What do you do when someone continually bribes you?

If Isle of Capri Casino doesn't stop trying to bribe us with all these offers that they keep sending Paul.......

........we're just going to have to take them up on their offer.

Funny thing is.....he's not even the big gambler.......why am I not getting any mail?

And then again.......how much money IS he spending when we're off entertaining ourselves alone in the casino???????

An avalanche of blessings

It's interesting how snow can steam roll down a mountain and as it gathers momentum it grows into something bigger.

We experienced that today with a simple blessing.

One customer the other day mentioned on one of our FB posts that his wish was that all the angel wishes on their church Christmas tree would be filled.  I just happened to write him back and told him that maybe we would like to help see that happen and could he send me the details.

I received an e-mail back from him and he told me it was for a church that was in our area and that I needed to talk with Father Stan who would be happy to provide me with the information.

So I got on the phone and called Father Stan.  He told me that they had a tree filled with angel wishes for 20 families in need in our community.  You just picked what you could off the tree and provided whatever the wish was for that member of the family.  I told him that we would be honored to help out and make sure that all those wishes got taken care of. 

So this morning I went over to the church to meet with Father Stan.  What an awesome individual this man was.  He was so gracious and welcoming and in fact, most of the people there already knew I was coming and were so open and friendly.  Father Stan showed me the tree and I picked off a wish for a 5 year old girl and an 8 year old boy.  I also picked up 2 requests for gift cards for a nearby grocery store.

As we stood there chatting I told him that Paul had also wanted to try and find a halfway house or something similar and provide a pizza party for them.  Father Stan knew exactly the place.  He tracked down the youth minister and asked about a place nearby that helped mentally disabled people move out on their own and get them jobs.  Come to find out the church was providing a party for them and were going to purchase pizzas.  I quickly stepped up and volunteered to provide the pizzas for their party tomorrow night and I am personally going to deliver them.

As we continued chatting about the services this place provided for these adults, I found that we might be able to help out with providing a part-time job either helping me or helping out in the store.  So tomorrow night, I am also going to speak with the job coordinator and get more information.

Also, the youth minister said that they do lots of pizzas for their church groups and asked if we offered discounts.  Well since we do discounted pizzas for churches and schools.....it worked out perfectly and they will be using us in the future for their pizzas.

I am so excited to get the opportunity to bring their pizzas tomorrow and find out more about Home Place Texas and what we can do to help.

Isn't it funny how a little simple post on Facebook turned into something so much more?  Something that is really warming my heart today.  God sure does work in mysterious ways sometimes.

Sometimes life is just so incredibly sad

This is a difficult post to write.  But I need to do it.  I need to let out some of the sadness I've been feeling for the last two days.

Yesterday, I found out that one of my friends from high school passed away.

Sure, people die every single day.  Lots of times people I know die.  But this one has hit me really hard.  Maybe it's because she was my age and I had known her since she was a kid in high school like me.

Marilyn was special.  We were friends the last two years of my high school life.  We were songleaders together and we were part of the "lunch bunch".  We had lunch every day together and the four of us got along amazingly well.  I was with her as she recovered from a car accident that broke her jaw.  She had to wire it shut and I would go to her house in the afternoons and be totally grossed out when she had to put spaghetti in a blender and squeeze it into her mouth with a straw.  I was with her when we would make up songleading routines in her bedroom and listen to Carole King.

Graduation took us different directions, but a chance encounter with her at my brother's graduation gave us time to catch up with each other's lives.  She was there with her tiny baby that she had recently had.  She was now a married lady.

Our next meeting was in 1995 at our 20 year reunion.  We caught up on old times and had fun remembering the "good old days".

I would not see her again until 2009 when she and I hooked up as Facebook friends.  She was my inspiration to start blogging.  I loved sitting there reading about her life and her family.  We stayed connected through our blogs and through Facebook and occasionally sending a message or two to each other.

