It finally snowed!!!!! This was a very weird year. It usually always snows before Halloween. But, this year, we got nothing until today. I’m blaming it on my brother. He moved to Denver earlier this year and he really likes the snow. If you ask him, he’ll tell you the same thing. Now, we just have to get the people of Denver to remember how to drive in the snow. There were so many accidents today that the news just threw out a number instead of outlining some of the worst ones. It’s supposed to continue into tomorrow, so it’s going to be a frosty New Year’s Eve. They shoot fireworks off of the top of the building across the street from where I work at midnight. Usually a ton of people show up. I wonder how many hard core partiers are going to be there tomorrow night. Yesterday, the news was saying we were going to get a foot downtown, but it wasn’t that bad. I did have to drive to work the whole way in second gear, but most of the roads were being plowed. The worst part is the side roads.
I swore off beans a long time ago, I’m sure you can guess the reason. Well, I had a microwavable dinner that was supposed to be barbeque beef brisket. The cover looked really good. I didn’t look at the whole picture, because more than half of it was beans. I can already feel it building. I feel sorry for the guy that has to work with me tonight. No matter what state you are in, if you hear a loud explosion, don’t think it is New Years coming early. It will just be me.
I made some good headway last night. I finished chapter 22 and 23. I’m going to start 24 today. And, last night, I couldn’t get the next three chapters out of my head. I don’t think I can finish three in one day, but I need to get them down before I lose them. I’m putting in Quiet Riot, Ratt, White Lion and Great White into the playlist for background music. That should keep the juices flowing.
-Thom
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Dec 29
All right, this is the last time I’m going to mention Subway breakfast sandwiches, unless I go again and get another incredible one. This time, I went and got a flatbread foot long and I put onions and southwest sauce on it. Yes, it was mouthwatering. I even dreamed about it after I ate it. So, I’m going to have to not go there again for a while so that I don’t wear it out.
My imaginary person I created to cheat at Farmville on Facebook friended my youngest daughter just to see if she would accept a friend from a stranger. Can you believe it, she accepted. Now, I’m going to have to send her weird messages from him. No, just kidding. I wouldn’t do that. But, when I confronted her about it, she said that she has all of her friend messages redirected to her phone and she just automatically accepted him without looking. A likely story, but she probably did. So, I told her to make sure she checks from now on. Maybe I’ll make up another one to see if she’ll do it again.
Today was a lazy day for me. I think the only meaningful thing I did was go get my granddaughter. I didn’t even drop her off. But, it wasn’t my fault. My wife and her parents and the kids and a bunch of cousins were over making something that I can barely say much less spell, so I’m not going to even try to guess. What they are, are deep fried homemade tortillas coated with a light sprinkle of sugar. They are very good and very crumbly and I usually get them all over the place when I eat them. Since they were all doing that, and I can barely find my way from the stove to the refrigerator in the kitchen, I went into the living room upstairs and watched TV. I must have seen every episode of Two and a half men while they were all slaving away downstairs cooking. I actually thought about going down and lending some moral support, or even watching the baby. But, as the next episode came on, I rolled over to the other cheek and decided against it. Yeah, I’m a bad dad, husband, and grandpa.
I’m getting a little upset about one of my nephews. His name is Josh. If anyone is reading this you can tell him that I’m upset. I still have a set of my books to give him as a Christmas present. I called him on Christmas. I was going to bring them down or he could come spend Christmas dinner with us and pick them up. He doesn’t have a car as far as I know, and my son was going to pick him up. But, he spent the holiday with his new girlfriend and her family. Later, I asked everyone where he lives, because he moved and I don’t know where it is. But, no one can tell me. I might have to break down and call him again. But, that would be too easy. I think it will be more challenging if I continue to ask strangers on the street like I have been doing.
I cranked out a short chapter yesterday and a regular one, so I’m on chapter 22 today. I’m putting the radio on in the background because I told you earlier that I’m being lazy today and I don’t want to go through the song list to guess on what I want to listen to today.
-Thom
My imaginary person I created to cheat at Farmville on Facebook friended my youngest daughter just to see if she would accept a friend from a stranger. Can you believe it, she accepted. Now, I’m going to have to send her weird messages from him. No, just kidding. I wouldn’t do that. But, when I confronted her about it, she said that she has all of her friend messages redirected to her phone and she just automatically accepted him without looking. A likely story, but she probably did. So, I told her to make sure she checks from now on. Maybe I’ll make up another one to see if she’ll do it again.
Today was a lazy day for me. I think the only meaningful thing I did was go get my granddaughter. I didn’t even drop her off. But, it wasn’t my fault. My wife and her parents and the kids and a bunch of cousins were over making something that I can barely say much less spell, so I’m not going to even try to guess. What they are, are deep fried homemade tortillas coated with a light sprinkle of sugar. They are very good and very crumbly and I usually get them all over the place when I eat them. Since they were all doing that, and I can barely find my way from the stove to the refrigerator in the kitchen, I went into the living room upstairs and watched TV. I must have seen every episode of Two and a half men while they were all slaving away downstairs cooking. I actually thought about going down and lending some moral support, or even watching the baby. But, as the next episode came on, I rolled over to the other cheek and decided against it. Yeah, I’m a bad dad, husband, and grandpa.
I’m getting a little upset about one of my nephews. His name is Josh. If anyone is reading this you can tell him that I’m upset. I still have a set of my books to give him as a Christmas present. I called him on Christmas. I was going to bring them down or he could come spend Christmas dinner with us and pick them up. He doesn’t have a car as far as I know, and my son was going to pick him up. But, he spent the holiday with his new girlfriend and her family. Later, I asked everyone where he lives, because he moved and I don’t know where it is. But, no one can tell me. I might have to break down and call him again. But, that would be too easy. I think it will be more challenging if I continue to ask strangers on the street like I have been doing.
I cranked out a short chapter yesterday and a regular one, so I’m on chapter 22 today. I’m putting the radio on in the background because I told you earlier that I’m being lazy today and I don’t want to go through the song list to guess on what I want to listen to today.
-Thom
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Dec 28
This isn’t the way I usually start this, but everyone has to go to Subway to get a breakfast sandwich. Either I’m tired of McDonalds or Burger king or whatever, but when I dropped off my wife at work today, we stopped off at a new Subway that opened up near her building. I didn’t even know they had breakfast sandwiches or were open that early. But, we went in and I was looking over their breakfast menu. There wasn’t a lot of stuff, so I ordered one with turkey, ham, and bacon on wheat. My wife got the same thing but on flatbread. I assumed flatbread was going to be a tortilla. It wasn’t. It was more like a Panini. Well, they put them in the same bag and when we split them up so that she could go to work and I could go home, we mixed them up. I have to tell you, that flat bread sandwich was the best breakfast sandwich I have ever eaten. It’s ten thirty at night right now, and I’m still thinking about it. I might have to take my wife to work tomorrow instead of going to sleep just so that I can get another one. This time, I’ll get one with onions and southwest sauce on it. My wife had tomatoes and jalapenos. (Even when you scrape them off, you can still taste them. Still, the sandwich was incredible)
This is how I should have started the blog. My daughter signed the papers today to go into the Army. She officially belongs to the government now. If you’re familiar with Denver, you’ll appreciate this, if not, you can just skip ahead. We live within the city limits of Denver. But, we used to live up north in Thornton. And, I used to pass a recruiting station every day when going back and forth to work. So, I was very familiar with where it was. So, when my daughter told me she wanted to go into the military, we went there instead of trying to find somewhere closer. So, to get to her physical, she went up there. They then bussed her down south into the tech center which is about an hour away by car. She spent the night there in a motel where they gathered everyone from around the state that was enlisting. Then, in the morning, they bussed everyone into downtown Denver to take their physical, sign their papers, and swear them in. The MEPS center is less than five minutes from our house. She could have just walked there and saved everyone the trouble.
My eldest daughter is very excited about going in and I’m very very proud of her. She’s going to start as an E3 because of her JROTC experience. She’s going to Ft. Jackson North Carolina for boot camp and then Ft. Jackson Georgia for her MOS training. She also has her reserve duty station here in Denver after that. While she’s finishing high school, she can report to her duty station and work there whenever she wants and get paid for it. She’s already got enough credits to graduate, but she wants to finish out the school year so she can attend her prom and military ball.
