Sickies

I thought I would escape this flu epidemic that seems to be slithering it's way around town. It found me last night. In an instant I feel like an elephant just sat on my head. I have no energy, like it was sucked right out of me by some ginormous vacuum. I have been sleeping on and off and now I am just tired of being blah. So I decided to keep myself busy by jumping online to see what's going on with the rest of you and the Internet is quiet. So I will take that as my cue to go lay down and defeat this stupid virus or whatever the hell it is. Oh.. also Aunt Flo has paid a visit too. Isn't that sweet?!

Conversations at Thanksgiving dinner I could’ve done without…

We try and celebrate one holiday a year with both sets of parents for a specific reason, to minimize the "getting old" conversations. Or worse, "the olden days were better than now days"

Topics from suffering with fibromyalgia and osteoporosis, and other arthritis conditions and medications. My favorite conversations are when the tables are turned on me or Chris on how we were a couple of hellion children. Of course, our children love to hear these stories so that they can use it against us in the future. One of the conversations turned on me turning a ripe old age of 38 this coming Thursday. My own mother actually called me an old broad. Both sets of parents kidded with me about getting old and how 40 is beating down the door in just a few short years. Jeff chimed in with the "you could be a grandma by the time you are 40" to which I smacked him and told I better not be! Smartass teenagers.

The kids were enthralled by the talk of how things were when their grandparents were young and how they did perfectly fine without all the contraptions that are out there now. Cell phones are a luxury, video games are destroying the youth, DVD players are taking away from the kids using their imagination because let's face it people, all the kids are getting fat because they do nothing all day but sit on their asses. That may be true in some households. But our parents know us perfectly well to know that our children do not do that. They are limited to what they can watch and for how long and our video game playing is more of a family night game event. I think that because they are somewhat out of touch with things that all they can do is sit around and mull that idea around in their heads and then bitch and complain about it.

Don't get me wrong I love our parents to pieces but sometimes I could do without their banter about the good old days. I am sure when I reach their age I could very well be just like them. Here's hoping that I will notice that before it happens.

Thanksgiving went too fast.

Well, I think we have all gotten our fill of turkey for the next year. Between my mom and Chris we had two turkeys that had a combined weight of 33 pounds. Why did we have two turkeys? My dad loves his stuffing and he prefers it stuffed in the bird while it cooks and Chris and his dad won't eat just any old turkey. Oh no… it needs to be fried. I have such easy going parents. When I told them that Chris was going to bring a fried turkey the only thing my dad said was, "Good, more leftovers for me". Snicker… I don't think they counted on all the leftovers once the eight of us were finished stuffing our faces. I ended up bringing not only our own leftovers from the turkey, relish tray, butternut squash but also half of their leftovers. I see turkey sandwiches on the menu for the next week.

My mom is known for her pies. She has been baking pies for as long as I can remember. Today was no exception. She truly out did herself in the pie department. She made the traditional pumpkin pie, a blueberry pie for my dad and Jeff and an apple pie especially for me. I wish I had her baking skills for pies but alas, it isn't my calling. It is nice to get together and enjoy the company of loved ones and it was especially nice that their neighbors are so friendly that they invited Jeff and Katie over to play with their visiting grandchildren. I swear they had a game of tag going for over an hour. Not only will the tryptophan put the little darlings to sleep but the exercise they got will also keep them out tonightJ.

I wanted Chris to take pictures of both our families together and he did bring the camera but forgot his memory stick so he couldn't have saved any pictures on his camera because it is full of work pictures from inspections. So… I will have to wait for my mom to get hers developed to get the duplicates. I have been trying to start a family album of holidays shared and it seems to get sunk before even launching it. One of these days it will happen.

Ok.. My eyeballs are drooping and I am getting extremely tired.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope all of you enjoy your turkey with all the fixings. My family and I will be going to my parents. This is the first year since we moved back to florida that I will not be cooking. However, I have been in charge of the relish tray. So, I am off to start putting that together.

We have an aspiring Equestrian in the family

If you guess Katie then you are right. Since our home backs up into the acres of land that is the home to two beautiful mares, we have been outside every chance we get when we know the horses are nearby. These beauties are so well mannered and very friendly and they will even come to us when we whistle for them. I have made sure that we keep plenty of apples and carrots on hand so Katie can feed them and familiarize herself with these magnificent animals. Chris was joking with Katie yesterday about getting a couple english saddles so that we can ride them.

