Another long weekend has come to an end. What beautiful weather we had here in New Hampshire. Sunny, 70's yesterday and 80's today. Last night the sky was cloudless for the Kick off to Summer fireworks in Manchester. Today was really quite warm and I actually got some color on my arms and face from sitting on the deck while I read.
Friday was a day off for me and I pretty much ran errands all morning and then took my car in for a State Inspection and an oil change. I then met up with George and we had dinner at the 99 Restaurant. I had smothered steak tips, mmm mmm good. George had steak and ribs and he said they were really delicious as well. We called it an early night because he had to work in the morning. But we had plans to get together the following afternoon so I had something to look forward to.
Saturday I packed up the doggie and myself and headed to George's house. Once there, we let Hunter roam around and inspect his new digs for the weekend. He did really well considering he can't see a darn thing. He just put his nose to the floor and walked the perimeter of the house, familiarizing himself with the lay of the land. Patrick was there with his girlfriend so Hunter was happy to meet some new friends. It's really difficult to watch him bump into things with his nose and forehead and Kiley wanted to pick him up and carry him everywhere he went, but he walks fairly slow and I don't think he hurts himself. At least I hope not.
Once we were sure he was settled, we went to visit Rose and Steve. They don't live too far from George's house so I have a feeling I will be seeing my best friend a lot more once I move North. She had a birthday gift for me (a book I wanted by Christopher Moore) and we visited for several hours. Around 7 we started for home but ended up stopping at a Diner for a bite to eat. It was a lot of fun, 50's music and entertainment for the kids. Well we don't have any young kids but we enjoyed this dude dressed in funny clothes wandering around making balloon animals for all the kids in there. When we got home, Patrick was about ready to leave for his cruise to the Bahama's, so we wished him bon voyage and sent him off. He is going with a group of about 15 kids from school. They were setting sail on Sunday afternoon but had to endure a long bus ride to NYC.
It was a beautiful morning Sunday, in the North Country. We got up early, took a drive around Lake Winnisquam and stopped for breakfast. We then went back to the house and George mowed while I sat out on the deck with Hunter and my new book. It was a nice relaxing day, really. We went to the cemetery before we went to my parents house for a BBQ that evening and played cards for awhile with an aunt and uncle that had also stopped over to visit. My brother Henry was there and my niece and nephew as well. We had a fun evening.
This morning I can actually say I slept in a bit, although not as late as I would have liked. I made breakfast and we sat out on the deck for awhile before I had to pack up and head home. Just as I was about ready to leave, George's son Jon and his fiancee arrived so I ended up staying a bit longer. They are a very sweet couple, planning a wedding for next April. I knew traffic was going to be a nightmare heading south, (it was more like a bad dream) so I did want to get on the road before it got too late. I left around 1PM and the ride took me about 70 minutes, not too bad considering that both lanes on the southbound side of the highway were packed and moving fairly steady but crawling along in spots. I just saw a little blurb on the local news with a live traffic report and I am glad I left when I did. It looks a whole lot worse now.
I got home around 2:15, unpacked and did a load of laundry. I also went out to get some groceries, and set all of the trash out by the curb. It's still 80 degrees out and I think it will be a warm night tonight. I am pretty warm right now, but not warm enough to turn on the AC. They are predicting some thunderstorms this evening so maybe it will cool things off a bit.
All in all, I had a great weekend. Hunter is sleeping in his favorite spot on the sofa and seems fine after his adventure. He travels quite well, kind of excited when we first got into the car but settled down after awhile. He doesn't get out much. LOL
I am not looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow but I guess a four day work week isn't quite so bad. Hopefully it will go by as quickly as the weekend does. Doubtful, but I can still hope.
I hope you all had a great weekend and a wonderful week.
Me
Monday, May 26, 2008
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Happy Birthday to Me!
It's been a really busy weekend and I am ready for a nap. After finishing this post, I hope I can lay down on the sofa for a bit and just chill. I should be doing laundry but it can wait another day.
