January 9, 2013

You know, it's funny ... this is the first time I've written 2013 on anything. LOL. None of my bills come due until the end of the month, let's see if I get it right when I'm writing out my checks!

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So, DIL still hasn't moved all of her crap out of the house. It's very inconvenient for me to have to wait on her. Then again, when has she ever thought of the convenience of others?

I've spoken to my son about his needing to talk to her about moving everything out and all he says is "don't push this, Mom. Last thing I want is to put her under undue pressure". Hello? Undue pressure? How about my storing her crap here for FREE. It's in my way ... and I want it out ... yesterday!! I need to re-do Grandson's old room. I'm in dire need of a "real" office!! I need a proper (uncramped) place to work!

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Now that the nest is a little emptier, it's so much easier for me to figure out who is (was) responsible for what. Or ignored is probably better. No more overflowing trash because *someone* wouldn't empty the trash can, or science experiments left in the fridge for someone else to deal with. No more finding laundry abandoned in the washer, left for someone else to deal with (or as I'd do, put the now smelly pile of wet clothing in a pile on the concrete laundry room floor to further rot). 

Now, if I could figure out WHY there's no teaspoons and only two tablespoons in the drawer. I doubt DIL would take them with her (and leave all the other cutlery) ... and Gadget denies they're in their room (which I suspect is the case). Poor Gadget, no one else to blame anymore!!

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Oh yeah, Son still needs a new blog name, doesn't he? I guess I'll call him Boss Man. Nothing else seems to pop at me as far as appropriate nicknames goes.

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January 5th was Brother Deere's birthday. Mom and Daddy took us both out for our birthday dinner. Went to a little pizza place near Brother Deere's house. Nice place. Didn't order pizza, had the lasagna instead. Yum!! 

Mom had to pick me up so I could go to dinner. She let me borrow her van to drive myself home. It was nice having the use of a vehicle for the rest of the night and part of the next day. And yes, I took advantage of it and did some much needed errand running the next day before taking the van back to her. 

I forget how much I enjoy having a vehicle at my disposal at all times. No having to coordinate my needs or desires with someone else's schedule. 

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So ... Mom's been really excited for me that the nest has two less "birdies" in it ... or one less birdie and one less birdbrain. We've been talking about what I'd like to do with the house with the additional room. Well, it's only one room for now ... since Boss Man will be staying here for a while longer his room won't be available for my purposes yet. But still, one room is a good start!! Like I said, that room will become my office. Part playroom, too, for when the grandsons are over to play. At least until I have another room available to house their toy box. 

I know, I should be making that room entirely mine ... lock the door when the kiddies are over. 

I will, but not until after the family room is finished!! Then I can put their toy box there.

I love Mom's plans ... "as soon as another room vacates, YOU take it over, make it 'visitor unfriendly', so there's no room for so much as a cot". Heck yeah! Best plans I've heard so far!! 

Mom also thinks I need to tear down the wall between the two smaller bedrooms, make it into a master suite for myself, and make the bedroom I'm now in as my office. Hmmmmmm, tempting, very tempting. She's already volunteered Brother Deere for the work! 

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Sorry, was side-tracked ... Mom just called. Dad had a doctor's appointment today. His blood counts were extremely low (she didn't say which test however), so the Doc told her to take him to the Emergency Room to be admitted to the hospital for (yet another) blood transfusion. Wish I knew which blood test came back low ... all I know is his number was 6 ... where the norm is between 10 and 12. Does that give you any ideas, Amy? I'd like to know what's going on, but Mom's no good when it comes to the technical stuff!! 

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Where was I? Oh ... I was going to mention a neat savings system I just discovered on Pinterest. Don't know what to call it, but it's a weekly savings challenge sort of thing. At the start of the new year (or whenever one starts this plan) you save a dollar for the first week, week two you save two dollars, up through the year ending with 52 dollars on week 52. In total I'll have saved $1,378. 

