Random thoughts of an upbeat mind

Archive for the ‘General’ Category

OTMTW – 5/19/13

How is it Tuesday already?

The menu this week will look like this:

Sunday – If I say I can’t remember what we ate would that be bad?
Monday – Hamburgers
Tuesday – spaghetti and meatballs
Wednesday – breakfast for dinner
Thursday – leftovers
Friday – frozen pizza
Saturday – South Street (have to get this done, the groupon expires next week)

***

Since I knew I had an extra day off I did not do many of my regular weekend chores and now I don’t feel like doing anything. :(

This morning I threw out 6 homemade buns as I left them on the kitchen table instead of putting them in the fridge. :(  Message received.  I am not a fan of food waste and need to get a better handle on it.

***

On a happier note, I found magic in the form of a jar.  On Saturday I was wondering around the natural food store when a lady asked me if I knew what was good to use to get rid of acne scars.  She was looking for 100% shea butter but couldn’t find it.  I had no idea but I went over to the section where she was and I did find a couple of other options.  Which got me thinking.  I have had a recent bout of acne that I can’t stop picking.  I picked up a small jar with the hopes of preventing scarring.

All I can say is HOLY MOLY BATMAN!!

Friday night I went to bed really late and woke up looking like a possible candidate to play an old hag without any additional makeup.  I looked tired and ancient.  Something like this.

Hag (Source)

It was not pretty.

Saturday night I went bed really late again because I don’t learn.  This time before going to bed I covered my face in the shea butter.  When I got up in the morning I was pleasantly surprised.  The old hag did not make an appearance. :) I am converted.

5 things

I kept meaning to come on here and write a post but with the great weather, it was not happening.

Let’s see what is new or exciting.

  1. It’s a long weekend here in Canada.  We are celebrating Queen Victoria’s birthday.  So Monday is a holiday.  WHOO HOO!!!!
  2. On Friday my boss informed the managing owner that a couple of people were taking Tuesday off.  I jumped in and added so we are closing the office.  He did not react.  In fact he said he knows nothing we should do what we think is best.  I voted for taking Tuesday off.  Wouldn’t you know I have a telephone meeting at 2 pm but I can call in from home.
  3. Yesterday I went to Winners and bought myself a new maxi dress and sheets for my new mattress.  The new sheets fit!! :)  I love dresses.  One garment, a complete outfit!!  What’s not to love?
  4. I also went to see my cousin’s new little boy.  OMG is he ever cute and a good baby.  He did nothing but sleep and eat and … while we were there.  Minimal crying.  This prompted Diva to ask for a baby sibling.  BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
  5. I am going to see Iron Man 3 tomorrow with a gift card.  Free movies, sign me up.

Now you are all caught up.

Work Frustrations

I don’t really talk about work at all.  Not here or IRL.  There is very little to say most of the time.  I got to work. I come home.  Real simple.  Whatever happens at work, usually stays at work.

Recently we have been experiencing some technical difficulties.  A program that runs all our jobs has decided to quit.  Because we are 3 versions behind the current version, there is no support available.  Our options are buy the upgrade, used a different program or run it manually.

Right now it is being manually run by yours truly.

I have no issue running the jobs as I can do it from home.

My issue is with the member of my staff whose position is dependent on the running of the jobs.

She usually starts at 6 something.  This is a decision that she made.  She can actually start work at 7:30 and still get some work available for those employees that come in at 8:30.

The problem with the scheduler started on Friday.  When we finally decided to just run the jobs manually it was after 9 am.  The first job finished at 9:45.  She started to do her work then and still managed to get it all done and left the office by 1:45 pm.

So I asked her to come in at 8 am Monday morning.  She came in at 6:45 and then texted me to start the jobs.

This happened again yesterday.  So when I came into work I asked her to stop contacting me before 8 am.

This morning she texted me every 10 minutes starting at 6:50 to run the job.

We had a meeting today to say officially we are changing the start times of everyone in here.  She asked why could I not get up at 7 and press the button.  Or rather still why could we not teach her how to  press the button.

She actually said “I am not happy about this”.  Fair enough.

The owner of the company is not comfortable teaching her to “press a button”.

I’m not sure what exactly is her problem other than it’s a change and she does not handle change well.

My boss brought up the fact that she was now asking me to start work 2 hours earlier and I am inconvenienced by this so she is not the only one who is being affected.

There was no recognition of this fact.  It really seemed like it didn’t matter to her at all.

