2005 Recap

I've never been much of a baseball fan, but I sure do love baseball movies. Or at least the ones that are on tonight. I came home tonight after hanging out with Jamie for the afternoon, and Field of Dreams was on. I love that movie so much - I really don't understand why I don't have it on DVD yet. And that movie has been followed up by A League of Their Own - another great baseball movie. What a great way to spend part of New Year's Eve! Add to that some Sims and some IMing with friends and it's a pretty great way to spend the last night of 2005. Although, I would have loved to have some company. :)

So as the old year prepares to end and the new one begin, I thought I'd do the typical recap of the last year. In 2005, I went full-time at my current job, made two great friends (hi Sarah and Jamie!), finally met an old friend in person (and loved hanging out with her and want her to come back and visit again soon), lost my dog Bailey in June, lost my dog Bo in July, adopted my dog Willow in August, adopted my cat Sable after she turned up in my basement last winter, got a new computer (mostly so that I could play the Sims the way it was meant to be played), watched lots of great TV, got addicted to caffeine and then quit it for a while, and didn't have any kind of sex whatsoever (feel free to cry for me). I also lost a grandmother whom I never knew and was surprised to be affected by the loss, got an unexpected call from my very uncommunicative brother (not the one I wrote about before, although I did hear from him on Christmas day) and of course rediscovered skating, and thanks to Sally's gift certificate, I got myself a pair of roller skates. Not the best of years, but certainly not the worst of years.

In 2006 I hope to not lose anyone, human, canine or feline. I also hope to be a little less in debt by the end of the year. And if I manage to get some action before the end of the year, that would be very nice. :) I also hope to actually take a trip with my sister to Virginia in June, instead of just planning it and not going, to take a trip to Tennessee in April to see my oldest brother get married, and have lots of fun with my friends. And hey, losing some weight and getting more in shape would be a welcome thing (but that's not a New Year's resolution, because those are doomed to fail in my life).

Good-bye 2005! I'm ready to see what 2006 has to bring.

24 Hours

Sometimes the dark mood takes hold. My head feels somehow thicker or heavier; my brow tenses. I want nothing more than to climb into bed in the dark, and just lay there. Not go to sleep, not watch TV, not read a book - just lay there, in the dark, doing nothing. I'm an upbeat person by nature, but sometimes even us cheery people get down. This kind of mood can be prompted by many things - the hormones of the week before my period, loneliness, grief (the three years after my Mom died, almost all of my time was spent in this dark place), or what prompted it last night - financial problems.

Now, these problems are very temporary in nature, and I've been in much worse shape over the years. But I was expecting some money to come in - not much, just about $300 - but I was counting on it to pay a few bills, and it didn't come, and I can't find out why until after the New Year, and one of the companies that I was going to pay with that money called yesterday afternoon to remind me that I owe them, and! I don't have to be reminded, believe me, it's been at the top of my mind for a couple of weeks now. But the money didn't come, and that's not my fault, and I had no other way of getting my hands on the money short of borrowing from friends (thanks for the offer, by the way, it means a lot that you trust me and care about me enough to make it) and I am not about to do that. I mean, my next paycheck will be here on Tuesday, and then I'll be able to catch up with just about everybody.

And I was in that dark place all afternoon and night yesterday, and I was still there when I woke up this morning. I didn't want to get out of bed, but I couldn't just lay there all day, and besides, the cats were hungry. So I got up. And when the cats and dog were fed and the dog had been outside, I came into the living room and opened all of the curtains except for the one right next to my desk - that one stayed shut so that I could continue to hide. And it stayed shut, and I stayed sitting in my chair, watching stupid mindless sitcoms on daytime TV, with that tense feeling in my forehead, all morning. And I tried to get a credit limit increase on my credit cards so that I could use one to pay this company that had called, and I couldn't. And I tried to call the company I was expecting the money from, andI got voice mail. And the mail came and I ran out to the mailbox to see if the check had finally (please god) come, and it hadn't. And somehow I let go of the tension. It was now beyond my control. It's the Friday before New Year's, so all of the offices involved - the company I owe, the company I was expecting the check from - are going to be closed, most likely until Tuesday, and by that time I'll have my paycheck and the bill(s) will be paid. And somehow through the simple act of letting go, the dark mood started to lift.

Now this lifting isn't an instant thing, but I played some Sims, I took a hot shower, and I even walked down into the (scary, spiderwebby) basement and checked my fuel oil level and found out that I'm further from running out than I thought I was, so I came upstairs and turned my furnace up to 62 degrees. Because 58 is just too darn cold. And then I watched an episode of Smallville, ignoring the fact that Netflix hasn't received two of my DVDs that I mailed back, even though they were mailed Friday and Saturday, because they will show up eventually. And then I put on my skates and I freaked the dog out again by skating around the dining room. And I took a dish to the kitchen sink, while wearing my skates, and marveled at how different everything looks when I'm suddenly 3 or 4 inches taller than my normal 5'2". And I put on my headphones and hit shuffle on the mp3 player and listened (am listening) to some of my favorite songs play just for me.

And while I'm sitting here writing this, my feet are rolling back and forth underneath me, because I'm still wearing my skates. And almost exactly 24 hours after that dark mood hit me, it is just about gone. Thank goodness that old saying is true: what a difference a day makes.

Hitting the Vacation Stride

Well, I can finally tell I'm on vacation. I did wake up at 6:30 this morning, but I went back to sleep and didn't get up until 8:51. Not bad! And I spent the morning playing the Sims. I moved a family into a house that I built a long time ago but had never played, and I love it! I swear, if I won the lottery I would build it for myself. Unless I fell in love with another house by then, anyway. :)

I spent the afternoon over at Jamie's today. We watched The Goonies, which I had borrowed from Sarah, and then we watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer - the movie, not the TV show. I hadn't watched the movie in a long time - I forgot how fun it was, even though the show was much better as far as the slayer storyline went. Anyway, we watched movies and I played with his kitten and we ate ham and tater tots for dinner, and it was a fun time. Even if his kitten did give me some new scratches! She's a playful one.

Tonight I watched a movie that my sister had given me for Christmas last year but I had never watched. It's actually a disc with two Elizabeth Taylor movies on it. I've never been a huge fan of hers, but I was in an old movie mood tonight, so I popped it in and watched Father's Little Dividend, which would really be more appropriate on a Spencer Tracy DVD, because it was definitely more his movie than Elizabeth Taylor's, but it was very good. I love old movies. I used to love watching them on AMC before they started playing commercials - now I pretty much boycott that channel, because I can't stand watching commercials. I don't like them on TV, I don't like them on the radio (I listen to my mp3 player in the car, with a cassette stereo adapter), and I especially don't like them on channels that didn't used to show them but now do. Anyway, the movie was very good. And you've gotta love a movie that still has married couples sleeping in twin beds. What the heck is that about? Oh, the '50s. The era of women staying home and taking care of babies that somehow magically appear even though the parents slept in separate beds. Thank goodness for women's lib and a more accepting viewing public that finally let married couples sleep together on TV and in the movies.

And on a totally different subject, I didn't write about this the other day, but my sister and I are planning to take a trip in June. It's going to be our first annual sister's trip (although my nieces may end up coming too), and we're planning on going to Virginia to go to Busch Gardens, as well as to go shopping at the area places. I grew up in Williamsburg - we lived here in New York until I was 10, then we moved down there. I haven't been back since I moved back to NY in 1994, so it'll be really interesting to see how much has changed. And I can't wait to go to Busch again. My first job was there, the summer between junior and senior year, the first roller coaster I ever rode is there (the Loch Ness Monster), and I just can't wait to see it again. And that gives me six months to get back into shape a bit. Now if I can just stop this habit of eating when I'm bored...

Okay, now it's 9:40 at night and I am not tired (see above, re: getting up at 8:51 this morning). There's nothing on TV and I'm done with the Sims for the day, so I'm off to find some other way to waste time. Have a great night!

Picture of the day:


Willow poses pretty for the camera. Seconds after this picture was taken, I'm sure she started barking for no reason and generally started annoying the heck out of me. It's just lucky for her that she's so darn cute.

Ham Overload

Today was such a very low key day. I really haven't done anything useful all day. I've played the Sims again for the first time in weeks, I've watched TV (there's really nothing worth watching on daytime TV, is there? With the exception of GH, of course, which I save for the weekend), I've read my book, I've watched a couple of movies - see? Nothing of any value. I've also been bored out of my mind for a good chunk of the day, which sucks. I've got to find a better way to keep myself entertained, because I have six more days off before I have to go back to work.

I also cut up the little ham that I got from work and had a slice of it for dinner, along with too many potatoes that I didn't mash very well and a couple of Grands biscuits. I have two plates of ham leftover in the refrigerator now, so I think most of it will be going into the freezer for a while. I will probably make scalloped potatoes with some of it, though.

So I don't think I wrote in here about getting a $100 Amazon.com gift certificate from my friend Sally. She sent it to me before Christmas, but I didn't use it because I wanted to wait to see what I got from my sister's family. Well, I used it after Christmas to order a pair of roller skates and a pair of sneakers. Yay! I can't believe I spent over half of that gift certificate on roller skates, but I just had so much fun ice skating on Saturday, and it really reminded me of how much fun skating is. And suddenly I really wanted to purchase a pair of roller skates, so now as soon as they come in the mail, I'll have a pair. Now I just have to find someplace to skate other than in my own house. There aren't any roller rinks around here, but I might be able to work out someplace to skate at work. We'll see. Anyway, I can't wait to get them.