Not a bad little savings plan.  Funny thing is I had no singles in my wallet, so I'm a few weeks ahead of the game already ... week four should be a ten dollar balance, I'm there now and it's barely week two. LOL!

Even with my little salary with 1te (One Time Express), I shouldn't have problems until about week 40, LOL .... but by then I'm hoping to have a second job, one that has more hours and better pay ... to where it won't take up almost half of my weekly pay! LOL.

Long Overdue Post ...

Happy New Year!!

What an ending to last year, and to the incoming New Year.

Been lots going on here. Where to start?

Christmas went well for the most part. Got all I asked for, and then some. My cousin MMcB hosted dinner this year. Amazing ... the McB side of the family has never ever hosted a holiday meal. Now they'll be hosting 'em all. I don't think they know it yet. LOL.

*****

A few days after Christmas (Friday, Dec. 28), DIL moved out with Grandson. She'll soon be called XDIL, that is if I ever blog about her again. I don't anticipate it, but you never know. But then again, the way she's lied about the last week when she's here to get her property I don't expect her to play nice through the coming months.

She called Married Son tonight and told him I was hovering over her while she was packing up Grandsons toys tonight. Um ... not hovering (exactly) ... we talked the entire time she was packing up his stuff, and I even offered her use of my flashlight when something of Grandson's fell behind the desk. When she went to her room to get some of her stuff packed, I came into my room ... now how's that hovering? However, when it comes to the furniture in Grandson's room I will be watching ... it's MY furniture and DIL hasn't exactly respected any of my belongings in the 7 1/2 years she lived here!! I worry when she takes the bed out (it belongs to them) next week that she won't give a damn and damage my furniture! Why would she respect my forty-five year old bedroom furniture when she's moving out? 

I can't wait until her crap is all gone, and I don't have to deal with her anymore. But, we've known for years how I feel about her anyway. All I can say is good riddance.

Oh, and Married Son does plan on staying here at least during the divorce, possibly afterwards. He's planning on suing for custody. He's working towards being at home all the time, hiring drivers to do all the road work, while he does things that'll keep him local and home every night by dinner time. Which means if he's working, having a live-in Grandma to watch Grandson while he's working will be an asset.

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I need a new name for Married Son!! I have no idea what ... Gizmo was Single Son's nickname when he was little ... talking to Married Son he said he'd kill me (not really!) if I used his childhood nickname as his blog name ... Goober!! He suggested Boss Man, but I don't know about that one. Guess it's better than Married Son when he'll soon enough be divorced.

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Not much going on with Gizmo ... Gadget is still around and still trying to be the "lady of the house". At least she does their dishes (half the time anyway), doesn't leave laundry laying in the bathroom, doesn't miss the trash with her lady supplies, etc. Gizmo is talking about moving out towards the end of the summer. In the meantime he's got a bunch of fix-up projects he's doing around here, starting with the family room - paint, new flooring, the works. The first coat of paint is up, the old carpet is out (it was here when I moved in 18 years ago, and badly needed to be replaced). Now that the holidays are over the project can continue.

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Alien is also talking about 2013 being the year of the divorce. I told her I will help with the boys, but not with finances or with a roof over their heads. Her Papa (my ex father in law) has given her the house she lives in now, under a few conditions. She has to have a job to pay the bills, a reliable car to get her to work, dump the loser (his words) and fix up the house (he'll pay for materials and help with the work). She has to keep it up for five years, then he'll sign the house over to her free and clear.

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It looks like things will pull together this year. Finally!! Is it possible this is the year the nest finally empties?

Like they say at the end of those old time soap operas ... "Tune in next week when we find out if our young starlette's dreams come true" Okay, fine ... not so young ...

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends. Hope your holiday was as enjoyable as mine.

Married Son let me borrow the work van so I had a ride to the Country Club for our Thanksgiving dinner.


