Busy doing..............

(Photo - our Siberian iris' are ready to pop, peonies in the background)

Weather warmed up again and with warm weather this early (and no work) this girl is outside working!

I'm very close to being done, but of course I am constantly changing and creating more work for myself so will I ever be done????

This has been the year for bonus plants!  A few of my plants that I really love have been spreading, so I have been planting them in small pots. Once they grow a little I'll re-plant them.

It's been wait and see with one of our conifers and I already have a plan to move a plant into that spot and plant something great in the other spot. 

I have to move something that has not done well in it's original spot and replace it.  On Friday I'll be hitting the nursery since the weather is changing this weekend (cooling down). 

I have been researching what to put in the spot and can't make up my mind!  It's gets a lot of shade so of course I'm limited with my selection. 

I so want a hydrangea, but am scared to put it out there.  

The deer stay clear until Fall, but if I put a hydrangea it just might draw them to our place earlier.

Thinking about planting it and caging it for a while until it grows up good!

I've had to put cages around quite a few new plants that are deer proof because our wonderful ground squirrels love to nibble on EVERYTHING, especially new plants!

Garage Sale!

After moving mom in July, I thought about how much "stuff" we have!

In the back of my mind I'd been wanting to clean out the garage, but I had to get Pete on board. You see Pete's response usually is "we might need that."

I had a long talk with him.

First - if we haven't used it since we moved 10 years ago, (!) then we don't need it.

Second - do you plan on using it in the next 5-10 years?

Third - if we plan on moving in the next 5 years, how much do we really need to pack?

With this in mind, Pete was pretty receptive.

Pete spent an afternoon putting lots of stuff  (I never would have done on my own) in a corner for our future garage sale.

Yesterday, I spent all morning and part of the afternoon going through cupboards and the garage.  I now have a huge pile;  I need more tables!

I started pricing yesterday and will continue through Friday.

It's amazing how much stuff I found!  

The funniest thing...............I found 2 great, new camp chairs I didn't know we had!  I thought for sure my sis in law had left them at our house.  I vaguely remember buying them.

So out go the old chairs.  Actually we have some great camping stuff that Rocky used for boy scouts, that he won't ever use.  He doesn't care for outdoor stuff, at all!

Another thing to take into consideration was where we live, would we have enough "traffic" for one garage sale?  

My neighbor down the road has been fixing up her farm to sell so I sent her an email and she jumped on board.

Then I found out my neighbor across from her just sold her house (we knew it was up for sale, they had emailed us), so she jumped on board.

So we now have our 3 family yard/barn sale set up for this Saturday.

Posting will be going into Craigslist today.
Hope it's successful!!!!

Whoooo do you love?

FINALLY!

Caught one of these guys up close and personal!

Throughout the years I've always caught their backs flying away.

I always look out the exercise room window on my way to the bathroom.

Yesterday morning I actually spotted something!  My eyes were still a little foggy so I ran for my glasses and lo and behold, lookie here!

I got my step stool so I could take the photo through a window without a screen.

This was the closest shot.  

I checked on the owl throughout the day.  He kept turning so I had to wait for the moment he was  almost  looking straight at me.  

By late in the afternoon he had taken off.

I must say our squirrel population was NONE (until he/she left).

Love it!

Thank Goodness!!!

I've never been unemployed for such a long period and according to the Unemployment department, it could possibly be much longer.  If course the age factor is a huge contributor!

I've also never received unemployment!

Every month you get "the letter," we see you have not yet found a job, please come in to your WorkSource Center and meet with a counselor by ____________.

There's a deadline and you have to go or lose your unemployment.

I met with a great gal on Wednesday.

She said congratulations on being interviewed already.  WHAT? already, she thought I was making great strides and of course I thought "no way!"

She said I was doing everything right.  Gave me some great information and now I have to change my resume - again!

I can't tell you how many times I have changed my resume, but everything she mentioned made sense.

Best News!

My bud told me she had received her Oregon Health Plan packet and she had applied about 1-2 weeks  before me.

I was hoping I was accepted so I decided to give them a call.  I had called about 2 weeks ago, but couldn't get anyone on the line.  This time I had luck!

I was told it was effective April 3rd and my packet was "in the mail."

I wish I had know before I had paid for my medical insurance earlier this month!  I've sent my insurance an email to see if I can be reimbursed at least partially - you never know?

So there is a little light at the end of the tunnel....

I've been paying $525.00 a month for insurance for me and Rocky and my unemployment does not cover the full amount.  

Pete has been going to the VA for about a year now, so he's been covered by them.

I hadn't even used it yet since I did all my medical with my OSF insurance which I had until October 31st.  As soon as I was laid off I made a series of appointments so in reality I was good until October, unless there was an emergency.

Volunteering

Jackson County Animal Shelter

I'd been toying around with the idea of volunteering there  for a while.

In a way I didn't want to start when I knew eventually I would find a job and not have all the time I have now.

