...back to the fun stuff...

Okay...the top two pictures are the huge haunted house & its garage on the "spookiest corner in town"! lol! My best friend Joe and I talked about renting that house in 1986, but we never went through with it...bummer! The bottom is an octagon house on stilts beside the lake I had on here last time...which is all one house away from that corner!

The first day I went to my new job up north, it felt kinda weird. The produce manager at that store was there with me for the first couple hours, just to go over what she did the first part of the day, and show me where everything was, then she went to the store she was transferring to! Things must've just fallen into place just right for that company that day! I became really good friends with everyone up there, and just kinda fit in like a square peg that finally found its square hole! lol! Seriously, all the people I worked with up there were great, and ready to laugh...which is what I was really good at, you know. We usually got together after work a couple nights a week and went to the bar down the road to drink for an hour or 4...but I only went out on Tuesdays & Saturday nights, cuz I was off on Wednesdays & Sunday mornings! I did go once on a Friday night for one beer, then stood up & said "I gotta go, I work tomorrow morning." and that hunky store manager stood up & threw his arms around me and kissed me loudly on the cheek, and said "See? Everybody, this is a good example for you all!!" Wow...that was a new one...nobody ever called me a good example...I was always the horrible warning..!

Soon I found out that one of the girls I now worked with was pregnant by the former produce mgr's bf...told ya they're everywhere, didn't I? A few weeks later, something else happened & the former produce mgr died...so that was the beginning of my two most interesting years of my life...

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

...not much to talk about today...

...I'm interupting the 80's job program for a day or 2...just cuz I've got a bunch of other stuff on my mind...

First of all....IT'S A GRANDSON!! We all met him Monday via an ultrasound! He's got super-long legs, and a super-strong heartbeat...and while the ultrasound lady was pointing out everything we were seeing...you know, "here's the heart, 2 kidneys, the cute little nose...and do y'all want to see his package?" OMG! lololololololol!! How cool!

There's all kinds of health crap going on this week. Well, this month! I haven't felt better after the tysabri Sept 1st at all...which is a totally depressing feeling! But I've gone in and had every test known to man in the last 2 weeks, it seems. Got a bone density test, which still looks like it did last time 2 years ago, which means I don't have osteoporosis...but I still need to take calcium+vit D, fosamax once a week, and "keepdrinkingmilk!" ...Also started drinking whole milk & Carnation instant breakfast, which has more fat, & is a LOT cheaper than Boost! I've gained a pound a week this month which puts me up to 94 lbs! Yippee! And I had another mri on my brain & cervical spine...No changes on my brain, but, this sucks...there's a node on my thyroid. I asked if maybe that had anything to do with the fact that I can't gain weight. Dr S said no, all my blood tests on my thyroid have come back normal. So I have to go have it ultrasounded Thursday...grrrrrrr! Exactly how much shit do ya want to throw at me?

The picture up there of the 666 carved into the stone post is, unbelievably, at the back parking lot of the huge Etowah church up there. That church used to be the Kings' mansion...the King family is who we (Mom & Dad, when I was 2!) bought our house from here in town, they lived in that house after the mansion/church. The lake-type thing is in someone's backyard, for heaven's sake, right across the street fron the church...the tree with the hole in it is on the other street on the other side of the church. My first apartment was on that street, with the scary attic & all. And I remember sitting on the front porch of that apartment, drinking a beer, and watching a neat little owl in the tree at the church! That whole area just seemed magical.

Okay, gotta go.

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

A run-in with a raccoon...in the middle of town!

The Psychiatrist and Proctologist

Two doctors, a psychiatrist and a proctologist, opened an office in a small town and put up a sign reading:"Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones: Hysterias and Posteriors."
The town council was not happy with the sign, so the doctors changed it to read, "Schizoids and Hemorrhoids."
This was not acceptable either, so in an effort to satisfy the council, they changed the sign to "Catatonics and High Colonics." No go.
Next, they tried "Manic Depressives and Anal Retentives." Thumbs down again.
Then came "Minds and Behinds." Still no good.
Another attempt resulted in "Lost Souls and Butt Holes." Unacceptable again!
So they tried "Analysis and Anal Cysts." Not a chance.
"Nuts and Butts?" No way.
"Freaks and Cheeks?" Still no go.
"Loons and Moons?" Forget it.
Almost at their wit's end, the doctors finally came up with:
Dr. Smith and Dr. Jones, "Odds and Ends."
Everyone loved it.

