It's gorgeous out today.
Did I enjoy any of it? Not really. I've been trying to get through these stupid CBTs. These aren't an easy thing really. They are time consuming and annoying.
I did have a fun conversation with a friend again today. We're trying to find a way we can meet up to visit...finding dates that work for both of us, finding the best means and all that jazz. In an effort to alleviate our problem I keep telling him to just move here; he keeps telling me to move there. I think we've agreed that we're going to compromise and just move to Italy together. Or Germany. Yeah, that'll work.
Until then, I just spend my days at home or work, slaving over CBTs and trying to figure out my life.
On a good note, this ends NaBloPoMo's month of "Home". Tomorrow begins "Food". I'm trying to watch what I eat and lose some poundage (especially in light of the above paragraph - if I'm moving to Italy, I need to look hotter than I am right now). I've been trying SB again and it's been ups and downs. I should be starting Phase 2 tomorrow. I'll see how I feel in the morning if I'm going to actually do that. Though since it's my nephew's birthday party tomorrow I probably should consider it.
30 June 2008
29 June 2008
*sigh*
There's nothing like an afternoon of baseball to relieve some aching tension in a person. This would be tension caused not only by your mother but also by stupid CBT programs that decide to stop working so you can't test on a subject or when you close out to take a break doesn't save where you left off.
The baseball game was great. It was a rival game between my now hometown and my former hometown. Unfortunately my former hometown lost, and their coach got kicked out of the game for reasons that we still don't understand. They had just hit a homer with one on base and suddenly the homeplate ump turns to the dugout and throws him out, so the coach comes up and starts screaming and yelling and had a little trouble throwing off his hat (that was the humorous part).
I'm thinking I should probably shift my support to the hometeam for this one. I wasn't that close to the former hometown team and since I already support the Indians instead of the expected MLB team, maybe if I support this team people will cut me some slack.
I was thinking during the game that I should either by season tickets or just force myself to go to the games. They are a lot of fun but I rarely go. I wouldn't have gone today except my sister called to invite me along, which was super sweet.
It's been really nice to be home this weekend and not having any obligations other than CBTs. I like down weekends like this. It's good for re-energizing. People don't believe me when I tell them I'm an introvert and need weekends like this but it's so true.
Well, I'm going to relax and downshift for a half hour and then watch Nanny McPhee which is so fun! :)
The baseball game was great. It was a rival game between my now hometown and my former hometown. Unfortunately my former hometown lost, and their coach got kicked out of the game for reasons that we still don't understand. They had just hit a homer with one on base and suddenly the homeplate ump turns to the dugout and throws him out, so the coach comes up and starts screaming and yelling and had a little trouble throwing off his hat (that was the humorous part).
I'm thinking I should probably shift my support to the hometeam for this one. I wasn't that close to the former hometown team and since I already support the Indians instead of the expected MLB team, maybe if I support this team people will cut me some slack.
I was thinking during the game that I should either by season tickets or just force myself to go to the games. They are a lot of fun but I rarely go. I wouldn't have gone today except my sister called to invite me along, which was super sweet.
It's been really nice to be home this weekend and not having any obligations other than CBTs. I like down weekends like this. It's good for re-energizing. People don't believe me when I tell them I'm an introvert and need weekends like this but it's so true.
Well, I'm going to relax and downshift for a half hour and then watch Nanny McPhee which is so fun! :)
AARRGGHHH!!!
Just call me Charlie Brown. I need to scream, vent and release some built up tension.
So I'm going to a baseball game. Later!
So I'm going to a baseball game. Later!
28 June 2008
I'm as cool as ericjay
Your result for The Commonly Confused Words Test...
English Genius
You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 100% Advanced, and 87% Expert!
You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go!
Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it!
For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.
Hangin' at home
Today was finally a 'normal' day.
I slept in, well, kind of. I woke up at 7 (which is late for me) but stayed in bed until 8 just because I could. I headed to Target to pick up a few things and then to the store for food. Yum.
I tried something new with my hair today. I washed it as usual, but just brushed through it with a wide bristled brush and scrunched and sprayed it so it'd keep it's curl. This whole curl in my hair thing is new...especially one I didn't have to pay for or smell like chemicals to achieve. It's nice. I like it though I need to work with it a little more. At Target I found a couple products that will hopefully help.
But most of the rest of the day was spent inside working on those fabulous CBTs. I finished two and almost finished a third when I got annoyed and quit. I need to take a good break and then go back and test. I should go through the exercises and training but it's very similar to another one I did earlier so I think I can fudge my way through without having to go through it all again.
So I'm going to watch "definitely, maybe" tonight. I've spent most of the day with old, sappy movies on - well, not old. 13 Going On 30, Jersey Girl, and Shrek, and Ghostbusters. The first two I ended up bawling at during the end. Why do people always end up happy in the movies. This was one reason why I really liked My Best Friend's Wedding - because Julia Roberts didn't end up with the guy at the end. It was realistic!
Anyway...I'm going to watch this other one and veg. It's nice to be home again.
I slept in, well, kind of. I woke up at 7 (which is late for me) but stayed in bed until 8 just because I could. I headed to Target to pick up a few things and then to the store for food. Yum.
I tried something new with my hair today. I washed it as usual, but just brushed through it with a wide bristled brush and scrunched and sprayed it so it'd keep it's curl. This whole curl in my hair thing is new...especially one I didn't have to pay for or smell like chemicals to achieve. It's nice. I like it though I need to work with it a little more. At Target I found a couple products that will hopefully help.
But most of the rest of the day was spent inside working on those fabulous CBTs. I finished two and almost finished a third when I got annoyed and quit. I need to take a good break and then go back and test. I should go through the exercises and training but it's very similar to another one I did earlier so I think I can fudge my way through without having to go through it all again.
So I'm going to watch "definitely, maybe" tonight. I've spent most of the day with old, sappy movies on - well, not old. 13 Going On 30, Jersey Girl, and Shrek, and Ghostbusters. The first two I ended up bawling at during the end. Why do people always end up happy in the movies. This was one reason why I really liked My Best Friend's Wedding - because Julia Roberts didn't end up with the guy at the end. It was realistic!
Anyway...I'm going to watch this other one and veg. It's nice to be home again.
27 June 2008
Apologies and stories
First, Cinda, I was in your neck of the woods and didn't call you or let you know I was coming (as you know being one of the two of us). I'm saying this first and foremost because if you read this post you may figure out where we were. But things were crazy and I was exhausted. I'm so sorry...next trip! We're really not that far away so we'll have to figure out something.
Story - I had a mini trip with Boss1 and Mungie Boy yesterday and today. It was a lot of fun - I will fully admit that a work trip was fun - but I'm exhausted.
We headed north to a fellow company where one of our sections was training with their section. We'll call them F2H. F2H has a training site which we don't and so this year the section headed up to get some great training and course work completed that they'll need for a future project. Seven of our people headed up and so Boss1, Mungie Boy and I went up to support them on their last day when they were doing final exercises and training.
The start of our trip was great and I was grateful that Boss1 was driving because MB really wanted us to go West to get to our destination when clearly it's a straight shot north. His navigational skills were a little rough this trip. He really really wanted to go left when every time we needed to go somewhere we needed to go right or straight. It became a running joke.
We got there and had lunch with Boss1's counterpart at F2H. It's always fun to sit in with bigwigs conversations. You learn so much that you can't ever repeat. :) My head is full.
Then the Boss1s went out on an excursion of their own while MB and I headed to the site. We took a bunch of pictures and hung out with the students, met some awesome people and had a great time. I got to partake a little in the training - just seeing how the equipment they had to use felt to a normal person. It's amazing what these folks do. I wish I could go into it more but I can't. If you want details, email me and I'll tell you more.
After all this and we gathered up Boss1 again, we headed to the club for a drink and car show briefly. Then headed to our hotel to check-in, shower, change for dinner. The boys and I agreed on 25 minutes and I think they all figured I'd be last. I actually got ready in 20 but only because I didn't dry or straighten my hair. I was testing my hair to see if it really does keep it's curl if I do that, and it sort of did. I'm still working on that.
Dinner was at a great local place with amazing steak and veggies. Boss1 kept making fun of me for my Beach eating habits, but I didn't care. It was delicious and I didn't feel overly full, which was amazing considering how much I inhaled.
By the time we finished I was spent. We got back to the hotel around 8:45. I was asleep by 9:30, awoke several times during the night due to various reasons; got up at 5:45 to meet our people for breakfast and headed out at 6:30 to do so.
The drive back seemed to take forever. I ended up sleeping some in the back of the car while the boys talked fishing and hometowns. And the afternoon drug...on... I finally called it a day at 4:30 and then headed to my nephew's baseball game.
The game ended early due to rain, wind and lightening. This was amazing, but I'll maybe talk about that later. I'm home now and so very tired. I just wanted to say hi.
I am excited about this weekend - to a point. It's supposed to be beautiful here...my temps, my winds, my skies...and I have to do CBTs. UGH! So I'm going to get a run in either in the morning or sometime during the day to break up the monotony. My niece was going to come up but we've postponed that to August which is good. I really just need some me time where I don't have to worry about dealing with other people. I haven't had an empty weekend since April. This is very much needed.
I hope you all are doing well. :) More to come.
Story - I had a mini trip with Boss1 and Mungie Boy yesterday and today. It was a lot of fun - I will fully admit that a work trip was fun - but I'm exhausted.
We headed north to a fellow company where one of our sections was training with their section. We'll call them F2H. F2H has a training site which we don't and so this year the section headed up to get some great training and course work completed that they'll need for a future project. Seven of our people headed up and so Boss1, Mungie Boy and I went up to support them on their last day when they were doing final exercises and training.
The start of our trip was great and I was grateful that Boss1 was driving because MB really wanted us to go West to get to our destination when clearly it's a straight shot north. His navigational skills were a little rough this trip. He really really wanted to go left when every time we needed to go somewhere we needed to go right or straight. It became a running joke.
We got there and had lunch with Boss1's counterpart at F2H. It's always fun to sit in with bigwigs conversations. You learn so much that you can't ever repeat. :) My head is full.
Then the Boss1s went out on an excursion of their own while MB and I headed to the site. We took a bunch of pictures and hung out with the students, met some awesome people and had a great time. I got to partake a little in the training - just seeing how the equipment they had to use felt to a normal person. It's amazing what these folks do. I wish I could go into it more but I can't. If you want details, email me and I'll tell you more.
After all this and we gathered up Boss1 again, we headed to the club for a drink and car show briefly. Then headed to our hotel to check-in, shower, change for dinner. The boys and I agreed on 25 minutes and I think they all figured I'd be last. I actually got ready in 20 but only because I didn't dry or straighten my hair. I was testing my hair to see if it really does keep it's curl if I do that, and it sort of did. I'm still working on that.
Dinner was at a great local place with amazing steak and veggies. Boss1 kept making fun of me for my Beach eating habits, but I didn't care. It was delicious and I didn't feel overly full, which was amazing considering how much I inhaled.
By the time we finished I was spent. We got back to the hotel around 8:45. I was asleep by 9:30, awoke several times during the night due to various reasons; got up at 5:45 to meet our people for breakfast and headed out at 6:30 to do so.
The drive back seemed to take forever. I ended up sleeping some in the back of the car while the boys talked fishing and hometowns. And the afternoon drug...on... I finally called it a day at 4:30 and then headed to my nephew's baseball game.
The game ended early due to rain, wind and lightening. This was amazing, but I'll maybe talk about that later. I'm home now and so very tired. I just wanted to say hi.
I am excited about this weekend - to a point. It's supposed to be beautiful here...my temps, my winds, my skies...and I have to do CBTs. UGH! So I'm going to get a run in either in the morning or sometime during the day to break up the monotony. My niece was going to come up but we've postponed that to August which is good. I really just need some me time where I don't have to worry about dealing with other people. I haven't had an empty weekend since April. This is very much needed.
