Insomnimusing: Allons-y!

So another Christmas has come and gone. I had hoped it would be a new start for me, after I applied for a job I've wanted for years and even was one of only four people called in to interview for it. Alas, I didn't get it. Somehow getting up to the interview part and then not getting a job feels worse than not getting called for an interview at all. Feels more like personal rejection. So I start a new year at my old job, miserable, broke and with no chance of going anywhere at all. The girls enjoyed their Christmas immensely. Gin's list consisted of One Direction things: music, posters, magazines, books, clothes, purses, etc. She got them all. She's ecstatic. She's 14, and 1D is kind of her life right now. Every day when I get home from work, I'm subjected to an hour of videos she's found on YouTube of interviews, commercials and whatever else she can find featuring Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn. Yes, I know more about those four British boys and one...

Even though I dread the coming of autumn - because it means the end of warm weather and the beginning of cold weather - there are a few things I must admit I like about it. I love the bright orange and red and yellow leaves, even though it doesn't last very long before it's all a rather unattractive brown. I love that week or so when it seems all the leaves are falling at once, and the air is always filled with leaves raining down. I love the rustling they make as the wind shifts them all around the ground. And I love that smell. It seems odd to love any smell associated with something decaying, but that scent of the fallen leaves, especially after a rain, is somehow wonderful. Wouldn't it be nice if all decaying things could smell pleasant? So, it's no secret that I'm not a cold weather fan, by any stretch of the imagination, but it does suit my wardrobe better. I love sweaters, and they fill about 80% of my closet. I also love the cold weather foods - those w...

We're definitely keeping busy around here lately. Gin had her first cheer competition on Sunday. Both of her group's teams took first place for their divisions, so she was very excited. It was a long day for all of us. We went in to Sidney to pick up my mom, then spent about five hours at the venue before meeting up with my son, Pooh, for dinner at Noodles & Co. Mom says she's not hosting Thanksgiving this year, so Noodles & Co. was our Thanksgiving. I'm not sure, but I think that might be a crime. Good though. On our drive home, we got caught in a traffic jam for 45 minutes because of a crash on the interstate ahead of us. It happened just beyond an interminably long construction zone, so all the exits were closed, and no one could go anywhere. All we could do was wait. And wait. And wait. Yesterday, Gin had her cheer practice, so that meant leaving early and having to go back to the office with Munch while Gin was in practice. Today, I had to leave early so...

My heart is breaking tonight for my dear friend who has just lost her daughter. She was just 21 years old and the mother of a precious little boy who's not yet two years old. It's so strange for me because I have two other friends who have just had babies. One had a very difficult pregnancy and just three weeks ago had her baby, after a difficult delivery during which they both nearly died. But they are now both well and healthy. The other, he and his wife found out that there was a great possibility of miscarriage. She held on and held on and two weeks ago their baby daughter was delivered. She weighed just over a pound, but she is doing so well and such a strong little angel that we are all believing now that she will prove all the doctors wrong. So it was such a shock to learn that my other friend had lost her daughter. I still don't know what happened. I'd never met her, but I know that she was a person who brought nothing but sweetness and a brilliant light to a...

I could have written a post tonight about my friend's lovely wedding yesterday, about the end of a relationship, or about Manchester United's fantastic win over Newcastle today. I could have written about getting to work today and finding that Mitt Romney's coming to town, so my planned work day was completely shot while I had to scramble for the story, or about how my boss actually said "good job" to me about something. I even could have written about how the first freeze of the year is due to hit tonight and as of last night, my furnace doesn't seem to work anymore, so the house is quite frigid. But no. I got home from work, after stopping at the store for new furnace filters, and parked in my own driveway. I took in one armload full of things from the car and scampered about for five or ten minutes in the house before running back out to the car, parked in my own driveway and retrieving the rest of the things I needed to take in - only to look up and see t...