I last had an e-mail from her in May of this year when she was in the beginning stages of finding out what the spot on her lungs was.  At this point she still didn't know what her prognosis was.  I read her bloggings and her FB posts regularly to find out how she was doing.  At the point when she was diagnosed with cancer I was so inspired by her positive and courageous outlook that she was going to be well and all would be cured. 

At one point during her journey right after starting chemo, she had been so upbeat because the doctors thought she was doing so well and that the tumor was shrinking.  What a relief it was to hear that news.  And then there was no news for awhile until October 4th when she posted a blog entitled "Walking hand in hand with God".  In it she reported her progress and that her tumor had stopped responding to treatment and that they were going to do some more intensive therapy.  She still was so upbeat proclaiming that she was going to be well and that she was going to beat it.

There was a long time and still no news.  I kept checking her FB daily to see if she had any updates.  Yesterday, instead of good news......I found that she had lost her battle.

This woman was such a kind hearted and wonderful woman.  She radiated happiness and enthusiasm.  She leaves behind a husband, 7 children, and 15 grandchildren (2 of which were just born very recently).  I am so saddened for their family.  You could tell by her posts and by her postings that she was the center of that family's universe and I am sure that they are devastated by her death.

Thank you Marilyn, for showing me how to be a wonderful mother, friend, and an inspiration in love and courage.  I will truly miss your blogs and your sharing of your family and your life.  These last 5 years, I really feel like I know all your family like they were an extension of my own.  I am sorry that we never got to see each other in person again......but your memory will live forever in my heart.  Rest in peace sweet lady.

Flip Flops

We're still working hard to figure out what we're going to do with our first location.

We really want to move it.  But the expenses to move will be high, contractors to deal with, moving stress in general, blah blah blah.

Paul talked with our current landlord yesterday and the landlord has really made us some good offers to stay where we're at. 

You know.....he's causing us to "flip flop"

So Paul sat down and drew up a rough draft of what the setup would be if we stayed where we were at and expanded into the empty space that's next door to us.

Yes, I'll say it again.....we are now in full blown "flip flop" stage.

Now, it's just opened up our mind to a whole different way of thinking.  More about the advantages of where we stay where we're at or if we move.

*sigh*.......seems like our whole life is a lot "flip flopping"

Note: the pictures of flip flops really had nothing much to do with this entry except they were bright and colorful.  Put a little "summer" back into a winter day.

I think I'll go read a book

It's the first of the month and that is my busiest time.

There is always so much to do with getting the word out on the new Pizza of the Month.  But here it is only 3pm on the last day of the month and I am in such good shape.  I must have had little elves that did some of my work because it seemed to easy this month.

I've got the boxtoppers done.

I've got the calendars for the store made and all our marketing events for the month figured out.

I've got the signs for the stores done.

I've got the signs for the gift cards done.

And I've got the e-mail for the first of the month designed and ready to send out tomorrow.  (no picture for this one.....you'll have to take my word for it or sign up for our VIP E-club so that you'll get one tomorrow)

All I have left is to update the website pages with the new Pizza of the Month, the latest news for the PZ News page, and update the online ordering with the new pizza......and I am good to go.

Since I've apparently been working extremely hard the last couple of days......I think I'll take a break and go read one of those three books that I downloaded on my Kindle today.

It feels kind of good to actually have something done once in awhile.

Prayers asked. Prayers answered.

As I sat at the dinner table yesterday and looked at the magnificent feast I had created, it reminded me of a few things.  And yes.......I would consider them blessings.

I think back to when the boys were little and I was a single mom living in my mobile home that my parents so graciously provided for me.  I would lay there at night and just pray my little heart out that I would win the lottery or some giant windfall would happen my way.  I didn't know how I was going to pay a babysitter, buy food, pay rent, make car payments, and all the other necessary things that were needed to get by in life.

And no I never did win that windfall......but instead I've been paid many times over throughout my life.

