April Blog Challenge: B is for Birthdays

This weekend I came home for three things: My parent's birthdays, to hang out with my BFF, and to see the Hunger Games. As I write this, two of those items have been checked off my list. I will be seeing the movie tomorrow.

I had dinner with my BFF Saturday night, and she was finally able to give me my birthday present - two months late. We were out for about 4 hours, just chatting and having lots of great laughs.

Dad's birthday was Thursday, and Mom's is today (Sunday). While Dad did some fence work after breakfast, Mom and I went to Costco to try to return my TV - which made a loud POP! about a week or so ago and promptly dropped dead on me. I got it three months ago for Christmas. That's exactly what I was thinking.

So, off to Costco we went. What a way to spend your mother's birthday to drag her to town when she wants to stay at home in her pj's, right? Especially at the first of the month when everyone goes to Costco.

We go up to the "member's counter" and hand the receipt to the lady, and she proceeds to shake her head. She looks it up on the computer and says it's past the 90 day return policy and they can't take it back. Hands us a Costco Concierge card to call and figure out the next step. 

Next we ran to WinCo for horseradish. I know . . . what odd errands we run in this family. But it was for a good cause - my deviled eggs I made. Adds a nice little kick. You should totally try it. After that, I activated a $50 pre-paid Visa I received from my bank for completing a goal that I never knew about. But why would I turn down a free Visa? Exactly.

We decide to run over to Barnes & Noble so I can find the next two books in the Hunger Games Trilogy. As we're pulling into the parking lot, a song came on the radio by The Tractors - something I hadn't heard in years. I turn it up and say, "Oh my God, it's The Tractors!" We start singing and dancing in the car until the song is over. In the end, I got my two Hunger Games books, a new Kathy Reichs book, a new bookmark, and bought Mom a book.

After that, we hit Kohl's, where she bought me shirt with her $10 off coupon she received from them for her birthday. And a few other shirts.

After that, it was homeward bound where I called the Costco Concierge number and wasted about 20 minutes of my time. In the morning I'll be calling Hanspree directly to figure something out. During that time the three of us were snacking on chips and deviled eggs while Dad started prepping the chick for the BBQ.

So really, I gave Mom the best present for her birthday: hanging out with her kid. We don't have much time for that anymore, just me and her, since I moved to Sticksville and my time in Redding is usually limited. But for a few hours, it was just us chickens, hanging out and singing in the car in front of Barnes & Noble.  <3

My Panties Are Confused.....

I kind of had a whirlwind of a weekend. Saturday was one crazy day at the vet's. Looking at the appointment book in the morning, it looked like we'd be steady busy all day. As soon I turned the phones on (meaning, took them off the night message), they rang non-stop for 20 minutes. Part way through the morning, one of the high school girls that works weekends ran out of stuff to do. So what does she do? Parks it at the front desk, texts, and does nothing. In front of people. Yeah. I wasn't overly pleased. So I had her file some patient records while I was doing other things. And I found that she doesn't know how to properly file alphabetically. *sigh*

Mid-morning, the vet tells me that we have an emergency coming in. A guy came in with a dog that has a fractured leg (not our emergency, he had an appointment). The vet wanted a couple of x-rays, so he called the young girl in, found out she's only 15 and can't assist with x-rays. Luckily all the folks up front were totally understanding and extremely patient. I donned a lead apron and took some pictures. Their digital x-ray machine is awesome. We don't have to waste time developing the x-rays, because I've done that and it's not exactly fun. The guy leaves the dog so we can put a cast on the leg.

Papa D showed up to ask the vet a question, and unfortunately, showed up at the exact wrong time. He showed up as the place got massively crazy. He sat around for awhile, and was duly impressed with the Great Dane in the front lobby, patiently awaiting is turn. Papa D wound up leaving without getting to ask his question, but later got to ask the recently retired vet at a Cattlemen's BBQ the next day.

The emergency showed up, the guy having the dog semi-wrapped in a wet towel. He said the dog's chest was cut wide open, so I went ahead and put them in an exam room to keep them out of the bussel that was the front office. They showed me the "wound", and the right side of the chest was flayed wide open. You could see bone and muscle. Evidently the dog was running around their house, and somehow managed to catch itself on a metal stake in their yard, slicing it's chest wide open. Luckily there wasn't a ton of bleeding going in, and we had them drop the dog off so we could stitch him up during lunch. Our regular tech had left for a couple hours to go judge a Humane Society Dog Show, and for about ten minutes I thought I was going to have to learn how to cast a leg.

Fortunately, the tech showed up as I was getting stuff set up, and I ran off to Subway to get me and Doc a sandwich. Doc casted the broken leg, and then started stitching up the emergency dog. People wound up waiting about 45 minutes for their appointments. They understood about the emergency. To help get things moving smoother and faster when the Doc was done, I drew up vaccinations and stashed them in their files so they were all ready to go.

Needless to say, after work, I was pooped.

