You need a chaperone to read my blog....

Saw this rating thing on no-blog Rachel's blog....haven't done a quiz or anything in a while so gave it a go. HAHAHAHAHAHA...and to think my blog is mild compared to some of the others out there....if you do this...leave me a comment and let me know what you rate...oh...you'll find the link to the quiz towards the bottom of the page in a box labeled Quizzes and Fun Stuff...

Mingle² - Online Dating

Here's the explanation they gave for the rating:

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

crap (6x) hell (3x) shit (2x) pain(1x)

Interesting...I'm sure I've done worse than that somewhere in this blog...since when is "pain" an R rated word?!? WTF?!? Maybe someone should tell them what WTF means...I'd have an X rating for sure...

Just when you thought you wanted to be alone...

...you get the chance to be alone...and you're not happy...whatever...

Just back from dropping Spencer off at his friend's house. Won't be seeing him for a while now. Between visitors at his Dad's, trips and sleep over camps, it'll be 4 weeks before I probably see him again. Sigh. Decided on some shopping therapy after that, so headed over to Urban Ore to rummage around and see what I could find.

Found some cool drawer pulls for the chest of drawers I'm refinishing. They are nice shiny chrome - I'm going to either stain or paint it very dark...it will be a nice contrast. Also found an over the door hanging up your stuff thingy for the bathroom, a kitchen slicing gadget thing, and a few candle holders. Almost bought a really nice office chair, but don't have a desk to go with it or the space to store it until I do...Plus, I forgot to go back and get it when I was done digging thru the bin for the drawer pulls. Hee Hee...

I've got a whole bunch of things lined up to keep me busy while Spencer is away...refinish the chest of drawers, get in some knitting, go thru lots of crap - I'm still managing to do a bit every night (I must be ill) - and sew up some things for the apartment. I'm trying not to do what I usually do - mope on the couch and each junk food. Well, at least if I'm going to mope, I'm going to try and eat healthy this time... hahaha!

And I've just noticed the rocking chair is my room is ugly to the extreme...don't know what possessed me to paint it that way...and I never really finished it off...so depending on how the chest of drawers project works out...I might be refinishing the rocker as well.

Not much else to report. If things go as planned, I should have lots of projects to show off from all my craftiness, etc. And of course by saying that, I'm sure I've just jinxed myself. Oh well, don't know why that should bother me. I make plans, things change...it's a given. Such is life in the Chaos...

Late again...oh welll........

A little bit from Rachel.....

So here I am, winding down. When you train for an event that requires endurance (maybe sprints too - I don't know) you need to taper off on training as the event date nears. Your body needs to heal and rest so you can really push it hard when you have to.

We did 2 training walks this weekend; about 11.5 miles on Saturday and 5.1 on Sunday. I felt great both days, though the group I was with on Sunday walked quite a bit faster than my normal pace which brought on mild shin splints. Note to self: it's a walk, not a race - I'll feel better long term if I don't push it in terms of speed. From this point forward I'm tapering off even more; I'll do 2 miles or so twice this week, and then Nathalie and I are planning 5 miles on Saturday (I'm about to get on line to see if I can get that 5 miles to go by a Jamba Juice - I got a buy-one-get-one-free coupon last week and we decided we deserved the treat). After that, it's another couple of quick 1-2 milers, and that'll be it!

I can't believe it's coming up so soon - I can't wait! Though I do have to say it'll be kind of nice to have my weekends back. Those 19-milers sure do eat up a Saturday. If I have anything of note to post I'll be back next week; otherwise you'll hear from me after the Avon Walk!

Rachel

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...And a bit from me....

Well....looks like our walking friend Rachel is almost ready...Sounds like she knows what she's doing...and she does...her and Nathalie will be more than ready. Oh, and Rachel...don't get caught up in anyone else's pace. Stick with your own, your body knows what's best.

And now for what's going on in the Chaos....chaos....chaos...and more chaos....

So what does Donna do? She totally ignores it of course... I'm still spending a little of my time every night since my Honey left going through boxes and bags of stuff. By this weekend, I should have more boxes and bags to take to my new fav thrift store for donation.

It's a good thing I'm doing it too...Honey is coming back for a few months starting next month. We still don't know where work is going to be sending him, but he will try and spend some weekends here with us....seeing that Spence is going to be with me some of the time, can't be hiding all the clutter in his room. And I need to get rid of it anyway. I really liked how Rhett looked when all the clutter was "gone"...so I'm going to be working very hard to get as much of it gone as I can for REAL by the next time Honey gets here...and eventually ALL of it GONE forever....WOOT!!!!

A milestone was reached in Casa de Chaos this week....Spencer turned 13....13 people!!!! I am officially the Mom of a teenager...ooooh my goodness... Happy Birthday to the best kid ever...may your hormones not change you too much my son...but I'll still love you if they do...

