What an Adjustment

I had my monthly adjustments after work today. Chiropractor first, then deep-tissue massage after. And just like a caterpillar makes the awkward-but-refreshing transformation to a butterfly, it was worth it.

First of all, I arrived fresh after a writing workshop where we learned and discussed the short attention span of humans these days – and how do we write to capture that less-than-one second of time they/we take to read content. 

Our roadblocks? Many. But they include this fact: Researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of London studied 1,100 workers at a British company and found that multitasking with electronic media caused a greater decrease in IQ than smoking pot or losing a night's sleep.

Yup. Our phones are making us stupid. We need our phones to communicate and receive information, but we can't go very long without them. We, as a whole, cannot handle sitting idle.

So, much like the briefly resting butterfly on the leaf above, I decided to test the theory. I arrived 5 minutes early to the chiropractor and had to sit outside of her office door anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes. I vowed to just wait and not look at my phone. Uff da. 

I remembered that since the pre-internet dawn of waiting room time, they've always had magazines for this purpose. So paging through reading material isn't technically a technical device, right? Instead of grabbing a magazine, though, I grabbed a book. I wish I would've taken a picture of the name of it because, like the effects of smoking pot or losing a night's sleep as mentioned above, my memory is squat these days.

I think the title had something to do with coping with stress. I do remember one of the strategies mentioned, though. And that might have helped me more than my physical adjustments today.

Here's what I recall. When you perceive something as negative and label it as a negative event, then it's going to carry a negative stress on you. For as long as you let it. Instead label it neutrally – like stating the facts.

For example, and this is just an example (honest), instead of saying, "My boss just assigned me a writing job knowing full well I am overloaded right now," say (and think), "My boss assigned a job. I am going to write it." This acknowledges that she had to assign it to someone. And maybe as a positive, she assigned it to me because she's confident in my abilities.

In other words, don't fold your wings ready for battle. Don't be paranoid – and definitely nip your ego in the bud. Not everyone is out to get you. You are not a victim. A series of events happened and now we move on.

Pretty decent 5-minute lesson, eh?

I guess it just spoke to me – while my phone was on silent. 😀

Rain Delays

Might be hard to tell in the picture, but even the spiders aren't equipped for this rain. That web is holding some big ol' drops, that's for sure.

My web is pretty much in disarray too. And by web, I mean well-constructed calendar – which included 3 mini photo shoots today that I'll have to try to fit into the microscopic holes in my calendar this month. Darn rain!

I had it on good authority – according to the app on my phone – that rain would be done around 11 a.m. today. It was not raining at 10 a.m. so I was very excited. But it resumed by 11 a.m. and kept going and going and going all day.

So I did what any disgruntled photographer would do. I went to Verizon and got a new phone with, hopefully, an app that doesn't show rain on the days I need to take pictures. That was totally logical in my mind. 

Come on. We all know a little retail therapy is good for the dampened soul!

Hope you found a way to enjoy your day or just lazed around indoors. My new weather app (well the same one on a new phone) says were in the clear for the rest of the week.

Just don't take that rain check to the bank!

The Dragged Out Dozen

In case you were wondering what's occupying my time these days – I mean besides spring sports (basically wrapped up) and work – it's looking at pictures like the one above and obsessively counting down to my trip to Alaska.

12 days, 10 hours, 26 minutes and 43 seconds. In case you were wondering. 

So yep, seeing gorgeous "midnight sunsets" and mountains and lakes and getting excited. Oh Nell is just as excited. We just don't want to rush time now or the fates will be against us and rush our vacation. which by the way, is nicely organized and designed for our easy reference...

Because I have this compulsion for making more work for myself or something. But really, in case it is the last frontier, where cellular service is spotty (which we've heard), then we better go old school with a few things. Don't worry. We'll be armed with The Milepost – a must-have Alaskan map and guide book of sorts.

So that's it. Nothing new here. Just thinking and making lists and packing piles and patiently (not really) waiting for the next dozen days to drag by! 

Oooh. We're down to 12 days, 10 hours and 20 minutes now! Time's flying!

Technology Time Capsule

Thought I'd actually try to accomplish something today while hubby was out of the house working the boys' Cranberry Classic basketball tourney at Assumption. So I tackled the closet in what was formerly known as "the computer room" and has been "Jim's office" for the past eight years or so.

The picture above shows what happens when you're cleaning out a closet and you stumble upon a Technology Time Capsule. Apparently, we were concerned about keeping the instructions – and boxes – just in case we needed them. For what, I don't know. (Pretty sure I inherited that logic.)

How many gadgets from the past decade can you identify? Ha. 

