Very surreal week

I wrote this back the week before Christmas...and for some reason it never posted...finally, here it is.)

It has been a VERY surreal week here at our house. Very. But also exciting.

Last week, Snickerdoodle came shrieking down the stairs that she had gotten an acceptance email from Elmhurst College outside of Chicago. On Monday, she came shrieking down the stairs and into the kitchen...she had gotten her acceptance letter AND a letter informing her that she had been awarded the President's Scholarship! It will cover roughly half of her tuition/fees for four years! She was so incredibly excited. In her words, the last four years of sitting home on weekends just paid off big time.

Wait, it gets even better/weirder. Last September she was at a concert with a friend and was scouted by an agent for a modeling agency. She took the card, refused to give the woman any of her contact info and sort of blew it off. She almost threw the card away. I started doing research. I contacted an old high school friend who models in the Houston area and asked her about them. We both researched it and seemed legitimate. Snickerdoodle was asked to come to an open call last Saturday, the 12th. Long story short, she made both cuts...to the finals. We watched a presentation & asked a few questions. They took quick pics and we were told that we'd be contacted in the next 7-14 days with their decision.

I received a voicemail on Wednesday afternoon....they want to sign her. Yes, Snickerdoodle is going to sign with a MAJOR modeling agency! How exciting is that? My nerdy pretty girl! He apparently loved her. I talked to her agent (makes me giggle to say that) earlier tonight and got the photographer's information to set up an appointment. They chose 5 girls from Denver (we're north of there & she just happened to be in town for the show). So at some point everyone will meet in Denver for a shoot. She'll own the portfolio from here on out, the agency will get a copy of everything.

The sales guy at the office where I am for now has a college age daughter who also signed with this agency. She's now with a local one out of Denver and is very happy with them. He just couldn't say enough good things about the agency, the owner and just in general, so that was very reassuring. So, we've done all our research and talking. I really liked the owner's down to earth style (apparently one of three heterosexual men in the fashion business...with six kids), makes the calls himself instead of an assistant...really liked him.

In the end, even if nothing comes of this....she's going to have the very best senior pictures ever ;D

The Security Goose or My workweek

I swear, sometimes I wonder what it is about me that has me working for odd people :D My current (temp) boss is a guy I worked for a couple of years ago for 2 months as a temp. He's a jerk. I'm not sure what his personality has been in the past, but he had a stroke in 2000 so I know he gets frustrated with memory loss. As someone who's 'been there, done that', I understand.. And he is in the early stages of Alzheimer's. As long as he is on his meds, he does pretty well. He is also delusional if he thinks that he is going to benefit in any way from Obama and the stimulus. So far he's written a couple of letters, asking him to loosen up the strings on the credit so he can build some houses. Pretty nice community in Greeley, CO, but bad timing. No one is building spec houses, he's got a LOT of debt (roughly half a mil per year in interest payments. Anyway, he need to retire. So far he's not yelled at me, but when he does, I'll walk out. He honestly should sell out and retire, travel and/or fish until he no longer can, then settle home. But I am also sure he is lonely....he tends to alienate people.

Monday was supposedly a holiday. However, I am working temp so I wouldn't get paid. I emailed my boss and reminded him it was a holiday on Monday, but I was going to come in anyway for the phones. Turns out a good thing I did as he forgot it was a holiday and didn't know where everyone was. He was pleased and very nice about it. Brought me a new coffee mug on Tuesday ;D.

Wednesday he pulls into the lot (I try to let everyone know when he is there...only 5 people there anyway, and only 2-3 of us there all the time. Nate groans and looks out the window.

Nate: "He's got a dead goose." 
Me: Really?
Nate: Yeah.
Me: Okay.

Mike walks in the door with a dead goose by the neck, right behind the head. It hangs down beside him. I started laughing.  He asks me if I want it.  Nope, no idea what to do with it. It's still got it's feet and feathers. He walks into Jody's office, putting it down in the doorway.  Talks a few minutes, picks up his goose and goes down the hallway, shedding goose down and feathers. He stops in Nate's office a minute, but there is no chair in there really so he doesn't stay. Comes out and goes on down the hallway to the CFO's office. I glance down the hallway, and he dropped the goose in the doorway & goes to sit in John's office. From the distance, almost looks like a small dog in the doorway. I am still giggling and laughing. I go find the vacuum cleaner and get all the down and feathers up off the floor. I go to the kitchen, grab a trash bag & follow Mike down the hallway.  I opened the bag and told him to put it in there so I don't have to vacuum up more feathers. (Fortunately, there are no fluids dripping from it or I would have raised Cain).

