Robin

My coworker Robin has been unhappy at work for a long time. She was not getting along with our manager Jennifer, and especially Jodie, the lady who Jennifer made supervisor. Robin was looking for another job and I guess she found one because 1/2/07 is her last day with us. I will miss her and she has been a really good pal. We went out to lunch yesterday at Steak and Shake. I'm happy for her that she has found something new where she will not have to worry day to day about if she is going to have a job or not. I am frustrated and a little angry about the circumstances that have led up to this. Mistakes in judgement were made on both sides of the fence, but we all know between a manager and a subordinate who will eventually win, whether they were right or not. I think a heck of a lot of Jennifer, she has always treated me personally with fairness and respect. I just don't think she treats everyone with that same fairness and respect.

When she made Jodie supervisor, I think that has been her only big mistake. There were employees who no longer work at the company who were very immature. They would play on the internet and read a lot--basically goofing off and chatting all the time. She saw this as "them" and grouped Robin and a few others into that group as well. She did this based on age. I see that Robin was different and even though she liked to chat a little and joke around with her coworkers, she always got her job done first and put the actual work before anything else. I have the same philosophy to work hard when there is work, but when it slacks off, to have enough fun with your coworkers to make it an enjoyable place to be. Jodie comes from a different era of workplace. She is over sixty years old, and she wants to supervise people with an iron glove. These days there are tons of places to go entry level in a customer service position and people will just not put up with that. They will move on. I feel like it's killing our department and I think a couple weeks ago, Jennifer finally saw what was going on and tried to put a stop to it. It was just too late for Robin. Everyone will be sad she is gone.

Hanging out with Steve and Liz

The kids and I went to see our friends Steve and Elizabeth last night. We had wanted to see them before Christmas but didn't make it over. At the end of the night we were playing Scene-It. I was so stressed because the kids wanted to keep playing but their mom was sending me messages asking if we were on the way and that it was almost 9pm. I told her that I would have them back around 9pm so I was worried she might get pissed off at me. Last time I got them back late, I was only late three minutes and she went totally off. So I put on my brights and drove fast all the way back and pulled in her mother's driveway right at 9 on the dot. It was 9:01 when I got the kids out of the car and up to the door and I thought I was in for it, but she didn't yell or send me nasty messages or emails. Just lucky this time I guess.

Abstract art by Lexie

Here's the first peice of art Lexie did with the paints that Aunt Patti got the kids and the easel that I got for them for Christmas. I really like it and I have it hanging on the wall in my bedroom.

Patrick

This is Patrick. After the party it was just me and him so we went to Bullfrog Garden for supper. Then back to the apartment where we played music on our laptops and traded MP3's until midnight and both our batteries were dead. That was real cool.

Alex's birthday party

Lexie and Logan went to Alex's birthday party last night. Alex is my best friend Patrick's son. They both had a good time and Shellie and I got along good and talked a bit about the kids Christmas.

Fun for kids

I have come to the conclusion that whoever came up with the concept of Chuck E. Cheese had the dual purpose in mind of making it as much fun for kids as it is a sheer hell for adults.

New flask

My awesome girlfriend got me this personalized hip flask for Christmas. Its stainless steel with leather. A LOT nicer than my last one!

Homer eats my feet

This is one of the presents the kids got me for Christmas. They are Homer Simpson house shoes.

Blogging from the boat

Ok, I know the title is misleading, but I'm at the playground boat at the Oxmoor mall and the kids are playing so I thought I would see if there are any wireless connections. Lo and behold, there is one! So I was thinking why not send a blog post. The kids have been cooped up most of the week because the weather has totally sucked. I've taken them here once already this week. The indoor pool is closed this week because they are re-tiling it. I am so pissed about that I can't see straight. The answer I always get from the apartment manager is "You seem to be very unhappy here. Would you like to be out of your lease???" I'm going to complain to the president or manager of Medford Co. who owns The Park At Hurstborne. I don't know what else to do. *grumble*

Lion head boy

Logan made this lion mask for himself today. I thought it was so cute! He is really creative. I would love to give him art lessons or get him into an arts program at school. Yeah, and something like football too... *grin*

Shadow

Because she is so dark and hyper, it is REALLY difficult to get a good non-blurry shot of Shadow. We only give the girls treats now when we hold them so they will get the idea that we are friends and will not hurt them.