I found out that the new company that I work for might not be living up to all of their promises. There have been many things so far, but the most important is vacations. They sent us a handbook out and said that instead of giving vacations, they were only going to give a $200 anniversary bonus. That really sucks. I’m going to need a vacation to go see my daughter’s boot camp graduation and to take my wife on out 20th year anniversary. The boss is looking into it for us. It had better be good news.
Well, I better get started at work. Until tomorrow
-Thom
This is how I should have started the blog. My daughter signed the papers today to go into the Army. She officially belongs to the government now. If you’re familiar with Denver, you’ll appreciate this, if not, you can just skip ahead. We live within the city limits of Denver. But, we used to live up north in Thornton. And, I used to pass a recruiting station every day when going back and forth to work. So, I was very familiar with where it was. So, when my daughter told me she wanted to go into the military, we went there instead of trying to find somewhere closer. So, to get to her physical, she went up there. They then bussed her down south into the tech center which is about an hour away by car. She spent the night there in a motel where they gathered everyone from around the state that was enlisting. Then, in the morning, they bussed everyone into downtown Denver to take their physical, sign their papers, and swear them in. The MEPS center is less than five minutes from our house. She could have just walked there and saved everyone the trouble.
My eldest daughter is very excited about going in and I’m very very proud of her. She’s going to start as an E3 because of her JROTC experience. She’s going to Ft. Jackson North Carolina for boot camp and then Ft. Jackson Georgia for her MOS training. She also has her reserve duty station here in Denver after that. While she’s finishing high school, she can report to her duty station and work there whenever she wants and get paid for it. She’s already got enough credits to graduate, but she wants to finish out the school year so she can attend her prom and military ball.
I found out that the new company that I work for might not be living up to all of their promises. There have been many things so far, but the most important is vacations. They sent us a handbook out and said that instead of giving vacations, they were only going to give a $200 anniversary bonus. That really sucks. I’m going to need a vacation to go see my daughter’s boot camp graduation and to take my wife on out 20th year anniversary. The boss is looking into it for us. It had better be good news.
Well, I better get started at work. Until tomorrow
-Thom
Monday, December 27, 2010
Dec 27
Christmas went great. There were a bunch of little problems leading up to it, but when the day arrived everything went very smoothly. Both of the girls received laptops. My youngest managed to download a virus on the first day. (We’re so proud.) It was a system tool virus. In fact, it was a system tool 2011 virus. Whoever made it upgraded it. It was a nasty one to begin with, and it still is. I pulled it off, and warned her how to avoid it in the future. My son received a charcoal grill. He likes cooking outside. It has a main grill and a little sidecar grill. We placed it under the stairwell at his apartment about two weeks ago, because it was too big and we didn’t have any place to hide or store it. His apartments require all of the grills and bikes to be housed under the stairs. We locked it up and were planning on putting a big bow on it. I was going to wrap up the key to the padlock inside a huge box. But, none of that happened. I put the padlock keys in my jacket pocket and then tossed my jacket into the backseat. Yep, they slipped out and I lost them. My eldest daughter found them and put them somewhere, but couldn’t remember if it was in her pocket or inside the car somewhere. We searched and searched but couldn’t find them again. On Christmas Eve, we brought one of my granddaughter’s presents down to their apartment, but remembered that we forgot the bow after we got there. Luckily on Christmas morning, the kids came down to our house to unwrap presents. While they were loading the baby’s gifts into their car, my daughter in-law found the keys lying in the alley. So, we didn’t have to cut the chain off. My daughter in-law received a new phone. But, we let her have it before Christmas. (She needed it) So, we wrapped the empty box and she had to pretend it was in there. My wife received a Kendle. She also received a bunch of romance books, so she hasn’t used it yet. She wants to get the book books out of the way first. What is really going on is she shares her books with one of the ladies at her job. So, if she starts using the Kendle, she won’t be able to share with her anymore. So, I’m going to be on her friend’s hit list when she finally runs out of books. All in all, everything worked out really well.
Christmas dinner was enormous. We had Turkey, Ham, and Roast Beef plus all of the trimmings. I ate waaaaaaay too much. But, I still managed to cram a slice of pumpkin pie in there somewhere. I’m not really a drinker anymore. In my earlier days, I was probably an alcoholic. I used to drink like a fish. But, I don’t really have much anymore. I remember one of the lieutenants in my company in the Marines tell me that if he drank a six pack a year, he was over indulging. I didn’t believe it was possible for someone to only drink a six pack a year. But, I’m pretty much there now. (It’s weird what age will do to you) But, anyway, my brother in-law brought over a bottle of rum. (He actually brought over several bottles) My wife broke out the cards and we started playing poker. Since it was a special occasion, I had a drink while we were playing. It wasn’t strong and I nursed it for quite a while. But, by the end of the night I had three or four. My wife had about ten. It seemed like we were drinking and playing all night, but when we finally got up so that people could start leaving it was only seven thirty. (Did I mention I was getting old?)
My books were a big hit. I handed out a copy of each of them to all of the families. Between my family and my wife’s family, it was eighteen sets of eleven. (Yes, them puppies were heavy) There is only one set left that goes to one of my cousins. He was spending Christmas with his girlfriend and her kids and her parents. I’ll get them to him as soon as I can. But, I had to work on Sunday so I didn’t get a chance yet. One of my wife’s sister’s boyfriends turned out to be a poetry writer. He turned out to be an ok guy. He asked about how to self publish so I hooked him up with Createspace and Smashwords. He recited one of his poems and it was pretty good. I hope he does well. I’ll put a link on my website to where you can preview his book when he gets it ready.
Woo Hoo, the Broncos won another game. Tim Tebow the rookie quarterback did much better this week than last week. For the first part of the game, they were still making him throw only short passes to the sidelines and little screens. Needless to say we went down by more than two touchdowns before the half. The coach must have gotten a hint by the way that the crowd was booing him that everyone wanted Tebow to open up. It was the second to the last game of the season and they might as well let him show everyone what he could do. The second half was much better. We ended up winning 23 to 24. At least the coach didn’t have him run so much. Last week he ran the ball about ten or fifteen times. If they kept that up, he would have gotten hurt and then where would we be. (He did run in the final touchdown, but he did try to pass before he ran it) The only bad thing that came out of the win yesterday was the fact that we lost the first draft pick. If we lose next week, we might get the second pick. But, I’m going to that game and I don’t want to see them lose. (When is baseball going to start?)
I had to work on Sunday, so since I wasn’t able to watch the game, I was able to get a little farther than I expected on Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. I’m on chapter 20 now. I should be able to get that knocked out today depending on what’s happening. I’ll start it in about four hours. Until then, I better save some stuff for tomorrow’s post. See ya then.
-Thom
Christmas dinner was enormous. We had Turkey, Ham, and Roast Beef plus all of the trimmings. I ate waaaaaaay too much. But, I still managed to cram a slice of pumpkin pie in there somewhere. I’m not really a drinker anymore. In my earlier days, I was probably an alcoholic. I used to drink like a fish. But, I don’t really have much anymore. I remember one of the lieutenants in my company in the Marines tell me that if he drank a six pack a year, he was over indulging. I didn’t believe it was possible for someone to only drink a six pack a year. But, I’m pretty much there now. (It’s weird what age will do to you) But, anyway, my brother in-law brought over a bottle of rum. (He actually brought over several bottles) My wife broke out the cards and we started playing poker. Since it was a special occasion, I had a drink while we were playing. It wasn’t strong and I nursed it for quite a while. But, by the end of the night I had three or four. My wife had about ten. It seemed like we were drinking and playing all night, but when we finally got up so that people could start leaving it was only seven thirty. (Did I mention I was getting old?)
My books were a big hit. I handed out a copy of each of them to all of the families. Between my family and my wife’s family, it was eighteen sets of eleven. (Yes, them puppies were heavy) There is only one set left that goes to one of my cousins. He was spending Christmas with his girlfriend and her kids and her parents. I’ll get them to him as soon as I can. But, I had to work on Sunday so I didn’t get a chance yet. One of my wife’s sister’s boyfriends turned out to be a poetry writer. He turned out to be an ok guy. He asked about how to self publish so I hooked him up with Createspace and Smashwords. He recited one of his poems and it was pretty good. I hope he does well. I’ll put a link on my website to where you can preview his book when he gets it ready.
