100 Things That Make Me Happy: Part 9

I'm compiling a list of things that make me happy. For previous posts in this series, please click here. 

#41. "Rommie Lunches". The good roommate that I had in college and I try to have lunch once or twice a year when she's visiting from Washington. We've dubbed them our roomie lunches, because . . . well, we were roomies and we're eating lunch. No brainer, really. We have lunch planned for Monday the 1st.

#42. Random acts of kindness. Awhile ago, I had a gal pay her bill at the Sticksville clinic, and she had $10 in change coming back to her. She told me to keep it and set it aside for someone who needed help with their bill. I just thought that was really sweet. I still have that $10 set aside for when the right situation arises.


#43. Seeing the California Redwoods. I don't get to the coastline often, but when I do, I just love seeing the Redwoods. Some of these trees are amongst the oldest in the world.

#44. Indoor plumbing. Seriously folks. I saw an episode of Modern Marvels once on bathroom technology, and I was just amazed that the human race has survived itself. Did you know that some ancient civilization had some fancy setup - some public toilet system that was pretty advanced for its time, and the king screwed up by deciding he wanted to tax people to take a dump? Thanks to King Whats-His-Name, civilizations across the globe use the damn chamber pot until pioneers made outhouses and Mr. Crapper invented the flushing toilet. Of course, let's not get me started on how the Romans and the Greeks thought bathroom time should be social hour (weirdos).

Because this just doesn't do it for me. At all.

#45. Pure peace and quiet. I'm talking, no TV, no music, no phones, nothing. Sometimes all a person needs is just peace and quiet. It can quite relaxing. At least until you get bored or something. :o)

Postcards, Libby, and Eye Candy

I have two postcards to share in this post. I was doing the happy dance at the post office yet again, thanks to my bloggy friends Cinderita and Hey Monkey Butt.

The first postcard I got was from my friend Cinderita. She went out and found postcards that seemed to match the people she was sending them to, which is a great personal touch. You can tell she's put a lot of thought and care into each one she sent out. On the back she wrote about the Postcard Campaign is creating memories and ways to connect. I guess I am, Rita, I guess I am! Thank you Rita for the lovely postcard!

The other postcard is from Hey Monkey Butt, who resides in the southern part of the USA, in Georgia. Georgia is a beautiful state, I can say that from experience. And if you like Paula Deen, I believe she lives there, so you could, like, stalk her or something.

If your curious about the postcards, just head on over to the Campaign page to find out more. Basically it's a little thing I started last summer - a campaign of mailbox happiness. Too often we find that all we get in the mail is junk mail and bills. These postcards help bring a smile to your face and brighten up your day. If you'd like to join, please send me an email with your real name and address and your blog address and the name you go by on your blog. If you hurry you can be added to the list for July!

Now, a Libby update! As you know, she had surgery (yet again) on that poor left knee - third time's a charm, right? Anyway, Dr.'s J and R did the surgery where they put the pin in her leg to straighten it out - they had already cut a groove for the knee cap to sit, but since this leg hasn't been healing right and previous attempts have been botched, they wanted to do the pin surgery since the right leg is looking freaking awesome.

 Libby after getting home. Took her out on the front long and she rolled for 20 minutes!

I went to visit the little jail-bird the day she had surgery, which was a Monday (about a week and a half ago). I couldn't get over the hill Tuesday or Wednesday, but went to pick her up on Thursday after work. She was so happy to be free!  The doctors had decided to do an injectable antibiotic and pain meds, which are a lot easier. I switched to a liquid antibiotic to make things easier on me, and the pain meds could go under her tongue.

A week and a half in and she's doing great. I talked to Dr. R today since he was my vet over here in Sticksville today (and Dr. J thought he was allowed vacation so took off for two weeks), and he said the stitches can come out on Saturday, have it re-wrapped for another two weeks. Libby will head to Redding with me on my delivery route and I will give her back to my mother. Miss Harriet will be happy. She's probably tired of hissing. Although, I think Libby has finally learned that hissing does not translate to "Let's play!".

 Seriously, how does one so no to this face?! You cannot resist!