Ginger

The kids have been doing really good with the gerbils. Here's a picture of Ginger in a rare moment of being still. Their favorite treats so far are raisins, sunflower seeds, and dog biscuits.

Baking, baking, baking

My God! I have handled so much flour this past week, I think it may come out of my arse if I fart (when I fart). Well, that theory is shortly blown (no pun this time) but anyway I am about ready to die and it's 1000 degrees in my apartment.

I have made cookies of the sugar, chocolate chip, and double chocolate chip variety. Some mixing required, but basically no sweat boxed variety. Hey man, I used up so much effort on the other stuff I just couldn't do these from scratch. Besides, if you bake them right, they are nice and soft and tasty. The other things were: traditional shortbread cookies made from scratch, and English cream scones--they go with the home-made apple-butter. The apple butter is also from scratch. I may make some more later the easier way by buying plain apple sauce, but this batch was made from apples the kids and I picked a while back and have been storing in the entire bottom drawer of the refridgerator. They come from a little orchard here in louisville. The kids helped as much as they could without risking burns and such, but I did the lions-share. They helped a lot more than I thought they would...

Anyway, it has been fun and tedious, and work, and rewarding...

Christmas with Pawpaw and Dana

We went and had our Christmas with Pawpaw and Dana yesterday. The kids really liked seeing them and had lots of fun. They did really good getting the kids things that I think they will play with a lot.

I was planning on going over about 6pm or so and they staying for about an hour. Joe was not feeling well, and he and Dana have this thing about company staying for more than 15 minutes and they want people to leave while you still want them to stay. Planning on this, I called Steve and Liz the day before and said we would be over no later than 7:30pm or so. You can imagine how stressful it was to look at my watch and it was 9pm! I was freaking not only because I was afraid we had overstayed our welcome with Pawpaw and Dana, but that we had blown off Steve and Liz. To boot, I have no cellular service with T-mobile out at Joe and Dana's--its a dead zone for me. So I tried to call Steve as we were leaving but that's a work week night for them and I guess they'd went to bed. They probably got sick of waiting! I know I would have.

My dragon, apple butter

Logan made this dragon for me when he stayed the night with his Pawpaw and Granny Dana. Oh, and the apple butter the kids and I made and canned is popping. That means I did it right and the jars are sealing.

Apple butter

The apple butter the kids and i are making is almost ready for canning. I gave the kids a taste on a slice of toast and they really loved it! The recipe says to let it cook on low for a while uncovered to let it thicken. Then we'll can into jars.

How to save Money at Christmas

My sister sent me this picture in e-mail. I'm going to use it when the kids get a little older if they get all selfish and nasty and "gimme-gimme-gimme". Ok, well I don't think I'll ever have to worry about that. Logan went shopping with his Grandma and got jewelry for his mom. Later when he got home with me he thought about the jewelry he already got for her at the Chrismas Botique at school and he started crying. I told him not to worry because all girls love jewelry so much that they can never really have enough. He was helping me wrap presents the other night and I was also teaching him that neatness only counts for wives and girlfriends. Everybody else doesn't need extra-special pretty and neat wrapping with bows and ribbons. Just a little paper and a tag with their name. *grins*

Re: My Elfamorphosis

Click the link below for a Holiday greeting from me!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?us erid=6588ebcd2fb9f3bffbbdfccG06121416
 
--
Cheers,

Kelly Nall

"Modesty is often underrated..." Ok, am I the only person who finds that hilarious?
www.the1weasel.com

Logan's letter to Santa Claus

Dear Santa
For Christmas I want a play sord wut ever one you can find. I want a scooter and helmit and I want chcin lib[chicken limbo game]. I want some more chrak[track] and cars and I want those shoos that my mommy took picchers of here at dadys.

Lexie's Letter to Santa Claus

Dear Santa

I think I'v been good. A you and oter inportint people never gite
tankyous so im saing tankyou.

this is what I want for Christmas.

1. Scoter
2. Stuft amimales
3. barbbies
3. barbi clos
4. Jump rope
5. Spede stac
6. balziball [basketball]
7. madels [models?]
8. kamru [camera?]
9. pante [panty? paint?]
10. good books
11. water toys

Tankyou Love Lexie

Logan's letter to Santa Claus

Dear Santa

For Christmas I want a play sord wut ever one you can find. I want a
scooter and helmit and I want chcin lib[chicken limbo game]. I want
some more chrak[track] and cars and I want those shoos that my mommy
took picchers of here at dadys.

