Scraps of my Life

July Wrap-Up?!??!!

Posted on July 31, 2011 by pamsteinke

OH MY GOSH…You do realize that we are MORE than half way through the year, dontcha??? Holy CRAP!! How did that happen????

David is back in school, starting 7th grade in about 17 more days. He has lots of fun planned for the remainder of the Summer, like a week at a sleep-away camp in WA state. Thanks to his Uncle Po and Aunt Taya!

Brian starts a new schedule at work tomorrow. They are working 6am – 6pm with a 30minute lunch Mon-Sat! OK, once again, HOLY CRAP! They are so busy at work the boss offered them a $1/hour incentive to get them to go with the new 70+ hour work week. Frankly we could really use the money, so I’m not complaining, perse, but I do worry about Brian. As it is, he is so tired all the time, all he’s going to do now is come home, eat, shower, go to bed. Which sucks for both of us, but it’s supposed to be temporary. We’ll see…I’m kinda hoping it goes so well that the boss let’s the guys keep the extra dollar an hour. **keeping fingers crossed**

Rochell is finally getting the house process going. There was a hold up with the mortgage (loan officer is truth be told), so Mom went another way. So now we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel and it looks like she will be able to get into her new house, next door, before the snow flies. YAY!

I took a bad spill at the grocery store, where I work, last Monday. BADLY sprained my ankle. I don’t know when the last time was that I was in so much pain. The pain has subsided for the most part, but the range of motion hasn’t. Stiffness and swelling are still a battle. But I’m getting there.

The Library continues to keep me busy. I’ve wrapped up my first Summer Reading program and there were lots of lessons learned. In fact, tomorrow when I get in, I need to write those lessons up so I remember for next year.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading and reviewing on my book blog. I love having access to books before they are published, being in on the sneak preview. It’s a blast and I’ve been fortunate to read some really great literature…a couple of stinkers too, but the good is far outweighing the bad! If you want to check it out… www.novelgoddess.com

That’s about it for Mott, North Dakota. Life is different here, not better or worse, just different!

Filed under: All About Pam, Blogging, Family | 1 Comment »

Invasion

Posted on July 18, 2011 by pamsteinke

Does someone from your past ever invade your thoughts?

Last night I dreamt about a guy I used to date…way back when, BB…”before Brian”. He made a very brief appearance in a very weird dream, but he was someone I hadn’t thought of in a very long time.

Mike was a former Marine and about 15 years my senior. I used to work with him. I started working with him when I was 17, but we didn’t date until a few years later, after his divorce. Mike was the first guy that ever made me weak in the knees. The last time I saw him he professed his undying love for me and said he knew I was his soulmate…but we both knew he needed to reconcile with his ex-wife for the sake of his children. I kissed him good-bye and never saw or heard from him again.

Many years later I heard from a mutual friend that he and the family had moved back to Virginia following his daughter’s trial for attempted murder. She’d gotten mixed up in a cult or gang of some kind and tried to kill her family as part of her initiation. Thankfully she failed, but the criminal trial and subsequent conviction, drove Mike and his family out of the LA area.

After that dream, and the memories it prompted, I wonder how life is treating him. He was someone that was very dear to me and I hope life is treating him well. I also hope he knows there is someone out there thinking about him today.

Filed under: Friends | 2 Comments »

Rhubarb :-P

Posted on June 27, 2011 by pamsteinke

This is rhubarb.

I’ve only ever had rhubarb once, on a visit to North Dakota in 1976. It made such a strong impression on me, I’ve never had it again. I do remember seeing the pieces of rhubarb in my pie and thinking they looked just like red celery.

I’m not originally from North Dakota, as the previous sentence indicates…the only people I have ever met that actually like rhubarb are North Dakotans.

Recently I saw my first rhubarb plant. All this time, in my mind’s eye, I was picturing a bunch of celery, only red in color and nasty tasting. Never in my wildest dreams did I realize that it was some sort of bush-like plant with leaves the size of an elephant’s ear. Brian tells me that leaves are poisonous…but the stalks aren’t? How could that be? Just another reason for me to stay away from that nasty red celery looking stuff! ISH!