I wore the poor thing out today - took her to work with me at the Stickville clinic. Tied her to the desk where she could always see the action. Everyone thought she was adorable. She didn't get any real nap time today, because even in the afternoon when I was alone at the clinic while the vet was off on ranch calls, I let her off leash and she would just follow me around like, well . . . a puppy on a leash. LOL So she had a big day. As did I. I was working my butt off all freaking day. And sweating. Sorry, wait. I'm a lady, I was "glistening". What the hell, I was sweating. Our little clinic only has a swamp cooler in the lobby, and the cool air maybe gets to the reception desk but no further. So the rest of the clinic where I do all my work, is warm and muggy. And I have a fan back there but it doesn't do much.

My only consolation prize was that a young vet was interviewing for a job with our clinic and was with Dr. R today. Eye candy. He was a very nice guy, and couldn't really get him and Dr. R to shut up. Seriously, they were worse than two women gossiping! He earned brownie points in the late morning however, because I was trying to clean up the mess that Dr. R had left, and the mess was just killing me. I'm talking disaster area people. Anyway, Dr. Eye Candy actually offered to help! It is a rare day indeed when a veterinarian actually offers to help the tech clean. Considering he has no idea where anything is or where anything goes, it was nice of him to offer. I let him put away all the bandage materials for me, though. And he threw away some trash. Seriously, any vet that's willing to offer to help deserves a job in my book! Not to mention he was happy to step in and take my place assisting Dr. R if I needed to go up front or grab the phone. Again. Brownie points. Sorry folks, I didn't get a picture. I was too busy! If he gets hired, I'll take one for ya.

And now, stick a fork me - I'm done. It's time for bed. And Advil . . . 

Track Your Package = FacePalm

I have discovered that the whole "track your package" thing is not only cool, but can be quite aggravating. Has anyone actually been waiting on their online order and tracked your package every day? Because sometimes it really makes NO SENSE whatsoever.

Just sayin'.

Awhile back, I went ordered a couple books on Barnes & Noble online. My order got to me in about three days. Awesomeness.

Eventually I wanted a couple more books, so I went back to Barnes & Noble online to order the next couple of books in the series. For whatever reason, the website never processed my order. Two freaking days later, I was still trying to place the freaking order. No joke. I even emailed their help center. That was a joke.

So, I did what anyone would do. I want to Amazon and made my purchase there. Unfortunately I didn't get my Barnes & Noble discount, nor the free shipping, but it was only a couple of books, no biggie. Fortunately for my temper, the website processed the order the first time round and then it told me that it would be 7-10 days shipping.

Oh. My. God. My heart dropped.

I kept telling myself, "don't worry J.Day, it'll get here sooner than that."

So, I tracked the package. Wow. I did a lot of face-palms for a week. Here's why.

As you can clearly see, it starts out in Kent, WA and makes it way to Sacramento, CA. Sacramento is about 5-6 hours south of me. I figured it would make it's way to either Redding or Reno and then up here to Sticksville. Wow, I couldn't have been more wrong. The damn package goes back to Kent, WA from Sacramento. Now, I can't quite figure why the hell it would go back to its original location. Kent is near Seattle, which is not far from the Canadian border, so we're looking at about an 11 hour drive from Sacramento to Seattle. So . . . I repeat, why would the package go 11 hours in the wrong direction?!

Then it eventually makes it to Portland, OR, then to Klamath Falls, OR, then to me. I mean, seriously? Talk about a wasted trip. Not to mention it had to bypass me just to get to Sacramento in the first place. I'm curious why it couldn't have just gone from Kent to Portland to Klamath to me in the first place. Wouldn't that have been, oh I don't know, more efficient?

Now, I recently went back to Barnes & Noble online for a couple more books in the series. Luckily for me the order was actually placed, I got free shipping plus my member discount, saving about $10 total. Not bad. I got an email last night saying it had shipped. I checked it this morning and it started in Sparks, NV (or Reno if that's more familiar to you) went to West Sacramento, up to Anderson and it tells me I should expect delivery tomorrow. Hot damn. No face-palms there. How simple. (Turns out it arrived a day before the "expected delivery". Talk about ecstatic!)