That was a BIG mistake. Katie will not stop talking about being able to ride the horses. She says she has seen performers race horses and make them jump gates and fences and how much fun she would have if she could do that. I think I am going to have to introduce myself to the owners of the horses and see if they would be willing to let Katie ride a horse a few times or if they could possibly teach her everything there is to know about taking care of a horse, because I am pretty sure her next question is going to be whether or not she can have a horse of her own. OY!

Mindy’s Green Solution is taking off steadily

I am still working on my new blog. There are some technical screw ups that I am working on. It shouldn't be too much longer. If I was home more I probably would have had it figured out by now. Anyway…

Today I received three phone calls from potential customers of my cleaning service. All of them have booked me for next week and we shall see if I become a permanent part of their cleaning schedule. One of the new clients had asked me if I was a franchise. I told her that I did not take part in any franchise opportunity and I asked her if that was important to her. She revealed to me that although she realizes the benefits of buying into a franchise it all depends on the company you buy into. Her experience with cleaning franchises, have not been good ones and it was very hard for her to grieve her complaints and get any results. I listened and empathized with her and I did ensure her that because I am a one woman show her requests and or complaints would not fall on deaf ears.

For the most part I am excited about getting more customers but I am also nervous that I will get too many and not be able to handle all the demand. I really do. not. want. to have to hire employees. I am not saying this to be greedy, but I have been in this business long enough to know that this kind of work is not for everyone and majority of the ones that think it is a piece of cake job do not last for more than two weeks. I also would have to run background checks to make sure that I am hiring someone responsible and trustworthy. I have seen way too many thefts and criminal acts to be naïve. Chris and I have discussed the possibility of having to hire at least two people. But, I am not going to count my chickens before they hatch sort of speak. I have to not think about this and just deal with it if it does happen. Otherwise I just get myself all worked up.

I need a makeover....

If there is one thing that prevents harmony in my relationship with Chris it most certainly is my need to defend myself all the time. Oh and my thought process so that would make it two things. For the most part we tolerate each other's quirks. Having been together for 10+ years you try and look past certain traits. However, when your attributes seem to be getting in the way of enjoying peace and harmony in the relationship it is definitely time to evaluate the reasons for said short comings.

Chris and I have had our troubles. It has never been "easy" with him and for the most part I have always thought relationships were hard to begin with. I have learned that I need to be more aware with how I perceive things.

For example: I have this uncanny ability to take something and overly process it so that I can deal with it the most comfortable way I can. Let's take the ex landlord and his ex wife for instance. They have pretty much declared that they will be keeping the security deposit. Their letter came certified but it did not state why or how much the things that they are claiming cost or if they intend to take it further and come after us for more money. I immediately got pissed and stated to Chris that we need to take them to court to fight for our deposit. He sees it differently. Although we both agree that their claim is unsubstantiated he wants to approach it from a different view. He does not think that forking out $300.oo to bring a civil suit justifies the $600 we are entitled to. We put down a $1000.00 deposit and there is a valid claim to relinquish 360.00 for a french door that needs to be replaced due to the fact that our deceased dog, Scooter, damaged during a thunderstorm. Seeing as though the landlord and his ex refused to do a walk through with Chris, we could not even acknowledge that we would've taken that responsibility. Chris wants me to trust him more with handling issues like this and for the most part letting him handle majority of things his way instead of mine because. let's face it, I for the most part, go around like a gun fully loaded looking for a target. My analogy by the way, not Chris'.

I am always assuming the worst in a person. I have seen way too many situations go foul and it's just easier for me to think this way. I just assume that if a person has done something wrong it is usually for one reason only. When in truth there could be several different reasons. I tend to assume A LOT which is not healthy and more importantly not right. Chris wants me to be more mindful and incorporate basic logic into my thinking process. He is always telling me that my facial expressions are monotone and it is difficult for him to know what mood I am in. Unless I open my mouth and then it is known. I also give him looks of disdain quite often. When I think back on this I am shocked at myself. I love Chris. I would never want to hurt him but lately that's all I have been doing. I guess I need to revamp myself not only physically but mentally as well. Do any of you venture to take a guess how long this is going to take me or better yet do you feel the same way about yourself or about someone you love?