Woo Hoo, the Broncos won another game. Tim Tebow the rookie quarterback did much better this week than last week. For the first part of the game, they were still making him throw only short passes to the sidelines and little screens. Needless to say we went down by more than two touchdowns before the half. The coach must have gotten a hint by the way that the crowd was booing him that everyone wanted Tebow to open up. It was the second to the last game of the season and they might as well let him show everyone what he could do. The second half was much better. We ended up winning 23 to 24. At least the coach didn’t have him run so much. Last week he ran the ball about ten or fifteen times. If they kept that up, he would have gotten hurt and then where would we be. (He did run in the final touchdown, but he did try to pass before he ran it) The only bad thing that came out of the win yesterday was the fact that we lost the first draft pick. If we lose next week, we might get the second pick. But, I’m going to that game and I don’t want to see them lose. (When is baseball going to start?)
I had to work on Sunday, so since I wasn’t able to watch the game, I was able to get a little farther than I expected on Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. I’m on chapter 20 now. I should be able to get that knocked out today depending on what’s happening. I’ll start it in about four hours. Until then, I better save some stuff for tomorrow’s post. See ya then.
-Thom
Friday, December 24, 2010
Dec 24
Merry Christmas everybody!!!!!
I’m working an evening shift today instead of a graveyard, so I get off at ten, only four more hours. Then I get to be Santa and start assembling stuff. I can’t wait until Christmas morning. This is the first time I’m going to be completely off the entire day in about five years. It’s going to be great.
My last package arrived at the house while I was at work. I was tracking it over the internet. But, I don’t know if anyone was there to receive it. A lot of the time, they will just leave it on the porch. I’m hoping that is what happened. Or, maybe someone was there when it arrived, brought it inside, and then left. I’ve been texting my youngest daughter all afternoon to go and check for me, but she’s out getting the last of her Christmas shopping done with her mom and sister. I was trying to be sneaky by texting her. But, she was in the car a little while ago and called. Unbeknownst to me she had the phone on speaker. I told her to get the box when she got home, take it upstairs, wrap it, and slap a “To Mom from Santa” tag on it. That was when I heard my wife laughing and knew it was on speaker. (I am the worst person in the world when it comes to being sneaky.)
It is so slow at work today that it is a wonder that we have to be here. But, I want that paycheck, so I better stick it out. There are only three hours and forty five minutes left before I’m off now. I think I can tough it out.
Well, I better get going.
Merry Christmas to everyone again!!!!!
-Thom
I’m working an evening shift today instead of a graveyard, so I get off at ten, only four more hours. Then I get to be Santa and start assembling stuff. I can’t wait until Christmas morning. This is the first time I’m going to be completely off the entire day in about five years. It’s going to be great.
My last package arrived at the house while I was at work. I was tracking it over the internet. But, I don’t know if anyone was there to receive it. A lot of the time, they will just leave it on the porch. I’m hoping that is what happened. Or, maybe someone was there when it arrived, brought it inside, and then left. I’ve been texting my youngest daughter all afternoon to go and check for me, but she’s out getting the last of her Christmas shopping done with her mom and sister. I was trying to be sneaky by texting her. But, she was in the car a little while ago and called. Unbeknownst to me she had the phone on speaker. I told her to get the box when she got home, take it upstairs, wrap it, and slap a “To Mom from Santa” tag on it. That was when I heard my wife laughing and knew it was on speaker. (I am the worst person in the world when it comes to being sneaky.)
It is so slow at work today that it is a wonder that we have to be here. But, I want that paycheck, so I better stick it out. There are only three hours and forty five minutes left before I’m off now. I think I can tough it out.
Well, I better get going.
Merry Christmas to everyone again!!!!!
-Thom
Thursday, December 23, 2010
Dec 23
This is my 100th posting, so ENJOY.
Most of the books are delivered. My wife is going to deliver the last few tomorrow for me and then all of my Christmas shopping will be done. This is the first year ever that my shopping has been done before Christmas Eve. We decided to have my son’s family come over to us instead of us going over there. There is just no way that we would be able to fit all of the presents and all the kids in the car to get them down there. It isn’t because there are hundreds of presents, but there are several really large ones. (One of them just holds a small key to a lock, but I put it in a box that would hold a dresser.)
Not much happened today. It was laundry day. (Yuck) But, we did go out and eat afterwards. We went to a place called Santiago’s. It’s a really good and really small Mexican food place. The last time we went there, we all ordered medium as far as the chili they used to smother their burritos. I don’t know what they mean by medium, but what we got just about set fire to my hair. I can just imagine what hot would have tasted like. So, I ordered mild today. I told him that I wanted it so mild it came out of their oven cold. To me, it was just perfect. To my wife and kids, it was too mild. So, next time, they’re going to get theirs half mild and half medium. (They might have called me a little girl for liking the mild, but I won’t be the one shooting flames out of my you-know-what tonight.)
I created a pretend person on Facebook and I just made him one of my friends. I don’t particularly like playing the games on Facebook, but I’ve been participating on the Farmville one because everyone keeps sending me gifts. So, I thought that I would use my fake friend to send me some stuff to finish my barn. I need some nails or something. So, yes, I’m going to cheat at a game I don’t even really want to play.
I’m taking another day off today. I got into my audio book last night and I need to finish it today. So, until next time, I’m going to get to it.
-Thom
Most of the books are delivered. My wife is going to deliver the last few tomorrow for me and then all of my Christmas shopping will be done. This is the first year ever that my shopping has been done before Christmas Eve. We decided to have my son’s family come over to us instead of us going over there. There is just no way that we would be able to fit all of the presents and all the kids in the car to get them down there. It isn’t because there are hundreds of presents, but there are several really large ones. (One of them just holds a small key to a lock, but I put it in a box that would hold a dresser.)
Not much happened today. It was laundry day. (Yuck) But, we did go out and eat afterwards. We went to a place called Santiago’s. It’s a really good and really small Mexican food place. The last time we went there, we all ordered medium as far as the chili they used to smother their burritos. I don’t know what they mean by medium, but what we got just about set fire to my hair. I can just imagine what hot would have tasted like. So, I ordered mild today. I told him that I wanted it so mild it came out of their oven cold. To me, it was just perfect. To my wife and kids, it was too mild. So, next time, they’re going to get theirs half mild and half medium. (They might have called me a little girl for liking the mild, but I won’t be the one shooting flames out of my you-know-what tonight.)
I created a pretend person on Facebook and I just made him one of my friends. I don’t particularly like playing the games on Facebook, but I’ve been participating on the Farmville one because everyone keeps sending me gifts. So, I thought that I would use my fake friend to send me some stuff to finish my barn. I need some nails or something. So, yes, I’m going to cheat at a game I don’t even really want to play.
I’m taking another day off today. I got into my audio book last night and I need to finish it today. So, until next time, I’m going to get to it.
-Thom
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Dec 22
The Christmas cookie decoration was a huge success. Today was the day we invited all of the nieces and nephews from my wife’s side of the family over to frost and decorate Christmas cookies. It was a lot of fun. I had to work during the day until six. When I got home, the little kids had finished their decorating. The older kids were just starting. I managed to snag five cookies before they were all done. Of course mine were the best, but some of the kids might grow up to be artists. They were really good. Some of the others were just a mishmash of frostings mixed together with a ton of sprinkles topping them off. I feel sorry for the person that has to eat them. (It might be me. But, I’ll suffer through it. I never turn down a cookie if I can help it.) After the cookies were done, we broke out a couple of bags of pretzels and dipped them. We used Vanilla for the pretzels because we used chocolate for the clusters. Yep, all kids are going to have to go to the dentist after visiting my house.
After cleaning up, I grabbed a quick dinner and then had to get ready to come back to work. It is surprising how quickly time flies by when you are doing something fun. I’m sure it will drag tonight. But, at midnight, it is payday and I can finally order my last present. I’m going to have to pay through the nose to get it here by Christmas, but it will be worth it. I won’t tell you what it is in case the someone I’m getting it for reads this.
With the lack of sleep, I’m going to take the day off. So, I won’t be starting chapter 18 tonight, unless a bout of unsleepyness attacks me. Otherwise, I’m going to listen to an audio book to pass the time. If I concentrate on it and play a lot of spider solitaire I should be able to stay awake the whole night. Chapter 17 is finished, but I still didn’t get chapter 2 of My Private Dance jotted down. I got caught up in the other one and just couldn’t put it down. Since I’m not going to do anything tonight, I’ll try to get it done on Friday. If not, it’ll be Monday.
