Wii's Homecoming

Phillip brought home my Wii on Saturday --- the one that he got me (but I paid for) several weeks ago in Nashville. We've had so much fun already. I'm sore from playing tennis and baseball, though not as sore as I would be trying to play the real thing. My favorite (so far) is doubles tennis (actually, I don't think you can play singles) with Phillip and me on the same team. We're getting better and better. I hit the pulls hanging down from the ceiling fan, and Phillip admits to hitting the actual fan once when I was at work today. Besides that, he's pretty good at dodging my wildly flailing attempts at swinging a bat/tennis racquet/golf club. We're both better pitching at baseball than hitting. Makes sense... I was the pitcher on my softball team for the majority of the 20+ years that I played.

I bought another game today that he had seen, but it's not all that great. So we're open for suggestions of favorites... ones that someone has actually played and knows to be good. I don't want to make a bunch of $20 or more mistakes.... Although I am saving enough at CVS so that it's not too painful.

Tennessee to Georgia: The Scenic Route

Since Phillip's housing arrangement will change when he returns to school after the 4th of July break, he had to bring home lots of things that he will not need at his new place. Things like a mini refrigerator, a microwave, most of his bedding, and I probably don't even want to know what else. He didn't think that it would all fit in his car, a 2000 Mazda Protege. We didn't think that it would fit either, so we figured that we would need to make a trip to Nashville next weekend to get the overflow. With some creative packing on his part (think: crowbar) he managed to get almost everything in the car. The trunk was packed so that he probably had to find the five biggest guys on campus to sit on it to close it. The back seat was piled all the way up to the roof, and the front passenger seat was piled up to the headrest. He probably had possessions under the seats as well, if there was room for any with the omnipresent mouldering french fries. I'm not sure of the beginning of the route out of Nashville, but he gets on one or two interstate highways before hitting I-24 that goes eastward between Nashville and Chattanooga and then I-75 south toward Atlanta. He was on the interstate just before I-24, in the right hand putt-putt lane, and he needed to get over several lanes to get on I-24. He was so loaded down that other cars kept whizzing past him and he couldn't get over. So he kept going south until he hit the Alabama line near Huntsville, and then called his dad while I was at the baseball game. The route he was on is very scenic, and very hilly. And his car was complaining mightily about the strain it was under. So James took off headed west toward Anniston, Alabama, and they ended up meeting just north of Anniston. James put a bunch of Phillip's stuff in the back of the van, and they headed on home. What should have been about a 4-1/2 hour trip became a 6-1/2 trip. However, the good news is that James and I won't have to go to Nashville next weekend.

Blogs to Be

Future posts:

• Phillip's trip home from Nashville.... and James' trip to Alabama to rescue him
• Sewing with the Blinky cat -- it's harder than you think
• Wii's homecoming

Braves Blast

The Braves game on the big screen in the Smyrna Market Village was great fun, even though the Braves lost. My friend (she says she's always anonymous in my blog, so I'll tell you that her name is Angi) and I managed to find a place to park our chairs that was nearly always shady. The screens were much more visible than we thought they might be in the middle of the day. I'll bet they're really great at night. The Tomahawk Team (don't call them cheerleaders) was there before the game shooting t-shirts out of the shirt-launcher gun and I snagged one. There weren't a lot of people there until the game started, and even then, not as many as we thought there would be. I tried to give it to a little boy, but his mom showed me that he already had one, so I gave it to a little girl about 6 or 7 years old. The drummers were there too. I think they are called the Heavy Hitters. They didn't bring the giant kettle drum that sits in left-center field, though. Angi and I were approached by a young lady who introduced herself as "with the AJC" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution, for any non-Atlantans). We thought she was going to try to sell us subscriptions, but she was a reporter who interviewed us for the paper. We don't know when or if it will be in print, so if you get the paper, please help us look. Alas, she had no photographer with her. There were some game-show type games before the baseball game started, and they were giving away prizes like Braves souvenirs and gift certificates to Smyrna Market Village restaurants and businesses. Between innings, they continued tossing out t-shirts and playing the games that you see at Turner field, like the Home Depot tool race and Braves trivia questions. It sprinkled rain a couple of times, but it felt good! If there's another game on the green in the future, Angi & I would definitely go again.

