Back to "Normal"

Sort of....
Valentines was not quite the nightmare it usually is, but I caught a bug that's had me off kilter all week.  Fortunately it was the weekend so I didn't miss too much work.  Friday I loaded up on cold pills so Scott & I could wander the RV show.  It was well worth the effort.  We're not in the market to buy one just now, but since we will probably buy something used in a few years it doesn't hurt at all to keep track of what's selling right now.  Also it's fun. We found an RV that felt like home.  In a few years when we're to a buying place for a big 5th Wheel I won't pout a bit if we can get a Montana 3750 FL.  It's a pretty big trailer at 38' feet, and we'll need a bigger truck to tow it, but as a full time home it seems about right.  We've seen several other things that would work (some quite a bit smaller), and there's plenty of time to change our minds yet.

Oscar & I are listening to the Pandora Beauty & the Beast channel.  He LOVES to sing along with Disney songs, it's pretty entertaining.  Tonight we worked on refinishing his BIG cage.  It's a hand me down we inherited from Matt when he moved out of his house.  It's home made & had some rough edges & rusty spots I wanted to clean up before we paint it.  Compared to his current cages it's HUGE.  I'm hoping that new territory & being able to watch animal planet when he's home alone will help him be a happier boy.  He's not been very good lately & got himself uninvited from Tulip Tree for a while.  Dunno what to call this "stage" in his development, but I can't wait for us to grow out of it!

Not too much more worth mentioning, doesn't help that I'm pretty much exhausted after my first "normal" day back at work & then working on Oscar's project.

Live Long & Prosper
-m

I Survived.

Valentines is over.  It was even a little bit fun.  I'm still glad it doesn't happen more often. 

bright & shiny

Tonight I'm a pretty happy girl.  Tomorrow is pretty much guaranteed to be a good day.  Ashley's putting some sort of fun color in my hair (I'm letting her be creative & I nearly always love what she comes up with).  We're supposed to receive our first box of roses tomorrow, the first of many.  So work will be busy and likely crazy all day.  I'm also invited to a henna party tomorrow night.  It's a silly thing I've almost talked myself out of attending twice, but now Emily (my cousin) is coming with & DRIVING. 

Dunno if I've shared how much I HATE driving in the dark...it's a weird thing. I should prolly have my eyes checked, but you know how I am; I'll have it done next time I'm at that doctor...when I can't avoid it anymore.

Anyhow, knowing Em there will be pictures of the party (she's sorta awesome at that).  I'll link or share them.

Valentines looms on our horizon...we're pre-greening vases for the first time in Tulip Tree's history. At Highland Floral (you know the bad place that wasn't actually on highland but kept the name) we pre-made whole arrangements and then wrapped them & didn't check them before shipping out (I hated it, cuz closed up arrangements often mold quickly).  However pre-greening seems like a good idea since the greens are in water instead of stacked in a box, and nothings wrapped up in magic green paper.  We'll see, there's definitely no worry of sending out scary product, since things are checked twice before they leave the store.

Life's feeling pretty balanced and RIGHT lately, I never know rather to just enjoy this feeling or worry about what's coming along to knock me off kilter. 

Perhaps my off kilter is already here since my back's scaring the heck out'a me.  Last time it was this painful and unpredictable I ended up needing a wheelchair.  Since Lynn's using "my" chair, I'm pretty determined NOT to need it.  Besides, I LIKE being able to walk, and maintaining that's worth a quite a bit of effort.  Only had one bad fall so far, so I'm holding out hope for control.

Tonight, somehow, is a nice mellow place. I'm enjoying it.
Be well.
-m

Picking up Speed

This week is quite possibly my least favorite of the whole year.  Valentines Day is a swear word in my dictionary (also low fat, duh that usually just means they added a BUNCH of sugar to cover the weird low fat taste, but that's another rant).  We nearly kill ourselves making REALLY boring arrangements, and getting them all delivered to recipients whom are generally unexcited to receive them.  It's simply what's expected. TShe sheer amount of money that people will spend to get a vase of long stem Red roses that will be dead within a week DISGUSTS ME!  Put some thought and money into a meaningful gift that you actually thought about.  Good grief!  It's my job, and I'll take your money, but I get to think you're REALLY STUPID while I'm doing it.


Tomorrow is the 1st anniversary of our shop fire.  None of us is exactly certain how to deal with that.  It's not exactly something to celebrate...but it's turned out to be a cathartic experience for all.

Watched New Moon last night.  It totally met all of my expectations...it sucked.  But so do the books.  Can't see why they have such a following.