-Thom
After cleaning up, I grabbed a quick dinner and then had to get ready to come back to work. It is surprising how quickly time flies by when you are doing something fun. I’m sure it will drag tonight. But, at midnight, it is payday and I can finally order my last present. I’m going to have to pay through the nose to get it here by Christmas, but it will be worth it. I won’t tell you what it is in case the someone I’m getting it for reads this.
With the lack of sleep, I’m going to take the day off. So, I won’t be starting chapter 18 tonight, unless a bout of unsleepyness attacks me. Otherwise, I’m going to listen to an audio book to pass the time. If I concentrate on it and play a lot of spider solitaire I should be able to stay awake the whole night. Chapter 17 is finished, but I still didn’t get chapter 2 of My Private Dance jotted down. I got caught up in the other one and just couldn’t put it down. Since I’m not going to do anything tonight, I’ll try to get it done on Friday. If not, it’ll be Monday.
-Thom
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Dec 21
We made cookies and peanut clusters today. I bought a bag of cookie mix at SAMS the other day. It said that it was going to make 21 dozen cookies. Well, they didn’t take into account the size of my cookies. We didn’t end up with half that many. I think the bag of mix was expecting us to make quarter sized cookies. I had to go to work before the rest of the cookies were finished, but we might be making more tomorrow if there isn’t enough. Then, all of the kids on my wife’s side of the family are coming over to decorate them. We bought a lot of frosting and my mom gave us a bunch of sprinkles. We do it every year and its pretty fun. The kids make a mess and some of the cookies turn out really good. We have some artists in there. We used to do it for all of the kids on my side of the family too, but for some reason it was phased out. I’m not sure even when we stopped. I made the peanut clusters all by myself. It was too crowded to do both at the same time, so I went upstairs to make them. I brought up a folding table, covered it with wax paper, and filled it up with the little delicious chocolate treats. We thought about doing them tomorrow, but if we have to make extra cookies we won’t have the space downstairs. Besides, they need to cool so the chocolate solidifies. If we did it tomorrow, the kids wouldn’t be able to take them home with them. I wouldn’t be too upset about that, it would just mean more for me.
My eldest daughter’s Army physical was rescheduled to Monday. She was supposed to have it tomorrow. But, because of Christmas, the Army is cutting their working hours this week. She’s still excited. She’s going to spend two months in South Carolina and then four months in Georgia. It’ll be the first time she’s been away from home for a significant amount of time, but I think I’m more worried than she is.
My granddaughter came over today, but I didn’t really get a chance to see her. She was downstairs with the cookie brigade and I was upstairs. I usually take her home when I go to work. But, today she didn’t want to go. Usually we can convince her. But, today she made a stand. Of course my wife didn’t put up with fits when our kids were little and she didn’t give in for the granddaughter. Although, she was really tired from spending the afternoon in the hot kitchen making cookies. Still the baby fought us as we got her shoes and jacket on. When we put her in the car, she turned away from me and wouldn’t even look at me the whole trip. (Or, at least the whole trip she was awake for. She fell asleep within a minute of me driving away from the house.) Usually, we talk the whole way to her house.
The lunar eclipse last night was very interesting. From where I was, it didn’t look like a total eclipse. I could still see a little silver on the top. But, I might not have seen the whole thing. I was at work and had to do some work stuff. For some reason they didn’t want me to take three hours out of my schedule so I could gaze up at the moon. Still, it was really nice. The moon looked very far away.
I finished chapter 16 yesterday and I’m starting chapter 17 today. I didn’t get a chance to work on My Private Dance, so I might get that done today. Yesterday there were just too many things going on. So, I’m putting some Ratt, Scorpions, and Aerosmith in the playlist tonight for background music.
-Thom
My eldest daughter’s Army physical was rescheduled to Monday. She was supposed to have it tomorrow. But, because of Christmas, the Army is cutting their working hours this week. She’s still excited. She’s going to spend two months in South Carolina and then four months in Georgia. It’ll be the first time she’s been away from home for a significant amount of time, but I think I’m more worried than she is.
My granddaughter came over today, but I didn’t really get a chance to see her. She was downstairs with the cookie brigade and I was upstairs. I usually take her home when I go to work. But, today she didn’t want to go. Usually we can convince her. But, today she made a stand. Of course my wife didn’t put up with fits when our kids were little and she didn’t give in for the granddaughter. Although, she was really tired from spending the afternoon in the hot kitchen making cookies. Still the baby fought us as we got her shoes and jacket on. When we put her in the car, she turned away from me and wouldn’t even look at me the whole trip. (Or, at least the whole trip she was awake for. She fell asleep within a minute of me driving away from the house.) Usually, we talk the whole way to her house.
The lunar eclipse last night was very interesting. From where I was, it didn’t look like a total eclipse. I could still see a little silver on the top. But, I might not have seen the whole thing. I was at work and had to do some work stuff. For some reason they didn’t want me to take three hours out of my schedule so I could gaze up at the moon. Still, it was really nice. The moon looked very far away.
I finished chapter 16 yesterday and I’m starting chapter 17 today. I didn’t get a chance to work on My Private Dance, so I might get that done today. Yesterday there were just too many things going on. So, I’m putting some Ratt, Scorpions, and Aerosmith in the playlist tonight for background music.
-Thom
Monday, December 20, 2010
Dec 20
Great news, my eldest daughter was just accepted into the Army. She took the test for job placement today and scored 47. She is going into communications. She has the physical on Wednesday and she’ll go to boot camp in June two weeks after she gets out of school. She is pretty excited. After two months of boot camp, she’ll go to her MOS training which is four months long. That’ll put her back home around Christmas time next year. She’s going into the reserves so right after that she’ll start college in mid January of 2012.
I brought her down to the recruiter today so that she could take the test. I was excited for her, but they wouldn’t let me stay. It was a three hour test and it wasn’t held at the recruiter’s office. It was held downtown. I’m sure they just didn’t want a bunch of parents hanging around. But, I wished I could have been there even if it was just for moral support. We arrived a little before 8 in the morning only to discover the time had changed to 1pm. That wasn’t fun. It was like icing the kicker in football. (When the kicker is about to kick a field goal and the opposing team calls time out.) She spent the whole week exercising and watching what she ate so that she could lose the six pounds she needed to be in compliance. Even though her mom told me to promise I would make her eat something before we went, I didn’t. She wasn’t going to and I didn’t want to make her feel self conscious, especially if she didn’t make the weight. But, then we get there and have to turn around and wait some more. (She’ll have to get used to that in the Army. Hurry up and wait is one of the military’s slogans.) But, everything turned out and she’s ready to go.
I received the shipment of my latest two books. So, I spent the time while my baby was taking the test building 18 collections of all eleven of my books to give out as presents. I really didn’t think they were going to get here on time, but they were on the door step this morning. I was so happy. Now, all I have to do is deliver them. I was going to wrap them all up in wrapping paper, but I only tied them up in ribbons instead. It still took me a couple hours. It turns out that not only do I suck at wrapping, I can’t tie ribbon either.
I only have one more present to get, and I am going to have to do it on Thursday the 23rd. (Payday) I had arranged for my sister to use her employee discount to get me something for my wife. But, when I sent her the money, it took nearly a week to arrive and somehow I put her maiden name instead of her married name down on the bank draft. Can you believe how stupid I am? Well, no one would cash it, so she had to send it back to me. Hopefully I’ll get it in a day or two and use it to go online and get it myself. There isn’t time for me to send it out to her and her discount wasn’t that much anyway. I don’t think it will come in by Christmas, but that’s what I get for being stupid. If I have to wait until the 23rd, I can go get it at Target. I saw it there for the same price as online, but it’s the next version up which is fifty dollars more. We’ll see how it goes.
I finished chapter 15 on Friday and I’m starting chapter 16 today. I think I’m going to do a little on My Private Dance later on. I didn’t mean to, but I was thinking about it before I took a nap today and it’s going to bug me until I get it written down. So, I better get going if I’m going to get both done. I’m putting on some April Wine, Cinderella, and Cat Stephens tonight for background music.
