Real Winter

To all my Alaskan friends,

To you, this picture is no big deal. To those who live in the desert, snow is a really big deal. Two inches is a big enough deal the create panicked conversations at work about the driving conditions and rampant speculation on the company's bad weather policy and the possibility of car-pooling with the former Alaskan in the morning.

I might actually have to wear socks and a coat tomorrow.

Sincerely,
the former Alaskan

Family Time

Grandpa (Dad's dad) was here for Thanksgiving. At 92 he's moving better than some 50 year old's I know (not meaning my roommate, really). He flew in from Ohio last Wednesday and left on Tuesday. It was a nice visit - I got to eat dinner at my parent's every night! =-)

Coolness!

I got a bonus!

I didn't know I was eligible for the bonus at work. I suspected I was, I hoped I was, but didn't know for sure.

So I got extra bucks! Yipee!!

(and then promptly spent it on something very glamorous - 1 more credit card paid off!!!)

Viewpoint

So I'm in the mall with a 9-yr-old friend. We pass Victoria's Secret. I cringe a bit - after all, I have no idea what she does or doesn't know, what her mom's said, etc...

"That's so cute!"
"What?"
"I want teddy like that."

And I realize her fantasy is the black and pink themed Christmas tree covered with teddy bears.

Turkey Forever

KK's Best Turkey Sandwich

Toasted bread
Cream cheese
Jellied cranberry sauce
alfalfa sprouts
Turkey.

Assemble. Cut. Enjoy.

Scrumptious!

Decorator Style

The latest in fashionable men's restrooms....

Thanks TLP for letting me shamelessly steal your content!

Horrors!

Ack! I think I'm acclimating!

I have been very proud of my thick Alaskan blood. I was wearing sandals and sleeveless tops weeks before and after everyone else.

And my mom is always cold so there is constant teasing about how I'm warm and don't need extra layers.

Driving to the Lion King, I was actually cold *inside the heated truck!* My mother had to give me her sweater. I am so ashamed...

The Lion King

Stupendous. Awe-inspiring. Amazing. Fabulous.

There probably are not enough superlatives in the lexicon to describe the experience. The Lion King was really, truly amazing. I am completely in awe of the creative genius of Julie Taymor who did the costumes, mask and puppet design and was the director.

I knew there were "puppets" in the show but this is not your Sunday School hand puppet experience. For example, Scar and several other lions had masks. When the actor was standing upright, the mask rested above the actors head. So Scars mask chin was on the actors forehead. But when the actor bent over, ex. to look Simba in the eyes, the mask moved and came down in front of the actors head so the Scar mask was talking to Simba. It was a fascinating integration of mask, puppetry and acting.

And not all the masks moved. The lionesses and Mufasa's masks were stationary on top of the actors heads. The hyena's masks were an integral part of the costume and actually rested in front on the actor at about belly button level. There was a ridge of fur traveling up the actor hyena's back, over their head and to the mask making the whole actor/mask combo look just like a hunchbacked hyena. And several characters, notably Timon, was a large puppet connected by various wires and such to the actor. It was all incredibly fascinating.

One of my favorite "characters" wasn't even on stage. In the front corners of both stage right and stage left, were percussion platforms filled with every kind of African acoustic instrument you could think of plus others: djembe, conga, shekera, triangle, gong, a bent wood stick with a string that made the coolest plucky sound... So this guy played all these different instruments throughout the show and he looked like he was having the time of his life. He smiled big, sang along, danced to the beat. Not in any distracting sense but my joy in watching the show was enhanced by his obvious joy in performing. I'm so glad we were closer to this guy because his counterpart stage left was a complete stick-in-the-mud.

Being on the aisle was great. The opening sunrise scene includes a parade of the animals making there way to Pride Rock - andthe hugest elephant sauntered down the aisle way right next to me. I *loved* the gazelles (impala?). And the cheetah was great too. There are some good photos here and here.

An amazing experience. It only would have been better if all of you could have joined me! =-)

Powerful Kiss

A Blinding Kiss Australia is famous for its kangaroos, koala bears, and Great
Barrier Reef, but it is also the setting of some strange workplace law cases.
Take the cases of Louise Kelsey and Jirra Collings Ware. In Louise Kelsey's
case, she cites an unusual workplace incident as the cause of her blindness: a
kiss. Kelsey, a maid at the Park Hyatt hotel, testified in Melbourne, Australia,
that she suffered from post traumatic stress disorder after a Uruguayan soccer
player, a guest at the hotel, kissed her against her will, the Daily Telegraph
(Sydney) reports. She claimed the stress disorder led to her blindness. "The
most powerful kiss in history," said a deriding doctor for the defense. The
hotel agreed to settle the case and is negotiating the terms, according to the
newspaper.

Hmmm. I remember being taught that something, ahem, else caused blindness. Kisses just caused babies.

Hmmmm

Last night I let my roommate know I'd be gone Sunday to see the Lion King. I mentioned how excited I was. She said she'd seen the commercials on TV. Then she paused. I was sure she was going to say something about wanting to see it, how cool it must be, etc. Instead "I don't think I would enjoy that kind of thing" and her whole body and demeanor indicated she thought it was a complete waste of time and money.

I can't imagine anyone not being excited by seeing a live show, a live Broadway show, a live Broadway, Tony-Award-winning, completely amazing show!

I don't think my roommate and I would even know each other if not for the roommate thing.

Livin' a Dream

OMG!! Guess what? Guess what??? I'm going to go see the Lion King Broadway show on Sunday!!!

Yipeeeeeee!! Is that not just toooo cool?! Living in the States definately has its advantages!

My brother serves on the USS Ross. I'm very proud of him and thought I'd share this pict.

051024-N-4374S-010 Atlantic Ocean (Oct. 24, 2005) - The guided missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) underway in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean during UNITAS 47-06 Atlantic Phase. Naval forces from Argentina, Brazil, Spain, Uruguay and the United States are participating in UNITAS 47-06 Atlantic phase. This is a U.S. Southern Command-sponsored exercise that enhances friendly, mutual cooperation and understanding between participating navies by enhancing interoperability in naval operations among the nations of the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Michael Sandberg (RELEASED)

Thoughts on Texas

The public library is in a strip mall.

The liquor stores have a drive through window.

With your eggs you can get your choice of a side of grits, hashbrowns or tomatoes.

"Catering" means a huge homemade grill pulled on a hay trailer.

Veggies for fajitas equal one piece of red pepper, one piece of green pepper, an entire grilled onion and a side of Texas beans (definately not refried beans).

The Bible and Christian literature section at Sams is bigger than the Romance section.

Home Again

Well, I'm back - safe and sound. It's so nice to get away and it's so nice to come home to your own bed and own home. My puppies were very happy to see me and one of my little friends was out front playing as I dragged my suitcases up the sidewalk and she gave me the biggest hug. Very gratifying.

In spite of getting up at 1am Texas time, I was feeling fairly energized when I got home (must have been the nap in the car during the drive to DFW airport - thanks Laura!). So puppies got a haircut and bath (several hour process) and then I realized the headache I was fighting was probably from a lack of sleep. Even though I didn't feel tired I decided to lay down and read. Bam! out like a light for two hours. =-) Guess I was tired!

I woke up when my roommate came home. Get this - I'm slowly waking up and rolling out of bed and as I go to the door I hear her on the phone talking in a completely panic-stricken voice: "have you seen Dana? The front door was unlocked and the dogs aren't here and there's stuff on the floor so I know she was here...."

She called my mother! The light was on in my room and she never knocked on the door or stuck her head in. No - she panics, calls my mother and blows up the fact the door is unlocked into this huge drama *that is all in her head!* Geesh!

Yeah, yeah, I should be grateful she was concerned. Rubbish! IF she had searched the house and I'd been gone for hours, then maybe. In this situation, she was just manufacturing drama.

Well, now I know I'm really home!