Okay, I think I'm going to go back to watching When Harry Met Sally. Have a great night!

Picture of the day:

My cat Lucy, sitting on top of my pretty Christmas table runner, which was given to me by Sally a couple of years ago.

A Tale of Two Sisters

Gather 'round, everyone. It's story time again! If you remember the last tale I told you, then you know a little bit about the girl and her brother. In this tale, I will tell of the girl and her sister.

The sister spent her early childhood surrounded by brothers; one older and two younger - they were everywhere! She wished for nothing more than a little sister. And in the week of her tenth birthday she finally got her wish - for the girl was born! And the sister was happy to help her Mother out in caring for the girl, for she was like a little brown haired baby doll! Then, when the girl was two and her sister 12, their father died in an accident.

Times were tough for the sisters after the death of their father; well, honestly, they were tough for the sister, because the girl was too young to really know what was going on. The sister became a second mother to the little girl, because their mother had to work long hours to support her family. The years were long and hard, but things did finally get better. Their Mom didn't agree with her decision for a long time, and was very extremely upset, but the sister had fallen in love and gotten herself pregnant at 15, and was a wife and Mother at 16.

People would say that 16 is too young to be a wife and mother, but what they wouldn't count on is that the sister had grown up way beyond her years after her father died, and her strength and the strength of the love she and her husband shared for each other carried them through. And they had tough years without much money, but they had six happy kids and a loving family and the sister's strength grew with each passing hardship.

Now the girl kind of felt like she lost her sister for a while. Once her sister got married and moved away, when the girl was just six years old, they didn't get to spend much time together. The sister was busy being a wife and mother, and the girl was busy growing up. The distance between the sisters grew by 600 geographic miles when the girl was ten, and she moved to Virginia with her Mom and Step-Dad.

The years passed and the girl grew up, and when she was 23 her Step-Dad died, and a year later she and her Mom moved back home. Suddenly, after nearly 14 years, the girl and her sister were living in the same state, less than 15 miles apart. And they started to develop a friendship. They rediscovered what it was like to have a sister, and with every passing year they grew closer. The girl found out who her sister had become, and she loved her even more than she ever did. The sisters' Mom died six years after they moved back home, and after a period of sadness and grief and depression, the girl cherished her sister even more.

And then came Christmas and her sister bought the girl a digital camera and a book and a CD and more importantly, welcomed her into her home to spend time with her family. She fed her a wonderful meal and spent a couple of hours watching a good movie with her and then, as if that weren't enough, the next day she took her to watch a movie and have lunch, and the girl loved the hours spent together on a holiday Monday.

And the girl wanted the world to know that she had the most amazing sister in the world, so she posted it on the Internet for all to see.

And now for the picture of the day, courtesy of the girl's new digital camera:

After a short December thaw, winter returns to Central New York.

Christmas

What a great day it has been. I got up before 7:30 and was on my way to my sister's house an hour later. She has such a great family - she has six kids, the youngest of which is 18 now, and five of them were there today, two of them with their spouses and two with their girlfriends. I got to be there with them while they opened up all their presents, which I absolutely love, and my sister loved the necklace I gave her. And I loved what she gave me! I got A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon, Wildflower by Sherly Crow and...a digital camera! You'll be seeing a lot of pictures on this page for a while. I also got Finding Neverland from my nephew and his wife (we had drawn names, and his wife got my name), along with a super soft throw, which I loved. Overall, a very nice haul.

And we had a great dinner, but the food aside, it was just wonderful to sit around a table with 11 other people, who were all telling stories and jokes and laughing and just enjoying being with each other. This wonderful family time is what makes the holidays truly worthwhile. And now I'm going to go spend the evening watching a Christmas movie on ABC Family channel. But I'm not signing off without showing you some pictures! I can't show any of my family on here, since they don't know about the page and it's not my place to plaster their images on the Internet, but I'll show what I can.

My sister's dog, Ginger

My Christmas tree, without flash.

My Christmas tree, with flash. The angel is crooked, but given that it's on top of the TV (it's a 3' tree) and that my cats spend a large amount of their time sitting on top of the DVR next to it, pulling at the branches, it's really a wonder that the whole thing hasn't fallen to the floor (that's Gracie in the picture).

Okay, that's it for tonight. I hope you all had a great holiday, and that Santa brought you everything your heart desired!

Christmas Eve Day

Merry Christmas Eve!

As mentioned yesterday, Sarah and I went ice skating today. It was very fun - and I managed to not fall on my ass even once! Sarah didn't fall either, so we did really well. We had one near collision where she had stopped on the wall and I almost ran into her, but that was it. When we first went out on the ice, I was hugging the wall for dear life, afraid to even move my feet. But a childhood spent on roller skates can't be denied, and once I got used to the ice, I was skating away from the wall pretty well. I kept having to take breaks, though, because my ankles were trying to give out on me and I kept losing my center of balance. It reminded me of how much fun skating is, though, and now I want to buy a pair of roller skates. I probably won't do it, because when the heck will I ever use them? Oh but man, I want them.

I also went to Walmart today, which I was afraid was going to be horrible, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I had to go because Willow (my dog, in case you haven't read any older entries) was almost out of food. Plus I wanted to pick up Serenity on DVD for my sister for Christmas. And now I'm watching Jack Frost on TV and am going to watch It's a Wonderful Life at 8:00, so it's a nice Christmas Eve. Tomorrow I'll be spending the day at my sister's house, so it'll be evening before I update again. Have a nice holiday everyone!

The Holiday Begins

Things accomplished at my work today:

1. Twelve laptop keyboards blown out with an air compressor.

2. Impromptu purple snowball fight with the coolest packing material ever - purple circles of foam.

3. Lots of laptops imaged, bagged and tagged, ready to be distributed in January.

4. Game of bowling using stacks of the purple circles of foam as pins and a small can of soda as a bowling ball.

5. A couple of laptop and cell phone returns processed.

6. A couple of games of magnetic darts played on the dollar store magnetic dartboard brought in yesterday by our boss.

7. A few phone calls answered.

8. Lots of attention given to the laptop technician's dog, who she brought in with her today.

9. And thrown in throughout the day, lots of joking and shirking of duty. And maybe some inappropriate dirty remarks were tossed around for good measure.

Doesn't that sound like a fun day? And it all ended at 2:00, with the boss leaving an hour and a half earlier than us. You should be able to guess how much work got done in that last hour and a half (and maybe you can even guess which of the above activities took place during that time, too). And now we're off for 11 days in a row, except for Jamie, who took an extra week, a fact of which I will be very jealous come January 3rd, when I have to get up at 6:00 and go back in, while he sleeps in until 11:00 or 12:00.

On deck for tomorrow - grocery shopping (not so fun, especially since I am broke) and ice skating with Sarah (should be very fun). I haven't actually skated since about 1996, and that was the first time I was ever on ice skates. I did spend my youth on roller skates, though (mostly while I pretended to be Tootie from The Facts of Life), so once I rediscover my balance on the blades, I should be fine. Of course, I could be spending most of the time on my ass, too. I'll update with all the thrills and spills tomorrow.

So Tired

I'm so happy that tomorrow is Friday. One more day, and then I have 11 days off in which to sleep for lots of hours every night! I'm looking forward to that a lot, because right now, for some reason, I am very much tired. Of course, I did come home and shovel a metric ton of snow and ice out of the other side of my driveway (the side I park in is relatively clear out of necessity, but I had let the other side go and had nowhere for anyone else to park). I'm very much out of shape, so tossing around that much heavy snow and ice left me with achy muscles and a tired body. Yes, I need to start exercising. And possibly eating healthier.

I got the job posting for that job I mentioned the other day. It has a lot of things listed in the duties that I'm not real confident in my ability to do, simply because I don't have much experience with them. I am pursuing a degree which will ultimately make me perfect for this job, but I'm only partway through that degree right now. This is a marketing position, and I haven't actually taken any marketing classes yet. Still, the human resources person e-mailed me about it yesterday to apologize for not getting the job posting out on Tuesday like she said she would, and she asked me this afternoon if I had gotten it, so I know she's still maybe hoping I'll apply. (And it looks from the description like I would be answering to her, so that's a good sign.) I think my next step will be to see what pay scale is involved in the job, compare that to what I'm making now, and decide if the upgrade would be enough to make it worth leaving a job that I really like. It's very hard to leave a job in which you're happy; it's much easier to take the leap when you hate your job. Believe me, I've been on that side, too, and it makes the decisions much easier. Anyway, I'll probably apply - if nothing else, I'll find out more about the position during an interview, and if I'm not quite qualified enough for it now, maybe by the time I complete my degree, the position will open up again. We'll see how it works out.

Of course, if I just go in there with some confidence and if they will take the time to show me the ropes and not just throw me in without a life preserver, I'm sure I'd be perfectly capable of doing the job and doing it really well. So really, I just need to screw up my courage and do it. Best case scenario, I get the new job and enjoy a challenging position and an accompanying raise in salary. Worst case scenario, I don't get the job and keep working at a job where I am very happy. There's really no losing here.

Skin Deep

I just got to thinking about something. How much of a person do we see when we look at them? Our society is so hung up on appearances that we've been almost programmed to look at someone's surface and take it to be their true identity; the beautiful people, the geeks, the ugly people and every other group you could name. But when we look at someone and label them based on their appearance, how much of their inner self are we missing?