I hope you all are doing well. :) More to come.
26 June 2008
"Have a nice trip!"
"See you next fall."
Hahahahaha. Remember that joke from school. Yeah, always funny.
Not.
Hahahahaha. Remember that joke from school. Yeah, always funny.
Not.
25 June 2008
Totally!
ericjay - I totally agree. Remind me to tell you about some of our training ways. It helps but all of it still sucks.
I'm getting so tired of CBTs that all day I kept thinking, "Slide. Slide. Slide."
Have you every looked and/or listened to a word for so long that it starts to look wrong? like Slide. Slide doesn't look right to me anymore. Slide show. Click the slide. Choose slide 11. Once you have chosen slide 11 click ok to advance to the next slide. Slide slide slide slide slide slide slide slide slide. It just doesn't look right.
Ugh. I need sleep and need to run. Or just sleep.
I'm getting so tired of CBTs that all day I kept thinking, "Slide. Slide. Slide."
Have you every looked and/or listened to a word for so long that it starts to look wrong? like Slide. Slide doesn't look right to me anymore. Slide show. Click the slide. Choose slide 11. Once you have chosen slide 11 click ok to advance to the next slide. Slide slide slide slide slide slide slide slide slide. It just doesn't look right.
Ugh. I need sleep and need to run. Or just sleep.
24 June 2008
The most hateful initials in the world: CBT
Okay, relax folks. I don't mean anyone in particular, in fact I'm not sure I even know anyone with those initials.
What I'm talking about here today are CBTs - Computer Based Training. A lot of my training for my job is done this way. It's not a bad way to do things because you can do them on your own and if you have questions you can always replay the lesson.
The bad thing is when you're a procrastinator like me...well, then you don't get them done in a timely manner and ended up scrambling to complete various modules.
Like this week. Today was going to be a quiet day, and it was as I predicted. But this morning when I went into my CBT training site to access my next module I found all the mods were gone.
Originally I had to complete a bunch of trainings on Microsoft Office 2003. Well, our company is upgrading to 2007, though not until later this fall, though the Mother company is upgrading next week. And since the Mother company owns all our CBT training, they decided to upgrade the CBTs as well and all those I had in My Plan disappeared.
I was ticked. Because now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do to complete everything. Our training plan is being upgraded as well to show the new software upgrade but I'm still under the old plan. So I'm kind of stuck in the middle.
So I started all over again at the beginning. I got two done today (amidst multiple interruptions) and I'll do as many as I can tomorrow and this weekend and next week until I have everything completed. Then I can get out of this crap and start the next module - A+ certification. Joy.
What I'm talking about here today are CBTs - Computer Based Training. A lot of my training for my job is done this way. It's not a bad way to do things because you can do them on your own and if you have questions you can always replay the lesson.
The bad thing is when you're a procrastinator like me...well, then you don't get them done in a timely manner and ended up scrambling to complete various modules.
Like this week. Today was going to be a quiet day, and it was as I predicted. But this morning when I went into my CBT training site to access my next module I found all the mods were gone.
Originally I had to complete a bunch of trainings on Microsoft Office 2003. Well, our company is upgrading to 2007, though not until later this fall, though the Mother company is upgrading next week. And since the Mother company owns all our CBT training, they decided to upgrade the CBTs as well and all those I had in My Plan disappeared.
I was ticked. Because now I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do to complete everything. Our training plan is being upgraded as well to show the new software upgrade but I'm still under the old plan. So I'm kind of stuck in the middle.
So I started all over again at the beginning. I got two done today (amidst multiple interruptions) and I'll do as many as I can tomorrow and this weekend and next week until I have everything completed. Then I can get out of this crap and start the next module - A+ certification. Joy.
23 June 2008
A MINI shout out to K
I now officially own my Mini! Woohoo!
Thanks to some sweet urging from K when I visited, I transferred the money and last week I transmitted my final payment. After some confusion last week as more money was taken out of my savings than was showing on my payment history, I got a letter and a check in the mail today for the difference (since I overpaid).
I'm so excited. My Mini is all mine. It's ALL MINE! Bwahahahaha!
Thanks, K!
Thanks to some sweet urging from K when I visited, I transferred the money and last week I transmitted my final payment. After some confusion last week as more money was taken out of my savings than was showing on my payment history, I got a letter and a check in the mail today for the difference (since I overpaid).
I'm so excited. My Mini is all mine. It's ALL MINE! Bwahahahaha!
Thanks, K!
Coming Home
Many of my friends have been or will be or are overseas fighting this war that we have going on right now.
There are so many thoughts going through my head right now but until I get them straight I just wanted to give you a link where you can help them make the transition home a little easier.
WecomeBackVeterans.org is a great program. I'm also linking here to a story by Mark Newman from MLB.com. MLB will be holding special games over July 4th and Sept 11 where the players will be wearing Stars and Stripes caps. You can purchase one from the link at the bottom of the story.
But read the story. There is a lot of truth in what these two speak. War is hell, and whether you agree with this war or not, please consider the people who are there fighting it and the struggles they face not only overseas but as they return home.
There are so many thoughts going through my head right now but until I get them straight I just wanted to give you a link where you can help them make the transition home a little easier.
WecomeBackVeterans.org is a great program. I'm also linking here to a story by Mark Newman from MLB.com. MLB will be holding special games over July 4th and Sept 11 where the players will be wearing Stars and Stripes caps. You can purchase one from the link at the bottom of the story.
But read the story. There is a lot of truth in what these two speak. War is hell, and whether you agree with this war or not, please consider the people who are there fighting it and the struggles they face not only overseas but as they return home.
I love new toys!
I got this today! YAY!I have been looking at a two-sided griddle for months now. I miss grilling out and living in an apartment isn't really conducive for that.
I first saw one of these in the Crate & Barrel catalog and almost ordered it but it was $40 or $50, I can't remember which. So I waited.
Then I found it on Amazon. Again regularly $50. Soon it went on sale for $25. But I waited.
Last week it was either in my Quick Picks or as a daily deal...I'm not sure. But it was only $19.99. So I bought it.
Then, lo and behold, Friday I went on the Friday Sale and it was only $9.99! UGH! I hate when I buy too soon. Luckily Amazon has a policy that if you email them and it's been within 30 days of your purchase the item has gone on sale, they'll refund you the difference.
I've never tried this before, I hate asking for refunds just because of my stupidity, but I took a shot and emailed them. Right before Mom and I left for the cities I checked my email and there it was! Yes they would refund me the $10 difference! YAY!
Because I had ordered it on Tuesday and they had already mailed it the $10 will just be credited to my account. I got the griddle today and I can't wait to try it! Maybe I can have steak again. And I'll be able to grill in the middle of winter. South Beach can rise again! Woohoo!
22 June 2008
Sabbath and dreams
Today was one of those days that, if looking from another perspective, it would seem as if I completely wasted it.
It was beautiful here today. Slight wind, 82 degrees, low humidity. It's an anomaly in these parts really. What did I do?
Well, after church and brunch with Tre, I came home and took a 2 hour nap which turned into 3 hours and then laid around most of the day, sorting through old magazines and knitting a little.
This morning at church Lon preached about the Sabbath Day and to keep it Holy. He talked about how we shouldn't even visit places on the Sabbath where people have to work because then we are forcing them to work that day when they should be resting too.
So I felt a little guilty heading directly from church to Perkins for brunch. I told Tre of this and she started to talk about how Lon needed to get a more worldly view of things before preaching things like that because people may need the part-time job to feed their kids or college kids need to make money for college, etc. etc. etc.
My thought was more on a spiritual/religious level that not everyone's Sabbath is Sunday. That's the Christian view but, from my understanding, the Jewish view is Saturday (at least if my Big Lebowski knowledge is factual, "Shomar Shabbos!"). And others aren't of the church sort and so they don't necessarily have a Sabbath. Or their job requires them to work "weekends" and so their Sabbath is on a Monday or Tuesday or Thursday.
It seemed to be a very simplistic view of Sabbath. But it's one person's opinion. And while I usually do go with the Sabbath notion on Saturday or Sunday (to follow our western world notions), I also believe the fact that Sabbath is not something we do for God but what God does for us. And I find it hard to believe that if I need Sabbath on a Wednesday that God isn't going to show up because it's not Sunday. Sabbath is God sanctifying us and that can happen anytime.
So today may have been my Sabbath, although I still feel unproductive. My apartment is in shambles. I can't find my kitchen counter to bake if I wanted to, not that I want to because I can't eat any of it anyway. My bedroom floor looks like my closet and dresser threw up on it, not to mention my file cabinet.
I need to organize. I've been having some weird dreams lately and I think a lot of it is because I can't find my way through my life. Part of it is that I haven't been home long enough to focus on anything and when I try to focus my mess in my apartment just saddens me to the point where I just want to sleep. So I do.
Tomorrow - Tomorrow I have plans. I've made a list of what I need to do tomorrow starting with a run in the AM. I can't not run in the mornings anymore. I don't have a running buddy anymore anyway so why I try to run during the day at work is beyond me. That's just depressing. So tomorrow, again, I'm going to run in the morning and enjoy it all. And then I'm going to bust my ass and complete my list and try to get my life back on track.
It was beautiful here today. Slight wind, 82 degrees, low humidity. It's an anomaly in these parts really. What did I do?
Well, after church and brunch with Tre, I came home and took a 2 hour nap which turned into 3 hours and then laid around most of the day, sorting through old magazines and knitting a little.
This morning at church Lon preached about the Sabbath Day and to keep it Holy. He talked about how we shouldn't even visit places on the Sabbath where people have to work because then we are forcing them to work that day when they should be resting too.
So I felt a little guilty heading directly from church to Perkins for brunch. I told Tre of this and she started to talk about how Lon needed to get a more worldly view of things before preaching things like that because people may need the part-time job to feed their kids or college kids need to make money for college, etc. etc. etc.
My thought was more on a spiritual/religious level that not everyone's Sabbath is Sunday. That's the Christian view but, from my understanding, the Jewish view is Saturday (at least if my Big Lebowski knowledge is factual, "Shomar Shabbos!"). And others aren't of the church sort and so they don't necessarily have a Sabbath. Or their job requires them to work "weekends" and so their Sabbath is on a Monday or Tuesday or Thursday.
It seemed to be a very simplistic view of Sabbath. But it's one person's opinion. And while I usually do go with the Sabbath notion on Saturday or Sunday (to follow our western world notions), I also believe the fact that Sabbath is not something we do for God but what God does for us. And I find it hard to believe that if I need Sabbath on a Wednesday that God isn't going to show up because it's not Sunday. Sabbath is God sanctifying us and that can happen anytime.
So today may have been my Sabbath, although I still feel unproductive. My apartment is in shambles. I can't find my kitchen counter to bake if I wanted to, not that I want to because I can't eat any of it anyway. My bedroom floor looks like my closet and dresser threw up on it, not to mention my file cabinet.
I need to organize. I've been having some weird dreams lately and I think a lot of it is because I can't find my way through my life. Part of it is that I haven't been home long enough to focus on anything and when I try to focus my mess in my apartment just saddens me to the point where I just want to sleep. So I do.
Tomorrow - Tomorrow I have plans. I've made a list of what I need to do tomorrow starting with a run in the AM. I can't not run in the mornings anymore. I don't have a running buddy anymore anyway so why I try to run during the day at work is beyond me. That's just depressing. So tomorrow, again, I'm going to run in the morning and enjoy it all. And then I'm going to bust my ass and complete my list and try to get my life back on track.
21 June 2008
Picture Day!
