Land of Osbourne NEWS

Well readers, 

Within the next few days, I will no longer be employed by Hunter Douglas. 

On May 12th, it was decided to close the Roseville and Chicago locations of Hunter Douglas.

June 1st, myself and my 2 employees began the difficult job of clearing out the office.  

I'm sad to be forced to leave this position, as I've been in this industry since January of 1999.  First Steven Fabrics, then Warren Steven, then HD came in and I wound up here. 

Fingers crossed I can find something that will make me happy. 

In other news, John and I adopted 2 kittens from a gal in Cambridge.  One looks like a tabby/bengal mix, the other is mostly white with a few tabby markings.  Originally, we were just going to adopt the tabby we named Maverick (looks like he has a giant M on his forehead).  The gal we got them from asked if we'd consider adopting his brother, Marshall too, as the two were very bonded.  Sure why not.  

Welcome Maverick and Marshall toLand of Osbourne! 

April

Oh Ick

Growing up, both of my parents were full time workers.  My Dad worked at the Twin Cities Ford Plant, and my Mom worked for GNB Batteries.  From time to time, Mom needed to go on business trips. 

When that happened, Dad would cook. (I'd imagine you can see where I am going with this) 

Dad wasn't really the greatest cook, and as such, my sister and I both knew that if Mom was going out of town, that meant Dad was going to cook.  And if Dad was going to cook, that meant only one thing.  Oh Ick. 

Oh Ick is one of Dad's favorite meals (I really can't conceive of why), Oh Ick consists of overcooked elbow macaroni and tomato soup. I am not exaggerating when I say we would CRY if he made it because we both hated it so much, which is where the name, "Oh Ick" came from. 

Oh Ick has evolved somewhat over the years, and has now become a staple at family gatherings, to the point that when handing out pot luck assignments, someone always gets "Oh Ick" however its much more palatable now than it was previously.  

From time to time, a cousin will post online what they're bringing for such and so event, and you can always count on Oh Ick making the list. 

Music is Magic

​For some people, music isn't a huge part of their lives. At the most they'll listen to the radio in the car, or when the alarm clock goes off, but really no more than that.  For me however, music is a huge part of my life, and I think it stems from my upbringing and what I was exposed to from an early age. 

My Dad was in a band when he was younger with some cousins, they had a group called "Dukes of Earl".  My Dad's cousin was the lead singer, who as it happens is a huge Elvis Presley fan as I am. Dad plays the guitar, banjo, drums and piano.  I played piano, so did Mom.  When I heard or discovered a song I really liked, typically I'd go and get the sheet music so I could learn it on the piano. 

Music accompanies my life daily.  Monday - Friday at work, when I am working on an order entry project, I love having my music playlist keeping me company.  On the weekend, when its housework time, I can't do it without music.  When I am playing with my ipad, playing a game or whatever, if the TV isn't on, I have music playing. My husband and I ride share, and we have an hour commute. We both have a diverse taste in music, so we almost always have music on. 

There really isn't a genre of music I dislike, but I will admit to not being a HUGE country fan, but some I do like. ​

​When I am sad, anxious or upset music will nearly always pull me out of whatever issue I am dealing with mentally. 

I'm sure you've surmised by now if you've read this blog,, that I am a huge Elvis Presley fan.  I also however enjoy many other genres - metal, rock, pop, classical, alternative, blues, jazz and oldies to name a few. 

Are you a music fan?

The Joy's of Owning a Fish Tank

Since I was a teenager I have almost always had some sort of aquarium or fish tank.  When I lived at home, I had one in my bedroom, then later moved it out to the kitchen.  

When John and I moved into our first apartment together, I brought my aquarium with me, and had one at nearly each of the locations we lived thereafter.  

Fast forward to our current residence.  

I again had a large aquarium and stand (that was given to us for free), and decided to set it up with fish, as its been a while since I've had a set up. Initially, I wanted fancy goldfish, mostly because they're easy to care for, you don't need a heater because they're cold water fish, they're not expensive and they're pretty.  A friend of mine reminded me that goldfish are always looking for food, and will constantly disrupt the gravel making a mess.  Okay, so I reluctantly went the tropical fish route.  

I chose lots of little fish, tiger barbs, etc, and John wanted to pick a fish or two also, so he chose a tiny little Oscar. (uh-oh). 

