Texas / Kansas holiday trip: days 5-7

OK folks ... this is the Reader's Digest version of the tail-end of my trip back home .... it consisted basically of lots of beer, a few cigars, some dancing, very little sleep, and one seemingly long plane-ride home to Atlanta w/ a crazy, loud, obnoxious, drunk "everyone's a racist" dude, who was promptly met by the ever-so-nice Atlanta Police upon our arrival to Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. I mean c'mon ... I watch TV ... there's Air Marshalls on every flight, right? Where the hell were they on THIS one!!?? As we taxi'd in, I started hearing the theme song from "Cops" ... "Bad Boys Bad Boys whatcha gonna do ... whatcha gonna do when they come for you?" I didn't even get to see them give him a nosebleed. Too bad WE didn't get to escort him off ... he might have taken a tumble onto the frickin tarmac.

Texas / Kansas holiday trip: days 3-5

Took off Sunday morning and headed up to SW Kansas to see my daughter and her 2 kids, my first grandchildren. Man, I forgot how FLAT it is out there ... you can watch your dog run away for 3 days. (ba-dum-bum) Soon as I arrived, we all piled in and took the kids to see "Puss 'n Boots" ... cute movie! Danged popcorn and pop cost more than the movie!

Monday I was Mikey's "Show 'n Tell" at school ... he sure did a great job introducing me to the class and taking questions! They grow up so fast. We met my old college roommate, Maggie, for lunch and caught up on old times. After that, we started preparing my 2nd of 3 Thanksgiving meals for this season. (1st one was 2 weeks ago in Virginia with my youngest daughter and her family) Tuesday came way too quickly and I headed back down to Texas.

Texas / Kansas holiday trip: day 1

I flew out of Atlanta on Friday, November 18, to Amarillo, TX (via Dallas-Ft. Worth, of course). I always stay at my brother, Ron's. Friday night, we went to Lonestar, a small hole-in-the-wall steak house south of Amarillo that serves the BEST steak I've ever had. We met up with a few of Ron's friends. The one in the picture, Dick, does Security for the River Falls area ... great guy and takes care of everyone ... an "old cowboy" who's seen and done just about everything, even doing some time on the rodeo circuit in his younger years. We listened to story after story, never tiring. Needless to say, Ron and I stayed up too long and drank way too much ... par for the course. :)

My Maizie ... head of the household

Month of Many Thanks

So, October flew by ... I can't believe it's already November!!! 11/11/11 is coming ... is anything extraordinary supposed to happen on that day? I know I will be doing something extraordinary on that day .... lovin up on my grandson, Cole! :) Heading to Virginia next week to spend some time with my youngest daughter, Kayla, and her family. Then the following week, I will be heading out of Hartsfield-Jackson airport to Texas / Kansas for the Thanksgiving holiday. I will split my time there between Texas and Kansas, as my parents and brothers live in Texas, and my oldest daughter, Kari, lives in Kansas with her 2 beautiful kiddos, Mikey and Lexie. I can't wait to see everyone!

Work is going OK ... the load is still there, but the pressure isn't so great with it being the beginning of the month ... but I know that will build as the days pass by. I'm trying not to think that I have less days to finish my work due to my travel ... my goal is to stay on top of my tasks without stressing out! Stay tuned for how THAT works out. LOL

I'll leave today with an awesome statement, which is my current Facebook status:

I am FROM Kansas ! Sweet girls come from the South. Barbies come from California..., but WE KANSAS GIRLS have fire & ice in our blood!! We can drive in snow, handle the cold, beat the heat, be a princess, throw a mean right hook AND drink with the boys!! We can cook a wicked meal, & if we have an opinion, you can bet your ass you're gonna hear it!!!! Repost if you're a Kansas Girl.

PS: I had a Facebook reply from a friend who said he thought of me as a cross between Dorothy and Rosie the Riveter ... :) Picture this gal with ruby red slippers!

Let's try this again

I love blogging ... it's therapeutic ... I get started, then, I lose steam ... lose interest. I will try sticking to it this time in an effort to relieve some stress, and keep my mind and creativity in working order. This may be a task!

Today is Saturday, October 28, 2011. It is a breezy, sunny Fall day. Maizie and I have the house to ourselves for the day. I'm on my 2nd cup of coffee and have watched one episode (the first) of "Body of Proof". It was "so-so". I find that as I get older, it is getting harder and harder to entertain and impress me when it comes to TV and Cinema. Am I becoming crotchety? I hope not, but ... I think so. Things bother me now that never really used to ... traffic (ie STUPID drivers), loud toddlers or crying babies in a restaurant, incorrect food orders (well ok that one ALWAYS pissed me off), loud music or booming base coming from a vehicle, poor customer service (OK that one's not new either) ... wow, maybe I've always had a degree of crotchetiness about me!

Work is stressful right now ... has been for a while. The movie, "Outsourced" is becoming a reality all around us. Right now, we are training nurses in the Phillipines to do what we're doing right now. Let me say that again ... WE ARE TRAINING NURSES IN THE PHILLIPINES ... WE. Getting them certified promises us relief from our seemingly heavy caseload and frees us up to do more coaching, rather than tying us up with evaluating. But ... we all have the same question: does it take a nurse to coach? We all know it takes a nurse to evaluate, but to coach? No ... soooooo, we are all fearful for our jobs. We may very well be training the very people who will be replacing us.

OK, well I will give "Body of Proof" another episodic chance to "woo" me ... Happy Saturday, fellow bloggers ... see ya on the www.