We've got a flip phone box, a few non-working pedometers from our days in Iola, boxes for at least three different generations of Samsung Galaxy phones, a box for a Garmin (I guess that was pre-GPS in vehicles and on phones), two for wi-fi routers, one for a "netbook," and lord knows what else.

I got as far as taking them out of the closet and to the kitchen table. I really meant to go through and figure out if it all can be discarded or recycled. But purposely distracted myself and went to take pictures at the basketball tournament. Just the two Assumption games... so I could justify my procrastination.

Looks like it's going to be a Thursday project. After a few more basketball games, of course. 

I mean those boxes aren't going anywhere. Technology might advance while I'm still sorting through them, though!

Playing Telephone

You young folks really have to stretch your imagination to realize what these two boys are doing is called "playing telephone." Yup. We'd string two tin cans together and have conversations. The sound didn't really travel through the "line" but sort of echoed in the can a bit. Either way, you'd pretend you were talking and listening anyway.

That's how it is now when my signal drops or connection gets sketchy. Both happened tonight.

Called my mom on our land line since that's usually clearer. I decided to multi-task and get steps on the driveway but quickly realized I couldn't venture too far from the house and keep my signal! Still, I got my steps and had a nice conversation with Mom.

When I got in the house, the land line rang and it was Carter's number showing up. Here he tried to call my cell but got some message it wasn't in service. Apparently, my office walls are steel vault. I never can get calls on my cell in there. Don't know if it's Verizon or my phone. I kind of think it's a good excuse to phone shop! Either way, it was great hearing from him for no special reason.

I kind of felt like I was playing telephone. Got to talk up a generation and down a generation and I was feeling the love on the "line" in between. I like that kind of signal.

A lot.

Data Date

The good news about off-to-school shopping with your baby is that you get a mother-son date. The bad news is that it's an expensive date!

We made good on our word to buy Carter a laptop for his graduation gift. When I got a "Tech Tuesday" sale email from Best Buy today, I decided we might as well take our student discount coupons and go!

The nearest store is over by Stevens Point, which worked to our advantage later.

First priority, of course, was Best Buy. We got lucky (we think) that the young woman who helped us was a high school graduate on her way to college in a few weeks as well. She basically sold on this great laptop that meets all requirements for UW schools, etc. It is so popular right now that the store was out of stock. So she ordered it for us and we'll get it shipped home before Carter takes off in a few weeks.

We wanted Carter to get acquainted with his laptop before he left in case he had questions. Mainly, the issue is that it has Windows 10 and neither Jim or I use that. In fact Carter and I both use big Macs at home. So he'll have to learn this stuff on his new Asus PC and get used to it.

From the tech store, we stopped by the phone store. We have learned on the UW-P campus that Verizon is pretty much the carrier that works there. We certainly knew it wasn't our AT&T phones, though we've had few other complaints with our coverage. So college boy and I stopped to see what Verizon could offer and may re-visit our current plan.

Carter certainly has power, driving all these decisions, doesn't he?

He chose our supper and dessert place, too. I would be the last person to complain about Noodles & Co. followed by Stone Cold Creamery! He definitely has a good head on his shoulders.

Came home and he's jetted off with friends again but at least we're making progress on our college prep "to do" list. And I got to see some of the Olympics, too. That's why I didn't remember until after 9 p.m. that I have to make a dessert for a potluck at church tomorrow. Basically have to go straight there from work so I needed to get it done tonight.

It's done baking now. Think I'll just have the Mr. Social Life put the cover on the pan when he gets home. Should be cool by then.

Plus, he can use his powers for good.

Auto-Incorrect

Smart phones are so smart these days they can finish your thoughts for you!

For example, you can send a text and it will assume the word you are trying to type and fill in the blanks. It's called "auto correct" so you trust it to be correct. And sometimes you are in a hurry so you don't even glance at the words, you just assume it's correct and hit send.

Never assume.

When you discover the auto correct was incorrect, it takes twice as long to send your message because you are explaining the mistake!

Sometimes, though, it is hilarious. Confusing but amusing.

Last week I was telling a friend about kickboxing class and meant to say something about not showing until 5:20 because there is a class until then. But my "because" was replaced with "nevus." So my friend thought the instructor's name was Nevus. Ha.

What the heck IS nevus? Well, according to my online dictionary: a birthmark or a mole on the skin, esp. a birthmark in the form of a raised red patch.

At least we know the smart phone has an in-depth dictionary!

Tonight, though, was the funniest. A friend, who shall remain anonymous (see how I protect her identity in the photo below?) had an appointment so we knew she would be late to Book Club. About the time we were going to get going on the discussion, I thought I'd check on her status.

