Tomato Soup

Does anyone but me get cravings for tomato soup? I am having such a craving right now - so much so that I am seriously considering stopping at the store to pick up a can on my way home.  I have such cravings every now and then.

Sometimes I swear my brain knows it is coming down with something because I’ll get intense cravings for chicken noodle soup.  My favorite soups are potato soup and broccoli and cheese soup though I do crave french onion soup every now and then.

When I get a crock pot, I am going to make up soups to bring to work.  I know it is weird to think about eating soup during the summer but I can’t help it - the past two years or so, I’ve really come to love the stuff.  Love eating it with a baguette that I can dip in - scrumptious!

I also get cravings for salads but it irritates me that I can’t make a good salad at home.  I don’t know why but bought salad from places like Applebees, IHOP, and Crispers always taste better then what I get at home.  When I make a salad at Pizza Hut from their salad buffet, it is always so good I have to go back for seconds yet I use those same ingredients at home and it falls flat.

Right now I am about to go pick up my new puppy and then my soup so I can go home to watch tv.  How exciting is that? Not very - especially when I don’t have any new movies to watch so I’m go through my collection trying to find the movie that I’ve seen the least.  It’s a challenge. 

Spinning

Where in the world did my days off go? I certainly don’t know.

The first one was spent moving into my apartment - made two trips to WL and one trip to IC to pick up items.  My gas tank is on empty - something that hasn’t happened in quite awhile as I’ve been keeping it up around half a tank.

When I arrived at the unit there was no refrigerator but that came later while I was picking up the TV from my son.  It is nice and new - can’t ask for much more then that.  I almost bought ice cube trays but when I found out I was getting a brand new refrigerator, I decided not to as a new refrigerator almost always comes with ice cube trays.  Well, wrong.  Yes, my new refrigerator in FL did come with two ice cube trays but this one had nada so I will have to grab some sometime.  Not a big deal, mind you, just a little irritated when I got home as I didn’t have anything cold to drink then but such is life.

Got the TV and DVD player hooked up so have been putting on my movies when I need background noise.  I almost got speakers for my computer, having left mine in FL, but I couldn’t remember if my computer had a built in speaker or not.  It doesn’t.  Just means I can’t listen to my music until I get computer speakers which I will do on the 1st.

The maintenance man came over on Wednesday because the toilet water hose was leaking.  He thought he had it fixed but it still leaks a little every time I flush.  I put a rag under it so that takes care of that problem.

Baxter and I have gone for walks twice a day since being there.  He loves going and I love that it gets me out exercising.  We haven’t gone far - though today we did go farther then previously.  Part of it is not knowing my way around town that well but the biggest reason has been the heat.  We didn’t get a walk in tonight before work due to the rainstorm.

Yesterday my nephew and I moved the loveseat and entertainment center my sister gave me.  It is so great to have some furniture in the apartment! The loveseat is almost comfortable enough to sleep on - something I might have to do because my air mattress keeps losing air.  Another sister has a bed in her basement that I might see about using if they can bring it to NL for me as I don’t have a way to transport it.  I’m not in any rush, I can sleep on the floor if I need to for awhile.

Several of the ceramic and glass pieces I sent up from FL were broken.  I was disappointed because I packed them in bubble wrap and everything.  A couple of other pieces were chipped or broken but not so badly that I can’t glue them back together.  Ah the joys of shipping things.

My beautiful skirt that I was looking forward to wearing to my nephew’s wedding next month was left down in FL too.  I was upset to find that out.  But I left a bag in my closet there that I meant to grab - it had all my favorite clothes in it so I should have guess the skirt would be in it too.  Oh well, I will have to find something else to wear.  I’m going to plead with my neighbor down there to send me the bag - she can take the whole bag to the UPS store and they will do all the boxing and shipping. She hates to be put out but I’m hoping she will take pity on me and do it.

I have been asked by work to switch my hours this coming Monday and Tuesday from 7pm-3am to 3pm-11pm because the trainer on that shift needs a hand with the trainee.  I agreed to do so though it means getting off at 7am on Monday morning and having to be back at 3pm the same day.  I will also have to do it the following week.  On Wednesday they are putting out OT requests for the other days as well, I may sign up but changing shifts like that makes sleeping so much harder again.

It continues to rain outside which is good, it means we won’t be doing many traffic stops and, hopefully, the guards will be staying longer at each building.  I really could use a quiet night.