I finally downloaded all my pictures so here you go! Random pictures of nothing. :)
Next: Here's mom standing by the Minnehaha Falls. I finally figured out where this park is in the cities and mom wanted to walk this morning to get a few steps on her pedometer (especially since we'd be in a car most of the day). So we went here to walk. Awesome park! I wish I had found it when I actually lived there.
This is a tree growing out of a rock. When Mom and I went to London a decade ago I was teasing her because most of her pictures, when we got back, were of trees. It's been a running joke since.
This I thought was interesting.
A lone, yet fully, gray cloud in the middle of the sky.
I took this while driving.
Below: Debbie's speedometer hit 20,000 while we drove home. It was dark out but luckily there were no cars around to be distracted by the flash.
Next: Here's mom standing by the Minnehaha Falls. I finally figured out where this park is in the cities and mom wanted to walk this morning to get a few steps on her pedometer (especially since we'd be in a car most of the day). So we went here to walk. Awesome park! I wish I had found it when I actually lived there.
This is a tree growing out of a rock. When Mom and I went to London a decade ago I was teasing her because most of her pictures, when we got back, were of trees. It's been a running joke since.
This I thought was interesting.A lone, yet fully, gray cloud in the middle of the sky.
I took this while driving.
This was my pie from Pie Day! It was my first lattice top
which didn't really turn out, but I loved the recipe and will totally
be doing this one again soon, even if I can't eat it anymore.
And that's picture day!
which didn't really turn out, but I loved the recipe and will totally
be doing this one again soon, even if I can't eat it anymore.
And that's picture day!20 June 2008
And I'm off!
It's another one of those work-then-travel-then-theater days so I thought I'd say hello this morning just in case I can't get it done tonight.
I have been such a lazy ass this week. It sucks. I've been getting up early to go run or get to work early and then run sometime during the day, but when i get home, other than Tuesday when I made the pie for Naomi, I have just been sitting on my butt trying to regroup.
It's hard to go back to work after a vacation, especially a great vacation and even more so after having come back from two vacations with a little mini work week in between.
This is why when I worked at LS I never took a vacation. I got out of sync, out of rhythm with my job and my life.
Next week it'll be the same. Just found out late yesterday that I have a work trip Thursday and Friday so I may have to go in Monday to get a few things done. Then it's a short week the next week due to Independence Day.
UGH! Summer is great, but am I the only one who really longs for the set schedule fall, winter and spring bring? I miss those school kind of days.
OH well...enough of my whining. Off to work again! (after I pick up my house and pack quick for my trip).
I have been such a lazy ass this week. It sucks. I've been getting up early to go run or get to work early and then run sometime during the day, but when i get home, other than Tuesday when I made the pie for Naomi, I have just been sitting on my butt trying to regroup.
It's hard to go back to work after a vacation, especially a great vacation and even more so after having come back from two vacations with a little mini work week in between.
This is why when I worked at LS I never took a vacation. I got out of sync, out of rhythm with my job and my life.
Next week it'll be the same. Just found out late yesterday that I have a work trip Thursday and Friday so I may have to go in Monday to get a few things done. Then it's a short week the next week due to Independence Day.
UGH! Summer is great, but am I the only one who really longs for the set schedule fall, winter and spring bring? I miss those school kind of days.
OH well...enough of my whining. Off to work again! (after I pick up my house and pack quick for my trip).
19 June 2008
I have JBitis
I've been traveling a lot lately. I feel a bit like JB, though I'm not going to glamorous places like Italy or London or DWB concerts. I've just been going to other classy places like Wisconsin to see my Nika and Cleveland for the Indians and Cincinnati for operas.
It's weird, because this weekend I'm off for another mini trip. In a couple weeks I'm on another, and a few weeks after that another, and two weeks after that yet another.
I know this is what summer is for but sometimes I wonder what the hell was going through my brain when I was planning this summer. I'm almost looking forward to the damn marathon because at least I know that I have a purpose other than just relaxing on the trip. Because, believe you me, I will not be relaxing on that one.
It's weird, because this weekend I'm off for another mini trip. In a couple weeks I'm on another, and a few weeks after that another, and two weeks after that yet another.
I know this is what summer is for but sometimes I wonder what the hell was going through my brain when I was planning this summer. I'm almost looking forward to the damn marathon because at least I know that I have a purpose other than just relaxing on the trip. Because, believe you me, I will not be relaxing on that one.
Not sure where I am
Can I just say, "Uffda"?
Today was a rough morning. Besides the fact I dreamt about Andy from My Boys gutting another guy like a jack o'lantern and then hosing the dead guy down with a garden hose and then the dead guy standing up so the water wouldn't sit in the open cavity that was his belly, I just didn't sleep well.
So this morning I was super tired and I had tons of work to do. This doesn't bode well for my work patterns. I almost broke down and had a diet coke today, if only for the caffeine, but I held off. I also forgot my cell phone at home, which isn't that big of a deal since I don't always use it for work, but it's nice to have around. It's like underwear. You don't really need it but sometimes it can be comforting to know it's there.
Tomorrow mom and I are heading to the cities. I'm kind of over my whole crabbiness from last night. I don't care anymore. It will be what it will be.
18 June 2008
Grr
I just got off the phone with my mom. We're going to the cities to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Guthrie this weekend.
She called to see if she should bring her square dance stuff along and then we wouldn't have to rush back (because she'd have to go back home to get it and come back into town). I said fine, though her dance isn't until 8 and I'm sure we'll be home long before then.
I asked her 2 or 3 days ago to tell me what else she wanted to do in the cities so we could plan. She said, "I don't know." So tonight she says it again with the "well, you'll have to tell me what else we can do."
Hello. It's the cities - there's museums, shopping galore, parks, what have you. I don't want to pick out the rest of this trip. She needs to speak up.
But I know what's going to happen. We'll leave the cities and then halfway home she'll say, "Oh, we should have gone to blah blah blah." And I know it will be something we've talked about in the past but she won't have said anything and I don't want to force things on her. I've learned that things I like aren't usually the things she likes and vice versa.
Tonight after she said what she said, I said, "Well, I've lived there for 7 years and... I've seen everything so you need to figure something out. Google the cities and see what you find."
In my head though, I was thinking, "I lived there for 7 years and you came up 3 times, maybe 4, and you never spoke up then until after we had left. And now that I live here, now there's this sudden interest to go to the cities but still without a clue of what to see."
Ugh. I'm tired of hand holding. Of course I probably did this in Cincinnati, but I was also looking at the clock thinking that we had very little time to do the aforementioned options and so they weren't my first choice at the time.
Anyway...I'm already frustrated and we haven't even left.
Maybe I just need sleep.
She called to see if she should bring her square dance stuff along and then we wouldn't have to rush back (because she'd have to go back home to get it and come back into town). I said fine, though her dance isn't until 8 and I'm sure we'll be home long before then.
I asked her 2 or 3 days ago to tell me what else she wanted to do in the cities so we could plan. She said, "I don't know." So tonight she says it again with the "well, you'll have to tell me what else we can do."
Hello. It's the cities - there's museums, shopping galore, parks, what have you. I don't want to pick out the rest of this trip. She needs to speak up.
But I know what's going to happen. We'll leave the cities and then halfway home she'll say, "Oh, we should have gone to blah blah blah." And I know it will be something we've talked about in the past but she won't have said anything and I don't want to force things on her. I've learned that things I like aren't usually the things she likes and vice versa.
Tonight after she said what she said, I said, "Well, I've lived there for 7 years and... I've seen everything so you need to figure something out. Google the cities and see what you find."
In my head though, I was thinking, "I lived there for 7 years and you came up 3 times, maybe 4, and you never spoke up then until after we had left. And now that I live here, now there's this sudden interest to go to the cities but still without a clue of what to see."
Ugh. I'm tired of hand holding. Of course I probably did this in Cincinnati, but I was also looking at the clock thinking that we had very little time to do the aforementioned options and so they weren't my first choice at the time.
Anyway...I'm already frustrated and we haven't even left.
Maybe I just need sleep.
Pie Day!
Today was Pie Day (and Chris N's b-day - Happy Birthday, honey!).
Pie Day was a special day created soley for the purpose of encouraging young Naomi to stop smoking. I hate smoking and I used to do it, a little - only a little - for one summer and usually only after a crappy night at work and we'd be drinking too...or I'd have clove cigarettes and they don't count. ;)
Anyway... Naomi is 19 I think, maybe only 18, and smokes because her ex-boyfriend got her started on it. My point exactly - her EX. But that's a whole other deal.
I found out about her condition when I was talking to AP and so I gave her my standard lecture about my dad and how he smoked until he was 13 and how he died at 58 and gave her the whole rundown of his illnesses.
Not to bore or depress you with all that, it worked. And she quit smoking for 2 weeks and then, sadly, went out with her high school friends and smoked again.
So the countdown went back to zero. We made a new deal that she had to go 4 weeks without smoking and I'd bake her a pie (originially it was only 3). So yesterday was D-day and she had to report in (not that I hadn't been bugging her daily all month) and with integrity on the line she said she had been good.
So last night I baked her a Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. All sorts of things went wrong with this. I was short 2 cups of rhubarb so I had to put in more strawberries. I ran out of flour so I had to run to the store, mid-crust kneading, to get more. The pie bubbled over so it didn't look very pretty and my first attempt at a lattice top was pretty horrendous.
I have pictures but stupid me forgot my camera at work. Tomorrow, I promise.
Naomi thought it was great and everyone said it tasted awesome. I broke my SB plan (on day 2, no less!) and had a piece. I have this thing about tasting what I bake because I need to know if it really was good or if people were lying when they say things like that. It was pretty good and the crust, which was a new recipe, was really good. I'm going to start using that one for my apple pies.
My only worry now is that Pie Day will get out around work and I'll be having all sorts of orders flooding in for supervisor's helping their people kick the ash, so to speak. Not a bad side business though and I do love to bake.
Next up: Pumpkin Pie!
Pie Day was a special day created soley for the purpose of encouraging young Naomi to stop smoking. I hate smoking and I used to do it, a little - only a little - for one summer and usually only after a crappy night at work and we'd be drinking too...or I'd have clove cigarettes and they don't count. ;)
Anyway... Naomi is 19 I think, maybe only 18, and smokes because her ex-boyfriend got her started on it. My point exactly - her EX. But that's a whole other deal.
I found out about her condition when I was talking to AP and so I gave her my standard lecture about my dad and how he smoked until he was 13 and how he died at 58 and gave her the whole rundown of his illnesses.
Not to bore or depress you with all that, it worked. And she quit smoking for 2 weeks and then, sadly, went out with her high school friends and smoked again.
So the countdown went back to zero. We made a new deal that she had to go 4 weeks without smoking and I'd bake her a pie (originially it was only 3). So yesterday was D-day and she had to report in (not that I hadn't been bugging her daily all month) and with integrity on the line she said she had been good.
So last night I baked her a Strawberry-Rhubarb pie. All sorts of things went wrong with this. I was short 2 cups of rhubarb so I had to put in more strawberries. I ran out of flour so I had to run to the store, mid-crust kneading, to get more. The pie bubbled over so it didn't look very pretty and my first attempt at a lattice top was pretty horrendous.
I have pictures but stupid me forgot my camera at work. Tomorrow, I promise.
Naomi thought it was great and everyone said it tasted awesome. I broke my SB plan (on day 2, no less!) and had a piece. I have this thing about tasting what I bake because I need to know if it really was good or if people were lying when they say things like that. It was pretty good and the crust, which was a new recipe, was really good. I'm going to start using that one for my apple pies.
My only worry now is that Pie Day will get out around work and I'll be having all sorts of orders flooding in for supervisor's helping their people kick the ash, so to speak. Not a bad side business though and I do love to bake.
Next up: Pumpkin Pie!
17 June 2008
Reunited and it feels so good
I just spent an hour on the phone with one of my friends from ages ago.
