Las Vegas

I am going to Las Vegas on business in November, and am going a couple days early to play. If I recall correctly, David and Chunnan went there and saw a show with these blue men. We watched a DVD of this at Fred's house. Anyway - what is this show called? What was the show like - I can't remember exactly what they were doing on the DVD. Was it expensive? Where did you see it at? I think they still perform there, because I saw their picture on a brochure we received in the mail (that is what reminded me about that DVD). This lists all the shows that are running.

I'm thinking they may be called the Blue Man Group . . . if that is the case, they are playing at the Venetian.

Anyway, any suggestions for this and anything will be greatly appreciated. We are trying to figure out what we want to do while we are there!

Aunt Linda's Birthday Trip

October 15th was Aunt Linda's birthday. She, Tarja (her daughter) and Tarja's boyfriend, David, spent a week at one of the Indian Reservation Casino Complexes in their home state of Maine. Sje asked me to post the story of their adventure...

Mom, myself and my boyfriend David, just returned from our trip to Foxwoods. What an exciting experience. The first day we were quite tired as we didn't get to sleep since the previous morning, but it was fun. We gambled, we ate, we finally got our room and we tested out the heated pool and hottub.

There was so much to see and do. 6 casinos(which we visted at least once each), but we had our lucky machines(or so we thought) We went to 3 sessions of bingo and finally the last session I won $300, which we all shared the winnings. Mom won a good amount on the slots and had the will power to stop when she was ahead.

Oh yeah, the best part. Free stuff and Wampum points. We had free buffet tickets for dinner. Then we won $15.00 free each from bingo, so we got another meal and souvenirs paid for. So, all in all it was fun, exciting, and exhausting, but we are now home recovering, hoping to plan another trip for next year. Destination unknown.

So, that's about it from Maine. Hope to talk with you all soon.
Love
Tarja

Upsidedown Apple Tart

I thought I’d share a desert recipe that I made for the first time this past weekend. It’s from a cookbook called “One Pot and Clay Pot Cooking”. It’s very simple and very tasty!

Ingredients:
three of your favorite eating apples
one-quarter cup softened butter
one-third cup sugar
lemon juice
one frozen rolled puff-pastry crust or pie crust

Tools:
one nine-inch oven-safe non-stick skillet
one dinner plate
two oven mitts

Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees or whatever temperature is listed on the pie crust directions.

Use oven mitts whenever you handle the hot skillet.

Coat bottom and sides of skillet evenly with softened butter then cover butter evenly with sugar.

Core apples. Peel them if you like, but this is not necessary. Slice them into quarter-inch slices. If you have an apple peeler/corer/slicer machine like I do it’s really easy.

Sprinkle apple slices with lemon juice on both sides to keep them from turning brown.

Layer the apple slices in the skillet evenly so that they cover the butter and sugar coated skillet.

Cover skillet and place on a stove burner at medium heat for 15 minutes. This will turn the butter and sugar into a caramel sauce and will begin cooking the apples.

Uncover the skillet and place the puffy pastry crust or pie crust on top of the skillet. If the crust is larger than the skillet then fold the excess under or trim it off as you choose.

Place the skillet in the over for 15 minutes.

Remove the skillet from the oven. Turn a dinner plate upside down on top of the skillet and, holding it tightly on the skillet, carefully flip everything over then lift the skillet off the plate. The tart should come out easily and look something like the picture above.

Slice the tart as you like and serve it while it is hot. Like an apple pie, it’s great when served with cool whip or vanilla ice cream.

It was a dark and stormy night...

Fred noticed that the contributions to the Drake/Shagual story have been dropping off and he thinks it could be that people think they have to write big long scenes, now. So, in order to get more people involved again we're starting a second story with smaller contribution limits. In this story you can only write two sentences per day. You can write them both at once if you like, or you can write one early in the day and one later on. It's all up to you. So, here's the starting entry...

=============

It was a dark and stormy night and I was out way past curfew. I'd be in a lot of trouble when I finally made it home, but it wasn't my fault.

.

Chicken Little

Actually, it's more like Chicken Big. This is the birthday gift that Fred mailed to me. It's a gourd, dried and decorated to look like a big fat Rooster. I think this is payback for the stuffed cane toad I gave him for his birthday a few years ago. It's very "cute" Fred. Thanks! Now I really AM gonna have to start a rooster collection.

:-)

Freaky Optical Illusions

I remember a while backMom sent me a couple of optical illusion pictures. Well, I found a whole web page dedicated to them ( click here ).

All of these images are NOT MOVING in real life, but your eyes tell you something different. Some times you need to stare at the center of the image, sometimes you need to look at the image in your peripheral vision, sometimes you need to move your head closer then father from the images. You'll swear things are moving. Very freaky!