Thank God I had such wonderful people in my life that made sure I was going to make it.  My parents, my father-in-law, my sister and her family, and my coworkers.  I have to even thank my mother-in-law, who was already gone, but still provided me with the example of how I needed to work hard to be a good mother.

I was not laying at home waiting for the government or some charity to take care of me.  I was working my butt off every single day doing the best I could on the little that I made.  Thankfully, I had help from my family.  I used to think that if I worked hard, was a good daughter and sister, and most importantly a good mother......that it would all come back ten-fold to me in the future.  Sometimes, I felt so emotionally exhausted and tired because I didn't have a "husband/father" to help me with raising the kids.  I had to deal with every single school issue, every illness, every disciplinary problem, EVERYTHING.  But you know what?  I also got to deal with every hug and kiss, every birthday, every "I love you", celebrate every wonderous achievement, and every crazy moment that we had together.  And I didn't have to share them with anyone.

It's funny how those requests to God don't always seem to come when you first ask for them.

My blessings all came later.......

After 10 years of being a single mom who devoted her entire life to making sure her kids had the best life possible.......I met someone who would change my life.

After that.....my life has been nothing but blessing filled.

Sure there is a lot of crap we have to deal with along the way.  But I feel now that I have reaped the rewards of all those prayers.  All those nights I laid there and cried not knowing how I was going to make it. 

I have two kids who I still would do anything for and still try to make their lives adventure filled (as much as I can).  And I have a husband/partner/best friend who makes me laugh and has opened my eyes to what adventure really is.  

I'm sorry for the boy's father that didn't get to have the wonderful opportunity that I had to raise them.  I'm sorry for the boy's father that doesn't know them and will never know them the way I do.  But you know what?  That's not my problem.......that's his.

I've worked hard to be where I am today and I am going to enjoy every single solitary good or bad moment of it.

Thank you so much for all my blessings.

I must be sick

The turkey is a brining away.  The dishwasher is running.  The washer is full of rugs getting all nice and clean.  Yes.....there is progress happening at this house today.  In fact, I'm just waiting for the rugs to finish so I can get them out to dry in this 40 degree weather.  Then it's off to do the bank runs.

Paul offered to do a couple of my errands today.....so that will leave me the rest of the day to clean house.  I'm back to 80% today and mostly just some lingering head congestion and a little run down feeling.....but must really be sick if I'm looking forward to cleaning house.  Actually, I'm more sick of having to live in a dirty house and looking forward to it being a little cleaned up.

So as soon as the washer is done......I'll be on my way and spend my afternoon being a domestic goddess and my evening being a gourmet chef as I prepare my meal for tomorrow.

Today.....life is good and I'm glad I finally am feeling a little better again!

Here's the star of our dinner brining away with some fresh sage tucked up in her breast.  Hope she turns out delicious.

Successes and Failures

Well due to my lengthy illness....I have been unable to get my latest dinners posted.

FAIL:
the onion soup Pork Chop recipe.

The rice really tasted bland.........really needed something more added to it.  The pork chops were okay, but really needed A1 to flavor them up.  I can tell you with 100% certaintity we will not be making this again.

SUCESS:
Poblano Pepper Stew
We've actually made this before in the past.  It's really too much work and I'm probably not going to be making it again......I want to make easy meals.

Way to much work having to roast the peppers and then clean them out. 

 

 

Yummy, satisfying and good.......but way too much work for this old girl.

This, however, is one of our favorites on the nights we don't feel like cooking.....yummmmm!

Since I've been sick the past few days, the husband has been bringing home food from Pizza Zone or other places.  He even made be grilled cheese and tomato soup one day.  Sometimes being sick has it's perks......like NO COOKING!

Feeling like crap

It's really difficult to get any rest around here when the "children" have to hog all your resting space on the sofa!

The good news is I've caught up on all my back episodes of Shark Tank and I have discovered that every Christmas movie on Lifetime and the Hallmark Channel have all the same plot.  A girl and a guy that don't get along in the beginning and then end up together.  Only took 4 movies to figure that one out......and I had to stop watching that nonsense.