When we (and I do include myself in this group) look at people, we don't usually see anything other than that surface appearance. But when we take the time, either voluntarily or because we're forced to by circumstances such as work or school, we find really incredible people inside. So why don't we take the time more often? After all, some of the best, most interesting personalities are hidden behind plain facades. Sometimes the character of a person is much greater than the exterior that nature gave them.

This thought was sparked while I was watching an episode of Smallville, of all things. Still, it's a good thought. You don't have to be beautiful to be interesting; scratch the surface of an average or below average looking person, and you just might find someone worth knowing. (Then again, you might just find an average asshole. But that's the gamble of life, isn't it?)

Random Slice of My LIfe

I didn't see the job posting for that job today. Jamie said he gets them e-mailed to him, and he didn't get it, so it must not have come out today. I'll keep watching for it, though.

Today was another day of cleaning laptops all day. It was okay, though, because annoying boy called in sick today (is it bad that I actually cheered when I got that message? He's just so horrible and annoying! Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll be out again tomorrow), so it was me and Jamie up front all day. We watched some Buffy and part of The Breakfast Club (which has a lot of cussing in it, which I somehow never noticed until I was watching it at work. Oops!) and he scared the holy hell out of me at one point by sneaking up on me while I was using an air compressor to blow out a keyboard, and then jumping out at me when I shut it off. Bastard :).

And every morning I've gotten up thinking, "at this time next week, I will still be sleeping." Yes, I am looking forward to this break next week. Oh yes. And right now I'm getting a headache and I don't know why, and my cat Kate keeps coming up to the side of my chair meowing at me in her bitchy way, but when I bend down to pick her up, she walks under the desk where I can't get to her. And Willow is hovering around my desk, mostly to keep Kate from succeeding in getting on my lap, I think, and it's cold in here and I had to shovel snow before I could get into the driveway this afternoon, and the season finale of Nip/Tuck is on tonight, but Jamie and I won't be watching it until tomorrow after work, and I know he's going to go online and spoil himself about who the carver is (and you had better not! Or I'll hurt you in horrible unspeakable ways) and for some reason I haven't been in the mood to play the Sims for over a week now, and I'm hoping that this just means that I'll be able to play all week while I'm off without feeling burned out about it until at least Thursday.

Also, I got a Christmas card today from my niece-in-law and my nephew, and she wrote in it that she heard I had seen Chronicles of Narnia, which I was supposed to see with my sister, but she never called me this weekend so we didn't go, and I'm hoping that it doesn't mean that she went without me, because I will be SO ticked off at her if she did. We've been trying to get together for a couple weeks now and haven't managed it, and we both really wanted to go see this movie together. But her daughter came home from college last week, and something tells me she went to see it with her. Hmph. She's going to have some 'splainin' to do! (said in your best Ricky Ricardo voice, of course.)

Wow, this has been a random entry. Off the top of the head and random, that's me. I hope you're having a great Tuesday night! If you watch Nip/Tuck, don't spoil me until after I've watched it tomorrow night.

Oh, and for Jamie (and anyone else who knows the movie The Breakfast Club like those of us who grew up in the 80s do): "I want to be an air force ranger!"

Interesting Monday

I had a very interesting afternoon at work. Well, the work itself wasn't really interesting - just the normal stuff. But I went to the offices next door at about 3:45 to put some stuff in the mail, and the human resources person pulled me into her office. They have a marketing position open, and she thought it was something I might be interested in. They're looking for someone who is strong in writing (which I'm pretty good at, the casual online writing here notwithstanding) and had asked me earlier what degree I had and what I was working on (Associate's in Technical Writing and Bachelor's in Electronic Marketing and Publishing, respectively). First, I was flattered that she thought to mention this position to me a day before it is posted for everyone else to see, and second, I am so interested! Well, I'll have to see what the job description is, and if it sounds like it would suit me, of course. Still, if it does, I'll definitely apply. I love the job that I have (compared to the job I had before, it's fantastic, believe me), but it doesn't pay the best, and I have a ton of bills. And it seems like the new job would have to pay a lot more.

Anyway, it's something to think about, and believe me, I'll be looking at that job description tomorrow for sure.

A Christmas Story

How have I never watched A Christmas Story before? Seriously, it was made in 1983, when I was 13 - I should have grown up watching it. It's played all day at Christmas on TBS or one of those stations, and all I ever did was see parts of it. But, Sarah lent me a copy of it on Friday, and I just finished watching it. I now understand the genius that is this movie. As quoted by Sarah and Jamie at work, "meatloaf, schmeatloaf, double beetloaf, I hate meatloaf." But I love this movie. I'll be owning a copy of it before next Christmas, guaranteed.

Also, the kid who played Flick looked familiar to me, so I looked him up on imdb, and found out that I recognized him from Toy Story. I also found out, however, that after these two family movies, he grew up to have a future in porn! Ha! That sweet innocent kid, who got his tongue stuck to a pole in the movie, taking part in films such as Dirty Bob's Xcellent Adventures 35 and 36, The Wrong Snatch and, of course, you can't forget New Wave Hookers 5. Kudos, Flick! What an Xcellent career you have had! (And it brings a whole new meaning to his getting his tongue stuck to a pole, doesn't it? The mind, it goes to such dirty places.)

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid!"

An Entry In Bad Taste

Warning: the entry below displays very tasteless, tactless, in bad taste humor, which may only be funny to Jamie and me. But I'm sure there are some other people out there with similar senses of humor, and they might appreciate it too. Of course, this could be a case of "you had to be there." You guys will have to be the judge on that one.

Inappropriate comments made by me and Jamie during a very serious episode of Nip/Tuck, in which a plane crashed and Sean, Julia and Christian went to help the victims.

When Julia was helping a dying woman who had been badly burned, and she asked Julia to tell her daughter to have her cremated: “She’s halfway there already!”

When a guy who lost his legs to diabetes had to have his arms amputated so that he wouldn’t keep losing blood, “They can throw him in the water and call him Bob.” “They can lay him on the floor in front of the door and call him Matt.”

About the dying woman who was wearing a necklace and a Red Sox patch. Discussing taking them to the woman’s daughter, who was waiting at the airport hotel. “They probably have flesh stuck to them, they should be cleaned off first.” “No, give them to her like that. She’ll always have a piece of her Mom with her!”

These were followed by a lot of laughter. We have very similar, wicked senses of humor sometimes.

So? Tasteless and tactless, right? At least you can't say I didn't warn you!

Oops

I missed my first day! I'm sorry holidailies! I meant to post one, but I did so much yesterday, that by the time I sat down last night I was suddenly ready to fall asleep - and it was only 8:00 at night! I forced myself to stay up for a couple more hours, but apparently my tired brain didn't want to think about posting an entry. Oops!

So why was yesterday so busy? Well, to start with, when I got up yesterday it was snowing heavy and fast. I attempted to go to work on time, but first I had to scrape an inch of ice off my car, and then I had to shovel the driveway while the car kept warming up. So I left a little late, but I would have only been about fifteen minutes late overall. But then I started driving, and the roads looked like they hadn't been plowed at all, even though I'm sure they had - it was just snowing so fast that they couldn't keep up. It was pretty damn scary, so I only got about a mile and a half, and then I turned around and came home. And by the time I got here I could only see out of a small spot in the middle of my windshield, and was very happy to pull back into my driveway. So I hung out and watched Smallville and waited for the snow to stop, which it finally did, and I was only four hours late to work. Which sucks, but it's winter in Central New York, so there you go.

And work was actually pretty fun. The students are gone and we're cleaning laptops and the boss left early so it was kind of like a party. Sort of, only without the drinks and food. But we did get to watch Christmas cartoons, and that was fun!

After work I got groceries and came home and lugged them all in and decorated my tree finally, now that I had finally bought the lights for it, and sat down, and boom! I was tired. And that's where we started this entry.

Also, did you see that this entry was listed as one of the best of holidailies? I was so excited! Thanks, anonymous reader(s) who voted for that! Obviously this current entry isn't going to be listed there, but they can't all be winners. I hope you all have a great Saturday! I'll try to post again tonight, to catch up.

Semester Finale

And...it's finally over! The fall semester has officially ended. I had my final presentation for my web publishing class today, and as soon as we were done my 5 1/2 week vacation started. Woo! I love those 5 1/2 weeks more than I can say.

I think my presentation went pretty well. My idiot male group partner was an idiot again, of course (he did a power point for his portion of the presentation, and misspelled "message" in one heading to be "massage," which I found hilarious), but overall it was fine. A different professor from the department sat in on the presentations, and when it was over he came up to me and asked me what my major is and why he hasn't seen me in his classes yet. I explained that I work full-time and have been taking classes part-time, so I only take two at a time, and he said that he was looking forward to having me in one of his classes! Which made me feel really good - I took it to mean that he liked my presentation! Which was a very nice feeling, and a great way to end the semeseter.

Today should also mark the end of the incredibly busy days at work, because it was the last day of classes, so the students should all be gone home. So the rest of the week will be much more relaxing.

And now I can relax...at least until grades come out! Okay, I'm off now to watch an episode of Smallville. Have a great night!

Small Update

I had to post again to say that my entry went online at holidailies right after Kymm's. I feel like I'm sitting next to royalty. I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!

