I'm Not As Good As I Once Was...

Just like Toby, I have quickly come to the realization that the passing of 20 years takes it toll on the human body and it's ability to maintain energy levels.

I am exhausted.  Work is great and I am truly enjoying what I am doing, however I am still trying to get back into the swing of being of being on my feet and in constant motion for upwards of 9 straight hours a day.  It's been 17 years since this was a regular part of my daily routine.

By the end of my shift, the hamster is ready to fall of the wheel and even basic math becomes challenging as my mind draws a blank at the simplest of equations.  My feet attempt to swell right out of my sneakers and my back longs for a prostrate position, preferably involving a pillow top.

This all makes me sound like an old blue hair ready to hit the early bird dinner special before retiring for the evening pre- sunset, but that's not really the case.  It's just a matter of my having forgotten how much work that much physical labor entails and getting my body tuned into the ritual, yet again.  I can still do the job and soon it will come much more easily, but I will have to put twice as much effort into getting there as I had to when I was 25.

On the positive side, this much regular motion, i.e. exercise, is bound to help trim up and firm up this old gray mare.  I shall be ready for shorts weather when it hits.  Although, I am not holding my breath for a swimsuit season miracle.

So I to may not be as good as I once was, but I'm definitely as good once as I ever was.

I'm off to work.  Have a great weekend all!

I'm Off!

My body clock is off.

My sleep schedule is off.

My home routine is off.

My appetite is off.

As usual, my sense of humor is waaay off.

And today just happens to be my day off.

All of these are mostly due to my having gone back to work outside of my home and computer screen.

After several months of searching, applying, interviewing and being rejected, I have graciously been given a job accepted a daytime position, where else, but behind a bar.  Yes indeed, it is a natural fit.  Let me tell you how it came to be.....

Having scoured the want ads and craigslist fairly religiously and getting little to no response to my inquiries and/or applications, I landed an interview at an establishment that was about to re-open under new ownership and management.  The interview went very well and I had a good feeling that I wasn't going to get rejected, yet again this was going to work out.

Throughout these past months of searching, my application/resume would quickly wind up in the circular file once it is realized that I have been at home raising my children for the past 17 years.  This place however, is fond of hiring moms like me for their ability to handle controlled chaos with ease and calm.

So, I waited for that phone call. and waited. and waited.  It never came.

I was bummed and deflated.  I really had a good feeling about this one and it seemed I had been wrong.

Saturday a week ago, were the local St. Patrick's Day parades and Mr. Weasel and I decided to take the afternoon together and get our St. Patty's pub crawl on.  We have always wanted to do this together and yet, in all of our years together, it has never happened.  It didn't happen this year either.

By happenstance, our first stop was this particular establishment, now opened, that just like all of those dates in college, never called me back like they said they would.  We went in, bellied up to the bar and I had just started sipping on my first beer when I ran into the woman who had interviewed me.

I congratulated them on opening on time, yada, yada, yada.......and she said, "Hey, you were on our hire list!  We called you!" and proceeded to pull out my highlighted application and show me.  The call had never come in.  Maybe it was a mis-dial?

Anyway, at that particular moment I didn't care.  They were a bit overwhelmed with the parade crowd and needed some extra hands.  I offered to start immediately and was tossed an apron.

Talk about baptism by fire!

Twelve hours later and my first shift was complete.

The rest will someday be ancient history.

Don't worry, you will still find me around these parts too and I will update you all soon.

Luck of the Irish or Murphy's Law?

Happy St. Patrick's Day All!!!!!

While most of the country celebrates with the Irish today, I will be making money off all you drunken fools working all day and into the evening.  Yes, I now indeed, have picked up a regular day job.  I'll tell you more about that next week.

The actual point that I am trying to get to is that, as a good Irish and German girl, I made my corned beef yesterday because I will not be home to make dinner today.  Weasels love corned beef.  I cook my corned beef low and slow all day and it comes out so incredibly tender and delicious.  

