed, since my car has been nagging me for several weeks to do so.  Funny thing, the lady who works in automotive knows me somehow.  Every time I go in there, she greets me like I'm a long lost friend.  I just roll with it, because I don't have the heart to tell her I have no idea who she is. 

Where was I?  Oh, yeah, we got home from my surgery and I told Cody and Brennan not to expect me to be very good company and to help themselves to anything they could find to eat.  They made fish sticks and French fries for lunch.  Then I introduced them to my Speculoos Cookie butter that I'd gotten from Walmart, and now I need to add it to my shopping list.  

We watched several episodes of Gordon Ramsey Uncharted at Cody's request, then I rented American Underdog.  I might have to add that one to my permanent sports movie collection.  It was pretty good. But me, being the dork that I am, had to be the one to research the tornado they mentioned in the movie.   It was an EF-4, but back then, they called it an F-4.  I'm not going to mention any more, for those of you who haven't seen the movie.  

As soon as it was over, we decided that if I was going to have a reaction, I'd have had it already, so the kids left to head back to Memphis, and I went back to vacuuming up water from my bedroom carpet. 

Let me tell you, I was absolutely appalled at how filthy that carpet was.  My carpet shampooer had given up the ghost a few years back, and I had been reluctant to buy a new one, because only two rooms in this house have carpet in them.  I thought I could keep it reasonably clean just by vacuuming.  I thought wrong. 

So, today when I went to do my errands in town, I picked up a new one. 

It's small, and fairly inexpensive, but it'll do for just one room.  Mostly.  I mean, the other room has carpet, but since we don't use it, it doesn't get very dirty.  I won't need to shampoo it as often.  

 As soon as I got home, I unpacked it and shampooed the carpet.  This one is a lot easier to handle than my old one was, being smaller and slimmer in design.  I'm going to try to do better about keeping that carpet clean.  Wish me luck. Working 60 hours every week doesn't leave a lot of time or motivation to clean house.  

Even better, it seems to have gotten so much more water up out of the carpet than my shop vac did, so maybe I'll sleep better tonight.  Last night, even with the air conditioner running full blast, it was like sleep in a sauna.  A cold, clammy sauna, but a sauna none the less.  

That was how my day yesterday went.  It was like a perfect storm of everything happening at once.  That's how my life seems to be.  Everything always seems to hit all at once.  Today was better, even though I never heard from the plumber.  The only thing left I have to show you is this one last thing.

While I was getting my prescription filled and oil changed, I meandered through the garden center looking for Lantanas.  They still didn't have any, so I gave up, and picked up this Zinnia instead.  

I'm going to stick it there on the end of my lantana bed, and maybe I can find a lantana next year.  

And , look!  I've got more bluebonnets blooming.  

These are from this year's planting, so maybe they'll seed the bed for next year.  

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch American Underdog one more time before my rental period is over, and it's back to work tomorrow.  Sigh, I don't want to go, but somebody has to feed all these animals. 

Canceled Plans

Well, my day started off with a bang -- literally. 

I'd gotten to work bright and early...or at least early.  Nothing is bright at 4:00 in the morning.  Just wanted to make that clear, since I know most of you sleep through it. 

Anyway, I got to work, went to my stand and began setting up to begin my first order of the day, not really paying much attention to the other brazers around me.  Suddenly, without warning, I heard a massive 

BOOM.  

Now when you work with a flammable gas, booms and bangs are just part of the day, but this one didn't sound anything like a normal bang or boom.  It sounded like a bomb went off.  

I looked up and saw one of my fellow brazers running, and smoke coming from the middle of her stand.  "What happened?"  I asked her.  

"The regulator blew up!"  she replied.  The what?  I walked over an looked at the regulator, and sure enough, it was smoking, and the needle was completely bent.  The third shift group leader called the supervisor, and he came over and cut off the gas, then called maintenance to come replace the regulator.  And that was how my day began.  