Sunday I got up early and loaded up papers in my car, and set out to deliver. I got to Redding, ran a couple of errands - namely the book store because I'm addicted to Kathy Reichs now (her books inspired the show Bones), and took my car in for an oil change. I picked up a bag of ice for my parents, and got home just before the party started. I had completely forgotten that it was the night of my parents monthly "friends dinner" and it was their turn to host it that night. My parents and their friends decided awhile back that they never saw each other, so to remedy that, they decided to get together once a month for dinner, and take turns hosting everyone. These are some pretty freaking awesome people, in my humble opinion. Oddly enough, my dad worked with the women for several years at his job. Over the years, my parents became very good friends with those women and their spouses. This group of people are the folks who helped my parents during the time my Granddad was in the hospital and after he passed away. They brought food to Granny's house, to the hospital, checked in on our animals during the day, and hosted the wake. They went above and beyond the call of duty. Mom fixed pulled-pork sliders, cole slaw, macaroni salad for me (because I don't like slaw), and mesquite beans. OH. MY. GOD. Delicious doesn't do justice. Everyone showed up around 3ish, we ate around 4:30 or 5, and visited and laughed until after 7.

And here's where the title comes in. One gal told the story of noticing her 3 year old granddaughter walking funny and "adjusting herself", and asked her, "Do you have to go to the bathroom. The girl replied, "No. My panties are confused!" The entire table was in tears from laughter.

Granny is getting all settled in at my parents house. Her old house is officially sold, and she is now at my parents house. She's kicked me out of my bedroom, and even my bathroom! I'm fine with it, because if I'd rather be kicked out by Granny than someone random person my parents found to rent my room to or something. My cousin's hubby should be starting construction on the house in about 3 weeks. He's filing the plans and pulling permits. My bedroom will be remodeled and made into a master suite. Granny will have a sitting area, sleeping area, walk-in closet, and bathroom. One of my bedroom walls will be going out 12 feet. Another wall, 10 feet - and my parents will have to have two trees removed and the new paver patio they put in last year. Hopefully my parents will take pics and I will when I'm there, so hopefully I can post pics of the construction and finished product.

Monday I got up and ran back to Redding to run a couple more errands, had lunch with Dad and Granny, ran to Mom's office to say good-bye, and was off to finish delivering papers. I finally made it home around 7ish, and was completely worn out by the time I got my car unloaded.

Aren't weekends supposed to be relaxing? My weekends wear me out!

Oh, and I nearly forgot to update you: Miss Harriet is all back to normal. By Thursday night she was jumping on the couch and running around the house. I'm still amazed at how little she is; that fur of hers really makes her look a lot bigger than she actually is.

My Weekend Off and My Blogoversary!

I apologize for lack of posting around these parts. I was kind of in a funk last week. Like an "I really don't want to play on the internet" kind of funk. As much as I enjoy being up here, I was really looking forward to seeing friends and seeing Harry Potter. So the week just seemed to drag. And drag. Father Time's sick joke.

Anyway, funk is over! Yay!

I drove to Redding Saturday after work. Sunday I had lunch with a good friend who lives out of state (the angelic college roomie versus the pyshco one), and bonus - my BFF was there to join us for lunch! My old roomie brought her little girl, who is absolutely adorable. Like her picture is next to the word adorable in the dictionary. Us three girls had a good lunch. For my BFF and Roomie it had been about 8 years since they'd seen each other. After lunch, BFF and I hung out for another couple hours and did a wee bit of shopping. And because it was so dang warm, heaven forbid should Penny's have their air conditioner on. I broke a sweat shopping. Later I spent an hour in Target cooling off. Then it was a nice dinner with Granny.

Monday was Harry Potter day. Well, afternoon really. I enjoyed the movie, and cried like a baby. If you've read the book or seen it already, I'm pretty sure you know where I was crying. So the last Harry Potter thing I have to look forward to is Part 2 coming to DVD. However, I'm sure in 20 years or so some genius will get the bright idea to remake them all. And my future children will be embarrassed that their mother would be camping out to get a ticket to make sure the future genius didn't ruin them. Yeah.

Anywho, it's back to work as usual. The next big thing to happen around these parts will be the fair next month.

And because of my funk, I missed blogging on my one year Blogoversary! Sunday marked my one year. I can't believe I made it this far. And y'all are still here. And I haven't had to pay any of you. Which means y'all are flipping awesome. So, to commemorate my Blogoversary, I'm adding to end of this post my very first post, which I'm going to guess many you haven't read because it's buried in the archives and you guys have jobs and blogs of your own and such.

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The Stainer Conversation


Have you ever been sitting at work, doing your job, when suddenly a conversation pierces the radio you're listening to? And that conversation makes you stop, roll your eyes, shake your head, and almost start talking to yourself? Out loud. Where your co-workers could possibly hear you. The other night, at work, this very thing happened. Although I may have mumbled a few things out loud . . . hopefully not loud enough for anyone to actually overhear said mumbles. Here's the set up:

Two ladies are hollering at each other over machines in regards to a stainer that stains blood smear slides. For anonymity's sake, I shall call them Lady 1 and Lady 2.

Lady 1: Is there something wrong with your stainer?
Lady 2: I don't know. Is there something wrong with my slides?

Lady 1: There's something wrong with your slides. I think there's something wrong with your stainer.

Lady 2: I don't know what's wrong. What's wrong with my stainer?

(At some point Lady 1 comes to Lady 2 to try to figure out what is wrong with said stainer. Turns out, the stainer was out of Methanol, which fixes the blood to the slide so it won't wash off when the slides go through the actual stain cycle and the rinse cycle. There was a long pause in this conversation because apparently neither lady knew where the Methanol was stored if it wasn't in the magical cabinets within our department. When they find some, Lady 1 has Lady 2 refill the Methanol in her stainer, and the conversation proceeds . . .)