Happy 40th Birthday Peggy!

Happy Birthday Sis :)

Silly Cat Tricks

I know that talking about my freaky kittens is about as interesting and a new mom talking about the poop habits of their infant, but hey, I can't resist and it's as close as I'm ever gonna get to having a kid of my own.

Montega is totally crazy for cat toys. She loves the feathers dangling from the long string at the end of the flexi-pole-toy. Well this particular flexi-pole-toy comes with lots of different feather attachments. Since the string can only have one feather gizmo on it at a time I keep the four others on the shelf next to my desk. Well, just now, Montega jumped up on the shelf, walked over to the pile of feather gizmos, selected one, and carried it down to the floor and played with it while Movado just sat and watched. He doesn't care for the toys much himself, but whatever Montega does is a spectator sport for him.

After a while she went back up to the shelf top and selected another toy and carried it down. The spoiled brat did NOT take the first one back to the shelf...and now she just dropped the second one too and trotted out of the room, leaving me to pick up her toys after her. Kids! Sheesh!

Organized

My desk tends to become a home for hundreds of post it notes...which it seems to collect in mere minutes...

One calender is never enough, so about 2 or 3 have migrated into my possession. You would think this would encourage perfection when it comes to knowing when there are special events and meetings.

Lists tend to grow big enough to need writings on their backs, bending over to reveal information is a pain.

I tried carrying a register around to help balance the checkbook, but it seems to stick out the window too much.

Birthday dates are casually blown out of my memory.

Usually 1+1=2, but in this case it =
Palm Pilot

Tungsten/ E2 - to be precise.

Happy Anniversary, Chunnan

Today is the fourth anniverasy of Chunnan and I meeting. Since gay folk aren't granted the luxury of marriage here in the "land of the free" we don't have official ceremonies to commemorate, instead, we have to make due with milestones that we feel are important to us. I'm very happy to celebrate the fourth anniversary of my love for Chunnan and the joy he has brought to my life. I love you, Chunnan!

Interview You

I've created a new blog. This one is for everyone in the world and I invite all of you to visit this new blog and contribute there as well. The new blog is called Interview You (click the name to go there) and it is my homage to the StoryCorps Project. Basically, I'll post questions and visitors to the blog post their memories as comments to the questions. I'll try to add new questions at least every week, and if you have thought provoking questions you'd like asked just click the "Suggest A Question" link in the left column to send me an email. See you all there.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday cousin Darcy! Hope you have a great Birthday.
Join us in the Blog!

Meet Movado and Montega

The other night, Chunnan made a comment while we were petting our cat Tag..."I wouldn't mind getting another cat." Well, that off-hand remark has been fulfilled in spades. Today we adopted two 4-month-old kittens. In keeping with our "watch brand" naming theme they are Movado (a black male with the white bib and feet) and Montega (a gray and white female). Movado is part Maine Coon so he'll get pretty big, but Montega appears to be a short-haired tabby. They are bundles of fluff and energy with distinct personalities. Movado is quiet and curious. He's spending his time exploring everything. Montega is playful and goes nuts for the little string and feather toys.

The strangest part is that they're litter-mates. The lady at the adoption center said that the kittens in a litter can each have different fathers and that it may take the momma-cat up to a week to deliver all of the kittens. Wow, a week-long labor. Sounds like a rough job! I've never heard that before so I'm gonna have to reasearch that a bit before I believe it.

I know what you're wondering...what does fat-cat Tag Heuer think of them. Well, we finally pulled him out from under our bed so he could meet the kittens and he wasn't a happy camper...all hissing and growling...but he didn't actually attack them or anything...I think he's a big baby and he'll warm up to them in time. He's downstairs now, sulking under the guest room bed...it may be a few days before he comes out to see us during the daylight.

My New Job

Hi All, after John's post I thought I would fill everyone in on my new job too.

I started this job on June 20, 2005 and I really do enjoy it. My official title is Office Manager/Scheduler and my role includes placing ad's in the newspaper for RN's, LPN's, CNA's and PCA's. I take the applications and obtain references from former/current employers (this I dislike) then call the applicant in for an interview and schedule orientation. Orientation is held in the High Point office, except for the RN's and LPN's, those I orient in the Winston-Salem office. Another aspect of my job is to schedule the nurses/aides in the computer. I don't actually schedule the RN's as they are doing IV infusion and other high tech treatments. We have a Nusre Supervisor (Vickie) who schedules these. I do assist her in scheduling when she is out sick or in class. I will then verify the time cards that the nurses/aides turn in so that they can get paid for the visits they made during the week. Most of the rest of the stuff I do is normal office stuff...and whatever else comes my way that needs to be dealt with.