Last Post for a Few Days

Just wanted to let you all know that I am at my new apartment now.  It is a lot smaller then what I remembered but oh well.  One disconcerting note when I got there was there is no refrigerator.  I left a message with the landlord so hopefully they will take care of it.  There is also no hardware for curtains or blinds so I will have to do something about that.  I don’t have the money to buy either right now so will probably buy some cheap white sheets and tack them up until I can get blinds and curtains.  Yes, this is a time when a charge card would come in handy, huh? 

I have loaded the boxes I sent to sister’s - I only have seven and I could swear I sent nine but I don’t know where else they’d be so assume I only sent seven.  I will have to check my ups slip when I find it.  That isn’t to say that I think they are at my sister’s but worry more that they got lost in shipping and I never checked them until now to make sure they were all there.  Stupid of me, I know.  All the boxes were pretty light but I thought for sure I had a couple of heavy ones too that cost me almost $30 to send - I hope they didn’t get sent back to the condo and then stolen.  Ugh.  Always something.

First thing I did when I got to the apartment was throw up - second thing I did was faint.  Don’t know what is wrong with me these days, I feel sick about as often as I feel well.  I took some Advil on an empty stomach so assume that was what caused it - that and getting overheated by carrying boxes inside and also not eating.  I grabbed a cheeseburger from MacDonald’s before coming back to load the shipped boxes and feel much better now.

As a reminder folks, I won’t have internet at all until early next month sometime.  I will do emails from work when I do work - which is Thursday-Tuesday of next week.  That means no more posts until then either but I will write some long hand so when I get to work on Thursday I can type several in.

I couldn’t sleep from 12:30 till after 4 am this morning because I was worried to death about my condo - really the first time I have done so since being up here.  I got to thinking about all the things that could go wrong with it and how I should have the air on in it, etc.  So hopefully in the next couple of months I can get down there to get it ready to be sold.  I really wish I knew someone down there who would take care of it for me but I don’t.  Oh well.

So this is my last post till Thursday night unless I get to the library to get on there, which I highly doubt.  I have unpacking and, as I said, laundry to do.  I know, you are thinking why don’t I just do it at my sister’s before I go? Because my neice is sleeping and I don’t want to disturb her because she has to work today.  The laundromat isn’t all that bad and with only one load should go fairly fast.

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers and kind thoughts during this whole moving delimma.  Hopefully I can move on mentally now to more positive things.  

 

No Service

I get no bars on my wonderful AT&T cell phone here at work.  It can be frustrating when I am waiting for a call to come in because I have to remember to go outside during break to see if any calls came through.  My phone doesn’t even beep or give me any indication at all that a call was received until I go out.

Well, tonight I went out just to see if I had any messages.  I actually did too.  It was my new landlord telling me I could start moving in on Wednesday - possibly Tuesday.  I am suppose to set up a time tomorrow to go to his office to sign my lease and pay whatever rent I will need to pay for the rest of this month.

Because I didn’t get the call last night at 7:30, when he actually called, I can’t get the electric put in my name until Wednesday now.  Had I been able to do it last night, I might have been able to have it on Tuesday.  But that is OK, Wednesday is fine.  I doubt they’ll let me stay there overnight Tuesday night though if electric isn’t in my name.

I have already put in a change of address as well and changed my address with the University.  I am very excited and hope it is a good thing.  Putting down the deposit was such a rushed thing that I still need a few questions answered like - do they pay water/sewer or do I; where are the mailboxes; where is the laundry room; etc.

I am sure I will find out a lot more tomorrow - including what kind of a deposit I have to put down for electric service, etc.  Still, it is nice to know that I will soon have my own space and can finally unpack.

I still won’t have cable till next month so that is kind of a bummer with the new season of Closer starting tonight but oh well.  Can’t have everything.  Guess I can buy those dishes by the end of the week…or the first of the month anyway. 

It will be so good to get Baxter and I back into a routine.  I miss sleeping with the little bugger but couldn’t sleep during the day with him in there because he likes to bark when he hears Kato bark.  He will have to be broken of that barking habit - he rarely ever barked at all in Florida.  I sure do love the little guy.

As I was going to St Ives

Yeah, I really didn’t have a title for this blog so rather then keep struggling with it, this riddle popped in my head so I used it.  Strange, I agree.