Lady 1: You're slides are still messed up. Did you prime the stainer?

Lady 2: Is priming cleaning?

Lady 1: Yes. Cleaning is priming.

Lady 2: How do I prime?

Lady 1: Just prime the stainer.

Lady 2: So priming cleans the stainer?

Lady 1: What? No. Priming isn't cleaning.

Lady 2: So what is priming?

(Now mind you, at least three people who are hearing this conversation know the difference between "cleaning" and "priming". For starters, there's a button that says "CLEAN". And there's no direct button for priming. Also, these three people -including myself - are chuckling to ourselves because this all sounds totally ridiculous. They are literally hollering to each other over machines. And any one of us could easily have walked to the stainer and shown Lady 2 the difference and how to do it. Yet . . . we didn't. And finally Lady 1 comes back to the stainer . . .)

Lady 1: We need to prime the stainer. It's washing the blood off the slides.

Lady 2: I've been telling you I don't know how to prime. Isn't priming cleaning?

Lady 1: Oh . . .no, it's not. I have it priming, just clean it when it's done.

Lady 2: What do I do to clean it? (Oddly enough, she actually does know this, but by this time I'm not sure she could find the stainer, which sits right next to her, considering Lady 1 has her turned upside down).

Lady 1: Just clean it once it's done.

Lady 2: It won't let me clean it, I have to prime it again.

Lady 1: Why are you priming again?

Lady 2: You want me to clean it after priming?

(By this time, I'm ready to either burst out laughing or scream in frustration.)

Lady 1: (back at stainer) I'm cleaning it. Stain some slides when it's done and I'll check to see if your stain is ok.

Lady 2: So you don't need me to clean it?

Seriously. Almost sounds like a horrific version of "Who's on First" to me. Yes, granted, I could have stopped it. Two others could have stopped it. However, we were busy. And though it was annoying as hell, it was also quite entertaining. Because at some point it really hits you as to who is having this conversation.



They're your supervisors.

My remoteness.

I kinda wanted to show you guys how remote an area I now live and work in. I know some of my followers/readers are from smaller states or smaller countries, where if you drove 10 hours, you'd drive straight into an ocean. Which, as we all know, would be a bad thing.

The largest city I deliver the Publication to is Redding, which is around 90,000 people. It just goes down in population from there. Quite possibly the least populated town I deliver to is population 20 (on the sign on the highway).

As I stated in earlier posts when I was preparing to move to Sticksville, we have no chain stores. No chain restaurants. No Wal-Mart (Thank God), no Target, no fast food, nothing. There are a couple restaurants and a cafe, a book store, one main grocery store (I've met the previous owners and the current owner - the previous owner's daughter), a smaller grocery store, one gas station, a small hospital, a Post Office, and an auto part store. Many of the buildings are historic - I really should take some pictures of them.

Many of these small towns and communities are similar in that they have a local grocery store and if they're lucky a gas station. This region of NE California is primarily ag related - cattle ranching, farming, that sort of thing. If you need a Wal-Mart, the nearest one is at least two hours or more in any one direction. Same for a Costco. Same if you're craving any of the main fast food chains. Many of these little towns (including mine) don't have a physical bank in town. My nearest bank is 30 minutes away. Around here, we do things in bulk. If one of us needs to go to Town to the bank, we ask if someone else needs to run any errands in Town. Being that gas has been sitting $4.39/gallon for two months, you don't make wasted trips anywhere.

Also, as a side note - the vet clinic I work for (as job 3), covers more ground than any clinic I've ever seen or worked for. They pretty much cover an entire county, and filter into neighboring ones as well. They operate a total of three offices - the main one in Town, one in Sticksville and one about an hour in the opposite direction of Town. A vet is in those offices one day a week, and a receptionist an additional two days to sell merchandise and make appointments. The main office in Town is open 6 days a week with a vet there each day. It's quite a busy business.

Anyway, here are some random pictures I've snapped while driving around. Hope it puts it into some perspective as to how spread out it is up here.

Out on a road called Grasshopper Road. Basically, the middle of nowhere.

Coming into the Fall River Valley.

Manzanita Lake in Lassen National Park.

After I've left the cities - about a half hour or so outside them.

Somewhere on a highway. Sometimes there are trees on this highway, but not a lot.

I found this guy in my back yard after dinner the other night.

And this is him on the way out of my yard and into my neighbors yard.



I hope this helps you picture the region of CA that I live in, which is the least populated county in the state, I think. It's kind of beautiful in is desolateness.

My Weekend Off

I sort of disappeared over the weekend, didn't I? My bad. I was too busy on my weekend off. Yeah, we can go with that excuse.

The weather up here in Sticksville was rather iffy most of last week, and by the time Thursday had rolled around, no one was sure if I would be able to drive the four mountain passes to visit my family. Needless to say, I was a wee bit irritated with Mother Nature. I awoke Friday morning to go feed and there was a bit of sunshine peeking through, and I just knew I could make it. Every time I made it over a pass, I texted my grandmother and my mom. I hit snow over the last pass, which for some reason is the worst pass to go over (and it's 2000 feet lower than where I currently live). As soon as I passed the summit I hit snow. Heavy snow, but luckily the roads were too wet so it wasn't sticking. By the time I reached the bottom of the mountain, it was pouring down rain. Actually pouring doesn't quite cover it. It was raining hippos and elephants. Seriously. It was a deluge.