A Brilliant Idea...Why didn't I think of it?

Oh yeah, 'cause I was too busy being pissed off....

Anywhoo...Margo has suggested freecycle.org. Brilliant...I've heard of it, heard of others using it, but have never actually checked it out myself. I have one more bed left, so I'll check it out first thing tomorrow and will most likely post it out there.

I have decided to keep the smaller chest of drawers...and get this...I'm finally going to re-finish it. My original plans for it are finally coming to pass... I still love the old thing and really can't seem to part with it, but it is in desperate need of a facelift. Bought the supplies today, well almost all of them...forgot a few, so won't be starting this project until next weekend. Whether I paint or stain it depends on what I find under about 6 layers of paint. Seriously.

I've already decided what I'm going to store in it and have temporarily labeled the drawers to help me sort things into it.

I've spent a bit of time every evening this week going thru bags and boxes of crap and hauled off a whole trunkload of bags o' stuff, the 2 rejected kitchen chairs, and an unwanted table lamp to Goodwill. They are open until 7 for donations (even on Sundays!)...unlike my usual place that has decided to limit their donation times...so I shall limit my donations to them. Nyah!

After a successful second attempt at dropping off donations, I did some errands, came home and dove right back into the pile of crap in my dining area. I'm on a roll here. Recycled or shredded a bunch of paper, sorted things into the chest of drawers, and have started a new donation pile.

Today was a wonderful day...I got a lot done. Can't wait to finish sorting thru all this stuff as I've found some patterns that I really want to make...Stuff for the apartment, stuff for me and Spence, and even stuff for kitty. I've got everything I need, I just need to make some space and I'll be good to go. How exciting!!!!!

Well, I'm off to dreamland...tomorrow is another day of work....laundry, grocery shopping, sorting, organizing, recycling, shredding, etc, etc, etc...and I can't wait! Tomorrow I concentrate on the bags of stuff. I 'clean up' by getting a plastic grocery bag and dumping everything on the tables and counter into it...this should go by quickly as I'm sure it's all stuff that can be recycled and shredded.

Oooh...almost forgot....out of great respect and love for Rhett, I bought him a new coffee table. I finally found one that is the perfect size for him...and it looks fabulous!

Ciao for now...

Woman takes out stress and anger on furniture...film at 11...

OOOOOOHhhhhhh...am I PISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK, so the truck shows up 15 minutes ago....and they take less than half of what I had for donation. Scratches on the footboard and it's a no go. I've seen stuff in their stores that was 10 times worse than just one scratch...falling apart...ripped furniture...stinky upholstered furniture...etc etc etc.

The other stuff they didn't take...I'll give them that much...I got those pieces for free and they are banged up a bit, but they function very well and could be useful to someone...especially someone who likes re-doing furniture finishes or painting furniture. But the bed frame..."It has a scratch on the footboard. I take it in and they will just throw it away."

Then take what you can and get your cigarette smelling, baggy pants ass out of my house!!!!!

For goodness sake...I'm giving you this stuff....GIVING YOU THIS STUFF...so you can turn around and sell it for 100% profit for your charity. I could have sold it myself and kept the money, but I wanted to GIVE IT TO YOU SO YOU COULD PROFIT. It's not piece of shit crap! It's not laying on the ground in pieces that should be thrown away!!!!! ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!

I am never going to get rid of the rest of it...I swear...it's cursed...it's all cursed...and the only way to break the curse is to burn it...burn it all....but...since that is totally illegal...guess I won't...but I can sure as hell think of it and how much I would enjoy it.

Hmmmm....I did see in a movie once where if you dismember the demon possessed folks (yeah, I watch weird horror movies sometimes), they get unpossessed and can rest in peace...hmmmm...I've got power tools....lots of stress, anger, and frustration to vent...and an empty dumpster at the end of the building....hmmmmmmmmm...

ACK! Stupid conscience...I would feel too guilty about ruining something that someone else could get some use out of... ARGH.

Time for some tea (in my brand new teacup NOT purchased at the thrift store that wouldn't take ALL my stuff). Maybe a few online games. And then I drag Spence home from his friends house.

And I need to pack up some stuff for mailing. I see a trip to the Post Office in my future. Maybe tomorrow...I'm sure I'll show up this afternoon and they'll tell me I can't ship what I want to ship to my Honey over in England. And I can't take any more "No's" today. I'll explode.

Just writing about it all has helped me feel so much better already. But I still want to take a hacksaw to something...

Apartment Therapy Thursday

Today's session involves some outside help....in the form of a donation truck coming to pick up all this extra furniture...again.... Damn...I can't even give this stuff away! This is going to be my third attempt...