-Thom
I brought her down to the recruiter today so that she could take the test. I was excited for her, but they wouldn’t let me stay. It was a three hour test and it wasn’t held at the recruiter’s office. It was held downtown. I’m sure they just didn’t want a bunch of parents hanging around. But, I wished I could have been there even if it was just for moral support. We arrived a little before 8 in the morning only to discover the time had changed to 1pm. That wasn’t fun. It was like icing the kicker in football. (When the kicker is about to kick a field goal and the opposing team calls time out.) She spent the whole week exercising and watching what she ate so that she could lose the six pounds she needed to be in compliance. Even though her mom told me to promise I would make her eat something before we went, I didn’t. She wasn’t going to and I didn’t want to make her feel self conscious, especially if she didn’t make the weight. But, then we get there and have to turn around and wait some more. (She’ll have to get used to that in the Army. Hurry up and wait is one of the military’s slogans.) But, everything turned out and she’s ready to go.
I received the shipment of my latest two books. So, I spent the time while my baby was taking the test building 18 collections of all eleven of my books to give out as presents. I really didn’t think they were going to get here on time, but they were on the door step this morning. I was so happy. Now, all I have to do is deliver them. I was going to wrap them all up in wrapping paper, but I only tied them up in ribbons instead. It still took me a couple hours. It turns out that not only do I suck at wrapping, I can’t tie ribbon either.
I only have one more present to get, and I am going to have to do it on Thursday the 23rd. (Payday) I had arranged for my sister to use her employee discount to get me something for my wife. But, when I sent her the money, it took nearly a week to arrive and somehow I put her maiden name instead of her married name down on the bank draft. Can you believe how stupid I am? Well, no one would cash it, so she had to send it back to me. Hopefully I’ll get it in a day or two and use it to go online and get it myself. There isn’t time for me to send it out to her and her discount wasn’t that much anyway. I don’t think it will come in by Christmas, but that’s what I get for being stupid. If I have to wait until the 23rd, I can go get it at Target. I saw it there for the same price as online, but it’s the next version up which is fifty dollars more. We’ll see how it goes.
I finished chapter 15 on Friday and I’m starting chapter 16 today. I think I’m going to do a little on My Private Dance later on. I didn’t mean to, but I was thinking about it before I took a nap today and it’s going to bug me until I get it written down. So, I better get going if I’m going to get both done. I’m putting on some April Wine, Cinderella, and Cat Stephens tonight for background music.
-Thom
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Dec 16
Kind of a mixed day today. I went to turn in my uniforms to my old company so I could get my last check. I was stressing it, because I think there were some from way back that I never turned in and don’t have any more. I couldn’t turn them in until after 1 pm, so when I got off work at 6 am I took the wife out to breakfast and then got to sleep by about 8. Since I was worried about getting my last check, I woke up about 12. When I arrived, they started giving me a hard time, but I just told them I turned them in way back when and they took my word for it. Their paperwork wasn’t really that detailed. The check wasn’t very much, but it was better than nothing. This change over screwed me out of a bunch of money. I was working 7 days with many 12 hour days due to the shortage of people. On the week of the change over, I worked over 60 hours, but none of it was overtime. Three and a half days went to the old company, two days went to the new company and the rest went to the new company on a different pay period. But, we won’t get into that again. I went down to deposit my check and got a little bit more Christmas shopping in. I only have two more gifts to buy. I was searching for the store, but I couldn’t find it. I just looked it up on the internet and I’ll hit it up this weekend. I spent the rest of the day wrapping presents and not sleeping. Needless to say I’m a little tired now. The worst thing is that I have to work the afternoon shift tomorrow so I won’t get to make up the sleep. I can already see a cranky day coming up tomorrow. But, then there is always the weekend.
The baby came over today. I hadn’t seen her in two days. When she arrived, she was a little standoffish. I think she was mad at me for not picking her up yesterday. But, as soon as we started playing, she melted and we had a lot of fun. We were playing a game where she would hide under a blanket so I couldn’t find her. Then, I would ask the room very loudly if she was in the closet or in a drawer and things like that. She would answer that she wasn’t in them. After a few guesses, I would sneakily take hold of the blanket and ask if she was under the blanket and I would pull it off. She would scream and I would tickle her and then we would do it again. Very fun.
The girls and my wife spent most of the evening making burritos to sell at school for the JROTC drive. They are selling them to make money for the military dance. (Too bad they can’t sell them to make money for their dresses)
I didn’t get a response from the support team at Createspace and my books are still in a ‘Queued for printing’ status. It looks like they aren’t going to be ready for Christmas. I’ll just have to give them out as after Christmas presents. I finished chapter 14 yesterday and I’m starting 15 today. I put the radio on a 70’s and 80’s channel for background music. But, if I keep yawning, I might take tonight off. I don’t want to mess anything up.
-Thom
The baby came over today. I hadn’t seen her in two days. When she arrived, she was a little standoffish. I think she was mad at me for not picking her up yesterday. But, as soon as we started playing, she melted and we had a lot of fun. We were playing a game where she would hide under a blanket so I couldn’t find her. Then, I would ask the room very loudly if she was in the closet or in a drawer and things like that. She would answer that she wasn’t in them. After a few guesses, I would sneakily take hold of the blanket and ask if she was under the blanket and I would pull it off. She would scream and I would tickle her and then we would do it again. Very fun.
The girls and my wife spent most of the evening making burritos to sell at school for the JROTC drive. They are selling them to make money for the military dance. (Too bad they can’t sell them to make money for their dresses)
I didn’t get a response from the support team at Createspace and my books are still in a ‘Queued for printing’ status. It looks like they aren’t going to be ready for Christmas. I’ll just have to give them out as after Christmas presents. I finished chapter 14 yesterday and I’m starting 15 today. I put the radio on a 70’s and 80’s channel for background music. But, if I keep yawning, I might take tonight off. I don’t want to mess anything up.
-Thom
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Dec 15
My granddaughter sat in Santa’s lap and took a picture!!!! She will be three on Jan 1st, and so far, she has been terrified of Santa. It’s a long story, but ever since she found out that Santa can be a real live person, she has been afraid of him. In fact, whenever anything goes wrong or something happens, she always says that Santa Claus did it. We’ve been telling her that Santa isn’t a bad guy for a while now. And, now she knows that he brings her gifts and likes to eat cookies. So, after several tries, she finally let us get her close to a Santa at a school carnival. She saw all of her cousins sitting on his lap and taking pictures. With a little coaxing, she said she would do it if my eldest daughter went with her. In the picture, she is looking at the camera, but her body is twisted halfway around so that she could hold on to my daughter’s hand. She looked a little concerned, but since nothing happened and she got a piece of candy for doing it, she decided she could do it without my daughter as long as her cousins went with her. That picture was pretty good. She looked more comfortable. Now all we have to do is get her one by herself with Santa.
I finished chapter 14 yesterday. I’m going to work on Chapter 15 today. Even with all that time I took off, the pieces are still falling into place. I’m not going to estimate a completion date, but I like the way this one is shaping up. I checked on my order for my latest two books and they are still in the queued for printing phase. It takes about a week to mail them here, so it’s getting really close to being too late for me to get them out as presents for Christmas. If they print and are shipped tomorrow on Thursday, I probably won’t get them until next Thursday which is the 23rd. I’ll be a wrapping fool trying to get them ready and then a driving maniac trying to get them to everyone’s house. Because, I work the day shift on Friday so I won’t be able to do anything that day. Then, Christmas is on Saturday. I sent a concerned note to the support staff at Createspace asking if anything was wrong. Usually, they print within a day or so. But, it’s been over a week since I placed the order. If they’re just busy, maybe they’ll move me up in the queue after reading my concerned note.
We finished our Christmas shopping for everyone today. Now, I can sneak out and finish my secret Christmas shopping. I have to work a little overtime tomorrow morning, so if I wake up in time, I’ll get it done tomorrow. I’ll use the old excuse of having to go to my old company to pick up my last check, which I really have to do.
I’m putting some Blondie, Duran Duran, Led Zeppelin, and Rush into the playlist for background music while I get going today.
-Thom
I finished chapter 14 yesterday. I’m going to work on Chapter 15 today. Even with all that time I took off, the pieces are still falling into place. I’m not going to estimate a completion date, but I like the way this one is shaping up. I checked on my order for my latest two books and they are still in the queued for printing phase. It takes about a week to mail them here, so it’s getting really close to being too late for me to get them out as presents for Christmas. If they print and are shipped tomorrow on Thursday, I probably won’t get them until next Thursday which is the 23rd. I’ll be a wrapping fool trying to get them ready and then a driving maniac trying to get them to everyone’s house. Because, I work the day shift on Friday so I won’t be able to do anything that day. Then, Christmas is on Saturday. I sent a concerned note to the support staff at Createspace asking if anything was wrong. Usually, they print within a day or so. But, it’s been over a week since I placed the order. If they’re just busy, maybe they’ll move me up in the queue after reading my concerned note.