Today is my last day “off” work for the next six days.  I actually work 3am-7am tomorrow morning - don’t ask me how that came about because I have no idea.  I will go to bed tonight but have to be up at 2 am to get to work on time.  Ugh.  Then I start working 11pm-7am Wednesday thru Friday, then 7pm to 7am on Saturday and Sunday.  My regular schedule that I hopefully will start on the end of July is 7pm-7am Sat & Sun and then 7pm-3am on Mondays and Tuesdays.  I suppose I should get on work’s email system to see if anything has changed in my absence.

Right now I’m getting ready to go into Iowa City to get a present for my nephew’s new baby girl.  I don’t really know what they need so will get them some cute stuff and hope they like it. 

I really wish I could get my life into more of a routine.  I know it won’t happen this month but hopefully next month - especially if work lets me stick to my schedule so I could plan out my month.  I’d like to get a second job for awhile - probably working mornings since I work for the University in the evenings.  I just have so many bills that I’m behind on - I hate it.  Before I moved I had every bill paid up on time but now it is more of a struggle.  There I could fill my gas tank up once every three or more weeks - here I’m filling it each week.  Even when I move to NL, I will still be spending a lot more in gas then I did.  Still, I’m not sorry I moved up here but I do miss some of my friends down South and I miss my condo.

According to the doctor’s scale, I’ve lost 18 lbs since moving up here.  I can tell my clothes are a bit baggier but think that 18 lbs is such a drop in the bucket to what I need to lose.  Of course, it is a start and I expect I’ll continue to lose as I go along.  I am not as down as I was in Florida so am not eating as much since a lot of my eating then was due to being down. 

So there you have it.  I guess I best get my butt in gear if I want to run to town quickly.  I don’t want to be gone long because I need to do laundry and want to hang the clothes out if I can find the clothes pins.  I love the smell of clothes that have been hung out versus the dryer. 

Kids

We raise our kids and think that they will go by the same ideals that we taught them their entire lives.  We hope that we have at least instilled in them a sense of what it means to be part of the human race and that they will go on from there. 

What we find hard, as parents, to do is to actually let go so that they can find their way beyond us.  I know that we all do let go and have to let go but it is still hard.  Today I went to see my son as he said we’d maybe do something before he had to go to work.  He didn’t expect his girlfriend, my future daughter-in-law, to be home soon so we figured we’d hang out. 

Well, she was home early so that put the kibosh on us doing anything together.  Not that I won’t do anything with the two of them, of course I would, but since they hadn’t seen each other since Wednesday they didn’t want to do anything with me.  Imagine that.

But that gets away from my point a bit doesn’t it? My son has grown into his own person with his own plans and ideals.  I am proud of the man he has become though I’m not sure being so matters to him one way or the other.  I suppose he thinks I’d be proud of him no matter what unless he did something horrendous like killing someone for fun…

I think it is hard to have your children grow up because you are left with this notion that who are you if not their mom? Yes, you are always their mom but once they are grown, that part of your life is called on less and less so you have to find your identity in something else.  The name of it is “Empty Nest Syndrome” which makes me laugh that there is a name for it but I guess it is becoming an increasing reason for depression and people feeling so worthless.

How do you re-devote your life to something else once the kids are raised and out of the house? What else is there when you’ve spent the last 20 years solely on this one purpose? It is a struggle sometimes to find things that are as meaningful as raising children - even half as meaningful.  I know it is something I still work with all the time.  {sigh}

End of the Holiday

Today has been a fun day here at my sisters - watching her four kids, now all grown up, interact and joke around really made me smile - they turned out to be amazing adults. It seems like they were little not so long ago but here they are, getting married and all. I hadn’t been around all of them together since being back in Iowa so it was fun. They played volleyball and really made us laugh a lot. It seems I’ve laughed a lot yesterday and today - it is good for the soul.

 

I think I got too much sun today as I’m getting a headache and my head feels hot. Probably sunburnt. It was, of course, worth it but decided to come in for awhile to cool down - plus the bugs were bad.

People are breaking out the food again for supper. I ate a ton of potato salad and baked beans. My sister went all out, as she usually does, and had several different kinds of pie as well. I was looking for the hotdogs but couldn’t find them so will have to try again. My sister’s husband grilled them just the way I like them - extra crispy. I drank one beer and a lot of lemonade…not together of course. LOL

The kids talk about going off to do things this evening - watch fireworks and what not. I told my sister she should go to a movie with her husband but they are babysitting so will probably have to wait until Sunday to go. My son said him and his girlfriend would try to come down to Wall-e on Sunday too so that would be nice.