I'm thinking that after 3 days of this crap.....today is my last day of it. 

Hopefully.............I've got a lot of catching up to do.

It's been building and building......

.......and now the time has come to finally open all this mail

It's not really very much fun to have to sit here and open up so many stinking bills.

I really wish things didn't get so behind around here.

I'm exhausted

Today was a tough one.  I am so mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted that I just want to lay down and cry.

But I can't.

Because there is still 50 more things to do before I can go to bed.

It started last night when I had a major meltdown and hated the world and everybody in it.  I quit working at 6pm and put on my pajamas and just laid in bed and watched TV......the things that I WANTED to watch on TV.

It started again this morning with the little guy on our roof that ended up being a day long ordeal.....which really still isn't done.

I now have to keep my cat in the house (and she's freaking driving me crazy because she wants to go outside).  She can't go outside until we have sprayed bleach everywhere that the little raccoon was.  That means all over the roof and front yard.  I also have to take her in tomorrow and get her a distemper shot to make sure she doesn't catch what the little raccoon has.

I had to babysit and keep track of where the raccoon was ALL DAY LONG so that the SPCA knew where to pick him up.  They never showed up.  Last we saw of him he was down about 4 houses sitting in their yard.  We're afraid he's going to go into the woods and spread his disease amongst all the other animals out there.  My neighbor down the street kept her eyes on him until it got dark.

I had to do payroll today, but there were so many other things that got in the way of that.....I just barely got it finished just now.

So now it's time to make dinner, redo the laundry that has been sitting in my washer and dryer all day, and try to get some of my tired mind back together.

Tomorrow we'll be up early to see if the raccoon is still hanging around and try to get them to come and get him.  We also need to get up on the roof and get it sprayed so that the cat can go outside again (that's if I haven't rung her neck yet because she sent me off the deep end). I will also need to get to the Grant Rd. store and drop off their paychecks.

I'm tired.  I haven't had a break all day long.  I just want to put my pajamas on and lay in bed and watch TV.

Doesn't look that's going to happen for another hour or so.

Did I mention how tired I am?

Want to know what we do on our days off?

HaHa......there are no days off!!!

We met with another contractor yesterday to find out an estimate of how much it's going to cost us to convert this old Vet clinic to a brand new beautiful Pizza Zone.

I thought I would take some pictures this time to give you all a sense of what we are looking at.  HINT:  Clicking on pictures makes them larger

 The little area to the right will have the walls come down and that's where our walk in cooler would be.

 This is looking towards the front.  All those cupboards and tables would be taken out and this space is used for kitchen space.  Part of our design is having our kitchen hidden from customers.  We don't currently have that at our Kuykendahl location and we are really looking forward to it!

This is that same area, just a view towards the back.  The cages we are going to leave up for unruly employees (just kidding).  All the walls on the right are coming down to make a big open space.

That's the back of the contractor who might be doing the work.  He's standing in front of the reception area, which we really like and are leaving it the way it is.  This is where we'll wait on the carry out customers and put in a couple of order taking stations.  It's centered directly in the middle of the lobby and will be perfect for what we want.

 This hallway runs down the right side of the "receptionist area".  We are planning on using this hallway for the drivers to come in and out.  This way they won't be in the way of the people working in the kitchen, since they'll be coming in on a different side.  The bathroom at the end of the hall is going to be enlarged and converted to an ADA bathroom.

 The bottom cabinets are being removed and we are going to use this area as a small office.  We are going to keep all the cabinets on the top for storage.  This is right across the hallway from the "receptionist".

This is part of the back room.  The back room is going to have a washer and dryer so we can wash the aprons and towels in the store instead of Paul bringing home those nasty smelly things twice a week home for me to wash.  There are already hookups (YAY!).  We will also have a sink back there and storage shelves for the food and utensils and other cooking items.

