What do you do with this person?

What do you do with this person who works in an office of five people in one big room? She knows everything. If you question her knowledge she flips out. She interrupts every story you tell with a "better" story. She boasts constantly about the great job she does. She tells you over and over again about how qualified and experienced she is. She claims to be related to/friends with/ used to work for, etc.....every person in the world. She takes dozens of personal calls per day while you have to answer her phone and take a message when she's on another line. She asks you to do her mailings, her end-of-day balancing, etc. and then complains that she needs a secretary. She doesn't do a single thing to help close the office at the end of the day. She makes derogatory remarks about everyone.....especially people of other race. She makes fun of the sweetest person in the office. She tells stories about everyone else who works in the company. She accuses you often of being good friends with the boss. She manages to get Internet Services to wipe out her history on her computer so she doesn't get into trouble for being on Facebook all day. She swears while talking on the phone even when there are customers in the office. Help.

Weekend Stuff

I went to a "Lia Sophia" jewelry party Friday night. I'm not much on going to these parties. Usually I say "no thank-you" when asked to go, but this person is a good friend and a fun person so I figured it would be fun. It was. But.....I don't like spending money on jewelry. Usually it's some earrings when we go to a craft fair....never anything over $10. But you know how it goes........I did buy some earrings.....for $30. Ouch. I worked Saturday morning. There was someone waiting to come in when I got there. Despite the sign stating that we open at 9am, he figured that since we turned the lights on, he could come in at 8:50. The Twit. We close at 1pm, and a couple came in at 12:15 and spent the next half hour arguing at the counter, over which tickets they should buy for their FUN vacation in Florida. After I finally got them squared away.....at 12:50.....they realized they'd forgotten to get the traveler's checks they needed. And then the guy signed one on the wrong line. The Twit. I finally went shopping in the afternoon and got some fall clothes for work. I guess it was a blessing that some idiot backed into me and my insurance company gave me $238 because that sure bought me a bunch of clothes. I got some nice things at Khol's ....which used to have the worst "Ladies" department but now has some really nice things. The rest of the clothes I got at Fashion Bug. My hubby took me out to Margurita's for dinner Saturday night. We don't usually go there...I'm not a huge fan of Mexican food, but I had a coupon for a free entree. They do have a nice grilled chicken Fajita. We finally got over to my brother's house for a football game today. Patriots vs. Falcons. The Patriots were the underdogs for this one but we won! And my brother made us a delicious meal. We really enjoy visiting them. Tonight is the season premier of the Amazing Race. So nice to have my reality shows back on again. Survivor started last Thursday. I still miss Beauty and the Geek, though. And tomorrow it's back to work. Sigh..............

Apple Picking in New England

Lots of big, fat, juicy apples just waiting for us to come along and pick them. First up....... a ride on the wagon behind the tractor. Emily loved the tractor.

She sat on my lap and played with the hay.

Jamie climbed the tree to get the fattest apples from the top.

Auntie J and Em meander down the path.

My son Nick made his girlfriend Kelly laugh with his imitation of a farmer.

My daughter-in-law Kara (aka Emmy's Mom) shows Emmy how small her apple is.

Emmy loves the apple right off the tree.

Inside the store, Emmy learned the words "gourd" and "bumpy".

She wasn't too sure about sitting on a pumpkin.

Until later on when she was getting pooped out.

Noah's Birthday!

We celebrated Noah's first birthday today! He is gorgeous and fun and a happy baby. He was very happy to check out his new wheels. He and Uncle Kenny got some time to spend together.

Playing with his new "Noah's Ark" piano.

Mom and Dad sing Happy Birthday to Noah.