We finished our Christmas shopping for everyone today. Now, I can sneak out and finish my secret Christmas shopping. I have to work a little overtime tomorrow morning, so if I wake up in time, I’ll get it done tomorrow. I’ll use the old excuse of having to go to my old company to pick up my last check, which I really have to do.
I’m putting some Blondie, Duran Duran, Led Zeppelin, and Rush into the playlist for background music while I get going today.
-Thom
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Dec 14
It’s been a few very busy days since I posted, so this might be a long one. Let’s start with the Broncos. It was another embarrassing loss. It was a game of turnovers. Unfortunately, it was us turning the ball over. There are only three games left and there doesn’t look like we can do anything except prepare for next year. I still have tickets to the last game of the season against the Chargers. So, even though it doesn’t look like they’re showing up, I hope the Broncos pull themselves together and take a stand on these last three games. We can’t end our season with only three wins. On the bright side, Baseball season is just around the corner. I was looking up the schedule for spring training. The Rockies play down in Scottsdale Arizona. I’m going to try to make it out there for the week of the 6th through the 12th. It looks like there are more home games that week with a couple of away games in the middle. The wife and I are pretty big Rockies fans, so we were thinking about making it an early 20th anniversary. The kids are old enough to take care of themselves and even go to school without us hounding them. It would be nice to have a whole week to ourselves. But, then we were thinking about driving down to Tucson or Yuma and jumping across the border so we can buy the girls Prom and military ball dresses. They’re much cheaper down there, and we could make a day of it. But, if we were going to do that, we would have to take the girls with us. If we did that, it wouldn’t be much of an anniversary. But, we would still be able to go to the spring training games. I guess we’ll see when the time comes.
This was my first whole weekend off in a month and a half, and I spent way too much money on Christmas presents. I always go a little overboard, but it is fun so I don’t plan on stopping. We should have planned it a little better. We bought the baby a bunch of stuff, but we had to take back three of the gifts because the kids already got her the same things. We had even wrapped one of them before we realized we duplicated it. I worked a day shift on Monday so that I would have the whole day off today to sneak out while the kids were at school and Maria was at work. But, we still have a few gifts to get everyone and I know I would have made some more duplicates. So, I held off and will arrange another sneaking out later.
I’m still waiting on Createspace to ship my latest two books. If I want to get them out to everyone before Christmas, they better hurry. I put the order in early last week and they still haven’t shipped it. I’m getting a little worried. It usually takes about a week after they ship it and with the holidays, they’re cutting it very close.
My eldest daughter found out she could graduate early. So, she was thinking about joining the Army and being out of boot camp by the time high school ends. But, that would mean that she would miss her prom and the military ball. So, she’s going to stick it out. On the 20th, she gets to take her placement test to see what types of jobs she is qualified for. All of the teachers at her school are helping her study for the ASVAB. Her only problem is that she has to lose 6 pounds before that Monday or they’ll have to reschedule it. She has to be fewer than 122 for her height. Everyone is trying to help. There isn’t any visible candy or cookies anywhere and everyone is giving her advice on what to eat and how to exercise. We even went to a barbeque on Saturday where there was chocolate cake. It looked like she wanted some, but she didn’t even try to sneak a taste. We’re trying to keep her from burning herself out, but she’s exercising like crazy. We bought her a scale and she lost two pounds over the weekend. I’m sure she’ll make the weight by Monday.
My niece had a birthday on Friday. I had to work all day, so I wasn’t able to go. The wife and the kids were going to go, but I’m not sure if they did or not. There was a little confusion about whether she was going to have a little party or not. The kids said that her boyfriend sent a text saying it was on, but my wife received one from her saying that it was canceled. Either way, no one knew where it was. She moved in with her boyfriend recently and no one knows where he lives. Either way, Jen, if you read this, Happy Belated Birthday. Speaking of parties, we’re going to have a Christmas party with the family on this Saturday, the 18th at my brother’s house. I don’t think that there would be any way to get us all together on Christmas. So, it works out better. We’re going to try something different this year instead of a Secret Santa. My brother called it a White Elephant. He explained it to me, but I’m going to have to give you the details on Monday because both of us came away with different ideas of what it was. I think my brother is just trying to confuse us.
I had a miserable day at work on Monday, so I didn’t do anything then or over the weekend. But, I finished chapter 13 on whatever day I worked on it. I’m going to work on 14 today, to get my mind back on track. I need to stop slacking off. It isn’t going to be a long book. But, I haven’t been putting my all into it. I’m blaming Christmas as a distraction.
Well, I told you it was going to be a long one. I better get to work, so until tomorrow…
-Thom
This was my first whole weekend off in a month and a half, and I spent way too much money on Christmas presents. I always go a little overboard, but it is fun so I don’t plan on stopping. We should have planned it a little better. We bought the baby a bunch of stuff, but we had to take back three of the gifts because the kids already got her the same things. We had even wrapped one of them before we realized we duplicated it. I worked a day shift on Monday so that I would have the whole day off today to sneak out while the kids were at school and Maria was at work. But, we still have a few gifts to get everyone and I know I would have made some more duplicates. So, I held off and will arrange another sneaking out later.
I’m still waiting on Createspace to ship my latest two books. If I want to get them out to everyone before Christmas, they better hurry. I put the order in early last week and they still haven’t shipped it. I’m getting a little worried. It usually takes about a week after they ship it and with the holidays, they’re cutting it very close.
My eldest daughter found out she could graduate early. So, she was thinking about joining the Army and being out of boot camp by the time high school ends. But, that would mean that she would miss her prom and the military ball. So, she’s going to stick it out. On the 20th, she gets to take her placement test to see what types of jobs she is qualified for. All of the teachers at her school are helping her study for the ASVAB. Her only problem is that she has to lose 6 pounds before that Monday or they’ll have to reschedule it. She has to be fewer than 122 for her height. Everyone is trying to help. There isn’t any visible candy or cookies anywhere and everyone is giving her advice on what to eat and how to exercise. We even went to a barbeque on Saturday where there was chocolate cake. It looked like she wanted some, but she didn’t even try to sneak a taste. We’re trying to keep her from burning herself out, but she’s exercising like crazy. We bought her a scale and she lost two pounds over the weekend. I’m sure she’ll make the weight by Monday.
My niece had a birthday on Friday. I had to work all day, so I wasn’t able to go. The wife and the kids were going to go, but I’m not sure if they did or not. There was a little confusion about whether she was going to have a little party or not. The kids said that her boyfriend sent a text saying it was on, but my wife received one from her saying that it was canceled. Either way, no one knew where it was. She moved in with her boyfriend recently and no one knows where he lives. Either way, Jen, if you read this, Happy Belated Birthday. Speaking of parties, we’re going to have a Christmas party with the family on this Saturday, the 18th at my brother’s house. I don’t think that there would be any way to get us all together on Christmas. So, it works out better. We’re going to try something different this year instead of a Secret Santa. My brother called it a White Elephant. He explained it to me, but I’m going to have to give you the details on Monday because both of us came away with different ideas of what it was. I think my brother is just trying to confuse us.
I had a miserable day at work on Monday, so I didn’t do anything then or over the weekend. But, I finished chapter 13 on whatever day I worked on it. I’m going to work on 14 today, to get my mind back on track. I need to stop slacking off. It isn’t going to be a long book. But, I haven’t been putting my all into it. I’m blaming Christmas as a distraction.
Well, I told you it was going to be a long one. I better get to work, so until tomorrow…
-Thom
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Dec 09
The new company that bought the contract at work isn’t instilling much confidence. Their pay period didn’t line up with our old company, so today was our first payday and it only covered two days. Well, they managed to mess that up. Most people didn’t get their correct pay rates and several others didn’t get a check. I didn’t get a check stub so I don’t know for sure if I got paid correctly or not. The money seemed pretty low, but they might have taken out the first installation of insurance. So, I’m going to have to wait until tomorrow when the stub comes in the mail to find out what’s going on with me. Of course with everything that was going on, my boss felt it necessary to wake me up again in the middle of the day. That’s two days in a row. I’m never going to get a full day’s sleep.
