And the Sky is blue again,

Ended up making Beef Mushroom and Barley stew last night. It was one of those, see what ya got and turn it into something edible, you hope, meals. It was a pared down version of my Beef and Barley Stew. It was very good. Tonight is Chicken Tacos and Spanish Rice - This is always good.

The rain has stopped and roads are opening back up. A few friends have headed out of town and a few more are finding their way into town. We are still waiting for the pickup to be fixed. Hopefully this afternoon. The shop apologized for it taking so long, they are short a mechanic or two, so things are taking twice as long as usual. Oh Well. They are fixing it, that is all that matters.

I was thinking yesterday, that this is really the first large money issue we have had with the truck since Mom gave it to me. I guess it isn't too large money, but anything over 500.00 is big to me. We have done the typical upkeep, but this is really the first breakdown or problem we have had and Mom gave me the truck 5 years ago, I think. Steve and I were talking just a few weeks ago that we needed to find a mechanic to do a good run thru the truck and get things replaced - belts and such. We also need to look into new shocks and brakes this spring. It is time for all of those things to be done. I can't complain - this truck has been a great vehicle and it has lots of more years in it. I have started to think that we might do some re beautifying of it and get it looking new again and it will be like we have a brand new car. I love this little truck - I was so excited when my mom said I could have it when she bought her new one. She could have just traded it in, but she didn't and I am glad. Time to start putting a bit of money into her and getting her back to almost new.

Anyway, off to do laundry. I was going to save it and do it at Barbara's house, but I think I am just going to do it today at the terminal and leave with all clean clothes. So, laundry and I think I will crochet a bit in the midst of waiting for loads. Off I go, have a good day, T

Snowed in in L.A.

Weather is strange. Mother Nature is a fickle woman. Right now, every freeway into and out of L.A. is closed due to snow or flooding. We have been in rain since last night and we are about 10 miles south of downtown L.A. and it is flooding all around us. It is craziness. We have friends trying to bring loads in and friends trying to get loads out and none of them are having any luck in going anywhere. I am glad that we are not trying to get anywhere at the moment. By the time our pickup is fixed everything should be un-bumfuzzled and we should be able to get to Bakersfield without too much more drama. Anyway, just wanted to give a little weather update. Later, T

And The Grand Prize Is. . .

And over $800.00 later we will have a fixed vehicle. I guess it could be worse, but jeez. We are just hanging out in the big truck in L.A. until Thursday night or Friday morning, that is when we get the truck back. We will then pack up and head up to Bakersfield. Gotta love unplanned expenditures, especially at Christmas. Oh Well. Merry Christmas to Steve and I. We won't be getting our planned gifts, I am just glad that we will still be able to spend the holiday with his family. Everyone else's Christmas is taken care of and we won't be out in the middle of no where.

I am going to head into the terminal and make some Spanish rice or Mushroom Barley, can't decide which. Hope everyone is having a good day. T

The woos of being a Grown up.

Morning, Ya'll better be getting things wound up for Christmas, it is almost here. We were getting all packed up and ready to head to Bakersfield last night and the water pump on our pickup went out. We had taken a break and went a about a mile down the road to dinner and when we came back, Kablooey. We had started loading the pickup and Steve noticed pretty green stuff leaking out from under the pickup. So, we both looked at each other once her figured out what is was, and said Merry Christmas. Jeez. Isn't life and crap that happens grand? Oh Well, I am just glad it happened before we headed to Bakersfield and not during the trip. There is a large mountain pass that we have to go over to get out of L.A. and into Bakersfield and we see people brokendown thru there all the time. So, we are blessed that it happened before we left, as to not leave us stranded roadside. Steve is going to take it to Pep Boys today, we don't have a mechanic in L.A. as of yet. Hopefully it won't take too long and it will cost withing reason. Anyway, that is where we are. As soon as the truck is fixed, we are heading out. Gotta love the drama of hoilday travel. T

Christmas Vacation!

It's officially Christmas Vacation for the Pedersen's. We got into Los Angeles early this morning and Steve made the executive decision that we are done working until after Christmas. I agree. The weather around the country and the plan for us to be in Bakersfield by the 22nd leads to the decision to stay put until then. Dispatch won't guarantee that we will be back by our deadline, so we are parking it.

Today is going to be very busy, once I can get Sleeping Beauty out of bed. We need to throw out our fridge. It died a couple weeks ago and we haven't been anywhere at a good time to wrangle it out of the truck. Huge pain in the butt. I am going to try and take pictures of us tossing it. I know, thrilling. Then we are going to clean the big and little trucks and pack to head down to Steve's mom's house. We are going to be there until the 30th, I think. It depends on how freight is moving. If things are slow, then we might stay over the New Year. This morning I have bought Steve a couple of things for his stocking, they should be at his mom's early next week. I have made a grocery and menu list for our time in Bakersfield.

