So, we've been hating our kitchen tile for a long time now. It's really old and scratched up and even after washing it it still looks dirty because it's so stained. So since HDT received a nice bonus check this year we decided to finally do something about it.
He's been working on tearing up the old tile, three layers of old tile even. The first layer (or bottom whichever you choose to call it) actually had nails in several of the squares. Which made little to no sense since they were glued down. So it's not like they needed to nail them in place. So that just made his work that much harder.
It's taken a couple weeks now to get it all done because of his work schedule and the friend that's helping him do it. But last week they were finally able to get the stove out of the kitchen and the underlayment down. The stove was a pain in the ass. There isn't a cut-off valve anywhere between the floor and the stove. The only cut-off was in the basement in the room directly below and the valve was frozen in place. But they got some stuff, sprayed it on and they were able to loosen it up. So now it, the fridge, a rolling cabinet that holds pet items amongst other stuff and all the contents from our pantry are in our living room.
I believe today they were actually going to be putting the tile in, hope so. We bought 18" porcelain ceramic tile. It's a grayish/silverish marble. I really like it. We also plan on painting the walls as well. They'll be some shade of yellow with a darker version on the ceiling and maybe around the top of the walls. We shall see.
I asked him on the day that he and Jim (not the friend helping lay the tile) finally got the rest of the old tile up if he had taken any pictures from before. He hadn't, he had forgotten. Not sure if he's taken any since. Kind of hope so. But not a big deal if he hasn't.
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HDT's birthday was on the 11th. He turned a big ole 41 this year. I decided I wanted to try to surprise him. Since it isn't a milestone year I wasn't worried about making sure any of his family would be there. Issues and other stuff on why not.
So I shot an email to Jim letting him know what I was thinking. That I'd try to get HDT out the house by taking him somewhere for dinner and then have everyone there. You know, the typical route. But only because getting him out the house is very difficult. He hates shopping and if I tried a movie he'd either flat out say no or try to do it another time. Jim said he'd try to think of something else as well, as in him taking him somewhere.
Through talking with him and Pat I then decided we'd just stay home and have everyone meet somewhere and then come to the house at once and just start filing in. That'd be just as much a surprise as the other way. Maybe even more so. As I'm letting his friends (all from when he was in high school - they call themselves The Mutants - yep they're geeks) know and discussing the dinner plans one of them suggest meeting at a restaurant and surprising him there.
So that's what I finally decided on. I made reservations for 6:00 but told HDT it was at 6:15 to allow everyone a good chance of making it there before us. I also didn't tell him where we were going. I started heading north like I was taking him to this steak place we both absolutely love but it's expensive so it's a treat. He guessed that place but then decided it couldn't be since it takes about an hour to get there and we didn't leave the house until after 6. Unless of course I fibbed about the time. Heh But before I actually got on the highway I turned off the road we were on and headed in another direction.
I then let him know that yes, I was heading back into town. He guessed it after that but still didn't know people were going to be there. Then, I'm driving around the damn lot looking for a place to park and the only one left is all the way in the back of the building. As we're walking back to the front I notice all the windows along the way are wide open and you can see everyone in there. He was on the window side. And without thinking I grabbed him and pulled him to the other side of me and said, "You can't look in there!" Then immediately said, "Damn, I just ruined it!" He laughed and said I didn't ruin anything and I said I did, now he knows there are people waiting for us. But he still didn't know if would be family, friends or some mix of them. Not until we were being walked back to the tables and he saw two of his buddies. Then of course he knew.
AND, AND, AND it turns out they had us in a backroom that I didn't even know existed and the only way you could see in was through a glass door (that we did pass) but it was so fogged up you wouldn't be able to distinguish anyone through it. Man, that was frustrating. But oh well. He was surprised. He thought as soon as he knew it was a place in town that it would just be us for dinner and when we got home there'd be people there. So I'm glad I didn't go that route he wouldn't have been surprised at all.
Only a few of the people were able to show up. Pat, because of his medical issues wasn't able to make it. But Jim was there along with two of the other Mutants (Pat isn't one, they became friends with him at a hobby shop after high school) and their wives were there though. So it was still a nice little gathering. We had a good dinner and good conversation. Then one of the couples had to go home, couldn't stay out late because of their sitter. But the other couple, Jim and HDT & I headed back to our house for game night.