Gonna go veg on the couch for a bit before I go to bed (didn't sleep well the last couple nights).
Peace & Hope
-m

I may be unreasibable, but I usually have my reasons.

typed this up the other night and somehow it didn't finish posting. sorry y'all.

I feel like I've been non communicative and overflowing with negative energy lately.  I'm working to overcome both of those things, but it's a big project so try to be patient.

There's nothing much new to report.  Scott is also paying the price for cleaning out the garage last weekend, his back is out, and neither of us is worth much.  So we've done a lot of resting, which while very restorative is also a little boring.

Work's been borderline killing me all week, and thanks to a nasty fall I missed work Thursday.  I really hope it all gets better after VDay.

Mom had an appointment with her tumor Doc and an MRI today, he says it looks the same as it did in July, so YIPPEE!

We've had a lot of fun teasing and playing with kitties during our downtime, and I'm pretty much convinced that Sider's even more "special" than we first believed.  That or Yahz & Spazz are just getting less entertaining in their old age.  Don't think he ever had people that played cat games with him before us.  He LOVES to play, and is always AMAZED when we know about cat games.  Yesterday i watched him flop down on top of/behind Yahzi (who was having a sunshine nap) and then proceed to bit his neck...Yahzi just looked at me then yowled but didn't bother moving.  I very much got the impression that he was saying "MOM, he's doing it again.  I'm sick of him.  I told him no & he's STILL doing it"  Since Yahz is twice the size of Sider and could easily squish him like a pancake if he wanted the whole scene was rather comical.  Sider keeps dragging odd toys (usually the Nanna Lynn christmas kitty present variety) out of the secret kitty stashing places that they've stored in & for years.  I find an old toy prominently displayed in the middle of the floor next to an exhausted and very happy Sider on a regular basis.  Guess what I'm saying is that I'm glad he found us.  He's an adorable piece of this fur & feathers family of ours.

Oscar's standing atop my computer purring.  I far prefer purring to screaming.  All the same I should probably stop typing and give him some real attention for a few minutes.
Live Long & Prosper.
-m

Not my favorite day!

Spent the best part of my day sorting through my floral supplies & cleaning out the garage so Matt could use it to work on his car. Not the best plan when I started the day with shooting nerve pains that made me want to cry.  Needless to say after the cleaning & then sitting in Ashlee's cold basement for 2 hours, I'M IN AGONY.  This of course makes me a very cheerful & pleasant person to be around.  Top it all off with Matt inviting one of his friends over to help him work on his car tomorrow, and you can guess how congenial I am.

Tomorrow is my last real day off for who knows how long.  I really don't enjoy the valentines crush.  It's unpredictable, unpleasant, and generally oooky.  But I'm whining, so I'll shut up now.

The only fun thing in my day was a random photo edit binge I went on using a snapshot of Matt that I took during the cleaning.  It's plain ol silly, but was a good distraction for a few minutes.

 

Live Long & Prosper.

-m

Not too good, but not bad.

Thanks to my tweeked back that's punishing me for the long ride home from Arizona, this week has been pretty darn uneventful.  Monday I had to see the dentist for a filling, ended up calling off work for the day because after that all I was up for was sitting on the couch with a heat pack on my back/butt and an ice pack on my cheek.  All i can figure is that when they numbed my mouth with the shot they bumped something delicate that bled internally.  My whole cheek was red, puffy, and sore as hell for 3 days.  Yesterday the pain backed off, but then people started asking me what happened to my face...that's such a delightful thing to hear when you have no idea what they're talking about.  So to return Scott's favor from the desert I told them he hit me (that's what he told our friends after his sleep walking tumble).  Today it's just as colorful, but not really painful.

Work's been busy, and we're doing all kinds of prep for Valentines.  This afternoon Adda & I were working on an order together a customer who visits the shop often started laughing at us.  Apparently we sound a bit like sisters when we're bickering about how to get an order finished to Adda's approval.  Guess it's evidence of the acceptance and a bit of impatience on both sides.  Byron got pulled into the project and ended up taping his own mouth shut at one point.  Those of you who have spent any time at the Tulip Tree will have a delightful mental image of just how ridiculous & fun the whole project was with the three of us working together in our unique way.  We really are more like a family than most workplaces ever are.  Don't know how, or why it works that way.  But it's home for me & I'm glad to be there.

We're coming right up on the 1st annual Tulip Tree Fire Celebration day.  Not sure any of us knows exactly how to feel about it, but we are very happy with the shop as it is now compared to before.  So it must be worth everything we've gone through this year.

Oscar's helping me type, and I've got a party (one of the Tulip Tree family members) to get to in 10 minutes.  Happy Friday!
-m