I floated rolled into town to have lunch with Miss Jo, whom I haven't seen since she graduated from vet school about two or three years ago. She was nice enough to drive to Redding to meet me, and we visited for a couple of hours. It was so nice to get to see her again, and I hope we don't go another two years!

After lunch I ran to my old bank to close out my accounts officially. Then went to pay my car payment early - because I'm a good girl like that. Then it was finally off to my parent's house. I officially got to meet mom's new little Yorkie, Libby. Llibby is freaking adorable and I'm not much of a tiny dog person. As she runs around the house like she's on crack, we call it "herd of puppy". She's every where at once and drags toys out all over the place. The downside to Libby is that apparently Yorkies are extremely tough to potty train. My parents have never had a dog that is so hard to train. While all previous puppies we've had had one or two accidents in the house (because you just can't avoid them), they've all been easy to train. Libby isn't. My parents will sit outside with her for half an hour and she won't do a thing. Two minutes inside the house and she's left little Libby Presents. Strange dog.

On Saturday, my parents took me to Costco so I could spend some money there. It's not economical for me to belong to Costco's membership, but my parents use theirs a lot, so I mooch off them. Plus I've never really needed to shop at Costco before, as I never needed to really buy much in bulk. However, now that I live in the middle of nowhere, it's much more economical to buy a ton of toilet paper than to buy it every week at the local store. I also priced laptops there and at Best Buy (and I had done so with Dell online), as in a previous post I had written about my old laptop dying a slow death. Or at least the battery.

After running some errands, my parents dropped me off at Granny & Granddad's while they went to Raley's to get some groceries for them. I had a good visit with them, and regaled them with my story of faceplanting in the moop (a much nicer term for mudshit . . . mud + poop =  moop). My grandparents were both raised on ranches/farms as kids, so they could sort of relate to my plight. I'm happy to report that my Granddad is doing better. He took a spill with his walker a few weeks ago in his house, and has been laid up in the living room since. My dad got him up for a bit of walking, and my mom says that he's improved a lot just since last week. My dad was surprised that my Granddad had the initiative to walk the length of the house and back to his chair with his walker, and he did so without any issues. Sometimes it's really the little improvements that make all the difference. My grandparents are a bit miffed that their home sale dropped out of escrow after a week. If that. No one can really move on the granny unit being put in on my parents property until the house sells. I guess they're just lucky that the buyers didn't back out several weeks into the deal.

After that it was dinner with Nana & Sonny. It was Sonny's birthday, plus we were celebrating my parents birthdays (both are this week). We had a wonderful visit, and had good food and excellent desserts. I was a bottomless pit: I ate all my food, part of Sonny's free dessert (it was a fudge sundae and he doesn't like chocolate), and part of his paid for dessert (it was strawberry cheesecake shooter, but he apparently doesn't like the cheesecake portion). Hey, don't tease Sonny for dessert persnicketiness, I'm much pickier at foods than he is. Trust me on this. Besides I got to eat the good parts. ;o)  Overall, we had a wonderful visit, and it was nice to see both of them improved in health, too. Next time I'm home and visit them, Nana will probably fill me up with dessert at her place because she loves to bake and feed her kids and grandkids. And none of us complain about it, either.

On Sunday, mom took me back to Costco where I spent more money, this time on a new laptop. This sucker's batter lasts like 4 hours and mine never lasted more than maybe 2 hours. Anyway, I got quite a bit of feedback through your comments, and then some comments on Facebook regarding Windows 7, and so far, it's not as annoying as Vista was. Vista was just crap. My batter cord is longer, but I now have a new problem. This cord has three prongs and all of my grandparents outlets are two prongs. Oh well. Six of one, half a dozen of the other, right? I finally decided on just purchasing a new one, as I practically live on the computer. Whether it's Facebook and chatting with friends or family, or blogging or now writing up articles for my grandparents publication, I'm on the computer quite a bit. I know that laptops aren't built to last more than two or three years anyway, so I got good use out of my old one. I still have it, I need to transfer the data to my new one, which will take some time. I need to back up my pictures and whatnot onto a disc anyway, which reminds me, I think I need to buy some more CD-RW's. But so far, I'm liking my new computer, and I hope we have will have a few good years together.

My drive back to Sticksville was as uneventful as my drive out of it. All my passes were clear and I didn't hit much traffic. It took me awhile to unload my car, and then to put everything away. Shopping at Costco is rather fun, but when you have to find room for all that shit, it ceases being fun real quick. I managed to buy a bunch of baking supplies so I get to bake myself some more cookies. Yummy yummy in my tummy!! I'm thinking chocolate chip . . . since Average Girl's recent post regarding food and sweets got me thinking.

Now it's back to the real world of feeding cows at 7:30 in the morning. There was one good thing about waking up early this morning: THE SUN. Seriously, that little shit has been hiding for awhile and I hate a constant game of hide and seek. Or Peek-a-boo.

