What A Crappy Day

This was supposed to be a pretty good day but it has morphed into a crappy day. 

First of all, we've had a deluge of rain for the past 24 hours.  The monsoon stopped for a couple of hours this afternoon, only to start again.  Which will postpone or cancel my Bats game tonight.  It doesn't really matter because I already decided to bail on the game with the crappy weather forecast.

Then, I got a package from Amazon today, only to find that it was totally opposite of what I ordered.  So that means I will have to go through the ordeal of sending the package back for a refund. 

Third, I lost my box of Zyrtec.  We've all three looked for a half an hour and can't find the box anywhere.  So this means another trip to the store to buy more.  Which also means as soon as I get home with my new box, I will find the lost box.  

I give up.

Happy Birthday, Willie Nelson

TWIT would like to wish Willie Nelson a happy 83rd birthday today. 

In case you have been living under a rock, Willie is pretty much the most awesome singer/songwriter ever. There's not much else I could add to that. 

 

You're Getting Sleepy, Sleepy, Sleepy

I have been so sleepy all week long. At work, I've had at least two sleepy spells during the day.  In the evenings, I've taken a power nap before getting ready to go to bed.  I've talked to a few other people who said they've been extra sleepy this week, too.  We're all blaming it on everyone's allergies this week.  It sounds reasonable. 

I'd love to post more, but I think I'm going to bed now. 

Thank You, Life Lock

I would like to personally thank Life Lock. 

Background: I'm one of the few people that still belong to AOL, and as part of our monthly membership, we have Life Lock.  That having been said, I am very impressed at the work that Life Lock does.

On Monday, I went online and signed up for a rewards points Visa for Hobby Lobby.  Given the fact that I now spend as much money there as I do at my beloved Wal-Mart, it seemed like a good idea.  But I digress.  Anyhoo, I signed up, and within an hour of filling out the Hobby Lobby Visa application online, I received a phone call from Life Lock.  This is just awesome.  They are so on-the-ball.  I answered the phone call and confirmed to a live person that I did in deed apply for a Visa and that it wasn't someone hacking into me. 

Keep up the awesome work, Life Lock.

Farmtown 2016

I am very proud to announce that Farmtown 2016 is underway here at The Compound.  Today the 'Rents planted cabbage, lettuce and broccoli - cool weather crops.  They are waiting till our last chance of a freeze is over to plant the beans and tomatoes.  But as of today, Farmtown 2016 is officially under way. 

Trivia Update

I'm bummed to report that Team Divas came in third tonight at the Monday Night Trivia Contest.  We started out slow, made a quasi-comeback, but didn't quite make it in the top two to win the coveted prizes. 

It was a rough night.  Both of the Divas were frazzled from the day, and we were not on our A-Game. 

Next week is the "Rock and Roll/Derby" themed trivia.  I'm not sure when I'll have time this week to study up on my Derby trivia.

So Much For The Rain

Everyone here in the Ohio River Valley was hoping that the rain this week would wash out all of the tree pollen that was in the air.  But evidently, that didn't happen.  During church this morning, you could hear rounds of sneezing coming from all over the sanctuary.  And during my trip to Krogers this evening, there was lots of sneezing going on as well.  I wish I'd worn my mask.

Today's Fortune

"You will do well to expand your business."

Flashback Friday

It's the eve of Thunder Over Louisville - the country's biggest firework's show and the official kick-off for the Kentucky Derby Festival.

This year, I am not stressing over Thunder because I am not going.  In years past, I would be stressed out to the max over going to Thunder.  Did I have everything packed in the back of the old Blazer?  And more importantly, would we find a place to park.

This year, all of this is non-issue.  I could not care less about going to Thunder.  I will spend my day painting. And having some cocktails.  

To the hundreds of thousands that are going to Thunder tomorrow, I pray for no drama and no injuries. 

Something You Don't Hear Every Day

Overheard at Bob Evans restaurant this morning while the 'Rents and I were eating breakfast, and I quote:

"I had to wake up early to do my hair."

Thank You, Wal-Mart

TWIT and I would like to publicly thank my local Wal-Mart for now carrying my beloved Minute Maid Orangeade.  Until now, I could only find it in a liquor store up the road.  Of course there, you had to pay over a buck for one bottle; today I found a six-pack at Wal-Mart for the low price of only two bucks.  Needless to say, I bought three of the six-packs.  