I'm starting to get addicted to dumbass jokes!

Before I transferred to my new store, a friend of mine wanted me to spend a weekend with him at his new house in Fort Wayne. So I made sure Mom & Dad would keep Tif that weekend, and I drove over there. Not a bad drive, I'm thinking it was maybe 3 hours...but, did I mention, I love to drive? Yeah...
So I went, had a great weekend, and drove home Sunday night...I still remember the song on the radio, Wang Chung...Everybody Have Fun Tonight! Wow! That brings back huge memories of coming home the last hour was on a dark & lonely country road....(sounds like the beginning of a good book, doesn't it?).
When I got back to town, I decided to drop my suitcase off at home before I picked Tif up. I pulled my car up in my parking space at my apartment, and started unloading my stuff. Then I walked across the back of the house, because the steps upstairs went along that side of the house. They were just a regular set of stairs up to my door at the second floor of the house. It was about 11 pm, and I wanted to hurry up, cuz to go to my new job an hour away, that meant that I'd have to get up at about 5:45 am, to get Tif up & ready, take a shower, feed her breakfast, do my hair & makeup & all that, take Tif a few blocks down the street to her babysitter's, and get back in the car & go get a can of Coke, and then get on route 23 north to get to work by 8. Phew...it never seemed like it was THAT much to do! 'Course, at that age, nothing is too much!
Well, here I was, lugging my big ol' suitcase, and I put my foot on the bottom step to my apartment, then I looked up, and realized I was staring a huge raccoon in the eye! OMG!! He was at the top of the steps...looked like he'd been knocking on the door or something! Scared the crap outta me! I backed down and away from the steps, & watched to see where he went. After about 10 minutes, he came walking slowly down the steps and went trotting toward the street. To his home. In the sewer!! Ick!!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

emergency!

"FLU UPDATE"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is the difference between Bird Flu and Swine Flu?

For bird flu you need tweetment and for swine flu you need oinkment.

* now do you still wonder why I live alone? *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A guy with a black eye boards his plane bound for Pittsburgh and sits down in his seat. He notices immediately that the guy next to him has a black eye, too.
He says to him, "Hey, this is a coincidence, we both have black eyes; mind if I ask how you got yours?"
The other guy says, "Well, it just happened, it was a tongue twister accident.
See, I was at the ticket counter and this gorgeous blonde with the most massive breasts in the world was there. So, instead of saying, 'I'd like two tickets to Pittsburgh,' I accidentally said, 'I'd like two pickets to Tittsburgh'....so she socked me a good one."
The first guy replied, "Wow! This is unbelievable. Mine was a tongue-twister too.
I was at the breakfast table and I wanted to say to my wife, "Please pour me a bowl of Frosties, honey.'
But I accidentally said, 'You have ruined my life you evil, self-centered, fat-assed bitch.'

A lot of guys are laughing and looking over their shoulders to make sure they're alone...

I had fun being a produce manager at that store! I did that there for about a year at that store, learning what real physical work is all about, & how great it feels to do it, and do it well, and be a great mommy and bring Tif up to know that it's totally important to laugh & have fun while doing the important things you have to! In my life, the decade of laughter was the 80's! That truly was the VERY BEST time of my life!

Then 'Mr Whipple' started being even a bigger jerk than usual. He was an ok boss, just "bossy"! And I have a problem with being told what to do (ask anybody!). We went riding around Ohio so I could see some of the other stores (in the company), that was neat! We even would stop at a bar for a beer on the way home. No, not any 'funny business', we also had a mutual respect & friendship. Then all of a sudden, I got a produce supervisor up at the main office in Findlay. He came in one day & was talking about a lot of stuff. Mr Whipple was following us all around, & butting into the conversation. I could see new boss getting pissed at him...& I just bided my time. lol! All of a sudden New Boss said "I'd like to talk to my produce manager, okay?" *said quite sternly*! So we talked awhile...And in April, 1986, I got transferred to my new store, 55 miles north, Fostoria. I was SO freakin' happy! I only made $5.50/hour, but hell, I LOVED driving! I found out later they had bets on me either quitting or moving up there...I did neither. It was my dream job at a store for a boss I really liked (ok, yeah, he was REALLY really cute!) & married, which I wanted nothing to do with! We were great friends...Amazing the number of guys I used to hang out with just because we all laughed...nobody ever got all snippy because they thought they were getting laughed at! If you were that self-conscious, you had no business hanging with us! Luckily, Mom & Dad had bought me an '80 Honda Civic when I got that job, so I got gas about 3 times a week, and put about 1000 miles a week on that car...& Mom & Dad paid my insurance (I was blessed with them!)

