One Day At A Time....

So Christmas 2009 has come and gone. While I wish it had lasted a bit longer (or I wish I had been in the mood a little bit sooner) I had an enjoyable holiday. Usualy on Christmas Eve, we gather as a family and have traditional Perry/Hall family Christmas Dinner consisting of Hooser Chili from the Perry side of the family (for those of you not familiar with Indiana, Hooser Chili is chili with spagetti added to it) and from the Hall side of the family we have Homemade Clam Chowder. We read the begining verses of Luke 2. Then we each get to open one gift Christmas Eve. When we were younger, that is about when we had to go to bed so Santa would come. This year was a bit different. We ate dinner in shifts and left (Jennie, my mom and dad ate before Michelle and I got there because we took a bit longer than expected getting cookies done.) Christina had to work Christmas Eve and wasnt suposed to get off till like 11:30 PM. So my mom had the grand idea to visit Christina at work, and play gam...

Talk about a weird weekend,  Here's what all my weekend entailed: Friday - My mom found out that she got the job she had interviewed for. She wanted to celebrate, but my dad had a work meeting he couldn't get out of. so she took Jennifer, Christina, Kim, Michelle and I out to dinner at Olive Garden. (Yummy!)   Saturday- I love coupons for craft stores. I got some emailed to me and used them at Michael's on Saturday morning. I had also gotten an email from Fallen Timbers Mall about a free $10 Gift Card offer where all you had to do was print out the email and come collect your card between 11am and 6pm. (Free Money? works for me!) So we (Michelle, Kim and I) stood in line there for like a half hour to each get our gift cards. Then we drove to near Levis Commons where Kim and I walked around the stores for a while. Michelle picked us up and she went home to rest and recoup from being sick. Kim and I ended up going shopping some more. (ha...

So I am going to a talent show on Saturday and (unless I chicken out) I will be singing. I have a song picked out, but I remembered another song I like more. I have the CD titled Connie Lou's Christmas and one of the tracks on there is called "What I Need". I want to sing this song for the talent show, but I don't have an audio only version of the song. The song on the CD has someone singing it. (good vocalist, btw). Any idea where I can either find some piano music for it or an Audio only version of the song?!?!?

So I lost my wallet…. Big deal…. I misplace stuff all the time…. Usually my phone, the phone charger, the remote control, car keys. But usually I find them after a bit of looking (and cleaning/reorganizing). Not so this time. I used my wallet when I bought dinner at Tim Horton’s after going to institute in Bowling Green on Thursday. Then Michelle and I went to Wal-mart to get some snacks for a movie night going on the next day. The next day (Friday) I was going to go get something to eat for lunch, but my wallet was not in my purse…. or my car…. No biggie, I had stuff in my office fridge I really should have eaten anyway. Friday night, I clogged a toilet and needed to get a plunger. Because I still didn't know where my wallet was, I ended up going to Giant Eagle and they had one plunger left (thank goodness). Because I had my shopper loyalty card, they already had my drivers license number programmed in their computer system, so I did...

you know it is going to be an interesting day when..... I get a call from some guy a few days ago :   caller: hey, can I get  {boss's name}'s  cell phone number me: may I ask who this is? caller: Eric (not sure if that was what he said, but it works for the reenactment) me: May I ask where you are calling from caller: (something about an electric/ electrician company) me: I'm sorry, I cant give out his cell phone number. just a moment. *put call on hold* I ask Elizabeth if she know if  {bosses name}  knows a guy named Eric from an electrician company who would be asking for his cell phone. she told me to transfer the call to his cell phone, but don't give out the number. *transfer call to cell phone* a few minutes later.... caller: yes, I got his voice mail, if I could get his cell phone number so I can send him a text. me: I'm sorry, I cant give out his cell phone number without a message from him. caller: but if  I...

