The New Water Cooler

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  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    football practice was tough for C Tuesday - but went better last night.

    other boys went and golfed last night

    had my hair colored - much needed!

    trying to convince Zach to go to the volleyball game tonight -

    my eyes still feel kind of tired and funny since the eclipse - I only looked a couple of times using the special glasses - but I am feeling kind of freaked out - what if I did it wrong? Gah - why couldn't I just not look -
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    another day - football is going fairly well - he is very tired at night, not looking forward to when band starts up next week in the mornings - meaning he will have to get up earlier. Hopefully he adjusts, not wanting to fight about it

    Zach finally has orientation next Thursday and then it will be all go no quit until June. Bleck. I'm exhausted just thinking about. I know it's not any different than what a 'working' person would be doing, but they are still kids, and they haven't had that schedule before - so, it will be painful.

    Niece went off to college last week, big adjustments all around. My sister hasn't been sleeping - she doesn't get emotional - but it comes out in other ways like insomnia. Her classes sounds pretty rigorous -she has both chem and biology and others. Lots of work already, plus she is on the dance team. Her dorm has spiders and her neighbor got bit bad enough that she had to seek medical treatment. Momma not happy - they are going down this weekend to spray her room since the college won't (says they don't have anything that will work) - feh

    Have a great weekend - off to the state fair tomorrow and to see Pentatonix!
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    Rory should get home in a few hours. He was still packing up his clothes at 1pm. We are going to a back yard party at friends' house for food, drink and live music. It's been raining off and on so I imagine it will be somewhat wet.

    Cleaned today and then sat at the DMV to get my tabs for my car. They cost a small fortune since our car is newer. MN really gouges the pocket book for tabs, taxes, etc.

    Our state fair has started too. We hope to go one evening but not sure when. We just like to listen to the music, try foods and have a beer. I like the animal barns but Russ could care a less about them so I haven't walked out that far to see them in several years with my knees hurting the way they do.

    Work starts Monday. I've enjoyed my time off but all good things do come to an end.

    C and Z are going to have a busy year. Wow! Hang in there. At least Z can drive now.

    Have a nice evening. I feel fat! Bad eating habits lately.

    Jenny
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    Back to work tomorrow. I walked the lazy river this morning in the cool temps but it was nice. Hardly anyone there (less than 10 people). I met some friends this afternoon for lunch and a bloody mary bar to "grieve" going back to work. Any excuse to go out I guess, LOL!

    Rory is home and it's so nice to have him here. Yesterday, Russ, Rory and went to a brewery and then out to an early dinner together. We had a gathering on Friday and Rory went to a friends so we didn't get to seem him for very long when he arrived home Friday night.

    Very cool and over cast outside. Feels like Fall weather has set in. I wonder if we will get any more high heat or if this is it?

    Relaxing and watching a Hallmark movie...Have a nice evening.

    Jenny
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    big weekend for me anyway. Went to the Pentatonix concert at the fair Saturday. It was fun. I have nothing to compare it to since I have never been to a professional concert, but the music was great, it was awful getting in there though. I have read some fb comments and I think it sounds like the fair did a poor job of preparing for 13000 people. We got in line at 6 for an 8 start - waited an hour and got a fairly decent position. Sounds like many didn't get in before the show started and they also turned people away. That would have made me so angry. I could barely move yesterday after standing for nearly 7 hours. Zach just stayed with us - his friends from church were up further ahead - I'm sad he wouldn't go enjoy with them - but it was nice at the end when we got out of there - didn't have to wait for him and the crowds. We left right after the last official song before the encore and got out of there fairly smooth. All in all a good time, not sure I will do it again though. I am still in pain!

    Yay - enjoy Rory being home - woot!
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    First day back at work. I had a 7:30am visit with a teacher to meet a little guy who will be moving to my caseload. He's cute but very serious. I spent time at my desk sorting, tossing and organizing but have a ways to go. More tomorrow...Went out to lunch with two coworkers. After work I went to the dentist for a cleaning. They did a 360 degree xray so they can see how my jaw bones look and if there is anything else that could be causing my jaw pain. Rule out anything related to teeth that would be causing my jaw and ear pain.

    Relaxing tonight, state fair tomorrow eve after work.

    I'm glad you got in to your concert but I know how you feel with standing for so long. Every muscle and bone aches after that.

    Sleep well.
    Jenny
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    hmmm - I thought I had posted something yesterday. Guess not...

    Had to go serve root beer floats for a choir kick off event at the high school - of course Zach wouldn't go - my little like-minded introvert - one of many things I hate he got from me personality-wise. Oh and I am getting slammed with FB messages about post prom and working and organizing it. Hmmm... it's a safe bet my boy won't even go.... much to my sorrow...