Points to Ponder

* Why do I hate clothes shopping so much? Because the clothes I can afford are ugly and cheaply made. And they dont' make anything nice for us "robust" girls. I dont' want to wear something that looks like my grandmother's mumu. * So......I finally had a little extra money to get myself some clothes so I went to my usual Kmart and Wally World and ended out with six pairs of undies (desperately needed....TMI?) and two pairs of shoes that I hope will not hurt my feet. That's it. * I like Dress Barn. That will be my next stop. * Is it really worth it to sit there with your blinker on waiting to get into a parking space near the door when there are plenty of spaces just a few feet down? You're not saving any time you know....because I usually go park my car and then walk past you while you're still sitting there with your blinker on. * If you must make a 7 point turn to get into a parking space at the grocery store, perhaps you are too old to drive. * Speaking of which, it's "Florida Time" at AAA. All the lovely old folks are coming in for their Trip Tiks for their annual migration to Florida. My advice is to stay off I-95 South until at least Thanksgiving. * Do you think I'd make any money if I started a "Bag Boy School"? Maybe I should bring my idea to those guys on "Shark Tank". Although.....I don't get that show. * Did you see the guy who caught his first ever foul ball....handed it to his 3-year old....and she promptly threw it back onto the field? The video was so popular that the Today Show had the family on. They made out like bandits with Phillies game shirts and signed ball. * I am way beyond disgusted with "America's Got Talent". Did you see who won the finale? The Chicken Farmer!!! Are you kidding me???? I've heard better singing at on open mic. And he got a million dollars. hmmmmm......maybe next year I should try out. * How come when I rant and rave I get 7 or 8 comments. When I put an adorable video of my grandson on.......nothin'. That's all I got on my mind .......for now.

Grampy is The Ice Cream King

Our Grandson Noah will be one year old on Friday! My hubby, his Grampy, is the self-proclaimed ice cream King in Noah's life. There's a little ice cream stand near Noah's house and Grampy has to take him there every time he goes over to visit. Watch Noah's reaction when he sees the ice cream stand and hears Grampy say the words "ice cream".

Those Kids Sure Grow When You're Not Lookin'

Yesterday was our Family Reunion. On my Mother's Side. So it was the 16th Annual Bergeron Family Reunion. My Mom had 7 children in her family, who had 25 children of their own, and at last count, there were 50 children in the next generation. And we've begun another generation after that. You do the math.

We've always had our reunion outdoors. For obvious reasons. Who would have all those people in their house? I've been lucky enough to get our local park for free every year. This year however, they were going to be doing construction so the scramble was on to find a new place.

We ended out at Pawtuckaway State Park. It was gorgeous. The weather was beautiful. And despite the chance in locale, we had a fantastic turnout. A rough estimate puts it at 65 people.

My sweet baby Emily was the youngest one there. She had a ball....she sang, she danced, she played on the slide. I'm pretty sure she's the youngest one in the family, but not for long. There's at least one baby coming along in the next year.

And the patriarch of the family is my Uncle Chanel. He'll be turning 82 this year. And going strong. He's the father of six, grandfather of 17 and great-grandfather of 2.

My own sweet Mom was there as well. She and Uncle Chanel are the only ones in their generation who are left. Mom has 4 children, 12 grandchildren and 1 great-grandchild.

The thing that makes me the most happy is that the new generation is just as dedicated to family tradition as my generation is. My children all came, and many, many of my cousins' children come every year. And enjoy it. They enjoy seeing distant cousins and aunts and uncles and great-aunts and great-uncles that they see only once a year.

Gives me hope for the future, ya know?

We Know Everything

It never ceases to amaze us at AAA (or as some members call it....AA) that our members think we know everything.

Case in point: A LOL (Little Old Lady) shuffles slowly up to the counter and asks, "What time does Denny's open in the morning?"

Better Late Than Never

It's pretty bad when it's the last week in August and your daughter comments on your pasty white chicken legs. That's what happens when you quit your job at a summer camp and instead work in the air-condition-controlled 70 degree, flourescent-lit office that has become my life for 40 hours a week. Add to that a June and July of unceasing rain and several more weekends in August with remnants of hurricanes, and the chances are slim that I'll have the beautiful tanned skin I always dream of. However, Hubby and I did go out this weekend and do some canoeing......or "canoodling" as we like to call lit. We spent three hours Sunday paddling around on a lake right here in our hometown. And because the weather was mid-70's, with a cool breeze, we didn't need no stinkin' sunscreen. Even though the sky was a bright, bright blue. My skin is now a flourescent tomato red . At least it's not pasty white any more.