Work was really slow on Friday. Actually it has been slow for several days now and it doesn't look like it is going to improve much in the next couple of weeks. We just finished our months shipments and won't be getting another kit on the floor to start work for next month's shipments until the last week of May. Not a really good way to run a production line if you ask me, especially when we have a 14 day lead time, but I guess that is why I am not a Supervisor or a Manager. To break up the monotony, I went on the computer and found a word search making web site and proceeded to create some work related word search puzzles. These included a list of parts we use and terms written in the work instructions we all use. My supervisor made copies and handed out the puzzles after getting approval from Dave. I was actually surprised he went along with it, because he is usually a stick in the mud about such things. But he seemed impressed and said it was fine as long as we shred the puzzles after. It took a little while to complete and passed the time with a little bit of fun.
Friday night George and I went out for our usual pizza and beer. The wait staff is starting to get to know us quite well now as we are in there about every other week.
Saturday morning I slept in some and then ran a few errands before driving up to George's house. We were going to his son in law, Matt's, birthday party at 2 and we still had to pick something up for Nikki, who's birthday was earlier in the week. I think next year we should celebrate all the May birthdays in one shot instead of individually. Anyway, I got there around noon time and we headed out. We ended up getting to the party early, which was fine because it was nice to socialize with the kids before everything got crazy. What I didn't know was George's not quite ex wife was going to be there as well. It shouldn't matter to me because I was invited by Nicole so I knew she wanted me to be there, but I knew it was going to make for an awkward situation. I was right. Thankfully I already know the kids and grandkids and one of the other guests, Matt's father Mike. I actually worked with Mike for several years at the last job I had. Donna and I didn't speak, and she only spoke to George when she needed someone to open a bottle and he was standing right there. I could feel the tension in the air. I really didn't enjoy myself, my stomach was in knots for most of the afternoon. She was the one who had an affair and left her marriage, but it still was very uncomfortable for me.
We left around 4:30 and decided to go have dinner out, since I hadn't been able to eat a thing at the party. We went to Newick's in Concord which is a really nice seafood restaurant. There was a long wait but we decided to sit at the bar and eat there. It's a nice casual atmosphere and we watched some of the ball game and chatted with the bar tender. I started to relax at once and enjoyed my scallops and onion rings.
We went to my house after and once we got there, George asked me if I wanted to birthday present early. Well hell yeah! I love presents! I opened the card and taped inside was a key to his house. We have been talking about me moving up there eventually, like months from now, but this made it official. It's so exciting!!
Then he handed me another card, and inside was a poem he wrote. As I was reading the poem, he slipped a little gold and diamond ring on my finger. I could hardly finish reading the poem through the tears, but lets just say, there will be a bigger ring in the future. This is a promise of what's to come, once all the legal stuff is behind us and we can officially start our life together. Who knew that boy was such a romantic? He'd been hanging onto that ring for several weeks and he couldn't hold out any longer. I love his heart and I've never been this happy.
The ring is a bit big for my finger and it has to be resized but I snapped a quick pic .
Today, was another day of surprises. After an early breakfast, George tells me he is taking me out for lunch. Right around the same time, Jessie calls to wish me a Happy Birthday. She passes the phone to Eric and he tells me they are going out for brunch but they would like to stop over afterwards. So we plan to catch up around 4PM.
George and I head out for lunch but he wants to go to the Back Room, which is a really nice place but kind of expensive. Since he already took me out for dinner the night before, I protested a little bit but he told me to hush, let him spoil me if he wants to. Imagine my surprise when we walked in and there's my dad, Eric, Jessie, Sara and Brad sitting in the lobby waiting for a table. My mom is in Montreal this weekend, otherwise she would have been there too. This was all Sara's doing since last year my birthday was pretty much forgotten because of her college graduation on the same day and we also had to move her out of her dorm. She and George have been emailing back and forth to plan the whole thing for a couple of weeks.
It was a great surprise and lunch was fantastic. There was so much food, it was unbelievable. Most of us had chicken cooked one way or another, and George had a huge steak. Eric and Jessie had seafood. I couldn't have asked for a better day, or weekend for that matter.