    I just signed him/me up for a visit to Wayne in November. He probably won't be thrilled - but the ball is rolling and we better be rolling with it. I think he wants UNL, but unless things drastically change for the better with his academics he better have a more modest choice available to. It's a good school (Bernie and I both went there) and definitely way more affordable than anything else in state except for community colleges.

    did you get any updates from your xrays?

    been praying for Texas and the others affected by the hurricane. The coverage is heart-wrenching.
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    No word from dentist on my xrays so that means nothing unusual was found.

    One more day of work and a long weekend. I have friday and monday off so I'm grateful for that. 3 day work week next week due to our camping trip on 9/8-9/10. We took Friday off.

    Mid week and I'm tired. We went to the state fair last night for a few hours. Basically ate our way around the streets and drank some beer and listened to music. My legs were sore walking back to the commuter bus. I had a hard time getting up this morning. Nodding off as I write.

    I'm going to boot camp class at 6:30. They took the 5:30 class off the schedule which doesn't thrill me. 6:30 gets a little late for me to want to exercise. I may have to switch to Saturday mornings instead. I haven't been in about 4 weeks so it's going to be hard even though I walked the river to strengthen my leg muscles.

    Hopefully Zach will change his mind about participating in school events. My boys didn't participate in some things like talent shows, some dances, some of the sports they enjoyed and they expressed regret after high school was done. It's all a part of growing up and what we are comfortable doing at any point in time. He'll grow in to his own eventually and find what he is passionate about. Jeff and I laugh because we totally get each other regarding social situations. We are both more introverted (like to be alone or with only one to two people) but do go out in larger groups occasionally.

    Well think of me as I struggle through my class. UNL was Rory's top choice until he got that army scholarship and they said they would give it to him if he went to UND. Then after he committed to UND, he gave up the scholarship and ROTC. I wonder if he would have liked UNL better? He's never expressed regrets. Grand Forks didn't have much going on socially.

    Well bye for now,
    Jenny

  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    Caleb has his scrimmage tonight! Woot. He's probably only 'b' squad - but still hoping he is on the bubble for 'a' -

    Zach has orientation today - hopefully he got there on time.

    Feels like Friday. :(
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    TGIF and no work today. Taking our dog Maggie to the vet for a blood draw since she has been on a medication that can cause problems with her organs. They want to check and see and then discontinue if it is.

    Rory is bringing a lot of stuff in from the car that he had at college. Stacking it in the family room for now and then he will go through it and move it to the basement or give away.

    I had my hair cut off again last night. It was way too long and I couldn't stand it. Now it is at the middle of my neck and my bangs sweep to the side. I'll get a new profile pic one of these days. Tonight we are looking at washer and dryer to replace our 23 year old ones we put in our house when we built. I don't like spending money on appliances. We are going to go with the basic set. We don't need all the bells and whistles. I only care that they are efficient and don't use up too much gas and electricity.

    I did fine at boot camp but my right leg/knee has been hurting at night. The pain wakes me up from sleep. I'm going to buy some Tylenol Arthritis today since it is slow release and see if that helps me at night.

    Any big plans for your weekend? We will shop for appliances tonight, go to a winery tomorrow afternoon and listen to live music, sample wines and eat pizza, and kayak on either Sunday or Monday. Somewhere in there I need to clean bathrooms, vacuum and go through mail piles to sort and toss. We were invited to our friends' annual picnic but Russ didn't want to go. I'm not sure he enjoys the group that is typically there or just doesn't want to sit around eating appetizers in the hot sun. The brother-in-law has become mentally unstable since his mother died. Bipolar runs in the family and he may be showing signs of that. A little scary and argumentative to be around. He does own a gun so he makes me nervous that he could decide we are all part of his problem. This condition of his came out late spring/early summer. When I talked with him at the July 4th picnic I thought something was off with him. I asked Nancy, my friend and his sister-in-law, and she filled me in. She thinks some of her regular attendees did not attend July 4th picnic because of how he behaved at the Memorial Day picnic (we did not attend that one).

    Rory has to help me lift Maggie into the car before he helps a friend move from his apartment to another one.

    Have a nice day and weekend!
    Jenny

  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    the issue with the man who may be unstable and armed sounds very alarming. Be careful and alert.

    We plan on going to Lincoln tomorrow to watch my niece dance at halftime of the NE Wesleyan game. Unfortunately there is also the first home Husker game so Lincoln will be a madhouse - but hopefully since her game is earlier we will miss at least some of the crush. Also, hopefully the boys will golf at least once.

    Caleb had his scrimmage last night. He is definitely 'b' squad and boy should he be 'b' squad. He just looked lost. I was hoping since it sounded like practice was going pretty well, he was getting in there better. I think is was partly because his legs are just so sore, but he also was not executing at all. Bernie sat there and just pointed out all he was doing 'wrong' (he's standing straight up, going the wrong direction, too slow, etc) - and I kept saying - 'he's only been doing this two weeks, two weeks Bernie, two weeks - don't jump on him tonight - yes, please do talk to him and work with him in the next few days - Be a dad

    So the long-term antibiotic the urologist put me on finished about a week ago and I am starting to feel a little more urgent again - please, please, please no. It had been a fairly nice summer. No, just no.