Yes, country club ... only the second time in my life I've ever been to one! While the first one I'd been to was extremely stuffy, this C.C. was anything but stuffy. Except if you were one of the dozens of stuffed and mounted animal heads on the walls.

My folks, Brother Deere, Aunt Silly and Uncle Pain were there. As were about two hundred other diners, I could barely hear Aunt Silly at the other end of the table. She's so soft spoken normally, making it harder to hear her over the noise.

Very enjoyable evening. I ordered their "Wild Thang Appetizer platter". According to their website,

"An adventurous sampling of spicy venison sausage, rabbit ravioli, duck tenders, whitefish pate and BBQ buffalo balls".

And to clarify (Em!!) that's buffalo meat balls!!I also enjoyed their house salad, topped with walnuts and goat cheese. Dessert was topped of with a chocolate mousse.


The view I had, on the wall just above our table was a stuffed buffalo head. This sort of stuff doesn't bother me in the least, until my mom pointed out "you're eating buffalo balls, and he's staring down at you". LOL, thanks Mom .... carry out container please!!!

 And the best part ... totally drama free!!!

Hoping ya'll had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

I like me ...

and I like being the MIL from hell.

Okay, not really, but they leave me no choice.And since I have no choice in this ... I may as well be the best textbook example of MIL from Hell that I can be!!

*****

Gizmo and I were talking just a little while ago. I reminded him of a Skype meeting we have tonight at 8 PM. Out of no where Gadget barks "we're going to bed early". WTF does that have to do with the 8 PM meeting? So, I snapped. Said exactly that. "What does that have to do with the meeting starting at 8?" Now she's all mad at me because I snapped at her. To the point her bottom lip was quivering the last fifteen minutes of Gizmo's and my conversation.

And, I really could care less.

Does that make me heartless? Or just fed up with it all?

*****

Before her lip started quivering we were talking about things that still need to be done around the house. Gadget goes so far as to say "that's not mine, it's DILs and I'm not touching it. I'm not doing anything that someone else should be responsible for".

So much for family helping each other out. Not around here. But then, DIL has been practicing that policy for how long now?

*****

 She has no idea the sacrifices *I* make for their sake ... the giving without expecting jacksquat in return. Okay, I do expect certain things ... one being to be responsible for yourself, your possessions and to contribute to the smooth running of this FAMILY unit.

Do I get it? NO. We all know what I get in return. You only have to read back a few blog entries to know what I get in return!!

*****

And not a twinkie to be found to help me cope!! ;)

Rocks aren't as dense ...

as the gray matter in Gadget's brain!! I swear!

I had to ask Gizmo something tonight. Of course, his shadow was present. She goes off on a totally unrelated topic (centering around her of course) concerning DIL being mad at her.

Now, I haven't told DIL about the lawsuit, that was said in confidentiality ... it's not my place to be the bearer of such news ... and I think Gadget was accusing me of saying something to DIL. Oh well ... but then Gadget starts some really cryptic conversation about "family emergency" and "stress I'm dealing with right now". Drama ... just more drama and I told her I didn't want to hear anything about anything. That I don't get the cryptic crap and I'm not going to waste my time listening to self inflicted drama - no matter how cryptic it is.

All Gizmo had to say was "I took care of all that yesterday, let it go, will you?"

And on she went. Even though EVERY word out of my mouth was "It's drama that I don't want to hear. Do you understand? I don't know what you're saying ... and honestly I don't give a damn".

Will she ever understand that I honestly don't care to hear her cryptic conversations? Or will I have to get more and more rude until she finally gets it? 

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At least I won't have to deal with it on Thanksgiving. My folks, brother and a few cousins are going out to dinner. At a restaurant. No dealing with cooking, setting tables, clearing up or anything. Sounds like the perfect holiday meal to me. I have no idea yet where we're going, but I do know it'll be pretty much drama free!! Yay!!!