Now I sit here still full to the gills and ready for a nice long nap. I have several to go boxes in my fridge from all of the lunches and dinners out. I shouldn't have to cook for a week.
It is back to work tomorrow and I am not looking forward to that. The only good thing about it is I only have to work 4 days and then I am off for 4 days for Memorial Day Weekend. I just hope the week goes by fast.
Work was really slow on Friday. Actually it has been slow for several days now and it doesn't look like it is going to improve much in the next couple of weeks. We just finished our months shipments and won't be getting another kit on the floor to start work for next month's shipments until the last week of May. Not a really good way to run a production line if you ask me, especially when we have a 14 day lead time, but I guess that is why I am not a Supervisor or a Manager. To break up the monotony, I went on the computer and found a word search making web site and proceeded to create some work related word search puzzles. These included a list of parts we use and terms written in the work instructions we all use. My supervisor made copies and handed out the puzzles after getting approval from Dave. I was actually surprised he went along with it, because he is usually a stick in the mud about such things. But he seemed impressed and said it was fine as long as we shred the puzzles after. It took a little while to complete and passed the time with a little bit of fun.
Friday night George and I went out for our usual pizza and beer. The wait staff is starting to get to know us quite well now as we are in there about every other week.
Saturday morning I slept in some and then ran a few errands before driving up to George's house. We were going to his son in law, Matt's, birthday party at 2 and we still had to pick something up for Nikki, who's birthday was earlier in the week. I think next year we should celebrate all the May birthdays in one shot instead of individually. Anyway, I got there around noon time and we headed out. We ended up getting to the party early, which was fine because it was nice to socialize with the kids before everything got crazy. What I didn't know was George's not quite ex wife was going to be there as well. It shouldn't matter to me because I was invited by Nicole so I knew she wanted me to be there, but I knew it was going to make for an awkward situation. I was right. Thankfully I already know the kids and grandkids and one of the other guests, Matt's father Mike. I actually worked with Mike for several years at the last job I had. Donna and I didn't speak, and she only spoke to George when she needed someone to open a bottle and he was standing right there. I could feel the tension in the air. I really didn't enjoy myself, my stomach was in knots for most of the afternoon. She was the one who had an affair and left her marriage, but it still was very uncomfortable for me.
We left around 4:30 and decided to go have dinner out, since I hadn't been able to eat a thing at the party. We went to Newick's in Concord which is a really nice seafood restaurant. There was a long wait but we decided to sit at the bar and eat there. It's a nice casual atmosphere and we watched some of the ball game and chatted with the bar tender. I started to relax at once and enjoyed my scallops and onion rings.
We went to my house after and once we got there, George asked me if I wanted to birthday present early. Well hell yeah! I love presents! I opened the card and taped inside was a key to his house. We have been talking about me moving up there eventually, like months from now, but this made it official. It's so exciting!!
Then he handed me another card, and inside was a poem he wrote. As I was reading the poem, he slipped a little gold and diamond ring on my finger. I could hardly finish reading the poem through the tears, but lets just say, there will be a bigger ring in the future. This is a promise of what's to come, once all the legal stuff is behind us and we can officially start our life together. Who knew that boy was such a romantic? He'd been hanging onto that ring for several weeks and he couldn't hold out any longer. I love his heart and I've never been this happy.
The ring is a bit big for my finger and it has to be resized but I snapped a quick pic .
Today, was another day of surprises. After an early breakfast, George tells me he is taking me out for lunch. Right around the same time, Jessie calls to wish me a Happy Birthday. She passes the phone to Eric and he tells me they are going out for brunch but they would like to stop over afterwards. So we plan to catch up around 4PM.