    Happy it's Friday for sure.

  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    I remember those football days. In elementary and middle school leagues,Rory danced around the action but never got in on the action. I think he tried to make it look like he was in it but wasn't. By high school, he wanted to be in on the action and worked hard but was not good enough or wasn't recognized by the coaches to have the right position and start. He didn't speak up or try to prove himself and at that age in high school, he had to do the communicating and work. Good luck to Caleb. It's a learning process and comes with maturity, experience and the desire to play the game.

    I'm sorry you are experiencing increased symptoms again Marla. Are you going to the doctor earlier than later to discuss it? Have they talked any kind of surgical procedure that may help?

    The winery visit was nice and relaxing. We ordered the couples deal where we could have one taste (share it) of all 14 wines. We gave our last two tokens away to some people at another table because the wines at the end of the list were very sweet and not to our taste. We bought 3 bottles to bring home. It was a beautiful day and perfect temps with no humidity. We also ate our early dinner there and had a veggie wood fired baked pizza from their outdoor pizza oven.

    Today we are going kayaking at a different lake we've never heard of but found online. It is 45 minutes east of us in a county park. The clarity is suppose to be very clear and people paddle board, kayak and dive there due to it being a very nice lake. I'll report back on that later.

    It is so devastating and sad what happened in Houston. Times like this make me glad I live in the upper midwest. We seem to get by fairly easy compared to the coastal cities and those close to the coasts. Knock on wood and fingers crossed but the coasts have seen some catastrophies these past years, not to mention others around the world. Now we have the nut case leader in North Korea who has developed a hydrogen bomb that can wipe out 10 million people.

    Well I hope you are having a nice long weekend and that Lincoln was fun. I love that international licorice store downtown in the old district. I'm a black licorice fan.

    Enjoy!
    Jenny

  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    fairly good weekend - enjoyed going to Lincoln to see niece's dance, however, it was blazing sunny and I burned the tops of my legs - not fun. Not smart. They were better by last night but I spent Sunday and most of Monday uncomfortable. Sigh.

    Today is the first real day for Zach. And of course he forgot to text me that he made it school ok. Man, he sucks at that game. He also has his first Sylvan session starting tonight. I pray it is beneficial and not something else we have to argue about.

    I have to spout off about how tired I am of people making these exaggerated noises about how expensive Wesleyan (where niece is going) is and how on earth my sister could be sending her to such an expensive school Guess what arses?? My niece worked her fanny off for the past decade and was a straight 4.0, top 10 percenter and had amazing scholarships. She has also worked for years and been saving fiercely. This is her dream and she is funding it. No debt. It isn't costing any more than State or UNL. Because she's earned it. And, even if my sister decided to fund it herself, what business is it of there's? She also works her fanny off and lives modestly. OMG people pizz me off.

    I know I have found myself sucked into the disaster sites and getting my anxiety going thinking about how unprepared we are.

    Hope you had a wonderful time away.

    PS - son just texted me now, that he was at school. 11:36. Sigh.
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    This week flew by and I realized today I had not checked in.

    Two days of training sitting way too long. My joints are stiff from all the sitting. On the second day I was so sleepy after lunch that I fell asleep in my chair and when I jerked awake I almost fell off my chair. That would have been embarrassing.

    Today was a paperwork day. As usual, the internet program everyone needed to do paperwork was not working so people couldn't get done what they needed to. We had a potluck so everyone just figured they would eat instead.

    I have the day off tomorrow and we leave for a camping weekend in southern MN. I don't know if I'll have internet so may not be checking in until Sunday night.

    How did Zach's first day of school go and does he have a good attitude? What did he think of Sylvan?

    People who comment and insert their noses into someone else's college choice and finances are jealous. Your niece sounds like a wonderful student and very goal oriented. She set a goal and met it so kudos to her. Glad you had a fun time in Lincoln. I remember when we were on UNL campus it was sunny and hot, less shade than what we wanted.

    Rory is staying home with the dogs so we will have freedom to do what we want, explore little towns, and just relax without having to untangle their leashes constantly.

    Enjoy your weekend. We are leaving in the morning and will return later afternoon on Sunday.

    TGIF!
    Jenny

  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    I hope you have a fun and relaxing time away. Great the Rory will watch the furries. Is it fun having him around?

    School seems to be starting off pretty well. He appears to be spending time on his homework (before 9 pm at night) and Sylvan (while not met with hand-clapping excitement) didn't result in a yelling match. We have MANY weeks to go, but I am relieved for the apparent positive start. So far the only bad thing is that there is not enough seating for lunch. Which just 'p's me off. How can you not have enough seating for your students. You've have have many extra weeks to get ready? Oh, just make the teenagers stand. Stupid.