Deals of the Day

Today I saved 39% at Kroger, 49% at Publix, and I made 98 cents at CVS after taking home one tube of Colgate toothpaste and three Brut deodorants. Then, I blew my savings at Walmart and Hobby Lobby. (But it was fun.) Easy come, easy go.

TGIT

Although it's Thursday for most, it's my Friday. I work at least 36 hours Monday - Thursday (often more), and then I don't usually have to go into the office on Fridays. I at least check emails and voice mails from home, and I am "on call" for any questions or problems that may arise. But I can do all that in my PJs.

Update on Phillip's housing arrangements: He's in hog heaven. He'll pay a one-time fee of $4.99 for high-speed wireless Internet access for the entire time he lives at the extended-stay place. There's a full kitchen, and weekly they will vacuum, dust, empty the trash, clean the bathroom, change the bed linens, and give him fresh towels. (He would have to pay $5-$10 for any or all of those services that he wants more often than weekly. Right. Like that's gonna happen!)

Emily and Dave are in hog heaven too, with the new cable Internet connection at their house. They needed James' help in making it all work, so I was in hog heaven with the invitation to dinner (and playing with the kids) that she used to bribe her dad to come be her tech support.

I'm looking forward to Saturday, when a friend and I will have lunch in downtown Smyrna and attend the first ever "Braves Game on the Green." The city and several co-sponsors will be showing the 1 p.m. away game with Toronto on two giant outdoor screens, along with other activities and appearances by different Braves' personalities. I hope the rain holds off and it's at least under 90 degrees. Once a few years ago, she and I went to an afternoon Braves game and our seat were in full sun. It was brutal. We had taken a small cooler with a couple of the blue ice packs inside, and when we finished the drinks from the cooler, we sat on the ice packs. As I recall, the rest of us was broiling, but we had nice, cool tushies.

On the Road Again

I haven't left yet, but I just looked at July's calendar, and I will be gone at least 12 and maybe 14 days of the month! It may be necessary in the next week or two to make a quick overnight trip to Nashville to bring home some of Phillip's stuff that that he won't need and that he won't have space for at his new place. I will be representing American Vision, Creation Book Publishers, and Tolle Lege Press (to a lesser degree) at the International Christian Retailers' Show in Orlando July 12-17. I'm excited to have the opportunity, on July 13, to worship at Saint Andrews Chapel near Orlando where Dr. R. C. Sproul is pastor. I've read several of his books and seen numerous video lectures over the years, but this will be my first in-person opportunity. Last, but not least, vacation in the Charleston area is scheduled for July 26 - August 2 (coincidentally, my 33rd wedding anniversary). August plans: STAY HOME!

Update on Boredom Everyday

Since Phillip hasn't posted on his blog since June 1, I thought I'd give an update here. About six weeks ago, his first roommate at Nashville Auto Diesel College was relocated elsewhere on campus due to his repeated infraction of the "no smoking in the dorm" rule. Phillip spent a blissful couple of weeks in solitary confinement before the housing office assigned him a new roommate. I don't think they were instant bosom buddies. The roommate either didn't have a room key for some reason, or he lost it, so he was coming in through the exterior window! In addition, Phillip bought a universal remote control so that he could turn off the guy's TV that was playing 24/7. The final straw came last week when the roommate stole some of Phillip's food. And it wasn't just one thing that was sitting in plain view. It was several different things from a care package that Emily had just sent him the day before, and it was in a closed box up under Phillip's desk area. If you know big-hearted Phillip, he would have given it to the guy if he had just asked. But Phillip is on the 10-meal/week plan, and he has a limited income with his part-time job unloading trucks, so this food was for meals that aren't covered in the school cafeteria. (Don't worry; we won't let him starve!) At any rate, he was in the process of composing yet another letter of complaint to the housing office, when he received a notice that they wanted him to come talk to them. It seems that they are expecting a large influx of new students next month, and so in order to make room for them, they are moving some of the current students (if they agree to the move) to an extended-stay motel off campus. The on-campus meal plan remains intact, but since it costs the school more to house students this way, they won't refund the meal plan if you choose not to use it. Phillip wants to make the move, even though he won't be able to use the 10-meal plan unless he does a lot of extra driving between work, school, and his room. He'll still have a roommate, but he's asked for a new one and the housing office has agreed to assign a new one. The one remaining piece of necessary information is when the move is scheduled to take place. Phillip has more stuff in his room than he can put in his car. Plus, he won't need his refrigerator or microwave once he moves. It looks like we may need to make a trip to Nashville to bring some stuff home.