Here is the catch to my job...Arcadia Services Inc (a company that has under their blanket of services a Home Care or Personal Care Services division, a pharmacy and several other medical related businesses) bought Trinity Health Care, a home IV infusion, Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and Respiratory Therapy company in February 2005. Arcadia's vision is that we could combine all the qualities of the infusion, personal care services, respiratory and DME services within one company - Arcadia Health Care - thus making for better customer service by providing the client with all the services needed from one agency. So my job and Vickie's (my RN Supervisor's) job is currently in the "we are making/learning our rolls as things come up and we have to figure them out" phase. While I enjoy my job tremendously, it can be very frustrating because these situations that come up we have no idea how to handle them. I feel like I am coming in from behind because my background is not in the medical field and I have not worked in an office for so long that I am having to learn from scratch. I guess in some ways that is ok, I am having to learn how to do critical thinking. I have to stop and look at the situation and figure out what questions will need to be answered, have I gathered enough information, is the information I have gathered the correct direction I need to take or should I have considered another direction? What a challenge!!!!!!

For those of you who pray, please pray that I will seek the direction God would have me go with this job. That He will give me the wisdom and the guidance to know how to handle these new situations that come up in a professional and prudent manner. But most of all that I would always look to Him for direction.

My Son

Life is amazing, isn't it? John left for college in Sep 2000. In my eyes (and I mean this is the nicest possible way) very immature, unorganized, unprepared and completely out of whack where priorities were concerned. Over the course of the next 5 years Alice and I saw him very little. And now he is so grown up! He is very mature, organized, prepared and unbelievable changes in his priority structure.

I have to tell you it is very depressing! To go straight from the boy to the man, and missing all of the life changes in-between the two, I feel ripped off. I look at John now and sometimes feel like I don't know him very well. I want to say, "Ok who are you and what have you done with my son?"

One thing I do know is that he has an amazing quality of friendship. I have learned how to be a better friend just by watching how John treats his friends.

John, I love you and am very proud of you!

Package Mailed

Dave, I just mailed via UPS your birthday present. Let me know if it is damaged when you get it. I don't think it will be. It is due to arrive Monday, Oct 10th.

When you get it be sure to post a photo of it here on the blog.

I also mailed our Christmas stockings in the same package. Peg, I couldn't find your new address so I just included them with Dave's present. Get them from him. I only mailed stockings for the people who are going to be in attendance. Did not mail stockings for Merle, Nick, Nicky, Esther or Keven. Keven's is a new stocking this year and looks much like Merle's. Barb never did send Momma fabric to make her or Dave (her husband) a stocking. So I am not mailing theirs either, since they don't exist. If in y'alls opinion we need everybody's stocking in Seattle, let me know and I can pack them when we come.

So the box is kinda big Dave. Original cost of shipping was $44 but then the guy said "hold on a sec" and went to the back and repackaged it into a box only 1.5 inches smaller and the new cost was $21. Good deal, eh?

As Requested

Yesterday I fired 3 people. All three of them had chronic violations of our policies and procedures and bad attitudes. This came to light when I had my meeting with them. As a precaution, the pastor sat in the office with me while the meetings took place.

All three of them, in one form or another, threatened me, or the day care. One of the girls that I already terminated actually barged in while I was doing the same to another. She yelled that if she was fired why wasn't so and so fired... I responded that it was none of her concern and that our business was finished.

Three on one day may seem excessive but the damage each one was doing to the day care was just as excessive. The day care board dictated that this had to be done yesterday. They told me this on Wednesday night. Which gave me 2 days to find three new employees. Not so much fun.

Terminating employees is not my favorite thing to do. By nature, I think I tend to be forgiving and understanding. However, if I am to run a successful business I have to do so efficiently. Keeping that many people who daily tear down the structure is anti-progressive.

Under West Virginia's laws an employer may terminate an employee at their discretion. This is of course dependent upon the existence of Unions and such, but my daycare has none of those stipulations. Even if that was not the case, I have enough documentation on all three that if they decided to take legal action, the daycare would be safe.

For the most part things are going well. I am learning a lot about running a day care. I will not lie, it is hard, especially since no one has trained me. But I am very excited about where the day care is going. The children themselves make the experience worth it.

Understand that I am not alone. Amy has been helping me through this so much, I am lucky to have her. Also the church and the pastor is very supportive and loving. My friends, Michl and Alicia, are also a very big support group here.

I love my life right now. Difficulties and all, I would not change it.

Well family, here is what is going on in my life right now. This is brief and sporadic but this is what I am thinking about.