You just have to squeeze in some good stuff during this last weekend of summer.

I was so very excited to have THREE days off in a row this weekend. I usually work Saturday mornings so my weekends consist of ........Sunday. Hubby and I decided to take a ride up to Portsmouth, NH. It's someplace Hubby has been wanting to explore and I haven't really been there that often either. We started out at "Strawberry Banke". This is a 'museum' of an 1800's settlement in New Hampshire. The buildings are all original. It was very different from Sturbridge Village in that it wasn't set up to resemble a working village. There were very few "characters" pretending to be villagers. Actually, we only saw one. And the contents of the houses actually represented everything from 1800 through the 1950's. There were some beautiful houses and gardens. This is a very cool treehouse.....not sure if it was really made during that time period.

This may look familiar to some of you folks.

Then we went across the street to Prescott Park. It's beautiful, right on the water, with some amazing gardens. We walked across the bridge to Pierce Island.

After Prescott Park we went to Market Square where it's all cobblestone streets and little shops and art studios.

We crossed the bridge into Kittery after that and went to a little clam shack called "Bob's" for a yummy seafood supper eaten, as it should be, outside on the picnic tables.

I have no kids starting school.....but.......

I did get pictures from friends and relatives of their kids on their first days of school. First is Skylar, who used to be in my daycare. She was a cute little chubby faced preschooler and now look at her entering 5th grade!

Next are Sean and Cara. Cara was the first baby I had in my daycare.....only about 3 months old. Now she is entering 5th grade and her brother is going to 1st!

My beautiful niece Laura is entering 4th grade. That smile hasn't changed a bit!

And finally, the most exciting first day of all.....my step-daughter Wendy started her first day of college! I'm so proud of her for taking this gigantic step. She knows it will be a very long process but I know she has the determination to see it through. Good Luck Wendy and Lots of Love.

PS...I couldn't get the pictures and text to line up. I hope you can figure out who is who!

It's Just a Little Bump

I was the last one out of work today. Locked up......set the alarm. When I got to the parking lot a gentleman was leaving in his car. He'd come to the door but we'd already closed. He pulled to the end of the driveway and stopped to wait for traffic so he could turn onto the very, very busy road. I pulled up behind him to wait. Suddenly.......he decided he was too far out into the busy road and backed up! Without looking behind him! I beeped. Not just a toot-toot........ a long, angry what the hell do you think you're doing you moron beep. When I realized he didn't notice me still, I grabbed for the shift handle to go in reverse.....but I was too late. Crunch!!! NOW he finally sees me. I backed up, got out and inspected the damage. It was mininal. Scraped paint on my fender. That's what fenders are for, right? I asked the guy for his info and he informed me that the damage on my car was obviously there before he hit me! Huh?? Buddy....you just backed into my car and you think the damage was there before?? He insists on calling the police. Fine by me. The (very hunky and sexy) police officer came and pointed out to the gentleman that the round dent in his fender fit exactly the round shape of my fender. The man was stupid enough to say, "I know it's all my fault.....I backed into her". Case closed. As Judge Marilyn Millian would say, "Stick a fork in me....I'm done. Pay the lady."

Are You Kidding?

I can't believe I'm talking about weather again on this blog but seriously.....is someone kidding? We just had the worst summer ever.....even worse than last summer. It rained for two months (June and July) then we had heat and humidity for three weeks right up until this week. The sky is bright blue....it's 70 degrees....crisp, clean, no humidity. And today school started. I'm no longer working for the school system so it shouldn't make any difference to me......but somehow it does. It seems unfair that kids should have to be indoors when it's so beautiful out. I know they just got two months off but it doesn't really count, does it? If they had to stay inside and annoy their parents and brothers and sisters? Rather than be out in the pool having a ball? I feel this way - if I have to be inside an office, that's when the weather can be crappy. As soon as I step out of the office to go to lunch, or home for the evening or am off for the weekend, the sky should turn bright and blue and beautiful. Right?