BAKERWOMAN

Friday, April 28, 2006

HELL WEEK

Well, this has been one of the most stressful weeks of work I've ever had. I always go to bed around midnight. I usually can't sleep any earlier than that. Last night I was out at 9:30 and I feel pretty spiffy today.

Today will have a really happy ending. My friend and I are going to our local Indian/resort casino for the weekend. I would like to win but that's not the main goal: I am getting the hell out of Dodge and I will be with "B" who is the second funniest person I've ever known (My youngest daughter, crazedmomof5, takes the number one place).

My friend and I have had quite some experiences on our weekends together. There's the time my Mom caught my purse on fire, the time we had to change a tire and nobody stopped and one time when we took her mother-in-law and my Mom. That one was a real hoot (not)! We spent a lot of time in our room waiting for her MIL to get done primping. She had a total beauty regimen which she explained in detail and demonstrated (maybe Jaffra or whoever would have paid her a commission if they'd only known), had to match her socks and had to model in front of us to make sure her jewelry and the rest of her ensemble matched. This from a woman who wears real jewelry, buys expensive cosmetics but gets her clothes from Mervyn's and Walmart just like the rest of us. Who gives a shit what you look like in a casino as long as you don't stink?

Of course, my friend and I put in a late night before we went home. We woke up and it was almost time to check out. The MIL was in hogging the bathroom. I simply put on yesterdays clothes and ran a pick through my hair and packed. Poof! Ready to Go! The MIL's comment? Aren't you even going to comb your hair? I simply replied that I already did and kept on going. She's not a bad person-just clueless! She's also one of those really helpless type females.

Well, back to work.

Bye.

Friday, April 21, 2006

HARRY POTTER

I THINK THAT THE HARRY POTTER MOVIES AND BOOKS ARE OKAY FOR KIDS TO WATCH AS LONG AS THEY REALIZE IT'S JUST FUN AND FANTASY.

TODAY FROM BARNES AND NOBLE, I RECEIVED A BROCHURE FOR HARRY POTTER CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS. CHRISTMAS IS TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. DOES ANYONE ELSE FIND IT OFFENSIVE TO HANG ORNAMENTS BASED ON WITCHCRAFT ON THE CHRISTMAS TREE?

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS.

ANNIVERSARY

No not my wedding anniversary. Yesterday at work, I was thrown a party for being with this company 25 years. I have been the Office Manager for 24 years.
Does this twenty-five years at one place make me a great employee or a sap?
In the old days, staying on a job was a good thing. In the eighties, people hopped jobs like freight trains and it was considered a smart thing to do.

I know I could have a job that pays much better. I actually had an interview set up with the state when I took this one. The thing is I like the people I work with. We have now about 120 growers and I like almost everyone of them. My Board is a great group of guys. My mentor who used to be President of the Board retired from farming and I miss him a lot. Also, the President of the Board before that just recently died. He was a wonderful person and a good friend. Still the guys left are great.

I am now the oldest person working in this packinghouse. I am fixty-six. I am not the oldest person to attend the Board meeting but I have been attending Board meetings about ten more years than my Board Members. This whole thing is just a little depressing. I want to be young (maybe around 40).

When I was forty-one, I still didn't have any wrinkles. I've always been active, so I wasn't in bad shape. I decided I wanted to go home for my 25th class reunion that was taking place in two years. It took the whole two years but I lost 40 lbs (I am 5' 8"). One of the boys I went to school with asked me to dance and asked me how I stayed so trim. Do you think I told the truth that I spent two years preparing? Not on your life! I just replied that I worked at it. He probably thought I spend all my time in a gym instead of knowing that I just inherited good genes. What a crock.

I will never go to a reunion again. I now look my age and so would everyone else. Who wants to remember the handsomest boy in class as an elderly gentlemen. It reminds us of our own mortality.

One of my girls here is leaving to take a job closer to where she lives. She asked if she could now toss the envelope that says "in case something happens to Bev".
I said no. This morning I asked the girl she is training to be in charge of my "Dead Envelope". It is simply instructions about what needs to done regarding my insurances and things here through work. I don't know why that bothers people. It is terribly irresonsible not to be prepard for death. We have a will. The original is with our Attorney. In a file cabinet at home, are letters and instructions for my Girls.

People seem to be horrified by death. I wouldn't want to die right now but we don't get to choose. It's part of life. It's also part of a wondrous mystery. Do we really get to know all the answers when we're dead? I believe in God. Can anyone who is near death not even be a little excited also to know? My mother-in-law was and she was one of the smartest, kindest, most wonderul people I ever knew.

Enough about that! I am looking forward to the weekend of the 28th. My best friend in the whole world (and my daughter's MIL), Bunny, and I are getting to spend a whole weekend together at an Indian Casino out of Fresno. We haven't done a weekend together for a couple of years. The rooms are gorgeous and include a coffee pot (my most important requirement). The gambling is good and there are seven restaurants.

