New Tag from a New Guy

Well, I can't thank my lovely readers enough! I am very touched by all your support and encouraging words from my last post. It felt very good to write, and even better to read all your comments.

Now...enough serious stuff.

I have been tagged...by a new guy nofaceberg for a 7 Useless Facts Meme. I have to show my support to Danny, who appears to have just started his blog. I thought we could all use some Grandy silliness.

Grandy and useless facts...Oh...Watch out Wiki...Grandy's comin'.

1. I once rear-ended one of my best friends. - Yes, she still talks to me...she just doesn't blog as much as she should, huh Dens?

2. When I was little, I once tried to stand and pee into a bush...in my front yard. - I was little, but it was traumatizing enough that I never forgot it. My brother was an ass merciless.

3. I've lost 50 lbs from May 2007 to today. - Can Grandy get a Woot WOOT?

4. I once swallowed a tooth. - If gum takes 7 years to digest, and you can grow a watermelon if you eat the seed, will the tooth chew both??

5. I sing in my car. LOUD!

6. I've secretly been curious to see what would happen if I put a profile in e-Harmony, Match.com, or dates-r-us.org (I know you're going to google that but don't bother) and then make a profile for the Hubby and see if we're a match. - I'm guessing that on paper it's probably a no. But oh...does he clean up GOOD!! Who needs paper anyway?

7. I hate shopping for clothes. - To all my friends out there who could make a career out of it, and are that good...I applaud you. You ladies have STYLE! Me? I am trying. But seriously, it's not much fun shopping for fat clothes. There are certain stores, with the initials R.O.S.S. that have adorable skinny clothes. However, the store in my area...in my old size...all they had were moomoos and sequence. Why shop?? Now, Fashion Bug, if you've ever heard of it, they have cute skinny and fat clothes.

Well, there you have it!! More useless facts about Grandy. Ya know, I did consider putting 7 previous posts about me as the useless facts, since I sometimes feel like that's all you get from Grandy...a bunch of useless moments.

Oh well, if it makes y'all feel better about what you've got, then BRING IT ON!!

I'll spare everyone from a tag but remind you to let me know if you decide to play so I can come see.

Another Amazing Woman

My grandparents were together F.O.R.E.V.E.R!

I think when my Grandpa passed, in September 2004 (5 weeks after Dad), they had been together over 50 years. It was not the first marriage for my Grandpa, who was a handsome devil in his day. But those two LOVED each other so very much!!

Every day, until he slipped into his coma at 92, Grandpa would write a letter to my Grandma. Whether it was a quick note on a sticky note, or an elaborate love letter, he always wrote a letter to "Butch" (his nickname for her). Sometimes she would take the letters out and show me the stacks and stacks. She saved every last one.

Grandma was actually my Dad's "step"-mom, although she adopted him when he was well into his adulthood. I know, from what I hear, Dad and his folks didn't always have the BEST relationship, but in the years I remember, they always got along just fine.

They grew closer after my aunt passed, about 20 years ago. When Dad got sick, with his Leukemia, they got even closer still. I think in the last couple years of his life, Dad called them every day.

When Dad died, it did more to Grandpa than we all anticipated. He was devastated. He was 92, and had out-lived both his children. The grief was too much for him, he lost his will, and passed so quickly later. Leaving Grandma, 89 at the time, alone. Grandma was so frail at the time already, and having issues, that the caregivers didn't really anticipate her lasting more than six months.

Fast forward 3 1/2 years. Yep, you guessed it. Grandma, who is now 93, is still with us. Better yet? Up until a month ago she lived all by herself in Washington. We had caregivers going in every day, but she lived there alone. With Grandpa and Dad now gone, Mom tried to get Grandma to come live with her down here in California. "Absolutely NOT!" Grandma exclaimed. "If you can live by yourself, then I can live by myself."

Stubborn indeed.

Well, now Grandma has lost her will to some extent. She took a fall about a month ago and has been in care ever since. She has her requests of no IV's, or anything, and has decided she is "done". She's tired.