He fools around the office a while, then grabs his trash bag with the goose in it and goes off to his massage therapist. Apparently she doesn't want it either and he eventually ends up giving it to one of the architects that he visits before he goes onto the development in Greeley.

Wednesday afternoon he comes back in, sans goose, and tells me to call the architects (gives me names) and has me invite them to get with a guide and come out to the property goose hunting on Friday. I do so and they arrange to come out and hunt on Friday. We have 42 acres, some wetlands that he wants to develop for a shopping center or something. I get to work this morning & they are out there, setting up the blind, etc. Hear a few shots during the course of the day, then a bunch. I get a phone call at around 11 AM .

Troy: We're getting hungry out here and don't have a phone book.
Me: Okay.
T: Can you call up and order us some pizza and we'll meet the driver and pay for it?
Me: Sure. What do you want?
T: Large pepperoni and large sausage.
Me: Drinks?
T: Yeah, two diet and two regular.
Me: Coke? 'Cause it's all coke to me.
Troy: Yeah, coke's good.
Me: Who do you want?
Troy: Dominos is okay.

The entire conversation, I can hear goose calls in the background.

30 min later or so, the pizza is delivered. One of the guys meets the driver and pays her.  They all gather at the trucks. I go into the kitchen and grab a roll of paper towels & a trash bag and take it out to them. And to grab a piece of pizza. Yes, I was sharing pizza from the same box as 5 men who had been rolling on the ground and shooting geese 30 min before and had NOT WASHED THEIR HANDS.

Afternoon rolls on and they finish up. Mike wants to meet with them the next week to discuss the site and possibly condos at the other development. So I go out to see which day is good for them, and they are working on the geese. One of the guys is plucking one of them...more like running his fingers thru the feathers and they are everywhere in the back of his truck. So just watch a bit, comment some...they discuss what to do...and I watch them tear open the skin and poke around to where they want to cut. Back inside to get the key to the dumpster lock for them...back outside and one has pulled a leg and thigh off (I think) and is brandishing it around. I unlock the dumpster and ask them to lock it back up when they are done. In the back of my mind, I'm thinking...okay, what do I put them in and how do I clean goose feathers? There's probably enough off those three and others for a small pillow.

Back inside. Sheesh. Having 2 sons prepared me well for this job. I leave at 5 and there are goose feathers EVERYWHERE in the lot...sigh. I put up with all this in 3 days...and he's complaining because he's paying the agency too much!

Why do I end up with the weird jobs? Another day I'll tell you about the weirdest job interview ever.

What I've Been Up To

As most of you know, I was laid off my job in June. And there are no jobs out there. Our small city has really laid off administrative staff in all fields, the university has a hiring freeze. Therefore, there are a LOT of applicants for the various positions. So I've been piddling around the house, helping out Cabinet Man, etc.

This is what he's been working on in Denver since June. These are not the portfolio pics, but just ones that I have taken. Over the next little bit I'll also be posting stuff from another job that he did. I mostly tag along to tote and fetch, hold things, vacuum, sand, prime. I have gotten to install hardware, sweep, take pictures, etc. Just be entertaining self for the most part. Unless he's grouchy...in which case I retreat into whichever books I brought along until I am needed.

Without further ado. Here are some pics.Obviously, Cabinet Man did not build the house itself. So this is a shot from the street, late afternoon...standing in the middle of the street while a neighbor waited patiently ;D. Landscaping will be in the spring.

Whole view of the kitchen and island. Eventually there will be a panorama' view of it. See all that hardware? Yep, I put on every single piece.

Other side of the island. I ADORE the sink and have wanted one for years. There should be a pic of one in a file I've had for years. There is a bookcase on the far end.

Double ovens. The cabinet above is for cookie sheets. I am not sure what is in the drawer below.

The lower corner cabinet is a lazy me. I didn't like the one I had years ago, but this one has good hardware so I do like it. Deep drawers under that amazing stovetop. The uppermost one is just a fake drawer front. And the organization of those utensils? Great!

Other cabinets and fridge. There is a door on the other side of the fridge that I believe will be used for mops, brooms, trash, etc. Not sure though.

The kitchen computer station. To left side is the pantry and the right side is storage, the printer and tower, etc.

Details on the island end and the bar.

Molding on all pieces to look like furniture feet. Routed doors and bar to resemble beadboard, but better. Vintage hardware and feel to the whole thing. I do love this kitchen. The owner has mentioned living here a couple of years, then selling and building another one together.