The kids are all going to their in-laws houses for dinner. Gizmo is stuck going to Gadgets parents house. Poor thing! Oh well ... he wants to date her, he can deal with the Clampets while I enjoy our meal in a fine restaurant.

*****

Ya'll know I'm a pinterest junky. I had to laugh the other day while reading someones board. He put a comment in his descriptions to head over to MY boards to see an impressive collection of Titanic pins. That would probably explain the sudden increase in my followers on that board. I thought it was pretty cool that other pinners are recommending MY boards as being impressive.

Gawd, I need a life!!

*****

Not a lot else going on here today. I bought a bunch of bankers boxes (ten pack) and am going to spend the rest of the weekend packing up and organizing some of the clutter in my bedroom. My sanctuary is getting a little crowded. Time to pack some stuff up. Of course, no space to store the stuff, so the bankers boxes will be neatly placed back on the very shelves that the crap came off of. My sanctuary will resemble a storage room more than anything else, but I can live with neatly stacked (and organized) stuff. It'll be a huge improvement over the chaos on the shelves now. LOL.


Yard sale come spring ... so that'll make it easier to figure out what stays and what goes, too.

Empty nest!! I NEED an empty nest!! No one elses crap to displace where my stuff should be.

Ah, dream ... dream ... dream ....

Same ol', same ol'

And I don't see it changing soon enough.

I ran into Gadget's son at the store tonight. We got to talking. I found out he's got no use for his own mother. Sad. But I can understand. I really can.

Through our conversation, though, he said that he'd love to be able to call me "grandma", since he likes me so much. I told him no problem, but if anyone asks he's my nephew, NOT my grandson (or soon to be grandson IF Gadget and Gizmo ever marry). LOL. No ... seriously, I'd be honored if he calls me Grandma. He's a good kid, and anyone would be proud to call him Grandson!!

Too bad his mother treats him like crap.

Sad thing is, Gadget has family. They're totally dysfunctional. I think I mentioned it in a past blog.

There's been developments here in the last two weeks ... let me set this up for you ... Gadget went to work at the same Arby's that DIL is a shift manager at. All went well for, oh, about the first day or two according to DIL. Apparently Gadget doesn't want to work for her paycheck and the managers pretty much had to babysit her. Skip ahead a few weeks (to last week) ... Gadget is working a four hour shift (no breaks for a four hour work day), and asks the manager on duty if she can go have a quick ciggie. I must add here that Michigan is one of many states that has strict public smoking laws. No smoking in any establishment that sells food or beverages. Anyway ... The manager says no ciggie break, they're preparing for a rush and need her at her station. Gadget asks of she can at least go to the bathroom then ... manager says sure, just be quick about it. After a few minutes, Manager herself heads to bathroom only to bust Gadget hiding in a corner, propping open the rear lobby door for ventilation and SMOKING in the building!! And there were customers in the lobby who could easily see her doing this!!! A quick clearing of the throat to inform Gadget she's been busted and she immediately denies that she was smoking!! Hello? Busted dead to rights, and you're still gonna LIE about it?

Oh, it gets better. She quits that job via a text the day after that ... didn't even have the maturity to show up at work to hand in her uniform and say she quit!! She texts it to the same manager who busted her. Now, I'm sure they're all doing the happy dance at her quitting, but that's beside the point.

One of the first things she's done since quitting is to talk to a lawyer. Seems she's suing both Arby's and DIL for "tarnishing her image" (her words) ... excuse me? DIL wasn't involved in this at all, except for being on clock at the time it happened!! She was NOT the manager in charge that day!! I won't even get into that whole "tarnishing" thing ... you reap what you sow ... oy vey!!

Now, we know I'm not DILs biggest fan, but geesh. This is madness. And it's causing so much tension in the house.

And where did she get the money to hire a lawyer? Oh yeah ... Gizmo!!