The rest of the day passed pretty uneventfully, until right after lunch.  I'd gone to the thinking room for a minute, when I heard someone call over the radio, "We need delta plates to the front of line..."  I don't remember which line it was, but that doesn't matter.  

"They're going to have to wait, I'm in the bathroom," replied the delta plate parts stager.  

"We need delta plates!  The line is down!" replied the assembly line group leader.  

"Someone else is going to have to get them.  I'm in the bathroom," said the parts stager.

"But the line is down!"

"And I really am in the bathroom," said the parts stager.  "Hear this?" And she then flushed the toilet.  

Well, it was funny at the time.  I guess you had to be there. 

OK, moving right along.  The plan over the weekend was to cut all of this stuff is out of my roses and get them all cleaned up. 

 There is some sort of tree -- might be an elm, I don't know -- some poison ivy, a crepe myrtle, privet, and a bunch of other stuff that I've let get out of hand over the years.  So, yesterday afternoon, I got my loppers and got started.  Alas, I didn't get very far when I was severely chastised by an angry mama bird.  Upon closer inspection,  I found the nest, with what looks like a thrush sitting on it. 

I know it's not the best photo, but I didn't want to disturb her any more than I had to.

In that instant, my plans had changed, and the rose cleanup will be put on hold until the baby birds have flown the nest.

What did I do instead?  I came inside, binged the entire season 1 of The Chosen, and knit.

Now, if you are a knitter, you already know we knitters usually have multiple projects on the needles at the same time.  If you're not a knitter, we usually all have multiple projects on the needles at the same time.  This is so we don't get burned out.  When we get tired of one, we can pull out another one for a bit of a change.  

I'd been working on this scarf for what seems like forever, 

and I was sick of looking it.  I needed a break from it, so, I pulled out another scarf and worked on it for a while. 

The yarn is Lion Brand Mandala in Genie colorway, and the pattern is my standard, go-to One Row Scarf.    

It was when I tossed it down for a moment that I realized...

how perfectly it matched my new knitting bag.  Isn't that cool?  Now, I kind of feel like I need to save this project to take to Fiber Fun In The 'Sip with me, but I probably won't.  

Kindly ignore the blinding whiteness of my Scandinavian/Scottish/Irish ancestry, thankyouverymuch.  There is no such thing as a tan when you have that kind of DNA.  

Well, that's all I have time for today.  It's already way past my bedtime, and I still have so much I need to do.  

A demain.  

The Rumor Mill And Other Stuff.

It all started Wednesday, when we got back from lunch break.  That's when one of the brazers said, "Nobody has to wear masks any more.  The e-mail came out today."  

"Cool", I thought.  "No more masks!  Only a year after everyone else got to stop wearing them, but at least we finally got there."  

I was sure they would post the updated policy before the day was out, so I checked the bulliten boards on the way out the door at the end of my shift.  The notice wasn't up yet, but surely they'd get it up soon. 

Thursday morning, I checked again, but still no notice.  "Huh, maybe we'll have a meeting and they'll tell us then."  Again, no.  Not a word from either Group Leader Shark or Supervisor.  Friday -- the day the new policy was to actually take effect -- came and went, and still no word, no meeting, no notice posted, nothing.

This morning, I got to work and still not seeing anything posted, I messaged one of my friends and asked her to print out the e-mail and bring it to me, which she was glad to do.  I immediately posted it on the bulletin board in sub-brazing so that everyone in the department should be able to see it. 

The whole point of this post is to illustrate how terrible my company is at communicating with their employees.  We end up getting most of our information from the rumor mill, which of course, isn't always accurate.  The secondary point is that it would have taken literally 2 minutes to print out the change in policy and post it on the various bulletin boards around the plant, but they didn't. 

It took one single employee taking it upon herself do to what management should be doing -- which is the dissemination of information regarding policy changes -- but isn't.  