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Saturday of Labor Day weekend...

Nature at its finest...here in town! Nope...there aren't any obvious creepy things...I'm sure they're hiding in there, but at least that's the decent thing for them to do!

When the produce manager at that store where I started quit, I started begging 'Mr Whipple' to let me have that department. At first he laughed at me, said "You aren't 'muscle-y' enough! No way could you unload trucks!" I DID only weigh 98 lbs then. But I kept bugging & begging & pleading for at least a chance to try it! So he brought a big skid up front and said "Okay...pick that up and carry it to the backroom...then we'll see." OMG! I did it, with lots of panting & huffing & puffing & sweat. But I did it, so he kept his word (amazing), and gave me some rudimentary explanations of what to do, like do orders every other day, unload trucks at least 3 times a week, then put it all on display on the racks, and any extra had to go in the cooler in back. No problem...hahahahaha! He forgot to mention that the first thing I had to do in the morning was pull anything off the rack that wasn't super fresh. Then throw it away...the last thing to do at night was trim and bag an extra cart full of lettuce for people to put out at night. Yeah...I had absolutely no clue how much work was involved, but I did it. Just because a department manager was a full time job, paying 4.50 an hour. Jeez, I was RICH! And, by the way, I gained 10 lbs almost immediately because I did build muscle, and I weighed 108 lbs from the time I was 20 till I was 40! That was the BEST job ever! It's evolved 100% since then, plus if the department is big enough, there are more people, not just 1!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!

Tuesday already???

The top picture up there is behind the first groc store I worked at here in Marion...I guess I started in maybe November 1984, right after Tif turned a year old and I left my first husband. That divorce took about a year and a half, but, in the long run, well, the hard things you go through and put a lot of time & work into are (for the most part) worth it. You just never know what you can do until you have to do it, right?

I forget what the purple bush up there in the middle is..hyacinth? maybe? And those wild looking flowers on the bottom, they're just different.

Anyway, I started getting a lot of hours at work, cuz, of course, once I had called off sick one day (a 4 hr day, I just hadn't felt like going! lazy!), I noticed how little money I had!! That's when I realized how truly broke I was! I was gonna say I was flat busted, but, why the hell should I just give all of you an easy one on me?? lol!

Actually, that just reminds me of a birthday card the head cashier at that store gave me a month later for my birthday...on the front it said "Listen, I'll tell you a joke so funny you'll laugh your tits off..."open it up..."Oh. I see you already heard it." Yeah, we all were great friends immediately...that was my birthday card in December, & I'd just started there in Nov!

When I was a cashier, well, it's so different looking at the front of a store now...there were no such things as scanners yet, remember? Prices were either stamped on in ink, or we used a label gun! I remember once when Tif & I were in there shopping, the assistant manager was using a label gun on stuff, and she stuck a price on Tif as we went by, and Tif was scared as hell of the loud click-clack it made! From then on until she was probably 4, Kathy always chased her with a label gun when we were in!

We had a lot of food stamp customers at that store, and I remember in the summer kids would come in (sent by their parents), and try to buy one pack of Kool-Aid for 17 cents and get the change for their parents, so they could buy cigarettes with the change from a couple packs of Kool-Aid. Wow. Brings all kinds of stuff back!

One afternoon, I was ringing up a customer's stuff, (& probably flirting with him too), my ex-husband's mom & sister came charging in, and both started giving me hell, for what I can't remember, but...they were yelling at me in front of anyone in there "You ruined my son's life!" (hmmm. maybe you shouldve taught your 27 year old son not to get an 18 yr old pregnant?) lol!

Naaahhhh...the customer & the head cashier calmed them down and made them leave. I'm glad, cuz that was before I was a real smartass, & I was shook up, & half crying...then the customer I had been helping smiled and said "Wow. Didja give him aids?" (remember...early 80's...). Man, I was good friends with him forever after that! I even remember, his name was Rhett...and I actually named my Mazda RX-7 that a few years later!

BoUnCeS!! LibbY!