About a month ago, I scheduled a pickup, took the day off from work, got a phone call at 7:15am..."All pickups cancelled today." WTF! Ended up going in to work in the afternoon because Antonella calls and says we have until the next day to move over to the other side of the building as construction is starting NOW. Argh.

A week before my Honey comes to visit, and I've still got a dining area full of stuff! Call someone I know who has a garage sale every summer. It's yours if you come get it. You can even keep the money you make. She agrees, but needs to find someplace to store it first - that'll take a few days. Argh.

Have an offer from a friend to help me haul it, but it'll have to be done on a weekend...and I've got no more weekends free until after Honey leaves. Argh.

Garage Sale Woman calls and says she changed her mind. She's not doing it this year, so won't be coming to get the stuff after all. Argh.

So now my Honey is coming in 2 days and my dining area is full of boxes and unwanted furniture! What to do... Aha! Spencer is off with his Dad for the duration of Honey's visit. We won't need his room...everything goes in there!!!! Brilliant! Close the door and Viola! Instant organized apartment. Worked like a charm...and I did tell Honey that Chaos lived behind the closed door. Didn't want him to think I really was this organized when I'm not quite there yet...

Spencer is off for a week of nothing between when school ends and summer camps begin...this week. Perfect. I work from home on the days when he's not at a friend's house and I can schedule another pickup. Checked this morning... 8am to 11am is when they are supposedly coming. It's almost 8am and there has been no cancellation call. Promising. We shall see...I'm tired of typing "Argh".

In the meantime I am trying to motivate myself to sign in and start work. I'm working from home today after all. Maybe I'll just say I'm sick and be done with it. I'm sick of the whole process...sick of the construction...sick of the nonexistant communication about the construction...sick of hearing that people are leaving...sick of the stress of taking up the slack on jobs I have no clue what the hell I should be doing...sick of the stress period...sick of the sleepless nights...sick...sick...sick.... Yeah...today's a sick day. And yes...we were allowed to stay yesterday...but there are more meetings today and tomorrow, so who knows what is going to happen?

I'm going to try and relax a bit. This whole situation has me a little stressed in case you haven't noticed. It tends to wear one down after a while. Time to step back and take a deep breath. Renew myself and then jump back in with both feet. Yeah...that's it...that's the ticket...

Oh and if you see some crazy, whacked out chick on the news tonight burning a pile of furniture out in a parking lot in CA...that would be me...'cause if the truck doesn't show today, that's what I'm doing to this cursed stuff!!! Argh!!! (just felt like typing it one more time...)

Oh! And all the boxes and other stuff that hid in Spencer's room during my Honey's visit? Back out in the dining area. Not quite ready to be taken for donation yet, but I can handle taking that in my own car. It's just boxes and small stuff. Phew! And a lot of it is almost ready to go...YAY!!!

Boobie Tuesday on Weigh In Wednesday

Hey Folks...ok, so I'm a day late...I've been busy. And I came into the office this morning to locked doors. I'm hoping someone closed the firedoors just because and this isn't one of those..."the office is closed... go home... hope your last paycheck was deposited" kind of things. Especially with everything that is going on and the fact that due to construction, we have no 'real office doors', and construction came to a halt over a week ago. Yeah...I'm a bit wigged out at the moment. Luckily, Antonella gave me her keys since I'm 'acting office manager' among other new and exciting responsibilities and I was able to get in. Hopefully, I can stay here...

Anyway...still in the size 12 jeans...have been wearing size L(arge) tops instead of 18W, 1X, 16W, or XL. Because of my current size, I'm finding a lot more clothing options, so my wardrobe is growing. YAY! Weighed myself...I'm holding at 185 lbs...considering the stress I've been under, and the occassional junk I've been eating, combined with absolutely no exercise...I'm very happy about that...even bought a bikini this past weekend. Now all I have to do is lose the rest of the weight I want to and get up enough courage to actually wear the damn thing when I do...last time I wore a 2 piece bathing suit, I was about 4 or 5 years old...

There has been crafting happening, but not very much. I can't concentrate on anything long enough to make any noticable progress...hmmm....wonder why...BUT...I am knitting and beading as that helps alleviate some stress...not all, but some.

I'm slowly but surely getting back into my blogging groove, so you'll be hearing from me a lot more...unless of course, the office really is closed and I get kicked out and have to turn in my laptop...but I'm not going to dwell on that...I'm going to go get some coffee and get my day started...I've got tons to do...

OK...and now for Rachel's update...Actual Walk is getting really close!!! She got it to me on time, I just didn't have time to put it out here yesterday... Oh...and CONGRATS on making your donation goal!!!! I know it's not easy to raise money, and Rachel raised twice the minimum required!! You Go Girl!