Afternoons in Weaselville are very busy and hectic.  Constant drop offs and picks ups in the car for track practice, train station pickup etc., often make me wonder if I should really install a revolving door on the house.

After having started dinner at 8am and gently babysitting it all day, I returned to Weaselville around 6:30, having picked up Mr. Weasel just and pulled into the driveway seconds behind Eldest Weasel and the rest of the gang who were just returning from track, to find the house completely filled with smoke.

Somehow, the stove had gotten turned up to high, no one remembered to turn it off before having left the house, the pans ran out of water and were mere moments away from breaking out in flames when we returned home.  Instead of corned beef brisket, we now had corned beef briquette.

I ran inside, turned off the heat, and started opening doors and windows to get clear the air of the thick cloud of smoke that had engulfed every inch of square footage in the house.

So at the end of a long and particularly stress filled day in Weaselville where nothing seemed to run smoothly, some would call the dinner or now, lack there of fiasco, Murphy's Law ~Anything that can go wrong will and at the worst possible time.

I however, call this the Luck of the Irish!  Although dinner was ruined and my day became even more chaotic than it already had been, we were lucky enough to return home before flames broke out and to still have a home to sleep in last night with no damage except that of the stink of burnt food and smoke.

Maybe I'll make another corned beef dinner on Saturday and with any luck, we'll actually get to eat it this time.

The Good Old Days?

Recently, I was on a road trip with Tracy, of Just Another Mommy Blog.  As per usual, when you put two women together in an enclosed space for a prolonged period of time, there is no telling where the conversation will lead.

This particular time, the conversation led back to odd and non-sequitor tidbits of our childhoods and things that I hadn't remembered or thought about in years.

Case in point; Gum Was Evil and Forbidden.
I have no real idea why, but my mother forbade my siblings and I to have gum.  Chewing or bubble, it did not matter.  She was convinced that chewing gum would cause us to lose all of our teeth.  Soda and candy were just plain and dandy daily staples, never rationed, but you couldn't let mom catch you with gum, ......ever!  Go Figure?    

Case in Point 2;  ~ TMI Alert! ~ I learned about tampons from my Baby Sister!
As commonly happens to young teens, I was caught off guard by mother nature while at work.  Lucky for me, my boss was a woman and she had a tampon to offer me.  She asked if I knew how to use one and if my mother was okay with me using them.  Of course, I answered yes on both counts.  What teen girl is going to admit that she has never even seen a tampon, let alone didn't know what to do with one?  Nor, ever even heard her mother mention the word?  I proceeded to the ladies room and was extremely flummoxed about what to do next.  The best I could figure out is that they were worn in the same fashion as a pad and that's what I did.  All the while confused by why women would choose to use something so completely uncomfortable and ineffective to boot.  It was the end of my shift, thank God, and I went home to take care of things in a more familiar manner.  Upon mentioning this incident to my younger sister, she filled me in, to my wide eyed and gaping jaw astonishment, about how tampons work.  Where did she learn this?  Oh yes, I asked......from my older sister!  Why didn't my older sister ever inform me??????, because I never asked.  I never used pads again.

I was also instructed to NEVER let my mother know that I was using tampons, because they were strictly for use by tramps.  Go figure!

Case in Point 3; McDonalds Apple and Cherry Pies were so much better back in the day when they were deep fried!  They new (in my lifetime) recipe and the 'baked pies' that they serve are lousy!  I love the fried pies and would step my way over my own mother to get one!  Biting in too soon and scalding my mouth with hot grease and pie filling is a joy in life that I really miss.  I wish that McDonald's would bring them back.  Sure, they are not the healthiest option, but so what.  I don't go to McDonalds for their calorie count.  I go because of taste factor and as an adult I can choose to eat what I want, when I want.  Sometimes I just want a fried pie, dang-it.  I happen to know that BusyDad feels the same way.  Maybe we should start an entire online campaign to get McDonalds to bring back an old school joy in our lives?  Who's with me?

