So I’ve been on hiatus for the past few weeks. I have a good reason: my son was in the hospital getting heart surgery, a new valve and a pacemaker to be exact. This wasn’t a huge surprise and hasn’t been his first surgery but it’s stressful nonetheless. So now that I’m back at work, I figured I should get this blog moving again!

Today I went to the grocery store. As I was walking in, I got behind two elderly gentlemen. One walked really, really slow but I didn’t push them because A: I’m nice and B: I wouldn’t want someone to do that to me. Well, as I’m walking slowly behind them, a grocery store employee comes barreling up between me and the elderly guys and is literally breathing down their neck to get by. I could see the slower guy try to pick up the pace a little, but it must not have been enough because the employee kept dancing back and forth behind him. I almost told her to cool it because I seriously did want to punch her. Finally the elderly guy stepped aside and let her by. What a jerk she was!

Anyway, the real reason for my trip was because they had a really good deal on toilet paper. After looking around for a while though, I finally asked someone where it was and apparently they’re out. But there’s more coming on the truck in an hour though! Well, that’s just great, my lunch break is NOW. Sheesh.

I did stop at the deli though and get a salad. I ran into my sister who coincidentally told me I walked like our grandma. Thanks sister!

Back to work.

Enlightenment:

• Be nice to the elderly. You’ll be in that group someday.
• If there’s a deal on TP go the first day to buy it!

The title is a shout-out to my favorite band of all time: Queen.

Today for lunch, since I am feeling a little tired and poopy, I just sat in the car with my eyes closed for almost the whole half hour. I still feel pretty tired, but at least my eyes got a break.

While sitting there with the windows open, soaking up the sun, I thought of something.

This is what my settings are on the way to work:

And here is what they are in the afternoon and on the way home:

I love Minnesota. So weatherly bipolar.

Enlightenment:

• Meditating is good if you can spare a few minutes.

This is exactly what my meal will look like tonight, complete with backdrop of egg, parsley, cream pitcher, whisk, and uncooked pasta. Yes.

Next week and the week after (if not, more), my husband I will be down at a local hospital tending to our son, who will be having heart surgery. Of course, we have an older daughter as well, and she can’t very well miss school for two weeks. So tonight, I’m inviting the grandparents over to plan out our daughter’s schedule while we’re gone. It’s a huge undertaking for them, so we are grateful.

I figured the least I could do was provide them with supper: chicken alfredo, garlic bread, fruit, and wine.

So today for my lunch break, I headed out to the local grocery store to pick up some garlic bread and also some lunch for me. We’re cleaning out the fridge this week, and there’s not a whole lot to pack for lunches, so I just grabbed a piece of pizza at the deli, along with a veggie cup. Balanced, right? No strange people or occurrences today, just a trip to the store and back to work. Very anti-climatic.

Enlightenment:

• If your parents are still in your life, make them supper some night.

I’m Catholic and every year during Lent, our family traditionally gives something up for 40 days. This is supposed to be a sacrifice to mirror Jesus’ 40 days of temptation in the desert. You can also “do” something extra for 40 days too, but I tend to give up something very dear to me every year: chocolate.

Now, to clarify, this isn’t just some “oh, isn’t chocolate so delish?” kind of paltry addiction. This is a bone-deep need I have: chocolate and I go way back, we have a history. So to give it up for 40 days is the biggest sacrifice I can think of. And during those 40 days, I thought of chocolate everyday, but I didn’t give in and I’m proud of myself.

So yesterday, once we got home from Easter Sunday mass, I savored my first bite of chocolate in 40 days. My husband (only half-jokingly), asked if I wanted some time alone with my Cadbury egg. I laughed and said no, of course not (only half-jokingly). If Jesus can be tempted by the devil for 40 days and make it, I can live without chocolate for 40 days. But not more than that.

Today for lunch anyway, I met my wonderful husband and we had a nice time, chatting and eating. I don’t realize how much I miss him during the week with all the running!

Hope you all had a great Easter weekend.

Enlightenment:

• Chocolate is life.
• Husbands are cool.

Today’s lunch break is sponsored by Kmart. Okay, not really, but they gladly took money from me today.

My husband is miserable with allergies and so between him and our daughter, we go through Kleenexes pretty quickly. I also picked up headbands for my daughter who is trying to grow her bangs out, as well as some chocolate bunnies for Easter.

And that’s it! LOL – that’s all I did on my lunch break. Happy Thursday y’all!

Enlightenment

• Short and sweet is nice
• Chocolate can cure all problems.

I’m kind of grumpy today, just from a mixture of things that are beyond my control. Most days I let this type of stuff roll off my back but today for some reason, I can’t let go of my anger and frustrations. I need some wine, but unfortunately they don’t allow that at work.

But anyway, my lunch break today was filled like it always is. First I stopped at the pet store to get food for our cat. Then I went to the local grocery store to get some treats for my daughter’s class. However, I suddenly remembered her telling me that there was a wheat allergy involved with one of her classmates, so I called the school but couldn’t get a hold of anyone, so I left the grocery store until later.