New and Improved

See? May entire vacation hasn't been about relaxation! Behold the new layout! =-) Does anyone know how to get rid of the stupid number in front of the links to friends and family?

News of the Day

I haven't missed a nights sleep in a *long* time and my body really doesn't seem to be appreciating the experience. I got to Seattle at 7:30pm and had a 3hour lay-over. Not too bad since I rented a DVD and play and got a bite to eat. I watched another DVD on the plane, which made the three-hour flight pass quickly.

I arrived in DFW at 3am my time; 5am local time. A quick glance in the mirror showed I should have probably tried to sleep - the red eyes were beautiful.

I went to quickly return the DVD player before meeting Laura at baggage claim...only to find out the InMotion kiosk was under construction. It took **45 minutes** to catch the SkyRail to the next concourse and return. Jeepers!! that was annoying. I felt really bad for making Laura wait - thank goodness for cell phones!

Seeing my godson and his family has been great. I think I'll enjoy it more tomorow after a really good nights sleep.

Guess what? I saw a stick bug! I've never seen a stick bug before! The closest I've ever come is Bug's Life! They are funny looking things but cute.

Texas bound

Well I'm off to visit my godson for a week! Last summer I told his mom that if she would fly me down I would organize the then-to-be-purchased-house. So she's in her new place and still in boxes so I get to go help!

Talk to you all later. I'll try not to come back with a Texas drawl. =-)

Revised Christmas List

(Was books, cd's, etc.)

Bunk beds
2 twin mattresses for said bunk beds
2 twin size waterproof mattress covers
4 sets of gender-neutral bed-in-a-bags
2 pillows
chest of drawers
nightstand
bedside lamps
Toys for various ages and both genders
Kid's books
Four sets of bath towels and washcloths
Stuffed animals so each child can choose a new friend to keep
Outlet plug push-in safety thingys

Going forward

So I finally DID something.

I went to foster care parent orientation last night and actually started filling out the application.

I've really realized lately that I have this strong desire to work with kids and do service. Foster care seems a good way to start.

And I am so tired of all the messages - past and present - telling me I can't do it. I refuse to fail any longer because I didn't even try. Defeating myself through self-talk and inaction only drives me into despair and depression. Foster care may turn out to be the worst idea I've ever had - but it's my idea and I want to try. After all, if not me then who?

Pumpkin Virgin

So I participated in Halloween for the first time ever.

See, I grew up in a conservative Christian home. We did not do Halloween. It is the devil's holiday. And as a good Christian adult, I also eschewed everything Halloween and refused to answer the door even as the trick-or-treater's knocked.

So since I'm still in the whole lost-my-faith-still-figuring-out-what-I-believe phase, I decided to participate in Halloween.

Last weekend, I (and several young helpers) carved my very first pumpkin. That was fun! The girls picked out all the pumpkin seeds and a couple days later we roasted them - yummy!

I actually bought the pumpkin at a local attraction - the Maise. T (one of my young friends) and I spent 45 minutes wandering through the corn maze, took a hay ride into another corn field where they had stashed bunches of pumpkins among the corn stalks (yes, I am aware pumpkins do not grow in corn fields).

I bought Halloween candy (opened it three days early) and spent last night imitating a popcorn piece - jumping up from the couch to answer the door. Not as many trick-or-treaters as I had thought but still fun to see all the costumes.

I did not get dressed up - didn't even really think about it until Sunday. Maybe next year.

Still not into the scary, ghoulishness of Halloween and maybe I'll someday go back to seeing the day for the true evil it is...

In the meantime, I'll remember the fun of pumpkin carving and the smile on the kids faces as I gave them the candy. Can't believe I missed that for all these years

Positive and negative

I've been thinking about my weight a lot lately. I'm feeling better than I have in a long time. Inside I feel thin and healthy - the outside definately does not match. Being this incredibly heavy is very embarassing and depressing. I know what to do (eat less, exercise more). Motivation to eat less is definately a problem - food is a huge source of comfort for me.

I'm going to visit my godson in Tx in two weeks - Yeah! I'm going to have to fit into an airline seat - sense of dread and doom.

Here is a really great blog entry by another writer on the good and bad things associated with being overweight. I especially liked "-- had small children tell me I was "squashy and beautiful".

Lyrics

I'm listening to the radio at work. Alanis Morissette begins singing "Ironic". I'm coding some invoices and the phrase "it's like rain on your wedding day" makes me think of the rainbow my former husband and I saw as we walked out of the church. His best man swore it was a sign of the beautiful life we were going to have. FH swore it was God's sign of blessing.

They were both gay. And the rainbow is also a symbol for... Yeah, ironic.

I'm still laughing to myself as I go back to coding benefit bills. I should've seen it coming - it was litterally written in the heavens! =-)

Passengers

Yesterday I arrived at my organization clients house. She's not there. I call. She's running late. So I kick back in the car. It's a beautiful day, I roll down the windows, feel the breeze on my face, close my eyes and listen to my book-on-CD.

As a result of the moment of relaxation, I drove to work today with at least 100 passengers. See, I left my windows down when my client pulled up. And the client has sheep...and a horse... and a turkey... and a dog... and rabbits...

And when I left the appointment to go home, the flies were so thick on the inside roof of my car, I thought my tan roof had turned black.

Frantic waving of the arms and driving home with all the windows down has reduced the population by about half... I think... they could be breeding.

So any thoughts on getting rid of the other half? I'm strongly tempted to go get some bug-killer-spray on the way home and bomb my car.

The one fly that actually found it's way inside my instrument panel is actually kind of cute rushing around my speedometer trying to find a way out.

I'm just saying...

If one has a warrant out for one's arrest, one should really not drive without tail lights.

My nieces Rori and Cadee. Are they just cute or what?!?!?!! 

Social Security Card Issued by Woolworths

...promote its product by showing how a Social Security card would fit into its wallets. The wallet was sold by Woolworth stores... many purchasers of the wallet adopted the SSN as their own. In the peak year of 1943, 5,755 people were using Hilda's number. As late as 1977, 12 people were found to still be using the SSN "issued by Woolworth."

Falling apart

Bad fall in the parking lot, hurting my knee...
Severe neck/shoulder pain from working on a project on the floor for 5 hours...
Tripped over the computer cord and fell...
Smacked my head against the sharp corner of a first aid box at the gas station...
Broke my toe at a clients house...

Two massage and three chiropractor appointments later I still wake up in so much pain I can barely turn over..

All this in the past few weeks... I'm begining to feel a bit paranoid...

Bad but funny

As an HR manager, one of my more onerous duties is to write letters of rejection to applicants. In searching for some suggested language, I found the site Letters of Rejection. Apparently, if you don't like my LOR, you can post it here so the world can share your pain. Some of them are pretty amusing.

Informed Opinion

So I'm cooking breakfast on a slow Saturday morning and my roommate comes in to inform me of her opinion.

"Did you hear about that crazy American who spent 20 million to... to... to..."
"Go into space?"
"Yes. Isn't that just stupid?"
"It's the adventure of a lifetime."

(So at this point I'm thinking maybe she's appalled by the about of money spent - thinks it should have been used for the poor, fund a small country, etc. Instead I hear...)

"If the good Lord had wanted us to go into space He would have put us there."

I was floored. I couldn't even come up with one of my normal, casual, non-committal replies. So landing on the moon, the space station, probes to Mars are all somehow violations of God's will?!?!?

"If the good Lord had wanted us to go into space He would have put us there." This is the same logic used by conservative fathers to say "If the good Lord had wanted you to wear earrings He would have put the holes in your head."

Mortified

Last week I rode the bus in to work. I stayed later to finish up some projects including a job offer letter for an internal promotion.

I was out the door when the receptionist yelled after me that the boss wanted to see me. Some quick thinking about consequences (the next bus would not be for two hours vs. not taking the bosses call) brought me to the phone.

