Here We Go!

Wow, the month of January flew past! And NaBloPoMo topic for February is "ties", so I guess I'll give it a shot!

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw the word "ties" was the Gonzaga game the other night. They were playing a team they really should have handily beaten, the "Dons" of San Francisco, but guess what?? The game ended in a TIE, and went into overtime. I must tell you here that I am not a sports fan...Or maybe I'm a fair weather sports fan, because I never miss the playoffs, the Super Bowl, the Big Dance, the Daytona 500, and on and on. But, I'm not a died-hard, watch-every-game- kind of fan. My husband, however, is a DIEHARD fan, and a fan of every single sport that exists. And when HE watches a Zags game, you'd better get out of the way...So, you can imagine the angst when the Zags went into overtime against a team he thought they should have easily beaten. Comments continuously emanated from the kitchen (where he watches a lot of his sports). "The Zags are gonna lose! Can you believe it?? They are going to LOSE!!" "Do you know they had a 23 conference game streak?? THEY HAVEN'T HAD A CONFERENCE GAME LOSS IN OVER 2 YEARS!! AND NOW THIS!!" There is also a lot of feet shuffling, fist banging and lots of 'damns'. Boy, life in this house would be a lot less stressful if colleges would just let their games end in a TIE.

What Does It Take??

Just what's it gonna take for me to get on this blog each and every day and post something fun, inspiring, thought-provoking or profound? How does one come up with a topic, each and every day, and be able to post it in an entertaining manner? What will it take to open this mind and pour forth joyful, creative ideas that I know for certain are locked inside?

I wish I could dream when I post. I have the most wonderful dreams! I'm always coming up with fantastic ideas (a little strange, but fantastic!) For instance, just the other night, I dreamed that my longtime friend IEG went into the hospital for surgery. It wasn't due to any kind of life-threatening issue, thank the Lord, but it was one of those pesky repair-type surgeries that you don't want to have but decide it's best in the long run to have it. Anyway, she was a little anxious about the whole thing. Somehow, she lived close enough so that I and all her facebook friends were able to visit her in the hospital. I got this great idea to throw her a pre-surgery shower....
About 2 hours before her scheduled surgery, as she was settling into her room, all of us set out to surprise and (hopefully) cheer her up. I went in first (her sister, SVG, was already there). I brought several helium balloons and lots of crepe paper. Her brother, along with countless other friends and family filtered in close behind me, with funny cards, encouraging wall posters and tons of gifts. Eventually, the cake arrived. We pulled IEG's bed out to the middle of floor (with her in it) We crowded around (about 3 layers deep) to watch her open her gifts. She was elated! People were cracking her up, she got countless fun gifts to look forward to following her surgery. Some folks brought their guitars and we all sang songs. It was great!! Eventually the nurses arrived, bustling about, trying to insert her IV's and sedate her for surgery. They were not at all pleased at the crowd, but IEG was in such high spirits that they didn't dare chase us out. And we were treated to a very amusing IEG as the sedation took effect.
As my dream ended, they were rolling her out of the room and down the hall - the helium balloons we tied to her bed wafting in the breeze, waving to us on her behalf. Someone was playing the theme song to "Rocky" in the background.....

When I awoke, it occurred to me that throwing a surgery shower for a person would be a strangely awesome idea! The idea of undergoing ANY kind of surgery is concerning and sometime even traumatizing for a person...A surgery shower should be an entitlement, like a wedding or baby shower. A person undergoing surgery DESERVES a nice warm send-off, with promises that they will be better soon. When better to give a person your support, encouragement, prayers and good wishes? When better to make them feel like a hero!?

A surgery shower would be a celebration in honor of the person - to convey to them that they are loved and supported. A little extra strength to get them through a tough time.

Wish I knew someone who was preparing for surgery. I would TOTALLY be there, fairly floating under the helium balloons, countless friends drifting happily behind me.....

Dichotomy

I HATE YOU...I Hate the way you've always made me feel. Hate the hurt you've caused me. Hate the belittlement. Hate the proselytizing, and then the switch! I hate your lure, your intelligence, your ability to make me think you loved me when you only needed me to complete a picture of yourself! I hate your sad childhood, your aloneness! Hate your lack of true family. I hate that still now, I love the way you select songs based on the lyric and not the tune. I hate that I still love your humor. I hate that you embrace the races, but hate the people! I hate your stark boldness and your lack of tact. I hate that you are alone, although I warned you of this outcome years ago. I hate that you hate yourself. I hate that I will always love you.