Frankness

When I was PMSing last week, I had to write a five page final paper for my web publishing class. The last section of the paper was supposed to be grading the members of my group on their participation in the group project. I said I was PMSing, right? So I kind of went on and on for about two pages on why our group sucked, which it did, and most of my criticism was directed at the male member of our group, who decided that he was the only one who knew anything about designing and coding web pages, and he scrapped ours and made some of his own (which were fine, but didn't really use what we had learned in class and which didn't fit what the client wanted). I didn't say anything to him at the time, simply because of the time limit involved - we had less than a semester to create a new web page for this business - but I certainly didn't hold back in the paper.

And then I felt bad about it, and when the professor e-mailed us all and asked for a soft copy of our reports, I asked him if the comments were confidential and said I wasn't sure if I should have said anything.

But, I think what PMS does for me is just makes me not care enough about saving people's feelings to stop me from saying what I think, and the professor thanked me for my frankness, so there you go. PMS frankness - good or bad, you decide.

Today was another busy ass day. I'm going to be so glad when these kids are finally gone for the semester (which they mostly should be by the end of the day tomorrow). And the sad thing is, even though we've been this busy now, this is nothing compared to what it will be like at the end of the spring semester. On days like this, it's a good thing I like my job. Mostly.

Also, there was some workplace drama going on in the background today. I heard some details, enough to know it wasn't about me (whew) and to feel enough in the know to be able to sit and feel all amused at what was going on. No details listed, sorry - if anyone at work ever finds this (other than Sarah and Jamie), I want to still be employed after they read it. Hi people at work! I love my job! Yes I do!

Okay, I've written enough for today, and so I will end it here. After I say that I finally got the necklace I ordered for my sister, and it is lovely! I think she will love it. Woo! Giving great gifts rules.

Cyndi!

What an amazingly unreal Monday I have had! First, up early this morning and at work 40 minutes early. On a Monday. What's wrong with that picture? Then we were super busy all day at work. Final exams are this week until Wednesday, and the students who aren't returning next semester are coming in to return their laptops and cell phones, and we had just non-stop traffic into our office all day. I couldn't wait for the door to close at 4:30 (although even then I ended up waiting on a couple more people who snuck in and actually had customers right up until I left at 5:00).

Then tonight my friend Jamie took me to see Cyndi Lauper in concert at the Turning Stone Casino. He asked me if I wanted to go with him a couple of months ago, and I said sure! Especially since he was treating for the ticket, and who am I to turn down a free show? I haven't really followed her career much lately, but I was a fan in the 80s - the She's So Unusual tape is in the glovebox of my car at this very second, as a matter of fact. I wouldn't have gone out of my way to see her, but I figured it would be fun. And it was a blast! She was out in the audience, climbing on tables, talking to the people in the crowd - and we were sitting up so close that I was only about four feet from her most of the time. Very cool.

I don't know how to describe this show to make you appreciate how cool it was. It was in a pretty small venue, and since our seats were so close, it actually felt like she was singing to about 10 or 20 of us. She told stories, she rocked us out, it was incredible. And she did a few of her 80s songs, so I was even able to sing along from time to time! (Or Time after Time, ha!) I left with True Colors in my head. In fact, it's still there. Sing along with me, won't you?

And I see your true colors shining through
I see your true colors
That's why I love you
So don't be afraid
To let them show
Your true colors,
Your true colors
Are beautiful
Like a rainbow...

That was great! We make a good team. And now, it is 11:02 and I have to be up in seven hours to get ready for work, and it's probably going to take me an hour to wind down. But I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Thanks James!

Update, and news

I just wanted to update after my final exam. It was so easy! I'm glad I didn't stress too much about it. It was 155 multiple choice questions and an essay, and only took about an hour. Not bad in my book. And that's one more class under my belt. Now I have a final presentation on Wednesday, and then I'm done for the semester. Yay! I'm going to love the 5 1/2 week break.

Also, I talked to my sister earlier, when she called about going to a movie, and she told me that the bank in town (it's a very small town, with only one bank) had some corporate people come in and fire the two managers in the branch, with no warning at all. And then, the part that I thought was absolutely great, the tellers walked out, losing their jobs, and a lot of the community pulled their accounts out of the bank in support of the managers. I think that's so incredible - you don't really think of people today being supportive of their fellow people, but they really were this time. Good for them! And one of the managers was a woman I used to work with, back when I worked at a different branch of the bank in 1994 - 1995. We were both tellers at the time. I got out when I did because they were starting to charge people to go to tellers, and were pushing sales very hard on their tellers, and I am not a salesperson. And they really just gave the impression even back then of being a corporation that was more concerned with their bottom line than they would ever be about their customers or staff. It looks like I was right.

And I hope all of the people at the bank find better jobs quickly. They all deserve them.

Sunday Plans

It's been a quiet weekend for the most part (hair cutting excitement aside). I had tentative plans with my sister to go to a movie that didn't happen due to scheduling conflicts (she had a cookie exchange to go to this afternoon and I have a final exam to go to at 6:00). I also had tentative plans for my friend Jamie to come over and spend a few hours while WE watched the last three episodes of Nip/Tuck. That didn't end up happening because he slept until almost 1:30 in the afternoon (!!!) and I need to study for that stupid final.

But it's been okay. I haven't actually done much studying yet (I opened my notes file, but I haven't actually read through it yet), but I have had a good day anyway. I watched last week's episodes of General Hospital and finished getting myself hooked on a show that I just discovered - Veronica Mars. What a good show! I had the first disc of season one from Netflix, and I watched three episodes last night and one this morning. I'm hooked - it's a great show. Unfortunately, I'll have to watch all of the episodes as they come out on DVD, because the show is on UPN, which I don't get. After just watching four episodes, though, I am completely hooked, and will be watching the rest of season one as soon as I can get the DVDs from Netflix. Of course, I'm also getting caught up on Smallville, so I'm going to have some tough decisions ahead as I decide what to put on the top of my queue. I love having the problem of too many good shows to watch! I'm such a TV-aholic.

Christmas is just two weeks away. I'm in pretty good shape for it, shopping wise. I have my sister's and niece's gifts ordered, which are all on their way to me. I just have to order something for my friend Sally (hi Sally, if you're reading this!) and I think I'm going to order Serenity to give to my sister too. I have enough for her, but she loved the movie (I got her hooked on Firefly and took her to the movie the weekend it opened), so I want to order it for her too. It doesn't come out until 12/20, though.

Well, I guess I should get to reading through my notes so that I'll be at least semi-prepared for the final in three hours. I'm not too worried about it, but I need to review, so I better get to it. I hope anyone who reads this is having a good weekend. Do something exciting for me, okay?

Being Broke is Dangerous

I am broke this month. I'm going to get all of my bills paid, and I'll even be able to buy a few groceries, but there is no extra cash in my budget this month. This isn't something that's fun to live with, but I don't need anything that I don't have, so I can live with it. And thanks to the glory of student loans, by the end of next month times will be much easier. In the meantime, though, one situation was getting pretty desperate. And desperate times call for desperate measures, right? Right. Except it's probably not a good idea to let that desperation lead you into the bathroom with a pair of scissors and a head of hair that has gotten so long that it's driving you crazy. Yes, I cut my own hair.

I'm sure a hair dresser would think the job I did was horrible. The ends aren't even, I cut huge hunks of hair at a time instead of doing one layer of hair at a time like the professionals do. But I'll clean up the edges tomorrow after I take my shower, while my hair is wet. And I've done this before, so I knew not to cut too short - I got rid of about three inches. But they were inches I could afford to lose - my hair was down to the middle of my back. Now? Just below the shoulders. Even after the ends are trimmed to even them up, I'll still have a respectable full head of hair.

But for the rest of today, I'm wearing a ponytail. It's a good thing I don't plan on leaving the house.

Introducing Sable

This is the second in a series of entries that will eventually introduce all five of my cats. Yes, I have five of them. What can I say? I'm a sucker for the four legged critters.

Sable is at least a year old, but she looks like she's about six or eight months old because she is very tiny. She was a stray, probably a barn cat from down the road who walked up the street and ended up at my house. I saw her outside a few times from the window, mostly when one of my other cats, Gracie, would go running from one window to another with her eyes all wide at the sight of this interloper in our front yard. She'd never let me near her outside, though. I started putting food out for her, because I felt so bad for her! The poor little homeless thing.

Then I started getting possums on my front porch, because they were drawn by the cat food, and I hadn't seen Sable hanging around lately, so I stopped putting food out. And then when it snowed again a few weeks later, there were tiny little cat prints in the snow, and I felt so horrible! I immediately over compensated by putting too much food out. Like I said, I'm a sucker for the four legged critters.

This went on for most of the winter, and then my dog Bailey started acting very strange - I thought she was losing her mind. She started going to the basement door and whining and basically acting obsessed with the fact that this door MUST BE OPENED RIGHT NOW! So eventually I said, okay Bailey, if it will calm you down, I'll open the door and show you that there's nothing on the other side of it. And what do you know? Sable was on the other side. She had found her way into the basement.

Long story short (is it too late for that?), I started making friends with her by holding the basement door open and getting on the floor to talk to her while she stayed on the steps. I fed her treats, which she gobbled up, and became convinced that my basement kitty (because you know she was already going to be mine - there was absolutely no doubt) could be tamed. So one day I opened the door and walked away, and just let her walk in. She freaked out a lot at first, and after I took her to the vet and got her tested for diseases and given her shots and spayed, I brought her home and let her acclimate to indoor life in the spare room. It took a few months to calm her down and adjust everyone, but before long she was part of the household. Shy at first, she has turned into a real snuggler - almost as much as Zelda.