Thanks again, Wal-Mart, for giving my orangeade fix. This tastes just like the orangeade we would get at the Orange Bar that used to be in the old Shelbyville Road Mall, which is now Mall St. Matthews.  

 

I Apologize

I feel like I am letting you down, faithful readers.  Here lately I've been too busy and forgot to post every day here in TWIT like I've been doing since I started my blog.  

It seems like every spare moment in the evenings and weekend is filled with painting and designing quilt pattern pictures.  If I'm not eating or sleeping, I have a paint brush in my hand.  But I know you're probably tired of hearing me say that. 

I promise that I will be more diligent in posting every day.  

Thanks for still being my faithful readers.

Bless You

At last night's Bats baseball game, I think I heard "bless you" more times than I heard "go Bats".  The tree pollen currently is at a sky-high level, and everybody is sneezing and feeling the effects of it.  At the ball game last night, you could hear rounds of sneezing throughout the evening.  It hit me hard this morning and I've felt like a zombie all day.  I took a long two-hour nap this afternoon, and feel like I could sleep some more.  Maybe I will after I do some more painting.

Saturday Updates

I apologize for not posting yesterday.  It was a very crazy and busy day.  No, make that a very busy and crazy week.  I've been a nurse, a painter, and a half a dozen other people this week.  

First of all, I was a nurse.  A week and a half ago, Dad cut off part of his left thumb out on the table saw.  He was cutting a board for one of our barn art quilt block pictures.  It was a very bad cut, and even though he did fracture a bone in his thumb, the hand surgeon said no surgery, and they didn't even stitch it up.  Since that happened, I've been changing the bandage on it before I go to work and when I get home from work.  At first, I had to almost close my eyes because I couldn't bear to look at it, but I have to say it is healing great.  He goes back to the hand surgeon on Thursday and will hopefully get the all-clear sign.  

But Dad didn't let a little thing like cutting off part of your thumb hold him down.  The day after it happened he was back out in the garage finishing cutting the board.  Then that night he reminded me that we have a deadline of May 21 (our first craft festival) to get as many boards painted as possible.  So after losing two nights of production, I was back painting the next day.  And the next day and the next day.  And today, when I haven't been running errands, I've had a paint brush in my hand. 
 

Better Luck Next Time

Today was a day I had been looking forward to since last September: opening day for my beloved Louisville Bats.  The weather was perfect - sunny and not cold.  After getting stuck in traffic for an hour,  we finally made it to the ballpark, and the parking lot was almost filled up.  We hiked inside, and grabbed one of their dollar beers as we made our way to our seats.  Our traffic and parking luck must have rubbed off on the team because before we knew it, we were down 2 to 0.  That was also the final score.  

We did see some things that normally don't happen in games.  We saw bats get broken four times, and we saw our pitcher hit two batters.  

Better luck next time, Bats.  

Happy National Peach Cobbler Day

TWIT would like to wish everyone a very happy national Peach Cobbler Day.  I sure wish I'd know about this awesome holiday sooner, so we could have made a peach cobbler for the occasion, but we'll be sure to remember the holiday next year and make one.  Instead, we've got a trusty frozen peach pie in the oven.  Mom said she'd break up the crust when she got our servings out of the pan so we would think we were having cobbler.

Ohio Valley Weather Update

In the past few weeks since spring officially began, I've received more weather warning text messages for either wind warnings or freeze warnings than I received all during winter for snow/ice warnings.  I haven't seen it this windy ever.  It couldn't compare to the big remnants of the hurricane back in September of 2008, but we had a ton of days with wind advisories and warnings.  But we're still standing. 

Today is sunny, and tomorrow starts our warming trend, with temps supposedly up near 80 by Sunday and Monday. As we all know here in the Ohio Valley, that can only mean that we will probably get a chance of snow next week.

Trivia Update

I am very happy to report that Team Divas represented tonight and came in first place in the Monday night trivia contest.  And I will add that it was a pretty darned high score.  Nuff said. 

Sunday, Sunday

The weekend is drawing to a close, and I didn't accomplish nearly what I hoped I would on my weekend, and it's stressing me out.  There's things going on here at The Compound right now and the 'Rents need some extra attention, and that comes first.  But there's not a lot I can do about it, except hope that during the week, I will be able to fit in what I didn't get done this weekend.  It's on tap to be a very busy week, and I can only hope to fit in what didn't get accomplished this week.  