The selfish side of me wants to tell her not to give up, but that stays where it is...far into the small selfish side of me. How could I possibly try to convince her not to? She's 93, has had a wonderfully full life, a wonderful loving relationship, and was always the happiest woman I know.

No, it's not my place to tell this magnificent woman when it is her time.

My role now is to help Mom with the pieces. My amazing mother who calls Grandma every day, spends weeks at a time with her as often as possible, and has shared so much with her. My Mom, who is approaching her own anniversary of what would be 51 years with Dad in a couple weeks, is making arrangements for the last Brundage she's had to care for.

Some of you readers think Grandy's kinda cool? These two ladies put me to shame!!

So, will it be a sad thing to see her go? It is what she wants. I am so proud of her for taking care of herself for this long but, how could I not miss her?

I just wish... oh how I wish... I could just say good-bye.

I will...

When it's time.

Photobucket Junket

I find that photos can be fun. I saw this meme over at Small Reflections and thought it might be fun to share with you all.

The deal here is:
1. Go to http://www.photobucket.com/
2. Type in your answer to the question in the “search” box
3. Use only the first page
4. Insert the picture into your Blog.

I hope I did this right, and I hope you learn something more about your Grandy Girl!

1) What is your current relationship stat??

2) What is your current mood?

3) Who is your favorite band/singer?

**This is my favorite soundtrack right now**

4) What is your favorite movie?

**Funny movie that's SO wrong on many levels**

5) Where do you live?

**The view from our local market**

6) Where do you work?

7) What do you look like?

**What, you were expecting Betty Boop?**

8) What do you drive?

**In silver**

9) What is your favorite TV show?

10) Describe yourself.

11) What are you doing today?

**DUH! I'm working!**

12) What did you do last night?

13) What is your name??

Now, I won't worry about tagging anyone. But if it interests you, feel free to steal and let me know if you did.

I still have to go over and see if anyone posted their awards I made. What a great turnout to my blogging b-day party!

Thanks to everyone!!

I'm Even Belated MYSELF!!

I had every intention on coming on and posting yesterday, for my birthday.

What the hell is wrong with Grandy? She's seriously tired! I'm getting used to this whole back to work thing. You'll all be real proud of the fact that I haven't been putting in the long days. It's just that my body must be adjusting even to "normal" days.

And so...I never even got to come say HI and announce it was my birthday! Yep!! Grandy turned another year older yesterday. Hubby and son were very sweet to me again (I'm so truly blessed) with this...



See these? The blue one is mine. The one on the left...THAT is one that my son had saved his money for and baught himself!! He wants to go Kayaking with me. How flippin' cool is this?? We all had such a great time Kayaking in Mexico, and I when I went with friends in September. I had told Hubby that when my health was finally better, I wanted to do more things like this... as a family.

Well, my Hubby was paying attention indeed. He looked around and got a great deal on this. Took our son down and they picked out Ty's and mine. We took them out that afternoon. Hubby will be getting himself one too but he has to get a bigger one and he said that he learned a little while ago that I don't like it when he buys me "his and her" gifts.

HE IS PAYING ATTENTION!!!

Well, because Grandy is feeling so incredibly blessed, she has gone and made a gift for all my blogging buds. I'm new at making these awards, but realize that you are all in need of a gift bestowed. I hope it looks alright! And remember...it's the thought that counts!!!

Do you like it? Really? I made it myself! You can tell, huh? What's that? Well...I like you and you've earned it!!! The blogs I follow are some serious witty people.

Now... please come and take this award!! I send it out to all of my blogging buds over in my Blog Roll!! You can see who you are...

Come and claim your Rawkin' Bloggin' Noggin' award! And drop me a line to let me know what you think!

What's wrong with these pics??

A while back I posted Things You'd Hear at My Desk, which gives you a bit of an idea of the type of craziness I deal with at work. I'm rarely amazed when I hear the latest.

You see, in my day job I help clients identify their risks and help them with their claims. It's never a boring job. Trademark infringement, Sexual Harassment, Trip & Falls...you name it, I see it.