About a month ago I couldn't stand being home!  Yes, I had plenty to do, but was it fulfilling enough?

I put down the orientation date in my phone and still I didn't think I would attend, but by that date I was really ready to get out!

After orientation I still waited a while.  You see you have to put down days you would like to work and I did.

For the first month you are mentored, so I'm on week 3 (one week I had to cancel when I found my car dead and Pete was gone golfing).

When I didn't hear back, I just told the coordinator to let me know what days she had mentors for and I would adjust my schedule, so viola I got Wednesdays 1-3.

I have also helped out with setting up for their book sale, last Thursday of the month, book sale last Saturday of the month.

This Saturday, I get to help out with their vaccination clinic (every 3rd Saturday of the month). This is a big event., it's a very busy day there. I usually take Annie to this to get her nails clipped for $5.00.

I am actually taking Annie after, to get her vaccines since she is due and I need to save $, right now.

I've also signed up for book sale setting up this month.

I must say I am VERY impressed with this shelter.  They have a huge volunteer force!  A high adoption rate and they try everything possible to get their animals adopted. Lots of volunteer training!

Once the animal has been evaluated, they are put into adoption and stay in adoption until adopted.  If they are not having any luck they might send them to the humane society or up to Portland where they might get more exposure.

I do have to say, that it has been rare when I go back the next week and all the same dogs are there!

I follow their page on Facebook and usually find  out when the dogs are adopted. Of course  they have many outreach events where the animals get more exposure.

I'm glad I finally jumped on board and when I do get that job I'll try helping out on the weekends.

BTW, they have a 'cuddle room,' where you can take a pet just to relax in a family type setting instead of a kennel.

Anyone can go and do this even if you are not adopting!

Murphy

He got adopted a week after I walked him and played with him in their little dog park.  Talk about SMART, yikes!

I've never had interaction with a border collie, what a smartie!

Mom's Credenza

Yeh!  I found one!

For months I have been looking for a credenza for mom's place.

She still had a few things that did not have a home and were living in corners on the floor in her place.  I told her I would find something for her that would take care of that.

She's so funny.  Sometimes when talking about it she would say "oh, forget it, I don't need anything," other times she was on board.

Anyhow, I knew I wanted to get her place organized so I continued my search.

I'd been checking Craigslist weekly and I would check a couple of places in Medford that carried second hand furniture.

I found this at Larson's Second Hand Store, the store across from this one carries new furniture.

I've found a couple of things here in the past.  It was one of my favorite places to look; they have so much!

I'd previously been there, but the prices were a little more than mom wanted to spend.

I arrived in Medford early on Friday for an interview so I hopped over to see if there was anything new.

Well, this had been sitting there since 2012,  hmmm, how did I miss it?  I think  it could have been marked too high, looks like it was recently lowered.

It was the right configuration!  Mom needed more shelving, less drawers.  The door on the right has pull out drawers.

At Larson's if it has a green dot, you can negotiate and negotiate I did!  I offered $100.00 less.  The gal called the owner in Seattle and she said "yes!"

I had the gal put it on hold, took a photo and showed it to mom.

On Sunday morning we took mom there, she liked it and we took it home.

We found someone at her place to help with taking it off the truck and luckily it had wheels and we could wheel it the rest of the way in.

I cleaned it up, put away her stuff and she still has a little room in the drawer area.

Job done!  Another thing checked off the list!!!!

(now I have to move her picture a little lower!)

Good News/Bad News

Good News!  

I'll still be home working on those home projects!

Bad News!

I had 3 interviews last week and still no job :(

1. I had 2 interviews at a local Optomologist Eye Center. I was a strong contender, #2 in fact.

I got the call yesterday that I didn't make it.

I knew if I had made it I would have been called on Friday.  You can always tell by the tone of voice if you got the job.  As soon as I heard her voice I knew I was out.

2. Interview for a Development assistant job, which was my previous job, but 85% of this job would have been writing a newsletter.  I don't have that experience.

3. Interview for a government job.  I didn't think my Spanish would be strong enough for this job and I was right.

I'm happy I had the opportunity to get out and actually get interviewed!

The last 3 months everything has been through the Internet, no live contact.

At least I got some interview experience and I must say every experience was so different.

At the eye center I felt very relaxed and comfortable. 

At the Development office, very uncomfortable, did not care for the personalities of the people interviewing (2 women).

At the government job, the people were nice, but the room was very hot, 2 page questions, felt like I was on the "hot seat!"

Staying Home - More Work or Less Work?

That is the question.........

The lay-off has definitely accelerated my "to-do" list.

What have I been doing, you ask?

Sewing Projects:

Finished the neutral quilt for my bed. It's now waiting to go the quilter when I have some extra cash.

Finished a quilt mom had hanging around; I sewed the binding on and hand sewed the binding back.

Started a quilt I cut 10 years ago!  Yes, you read correctly - 10 years ago!