Then I went to Crafts Direct and picked up two bags of popsicle sticks. Sorry, the appropriate verbage is “wooden craft sticks” but you know what I mean. One colored, one plain, one for my daughter and one for a fund-raiser at the kids’ school.

Then I got myself a sandwich and a latte at Crafts Direct’s little bistro thing and it was very good. I spent the remainder of my lunch break eating/drinking that and watching people jogging past me. You go be active and healthy, little runners. At least my taste buds are active.

Finally I got a hold of the principal at the school who told me there was in fact a wheat allergy to tend to. With 10 minutes left of my lunch break, there wasn’t enough time for me to run to get ice cream, so I called my husband and asked if he could take care of it. He said he would thankfully.

Enlightenment:

• It’s okay to be grumpy, as long as it’s not longer than a month.
• Women are required to do a lot and multi task. That’s why we’re awesome.

Today’s lunch break brought me to Mills Fleet Farm, where I needed to pick up softener salt. It’s one of those things where you nag your better half to get it, but he’s just as busy as YOU are, so you just squeeze it into a lunch break.

So off to Fleet Farm I went, and found the salt nestled in the back amongst the bags of soil and random motorcycle helmets. I lugged a couple 40 pound bags into my cart and went to go check out. I also spied a display of Cadbury Eggs, so I grabbed one of those too. They are limited edition, folks, get them while you can!

The nice register lady rang me up and I was waiting for my receipt when an older woman pulled up her cart behind me. I immediately thought “crazy cat lady” because her cart was overflowing with kitty litter and cat food. Well, she started pulling things out of her cart, but in the process, started pushing my cart forward so she could reach the counter. I scooted forward once, but she kept doing it (I kept getting rammed in the ankle). Finally the register lady, who needed my signature on the receipt before I got pushed out the door, told crazy cat lady to just wait and that she would get the heavy things out of her cart for her. Crazy cat lady looked ticked off at the world in general, so I just high tailed it out of there before she threw cat nip in my face.

I had about 8 minutes left, so I also stopped to get gas. I paid at the pump but my receipt didn’t come out and I didn’t want to drive away as a felon, so I jumped inside quickly to make sure I was safe.

I was.

Enlightenment

• Don’t get between crazy people and their kitty litter purchase.
• Don’t break the law.

 

Yesterday I struggled to come up with something to write about my lunch break. I got a piece of pizza and then went to Target to shop for birthday gifts and Easter stuff. But I was just so “bunky” yesterday I couldn’t have written a positive sentence if I tried. I think it was the weather partly, and partly because I think we’re going to have a hard time getting into the Ronald McDonald House when my son goes in for his surgery. It’s funny how little things like that can just throw you off.

Well today for my lunch break, I went to the local library. I haven’t been in there for quite some time but I needed to pick up a book that was on hold for me, something that was suggested reading for my final MBA class. Not too exciting but hopefully it will be helpful. I also picked up Jaycee Dugar’s memoir and read the first chapter of it before going back into work. It’s not too bad so far.

So that’s all I had time for today, but I’m glad to see the weather is turning sunnier, even though I felt like fastening myself down so I didn’t blow away.

Happy Tuesday!

Enlightenment:

• Not all reading is fun, some of it is necessary.
• I think people need longer than a half hour lunch break.

No, I’M not saying goodbye to my little blog! Today for lunch, I am saying goodbye to two coworkers by way of a community potluck. One coworker is moving out-of-state and the other is retiring. Both were great to work with, even though I interacted with them indirectly, and they are good people. I hope they have good luck in the future.

My contribution to the potluck was beans and hamburger mixed together in a crock pot, topped with cheese, and then served with chips. I never know what to bring to these things! Do I make some amazing, memorable dish that people will ask me to bring to every potluck for the rest of my life? Or do I go with a good old standby: chips and dip? I went with safety today, so hopefully it complements all the other food stuff in the lunch room.

Here is the pre-cheese picture:

The cheese made it gooey and nice, so I would say it was a hit!

Enlightenment:

• There’s no problem cheese can’t solve.
• Saying goodbye is bittersweet.

Today for lunch I headed out to my car again while mourning the fact that there is no picnic table or anywhere to sit outside of the building I work in. Well, there is, but it’s in the middle of Smoker’s Haven, so I tend not to stray over there. So off to my car again to open the windows and sit in the warm sun.

Sadly, I didn’t have anything too interesting to do on my lunch break. Just read my homework that I need to write a big paper about. The reading is about launching a fighter brand, where big companies who want to compete with the “thrifty” competitor’s offerings launch a similar product that is lower quality but more cost efficient than the premium option they offer. It’s actually kind of interesting. As for my paper, luckily, it’s just my OPINION of what the reading is about, and BS seems to be my thing when it comes to writing. So I should be set.

Enlightenment:

• Don’t underestimate the power of BS.
• Don’t believe in the power of spell check. It just suggested I change “mourning” to “morning”.