Well, I am never truly shocked when I get emails from friends with pictures like this:

Or This????

Seriously people...can you see what's happening in these pictures??

Ingenuity is a frightening thing. I would be scared to stand on the top step of a ladder (remember my thing with heights?) let alone balancing a paint bucket or ANOTHER ladder on top of these ladders.

When I see people doing stupid things, it irritates me because look at those poor saps holding the ladders? If something happens to the idiots on top, these guys are never going to forgive themselves.

Please let me assure these men...if they're reading...it's NOT your fault. Your only sin is being an accomplice to the stupidity. These guys are in charge of their own stupidity.

Say it with me, readers! "I see dumb people. They're all around me, and they don't even know they're dumb."

Meme Mix-Up of Distinction

The lovely Suzanne, over at So You Don't Get Calls from me... has generously bestowed the following award on me. Look at that!! Pretty cool huh?

What...you don't believe me? I know...my friends over at Dictionary.com have 10 definitions for distinction. The first half are crappy and boring, but I think I'm kinda partial to these:

6. a distinguishing or treating with special honor, attention, or favor.
7. an act of bestowing, or a mark of, honor or favor.
8. marked superiority; note; eminence.

Definitely not this one:

10. Obsolete. division; separation. (who wants that?)

Well, if you still don't believe me, you can see for yourself at I'd Like to Thank the Academy.... Thank you, Suzanne. I appreciate it.

Now, it's been a while since I've been suckered tagged for a meme. I happened to stumble across this one over at storyteller's site last week sometime. I personally think she was seeing if I was really paying attention. Did I pass? Not yet.

This one is hard for me to figure out, and I've read it lots. Here are the rules...

TAGGING RULES
1. Copy all the links below and replace your blog beside the appropriate letter. For example if your blog name starts with the letter “D” then replace the link beside “D” with yours, and put the replaced link at the bottom of the list. Also add the person who tagged you at the bottom of the list.

2. Tag at least 5 people and encourage them to take part of the game - tag blogs only and only those without bad rated material like pornographic, violence, racism etc.

The List:
A acowboyswife.com
B bloggingcents.com
C chatbugkaren.com
D Dance of Motherhood
E everythingandanythingblog.com
F Functional Shmunctional
G GeekMomMashup.com
H hoysater.no
I ipentimento.com
J juliesjournal.com
K kabalyero.com
L Livin’ With Me
M My Happiness Haven
N nicusor.com
O originalmx5.net
P peapodsquadstuff.com
Q qweddings.com
R ringtailsquealer.blogspot.com
S Small Reflections
T TenaciousCreations.com
U utada-online.net
V valmg.com
W wickedbabylon.com
X xaviermedia.com
Y yimto.com
Z zbudapest.com

storyteller's Replaced link: Functional Shmunctional (hey...that's me!)
Previous tagger: Life is Beautiful

My replaced link: ???

How bout that? I can't tag anyone because...well...I just don't get it. I'm happy to edit this if someone wants to explain what I'm doing. Otherwise, I fear this meme is dead with me.

Oh the pressure is unbearable!!

Oh well! Did I tell you I got a new award??

Just a Quickie

Get your mind out of the gutter! Not that kind of quickie! Hubby's not home yet.

I have survived my first day back at the office.


It was very sweet...the ladies on my team decorated my desk with a nice sign and a CRAP-load of confetti. Take a look!

What you can't see is that they have that confetti everywhere. It was nice. It stuck to my a$$ all day. Real cute.

I'm beyond tired tonight, but didn't want you all to worry. I figured I better log on to let you know I survived, came home and cooked dinner, and now I'm going to bed.

Here's a Blogthings for you...and let me tell you I am feeling EVERY bit of this!!

How cluttered is your brain? It will be interesting to see where you all rate, since I have my suspicions.

Your Mind is 61% Cluttered

Your mind is quite cluttered. And like most clutter, it's a bunch of crap you don't need. Try writing down your worst problems and fears. And then put them out of your mind for a while.