Jason and I met when I was in Turkey and we discovered a similar passion for chatting, graphics and photos. He actually visited me twice after that - once in the cities and once here when I was here for a work weekend. Both were super fun trips. Between the baseball game, fireworks, airshow, waterfalls and parks, it solidified our friendship.
The bad thing about this is that we have lived halfway across the world from each other. First he was in Nort Dakooodah (I didn't spell that wrong, trust me...that's how it's pronounced). Then he was in Hawaii. Now he's down south somewhere and, eventually, he wants to go overseas for awhile (he has five places he'd love to go).
Luckily we've had the internet, phone and my incredibly memory for his birthday which reconnects us each year. I'd send an email - "Happy Birthday, Jason!" and we'd end up chatting for a couple months until it fizzled out as so many of my relationships seem to these days.
Oh well. The fun thing is that our friendship survives this mess every year and it was so fun to catch up tonight.
Jason and I met when I was in Turkey and we discovered a similar passion for chatting, graphics and photos. He actually visited me twice after that - once in the cities and once here when I was here for a work weekend. Both were super fun trips. Between the baseball game, fireworks, airshow, waterfalls and parks, it solidified our friendship.
The bad thing about this is that we have lived halfway across the world from each other. First he was in Nort Dakooodah (I didn't spell that wrong, trust me...that's how it's pronounced). Then he was in Hawaii. Now he's down south somewhere and, eventually, he wants to go overseas for awhile (he has five places he'd love to go).
Luckily we've had the internet, phone and my incredibly memory for his birthday which reconnects us each year. I'd send an email - "Happy Birthday, Jason!" and we'd end up chatting for a couple months until it fizzled out as so many of my relationships seem to these days.
Oh well. The fun thing is that our friendship survives this mess every year and it was so fun to catch up tonight.
How much do you start at once?
Today proves that I'm a very idiotic woman.
Not only did I run this morning (only 2 miles, I was feeling sluggish - or just heavy and out of shape - take your pick) to start my morning workout regime, I also started back on South Beach and it's rag week. Could I pick a worse time to start everything?
Or maybe it could be the best time to start everything. Slam everything on myself at once and then I can't put it off another week.
Anyway, my run this morning was good, other than the out-of-shape-heavy feeling I had. It was absolutely beautiful this morning. How can a person not like a morning that smells of damp, fresh mown grass and the sounds of planes taking off? *sigh* It was lovely.
The only bad thing about working out anytime during the day when work follows is that I have a tendency to get hot when I run. It can be the middle of winter and my face will flush. It's just the nature of moe, I guess. The problem is it takes a while for the redness to go away even if I feel great and I've rinsed cold water on my face to cool it down. So inevitably I get these comments from co-workers like, "Wow, you look like you've had some sun this weekend," meaning I look like a lobster, or "Are you okay?" which is annoying because if I wasn't okay I'd look worse, or "Must have been a hot and hard workout" which is usually implied by some a-hole who's trying to be funny.
I just hate the comments. Yes, I get a red face when I run. Yes, people are always concerned for my health because of it. No, I'm not dying. NO, I don't need your help. If I do, I'll let you know.
I'm just not a pale-faced runner I guess. Maybe that will come in time.
16 June 2008
HOME!
Ahhhhh.... I'm finally home.
I got up this morning and headed to LS to see Edith, Victoria and anyone else I could run into. Lucky for me, I also got to see KR, John, PDub, PLull, PaulS, Alice, and Sean. Oh and Nick (whose name I forgot completely at the time).
Sadly, I went to Target for my Diet Coke with Splenda and there was none to be found. I'm a little worried now. Last Wednesday I had stopped at one on the start of my trip in the cities and there wasn't any then either. I hope to God they didn't stop stocking it. I'll have to drive to Wisconsin for my fix and I'm not sure I have enough gas money for that. For sure I'll have to stock up when I go back for Nika's baptism. Hopefully my car will hold enough to tide me over for awhile.
So I was going to tally up all the hours in my car. Let's try this:
Wednesday: 4 to the cities, 10 to our first stop
Thursday: 4 to Cleveland, plus an hour in town
Friday: 4 to Cincinnati
Saturday: 1 in town
Sunday: 13.5 back to the cities
Monday: 1 in town, 4 back home
So what does that come to? 42.5 hours. Wow. That's a work week. Uffda.
The trip was awesome though. I loved every minute - riding in the car and make obscene stories out of Yes & No books; yelling at Garmin; speaking in a British accent or Polish or Jewish or Bolgarian (at one point); the game; the opera; Frank; the food; and the boys.
Oh the boys. I do miss them already. Sometimes I can't believe that I know them but I do and I'm so blessed. I wish I could see them more often.
So now, I'm catching up on blogs and doing laundry for tomorrow begins another workweek. Should be good.
I got up this morning and headed to LS to see Edith, Victoria and anyone else I could run into. Lucky for me, I also got to see KR, John, PDub, PLull, PaulS, Alice, and Sean. Oh and Nick (whose name I forgot completely at the time).
Sadly, I went to Target for my Diet Coke with Splenda and there was none to be found. I'm a little worried now. Last Wednesday I had stopped at one on the start of my trip in the cities and there wasn't any then either. I hope to God they didn't stop stocking it. I'll have to drive to Wisconsin for my fix and I'm not sure I have enough gas money for that. For sure I'll have to stock up when I go back for Nika's baptism. Hopefully my car will hold enough to tide me over for awhile.
So I was going to tally up all the hours in my car. Let's try this:
Wednesday: 4 to the cities, 10 to our first stop
Thursday: 4 to Cleveland, plus an hour in town
Friday: 4 to Cincinnati
Saturday: 1 in town
Sunday: 13.5 back to the cities
Monday: 1 in town, 4 back home
So what does that come to? 42.5 hours. Wow. That's a work week. Uffda.
The trip was awesome though. I loved every minute - riding in the car and make obscene stories out of Yes & No books; yelling at Garmin; speaking in a British accent or Polish or Jewish or Bolgarian (at one point); the game; the opera; Frank; the food; and the boys.
Oh the boys. I do miss them already. Sometimes I can't believe that I know them but I do and I'm so blessed. I wish I could see them more often.
So now, I'm catching up on blogs and doing laundry for tomorrow begins another workweek. Should be good.
15 June 2008
Heading home
Psst...I'm writing this long hand and will transpose it later (like right now, Monday) since I don't have internet this weekend.
So we headed home today. Debbie and I got up and got our stuff packed up and then had coffee with Thom and Evans one last time. We read from the Joys of Yiddish, just for fun, and talked a little about our expected route and timing and such.
After hugs and kisses, we headed on our way. I was so sad when we left, I really just wanted to cry, but I held back. I really want to go back, maybe for La traviata later this summer, but we'll see.
The trip back was uneventful. Of course Garmin kept telling us to "Keep Left" in Chicago, which after two hours of keeping left we finally made it through the city. We both had to pee so bad we were scared to get out of the car for fear of an incident. But luckily all was well and once we got through that we were on our way again.
We had a little scare when we hit Wisconsin because some roads were being closed due to all the rain. Lord, all the rain is really insane. It was so close to the road it was scary. The sad thing is that in about a month or so we'll be wishing for the rain and then it'll be just dry and hot.
We did have a moment of excitement when Debbie's car hit 20,000 miles. I took a picture (of course, I'd get a picture of that but not of me in a dress) but I'll have to upload that later.
I'm tired again, so I'm going to go to bed because tomorrow I have to drive 4 more hours. I should figure out how many hours I actually spent in a car for this trip. It will be pretty insane, I bet.
So we headed home today. Debbie and I got up and got our stuff packed up and then had coffee with Thom and Evans one last time. We read from the Joys of Yiddish, just for fun, and talked a little about our expected route and timing and such.
After hugs and kisses, we headed on our way. I was so sad when we left, I really just wanted to cry, but I held back. I really want to go back, maybe for La traviata later this summer, but we'll see.
The trip back was uneventful. Of course Garmin kept telling us to "Keep Left" in Chicago, which after two hours of keeping left we finally made it through the city. We both had to pee so bad we were scared to get out of the car for fear of an incident. But luckily all was well and once we got through that we were on our way again.
We had a little scare when we hit Wisconsin because some roads were being closed due to all the rain. Lord, all the rain is really insane. It was so close to the road it was scary. The sad thing is that in about a month or so we'll be wishing for the rain and then it'll be just dry and hot.
We did have a moment of excitement when Debbie's car hit 20,000 miles. I took a picture (of course, I'd get a picture of that but not of me in a dress) but I'll have to upload that later.
I'm tired again, so I'm going to go to bed because tomorrow I have to drive 4 more hours. I should figure out how many hours I actually spent in a car for this trip. It will be pretty insane, I bet.
14 June 2008
Day 4 - a down day of sorts
Again... Psst...I'm writing this long hand and will transpose it later (like right now, Monday) since I don't have internet this weekend. Sorry.
Debbie and I slept until noon today. Not a good thing. We didn't get to bed last night until after 2. I wrote my post quick when I went to the loft to "pee", just so I was legal for the day, but the party didn't actually end until Evans! sent everyone home at 1:30 since they all had a big brunch thing today or something.
So we slept late, which is very unusual for me, even if I do stay out late. We took our time getting ready, went back to TJ Maxx to return the shoes Debbie bought but didn't wear, and then went to the mall. Thom and Evans were out and running some errands they needed to finish. We found The Book of General Ignorance and loved it so I bought it. There are some truly interesting items there. I encourage anyone to read it. It's quite fun.
When we got back Evans took us to Graeter's for some ice cream. Thom went for a run and then met up with us there. He decided he wanted to run back and Evans had left for a meeting so Debbie and I had a little adventure travel to find our way back. Luckily, I'm map aware, so we made it back without too much of an incident.
We had dinner at the Oceanaire which had just opened a couple weeks ago. Debbie's dad is a regular at the one in the Cities so we had a gift card to use. The food was incredible. The service was awesome. I had the best fish I have ever had...it was so delicious. I wish I could afford to eat there all the time. That and that there would be one in my town, but that's unlikely.
After that we went back to the loft to wait for T&E to get home from their dinner. There was another opera event that night that Evans had to go to, so I went with him while Thom and Debbie stayed home and had some time to themselves. I was really happy to have some alone time with Evans. Because his job is so demanding and has a lot of travel, I don't get to see him near enough. We had a great talk to and from the event. And I got to see Nate and Jared again. It was just great.
So now I'm going to go to bed again. It was a great night but tomorrow we have to head home. I'm kind of sad now. I don't really want to leave.
Debbie and I slept until noon today. Not a good thing. We didn't get to bed last night until after 2. I wrote my post quick when I went to the loft to "pee", just so I was legal for the day, but the party didn't actually end until Evans! sent everyone home at 1:30 since they all had a big brunch thing today or something.
So we slept late, which is very unusual for me, even if I do stay out late. We took our time getting ready, went back to TJ Maxx to return the shoes Debbie bought but didn't wear, and then went to the mall. Thom and Evans were out and running some errands they needed to finish. We found The Book of General Ignorance and loved it so I bought it. There are some truly interesting items there. I encourage anyone to read it. It's quite fun.
When we got back Evans took us to Graeter's for some ice cream. Thom went for a run and then met up with us there. He decided he wanted to run back and Evans had left for a meeting so Debbie and I had a little adventure travel to find our way back. Luckily, I'm map aware, so we made it back without too much of an incident.
We had dinner at the Oceanaire which had just opened a couple weeks ago. Debbie's dad is a regular at the one in the Cities so we had a gift card to use. The food was incredible. The service was awesome. I had the best fish I have ever had...it was so delicious. I wish I could afford to eat there all the time. That and that there would be one in my town, but that's unlikely.