An update on the calves in the barn. When I left on Friday, there was a total of three calves in the barn, with their mothers. The twin that we grafted onto Miss Surrogate awhile back, is doing excellent - both mother and calf have bonded well. Another two calves were put in the barn as they had been born in the mud. One of them didn't make it after a week of my grandmother tubing it order to feed it a bottle. But the other calf was doing well. This morning we put those cows and calves back into the herd. I know I promised a video of that twin that I took pictures of in the Miss Surrogate post, but my mom didn't have the right USB cord, either. So . . . for now it's stuck on my phone and the only way to get it off is to send it in 9 second increments and I'm too technostupid to know how to piece it all back together. Whenever I can get it off, I will and post it. Until then, I guess I need to take my actual camera with me each morning in case I want a video. That I can upload properly to my computer without much hassle. My apologies . . . please don't hate me too much.

And here's the latest tidbit: last week, Papa D and I went to a bull sale - my first one. He was doing a membership drive there, as well as making sure those that were members of the Cattlemen's Association were identified because if they bought a bull, they would 5% off their purchase for being a member. Not a bad deal. Anyway, Papa D, two other men, and myself made $1 bets on the average sale of the bulls. I had been hearing that the price of cattle had gone up, but I was seriously impressed when I saw bulls going for $4000. We wagered before the start of the sale, the wagers between $3600 (which was Papa D's) up to $4100 (mine). And today Papa D got the results for the average price of the bulls: $4177. I totally won $4. I never win much of anything.

So, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go swim in my $4.

A Charlie Brown Christmas

I  hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I took a few days off from blogging, although I've been trying to keep up with everyone's blogs. Not easy. Some of you were still posting lots and lots!

I love Christmas in my house as usually I get presents three times by the times its all done. Meaning, my dad's side of the family opens everything on Christmas Eve. My mom's side grew up opening everything Christmas morning. So, we have my dad's family over for Christmas Eve and open presents. We have our own little Christmas, just the three of us on Christmas morning. And Christmas afternoon, mom's side comes over and we open presents again. Oh yes. I am spoiled.

This year was a small Christmas for all of us. I made cookies for everyone in my family as I couldn't afford to go out shopping this year.

Christmas Eve we had my dad's family over.  I was up early and helping mom in the kitchen. I was allowed to make the deviled eggs myself for the first time. Usually I have her stand over my shoulder to make sure I get it right. Everyone loved them. My aunt and uncle were running a bit late, so my dad and I took my car in to get my grandparents. We weren't sure if Granddad would fit in my car (if my seat could go back far enough for him) until we got there. He did, though. And it was the first time my dad's parents ever rode in any car of mine. I sat in the back with  Granny, and we were both amazed at the leg room we had in the back. I hadn't sat in my  back seat since I purchased it. My mom cooked a mean lasagna (oh my, it was SO delicious!) and we had cookies and ice cream for dessert. Then it was present time!

Christmas Day, my parents had to wake me up, as usual. For some reason, growing up, my parents had to wake me up instead of the other way around to see was Santa brought. Apparently my cat had been sleeping on top of me, and jumped off me when my dad came into the room with the dog behind him, her nails tick-ticking on the hardwood floors. My cat hates dogs and apparently believes they are all out to kill her. Her claws digging in before she jumped woke me up, as it's quite painful. I then went out to see what Santa brought. Yes. Santa still visits our  house, and always will. Y'all can stop looking at me funny. Like, now, would be good.

My mom's family came over in the afternoon. Nana brought Scrabble, and her, my mom, my aunt, and myself played a game of Scrabble. On the second game, Sonny played in my aunt's place. Nana is very good at this game, and I have no recollection of ever beating her at it . . . or Monopoly, but I actually won the second game. I used up my tiles first and only after adding in everyone's extra tiles did I win by score. My mom had cooked a ham for dinner, and we had pie for dessert. We didn't exchange presents this year, it being financially tight for all of us. But we still had a wonderful afternoon/evening of visiting and playing Scrabble. And that's really what Christmas is about. Spending time with your family.

Today (Sunday), I was the first up, at 8:30am. That's not normal, folks. I walked out of my room and realized my parents were still asleep (they did deserve a good rest!), so I fed the dogs and let them out. I then turned on the TV (they have satellite, which is wonderful for the girl who doesn't even have cable) and found Law & Order:UK. I hadn't seen it yet; my parents said they had tried it and lasted about 15 minutes because they couldn't hardly understand the actors . . . being that it's a British TV show and all. I figured I'd like it, because I like British TV, at least what I've seen. I selected the channel and settled it. I enjoyed it. The phone rang at 9:30 - it was Granny trying her new phones she got for Christmas - and that is what finally got both my parents out of bed. My dad sees me watching Law & Order:UK and asks, "You like it?" I said yes . . . and a few minutes later after listening to actors discuss something,  he looked at me and asked, "Can you actually understand them?" "Yes, dad". I mean, other than the occasional slang term (which you can usually pick up their meaning anyway), I understand it. Even with the accents.

Also, I met my BFF in town for lunch today. She's pretty wiped out, as Christmas was stressful for her this year and she didn't get to relax like she had thought she would get to. I gave her tons of hugs, which I know she needed, and we had a nice lunch. She gave me a book, which I can't wait to start reading once I've finished the other book I just got for Christmas.

My mom was going to cook spaghetti tonight. She makes the best. However, she's pooped, and doesn't feel like cooking so it looks like I'll be running into town for some take out. Which is fine for me, as she did a lot of cooking this weekend!

