Mornin' everyone! JR, it was good to hear from you! I think I miss those days when Jes was little, until I spend a few hours with Bailey - then I remember what "worn out" feels like! John, nice to see you posting too!

Kind of a grey and drizzley day here; but nice and warm - 62* already this morning. Durn Asian ladybugs have been back out the past few days - thought we had maybe escaped the plague this year, but no such luck. They aren't nearly as bad as they were last year tho - back then, I was about ready to crawl in one of the north windows to avoid using the doors on the south and west sides of the house!

I've got me a wood chip mountain in the east side yard! Poor Mr. Beldon the tree man - he left shaking his head (as usual). He's standing there in the driveway..."Well now, it sounded on the answering machine like you wanted me to dump them right there at the top of the driveway." Uh-huh, yes sir, that's right. "Right there at the top of the driveway?" Yes sir, right there in between the shed and that blue spruce tree. "Your garden is on the other side of the house." Yes sir, it is, but I want these wood chips over here. "Now just what do you think you're going to do with 4 tons of woodchips right there?" So, I nattered on about how I was going to put them under the canopy (porch) of the shed in a nice heavy layer; and set the bunny hutch and the pens for Unc's banty chickens on 'em - 'Now, just what are you going to do with banty chickens?!" - and then I showed him where I was going to put the new flower bed - "Clear all the way from the sidewalk to the driveway?" - and after about 15 minutes of talking, he was finally convinced that I hadn't gone completely around the bend (just halfway!), and gave in and pulled the lever. Voila! Mt. Woodchip! The dogs and cats are having so much fun climbing up and racing down, that I almost hate to spread it out - tho when I mentioned that at the dinner table, it didn't meet with what you could call approval! So, I have my fall work cut out for me, I think! (C'mon snow!) Wonder just how many wheelbarrow loads that is? I think I need me a bigger wheelbarrow!!

Hubs was supposed to go racing today; but it rained last night and looks like it plans to off and on all day. He's getting old - it can't be too cold, or too hot; too wet or too dry; too windy or too calm...I think he just doesn't want to get his nice shiny quad all dirty!! I suggested we ought to go Christmas shopping instead. He thought maybe it wasn't TOO wet to race.... I suggested cleaning the bunny hutch and moving the old dog houses out from under the canopy; and maybe going to town to get the material to build a new dog/cat shelter (which got Pop started teasing John about building a cat house, but I digress..) Or we could go finish building my pond thing out in the garden, or....poor man, he just can't win!!

Work has been tospy-turvey - as usual. The co-worker who had been missing all the days and throwing a monkey wrench into our shedule is no longer with us. Who knows how long it will take to find a replacement for her; so our December schedule will come out late - as usual; so trying to plan for attending the Acres USA conference over in Indy the 12th - 14th is pretty much futile; at least at this point in time. Sigh. Oh well, like I don't have enough other things that I ought to be doing with my time!

Speaking of which; Sheepish, I went to that organized home site too. I decided that I was definitely the perfectionist type - when they got to talking about the "4 box" sytem, I caught myself thinking that I could do that - just as soon as I could get over to the Dollar Store and buy me some matching tubs to use, that is! I've been stuffing things in boxes and hiding them out in the shed for years now - my current rational is: when I croak, Jessie can have an auction and make a bunch of money, 'cause it will all be antiqes by then! I did manage to come up with a bag of clothes to cut into rags when I switched out the summer and winter clothes tho - I guess that's progress. Of course, the bag is sitting next to my chair in the living room, waiting for me to find the time to cut all the buttons off and string them together, and cut the zippers off and find my box of used zippers to put them in and...some definite pack-rat-itis going on, wouldn't you say!! And I think that Hubs and I are going to be able to downsize to a smaller house when Jessie starts her family - BWAHAHAAHA!! Wonder how many things there are to organize in the rubber room at the State Hospital?!

Well, I'm going to pull on some sweats and go do something - even if it's wrong! You folks have a great week, take care!

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2002

Answers

Hey there everyone!! It's 7:30 p.m. here....and I'm not long for this world!!! A hot bubble bath is gonna do me in! Tonight is Harry's poker night and I have my choice of either the T.V. or BTS. Guess what I chose??!!