She's little and cute and soft and loves to be petted and loves to purr in my ear and I'm so glad she showed up in my basement, and so glad that Bailey was still here at the time to let me know that she was in the basement. And I think she's loving being inside this winter, instead of outside in the cold!

It's Cccccold in Here

My workplace is really testing a PMSing girl's good mood lately. Yesterday they told us that our department was only going to be working seven hours a day during the school's winter break (for anyone who happens to come here from holidailies who hasn't read my archives - I work at a small college, where I also attend two classes a semester in pursuit of my Bachelor's degree), and that we would just lose those other five hours a week. What the heck? How can they do that with only a week's warning? The semester break starts a week from today. I, for one, cannot afford to lose that much money a week - I have a heating fuel bill to pay and I'm broke as it is. I complained, and I wasn't the only one - the policy is under review now, and we may have a "transition year" to adjust to the new policy so that we won't have to lose that much money this year without having the chance to prepare for it in advance.

So that's the first thing. I was in a really good mood until I got that news yesterday, but I mananged to regain it after we got the news that it might be rescinded. Great!

Then I come in this morning (at 7:30, to make up some of the time that I lose going to classes) and it is FREEZING in here. It was below 60 degrees when I came in, and it's only warmed up about two degrees since then (it's 8:23 now). If I have to wear my coat and gloves today, I'm not going to be a happy camper. I mean, the hormones are playing with my mood as it is - I just may snap later if I can't thaw my fingers out at some point.

Also? Being lactose intolerant really sucks sometimes. I went down to our little cafe to get a bagel for breakfast, and I really wanted to get some hot chocolate, too - to help warm me up. I asked if it was made with milk or water, and it's made with milk. Damn. This day better start looking up soon, or it's going to be a long 8 1/2 hours before I get to leave. My one consolation - the annoying boy who works part-time at the beginning of the week won't be in today. Yay! Instead I get to work with Sarah, who is great. Thank goodness - otherwise I may have lost my mind! Annoying boy's neck might not have made it through the day without my fingers wrapping around it and cutting off his air supply.

Now, if only I could get a little heat in here...

Plow Guy

It's the first day of holidailies! I'm excited about updating every day. We'll see if I still feel that way at the end of the month!

So, I live in central New York. We get a fair amount of snow up here - way more than I would like, but that's a different story. And, in my infinite wisdom, when I was looking to buy a house in the summer of 1999, I decided that the one I must have, the perfect house for me, was the one that was up in the hills, where there aren't many people and the scenery is beautiful - but we get so much wind that they actually erected windmills all around where I live just a year after I moved in. In case you don't live somewhere that gets a lot of snow, let me just say this - an abundance of snow + an abundance of super strong wind = crazy amounts of snow built up in my driveway. I live alone, I don't have a snow blower, and I'm happy to shovel (well, okay, so I'm not exactly happy, but I'll do it), but sometimes there is just too much snow to shovel. I mean, a double car driveway that is about 3 - 4 car lengths long is just too much to shovel when the snow is 3 feet deep in spots. So I have always called someone to plow when it's gotten too bad. Until last year, when someone started plowing it for me.

At first I had no idea who was doing it, and although I was happy to come out in the morning and have my driveway cleared, I was also waiting for someone to send a bill to me, and boy was I not going to be happy - I hadn't hired this person! I certainly wasn't going to pay some unexpected bill. And then the person came and plowed while I was home one night, and when he had finished, I watched out the window, and saw him pull into the driveway up the road. It was my neighbor! Which was very nice, but it kind of creeped me out. He's in his 50s, he's a recent widower, and the one time I've spoken to him was the summer of 2004. My sister and her husband were at my house, and my brother-in-law was unloading something from his truck into my garage, where I said he could store it. While he was doing that, my sister and I were standing in the garage talking and watching him (because it's just fun to watch other people work while you stand around, isn't it?). My neighbor's dog came down during all of this, and started barking and acting like he was going to attack us in my own driveway. We actually came into the garage and shut the door, because the dog meant business and he looked a little like he had a couple screws loose, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, my neighbor came down to get his dog and take it home, and he was plastered. I mean, absolutely shit faced, and it was early afternoon. Fun! And his dog bit him when he was taking it home and I think he ended up having it put down, but again - that's a different story.

So, back to the point of all this - do you remember the point? This guy started plowing my driveway last winter, and although I was extremely grateful to him for doing it and saving me the money of hiring someone, I was also a little suspicious. I don't generally get people doing things for me and not expecting anything from me in return, and what was he going to want? I shuddered to think. But he never asked for anything or made any move or anything, so I guess his motives were pure.

And now, it's December 7, it's been snowing around here for a while, and my driveway is filling up, and everytime I back into the one clear spot that I have in my driveway, I wonder - hey, neighbor! Are you going to come down and plow for me this year or what?

Counting Down

Well, the official count down has begun, and no I'm not talking about the countdown to Christmas. This is something just as good - well, in it's own way. I'm talking about the count down to the end of the semester! This is the last week of classes. I have a group presentation to help deliver tonight in my business class, and then all that's left are two meetings of my web publishing class, writing the final paper for that class, having the final exam for the business class and a final presentation on Wednesday of next week for the web class. And then I'm free!

What it comes down to is this: one more week of classes and two final exam sessions, and then I'm done. That's five total meetings plus writing the paper for web publishing and studying for the final exam for business. It's so close that I can taste the freedom.

I talked to my sister on Friday, and we may get together this coming weekend to go to lunch and see a movie. We haven't hung out like that since the very beginning of October when we went to see Serenity, so it's long overdue. Of course, I also need to do the aforementioned studying this weekend and my business final is on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. and I also have tentative plans to get together with Jamie to watch Nip/Tuck. We haven't watched it for three weeks now, so we have quite a bit to watch. I don't know - it might be waiting again, because this weekend may be too full as it is. We'll see.

And I love how I'm already talking about this weekend like it's right around the corner, even though right now it is only Monday morning. I'm funny like that.

And now I need to go do some work. Remember that holidailies starts in two days, so expect an update every day for a month starting then. It'll be interesting to see what I find to talk about every day for that long! I hope you all have a great Monday!

Christmas Shopping

I get the greatest catalog in the mail - Signals. I found a couple of things in their catalog that I thought I might want to get my sister for Christmas, but I wasn't sure if they were absolutely right. I went on their website this morning to look for them (I was thinking about this necklace and this bracelet), and found two things I liked even better for her - they're more her. Of course, the credit card that I brought with me (I keep the cards at home so I can't use them, and in fact haven't used them in a long time) was expired, so I can't order them until I get home from work tonight, but here they are: this watch and this necklace. Aren't they nice? The necklace is definitely her taste, and I think the watch is too. I guess we'll see!

I also went online and ordered Sex & the City season two for my niece. We drew names this year, and I got her. I don't have many people to buy for, so now that these two people are almost done (and will be done when I get home and order the stuff for my sister), I just have to buy for a few friends, and then I'm done. Woo! I love not having a lot of people to buy for. Of course the downside of that is that I get less gifts, but that's okay. I got over wanting a lot of gifts a long time ago. Now I'm just happy to have family and friends to celebrate with.

Holidailies

See that fancy little button up there? I signed up for holidailies! (Just don't click that image looking for the holidailies link yet, because I haven't figured out how to link an image to a web site. I'll work on that. In the meantime, click here to go to the site: Holidailies.) This means that I'll be updating every day from December 7 to January 6 (I think those are the dates). Yay! I'm very excited about this for some reason. I hope I'll gain a few readers out of it (although my three current readers are all very dear to me!). And I know I'll be in good company. I've been reading online journals and blogs for a long time now - I started when I was working at Syracuse University, so probably since 1998 or '99. I was searching online for weight loss stuff, and stumbled across the weight loss journal of a woman who was living with her husband overseas. I had never heard of online journals before, but was fascinated with them. Eventualy I found out that there were journals out there that weren't focused on weight loss, and I found some very good ones. I've been reading Kymm, Xeney, Rob and Pamie the longest, I think, but have a list of no fewer than 15 others that I read regularly, too. It's just such a unique medium - to be able to go online and read about the personal lives of real people who live all over the world. It's amazing.

Anyway, it took me until October to finally decide that I wanted to throw my hat into the online journal ring. It remains to be seen if I have the staying power of the people mentioned above(Kymm has been posting online since the very early days of journals, and almost daily, which is amazing). I hope to stick around for a while, anyway. And now we'll see how good I am at posting every day! Make sure to check back in December to see how I do.

Feeling fat

I ate my way through my five day holiday vacation, and boy am I feeling it today. Ugh. I think I gained a pound a day for five days. I may never eat again (or at least until lunchtime :).

Also, I'm back at work today, and it actually feels nice to get back to a routine again after having five days in which I could do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Today is a 12 hour day for me, though, once you add in class. I'm sure I'll be wishing for time off again by tomorrow! And of course while I was getting ready for work this morning, I had this going through my mind on repeat: "two more weeks, two more weeks, two more weeks..." That's right - two more weeks and the semester is over! Woo! And hey, since I'm counting things down - only four more weeks of work until Christmas break, when I'll have a week off.