I ended up catching a break today and getting an early respite in what had promised to be a rather nightmarish week. Our staff sports guy is out starting tomorrow to have knee surgery. In our office, that means the news editor will be doing his job. So my fellow copy editor/paginator will be be doing the news editor's job. Which means I'll be doing both his job and my job, in addition to the job of the reporter who's out on maternity leave. And the job of the webmaster who was never replaced. All that's still on. So what was my break? Well, on top of all that, my editor (who has lost all grip on the reality of our staffing situation) assigned me to cover a trial that was scheduled to start today. Trial coverage means I can't do ANYTHING else. My fellow copy ed even had to post the news stories to the web last night, since I'd be out of the office today. He did it wrong, but I honestly don't care. Anyway, the trial was was dismissed. It's a civil case...

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Friday, my annual trip to the BMV was painless enough. I walked right up to the counter with no waiting to renew my registrations for my car and Pooh's. I had to renew my driver's license too. I always have this crazy eyed sort of look in my driver's license photos, but at least this one's not too terribly bad. I took the time to do hair and makeup for once. I figure if it's THE photo of me for the next four years, maybe I should attempt to make it look a little less crap. The image here is as lousy as you would expect a cellphone photo of a driver's license photo to be, but I assure you, it's not bad for capturing the last day of my 30s.  I even took the eye test and passed without my glasses, so according to my driver's license, I don't have to wear them for another four years, Of course, I always wear my glasses when I'm driving - pretty much only when I'm driving. I just bought a new pair from Zenni Optical just for the occasion. Th...

After a ridiculously long week - I was designated replacement for a reporter on vacation, in addition to my own work - I was glad to have a real weekend for a change. I got up Saturday morning to watch my beloved Manchester United beat Wigan 4-0. It wasn't the blow out it sounds like though. The match was scoreless for the first half, and then when the second half came around, it was Paul Scholes - our veteran, our legend, playing his 700th match with United - who finally broke the drought. After that Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) sank one, then we had two new players making their home debuts, Alex B ü ttner and Nick Powell, each score. It was a good start to the day. When the match was finished, the girls and I took a little trip to Troy for the Taste of Troy event. We got to try lots of yummy goodies from the local restaurants, and that always gives me good ideas for my own kitchen. Munch spent the night at her dad's last night, but Gin didn't want to. We picked he...

In the tradition of the unsent letter, I have the "unspoken comment." This would be that thing you shout at your computer when reading a comment thread on a story online.  Tonight's unspoken comments: 1. It's not being arrogant if you're right.  2. Ignorance is the absence of knowledge. Stupidity is the refusal of knowledge. There, now I feel better. Oh, and today's household tip: After using the fabric steamer, give it a couple of minutes to cool before you attempt to wipe the lint off the faceplate with your T-shirt. (typed with one hand while the other is pressed into an ice pack)

I got a new landlord  friend on Saturday. He says he wants us to be friends, and he hates the term landlord. This finally ends the uncertainty I've been living under for the past nine months. You see, I've lived in my townhouse rental for 10 years now. The building was owned - long with several others - by a local, quite elderly man and managed by his sons. One son was friendly enough, but the other I must admit I found intimidating. He NEVER smiled. The father I saw the week I moved into my home and never again after that. The father died last Christmas, and I had no idea what they family might choose to do with the rental properties. For months, I heard nothing, then finally, one of the sons called to say that his mother would be selling. Where would that leave me? Well, it's finally sorted now. My rent has gone up by $50 a month, but I expected that. However, many repairs that needed to be done for a long time were completed by Sunday.  My garbage disposa...

It was easy for me to forget that my schedule had actually been in a bit of a lull over the past three weeks - what with me being busy about every single second, and all. But in reality, Gin was on a break from cheerleading practice because of maintenance at the gym, and I haven't been going to workouts because of excessive work and illness. Break time's over. Last night marked Gin's return to cheer practice (so, I leave work half an hour early to race home to get her then run her back to practice). I sat through that for an hour, because I'm still not quite up to full health. There was a parents' meeting afterward. We went over the competition schedule, which will have me driving her all over the state over the next several months. We also got into fundraisers and upcoming parties - all of which mean more dates in my calendar and fewer hours in my days.  Somehow, after the parent meeting I still managed to come home and make the honey garlic chicken I...