I have been wanting to tackle this quilt because of the color palette (different than the norm, for me) and because of the difficulty.  It's been on hold because the weather has been so great and gardening is taking up a lot of my time, right now.

Also, new runner for my dining table.

Made Christmas ornaments.

Home Projects:

Reorganized/cleaned out Christmas Decorations - I put all the decor in the same size bins, that are easy to grab and use (I had to buy these after Christmas at Target). Next Christmas will be soooo easy!

Cleaned/oiled wood cabinets

Cleaned out closets, took things to Goodwill

Cleaned out drawers

Organized spice cabinet

Painted baseboards 

Painted front doors

Reorganized/cleaned out scrapbooking room

Shelving on bottom of pantry (Pete made, installed and I painted)

New (gathered from the home) bins  (organized) for recycling. I had a huge space between the last row of shelving and the floor.  This had always been my plan, I 'd been asking Pete to do this for a while.  Not sure how much he loves having me at home because I do put a crimp in his 'style' with projects.

Of course, after painting the shelving, I proceeded to paint the door and trim.

Started reorganizing the garage with Pete. Upon seeing how many things we needed to get rid of, we now have a garage sale planned - April 26.  

This is a project I've had in mind for a long time, I just needed to get Pete on board.  He has never  been one to get rid of too much!

Gardening - lots!  With the wonderful weather we've been experiencing it's given me a head start on a lot of  maintenance.  As of yesterday I'm almost done.

This year I've decided, on recommendation of a friend, to use 'fish fertilizer" to help out my plants.  I must say it has been a process  that is rather stinky! 

Besides the fertilizing, I fed my rhodies and azaleas yesterday.

Potting bench - in addition to pantry shelving, Pete made me a potting bench from pallets and materials leftover from other projects. Cleaned out my gardening stuff and stocked my potting bench with all my gardening goodies.

I'm now ready to do the second go-round with  a couple of drawers and one closet.

I still have to finish painting baseboards in a couple of rooms. 

I need to paint doors inside the house (this one will be on the back burner for a while - lol).

I'm thinking about painting one wall in the den the same color as the rest of the den.

I did a feature wall and it never came out the way I wanted.  I'm thinking of re-doing it.  This will wait for a not-so-great weather day.

I'm sure I forgot a couple of things.  I am kinda grateful I have the time to get some of these things done.

Life Does Have It's Up's and Down's

I lost my job on October 9, 2013.

It was unexpected, but a little bit of a blessing.

I had been unhappy there ever since Peter (my boss) passed away, but really unhappy since I moved into the Development (which I loved) department 100%.
I was still working only 25 hours a week and was hoping for more hours.  Occasionally, I would apply for other jobs.
After Peter passed away the department was left without a leader for about a year, finally a development director was hired and she left after 9 months.
She was a single woman, and could not adjust to small town living.
In comes an old capital campaign consultant to help out for a few months and ended up moving to Ashland and taking the job; another single woman (she loves Ashland).
She and I got along, but after the 'honeymoon' period you could see her true colors, and she was no Peter. Peter was not perfect and we all knew that, but he knew how to take care of his people and make everyone feel equal.
There was a tremendous "class" shift.
Karen and I worked together as usual and saw how management could do what they pleased, when they pleased.  We just went along our merry way, sometimes being the only ones in the office - ha!


It was all a surprise when she walked me to the HR department and my exit "package" was waiting for me with the HR director.
After 7 1/2 years I was treated like a criminal, escorted to clean out my desk and escorted out the door.
I was officially laid off due to "budget" reasons and I was given a severance package (very nice of them!).  My medical coverage continued to October 31st.
First things first, get all my medical stuff done while I have coverage!
Plus my new hip had been acting up so I had to get in physical therapy till the end of the month.
Pete wanted to get away to the coast, so we took the camper and headed to the coast for 4 days.
I kept busy with my trip (pre-planned and paid for) to Vegas for a long weekend and with holiday stuff.
So, I seriously did not start looking for a job until January 2nd!  Hmmm, I should have started right away!
I also should have applied for unemployment the next day!  I wasn't sure how it worked because I got a severance package. Also, I've never been on unemployment!
Other than taking 12 years off to stay home with Rocky, I'd never been between jobs. 
When I applied for the job at OSF, it was the first job I applied for and got!
Well, let me say these are different times, for sure!
I'm sure the "age" factor has a lot to do with it, but my experience and references should have gotten me a job by now.
I have changed my resume a few times, the last time on recommendation of the counselor at the Work Source Center (unemployment offices).
On a weekly basis I have applied for 2-5 jobs.  There are jobs out there!
EVERYTHING is done on-line, no face to face. 
I am 95-100% qualified for all jobs I've applied to
I actually applied for a job at which I had the option to drop off my resume and cover letter; what a novel idea!
Times are tough and I don't for see finding a job for quite a while, at this rate.
Sorry, this has been so late in coming, I knew it was going to be a long one!