Mostly, though, I'm looking forward to that 5 1/2 week break between semesters. Ah, the joy of no classes, no groups, no tests, no lectures...heaven.

Mood shift

I have been feeling a little down for the last couple of days. There wasn't any reason to, really - I just tend to get a little down on the weekends. Yes, I am pathetic and have no life, so when I have the time to just sit at home by myself, I get a little lonely, bored and depressed. Nothing major, it's just something that happens (and yet, I never want to go to work on Monday - I am a mystery). Today hasn't been any exception, and yet my mood just shifted. Why? I have no idea.

Now I'm sitting here watching Desperately Seeking Susan on TV, with the Sims running on my desktop and my dog grumbling like she always does at some unknown threat. I had some loose plans to get together with a friend today, but he got asked to hang out with his brother, so that didn't happen. I was all right with that, though - although I really think it would have done me good to get out of the house today. :)

Also? I don't know what it is about him, but I have always thought that Aidan Quinn is just sexy as hell (that may seem like it's out of left field, but he's in Desperately Seeking Susan, so he was on my TV screen just now).

So I'm kind of thinking that I haven't really found my voice for this web site yet. I'm not sure how much of my personal thoughts I am comfortable telling, I'm not sure if the stream of consciousness writing is okay or if I should be writing entries that are more essays than laundry lists of my current thoughts. I don't know if anyone is reading this other than my two friends who I have given the link to. And that's okay with me for now. Because until I figure out how to write this, I'm not sure if I want much of an audience.

If nothing else, at least it's good writing practice. I keep a personal journal, too - one that will never be published on the web, because I don't hold anything back in that one. But that is definitely more stream of consciousness, as all personal journals (diaries) should be. Anyway, that's what I've been thinking about regarding this space. I might get more personal (although I wouldn't reveal anyone else's life on here, and I will never talk much about work stuff because I've learned that lesson through other people who have gotten fired for it), and I may try writing on a topic whenever I write, instead of just writing the boring "this is what I've been doing this weekend" type entries. I know that when I'm reading journals and blogs online, I like it when the people reveal themselves to a degree, and I want this to be interesting for anyone who might stumble across it.

Now I just have to figure out what types of topics to discuss!

And I also have to go find something to watch on TV, because there isn't anything on now. I'll talk to you guys later!

Post Thanksgiving Entry

This may be a day late, but here are a few things I am happy for, in no particular order.

1. My sister and her family, who graciously welcome me into their lives every holiday.
2. The wonderful dinner my sister made, including going out of her way to make some lactose free things that I could eat (I can't digest milk or butter, but am okay with cheese for some reason).
3. My kitties, who are very lovey and warm and furry and sweet.
4. My dog, even though she's been very grumbly today and last night.
5. IM, which lets me talk to my friends even when I'm staying home and being antisocial like today (hi Sarah and Jamie!).
6. My Sims game, even though it keeps me tied to the computer way longer than I should be.
7. Good books to read, like The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon, which I'm reading right now.
8. Good DVDs to watch, like the first disc of season two of Smallville that I watched today.
9. Chocolate! Even though I really need to quit eating it for a while for the sake of my bodily comfort.
10. My friends, without whom I would surely lose my mind through my hermit like ways.

This list is just ten of the things that make my life worth living. I may not have a lot that I intended to have by this point in my life, but the love in my dog's eyes, the nice IMs from my friends when I'm online, the care and warmth of my sister's family - these are certainly a large part of what makes my life a decent one to live. And this is very schmaltzy, so I'll just end here. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (those of you who celebrate it, that is)!

Why holiday weeks rule

To counteract my last entry, I give you: why holiday weeks rule.

I woke up today somewhere around 7:45 or so. If I had to work today, I would have already been there for at least fifteen minutes by that time. When I got up, it was to find snow covered roads and grass and car and all I had to do in it was walk the dog. I didn't have to clean off my car, I didn't have to drive to work. Sitting here in my nice warm house looking out at it is much more enjoyable. And of course, the number one reason that holiday weeks rule - I'm sitting here typing this with my cat Gracie laying on my chest. She makes typing a little difficult, but I love her, so I don't mind.

I just figured out my bills for this month. I'm only about $200 short of being able to pay my homeowner's insurance, so here's hoping for a couple more freelance jobs. I've been doing some proofreading work for the University of Michigan (a job I got courtesy of my friend Sally, who just absolutely rules), and I turned the last job around really quickly, so here's hoping they'll send me some more work this month. I need the money! I'm not too worried about it, though, for some reason. Two hundred dollars isn't much to be short, really. I've been much worse off in my life. And if I have to, I can be late on paying some bills and come up with most of it that way. And I get another installment of student loan money in January, so I'll be okay again when that time comes around anyway.

Okay, I'm going to go start having fun on my first day of holiday vacation. Happy Thanksgiving to all you US residents, and hello to everyone else!

Why Mondays suck

Hello! It feels like it's been a little too long since I updated in here, although it was probably not that long at all. I felt compelled to write tonight, though. Because you know what? Sometimes it sucks to take classes at the same college where you work. On Mondays I work from 8:30 - 5:00, then I go to class from 5:15 to whenever the professor is done or 9:00, whichever comes first. That right there is too much time spent away from home, before you factor in any other annoyances.

But on top of the hours, I have to deal with the fact that I am in classes with the same stuents that I help at work all day. And that by itself isn't a problem. What gets annoying is that those students think that they can ask me work related questions while I'm in class and even while I'm in the hallway at 8:00 at night, walking out to my car to finally leave for the day. And of course, both of these things happened to me tonight. First, in class I got questions about a sale we're having on last year's laptops. I don't mind answering those questions, because they're simple and straightforward. But those questions lead in to other people wanting to complain about the price of the laptops that they purchased when they came to school, about the fact that they don't get the CDs for the Microsoft software on their computer until they graduate, and that, oh my god, they have to pay a total of FOURTEEN DOLLARS for the priviledge of owning this software that retails for over $300. Oy.

And then I'm walking out of class after class is over, frustrated by a woman in my class who missed tonight's class and asked me to e-mail her notes, which I did. And then she e-mails me back before I leave class, because she's confused! When are the final presentations due? What is the next test on? When is the final? Where in the hell is Hamilton Hall? You know what woman? If you get that confused by missing one class, then maybe you shouldn't miss it in the first place.

Anyway, so I was a little frustrated by her, and annoyed by the people using my presence as a reason to complain about the policies of the place where I work, and I was just trying to get home, you know? When I meet someone in the hall who I know from a couple of my classes, and who was in the office earlier today. First, for anyone who reads this who isn't familiar with the college where I work, I should explain that we issue cell phones to the on campus students. These phones are in lieu of landline phones in their dorms, and they have to be returned to us if they move off campus (because you wouldn't be able to take that landline with you if you left, right? So this phone needs to stay too) or if they leave school and aren't going to be coming back. And this student, let's call him N, because that's the first letter of his name, moved off campus this semester but didn't return his phone, so we put a $50 charge on his bill, which would be removed when he returned the phone. He came in to return it today, but didn't have the Sim card in the phone. Well, the body of the phone is pretty useless without the sim, so he's getting charged that $50 anyway. All completely understandable, and he knew that this was how it worked and he didn't really expect the charge to come off, and yet he felt the need to complain about it to his friends while I was there in the hallway. I wouldn't have to deal with that kind of crap if I didn't take classes there, so why should I have to take it just because I do? You know? Ugh.

Anyway, I'm just annoyed and I need to relax and unwind. Which I plan to do now. I won't even get into how this piece of shit computer that I paid almost $900 for a few months ago made me start it up three times before I could get it running right after I got home. That's an annoyance that I'm choosing to ignore for now.

But, there is one bright side to all of this, and you know what that is? I only have one more day of work and classes, and then I'll be on Thanksgiving break for five whole days. Hallelujah.

Happier Entry for Sarah

Apparently my last entry is making certain people sad, so let's see if I can come up with something more cheerful to talk about today. Hmm, the pressure of coming up with an idea...

Okay, I know. Guess what I did last night? I watched four episodes of Smallville in a row while I played the Sims. Yes Sarah, you got me hooked. Thanks! I mailed season one, disc four back to Netflix this morning and have disc five sitting on my desk. I also added seasons 2, 3 and 4 to my list (right after Veronica Mars, which I've heard about but never seen, so I thought I would check that out to see if I like it), and can't wait until I can get caught up so that I can start watching the current season. Does that cheer you up, Sarah?

Oh, by the way - Clark is very hot, and I don't want Lex to become evil, even though of course he is going to. I like him fighting his inner darkness, not giving in to it.

Okay, in addition to watching Smallville last night, I also, of course, played the Sims. I started a legacy family for the first time, which is where you create a Sim, buy him the most expensive lot they have and you can't cheat for money. Which, with the Nightlife expansion pack, means they only have $1,500 to start out life with. My guy was living on the lawn with just a toilet, a bed, a dorm sized refrigerator, a phone and a chair. Luckily he fell in love with a girl who brought him $17,000 when they got married a week later. Now they have a house and everything! The challenge is to get a family of Sims through ten generations without killing them all off and without cheating for money. We'll see if I make it that far.

And now that I've completely bored anyone who isn't interested in the Sims, I guess I better shut up. It's time to go open the door at work anyway.