This was our brief conversation...

Ohmigosh. I laughed so hard I couldn't even read it out loud to the group!

Granted, she did just have her eyes dilated. But I suspect she just thought she was typing ShopKo and hit send without looking. We got a good chuckle out of that and gave her some grief when she did finally arrive.

With no bail money required.

It'll make me look twice before I hit SEND. Probably should proof my blogs better before I hit SAVE as well. Unless it's funny, then I meant it on purpose. :)

Why, Oh Why-Fi

Sometime in the middle of the night – I think around 4 a.m. – the power went out. Not sure why. It wasn't storming or anything. We only noticed because our fan (aka white noise machine) stopped. It was suddenly very quiet.

And you know what we heard? Coyotes. Lots of them. Somewhere. I guess near enough for us to hear them. Yikes.

The power came back on after an hour, I think. So waking up meant fixing all the electric clocks in the house and more. The "more" part was not fun. First, the cable television signal was out. I had to reset and restart all kinds of things before that got going. Then it was onto the Internet.

No matter how many times I reset and restarted any and every thing related to our Internet and wi-fi, I could not get a signal on our computers. I tried switching the wireless routers and everything. No success. To use the Internet on my computer, I had to use my smartphone as a hotspot. Now that's just a pain.

So I gave up and went shopping.

Well, first I ran 3 miles and got laundry going, then showered and went to Stevens Point shopping. But not for me, of course. For Carter. Just needed to get a shirt for his senior pictures tomorrow. But then, since there was no one home waiting for me – Carter was tubing and Jim was at a funeral in Green Bay – I decided to shop for myself. I had a $50 Kohl's gift card burning a hole in my pocket since my birthday. That was well spent. Ha.

Retail therapy is underrated.

When I got home, Carter was there there trying to figure out our darn wireless connection. How will we live without it?!? We were both frustrated so I got in touch with our Internet provider and no one else was having this problem since the power outage. Between the support guy and me, we determined it was our own wireless routers that must have gone to pot somehow, maybe a surge during the power outage. Who knows?

So after some time with Mr. Deck Chair and a dinner date with Carter, we picked up a new router... because I'm sure I had $70 burning a hole in my pocket! Got home and hooked it up and, I gotta tell ya, this new one works better than the two we had. My connection is faster and not slowed at all when we have two computers and three phones using it.

An expensive pain in the butt, but they don't make things to last. They know the consumers will fork over money for replacements because, well, we can't live without the Internet, can we?

I managed to most of today but I can't shop and go out to eat every day to fill the void! Not unless this new magical router is so good it prints money... or Kohl's cards.

Da Hunting Trip

Since I had most of the day off, I thought I'd don some blaze orange and go hunting. Don't worry. I was just "hunting" for beautiful scenery. And the only thing I was shooting was pictures with my new phone.

Let's just say I am pretty pleased with the camera capabilities on my Samsung Alpha. Not too shabby.

And I even spotted a Deer, too! No, I am not robbing a bank or a deer camp. Got halfway through the walk and my face was frozen so I had to pull the hat down! At least the sun popped out a few times.

Here's a few images from the neighborhood...

Our halls aren't decked yet, but we do have a beautiful 4-foot wreath up. If you want a gorgeous wreath or Christmas tree, check out our friends' tree lot – Arndt's Trees – at the corner of 8th and Griffith! Great people. They must be, they put up with babysittting Carter for 6 years!

Our snowy front yard. Much more driveway has to be snowblowed this year to make room for Carter's car. That means he should help, right?

Close-up shots are not too shabby!

My favorite barn around the bend. Can photograph that in all seasons!

It does sit askew. I always wonder what holds it up. Must be the hay bales inside!

 Crooked on the ends, too!

Footprints in the snow. Mostly like their cats!

Some side buildings that look just as shabby, but I love them!

Another zoom opportunity. Sweet!

Usually see deer in this field but I suppose they are undercover right now.

A little artsy.

Final stretch. I wonder if we ever got more than a foot of snow if we would just have to snowblow our way to the main road. The plows did finally go through after 2 p.m.

Back in the hood after a successful hunting trip!

Confirmation

Tonight was our night for confirming a few plans for upcoming journeys.

First we had a travel-planning meeting for Carter & Co.'s 2015 trip to Germany. Beware: A few more fundraisers on the way! The biggest news is the desire by the teacher and chaperone to NOT allow the kids to take cell phones with them.