Sometimes I come across a product that's so good or such a great value that I have to share it with my friends. This is NOT a paid post and I am not being compensated in any way for this - it's just a great deal. We've been dealing with a flea infestation in my house pretty much since we adopted our kitten, Colleen, as I mentioned in an earlier post. We had the same problem when we first adopted our older cat, Cookie. They had fleas but were too young for the commercial flea treatments available (pretty much all of them say not to use them on kittens younger than 12 weeks), so the fleas were able to get a foothold in the house. With Cookie, I used Capstar and Program to resolve the problem, and they worked great - better than great. After getting rid of his initial flea problem as a kitten, we never had another for the eight years after - until little Colleen joined the family. (I'd stopped treatment on Cookie for financial reasons.) For a quick overview, Ca...

Geez, it's only 3:30 in the afternoon, and I've already had a full day - or so it seems. I woke up to my alarm this morning and frowned for a moment before I realized, "It's match day!" Then I smiled and turned off the alarm, started up the computer and headed downstairs to make a cup of coffee. I got pretty lucky on my video streams today, as I was able to find a quality stream to allow me to watch the Southampton v. Manchester United match in its entirety, with only a couple of minor blips.  It was a nailbiter, for sure! Southampton scores first, which makes me cringe. Then our new boy, Robin Van Persie ties it up for us. Then they score AGAIN. That's not supposed to happen! We're UNITED, after all, and they're just Southampton. I mean, COME ON! So I spent a good deal of time in squeaky bum mode, even though there was plenty of time to go in the match.  My son Pooh showed up about this time, so I chatted with him as he stood at my doo...

By request, tonight's dinner was my  Super Simple Chicken and Noodles (recipe here) . It's a pretty quick repeat, but I'm not complaining since it's "super simple" and I had no plan made out ahead of time. It's Thursday, which means I get to not feel all stressed out because I don't have work in the morning. I work Friday evenings every week now. I get the kids off to school then I get to go back to sleep. It's nice that they're now old enough that they can spend a Friday evening at home alone (when I don't have to be sure to be there hovering over Munch to get her homework done.) I called our stringer at work today to ask her about the bichon frise - it's her parents' dog. I asked if they might be willing to wait a couple of weeks for a positive answer on whether or not we want to take him. I have to find out if I'm going to be priced out of my apartment now that I'm about to be under new ownership. If we're sta...

I had no time to post Monday's dinner (see previous post), but this is the second time I've made mini meatloaves since I started my little food adventure, so I wanted to get the recipe up. Mini Meatloaves 1 pound lean ground beef 1 egg 15 crushed Ritz crackers (can you tell yet that these are my preferred "filler"?) 1 T. Weber roasted garlic and herb seasoning 1 T. worcestershire sauce 1 t. soy sauce 1 T. chopped dried onion 1/3 c. ketchup 1/2 t. salt 1/2 t. fresh ground black pepper glaze: 1/3 c. ketchup 1 T. brown sugar 1/2 T. soy sauce 1/2 t. ground ginger Heat oven to 400F. Mix meatloaf ingredients thoroughly with hands. Divide into four even portions and shape each into a small loaf shape. Place on baking sheet covered with foil and sprayed lightly with olive oil. Mix glaze ingredients in a small bowl and brush evenly over meatloaves to desired thickness. (I like a lot on mine.) Bake 30-40 minutes or until glaze is nicely browned and lo...