George and I head out for lunch but he wants to go to the Back Room, which is a really nice place but kind of expensive. Since he already took me out for dinner the night before, I protested a little bit but he told me to hush, let him spoil me if he wants to. Imagine my surprise when we walked in and there's my dad, Eric, Jessie, Sara and Brad sitting in the lobby waiting for a table. My mom is in Montreal this weekend, otherwise she would have been there too. This was all Sara's doing since last year my birthday was pretty much forgotten because of her college graduation on the same day and we also had to move her out of her dorm. She and George have been emailing back and forth to plan the whole thing for a couple of weeks.
It was a great surprise and lunch was fantastic. There was so much food, it was unbelievable. Most of us had chicken cooked one way or another, and George had a huge steak. Eric and Jessie had seafood. I couldn't have asked for a better day, or weekend for that matter.
Now I sit here still full to the gills and ready for a nice long nap. I have several to go boxes in my fridge from all of the lunches and dinners out. I shouldn't have to cook for a week.
It is back to work tomorrow and I am not looking forward to that. The only good thing about it is I only have to work 4 days and then I am off for 4 days for Memorial Day Weekend. I just hope the week goes by fast.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Monday, May 12, 2008
Happy May!
I hope all you Mom's had a nice Mother's Day. I had a great weekend, very busy and very nice. George took me out for breakfast on Sunday and then we went to visit my mom. I brought her a pot of Stargazer Lily's and we visited for awhile. Then we went over to the cemetery to visit George's Mother's grave. She died on Mother's Day so he makes sure he places flowers at her grave every Mother's Day. Shortly after we got back to my house, Eric and Jessie came over and we ended up going out for supper at Applebees. We had a nice time, chatting and catching up with the kiddos. Sara called right after we got back home and wished me a Happy Mother's Day. I thought she had spent the weekend in Massachusetts but found out she had been at her apartment all weekend. I was a little disappointed that she didn't make it over here but oh well. When I got home from work this evening, she had left a card on the table for me. She always manages to find the perfect cards so I am happy with that.
Saturday was also very busy. George had his daughter, her husband and two kids over for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun watching the kids be kids, they are really amazing little characters. Callissa now calls me by my real name so 'Auntie Ann' has been retired. She said she has been practicing and she was so proud. What a sweetheart. Alex is also getting more comfortable with me and decided that he and I should play Legos. Meaning, I built something and he took it apart. He will be 2 in June. He's a crazy lil guy and I wouldn't be surprised if testing for ADHD is in his future.
It seems that all of my water problems have been fixed. The pump seems to be doing it's job and my hot water tank enables me to enjoy a nice hot shower once again. It sure is nice to not have to heat water on the stove in order to do dishes too! Hopefully all of my bumps in the road are done for the time being. I have been trying to clean out the house some. I have a lot of junk that I am never going to use and Goodwill has been reaping the benefits. I actually found some casserole dishes in the closet from my wedding that I have never opened. If I haven't needed them in 20+ years, I guess I won't be needing them ever, so off they went.
The same goes for clothes that have been collecting dust in my closet. I look at some of this stuff and ask myself...what was I thinking?
I had Friday off and pretty much ran errands most of the morning. I also got my car registered. Jon is going to inspect it for me next week so it will be all set for another year. In August I will have it all paid off. I still have another 25,000 miles on my warranty so I will hang onto the car for awhile longer and hopefully save what I would have been paying out. My bank account needs a little help these days. :-(
My dad came home from Las Vegas on Thursday and he had a blast. He goes every couple of years with one of his brothers and some assorted family members. My mother doesn't care to go along because it is too much walking for her but Dad enjoys all of that stuff and it is good for him to keep busy. I asked him if he won big bucks and he quickly told me that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...so I take that to mean hell yes but don't tell your mother! LMAO
It smells really nice in my house today because I stole some lilacs off of my mom's lilac bush yesterday. They are out in the kitchen but I can smell them here in the computer room. I love them so much...I wish they were available for a longer period of time.
Ok It is time to get off here and get some things done. I am making the sauce for my lasagna which I will assemble tomorrow for Wednesday night's dinner. I love lasagna but it takes so long to get everything ready, so I usually make it in stages. I usually make a huge pan of lasagna but it will be too much for just George and myself, so I am going to make 2 smaller ones and freeze one of them. Then when the craving hits again, I will be ahead of the game.