We are excited and stressed at the same time.  We really need this bigger space and it's really going to increase our delivery area, plus give us a nice new shiny location instead of that little whole in the wall we've been in for 14 years.

After it's all said and done.........we are taking a vacation!

I didn't know what the heck I was doing

I'm talking about our dinner last night.

I am on this kick the last couple of weeks of making all new things.  I did it last week and it was successful.....we found some great new menu items.

This week we'll be sampling three new things never before made in my kitchen.

We were supposed to start it the night before last, but the husband suggested French Toast and Sausage and I was all over that.

So last night I knew I wanted linguine noodles, chili sauce and shrimp, and veggies.  I read lots of recipes, but couldn't find one the way I wanted it.  Most of them wanted me to make it Alfredo, and we just didn't want all that fat.

So, I just bought the ingredients I wanted and threw it in the wok.

We started with Olive Oil, chopped garlic, asparagus, green onions, mushrooms, jalapeno, cilantro, and spinach as the veggie portion of the meal.

And then we added some shrimp and whole grain linguine to our cooking veggies

I also used a lot of this garlic chili sauce to spice it up and give it some flavor.  We make a trek to the Hong Kong Food Market at least once every 6 months.  They have great choices of different cooking sauces and sell some of the spiciest we've ever had.  We have no idea what the label reads......but they taste really good when you are making stir fry.

And voila......the finished product.  A low calorie pasta dish filled with lots of veggies and shrimp!

It must be a keeper, because we ate it all!

Then the creative man I married dreamed up this dessert for us:

Cut up pieces of Milky Way candy bars with fresh cranberries.  You take a piece of chocolate and a cranberry and eat them at the same time........oh my gosh that was so delicious.

Tonight's dinner will be pork chop inspired.  Stick around....you might find something you like!

There are signs of progress

I have really worked hard this past week. 

Everything from working on marketing, paperwork, new location issues, and some cleaning on the home front.

NO WAY am I even close to being caught up.......but there are signs of progress that at least make me feel a little better.

For instance, all the boxes are out of the eating area and the kitchen table does not contain any laundry or Pizza Zone junk.

My dresser has been cleaned off and all the clothes have been hung up and put away.......just in time for the laundry to be done again.

I will put in another long and hard week in my attempt to get my house cleaned up for the massive amount of company that we are having for Thanksgiving Dinner (Larry and Cris).

Someday I hope to report that I am all caught up.......even if it takes 10 years!

What do you do with too much shredded pork?

You make your favorite food in the world........but you make it a whole new way!

Shredded pork street tacos......yummmmmmm!

 

Paul even made himself a side of shredded pork nachos. 

 

We still have some meat left, so we'll have to creatively use it again tonight.

I have a happy heart today

Normally (most of the time), my heart is happy.  I am so incredibly incredibly fortunate to have the life I enjoy. 

But today its just a tiny bit better because I just dropped Cris off at the airport to go visit his brother.  I am so glad to see them getting along again and want them to always have a great relationship.  But when they get ticked off at each other, it's only my place to stay neutral and listen to each side and try to get them to mend the argument. 

So I'm excited for all of the fun that they have planned while he's there and glad that they are getting some bonding time together.  And I'm slightly jealous that I don't get to enjoy some of that fun with them.  Oh well....can't help being a mother :-)

I've also got some recipe updates for you.  My crockpot as worked overtime this week cranking out some delish food.

Here's a finished shot of the meatloaf.  I would make a few changes such as adding more spices and steak sauce to the meat and using less of the liquid the recipe stated.  But we still had a delicious dinner that night and the meat loaf made good leftovers for lunch.

Last night we had pork butt roast cooking all day in root beer.  No spices or anything else, just 2 cans of root beer.

When it was done you just shred it up and mix it with BBQ sauce.

 

 

Get all the ingredients to make some power slaw

 

And now you plop it all down on an onion roll.......you've got 'yerself a meal!

 

I love it when things turn out good.  I always feel like such a cooking genius.

Are the Gainors having fun yet?