There is nothing like a weekend with Bunny to get my head on straight. It's like a tune-up for my brain. We talk a lot. She's always very frank and I always come away from the weekend with a better feeling about the person I am. She is also the most funny and clever person I have ever known. I wish she could spend time with my Brothers. Repartee was king in my family!

Anyway, I'm signing off.

Love you all.

Monday, April 17, 2006

NOTHING SPECIAL

Well, guess what? I screwed up the cookies! I had complained because the recipe called for a lot of salt and they were very salty. Everyone has been putting things away for me this year. I couldn't find my metal measuring spoon so I used a plastic one from my drawer.

When I was putting away clean dishes, I looked at it again. It was not a 1/2 teaspoon measure. It was a half tablespoon. Who's the idiot? The sad thing is, I took those cookies to work and they were gobbled up. My husband and I had taken one bite and we wouldn't eat them!

I made a big boo boo this weekend. I have always done something for Easter for my kids (including sons-in-law) and I forgot. My oldest daughter and her kids came over for a barbecue yesterday and she forewarned me that the little one expected an egg hunt. It was a mighty pitiful hunt but I did my best with what I had. I had made a cake so that part was okay.

We did have a nice visit, although there is something a little unsettling when
you hear your daughter in the other room telling the kids if they come out and spend time with the old people, they will be grounded.

When did we get to be Old?

Oh well.

The little one brought his colored eggs to show me. Hubby asked me afterward where the eggs were. He thought the kids brought them for us and he had almost eaten one before dinner. He would have been in serious trouble.

Monday, April 10, 2006

SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

I read a novel last week. It was pretty light weight but the herione had her own cookie shop. I am a sucker for that. Some cookie recipes were included and they sounded wonderful and unique. I scanned and copied them to share with everyone and mixed up a batch of two different ones.

Now when trying new recipes, I measure exactly. These cookies were expensive. They called for real butter, chocolate chips and brown sugar. You had to melt and cool and chill etc. When I was putting them together and I saw the amount of salt called for, my first thought was that it was too much for cookies. I added it anyway against my better judgement.

Last night after the sufficient chill time, I started baking. The cookies are all flat and salty. What a bummer! I was going to bring the recipes to work but I left them home. I did bring some cookies. I'll be able to know how bad they are by the amount that gets consumed today.

I have a feeling that nobody ever tested those recipes before. I wasted my time and my ingredients for an inedible product. Shame on me.

Actually, the chocolate ones are hard enough to use for paperweights. Maybe they will be useful after all.

See Ya.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Nothing New on the Home Front

Well, my telephone has now been out for nine days. Pac Bell, or AT& T or whoever the hell it is now, is supposed to come tomorrow.

We don't make our receive a lot of calls but it is nice to have it there when you want it. My girls have taken turns calling my Mom on Sunday for me. I'm sure she's been just as happy with that. My cell phone area is for areas of California and Nevada only. A call to Maine would probably cost about $30.00 for 45 minutes so I'll just wait.

We'll get credit on our phone bill but I don't think the $12.00 or $13.00 is quite worth the inconvenience this has caused. On the good side, the telemarketers for the Sheriff's Dept, the City Police (for about 4 cities), the Fireman's Fund nor the Special Olympics have not been able to hit up my husband (the marshmallow) for money. I agree with donating to these agencies but the fact they have hired telemarketers to do it makes me feel that it has kind of become a business instead of a need for extra funds.

My husband is a born sucker. I always buy when the schools are selling and I have (gasp) even given money to people broken down at a rest stop. I hoped that the people's plight at the rest stop was fake because they had children in the car and I hate to see kids living in such a situation. Anyway, I can't come close to my husband when it comes to a hard luck story. I guess I'm just really glad that we can do it and that we are not the unfortunates on the receiving end.

I made five dozen plain donuts and five dozen chocolate donuts this weekend. Now, this is a big mistake. Some came to work and some are reserved for the kids. Did you know that a donut straight from the freezer is just delicious? A plain homemade donut is the one thing I will gorge on. If I made them very often, I would weigh 500 pounds. I cannot eat enough of them to be sick of them. If I went to someone else's house who served them, I would not be able to stop myself and those people would be calling me a hog after I went out the door. When I take them from the freezer, I eat them frozen and can polish off 1/2 dozen in about ten minutes. I am not like this with any other food and I try to eat moderately. I wonder if a person can become addicted to a certain food?

I got my youngest Granddaughter's presents wrapped last night. I so miss seeing their faces when they unwrap their presents. My youngest daughter (3 grandchildren) lives about four hours away and I have missed so much in their lives. I also wish I could be of more help and support to my daughter. Everyone needs a break sometimes. Maybe next time we go up, she and Hubby can take an evening out.

Well, it's 8 o'clock and time to get to work. See Ya.