After that we went back to the loft to wait for T&E to get home from their dinner. There was another opera event that night that Evans had to go to, so I went with him while Thom and Debbie stayed home and had some time to themselves. I was really happy to have some alone time with Evans. Because his job is so demanding and has a lot of travel, I don't get to see him near enough. We had a great talk to and from the event. And I got to see Nate and Jared again. It was just great.
So now I'm going to go to bed again. It was a great night but tomorrow we have to head home. I'm kind of sad now. I don't really want to leave.
13 June 2008
Day 3
Friday the 13th. Uffda. Psst...I'm writing this long hand and will transpose it later (like right now, Monday) since I don't have internet this weekend. Maybe that's my Friday the 13th problem. That could be it. Anyway...
Normally this day would probably freak the hell out of me, but today was awesome. After a great night last night - with the Indians kicking some serious Twins ass - Debbie and I headed to Cincinnati.
This was the exciting and a little nerve-wracking part of the trip for me. I had to wear a dress. Ugh. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. We had a great trip down, enjoying the "scenery" and talking about the game and the upcoming opera.
We got to Cincinnati and after a bit of torrential downpours and phone navigation via Thom, we picked him up at his favorite coffee joint and headed to his loft. We were so excited to connect! It was great. I hadn't seen Thom since April, I think, so it was great to catch up.
I needed a wrap or something for the night so while Thom took a nap to rest up, Debbie and I headed to TJ Maxx. This is so weird for me since this is twice in the past week I've been there which is twice more than I've been there in the last decade. Granted, my dress was hot, but it was a cooler evening so I needed something (plus I had forgotten my coat at home).
So we actually did find a wrap, a hair straightener/flat iron thinger (to ease out my waves from my constant ponytails), and a coin purse which was big enough to hold my ID and fit into my sparkly handbag I was using tonight. It was a successful trip, and we hurried back to the loft to change.
Sadly, we were kind of in a hurry so I didn't get any pictures of me in the dress so sadly you'll have to use your imagination. Evans! had to be there early, being important and all, so once we changed we headed out.
The opera, Madame Butterfly, was incredible! I loved every moment. What an amazing performance. There were some questions about the set being so sparse and the ending changed slightly so Butterfly saw Pinkerton right before she ended it all, but I really thought it had a tremendous impact.
After the opera we raced back to the flat and I put on jeans and a black top for the after-party for the main cast. We got to meet Frank (Pinkerton) who was incredibly funny, and Nate, Jared, Stephen, and others. It was so much fun.
I can only hope that I can run into these folks again sometime. For now, sleep....
Normally this day would probably freak the hell out of me, but today was awesome. After a great night last night - with the Indians kicking some serious Twins ass - Debbie and I headed to Cincinnati.
This was the exciting and a little nerve-wracking part of the trip for me. I had to wear a dress. Ugh. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself. We had a great trip down, enjoying the "scenery" and talking about the game and the upcoming opera.
We got to Cincinnati and after a bit of torrential downpours and phone navigation via Thom, we picked him up at his favorite coffee joint and headed to his loft. We were so excited to connect! It was great. I hadn't seen Thom since April, I think, so it was great to catch up.
I needed a wrap or something for the night so while Thom took a nap to rest up, Debbie and I headed to TJ Maxx. This is so weird for me since this is twice in the past week I've been there which is twice more than I've been there in the last decade. Granted, my dress was hot, but it was a cooler evening so I needed something (plus I had forgotten my coat at home).
So we actually did find a wrap, a hair straightener/flat iron thinger (to ease out my waves from my constant ponytails), and a coin purse which was big enough to hold my ID and fit into my sparkly handbag I was using tonight. It was a successful trip, and we hurried back to the loft to change.
Sadly, we were kind of in a hurry so I didn't get any pictures of me in the dress so sadly you'll have to use your imagination. Evans! had to be there early, being important and all, so once we changed we headed out.
The opera, Madame Butterfly, was incredible! I loved every moment. What an amazing performance. There were some questions about the set being so sparse and the ending changed slightly so Butterfly saw Pinkerton right before she ended it all, but I really thought it had a tremendous impact.
After the opera we raced back to the flat and I put on jeans and a black top for the after-party for the main cast. We got to meet Frank (Pinkerton) who was incredibly funny, and Nate, Jared, Stephen, and others. It was so much fun.
I can only hope that I can run into these folks again sometime. For now, sleep....
12 June 2008
Days one and two
Ah, traveling.
Yesterday, Debbie and I set off on our journey. We traveled through 5 states yesterday (well, I did...Debbie only had 4). We should have popped up to Canada to make this whole thing international. Oh well.
On our way we ran into some great weather - lots of rain, sheets of it, in fact. We saw where the major flooding is occurring in Wisconsin, in places where it was even a few feet from the interstate. Not good.
We're trying to figure out a way to siphon all this water and transfer it to California for the fires but we're not sure our whole suck and blow routine will really work. So instead, here's a picture of a pumpkin.
Sadly, that pumpkin was probably the highlight of day one. Basically it was just driving. We did see Chicago but it was dark. I do believe it's still there though. At least Garmin, aka Impy, said so multiple times as she recalculated our journey. The bitch.
Today, more driving. We stopped in Sandusky, Ohio, for lunch, which was quite a joy and I called all my Tommy Boy friends to boast that I was there.
Then we made it to our first and greatest destination. SEE?
Debbie's questioning my "first and greatest" comment. "Primary destination" is probably more accurate. Yes, we made it to Cleveland and saw Progressive Field (formerly known as The Jake) right as we headed into downtown. I contained my excitement but snapped several pictures as we navigated to our hotel.
After seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we headed to the field for the Indians vs. Twins game. We had pretty rockin' seats and I was super excited to feel right at home with my fellow Indians fans. For once my judgment wasn't questioned as to the reasoning behind my support for the Indians. However, and perhaps sadly for Debbie, her judgment was questioned since she wore her Twins jersey there. She took the ribbing in stride though even as the...
The INDIANS WON! 12-2. Wow. What an incredible game. I was truly excited. I only wish we would have made this a three-game series instead just one. Apparently the Indians fireworks display on Friday's is awesome. Plus it's 70s weekend and I even brought my blue John Lennon sunglasses. And we're gonna miss it...That damn Madame Butterfly. Oh well...just another reason to come back.
Tomorrow it's on to Cincinnati. Woohoo! I'll be wearing a dress for the first time since Sarah and Eric's wedding...last August. Debbie is commenting that she's never seen me in a dress, unless you count a choir robe which doesn't really count since I had pants on underneath. And I was freaking out earlier about what to wear to the Madame and settled on this dress even though Evans! said I could wear a pantsuit.
Should be interesting.
Yesterday, Debbie and I set off on our journey. We traveled through 5 states yesterday (well, I did...Debbie only had 4). We should have popped up to Canada to make this whole thing international. Oh well.
On our way we ran into some great weather - lots of rain, sheets of it, in fact. We saw where the major flooding is occurring in Wisconsin, in places where it was even a few feet from the interstate. Not good.
We're trying to figure out a way to siphon all this water and transfer it to California for the fires but we're not sure our whole suck and blow routine will really work. So instead, here's a picture of a pumpkin.
Sadly, that pumpkin was probably the highlight of day one. Basically it was just driving. We did see Chicago but it was dark. I do believe it's still there though. At least Garmin, aka Impy, said so multiple times as she recalculated our journey. The bitch.Today, more driving. We stopped in Sandusky, Ohio, for lunch, which was quite a joy and I called all my Tommy Boy friends to boast that I was there.
Then we made it to our first and greatest destination. SEE?
Debbie's questioning my "first and greatest" comment. "Primary destination" is probably more accurate. Yes, we made it to Cleveland and saw Progressive Field (formerly known as The Jake) right as we headed into downtown. I contained my excitement but snapped several pictures as we navigated to our hotel.
After seeing the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we headed to the field for the Indians vs. Twins game. We had pretty rockin' seats and I was super excited to feel right at home with my fellow Indians fans. For once my judgment wasn't questioned as to the reasoning behind my support for the Indians. However, and perhaps sadly for Debbie, her judgment was questioned since she wore her Twins jersey there. She took the ribbing in stride though even as the...
The INDIANS WON! 12-2. Wow. What an incredible game. I was truly excited. I only wish we would have made this a three-game series instead just one. Apparently the Indians fireworks display on Friday's is awesome. Plus it's 70s weekend and I even brought my blue John Lennon sunglasses. And we're gonna miss it...That damn Madame Butterfly. Oh well...just another reason to come back.Tomorrow it's on to Cincinnati. Woohoo! I'll be wearing a dress for the first time since Sarah and Eric's wedding...last August. Debbie is commenting that she's never seen me in a dress, unless you count a choir robe which doesn't really count since I had pants on underneath. And I was freaking out earlier about what to wear to the Madame and settled on this dress even though Evans! said I could wear a pantsuit.
Should be interesting.
11 June 2008
A quickie
Good morning, all! I'm not sure what my internet status will be like the next couple days so I thought I'd just say hi.
By the way, I hate packing for a trip. I never know just what to bring. I think I have everything I'll need. Luckily I'm traveling within this free land so I can probably find a place to help me if I forgot something, but still...I hate packing.
One quick personal note: Kat - let's totally work together but I can't start until Monday. The next few days will be filled with baseball and traveling which does not bode well for our project.
To the rest. Have a great day! I hope it's awesome!
By the way, I hate packing for a trip. I never know just what to bring. I think I have everything I'll need. Luckily I'm traveling within this free land so I can probably find a place to help me if I forgot something, but still...I hate packing.
One quick personal note: Kat - let's totally work together but I can't start until Monday. The next few days will be filled with baseball and traveling which does not bode well for our project.
To the rest. Have a great day! I hope it's awesome!
10 June 2008
Anyone for Pudding?
Have I ever written about Fluid Pudding? If I haven't, that I have truly failed in my Internet endeavors.
Fluid Pudding is written by Angela. At one point she shut down her blog which made me incredibly sad. So sad, I quit my job and moved back home for another job (which turned out to be a great change, but that's not the point of this story). For months I didn't have a computer of my own but when I finally did acquire my present laptop the first place I looked (after email, of course) was Fluid Pudding...just for kicks.
I really didn't expect such a surprise that Angela was back. This woman is awesome, people. Not only are her two girls freakishly adorable, Angela can knit like no other. Did you see this shawl?
It's because of that shawl, and the minor fact that I totally cannot afford the awesomeness of Angela's knitting talents, that I decided to support her and donate so I could get a tiny sock.
I'm grinning from ear to ear right now. I'm going to get a tiny sock! YAY!
And, hey, go get yourself some Pudding. It's good for your health. Four out of five doctors agree and the fifth hasn't read her yet.
Fluid Pudding is written by Angela. At one point she shut down her blog which made me incredibly sad. So sad, I quit my job and moved back home for another job (which turned out to be a great change, but that's not the point of this story). For months I didn't have a computer of my own but when I finally did acquire my present laptop the first place I looked (after email, of course) was Fluid Pudding...just for kicks.
I really didn't expect such a surprise that Angela was back. This woman is awesome, people. Not only are her two girls freakishly adorable, Angela can knit like no other. Did you see this shawl?
It's because of that shawl, and the minor fact that I totally cannot afford the awesomeness of Angela's knitting talents, that I decided to support her and donate so I could get a tiny sock.
I'm grinning from ear to ear right now. I'm going to get a tiny sock! YAY!
And, hey, go get yourself some Pudding. It's good for your health. Four out of five doctors agree and the fifth hasn't read her yet.
Crazy day
Today was insane. I woke up in the middle of the night with a solution to my dress problem. I remembered that a very long time ago I bought a negligee thing for a night out with my then boyfriend. Well, it actually can double as a slip quite nicely, surprisingly. I tried it out this morning and I think it will work well.So Yay! That problem is solved. I didn't get my run in this morning, though I really wish I could have. I did run at noon but it was humid and I had forgotten my short sleeve shirt at home and had to wear my bright yellow Brooks longsleeve, as shown here.