He said I had misspelled the employees name and could I change it please. Normally, no problem. But in my I'm-going-to-miss-the-bus panic, I blurted out something to the effect of can you change the a to an e with a pen - I rode the bus today - I'm going to miss it. He paused, said ok and I dashed out the door. Not my finest example of quick thinking.

I was so embaressed. I can't believe I was in such a position. The bus?!?!?! I am not riding the bus again. I never want to be in a position of telling my boss I can't do something because I have to catch a bus.

Word Play

My business name is Solutions.

I was ushered in to a client's office and he was grinning from ear to ear. I asked what was so funny.

I had just been announced as Klondike Kate from Delusions.

Memories

Everybody should have gotten a chance to meet Melissa. We should have had the chance to be with her longer.

My roommate's cat Smokey. He was sitting like this when I got home from grocery shopping... 

Puppy Service

I think Seby has become the official Poop Patrol voice.

Seby has a very distinctive and clear method for letting me know he needs to go outside. He will first stand at the door and stare at me. If I don't notice him he will issue a soft woof followed by a tight circle, pivoting on his haunches. If I still don't listen, he will continue to woof softly, followed by a slightly louder growl. Once I look at him he will proceed to show off his BBall skills and jump on the door - reaching the height of the door handle.

So it's pretty clear when Seby needs out. My other dog, Glory, and my roommate's dog Tippy, are much less vocal. They'll wait all day. But as soon as I ask "do you want to go outside?", they're both right at the door, tails wagging.

So when I'm home, I tend to get focused and don't let the dogs out every five minutes as my roommate is wont to do. During the last week, there have been at least two occasions when Seby barked to go outside, I let all three out, and he proceeds to just stand in the sun and sniff the air. The other two will take care of their apparently urgent business while Seby gets a tan.

I'm not exactly sure how dog communication works, but I think Tippy and Glory each promised Seby extra cookies if he would speak up and get that two-legged person to open the door.

Roommate Pros and Cons

One the plus side -
- she pays her rent on-time
- she does all the dishes, takes out the garbage and vacuums (never asked; just her style)
- she likes my dogs and treats them well
- she empties out the doggie poop container on the patio
- she is sweet-hearted
- I can't afford not to have responsible roommate...
- she provides great fodder for my blog

On the negative side -
- EVERYTHING she does annoys me
- her cat scratches MY belongings
- she craps more than any person I know and doesn't use the fan
- she starts conversations while she's still in the hall so she is constantly interrupting my TV watching, computer time or book reading and doesn't seem to "get" how rude that is
- she always wants to know my schedule and is constantly telling me hers - some of that is reasonable but not to this extent
- already posted about the copying me thing
- she loves to gossip and tell me things about her niece, daughter, clients that I just don't care about
- she complains about her age a lot
- she's accused me of stealing her stuff but when I told her I couldn't believe she would stay in a place where she thought the landlord was dishonest, she got flustered and said she didn't want to move and almost started crying
- she's always saying stupid, pithy expressions like "time to head back to the barn" which she decided to take time to tell me meant returning home though she was in the kitchen at the time she said it so what she was really saying is that she was going to her room.

So - what would you do? Put up with the petty annoyances to keep the responsible roommate who's basically volunteered to be the maid. Or place an ad and gamble the next one will be both responsible and non-annoying? Such a dilemma....

The Roommate

OK - this probably doesn't sound like a big deal. But boy! did this annoy me!

I came home Tuesday and noticed a new plastic shower curtain hanging in the shower. I, obviously, had not put it there. Roommate did.

Now it seems like I should regard this as a sweet thing, a kind gesture on her part. But I don't. For one, it's a $.99, snow white flimsy piece of crap. I want my shower liner to match the curtain so I buy ecru/off-white. And the stupid liner should not be sooo lightweight as to blow in the breeze of hot shower steam. Two, she was being sneaky and didn't discuss changing something in my house with me. Three, she got rid of something belonging to me without even a note. (but since I'm such a thief, I guess turn-around's fair play. Bah!)

I confronted her last night. I was nice but asked why, where's mine, talk to me next time, etc. She was uncomfortable and talked fast. She thought the old liner was getting too crudy on the bottom. I don't remember it being like that but then I don't study the liner that often. Even if it did need to be replaced she should have asked me. My house, my responsibility.

Grrrrrr.

On bus riding

You know who rides buses? Kids!

OK - for those of you who grew up in cities with bus systems, this is not a huge revelation. But I've always lived in communities without bus systems at all or with a limited bus system. So kids + school transportation = big yellow school bus with hard green bench seats.

So it was an interesting revelation to realize that the times I ride the bus from big city to small town correspond with school hours and thus Kids on Bus.

Riding the bus in definately cheaper since the Zone 1 fees don't seem to be enforced. Rides (with the 10 ride tickets) are .40 each. The web says it's supposed to be a ticket + .50 and just a single fare is $1.50. But they don't seem to make us pay. So basically, I'm riding for .80 a day - which is a whole lot cheaper than gas for a 55 miles round trip.

Slower - buses are definately slower but I get to listen to my books on CD, doze a bit, chill out. I can make the time work for me.

A couple things I was right about: smelly people and well, that's about it. I did have a gentleman sit across from me that talked to the invisible person next to him but not scary/dangerous.

In Memory

Pentagon, Washington, DC; United Airlines, Flight 93; World Trade Center, New York...

Never forgotten...

Prejudice

People who ride buses are poor.

People who ride buses are blue collar workers.

People who ride buses have low IQ's.

People who ride buses are dangerous.

People who ride buses smell.

A few reasons I have always avoided riding the bus system. It's completely prejudicial and entirely unfair for me to have these sort of thoughts.

And now I'm going to get the opportunity to overcome this little prejudice of mine. Yes people, I'm going to become a bus rider.

In deference to rising gas prices, tightening of the household budget belt, and my high-minded desire to contribute to Lowering America's Dependence on Foreign Oil, I am now going to take the bus to work 4 times per week (Wednesday's work schedule doesn't correspond with the bus schedule).

Except for tomorrow - 'cause I have an appointment at an off-bus-schedule time. So Tuesday. I'll tell you all about my bus-rider experience on Tuesday.

I know you can't wait.

Imitation

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Well when my annoying little brother "flattered" me, all I remember is sincerely desiring to lock him in his room.

Parents usually say stuff like this to keep the peace between siblings, at least for another 5 minutes. I wonder if they believe it?

'Cause my roommate is imitating me and I am definately NOT feeling flattered. Shortly after she moved in, I bought a bottle of rum. Her whiskey showed up soon after. Not a big deal. she may not have known alcohol was ok to have in the house.

But now, after a few months of watching her habits I recognize some changes. I buy apples and cantelope, she buys apples and cantelope. I start going to the farmers market, she goes to the farmers market. I get low-fat Cool Whip...the next week there's low-fat Cool Whip on her shelf. I hang up some of my laundry to line dry, low-and-behold, she start line drying. (after commenting to me that she just throws everything in the dryer.)

Lots of little things centered mostly around my buying habits. Weird....

Stats

I just checked my business page for it's Google ranking. It scored a disapointing, though not entirely unexpected, 2 out of 10.

My blog, on the other hand, scored 3 out of 10.

Medical Mystery

I cough in my sleep. sometime enough to wake myself up. This is very annoying.

My former husband used to tell me I was coughing in my sleep. Actually what he mentioned was my annoying habit of sleep-coughing directly into his face. Probably not my most endearing trait.

This coughing thing has been getting much more annoying as I now force feed myself throat lozenges and cough drops throughout the night and wake up with a thick scum coating my entire mouth. Probably a good thing I'm not greating another human with a wake up kiss at this point.

So awhile back I figured maybe the sub-zero temperature I like to have in the bedroom prior to sleeping was contributing to the coughing. So I *increased* the air conditioner's temp set. This worked for a few nights. I tried increasing again without too much luck.