Colleen the kitten was spayed on Monday, so she was a world-class grump for that evening and the next. Being a kitten, though, she bounces back quickly, and though she still tires out quickly and isn't quite up to full speed yet, she can't seem to resist playing.  Oh, and it appears her mama might be pregnant again. I'll be taking her to the shelter soon. It's time to get her out of the baby-making business. I got a call Monday afternoon from my landlord saying my apartment building has been sold (four townhouse units). He said the bank appraiser and his brother would be by Tuesday to take pics, so the rest of Monday was naturally spent in cleaning. Monday evening, I made mini meatloaves with roasted potatoes for dinner. Tuesday was paninis. (I'll post recipes separately). Tonight, Munch decided she wanted to use up the rest of the meat and bread and have another panini, so Gin and I each just had a baked potato after wandering around the kitchen going, ...

After arriving home at 2 a.m. from work last night/this morning, I tried to start up my computer, only to have it tell me that it couldn't start. I tried to run the startup repair upon prompting. Fail. Try again? Sure. Fail again. Try something else? Ok, how about a system restore? Fail. Again? Fail again. Third try? Finally, I was able to get it started. In the meantime, I'm reading an ebook, and by the time it finally starts up, it's 5 a.m. and I forget why I cared to get on in the first place. All I could think was, "Don't let my computer be dead!" Whew! Thank goodness it survived. But I had to set my alarm for 8 a.m. My plan was to drive into Sidney at 8:30 so I could be at the animal shelter by 9 to do the paperwork to get our kitten in to the low-cost spay and neuter clinic Monday. $60 - not so low, really, but better than full price. When my alarm went off, I was able to do some quick mental figuring. Isn't it funny how that happens? I figur...

I have been sick all week, and it's not been fun. I'd already had Monday afternoon scheduled off work because it was the opening match of the season for my beloved Manchester United, but I was feeling awful by then already. I ended up leaving work Tuesday and Wednesday because I still felt terrible. I'm a bit better today. Anyway, the menu got a little wonky because of it. (I also have now missed two weeks of spin classes. When I get back to the gym, it'll be like starting over. Ugh.) After making the stuffed meatballs, I said we'd have to find a use for the leftover sub buns. No problem. Last night was pizza subs, made with jarred pizza sauce and whatever toppings we wanted, topped with shredded mozzerella and popped under a low broiler. Tonight, it's a family favorite: tuna casserole. I don't know how something so simple tastes so good, but tuna casserole night is never a disappointment. Here's my version: Tuna casserole 1/2 of a 16 oz....

I was far too sick Monday to cook, but I managed to pull myself together enough to make dinner on Tuesday. Monday's plan was stuffed meatballs, so that became Tuesday's dinner instead. Stuffed Meatballs 1 lb. lean ground beef 10 Ritz crackers, crushed 1/4 c. milk 1 egg 2 t. Italian seasoning 2 t. dried chopped onion 1/2 t. garlic powder 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese 4 sticks string cheese (mozzarella), cut into 8 pieces each 20 oz. tomato sauce (this was left over from Sunday's stuffed cabbage, but you can use a whole 28 oz. can) 1 T. sugar 2 t. Italian seasoning 1/2 t. garlic powder 1/2 t. onion powder Combine beef, crackers, milk, egg, 2 t. Italian seasoning, chopped onion, 1/2 t. garlic powder and Parmesan cheese until well mixed. Take about a tablespoon of meat mixture and wrap around a piece of the string cheese, then roll into a small ball. You can make the meatballs larger if you like them that way. Place on a baking sheet lightly s...

So, last weekend at my mother's house, mom, the girls and I got onto the subject of food - naturally - and Gin mentioned that she would like more things with cooked cabbage. ... Yeah, I know, right? But I mentioned that really the only way I like cooked cabbage - other than in the form of saurkraut over some bratwurst - is the cabbage rolls my mom makes. She dug out the recipe, so that had to go on the menu. This particular recipe I don't claim as my own, or even my mother's. She found it years ago somewhere, touted as the recipe for cabbage rolls that Garth Brooks said his mother made for him. I looked it up online and saw it appear in a few forums, but I didn't see an "original" anywhere, so I thought I'd go ahead and list it here, too. If objections happen to come down the pike at some point, I'll be more than willing to take it down, if there are copyright issues or something. I'd love to credit the original source, but I don't know wha...