How Cluttered is Your Mind?

Alright Grandy, Back to Work

Six weeks sure goes by fast.

Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to be getting back to "normal". Ha...what is it about that word that even looking at it makes me laugh? Oh yeah, I know. Grandy is anything BUT normal.

So, tomorrow I go back to work after being off for 6 weeks for my surgery. I know, who goes back on a Thursday? Need I remind you of the previous paragraph already?

It will be good to see the gang from the office again. I know my carpool buddy is quite happy I'm coming back so we can use the carpool lane again. Did I ever mention how blessed I am with the people I work with? They really are good. They threw me a good luck party before my surgery even.

So...what's changed about Grandy since she's been out the last 6 weeks? A LOT!

1) I've lost 23 lbs. - Yep...it was a big surgery. Someday I'll tell you all about it...maybe.


2) I got my hair cut & colored the other day. - I don't do this very often, by posting a pic of me, but tell me what you think...

(Psst...wanna know a secret? Wanna know why my shades are on in the salon? Because my girlfriend who did my hair had also waxed my eyebrows about 40 minutes before this and they were STILL all red and iritated. Gotta love sensitive skin.)

Where was I? Oh yea, things that have changed about Grandy.

3) Blog banner has changed from this...

to...

4) My boy became another year older - we finally relented and got him one of these....

I'm not sure Grandy or Hubby will ever have his attention again...but hey, he loves his music and I can't blame him. I loved my walkman when I was his age.

5) AND MOST IMPORTANT! My priorities have changed. - My family needs me home more. Grandy needs me home more. No more 14 hour days this time. NONE!! My health suffered too much for too long.

I know you're jealous!!

Speaking of jealous, I would like to thank everyone for all your wonderfully kind comments about hubby in my last post. There is officially no living with the guy, for at least a week. He walks around saying, "I'm right...just ask your friends at your blog. If I'm not right...I'm at least cute!"

WHATEVER!!!

Y R S?

Blah blah blah... Grandy owes taxes... Blah blah blah.

Did I mention how much I love my hubby? I'm so glad he loves being self-employed. He's very happy with what he does, and that makes this Grandy a happy mama. Hubby works very hard as a truck driver. A couple weeks back I went with him for a day.

Yep! You guessed it! Grandy was a Mother Trucker for a day.

I don't know how these people do it? It's pretty hard work!! That, and I have to be appreciative when I'm driving on a weekend and see all these trucks still on the road. Hubby doesn't have to drive on weekends. We get to reserve those days for family fun time. For that, I feel truly blessed.

What has Grandy hosed a bit tense this tax day? A hefty flippin' tax bill, that's what. I love my hubby...I love him so...but I pay taxes throughout the year and yet...Holy macaroni BATMAN!!

When we sat with our tax person (because did I mention Grandy has a full time job and it's NOT as an accountant?) dear Hubby took it all in stride. Every year our accountant fears for my blood pressure as she gets such a kick out of our dialogue.

"Well Grandys, you owe $XXXXX this year." - She says cringing but looking only at hubby.

Hubby - "Really? Hey! That's not as bad as I thought!!"

Grandy - "Seriously?"

Hubby - "What, we kept good records this year."

Grandy - "Who the hell is WE?"

Hubby - "I know honey, I did a good job with the receipts...You're Welcome!"

Grandy - "Could I just have a moment here? I don't think I'm breathing yet."

Hubby - "What are you worried about honey? I know (Friend X) has to pay more than that."

Grandy - "So...does he contribute to OUR bottom line?"

Hubby - "Nope...but his bottom line's not as cute as yours."

Grandy - "You win."

He's so lucky he makes me smile. It took me TWO WEEKS to go through all the invoices and receipts he "collected" throughout the year, sort them, and key them onto the spreadsheet to make sure we had as much as we could.

Well...I return to work on Thursday. It's been officially 6 weeks since my surgery.

Somehow the song stuck in my head has never been more true...

"I Owe, I Owe, So off to work I Go!"