So in my sleep induced haze, hacking my head off, I figured I'd turn over. It worked! I quit coughing!

So now I'm trying to turn over onto my right side when I feel that annoying tickle. Problem is I like sleeping on my left side. So now instead of waking up because I'm coughing, I wake up because I'm uncomfortable.

So here's the big question -*Why* does turing over squelch the coughing mechanism?

I eagerly await your well-thought-out and scientifically based opinions.

Acclimating

So Thursday I go to the pool with one of my young friends. It's about 5:30pm. I think it's about 85 degrees outside. And I'm worried the pool will be too cold...

This is just not right. When we arrived last year - we were both jonesing for the pool before it even opened! And 85 degrees was sweltering!

So we got to the pool...and jumped in...and OMG it was freezing!

I think I may be done with the unheated, outdoor pool thing for the summer. And it's not even Labor Day yet!

I'm becoming such a wimp.

Practice in real life

I'm in a life coaching class called MOVE. The class is different than anything I've ever done before because it is so focused on our actions and the real-life application of what we do.

So tonight we were reviewing communication habits and practicing ways to communicate differently. One of the guys showed up without his girlfriend. Which I was glad to see. Don't mean to be unchairitable but she's a serious drama queen, not very bright, completely in the victim role and wants all the attention on her. And she's been getting more disruptive in class as we've learned to stay focused on our goals and the current exercise (thus ignoring her).

So BF is here alone and 10 minutes into class she comes storming in. "I don't want to interrupt class but..." and she gestures for BF to go see her. He doesn't come right away so she flies back and bangs on the window and he gives in and goes to her. Class continues as they (she) screams and argues in the parking lot for about 20 minutes. Apparently she is having a back emergency and needs to go the ER - even though this happened two days ago and she could have gone any time during the day.

He comes back, she interrups again. He gets ready to leave and the class calls him on his actions. She is completely manipulating the situation, creating drama, and he's doing what he's always done, placating.

So he sits back down and as a class we really get into the communication of the situation and try to work out alternatives. We've all been in similar patterns even if not quite so dramatic a fashion so it was a real-time example of what we were trying to learn in class.

In the meantime, she's going ballistic. Through the window I see her driving crazy around the parking lot, flashing her headlights, charging toward the building (!) before throwing on the breaks, blowing the horn - on and on and on.

I'm thinking - good grief woman! If you have to go to the ER, go already!! But this was obviously not about the ER.

So class is discussing and using the principles being illustrated to relate to situations in their own lives and the police show up. This woman is going off so brilliantly that someone calls the cops on her!

So the cops talk to her, talk to the BF, try to get it settled. I felt sorry for the BF. He's trying to change and be a better communicator, she doesn't like it, then he needs to deal with the police. the police get her calmed down and advise him to drive them both home. So he does.

We finish the class with a recap and a flourish.

What a night!

 

Jill Neal's Wild (but tasteful) Women

I first saw Jill Neal's work at the Arts Fair last year. I fell in love with the wonderful women she depicted. I loved them for their size, their enthusiasm, their humor.

I didn't purchase any at the time but I went back this year and she had a booth again. I bought 8 different small prints. Someday I'll have enough dough to get them all framed.

Check out her site. You'll love it! (Not all the pieces I chose are on the site but a few are. I'll let you guess which ones!)

So this is the crew at my house on a Saturday. Sigh. The life of a furry creature is quite nice. 

Wednesday

Yeah, I should have posted this in the beginning of the week but didn't so...

Wednesday was such a great day! I can't remember when I felt so good about the day I was having. I was up extra early to attend a business networking meeting where I gave a short (10 min) presentation on what I do. Nice questions and feedback from the group.

Then I met with a lifecoach I'm working with and had a really great session focusing on goals for the next two months.

Then I had an organizing appointment helping a guy get his car organized since it basically functions as a traveling office.

Then I went and met with a new friend I met in the life coaching group class. He's a great listener and I got to talk through the incident with T I posted about earlier. So great to talk and decompress.

I went to work in the best of moods!

Reaction

So I learned that my former husband is now legally domestic partners with the guy he moved to be with in California.

I must admit this has thrown me a bit for a loop. 1 - he said he was leaving because I was sick and he wasn't going to pursue a gay lifestyle. Obviously that changed in the past year. Since the change process happened without me (duh!), I just have these two reference points - leaving me, getting together with this other guy. No big judgements - just really weird. And lots of questions about the process.

Then, 2, I'm not even considering dating yet and he's already "hitched"! =-)

I can only imagine what his loving yet conservative family must be thinking. His grandparents are probably rolling over in their graves and they're not even dead yet!! =-)

There were a lot of really great things about my marriage and our relationship. Yet on the whole it seems we kept each other from growth - almost like we brought out the weakest side in each other. I hope this relationship is much more positive for him.

Poor Man's (illegal) furniture

Have you heard about this guy yet? Out-of-money dude moves and needs a desk for his computer. He builds one out of FedEx boxes. Very creative!

Builds more furniture. Gets a website and posts pictures. Legal action ensues. Very amusing!

Follow Up

I didn't realize how upset I was by all this until I tossed and turned all night, forgot about one morning appointment which made me late for the second appointment. This seems to have really gotten to me.

So for the rest of the story... When T (the child) first came to me we were able to sit down and talk. I think I said alot of the right things. We made a plan if he ever came back (inside = run to her room, hide and call the police; outside=come to my house and we call the police together). We talked about how she was not big enough to deal with him - she wouldn't be safe. Made her promise to never let a man do that to her even if she loves him with all her heart and to the tips of her toes. Talked about not keeping this secret (she was embarrassed her friend knew) - this is not a good secret to keep - telling others means there's more people to help and keep her safe.

At that time her mom was not going to go to the police. We talked about how her mom probably felt embarrassed but if this ever happened to T she needed to tell the police. Later in the evening I talked with her mom and mom had just returned from the police station. Yeah!

So T was feeling better and asked to go get friends and play a game. She came back with another kid friend, B. Unfortunately B was with T and they both walked in on T's mom after the attack. This was really new to B. I had her call her mother then I talked to B's mother. Then we three sat down to a game.

It was a strange game as the conversation alternated between game talk and "her shirt was all bloody" and "I just want to punch him back".

T's mom had called her brother over so T's cousin joined the game shortly thereafter. My roommate came home. I gave her a short update and the girls asked the roommate to join the game so we went to a five person game.

T's aunt popped her head in and asked if I would watch the girls while they went back to the house to get overnight stuff. T's mom had asked her brother and family to stay the night for safety and comfort. So all five (T, B, the cousin, the roommate and me!) of us sat down to dinner.

T's mom and family were gone quite awhile - turns out they aunt/uncle had talked the mom into filing a report. When T's mom came to the door to pick up the girls she told me she had gone to the police. I had no problem with watching them so she could do that!

So that's the story so far. T was doing much better when she went home. I feel so privledged that I was a safe person she could come to in a time of crisis. How precious is that?!

So now I get to try and concentrate here at work. I do believe my morning break is over. =-)

OMG

oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.... This only happens to to others...I thought.

One of my kid-friends just came to me crying because she witnessed her mother's ex-boyfriend punch her mom across the room.

How do you explain to a kid that her ideas of finding and punching the guy are noble but inappropriate, dangerous, wrong, etc???? What do you say to a child who's witnessed violence more than once when she asks "why me? why my family?"

Going to go play a game and cheer up/distract the child. Will process more later...

Spiritual Snooze

Soul not quite up to snuff? Don't tell your employer! Especially if you're Carlos Santana's personal assistant. You might just get your ass fired right here on earth.

Apparently not only must you have skills, you must also be "spiritually calibrated" to the right frequency and if you happen to have "low consciousness" well, too bad for you.

Ya know, I've heard of getting fired for sleeping on the job (lack of consciousness) but just a low consciousness??