    Caleb had his first game last night. He started on the o-line for B team. Proud of him. He is coming along. Although his attitude last night at home left a lot to be desired, it was one of my first moments of "I can't believe you are acting like this" with him. I got the boys a Little Ceasers pizza so they could both eat as soon as we got home - it was pretty late like 6:30 I'm sure Caleb was starved, but what I always do is it is half for Z and half for C. Neither Bernie or I tend to eat 'their' pizza. Last night Caleb insisted he deserved more because of football. I was like, well, I will cut one of Zach's slices in half but that's it. "But Zach didn't DO anything today". I'm like, that's not true. It kind of devolved from there, Caleb was obviously feeling very upity and I told him I didn't appreciate his attitude and the fact that he didn't even act thankful that I had made sure he had food for immediately getting home, etc. So we both ended the night irritated with the other. Weird. I had honestly thought we wouldn't get that way with each other. He's always been 'my boy'

    Have a great weekend!! I'm sure I will get to argue with Zach tonight as I don't think he realized he has the ACT tomorrow. :/
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    I'm glad C is enjoying football. It also sounds like he is entering the "teen years". Oh boy! I hope all goes well with Sylvan and it helps Zach acquire some study skills.

    Our weekend was a little jinxed. Southern MN is beautiful this time of year so I'm glad we went down there to camp. The campground was very nice but not the type of place we want to camp in the future. Campers very close together in a field where some trees were planted to give shade. At least 6 long rows of camp sites. The place had a bar/restaurant, golf course, indoor pool, and was on a bike trail and river. Many of the people were there for golf and biking. Anyway, we parked in the parking lot to check in. We must have picked up a metal sliver that embedded in a camper tire and we got a flat. We didn't see it until we were backing in to our campsite. Russ put the camper spare on so we could get home but I was nervous on the ride home today since we didn't have a spare to replace another flat. We had stopped in Lake City for lunch on Friday. We parked along a curb on a side street and walked to the cafe on main street. A street sign must have snagged the awning because we found a long rip in it when we got to the campsite. We were still able to put it out for shade but the rip is big. We will have to buy new canvas. So one new tire, new awning canvas...and then when we got home, Russ broke the electric hitch because he wasn't careful when he was getting ready to back up into the driveway. Now we need that too. The expenses added up this weekend. We are suppose to go north next Saturday to Brainerd to camp. Hopefully we have a new tire and he replaces the hitch mechanism. I really don't want to cancel. We'll have to wait on the awning until the end of the season and research over the winter the most economical way to replace the canvas.

    Rory mowed the lawn, took care of the dogs, and vacuumed for me. Yes, it is nice having him home to talk to but also to help us out. He's always willing to help when we ask.

    Well back to work tomorrow. 5 day week this week but 4 day week next week. I've eaten out too much and had way too much junk food. Time to make better choices and get some exercise.

    Have a nice Monday!
    Jenny
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    sorry you had a jinxed weekend. Hopefully that's all over! Hassles are no fun.

    Today is starting out for a jinxed work week. Bleck!!!

    I had been slightly down prior to the weekend and then just ate and ate and ate...and ate - now puffy and yucky - tight pants....:(

    hopefully more later - here's to a turnaround all around!
  • jrbanta
    jrbanta Posts: 4,280 Member
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    I keep making poor decisions with eating. Not prepared with groceries and so easy to pick up lunch, not eat dinner but eat junk, etc. Bad! My pants are tight too. I'm scheduled to go to my training class on Wednesday eve. I go one time per week and don't exercise again. Not good...

    Life seems so busy and crazy and I let it take over rather than me being in control of what I do. I need to change this.

    Hope work gets better.

    Jenny



  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    so we've been upgrading the scanning software and it's been a typical nightmare - we have one more huge install this weekend here at Columbus, the main plant - it's high times anxiety.

    Caleb has football away tomorrow - have to drive about an hour away. It will be a long day. Hope he has been telling the truth and staying on top of his work. We also have the big Confirmation meeting at church tonight and then I have choir.

    There are also various meetings at school tomorrow that we will miss because of the game (darn, sarcasm)

    I ate like 5 bags of (individual sized -but still) last night - just work crap and eating crap seemed to go hand and hand.

    Zach and I 'talked' i.e. argued about homecoming. He just refuses to go and only reason is that dances are stupid. Even though he had a good time Freshmen year. I'm not sure why I am hassling him about this so much, aside from I just feel like I know he will regret it.

    Come on Friday!!
  • mizpaden74
    mizpaden74 Posts: 3,730 Member
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    Time to go watch some football and forgot about upgrade h-e-double hockey sticks

    Go Discoverers!