Boy am I a slacker

So a lot has happened since my last blog. I got a job and I've already been there a month. I like my co-workers, I like my job duties and it's only 4 minutes from the house.

Today I got my first full paycheck for 2 weeks' time. And I'm already getting a raise. How sweet is that.

Tonight I took my parents out to dinner, just trying to return the favor. We went to the Texas Roadhouse and boy howdy, you could not tell there is a recession going on. The place was packed and this is only Wednesday. I saw some people I knew, the parents saw people they knew and the food was good. Noisy as all get out, too.

Amazing how being gainfully employed again can boost your spirits and make you feel better as a person.

Martinis for Everyone or a Note About Parenting

When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always a wife and mother. Well at 44, the motherhood issue is a moot point. Part of me feels very sad about this, part of me is relieved. BUT, due to my new living situation, I sort of have become a parent anyway, only my kids are 76 and 80 and named Mama and Daddy.

Things have actually been going pretty well, but occasionally the frustration sets in and tonight I opened my well stocked liquor cabinet and made a red apple martini. Let's just say I am not feeling as frustrated anymore. First off, I am lucky to still have both parents and also lucky to have pretty good relationships with each of them.

One frustration is the thermostat. My dad has bad circulation and he likes the house WARM, while my mom and I sweat to death. No amount of talk can convince him it's easier for him to wear more clothes than for my mother or me to wear less.

Another frustration is cooking. My dad is the type of eater who thinks that Hamburger Helper is gourmet food. Now I do admit I occasionally like something cooked with cream of crap soup, I loathe Hamburger Helper. Tonight my mom wanted us to cook Bisquick Impossible Cheeseburger Pie, so I cooked it. To me, it's about on the same level as HH. I have tried several new recipes, including a very tasty Mexican lasagna, but Daddy didn't like it. It was "too spicy". I thought it was perfect and my mom really liked it too. *Insert head-banging-against-the-wall smiley here.*

So tonight, I opened up my liquor cabinet that was previously untouched, and mixed up a red apple martini. I feel better now.

Long Time, No Blog

It has been almost 2 months since my last blog. For awhile there, I was too depressed to write and there were things going on in life I wasn't ready to talk about. I still have not found a job and ended up moving back in with my parents the weekend after Christmas. Being 44 years old and moving back in with the folks just seemed like the ultimate failure to me. However, it has not been as bad as I expected and it was getting close to being necessary for their sake due to their rapid aging. Our family has been rapidly approaching the issue of assisted living for my parents. My moving in has solved that problem for the time being. I hope to be back on my own in a few months, but we'll cross that bridge later.

I hadn't shared a house with anyone since 1990 and there's been lots of adjustments, but mostly good ones. It's nice to have someone in the same house to talk to. I'm having to pick up after myself, which is a good habit to get back in to. I've had a monster of a cold this week, and it's been nice to have someone nearby who cares how I feel. I have people to cook for, which my parents love. I am trying to get them away from their meat and potatoes, and salt and pepper existence.

The cats made the move with me and my parents are pleasantly surprised at how much they like the cats. The cats have new big windows in which to watch all the birds and squirrels on all the feeders my dad has in the backyard. My parents laugh at how my tabby cat follows me everywhere and can't stand it when I go outside without him. He waits by the door until I get home.

Just having an extra person around to wash the dishes or clothes, take out the trash, or go outside to get the newspaper, has helped ease the workload a little. My mother has serious vision issues and uses a walker. My father has to use a cane. Both of them have bad memory problems, him more than her.

Last weekend our family threw my dad an 80th birthday party. It was a huge success and he has been smiling all week.

Even though I am still job hunting, I am no longer seriously depressed. It's amazing how more human contact has lifted me back up. I've been kind of reclusive too and now I feeling the need to get out more, just be more involved in life. Here's to hoping I keep up with that.

Games games and more games

For as far back as I can remember, I have always loved playing games. Getting a new Operation game one year was the highlight of my Christmas, even more than the brand new Ken doll. I loved playing Battleship with my brothers, Go Fish with my dad. I still remember a weekend when my grandmother and cousins Ben & Betty babysat me one night, and they taught me to play Mexican dominoes. I also remember scoring a Clue game at a garage sale for 5 cents, I was ecstatic.

Some of my favorites now are Phase 10 card game, Gin rummy, Shanghai gin rummy, Spades, any form of dominoes, especially Mexican Train; Trivial Pursuit. .I also love watching game shows on the Game Show Network. I was on Jeopardy in 1996, coming in 2nd.

As far as computer games, I can play all day. Some of my favorites - Jewel Quest, Snood, Yahoo Mahjongg, Strike a Match, Texas Hold Em on Poker Stars or Full Tilt poker. I only play those with fake money. A friend of mine has now introduced me to games on Full Tilt, where if you finish in the top, you get real money from FT. It's not a lot, but it's free to play.