This whole "track your package" option is great. Until you watch your package travel a days journey in the wrong direction, and to make matters worse, it had just come from there. It's like watching a tennis match - the package just keeps going back and forth. And eventually, it will show up. Yikes.

Don't you hate to wake up to a "WTF" moment?

Last week I woke a wee bit on the pissy side. Because of a dream. I was also very confused as to why my subconscious did what it did. I'm still clueless because it refuses to let me in on it's sick little joke.

Nothing bad happened in the dream, but there was a guy there. A guy I loathed. Since grade school. A true ass-hat before the phrase was ever coined.

What's worse was that in the dream, he wasn't the ass-hat that I know. He was a relatively nice guy. Which made me even more mad that my subconscious would try to trip me up.

Okay, I'm not saying he's not a nice guy now, but I don't give a shit. I don't like him. At. All. Never have.

We first met somewhere in Elementary school in Redding. I don't remember much, just that he was a little jerk. Just like most boys in that age range. I think he moved before I did. I don't remember. I really tried to just believe he didn't exist. My parents and I moved after my 7th grade year was up, putting me in a new school for my 8th grade year.

And there he was. Still an ass-hat. As were a couple of other people I'd thought I'd gotten rid of because they'd moved before me.

Again, I just went about my business as if he didn't exist because I didn't like him.

I think it was my freshman year when I nearly punched his lights out. On the school bus. My fist stopped about an inch from his face, and there was fear in his eyes. He was probably afraid of his reputation - I mean, how would it look to get a black eye or broken nose from a girl in front of a bunch of his friends? Bad. Real bad.

I'm not sure what stopped my fist. But when I finished having my say, I looked up at the bus driver and her eyes were on me. I sat down and endured the ride home.

Why did I nearly hit him? He touched me. Not anything horrible or perverted, but I didn't want his slimy ass-hat fingers on my belongings let alone me. And considering he ignored my "take your fucking hands off me" line, I had no choice but to put the fear in his eyes. Oddly enough, for the next 4 years he never touched me, and I'm pretty sure he never spoke to me again, which was perfectly fine with me. He would give me "looks" as we passed between classes once in awhile and I'd either ignore him or if I was feeling particularly sassy, I'd flip him the bird.

So what the hell was my subconscious thinking putting this ass-hat into a dream of mine? Albeit a weird dream - quite weird in fact. I don't remember many of the details now, but a few things still stick in my mind. I mean, I know dreams are typically weird. And I've had stranger, weirder dreams. I've had nightmares where I wake up hyperventilating with silent tears streaming down my cheeks. Luckily the latter are extremely rare. But why would my brain pick some guy I haven't seen since graduation, never think of, and don't care anything about?

Not a clue. But I hope it doesn't happen again anytime soon.

It's a hodge-podge post

So apparently I pulled yet another disappearing act on you guys. Sorry about that. This past week  we were on deadline to get ads and stories done for the publication, plus I still have the third job at the vet's office. Yikes.

I will tell you guys that another reason I've been avoiding the internet a lot is I have had a lot on my mind. Lots to think over. So much so that I swear my brain is over heating and there's been steam coming out of my ears. Anyway, I can't/won't go into details yet, but my mind has been occupied.

Let's see, what's new?

Dr. J decided I needed to add "babysitter" to my list of things to do at the Sticksville clinic this summer on Wednesday's. A client of ours mentioned that her 13 year old daughter wants to be a vet and asked if she could volunteer. She looks all of 8 years old, I swear. Dr. J is great with her, though, letting her dissect naughty bits and explaining stuff to her. I'm rather impressed that she didn't get the least bit squeamish during our spays and neuters on her first day. She's a good kid, though.

Miss Libby is back in town. She's having surgery (again!) to re-do the original knee (again!!!). Dr.'s J and R both wanted to do the pin surgery on the first knee as even the second time around it didn't do what they wanted. But her right knee that has the pin in it is doing fabulous. Anyway, a few weeks ago, Libby decided to start digging at the left knee and created sores on her leg and of course, got it infected. She's been wearing the cone of shame for a month now. Dr. J got her on some antibiotics a little over a week ago, and it looks better. Libby is currently stashed at the main clinic in town and will have surgery on Monday morning, and hopefully this will be her last knee surgery. This makes 4 knee surgeries since last Thanksgiving. Poor little dog.

