The way I always understood it from the movies, the guy in his 40’s or 50’s looks back on his life and what is in the future…decides he isn’t where he thought he was going to be, therefore makes a change…most times…some crazy change that most view as stupid, the little red sports car or drinking too much or “chasing women” and usually was characterized with those well-known words – midlife crisis.  I don’t really even remember there being a problem with women having a midlife crisis…mostly because the women were just so darned busy doin’ woman’s work….

But let me tell you about the mid-life crisis……

Nope…not him…he was just my partner…that is me…I looked back on my life and ahead and thought…hmmmm…I really want to be a cop…because of my age and my fitness level, I was pretty sure I couldn’t handle going to the police academy and totally start a new career on the other side of the radio…so Rod (who is a jailer for the county) and I decided we were going to apply to be reserves police officers in a small town in our  county.

We passed the fitness qualifications, we qualified with our weapons, we trained, we ached, we sweat, we were pepper-sprayed…uh huh…We got to drive the squad car with the lights and siren…we got to use the radar and drive out of the median to chase down speeders.  Once a month, I talked to kids in all of the elementary classes about safety.  It was fun…it was almost everything I thought it would be…although I wasn’t prepared for the boredom…but it was also exhausting and I lasted a year…but I did it.  Sometimes that is what is really important….I went after it and I did it…

Until next time

 

I had one of those therapy dreams last night…you know the kind…you wake up and know that something is supposed to change…not one of those can’t find my high school classroom and can’t get the lock on my locker open because I’m naked from the waste up..those are my “I’m so confused while I’m awake dreams”.  This one told me to stop taking all of those classes because I’m not going to get my bachelor’s degree now…just enjoy the 6 years left before I retire and look forward to retirement and relaxing.  (by the way…I’m not taking classes in my real life to get my bachelor’s degree) but I am retiring 6 years from March 9th, 2008 with a wow, this has been a 30 year Disney World ride…  There were some other issues that I thought hmmmmm when I woke up but have no idea what they are now…perhaps my first day off is intended to be a cleansing and self-awareness day.  I AM having lunch with Karen and DebtheRN…that usually ends up being 4 hours of intense therapy as those two seem to be able to look into my soul and aren’t afraid to tell me if there are cobwebs….

The critters are all “out” all around the house..Bill Clinton is laying here curled up on his desk bed, devil dog is below him sprawled out on the floor…Sierra and Marley are crashed having their own doggy world dreams..kind of makes me wonder if they party’ed all night while I was sleeping.

Kate emailed me with her flight schedule for her trip home during spring break.  “he” will be having his foot surgery that week also…I’m thinking about doubling up his pain medication so he will be “out of it” a couple of days so she and I can watch our “artsy crap” on TV.  Just kidding, officer.

Have a great day, everybody…..

Made a connection with an old friend yesterday…ya…she’s old – a whole year older than me.  She was a dispatcher back in the early 80’s and was also trying to get her college degree.  After she graduated, she moved on and other than an occassional Christmas card in the early days, we had totally lost touch.  Now after all these years, I find out she is married and living in Allison, Iowa – way up north…they breed cattle…22 years ago, I would never have believed that this woman would end up cattle ranching.  We plan on staying in touch.

I swore I was going to quit bitching and be positive…but I heard the forecast today and they are forecasting measurable heavy snow for Monday…this year, when it is forecast, we get it.

I took this picture on my way to work today…the air was like pea soup…

and here’s a couple of pictures I took on my way home from work

There’s really nothing to talk about from this house, anyway…

Until next time….

On our way home from town yesterday, I told him that I probably should take some pictures so we don’t ever forget the winter of 2007-2008…especially the plowed and drifted snow bank on the west side of the road…Had good intentions, but I just can’t make myself go out there at 7 below.  These are taken from my window beside the computer…they aren’t real clear due to the screen on the window.

This is just the view up to the road

Isn’t the sky pretty….

Here’s a view using the zoom feature on the camera

I hope to get out there and take a picture using something in the foreground for pespective. 

The critters and I are spending the day at home…it looks like a beautiful day but I’m going to just enjoy from the inside looking out.

