Just leaf me alone

It's me!  I'm alive... ALIVE!

Today is the day, I finally feel well rested.  My arm is recovered enough from my flu shot (it really hurt! I wonder if they had mistaken an elephant tranquilizer for the little shot I was supposed to have) Three days later and I'm feeling better, aside from nasally yuckadoo going on.  I took some allergy medicine and it's helping... I think.  So what's the logical thing to do?  Leaves!  I shall enter the yard, donned in my finest allergy armor; and we will battle.  Leaves vs. KJ 

They've done their job, they've shaded us, shown off their best and brightest colors on exit, and now it's time for me to remove help them.  That is right.  I will help them become part of life again, at the local compost pile.  They can give the leafy version of donating blood; they can help give life by making some beautifully rich soil to grow more trees to make more leaves.  It is a beautiful circle.  Really it is. 

"It's a beautiful circle," I will chant these words as I look at the ocean of crunchy leaves swimming in our back yard.  I'll chant it so loudly, that it will drown out the "what the hell was I thinking."

Of course,  I just might have to do it the high tech way, listening to tunes on my bluetooth headset - streaming my favorite Pandora radio channel - VAST.  I am quite positive the last ounce of motivation I need is in the bottom of my coffee cup.

What's that wafting in the air?

Ahhhh. Here in the land of all things KJ, it's a good day when you get a box at your door and through the packing materials and box; seeping from the seams you smell mini candle shop. I could hardly wait to open the box which was holding my aromatic abundance of happiness.

I ripped the box open and my nose came alive and fell in love. The WoodWick wax melts were here! A concoction of lavender, caramel, sun-ripened apple, redwood and fireside all swirled together in a nasal intoxication like never experienced before. If there is a heaven, I hope it smells something like this.

Breathe in, smile, breathe out.

I hope your day smelled half as good as mine. :)

It's in the trees

Today I was looking at the trees and thinking about their colorful leaves. It's almost as if they've saved up all of the best colors of the sunrises and sunsets of they've seen in the previous year and as a grand finale of visual fireworks, they share them all in a big bang for our eyes to feast upon by way of their boldly colored leaves.  Beautiful hues before leaving themselves bare and exposed for the frigid months ahead. Come springtime to lather, rinse and repeat.

Another fun thing to witness are all of the squirrels and chipmunks...trying their best to be as stealthy as ever, only to find themselves having to cross an ocean of crunchy, noisy leaves.  I liken it to the sounds of sharply clanging pots and pans with an occasional crash of a cymbal as if in a cartoon. It makes me giggle.  I am blessed to live in an area where I can witness such simplicities as these on a regular basis.

Thank you, Mother Nature!

A day of cleansing

Sorta... Actually it's more like a day of cleaning the house. It's needed a buff and shine pretty badly, so today is it's lucky day!  It's smelling lemony fresh.  Nothing is nicer than a freshly un-cluttered swept and mopped kitchen.  Makes me sad when I mess it all up again when it comes time to cook dinner...  Hmm.  I don't even know what's on the menu for tonight's consumption. Probably nothing too fancy.

I'm anxiously awaiting more news about my potential job.  I am very excited, and can't wait to get started.  I think it will work out great, given the opportunity.  I've trimmed my fingernails, given them a fresh coat of polish - and they're ready to unleash some documentation! 

Monday is always seems like the quietest day of the week for me.  The kids are off to school after a busy weekend, hubby is back to work, and it's just me and the house, and our trusty kitteh - Sneezers.  The day is flying by.  I need to get back at my cleaning duties, and before I know it, it'll be time to go pick up the kids and the house will be full of sound again.

I hope everyone is having a great Monday!

A job?

Last night, I didn't sleep very soundly.  This morning rolls in, and ahhhh, sweet sleeping in bliss was taking over.  The bed was toasty warm.  I was getting caught up on some missing slumber when my cell phone rings.  It announced "call from...." and rattled off some random, but local, digits.  I didn't recognize the number, but for some reason I answered the call.  Normally I let the calls that I don't know ring to voicemail, but not today. 

"Hello?" I answered in my 'you didn't just wake me up, I'm WIDE awake' voice.  I hear an older man's voice on the line (can people still use that term with cell phones? on the line?) and he introduced himself.  He mentioned having received my resume in the mail back in September.  It was for a job that I had already convinced myself that someone had already been hired for, with little way to follow-up on - short of another letter.  It was sent into a PO Box at the local newspaper, so I really wasn't sure where I was applying, but only for the position of a medical transcriptionist.  I haven't had any specific training in that area, but I am very technically skilled and type very well.  I have a strong attention to detail, I can type well, and I am a fast learner.  It was a job that was not full time, and I would be able to work from within my own home.  It seemed too good to be true, and when I hadn't heard back, I figured I just wasn't qualified.  It was a job that had been filled before he'd received my resume, he told me.