In other news, someone from my hometown spent several days photographing and uploading old yearbooks from the various school systems.  I've found several of my kinfolks in them. If you're not kin to me, this might be boring to you, so I won't be offended at all if you quit reading now.  For the rest of you, here we go:

In this first photo, my dad's first cousin Lewis Gunstream. 

This is interesting.  My dad is in this picture, and someone wrote his name on his photo.  That tells me whoever owned this yearbook knew my dad when he was...however old he was here. 

Here we have my dad's second sister, my Aunt Bonnie. 

You get a twofer here.  This is my dad, Walter L, and I think this must have been his senior year.  Right next to him is a cousin, Orys.  And another little tidbit, Betty Jo Grubbs would later marry a man whose last name was Hartley, and she was my 5th grade teacher.  

This is just a younger photo of Betty Jo Grubbs Hartley.  

This is a photo of my first cousin Judy Armstrong Brimm in seventh grade.  

And here we have my second cousin David Toronjo, before he became a doctor.  His mother Aunt Juanita, was my dad's first cousin.  No, she wasn't actually my aunt, but that's just what we do in the South.  All adult relatives are Aunt or Uncle, no matter how they're actually kin. 

This is Beverly when she was in 10th grade. 

Ah, here she is!  Aunt Juanita Sarver Toronjo!  Dad's first cousin. 

That's about all I have for today.  It rained most of the day yesterday and all night, so the yard is too soggy to mow.  

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

I Was Right!

Remember yesterday when I said we'd only have three brazers out today?  Well, give me a cookie, because I was right!

The brazer who only shows up to work once a week decided today would be her day to show up to work.  We almost had a full house, but not quite. 

The even better news is, they got the air conditioning fixed.  It was shortly after lunch, and I was just a working and sweating away, when suddenly the air coming through my fan felt...well, it felt cool.   

"Hey!" I said to myself, "That air feels cool!" 

I walked over to where the other a/c unit blows -- over by Roger 'n' 'em, for those of you who work there -- and sure enough, it was blowing cold air!  One of the parts stagers looked over at me with the question written all over her face.  I gave her a double thumbs up, so she came over there by me, and we just stood for a few moments savoring the cold.  

After a bit, I went back over to my stand and announced, "The air is back on!"  One of my less bright coworkers said, "The air conditioner has been out? "  Yeah, for four days.  Where have you been?  

Funny thing, earlier that morning, I'd joked that the part they'd ordered was on a cargo ship off the coast of California, and another not too bright coworker said in all seriousness, "Oh, is that where it is?"  I guess she's oblivious to the supply chain issues plaguing the country.  So, yeah, that joke fell flat.

Even better better news, they've finally let us take off our masks!  More than a year after everyone else in the state, but yippee!  My face is free!  No more Beardy McBeardface!

By the way, that's my supervisor, the man there with the bull horn.  Make of that what you will...

Random Thoughts Of A Thursday Evening

 1.  Day four.  We are on day four of no air conditioning in the plant.  This is not a pleasant experience, especially with the outside temperatures being up into the 90s.  I overheard some people saying that they'd had to order a part and were waiting for it to get in.  Hopefully, it'll get here soon.

2.  I completely forgot what I was going to say here.

3.  We're getting better over in the brazing department!  Tuesday, we had six brazers out.  Yesterday, there were five brazers out.  Today, it was only four. Maybe tomorrow, it'll only be three!  Of course, we won't be back at full staffing until the one who had the baby is back, and the one who broke her foot is back...but we take what we can get. 

4.  I'm going to have to skip the lunar eclipse Sunday, due to having to go to work Monday.  It's all very fascinating, but I'm sure it looks just like every other lunar eclipse I've ever seen.  

5.  Speaking of, it looks like it's going to be Fall before I can use my new telescope again, since this time of year, I go to bed before the sun sets.  I'd love to watch that eclipse through it -- the telescope, I mean -- if it weren't for that whole having to work thing. 