So anyway, there is your randomness of WeaselMomma back in the driver's seat.  I hope to be around a lot more regularly soon.

A Break In The Clouds

I know, I know, I know....... I haven't been around to fill you all in on the daily chaos that ensues in Weaselville, but it's been a rough couple of months.  It's not all been bad though, just, ...well, chaotic.  One of the rays of golden sunshine that managed to push it way through gray February skies, like a beak in the clouds, was that I spent a good chunk of February tooling around in some of the GM fleet cars and thank God for it because both of the Weaselmobiles decided that they should have major malfunctions and meltdowns in February.  Hmmm, I wonder if a car can take on the personality of it's owner like a dog can?

So to share with you the highlights of my late winter escapades, I've spent 20 hours going blind editing video made you a few fun videos.

Check it;

BTW, The gas millage worked out great.  1 tank took me 2 states away.

And on Monday morning, I got this surprise treat;

And which do I like better?

Summer in February

Yes, I do indeed know that it is now March, but due to time and a failed root canal that led to a nasty apses, ungodly pain, oral surgery, fever, inability to speak, eat, drink or type coherent sentences anyway (I love you vicodin, you are my friend),  I am only getting to tell you about this cool adventure now that I am coherent as I ever actually get.

Anywho..... Two weeks ago I was invited to head out of Chicago for a little getaway weekend, in the middle of FEBRUARY!  Anyone who knows me, knows that I will take any excuse to leave this gray and frozen tundra at this time of year, even if it's to remain at the same latitude.  So off to the gray frozen tundra of Sandusky, Ohio I went along with Tracy of Just Another Mommy Blog and a really cool ride that I will tell you about later this week.

I can hear you now, "WeaselMomma, Cedar Point Amusement Park is in Sandusky and certainly they are not open during February.  So what in heaven's name were you doing in Sandusky??????".  Slow down gang and I will tell you!

Yes, Sandusky is the home to the coolest roller coaster park in the country that  also happens to be a personal favorite of mine and no, they aren't open for the season yet.  However, Cedar Point also happens to have an indoor water park hotel/resort, that is Castaway Bay!

After a fun 5 hours of girl talk, laughter and road tripping, Tracy and I arrived at the resort and felt immediately as if we were transported to Jamaica.  The warmth, decor and scenery made me completely forget about the below freezing temps and winds that were outside these walls.  It was girl time in the summertime!

We checked into our room, threw on our suits and headed straight to the water park.  Sitting in poolside lounge chairs Tracy and I enjoyed more than a few libations as we imagined ourselves on the beach in Montego Bay.  We raced each other on the water slides, hit the wave pool and I enjoyed my first time ever riding a WATER COASTER!  We were having just as much fun and probably more as any kids that were there.

We were on a tropical vacation, in the middle of February, in North East OHIO!

That night, we were invited to attend a special event held poolside at the spa on the first floornwhere you can enjoy a massage, mani/pedi's or throw a private party. We were introduced to local service providers whom you can contract for your party, such as a hula hoop fitness instructor and a plastic surgeon specializing in botox.  No, I didn't get any botox.  Do I look like I need any?  Hey, stop laughing.  Even the Bare Minerals Spa Rep couldn't find anyplace on this Picasso, umm, I mean Michael Angelo,  to put some wrinkle hider.

After the event, Tracy and I hit one of the restaurants for a late night snack before heading off to our Caribbean slumber.

The next morning, we hit the water park for some more fun, splashes and the company of fellow bloggers before it was time to enjoy more girl road tripping on the way home.

More about the road trip itself, to come soon.

If you decide to take this Caribbean getaway yourself, be sure to tell them that I sent you so that they can look at you funny and have no idea what you are talking about.  Same thing if you decide to spend any amount of time at the spa.  BTW, there are special offers available to you if you do and you can use this handy little button for the hyperlink to those offers.

*These are my own words and opinions. Accommodations were provided. All other expenses were my own.