I passed Gil on the road and he said, "Nice shirt. I could see you a mile back." Joey and Wayne saw me and Joey said, "Hello, sunbeam." Yeah, yeah. Sorry boys for burning the retinas of your eyes. At least you won't run me over.
The rest of the day was just busy. I was running everywhere trying to finalize things, because... I'm on vacation again! WOOHOO!
Tomorrow starts my second vacation in two weeks. I so need this. And I'm really excited for this trip. I'll write more of it on the road.
Remember this woman? Well after my last trip one of my cool co-workers told me that after I had left she stood in front of my door, glaring at my board which said that I was out for my vacation. She told the girl who was helping her that week that she was upset because I hadn't told her I was going to be gone because she was my back up.
So today when I left my cool co-worker said he'd keep an eye out on my stuff because she'll probably be mad again. She's not my back up and I really wish she'd get over that.
But now, I need to finish packing and get ready for my awesome trip and put all this crap out of my mind.
09 June 2008
Another one
Talk about another surreal moment. I went shopping today...for a dress.
Yep. A dress. Those who know me know that this is very strange for me, despite the fact that this is something I do want to work towards in my life.
I ended up buying 3 but I'll probably return two of them - one because it doesn't have sleeves and I really don't like my arms, and the other because it isn't quite right, but it's close.
The one I'm going to keep is a little black dress, something every girl should have according to Cosmo and Glamour, with short sleeves. I like this one. For one it's labeled as a large junior dress which was a lot nicer to try on than the woman sizes I usually do. Plus it seems to lie nicely.
The only bad thing I discovered tonight is that it's a little see through which may require a slip. UGH. I hate slips. These should totally be outlawed and material that requires it should also be outlawed. I really like this dress (I bought shoes too) so now I'm not sure if I should go with one of the other options or suck it up.
I bought this for the opera this weekend. I want to look good for this and I'm worried I'm not going to pull it off...especially if you can see through it. hmmm...a dilemma.
Yep. A dress. Those who know me know that this is very strange for me, despite the fact that this is something I do want to work towards in my life.
I ended up buying 3 but I'll probably return two of them - one because it doesn't have sleeves and I really don't like my arms, and the other because it isn't quite right, but it's close.
The one I'm going to keep is a little black dress, something every girl should have according to Cosmo and Glamour, with short sleeves. I like this one. For one it's labeled as a large junior dress which was a lot nicer to try on than the woman sizes I usually do. Plus it seems to lie nicely.
The only bad thing I discovered tonight is that it's a little see through which may require a slip. UGH. I hate slips. These should totally be outlawed and material that requires it should also be outlawed. I really like this dress (I bought shoes too) so now I'm not sure if I should go with one of the other options or suck it up.
I bought this for the opera this weekend. I want to look good for this and I'm worried I'm not going to pull it off...especially if you can see through it. hmmm...a dilemma.
08 June 2008
Surreal moment
Today was another good day - lots of meetings, lots of work, I was a wuss and let the late guy still turn in his work request (which I'm still kicking myself for) - and by 2:30 I was wiped out.
So I came home and decided to take a quick nap. Mom was supposed to come over later and change for her square dance thing so I needed to pick up a little before she did, but man...I was exhausted.
About 90 minutes into my nap I suddenly woke up to weird bells. My phone was dinging, which turned out to be a text message from Debbie. She had sent me directions to her house so I could get there for our trip this week.
This totally freaked me out. First I was woken up suddenly so I wasn't really awake. You know the feeling. And then what freaked me out was that before I had fallen asleep I was going through my list of things to do and top of the list was to email or call Debbie for this very information. So when she sent it on her own I tried to figure out what triggered this - did I text her in my sleep? Did I call her? I know I didn't email her, so how did this happen?
In my still slumbered state I kept clicking through my text messages trying to see if I sent her anything. Nothing. Then I clicked through my phone calls and nothing. Wow.
So in my still confused, slumbered state I dragged my sorry ass out of bed and proceeded to clean my house. I didn't need that surreal of a moment to wake me up but eventually it worked.
I picked up my house a bit, but I still have a lot of work to do. Good thing I have tomorrow off. I have a ton of errands to do.
Oh and I'm still watching Bones, but now I'm on season two which has one of my favorite lines (from Cam):
"There's a loop, people, and I'm in it. Not only am I in it, I'm the big curvy part."
So I came home and decided to take a quick nap. Mom was supposed to come over later and change for her square dance thing so I needed to pick up a little before she did, but man...I was exhausted.
About 90 minutes into my nap I suddenly woke up to weird bells. My phone was dinging, which turned out to be a text message from Debbie. She had sent me directions to her house so I could get there for our trip this week.
This totally freaked me out. First I was woken up suddenly so I wasn't really awake. You know the feeling. And then what freaked me out was that before I had fallen asleep I was going through my list of things to do and top of the list was to email or call Debbie for this very information. So when she sent it on her own I tried to figure out what triggered this - did I text her in my sleep? Did I call her? I know I didn't email her, so how did this happen?
In my still slumbered state I kept clicking through my text messages trying to see if I sent her anything. Nothing. Then I clicked through my phone calls and nothing. Wow.
So in my still confused, slumbered state I dragged my sorry ass out of bed and proceeded to clean my house. I didn't need that surreal of a moment to wake me up but eventually it worked.
I picked up my house a bit, but I still have a lot of work to do. Good thing I have tomorrow off. I have a ton of errands to do.
Oh and I'm still watching Bones, but now I'm on season two which has one of my favorite lines (from Cam):
"There's a loop, people, and I'm in it. Not only am I in it, I'm the big curvy part."
07 June 2008
What a day!
First, I'm home again tonight... *sigh*. I love getting to be home and chill. I had Totino's pizza for supper (which my friends call "white trash pizza" - no offense meant). My friends and I used to eat this with chocolate milk, carrot sticks and chocolate chip cookie dough for dessert. Yum! But tonight I just had the pizza, chips and ice cream. Oh and DC and Captain.
That's a little disturbing that I've had rum and coke the last two nights. I don't normally drink so I'm not sure why I've been having this lately. weird.
Today was an awesome day. Super ass busy, but really good. Our morning meeting went well. I laid down the law that requests for work trips through September had to be in to me by the end of the day today or their set aside days would be turned in tomorrow AM. I had everyone on my list who needed to do this turn something in to me except one.
So now I have to be a hardass on him tomorrow, especially if he comes in with the request form. I asked both Boss1 and Boss5 if I should be a hard ass, if I could be a hard ass. Boss1 said it's up to me. Boss5 told me that if I waffle for one then I'm going to have to waffle for everyone, which doesn't set a very good example.
What I really wanted, and I guess what I should have asked instead, was to know if they would back me up if TH comes in tomorrow with the work request form when the deadline was the end of the day today. Neither really gave me that so I'm going to have to talk with Boss5 again tomorrow since Boss1 is out on his own work trip for awhile.
Anyway...Today I got to help in our Dining Hall. The folks there were short this weekend so I got to help serve. I had a blast. For three hours I two-fisted ladles - one with gravy, the other with peascarrots. The crew got a kick out of me because if those coming through the line refused peascarrots I'd say, "Then get a salad! You need your vegetables!" People looked at me as if I was insane (which let's face it, I probably am a little).
I also freaked a lot of people out by calling them by name as they came through. That shocked them because, as one person said, they don't look at the servers. Hello! These people are feeding you! LOOK AT THEM! They don't have cooties. (I hope not, they do make our food.)
The other thing that amazed me is how many people I really do know at our business. crazy. One of the crew I was helping was getting confused because guys were coming through the line from different sections and I knew them all. He kept asking if I worked for them. "Uh, no. I work for Boss1." Oh. Of course, then Boss1 came through the line and the guy said, "What does he work across the street?" Uh, no - HE'S Boss1. OHhhhhh.... The light finally dawned.
Which also made me realize that Boss1 and I need to get out and about more often. When people in our own building don't know him, that's not a good thing.
I didn't get my run in this morning but the rest of the day was great. Meeting, meeting, meeting. Tonight I wanted to go to Moonlight Movies at a nearby park. They're showing my favorite, "The Goonies", but with having to work tomorrow morning early I just can't do it. I wouldn't get home until 11 and I have to be at work early. So I guess I'll have to wait for that until another Saturday.
So now I'm watching Bones. I bought the first 2 seasons on DVD so I'm going back through my favorites. I love this show. And I love my job.
Life is great.
That's a little disturbing that I've had rum and coke the last two nights. I don't normally drink so I'm not sure why I've been having this lately. weird.
Today was an awesome day. Super ass busy, but really good. Our morning meeting went well. I laid down the law that requests for work trips through September had to be in to me by the end of the day today or their set aside days would be turned in tomorrow AM. I had everyone on my list who needed to do this turn something in to me except one.
So now I have to be a hardass on him tomorrow, especially if he comes in with the request form. I asked both Boss1 and Boss5 if I should be a hard ass, if I could be a hard ass. Boss1 said it's up to me. Boss5 told me that if I waffle for one then I'm going to have to waffle for everyone, which doesn't set a very good example.
What I really wanted, and I guess what I should have asked instead, was to know if they would back me up if TH comes in tomorrow with the work request form when the deadline was the end of the day today. Neither really gave me that so I'm going to have to talk with Boss5 again tomorrow since Boss1 is out on his own work trip for awhile.
Anyway...Today I got to help in our Dining Hall. The folks there were short this weekend so I got to help serve. I had a blast. For three hours I two-fisted ladles - one with gravy, the other with peascarrots. The crew got a kick out of me because if those coming through the line refused peascarrots I'd say, "Then get a salad! You need your vegetables!" People looked at me as if I was insane (which let's face it, I probably am a little).
I also freaked a lot of people out by calling them by name as they came through. That shocked them because, as one person said, they don't look at the servers. Hello! These people are feeding you! LOOK AT THEM! They don't have cooties. (I hope not, they do make our food.)
The other thing that amazed me is how many people I really do know at our business. crazy. One of the crew I was helping was getting confused because guys were coming through the line from different sections and I knew them all. He kept asking if I worked for them. "Uh, no. I work for Boss1." Oh. Of course, then Boss1 came through the line and the guy said, "What does he work across the street?" Uh, no - HE'S Boss1. OHhhhhh.... The light finally dawned.
Which also made me realize that Boss1 and I need to get out and about more often. When people in our own building don't know him, that's not a good thing.
I didn't get my run in this morning but the rest of the day was great. Meeting, meeting, meeting. Tonight I wanted to go to Moonlight Movies at a nearby park. They're showing my favorite, "The Goonies", but with having to work tomorrow morning early I just can't do it. I wouldn't get home until 11 and I have to be at work early. So I guess I'll have to wait for that until another Saturday.
So now I'm watching Bones. I bought the first 2 seasons on DVD so I'm going back through my favorites. I love this show. And I love my job.
Life is great.
06 June 2008
It's becoming right again
Tonight I've spent the evening at home, entirely alone, just as my life usually is.
It's night like this that help me 'right' myself again. Working a little later than required, driving home and eating eggs and popcorn for supper, then watching my favorite shows while just relaxing on my couch, surfing the net and knitting.
This is a good night. I'm finally feeling right again. The pain in my shoulder and chest is a lot less than it has been which is good. I finally got to spend a night at home where I wasn't really needing to worry about anything else.
People are always surprised when they find out I'm an introvert. I'm fairly outgoing when I need to be but for me to restart I have to spend some time alone. This doesn't bode well for any future relationships but for now it works for me.
Since my vacation I have been going, going, going. It's been crazy busy. My first night back I crashed. The next I went to my nephew's ballgame. The next I was doing laundry. The next, another ball game. The next I drove to the cities. The next I drove back. The next another ballgame. Then I had two nights off, but I wasn't feeling well and didn't sleep well. Then my niece had a recital. And now, finally, I'm back to normal.