Confessions of a Reformed 9 Year Old

We all have our mistakes we've made along the way. As I watch my son try to "squeak" by on some things, and appreciate how generally good he is, I'm reminded of my youth. Although I had a pretty good upbringing...I have a past...Oh yes...Was there ever any doubt??

When Grandy was a little girl, she was THE biggest tomboy.

She would do anything to fit in with the boys. ANYTHING!

Once, she was double dog dared to to into the local Thrifty and pilfer a candy bar. "They won't miss it," the boys said.

Oh boy!! The object of my affection?

I walked in and paced around those candy bars for what it seems like an hour. I'm sure it was probably only about 5 minutes, but hey, I was only nine. I must have looked so guilty.

As soon as I grabbed the candy bar, I went to put it in the pocket of my vest, and the manager walked by. "Can I help you with something?"

CRAP!! SO BUSTED!!

"Oh no, thanks!!" - as my face went red.

"What's that, in your pocket there?" he pushed.

"Oh! Um!! This?! It's a candy bar...sir!" - I'm not very good at this, can you tell?

"I can see that. What I can't tell is why you have it in your pocket." - This guy was tough!

"Well, I wasn't sure I wanted it and was walking over to my sister down there to see if she had enough money to split it with me." - WHA? Now I'm getting my sister involved? I'm going to hell for sure!

"Where's your sister?" - Oh...he had me there...that's right...sis was outside because she was the good one.

"She's around the corner looking at the ice cream." - He keeps firing...I keep dodging.

"Well, alright then. I hope she agrees to help you buy it." - You mean it worked?

I end up putting the candy bar back. Guilt had overcome me, as I bamboozled this man. Although, ya know, looking back he probably wasn't fooled for a minute but knew I was really bad at this.

I went outside and the boys were out there. They were giving me all sorts of crap about not getting the candy bar. My heart was still racing from the possibility of my parents finding out (they knew EVERYONE in town) what I had almost done.

I didn't care what these so called friends said. I was mad at them for almost getting me killed (because that's what would have happened) AND I was still mad at them for the last little thing they had me try.

Those A**HOLES never told me I was supposed to SPIT!!

Another New Blogging Adventure

I know I have been remiss in not posting as frequently as I should. Many of you know why I've been away so much. I looked at my number of posts for April and saw 3. 3? As of the 12th? THREE??? Come ON Grandy!!

Now, in all fairness, I have guest posted on other sites. But still!!

Get your head out of your A$$ Grandy!!! Don't make me sign your a$$ up for another month of NoMoBloMe. I'll do it...I just might!! ---->>>Psstt...Readers, don't be afraid for Grandy's little self talk method. She's not any crazier than when you first got here, and she's not a danger to herself today...really...she's not...okay, maybe just a little.

I am so grateful I did my 100th post, so if some of you were missing me, you would have others to keep you company.

Now I've gone and signed up for Entrecard. It's a site I'm still learning about but seems like a good opportunity for networking with other bloggers. That got me thinking. If I'm going to step up my traffic, I need to make sure I'm putting something in worth reading.

I was introduced to Entrecard by our friend at Writing the Cyber Highway and she seems to be having a good time with it. I am always excited about what Michele has going on in her world. I've learned so much from her already.

How it works is, you drop an e-card in the box (mine is over to the right) at someone's blog and they know you've been there. People come and drop theirs too. You get credits for doing so, and with those credits, I think you can exchange them for merchandise. Bloggers also pay credits to advertise and be my "Blog For The Day". Who's there now? That all depends on what time and day this gets posted.

The good news about the ad to the right is I get to accept or decline them. I will go to the blog first and check them out to see if they're alright. Hey, I know I'll slip in a few curse words every now and again, but I won't be advertising any blog that is bad, or goes against what I believe in. Did you know there's a blog that's just about FRUIT?? All posts are about fruit. Fruit's good...right?

It's really quite interesting. I have so much to learn about blogging. I know my faithful readers will appreciate me posting a bit more often too.

So, are you a member of entrecard? Do you wanna be? If so, let me know and I'll be sure to "Drop" my card by. :)

Happy Weekend ALL!!