Have a wonderful week.
Me
Saturday was also very busy. George had his daughter, her husband and two kids over for a BBQ. It was a lot of fun watching the kids be kids, they are really amazing little characters. Callissa now calls me by my real name so 'Auntie Ann' has been retired. She said she has been practicing and she was so proud. What a sweetheart. Alex is also getting more comfortable with me and decided that he and I should play Legos. Meaning, I built something and he took it apart. He will be 2 in June. He's a crazy lil guy and I wouldn't be surprised if testing for ADHD is in his future.
It seems that all of my water problems have been fixed. The pump seems to be doing it's job and my hot water tank enables me to enjoy a nice hot shower once again. It sure is nice to not have to heat water on the stove in order to do dishes too! Hopefully all of my bumps in the road are done for the time being. I have been trying to clean out the house some. I have a lot of junk that I am never going to use and Goodwill has been reaping the benefits. I actually found some casserole dishes in the closet from my wedding that I have never opened. If I haven't needed them in 20+ years, I guess I won't be needing them ever, so off they went.
The same goes for clothes that have been collecting dust in my closet. I look at some of this stuff and ask myself...what was I thinking?
I had Friday off and pretty much ran errands most of the morning. I also got my car registered. Jon is going to inspect it for me next week so it will be all set for another year. In August I will have it all paid off. I still have another 25,000 miles on my warranty so I will hang onto the car for awhile longer and hopefully save what I would have been paying out. My bank account needs a little help these days. :-(
My dad came home from Las Vegas on Thursday and he had a blast. He goes every couple of years with one of his brothers and some assorted family members. My mother doesn't care to go along because it is too much walking for her but Dad enjoys all of that stuff and it is good for him to keep busy. I asked him if he won big bucks and he quickly told me that what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...so I take that to mean hell yes but don't tell your mother! LMAO
It smells really nice in my house today because I stole some lilacs off of my mom's lilac bush yesterday. They are out in the kitchen but I can smell them here in the computer room. I love them so much...I wish they were available for a longer period of time.
Ok It is time to get off here and get some things done. I am making the sauce for my lasagna which I will assemble tomorrow for Wednesday night's dinner. I love lasagna but it takes so long to get everything ready, so I usually make it in stages. I usually make a huge pan of lasagna but it will be too much for just George and myself, so I am going to make 2 smaller ones and freeze one of them. Then when the craving hits again, I will be ahead of the game.
Have a wonderful week.
Me
Friday, May 02, 2008
Grrrrrrrrrrrr
Here I am sitting at home once again waiting for a repairman. It has been a very expensive couple of months and hopefully today won't cost me another $800 like I am suspecting. Owning a home can really suck sometimes, especially when you are broke from the start and it's an old home.
Last Sunday George and I tackled the water pump problem head on since it finally died sometime during the night on Friday. He would have come down and done it on Saturday but he had to work and couldn't get out of it. He does machine service and repair work on a contract basis for the company he used to work for a couple of years ago. Anyway, it turned out the motor on the water pump was seized and had to be replaced. Trying to find a water pump on a Sunday was nearly impossible but he called a Well Pump and Repair service and they had one and were willing to come out on a Sunday at no additional cost. So by 2PM I had a new water pump and great water pressure. All was well with the world until last night. I got home from dinner with George, his son Patrick and Patrick's girlfriend Kiley, and had no water pressure at all. I went outside to the pump house and I could hear the pump running and it was really hot. I hit the power switch and shut it down, then called the repair guy. He sent me around the house looking for an open faucet or something and then I found water on the bathroom floor by the hot water tank. I can't tell if it's the tank itself or the pipes surrounding it that are leaking so here I sit waiting for the service guy to show up. I am hoping that I won't have to replace the new water pump. The pump itself is under warranty but I am wondering if it will be covered if the under lying problem is not directly related to the pump. George can replace the water heater at very little cost so I'm not too concerned about that. I am just hoping that the new pump hasn't been damaged.