All in all, it was a nice little Christmas. I've enjoyed my 5 days off work, and I really don't want to go back tomorrow night. Vacations are never long enough.

It's Official - I'm Crazy!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I've been away from my personal computer since Thursday morning, thus I haven't blogged. I didn't really feel like doing so from my parents desktop. My Thanksgiving went well, my mom hosted dinner for 12 people. That's a lot of people in our house! Everyone took tons of leftovers home. One of my younger cousins who is attending college in Washington drove down to be with family for the holiday and unfortunately got "snowed in" on Saturday. A nice big storm dropped in on Friday night/Saturday morning and dropped a lot of snow on the pass she had to climb to get out of northern California and into Oregon. Luckily, the storm and the roads cleared for her to safely drive to Washington today.

I did check up on the blogs I follow, I didn't always have time to comment, but I was keeping up. And I was very saddened to see that I lost a follower. I'm having a tough time figuring out exactly who left, but I'm sorry to see them go. I hope I haven't offended them or bored them out of their minds, but I hope they might stop by sometimes and comment. That was definitely not the highlight of my Thanksgiving holiday.

My highlight was getting to hang out with my younger cousin, whom I don't get to see very often. We chat like crazy on Facebook quite often, but we were raised on either side of the US, so we rarely got to see each other. We decided to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (part 1) and thoroughly loved it. I was very happy about this considering the guy who directed it also did Movie 6, and in my humble opinion he fucking ruined it. The whole middle part of the movie was okay, I can handle what they decided to leave out and could understand their reasons why. However, the director screwed up the beginning and the ending enough that I can hardly stand to watch it without getting all pissy. Oddly enough, this same director also directed Movie 5, which I loved. But I digress. If you haven't seen The Deathly Hallows, I highly suggest that you do - you will enjoy it. The downside? I have to wait six more months for part 2 to come out! Oh well.

I also got to spend Saturday shopping in town with my mom and my cousin. We got to enjoy an extra day with her since chains were required on the roads out of town. In every direction except South. We had a fairly lazy afternoon wandering around stores and chatting. Afterward we took dinner to my dad and grandparents as my cousin had been staying with them and my dad had stayed to do stuff around their house while we women went shopping.

By far the biggest thing to happen during the holiday was my announcement. It's now official, although I have yet to talk to my boss and I probably won't until after the first of the year. I don't need her harassment about me leaving her in a lurch and shit for the next two and a half months. I will indeed be moving away from Sacramento come February. I'm waiting until then because I'm on a lease on my apartment until then. I will move to the Middle of Nowhere in the far reaches of Northeast California. To a region that Wal-Mart has probably never heard of. I will be assisting my grandparents with their cattle ranch and their monthly publication. Hopefully I will be able to find a part-time job somewhere so I can have some cash flow.

Believe me when I say, it was not an easy decision. I have agonized over this for over two months. I have shed a lot of tears, even some this past weekend. I'm sure there will be more. I'm scared shitless, but I do hope it's all for the best. I know several of you, my wonderful followers, have commented on previous posts in regards to this decision and you've been so very supportive. My friends, family, and a few of my co-workers have also been supportive of whatever decision I were to make. My family members at dinner were quite shocked about my decision as only 4 people at the table had any idea of what was going on, and that's not including myself. They were all surprised but gave me their support and love and good wishes that everything turn out well. I was highly embarrassed to have to address my entire immediate family, as I don't like being the center attention all that much. Except for my birthday, because well, I'm supposed to be. Most of them had absolutely no idea about anything. Since it was my decision to make, my parents didn't really tell anyone.

I have no idea if I'm making the right move. I have no idea how it will turn out. It scares me to think I will be leaving a job that pays well and offers me benefits and a 401k. I despise the idea of giving notice to my two volunteer gigs as I have grown to love everyone there and the animals involved. It breaks my heart actually. I hate the idea that I may have to draw unemployment in order to have some sort of monthly cash flow. And it's scary to become so dependent on my family for assistance with bills and food until I basically get on my feet.

But I'm not happy where I am. I've never wanted to be a city-dweller; I hate traffic, smog, and the tight-space-living. While I do enjoy some of the things a city offers, like some shopping or large movie theaters, it's not for me. I miss seeing the stars out at night. The city lights dim most of them, but when you're miles and miles away from the lights, the stars truly come out. I've never really wanted to work in a lab. I've enjoyed learning what I have. Believe me when I say, it's something I didn't think I would have been smart enough to do or learn. But it's just not what I ever really wanted to do. My hours make it hard on me. And not only me, my friends and family as well. They never know when to call because they worry they may wake me up. It doesn't help you with a social life. And it definitely seems to be a turn off in the dating world. Seriously, I miss the sun dammit.

I will no longer to have to share walls with people. Or live above or below them. After my move, I will be living a "modular home". Oh fine. Call it a mobile home. A trailer. Fine. But it has its own four walls. Not a single wall is shared with another house. Unfortunately it's stuck in the disco era.  All of my furniture will fit. I just have to get it up there. That ought to be fun. I will be no further from my immediate family than I am now. Instead of an easy freeway drive, they will instead have a mountain drive. Over several mountains. The one thing that pains me, and I've already discussed this with her, is that instead of being an hour and a half away from my best friend, I will instead be an 8 hour drive from her. I burst into tears when I fully realized just how much distance will be between us. She fully understood my concern/fear, but we do have a solid friendship that distance will have a really hard time in separating us. We are truly sisters at heart.