I brought my eldest down to the army recruiter. Everything went really well except for her weight to height ratio. She’s only 4’9” so she is really close to the cutoff and she needs to lose 6 pounds before the 20th when she goes in to take the job placement test. On the other hand, she took the pretest just to see where she’s standing and she received a 42. The recruiter said that the average score is 31. So, she should be qualified for the jobs she’s looking for. (Psychology and engineering) My wife went with us and she had a good time. The recruiter showed her a table of army stuff and told her to take what she wanted. Well, she came away from there with a huge bag of stuff. I wasn’t paying too much attention when we got home, but there were at least eight or ten shirts and some ball caps and knickknacks.
I didn’t get anything done on chapter 13 yesterday, so I’m definitely going to get it done today. And, speaking of which, I better get going.
-Thom
I brought my eldest down to the army recruiter. Everything went really well except for her weight to height ratio. She’s only 4’9” so she is really close to the cutoff and she needs to lose 6 pounds before the 20th when she goes in to take the job placement test. On the other hand, she took the pretest just to see where she’s standing and she received a 42. The recruiter said that the average score is 31. So, she should be qualified for the jobs she’s looking for. (Psychology and engineering) My wife went with us and she had a good time. The recruiter showed her a table of army stuff and told her to take what she wanted. Well, she came away from there with a huge bag of stuff. I wasn’t paying too much attention when we got home, but there were at least eight or ten shirts and some ball caps and knickknacks.
I didn’t get anything done on chapter 13 yesterday, so I’m definitely going to get it done today. And, speaking of which, I better get going.
-Thom
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Dec 08
Kidnapped and the Great Detective are finally live. I approved the proofs today and they are up for sale, just in time for Christmas. I haven’t updated my website yet. I was just starting when two of my nephews came over to use the computer to do their homework. So, I’ll do that tomorrow.
I finished chapter 12 yesterday, and I was going to start 13, but for some reason it was hard to stay awake. I didn’t want to mess anything up, so I stopped there. I’ll get to chapter 13 today depending on how much stuff I have to do.
Tomorrow is the big day for my eldest daughter. We’re signing her up for the army. She has been back and forth on whether she should join first and then go to college or to go to college and then join. Finally, she decided on joining the reserves so that she can get boot camp out of the way and then go to college. They’ll sign her up as an officer and pay for most of it and then she will go in as an officer. The only drawback is that she is required to sign up for six years. But, since it is what she wants to do, it isn’t really a drawback. I’ll let everyone know how it goes tomorrow.
The JROTC bake sale went well. The girls made enough money to hold their JROTC military dance. Now, I just have to come up with the money to buy their dresses. My eldest was asking about her prom dress today and after I agreed to buy it for her, she told me it would be about five hundred dollars. (Yep, my mouth fell open right then too) I think we might have to shop around on the dresses, especially since they both have two events, the prom and the military dance where they both need two dresses that they are only going to wear once. But, I’ll worry about that after Christmas.
Well, I have some actual work to do before I can get going so I better get to it. I’m putting some Boston, Chicago, and Heart in the playlist for background music tonight.
-Thom
I finished chapter 12 yesterday, and I was going to start 13, but for some reason it was hard to stay awake. I didn’t want to mess anything up, so I stopped there. I’ll get to chapter 13 today depending on how much stuff I have to do.
Tomorrow is the big day for my eldest daughter. We’re signing her up for the army. She has been back and forth on whether she should join first and then go to college or to go to college and then join. Finally, she decided on joining the reserves so that she can get boot camp out of the way and then go to college. They’ll sign her up as an officer and pay for most of it and then she will go in as an officer. The only drawback is that she is required to sign up for six years. But, since it is what she wants to do, it isn’t really a drawback. I’ll let everyone know how it goes tomorrow.
The JROTC bake sale went well. The girls made enough money to hold their JROTC military dance. Now, I just have to come up with the money to buy their dresses. My eldest was asking about her prom dress today and after I agreed to buy it for her, she told me it would be about five hundred dollars. (Yep, my mouth fell open right then too) I think we might have to shop around on the dresses, especially since they both have two events, the prom and the military dance where they both need two dresses that they are only going to wear once. But, I’ll worry about that after Christmas.
Well, I have some actual work to do before I can get going so I better get to it. I’m putting some Boston, Chicago, and Heart in the playlist for background music tonight.
-Thom
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Dec 07
Well, not much happened today. I had to stay over at work for an extra four hours. There was a big inspection and my boss wanted to have extra people just in case. So, I stayed. The thing was that he wanted me to be available and not do any of the regular work. Since nothing happened, it was a pretty long and boring four hours. But, they’re paying me for it so I can’t complain.
There was something good that came out of it. Since I didn’t get to sleep until after eleven, I slept until nearly seven. During that time, my wife and girls went to do laundry. So, I skated out of that for another week.
With the long day, I finished chapter 10 and 11 last night. So, I’m going to work on chapter 12 today. But, I did a dumb thing. I brought the last Harry Potter audio book to work. I keep telling myself that I’m just going to listen to it for maybe an hour a night at the end of the day. That way, I can work on what I’m supposed to be doing. But, that didn’t work the last few times. I ended up putting everything on hold and listening to the whole thing. And, since I went to see the latest Potter movie, I kind of have it in my head. The movie was pretty good. It hit on most of the major points of the book, but I wished it would have only been one movie instead of two. I hate it when they do that. But, if they didn’t, they would have cut it to shreds like they did with most of the others.
Well, time to get to work. I’m putting in some Night Ranger, Queen, and Eagles into the playlist for background music. It should be a good night.
-Thom
There was something good that came out of it. Since I didn’t get to sleep until after eleven, I slept until nearly seven. During that time, my wife and girls went to do laundry. So, I skated out of that for another week.
With the long day, I finished chapter 10 and 11 last night. So, I’m going to work on chapter 12 today. But, I did a dumb thing. I brought the last Harry Potter audio book to work. I keep telling myself that I’m just going to listen to it for maybe an hour a night at the end of the day. That way, I can work on what I’m supposed to be doing. But, that didn’t work the last few times. I ended up putting everything on hold and listening to the whole thing. And, since I went to see the latest Potter movie, I kind of have it in my head. The movie was pretty good. It hit on most of the major points of the book, but I wished it would have only been one movie instead of two. I hate it when they do that. But, if they didn’t, they would have cut it to shreds like they did with most of the others.
Well, time to get to work. I’m putting in some Night Ranger, Queen, and Eagles into the playlist for background music. It should be a good night.
-Thom
Monday, December 6, 2010
Dec 06
Well, they finally did it. The Broncos fired Coach Josh McDaniels. We lost by four points on Sunday against the Chiefs. I didn’t get to see the game, but I heard it was back and forth. The score was ten to six so at least it wasn’t a blowout. We’re officially 3 and 9, it’s the worst season we’ve had in I can’t remember how long. We have no chance to get into the post season, so we only have a month of football left. I don’t know who they are going to get yet, but we need to start working on next season right now. That’s pretty sad when you are looking forward to next season when it is barely December. But, what else is there to do. I still have tickets to the last game of the season against San Diego. It won’t mean anything, but I’ll be out there rooting them on.
Instead of watching the football game on Sunday, I was out Christmas shopping. It was my first day off in a month and a half, so I was anxious. Unfortunately, I was a little too anxious. I spent so much money it isn’t even funny. And, I didn’t really get all that much stuff. We did get two of the big presents out of the way. We usually get one big present for the kids and then a few little ones. I’m in charge of the stockings, so I got them out of the way with first. But, even when you are putting in the little dollar candies and two or three dollar trinkets, when there are seven stockings you have to fill, those things add up. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But, I nearly blew my budget in one day. I’m going to have to be much more careful during the rest of the month.
I didn’t work on chapter 10 on Saturday. I had to do some things at work and I had to proof read my boss’s homework. But, I was also really tired. Switching from graveyard to days is difficult. And, sometimes it’s hard to sleep at night. Friday night was one of those nights. Then, I was called in early so I didn’t get any sleep until Saturday night. But, when I crashed, I crashed. The baby stayed over and I tried to stay up until she went to sleep, but couldn’t do it. She was lying between me and my wife watching cartoons on On-Demand. I tried putting her to sleep, but she really wanted to watch Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse. I could feel myself dozing and she did her best to keep me up. But I didn’t make it. When the show ended, she woke up my wife who was finally able to put her to sleep. But, I was already gone.