Since it was his birthday he chose to play Star Wars Trivia Pursuit. Jim's sister Wendy was on her way over from work so while waiting on her I started gathering the alcholol and cake and other things needed. She made it there before I was done so as soon as she got there were able to start the game. We of course had to have teams as we three girls knew little to nothing about the movies. I knew more than the other two but still not a whole heckuva lot. Although I was confident on a couple answers where HDT wasn't so that was a nice ego boost. The teams, unfortunately for Howie, were Jim, Wendy and Andy on one team and HDT, me and Andy's wife on the other. Andy's wife new nothing about the movies. She's seen them but probably only once or twice at most and since they're not all that interesting to here didn't maintain much of anything.
We modified the way to win though since the three boys know so much. Each team had to answer every question on the card to win. Because of that it allowed HDT's team to catch up and then compete to win. But in the end the other team won.
By then it was close to midnight and Andy and his wife had to head home as they had to get up by 7:30 for church the next day.
Jim and Wendy stayed and we played the new game Logo. Like that game a lot. I think it's become my new favorite next to Apples to Apples.
After the game was done it was pretty late so those two went home, I cleaned up just enough to not be too bad and then went to bed. HDT came up a little while after.
All in all it was a good night.
Media quote of the day:
The Mentalist: The Blood on His Hands (2010) We both really like this show
Huh? Always nice to know, but that's not why I'm here. It seems your friend John, is planning a surprise party for you. - Bret Stiles - the always impecible Malcolm McDowell
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
How wanting a couple cookies leads to shoulder surgery
So, let's see. There were a few other things I thought about writing about when I did my last post. Now I have to just remember what they were. I think one was about HDT's birthday that just passed. Another was about my mom. Seems there was at least one more. Oh yeah, our kitchen floor.
I'll start with mom, since what happened to her is the oldest of the three. Back in September I believe it was, maybe October, she fell and dislocated her right shoulder. Yeah, it was definitely October. HDT, Jim, his exwife, their two kids and I were helping move Pat while he was in the hospital for some medical issues. We had just finished for the night and were all heading to our respective homes when my brother Roy calls. Now, normally I just ignore most phone calls. But since he's never called me before (just texted) I figured I better answer. Good thing I did as he says mom's fallen, the paramedics are there getting ready to take her to the ER and I'll need to go meet her there since he's had too much to drink to be able to drive. Plus he's a mess anyway, I wouldn't want him to drive.
So, yeah, HDT and I meet her there. X-rays show the shoulder way out of whack. We have to leave the room while they put it back in. Her hand and wrist are also hurting so they X-ray that but luckily nothings wrong with them.
After they clear her and provide several prescriptions that we take care of we take her home. I stay the night (HDT doesn't as he has to work in the morning) so I'll be there if she needs any help overnight or the next morning. But by 10/11ish in the morning she's feeling much better and can get around by herself so I leave.
Her follow up appointment with a joint doctor shows she has some tearage so there are two choices. 1st choice is therapy and after 6 weeks they look again and reevaluate how she is. If therapy isn't doing what they want she'll need surgery and then more therapy. Or choice two - just go with surgery now and then do therapy. Because she's a very healthy 70 and is also very active normally she, me and the doc all agree to do surgery now.
So we make the appointment and I take her in. Turns out she had a massive tear and it took 5 sutures or whatever they're called when they're reconnecting the tissue inside the body. According to the doc a normal procedure only takes 2 - 3. 7 holes in her shoulder altogether though. Because when they went in they found her bicep was out of place as well so they had to fix that too.
The surgery went very well. She stayed overnight though because she went into A-Fib while on the table. Everyone figures it was just the body's reaction to surgery since all tests after were very good. But to be safe she stayed the night. They taught her how to work the sling and we had her outta there the next evening.
Since then healing and therapy have gone very well. Everyone was very surprised, happily though, that she's healing so quickly and she's had no pain at all except during therapy itself. I believe she should be done with therapy this week, maybe next. In fact, I'm due for another chat with her soon so I'll find out.
Luckily I was out of work when I was so I was able to take her to all her appointments with no problems. Which there were plenty. By the time I got my job she was able to drive by herself and felt confident enough to do so.
This is a big enough post for today so I'll write about the next two things later.
Oh yeah, I completely forgot to say how she dislocated it. Duh! So she was watching tv in her loveseat which reclines. She decided to get a couple cookies and when she got up she thought she had put the footrest all the way in but turns out it didn't stay down. As they're not want to do. When she went back to her seat she also decided to grab a bird book. So she has the book in one hand and cookies in the other. So rather than just sit and scootch herself back into place she lifts her right foot to push the rest down and proceeds to lose her balance and fall directly on her right shoulder. Luckily she missed her coffee table as it's square with very sharp corners. My brother who lives with her (in the basement) hears the big thud of her falling and knows that it's not a typical dropping of something. Goes running upstairs and before he's made it all the way she's hollering for him.
When he called me I could hear her moaning in the background, gotta say I really didn't like to hear that.