What a day it's been. We FINALLY had a friend of ours over to install a submersible pump for our Artesian well. We've had a shallow well pump for over 25 yrs. now, but were getting a little nervous about our water table after last summer's drought!! Plus with a submersible pump, we no longer need a sump pump! The whole project went very smoothly and water pressure is not bad....8 gals. per minute! This new pump is 150 ft. into the ground and should be fine for like...forever!! (Hopefully!)

Then we had some turkeys to "take" care of! Just about that time a neighbor showed up with several barrels of free sawdust for me and my goats and horse. So we gave him two of our turkeys in exchange. He's also storing one of our boats (heated storage) through the winter for FREE! So he deserved a turkey or two!!!! We'll still have four turkeys in the freezer for this year. And...the way things are going, we'll be going out for dinner this Thanksgiving! Harry and I are so tired of "bickering" with our DIL about where to have Thanksgiving dinner. Last year we told her that we would give them a fresh turkey if they had us over for dinner. We did...and they did...but it was quite uncomfortable!! So this year we said f*** it!!! (excuse the language!). We're taking my MIL out to dinner with us and hopefully we'll be able to relax :-)!! To this day our granddaughter does not know how good Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner can be at "Gramma's" house :-)!! Oh well...c'est la vie!! I, sometimes, don't care anymore!

What a beautiful day it was here today!! Temperature was 64*! Kinda cloudy, but still really nice. I cleaned out my goat pen for the final time this year. From now on I'll let the hay and manure pile up for body-warming "compost". Also had to clip my does's feet. It may be way before the "expectant" dates, but they're done and now all I need to do is vaccinate them in a month or so.

We're having the annual ladybug invasion here also!! I don't mind them...at least they don't sting or bite :-)!!

That's about all the news from here. I'm headed for my much anticipated bubble bath.....!!!

-- Anonymous, November 10, 2002

Very busy here -- Julie left Sunday, and now I'm trying to get ready to go to Rockford for another of those "family meetings".

Yesterday was miserable -- wet snow/rain in the morning, then cloudy, cold, and damp all day. Yuck! Today it isn't that warm -- 40*F -- but the sun is shining intermittently, so the dog and I went and spread the leftover straw on the garden bed to rot over the winter. I don't know if I'll get the same plot, or even A plot next year. But next year is kind of too late to do that, so I did it now. Still have tons of leaves to waiting to fall and then to get up. {sigh} The rest of this week is supposed to be pretty cool, so I hope NEXT week is warmer.

Tomorrow, my copy of the special extended edition DVD of The Fellowship of the Ring is supposed to arrive. Boy, it will be hard to resist watching it, but I have to get ready to go to Rockford, so I will try to be strong. I'll probably break down and watch a few of the extras. :-D

-- Anonymous, November 12, 2002

I'm beginning to think the tornadoes took EVERYONE away!

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2002

Me too, Joy :-(!!!

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2002

I'm here, just nothing much to say. I finished the outhouse. Just need to put a real roof on it instead of the mineral paper that's there. Yes, it is blue/grey. Took a whole gallon of stain!

The only exciting thing that happened was that the computer skunked out when my son needed to do a science project (that he left till the last day) Printer kept saying it lost communication. It's working now that I disconnected the scanner and reset the whatever it is. I'm very technical, aren't I?

I still hate winter and don't want it to come.

And I'm still looking for a puppy. Decided on a Bichon Poo (half Bicon Frise and half Poodle) in a color other then white. It will probably be an accidental breeding of the two because apparently, there aren't any breeders out there.

Guess I had more to say then I thought. Hope everyone is well.

-- Anonymous, November 13, 2002

I'm leaving tomorrow for 6 days in sunny Florida! I'm taking a workshop on prenatal massage. My brother is supposed to take me out to dinner tomorrow night for my birthday, and a friend is supposed to take me to Pleasure Island on Monday night. I won't have any computer access while I'm gone so I won't be posting again until next Thursday at the earliest.

Have a great week everyone!

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2002

Wow........have a great time, Sherri !! And a wonderful birthday !!

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2002

Happy Birthday Sherri! And many more (you need a bunch to catch up with me!)