OH...I Just Can't Do It

Alright...I love my readers so much that I heard you loud and clear. I have removed the word verification. It was like putting a cactus plant in the middle of the room. I hated it!!

I was going to try comment moderation but what if it takes me all day to check my site? I can't have my favorite drinking squirrel not being able to see what my favorite derfwad said.

Nope! I'm going back to the way things were. I'll just keep deleting the comments as they come in. You all just have to promise you WILL NOT click here. Deal???

Okay...just some more random silliness. Now that we're back to our regularly scheduled program, what's new with everyone? Since it's Friday, and I know my readership will be jumping at the bit, I figure I'll share a blogthings with ya.

So...what kind of puzzle are you??

You Are a Crossword Puzzle

You are well read, and you have a good head for remembering facts. You are a wordsmith. You have a way with words, and you're very literate. You are a mysterious person who enjoys dropping little clues every now and then.

What Kind of Puzzle Are You?

Warning: See "here" and NOT "here"

Image provided by Cooky La Moo because Grandy lacks the skillz to get these images on here.

We've all seen these monsters...the word verification nightmare. Many of these I can read, but there are those out there that I just can't. Sometimes I've tried about three times to get the comment on there, but alas, I eventually give up.

Or...has anyone tried to purchase anything on Ticketmaster? I swear those buttheads are sitting there mocking me. They have their letters and number jumbled AND they put criss-crosses through them. WTF? I only have like 2 minutes to secure these seats to ArenaCross and I'm messing with "Is that a 6 or a G?"

Some systems are set up (and I want to know how) that the words are WAY easy. Where do I sign up for that? Someday...in my ample free time utopia...I'm going to take some sort of blogging class. Until then...I learn on the streetz. How am I doing so far?

Well, my lovely blogging friends. I feel remiss in telling you that I've now had to take this measure to eliminate the hackers that keep trying to send viruses. It's happened here, on the Grandy laptop, well the first one before I had to exchange it...not my fault because it was already getting the "BSOD" (blue screen of death).

If you happen to see comments from anyone with a strange name (no NOT Derfwad) where the comment says anything like:

Urgent: Please see here or here.

...or simply...

See Please here. (oh yeah, this is not a typo but really this silly)

If you happen to get any of these comments on your blog, DO NOT click "here". If you click the person's name it takes you to a bio of sorts that has "FLASH" as the website. This is something that will instantly start sending a virus to your computer. When I had done it my Anti-Virus started going NUTS!!

For a while, I've tried deleting the comments. But those pesky boogers just keep coming back! I've done some research on these and because the names keep changing I don't know if blogger can do much to rectify.

I know I will quite often check out what other peoples' sites are through the comment screen. I grew fearful one of my wonderful readers might do that and have this problem. I don't want any viruses out there because of my blog so reluctantly I've caved to using word verification.

Perhaps after a while I'll be able to do something different, but I'm sorry. I want everyone in the blogging world to be safe.

That's Grandy! Doing what she can to make the blogosphere a better and safer place.

Is it working yet??

Pssttt...I'm over here

Oh yeah, I've been pretty busy dealing with some family issues. But not so busy that I forgot my promise to guest post elsewhere.

Please go see what I've done with the place over at Alex Year One with Grandy's in da houssssssssssssssssse .

Oh...and you wanna know what else??

When someone says to you, at 4:00 AM, that your hotel room is "393" what does that mean to you? To me...I'm trying to do some quick math because the room is supposed to be about $100 less.

Grandy + Quick math + 4am = WTF??

Could you please tell me again?

"Three hundred ninety three, because of the room tax" (again...WTF?)

How is there so much room tax?

"It's not that much...three hundred ninety three." (by now she's wondering why this beyotch is in her lobby)

I've got my cell phone calculator out now and it's still 4am and not making sense.

Then...the dummy lady gets it...

"OH!! It's three hundred dollars AND ninety three cents! Did I not say AND??"

Shut up and give me my receipt...I gotta get on the freeway.