S o I started this list the week I turned 25, but it is still a work in progress.... nevertheless, enjoy! I enjoy photography....let me rephrase that.... I like taking pictures. I like playing with fire, building fire, cooking on fire.... I am annoyed by persistent stupidity. I am impressed I used such big words on #3. I love papercrafting! I enjoy camping! I HATE CRAPPY TOILET PAPER! (pun realized) Yes, we all know the kind. It's the less than one ply used almost everywhere that takes 5 minutes and half the roll to get enough off to take care of business. I love the smell of rain and the sound of it hitting a roof.

    So I have 10.5 weeks left till one of the lady's in my office goes on maternity leave. We will be having bi-weekly meetings to make sure that we are prepared for her departure and extended absence. She is due December 7, but depending on lots of different factors (if she goes early or goes on time or late, weather or not she has a C-section, etc) she could be gone anywhere from the week of Thanksgiving to the middle or end of January. So I am in the process of being trained on some of the things she does. A lot of it I already know how to do, but some of it is stuff I haven't needed to know because she has been here (payroll, hiring process for the shop, etc.)     The next several months will be very busy for me at work.... but I know I can do it     *added bonus info: I was talking with my boss a few weeks ago about when I needed to use my last vacation day before I lost it. she informed me that I had t...

Cute, isnt it? (the "vase" is made of "bandaids")

So I passed by 10 or more different fast food places on my way to lunch today. I ended up going to a local fast food establishment for lunch. (to remain nameless.....) and waited a really long time in the drive thru and ended up with not quite the quality of meal i was expecting. after throwing away just under half the burger, drinking the melted (or never fully frozen) milkshake and eating the best part of the meal, the cole slaw, i went back to my office to cook up one of my office drawer lunches. I have made these before and other than burning my lip on one last week i hadn't had any problems with them. I added water, stirred, cooked, stirred again and let it set in my office drawer to cool while i did a some office like stuff. when i went to eat it, i pulled out the fork that had been resting in the cooling food and was pleasantly surprised to find this.... So my word of caution to all: CAUTION: AFTER COOKING, PRODUCT MAY BE HOT ENOUGH TO MELT YOUR PLASTIC CUTLERY!!!!!

Her treatment went well. She is at home now and will be able to restart her thyroid replacement medication Sunday and return to work on Monday.

So for those of you who didnt know, my mom was diagnosed with an enlarged thyroid in November at her annual check up. She has a family history of thyroid issues (at the time of her diagnosis, her mother Laurel, her niece Alyssa, he sister Carolyn and her sister-in-law Lisha have all had thyroid issues) So with testing and a family history of thyroid issues, they decided to remove her thyroid. This was done January 2, 2009. While they were in surgery to remove it, they did a biopsy of nodules in the thyroid and the results were cancer. They are pritty sure they got it all, but to be sure, she will be getting at least one round of radioactive Iodine treatment. She has been on thyroid medication for the past several months and after a bit of trial and error, got a good dosage level. Recently she had to change to a day-to-day medication so that when it came time for treatment, she would be totally off of all thyroid medication. S he had her blood taken y...

So Jan is my boss and today is her birthday. So here is the card I made her. It was funny. she was telling me if you sign up for different email groups (arby's, lone star, ect) they send you som e thing for your birthday. (I already knew that part.) Jan was joking around in E lizabeth's office that she was going to go back to her office and see if McDonalds had sent her anything. unknowing to her i had slipped her card in her office while she was in Elizabeth's office. so she gets to her office and "McDonalds" had sent her something..... via me. S he loved it. McDonalds is the only fast food drive-thru resturant in Waterville where you dont have to get out of your car to get the food. So it is a very popular place to get lunch... or breakfast....or dinner....

So, I was in the filing room at work earlier today..... and while I am in the filing room I enjoy having some music to listen to. Filing stuff can talk about an hour a day, depending on how many files the guys in my office took out the day before. Music helps me to focus on filing and makes the time go by faster. so I had my ipod running thru a nearby FM radio.  "The Electric Slide" came on and I started to dance to it as I was filing stuff..... then the VP of the company I work for came in as I was dancing....     