On a happy note, Phillip is still enjoying his courses and he continues to make all As and Bs. He will be finished with the program in November.

Thankful for Nothing

Today was an average (boring, uneventful, humdrum, routine, normal, common, typical, regular, standard, customary) day in an average (boring, uneventful, humdrum, routine, normal, common, typical, regular, standard, customary) life. When nothing particularly noteworthy has happened on any given day, I try to remember to thank the Lord for His watchcare over me and hedge of protection about me... that no accident or catastrophe has befallen me or mine. Thank you, Lord!
I haven't posted a picture in a couple of days, so here's one. It's not recent (in case you didn't guess!), and I don't know why I felt the need to share it just now. I suppose it's because my mom, sisters, and I have Buddy Chat on Monday evenings. If you could see the bottom of the picture, you would note that my bell-bottom pants are the widest part of me!

Great Gadsby

Here's another good hymn from the collection of Gadsby's Hymns. This one was written by Benjamin Beddome (1717-1795), an English clergyman who wrote a hymn per week to be sung following his sermon. By-the-way, none of the hymns in this volume have titles.

My times of sorrow and of joy,
Great God, are in thy hand;
My choicest comforts come from thee,
And go at thy command.

If thou shouldst take them all away,
Yet let me not repine;
Before they were possessed by me,
They were entirely thine.

Nor let me drop a murmuring word,
Though the whole world were gone;
But seek enduring happiness
In thee, and thee alone.

Success at CVS

I'll spare you all the boring math details that I barely understand myself, but here's what I got today for $0.46 out-of-pocket, and coming out with exactly the same amount of Extra Bucks that I went in with. The Ban was on sale, but I did not have a coupon, nor did it generate Extra Bucks. However, I was out of deodorant, and I didn't want to smell like a Brut.

GRIPE: By accident and memory leakage issues, I got one more mouthwash than the limit allows, or I would have come out with more Extra Bucks than I started with.

GOODIES: I also went to Kroger and Publix today. I didn't save that much at Kroger -- 26% -- but I like the fact that the percentage of savings is printed on the receipt and I didn't have to find my pink calculator to figure it out. I did better at Publix. I just got a few sale items (a couple with MFC), so I spent $13.75, but saved $17.78. Maybe Dave will compute the percentage of savings for me!

Adulterating the Chocolate

We have a chocolate stash at my office. We make ourselves pay 10 cents per piece so that we don't eat a whole bag at once, and so that we always have enough money to go buy more. Dove is our favorite: dark, milk, almond, and my favorite, caramel. The inside foil of each piece has a sentence printed on it. Some of them read, You look good in red, You're allowed to do nothing (we have to ignore this one at work), and Smile at yourself in the mirror. (Yes, I've eaten enough of these to have memorized the sayings.) I really got my boss, the vice president, one time with one of the wrappers. He was passing by my office when I called out to him and asked (with a straight face) if he'd handle "this" for me. He said, "Sure," and came in my office. So, I tossed my Dove wrapper in front of him: Have your feet massaged. He sort of growled at me and left my office shaking his head and laughing. I love pulling one over on him!
Here's another wrapper that I like to get:
Now, I wouldn't dream of adulterating any chocolate, especially Dove, but I got this wrapper one time, added a phrase, as shown, and left it on someone else's desk. In all honesty, I believe I've done this more than once!

Git 'R Done!

Staff meeting in the old warehouse
when the staff was about 2/3 the size it is now.