Tag meme

Bossco provided this tag and I haven't done one in ages so here goes...

10 Years Ago Today...
Hmmm, 24 years old, just graduated from college a few months ago. What a relief! Hubby and I agreed to house-sit for a doctor who had a huge house - no rent for a whole year!! Searching for a job. Finally found one working as a dental assistant. Yup, fresh out of college and I sucked spit for a living.

5 years Ago Today...
Hmmm, 2000, we're out of school... I think at this point I'm working for the Chamber of Commerce as the Executive Assistant. Hubby is the assistant pastor of music at First Baptist. We have no idea what's coming down the road...

1 year ago today...
Still in shock from hubby's departure and imminent divorce. Still without a job. I have no idea what joy and pain and growth the next year is about to bring...

Yesterday...
Hung out with neighbor kids, went to a picnic and met some new people, felt sorry for myself and got over it, balanced my bank accounts, watched a really bad movie.

Tomorrow...
Work at a job I love! Meet with a client - Yeah! Grocery shopping.

5 Snacks I Enjoy...
1. Popcorn and Diet Coke
2. Ice cream and Diet Coke
3. Tortilla chips, beans and cheese and Diet Coke
4. Pita chips, ranch and Diet Coke
5. Pistachios and Diet Coke

5 Bands That I Know Most of the Lyrics to Their Songs
1. U2
(That's about it. Listen mostly to the radio.)

5 Things I Would Do With a Cool Mill
1. Pay off all debt
2. Build or buy a house with bedrooms for all my kids
3. Generous gifts to my family - completely spoil my nieces and godson
4. Emergency Fund/Investments
5. Adopt

5 Locations I Would Like To Run Away To
Renamed 5 places I want to go to on a cruise....
1. Down the west coast of South America to Antarctica
2. East coast of South America and the Amazon River
3. Pacific cruise including Hawaii, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Austrailia, New Zealand, etc.
4. European cruise
5. Trans-atlantic voyage

5 Bad Habits I Have
1. Overeating
2. Talking myself into depression and frustration
3. Think about doing but never getting to the doing
4. Failing to signal when changing lanes
5. Allowing my roommate to always do the dishes and take out the trash (we don't have to want to change these bad habits, right?!)

5 Things I Like Doing
1. Hanging with the neighborhood kids
2. Planning things
3. Watching TV
4. Reading
5. Beading and wire work

5 Things I Would Never Wear
1. Lycra/spandex as day wear
2. Short shorts
3. Midrift bearing tops
4. Heavy weight cords
5. Gouchos/ponchos

5 TV Shows I Like(d)
1. X-Files
2. StarGate (including Atlantis)
3. 6 Feet Under
4. Will and Grace
5. Extreme Makeover Home Edition

5 Movies I Like
1. Like Water for Chocolate
2. Lagaan
3. Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
4. Center Stage; Save the Last Dance; dance movies in general
5. Miss Congeniality I and II

5 Famous People I Would Like to Meet
Not too much into the fame thing....

5 Biggest Joys at the Moment
1. Being close to my parents
2. Being a friend to some great kids
3. Being the boss of myself
4. Recent weight loss
5. Rereading all the Harry Potter books

5 Favorite Toys
1. Laptop and Internet
2. Books
3. DVR
4. Noodles (pool floaties)
5. Go For Broke (game)

5 People to Tag
Assuming they aren't going to kill me...
1. Joat
2. Knottyboy
3. Valette (though already tagged by Bossco)

Visitors!

My godson Mario was here!!! He, his mom Laura, and his grandparents are driving from Alaska to Texas. Laura is a Captain in the Air Force and is relocating to a new base.

It's been ages since I've seen them last and I've been looking forward to this visit for months. They called Sunday morning and we got to spend all day together. It was great! (Though I will say that after 12 hours of focused play with a 6-year-old boy I'm wiped out!) We fed the ducks in the park, spent 3 hours (!) in the pool, and went to the Playground of Dreams.

My godson has always been big for his age but I was suprised to see how tall he's grown. He just finished Kindergarten, is 6 years old, 4'10" and 95 pounds! The child is going to grow to NBA height!

The swimming pool was great fun as I got to watch him gain confidence in the water. Three years ago he lived in Tx and loved the water. But that was a long time ago. He doesn't yet swim so he wore a life vest for the first while. Then we progressed to jumping with the vest on, then jumping without the vest onto noodles and then to jumping without warning. The last part wasn't so cool as he doesn't yet do a great job of resurfacing after said jump.

On a side note, his mom and I now know Mario as a "three noodle kid". Noodles are great fun and I've seen kids and adults both enjoy relaxing as the float on one. With only one noodle, Mario still sank. I swear, his muscle is more dense than normal. Anyway, with two noodles, he was keeping his head up but three noodles was definately the comfortable way to go. That's alot of floatation for one kid!

We had a wonderful time. Laura and I didn't get a chance to talk much as Mario kept our attention on him but hopefully we'll get to yak more over email. They left this morning for Oregon to visit great-grandma prior to California to visit family and go to Disneyland. I miss them already.

 

 

 

 

All I Want for Christmas...

U2

Rose Garden, Portland, OR
Mon, Dec 19, 2005 07:30 PM

Job requirement

I just created a job description for my company that listed, as a job requirement, "Proven organoleptic and sensory evaluation skills."

The Unexpected

I can't believe it - my bossed just pranked me!

I brought a document into his office for his signature. He looked for a pen. I saw one on the desk and handed it to him. He kept looking for a pen and said "Try that one. See if it works." I depressed the clicker and got a nifty little shock in my thumb!

He turned red laughing and appologizing at the same time.

That was too funny. I can't believe he did that! He said the pen's been on his desk for six months and no one had yet asked for a pen. Lucky me. =-)

Pink whiskers

I looked at Seby this morning and just grinned. He had pink whiskers!

I don't know what it is lately about waking up to puppy messes on the floor.... Yesterday morning I woke up and saw about 1/2 dozen puke spots on the floor. And while I was cleaning, Seby puked twice more so I'm pretty sure I know who the culprit is.

Well, my vet once told me that you can use people medicine on dogs - just treat them like babies and dose according to weight. Pukey dog equals Pepto Bismol - right?!?

He didn't want to take it so I had to force feed the poor guy. But he hasn't tossed his cookies since then so it worked, right? =-)

Understanding the Reason

When I was a temp, I worked for a company who was working on a personnel policy. It was going very slow. I'm going to go see the boss today and see if they still need one done and see if they'll be one of my trial clients.

That is the only reason I can think of for feeling so sick to my stomach I'm gagging every few minutes in between trips to the restroom.

Anticipation of rejection is a bitch.

The Pain

I did not realize how much of owning your own business was rejection. People saying no - people looking at you crazy for quoting a price - etc.

I've been reading several marketing books lately because I really need to get paying clients and that is very hard in a place where I'm not known and where I know so few people. To do this I have to sell myself and my product - organizing services.

May I just say I hate sales?! I did some direct sales of make-up/skin care one summer in college. I didn't continue because I just couldn't push someone to buy something they said they couldn't afford and I didn't like working so hard and being told no I don't want any! (selfish me, I know).

Now I own my own business - which is organization not sales - and yet, sales in the name of the game. Books will tell you if you talk to 10 people and one says yes then you're doing great - that's a 10% conversion factor! The really great people get to 60% and most of us to 40-50%. That means there is a whole lot of talking to people who are going to reject my offer in the future. I really hate that.

I get that whole thing of looking positive and finding the Yes and so on. Just right now, it sucks.

Notes from the day

She did it again. I'm wearing a nice outfit. The roommate comes in and wants to know if it's Thursday or Friday. 'Cause apparently I'm wearing an outfit that screems "casual". It was Thursday. When is she going to learn to keep her mouth shut????

