Nope, not gonna

JCI's Mid-Year Executive meeting was this weekend so I had to work.  Everything started Friday morning when we had our Audit Committee meeting and I had to present a proposed budget for next year.  Unfortunately, the budget came out with almost a $600,000 deficit which was unacceptable but we presented it that way to prove a point.  JCI has been asking for a dues increase for the past few years because it's getting impossible to provide the services & travel required.  JCI hasn't had a dues increase since 1999 and at that time it only went up $2.00.  Edson even prepared a power point presentation to play at General Assembly a couple of years ago to compare our membership dues with other organizations.  The increase was voted down and the GA passed a deficit budget that year. 
The Finance Committee meeting was held Saturday morning and the outcome:  my task was to find $450,000 to cut from the budget because they couldn't live with showing a deficit of $600,000 but they could live with showing a $150,000 deficit and they would push for a dues increase.  Therefore, the pressure was on.

I was on my way home Saturday evening when I got a text from Jim asking if I wanted him to make dinner.  Since it was already going on 7:00, I replied, "yep, on my way home".  When I got home, nobody was in the kitchen preparing dinner but somebody was in the family room playing an army game on Wii.  When I said , "where's my dinner, I thought you said you were going to make dinner?" somebody said, "nope, not gonna". 
After I changed, I poured myself a big glass of wine and went out on the deck.  The temperature said 89 but it didn't feel too bad so I sat in my favorite chair to drink my wine & unwind.  Somebody came out and said I was crazy because it was so hot out and when I mentioned about my dinner I was told, "nope, not gonna" again.

I ended up making myself a grilled cheese.  I was in a hurry to get down to my scrapbooking because I had a project due Monday morning and Sister Richard Maureen takes no excuse.  As I was walking through the family room somebody told me Wipeout was on the DVR.  I couldn't resist.  I love that show!  I laugh so hard in that show.  I sat down & watched and the rest of my stress was laughed off - well almost the rest of it.
The outcome:  I finished my scrapbooking project and gave the Finance Committee a budget. 

I was supposed to go to Edson's house Sunday evening because he's having the Board, Japanese guests & staff over for barbecue but I decided not to go.  Jim always pushes me to participate in these kinds of things because he says it's PR.  For some reason he's always afraid I'm going to get fired or something.  When I got home Sunday afternoon and he asked if I was going to Edson's, I told him, "nope, not gonna!" 

Update

I just wanted to update everyone regarding Jethro and his trapping of raccoons. The night after he trapped the first raccoon, I went out on the deck at just after dusk when it’s dark but not all the way and I saw two animals run from the deck to the woods. I strained my eyes to see what they were and there they were looking at me from the edge of the woods. They were going to wait for me to go back inside so they could come back and raid my bird feeders. I took a step down the stairs to get a better look when they turned and casually walked into the woods. They probably only went a few feet, just far enough to hide behind brush so I couldn’t see them. Jim wasn’t home at the time but when he got back I told him there were TWO raccoons out there. So he baited the trap.

A while later, I was upstairs reading before bed when Jim came rushing up to give me the play-by-play. He was freaking out because he said he went downstairs to look out the window of my scrapbooking room where he could see the trap from inside and lo and behold there was a great big possum out there sniffing around! Now, we’ve seen a variety of different wildlife at our house but never a possum. Jim concluded that we were drawing animals with the scent of our bait in the trap. So that was the end of the game. We decided not to set the trap because who knows what else we’d attract. Ya know, dar are coyotes in dem dar woods….

It's Official

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and it seems that I’m falling apart and I didn’t even know it. Besides a knee thing that’s been bothering me for a month or so, I feel fine. “Nay, nay, reindeer”, says the doctor. I have really high cholesterol and my bone density is not good so now I’m on medication for both. I decided that maybe I need to get healthier so I quit smoking June 1 (I hope telling everyone doesn’t put a hex on me!) and Jim got my bike down for me last night. I think it’s been at least a year since I rode it. I even offered to give it to Angie last year when she said she needed one because she & Brian were going to start riding because he has really high cholesterol. Anyway, Jim & I went riding last night. We hadn’t even gotten up to the first cross street which is about maybe 200 yards from our driveway and I told Jim that I was already tired and I didn’t know if I could make it very far. You have to give me a break because although it isn’t a steep hill, there is a definite incline. I persisted and we rode up to the entrance of the neighborhood and back. I think we were riding for approximately 3 minutes and 55 seconds. I told Jim I’d have to work my way up to riding further. The problem is that the road coming into our neighborhood (Jacobs Station) has a huge hill and there’s no way I will ever be able to ride all the way up that. I’ll have to push my bike and then I’ll really feel old! I guess we’ll have to ride the opposite way going out of the neighborhood but it’s supposed to be private back there. Oh well, I may be old but I’m still a rebel!