Well not exactly lots of fun......but lots of things happening.

Today's excitement begins with trying to get this damn paperwork caught up.  All these envelopes represent 1 day of daily sales paperwork that needs to be completed for each store.

Some days I feel like I'll never caught up with it all.  Today's plan is to get all this done and get all these envelopes out of my drawer!

Then I will need to tackle this stack of paper.....this all needs to be entered in Quickbooks.  And that stack will be bigger because I will have all the paperwork packets that I'm working on right now.

Are you keeping up so far?

This morning we spent some time going over our floorplan again.  We have a phone call into another contractor that we want to meet out there to get an estimate.  We also need to meet again with the contractor from yesterday....since he wants to meet us there with his plumber.  Wow.....there is so much plumbing work that will need done in new space.

I wish that I had taken some pictures out there yesterday, but I'm sure I'll be back there again before the week is over.

I do have my dinner cooking in the crockpot though.  We are trying the meat loaf.....hope it's good.  We were going to go to the movies tonight and have a night out.....but I don't think that its going to work out.

And then in between Cris losing the keys to the truck and me having to call Paul to meet him with keys and all that stuff......Aaron calls me with some exciting (maybe) news.  This is all in the very beginning stages and we're not even sure if it's going to happen......but his area manager came in this morning and asked him what he thought about transferring to the Farmington, NM store.  This would be a HUGE HUGE promotion for him and going from a store that doesn't hit a million to a store that does 3.3 million a year.  But........it's just the first inkling of what could happen and he said that nothing probably would happen for a month or two.  We will keep you posted on these details.

Good news on the older son front as well.....his assistant manager just got a new store, so Cris' manager is going to try and get him promoted to assistant manager there.  This would also be a big promotion for him and would make such a big difference in his life.  * cross your fingers * that this happens.

Okay........I hear the paperwork calling my name.  Thanks for checking in on us!

Feeling the pressure today

It's difficult to wake up each and every day and try to be a writing comedic genius.  But somehow, I just manage to do it.

So here's a funny look at all the boring stuff we did today, Monday November 11th (so far).

Got up early this morning and took our showers.  We both had errands to run today, but decided to do them all together and it gave us a chance to hang out with each other for awhile.  (no really what that means is Paul didn't want to do his by himself and I am always looking for an excuse not to stay home and get the boring work done.  Then I can blame it on him later that I would have gotten my work done if I didn't have to hang out with him while he does errands).

First stop was to drop off all my new customer packets I worked on this weekend.  We drive into the post office and there's no cars.....oops.....the post office is closed today because of the holiday (well that errand could have been done another day).

Ok, no big deal......next stop is the elementary school to drop off their stickers and flyers that I worked on this weekend.

Since they are right up the street from the Grant Rd. store, we stopped here and picked up their paperwork and to survey a few items there that needed surveying.

Back in the car again.....and this time we were off to preview the stuff for a restaurant auction next week.  We're looking for a vent hood and a sink for the new store.  We have to be really watching our money right now so that we have enough for all the construction that needs done.  Boo.  Here's an exciting picture of the kind of sink we are looking for.

After a quick look at all they had.....we headed to the next destination which was one of our food suppliers.  The big dummies last week didn't deliver our stuff to us (twice....but who's counting?) so we had to stop by and pick up some food items.  Oh well, at this point we put the top down on the convertible and enjoyed the gorgeous day.

Then it was off to the Kuykendahl store to drop off the food.  This was just a quick run in, unload, and get back out kind of trip because we still had stuff to do.

Well since it was about lunch time.......we voted that it was time to eat.  Today it had to be something quick and something near the grocery store.......because we had to be somewhere at 2:15pm today.

We decided to eat at one of our favorite Mediterranean places and shared a beef shawerma sandwich and a greek salad.  Delicious!