My one-day weekend left my schedule messed up, so Monday had to be my shopping day. Since that's also Gin's cheer practice day, it meant running to the store at 6:30 p.m. for the week's food. By the time we got home, dinner was frozen pizza. I also didn't have the week's menu prepared, so we kind of had to do that on the fly. Tonight, super simple chicken and noodles with a side of asparagus. Believe me, this meal ALMOST couldn't be any easier. Super Simple Chicken and Noodles 1/2 a 16-ounce bag of extra wide egg noodles (these were left from a previous week, so don't look for a future recipe to finish the bag this week, as I'd usually do) 1 can chicken breast (I used the small can, but you can use a big one, if you like more chicken) One can condensed cream of chicken soup (if you can find the cream of chicken with herbs, it's even better!) Half a can of milk Cook egg noodles in boiling water per instructions on the bag. Drain....

I get a one day weekend this week, and probably next, thanks to a coworker vacationing and another on maternity leave. I wish I'd known last weekend, since I felt like I wasted at least one whole day of that one too, and I was looking forward to a real one this week. Oh well. Cramming it all into one day started with getting up to take Gin to her strength-training class, which is required for her to use the Wellness Center at the Y as a teen. I'd rather sleep in after working Friday night, but at least I finished work early and was able to get home at the relatively decent hour of midnight. (We spent the next hour sprinkling the house with diatomaceous earth to eradicate the flea infestation the cats have brought home.) While Gin was at the Y, Munch and I went down to the farmers' market (I'm never in town when it's open, it seems.) We made a good haul: watermelon, bell pepper, onion, half a dozen ears of corn, peaches, some candy apple jelly and a loaf of b...

This post brought to you by Famous Footwear . All opinions are 100% mine. I've already got one kid out of the house, but I've still got a 14 and an 11-year-old girl at home, so this time of year means ... back-to-school shopping. It's time-consuming. It's expensive. It's DULL. But wait... it's also NEW SHOES!  With three girls in the house (I'm counting me), we do love shoe shopping. And Famous Footwear is making it even better for us. They've got all the current styles even my oh-so-fashion-conscious 14-year-old (she takes after me!)  and the cute stuff my 11-year-old still wants. And right now for back-to-school, they've got an even-better-than-BOGO deal! (BOGO = buy one, get one) It's BOGO plus 15% off! Just print the coupon and redeem it at your favorite Famous Footwear store to get 15% off plus buy one pair, get one pair half off through Aug. 18. Don't miss out! BOGO + 15% off Famous Footwea...

I had to work Tuesday night, so I didn't have anything on the menu. The girls stayed at my mother's enjoying a fine pot roast while I got to spend the evening at the Board of Elections office covering what turned out to be a rather dramatic special election. It should have been dull. There were only two issues on the ballot. Here's one of them: My story Anyway, since we all got a break from Mexican for a night, it was OK to use up those leftovers with tonight's dinner: Upside-Down Nachos Leftover 1/2 pound cooked and seasoned ground beef from Monday Leftover 1/2 can seasoned refried beans from Monday Taco sauce 1 c. shredded cheese Another 1/4 of that onion from Monday, chopped finely Shredded lettuce Sour cream Jalapeno slices Tortilla chips (baked ones make for a healthier meal) I'm cooking for three, so I divided the beef, beans and cheese into three microwave-safe bowls. Add a tablespoon or two of taco sauce to each. Stir well. Microwave each on ...