I can understand their concern with distraction. You can't enjoy the scenery if you are looking down at a phone. You can't interact with your host family if you are busy texting people back home. That would be rude to Lukas' family, if you ask me. Of course, that means it's a two-way street and I would have no means of reaching out to Carter in his nearly month-long absence. Sob, sob. They say this will prepare us for college. But who said I am ready for that either??

After that meeting, I stopped over at my confirmation student Emily's house. We are starting our 6-week journey of faith where I am serving as her mentor. While she was officially confirmed a few weeks back while our pastors were still working at our church, we still need to complete this part of the program. Should be interesting and rewarding. Emily is a sweet girl who is already on the path to making good choices.

My hope is that God can use me and my faith and maybe some of my life story (not the scary parts) to help her on her journey. Looking forward to it!

In fact, looking forward to how much both of these young adults will grow before and during their journeys. And having them connect closer with me, new friends and God.

Even without a cell phone!

Quick Learner

You can imagine how surprised I was to hear my cell phone ring at work this afternoon. Turns out, someone was finally calling from the soup can at the other end of the string.

My first reaction to seeing Carter's number pop up is that something must be wrong. He rarely calls and mainly texts – when he does choose to communicate.

Today, though, it was just an honest-to-goodness effort at communicating. He was letting me know he was done with work but at the lake and told me when he'd be home. He's a quick learner! Makes me wonder if I should teach him some more lessons.

Of course, I have learned a thing or two this week, too. Like not assuming the worst when we don't hear from him. And realizing there are some things he's just going to have learn to do on his own – without my prompting, a.k.a. nagging.

Will he get his 3 books read before school starts? That's not my problem.

Wow. I felt so brave typing that but you know I don't actually THINK that way.  In my mind, it is my problem, too, because I don't want MY child to fail in some way. I know the reality is that we learn many of our life lessons by failing first. It's just hard to let go and let it happen.

Maybe he'll be a quick learner about that, too.

I hope so. I should not be the only one stressing about school already!

Just 3 weeks away and counting down...

The Telephone Game

Sometimes it feels like communicating with a teenager is like playing the old Telephone Game, where we pretended we could hear a voice carry via string from one soup can to another.

The problem today is not that I can't hear through the can. The problem is that I am holding both cans. The current teenager in my mind is not picking up the can to call or answer.

I seem to recall that we gave him a cell phone to use and call his own AND a car to use and call his own – but when he uses one, he needs to use the other to let us know where he's at. Having some freedom does not mean freedom from asking permission. What we don't know only worries us.

Well, me, anyway.

Typically, when Carter works on a weekday, he puts in a few hours in the morning at the golf course, mainly cleaning bathrooms and vacuuming (two skill sets I have yet to see used at home). So today, when I arrived home from work after 5:30 p.m., I was a bit concerned neither Dad nor I had heard from him today. I had sent him a text earlier in the day and he hadn't responded. I sent him a text again at supper time to see where he was at and he did respond that he was still at work.

When he finally came home, cranky after a long day of work (like most of us), he explained (after much prodding) that he had to help at a golf outing and it was delayed 4 hours due to rain.

"So what did you do for four hours?" I asked, in I am sure what came across as an accusatory tone.

He replied that he went to Audrey's, his former, longtime babysitter, and visited her and the kids who still ask for him after all this time.

OK, so bite your tongue, Mom. You can't always assume the worst! How someone can be both cranky and kind in the same afternoon is beyond me.

Oh wait, someone is finally calling my soup can. "Hello, this is your mirror. Do you see anybody else who can master cranky and kind in one day?"

Ugh. I wish I had Caller I.D. on this thing.

Can You Hear Me Now?

A few years ago, Verizon had an annoying (but memorable) cell phone commercial illustrating their vast coverage by having the caller ask: "Can you hear me now?" And always, no matter the location, the person on the other line could.

In my experience, no matter who my cell carrier is, I have had occasional experiences with little or no signal. It is quite frustrating, but not as frustrating than the call I just had land line-to-land line with my mother. The problem might be this...

Yes, a phone just like this lovely 1970s example still hangs on the wall in her dining room. And that has been the phone of use since I was in single digits!

I know "vintage" and "retro" can be stylish, but her phone has a cracked mouthpiece and their phone line in general was struck by lightning a few years ago.

As we continue to de-clutter the homestead the next few weekends, I am sure we will hit the cordless phone jackpot. I am sure several of us kids gave Mom and Dad sets over the years for birthdays and Christmas. They never used them. Probably didn't open them.

Well, once they opened them because my mother said the calls" just don't sound as clear" as their rotary phone. Never mind they have to drive into town to a payphone (yes, those also exist Up North) to make calls requiring a "push-button" telly.