The S-L-O-W Time of Year

Well let's see...We are 16 days into the new year and I've already run out of things to write about!! Is that a sad statement about my ability to blog, or an even sadder statement about my life right now? It's not that I've haven't done anything yet this year, although I have battled a horrendous cold this past week. I don't want to post something just for the sake of posting, but HEY! This is supposed to be something I'm doing daily, so what is a person to do?? When in doubt, fall back on the animals in your life...They always make for scintillating conversation! I love my animals. My dogs provide me with no end of entertainment. My birds take up where the dogs leave off. Let me show you a few of the things THEY'VE been doing since Christmas:

This is how Goliath spent most of his Christmas Eve..Guess he was waiting for Santa.


"HAS SANTA CLAUS COME YET?"


"OH NO YOU DIDN'T JUST TAKE MY CHRISTMAS BONE!!!"



"OH YES, I DID!"


"Hey mom, would I look good with a perm?"


New Year's Morning, 2010

And this is pretty much where we lie. Yes, this household is getting a slow start on the new year!!

Never A Dull Moment At The Cube Farm!

I've spent the better part of my working life serving with a government agency. In addition to nearly 22 years at my current job, I spent nearly 8 years with the federal government - 3 of them were served overseas. My job is NEVER boring, but I think the most memorable moments have occurred in these last few years. To give you some idea of what recent days on the job have been like, let me share just a few questions we've received today. These are actual questions received by some of my co-workers, and some on the answers I would LOVE to give, if I had taken the call:

1. Can you tell me what my checking account number is? (Yes, big brother really IS watching you!)

2. I want to look at the jobs on your website, but I don’t want to have to pay the $9.00 fee. Could you tell me if you have any Diesel Mechanic jobs? (Could you tell me when we started charging a $9.00 fee?)

3. When does the new Ethanol plant open? (HMMMM....ETHANOL PLANT???),

And MY favorite:

4. I went to have my PIN reset through your website, but it sent it to my email address and that won’t work because I only check my email every two years or so.

I LOVE MY JOB!!! Let's hope the economy takes a turn for the better SOON!!

Tabor's

Tabor's to close this month


By Nick Rotunno
Shoshone News Press

January 11, 2009

WALLACE — Since the latter years of the 19th Century, Wallace residents have depended on Tabor’s.

But this month, with the economy reeling and money tight, the old corner store on Cedar Street will be shutting its doors. It will close down by Jan. 29; for the next few weeks shoppers can take advantage of 25 percent off deals on all merchandise.

Tabor’s has always been a resilient place. It survived the great 1910 fire; it burned down in 1931 but was soon back in business. A few decades later, in 1981, Lavigne Drug Group purchased Tabor’s and began guiding its transformation from office stationary supplier to all-around convenience store and pharmacy.

For 30 years the shop remained steadfast, a pillar of the Wallace business district — the one place where a consumer could buy apparel, sporting goods and medicine all in one swoop.

2010 marks the end of a long era.....

************************************************************************************

Tabor's is closing!!

Tabor's has been a mainstay in Wallace since before I was born. I remember my mother talking about the night Tabor's burned in 1931, when she and her sister raced downtown to be part of the excitement, and how she laughed at my Aunt as, by the time they ran back up the hill, up the uncountable steps to their house on the south hill, her precious silk stockings had managed to slip down, down, down around her ankles. I believe it was raining that night, and they were both soaking wet by the time they reached the top of those stairs. The silk stockings were reduced to two worthless pieces of flotsam.

I remember as a child, running downtown to Tabor's, to loiter in the comic book section, to meander through the store, to gaze at the unending office supplies and sundries. Tabor's was one of my favorite stores.

It's hard for me to realize that Tabor's will, as we've known it, no longer exist. Oh, the building will remain...A shell of it's once proud pillar-of-the-community self. Possibly many start-ups will rent space in the old brick building, only to be replaced a few months later by a stark, standing emptiness, as several other buildings in dear old Wallace have become. I and several other former residents will no doubt come back to Wallace periodically, and peer into the empty windows, recalling times when Tabor's was one of the true landmarks in Wallace.

I don't at all blame the current owners for closing the business. After all, business must HAVE business to continue to operate. But the closing of Tabor's to me is another death in the community of the Silver Valley and the string of mountain towns who once stood so tall in the Panhandle as well as our native State. I'll miss you, Tabor's, and I'll mourn your loss!

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY, SOPHIE!!

Today was my youngest granddaughter's 1st birthday party. Sometimes,pictures DO speak louder than words...





Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!!