But then...

It wasn't working out.  He was interested in my resume.  He is going to contact a former employee that used to work for him and see if she could stop by and teach me what I needed to know.  I am now waiting for a call from her.  I am beyond excited.  I hope to hear something soon, so I can get started right away.  They pay is more than minimum wage, I won't need to spend money to refresh my wardrobe, and the gas usage with my car will be minimal, as he's right here in my town.  The turn around time is every 72 hours.  So, 3 days a week I'd be going to get work, and deliver work.  That is perfect.  I can work it into my routine of the daily runs with the kids to and from school.  I am beside myself!  I don't think I'll be able to sleep until I know when I'll get my training and can get started.  The phone call was basically my interview... it's weird having a phone interview without knowing it was going to happen, and being half asleep.  I hope I didn't sound totally moronic. LOL

I hope this works out.  I'm so excited!  I think I said that already... *fingers crossed*

Winning

Today began on a very off note, because of lack of sleep, mostly.  It's Friday.  I should have woken up in a fantastic mood.  I am not fully awake yet, though.  However, I'm more awake now than I was an hour ago.  Yay for progress!  I actually think I got granted a do-over.  I caught some sleep, then got up to get a few things done... and just like my first try, I sipped some coffee, and read my equivalent to the news.... Facebook.

Onward, with the do-over.  As I sleep sit here at my laptop, trying to steady the coffee to my lips and keep my back turned to the 2nd attempt of "morning grumpies" I peruse my facebook.  Cranking my eyeballs open enough to read the what's-what of who's -ever-whom... I hear an angel calling my name... KJ... Kayyyyy.... Jayyyyyy..... I sense a disturbance in the force. 

Then I see it.

If you know much about me, I love candles.  Particularly - WoodWick Candles.  Last year I was graced enough to be a "nose" for them.  They sent a few select people to be on their fragrance team to test out their new line of scents before they hit the market.  I was stoked.  It was AWESOME.  Well, my friends, today I had another good moment, with WoodWick.  I am a fan of their Facebook page,  https://www.facebook.com/WoodWickCandles#!/WoodWickCandles if you're curious.  I see they've listed one of their "Facebook Fridays"; each Friday they do promotional things where you can win various discounts and freebies. Well, today's challenge was to unscramble the letters to 4 of their scents to win 5 free wax melts. The first 10 to email in, won. My name didn't get mentioned (not everyones did), but I still won the coupon code.  I am so excited!  It just made my day.  If you've never tried them, the next candle you buy should be a WoodWick .  They are from the Virginia Candle Company found here - http://www.virginiacandle.com/  They cost a little more than regular candles, but they last longer, and the fragrances are far superior than any other candles I've tried.

I hope you have a Fantastic Friday, with, or without a do-over. :-)

It's no time to chill

Today broke me, I caved.  I turned on the dreaded furnace.  The temperature inside the house had been holding steady around 66, then it dropped lower, and lower.  It got to 63 and I decided that's it!  Time to get it to at least to 66 again.  So, I got out my reluctant finger, and applied it to the button that controls the bank; or at least seems to, through that nasty thing called "the electric bill" *shudder* it just had to be done.  You'd better believe that as SOON as it's a little warmer again, it's going right back off.  I am hoping this is only temporary for now, as I know the days are numbered when we'll require the heat to be on 24/7.  Until then, I am going to squeeze every penny I can save out of it.  It's always a personal challenge -how low can I get the electric bill?

On a totally unrelated note, we watched "Meet Joe Black" last night.  It was a good (and long, wow!) movie.  I realize it's from 1989 or something rediculous like that, but we don't do a whole lot of movie/TV watching around here.  We do have a Netflix account, and only watch the streaming movies.  Now that colder weather is approaching, I see us snuggling up in piles of blankets watching a few more movies than we normally do.

If you have kids, you may find this tid-bit of information useful if you need to make a laugh or two or 500.  Take a black marker, and if you're right handed, take the inside of your left pointer finger and draw a nice, fancy mustache on it.  Then, put it under your nose, mustache side out, and look at your kids.  It makes simple conversation SO much more interesting.  It took about 2.3 nano-seconds before they decided to follow suit.  It was a great time to liven up a soggy, cold, after-dinner-do-your-homework evening.  Enjoy!