Frankly, she can do what she wants and what she feels comfortable with, but 4 out of 5 times we talk, I can't hear her at all. Or just barely. So I call her back and try again. Tonight I did that 3 times. Finally, I basically yelled my message and said I'd talk more when I see her Friday.

Wouldn't you know it. When I hung up there was a voicemail. She had called me back one of the times I was trying to reconnect. Her message was loud and clear.

So outgoing calls from the old talk-box work but incoming calls don't. Hmm... I guess since she doesn't have caller I.D. that's one way of screening her calls. "Sorry, I can't hear you. Bye."

I won't take it personally unless I hear from my siblings that I am the only one with this problem. Then I guess the message IS loud and clear. Ha.

Can you hear me NOW?

TGIBF

TGIBF?? Am I really thankful it's Black Friday?? Well, yes, for a variety of reasons...

Holiday: Naturally I love that my company gives us the day after Thanksgiving off so we can enjoy an extended weekend with family, friends and a disgruntled shopper or two.

Deal or No Deal (the Brown version): OK, we weren't planning to shop on Brown Thursday or Black Friday, but we took the bait. Last night after our dinner guests left, Jim, Carter and I ventured to Wal-Mart to witness the strange humanity that encompasses the hunt for the "DEAL"! Jim suggested we just hang around and watch. I wasn't in that mood after the long day and I wasn't dying for any deal. Carter did have something on his list so we got that without too much trouble or waiting and got the heck out of there unscathed.

Deal or No Deal (the Black version): As is tradition, we drew names among us adults in Jim's family. There were a few items that were Black Friday and Grey (?) Saturday deals. He got his taken care of this morning and I got mine done this afternoon. No craziness involved with that at all. And we can cross that off our list. I must confess, though, I did set my alarm...

Deal or No Deal (Caving to Pressure :: Part 1): OK, so I got up by 6:30 a.m. to be at the cell phone store by 6:45 a.m. for their 7 a.m. opening. I got there with my long underwear, boots and coat but did not have to wait outside. They opened early! So I got to wait in line -- and be all toasty and over-warm -- inside! After much discussion and/or debate, Mr. and Mrs. Claus decided to add Carter to our smartphone plan. We were going to wait until it was closer to his birthday in May since we would want him to have a reliable phone when he gets his driver's license. But the big DEAL today allowed me to get his phone for "free" (ha) with a few extras thrown in, plus a reduced amount for his monthly charge, etc. So I caved to pressure. And it gets worse...

Caving to Pressure (Part II): Once you have a phone activated, you really can't sit around and not use it for a month. If we waited 'til Christmas, we'd be so close to that 30-day trial period, it wouldn't be smart or prudent consumer move in case something was wrong. This is what I told Mr. and Mrs. Claus. So we caved and gave it to him today. I put his phone on a chair and called it and said, "Hey, Carter, isn't that your phone ringing?" He's like, "No, not mine." I said, "Are you sure? Look at it!" So he picks it up with a big smile and answers the only number programmed in there, of course -- mine! -- and I say "Merry Christmas!" I actually got a free-will hug out of that one!

Cranberry Classic: We didn't just go sauntering about spending money all day. Honest. This weekend every year is the Cranberry Classic basketball tournament at Assumption. So while Carter plopped down on the couch to figure out his new "toy" all day, Jim and I had to work concession 10:30-12:30. We stayed for the girls' varsity game after that. Our defending state champions won quite handily, thank you very much. I don't always get to see much of the tourney because Carter and I are usually heading Up North for the cookie bake. But since he had to work tonight, we will leave in the morning.

All Work, No Play? No Way: While Carter was working at the golf course restaurant washing dishes, Jim and I were there in one of the banquet halls for a 40th wedding anniversary party. We just had to have Carter come find us when he was done working and see if we were done playing.Since it wss 10, we were definitely done.

Family: I am still riding a high of having all three of our boys together last night for the first time in 2 years. It warmed my heart and will carry me through the Thanksgiving weekend and beyond. As I mentioned, I also get to see MY side of the family this weekend, too. We'll head up to my twin's house -- Hedberg Cookie Bake Headquarters -- tomorrow and leave Dad home alone for his "Jimmy Weekend." It's our annual tradition. And he hasn't once over the years complained that he was too lonely. Nothing black about his weekend outlook!

Pitch Black: Finally, it is only fitting on this particular "black" Friday that I express how thankful I am to a higher power and some very special people who saved me in my darkest (probably pitch black) hours 15 years ago on this date. I have been blessed with second chances and people who have supported me on a sometimes rocky journey to where I am today. I am blessed beyond measure and so thankful God (not me) is in charge of my life!