Although i do not agree with most of what he has to say, i think this is a funny email! I love this Doctor Q: Doctor, I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true? A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it... don't waste them on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap. Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables ? A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable ). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable products. Q: Should I reduce my alcohol intake...

Materialism is just one more manifestation of the idolatry and pride that characterize Babylon . Perhaps we can learn to be content with what is sufficient for our needs." D. Todd Christofferson, "Come to Zion," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 39

I ran across this quote quite a while ago, but decided to put it on my blog today. In Elder Neal A. Maxwell's words, 'The laughter of the world is merely loneliness pathetically trying to reassure itself' ("Cleanse Us from All Unrighteousness," Ensign, Feb. 1986, 19)

Friday – Went with my friend Kim to the batting cages to hit a few dozen softballs around, went shopping at JoAnn Fabrics, dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings (Kim really wanted to watch the Red Wing’s hockey game, but we thought it wasn’t showing on her TV.) Saturday – Random trip to the Shoppes at Fallen Timbers, made shish-kabobs for dinner before going bowling in Bowling Green , went to JoAnn’s again to buy fleece, went home and made fleece pillows while watching The Deadlest Catch. Sunday – Went to Sacrament Meeting with my family ward (our branch meetings were canceled that day because of the abundance of attendees from our unit going to Zion ’s Camp.) had dinner at my parents house before going back to Kim’s to camp out in the back yard. Monday – Breakfast at Arby’s, shopping for plants and junk food, took a rest (didn't fall asleep so I cant call it a nap.) took down the tent in kim’s backyard, packed up ...

So have you ever put on a jacket, pair of pants or pulled out a purse you haven't used in a while only to be pleasantly surprised to find a few bucks stashed away in the pocket? I have done this quite a bit as I am sure you have as well..... So try this one. Have you ever checked the balance in your bank account only to be confusingly surprised at the balance? This is what happened to me. I checked my bank account this morning to see if a few of my bills had come out. But when I heard the balance, it was not what I expected. When I looked online at the account, I kinda figured out why. I have been awaiting my federal tax refund deposit and it finally came via direct deposit today. most of the time I would be happy to get it. but when I checked my bank account this morning, there was $220 more than was supposed to be there....It is like finding money in your pockets, only I don't think most people just happen to leave $220 in their pockets and forget about it. (if you are the ex...

So last night I borrowed (with permission, of course) Michelle's jeep to take some things to a friend who is moving out of state today. upon returning home, i put keys in my purse and eventualy went to bed. I got up and went to work this morning and after being at work for less than 20 minutes, i get a call from michelle asking if i had her keys..... oops, i had treated her keys like mine, put both in my purse and didnt think to look for them as i was pulling out my keys to go to work this morning. Needless to say, i have some cleaning to do to make up for the inconvienence.

W e have got to have one of THE most impatient mail men of all time delivering to my office!!! ! so i am in the bathroom when my little dinger bell goes off (multiple times: someone got a bit trigger happy) . so i finish realy quick, and he AGAIN gets trigger happy!!!!! so i hurry and wash my hands, go out and  my boss  has gotten the door. she would have needed to come up anyway because she or the VP has to sign for Certified mail, which is why this guy was comming up to bring us the mail instead of just leaving it in the box. it frustrates me because this is not the first time this has happened that he gets really impatient. i only learned the other day that  the office manager  or the VP are the only ones that can sign for the cert. mail, but  one of my coworkers  informed me that the mail man gets frustrated when we have to go get someone else to sign. but it is our "company policy"/rule. we dont complain when we dont get the m...

so here is our lunch saga..... in honor of yesterday being admin proffessionals day, the girls in the office (Jan, Elizabeth and i) went out for lunch. after finaly picking a restaurant (none of us realy cared where we were going to go, we just kinda expected Jan to pick.) so we went to a little restaurant in Waterville called Smeedlaps Smithy. (i think it used to be an old blacksmith shop turned restaurant)   well one of t h e fun things in this restaurant is that it has one of those metal corkscrew slides from the top floor to the main floor, so if you want to go down the slide you can. with it being lunch thime there were a few people i nthere, but not alot, so this woman probably in her 70's decided to go down the slide.... it was really funny because the rest of the people (there were realy only like 7or 8 of us who didnt work there in the restaurant) were having fun watching this happen.   we got done there and went to get ice cream, but o...