Filed under: Gardening | Leave a Comment »

I’ve been writing

Posted on June 15, 2011 by pamsteinke

I’ve been bad about blogging…but I have been writing!

Yep, to all those friends who have told me, over the years, that I ought to write a book…I’ve started. Last November, my brother, Porter, told me about a writing challenge he was participating in . The goal was to write like 50,000 words by the end of the month. Which averages out to like 18,000 a day. I had wanted to participate then, but it was October 26th and I just didn’t have the time to do my research and get ready to write by November 1st.

I had the germ of an idea one day while reading one of my young adult novels. So I started researching and kind of forming the framework. But then I had a dream one night that provided more of a whole story. Upon further reflection that story took precedence and it’s the one I am currently working on. I’m only about 40-50 pages in and it still needs a whole lot of work, but it’s flowing a lot easier than I ever imagined…so far. I just hope that continues!

The whole thing kind of reminds me of my Mom. I remember when I was younger, my Mom read a lot. The joke between Mom and Dad was that Mom was going to write a book, but she felt she needed to read a WHOLE LOT before she’d be ready to tackle writing. I don’t know if the writing was an excuse to read more, or not but I agree that you do need to read a whole lot before you can tackle writing.

PS – I did, finally, manage to remember to ask Porter about last November and the writing challenge. He met his goal of 50,000 words and that equates to about 80% of the story written, but he hasn’t touched it since November 30th. He did share with me the premise(s) of the story and I hope he does finish it up cuz I’d love to read it. He’s the really talented writer in the family!

Filed under: Books!!! | 1 Comment »

“But Honey, It’s Part of my Job”

Posted on May 24, 2011 by pamsteinke

Porter, correct and forgive me if my memories are mistaken.

Way back when, my little brother, Porter, was a video games editor and writer for Amazon.com. Part of his job was to play all the new video games that were coming out and he would write about them on Amazon. With that said, Porter had every video games system on the market, as well as all the latest and greatest games to go with them. He also had a built in excuse when his wife would get a bit perturbed with the amount of time he spent playing said video game, “But honey, it’s my job!”. I remember he and I talking about this when my family was visiting his home for one of the first times. The story came out as he was setting up my then, 4 year old son with some video games to play with while we were there.

At the time I remember chuckling at the convenience of that excuse…oh how the tables have turned! Porter no longer works for Amazon, and probably only plays video games when he and my son are together…but I, on the other hand, find myself frequently using his “convenient excuse” whenever I want to read rather than do laundry, dishes, or other household chores! OK, Po, the shoes is on the other foot, you can start kicking me with it. LOL! Love ya lil brother!

Filed under: Books!!!, Family, Video Games, Work | 1 Comment »

Started another blog

Posted on May 20, 2011 by pamsteinke

Yep…I don’t have enough to do! But with all the reading I am doing and all the books I’m writing reviews for I figured I should create a separate blog. Check it out.

http://novelgoddess.blogspot.com/

Filed under: Blogging, Books!!! | Leave a Comment »

I survived!!!!

Posted on May 16, 2011 by pamsteinke

Yesterday, Brian’s darling niece, Danielle, turned 21! God, talk about making a person feel old.

So the plan was to all meet up at Scorpion’s bar, the only bar open on Sundays, at 8 pm. Thankfully we pretty much had the bar all to ourselves. From 8 to 10pm it was mostly family…which made for a good time. Then some of Danielle’s friends started trickling in. Justin, who lives across the street from me and also works with me at the grocery store, dropped in to celebrate his birthday as well. Justin tried to make it his personal mission to get me drunk…which failed! As I told him, I was twice his age and I learned my limitations LONG ago as well as the fact that I don’t recover from binge drinking like I used to. I don’t know how trashed he ended up, I just know Bri and I went home and went to bed a little after 10pm and everyone was still going strong.

