Unemployment?? Boy that was a close one...

Today was a super scary day for about 30 minutes. Hubby called to tell me that "Two Speed" (a coworker) just found out that he was laid off and there is rumored to be 15 expected layoffs. Two Speed went into the office to turn in his paperwork and WHAM he was asked into the big office and handed his severance package and told to clean out his truck, with best wishes and a list of hiring companies. There was no warning that this was going to happen, just a simple hello, goodbye kinda day.

I told hubby to let me know how it went for him.

THE LONGEST 30 MINUTES.....EVER!!!

The fear crept in instantly and I was close to tears. If it hadn't been for checking the mail and finding my current package of yarn there, I'm sure I would have broke down in sheer panic. I was already trying to figure out what things will would have to cut and where I could find a job.

The phone rang...Hubby took in a deep breathe (my mind went numb in fear), finally he uttered the words...I still have a job!
OH, THANK GOODNESS!!!! That was all I could say.

Later when the hubs got home he told me who all he knows got cut and why he didn't.

First.. he lost a good portion of his buddies that he runs with and chats with all day. He is very sad over this loss.

Second...he stopped one of the main girls in the office and asked her what the criteria was for keeping his job. She said for him it was mostly because he is in the top 10 of drivers who make the most loads and don't have alot of expense coming out for repairs. Basically saying he does his job efficiently and doesn't tear up is truck doing it. Plus combine that with is safety record (nobody calling in on him for unsafe driving or accidents)and always passing a DOT (Department of Transportation) inspection. Also unknown to the drivers but they have been spying on them all just looking for anything to pin on them... Speeding in the pits, failure to wear safety equipment, taking extra long lunches...just anything really.

All the while he was talking, I was thinking of the story of the Rabbit and the Turtle. Steady and careful vs fast and damaging.

It's just good to know that my hubby is a great truck driver and they value him as an employee...for now.

Recap of the last few months

Soo...it has been a super long time since I have written anything. I knew I had been neglecting my blog but hadn't realized just how long it had been..4 months!! Well to be honest not much has been going on around here, except a whole lot of crocheting and some super hot days. Lets see if I can break it down and remember some things. I'm gonna cheat an use my Facebook status's for a guide.

June and July...basically those were the dog days of summer. So friggin hot it was torture just to walk to the mailbox. We didn't do much of anything outside. The scorched weeds did need mowing but the fear of fire was too great to risk it.
I had the ac's cranked and still it was hot, but I still managed to get some crochet projects done.
I did go to the zoo with my sister and her little family, that was lot of fun, but it was super hot!!
I also went to a family gathering for a late Father's day and early b-day celebration for dad.
Daughter Jennifer came out to spend the day with her dad on father's day, that was fun getting to spend time with the grandkids.
We also had a new addition to our family, granddaughter Pearl.
Hubby was home for a whole week while his truck was being worked on, that was a scary week not knowing just how long he was going to be out of work.
One more thing...I began to teach myself to knit! I have gone 40+ years without ever trying, it was time to muster up the courage and get it over with.

August...Going on our 3rd month of 100+ temps and all energy has been zapped out of human and animal alike.
I started the month out in pain from a pinched nerve in my lower back that hurt all the way down to my toes.
I did have a good visit with my brother and his little family, it is always a treat when they visit.
We did go on vacation to visit with friends and family up in the Dallas area. It was only a three day trip but it was wonderful getting to see and spend time with everybody. We saw alot of old friends that we hadn't seen in a super long time, also we got to meet our newest granddaughter and spend time with the grandkids, so that was pretty exciting.
Another good thing was that the trip didn't cost nearly as much as we had predicted.
The only bad thing that happened was I kinked my neck on the trip home and had a stiff and sore neck for a week afterwards. Well worth the pain, I'd say!
I also started a blanket for the hubby...Harley Davidson blanket! I was all excited cause it was the first time I had worked on a blanket that had multiple strands going all at the same time.