My Grandma Perry (My dad's Mom) passed away this evening. My dad and Grandpa were getting ready to leave for the day and she passed away. More to come as i have not talked to my dad yet.

In response to me asking my mom this morning "any word on Grandma? here is the response.   " It's nice of you to ask, Yesterday she was taken off oxygen, ( I didn't know she had been on it) It was thought that being on it was a comfort  m easure, but it seemed to be prolonging things, She woke up last night and wanted to go home, (couldn't do that) she asked dad to sing to her. (Very hard, I hadn't thought she'd wake up the times she has...) Keep your dad in your prayers. If she had passed yesterday and everything had fallen into place, we would have had things this weekend, as it stands now we are heading for the beginning of next week. Grandpa asks that you girls wear nice dresses for the viewing and graveside. so be planning for that. "   One of the hard parts was that she asked my dad to sing to her. i dont remember him ever singing around his parents.

    They took her to hospice Saturday. (I think she had been in the hospital since the 21st or 22nd.) They took her off life support (ventilator and feeding tube / water) some time Sunday I think and the doctors thought she would pass away within 3 to 5 hours. it is now Wednesday afternoon, some 72+ hours later and she is still hanging in there. My dad is going to stay down there (AKA stay in Arizona) till she passes away.

So they tried to take her off of sedation, but she started weezing realy bad which may be causing her blood pressure to get low, so they had to put her back on heavy sedation. They finaly found my uncle and he got there yesterday. So it is the whole family (Roberta, James, "Rusty" and "Lee Bob".) This is the first time in several years that they have all been somewhere at the same time! So hopefuly they all behave themselves and control that Perry temper!  

So some of you (ok, probably only 2 of you) know that my paternal grandmother (Roberta Ilene Perry) has spent the last few days in the hospital with pneumonia. She has had lung problems (asthma, emphazima, COPD, ect) for some time now due to 25+ years of smoking. She has 2 sons, my dad and his brother R.L. Perry, who is a hard guy to get ahold of.(yes, those are his initials.) so my dad is leaving for Arizona today. Last night he was able to get a priesthood blessing of comfort which I think will really help while he is down there. This is not an easy thing for him. all of his grandparents have passed away. I think i only knew my dad's paternal grandparents who passed away some time between 1993 and 1999 (aprox). my dad's maternal grandparents died in 1976. His uncle was killed in a car crash while he was on his way to an accident (he was a sherrif / police officer) One good thing is that my dad joined the church about 29 years ago (another aprox.) so he has the ...

How do you decide who to marry? You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. - Alan, age 10 No person really decides before they grow up who they're going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you're stuck with. -       Kristen, age 10 What is the right age to get married? Twenty-three is the best age because you know the person FOREVER by then. - Camille, age 10 How can a stranger tell if two people are married? You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. -       Derrick, age 8 -        What do you think your mom and dad have in common? Both don't want any more kids. -       Lori, age 8 When is it ok to kiss someone? When...

So saw a card like this in an email from a craft company (don't remember the name) and i thought it was cute, so i made it. note that there are a few pieces missing because they are temporarily relocated: there will be a green button in the center of the clover and in the bottom right corner there will be a stamp that says "Happy St. Patrick's Day!" so use your imagination. hope you also enjoy a look at my desk and computer.... i couldnt easily crop them out of the picture....