Now some other friends have introduced me to some highly addictive games on Facebook - Scavenger Hunt, Mob Wars, Fashion Wars, Prison Wars and Vampire Wars.

In regards to Fashion Wars, I woke up with over 8 million in cash earned overnight. If only that were real, LOL.

Random thoughts

Job hunting is a stressful pain in the butt, but necessary.

Christmas is coming too soon.

Last night's Survivor was the best episode EVER.

I am lucky to have the family I have with this being the time of year when so many people are not near as lucky.

Can't wait for that Greenberg turkey and spiral cut ham on T-day.

The Twilight books were ok to me, not awesome, and I am in no hurry to see the movie.

Love the True Blood series though, sad there's only one episode left.

I am in the mood to bake something, just typical of this time of year.

Love colder weather, especially when one or both cats want to curl up with me on the couch.

I love naps.

Chocolate milk is fabulous.

I love Buzztime trivia.

Tried to give up Diet Dr. Pepper, but can't.

Don't understand the point of stuffing.

Notes on an Election

Well the Election is over, and as an American and as a worker at the county Elections office, I have a few observations.

I don't talk politics much, mainly because politically, I am in the minority in my family and in my county. But I am very happy with the outcome of Tuesday's Presidential election. I like Barack Obama, firmly believe we need a fresh change. I just hope he is up to the challenge, and I think he is. Our country needs a lot of work, and it won't happen overnight, but we still have the best country there is.

Until I worked at the E.O., I had no idea, and never gave much thought to, what all was involved in putting on an election. Never again will I think I can just show up and vote and it's that easy. The mail-in ballots alone take hours and hours of preparation by several people, and more hours and hours of work, as they are received back in the office.

Living in a smaller city, you kind of don't think of international connections, but just about your own small world at times. My county has almost 200,000 people in it now, more than I realized. Through working with the mail-in ballots, I realized we have a lot of people from this county serving in the military, all over the country and the world.

We also have a lot of residents who are living abroad, whether for work, pleasure, temporary or long-term. I saw addresses from China, Japan, Turkey, Jordan, Austria, England, Brazil, Bahamas, Scotland, Myanmar, Australia and many others. I saw an address for a Peace Corps worker in Kenya and someone else working on Mercy Ships.

The phone calls - holy cow did we get phone calls. On Election day, all I did was answer phone calls. We had a special room set up with extra phones and computers, and all we did all day long was answer the phone. About 50% were people calling to see where they were supposed to go vote. The other half were poll/precinct workers calling for people who had just showed up at a precinct, thinking they could vote anywhere they want. Well, in Texas, you have to vote in your particular precinct on Election Day. It also amazed me at the number of people who think they can vote without being registered.

We got a few complaint calls, overall not too bad. Texas has a law where any political signs and party workers, must stay a minimum of 100 feet from the polling location. This law also extends to t-shirts and hats with particular candidates on them. During early voting, a couple of people showed up to vote with a t shirt showing a candidate, were told by security to turn the shirt inside out before they went to to vote. One guy got pretty upset about it, going on and on about freedom of speech, which I understand where he is coming from, but when it comes to voting, there's still the 100 foot rule.

I got to be on the Ballot Board, which is the group that opens up the mailed in ballots, checks to see if the little circles are filled in correctly by the voter, and counts up any write in votes. One voter wrote, by the McCain circle, "voting while holding his nose", and drew fumes rising from McCain's name. Someone else wrote in Mickey Mouse in several local spots. We have a sheriff who has been in office for about 30 years, can not be defeated by any opponent, someone wrote NO WAY by his name.

All in all, it was very educational, I was on TV a couple of times, because it seems, every 2 days a local camera crew was at the office.

I even got a ticket for the Democrat victory party but was too exhausted to go.

First Timers

Working at the Elections Office during the past 2 weeks, has been pretty dadgum interesting. I never really thought about how much work by so many people, went into holding an election. I don't think I will ever take voting for granted.

The early voting has been abundant with people voting for the first time in their lives. Today I met two of those people, with quite opposite personal stories.

The first - I was filling in at the entrance - reminding people to get out their voter's registration cards or driver's licenses, and to turn their cell phones off. Two women came in, probably a mother and daughter. As the mother exited the voting room, she stopped and told me, this was the first time she ever voted in her life. She was almost in tears, telling me she was 55 years old and she felt ashamed because she had never voted in her life. She told me she was scared, but now she knew how easy and fast the voting process is, she would never miss another election.

The second - I was leaving work, rode down the elevator with a girl, looked about college age. She was grinning from ear to ear, looking about to burst, when she told me, she was 18, and this was the first time she ever voted. She was almost bouncing and she told me about her almost 40 year old father, who wasn't planning on voting. But he couldn't let his little girl outdo him, so now he was going to make sure he voted.

Other interesting tidbits - I came across names of those we have mailed absentee ballots to - saw names of my first piano teacher, my 2nd grade teacher, fellow church members, and a very successful country music star from a little town north of here.

And by the way, GO VOTE.