My hectic summer schedule (which shows no signs of slowing for autumn) has prompted me to start making up dinner menus for the week. We've been at this for a few weeks now, and it's been going well. The advantages are: 1) having a clear grocery list that eliminates random shopping and buying extraneous stuff - keeps the grocery bill down; 2) organizing the evening so I know what I'm making as soon as I finally get home every day; 3) home cooking more meals and avoiding having so many "convenience meals," although we still throw some of those in there, because we actually like them; 4) bringing more variety to dinner. Since it's working out so well, I thought I'd share a few success stories and recipes, because who doesn't like recipes and easy, kid-friendly meal ideas, right? This week began with a Mexican Pizza, a variation of an earlier one I'd had on the menu that was a huge success with the kids (and me, too!) I didn't take a picture,...

My summer schedule hasn't slowed down one whit, so I've been AWOL from here again, but I find that I don't mind at all. I'm even beginning to enjoy it. (The schedule part - not the being absent from here part.) It just doesn't feel like chaos now. It's ordered, and there's something comforting in that. Monday is Gin's cheerleading practice, so Munch enjoys time in the pool while I make use of the gym. I had a session with my personal trainer this week - I worked on my legs. I was worried it would make me useless for my spin class Tuesday, but I managed. My glutes are achy today though. Tuesday is my spinning class. If I can get out of work early enough, the girls like me to come get them, so they can swim. But most of the time, I just go straight from work. I'm finding that I enjoy it as a way to end my work day. It sort of makes all that go away. Last week, the instructor turned out the lights and turned on the black lights. That was fun, and I f...

I was facing a very busy schedule today, but oddly, every single thing went faster than expected, so I'm home at a reasonable hour with time to cook, do some laundry and do my yoga too. I went to work and got through posting the day's stories to the web pretty quickly. After my boss came out and handed me a new assignment that's officially an ongoing whole new job, I was in no mood to hang around any longer. I'd already requested the afternoon off, and with 10 comp hours to my credit already, I decided to leave at 11:15 a.m. I surprised the girls by coming home early, and told them to get ready to go. We have a stray who had kittens in our garage 10 weeks ago. One of them injured her foot last week. Infection had set in, and I wasn't about to watch her die a slow, agonizing and completely unnecessary death, so I resolved last night to take her to the vet. Fortunately, my short morning meant I could do it today. We got the kitten ready and I took the girls in tow...

I'm making a point of relaxing this Sunday morning. I slept in for a while, waking at 10:30 a.m. (that seems to be the limit of my "sleeping in," as I wake up by 10:30 regardless of how late I've stayed up). I have about 10 minutes left of morning now. My summertime hectic schedule has continued unabated. Last weekend, the girls and I took Book to the Columbus Zoo for his birthday. It rained most of the day, but that didn't prevent all of us having a good time - or all of us getting some moderate sunburn. We drove home during some horrible thunderstorms, which fortunately I was skirting the edge of most of the way. That was bad enough. It definitely tried my nerves. This week, Gin had her cheer practice on Monday, then the girls spent the afternoon with my mother on Tuesday. They got to swim, and I got to stay at the office until 9 p.m. finishing a special section I was building for the paper. I was very proud of how nice it looked and got lots of praise from ev...

As I face an uncertain future (isn't it always, though?), I find myself thinking a lot about the past lately. I think about the opportunities I had and the opportunities I could have had but never pursued. I wonder where I'd be right now if I had. I remember having so much potential. My career choice was a mistake. I know that. I could have been anything, done anything. My marriages were certainly mistakes. There's no question there. My first husband was on impulse and was meant as a means to escape. Instead, it just left me more trapped with fewer choices left to me. It lasted only five months, but I knew it was a bad idea even before I said my vows. I just thought, maybe, I could pull it off. My second marriage was far worse. He was unworthy even to date me, but I fell for a charm at first and then had this overwhelming need to fix him. That's pure foolishness at the outset. It was pure misery. I've been thinking about the ones who got away, too - the ones I lo...