So, I’m starting chapter 10 today. I’m just going to put the radio on in the background, because I don’t want to go through the playlist and choose things. I could just save old playlists, but I never know what I want to listen to until I start. See you next time.
-Thom
Instead of watching the football game on Sunday, I was out Christmas shopping. It was my first day off in a month and a half, so I was anxious. Unfortunately, I was a little too anxious. I spent so much money it isn’t even funny. And, I didn’t really get all that much stuff. We did get two of the big presents out of the way. We usually get one big present for the kids and then a few little ones. I’m in charge of the stockings, so I got them out of the way with first. But, even when you are putting in the little dollar candies and two or three dollar trinkets, when there are seven stockings you have to fill, those things add up. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But, I nearly blew my budget in one day. I’m going to have to be much more careful during the rest of the month.
I didn’t work on chapter 10 on Saturday. I had to do some things at work and I had to proof read my boss’s homework. But, I was also really tired. Switching from graveyard to days is difficult. And, sometimes it’s hard to sleep at night. Friday night was one of those nights. Then, I was called in early so I didn’t get any sleep until Saturday night. But, when I crashed, I crashed. The baby stayed over and I tried to stay up until she went to sleep, but couldn’t do it. She was lying between me and my wife watching cartoons on On-Demand. I tried putting her to sleep, but she really wanted to watch Mickey Mouse’s Clubhouse. I could feel myself dozing and she did her best to keep me up. But I didn’t make it. When the show ended, she woke up my wife who was finally able to put her to sleep. But, I was already gone.
So, I’m starting chapter 10 today. I’m just going to put the radio on in the background, because I don’t want to go through the playlist and choose things. I could just save old playlists, but I never know what I want to listen to until I start. See you next time.
-Thom
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Dec 2
I can’t believe my old company. They’ve only been my old company for one day and already they’re giving me grief. After the big switchover, I knew they were going to hold our last check until we turned in our uniforms. But, today was a regular payday and our last payday is on the 16th, for only three and a half days. Of course, I get a call from another former employee in my same boat and she says that the deposits didn’t go in. I check the bank and the direct deposit didn’t go through on mine either. Very upset, I call down there and they say that it was a banking error and all of the direct deposits didn’t go in for the whole company. They are supposed to be in tomorrow. Well, that doesn’t do it for people like me with internet banking. Normally, I have bills going out as soon as the payroll goes in. Luckily it’s nearly Christmas. I got ahead of my bills this month expecting this check to be my Christmas gift check. I could have been over-drafted and then the bank would charge me a fee and I would already be behind without buying anything. Well, all I have to say is it had better be in there tomorrow.
I finished chapter 8 yesterday and I’m going to work on chapter 9 today. I probably shouldn’t have wasted so much time listening to the audio books, but it was nice to have a little break. I have submitted both Kidnapped and the Great Detective for proofs. They should be here in a few days and if they’re ok, they should be up for sale sometime in the beginning of next week.
My youngest daughter is heading up the Toys for Tots charity drive at her school. They have collected a bunch of toys and are looking at the Children’s hospital to donate them. She was on the phone with them all late afternoon trying to schedule a pick up or a delivery. My eldest daughter on the other hand got a ticket in the mail for failure to stop at an intersection while turning right on a red. The pictures they sent us showed a car coming. I know she’s a careful driver, but she’s going to have to be much more careful than that. I had a few good words with her and so did my wife. At least she didn’t get in an accident. My son made it to court earlier in the week. He has his license suspended and if he is caught driving one more time they are going to lock him up for a mandatory 30 days. My granddaughter came over today and yesterday. She’s very smart, and we had a major discussion on Christmas cookies on the way to her house as I was dropping her off. She is still confused a little bit about how Santa lives at the North Pole and is also inside the malls, but she is all set on the cookies. All we have to do now is go out and buy the stuff to make and frost them. We’re probably going to do that over at my son’s house. It will be their first Christmas on their own. We’re going to get a video camera, but we’ll have plenty of stills too.
Well, I better get to work. I’m putting Duran Duran, Rush, Cars, and Men at Work into the playlist for background music.
-Thom
I finished chapter 8 yesterday and I’m going to work on chapter 9 today. I probably shouldn’t have wasted so much time listening to the audio books, but it was nice to have a little break. I have submitted both Kidnapped and the Great Detective for proofs. They should be here in a few days and if they’re ok, they should be up for sale sometime in the beginning of next week.
My youngest daughter is heading up the Toys for Tots charity drive at her school. They have collected a bunch of toys and are looking at the Children’s hospital to donate them. She was on the phone with them all late afternoon trying to schedule a pick up or a delivery. My eldest daughter on the other hand got a ticket in the mail for failure to stop at an intersection while turning right on a red. The pictures they sent us showed a car coming. I know she’s a careful driver, but she’s going to have to be much more careful than that. I had a few good words with her and so did my wife. At least she didn’t get in an accident. My son made it to court earlier in the week. He has his license suspended and if he is caught driving one more time they are going to lock him up for a mandatory 30 days. My granddaughter came over today and yesterday. She’s very smart, and we had a major discussion on Christmas cookies on the way to her house as I was dropping her off. She is still confused a little bit about how Santa lives at the North Pole and is also inside the malls, but she is all set on the cookies. All we have to do now is go out and buy the stuff to make and frost them. We’re probably going to do that over at my son’s house. It will be their first Christmas on their own. We’re going to get a video camera, but we’ll have plenty of stills too.
Well, I better get to work. I’m putting Duran Duran, Rush, Cars, and Men at Work into the playlist for background music.
-Thom
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Dec 1
Today was the first day of the new company that took over. There was a representative from our old company and a few from the new one. The big boss came down and a member from the management office. They brought doughnuts and coffee. It was a very well planned conversion. The only problem that came up was kind of a funny one. The new company took over at 0600. (That’s six in the morning for all of you non-military types) In order to convert, two of us had to get off work and two people had to start work. Everyone showed up on time. So, as we were leaving I looked at all of the head honchos. They were all standing around looking like they were lost. There wasn’t anything for them to do, so they just stared at each other. I’m sure it was great moral support seeing them come down and supervise the change over, but all that happened was two guys came to work and two guys left. I don’t know what happened to the doughnuts, because I didn’t get any. But, I’m sure after half an hour or so of standing around looking at each other, someone said “Well, that’s about it, see you later.”
I was really looking forward to having Saturday the 4th off. It would have been my first day off in about a month and a half. But no, I have to work that day. My first day off is going to be Sunday the 5th. Well, at least it probably means that there is still going to be overtime available with this new company. But, the world better look out. I’m going to have a paycheck in my hand and I’m planning on doing some serious Christmas shopping.
I put both the Great Detective and Kidnapped into the self publishing app at Createspace. I’ve ordered the proof for the Great Detective, but as soon as I did, I found a mistake. I was so angry. Now, I had to resubmit it with the correction and wait until it is approved before I can order a new proof. Oh well, at least I saw the mistake. (It was pretty obvious)
I’m going to start working again on Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. With all of the training and the audio book I was listening to, I didn’t get a chance until today. But I’ve been putting a lot of good thinking into it and I should be rocking and rolling on it. I’m going to put in some Christmas music for background music tonight. So, I better get going.
-Thom
I was really looking forward to having Saturday the 4th off. It would have been my first day off in about a month and a half. But no, I have to work that day. My first day off is going to be Sunday the 5th. Well, at least it probably means that there is still going to be overtime available with this new company. But, the world better look out. I’m going to have a paycheck in my hand and I’m planning on doing some serious Christmas shopping.
I put both the Great Detective and Kidnapped into the self publishing app at Createspace. I’ve ordered the proof for the Great Detective, but as soon as I did, I found a mistake. I was so angry. Now, I had to resubmit it with the correction and wait until it is approved before I can order a new proof. Oh well, at least I saw the mistake. (It was pretty obvious)
I’m going to start working again on Cutie Pie, Baby Pie. With all of the training and the audio book I was listening to, I didn’t get a chance until today. But I’ve been putting a lot of good thinking into it and I should be rocking and rolling on it. I’m going to put in some Christmas music for background music tonight. So, I better get going.
-Thom
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)