Loved the set up we had, and wow, did that Oscar grow fast!  Some of the fish I had in my tank I referred to as "Fishing Lure" fish, due to the fact they were little, shiny and resembled a fishing lure.  

One day we came home from work, and I was looking at my fish, and huh...seemed like there was a fish missing...maybe I'm wrong, or maybe he's hiding.  Whatever.  

Few days later, I am again admiring my fish and upon closer inspection, another fishing lure fish was missing. I checked the floor around the aquarium, to make sure there were no jumpers...nope.  I checked the filter, in case he got sucked into it. Nope. Weird. 

THEN I looked a little closer at my Oscar, it looked like there was something stuck in his mouth...OMG. What I was seeing in the Oscar's mouth was the tail of one of my fishing lure fish! DAMMIT!! 

Ok, so our plan of attack was to try and get larger fishing lure fish and feed the oscar more.  

By the end of the year, all my fishing lure fish were gone, and all I had in the tank was one super large (FAT) oscar, a algae sucker guy, and another white oscar. 

Eventually, I gave the oscars and the algae sucker fish away on craigslist for free and got rid of the fish set up. 

The only fish I have now is a little blue betta in a fish bowl. 

While I'd love to have another aquarium set up, my avaiary really takes up a lot of my time and money, so am going to forgo fish for birds, but I do miss the cute little swimmy fishing lure fish. The oscar? Not so much. 

The Story of the Escaped Boa Constrictor

Before my husband and I moved into our first house (townhouse actually), we lived in an apartment in Blaine.  

One day, we came across the startling revelation that our baby rainbow boa constrictor had escaped her aquarium. (insert extreme panic here) 

We did a cursory search, and found nothing. 

More panic. 

Then, I sat down on the floor in front of where her aquarium was, and closed my eyes, and tried to "think like a snake".  If I were a snake, on the lam, where would I go first upon aquarium escape?  I looked around the room, and about 2' from where the aquarium was, is a heat vent along the baseboard of the wall. Hmm. Right by the corner where the two walls meet, was small opening, between the wall where the heat vent / pipe thing was.  Bingo.  If I were a snake, that would be the first place I'd go.  I got a flashlight and sure enough. There she was. (well shit)

Prior to this discovery, we were getting ready to go to my parents lakeshore home, where they were hosting a party. Halt in plans. 

So, we went to a pet store, and got a live "fuzzy" baby mouse, the though being we'll lure the snake out with a yummy fuzzy live baby mouse.  It took several hours, but through lots of waiting, and very still watching, the snake slowly came out of the wall to grab the fuzzy snack.  John got her, and she was safely put back in her aquarium.  Holy crap that could have ended badly.  Never assume the lid is secure on the snake cage lid unless you are 100% positive. 

We currently have 3 pythons at home, and all 3 of their aquariums have LOTS of weight on the tops of their aquairums. 

Lesson learned!

Teapot

So, I was talking to Kim, and mentioned that yesterday I had a cup of Aveda Comforting Tea and that it was great, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it, as I hadn't had it in a while. 

Kim then asks me if she has given me a teapot yet ...

(yet? is this some sort of friendship thing that happens between friends after a while? you give teapots to each other? began to wonder if I'd missed some milestone or something)

I said no, I am a teapot free gal. Then she goes on to describe the 3 (yes 3) teapots that she has and went over the features and benefits of each, I was impressed, she could have sold a teapot to the Keurig peeps I was so impressed with her passion.

I then asked her if it the teapot was short and stout?

Kim responded: "No, its tall and handsome"

Well damn! 

I'm gonna get me a tall handsome teapot. Nice. 

(will it look like David Boreanaz? Jensen Ackles? Luke Perry? Elvis Presley?) 

Love ya Kimber!

Political stuff

So, I normally don't post about political stuff on my blog, but I just gotta get this off my chest. 

Okay, here's the thing.  No one is going to agree on who is better or why. 

Everyone is going to have their own opinion, and really, don't we all know that?  I mean, its not a radical concept is it? 

So why do we have to shit all over each other for differing opinions? Can't we just support who we want to support, and may the best candidate win?  Does it really have any effect on the election if we are assholes to each other? NO!

Believe what you want to believe, and let others do the same.