No media quote today either. Mainly because I can't think of anything that would fit right now.
I'll start with mom, since what happened to her is the oldest of the three. Back in September I believe it was, maybe October, she fell and dislocated her right shoulder. Yeah, it was definitely October. HDT, Jim, his exwife, their two kids and I were helping move Pat while he was in the hospital for some medical issues. We had just finished for the night and were all heading to our respective homes when my brother Roy calls. Now, normally I just ignore most phone calls. But since he's never called me before (just texted) I figured I better answer. Good thing I did as he says mom's fallen, the paramedics are there getting ready to take her to the ER and I'll need to go meet her there since he's had too much to drink to be able to drive. Plus he's a mess anyway, I wouldn't want him to drive.
So, yeah, HDT and I meet her there. X-rays show the shoulder way out of whack. We have to leave the room while they put it back in. Her hand and wrist are also hurting so they X-ray that but luckily nothings wrong with them.
After they clear her and provide several prescriptions that we take care of we take her home. I stay the night (HDT doesn't as he has to work in the morning) so I'll be there if she needs any help overnight or the next morning. But by 10/11ish in the morning she's feeling much better and can get around by herself so I leave.
Her follow up appointment with a joint doctor shows she has some tearage so there are two choices. 1st choice is therapy and after 6 weeks they look again and reevaluate how she is. If therapy isn't doing what they want she'll need surgery and then more therapy. Or choice two - just go with surgery now and then do therapy. Because she's a very healthy 70 and is also very active normally she, me and the doc all agree to do surgery now.
So we make the appointment and I take her in. Turns out she had a massive tear and it took 5 sutures or whatever they're called when they're reconnecting the tissue inside the body. According to the doc a normal procedure only takes 2 - 3. 7 holes in her shoulder altogether though. Because when they went in they found her bicep was out of place as well so they had to fix that too.
The surgery went very well. She stayed overnight though because she went into A-Fib while on the table. Everyone figures it was just the body's reaction to surgery since all tests after were very good. But to be safe she stayed the night. They taught her how to work the sling and we had her outta there the next evening.
Since then healing and therapy have gone very well. Everyone was very surprised, happily though, that she's healing so quickly and she's had no pain at all except during therapy itself. I believe she should be done with therapy this week, maybe next. In fact, I'm due for another chat with her soon so I'll find out.
Luckily I was out of work when I was so I was able to take her to all her appointments with no problems. Which there were plenty. By the time I got my job she was able to drive by herself and felt confident enough to do so.
This is a big enough post for today so I'll write about the next two things later.
Oh yeah, I completely forgot to say how she dislocated it. Duh! So she was watching tv in her loveseat which reclines. She decided to get a couple cookies and when she got up she thought she had put the footrest all the way in but turns out it didn't stay down. As they're not want to do. When she went back to her seat she also decided to grab a bird book. So she has the book in one hand and cookies in the other. So rather than just sit and scootch herself back into place she lifts her right foot to push the rest down and proceeds to lose her balance and fall directly on her right shoulder. Luckily she missed her coffee table as it's square with very sharp corners. My brother who lives with her (in the basement) hears the big thud of her falling and knows that it's not a typical dropping of something. Goes running upstairs and before he's made it all the way she's hollering for him.
When he called me I could hear her moaning in the background, gotta say I really didn't like to hear that.
No media quote today either. Mainly because I can't think of anything that would fit right now.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
New Job - Finally
So, yeah, it's been a pretty long time since I posted last. Him, 9/11 to be exact and then I only reposted my entries on Brendan Dolan and Douglas Ketchum.My last real post was in August stating that it sucks to be me since I was out of work again. I, along with at least one other girl, was laid off on June 3, 2011. I didn't get another job until Jan. 4, 2012. Yep, that sucked big time. But I had unemployment and that helped at least.
In all that time I only got 2 other interviews. One came fairly quickly after loosing my job but I knew it wouldn't be the place for me so was actually happy I didn't get a call back. The next place I had to work at getting interviews, won't go into all the boring details here but it was a hassle. But even still I would've liked to have worked there I think. It was a tiny office which I like. Would've just been me, the girl I'd be working for/with and two project managers. It was a satellite office. Unfortunately the VP of the company decided that rather than hiring someone to help with the work load the corporate office would just take over running some of the projects for them.
It was another couple months before I got the interview for the place I'm at now. And so far so good. It's not in construction so that's a bit weird. Well, not "true" construction anyway. I work for a company that installs and dismantles the "booths" at trade shows. Yep, never knew that kind of place existed either. Always thought that the company of the product just did it themselves. Who knew?