Dr. R showed up this morning to drop something off, and I believe it was the first time I'd seen that man in shorts. He got some skinny-ass legs! lol And he was gimpy. I looked him up and down and asked, "What the hell did you do to yourself now?!" He got a sheepish grin, shrugged, and said, "I think I pulled my hamstring or something. . . . yeah . . . I know." I told him that we couldn't leave him alone for a second because every time we turn around he seems to be hurting himself. For a recap: In January (I think) he had hernia surgery; in March (I think), he hit a deer and since he didn't have a gun and couldn't use the euthanasia solution on a wild animal, he cut its throat - only, all he had was a scalpel. The deer moved its head at the wrong time and Dr. R cut his extensor/flexor tendon on his left hand. In April he wrecked his vet truck by hitting a telephone pole. I later found out it was the one in his driveway. And now he goes and pulls a muscle. Men. Sheesh.

OH! Here's something good - I went on my first trail ride in 12 years last week. K's brother got a horse and he wanted to take him out. I got one of our older horses and went with him. Poor Cloud doesn't get off the ranch often, nor does she care much for being separated from her girlfriends, but she did good. And so did I for a girl who hasn't ridden in 12 years. It felt good to be in a saddle again. My only issue on the ride was that K's brother decided to do some hill work. Unfortunately, the hill was rather steep. Now, going up isn't a problem. It's going down where my fear of heights kicks me near an anxiety attack. And it was at that point that Cloud decided to get overly antsy and I will spare you guys the images that ran through my head. None of them ended well.  In the end, yes, my ass was a bit sore, but nothing that Advil couldn't take care of. And we all made it back to the ranch successfully.

I am making good headway through the Stephanie Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. OMG some of the stuff in these books sends me into fits of laughter. And no matter how many times I read over it, it's still freaking hilarious. I swear, I am so thankful I'm not a member of that family. Holy crap on a cracker they are freaking insane. But hilarious and I totally love them. I am just loving these books and can't get enough of them. I'm addicted. Is there such a thing as novel-aholics anonymous? Because I'm thinking I may need to join.

Oh, I did get to see my Dad for Father's Day, just a day early. 

Dear Granddad:

I know you probably already know this, but I miss you. A lot. I miss you calling me Charlie Brown. I miss hearing you say, "You stepped in what?" when you didn't hear something. I miss your hugs.

One year ago today, we lost you. It doesn't feel like it's been a whole year. It feels like just a few months have passed. I think about you every day; random memories pop into my head. Many times, it's often to just send an "I love you" up to Heaven.

Your family and friends surrounded you while you were in the hospital. Everyone knew it was bad this time around. But we couldn't not be there for you. No matter how hard it was to see you in that hospital bed.

We knew when it happened, when you went to God. We, your beloved wife, kids and grandkids, were right there. The seven of us gave you one last kiss, hugged each other and cried until we had nothing left to cry out. No matter how much we knew we would miss you, we were happy to know that you would no longer be in any kind of pain. Not even those phantom pains that had plagued you since your leg was amputated from that plan crash on June 10, 1949.

We never know what God has in store for us. He still wanted you to live a full and happy life after that plane crash. Believe me, it wasn't lost on any of us that you lasted until the eve of the anniversary of that crash. You made it 62 years past the day that you were pronounced dead three times. You were just a wee bit stubborn, weren't you?  :o)  I definitely know where I get it from.

And not that I've been to a lot of funerals, but man, you had a lot of people show up to pay their respects for you. When I finally turned around, I couldn't believe my eyes. I hope you know just how loved and respected you were, and not just by your family. You touched a lot of people in your life, I hope you know that.

All of our first holidays without you this year were tough. But we knew you were looking down on us, smiling. And just so you know, we spoiled Granny rotten at Christmas.