I love it "on the light side."

Extra Innings, Sort Of

It is exactly midnight and it sort of feels like the whole day went into extra innings! Plenty busy with some delays and several items on the calendar.

This morning was just time to catch up on loads and loads of laundry and housework and errands. What I should have done was spend some time learning my new SMART phone, which is way too SMART for me. For example, while I already figured out how to streamline my emails on there and post to Facebook, when hubby called me this morning, I did not how to answer it. Not kidding. Carter figured it out without even blinking when I got back home. Might take me awhile to live that one down!

While I was in town delivering some stuff from my recent Norwex party, I also dropped by Jim's aunt and uncle's since they were having a garage sale. His aunt and I swap books all the time so I knew I'd find a few I liked. One full grocery bag later and I was on my way home! That should fix me for the summer -- and then some.

Got home and almost had to turn around right away to get Carter into town on the bus for his baseball double-header in Stevens Point. Yes, we had baseball! Yes, Mother Nature was super cooperative with 70-degree sunny weather.

Carter had to leave at 2:30 and we left a little after 3 for the 4 p.m. games. When we got to the park in Stevens Point, however, there was an earlier double-header between two other schools that was still going on. They should have been done. But one of their games went to 11 innings and they were only in the 2nd inning of their 2nd game close to our start time.

So hubby and I decided we had an hour or two to kill. I'm sure the city thanks us for our patronage at ShopKo, Target and Fleet Farm! It would have been cheaper to stay at the ballpark!

Our games got started at 6 p.m. The concerns we had were that the freshman players were all invited to a surprise going-away party for a classmate and that was to take place from 7:30-11:30 back in Rapids. Jim and I also had a party to go to for a friend's 50th. We knew with the late start, we'd all be late to our evening social events.

The first game we lost 5-0 and Carter got to serve as "pinch runner" for the catcher. He's been doing that most games. In the second game, the coach decided to give some playing time to the half-dozen freshman who sit on the bench.

Guess who got his first at bat for varsity baseball?

He actually had three at bats in the game. He struck out twice and walked once. It was just nice to see him get plate time! (And I got the opportunity to test out my smart phone camera and post photos!)

We did end up losing that second game, too, by the 10-run rule... which allowed us to get back to Rapids just in time for Carter to jump into the last slow dance at his class party. Lucky him! Hubby and I missed our party altogether, but right now we are so beat, we won't be much company.

Besides, I should probably study awhile... and get SMARTer.

Paraskavedekatriaphobia: Car Show Day 2

I'm pretty sure it's not the best set of circumstances to have a car show on Friday the 13th. Or any event. Well, for me, it was unlucky before I even got there.

I definitely have that paraskavedekatriaphobia they associate with today!

First I am on my way to work, drinking out of a small bottle of Coke Zero. I had the cover on loosely so it was easier to get at while driving. When I got to the car show grounds, I grabbed my bag of everything -- that's phone to purse to camera -- and put my bottle of pop in there with plans to finish it when I got to my vending station.

I wasn't even to the entrance gate before I felt something dripping down my leg. Ugh. My Coke was everywhere in the bag and seeping through. Guess who was in too much of a hurry to tighten that cover? Oh boy. So before I even get out to the show grounds, I washed my shorts in the bathroom sink at work and dried them with the wall-mounted hair dryer thing, saved my camera from its wet bag and wiped down my wet and sticky cell phone.

Well the camera still works as far as I can tell. The phone, though, is shot.

But my shorts are still clean.

The rest of the day was just plain hot. Then, after the show, we held a Wine and Cheese Party for the owners of the "Blue Ribbon" section cars, other show VIPs and our advertisers in attendance. Usually we are just serving as bar tenders. I poured a lot of wine. It was going quite well when suddenly it started to rain!

Oh how we need rain!! Not in the middle of an outdoor party necessarily or during a car show with exposed expensive cars necessarily. But otherwise, we really, really need it. Even if we all got wet!

I figured that was a fitting end to the day. Thankfully I got home safely with no issues. I even bought a cheap replacement phone and stuck my old one in a bag of rice. You just never know. The way we've all been with our electronics lately, it's a good thing we bought a huge box of rice!

Did I take pictures today? Some. I was in a different spot and it didn't work quite as well for me to be inconspicuous. I may have to share after the weekend. I need to pack for our last baseball tourney first... and get sleep so I can head back to the show in 8 hours.

Happy Friday the 13th!

A New Job!