Later this week I'll be showing off the stairs, laundry room (upstairs...brilliant!) and vanities that we (Cabinet Man) did.

Hugs til later,

Susie Q

My (temporary) co-workers

I'm so sorry for the lack of postings...very unexpected blogiday...Cabinet Man has been busy finishing a job and guess who has been getting to 'help' him by doing things like sanding and priming (not nearly as much fun when you don't get to keep any of it). Then more sanding. My nails are shot (and they looked so good this summer in spite of all the painting I did at home).

But the finished job is spectacular and I'll post pictures in the next few days.

On to the 'job'.Wednesday I received a call from an agency I had re-registered with in June when I was laid off. About 15 seconds into her 'spiel', I asked her if "Mac" had chased off another employee, and Tiffany realized that I'd worked for Mac before. Relief in her voice. I said that I would be happy to fill in while they looked for someone permanent, but I would not take a permanent job out with him. I worked for him two years ago for two very long months. He is a jerk. Pure and simple. He SHOULD just retire (he's 69), plenty of money, and just fish or travel. However, he is single. He is a developer who refuses to recognize that the market is down, won't reduce the prices on things to get them sold & pay back the loan, etc. He can be quite crude and vulgar (I ignore it). And, of course, they don't pay as well as they did 2 years ago. They tried to get me to take less but I wouldn't go that low. It is just not worth it. Too much potential aggravation, etc.

So, I have crazy Mac. He had a stroke in 2000 & I see a deterioration in 2 years. Between stroke damage, age, dead brain cells from alcohol...sheesh. His family is suspecting Alzheimer's but it will not be easy to get him to considered testing. But he can be VERY charming and funny.

Next we have the accountant, Mark. He's in his 60s also. Single. Apparently can't find a date so he has recently signed up on several websites for women from the former Eastern bloc. Russia, Romania, Latvia, Bulgaria. Professional women, attractive...what is it with that part of the world where so many of them have such striking cheekbones? They are regular photos, some 'cheesecake' (as in 1950s and 40s styles really), so not too bad. They appear to be very well 'vetted' for lack of a better word.

Then there is the engineer, Jim. Seems to be a nice kid. Probably the most 'unconnected' person of his age I've met. No IPod, very basic phone that he uses as a phone (imagine that!). He's been there 2 years, but I don't know him either.

Jody. NO idea what she does. Supposedly something with minerals, water, something or other. Never see her really doing anything. I was to her office and she's got FB open on her laptop, and playing games or something like that on her computer. But Mac likes her, which is why she still has a job.

Jack is the final one. Sales. 'Nuff said. He's seldom there & while he is supposed to be doing sales, not sure.

Back to Mac. He has a blackberry now. Apparently he doesn't know how to text and no one there will show him. Terrible driver and probably close to losing his license and insurance. Better for all of us if he does ;D He got a new Bluetooth for it the other day and bought one also for Jim. It has an extra set of earphones that plug into the Bluetooth so he can listen to music. Mac honestly thought he was doing a cool thing, but $150 for the pair? So I talked to Jim and he doesn't want to be able to...he listens to his car radio. So does Mac. So I convinced him to take them back and I'll get both of them hands-free devices that are exactly that and no more. Whew.

Monday I have to start researching a trip to Israel for him over Christmas. That should be interesting. Does this guy really need to be traveling around the world. Alone? This will probably continue to get interesting as I really have no idea what I am supposed to do there besides answer the phones, go thru mail, write checks for his personal bills. Oh, and I can watch the news on that fabulous big screen plasma TV in the office that no one else watches. Have to find out how to turn on the closed captioning so I can just read it instead of listen to it. Wonder if there are any good movies on tomorrow? ;D He likes it being turned on.

So boys and girls, that is my fun life for now. Still need to bathe Duncan.

Hugs,

Susie Q

Homemade Laundry Soap

This is a crossover post from one that I did at Facebook. I got a lot of interest in it, so I thought I might do it here too.