I cook most of the time while we are there. Barbara isn't into cooking anymore (never really was, if the truth be told, she had a very finicky husband, much like mine - like father, like son.)and I don't get to cook very often, so I get the kitchen and I get to have fun. The only thing I hate is her oven, but I am getting the hang of it. Her over cooks about 50 degrees too hot. It is crazy. So, despite quite a few burnt items, I am figuring out her oven. I know most of the things in her pantry, and so I am going to use a bunch of things there and hopefully keep the food costs down. It will be fun. Some of the holiday stuff that I will make are a pecan pie for Steve's Grandma, she requested one back in September. Cheese ball and crackers, of course. Orange Rolls, Heavenly Hash, a Pumpkin Roll. I don't know what else. There are quite a few people around that we share the cooking extravaganza with, so nothing should go to waste.

Steve has requested Stuffed Shells and a Mustard and Balsamic glazed Pork Tenderloin (his fav) with spaghetti squash. I have been craving soup, so I think I will make a turkey soup with dumplings after the Christmas turkey is consumed, and I might make a Potatoe and Bacon soup and an Onion Tart one night. Most of those things we will have leftovers, so that may cover it. I have a box of quinoa that I want to make, not sure how to do it, but it is intriguing. I am loving barley salads and such, so I am thinking I will do something in that direction. I am going to take pictures of some of the stuff we make over Christmas, we will see how it all turns out.

Well, it is almost noon, so I think it is time to wake up the princess and get him to work. I don't enjoy this part of the day. Hope you all are having a good day, Love you T

California Sunshine

I hope everyone is on their final stretch of Christmas shopping. I am close. We got into L.A. yesterday morning, so we were able to get a few things done. No we still don't have a load out, and I am not sure what the issue is, last night was team night and it looks as tho all the other teams headed out. So, dispatch is getting a call from the lovely miss Tiff this morning. That is going to be a not fun phone call. I will be nice, but after the past 10 days or so, I really don't feel like it. We have had crappy miles and crappy loads, anyway, we were hoping we would get out of here in a timely manner, but I guess that was too much to hope for. Okay, enough whining.

Back to Christmas. We are a giftcard givin' couple again this year. There are a few things we have bought, but for the most part giftcards are where it is at. I hope people enjoy them, and it makes things easier on me. Trying to get a big truck into a post office is a pain in the behind. I have done a bit of crocheting - Steve's Grandma is in a resthome and doesn't have room for much stuff. But she has a bookshelf that she said she wanted doilies for, so I made her a couple of doilies. I need to starch them when we get to Steve's mom's house. I need to crochet more, I can tell in my stitches that I am out of practice.

I am still stumped on what to do for my Grandma, but everyone else is handled. I have really missed doing the holiday thing this year. I miss the tree, the cooking, the chaos. Doing all my shopping online leaves a bit to be desired. I bet if I was in it that I would be questioning my sanity, but I do miss it. Eventually I will get to do it all again.

Well, I am going to call dispatch and find out why we are still sitting here after 24 hours, and then I am going to go take a shower. Hope you all have a nice day, Love you T

Week of Wife Drama. Why is it that the wife always has to have emotional drama? Steve and I have just ended a week from hell in the relationship department. I swear, if I could just be logical and leave my psychotic, premenstrual, female drama at the door life would be so much easier for all of those involved. My poor husband loves me thru all my insanity, and of course during the whole meltdown that makes me even more pissed that he won't fight with me. Jeez, he can't win. But all is fine as frogs fur again and I am normal for another few weeks until the hormones and pain put me over the edge again. You would think I would see it coming and be able to deal and not be so crazy, but it catches me off guard every time. I pray for the day that I either get everything ripped out of me or menopause hits. What is the point of it all, really? Anyway, on to better subjects. . .

Thanksgiving was horrid, because I was being Bitchzilla. We drove about 1300 miles that day, mostly because I was being so horrible that Steve didn't want to be around me and I didn't want to be around him, so we just kept driving. I hope everyone else had a good time. Mandy cooked her first Thanksgiving dinner and it was a huge success. Nobody got sick from anything she made, as she feared might happen, so I believe that is considered a good meal. I knew she would do a great job, just call her Martha Stewart. And then Sunday they had a big whoha and blessed Porter. She had a very full week.

Mom and Blair are still cruising around the world. I am not sure where they were on Thanksgiving. I want to say Spain, but don't quote me on it. They will be back on Dec. 13th. I love that they are able to travel, but I hate it when I have mental breakdowns and I can't call my mom to whine and have her get me back on the right track, as only a mom can do.

Kudos for me. Steve has yet to figure out his Christmas present. WooHoo! This is Christmas #4 and he has figured out every gift, except for one. I wrote him a poem our first Christmas, he didn't have a clue about that one. But other than that, he has figured out every gift I have ever gotten him. It sucks. He is even going thru the bank accounts now trying to find out how much and where I bought it from. Hee Hee, I am sneaky, I can do a cash draw on my fuel card each week that then comes out of my paycheck the next week. I don't ever do it, but for the past couple of months I have been doing it and stashing the money away, so he isn't seeing any money coming out of any account and he is stumped. He never checks our payroll statements, so he has no clue that is what I am doing. After Christmas I will share what he got, but just incase he comes on here, I don't dare say what it is yet. He never reads my blog, but he would be just that sneaky.

Well, I better get off of here and get my paperwork done for the evening. We are in Taylor, Michigan tonight (suburb of Detroit). We delivered our load of carpet and furniture to our terminal here and there wasn't a load for us tonight. We will get one in the morning, probably heading to Atlanta.

Love you all, T