Oh so NOT! Summer has officially, or unofficially, arrived, as the girls have finished the school year, and the days' temperatures top 90 degrees. We've found very little time to get out and enjoy those days though. Of course, there's my work - my long days' journeys into nights for many, many nights. We've got another vacationer out of the office for the next two weeks, so naturally, the pile on my plate has grown. It's not so bad at the moment though. I've certainly had worse. We also haven't gotten the call about the inspection for my house yet. "Within the next week or two" has stretched well beyond, and we're finding that keeping up with the clean is nearly as hard as getting it clean in the first place. No surprise there. We've never had time. Twenty large bags of garbage made their way to the curb over our two-week cleaning spree, and we had at least eight bags of clothes that went to the donation box. We've provided a ne...

The girls headed out the door yesterday to go to school, and a moment later, Gin popped her head back into the house to tell me that someone had run over our mailboxes (the four units of my building have four boxes on a single post.) I went out to look at it and saw that the post had been completely snapped in two and the boxes were on the ground. Great. So I finished quickly getting ready for work and headed out. I called my landlord when I got there, and he informed me that it was my neighbor, who'd called him about an hour ago to let him know that she'd backed over it. "While I have you on the phone....." Those words are never followed by anything good, have you noticed? "Mom's decided to sell the apartments." The owner of my apartment died on Christmas Day. I was wondering what was going to happen with my place, but enough time had passed that I thought I was safe. You see, his sons had been managing his properties ever since I moved in 10 years...

Another season of the Barclay's Premier League has ended, and though it did not end quite as I would like, it did have me transfixed right up until the last minute. Manchester United were written off to win the league title just before the last match of the season, but during that match, QPR led Manchester City against all odds, so the possibility of retaining the title was renewed right up until the last minute when Sergio Aguero scored the winning goal in the "other" match. Even at our final whistle, we stood a chance. It is somewhat satisfying to know that if QPR had just managed to hold on to that draw, we would have won on points, while City's win was achieved merely on goal difference. A second-place finish by only a hair's breadth is not too damn bad. And truly, what an exciting way to end the season. My only problem is this: Since football is such a big part of my life, what am I to do now that the season's over. Let's see. Tonight, I take Gin...

It's a rare day indeed in this household when a financial surprise is a good one. Today was one of those rare days. My daughter checked the mail after I arrived home from work and handed me an envelope marked from the child support agency. I pay child support for my son, Book. I used to receive child support for my son, Pooh, but he's 21 now, so that stopped long ago. I had a debit card for Pooh's support, onto which the state deposited my payment each week. I had a total of $4.77 left on it when Pooh turned 18, which I just never ended up using because, you know, it's a debit card, and it was $4.77. I never felt comfortable saying, "Here, use $4.77 on this card and then I'll pay some other way for the rest of the cost." So I just left it sit there. Apparently, that card has expired, or was due to expire soon, because I received a replacement in the mail today. I remembered, "Oh yeah, it had a couple of bucks on it so they sent a new card. Oops....

I'm struggling to make it through my Monday at it's not yet 10 a.m. Granted, Mondays are never easy, but the return of the insomnia makes it especially difficult. Saturday night I even had a glass of wine, which normally helps, but I lay in bed until probably at least 4 a.m. unable to doze off. Naturally, I couldn't fall asleep and had to get up early in the morning. OK, I suppose I didn't HAVE to get up, but it was a 7:30 a.m. kickoff for the Man United match Sunday morning, and I can't miss that. Well, I did miss kickoff, but I managed to drag myself awake before the first half hour had passed. Almost wish I'd slept through it….. Last night it struck me that I was just suffering for no good reason as I again lay in bed until the wee hours. I took a sleeping pill, but it was quite late by then, and any sleep I managed to get (which was still far too little) is not offsetting the additional lethargy brought on by sleeping pills taken too late.