I ran across this while browsing the TipNut.com site. http://tipnut.com/Love the site. One of the first books I got after getting married was  Hints from Heloise. Mom used to get Good Housekeeping and I'd pick it up sometimes to read and was captivated by Heloise. So I looked for her every month in the magazine, and when we moved back to the Atlanta area, she was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution every Sunday. So I read that one too and clipped columns...while I was in 8-10th grades. When we moved to the Houston area, my only source was GH. After we got married, I found a book. YAY! I've always loved the tips in them, and have run across some others at times...oddly enough, Erma Bombeck had some good ones (when you have to iron a kid's pants for a school play or performance, find out which leg faces the audience, then iron that one ;D) When I was working in the corporate world, there were other tricks I learned...if I had a sweater or jacket that I wore all day over a dress shirt, cuffs, collar and front placket are all that need to be ironed. Cheap shampoo works great on dirty collars and cuffs. Little things that made life a lot easier.

I've collected a number of home books over the years, from Heloise, http://www.heloise.com/ to Annie Berthold-Bond http://www.anniebbond.com/ to Debra Lynn Dadd http://www.dld123.com/. Bond and Dadd have gone on to internet sites and other books, but I like their originals. Bond has a political agenda I don't care for, but I do still use a couple of her books for reference.

Once we started having kids, yeah, I started treating stains when they happened. As I seldom was washing them at stain time, I'd tie the sleeves or legs of the piece of clothing together and toss it in the dirty clothes. That reminded me to treat the stain again before it got tossed in the wash. I bought nothing but white socks for the boys when they were little. They just had a different colored stripe around the top and I taught them to pin them together to toss into the dirty clothes. Then they were already paired off. Folded their clothes in outfits for the drawers so they had a complete (matching--College Dude was color blind & we didn't know) outfit on. Saved us time and aggravation in the morning.

When we moved into a house in 1990, the boys started developing allergy symptoms, which they had not had before. We did some investigating and found out the house had been flooded a few years before from the creek behind it...the landlord cleaned the carpet and pocketed the insurance money. We had a cleaning business so we did the carpet also and pulled roughly 15 gallons of mud out of the carpet...they'd done a terrible job cleaning. But it was all covered up so well that we didn't know until too late. Absentee landlord, hapless agent and no real recourse at the time. (Then he was mad when we didn't want to buy the house when the lease was up!) That was when I started making my own cleaners. I didn't want to add to the boys' problems with more chemicals, couldn't find the one that I could get at Mom's in Houston and there was a limit to my stocking up when I went to visit so, I bought a few books and a few ingredients and starting making my own. Did it for years. When I went back to work outside the home, the kids started taking on more cleaning and Cabinet Man didn't really want to mess with it so, we started buying it again. Plus, by making my own cleaners, the boys could clean up part of the bathroom and I didn't worry about what they were being exposed to (or if they were wasting it)

Fast forward and I'm home again and I'm starting to get back into the groove of being a SAHM (and I like it) Sunshine is 10 and this is really the first time that I've been able to be home. Back to doing more from scratch and looking up old interests. I keep baking soda and borax around anyway for cleaning, and I already had ivory soap. And I can't find washing soda in the Wal-Mart's...maybe at the farm and ranch place...Also, I have a regular washer/dryer, not front loading (cobalt blue ones are on my Wish List) for someday, so I've not tested the detergents on them. Not even sure where to begin testing that, but as I plan to have a pair someday, I might need to start researching and looking up, especially since there seems to be a problem with mold in many front loading washers...which is odd that the new ones do, when the ones from many years ago don't)

Here's the link to the site: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/

Recipe #8

2 gallons Water (hot)
1 bar Soap (grated)
2 cups Baking soda

    * Melt grated soap in a saucepan with enough hot water to cover. Cook on medium-low heat, stirring frequently until soap is melted.
    * In a large pail, pour 2 gallons hot water. Add melted soap, stir well.
    * Then add the baking soda, stir well again.
    * Use 1/2 cup per full load, 1 cup per very soiled load.

I also used about 20 drops of sweet orange essential oil. Smells nice. I'll use lemon or lavender next time...it's really faint. Maybe I'll use more too. If your soap is "fresh" it will grate into little curls, like chocolate. If it has been out a bit and dried, it is more powdery. Don't use 'beauty bars' like Dover or something like that. The oils/creams they add to it might stain.

I use recipe #8...grated Ivory soap, baking soda and borax. I have to get the melting the grated soap down really well, but even when it is 'flakey', it works well. I've gotten comments from the kids on the scent (who doesn't like Ivory?), and it seems like the clothes are softer. I don't use fabric softener or dryer sheets (did you know that it leaves a residue on the inside of your dryer--you can get it off with cloth soaked in vinegar), but even the towels seem softer. I have used vinegar on occasion as fabric softener and no, it doesn't smell like vinegar after they dry. I use powder detergent in the summer and liquid in the fall/winter/spring. I use cold water for everything but towels and the water is too cold up here most of the year to dissolve powder. Learned that one the hard way.