Until next time…

Chance of Light Freezing Rain	Definite Freezing Rain	Definite Freezing Rain , Definite Snow	Definite Snow , Definite Blowing Snow	Definite Snow , Definite Blowing Snow	Definite Snow , Definite Blowing Snow	Definite Snow , Definite Blowing Snow	Scattered Light Snow Showers , Areas of Blowing Snow
MID	3AM	6A	9A	NOON	3P	6P	9P

I’m totally working myself up into a frenzy.  I cannot even begin to explain to you how bad it is to be a 911 dispatcher when the weather is bad…mainly because of interstate 80’s slice thru our county….911 rings continually…we dispatch fire, amb and police…God help anyone that has a problem not emergency or weather related on those days…I find it quite amazing that there is so much “public” out there and there are so many “law enforcement officers” and there are so many “EMS” personnel…but there are only 2 dispatchers here.  2 dispatchers to answer, prioritize and dispatch the calls between coordinating everyones needs like wreckers, other assisting agencies, medical helicopters, in fact, basically coordinating all emergency personnell in the field.  This is a young person’s job…I am not a young person…I have 6 years left before I retire…and they say…are you really going to retire at 58….*$@*(& %!)+^$ $@#^&*(

I love salmon pattys…always have…I love them so much that I can’t even figure out why someone wouldn’t like them.  I”m also very obscessive…I’ve been known to eat the same thing for several days in a row then never make it or eat it for years ie: ham balls.  I was making salmon pattys at work on the weekends until Kim cut out letters from a magazine, pasted them to a paper and sent it to “him” at home…it said “hide the salmon or the bitch gets it”.  So, I stopped eating salmon for awhile…then one day when Kim wasn’t working, I decided to take salmon for lunch…OH MY GOODNESS YA SHOULDA HEARD THEM…one of the task force guys ran in wearing a gas mask to see what was wrong…they used lysol…they whined…it was pathetic…but oh so amusing.  So…this morning, I decided to make and cook the salmon patty’s at home and take them to work to microwave.  Billy is the only one who appreciated the canned salmon smell – tried to get into the sink while I was draining it.  I carefully, put them together and cooked them…rinsed and cleaned everything that touched the salmon…

He gets home from work and calls me at work and says – that’s just not fair…WHAT….

IT STINKS IN HERE….I’m sorry…I tried to clean everything up…WELL, YOU DIDN’T CLEAN THE AIR.

🙂 Looks like my salmon days are over for awhile…at least until they all think they are safe again…..

I don’t know how frequent flyers do it…I’m telling you…flying is just not fun..oh, I don’t mind the actual flight of the airplane..in fact, I get quite a rush during the take off and the airlines I’ve flown on seem to make the skies very friendly….also the “mad dog” security is not bad…although I had two completely different experiences.

When I flew out of Des Moines on Friday…everything went well until I walked thru the scanner and I set it off…it was my ace knee brace – obviously…but they set me aside and ran the little wand over me….and was my knee brace.. which was fine with me…It was the whole Cleveland thing yesterday….preparing my tub….I couldn’t find my clear-1-quart-zipper-locked-bag-of-nothing-over-3-ounce toiletries….the female said – oh don’t worry about it…as the guy was scanning my bag, I said – so did you find it – was it in there and he said no….uh…YES IT WAS.  Now this kind of concerns me…if a non-terrorist looking woman’s toiletries in the above mentioned bag can get thru why in the hell are they making 85 year old walker using grandmas be subject to a full wand scan and removing their shoes….

The weather was cold/snow/blowing snow/high wind when we left Cleveland – driving home when we arrived in Des Moines it was fine until we got nearer to home and it was snowing – by the time I dropped Jenny off at her house – the snow was completely covering the roads…7 below in Minneapolis – 0 in Des Moines when we arrived…. so…now I’ve complained about TSA and the weather….

What is up with the small seats and why would they not set travelers together.  When we checked in at Cleveland, we noticed she was in a D seat and I was in an A seat.  We electronically checked in and didn’t want to cause a fuss so figured – oh well.  My oh well turned into a 6’5 350 pound man beside me for the 2 hour flight…this 2 hours does not include waiting 25 minutes for de-icing and the wait outside the Minneapolis airport for a tow up to the gate.  He was a very, very nice man…I’m not a skinny minny by any means but had I weighed more, I’m not sure how it would have worked out.  I was plastered against my window for 2 hours….he spread out like men do 😦 and mentioned one time that he hoped he wasn’t squashing me that I could certainly get comfortable and lean against him if I needed to.  I’m not really complaining about him…I’m complaining that the seats are so horribly small and the air blowing down from above was actually warm and not just neutral…it was just nasty!!!! 

Okay…think I’m done.  Glad to be home.  Miss Kate and Luke.  Will check in later….