I'm excited at the next chapter of my life. It's scary. So very scary. I will be dropping everything here, and starting over completely. But I have the support of all of my family and friends, and co-workers. Even if I fail miserably, they will still be there for me with open arms and help dust me off. I hope that you, my faithful peeps, will continue to show me support. I have no idea where this blog will go, but rest assured you will get good funny stories about the dumb things I do while learning how to run a ranch. 

I just hope one of those does not involve falling face first into a nice steaming pile of cow shit.

Labor Day

In the last few days, I've thought of a few possible titles for my next blog.

"Don't Make Me Call My Mom!"

"Playing the Good Daughter Card"

"My Nana, the Pimp"

"Hold On, Let Me Slow Down for this Corner . . ."

"The World Would Be Better if More People Were Like My Parents"

Each of those, is part of this past weekend. Labor Day weekend. Where a lot of people get a three day weekend. FYI, I wasn't a part of that clique. I didn't really have plans for my weekend, except work Saturday and Sunday nights, and maybe watch the movie that came in from Netflix.

"Don't Make Me Call My Mom!"

On Saturday, Mom called me. We talked about the incident at work on Thursday (the whole donation thing), and somehow in all of that we started joking about who to call to kick some ass if people bothered me. One of them was "Don't make me call my mom", another was "Mom will verbally kick your ass and Dad will physically kick your ass". The joke behind that is I have heard Dad tell people, "Please don't make my wife come down here. She's more mad than I am." That threat usually works. And I've heard Mom say, "You really don't want my husband to deal with this. Trust me." That threat seems to hold, as well. After that, she then asked if I would drive up and visit; even offering to help me out by paying for gas. And I could go with them to Joe's birthday party (long-time family friend). But I couldn't drive up because I had to work Saturday as well as Sunday.

"Playing the Good Daughter Card"

So, Sunday night, it was just me and one other gal, and I kept thinking. Maybe I'll play the "good daughter" and surprise everyone by driving up for Monday. My parents plans had been ruined by my Granny unfortunately getting an infection post-surgery in her knee, and they spent most of Saturday in the ER, only to have her admitted back in the hospital later that evening. This meant that my Dad would have to go live with my Granddad until Granny returned. I know my mom had called on Saturday because she missed me and wanted to visit, and with Granny in the hospital, I knew both of them could use some hugs. I got off work Monday morning, went home and packed a bag, and made sure Miss Harriet had food and water for the night alone. I texted Mom and said I was coming up, and started driving.

I met my parents in the lobby of SRMC, gave and received lots of hugs. They had yet to tell my grandparents that I was coming up. They walked into the room side by side and me behind them. They said, "Surprise!" and I popped up between them. Granny was so thrilled to see me. She had her private room, as is the case any time a patient has any kind of an infection. She even had a recliner to sit in so she didn't have to spend the day in a hospital bed. We all visited for about hour or so, and then my parents had errands to run. We dropped Granddad off at his house for the day, and I went with my parents to grab a bite at In-N-Out. They were super busy, so we went through the Drive-Thru, and parked the truck in the shade of the now abandoned Circuit City. Then if was off to the super exciting store of Lowe's. I know Lowe's is heaven for those who have house or yard projects. I have none of those, and am actually slightly jealous, so Lowe's isn't my idea of a good time. However, my parents weekend got a little wonky, so instead of doing nothing like they had actually planned, they had to play catch-up. After they ordered their pavers for their project, we went back to their house to have a little of relaxing and visiting time in the living room.

"My Nana, the Pimp"

Soon it was time to head back into town to visit with Granny some more and let Granddad buy us some dinner. I said something to Mom about calling Nana to see if she and Sonny were busy on Tuesday so I could swing by and visit before heading back to Sacramento. Unfortunately, Sonny was going to be in surgery to repair the thing that they use for his dialysis. (I have no idea what it's called! Sorry!). So, once got into town and had reception, Mom called Nana to see if she could stop by for a minute. Nana said they were just sitting down to dinner but to still come by. Surprise, Nana! They were thrilled to see me. We only visited for a short while as we still had to get to the hospital. But Nana mentioned (again lol) this guy that works at the dialysis center that she would just love to have as a grandson-in-law. Yes, folks, my Nana wants to set me up on a blind date. We started joking around that Nana was trying to pimp me out. I even told her I'd title my next blog, "My Nana, the Pimp".

"Hold On, Let Me Slow Down for This Corner. . ."

After visiting with Granny during her dinner in the hospital, we (me, my parents, and Granddad) went to Perko's for dinner. Unfortunately, the few handicapped parking spaces were already taken, so my dad had to park farther from the front door than would have been preferred. Now, a smidge of background on this title. While I was visiting with my parents at the house earlier, Dad vented a little about the things that his parents say a zillion times that are no longer super-hilarious. Stories or even one-liners. One of them was "Hold on, let me slow down for this corner." My Granddad has a wooden leg, and now in his late 80's, doesn't walk super-fast. So it's his little joke that if comes around a corner, that he has to slow down so he doesn't tip over. I was holding the door open for Dad and Granddad, Dad letting Granddad lean on his shoulder to help him walk. Coming up on the corner, Granddad says, "Hold on, let me slow down for this corner". My dad shot me a look. I could barely stifle my laughter. Standing in the restaurant behind Dad and Granddad, trying my best not to laugh and my eyes watering because I'm holding in, Mom starts asking if I'm okay. I told her after dinner and we both had a good laugh.