No tornado here; but snow is predicted tonight - yechh! I haven't written anything else this week 'cause I've barely had time to read - work, again. Or still. Yet, even. Not only did we lose one nurse; but now another one is off sick; two were at a conference today and one called in for tonight. Guess what I'm going to be doing on my day off? Grrrr!

On the up side; Jessie and I went Christmas shopping yesterday - she picked me up after she got out of class and we went out to lunch; then hit the stores. Left home at 10:30; back at 7pm - and I'm almost done!! Woo-woo!! Went soft in the head and let Jessie have her new coat that was supposed to be one of her presents when she gave me that big eye look and told me it was supposed to snow today - sheesh, what a weenie I am! Got to go pick up Hub's present in the truck - some day when it isn't raining or snowing, order a few things on-line, and maybe pick up a few stocking stuffers. I swear that I'm not setting foot in a store after December 1st!

A funny/not funny thing happened as I was checking out at Wal-Mart though - I hadn't used my credit card for 6 months or so before we went shopping; and I had been using it all day to shop with; had spent maybe $250. Wal-Mart was our last stop. Well; the Wal-Mart total came to $350 and change, and it came up that it needed verified. We're talking a card with a pretty high credit limit and maybe $150 balance on it. Apparently, all the activity, all at once, triggered something - the cc company thought my card had been stolen and someone was running it up! I had to go to the service desk, show my driver's license for identification when they called the company; and then the clerk had to state that I matched my photo and I had to get on the line and verify my information. Wal-Mart wouldn't turn loose of the card, until everything was verified either! I probably would have walked out and left my selections, otherwise. Jes was totally humiliated; and I was more than a little pissed - even though I understand that it was for my protection. So, I called the company this morning to let them know that I was going Christmas shopping again, so I wouldn't have to go through all that again. Has that ever happened to any of you? D'ya think I ought to cancel the damn card; or be glad that they were watching? I still can't decide!

Well, I need to go call Hubs and let him know that I have to go in and work tonight; and I guess I'd better try to get in a nap - I'm looking at 4 -12 hour shifts in a row. Probably ought to gather up some laundry that needs done, while I'm still up and moving. Good thing Hubs roasted a turkey breast last night - at least we'll have something to eat!

You folks take care, see you all next week sometime!

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2002

Sherri, have a great vacation and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

The tornados didn't get us but I haven't been able to get into this site for a few days. Was it down again?

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2002

Yeah, Polly, that's happened to me a couple of times. Once, I was in California visiting a friend and going bananas buying stuff at an outlet mall (they had Barbizon nightgowns at a great price). With a big spending spree out of state, I understood that it rang some alarms. And it didn't bother me.

The more recent one, I went to a gas station, swiped my card, started filling the (very empty) tank, then decided I wanted higher octane, so I restarted. Then I went to Walgreens and tried to make purchases -- same procedure that you went through. I realized right away that the gasoline activity was a little weird and that's what triggered it. I didn't mind them checking. The only thing that annoyed me about that was when the Walgreens clerk tried to call in, it took the credit card people forever to answer and then even longer to route his call. The CC person agreed that it was the gas station activity that triggered it.

I've had my card with this company for about 15 years, and it's only happened twice. And I use my card a lot (even though I pay it off every month) -- I get frequent flyer miles and it's taken me to Hawaii a few times on those miles! Personally, I'm kind of glad they get alarmed by abnormal activity. Up to you whether you cancel or not.

-- Anonymous, November 15, 2002

Gee Polly, I wouldn't cancel the card. I would think you would be happy that they were checking on you. Actually, they are looking out for themselves since most are insured for theft. But I could see how it would have been embarrassing.

I asked about that once because we were going to Disney and wanted to make sure that didn't happen to me. They said something like that would be obvious. (Disney, alot of money)

I get people upset with me in the pet store because I ask to see something with a signature if their card isn't signed. (had one smart person put an X on the line. Made him sign it again) I once had a woman give me a card with a man's name on it. She said it was her husband so I asked for ID, which was a different name from the card. She said she was recently married and I could call her husband but I realized that if the card was stolen, he would of course say it was okay. The card didn't come up stolen but I refused to accept it. She said she would be back with cash and never returned.

-- Anonymous, November 16, 2002