6.  Your vocabulary word of the day is schadenfreude.  Schadenfreude is that wonderful, happy feeling you get when you watch The Production Manager Formerly Known As Brazing Boss -- yes, the same Brazing Boss who used to tell us not to rush, not to listen to what the production manager was telling us, that no matter how badly the lines were rushing us, we had to take our time and braze slowly, and just make the lines wait -- absolutely losing his...um, marbles.. yes, let's say marbles...because he doesn't have any headers on the lines, and the lines are all down waiting on them, and he doesn't know what he's going to do...and all the brazers are laughing at him.  That is schadenfreude. 

7.  Cody and Brennan are coming down next Wednesday to drive me to the oral surgeon. I took Thursday off, too, since it's three teeth I'm getting extracted.  I tried to get Friday also so I'd have a nice long weekend, but I didn't realize that's the local HS Graduation.  Supervisor said there were way too many people already taking off, and I replied if I'd known it was graduation, I wouldn't have even bothered.  Since I no longer have a kid in school, I don't keep up with this stuff any more. 

8.  Anybody want to have a Chosen watch party Wednesday evening or Thursday?  

9.  Speaking of The Chosen, this is my absolute favorite scene of the entire series...well, so far. 

I mean, there are so many good scenes, it was hard to pick just one, but this one really spoke to me.  There is so, so much to unpack here, it will take a whole post unto itself to get through it all.  It's marinating in my brain, and one day, I'll get it all typed out for you.  Today is not that day, though, so you'll just have to be content with the clip. 

10.  I forgot what I was going to put here, too. 

11.  I guess that means it's time for bed, so goodnight all. 

Andrew In The Boat Days

There are good days.

There are bad days.

Then there are Andrew in the boat* days. 

Today was almost...almost, but not quite, an Andrew in the boat day.  It was so bad, I walked by and said to no one in particular, "Oooh, Lordy!" and my coworker replied, "I know, right?"  No other words were needed.  She knew exactly what I meant.  

It all started when I got to work, and ...wait, it all started when the alarm went off at 2:45 AM, which automatically makes it a bad start to the day.  But let's not talk about that.

There was a little bit of excitement when I got to work and there were cops at the gate.  They were standing there talking to the two third shift supervisors.  Hmmm, I wonder what's going on on third shift. 

I found out later that someone on third had gotten fired, but did not want to go gently into that good night, and they had to call the cops to get him to leave company property.  My friend laughed and said, "Why would anyone want to stay out here?"  Truly, it's a horrible place to work.  I'm counting down the days until I can retire. 

The day just went down hill from there.  We had six, yes SIX brazers out today.  The lines were right on us all day long, but did they send us any help?  Of course not!  They just stood over us shouting "WORK HARDER!!!! BRAZE FASTER!"  Figuratively speaking, of course. 

As if that weren't enough, they'd turned the air conditioners off, and it was hot in there.  I didn't think the day would ever end, but at long last, it did.  The plan was to come home and start digging up those daffodils I want to move, but that didn't happen.  I came home and sat.  Just sat...

So, in lieu of an action packed, fascinating post, you get....more garden photos!  Yay!  

OK, this first one isn't actually a garden photo, but it's something that popped up in a Lowe's flier last week.

 

It says it kills dollarweed, which is taking over my yard, and also kills fire ants.  It was kind of high, so I checked Walmart.  It was still a bit high, but less than at what it was at Lowe's, so I immediately ordered some.  If it does what it says, it'll be well worth the money.  I'm going to try to get it put out Sunday morning, and I'll let you know. 

Last week, I was checking the garden center for lantanas.  They still didn't have anyt, so  got a new petunia.

I don't know what variety this is, but thought it was pretty.   That's all that matters.  I decided to hang my petunias on the east side of my car port this year, instead of on the front porch.  That way, they'll get the softer early morning light, and be spared the harsh afternoon sun. I know petunias are supposed to be heat tolerant, but maybe Mississippi summer is just a little too much for them. 