"The World Would Be Better if More People Were Like My Parents"

If anyone were to ask who my hero's would be, two of them would be my parents. If kept going, I would be adding all of my grandparents to this list. I'm not trying to kiss anyone's asses here, it's all the truth. I hardly know more children who do as much for their parents as mine do. With the exception of my best friend. A little background: My dad's parents, Granny and Granddad, worked hard every day of their lives until they retired in the late 1980s. My Granddad used to deliver milk in the small dinky towns of Northern California. In the mid 1940s, he climbed into a truck that had a loaded gun in the cab. Back then the roads were very bumpy . . . do you see where I'm going? In the end, the gun went off and hit Granddad's left arm, rendering it not quite as useful as it once was. Granny had to change the bandages on their honeymoon. In 1949, Granddad crashed a plane he was flying for his pilots license. He broke nearly every bone in his body and was pronounced dead three times. This is proof that the ornery live forever. One leg was amputated at the knee. He has had a wooden leg since then. Doctors told him he'd never walk again. He did. He chased after three kids and delivered milk for 20 years. Fast forward to today, and my parents help them out so much. Mom often spends a portion of her weekend cooking for them so they have food throughout the week. Dad has lunch at their house nearly every day; he helps with their ironing, their grocery shopping, and any other task that needs to be done. If Granny is in the hospital for surgery or anything, Dad lives with Granddad until she's back. When Granny need help after her shoulder/arm surgery a couple years back, Mom went in during the week and helped her shower and dress and whatnot. My parents know my grandparents are grateful for everything they do, and thank my parents often. I, however, don't have one of them say to me, "I don't know what we'd do without them". These are the exact words I heard from Granddad while Dad went to get the car after visiting with Granny at dinner.

While my parents don't have to help my mom's parents anywhere near what they do for my dad's parents, they do still help them out whenever they need help. Mom helped take care of Nana when she had carpal tunnel surgery done on both wrists at the same time. They helped them move last year. Anything Nana and Sonny ask, my parents are happy to help.

To me, that is how life should work. Your parents feed you, clothe you, take care of you, and teach you life lessons. It's only natural that when your parents get older and need help, that you, their child, help them in any way that you can. Too often, children move far away from their parents. In some cases, this is on purpose. In others, it's the job or marriage or some other thing that takes them far away. For the ones that do it on purpose, shame on you. That's no way to repay the kindness your parents bestowed up on you. I know it's hard on my parents, helping take care of their parents. But they still do it. Because they love them.

And love is what should make this world go 'round.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig

Some say you can never go home again. Well, I say they're full of crap.

Last weekend, I drove up to Old Station, CA for the weekend to help my parents with their high school reunion. Actually, it was more a "birthday party" for Burney High School, as it was turning 40 this year, and the reunion included the first 5 classes that graduated. But, I digress. I grew up in this dinky town (seriously, you blink, you miss it) of maybe 300 people (and that's probably including the summer campers). Definitely one of those towns where everyone knows everyone else, and you can't get away with anything. My parents owned a restaurant in Old Station, Brangus Burgers, and there were probably a total of 10 kids that lived there year-round while I lived there. I doubt that's changed much. What's wonderful about small towns is that change takes a lot longer than it does in a city. Cities are constantly tearing down and building up; sirens blaring off and on all day long (and all night); smog blanketing the area; businesses are open 24 hours, and no one cares who you are.

Small towns are special. People are friendly, the air smells of pine trees (and no, it's not because of air fresheners), sirens are rare, there's a chance someone there has never heard the term "smog" (unless their car requires a smog check), and the town shuts down by 9/10pm. And there's history staring at you everywhere you go. Old Station got it's name from being an old military station, the original cabins the army stayed in are still there, now rented out for travelers. The military guarded the road, as Old Station was a pit stop for those traveling by stage coach between Sacramento and Yreka. It sits with Lassen Volcanic National Park in it's back yard. It's direct neighbor is a large lava tube, dubbed The Subway Cave, which was formed by the local lava eruption from nearby vents. Great place to go on a hot day. Not kidding. Hat Creek runs right through it, perfect for fishing. It's where I learned to fish. Not that I still do. I stopped once I was old enough that I required a license. But I do remember putting worms on my own hooks! And the beautiful Burney Falls are not far, either. Rumor has it, Roosevelt called it the unofficial 8th wonder of the world.

Being up there last weekend brought back a lot of memories from a very happy childhood. I hadn't been back up there in probably close to 10 years. I've driven through Burney and Fall River on my way to my grandparents ranch, but hadn't really spent time there. I remembered the 1.5 hour bus ride to and from school (yes, I'm serious), spending hours at my parents restaurant entertaining customers or visiting with family friends . . . or making them my "special" pies (you know, the kind of pies a 3 year old makes), camping under the stars with my parents, learning how to fish, and Halloween parties held at the fire hall (conveniently located right next to our restaurant).

Nature's air fresheners - pine trees.

Our old restaurant, now called JJ's Cafe.

Looking down on Burney Falls. The hike down . . . beautiful. The hike back up . . . pain in the ass. ;o)