Did I mention that she reports to me??? ARGHHH!!!

So is it me?  Am I being an unnecessary pain or is she just a bit unreasonable?

The list updated

I meant to come back last night to let you know how I did with my shorter Sunday list, but by the time I go home I was beat.

  1. Make meatballs
  2. Season chicken
  3. Bake bread
  4. Clean the bathrooms
  5. Laundry
  6. Exercise

4 out of 6 is not bad.

Princess made cookie strips yesterday.  It was only when she was adding in the eggs did I realize that I made meatballs without eggs. :(  I didn’t notice any difference with the taste and they held together just fine without them.  We’ll see how they are once I cook them in sauce.

I arrived at my Dad’s late (as usual).  My step-Mom opened to the door to ask me what am I doing there.  My Dad forgot to let her know that I was coming.  My parents are not  the kind of people you show up unannounced to.  Even with my surprise visit, it was still a good visit. :)

***

Tonight I cooked the pork that’s been marinating in my fridge. I made a nice stew that we ate with rice.  It was delicious.  There are lots of leftovers. :)

The list continues

I am aiming to leave to go to my Dad’s at 4 pm.

Before I go there are a few things I’d like to do.

  1. Make meatballs
  2. Season chicken
  3. Bake bread
  4. Clean the bathrooms
  5. Laundry
  6. Exercise

Right now, I am feeling a little tired, so I am going to sit on the couch and watch a little TV before I start.  Hush, don’t judge me.

My girls are still in their rooms.  No breakfast in bed for me. :(

To all the Moms out there, I hope you have a great day.

So tired

Yesterday after work I went to the grocery store and picked up more than I had intended.  I then went to dinner and it was disappointing.  The food used to be good.  Now it’s just watered down and bland.

I managed to go into a bakery near the restaurant and bought some goodies.  I used tonight’s dinner as justification.  It was dessert. ;)

After dinner I went to Costco to pick up a slab of salmon to bake for dinner tonight.  I was originally going to make stew pork but I invited my Aunt and she is not a fan.  While at Costco … I picked up some snacks for my girls.

This morning I got up around 6:30 am.  Much too early for a Saturday.  I went to drop Diva at her friend’s house for 7.

I came back home with the intention of getting the meat I bought on Friday seasoned and put in the freezer BUT tiredness overcame me and I went to lay down.

BIG mistake.

I did go back to sleep but I woke up more tired than I started.

I did the 30 day shred which hurt as I did it less than 12 hours before.

**Let me back track for a quick second.  Last night after I got home from Costco at 8:30 pm I had to give my girls the ugly face as I left them with a couple of chores to do and they did not do them.  So we put away the groceries from Costco and then cleaned up the house.  It was almost 10 by the time we were finished.  I was spent.  Then I remembered that I had not worked out.  My kids were “encouraging” me to go get it done.  One of my cousins popped up on Skype and told me not to overextend myself.  By the time I psyched myself up to workout it was 10:30 pm :(  But I got it done.**

Now where was I?  Oh yes 30 day shred twice in less than 12 hours.  MADNESS!!!

I went to meet my girl for brunch at 11.  We had a nice time catching up and vowed to get back to our once a month date.

After brunch I stopped by the eyebrow place and there was NO ONE waiting in line.  Rare for a Saturday.  I was in and out in under 10 minutes. :)

Then I was off to pick up Diva from her friend’s house, then pick up my friend to bring her to my place.  On the way home I stopped at the liquor store to purchase a bottle of wine for my step-Mom.

It took us 3+ hours to clean out most of my cupboards.  My friend suggested that I group things in my cupboards by like items.  So all the canned goods go in one spot.  The spaghetti sauce in another, etc, etc.

I got rid of a lot of expired food and also food we were not going to eat.

Of course it is only when I sat down to write this post does it occur to me that I should have taken before pictures … or even after pics. O_o

After cleaning, I seasoned the salmon and then went out with my friend to pick up my Aunt.  My girl wanted to stop at a particular Walmart that was a bit out of the way.  Had it not been after 6:30 and I was only running on food from brunch it might have happened.  But hunger won and we just picked up my Aunt.  I told my friend we could go when I was dropping my Aunt home since that Walmart is open until 11 pm.

I had Princess make rice and put the salmon in the oven while I was out.  By the time we returned the rice was supposed to be ready but it was still wet so that gave me time to steam the carrots.