Also, I'd mentioned digging up my daffodils, which I didn't do.  Here's the plan...I'm going to tear down that old fire pit out behind the back fence and just get rid of it. Then I'm going to dig up all this monkey grass on the East side of the house

-- which will be quite the chore in itself -- and  use the concrete chunks which make up the fire pit and build a raised bed right here.  I don't think I'll have enough to do the whole length of the house, but we'll see.  

Or I may not.  I don't know.  Somehow, I don't think it'll look as good in real life as it does in my head.  I'm really not very good at this sort of thing. 

In other garden news, I got out yesterday and planted a few more of my seedlings. 

Yes, I finally pulled up all those flags.  They were already starting to rust.  But by this time, I think the flowers are big enough, I'm going to know which ones I planted and what are weeds. 

One thing I don't really like about that seed starting tray I used is that the seedlings don't seem to form a good, tight root ball.  It seems to me it's too easy to damage the roots when getting the seedlings out of the tray.  I think that's what happened to this little baby. 

I watered him after I took this photo, and he perked up a bit, so maybe it'll survive.  Everything else in the bed is looking good, even my bluebonnets.

One of them is even putting out a new bloom!

And my lantanas are budding as well.

I love these, because both of my grandmothers had them in their flower beds.  I was so young when they died (I was 14 when my maternal grandmother died, and 22 when my paternal grandmother died), I feel like I didn't really get to know them all that well.  Having some of the same flowers they did makes me feel connected.  

BTW, the white powder is fire ant killer.  They also love lantanas.  Apparently.  

*The Chosen, Season 2, Episode 7 -- No spoilers.  You'll just have to watch it. 

My New Knitting Bag

This is going to be quick, as it's already past my bedtime, but I did so want to show you my new knitting bag. 

Behold the bag!

There is a story behind this.  I'd been wanting to get some Chosen merch, because I just love the show so much.  Well, last Sunday, I was actually logging in to go to the website and order this bag, when a message from the director Dallas Jenkins popped up.  Seems he'd declared May 2 as Chosen day, being as it was 5/2 -- as in five loaves and two fishes -- so they were having a sale on the Against The Current collection. 

Loaves And Fishes being the name of their production company, and yes, there is a story behind that.  You can find that story in the app, or on their YouTube Channel.  But I digress...

All you had to do was enter the promo code 52 and you'd get 52% off.  Huh, can't beat that with a stick.  

So, Monday after work, I ordered the bag and matching T-shirt. 

They even threw in a Come and See sticker for free.  

"Come and see," being, of course, what Philip told Nathaniel when he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"  I haven't decided where to put it yet, but I will someday.  And look at this: 

 Even the shipping bag had the logo on it.  Pretty cool, huh?  I want to get the black version of the T-shirt, too.  I'm going to be the envy of every one at Fiber Fun In The 'Sip this fall!  

But you don't have to be envious!  You, too, can get your own Chosen merch at www.thechosengifts.com.  Every purchase helps fund the show.  

Wouldn't it be cool if a whole army of us showed up wearing the shirts at FFITS?  

I think so.  

This Cat Of Mine

I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. 

Before we went to bed, I told her she should stay inside, because it was supposed to storm most of the night.  I even opened the door and showed her.  Sure enough, it was raining.  Thunder.  Lightning.  The works. 

"You can stay inside with us tonight.  Come on, let's go to bed,"  I said. 

So we did.

Not long after, she asked me to let her out.  "But it's raining," I told her.  "But I want to go out," the cat said.  "But it's raining," I said.  "Let me out!" the cat said. 

Throwing off the covers, I stomped to the back door and opened it, "See?" I said!  "It's raining! Now let's go back to bed."  "OK," the cat said. 

A few minutes later...

"I want to go out." 