Hey, so you all know I'm a total shoe hound, right? I'm also cheap, cheap, cheap! No, I'm FRUGAL. I economize. In short, I hate to pay full retail for anything. I love a deal, so here's a good one I wanted to share. Check out these sassy, fashionable boots at a whopping 74% off the regular price! So what's that come down to in cold, hard cash. Just $26. Yes, it's true. :)

So, it's a little bit depressing when you have something exciting coming up, and there's no one around to share the excitement with you. I'm at work. I'm going to see The Fray in concert tonight. (!!!!!!!) I'm surrounded by sexagenarians (and up) who don't even know who The Fray are (yes, I used the British practice of a plural verb for a collective noun. I prefer it. Sue me.) In other news, the neighborhood stray who adopted us as a kitten has had four new little ones in my garage. Born April 15, I'm sure it was very taxing. (I truly apologize for that horrible, horrible pun - but I'm not deleting it anyway.) There are three tuxedos and one calico. Very cute. Sign up now, and get your own in six weeks. :)

I was concerned Sunday night when it started up again. I was lying in bed, exhausted, staring at the inside of my sleep mask and waiting for rest to finally come. Somewhere around 5 a.m. Monday morning, it finally did. Unfortunately, my alarm sounds at 6:45 a.m., so there was little true rest to it. It's been a long couple of weeks. Or months. Or years, really. But particularly, the last couple of weeks have been tiring. It seems every time I come in to work I find that another coworker is off for one reason or another, and I'm always the one asked to fill in. The choice is obvious, really. I can do more in the same time than anyone else in the office. I'm not being arrogant. Frankly, I wish it weren't so. It's terribly frustrating. I watch my coworkers half-ass their way through the day, and it's fine with the powers that be. Me? I can't even force myself to slow down to their speed. I've gotten fed up, to be sure. I am tired of always having the extra ...

Spring has arrived! I know because the following traditional signs are here: 1. The daffodils are in bloom. I don't have any around here, but I've passed them in my car on my way to work. 2. There's an annoying fly buzzing around in my room. 3. Munch is now wearing the same skirt for four straight days. Previously, she wore the same pair of pants for four straight days. 4. The backside of the wing mirror on my car is covered with a layer of dead bugs. 5. It's gorgeous outside. I'm still hunched over my computer holed up in my room. But the curtains are open. And it's hot in here. 6. I can no longer stop at the pet store after the grocery to look at the fishies because all of my frozen items will melt. 7. I'm lookng forward to Manchester United winning the Premier League title - but dreading the season ending and not having my footie anymore. :( 8. I have to dress in layers, so I can take them off on my way and from work and pile them on in the office where t...

Sometime back in October or so, I started getting emails from Accuweather warning me that this was going to be a winter to make history. The gist of it: brutal cold and snow measured in feet. Usually, the warnings say one or the other - brutal cold and not much snow, or tons of snow but not as cold. Anyway, I never look forward to winter, but this ominous forecast I was definitely not wishing to see come true. Then at the tail-end of October, we got a sudden burst of snow. We knew it wouldn't stick around, but it hinted at an early beginning. Then ... nothing. Well, nothing as far as "winter" was concerned. We had rain and wind some days; we had sun and warmth some days. In fact, it was quite as "autumnal" as weather could get for the midwest. And it kept going, and going, and going. Christmas came and went with the background of a dead and brown landscape. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees most days, and the rain continued a couple of times a week. Then...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine.   For several weeks, every time I'm in my car, I've been hearing radio commercials from various pharmacies saying, "We still take Express Scripts." I've wondered what this was all about. Now I know.   It seems that Walgreens' contract with Express Scripts expired at the end of last year, and Walgreens and Express Script  attempted to negotiate a new contract, but the negotiations were unsuccessful. As of Dec. 31, the contract expired, and, therefore, Walgreens is now excluded from Express Scripts' provider network. All Walgreens pharmacies and Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York City area are affected.   Having read Walgreens side of the story, I've seen that they negotiated in good faith with a genuine effort and desire to help their customers be able to have the lowest  health care...