I just wanted to let you know, I love you and miss you more than words can say. I admired you probably more than you ever knew, and still do. I will continue to think about you every day, sending my love up to Heaven.

Love, Hugs, and Kisses,

Charlie Brown

100 Things That Make Me Happy: Part 8

#36. Fits of serious laughter. I'm talking pee-your-pants laughter. Good, honest laughter that is highly contagious to others even if they have no idea why your having a spaz attack. (Besides the obvious fact that you can't breathe because you're laughing so damn hard). Laughter is one of the best sounds on earth.

#37. Country life. Sticksville is 3 hours from anything - in any given direction. The closest thing to a chain store is the pharmacy and a couple sandwich shops. Life isn't easy in a place where agriculture is the main source of income, but I enjoy living here much more than in a city.

#38. My job variety. I may complain about my job(s) or the people I deal with in them, but overall, I enjoy all of it. Even people who enjoy their jobs have complaints and bad days, and that just makes you appreciate the good days and nice people that much more.

#39. Reading. Now, I know I mentioned this in an earlier post, but really, it's something I truly enjoy. I find myself forgetting the TV in the evenings in favor reading. Besides, there's never anything on TV, and anymore the only time the TV is on is when I'm watching a movie from Netflix. So, from about 4 or 5pm (depending on the day) until I turn out my bedroom light, you can find me with a book in hand. I admit I take liberties on Sundays more often than not to spend my day reading after house cleaning and during laundry. Recently I've been reading the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. I seriously can't get enough of them; I love the family because they are so ridiculous and funny. And that Grandma Mazur is a freaking hoot.

#40. Netflix. Seriously, how did mankind survive before mail delivery of movies? Actually, I will admit when I first heard of Netflix years ago, I was like, "People are so lazy they can't even go down the block to their local Blockbuster to pick out a freaking movie!" Open mouth, insert foot. A few years later, I signed up for it. Mostly because there were a lot of TV shows I wanted to see and any time I rented one from Blockbuster, the guys behind the counter looked at me funny. I got tired of that and never looked back. I was not happy about their recent price increase, but the service is still decent. Although, sending me a cracked DVD did nothing to improve their image last month.

Absenteeism and Postcards

I have been absent. My apologies. I haven't read read a single blog in roughly a week. Nor have I written one post.

I just needed a break from the computer and being online. And I pretty much went cold turkey for the week. I went online once last week. Of course, that doesn't include me checking Facebook on my cell phone once in a while.

During my week of absenteeism I wrote some stuff for my grandparents publication; so I technically was on the computer some, but not as much as I usually am. I also read. A lot.

And I noticed that my eye twitch is permanently gone. I had been noticing my left eye twitching off and on a lot in the last month. I cut back on my computer time a bit and after some time, it seemed to diminish. I worry about eye strain because I'm on my laptop a lot. And that was just another reason I just turned my laptop off and called it quits for a bit. And it hasn't twitched once. Awesomeness.

 My guess is I just need to watch my computer time so I don't get more twitchy.

 I also wanted to talk about Postcards with you guys. I received a few emails from you guys asking about why you haven't received postcards. You all worried about me having secretly deleted you off the list. Nope. Didn't happen. Rita hasn't forgotten about any of us; she's picking out individual postcards for everyone on the list, something that suits the person she's looking for. Plus she was super lucky had spent 10 days in Hawaii, but was unlucky enough to get the post-travel cold. So, I wanted to let you guys know that if you have not received your postcard yet, never fear, it's still on its way.

But now, it's June and that means it's someone else's turn send out some postcards! This month it's going to come from What's On Your Mind Monkey Butt?  

If your curious about the Postcard Campaign, please visit the Campaign's page. Basically we take turns to sending postcards. It's so much more enjoyable to get a postcard in the mail than bills. And considering most of us get bills and junk mail in the letter box, which gets really old by the way, it's so much fun to get something nice. I myself do a little dance in the post office which means people usually stare at me. Each month it's another blogger's turn to send out postcards. So, if you'd like some mailbox happiness, please shoot me an email at theramblingsofcharliebrown@hotmail.com with your real name/address/blog addy/and the name you use in the blogging community.