OK, don't get excited. I am not talking about a job as in new employment. I am talking about Job -- the guy in the Bible who was sorely tested and tested and tested by God but still had faith. (Didn't he? Please tell me it had a happy ending.)

I think after today I would be perfect for the role of Job. Oh maybe not on Broadway, but maybe in a community theatre setting. Or just in my home -- a place I wasn't sure I'd get back to today...

So I had a good productive day at work. Managed to keep the stress level tolerable and even got a good long run in at lunch (4.5 miles but who's counting). My plan was to leave work at 4:30 (I work 7:30-4:30), pick Carter up around 5:30 on my way into the school to drop something off, then we'd go Goodwill hunting for a Halloween costume, then come home. I made Rice Krispy bars with Halloween M&Ms to take to a meeting later, too. That was my plan. But you know what they say about best-laid plans...

Well I made it south of Iola to Scandinavia (about 4 miles) and was heading west when the stupid temperature gauge started going straight up to H. I have been keeping this under control with a little trick the neighbor guy taught me the other night. Put the heat on and crank it. This allegedly draws heat away from the engine and gets the thermostat cooler. Somehow. Not sure. But it has worked so far this week. This afternoon, however, I needed a new bag of tricks.

I ended pulling off onto a side road about 10 minutes into the drive. I let the car cool for about 5 minutes or so. I had a teeny bit of water left in a bottle in my workout bag, so I added that to the coolant reserve thing that normally has water or antifreeze. I didn't know what else to do. I did not have a cell phone on me because I am married to someone who thinks we don't need a cell phone but he has the one we "share" with him ... 2 time zones away. So panic was setting in a little bit. I hit the road again and managed OK getting to Amherst, which is about 10 miles down the road.

I parked at a gas station there and bought another bottle of water just in case. I added a bit more. I ended up driving to Plover -- another 10 miles down the road -- pretty much at 45 mph because the temperature needle seemed to hold steady in the middle at that speed.

When I got to Plover I pulled into the first gas station. "You don't happen to have anything resembling a pay phone here do you?" No, replied Mr. Gas Station Attendant. And no, he had no idea where I could find one. Perhaps at Copps (the grocery store), he said. Mainly I just wanted to call Carter so he wouldn't freak out when I was not there by 5:30 to pick him up (since it was 5:20 already) and to tell him to put the neighbor on "stand by" in case I needed him to come get me.

Well the helpful Customer Service lady at Copps let me use their phone. Only Carter didn't answer because it probably looked foreign to him on the caller I.D. So I left a message and let him know what was up. I went back out to the car and thought, you know, I should just walk over to ShopKo and buy a stinkin' cell phone for the ride home. I'm just that nervous.

So I ask Mr. Electronics Dept if any of the phones can be used right away, as soon as I walk out of the store. Sure, he says, pointing to a few. I snap one up and buy some minutes and take it out to the car. "To activate, please dial this number XXXXX from a different phone." Geez Louise. OK, so I walk back to ShopKo (I'm getting my steps in) and tell the helpful Customer Service lady that I would love to use their phone to call an 800 number to activate the TracFone I just bought at her store. She said yes.

I reach Mr. TracFone and his computerized voice says "This will take about 10 minutes." He was talking about the single human-sided conversation -- not the activation. Just before he hung up, he said it could take 4 hours, yes 4 hours, for the phone to activate and be usable. Are you kidding me? No, not kidding.

So I decide I better just start driving and hope for the best... and pray... and continue to bargain with God to just get me home safely. I did try the phone just outside of Plover. It worked already. Yay. So I reach Carter who says he never got my message and therefore, obviously, has been worried sick. Turns out my sister called at the same time so her message and mine were being left at the same time. Hers registered first and Carter did not realize there was a second oh-so-important message! Sigh...

Anyway, I told him I hoped to be home in 15 minutes and God-willing, with the heat blasting for 15 miles, I was!

So I call my sister back. At this point I am still shaking from the trauma and am telling this already too-long tale of my two-hour trip home from work. Then, and I wish I was kidding, there is the cat, sitting on her stool, puking all over the kitchen floor. Are you freakin' kidding me? This is how the day is going to wrap up?

At this point, Carter hands me a glass of eggnog I so wisely purchased at Wal-Mart last night, I hang up with my sister and give the cat the look to send her running, then clean up cat puke.

When hubby called, he was not attuned to the significance of my stress level. "What's the worst that could have happened? It blows up and dies by the side of the road somewhere. We got our money's worth out of the this car." Yes, that's all true, but I felt like my adventures in babysitting the car all the way home were bad enough.

Of course, God had to keep me off the ledge the whole drive home, too, and I was probably more of a handful.