Memories of Mom

My mother died April 22, 2000. I had a very hard time dealing with her loss - I went into a depression that I didn't fully come out of for about three years. Now, though, I'm okay. I think about her a lot and have dreams about her from time to time, but I'm no longer depressed or anything. That's why I was so surprised when the grief returned full force while I was visiting my brother in July.

My oldest brother was kind enough to use some of his frequent flyer miles to allow me to travel to Tennessee to visit him and his fiance for the July 4th weekend. I was happy to see them and their new house, and to visit Tennessee, where I'd never been before. He lives just outside of Nashville, so naturally he thought it would be a good idea to take me to the Grand Ole Opry while I was there. I wasn't too excited about going, because I'm not a country music fan (I'm a rock girl now and forever), but I figured it would be a good experience. And it really was. What shocked me, though, was how I started crying with the first notes of the first song, and didn't stop for a solid half hour. Why? Because I could feel my Mom all over the place.

My mother loved country music, and it was a dream of hers to go see a show at the Grand Ole Opry (she also wanted to go to Yankee Stadium for a game - she was a huge Yankees fan). The music was all stuff that I remember her and my step-dad listening too when I was a kid, and it's all stuff that I probably hadn't heard since she died five years earlier, and really probably years before that. The sounds of the music filled the air around me, and she came with it. To make it even worse, there was a woman sitting in front of me that looked a lot like Mom. She had the same nose (I loved Mom's nose and wished I had gotten it, but I got my Dad's, unfortunately), the same hair color, the same shape to her cheeks - it was eerie. I sat next to my brother, trying not to let him see that I was crying my eyes out. It was so bad that I didn't know if I'd be able to make it through the whole show. Luckily they had half hour shows with breaks in between. I barely made it to the first break.

What amazed me, though, was that the experience brought my Mother back to me in a way I hadn't been able to see her in a very long time. She had been sick before she died. She started having strokes in 1996, and they altered her personality quite a bit. She was still the same person, but her personality was entirely different. Sitting in that darkened hall, though, with the sounds of the music flowing around me and into me, I started to be able to see her the way she used to be, before the strokes, before my step-father's death, before life had beaten her down and changed her forever. I could see a vision of her sitting next to me, her eyes shining, dancing and singing along to the music, and looking over at me and touching me, sharing her joy with me. I may have cried for that whole half an hour segment of the show, but once I got past the initial rush of grief and started to remember that version of her, there started to be happiness under the tears. I don't think I will ever go back to the Grand Ole Opry again, but I will always be grateful to my brother for taking me there in July, and giving my mother back to me. Thanks for coming Mom - it was so good to see you.

My Sunday is killing me

I have been looking forward to Thanksgiving weekend so much. Five whole days off! No school, no work, no responsibilities except spending the day at my sister's on Thursday for the obligatory holiday dinner thing. Otherwise, my time is my own, to spend it however I want. I have been looking forward to hanging out around the house, watching TV and playing the Sims to my heart's content.

Sounds nice, doesn't it? The truth is, it's apt to make me want to kill myself by the time Sunday night rolls around that week. I spent a good chunk of yesterday with my friend Jamie, going out to lunch and getting groceries and watching two weeks worth of Nip/Tuck. So yesterday was fine. But I was alone last night, and I've been alone all day, and I've been playing the Sims and watching TV and now it's 5:36 in the evening, and I'm really not as happy as you'd think I'd be on a day off. I'm lonely, my dog is grumbling for no reason and driving me crazy, I'm getting bored with my Sims, I ran out of Smallville DVDs to watch, and worst of all I think I have killed my right wrist. I have problems with that wrist - I've never been to the doctor for it, but I figure it's a carpal tunnel type thing, because it hurts when I've been doing a lot of computer stuff, especially with a mouse. And of course, that's what I've been doing all day. Silly me.

Anyway, if it hurts this bad after just one and a half days, what is it going to feel like after five? Ugh. I shudder to think.

That being said, even though I know I'll be alone too much and on the computer too much, I'm still looking forward to the break. But maybe I'll have to plan on doing something to keep myself busy. Something that doesn't involve a computer.

One bright spot - I bought myself a small Christmas Cactus yesterday. I will always love these plants, not only because they bloom so pretty this time of year, but also because they will always remind me of my mother, who loved them. I haven't had one in a couple of years, and it's felt wrong. Having this plant on top of my compter tower makes me feel like a piece of Mom is here again. It's nice.

Oh, another bright spot - I had a dream this morning that I was a teenager, and I was having a party. Who was at this party? A teenage John Cusack, looking like he was right out of Say Anything or, my personal favorite, The Sure Thing. Once the party was almost over, we ended up talking and he left and I went down the hall to go to bed. Then the door opened, he walked back in, picked me up and gave me the biggest, hottest French kiss ever. Any dream that ends with a kiss from John Cusack is a very good dream indeed.

My house, isn't it pretty?

The cold weather has come to central New York. Brrr!

This is the side of my house. Isn't it pretty? It's an old farm house. I bought it in 1999, but it was built in about 1900. It has five bedrooms, and is way too big for me, since I live alone. I don't even use the upstairs, except for storage. It's a waste, really. I love it, though. It needs some work done to it - I've started replacing the windows, but I still have eight more to do before I'm done. I also need to get a new roof and the siding needs to be replaced, too. Fun, huh? It'll take me years to get all of that done, since I live alone and have a million bills. And by the time I get all of that done I'll probably sell it and buy something smaller, because I really don't need that much room for just myself, you know?

My house is in the middle of a bunch of farmland, so I'm surrounded by corn fields and have a nice view of a farm just across the corn field that I was standing in when I took this picture. I got a notice of a public hearing a while ago because someone wanted to create a major subdivision within 500' of my property. I'm not too thrilled with that idea, because I love not having neighbors. But, on the plus side, maybe it'll drive up my property values so that ifI do decide to sell, I can get more money than I would otherwise. Who knows.

Anyway. Today is Friday, and I am so happy about that, you have no idea. I need the break. I need a vacation, actually. I can't wait for Thanksgiving break (did I write that in here before? It sounds familiar, so I probably did. Sorry!). I am going to spend part of tomorrow with my friend Jamie. We'll go to lunch and to Walmart, probably, and then we'll come back to my house and watch Nip/Tuck, which he got me watching.

Ooh, speaking of TV, Sarah got me interested in Smallville, and I got the first two discs of season one from Netflix the other day. I watched the first three episodes last night, and it's so good! I can't believe I never watched it before. Plus, Sarah was right - Clark is just cute. Definitely worth watching. And of course, James Marsters from Buffy is on the current season, so I'm looking forward to catching up and seeing him on TV again. I love my Buffy and Angel people.

Okay, I guess I should get back to work. I hope you're all having nice Fridays, all two of you who read this!

Random stuff

I was the last person to leave work last night (at 5:45) and the first person in this morning (at 7:20). What I won't do to get close to 40 hours a week. Tonight I get to leave at 5:00, though, and then I get to go straight home and I only have a little bit of homework to do for tomorrow, which will only take me about five minutes, so I actually get to relax! It's incredible. I'm going to be online chatting with my friend Sally (who doesn't seem to have read this yet, even though I've sent her the link. I'll have to talk to her about that tonight :) tonight. We were supposed to chat on Tuesday night, but someone cut a fiber optic cable close by, and I didn't have Internet (or phone) service all day, at work or at home. I had my friend Jamie e-mail her to let her know, though, so I didn't stand her up. It's been a couple of weeks at least since we've chatted, so I'm looking forward to tonight.

I bumped into one of my aunts at Walmart a couple of weekends ago. She is my mother's sister. Our family is very strange - we never keep in touch with each other. Since Mom and her mom died, I think I've seen them all only once or twice (and it's been six years since I lost Mom), and then just by accident. I guess I like this Aunt okay. I don't really know her, because of the aforementioned weirdness, but she gave me her e-mail address, and I gave her mine, and I guess we've started keeping in touch by e-mail. I love e-mail. It's such a no pressure way to communicate with people who you might not feel comfortable picking up the phone and calling.

I'm going to be so glad when Thanksgiving break comes. We get three days off from both work and school for it, so it'll be a real break. It'll be nice. Maybe I'll actually get around to getting my hair cut that weekend. It's been way too long since I got it cut. It's very long now - down to the middle of my back. I don't mind that, but it's a little too much trouble. I'm going to get it cut to shoulder length, whenever I find the time to make the trip to the salon. I might get it dyed to get rid of the gray that's showing back up, too. Maybe. The gray doesn't bother me that much, so it really depends on whether I feel like sitting in the chair for an hour to get rid of it. We'll see.

Okay, I've been here half an hour now - is it time to go home? No? Damn. Okay. I guess I should find some work to do.

My Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things (sorry if that just put a song in your head!):

Quiet Sunday afternoons at home
The happy look my cats get when they're on my lap being petted
Romantic movies on TV (Love Story and Untamed Heart today)
Being inside, nice and cozy and warm, when it's raining (or snowing) outside
Going to the grocery store in November without a coat (a rarity here)
Chocolate when I'm PMSing
Chocolate even when I'm not PMSing
The sight of Willow sleeping on her dog bed
The sight of my cat Kate in her soft cloth cat house
My wonderful Sims
My family, who can make me feel warm and loved when they want to
My sister
Spending time with friends
IMing with Sarah
IMing with Sally
Having lunch and watching Nip/Tuck with Jamie
Sally and Steve, and their cat Chaz, even though I haven't yet met him
Breaks from school
Vacations from work
Reading
Reading
Reading (it's worth mentioning more than once)
SU basketball
Random phone calls from long lost siblings (most recently, Dean)
My house, even though it needs work that I can't afford
Cheddar and Sour Cream Lay's potato chips
The Internet
Listening to music
Feeling content in my life, even if just for a few hours
My beautiful Zelda (you may remember her from an earlier entry)
Her sisters Gracie, Lucy, Kate and Sable
The mute button on my remote control (for commercials)
My dogs Bo and Bailey (I miss them both)
5:00 on a work day, when I get to go home
Water
Diet Pepsi, although I've cut myself down to no more than two bottles a week
Autumn, with it's colorful leaves and chilly air
Flannel sheets in the winter
My down filled duvet in the winter
My down filled feather bed all year round
TV on DVD (currently M*A*S*H and just finished Quantum Leap)
My DVR
Getting comments on my blog :)

Soaps

Soap operas never fail to amaze me. I grew up watching General Hospital, along with most of the other ABC soap operas, because that's the station my Mother watched when I was a kid. I missed Luke and Laura's wedding because I got home too late from school that day, and it was before VCRs. Still, through the years I have seen more weddings, disasters, relationship hook-ups and break-ups than I could count, and that's even though I went for a good 15 years without watching. I started watching GH again just over a year ago, and I have no shame in admitting that I have been hooked ever since. Still, they have done a few things that just make me shake my head.

First, in less than a year, I have seen at least two kids instantly grow up from about the age of 10 to a ripe, beautiful, dramatic storyline worthy 17. The latest is Luke's daughter Lulu, who was about ten years old the last time I saw her, but who suddenly reappeared at her brother's wedding as a beautiful, angry at her father 17 year old. And of course Lucky, the oldest of Luke and Laura's kids, is old enough that he would have had to have been born before Luke and Laura ever got together. But whatever.

The other thing they keep doing is replacing the actress who plays Carly. I wasn't watching when the original Carly was on the show, so for me the second Carly was the original. She left about six months ago and was replaced with someone else, right in the middle of a dramatic storyline. I didn't like her at first, because I hate the way soaps replace actors even when they've been playing their characters for years and have earned a loyal fan base. But I got used to her. And suddenly? She's gone too, and Carly is being played by someone else. It just makes me shake my head.

Of course, the fact that the Edward Quartermaine that I grew up watching died a long time ago and his role was recast with someone who seems way younger makes me shake my head so much that my eyes should be loose and out of their sockets by now.

Anyway, as much as it infuriates me sometimes, I really do love this show. Alexis and Rick, Nikolas and Emily, Jason and Sam, Lucky and Elizabeth - I love them all. Even though half of those couples are currently broken up. But I'm sure it's just a matter of time before they find their way back to each other. Or until they sleep with someone else and get pregnant or catch their lovers sleeping with someone else. Ahh, the glory of soaps.

Insert clever title here

One thought has gotten me through this week so far - Thursday. I took Thursday off from work so that I could get some minor work done on my car and get it inspected, and the thought of having that day off has gotten me up on time all week. I can't wait for it. I hope to spend the day with my sister, but I forgot to call her last night and ask her about it, so I'll have to call her this afternoon to make sure she's going to be around and wants some company. I also plan on getting a haircut and maybe having Chinese food for lunch, yum. Anyway, it'll be a good day whether I end up doing any of that or just hanging out at home by myself, because it's a random weekday off, and those are always great.

And the work that I'm getting done should all be covered under warranty (except the inspection), so hopefully it won't even cost me too much to pick my car back up. :)

I spent some time last night building houses in the Sims 2 while I watched All of Me. I had forgotten how funny that movie was. And I need to go back in and finish the house I was building, because I still had quite a bit of work to do on it when I went to bed. I enjoy that game way too much.

I have to meet with another group for class tonight. I really hate group work. I am going to be out of here by 7:00, though, one way or the other. My days are long enough without adding any more than two hours onto the end of them for class stuff. I can't wait for this semester to be over.

Okay, this is all very random information and I've run out of it, so that's all! I hope you're all having good Wednesdays, wherever you are.

Weekends rule so very much

I wish I could bottle the air today and put it online for everyone to smell. The sun is out, the air is cool without being cold and it smells like fall leaves, which just may be the best smell in the world. I took Willow out earlier, and tried to get her to stay outside and enjoy it, but she is the strangest dog - she does her business and comes right back in. Maybe it's because she was a stray before she wound up in the SPCA, I don't know. Anyway. Today is just beautiful.

I don't think I've mentioned here before that I watch General Hospital every day. Well, actually, I record it every day and watch it on the weekend. I didn't watch it last week, so I have two weeks worth of shows to watch today. Well, I did - I'm halfway through the first of them already. Mobs, stalkers, affairs, illegitimate pregnancies - Port Charles is a very busy town! It's fun to watch, though.

I bought the softest light blue yarn yesterday. I picked up a free mitten/scarf/hat pattern in the store, and am going to make at least the mittens and scarf for myself (I'm not sure about the hat). I wish I had a digital camera so that I could take a picture of them when they're done. I've started the first mitten, and they are going to be super cute.

Tomorrow is Halloween. Everyone in my office is going to dress up, except for me. I don't have any costumes, and no desire to spend money to get one. But that's okay. I've never dressed up for Halloween since I've become an adult, and I don't really feel the desire to start now.

Also, don't you love the fall time change? I sure do. I got up at 7:40 today, or so I thought - then I remembered the time change, and realized that it was really only 6:40. Woo! I got up anyway, and now I have an extra long day to goof off. Well, until I start to do my homework, but all I have to do is read, and I can do that while I'm watching TV tonight. So no biggy.

Okay, Zelda is demanding attention. Bye all you Internet people!

Double Grrrrrrr

I just typed out a whole post, and when I tried to add a picture, it disappeared. Grr! I'm not typing the whole thing out again, so you're getting the edited version. I hate working in teams; boys who think they know everything annoy the shit out of me; my dog is bothering me and has been for over an hour (she thinks we need to go to bed, even though it's only 9:00).

And the picture up there is my dog Bo, who I had to put to sleep in July. It about killed me, because he was my heart. Also, I had to put his girlfriend, Bailey to sleep in June. I don't know if it was some weird twist of fate that they both got sick and died exactly 30 days apart or if Bo just willed himself to die of a broken heart, but it wasn't fun and I don't ever want to do that again. And wasn't he beautiful? I miss him (and Bailey). And I would love it if my current dog, Willow, would just lay down and leave me the heck alone for a little while. Is that too much to ask? Geez.

What the heck?

I had to write a quick post to say - what the heck is going on here? I had to SHOVEL SNOW out of my driveway this morning. That just should not happen in October. It was heavy, wet snow, too. I really don't like winter.

Also, most of the people in my office are going to be dressing up for Halloween on Monday, and I'm not. I feel like a scrooge or something. I've never dressed up as an adult, and have no idea what I would be. I'll think about it. Maybe I'll come up with something by then. Suggestions are welcome! Post any you can think of in my comments.

Mid week ick

It's Tuesday! Which means nothing, really, except that I'm done with classes until Friday and there are only three days left until Saturday gets here. Today has been an okay day, I guess. I got up early and got to school at 7:30, half an hour before my class, so I could have a meeting with a member of my group from today's class. He was going to help me turn my web page template (it's a web publishing class, and our big class project is to redesign a page for a local area company) into an actual html page. He didn't end up helping me, though, so I got up half an hour early for nothing. We did work on it during the second half of class, though, so I have a good start on it. I'll see if I can finish it up tonight after work.

I also got roped into going to see the school play tomorrow night with my boss and a coworker. Hey Sarah, do you want to go too? I can get you a student ticket so that it's only $1 to attend! You know you want to. I'll talk you into it tomorrow.

We have 6 1/2 weeks of classes left before the semester is over, and let me just say that I can't wait. I'm not really sure why I'm going for this degree right now. I'm 36 years old now, and will likely be pretty close to 40 by the time I finish it. Am I really going to want to start a new career at that point? I have no idea. In the meantime, though, I trudge on, taking two classes a semester and wishing for each one to end quickly so that I can have my free time back, and not have to go to class or do homework or work weird hours in order to get almost a full 40 hours every week. Imagine being able to work a normal 8 hour day every day, never having to come in early or leave late! It sounds wonderful.

I don't like to say too much about work here, because other people have learned that lesson the hard way (www.dooce.com for instance) and I don't aim to be one of them. I do feel the need to say one thing, though. We have a very casual dress code here, but the one firm rule is that we aren't allowed to wear blue jeans. We can wear colored jeans, but not blue ones. What is my male coworker wearing right now? You guessed it - blue jeans. The bitch of it is, the boss doesn't even notice, so nothing gets said. Grrr. I feel like a snitch if I point it out (although I did point it out when he wore them two days in a row at the beginning of the semester), so I'm just sitting here ignoring it. This is one of the reasons I prefer the end of the week, when I get to work with Sarah. Hi Sarah!

Okay, I'm off to enter another code into the Mountain Dew sweepstakes. I only have a few days left to try to win that game system! Cross your fingers for me.

Seen above: a much dryer day here on campus, taken in the fall of 2004. If you want to know what that would look like now, add the cold rain that is currently coming down in buckets, brrr.