More weight loss - yeah! But weird eating habits. I'm definately recognizing the emotional ties to my eating - I just don't know what to do to change it. One of my young friends was over last night. We made pancakes together. I ate 3. I wanted more but I wouldn't eat in front of her. So I gorged after she left. How sick is that?!?!

I still haven't brought in any new clients. I talk to people and they tell me how succesful I'm going to be but still no clients. I'm having a hard time even giving my services away! (testing new products in exchange for testimonial) This would have been so much easier in Fairbanks where I knew lots of people and I was known. It's really hard to figure out how to reach people when you're in a new town.

I have found a great hairstylist! This is a significant accomplishment!

My windshield cracked in the heat so it was replaced last week. Which meant I no longer have an Alaska registration sticker on my window. One more small thing gone. Maybe I'll become a Washingtonian yet.

106. Degrees. Outside. (That's all I have to say on that.)

Feet first

There are many ways to get into the pool. There's the cautious toe dip that has one cringing before even touching the water. There's the graceful glide down the stairs. And the variation of desending the ladder into the water. There's the very controlled dive into the depths with arms outstretched.

And then there's the blind cannonball - jumping off into the unknown depths to be immersed in an indefinate temperature of chlorinated water.

I have become a cannonball jumper.

Fightin'

I'm so mad now I could just spit.

I didn't sleep well - really weird dreams. My jaw aches from clenching my teeth. I'm tense. I'm ready to snap at anybody and everybody. I want to hit something.

Only I have no idea why.

Random Thoughts

It's been a long while since I posted... those phantom blog posts are going well though! =-) Here are a few thoughts I pulled out of the ether and transcribe into electronic form...

Last Friday is was 102. That is really hot. Especially if your body still thinks you're an Alaskan.

Last Friday I ran a few errands with my mom. First stop returning 5 boys in their car to their mother. Their car had no air conditioner. 102. 20 minute drive. No air conditioning. I spent the rest of the evening feeling sick, laying on the couch underneath the air conditioner.

Hot weekend weather = people in the pool at 9pm. This is a new one for me. To drive past the pool at night, after dark and see 20 people still hanging out.

I've been having lots of fun with my young friends going to the pool almost daily. Annaid was afraid of the water but with some encouragement has now progressed to jumping into the deep end (I catch her hands), and paddling along while holding on to my fingers. Just this week she discovered a Noodle allows her to paddle all over without my support. Problem is I cannot seem to teach her how to float. This is critical is teaching her how to swim and feeling like she's not going to drown if I don't keep a sharp eye out. Exactly how do you teach a kid how to float????

I got vacation time!!!!!! Remember how frustrated I was that I only got 20 hours of vacation after a year instead of the 50 after 90 days that I thought I should get? Well, I (finally!) had my 90 (read 180) day review and my boss addressed the memo I sent requesting a change in my original offer letter to give me more vacation. We discussed it but he was seriously stuck on the "signed this letter" thing. He said he would ammend it to 25 hours after the first of the year but that was it. I thanked him and left.

The next day I was working (very coincidentally) on two other employee vacation issues and was given the current vacation policy in memo form that I had never seen. So in applying that vacation policy to the employee's situation, I realized the policy spelled out vacation for part-timers according to the exact same schedule I was advocating!! So in an off-hand moment I gave my boss the memo, re-iterated that I didn't go looking for it, and said I thought he'd like to know what the policy actually said.

Long and short - I got my vacation time!!!!! Yeah!

On the probationary review - I received outstanding on every category except one - you guessed it - tardiness. You know, even though he rated me excellent on everything, the one thing that sticks in my mind is the "unsatisfactory" for being late. The frustrating thing is I thought I was doing really well. I guess in comparison I am doing well. BUT in the last three months I have been late 12 times. "Excessive" was his term. Last means even one minute past 9am. So most of my lates were clocking in at 9:02 or 9:03. Frustrating for me but I'm not mad at him. It's a very strict standard but really, there's no reason I shouldn't be able to clock in at 8:58-9:00. It's just so annoying that I'm not "there" yet. Grrrrr. Very embarrassing really.

So that's the news for the week. Enjoy your Sunday!

Saturday's obsession

I was going to post that I couldn't post because I just got my copy of the Harry Potter book. Yes, I am one of the masses... though I was smart enough to order from Amazon and so did not stand in line for hours waiting for the midnight release.

I read it all yesterday. It was great and I've been depressed all day. I can't decide if I'm depressed because of a very shocking and sad turn of events in the book (no spoilers from me!) or if it's because I have nothing more to look forward too.....

Tie Guy

Ever worn a crazy tie to work? Do it once or twice and most people will just label you as having really bad taste. Do it all the time and you become a community fixture.

Unless you work for the government. Then you're a subversive and ordered to conform. So much for the wild, individuality of the Alaskan mystique.

The story.

Top 10

Ten reasons hanging with kids is so great...

10 - pick up games of croquet
9 - teachable moments like explaining that the dog peeing every few steps is the way he marks his territory
8 - shredding paper becomes one of the funnest things in the whole wide world
7 - giggling
6 - they don't think I'm too fat to go swimming
5 - card games become less about winning and more about sportmanship
4 - making potato salad knowing that hard boiled eggs cut into amusing trapezoids really just makes it taste better
3 - playing with kids is better than any gym membership
2 - learning Spanish
1 - there's nothing like a kid to make you laugh when you feel down

Continuing the saga...

I decided to bring up the missing stuff conversation again hoping to get it resolved. No such luck. I ended up almost yelling at her. My roommate is now convinced that I tossed some of her stuff when going through my ex-husbands stuff. Apparently I couldn't tell what was his/mine/ours and what was hers and apparently I sent her stuff to him.

And the mysterious tomato box is still an issue. Now it includes a pink clipboard and some second-hand candles that she gave me, I tossed, and she rescued. Right. I tossed her gift and then decided I really needed those darn candles (which I wouldn't be able to display because I stole them back from her) so I misplaced/tossed/sent to my former husband the entire contents of the tomato box.

Geesh!

I've decided to drop the issue and use this to motivate me to work harder on my business so I can generate the income I need to pay the rent all by my little lonesome. Then I will convert the big bedroom into a kids room and take in foster kids.

And be very happy about showing her the door.

Fat Man Walking

I just heard about the journey of Steve Vaught, a 400+ pound man who is walking across the US to lose weight and regain his self. His story is inspirational. He too battled depression and gained lots of weight along that journey. Now he is walking off the weight and sorting out the stuff in his head.

I only wish I were closer so I could offer shelter and a shower for a night.

Keep trekking Steve!

Where I'm from

For all my non-Alaskan readers and former Alaskan readers...

Presenting the moose who checked into the hospital...

And yes this really happened at Alaska Regional Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. And no, it's not a fake. And no, it's not common. But yes, it is common to see moose in the city - especially young, stupid ones. Well, at least the moose was smart enough to turn around and leave (and the people were smart enough to stay out of its way!)

The real story

I'm so pissed off! Remember the note my roommate left me? Well, of all the things I thought it could have been, the real subject was no where close.

She accused me of stealing her stuff. Me! Stealing!

And the stuff I've supposedly thefted? Papers, an old hammer, an old pair of pliers and an tomato box full of stuff. What papers you may ask? Receipts for rent. From me. I stole the receipts I wrote while she was renting from me.

Arrest me now.

Survey says

Join the masses! Support science!

Post-Mortem

So this is the anniversary weekend. Which explains my lethargy and not feeling like doing anything. This year also explains why I was able to shake off the lethargy and have a really good day yesterday. It seemed like it would be healthy and interesting to run down the highs and lows of the year.


Last year I was sleeping 12-14 hours a day and watching 10-12 hours of TV. Last night I went to bed on my own and woke up on my own - 7 hours. I still watch lots of TV. =-)

I started my own business.

I'm still trying to make my business go.

I got a dream job in HR which I love.

I moved into a new apartment - all my own memories.

I refurnished and got new everything - bed, couch, towels, etc.

