Mindless Chatter Monday

 Thanks, Cathy! I'm pretty excited. And slightly nervous.

That pork roast idea sounds great. And this week boneless pork roast is on sale at the supermarket here - $1.79/lb. I am, of course, going to buy a bunch and freeze it.

I'm inside because I just mustered my strength to go out and get groceries and... MY CAR WON'T START. Instead of the typical "aaaRehRehReh vrooom" it just goes "aaeeeee" as if nothing's firing to get the ignition going. Time to call AAA, I guess. I am so not amused. I'm working from home today, but I need to be in the office (45 mins away) tomorrow. :(

Car problems are one of my worst fears, but at least it happened while you were at home vs. returning from the grocery store. Hopefully it'll be something minor, although it usually isn't when it happens to me.

Rained allllll day yesterday and most of last night but it's breaking up a little today. We're in mandatory water rationing now. We're supposed to cut back 20% but I have no idea how we're going to do that at this time of year. We don't water the lawn or bushes in the winter. I rarely wash my car , so can't cut back on that. I'm not going to shower less, so that's not an option. I just don't get how we'll do it or what will happen if we don't.

I was watching the news last night about the statewide drought here and they said that the farmland that runs almost the entire length of the state provides 1/4 of the food for the U.S. Doesn't that seem extremely high? If that's true and we don't get some wet relief soon, it's just going to add to an already dismal economic picture.

 Oh, totally. I love AAA. It's incredible peace of mind - car stuff can be so scary. I'm really grateful - my Subaru has been very, very good to me as far as mechanical troubles. It's 12 years old and has 110,000 miles now, but in the 6 years I've had it I've only had 3 major mechanical problems (and one of them was the same problem, but the repair was botched by the first repair shop!).

I wish I could send some of our New England rain out to CA. :( It's been nothing but snow, rain, snow, rain all winter. It's also been my experience that many Californians (at least Southern Californians) do very poorly at conserving water during droughts. Washing their cars, watering their lawns at noon, washing their driveways with the hose, leaky sprinkler systems that drip like crazy, etc. It's so frustrating to watch people be inconsiderate of such a precious resource.

I'm a little nervous right now as my annual review is in 20 min.  Please, wish me luck although I don't really deserve it in this regard.

I decided to learn how to make a new soup yesterday.  Went out to my personal nemesis, the grocery store, came back and spent about 2 hours cooking.  DH went to prep the rest of dinner and FORGOT that there was soup.  It was literally under his nose and in his way but he FORGOT!  He made more than enough to eat so the soup went into the fridge.  It will probably be even better after sitting in the fridge but DH left town this morning and will likely not get any soup.

Huh, you think he might have done this on purpose?!? 

Oh my.  I really put my foot in my mouth via email today.  I know there was a thread recently or maybe it was here in mindless chatter about this. I hit reply instead of forward.  This was in regards to a group I recently resigned from as a volunteer.  I don't want to give too many details as who knows who reads this froum  and it is a dog related group. Well, it actually forced me to clear the air and I am glad it happened but when I got a reply from this person, my stomach just hit the ground when I realized what I had done.  This was a first for me and hopefully the last time I make that mistake.  Oh my, my.

Cathy, I have read that about how much food CA grows too.  Here in Texas we are the largest cattle producer and we are in an extreme drought in much of the state.  Wow, prices are already so high at the grocery store. Guess I will be raising chickens and growing my own veggies.  Wish my yard were bigger than a postage stamp. LOL  

I should have gone back and corrected my previous post for spelling and punctuation, but I'm just throwing caution to the wind today.  My coworker brought some chili for lunch and shared.  It was very good and that's something good for the crockpot.  At least once every few weeks, I throw in a chicken, onions, celery, carrots and a little water.  Voila, delicious chicken stew.   I do roasts too in the crockpot.  Add a can of mushroom soup and it makes it's own gravy.

Sarah, hope your review goes well, why don't you deserve a good one?  Did I misread that?  I'm still shook up about my email faux pas.

Sarah, hope that the review goes well!

Jackie, everyone has email "accidents" so don't worry about it too much.  It happens to the best of us!

I was planning on going to work today, but DH threw a fit, so it looks like I'll work from home for the next few days.  I had my assistant bring over some files that I needed, & then I had her take the dogs to day care for the day.  They are driving me crazy, & I can't get anything accomplished, work or nap, with them running around like freaks.  If only day care took the cat too...

I really feel like I slacked last year and didn't do as much as I could so I don't feel that I deserve a good review.  My business is also in the tank and, while there is not much we can do about that, it is still our goal to meet our budget and we didn't.

Again, I am proven wrong - I got an E.

VanMorrison

Again, I am proven wrong - I got an E.

Congratulations!! Does it come with a pay raise?

I went to the gym at lunch and I don't know if they've run a special lately or what but the place is super crowded these days. I get really crabby when I have to work my way around other people and especially when it's groups of women who are more intent on socializing than exercising .

cakana

Does it come with a pay raise?

ROFL!!!!  ....um......no.

Everything is frozen, we are Minnesota after all. 

The owners are still gunning for my job but this is a good sign.

VanMorrison

ROFL!!!!  ....um......no.

Everything is frozen, we are Minnesota after all. 

If it makes you feel any better, it's the same here in Calif. We usually get a COLA in July but I doubt we'll get that this year. Oh well, it still beats being unemployed.

VanMorrison

Again, I am proven wrong - I got an E.

Guess you weren't slacking as much as you thought!  Good for you and too bad no raise but I think you should give yourself a reward and have a treat when you get home.  Soup, maybe.  ROFL

Amanda, listen to your DH and stay home.  You will feel like someone ran over you with a truck if you go back to work too soon.  Doggie day care can keep the pups happy till you feel better. 

I am loving being a stay-at-home mom, but I feel like I'm getting lazy. I don't really want to get a job now. I've been applying for two jobs per week, plus any freelance I can find. Nobody is hiring, so I just give out resumes to anywhere that would need a graphic designer. I've gotten nothing so far. I browse craigslist for freelance jobs in bigger cities, hoping to find a work-from-home type job. There is nothing under employment in the paper, except for a couple of things I'm not qualified for. Even if I found a part-time job, doing something boring like retail, I probably wouldn't make as much as I am now on unemployment.

I know I'm just rambling, but I've just felt so weird lately. Generally, life had been going pretty much according to plan. College, career, house, marriage, baby. Now the economy's in the pooper, my job is gone, money is beyond tight, and I feel like I have no control over what's happening with my life.

/crazy lady rant

Janice - I wish I had some advice for you.  I do think that everything happens for a reason and, since you are doing everything you can, things will work out although it may not seem like it before the plan is unrolled.

In the meantime, why don't you all come over for a soup party?  Curried Squash with a Sour Cream/Cilantro Dollop.  Rupester and Morrison could exhaust each other.