I am feelin for Danielle today, I suspect she is in miserable shape. The guys were looking for the most obnoxious drinks to buy her…including this birthday trough which held 4 different bottles of beer which she proceeded to drink with a straw! I think I was getting sick just watching her! I’m sure it was an interesting night for everyone…I’m just glad I had the foresight to know my limit and go home to bed!

Filed under: Birthdays | 1 Comment »

Blubbering Idiot

Posted on May 13, 2011 by pamsteinke

It’s Friday the 13th and the day started out like a typical Friday the 13th, including over sleeping and being a bit late for work.

Here is where the blubbering idiot part comes in. I stopped to pick up the mail because I knew I had a bunch of new books waiting for me…that, in itself, is cause for a Christmas-like glee in me. But what I found in my personal mailbox was more like a Christmas Miracle.

Our tax bill to the feds and the state is, in my small world, equivalent to the national war debt. And let this serve as a caveat for you should you ever decide to prematurely pull money out of your 401K…

I pulled money out of my 401K to pay some bills. When I requested the money my fund administrator took 20% off the top for the feds. What I didn’t know was that the feds were going to penalize me another 20% of the gross at tax time and the state took 10% of the gross to penalize me. So 50% of the money I took out ended up going to the two governments…I was under the mistaken impression that the 20% taken at the time the funds were withdrawn was going to be the extent of it. I was WRONG!!!

So back to my Miracle. I’d been stressing since discovering how much our tax bill was going to be. We decided to file an extension and have an accountant go over it and make sure I didn’t screw-up anywhere, plus it would give me time to sell all my photography equipment to cover the bill. My photography equipment was the only thing I could think of that might get us close to covering the bill.

OK, here is the Miracle part…today in the mail was a check for about 80% of my tax bill! It came from the bank that we did business with in Las Vegas before we moved a couple of years ago. The explanation accompanying the bill says it’s a credit balance refund found in a final audit of an account we closed a few years ago. Which means I don’t have to sell my equipment. Just thinking about it makes me start crying all over again. What can I say, I’m a blubbering idiot and an emotional basket case!

Filed under: Photography, Wierd & Wonderful | Leave a Comment »

What’s for Lunch

Posted on May 5, 2011 by pamsteinke

The nice thing about going to school in a really small region like Mott/Regent school district is that the lunch room actually makes the lunches for scratch. My son, for the most part, loves what the school offers for lunch…today, however, is a different story. Here is a copy of the lunches scheduled for this week, cut from the New England Herald newspaper. Needless to say, I sent a lunch with David today.

Filed under: Wierd & Wonderful | 1 Comment »

Peeve

Posted on May 4, 2011 by pamsteinke

peeve [peev] – noun

1. a source of annoyance or irritation: Tardiness is one of mygreatest peeves.

2. an annoyed or irritated mood: to be in a peeve.

To those who have known me a loonngg time, it will not come as a surprise that I tend to be a bit opinionated. Now, seeing the move to ND as a new start/clean slate/fresh page…I wanted to take advantage and start off on the right foot with my new neighbors and not show that side of me right off the bat. Well, to my ND neighbors…batten down the hatches, cuz the real me is comin out. Ah…on second thought, I edited my original thoughts and toned them down anyway. LOL

If you haven’t guessed already…I’m peeved this morning. I stopped by the C store for a little liquid refreshment, as I usually do, before heading off to work. As I came out the C store and walk to where I parked (south side of the building) I see a truck parked in the middle of nowhere, basically. The truck was not pulled up to the curb, as a normal person would have done. It was basically parked behind the handicapped spot. By parked behind the handicapped spot, I mean that this “person” was parked in such a way that s/he wouldn’t get a ticket for actually parking in the handicapped spot, but there was no way a legitimate handicapped person could park there either.

WHAT THE F*CK KIND OF MESSED-UP LOGIC IS THAT? There were other spots available at the actual curb…Hell, most people drive right up and park alongside the door to the store. By parking so far behind the spot in question it’s not like they were actually “closer” to the door. So why go there?

Oh well…I’m sure I will never know what the thought process was behind that one…It just struck me at very wierd!

Filed under: Observations | Leave a Comment »

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