As always, I'll keep you posted. 

Has It Been 35 Years?

I spent most of the morning today visiting and catching up with one of my all-time favorite teachers, Miss Schmitz.  It was hard to believe that that last time I actually saw her was in May of 1981, as she hugged me and handed me the four-year business award at my high school graduation.  It sure didn't seem like 35 years, but I digress. 

I met her this morning to deliver one of our quilt pattern pictures that she bought, and we spent over three hours drinking coffee, talking, catching up and reminiscing.  

I owe a huge debt to Miss Schmitz, because she was the person that taught me to type. And to type correctly and pretty fast.  She is still a very cool and awesome lady, and I can't wait till we can get together again and talk some more. 
 

What A Week

I am sure glad this official work week is over.  But the secondary work week has begun - the weekend.  Due to an unforseen incident, our quilt block painting production was halted for a couple days this week, but I'm happy to say that we are back in production.  I will be making a trip to the lumber yard early tomorrow morning to order two more pieces of 4 ft by 8 ft treated plywood for our quilt block pictures, and tomorrow and Sunday will be spent with me designing and painting more quilt block patterns.  Our goal is to have at least 30 finished quilt block pictures by May 21 - the day of our inaugural craft festival.  We are on track.  When I finish the pictures we are currently working on, we will have 12 ready to sale.  If we can crank out at least 4 a week from now on, we will meet our target.

As always I will keep you posted. 
 

I Agree With Everyone Else

Today, I totally melded with all of the other pissed off spring break folks.  

First of all, I waited for 40 minutes at WalMart, waiting for someone to come back to the sporting goods section to help me.  I called the customer service desk three times, each of which they said they would page someone to come back to help me.  I'm guessing that everyone working at my WalMart today had hearing issues because after 40 minutes of standing there, nobody came.  That pushed me over the edge. 

So, I went to my second stop, 84 Lumber, only to be pissed off again by the guy who "didn't know" if he could help me or not.  Strike two. 

To sum this all up, I decided then and there that I would be willing to pay more for a product at a store where people are willing to help me.  And I did just that.  So suck on that, WalMart and 84 Lumber.

Farewell, Merle Haggard

TWIT is saddened to say farewell to the country music legend, Merle Haggard. Merle died today on what was his 79th birthday.  Today is also the anniversary of the death of The First Lady of Country Music, Miss Tammy Wynette.  

Without a doubt, I believe The Hag was one of the best songwriter singers in all of country music.  He was often referred to as "The Poet of the Working Man."  This theme could be heard in "Working Man's Blues", "If We Make It Through December", and "Okie From Muskogee", to name a few.  

I had the opportunity to see The Hag in concert two times.  The first concert I saw him was when he was with George Jones, another legend and in my opinion the greatest male country singer of all time.  But I digress.  Not only did Merle sing the hell out of a song, but he was also a great guitarist and an awesome fiddle player. 

Rest in peace, Merle.  And tonight, I wonder how many of your fans are singing "Tonight The Bottle Let Me Down" .

This Week's Theme

The theme for this week must be Pissed Off.  I encountered and observed more pissed off and agitated people in the past two days than I've ever encountered before in a day or two.  I'm going to go out on a limb and say that it must have something to do with it being spring break week here in Jefferson County.

Monday Revalations

We've all heard the saying "don't pray too hard for something, because you just might get it."  Well, that happened today to me, faithful readers.  I don't have the time nor energy to explain now, but I will explain later.  

 

Son Of Hogzilla Update

It pains me to report that there was yet another Son Of Hogzilla sighting tonight.  Rest assured the traps will be reset within the next day or two in hopes of catching this varmint.  As always, I'll keep you posted.

Something You Don't See Every Day

Seeing someone on a bicycle at the liquor store drive-thru is most definitely something that you don't see every day. 

April Fool's . . . Not

It pains me to say that me and both Rents spotted Son of Hogzilla again tonight.  I was on my way to the garage to get up to Staples before they closed, and I stopped and watched him (or her) for about two minutes, totally oblivious to the sound of the back door closing.  If I'd been twenty feet closer I would have gotten in my purse and got out the KelTec and would have tried to take him down.  

My plan for tomorrow is to be outside behind the garage at the same time, only this time with the Mossberg .410 locked and loaded.  It's my turn to take down Hogzilla.