CoCo's Corner

It's my little girl's 26th birthday today. She is an amazing woman. She is slowly making her way through school while working full time as a CNA. CNA's don't make a lot of money, so she still hangs out here with Ted and I - much to her chagrine. She has had to struggle a lot through her young life. Two episodes of cancer, the chemotherapy and radiation that she endured has taken a toll on her young body and caused her to have lots of crap that she deals with now, mostly fibromyalgia. It's been 26 years, but boy, I sure can remember that day she was born. I had been having contractions for weeks. Had to spend a week in the hospital when I was about six months along, because of premature labor. Had to take horrible drugs to keep the contractions at bay for the next couple of months. I was not supposed to work, but, because we were always so broke, I continued working without my doctor's knowledge. Well, the night of September 23, I was having a lot of c...

I had THE most amazing experience yesterday. I couldn't believe how amazing and awesome it was going to be and I wouldn't have missed it for the world. I would have given up my next six meals to do this - I would have gone and bought a loaf of bread and sustained myself on that for the next couple of days if I had to. There is no way in the land I would have missed this for anything (and I am going on and on about this, because there were people who didn't go with us when offered the opportunity). I went WHALE WATCHING! The company we went through has two trips they offer a day. They only send out a boat if there are at least twenty people. We had exactly that! The ship before us, in the morning had 74!! I am so glad we had the less crowded boat. We could move around from side to side without much problem. Had there been as many as before, it would have been impossible to go from one side to the other. As it stood, if there was a whale on one side, we could all ...

Patronize: verb: to treat condescendingly I hate when I get so mad that the things I would like to say won't hit the tip of my tongue. The one thing that can get me to that point is to patronize me, "well, ma'am, you wouldn't want us to go in and replace a bunch of parts that we don't need to, do you, that would just cost you a lot of money". AARRGGGHHH!!!! Today, I had planned to take my car to get all the little things that need to be done taken care of. Took it in to get the tires rotated. Took it in and got the oil changed. The last thing I needed to do was to take it to Larry Miller Jeep to get some warranty work done. My car has two issues. Number one: the seat belt won't engage - I put it in and it doesn't clasp, so I have to pull it out and do it again. Sometimes it does it that time, sometimes it doesn't. Number two: my car has had a problem starting. I can turn the key and it does nothing - doesn't click, doesn't tur...

First off - let me introduce you to my painting clothes. I have (obviously) used these clothes to do painting. I don't know that I used them at my old house in Kearns, but I do know that I started using them in my condo and have also used them in this house that I have with Ted. They are a pair of George's sweat pants and one of his tee-shirts. Just started using them to do painting stuff in. They are so stiff in some places it's not even funny - and the butt is colored with different colors, because I have a tendency to bend over and then I stick my butt on a newly painted wall, etc. My project started in my entry way. I started with the frame. I have big plans for the frame. But, I will have to reveal it when it's all completed!! The color of the frame is "bran muffin". I used it in my bedroom when I painted it a couple of years ago. Then came the next color. It's a burnt orange and I absolutely love it!! I have painted the entry - and now ...

I have developed this new tradition. It's one I enjoy very much. It always begins in September. Maybe not always the first day of September, but, sometime toward the beginning. You see, when my friend Patti and I were working together, I realized that she had accumulated her vacation to the point of "use it or lose it". I always kept a nice bank, but not quite to that extreme. Well, in 2006 I decided that would be my goal, saving up all my vacation to the point I was "topped out". So, in the year 2006, I used only eight hours of vacation the entire year!! Now, why would I do that?? I did that because I'm a planner, I do not have one spontaneous bone in my body, so I plan. What am I planning for, my retirement. That way, when I retire, the city will have to pay me out for at least 300 hours of vacation - a nice little paycheck to keep me going until the old retirement checks start rolling in. By doing that, I have forced myself to use five weeks o...