Next stop: grocery store.  Luckily we had planned ahead of time and had our list written out.  We ran through that grocery store like contestants on Supermarket Sweep!  On my menu for the next couple of days is Slow Cooker Pulled Pork cooked in rootbeer served on onion buns with a side of Paul's Power Slaw (he puts collard greens and jalapenos in it......it's awesome).  And also at Debbie's Kitchen this week, we'll be featuring a Crock Pot Meatloaf and served with your choice of two sides: Mashed potatoes and Peas.  Please make your reservations at least 2 weeks in advance.

Finally got back to our house and we had 40 minutes before we had to leave to go meet a contractor at the new place.  Paul's duties were to get a food order placed that needed to be done in 10 minutes.  We had so much darn fun with all these errands this morning that he had completely forgotten about it.

My duties were to get next week's paperwork set up for each store and get them on their computer.  CHECK

Cook bacon (that we had just bought at the store) so that I could get my crockpot of pinto beans cooking for dinner.  CHECK

Cut up all the onions, jalapenos, garlic, etc. and get that pot of beans cooking.  CHECK

Yippeee....5 minutes to spare.  Had to run over to the new proposed location and meet with the contractor and the landlord.  We had to discuss all our plans and try to get a quote on how much it's going to cost to do the build-out.  We don't want to find out that it's going to be way more money than what we have and then be stuck in the middle of a project and have a lease on two spaces (no bueno).

So now it's 5pm and I just got home from that hour long meeting discussing ripping out walls, handicapped bathrooms, gas lines, electricity, and plumbing issues from moving sinks.  I just cracked the first beer and am going to sit here and take some time to figure out what works needs to be done today (after I finish entertaining myself by writing this blog).

The beans are cooking nicely, so dinner won't be much of an effort tonight.  Just gotta cook some jalapeno cornbread to go along with those pinto beans.

And in the meantime I'll try to find something to keep my self occupied and entertained (I have a choice of many many things).

Hope your Monday has been half as fun as mine!

A multi-cultural dinner

Last night's dinner was so good.......and multi-cultural

Spanish Rice and Salad with Italian Dressing.

 

I really outdid myself with the Spanish Rice.......the BEST I ever made

I apologize in advance

.....if I'm not in regular touch with you

.....we're not out hanging out and having fun.  We have too much on our plate right now

....if I can't do your internet sleuthing, checking out things, or able to be on call to give you advice

.....if I don't seem as friendly as I usually am.  I'm stressed out to the max

.....if I'm not eager to carry on long conversations with you.  Sorry....gotta run.  There's a million things on my plate for today

.....if my house isn't clean.  Oh wait.....ya'll are used to that anyway!

.....if it appears that I have dropped off the planet.  I have.....I'm trying to maintain my focus and not get distracted

.....if this interesting blog isn't updated daily.  Although, sometimes I use this as my escape to vent off my frustrations

Yesterday was a particularly bad day and both me and the husband are incredibly stressed.  It didn't help that he almost was in the middle of an armed robbery at the convenience store next door.  Our whole life is just big tornadic activity right now.  Not only are we dealing with all the obstacles that come with opening a new store, running the daily business, trying to maintain some type of normal home life......we have manager issues at the Grant Rd. store and our attempting to demote someone and possibly hire a new one. 

You know.......winning the lottery would just ease up a lot of this stress!  * crossing fingers *

Today I found some treasure

Well not exactly treasure, but something that I haven't seen since I left Arizona in 1998.

Something that is going to make my Thanksgiving dinner so much easier to prepare and something to remind me of all the Thanksgiving dinners I got to spend with mi familia.

If I can win the lottery between now and then I'm going to go and eat turkey with them this year.

But odds are I will be here instead and enjoying this.

I can't be in charge of keeping you entertained all the time

No time to blog today.  My day has been filled with stickers and flyers for school nights, payroll, new location, general life, and whatever some employee has decided to throw at me for today.

So instead......you get to be entertained by this joke.  After you read it.....I hope you're still laughing!

And those of you that know me well, know that this isn't so far off from the truth :-)