So I had to take my last furlough days off and did them this past Friday and today mainly so I could pay my car taxes. Nothing like waiting until the very end of the month to do this but alas I didn’t have the money until now. My paychecks should be back to normal now with no more furlough monies taken out of them.

The dogs obviously think it is the dog days of summer and time to lounge around since I’m off. Well, I guess in a sense they are right but do they have to flaunt it?? They need to be tracking down and killing that effin mole. He’s getting more destructive this time in the front yard and pushing out all the dirt he’s clearing in his tunnels above ground now. He’s getting on my last nerve and I have no earthly idea how to kill him much less try to trap him. Do you think animal control would do something about him? I still haven’t figured out how the hell he came to my yard to begin with. I was talking with my neighbor across the street and either we have 2 of them on the road or this sucker has made a tunnel underneath the road and is tearing up his yard too because he said he has been digging all in his garden box where he grow green onions that are delectable.

I also managed to bend one of the blades on my lawnmower by running over a tree root. I don’t have the muscles to undo the one bolt that is holding that in so I can change the blade as I’ve had a brand new one to replace it now for almost a year. I guess I need to find some guy walking down the street and see if he can undo it for me so I can put the new one on it. I had to raise the lawnmower off the ground some so I could at least mow the lawn this past weekend as I usually keep it as low as possible.

Time to learn more food facts according to me. If you are not interested you can move along. As always be sure to check out Fun Craft and Recipes to join each week and to spread the news so others might join as well.

1. Clair’s question. What’s the biggest kitchen blunder you’ve made?
Hmm, I’ve managed to overload the dishwasher with Jetdry and had blue liquid everywhere as well as the Cascade soap bubbles.
2. What’s your favorite snow day beverage?
What’s a snow day? I know my heat days would consist of some Raspberry Ice from Crystal Light nice and cold.
3. What’s your favorite way to eat celery?
Well, if I must eat it, slather some peanut butter all over it to drown out the taste of it.
4. What’s the most most unappealing looking food you can think of?
Pretty much anything slimy lol

With only a little over a year and a half left at the hospital to get my 20 years in I have been trying to get my degree finished up so I could move on to another career and find a job closer to home. I have been paying for them out of my own pocket as I do not want school loans so have been going part-time only. As of late though no classes were being taken due to the economy and cutbacks being accrued at the hospital. Everybody pretty much took a hit somewhere. Now that the deductions are no longer happening I can start back taking classes. I usually take mine online due to the fact that it is difficult for me to actually show up in a class at a regularly scheduled time. I most likely will not have it completely done by the time I get 20 years but that is okay because I can still expand on my knowledge in my current position to vie for a raise.

Learn.com has recently launched the Learn.com Personal Edition which affects you and I. Job skills in any work place are a requirement which can vary from being proficient in specific computer software to customer service and business management expectations. Learn.com gives us access to the compliance and continuing education courses which are needed on a yearly basis in the medical field to either keep your license and/or be up to date in your compliance courses to stay employed. Some people probably think that even if you do not hold a license whether it be for physician, nurse, therapist, etc, that you would not need to take these courses but you do because even with compliance courses as it directly affects your job. If you are not in the medical field there are also options for sales, human resources, marketing, etc. There are a vast amount of choices.

I had the opportunity to test out some of the courses that Learn.com was offering and chose the Executive Secretaries and Administrative Assistants job profile in the Computer Use section as I have to use a computer in all aspects of my current job and am going to college for a degree in this field. I honestly could see quite a few people who would need this course due to the lack of computer knowledge and how computers function. You would think that most people are at least familiar with computers for the most part but they are not really. I’d certainly recommend it to one of my coworkers as I know it would greatly help her overall knowledge and perhaps some older folks who have not had that much experience with computers. It also looks like I could take some of my courses online via Learn.com as well should I choose to transfer my credits which is always an option especially if it might be more inexpensive than what I am currently paying for.

Well, nature had an impact while at camp in Tennessee as well. These are one of the lunar moths that were frequent visitors at night but unfortunately this big guy did not make it. These guys are even bigger than your hand and I probably should have put my hand in the picture to give you some definition of the size but they are beautiful things. Another big of nature I could have done without were the ticks and spiders. I ended up getting bit by both and neither one of them was enjoyable. Ticks even more so considering you’d find them buried in places you really didn’t want them in to begin with while showering. One tick even tried to hitch a ride on one of the kids and then try to escape on the connection flight in Atlanta. It was one heck of a week but I’ll definitely be going back with a bigger suitcase for like 3 cans of bug spray and other things I could have used like my boots. Then I’ll need room in them to take things back like this time I brought back some football helmet book ends. Now I just need to paint them to look exactly like the Eagles helmet and display them proudly.

Pic to be uploaded as soon as I get home.

Everybody is taking vacations now with their children because school is out. The only question really is where to go with the most fun and how cheap can I get it for because of these economic times. Well, if you stay at the Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing this summer there are plenty of things to do. Since the US Open for golf just ended I am sure there are a ton of golf fans itching to get out on the greens and it just so happens that the Payne Stewart Golf Club managed by Hilton is close by for the husbands. The kids can get in on the action with National Kids Fest at the Silver Dollar City from June 6 through August 9, 2009. Or if that does not satisfy their fun you could take them to the 10th Annual Clown Jam.

If you are lucky enough to stay at the Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel during the 28th Annual Colgate Country Music Showdown, I could only assume that there will be some popular country singers staying there as they judge the competition. This could be for the entire family as well as the casting call for stupid Human/Pet tricks for the David Letterman Show. I doubt David himself would go to the casting call but you never know.

Make sure that you book early too because Hilton has a 25% off their best available rate at participating hotels and pay with your Visa Signature or Infinite Card. Now I like that idea especially when you know exactly you are going to be there. It is just like booking flights early. Now if you are fortunate enough to book at least 3 months in advance you could potentially get a 30% discount at participating hotels.

Now myself, I like walking around seeing the sites which include the museums, lakes, and a river walk as well as the theme parks for the rides as I am a big fan of roller coaster rides.

So today a couple of friends and I went to Ambrose Farm for some fresh blackberries and blueberries. I was somewhat disappointed in the supply of the turned ones as there were more red blackberries than black ones but I managed to haul in about 3 lbs which I was pleased with. I think I may go back this Friday when I am off to pick some more because all the red ones will have ripened by then and hopefully there will still be some left.

Then we headed to the other side to pick some blueberries and there were more of those than the blackberries and I make about a 2 lbs haul of that and there were still tons of blueberries left. They had more blueberry plants than blackberry ones which I found odd but hey it was not my farm. I’d have loaded up on the blackberry ones myself just because I dearly love blackberries. All total though I paid about $18.00 for fresh berries. I’m pretty pleased.

It was effin hot though. I wore shorts and a t-shirt and I was completely and utterly drenched from sweat. That was just the beginning of my day though because when I got home, I cleaned my berries and let them drain while I went to mow the lawns and got drenched again. It’s effin hot here man. Supposed to get to 101 and probably is by now. I am finally getting something to eat now as I went to the store after I took a shower and put a load of clothes in the washer. There is no way I am going to the gym today as I am sore in spots I didn’t know I worked looking for berries lol