But I'm liking the position. I've gotten back into helping out with accounts payable and payroll while still working in receivables. Although we have an outside company doing the payroll we still have to audit what they do to make sure it's all completed correctly and we also distribute the checks. And the receivables is a bit weird for me as well. I don't actually do the billings like I used to do. I only enter them in Quickbooks after someone else does the actual preparing and sending out of the invoice. I also don't do collections, someone else handles that as well. Also, when the checks come in she collects them, works up a spreadsheet and then hands them over to me to make the deposit and enter the payments into Quickbooks. I'm liking all this. For once it's not on me if an invoice goes out incorrectly and it's not on me to have to hound the company for payment. Yep, much nicer.
It's also a small office, which I like as mentioned before. We're split into two floors but only because the office I'm in doesn't fit everyone. There are 8 of us upstairs and 4.5 in the basement. The .5 is a part timer, she's only there four hours a day. So that's all the office people but there are a ton of guys out in the field throughout the US working at all these trade shows. We also set up retail stores for companies if they'd like. But we're looking to relocate, luckily still in the same town we're in. Right now I only drive about 8 miles (one way) straight down the highway. We live just off the highway and the office is just off the highway on the same side. Nice shot. Not as nice as the last place only being 1.2 miles from door to door but still really nice. But the new place won't be quite as straight a shot but it'll at least be close still.
So other than the new job everything else is still going as normal. My brothers are still coming over for each UFC fight night. HDiTty is still at his 911/Communications Officer job. 19 years this January. As a matter of fact my first day of work was his 19th anniversary there. I find that kinda geeky cool really. The two kitties are still around, going strong for getting up there in years. 11 1/2 now. And the puppy will be four this April.
There are a couple other items I'll be writing about but I'll save them for another update. I'm going to try to go back to a daily post or at least multiple times a week posts. I'm also going to get back on my other site theseweightlossgames and get back to playing those damn games. UGH!
No media quote this time.
In all that time I only got 2 other interviews. One came fairly quickly after loosing my job but I knew it wouldn't be the place for me so was actually happy I didn't get a call back. The next place I had to work at getting interviews, won't go into all the boring details here but it was a hassle. But even still I would've liked to have worked there I think. It was a tiny office which I like. Would've just been me, the girl I'd be working for/with and two project managers. It was a satellite office. Unfortunately the VP of the company decided that rather than hiring someone to help with the work load the corporate office would just take over running some of the projects for them.
It was another couple months before I got the interview for the place I'm at now. And so far so good. It's not in construction so that's a bit weird. Well, not "true" construction anyway. I work for a company that installs and dismantles the "booths" at trade shows. Yep, never knew that kind of place existed either. Always thought that the company of the product just did it themselves. Who knew?
But I'm liking the position. I've gotten back into helping out with accounts payable and payroll while still working in receivables. Although we have an outside company doing the payroll we still have to audit what they do to make sure it's all completed correctly and we also distribute the checks. And the receivables is a bit weird for me as well. I don't actually do the billings like I used to do. I only enter them in Quickbooks after someone else does the actual preparing and sending out of the invoice. I also don't do collections, someone else handles that as well. Also, when the checks come in she collects them, works up a spreadsheet and then hands them over to me to make the deposit and enter the payments into Quickbooks. I'm liking all this. For once it's not on me if an invoice goes out incorrectly and it's not on me to have to hound the company for payment. Yep, much nicer.
It's also a small office, which I like as mentioned before. We're split into two floors but only because the office I'm in doesn't fit everyone. There are 8 of us upstairs and 4.5 in the basement. The .5 is a part timer, she's only there four hours a day. So that's all the office people but there are a ton of guys out in the field throughout the US working at all these trade shows. We also set up retail stores for companies if they'd like. But we're looking to relocate, luckily still in the same town we're in. Right now I only drive about 8 miles (one way) straight down the highway. We live just off the highway and the office is just off the highway on the same side. Nice shot. Not as nice as the last place only being 1.2 miles from door to door but still really nice. But the new place won't be quite as straight a shot but it'll at least be close still.
So other than the new job everything else is still going as normal. My brothers are still coming over for each UFC fight night. HDiTty is still at his 911/Communications Officer job. 19 years this January. As a matter of fact my first day of work was his 19th anniversary there. I find that kinda geeky cool really. The two kitties are still around, going strong for getting up there in years. 11 1/2 now. And the puppy will be four this April.
There are a couple other items I'll be writing about but I'll save them for another update. I'm going to try to go back to a daily post or at least multiple times a week posts. I'm also going to get back on my other site theseweightlossgames and get back to playing those damn games. UGH!
No media quote this time.
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