I've also used the powdered detergent for the dishwasher. I didn't always keep good track of stuff while I had an outside job, so I would run out when doing laundry late at night or when I just didn't feel like going out in the snow.

http://tipnut.com/homemade-dishwasher-detergent-recipes/

We've got reasonably soft water here, so I have not had the problems that other posters on the site might have. Your Mileage May Vary according to your part of the country, water hardness or softness or minerals, etc.

Maybe sometime I'll give my experiences with making my own mixed for Bisquick, brownies, spices, etc....

And a new pic of Duncan, aka, the Duncanator, Duncster, Duncmeister....he's put on a little weight and the dreadful haircut has grown out a bit.

And did you know that Laura over at Decor To Adore is having a lovely Halloween giveaway? YES! Go, now! http://decortoadore.blogspot.com/2009/10/spooktacular-adornments-giveaway.html

Balloon Boy - Yep, that is my town (update)

After that title, I feel like I should insert the lyrics to Montgomery Gentry's song, 'This is My Town'...but I can't find anything that rhymes with 'flying saucer shaped weather balloon'. (sigh) Why I am not a songwriter.

I'm sure most of you have seen this as it was plastered all over the world news. I got a Facebook comment from a friend in the UK about it...

And now all the word is about a 'hoax' by a family desperate to remain in the media spotlight. They've appeared on 'Wife Swap' twice (I think twice). Oddly enough, I think it replayed sometime recently as I was channel surfing and vaguely remember seeing a comment about 'storm chasers', but I had no idea they were from here. And all the furor about their YouTube videos, Falcon's comment about it 'being for the show', etc.

Let's look at a few things. Yes, the family is unconventional. Yes, they have been in the media. Yes, they do things a bit differently. What's the problem? My gut instinct is that it is NOT a hoax. For starters, as a former 6 year old and having raised 4 of them...I have a really hard time believing that a kid that age is going to stay hidden for 4-5 hours upon the instructions of a parent. Maybe would have happened in Victorian times (maybe) but I don't see that happening these days (short of a severely abused child doing so out of fear and there is NO indication of that in this case). He stated that he came down because he got bored. That comment absolutely screams SIX YEAR OLD BOY! However, I can see a kid hiding out for fear of punishment or reprimand...especially if he thought (right or wrong) that he'd let the family weather balloon go! It was a family project, so there was some time and money tied up in it and he was aware of that. Shoot, I'd hide out for getting into my dad's tools and there was not that kind of time/money involved.

And the comments about the kids sleeping in their clothes at times so they could be gotten up in a hurry to chase a storm. I had friends in Austin that were storm chasers (not sure if they were certified, I didn't realize you could be). But it also made sense to me. They also had 3 kids and they'd rouse the kids, put them in the car and the kids would go back to sleep--I recall they were around the same ages as the Heene kids. First though took me aback, but I could see it. Besides, where are you going to find a sitter at 2AM? Although I did tell her that if she suspected chasing it would take them hours and hours, to call me and drop them at my house.

But I think the media and others are looking to demonize this family because they do not fit the 'mold', and they are trying to find a way to make the Heenes 'pay' for the fear and attention that was trumped up. This story was shown around the world (thank you 24 hour news cycle).

Bottom line, I don't think it was a hoax and I am quite sorry for the family. Good luck to them with the attacks from the media. And I like the press conference that Sheriff Aldersen held yesterday in which he really defended the family and told everyone that he was NOT jumping to any conclusions and they would investigate. Which I am sure they would have done anyway. Our sheriff has made some controversial statements himself, but I do think he's a good guy and a good sheriff.

So, that is my two cents folks. For what it's worth these days ;D (I was wrong!!!!!)
Have a great weekend and I am heading back to bed. The family has pretty much gone down like dominoes this week with a respiratory thing (not the flu), and I am worn out from pandering, err, taking care of them.

Hopefully I will be back next week with a couple of Duncan stories and pictures. It's also nice to know that all the odd, unconventional families are not limited to Texas (which is what I was beginning to think!)

My Very Best Free Recycling Find Ever!

As many of you know, our local landfill has a free chemical recycling program. This is my absolutely, positively VERY best find there....EVER.

Two new puppies. 'Nuff said. Until Rhoda resumes Monday Thrifty Treasures in the spring.

http://southernhospitalityblog.com/pretty-practical-and-pure-pleasure-all-for-11-35/