Monday Afternoon Musings - January 18, 2016

Holy Toledo it's cold outside.

Yes, I really DO understand that I live in Ohio but damn. This is cold. I'm currently sitting at my desk wearing two shirts AND a sweater (and pants, duh) AND I'm drinking hot coffee. And I'm still cold.

Which brings me to today's random thoughts:

1. I. Hate. Winter. That's not really an earth-shattering announcement. I told my husband over the weekend that we should move to Florida. Or North Carolina. And was totally NOT kidding.

2. I didn't make New Year's resolutions. I figure it is still January (seriously the LONGEST MONTH OF THE YEAR) so I can still talk about resolutions. Or the lack thereof. What I did decide as the clock struck midnight (OK, it was actually a few days before and I was sound asleep at midnight at New Year's Eve) was this: I don't really care. Now that might sound all Negative Nancy but let me explain. I don't care about certain things anymore. I don't care about the newest fad diet that you're trying. I don't care about your drama. - real or imagined. I don't care about things that (1) I can't (or don't want to) control, (2) have no impact on my life, or (3) just don't interest me at all. I have enough really good stuff going on in my life (and enough crappy stuff too) where I don't need to worry/care/stress/fret about things that don't concern me, don't impact me, don't matter to me. Not my circus. Not my monkeys.

3. I love my job. That's all.

4. I love knowing that there are people friends out there who will call and check on you even though they are dealing with their own epic crap. More #Vaguebooking but we're dealing with a health issue with Olivia that I'm not posting about on Facebook (shocking, I know) and I've only told a few people about. One of those friends called me last week because she said she had been thinking about us all week and wanted to see how things were going. We had a wonderful 45-minute long phone call and when it was finished I couldn't stop thinking about how really awesome it is to have NICE people in your life.

5. Stop being jerks to people. Seriously you guys, it isn't funny. It isn't funny when your kids are assholes to other kids. It isn't funny when you're an asshole to other parents. It's crappy and immature and if your life is that freaking miserable that you have to channel all your anger and frustration (and jealousy) onto other parents and their kids, perhaps it is time to reevaluate what is making you so unhappy and change it. You get one freaking go-around on this crazy ride called life so why not make the most of it and actually BE F*CKING HAPPY instead of working really f*cking hard on being miserable and negative all the time.

[I told you that language was possible on this blog. It's totally a PG-13 to R rating. No apologies.]

Oh yeah that "try one new recipe a week" thing? I made two last week. Damn I'm good. The Crockpot Chicken Enchilada Soup was a hit (Olivia ate THREE BOWLS at dinner). The Farfalle with Mushrooms and Spinach was good but it really needed a Parmesan cream sauce so I'll have to rework it. This week I'm going to (finally) make Paula Deen's potato soup recipe that everyone raves about. I hate potato soup so this ought to be interesting.

Happy Monday all.
Stay warm.
Be happy.

Germs and Good Intentions

So here we are seven days into 2014 and I haven't blogged since Christmas Day.

I had every intention to write a "2013 recap" but clearly that never happened. No real good excuse, unless you count the plague that I'm dealing with right now that includes swollen tonsils, white spots, exhaustion, sore throat, and antibiotics.

Yeah. I think being sick (and trapped INSIDE THE HOUSE for days thanks to -45 wind chills) is a darn good excuse for not blogging.

Plus, honestly...I didn't really feel much like blogging.

However, since I'm still sick, still stuck inside, and should blog about something as we head into the New Year, here's a mini recap of last year. It should be noted that I averaged about 5 blog posts each month in 2013 which is horrible. Someone should take my blogger card away from me.

I suppose my New Year's resolution should be to blog more (because honestly the whole "lose weight" thing isn't going to happen).

So without further ado, my short and sweet 2013 recap.

January was a good month...we took a family cruise to the Western Caribbean and celebrated Olivia's 9th birthday and Emma's 6th birthday. And, I was able to unplug from the Internet for a whole week. Well, except for those days when I purchase onboard Internet access on the ship so I could tweet and post to Facebook. You can't expect me to quit cold turkey.

February. I turned 40. It wasn't so bad. Then the month went downhill.

March brought some weird results with Olivia's food allergies - and retesting resulted. She still has food allergies in case you're wondering. And it was still cold. Which shouldn't come as a shock since I do live in Ohio. Oh, I also went to Florida for a couple of days and I started a new job.