Happy 4th

The weather is suppose to be great today, which is great since it is a big day for grilling out.  I’m not one for fireworks so that doesn’t interest me but I know there are millions who can’t wait to see the massive light displays.  This is the first fourth I’ve had off in three years so it is a bit of a treat to be able to hang out with family.

I doubt my son will come to the picnic because he likes to sleep in and will probably go to his friends house later.  He said he might come down to a movie at some point this weekend but he wasn’t sure.  When he wanted to get together yesterday, I figured it meant today he wasn’t going to be available.

When I move to the apartment, I won’t have internet for awhile so won’t be able to keep this up except for when I work.  I hope I’ll be able to afford it on the 1st of August but if not, it will be September.  Really, that should give me time to work on my book.  My son had some good ideas on several of the stories I have going right now and talking about it made me in the mood to write.  I hope I have all the stories on my computer still.  I backed two of them up but am not so sure about the other ones.

Hope everyone has a great holiday!

Movies

Last born

Tan puppy

White puppy

FIrst Born

Went to see “Hancock” today with my son.  We had a great time and the movie was funny.  I wouldn’t say it was Will’s best movie by far but it was good and I love him so enjoyed it a lot.  Of course I had the most fun because I was with my son who so rarely seems to have time to do anything with his old mom.  What is that about? My sister’s kids talk to her everyday about but mine can go weeks without seeing me - he does call though so that is good.

I can’t say much about the movie because others haven’t seen it but I did laugh pretty hard through most of it.  I can only go to one movie a month unless, of course, I go to the one in WL which is a lot cheaper then IC - I’m glad we went to Hancock instead of Wanted even though I want to see that one as well.  But I needed to laugh so Hancock was the better choice.  I love Angelina so imagine her movie is good too but probably not laughable. 

We just finished watching “Wild Hogs” here at my sister’s house.  I had not seen it before though had often said I wanted to see it eventually.  I laughed so hard in it that I had a couple of coughing fits.  Man, some movies really are silly. 

My sister is busy making preparations for tomorrow’s cookout.  She always does more of the holidays then anyone else.  Someday I hope to have a house so I can take my turn at having everyone over to grill out or eat turkey. 

I spent a lot of time today playing with the puppies at my son’s house.  They are so adorable! I’m including pictures of each one.  They are so much cutier in person but oh well.  I’m suppose to get the tan one but she has six people who want puppies and only four puppies so someone will be disappointed.  I told them I would not take one if they knew someone else who would take good care of it.

Monday and Wyoming

Today should have been the day we arrived in Jackson Hole Wyoming to pick up the key to our cabin.  I have never regretted not going on a vacation as much as I regret this one.  This one feels like a little bit of hope inside me has withered and died because I didn’t go see the mountains.  Not going took something away from me that I can’t even describe.

I dreamt again last night that I owned a cabin in Montana.  Of course, never having seen Montana except in movies, my dream was limited to those scraps of knowledge.  I wish I could win the lottery because buying a cabin in Montana, Colorado, or Wyoming is something I would definitely But alas, that is hardly likely.

Today I am looking at apartments for rent that allow a dog.  Now, I could give up my dog and find a nicer apartment however, Baxter keeps me sane and gets me exercising.  It is hard to come home late at night and not have anyone there.  Baxter always greets me at the door, is very excited I’m home, and then sits beside me on the couch while I watch tv or whatever - when I go to bed, he curls up next to me to sleep.  I don’t want to be alone again.

I believe there are nice apartments out there that allow dogs, I just have to find them.  He is just a little guy so I find it hard to believe he isn’t acceptable.  Of course, looking for an apartment is not what I’d like to be doing - I’d like to be looking for a house to buy.  But if I hang on to the condo a while longer then I can’t buy a house up here…it is just plain monetary fact.

Oh the challenges of life.  There are more apartments open next month since the lease year here goes August to the end of July but I don’t want to wait.  I’m sure my sister would let me stay with them another month but I hate being a burden to others or making them feel uncomfortable in their own home.  Besides, I need to get moving forward on getting settled or I will go insane.