I decided to give up "unsupervised" visits to the grocery store for "lent" Before you get confused, allow me to explain. Yes I know I am LDS and we dont celebrate Lent. I see it as a period of time i can give up something, break a bad habit, or finaly start my New years resolutions. So far, i have faltered a few times, but they dont count. (there are weird stipulations to this.....) The nice thing is that i am using my debit card alot less and sticking to a budget alot more.(I budget myself a cash allowance, gas money and money for groceries) and i am even putting money back in my savings for a "rainy day". I just hope i can stick to it! Wish me luck!    

So i think i have FINALLY recovered from frisbee. I played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time in a few years on saturday and was sore for days afterward. i am just glad i was not the only one.

So I am trying the "Email to your blog approach...." let's see how well this works. I figure it will be easier to blog from my email seeing as I check my email about 50 times a day (ok, i am exadurating, but not by much.....)

Let me preface this by saying I am one of only 3 females in an office with 10 males. Thursday syndrome is a common problem in the workplace today, but especially prevalent in my office. Especially today. The symptoms of Thursday Syndrome is as follows: Disorientation I just had a guy come up to my desk, look around, and stand there for a moment because he was lost. This is the same guy that walked past my desk like 4 times in 5 minutes this morning and was going to wear a path in the new carpet. Increased appetite awareness I went into the break room to heat up my lunch and within 10 minutes, there was what seamed like just short of half the office all in there at the same time. Lack of patience We have 1 main printer in the office it serves as a printer, copy machine and scanner for the 13 people in the office and the occasional 2 or 3 guys from the shop. When someone tries to print off a drawing, it plugs up the printer by taking a while to process the print request and everyone else...

So I am totally excited! I was able to go to a restaurant I havent beento in a few months. The last time I was at one of their locations, I ended up filing a complaint and they gave me $15 in gift certificates!(woo hoo!) so I ended up paying a whopping 78 cents for lunch, dinner(aka leftovers) and a dissert!Then I went to the grocery store in the same town I work in and had someAWSOME coupons to use there! Went a bit coupon crazy (only a bit becauseI have DEFFINATELY used more coupons in one visit than this trip, but when you see the total, you will understand why.....) Yea, that's right. Lunch for the next 2 days, 2 desserts, and a drink for..... Nada, zilch, zero, 100% off!!!! I am thinking of writing more about my couponing adventures here on myblog, so if you would like to check it out once in a while, feel free.And I am always accepting coupons from the Sunday paper (as long as theyhavent expired)! Please contribute to my coupon fettish!

I was sitting at my desk this afternoon and my boss and the girl that trained me at my temp to perm job came up and my boss wanted me to follow them into the conference room..... i went in and they closed the door, and closed the blinds (ok, them closing the blinds sounds a bit weird, but in the late afternoon the sun coming in the window is quite bright) long story short, they offered to hire me on perminantly at Thermeq! which means that after over 2 years, i finaly have a full time perminant job again!  and bonus: after working at the company for 6 months, i get 5 days vacation time. and hte 6 months started when i first started working thru the temp agency, which was October 27, 2008. so by the end of April, i will have 5 days vacation time! and i could use them to go to Girl's Camp.

So I hope your holidays were great.... mine was great.... I ended up getting a monitary bonus at work that i was not at all expecting. Especially because i work thru a temp service and the bonus came from Thermeq. When i was working last year, i worked at a college and the campus closed for like 2 weeks (10 days or so. and because i was working thru a temp agency, i didnt get paid for the holidays.... so i was glad to be able to work most of the holidays (of course i got Christmas Day and New Year's Day off) New Years day i would like to say i could have worked.... my thinking is that new years day is for people who partied too hard and drank too much at their New Year's celebration. I do not drink alcohol. so usually i would think that New Years day was just a fun day off.... well i partied a bit too long New Years Day.... i was out till like 3:30 AM.... didnt get to bed till like 4 or 4:30. then i didnt get up out of bed till around 2:45 PM on New Year's Day.... so this y...