I don't feel guilty for skipping the ball game tonight, despite the fact that the weather has finally cleared up and it's perfect for a game. I needed this night off. A night to regroup and regenerate.
Tomorrow is a work weekend. It was supposed to be an easy one, but somehow along the weeks it's become one of my busiest. I get to be a bitch during our morning meeting. People have been avoiding me telling me when they are going to do their various trainings and I have to track it all. Well, Saturday is their deadline to turn everything in or they lose their training. HA! I've been bugging them since January so I don't feel too bad.
I'm thinking of going running in the morning before I head into work. Hopefully I can make that work. Then I'll be back on track for running every other day (or at least close to it).
Wow...this is kind of a rambling post. Sorry about this. Too many things on my brain and I'm relaxed maybe a bit too much to be coherent.
Last night my niece had her first piano recital. She did great! I was really excited for her (and because she's starting her musical journey for life). I really like that she's interested in piano. And she's really good for just starting out. I'm really proud of her.
The bad thing was that her brother has his birthday next week which I'm going to miss. Part of his birthday present was the Yankees game earlier this week. Well, while we were talking a few weeks ago I realized he has never read my favorite book series, The Great Brain, so I bought him the first one and told him that if he liked it to let me know and I'd get him the rest.
My sister got a mad because I gave it to him last night before the recital. Before we left for the night she said that my niece has been having a few breakdowns lately because "everything is about him" and never about her. So giving him a book last night on "her" night was probably not a great idea.
So I emailed my sister today. I've been thinking about this for awhile but I finally got it down on paper, so to speak, that I want my niece to come stay with me again and told my sis the best weekend to do so. Hopefully she'll take me up on it and then my niece and I can have our day like we did around Christmas.
Okay...that's enough rambling for today. Hopefully I'll be more coherent tomorrow.
It's night like this that help me 'right' myself again. Working a little later than required, driving home and eating eggs and popcorn for supper, then watching my favorite shows while just relaxing on my couch, surfing the net and knitting.
This is a good night. I'm finally feeling right again. The pain in my shoulder and chest is a lot less than it has been which is good. I finally got to spend a night at home where I wasn't really needing to worry about anything else.
People are always surprised when they find out I'm an introvert. I'm fairly outgoing when I need to be but for me to restart I have to spend some time alone. This doesn't bode well for any future relationships but for now it works for me.
Since my vacation I have been going, going, going. It's been crazy busy. My first night back I crashed. The next I went to my nephew's ballgame. The next I was doing laundry. The next, another ball game. The next I drove to the cities. The next I drove back. The next another ballgame. Then I had two nights off, but I wasn't feeling well and didn't sleep well. Then my niece had a recital. And now, finally, I'm back to normal.
I don't feel guilty for skipping the ball game tonight, despite the fact that the weather has finally cleared up and it's perfect for a game. I needed this night off. A night to regroup and regenerate.
Tomorrow is a work weekend. It was supposed to be an easy one, but somehow along the weeks it's become one of my busiest. I get to be a bitch during our morning meeting. People have been avoiding me telling me when they are going to do their various trainings and I have to track it all. Well, Saturday is their deadline to turn everything in or they lose their training. HA! I've been bugging them since January so I don't feel too bad.
I'm thinking of going running in the morning before I head into work. Hopefully I can make that work. Then I'll be back on track for running every other day (or at least close to it).
Wow...this is kind of a rambling post. Sorry about this. Too many things on my brain and I'm relaxed maybe a bit too much to be coherent.
Last night my niece had her first piano recital. She did great! I was really excited for her (and because she's starting her musical journey for life). I really like that she's interested in piano. And she's really good for just starting out. I'm really proud of her.
The bad thing was that her brother has his birthday next week which I'm going to miss. Part of his birthday present was the Yankees game earlier this week. Well, while we were talking a few weeks ago I realized he has never read my favorite book series, The Great Brain, so I bought him the first one and told him that if he liked it to let me know and I'd get him the rest.
My sister got a mad because I gave it to him last night before the recital. Before we left for the night she said that my niece has been having a few breakdowns lately because "everything is about him" and never about her. So giving him a book last night on "her" night was probably not a great idea.
So I emailed my sister today. I've been thinking about this for awhile but I finally got it down on paper, so to speak, that I want my niece to come stay with me again and told my sis the best weekend to do so. Hopefully she'll take me up on it and then my niece and I can have our day like we did around Christmas.
Okay...that's enough rambling for today. Hopefully I'll be more coherent tomorrow.
05 June 2008
It's good to be back.
Hello, darlin'. Nice to see ya.
It's been a long time.
You're just as lovely as you used to be.
It's been a long time.
You're just as lovely as you used to be.
Okay...that's enough Conway Twitty for one month. Yes, ladies and gents, I drug my poor neglected Brooks out this morning and went for a run. Actually I was supposed to do TaeBo with some of the ladies from my work building but when I walked in they were doing the Advanced tape, which I hate. If I'm going to sweat in the morning, I want it to be a good sweat, one that leaves me refreshed and ready to tackle the day; not one that's going to make me wish I had stayed home and curled up in bed (which the Advanced tape usually makes me feel). Plus the pains haven't disappeared yet so I decided to just go for a run.I've been meaning to do this for a long time anyway, run in the morning that is. Deaner usually runs 6 each morning (during our awful winters too - he's insane) and I've been threatening to join him (I haven't quite hit the insanity level...but I'm close). So I did this morning and it was great. It was quiet, cool, only 3 of us out there (Deaner, Stanley and me) and the run felt good. Well...it felt as good as a run can feel when you haven't run in 17 days. I did 2.5 miles which was plenty and I ran slow. I need to do this more. Not only because it's good for me but also because I have that damn marathon awaiting me in October.
Okay, sorry, it's not a damn marathon. My former running buddy used to make fun of me for calling it that and questioned if I ever really wanted to run it.
Truth? It's one of those things you dread up until the moment you finish. Then it's such an incredible feeling to know what you've accomplished and that, even with all the support people cheering you on, it's really something only you could have completed alone. I loved that feeling when I was finished last year. It was such a rush of emotions - laughter, crying, exhaustion, elation, hunger. It's amazing really. And despite the fact I keep calling TC the "damn marathon" I am excited to run it again and see if I can do better. If I do worse, then consider this year my last. But if I can do better than maybe I'll have to make this my new "thing".
Besides, my shoes missed me.
04 June 2008
One of those days
It's been kind of a crappy week. I thought today was going to be better but ... well, no.
Let's see, the basics. I have a sharp pain in my shoulder that I can't figure out. When I breathe in and my chest expands it hurts and to add to it I have a little sharp pain at the bottom and under my left rib cage. It's weird. I thought maybe I slept wrong or wore the wrong bra too many days in a row (poor support + annoying breasts = bad sagging and pain) but I don't think either of those really is the problem. Oh well. It'll go away.
Then I started the day freaking out about a project that I was never sure if I was in charge of or if my former work section was. We had a deadline of May 30 to submit some items which we missed. So I emailed the point of contact to see if we could still send it in and then headed to my meeting where I was going to have to own up to the responsibility that I wasn't sure if I had it or not. On top of that, two weeks ago I had tried to get the head guy from my former work section to take this on and, once I got him to listen to me and stop critiquing the pictures in the previous edition of the project, I tasked him to accomplish two things the week I was on vacation: get a picture of Eddie (I'd write up the item on him) and to pull the items on the two guys from VM (I'd tweak the next week).
Well, after I sent the POC of the overall project this morning I also emailed the one full-timer in my former work section...let's call her NJ...to see the status of the two tasks I had put forth. I went to my meeting and I explained the situation and what I was still hoping to accomplish. Hours later (after I had been told by the project POC that we were too late and couldn't submit anymore) NJ wrote back and said her and the guy I tasked originally had talked about it and decided amongst themselves that they didn't have time for this and pushed it off their table.
Pissed. Me. Off.
First I was pissed because the guy didn't have the courtesy to tell me that it wasn't going to happen. Then, I took full responsibility this morning with Oscar (who was really pushing for this to get done) because I felt I had dropped the ball not following up soon enough last week. Eddie's gone now so we couldn't have gotten it done anyway.
But when I got this email back from NJ, I was so pissed. I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore. I'm not in this section anymore and I shouldn't be the POC for these projects. If I am going to be the main point of contact for these situations and projects than I really wish Boss1 would tell me this directly. It was kind of assumed but not really assumed and I wasn't sure how much to do. Plus I'm not sure how much I should be doing in this section anymore. Oscar agreed and we talked about the situation and trying to figure out who's really in charge. I need to talk to him more before he or I or both of us goes to Boss1. shit.
The bad thing is that this section is really weak right now which pains me (maybe this is the real cause of my shoulder and ribs). We could be (should be) doing so much more and instead I keep hearing, "We don't have time for this." "We can't do this." Those words should not be in our vocabulary. This job in particular is not a 9-5 job. It's a 24-7 job. It's just one of those sections. But it's not treated that way and it drives me nuts.
When I was in the section I was constantly working (even from 4 hours away). It seems to have fallen to the wayside of importance since I've moved out and I hate that. I'm not sure how to fix it though or even if I can. Can you fix attitudes of people? Especially of two people who have their own agendas? One just wants to be promoted. The other wants promotion and to hardly work. Wait...that's really both of them. But if they don't get the credit for something, then they get pissed. Or if they aren't selected for something- a trip, an award, a reward - then they get pissed and rant and rave about how no one appreciates or understands what their job is. But when you give them the opportunity and TASK them to actually do their job and all that comes back is, "We don't have time for this." It just... UGH!
It fcuking pisses me off. Sorry...but this is how mad I am.
Oh, and I'm drinking for the first time in weeks (not counting the wine I had with K&E). I just don't drink but tonight I'm so mad that I need something.
dammit.
This sucks.
Let's see, the basics. I have a sharp pain in my shoulder that I can't figure out. When I breathe in and my chest expands it hurts and to add to it I have a little sharp pain at the bottom and under my left rib cage. It's weird. I thought maybe I slept wrong or wore the wrong bra too many days in a row (poor support + annoying breasts = bad sagging and pain) but I don't think either of those really is the problem. Oh well. It'll go away.
Then I started the day freaking out about a project that I was never sure if I was in charge of or if my former work section was. We had a deadline of May 30 to submit some items which we missed. So I emailed the point of contact to see if we could still send it in and then headed to my meeting where I was going to have to own up to the responsibility that I wasn't sure if I had it or not. On top of that, two weeks ago I had tried to get the head guy from my former work section to take this on and, once I got him to listen to me and stop critiquing the pictures in the previous edition of the project, I tasked him to accomplish two things the week I was on vacation: get a picture of Eddie (I'd write up the item on him) and to pull the items on the two guys from VM (I'd tweak the next week).
Well, after I sent the POC of the overall project this morning I also emailed the one full-timer in my former work section...let's call her NJ...to see the status of the two tasks I had put forth. I went to my meeting and I explained the situation and what I was still hoping to accomplish. Hours later (after I had been told by the project POC that we were too late and couldn't submit anymore) NJ wrote back and said her and the guy I tasked originally had talked about it and decided amongst themselves that they didn't have time for this and pushed it off their table.
Pissed. Me. Off.
First I was pissed because the guy didn't have the courtesy to tell me that it wasn't going to happen. Then, I took full responsibility this morning with Oscar (who was really pushing for this to get done) because I felt I had dropped the ball not following up soon enough last week. Eddie's gone now so we couldn't have gotten it done anyway.