Maybe I'm not cut out for this Job job just yet!

Caller I.D.

Since the advent of Caller I.D., rarely are we surprised at who's on the other end of the line when we answer the phone. In fact, we can even "screen" calls and disregard the person's call altogether, if we want.

We do that for obvious telemarketer calls (sorry folks) and the suspicious "Unknown" or "Unavailable." We don't have any extra money to give and, no, we aren't interested in having our rug shampooed or our windows measured.

Today, though, I would have loved to have been home when the person (or business?) pictured above called us. Carter Precious. Sounds more like a sentence than a name, right? Like "I hungry," "She pretty," "Carter precious."

No clue if it was a joke or not but I'm pretty sure when Carter does get that cell phone five years from now, we're going to make him put that as his account name!

And, if he gets one any sooner, it'll have to be Carter Spoiled.

Pressure

There are at least three occasions where it is essential to apply pressure:

• One involves stemming the flow of blood from a wound.
• Another is evident when a basketball team plays tough defense.
• And a third, apparently, is when a sixth-grader tries to convince his parents he needs a cell phone.

I should have known when we were at iHop yesterday and Carter suddenly said, "When can I get a cell phone?" that this was girl-related. But us moms are slow sometimes. It takes us awhile to put together the big picture, but when we do, look out, kids. You're not getting away with anything!

Last night, when Carter was getting ready to fall asleep, he told me a little more about his experience at the skate place (where nobody skated). He really was not that thrilled about it. In fact, even though he was escorting 2 girls there, he said he was bored. He then goes on to say, "Someone even said to me, 'Wow, you must be bored.' And I said, 'I sort of am, why?' And he said, 'Because you're phoneless.'"

Apparently, the kids just hang out and text each other all night. I asked what was the point of going "out" somewhere just to text with people who aren't there? It doesn't make sense to this "old-fashioned" mother, but it's enough to get Carter applying the full-court press on us to consider giving him a phone.

He told the neighbors this week he was going to ask for one for Easter, then if he didn't get one, he'd ask for it for his birthday. You just keep asking, Carter!

We had said he does not need a cell phone in grade school. If he is not with us, he's at school, at the sitter's or someone's house. If he needs to get ahold of us, it's pretty easy.

He also is rarely on our "land line" anyway. He only calls up boy classmates on weekends to ask them to come over. I reminded him last night, "If you need to call someone, just use the phone. You don't have to worry about a signal or anything." That wasn't what he wanted to hear. I also reminded him that this costs money, sometimes a lot of money, every month to have a cell phone with the coveted texting. He didn't want to hear that either.

In past discussions between hubby and me, we figured by junior high (next school year) we might have to have one available for his use. But we're going to play it by ear and see if there's a need.

In the meantime, I guess we'll prepare ourselves for his power of persuasion attempts. I hope he realizes if he gets too annoying, we're just going to delay it even longer.

Then he'll be bored and crabby! ... And he'll have no way to tell anyone.

Countdown to Fun

Will Derek and Meredith finally live happily ever after? Will George pass his intern exam? Is there a new man for Cristina?

So many questions, so few hours until Grey's!

A bunch of us from work are getting together to watch the "season opener" for Grey's Anatomy tonight. So, using questions sanctioned by my official Grey's Anatomy Trivia Board Game, I have been testing their knowledge throughout the day, emailing questions to see who responds first, who has retained the most "Grey Matter." Yes, I have other work to do and yes, I am getting it done. This just keeps us counting down to the fun!

Some will also be watching Survivor before Grey's so we are bringing treats that reflect either show. I'm bringing my famous Dirt Cake complete with gummy worms (Survivor food, right?). Yummy!

As if a girls' night out isn't enough, I will have a girls' day out tomorrow. I'll be going with a friend of mine and her family to the Warrens Cranberry Festival. What is it and where is it? It's located between Wisconsin Rapids and Tomah and it is a festival with more than 1,300 booths of arts and crafts, antiques, farm produce, you name it.

The only time I went there was 6 years ago when I hosted Wild Women's Weekend and my 6 sisters and I ventured over there. That was quite an event. This was pre-cell phone days, if you can believe it, so we were communicating through walkie-talkies and trying to get a signal, etc. That's all I'm going to say about that. What happens in Warrens, stays in Warrens.

And do I need to shop? No. I told my girlfriend I am bringing my camera. This is one of those "I can make that!" idea shopping ventures where I take pictures of things I could make ... if I had free time and talent, of course. That's part of the fun.

The other part, which goes without saying, is just hanging out with friends and not working. What more could a girl ask for?