1 Down, 51 to Go

Well, we've completed the first full week of the New Year. While it hasn't been an overly eventful week for me, there have been some real highs, and tonight I am simply exhausted. But, because I promised myself that I would write something every night, here I am. I apologize now if I don't make much sense tonight. My brain went to bed about 9:30 p.m. I think.

What were the highlights of the week? The 2 things that stand out in my mind are my first Scrapbooking Workshop (which was so very nice, for which I am thrilled), and of course JACKASS DAY, which doesn't just happen everywhere! On the whole, it was a very successful week, filled with promise for the new year! Forward and upward! Bring on Week 2!!

HAPPY JACKASS DAY!!

Today was Jackass Day on the mountain. In 1968, they opened a ski hill in our town (that's what we called them back then). They named it Jackass Ski Bowl. Today was the 41st anniversary of that opening. Today, our little ski hill is a full-fledged ski resort known as Silver Mountain. We have a beautiful little gondola village at the base of the mountain, complete with condos, restaurants, shops, and a very impressive indoor water park. Not to mention "the world's longest gondola". And today, to commemorate the grand opening of the "ski hill", Silver let everyone ski for $7.00 - The price of a lift ticket in 1968. I didn't realize this when I made my way to work this morning. As I arrived at the gondola base, the road running out front was literally choked with snowboarders and skiiers, to the point I could barely get through to travel on to work! I couldn't IMAGINE what must be going on to cause all the fuss on a Thursday morning at Silver. When I got to work, I asked several people what they thought was happening. It was a gloriously sunny day, so a few speculated that it was just a fantastic day to ski. I was skeptical however. I couldn't imagine THAT many adults and young people skipping work and school just to ski the mountain on a sunny day. Curiousity finally consumed me, so I pulled up the website to see what all the fuss was about. And that's when I learned of the anniversary. "Oh", I said rather loudly, "It's Jackass Day".

Now I don't work in a large office. It is an agency of state government, and we frequently work with a very disgruntled bunch of public citizens. Some can be downright rude at times. We of course cannot actually SAY they are rude - Not within earshot of our customers, anyway! So, as I cheerfully, loudly announced that it was Jackass Day, you can imagine the consternation on the face of the office manager as she came flying out of her office, headed my way!! The gal sitting across from me also looked a little horror-stricken; mortified that I would make such a public announcement! It didn't take me long to realize my blunder, and I immediately explained the reasoning for my remark. Both of these ladies immediately burst into laughter and relief, happy to learn that I had not just gotten off the phone with an unhappy customer and decided to declare a new holiday.

It is said that this mountain town was discovered by a jackass and is inhabited by it's descendants. Today everyone learned that I am, without a doubt, a proud native!

HAPPY JACKASS DAY!

New Year, New Commitment

It's January 6th (almost the 7th) and I'm just getting around to doing something I want to do in 2010...That is to write in this blog every day. I don't know how it will go yet. There are so many days where I simply have nothing to say that I feel would be worth posting in a blog. But, I've always fancied having a place to speak my piece - To express my view of things, warped as they often are. I have several friends who are faithful bloggers. I love to read their daily entries - Peak into their lives. I feel in touch with them that way, because most of them live far enough away so that I can't talk to them every day. Maybe I desire to do the same for them. At any rate, I've joined NaBloPoMo (? that's probably not quite right, but I'm new, so I hope they'll forgive me until I learn to properly state their name). This is something to help me stay accountable. I don't know why I need something or someone to be accountable to in order to do the things I want to or I should, but I do. I belong to WeightWatchers online, just to help me lose some necessary weight. I don't take advantage of their tips or recipes...I simply use it to log my weight each week. I could do that on a piece of notebook paper, but somehow, posting it online makes me feel more motivated to lose the weight! Go figure.

I've also made it a point to begin doing more activities I enjoy, so I am learning papercrafting. I'm doing that for several reasons. However, the 'A' type-part of my personality keeps creeping in, so believe it or not, I'm also selling the crafting supplies and teaching workshops! Interesting, since I don't yet know that much about it! Just another part of the conflicting lifestyle I seem to want to lead! It wears me out! I have health issues that require I get adequate sleep, yet I can't seem to get the sleep I need. Yes folks, I guess you could say I'm a walking contradiction, but I'm learning to accept it and trying to acquire some kind of balanced life. Many of my friends and family do get a great deal of entertainment watching my antics, so stay tuned...You may get a chuckle or 2 yourself! And now, I've managed to post the first blog as a "committed" blogger. Let's see how it goes.