Talking to Gadget's son ... it doesn't surprise him. "Easy money, Grandma, that's all she wants is easy money. Too bad Gizmo will be screwed in the process."

And she wonders why her family doesn't get along? I guess they're all the same way (according to my adult "grandson") ... they'd sue their own mothers for no reason. Heaven knows this one doesn't think twice about suing her own sister-in-law-to-be. In-law ... yipes, we can only hope that never happens!!

***** STAR TREK CONTENT *****

We had our monthly meeting last week. Logan's Roadhouse. Five and a half of us attended. Yes, half ... one of the members, my "XO", his two year old daughter. So ... we all order at the same time.

The youngsters (Gadget, Gizmo, XO and the Cadette) get their food and start eating without us. Mine came a few minutes after theirs did, and "F"s didn't come at all!!

Now, "F" is a grown man ... speaks very loudly ... but won't complain about his meal not showing up!! After about fifteen minutes I flagged down our waitress and brought to her attention that we were still missing one meal. "I'm sorry, I'll bring it right out" and disappeared. Five minutes later she's waiting on the table next to us, "F"s plate still missing. I went into action. Yes, me. I have to watch out for my crew - besides, I am not shy about complaining about bad service, and this service was BAD! I get the same thing from the floor manager "I'll bring it right out".

Fifteen minutes later still no plate for "F" and now my food has grown cold!!

Hey, my mom raised me to eat only after everyone has been served!! And I did exactly that. Sad thing is I raised Gizmo that way, too, but he rushed right into his food. Bad boy!!

Now, hunting down the store manager was a difficult task. Finally, there she is. I explained once again how "F" had not received his meal, and mine was growing cold thanks to so much inaction over the matter. She says to me "I'll deliver it immediately" HOLD IT!! I've heard those words before and I told her so!! I also asked for an explanation ... they dropped "F"s plate on the floor!! They had to wait for more to come out of the oven (thanks for telling us that from the start!!) - and here it is, the dinner rush and they're out of that item? Talk about bad planning!! So, she keeps good to her word and has his dinner plate right out to the table. He's got a nice hot plate and mine is cold!! The manager offered to warm it up, but I declined. I hate mashed potatoes that have been nuked.

Oh, and the dish we waited on?? Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese. That's what we both ordered. At least she had the sense to comp our dinners, mine and "F"s both (since I was eating cold food now).

And no, we'll not be eating at that Logan's Roadhouse again. The service has gone downhill slowly over the year we'd been going there. The meatloaf was the icing on that cake.

We're not sure where next year's meetings will be, but we have time to scope out new meeting/dinner places. Winter is coming and our next four monthly meetings will all be on Skype. We do that so no one will have to worry about missing a meeting in the event it's snowing out.

Now it's worrying about planning the Christmas party, then we'll worry about meeting locations.

***** end of STAR TREK content *****

So, that's it in a nutshell ... same ol' crap, just a different day.

Beam me outta here!!

Halloween

Halloween went pretty good.

No one thought to buy candy, so I had to make a mad last minute run up to the store for at least a bag of candy for the little ghosts and goblins who would within an hour be pounding down the door. I only bought one large bag of candy. I ran out half way through the two hours of trick or treating. Oops!!

Which brings me to wonder, why am I the only one to even care about this stuff? And ... I make a mere fraction of what these clowns pull in yet I'm the ONLY one who had money for candy? Or much of anything else. WTF do they spend their paychecks on? Sure isn't things that are needed for the house.

Grrrrrrr ...

So anyway ...

My mom bought costumes for Alien's boys. A cute skeleton costume for Butterball and a bee costume for JR. We had problems connecting to get the costumes to the boys, so at noon on Halloween we all met up here at my house. Alien had the day off, so we surprised my mom with her being here with the boys.