The president of my company frequently says that he will hire only people who can do at least five things. Because we're a small (but growing) non-profit (six employees when I started there four years ago, and now eighteen), it's true that sometimes we wear more than one hat. There may be a couple of people who juggle fewer than their requisite five tasks, but that's OK, because I'm pretty sure that I keep the law of averages intact. Here are roles that I have played lately -- some that I'm sure I was hired to do, and some that must have been in the fine print that I missed:

1. Bookkeeper - accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll, payroll & sales taxes, reconcile bank statements
2. Human Resources Manager - get new employees enrolled in health insurance and departing ones removed, set up new employees in payroll system, review resumes and conduct interviews for an open position
3. Network Administrator - Solve work station connectivity issues; reset servers, routers, and modems; install software and printers
4. Customer Service Manager - Deal with orders that have fallen through the cracks (as well as the ones that were just plain wrong) and placate unhappy customers (I should point out that this is a tiny percentage of orders), assign and balance customer service workload among staff, resolve customers' payment issues
5. Warehouse (including staff) Overseer - Check in periodically to make sure that orders are going out in a timely fashion; advise regarding shipping supplies; study, negotiate, and contract for new shipping system
6. Equipment Repairwoman - Fix malfunctioning postage meter, attempt to fix jammed printer (sorry, Jane), instruct staff on microwave operation (it does have way more buttons than most, and it communicates entire paragraphs of information in its six-characters-at-a-time display)
7. Purchaser - Buy computer monitors, office supplies, birthday cakes, and inventory
8. Janitor - Run the carpet sweeper in my office and the VP's, remove the tank lid and jiggle various grungy parts to make the toilet fill with fresh water, put away clean dishes, wash and sanitize countertop (thanks for doing most of it, Liz) and lunch tables
9. Consultant - Offer professional or shallow opinion on print projects, future events, logo-ed uniform selection and any number of other topics, whether invited to do so or not
10. Umm... it's getting late, and I was up unable to sleep for two hours in the middle of the night last night. Although I had ten in mind when I started typing, the tenth role has escaped my brain. As I am about to fall asleep with my mouth wide open, start drooling over the keyboard, and short-circuit it or myself, the tenth role will be postponed until further notice. Consider it a rain delay, of sorts.
    

Lyrics I Like

After years of listening to an oldies station on the radio, it went off the air, and I started listening to country music. I still refuse to listen to the twangy wailing that I heard played at home in my childhood, but I do like much of the contemporary country offerings. And even if you don't like the sound of the music, you have to admit that the lyricists often have quite a way with words. Here are ten lyrics (in no particular order) that I like, either because of the play on words, the picture the words paint, or just because! The singer and the title are at the top of each lyric.

1. Alabama, High Cotton: When Sunday mornings rolled around, we dressed up in hand-me-downs, just in time to gather with the church. (I like this one for the play on words in the second phrase, but also because gather with the church is much more accurate than the usual go to church.)
   
2. Brad Paisley, Alcohol: Since the day I left Milwaukee, Lynchburg and Bordeaux, France, been making a fool out of folks just like you and helping white people dance.
3. LeAnn Rimes, Good Friend and a Glass of Wine: Who died and crowned me everybody’s everything?
   
4. Trent Tomlinson, Drunker Than Me: Well, I never thought it'd come to this when I said, "Have another." 'Cause, baby, you turned into me, and I became my mother. (I just realized that I've listed three drinking songs in a row!)
   
5. Joe Dee Messina, I’m Alright: Been singin' for my rent and singin' for my supper. I'm above the below and below the upper. I'm stuck in the middle where money gets tight, but I guess I'm doin' alright.
6. Tricia Yearwood, Georgia Rain: I don't remember what was poundin' more, the heart in my chest or the hood of that Ford.
7. Billy Currington, Good Directions: I was sittin’ there sellin’ turnips on a flatbed truck, crunchin’ on a pork rind when she pulled up. She had to be thinkin’ “This is where rednecks come from.” ... (and then the ending) Thank God for good directions and turnip greens.
8. Rodney Atkins, If You’re Going Through Hell: You step off the straight and narrow and you don't know where you are, use the needle of your compass to sew up your broken heart.
9. SheDaisy, In Terms of Love: I don't think about me in terms of you; I don't think about you in terms of us; I don't think about us in terms of love.
10. Chuck Wicks, Stealing Cinderella: In her eyes I'm Prince Charming, but to him I'm just some fella riding in and stealing Cinderella.

Let me know if I've missed a real classic.