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Nathalie and I have come to a conclusion. 15 miles is easy. We can do it and feel great. At 15 miles, we feel as if we could do the same distance all over again. A mile or two later? Holy crap do things change!Saturday we took off from my house through the Santa Teresa foothills – the hills were steep as hell but there was a nice breeze going which really helped. Nathalie disagreed – she thought it was too cold. In fact we spent a lot of time disagreeing on Saturday. I wanted to rest in the shade, she was freezing and wanted to rest in the sun. Uphills kicked my butt, downhills trashed her knees. It’s amazing we like training together so much. Anyway, the hiking part was beautiful. We saw deer and wild turkeys, and it was just nice to be out and about, and away from traffic. Once we made it over the foothills we ended up in the Almaden Valley, and followed the Calero Creek Trail up toward civilization (intersection of Camden and Almaden to be exact). The terrain flattened out and we just cruised. After about 10 miles we stopped for lunch, bought more water, stretched, and headed back out. One long, sunny hot hill later and the pace changed. I was slow on the uphills, Nathalie on the downhills. We had to stop and stretch frequently. I dumped a lot of water over my head, which I find is a great way to cool down. I was seriously considering stealing someone’s car so I could get my burning feet off the sidewalk. I think Nathalie was seriously thinking she needed knee replacement surgery. My husband called to see how we were doing and I told him we’d be able to make it home but it would take a while to walk the remaining 2 miles on our bloody stumps. But make it we did. I hopped into the shower, soaked my feet in ice water, and promptly fell asleep on the couch. And when my husband got home an hour later, I could barely move. I did feel better after stretching, but I was definitely concerned about how I’d feel after the 1st day of the walk, and my ability to walk a 2nd day.

I crashed pretty hard and slept in until the late hour of 7:00 on Sunday. And aside from a blister that has been showing up regularly on one of my toes, I felt absolutely fine! I couldn’t believe it. I took a short recovery walk and felt no pain. Amazing what the body can do in 8 hours or so.

According to a couple of sources, it’s time to start cutting back a bit on the training – so we’ll be walking both days of the weekend but not as far as we have been. And I need to start looking for things in the pile of boxes that is my house – like a sleeping bag and other gear I’ll need for the walk. I can’t believe it’s less than 3 weeks away. And guess what – it doesn’t show on my web page because I have a couple of donations by check but I cleared my $3,600 personal fundraising goal! I’m one happy girl.

Happy Boobie Tuesday!

She's back...but not in full force just yet...

Hello everyone!!!!

I'm back from vacation with my special visitor...and what a wonderful vacation it was...

For now though...things are happening at work that have me in a funk of sorts. Now that things are officially official and all that, I can fill you all in on what's going on.

My company was bought out again...this happened around the same time last year....

Started out as the original company I signed on with, bought out by First Company 4/20/2006...and now First Company has been bought out by Second Company 6/1/2007.

In the first buy out...a lot of my friends lost their jobs - a LOT - we lost more than half. With this one...a few more have gone. My very good friend Antonella being one of them. She was let go yesterday along with a few others.

Needless to say, I am very sad about the whole thing. Plus, a little down that my Honey has gone back home...all the way to England. Yeah, I really know how to pick 'em. Talk about a long distance relationship...

The summer craziness starts up today, trying to keep Spencer occupied and out of trouble for 3 months...etc etc etc...

Anyway...I need a few days to collect myself and get my shit back together again.

My life truly is chaos...weeeeeee...

OOOOOOH, almost forgot!!!! Today is this month's weigh-in Wednesday...I am now in a size 12 jean!!!!! I am trying to be excited and happy and all that, but with all the crap going on...I'll have to wait until later to be able to show it. Just not happening right now.

She's Freaked Out Friday

Hey Everyone...

I know I've been slacking A LOT lately. And now I must tell you I'll be MIA for the next 10 days. I'm having a special visitor..and no offense...but I'd rather spend some time with him than write in the Chaos here....

When I come back, I'll be able to fill you all in on everything that's been going on...I've got lots to catch up on..and even some knitting and crafting has been happening as well. Yes, Rachel...I DO knit. hahaha

Anyway...GOOD NEWS!!!! I finally took my glucose re-test last Wednesday and got the results yesterday.....My numbers are still in the borderline zone, but I've greatly improved! I need to keep up with the weight loss, watching what I eat, and exercising - and the doc says I can beat this...I'm soooo happy I can't even tell you all. I've got tons of hard work ahead of me, but it'll be worth it in the end. I'll be healthy again, most definitely happy, and have more energy and all that good stuff.

WOOT!

OK...I'm off now...still have some 'respecting' things to do with Rhett before my visitor gets here...then I get to go grocery shopping...and then I'll stand in front of my full closet staring at all the clothes saying "I don't have anything to wear!" hahahaha