Two baby girl gerbils

I sent an e-mail to Janice (the gerbil breeder) and asked her if i'm
getting two boys or two girls because I forgot. She said "You're
getting two sweet adorable girls."

No Santa Claus?

I got this in an e-mail from my wonderful girlfriend. I want this to be
the way my kids understand about Santa Claus when it's the time in their
life that they have doubts about if Santa is real.

NO Santa Claus?

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a kid.
I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day my big
sister dropped the bomb: "There
is no Santa Claus," she jeered. "Even dummies know that!" My Grandma was
not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that day because I
knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told the
truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a whole lot easier
when swallowed with one of her "world-famous" cinnamon buns. I knew they
were world-famous, because Grandma said so. It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I told
her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" She
snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going
around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your
coat, and let's go." "Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even
finished my second world- famous cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town
that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its
doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars.

That was a bundle in those days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy
something for someone who needs it. I'll wait for you in the car. "Then
she turned and walked out of
Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother, but
never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big
and crowded, full of people scrambling
to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood
there, confused, clutching that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy,
and who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my
family, my friends, my neighbors, the kids at school, and the people who
went to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker.
He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right behind me
in Mrs. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went out
to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the
teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby Decker
didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the
ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a
coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real
warm, and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the counter
asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby." The nice lady smiled at
me, as I told her about how Bobby really needed a good winter coat. I
didn't get any change, but she put the coat in a bag, smiled again, and
wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out of
the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible) in Christmas paper and
ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said that
Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby
Decker's house, explaining as we went that I was now and forever
officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I crept
noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.

Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she whispered,
"get going." I took a deep breath, dashed for his front door, threw the
present down on his step, pounded his door and flew back to the safety
of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to
open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby. Fifty years haven't dimmed
the thrill of those moments spent shivering, beside my Grandma, in Bobby
Decker's bushes. That night, I realized that those awful rumors
about Santa Claus were just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous.
Santa was alive and well, and we were on his team.

I still have the Bible, with the coat tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that
care....

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!

Baby in a cup

Here's one of the babies taking a ride in the food dish.

Mom

You can see the mom. She has the same coloration as a siamese cat.

Cute, and not a mouse OR rat!

There was a sign on the cage that said not to hurt their feelings by calling them rats.

A Gerbil in hand

Not the best picture, but you can see how tiny they are.

Gerbil babies

We are getting one black and one tan Gerbil.

Weekend of Shopping...not completely successful.

Friday night after work, I just kinda hung out with my girlfriend.
Saturday she and I slept in, then got up and watched Pulse. It was
really cool! After that, we went to look for a Christmas tree for
Jeff. Jeff is her daughter's boyfriend and he just moved in to an
apartment in my complex. At around noon, we went to Simpsonville to
the Shelby County flea market. It's about 10 minutes away from
Louisville and it's open every weekend 9-5 on Saturday and Sunday.
Well the reason I went is because that's where the breeder is at for
the gerbils I'm getting for the kids for Christmas. We were there
until 4:30 and I paid for the gerbils. I'm going to pick them up on
the 23rd. I will try and post a couple pictures from my phone, but
blogger seems to be crapping out on me.

After we got done we did some more shopping. I got the stuff I need
to make apple butter and shortbread cookies. That night we came home
beat, ate a frozen pizza and watched Pirates of the Caribbean—Dead
Man's Chest. Or at least we tried. We fell asleep and had to finish
it Sunday morning. We were both tired from all the walking. Theresia
left to go get her stuff done, and I went out to finish my shopping.
I had to get just a couple more things "from Santa" for the kids. I
wanted to spend about $30 each. I decided to try and get Lexie a pair
of skates, and Logan a scooter. Well, the only skates I could find
were inline, and Shellie said not to get them that they wouldn't be
the same as quad skates. The kids took skating lessons (just four of
them) and learned how to skate, so I thought it would be cool if they
could do that at home. Well, I could find a scooter for Logan, but it
was kinda for a littler kid and he is a big boy.