We ate dinner, had bakery goodies for dessert. :)

Then after 8 pm my girl reminded me of our trip to Walmart.  I said we still had time.  She stated she wanted to walk around. :(  I swear she was just going to get 3 or 4 things.

My Aunt said she wanted to make the trip as she needed a battery.

So after 9 off we went to Walmart.  We spent over 1 hour wandering around while my girl went up and down most aisles.

I did not return home until after 11 pm.

I am beat.

I still have meat in my fridge that I need to season before putting in the freezer. :(  I plan to get this done tomorrow before I go to my Dad’s.

If time permits, I would like to take my girls to see Iron Man 3.  I have movie passes. :)

Shhhh, don’t tell Princess, just in case there isn’t time.

Too much to do

This weekend is shaping up to be a busy one.

Tonight, I am going to get my groceries and do some of my cleaning and maybe get a little laundry done.  The laundry was originally on the yes it will be done list but I got a last-minute invite to dinner so laundry will go on the maybe tonight list.

Tomorrow, I am dropping Diva off at her friend’s house at 7 am.  Somebody help me understand why I agreed to this.  Then I have a brunch date scheduled with one of my girlfriends on the opposite side of town.  Diva needs to be picked up between 1 and 1:30 pm.  Then on my way home I am going to pick up another friend who is going to help me organize my kitchen.

Some how I decided it was better to make my Mom dinner on Saturday night than to make her breakfast on Sunday morning. O_o  So that too will be going on.  My Aunt is also joining us.  And maybe my girlfriend will stay.

I’m tired already.

Sunday I plan to sleep in then go visit my Dad for dinner.  He asked that I not bring his wife anything.  So I will just stop at the liquor store. ;)  My step-Mom LOVES her wine. :)

OTMTW -5/5/13

I know I should have been back earlier to post this but I was not feeling inspired.  The fridge is full of stuff but nothing meal worthy.  My freezer … needs to be cleaned out.  There are some items suffering from freezer burn. :(

Sunday – Chipotle
Monday – veggie scrambled eggs and toast
Tuesday – grilled cheese sandwiches
Wednesday – cheese tortellini and sauce
Thursday – chicken strips and fries
Friday – frozen pizza
Saturday – going to visit family :)

I really need to go grocery shopping.  The only meat I have in my freezer is ribs.  And that is never a quick dinner option.  I will look through the flyers and make a plan based on what is on sale.  My week-end is shaping up to be busy so groceries will be bought on Friday.

Maybe it’s just me but I am finding that with really good grocery sales, some items are out of stock very quickly.  I mean the first day of the sale on some deals. :(   Have you noticed that?

Weekend recap 5/6/13

Since I heard the weekend was going to be fabulous, I got the important chores out-of-the-way on Friday.  Smart huh?  Sometimes I am more than just a pretty face. ;)  I was not a happy camper to come home to clean and do laundry and some baking but thinking about it now I’m glad I did.  There is still laundry to be done and some bread to bake but other than that the list of things that have to be done is empty. :)

I spent this week-end helping a friend clean out his garage.  It was more of a supervisory job. :) As I think he wanted company not actual assistance.  I am very good at providing company!! LOL

Since yesterday was Cinco de Mayo I took my girls to Chipotle.  Diva was happy with her burrito bowl and half of mine!! LOL  Princess not so much.  Her tacos were soggy so she refused to eat them.  When I asked one of their employees about it he offered to replace the tacos.  My girl was not interested.  So he gave us a gift certificate for a free bowl, burrito or tacos.  This will be used on some future date.

After dinner we went for a walk up Yonge Street.  I was looking for ice cream.  I did not find any. :(

I still need to figure out what to cook this week.  I will look in the cupboards later and hopefully come up with something great.  I’ll let you know in a bit.

Asleep on the job

Some days I am not sure where my head is.

So earlier this week I finally check my mail box and there waiting for me was my renewal for my car insurance.

I looked over it and noticed a 3% monthly service fee was added.

Say what?

So I called and it turns out that it is a new fee.  So I asked to go to yearly if that would save me money.  In the past I wanted to pay yearly but was told they could only do monthly payments.

Then I looked at the cost for my insurance and thought let me see if I can get a lower price.

Turns out I can. :)

The cheapest quote for car and condo insurance is almost $400 cheaper per year than what I am paying now.  So even with the $50 cancellation fee on my condo insurance I still come out ahead.

So what have I learned folks?

It pays to shop around.  I will be putting a reminder in my calendar to check out insurance options next year.

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 113 other followers