I gained weight.

I started Weight Watchers just last week and I've lost 5 pounds to start.

I am *completely* med free. No anti-anxiety, anti-depressants or anti-psychotics. Daily vitamins - that's it.

He said he left me because of my sickness and he felt he would be taking care of me forever. I am now healthy, functioning and definitely not sick. The irony is I don't know that I would have gotten better if he stayed.

I've made one adult friend that didn't work out. I've made another adult friend through work. I have three great 9 year-old friends from the apartment complex. I'd rather hang out with them.

I don't know if he consciencely knew he was leaving when we drove the Alcan but there were signs. Yet the move brought me to a new home and to my parents. I am grateful.

I have had two roommates to share the rent. I can't decide if this means I can't/won't/don't want to live truly by myself or if it's really a financial thing. Or if it even matters.

I wish I was a mom.

I tried sattelite TV and switched back to cable after 3 months. And I got a digital recorder. Which I am never giving up!

I am much more outgoing than I remember being. And I am very much a quiet homebody. I need to get out each day or I fall too easily into depression. When I've had great interaction with people, I'm ready to come home and veg and be silent and not engage at all.

I've lost my faith.

I think I'm becoming a liberal.

Everything that I thought about being gay is/has changing/changed.

I really don't like cats.

I don't want emotional entaglements. I'm definitely not ready to date and really not too keen on making friends. I'm not ready for some adult to need my emotional support.

I'm learning so much about myself. I love this time of exploration and discovery.

I really value my friends who have stuck with me and who will let me call at midnight. Hugs and kisses to Laura and Jenn.

I still haven't unpacked the three boxes of framed picts and photo albums.

I changed back to my maiden name. I still find little things in my married name. Last week is was the dog's ID tags (I made new ones). It was also my framed college diploma. How does one deal with that? It's who I was when I earned the diploma and I was very happy with that person. It is not who I am now and I really don't feel like explaining the difference to people.

Some days it feels like the 14 years together didn't even happen.

My ring finger still feels naked when I'm driving to work.

I think he's angry about the financial settlement of the divorce and that bothers me. It also bothers me that I'm bothered.

I have changed my address, driver's license, voter registration, etc. yet I still hear myself referring to myself as an Alaskan. It's been easier to become single than to become a Washingtonian.

Three weeks ago I had my first dream involving me meeting/dating another guy.

Beauty Treatment

Have you ever shaved your feet?

So I'm in the shower, shaving my legs. My heel itches. The pumice is by the sink getting cleaned. The razor is in my hand.

Why not scratch with a razor? I'll be careful. You know, my heel calouses are very annoying and pumiceing them to death does not seem to help. Would a razor take of that little outer layer of skin cells? OMG, this actually shaves off little layers of skin - and no pain!

OK - it was a weird experience but my heels look great! So I figured I could not be the first person to stumble onto this. It's probably some ancient swedish art.

So I mentioned this to my mom who laughed and said that I was definately not the first one to use this technique. It's apparently quite popular in Europe but it's illegal here since you can really mess up your foot. Or at least you have to have a specially licensed podiatrist do it.

I am a lawbreaker! Such a new thing for me. =-)

Supposition

I think my roommate is going to move out. She left a note on my computer this morning.
"When I get home tonight I would like to talk with you. Its important."

I hate that. Why tell me you need to talk? Just come home and talk!

And I know I shouldn't get all bent our of shape over a note. It would be fine if she moved out. But just that stupid not triggers all this stressing over things *that don't matter*. Is she mad at me? Have I done something wrong?

Arrrgh! She is not a person of emotional consequence to me so why should I care what she thinks?! Logic still does not over-rule my illogical thoughts. Sigh.

TOM

There are times I really hate being a girl.

Like that "time of the month" and retreating to the restroom every hour on the hour to "take care of business".

You know, just general times like that.

Tough Interview

I'm so glad this happened in Scotland. It really couldn't happen here, right?

Saeed Akbar, 35, began the interview with a 25-year-old female applicant fully clothed. But at one point he left the room and returned wearing only his birthday suit and clutching a clipboard.

When the appplicant refused to strip as well, Akbar put his clothes back on and attempted to continue the interview as normal. The woman, however, fled in terror and reported the incident to police.

Akbar initially told police his strip was a consensual "role play" as part of his "tough interviewing technique".

Exactly what school do you go to to learn this kind of "interviewing technique"? Hmmmm?

What really gets me is the judge's take on this.

"On the one hand, I have to take into account the distress which you caused your victim. On the other hand, I have to take into account the catastrophic effect this incident has had on your life. You have suffered severely as a result of your actions."

In the States the sentance probably would have been similar. What I don't get is the judge giving the consequences of such an outlandish act equal weight to punishment by law. It almost seems like if the idiot hadn't lost his job, partner, friends, etc., the judge would have given a harsher sentance. Weird.

missing

How is it that the computer I used in the old office had all the right cords and connections and the computer in the new office is completely missing one cord and a female connection?!?!

Moving

The boxes were driving me nuts. It doesn't matter that her brother just died and she inheirited all his crap. The fact is more stuff keeps piling into the "storage" room and I no longer have room to think. Remember the grand plan? Well, it's no longer working.

So we flip flopped her room and the study. She gets a big bedroom with lots of storage space and I get a study that I can actually enjoy working in.

So we started moving stuff Monday evening and she got all her stuff moved in Tuesday (her day off). Mom came over last night to help me arrange my new domain. Now I get to go through boxes and figure out how to store my stuff out-of-sight. That'll take until the weekend...

All this to say I've come to realize I'm completely internet dependent. Two days of being unplugged has sent me panting to my work computer to get my fix.

Memorable? Posts

So do you mentally post to your blog?

I'm often find myself composing a blog post about some event that I've just witnessed. The posts are always insightful, poignant, entertaining, slightly ascerbic and delightfully witty.

Yet these posts never seem to make it to my site. I mentally compose them and then seem to loose the entire post with the next thought. Or I jot a note and later can't decifer it. Or I actually sit down to write and realize what I've written is not insightful, poignant, entertaining, slightly ascerbic or even delightfully witty.

So is there a phantom blog roll in the sky that contains the best of my work?

Peeping Thong Video

I laughed 'til tears ran down my cheeks and I almost peed my pants!

Check out this Girls Behaving Badly video clip and get a free thong!

Thanks to Wildwriter for the link.

So Many Good Things

Living in the Lower 48 has distinct advantages. Like shopping - and sales - and getting $130 worth of clothes for $45. Sweet!

Zip, zap

Little shocks every time I move. Even sitting still my nose and cheeks tingle - kindof like the feeling just before you sneeze. Stairs are a nightmare - shocks on every movement compounded by the force of the climb.

This is not fun.

Puppies all better

So everything seems to be coming out normally among the canine family members. Yeah! Seby still has a few more days of antibiotics but seems like we're through the worst of it.

Remember that my roommate and I had talked and agreed on the strict diet for the dogs? Well last night she let Seby into her room. Then a few minutes later she peeks her head into her room and starts sweetly, nicely, gently calling Seby.

I bolt off the couch. "Is Seby eating in your room?!?" "Yes, I think he has something." (Me calling very sternly and not sweetly) "Seby, come!" Seby trots out with his tail between his legs and a doggie treat of some sort in his mouth. I take away the treat while swearing under my breath.

I swear - I'm going to give my blasted roommate my $200 vet bill and make her pay it!!

Withdrawal

Grrrrrrr. I am so ready to be off these meds!

Remember the little fiasco before? So I took the docs advise and started tapering off much more slowly. First split the 75mg into 37.5mg. Then split the 37.5mg.

Only this isn't as easy as it sound. See, Effexor comes in capsules. And the capsules are filled with little white balls of potentcy. Which means when you pry apart the capsule and attempt to dump out the undesired dose, you inevitably end up with little white beads running around the counter.