I got just a couple things for my girlfriend and her little girl
Rachael. I'm not spending much on anybody but the kids. We're making
shortbread cookies and apple butter for most everyone else. Sunday I
kept looking for skates everywhere. Not even the sporting goods
stores have quad skates—only roller blades. I'm irritated… I did
find an option for Logan. It's a "scooter board" that looks like it
would hold up really good. It's the kind that is a skate board on the
bottom, and has the scooter-like stick on the top. I was thinking 4
wheels might be much better than 2 for balance. I found out that I
can get a pair of skates for Lexie at a skating rink, but they will
cost between $60 and $110. Now I am thinking I will get her a skate
board. I think I can get her a beginner board for $30 or less. By
next year they could both be skateboarders. Anything physical I can
get them in to, I am all for it. I'd love to see them skating on
ramps and all that crazy stuff. Well, aside from the broken bones…
We don't need any of that. I had a skate board when I was a kid but I
never did any of the trick stuff. If you're just rolling along, they
seem pretty safe. I will very soon have to get pads and helmets.
Like after-Christmas sale soon. I hope we get a bonus here at work!
The last thing I did was get the fruit for their stockings. I got an
assortment, plus a few little toys. The weird thing I found was a
plastic four-pack of graples. They are apples, but they taste like
grapes. I HAD to eat one and sure enough—they tasted like grapes.

Today, if the kids can get them done, I am going to send the kids
"letters to Santa" off in the mail. A couple days later, I will put
their letters FROM Santa in the mail. I hope they like reading them.

Getting some respect at work

Check this out. This is typical of the lack of respect I get from these (sometimes loveable) idiots I work with. If you're familiar with Outlook, you can see that this person (Mary in this case) has one-thousand and seventy-five unread emails from me. Man, these people are not right. I went to lunch today at Rubbies with my friend Charlie and my boss Jennifer. I got fried fish and it was like 2-4 huge peices of fish. Way more than I could eat for one meal.

Our Christmas Card

Here's the picture we are going to send with our Christmas cards this year.

Snow & Pizza Party, Lexie Shops

We got some snow today! Also there was inventory at work today andthey had pizza left over so us poor office workers got some too!

Lexie really had a good time buying presents for me, her mother, andLogan yesterday at the Price Elementary Winter Wonderland Botique.Logan shops at it today. I told him to put my present away, and Iwould help him wrap sister's present, and then they could wrap mineand mommy's together. Lexie wrapped all hers by herself and did agood job. I tricked her into telling me one of the presents--its apen! That's really good because year before last she got me one fromthe same sort of program at North Haven, and one of my idiot friendsbroke it. It was cool--it even said DAD on it.

I got the Christmas cards addressed. Now we just have to sign them. Also we're going to put in Christmas photos like we did last year. Shellie was nice enough to take our picture in front of the tree. Theresia took our pictures at the Kentucky Horse Park thing we went to but they all came out too dark or blurry. She must not be good at taking pictures because I noticed the ones I took of her and Rachael were perfect. No big deal. As long as I get them and we get the cards sent out this weekend it will be all fine. I plan on doing that Friday after I get paid!!! I'm also going to go see the lady about the gerbils for the kids and pay for them. I have a busy weekend.

Twitches

I went to take back movies yesterday and Blockbuster made me pay forthe Twitches movie that we lost. I got an empty box only. I took ithome and gave it to the kids and told them what happened and that weneed to take better care of the movies we rent. It was $18 that Itruly did not have. It was also $18 that take away from other things
like Christmas...

My new monitor for work is HUGE.

Its a flat screen and its the biggest one in the office

Gerbil Habitat

The Gerbil habitat i ordered for the kids came today. I can't wait for them to see everything in a couple weeks. I'm going to take them the 3rd week of this month and get the Gerbils. I know they will love them. This is the top for a 10 gallon tank.

Scratches

Last week i was coming back from dropping the kids off at school and i hit a tree that was blown down from high winds the night before. The road was 2 lanes, but a cop car was right beside me so i could not get over! I don't know if theyre permanent.

Kentucky Horse Park Christmas Festival

The Nall's at Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington

The Davis' at Kentucky Horse Park!

The Tool-Time Kids

This is all three of the knotheads at Home Depot making Treasure Boxes!

Lexie and Logan Building Treasure Boxes

This was at Home Depot today!!!!!!

Backwash

Lexie and Logan were sharing a bottle of water and she just sternly told him " And don't put your mouth over the whole bottle, cuz nobody wants to drink backwash! Right daddy?" I was dying laughing!

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