"It's still raining."  

"But I want to go out."

"But it's still raining!"

"Let me out!  Let me out!  Let me out!"

"ALL RIGHT!!!!!"

Throwing off the covers, I stomped to the back door and opened it.

"What are you doing?" said the cat.  "I don't want to go out in that!  It's raining!"

"I know, right?  Now, let's go back to bed."

A few minutes later....

"I want to go out." 

"No." 

"I want to go out."

"No."

"Then I'm going to sit here and knead on your arm until you let me out." 

"I wish you would do that on my back.  That would be nice."

"No...not until you let me out."

And so it went...until around 11:00 PM, when the rain finally slacked off enough that she went on outside...whereupon I immediately slammed the door shut and locked it.

"Good night, cat!" 

Needless to say, sleep deprivation was the word of the day.  Or the two words of the day...whatever. 

Needlesser to say, I'm going to bed early tonight.

Goodnight...

Guess What Day It Is?

 Guess what day it is?  Well, yes, it is that, too, but it's more than just hump day.  It's also the day I bombard you with way too many photos of my flower beds!  Aren't you excited?

Before I get to that, there is something I forgot to tell you yesterday.  We have a new HR Director out at the plant.  Yes, another one.  They don't seem to last very long, do they? I can't say I'm sorry to see the other one go.  I've mentioned her before.  We called her Karen, even though that wasn't her name. She was a piece of work.  She won't be missed.

By the way, that's how you know you've got some serious problems.  When your turnover rate is high among employees, you've got problems, but when your HR Department has a revolving door on it, you've got serious problems.  

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for...or not.  But here it is anyway.  My flower beds!  

This afternoon I got out and transplanted several more of my seedlings into the big beds.  

And yes, I've gotten almost fanatical with the marking flags.  I've had lawn care folks weedeat too many of my plants down, so I've gotten a bit paranoid.  Thus, every thing is flagged.  And I do mean every thing.  

I still have quite a few more seedlings to transplant,   

but I'm quickly running out of room.  This is all the space I have left.

I'd originally thought I'd clean out this old fire pit and use it as a flower bed,

but the more I think about it, the less I really want to do that.  I'm tired of mowing around it, and kinda just want to get rid of it.  That will still require digging all of the trash out of it, but I hope to get started on it after this next round of storms comes through.  I might still transplant my daffodils into that spot, though, because once they die back, I can just mow them down like they weren't even there. 

I'll still have to figure out what to do with the rest of my seedlings, though.  I'll probably just plant them in this spot -- meaning the old fire pit -- and leave them to fend for themselves.  I keep hoping they will reseed themselves and I'll have a nice wildflower patch eventually.  But then, I'd have to be mowing around that, so nah, not gonna do it.  I'll just cram them into the front bed.  

Since my life is so dull at the moment, I think I'll just show you a few more pictures of my flora, then let you go.  This is my bachelor's button.  It's gotten really big.  I hope some of those other things sprouting end up being more of these. 

Marty Mac is doing well, putting out new traps like crazy. 

He's also had another bloom open, and you can see at least three more waiting in the wings. 

And lastly, my lantanas are really coming on.  

On the far side of that flower bed, at the top of the photo, I have room for one more, but so far, Wally World hasn't gotten any in this year.  They may get some later, so I'll keep looking, but so far, no joy.  If they had given us this weekend off at work, I was thinking about running up to Lowe's and seeing if they have any, but alas, we are scheduled to work Saturday.

For some reason, they've decided I'm the one who needs to put the notice up on the board, and when the dispatcher brought me the work schedule to post, I said, "You're trying to get me killed over here!"  He said, "Tell them you're just the messenger," to which I replied, "But they always shoot the messenger!" 

My coworker said it best, "It's not even about the holiday.  I'm just tired." 

Boy I know that feeling...

Whelp, that's all I have for today, so I'll leave you in peace.  Until next time...