On a happier note, as mentioned, I finally met the youngest of George's kids. Pat is in college studying culinary arts and restaurant management. He is a carbon copy of his father 30 years ago, very sweet with a huge smile. He was a lot more talkative than I expected and that made it a lot less nerve wracking for me. I tend to babble when I get nervous and I probably sound like an idiot. LOL
After dinner we all went over to the sporting goods store to check out tenting and fishing equipment. I don't plan on going fishing but I may have to give in and go camping. I do hope George realizes I do not sleep on the ground and I will be a pain in the ass the whole time. My idea of roughing it is going to the Motel 6. Oh well, he will learn. LOL
So work has been rather slow lately but I am managing to look busy for most of the day. When I am not busy, I hide out in the office in front of my computer. So far no one has caught on yet. Today is moving day at work though and darn it I am going to miss it. It seems to be a regular thing in that building, moving departments around. We are moving back into the room we were in a year and a half ago and I can't make any sense out of why so I won't even try. I just go where they tell me to.
OK I guess I better get dressed since the repair dude will be here in an hour or so.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!
Update 10:52 am:
The water pump is working just fine now but I have a leak in my hot water tank which was causing the pump to work overtime. Every time the pump would pump water into the tank it would drain out causing the pump to pump more water in...etc, etc. I have water but no hot water, so I have to get a new hot water tank installed. Looks like another job for Super George!
Last Sunday George and I tackled the water pump problem head on since it finally died sometime during the night on Friday. He would have come down and done it on Saturday but he had to work and couldn't get out of it. He does machine service and repair work on a contract basis for the company he used to work for a couple of years ago. Anyway, it turned out the motor on the water pump was seized and had to be replaced. Trying to find a water pump on a Sunday was nearly impossible but he called a Well Pump and Repair service and they had one and were willing to come out on a Sunday at no additional cost. So by 2PM I had a new water pump and great water pressure. All was well with the world until last night. I got home from dinner with George, his son Patrick and Patrick's girlfriend Kiley, and had no water pressure at all. I went outside to the pump house and I could hear the pump running and it was really hot. I hit the power switch and shut it down, then called the repair guy. He sent me around the house looking for an open faucet or something and then I found water on the bathroom floor by the hot water tank. I can't tell if it's the tank itself or the pipes surrounding it that are leaking so here I sit waiting for the service guy to show up. I am hoping that I won't have to replace the new water pump. The pump itself is under warranty but I am wondering if it will be covered if the under lying problem is not directly related to the pump. George can replace the water heater at very little cost so I'm not too concerned about that. I am just hoping that the new pump hasn't been damaged.
On a happier note, as mentioned, I finally met the youngest of George's kids. Pat is in college studying culinary arts and restaurant management. He is a carbon copy of his father 30 years ago, very sweet with a huge smile. He was a lot more talkative than I expected and that made it a lot less nerve wracking for me. I tend to babble when I get nervous and I probably sound like an idiot. LOL
After dinner we all went over to the sporting goods store to check out tenting and fishing equipment. I don't plan on going fishing but I may have to give in and go camping. I do hope George realizes I do not sleep on the ground and I will be a pain in the ass the whole time. My idea of roughing it is going to the Motel 6. Oh well, he will learn. LOL
So work has been rather slow lately but I am managing to look busy for most of the day. When I am not busy, I hide out in the office in front of my computer. So far no one has caught on yet. Today is moving day at work though and darn it I am going to miss it. It seems to be a regular thing in that building, moving departments around. We are moving back into the room we were in a year and a half ago and I can't make any sense out of why so I won't even try. I just go where they tell me to.
OK I guess I better get dressed since the repair dude will be here in an hour or so.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!
Update 10:52 am:
The water pump is working just fine now but I have a leak in my hot water tank which was causing the pump to work overtime. Every time the pump would pump water into the tank it would drain out causing the pump to pump more water in...etc, etc. I have water but no hot water, so I have to get a new hot water tank installed. Looks like another job for Super George!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)