And what a hoot the boys were!! JR jumped in my mom's van like he'd been doing it all of his life (he'd never been in it before, and barely recognized my mother at first, LOL). But he was all about that van!! He climbed in the back and planted his fanny in one of the seats. I think he thought he was going for a ride with his "Gigi". He actually had to be pulled out of the van when "Gigi" was ready to leave, he sure wasn't going to leave otherwise!!

I had given Butterball a tin of Altoids with only about a dozen of the candies in it. They sure love their (my) Altoids, and will actually go in my purse to where they know I keep the tin. But I was way ahead of them this day!! I handed a nearly empty tin to Butterball and he proceeded to open it and give one not only to his brother, but to Gigi, too. He sure loves to share.

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Alien's job is going well. She's loving it, and will be working full time as soon as a slot for a full timer opens up (expected to happen within the next week or so). Until then, her manager has her working full shifts anyway.

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Around here, there are certain people that get upset if I don't immediately do something I promise to do (which I don't do often, for obvious reasons), but if I ask "the next time you go to the store can I come along", or "can you pick me up this or that, here's enough money to cover the cost" ... I GET NO RESULTS.

I really wanted (needed) to go to the thrift store for a new pair of pants earlier in the week, and somehow was forgotten when Gadget ran to the same thrift store that only the day before she had promised to take me with her.

And this isn't the first time she's done this to me, either. In fact, every time I ask to tag along, she's forgotten!! Or so she claims.

I also don't understand how someone who needs to be in control as much as Gadget does, seeks my approval so often. "Mom, I did the dishes", "Mom I took the trash out".

You don't know how bad I want to give her a gold star every time she says "Mom, I did ... "

I just don't understand the extremes this one displays.

***** STAR TREK CONTENT *****

It's been about six months since I took over being "Captain" of our "ship" ... six months of planning and reorganizing things. Six busy months, and I'm enjoying every minute of it for the most part. I do delegate a lot to other members, so I'm not overwhelmed ... and it's getting more members involved in the club. I still need more involvement, but it's slowly happening. My goal is to be the best chapter in our region. It's not that far-reaching of a goal either, our region isn't the most active within STARFLEET, so being number one is just a matter of more member involvement. We're only "competing" against one other chapter ... a Canadian chapter, one that has a lot of activities and member activity. It's a friendly competition, since this is the chapter not only one of our closest friends, the of the Commander of STARFLEET, but a few others of our best Trekkie buddies!!

The chapter that Gizmo helped start up in Escanaba may be breaking up already. Politics, nothing more than politics. Their captain is a young kid, a dyed in the wool trekkie ... but he's not happy with the way the chapter is going. Nor are his chapter members happy with the way he runs things with his over-bearing often childish fits if he doesn't get his way, so there's another mutiny in the works with a vote of no confidence upcoming.

This young lad doesn't want someone else running his chapter, so he's pushing for disbanding. He even called me and asked if I would have a problem with him recommending his members join our chapter way down here in the Lower Peninsula!! Hello? We're eight or more hours away and you want them in MY chapter? Sure why not. I need more correy (correspondence) members. NOT. I need people who can actually attend meetings. Oh well, what's a dozen more members who live too far away to attend much of anything? We've already got members in Wyoming, Indiana, and Canada ... what's a few yuppers (residents of Michigan's Upper Peninsula) gonna hurt?

Actually, now that I think about it, they have a few members that, although far away, would be a great asset to our chapter. Their enthusiasm and willingness to get involved would be welcomed, even if only online or on Skype!!

So, now we wait to see if they'll disband and join our chapter, or if they decide to try to work out the problems they're having with an over-enthusiastic often overbearing "captain".

***** END OF STAR TREK *****

Not a whole lot else going on here tonight. Quiet. Gadget and Gizmo are sleeping, DIL is still at work, Grandson is at his other grandmother's house, and Married Son just left this morning after a much needed week at home.

I'm enjoying the quiet, even if it's 1 AM!! Gonna go watch some Adventures of Sherlock Holmes on Netflix now ...