Skinny-dipping and stolen vegetables

OK OK, I take back most of what I've said about my Worker's Comp stalkers! Yesterday I called the Employment Finder one, who called me back and she was wonderful! Very supportive and talked with me well over an hour about the interview issues. It was good to discuss it with someone. Blogging it also helped---a lot! So thanks for your support.

After hearing the huge job description (clerical for five different departments but only 80% time) and the particulars, she seemed to feel that it wouldn't be that great of a job. She thought it might be the combining of several different jobs (maybe due to budget cuts) and probably very stressful. So if I get it it's fine with her but even more so if I don't get it. I was relieved and surprised to hear that. She isn't so bad, helpful even. I usually can get along with most anybody, even BZ and her little evil buddy--before I got injured, anyway.

Another WC person called me at 8:00 PM last night for a different reason, the upcoming Dr. appointment. She won't be able to make it and so will send someone else to accompany me. Disappointing, as she and I had talked quite a bit about a strategy to make the Dr. at least stop and talk to us! Every other appt he has just done sort of a fast circle into and out of the room, waving my X-ray and saying all is fine.

A couple of days ago as I was struggling to my feet, out my window I saw a woman inspecting my garden. Like, REALLY inspecting it, brushing leaves with her hands, looking at my vegetables! She walked right down my mini-driveway to the back door and I was all set to race downstairs, thinking she was going to knock at my door. Nobody walks down that far unless they want to knock, as it is quite private. But she didn't knock. In fact she turned around--and stated TAKING squash, zucchini, corn and tomatoes!

I wanted to lean out the deck door and yell, "Hey, stop stealing my stuff!!" until I really took a close look at her. She was older, had long white hair, was using a walker (with a basket to put the stolen vegetables) and had an oxygen tube-thing up her nose. Her clothes were non-matching, and very worn. She looked poor, very poor. The food she was stealing is good, healthy food. I hope it helps.

However, after that I'm going to keep my vegetables somewhat picked so I at least get a few things. Maybe ungenerous of me but I barely planted a garden this year, had difficulties in keeping it watered so it's not very plentiful, like usual. And I've been using the produce as barter, since I don't have much money either. Brought some to the wonderful neighbor who mows my lawn, gave some to the people who fixed my computer, etc. So while she certainly can have a little, I NEED the rest to barter! Not to mention I ate zucchini all last week and this week too (with varying herbs from the front garden), so I'm sort of living off the meager garden, too. I do miss all the tomatoes she took, had given the last batch away and was waiting for these to ripen. Oh well. There's always worse off people. I'm doing relatively well.

And then last night I dreamed of skinny-dipping! It was a meeting for work (not any real workplace, an imaginary, dream workplace) by the ocean. I could smell it and hear the waves. There were families with naked children, not like one would see in the U.S. At 9:00 PM (in the dream) a horn blew as a curfew and the families all left. The adults on the beach started stripping down to nakedness, and more adults arrived. A (imaginary) co-worker and I were shy about just stripping down in front of everyone so we went to the hotel-like structure on the beach, undressed and RAN down the beach. In the dream I was wondering whether to fold my arms to stop things from, er, jiggling as I ran! Interesting dream. Wish I hadn't awakened right then.

Well, what do you have planned for your weekend? Fun, good things, I hope! Have a good one!

Ready, set...

The old realtor lockbox is gone and the new one installed. Today is the first day of my new listing, for three months. Even though the best, prime sales time has come and gone, I'm still hoping for the best. But as Gypsy said, there may be a reason that the house didn't sell:

For one thing I would have lost my garden and the opportunity to harvest from all my work.

Another thing is that the kids are moving back into town, probably on October 15--and they're going to live here in the bottom floor! My son is thinking that maybe I won't have to sell the house then, but that's only if they can pay me a pretty good sum in rent money. And they won't even have jobs, at first, let alone a paycheck or some "spare" money.

So we'll see...the house is still up for sale because I couldn't pay the mortgage all myself this time. The jeep repairs and all the extermination fees for shampoo, spray, powder, etc. took up my "spare" money, which wasn't really spare, of course, but needed for bills. With the utility bill rising in the cold weather, I expect a shortage at the end of this month too. So I still think I need to sell but having the kids living here is going to complicate that. But it sure will be good to see them! I miss them.

Urban gardens and fleas

Yay yay it's Saturday! Yesterday was a pretty good day, after work anyway. HR and BZ have been really nice to me. I consider that a bad sign. They've probably figured out some way to trip me up. My job duties are numerous and visible, while most of the other staff members don't have visible, accountable duties. I am to keep the kitchen, storage room, publication room, work room and the supplies all neat, organized and labeled--plus do all of my other work and be the receptionist too. I'm sure I'll be less than perfect in at least one of those areas. They're probably just waiting to jump all over that. Oh well, I'm in a good mood today and don't really want to think about them and work!

I talked to SLA on the phone yesterday just before leaving work. She's back with the Sleazeball but claims everything is wonderful wonderful that he really is a cop, but he hurt his shoulder while training in the Cities. Could be true, I guess, but why doesn't he have medical care than? Or be able to go to PT for his shoulder? I didn't ask her anything about him but on a whim invited her over to my house for dinner. She still doesn't have a car, so after leaving work I went over to get her. SB was there on the couch, unshaven and surrounded by a horrible mess (normally her house is fairly neat) and empty beer cans. Of course the man was relaxing at home, but I didn't get any better impression than before.