But when I got this email back from NJ, I was so pissed. I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore. I'm not in this section anymore and I shouldn't be the POC for these projects. If I am going to be the main point of contact for these situations and projects than I really wish Boss1 would tell me this directly. It was kind of assumed but not really assumed and I wasn't sure how much to do. Plus I'm not sure how much I should be doing in this section anymore. Oscar agreed and we talked about the situation and trying to figure out who's really in charge. I need to talk to him more before he or I or both of us goes to Boss1. shit.
The bad thing is that this section is really weak right now which pains me (maybe this is the real cause of my shoulder and ribs). We could be (should be) doing so much more and instead I keep hearing, "We don't have time for this." "We can't do this." Those words should not be in our vocabulary. This job in particular is not a 9-5 job. It's a 24-7 job. It's just one of those sections. But it's not treated that way and it drives me nuts.
When I was in the section I was constantly working (even from 4 hours away). It seems to have fallen to the wayside of importance since I've moved out and I hate that. I'm not sure how to fix it though or even if I can. Can you fix attitudes of people? Especially of two people who have their own agendas? One just wants to be promoted. The other wants promotion and to hardly work. Wait...that's really both of them. But if they don't get the credit for something, then they get pissed. Or if they aren't selected for something- a trip, an award, a reward - then they get pissed and rant and rave about how no one appreciates or understands what their job is. But when you give them the opportunity and TASK them to actually do their job and all that comes back is, "We don't have time for this." It just... UGH!
It fcuking pisses me off. Sorry...but this is how mad I am.
Oh, and I'm drinking for the first time in weeks (not counting the wine I had with K&E). I just don't drink but tonight I'm so mad that I need something.
dammit.
This sucks.
03 June 2008
I love the rainy nights. Such a beautiful sight.
Summer storms are great (though somehow I missed spring...where did that go?). This morning I woke up at 3 am to some awesome thunder. It wasn't the Ka-Boom kind of thunder, more of the Ca-Rack crackle crackle kind of thunder. I woke up happy because I love thunderstorms. I had my windows open to circulate air too but I thought I better close them down so I wouldn't blow off my windows or rain in on my books and such.
This was a good plan until I heard some drip drip drip in my kitchen. This isn't always unusual since my kitchen sink sometimes drips if I don't shut it off just so, but this was a different sound. I put on my glasses and turned on the light (ouch!) and saw that my counter below the skylight was wet. Grrr. I wiped it off, grabbed a bucket and of course once that was in place the dripping stopped. Figures. At least it's not flowing through but still not a good thing.
The worst thing is that because I turned the light on, I was now awake. It's 3 am! I have to work in the morning, I can't be up yet. And I couldn't get back to a decent sleep. I drifted in and out for the next 3 hours before I finally drug my sorry ass out of bed and hopped in the shower. I had a headache most of the morning because of my lack of sleep. I hate that. And I was supposed to work out this morning but that didn't happen either.
I'm sure I'll get the joy of this all week since it's supposed to rain every day. I can't wait.
Where would you work?
First - KEG, "BIL" is my Brother-In-Law.
Second - wcco.com had a great article online yesterday. Read this first.
So I was really intrigued by this article. I am both excited by the idea of working whenever and wherever I want, but also a little apprehensive. But lucky for me, my job will probably never change because structure is all we have.
The part that I really, really liked was the removal of the "sludge" - that toxic language. I totally wish that could happen even if my job remains the same. I get so tired of hearing people question someone else's hours or where they are. My rationale for my own hours is that the only person who needs to be concerned is Boss1. If he's okay with my hours then that's all that matters, and I take that belief toward everyone else. I don't care if other's are out on "comp time" or vacation or sick. It's not my issue - I'm not their supervisor. Hell, I can barely take care of myself.
Second - wcco.com had a great article online yesterday. Read this first.
So I was really intrigued by this article. I am both excited by the idea of working whenever and wherever I want, but also a little apprehensive. But lucky for me, my job will probably never change because structure is all we have.
The part that I really, really liked was the removal of the "sludge" - that toxic language. I totally wish that could happen even if my job remains the same. I get so tired of hearing people question someone else's hours or where they are. My rationale for my own hours is that the only person who needs to be concerned is Boss1. If he's okay with my hours then that's all that matters, and I take that belief toward everyone else. I don't care if other's are out on "comp time" or vacation or sick. It's not my issue - I'm not their supervisor. Hell, I can barely take care of myself.
02 June 2008
Home Plate
Sometimes it's hard to please a 10-yr-old.
Yesterday we went to the game, as I said yesterday, and I got us seats in the upper club right behind home plate. I love sitting in this spot of a ballpark because you can see everything. Generally there isn't an obstructed view here and I prefer to see the fronts of players instead of their backsides (though, admittedly their backsides are often quite nice to look at - but that's what the batter's box is for).
So this is where we sat. The good things are, besides those I mentioned, that you're a little closer to the action. The bad thing is that these are usually popular seats and it seems like most often these are the popular ones by those who insist on getting up and down several times throughout the game. I hate this. And yesterday's game was quite popular, hence quite packed.
My theory is that if you sit in the middle of a row you should show up early and get comfortable. I'm okay with once getting out but 3 or 4 times is just too much - are you there for the game or for the food?
The other fun moment of the game also happened at Perkins during breakfast. See my BIL is an A's fan; I'm an Indians fan, as you know; and nephew is a big Yankees fan. At Perkins a guy at the next table said, "Wow, this is just an American League family! But nobody for the Twins?" Nephew said, "No, we're anti-Twins." Whoops. At the game we were luckily surrounded by an even mix of both Yankees and Twins fans so that wasn't so bad, except for BIL and me. Oh well...we're experienced at this so we could handle it well.
The game was boring. Nothing really exciting happened. Nephew was happy to see Jeter hit a home run. Otherwise we just tried to keep happy thoughts going as we watched. Our zen wasn't quite in sync though since the Yankees lost big time.
Tonight, that zen continued to be off as nephew had a baseball game of his own. He had two great hits ("which didn't count" he told me). His team lost 21-2. As we say here in God's country, "Uffda." Maybe the next one will be better. We can hope.
Yesterday we went to the game, as I said yesterday, and I got us seats in the upper club right behind home plate. I love sitting in this spot of a ballpark because you can see everything. Generally there isn't an obstructed view here and I prefer to see the fronts of players instead of their backsides (though, admittedly their backsides are often quite nice to look at - but that's what the batter's box is for).
So this is where we sat. The good things are, besides those I mentioned, that you're a little closer to the action. The bad thing is that these are usually popular seats and it seems like most often these are the popular ones by those who insist on getting up and down several times throughout the game. I hate this. And yesterday's game was quite popular, hence quite packed.
My theory is that if you sit in the middle of a row you should show up early and get comfortable. I'm okay with once getting out but 3 or 4 times is just too much - are you there for the game or for the food?
The other fun moment of the game also happened at Perkins during breakfast. See my BIL is an A's fan; I'm an Indians fan, as you know; and nephew is a big Yankees fan. At Perkins a guy at the next table said, "Wow, this is just an American League family! But nobody for the Twins?" Nephew said, "No, we're anti-Twins." Whoops. At the game we were luckily surrounded by an even mix of both Yankees and Twins fans so that wasn't so bad, except for BIL and me. Oh well...we're experienced at this so we could handle it well.
The game was boring. Nothing really exciting happened. Nephew was happy to see Jeter hit a home run. Otherwise we just tried to keep happy thoughts going as we watched. Our zen wasn't quite in sync though since the Yankees lost big time.
Tonight, that zen continued to be off as nephew had a baseball game of his own. He had two great hits ("which didn't count" he told me). His team lost 21-2. As we say here in God's country, "Uffda." Maybe the next one will be better. We can hope.
01 June 2008
Another month, another theme
This month's NaBloPoMo theme is "Home". I think I'm going to like this a lot better than last month's. I just didn't quite have the voices thing down.
For one, I'm going to not label each of my posts as "home1" or "home2" as I did with the voices theme. I'm just going to write as I do. For two, if it doesn't seem like my blog post for the day is representing "home", keep in mind that writing/typing is something I love to do so just doing this is home in itself.
So today we're going to talk about home. This weekend I took my BIL and nephew to the cities for the Twins/Yankees game. Last night as we were driving into town, merging with the flowing traffic and being engulfed by the buildings over 4 stories "with all their windows", as my nephew liked to point out, I breathed in a home like no other.
I spent 7 years in the cities and loved every minute, even when the pimp and pro were outside on our corner fighting and shooting off guns. It just made life seem real. Sometimes living here, in this somewhat sheltered area, I just feel like I'm coasting through. But living there, even if I wasn't directly involved with situations like that, it just made life seem real - it wasn't something I just read about or saw on TV.
So I breathed in deep as we drove by the numerous buildings and mini malls and stores you only see there. I came into my element.
This morning we needed to kill some time before the game and so I took BIL and nephew on a little tour of my world. I showed them the lake I ran by during the marathon. I took them by Matt's Bar. I lamented about not taking them to the Chatterbox last night. I showed them my old apartment and waved to A1 as we drove by (and she looked thoroughly confused as I did). I was going to show them where I used to work but BIL wasn't interested so we just took the long route to Perkins and Target (I needed DC with splenda).
To make my feel of home even better, I ran into Sarah and Eric at Perkins. I saw Eric walk in so I texted Sarah, "Order the heartland omelet. It's yummy. P.S. I see you!" When she finally got the message she wrote back, "Where are you?" and started looking around. When she spotted me she started laughing and we hugged. Our joke: we have to travel 4 hours to see each other when in actuality we live only 40 minutes apart right now. Too funny. And Eric thought it was hilarious when Sarah said we need to get together soon and I said, "You're on my list to call this week." Of course she is. And of course I have a list. I'm nuts.
Anyway, I'll write more about the game tomorrow but let me just say that the short time we spent in my old hometown has rejuvenated me again. I feel a little like my old self again.
For one, I'm going to not label each of my posts as "home1" or "home2" as I did with the voices theme. I'm just going to write as I do. For two, if it doesn't seem like my blog post for the day is representing "home", keep in mind that writing/typing is something I love to do so just doing this is home in itself.
So today we're going to talk about home. This weekend I took my BIL and nephew to the cities for the Twins/Yankees game. Last night as we were driving into town, merging with the flowing traffic and being engulfed by the buildings over 4 stories "with all their windows", as my nephew liked to point out, I breathed in a home like no other.
I spent 7 years in the cities and loved every minute, even when the pimp and pro were outside on our corner fighting and shooting off guns. It just made life seem real. Sometimes living here, in this somewhat sheltered area, I just feel like I'm coasting through. But living there, even if I wasn't directly involved with situations like that, it just made life seem real - it wasn't something I just read about or saw on TV.
So I breathed in deep as we drove by the numerous buildings and mini malls and stores you only see there. I came into my element.
This morning we needed to kill some time before the game and so I took BIL and nephew on a little tour of my world. I showed them the lake I ran by during the marathon. I took them by Matt's Bar. I lamented about not taking them to the Chatterbox last night. I showed them my old apartment and waved to A1 as we drove by (and she looked thoroughly confused as I did). I was going to show them where I used to work but BIL wasn't interested so we just took the long route to Perkins and Target (I needed DC with splenda).
To make my feel of home even better, I ran into Sarah and Eric at Perkins. I saw Eric walk in so I texted Sarah, "Order the heartland omelet. It's yummy. P.S. I see you!" When she finally got the message she wrote back, "Where are you?" and started looking around. When she spotted me she started laughing and we hugged. Our joke: we have to travel 4 hours to see each other when in actuality we live only 40 minutes apart right now. Too funny. And Eric thought it was hilarious when Sarah said we need to get together soon and I said, "You're on my list to call this week." Of course she is. And of course I have a list. I'm nuts.
Anyway, I'll write more about the game tomorrow but let me just say that the short time we spent in my old hometown has rejuvenated me again. I feel a little like my old self again.
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