Sept...Sat around hoping for rain and watched the ground shrivel up and die.
Hubby did mowed the dirt, that was pretty funny. He had a huge dust cloud rolling behind him, reminded me of the character from Charlie Brown. LOL! It's still funny just remembering the image.
We did manage to get a few sprinkles now and then in the beginning of the month but nothing that could be measured.
I made a trip up to see the folks and work on their computer, I even got dad set up for Facebook. That lasted for about a week!
Got to go visit with my bf for a day, I do miss being able to see her whenever I feel like it.
My mom had 4 deaths on her side of the family and had to go to Maine, us kids had to do what we could to watch over the old man. We can only do soo much with someone so stubborn! LOL!
I got a lot of crochet projects done in the month of September, finished up some that had been in my closet for years.
Made another trip to parents house to AGAIN mess with their computer.
Got a few decent showers in the latter portion of the month.

October...Finished the blanket for the hubs, he has been using it ever since. He loves it!
Made a trip to brothers house to clean up for the arrival of his new girlfriend from Australia in 2 weeks. I have talked with her and already like her very much.
One of my kitties has been missing for the last week, pretty sure she met with fowl play.
Hubby has been home since mid-day Thursday..AGAIN having work done on his truck, not sure if he will be back to work Monday or not.

Well that is about it, it is actually more than I thought it would be!

Her Puppet Masters...

Sitting here drinking my coffee and going through my emails (it's been awhile). I get the weekly newsletter from Mama's Losing It, delivering the prompts for the Writer's Workshop for the week. As you must know already I haven't participated in some time. Anyway I got to last weeks prompts and the vlog option was "Show what a typical day looks like at your house". This tickled my funny bone pretty good. I started envisioning myself sitting down to watch the most boring movie ever! LOL!

She was wakened by a snorting/sneezing dog that was trying to tell her it is time to get your lazy bum up and let me out. She throws back the covers, slips on her slippers and lets all dogs out while keeping an watchful eye on the escape artist cat. She gets her coffee, puts it in the micro, gives the cats their treats and goes to the bathroom. She retrieves her hot coffee, looks over at the computer and tells herself "Stupid! You left the computer on all night". She fixes up her coffee with cream and sugar, steals a sip and puts it down.

Grabs a glass of water and a scoop of cat food. Opens the front door to watch all the kitties come a running. She feeds and waters them and sitently counts to make sure none are missing. Momma and 1,2,3,4,5. Humm, where's the daddy? Oh well, he'll show up.

Back in the house she grabs her coffee and sits down at the computer, time to see what is going on in the world and with my friends. She briefly glances over Facebook. Stitch barks that he wants back in, she waits for all three to come in but of course Taco has to be a little subborn and says no by laying there and ignoring the opened door. She comes back to the computer only to be summoned back to the door just a few short minutes later. False alarm, Tacos just barking for the sake of barking. Again he fools me for a second time, on the third time she forces him to come in so she can stop this merry go round.

Back in front of the computer in her swivel chair. She gets snorted/sneezed at by one dog and whined at by another. She swivels around and asks WHAT? Three beds for three dogs there shouldn't be a problem. Ohh, I see. Tacos bed is occupied by a cat and Stitch wants covers. She fixes the problems and returns to her browsing.

Now that the cat has been awakened and removed from said basket, he needs someone to pick on in his grouchy mood. He picks a fight with Peachy, who was fast asleep in her own basket. This morning is not quite going off without a hitch! She rubs her face in aggervation and heads outside to water the plants.

Anything to get away from being the puppet to the puppet masters. They pull her strings and move her along through another day, but sometimes they try to pull those strings just a little to tight and taunt. This just happens to be one of those mornings.

Lets see if another cup of coffee fixes anything!
If this was a movie, it really would be boring. That was two hours of my morning. Sitting here writing this and doing the same chores I do every morning. The cat fight was not a typical thing but does happen at least twice a week! LOL!