I picked SLA up (wishing she had been ready to go, I hate when people make me park, come in and then wait) when they know exactly when I'll be there. But it was fun. I had leftovers from a meeting at work on Friday morning that BZ would have just thrown away. It was perfectly good (was refrigerated) deli meat cuts and cheese. I had a couple of buns left, and SLA and I stopped to pick cucumbers and tomatoes, oregano, basil and sage from the garden. I broke out the homemade dressing and mayo, mustard, salad greens a jug of Sangria and a bottle of Leinie's Octoborfest for me. After the food we had some left-over birthday cake. It was from a friend of my Mom's, made for Mom and she had given me half which had just sat in the freezer since then. It was another mini-party!

SLA talked about SB incessantly though. Any subject would immediately turn to him, especially after she'd had a couple of large glasses of Sangria. After a couple of hours I actually was tiring of her company, which has never happened before. AND then she told me that her cats had fleas, from the neighbor dog. She said she'd tried everything to get rid of them but she and SB had them too! Oh good, if she brought fleas into my house I'm gonna be mad! Yikes.

I was paranoid about getting contaminated after that and wrapped up the night shortly after--early at around 9:00 PM. Former Temp called me right as we were leaving to tell me that she didn't get the for-sure job. That's very sad. She is a single parent and we just dumped her with little warning at work, and now she has no job.

I brought SLA back to her apartment in my jeep thinking "Please don't let Jeepers get fleas!" She needed to drop off some mail and bills, so we swung around to the night deposit at the Post Office. I had split the remaining deli meat and cheese with her, and the remaining birthday cake, plus given her some herbs, tomatoes and cucumbers. We had looked for squash and there aren't any more! I was nearly positive that I had many more left. Either I am mistaken or somebody took them, as the garden is right by a city sidewalk.

Speaking of gardens, today I'm going on an Urban Garden Tour! There even is an old school converted to apartments in the middle of town (in which I was very interested in living a few years ago) that has chickens! Chickens in the middle of town, I want to see that and the other urban gardens. My Mom thinks she doesn't want to go and the tour is from 2-4:00 this afternoon. So Mom and I can do our normal Saturday thing together and I get drop her off if she decides not to go with me. Have a happy, fun Saturday and weekend!

Something funny

Yesterday I ran my legs off because it was so busy at work. Several people are traveling and I had to box their items (heavy books, etc.) to ship, plus BZ had me working on a proposal and there was a lot of work to be done in a short period of time. Why is it that it's dumped on me--I'm running around trying to get stuff done while most other co-workers are having a pretty leisurely day? It's because my job description covers all of that, while theirs...is very loose and doesn't give actual job duties. But oh well, on to the funny part of yesterday.

BZ did come into work. She was limping and frowning, had to drag herself around instead of the usual crisp clop clop clop of her high heels. I'm also still limping around, especially after all those heavy book boxes. BZ and I both walked through the hallway or into the copy room together several times--both limping. It was hilarious, I had to keep myself from chuckling about it. She would frown at me each time as if I was copying her, but hey, I was limping first! It reminded me of that Seinfeld episode where Jerry is sitting, waiting to see someone who has a limp. Jerry gets up and his leg is asleep, so he's limping around. The office woman laughs because she thinks he's mimicing the boss' limp. It was kind of like that at work yesterday. We even limp on the same side, her left foot and my left leg. It was just too funny!

During the very busy Thursday, an old friend called. I have known her for nearly 30 years but we hadn't seen each other much at all lately. We used to do lots of things and our kids played together. She wondered if we could meet for dinner so I invited her over to my house instead. She hadn't seen it yet. I made three batches of those pudding cookies (to have different kinds) and she brought a Subway sandwich to split--and also a bottle of wine. So we had a really good time.

She loved the house. We got into one of my bottles of wine, too. She has a regular job at the university but works on a PT basis in wardrobe for incoming acts at our arena complex. She told me some interesting stories about nudity and stars. Then she asked if I wanted to be on the list to get called for wardrobe duty at $15 per hour. You betcha I said yes to that! Even though I'm not such a great seamstress. The work is mostly evenings and weekends. She said that newbies have to do things like match and lay out shoes, and only after I had done it a few times would I get to actually dress the stars. How cool is that?

When she was ready to leave I loaded her down with herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers and squash. Since it was 10:00 PM and dark, we had to use a flashlight to pick the stuff. She was wearing cowboy boots and accidently stepped on my favorite gourd, a little stripey guy. Oh well, it's hard to walk around in a garden at night.

Today I'm going to bring the rest of the cookies to work. There is a meeting in which the facilitator asked me to ask BZ if we could supply some cookies and juice (with the usual coffee and ice water, of course) but she said no. So these cookies will give them something to nibble on at least, and staff can eat them too.

That darn cat, again

I weeded my gardens last night, finally. The grass was trying to re-take the large garden. The two flower gardens were not too bad. But there are many gaps in the lines of corn, beans, peas, etc. The neighbor cat is in the garden several times a day digging potty holes and digging out my little vegetable plants. He always picks a different spot to dig, too! Any suggestions about how to scare him off permanently? (without antagonizing the neighbors--they are nice, otherwise).