April was rather uneventful. I was writing a lot for the new job (and loving it!) so I didn't blog much. Although I did manage a post in the middle of the month where I rambled on about my new hair color and zombies.

In May I permanently unfriended, deleted, and blocked a few former relatives. And that's all I'm going to say about that. I think it finally warmed up in May too.

June brought about the end of the school year for Olivia and Emma, and we took a day trip to Put-in-Bay. What I wouldn't give for a hot summer day right about now.

As the summer continued, I managed to eek out a whopping FOUR blog posts in July. Slacker much? To recap July - it was hot and that's about it.

In August the girls went back to school (!!) and we had a mouse in the house. Those two things are not related in any way.

September was this blog's 8th birthday and of course, I blogged about it. A few days late. I also blogged about why "working from home" is a good thing (despite what some naysayers might think). And then I went on a little rant about spelling and grammar.

October started out on a weird note, as I thought someone had stolen my identity. Turns out they didn't. But then someone did steal a credit card number in a totally unrelated case. Too weird. And then Kevin and I celebrated 11 years of wedded bliss.

In November I had the chance to work as the official "mom shopper correspondent" for the new Gabe's store that opened here in T-town. It was a totally cool experience for me and my little ol' blog. Oh and I also managed to fail Elf of the Shelf as soon as he "returned" to our house.

And just like that we've made it to December. (I told you I didn't blog much last year). But boy oh boy was the last month of the year a doozy. I blogged about The Grinch at The Nutcracker and had my parenting skills called into question by complete strangers (keeping it classy people). Following that post I had to explain the fine art of sarcasm, and I contemplated why I was still participating on Facebook.

And now it's 2014 and so far the New Year has been OK as long as I look past the 30 inches of snow we've had since January 1 and the freezing cold Polar Vortex that is causing the wind chills to go to -45 degree, and the fact that I've been sick for a week. [Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?]

However, this is a new year and I am really going to resolve to blog more. That's probably the only resolution I can manage to keep. Happy New Year!

Wordless Wednesday - Dreaming of a road trip

Oh what fun a road trip would be....

Baby it's HOT outside...and fans don't work

Yesterday the temperature here in good ol' northwest Ohio was "warmer" (read: WAY FREAKING HOTTER) than the temperature in Orlando, Florida. I know this because I have my "second home" (Orlando) saved as a favorite city on my Weather Channel app.

Yesterday it felt like it was at 100 degrees here with a billion percent humidity.
Orlando topped out around 90 degrees...with some humidity.

And...my office still has no air conditioning.
And by "no" I mean NONE.
As in both floors are out.
We used to have a/c on the first floor.
Now that appears to have died too.
We have resorted to using as many fans as possible in every office, corner and hallway.
It isn't working.

At about 8:35 yesterday the "boss" went around telling everyone on the 2nd floor to move down to the first floor conference room to work. (At that point it WAS cooler on the first floor...I am assuming the a/c was still working then.)

So picture this --- about 10 women all scattered around a conference room, trying to work. All women. All sitting next to each other at tables. A whole lot of talking going on. Not a whole lot of work. We rehashed "The Bachelorette" and what a total sleaze Bentley is. We talked about how FREAKING miserable we were and how STUPID it is that "the boss" refuses to let us wear flip flops to work when the "real feel" temp on the second floor is about 115 degrees.

Oh yeah...I forgot to mention ... we still have to FOLLOW THE DRESS CODE despite the fact that we have no a/c and will have no a/c until probably mid-July. So, we can't wear flip flops. But (and this makes so much sense....not) we can wear sandals. What? Huh? (This is how it was explained to us - "you can wear sandals that have a strap in the back around the ankle, but not flip flops because they don't have a strap." Yeah...this is the logic model I work for.)

Being the rebel that I am, I plan on wearing flip flops to work today.
Go ahead. Fire me.
I double dog dare you.

Today the actual temperature is forecast to be about 98 degrees with a heat index of 100 to 105. Which means the second floor of the office will be at least 120 degrees. At 10 a.m.

Yesterday I left the office at about 1 p.m. to work from the comfort of my air conditioned home. I have a feeling I'll be doing the same today. And tomorrow.

Because...when it's 1,000 degrees in your office, fans just don't cut it.