So now I'm down to a dozen little balls inside the capsule every-other-day. What is that - like 7.32452398452mg? And I'm still experiencing shocks, dizziness, etc. Will this stuff *ever* let me go??!?!?!??

Puppy alarm

So Sunday night I turn on my alarm clock. I go to sleep and think about how I *will* get up every morning at 7:15am.

Seby starts barking. I look at the clock. 6am. No way am I getting out of bed. Quiet dog! Come back to bed! I don't care if my roommate is up and you can hear her dog roaming about the house. Come here, lay down and be quiet!

Seby begins to woof and such around 7am. I ignore him. He barks a bit more insistently. I look up. The clock reads 7:16am. Why has my alarm not gone off??? Good puppy!!! Mommy is now very happy you were barking like a little maniac!

On getting up...

So Sunday was the first day of my great "get out of bed everyday at the same time and never be late again" effort.

It was a complete failure.

Well, almost complete. I did get up with my alarm at 7:15. Took the puppies out, went potty myself, then looked around the quiet house and thought "WTF?!?!". My roommate, who had to go to work, wasn't even out of bed yet. My eyelids heavy, my body craving the comfort of my bed, I reset my alarm to 10:15am and went back to sleep.

I don't think the middle of the weekend was such a great time to start my new endeavor.

Puppy update

Today has definately been a better day. No scrubbing the carpet - yeah!

I never thought I'd be so excited about poo. Imagine me at 10:30 last night following Seby around the lawn with a flashlight waiting for the "event". Yeah! solid poo! (Glory - no poo yet - of either variety.)

Sick puppies

Yesterday I was thinking of amusing ways to blog about the morning. Seby's barking at 4am - which I ignored. His barking at 5am which I finally acknowledged. There had to be a funny post in there about still waking at 5am on a day I didn't need to be up until 7:15am.

Except the bark at 5am was an urgent call to go outside. As evidenced by the multiple spots of diarrhea on my bedroom floor. So take the puppy out, clean the puppy up, quick puppy clip to reduce hair in the "poop shoot", gagging and spot cleaning the floor, sleeping on the couch for the rest of the night.

Still thinking about a potentially funny post until I came home about 5pm. To more diarrhea except this time there were bloody patches and Glory had contributed. Calls to the vet, dogs outside, clean the floor, put the rugs in the washer, bathe the dogs (*really* needed it), take Seby to the ER vet.

Two hour vet appointment. The vet found nothing wrong on physical exam (poor puppy had to have a rectal). But he was dehydrated and a fecal culture revealed a bacteria overgrowth. The vet said the culture sample was just mucus, blood and bacteria. Gross and very sad. Poor Seby! So sub-cutaneous fluid (insert a big bolus of fluid under the skin absorbed over the next few hours; like an IV), antibiotics and a "good bacteria" paste. Don't know source of the infection/overgrowth which is a bit worrisome.

Came home and washed all their food and water dishes really well. Decided on a game plan with my roommate - no doggie treats or any other types of food other than their kibble. Hopefully she'll even switch her dog to they type of food Glory and Seby eat so my two sneaky pups won't be able to get other types of dog food.

So watched them both last night and today (while shampooing all the carpets - twice). Both seem to be better though Glory's still having some diarrhea. Seby showed a bit of energy tonight when I gave him a new toy but they're both still pretty subdued.

Here's hoping tomorrow is better.

A Solution!

Thanks to Valette, I read this great post on how to be an early riser. What fabulous information!

I've heard of the going to bed, getting up at the same time theory but this guy has a very practical twist on it. And though I'm loathe to give up sleeping in on the weekends, keeping my job is worth it!

And I will admit that I'm much more prone to feeling depressed and sorry for myself when I sleep in really late and just laze around the house.

So here's to getting up at 7:15 on the weekend!

I'll let you know how the grand experiment goes.

Just for the record

I was at work 5 hours and 20 minutes early. This means I woke up at 5am. Can you guess how happy this makes me?

And now I found out that the 7am employee meeting that I came to work early for is actually tomorrow so I get to get up at 5am again.

I'm so trying to be amused but I am not a happy camper.

Birthday Cheesecake

This is the best recipie for cheesecake known to this universe. Wonderful texture, to die for crust. And I just made on for my dad's birthday and it turned out divine!

Grandma Dorothy's Cheese Cake

2 pkg Zwieback (a baby teething cookie; find it in the babyfood aisle; and don't laugh - it's the secret ingredient!) rolled fine
1/4c evaporated milk
1c white sugar
1t cinnamon
Blend together and reserve part of the top crust (about 2T). Pat sides and bottom of lined (wax paper) spring mold and pat firmly.

Beat 4 egg yolks vigorously. Gradually add 1c sugar and beat in 2lbs Philadelphia cream cheese. Add 1/2c cream and 1/2c evaporated milk, 1T flour and 1t vanilla. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites.

Pour into mold. Top with crumbs. Bake 1 1/2hr at 350. After baking let cool 1hr in oven.

Gaining knowledge

T/F Columbus sailed to the New World to prove the world wasn't flat.
T/F Manhattan was purchased for $24.
T/F The Civil War was about states' rights
T/F We've never had a gay president

They're all false (as you probably guessed). I've taken to listening to books on CD while I'm driving to work. I discovered the Modern Scholar series at the library and love them. I'm currently listening to Rethinking Our Past: Recognizing Facts, Fictions and Lies in American History. The lecturer is James Loewen author of Lies My Teacher Told Me and Lies Across America. I've loved learning so many things that certaintly weren't included in my HS or college history classes. Hopefully I'll influence one person to listen or read his book - we should all know our full history, not just the glossy, pretty parts.

OMG!

I'll admit it... I love TV. Last night I watched the season finale of Alias.

Toward the end I was thinking how nice that they were going to wrap up the outstanding plot lines and leave us with only a minor cliff hanger (Nadia in a coma). Then we see Sydney and Vaughn finally having their romantic get-away. He has something to tell her.... Are you a bad guy.... Depends on how you look at it.... First, my name's not Michael Vaughn... SMASH!

My jaw dropped. It was great.

Would you work here?

Roger Green, David Cook and Joe Conway want to enlist highly skilled
software engineers to live and work aboard ship in international waters about
three miles off the coast of California.

Clients would realize savings, in part, from SeaCode’s relatively low
salaries for IT employees. While it could vary depending on skill set, average
pay would be around $21,500.

“Our pay is very close to what a young officer makes fresh out of
school in the military, and his living conditions are a whole lot better [on a
cruise liner] than they are on a military ship,” Cook told HR News. Lodging,
meals and housekeeping would be handled by a 200- to 300-member support crew,
provided free to employees.

There’s no ship yet and they’re waiting until they have clients on board
with the idea before recruiting an estimated 600 software engineers, but the
goal is to be operating by early 2006.

Green said that using SeaCode as an outsourcing destination would not be
much different from outsourcing work to Canada and Mexico, which share borders
with the United States.
Besides, the co-founders say, they plan to mostly
hire U.S. workers. “We will favor Americans first,” Green said.

Four-month onboard stints would be broken up with two months of paid
leave. The LA Times reported May 5 that employees cleared by immigration
authorities would be able to take shore leave when they are off duty, hopping
aboard a water taxi for a 30-minute ride to Los Angeles.
SeaCode would
operate two 12-hour shifts—with time off for coffee, lunch and dinner
breaks—enabling code to be written around the clock for the kind of
time-sensitive software found inside cell-phones or U.S. video games.

But for those who liken the idea to slave ships and worker exploitation,
“nothing could be further [from] the truth,” Green said.

A cruise liner where employees have access to a shipboard doctor and
amenities such as a movie theater, bar, library, workout facilities and
shuffleboard court “sounds like a laboratory where people live in almost idyllic
conditions,” said Green.

Hmmmm. Low pay but fabulous living accomodations. Guess it would be ok if you didn't get seasick!