Now it is time to get on the phone and do my daily phone calls to mom and bf. Then it will be time to get some crocheting done before the heat picks up to a miserable 100 degrees.

My "little boy" is down to eight lives left!

One of my favorite of the kittens just gave me the scare of a lifetime! I was going to go back to sitting in my chair and pick up my crocheting again...I had to walk past the front door to do so and I heard momma kitty let out a strange meow. I opened the door t see what was going on.

To my horror the little outdoor end table was knocked over and one of the orange kittens was tangled up in the legs!


As you can see (from the pic I took 2 days ago), this little table has curly legs and the kittens head reaches one end and his hips reach the other end.

I rushed out the door and he was soo wrapped up in those curly legs I was frantic at trying to loosen him. I had to get his head out first and the try to free his hips, as I was trying to free his hips, I saw the look in his eyes. It was a look of "Your too late". I rushed him up to my chest, grabbed the table and threw it towards the garbage cans, ran into the house and proceeded to check him over.

I thought for sure he was dead, his eyes were glassed over and he was like a rag doll in my hands. After quickly rubbing my hands all over his body to see if there was damage, he lifted his head! I can't even relay to you the feeling that washed over me.. relief and joy, mingled with the still present fear and panic.

He was stuck in those legs in such an odd way...The upper leg had his head and his body was bent over the leg to where the metal was pressing on the back of his neck and hips stuck in the opposite direction.

Now that I knew he was alive, I wanted to check his mobility. I put him on the floor and waited to see if he could walk. He did walk but it was only two steps. I picked him up and plopped myself into my office chair. My heart was racing, I needed to sit! I sat here for a good while just stroking him and he finally started showing signs of being more alert.

I took him out to his mother (who had been meowing most frantically the whole time), who promptly proceed to lick him to death as she was leaning on my leg and purring. I stayed outside long enough to be sure he could walk good and to get some leg rubs and swishy tailing from my little boy.

If cats DO have 9 lives, then he's already down to eight! AND I gained at least a dozen new greys!

What a night! I'm worn out from all the excitement, nighty-nite.

Memorial day weekend

Saturday I spent the morning and the evening with the hubby watching some really great old war movies on the tv. I absolutely adore Van Johnson and he was a huge star of the b&w era, so manage to get my fix of him almost all day. During the afternoon I spent a few hours with my bf. I had a pretty good pile of things to take to her and we had some crocheting to share with each other. It was a good visit and we sat and watched History Detectives together (very interesting episode), it had been so long since we had the chance to just sit in each others presence. I do dislike that we now live so far away.

Sunday the hubby and I lazied around almost all day. I cooked twice and crocheted till my tush went numb. Then we took a nap. After the nap I was full of energy and the sun was setting, the temps outside had finally dropped down into the 80's. I decided it was a great time to get the mowing done. Watching the beautiful sunset across the sky made me long for my camera but I knew I had to finish the mowing before I lost all sunlight. Kinda a bummer to have missed the opportunity but at least the mowing got done. BUT before the mowing was finished, the hubby decided to come outside (first time since friday evening) just to aggravate me about my mowing technique...grrr. I was pretty peeved. I was very close to saying something ugly but thankfully refrained.
Meanwhile while mowing the race was on. There was about 77 more laps left to the race and Earnhardt was in 3rd by time I came in. Okay NOW this is a race to watch! I decided to sit and watch it while giving myself a foot soak. There I was sitting in my chair with my feet stuck in water and suddenly Earnhardt was in the lead. I was slapping my knee begging and pleading for him to go go go, while my whole body wanted to be jumping up and down but couldn't cause my feet were stuck in water!. It was torture! Only to watch his car slow down, he ran out of gas on the 4th corner just yards away from the checkered flag. OMG it was so disappointing but yet it was a thrilling race.

Tomorrow I plan to finish the yard, go to the grocery store, do some laundry and hopefully finish the throw I have been working on. Just a plain old regular day.

Yeah we really know how to party, huh?