Woman in Black

I wore black to work today. It turned out to be a wise choice. I was attempting to help my assistant unjam a non-existent paper jam in her printer. The machine thought it had a jam, but we couldn't find even the smallest speck of errant paper. In our search and destroy mission, I had pulled out the toner cartridge and was holding it at different angles while searching for potential hiding places. She started turning the gears on the cartridge, and proceeded to dump out about a cup of toner, which fell all over her desk, after sifting through my hands. There was nothing to do but laugh convulsively, then go get the vacuum cleaner, paper towels, feather duster, and canned air. Even after washing my hands numerous times today, I've still got the mechanic's look... black all around and under my fingernails. I'm hoping it comes off at least by Sunday. I'm not in the handbell choir, and I'm not sure that I could pull off the 1950's white glove look. Maybe if I got a bouffant hairdo....

Critters Past and Present

After last night's really bad pun, I need to redeem myself today. I doubt that it's possible though, because it was a pretty average, uneventful workday. We've had bizarre stuff happen at work before, like the time a domestic dispute (unrelated to anyone in the building) unfolded in our parking lot (complete with police!) but nothing like that happened today to give me blog material. I could update previous blogs, for example, the orange flowers I reported on haven't gotten bigger or better. In fact, they're almost dead.... the inevitability of just about anything I plant. I mentioned my cat in an early post. Since I've had cats all my life, I'm going to see how many of their names I can remember. I'll start with the one I have now:

• Blinky
• Daisy
• Taffy
• Noel
• Holly
• Joansey (I didn't name this one)
  
• Aphrodite (Afro, for short)
• Chigger
• Mama Bear
• Umbweegi (don't ask)
• Tar Baby (I don't really remember one with this name, but it's what my mom named all black cats, I think)
• Purrcy

That's it. Any help out there?

Blah, Blah, Blog Sleep

I have nothing else to report, and I'm going to bed.

No Multiplicity

I'm happy to report that at my three cookouts, I ate three different entrees: One hamburger, one hotdog, and one chicken breast. I did have potato salad twice, but I'll get over it.

Cooked Out!

By early evening, I will have been a guest at three cookouts in less than 24 hours. We went to Emily & Dave's house last night for an early Fathers' Day cookout and to see and enjoy their new deck and the kids' new play set. It's a little hard to see in the picture, but Alexa was wearing the pink Atlanta Braves onesie that some anonymous Braves fan gave her. I have to go to the grocery store this morning, but then we're going to my dad's house at lunchtime for a surprise Fathers' Day cookout. I'm pretty sure I haven't told him that I have a blog, and I'm virtually certain that he's not on Facebook. so the secret is intact. Later in the afternoon, we're going to the assisted living facility where my in-laws live for yet another Fathers' Day cookout and games. We're not exactly sure what the games are, but we're guessing that softball, volleyball, and water balloon wars are not among them. If they are, you can bet there will be pictures posted!

It Doesn't Compute

I think my user profile shows my job as "Office Manager." That's true, but it could be Office Manager/Bookkeeper. I've been a bookkeeper for years, decades even. I've been a bookkeeper for so long, that I originally began with ledger sheets and a plain, yellow pencil. It wasn't even a mechanical pencil. Math was always one of my best subjects. Until today. I went to CVS and I think I did OK on the deals, but I haven't figured out a way to insert a spreadsheet into a blog, so you'll have to take my word for it. I came home with two bottles of mouthwash, two boxes of bandages, one Father's Day card, and one box of a particularly effective tummy remedy. (In the photo, the name of said remedy has been hidden to protect the innocent.) I originally bought some toothbrushes too, but when I got out to the car and realized that I didn't get Extra Bucks for them like I thought I would, I went back in and found that I'd bought the wrong kind, and they were out of the right kind. So, I returned them and got my money back. The thing is, I had needed those toothbrushes to get the total over $25 so I could use a $5 off coupon. But they didn't keep $5 of the refund. I spent $2.62 out-of-pocket for six items, used up $9.98 in EB, but got back $13.96 in EB.

I got tired of always losing the playing card-sized calculator I kept at my desk, so I finally got this pink one, which I use to figure my CVS deals, among other things. The AA battery was put there for perspective. This calculator is a whopping 12" tall, and is bright enough to use as a signal for landing aircraft. Alas, there's no room on my desk for even a paper airplane to land.