Dog Days...

We have been tossing around the idea of another dog for awhile. Not sure that Xavier wants another dog - he might prefer staying an only but everytime hubby sees the SPCA commercial featuring Sarah Mclachlan and tons of sad puppy faces behind bars he wants to run out and save them all.

Then our local animal shelter posted this picture in the paper:
and our hearts melted. This poor guy was found on Tuesday the 24th, is about 7 years old and just adorable. Chances are he has a family who is missing him and perhaps the ad in the paper will let them be reunited somehow but if his family doesn't come for him we may try and bring him home to join our family.

I think I'm insane for wanting two big dogs when my house is not really that large. I'll have to add a mid-week vacuuming (probably should anyway) to keep up with all the hair. But I look at this face and think - he could very easily fit into our happy little home.

UPDATE: This dog has received lots of applications already so if he is not claimed by his owners in 30 days he has a home to go to.

It's a small, small world!

So my new car pooling companion "R" and I started our shared commute today. He was very nice and we discovered that both our spouses suffer from multiple sclerosis. His wife has had it about the same time as my husband and is having similar issues with balance, walking, fatigue, memory, and she is also having vision problems (thankfully he is not). They recently moved to a new house that is all one level because it will be easier for her to get around (the reason we bought a ranch and not a farmhouse). She is wanting to get on Tysabri but can't do the drive to the city to get it done, so he was excited to hear that the local hospital is now offering the infusions there because my husband works at the hospital and asked them to do it so he could not miss so much work.

I think that "R" and his wife "A" will have to get together with hubby and I, we have an awful lot in common. They also love animals and have 2 Bassett Hounds, 2 Pugs, and 2 cats. They are a little younger than us (a few years younger than me so 6 or so younger than hubby) but I bet we'd find even more in common with time.

It is indeed a small world.

Quitter!

Happy news! My hubby quit smoking - he has tried many times and not been successful but somehow I think this time it will stick. The reason? He is pissed off - royally pissed off because NY State added an additional $2.00 per pack tax to them and he refuses to pay $6.50 for a pack of Marlboro Lights!

So he's been on Chantix for about 10 days and yesterday was the day - he ran out of cig's on Friday night and didn't smoke all day yesterday. He was crabby a few times but not really as bad as expected. He does have some nicotine gum for when it gets really bad but he's doing so well.

This morning he changed his myspace profile to list him as a non-smoker. I think he's committed this time! I'm proud of him! :)

TGIF

It's Friday afternoon and I don't want to work. I just don't. I've got things to do and I'm reading blogs, surfing for interesting things, listening to music on i-tunes and just chillin.

I went to the gym at lunch and then came back and ate and now I just want to go sleep or eat ice cream or something. I went to the break room and was about to buy a Twix when a co-worker came in and I made some excuse and walked away. The truth is I don't want people to see me buy chocolate. If I do buy it I will slip it into a pocket so no one sees me walking back to my desk with it. I'm a secret eater.

Worried about 4th of July picnic. We will get going to my hubby's sister's house. His family history is atrocious - it's no wonder the guy has permanent anger issues. The sister we are going to see is one of his "real" sisters - he has three of those that he did not grow up with because his "mother" left his dad when he was 6 and they let my husband who was SIX YEARS OLD decide where he wanted to live and then she held it against him that he chose to go back home with daddy. So he grew up totally separate from them and has had no relationship with his biological mother. He did reconnect with the 3 sisters to some degree when their dad died, but only keeps in touch with one of them regularly and she invited us to her house for 4th of July picnic. We are 99% sure his biological mother will be there too, that could be awkward, the woman is from everything I've heard a real bitch. So wondering if there will be fireworks? or cold shoulders? or by some miracle of hell freezing over a reconciliation? The rest of the weekend will be spent with his adopted mother who is his "real" mother in every sense of the word and his adopted brother and sister and their families. That part will be easy. The 4th? Could be bad so send happy thoughts our way.

My parents will have been married for 40 years on the 12th of July and my sister and I are trying to figure out how to celebrate. NO big party as that is not their thing. But a family get together of some sort is in order. If my sister can get a sitter for her 2 kids and the handicapped old guy who lives with them we could have an adult dinner. That would be nice!

On the 20th my nephew (the adorable terror) will turn 5. I think he is going to be disappointed because he is sure that the minute he turns 5 he can start kindergarten no matter how many times we tell him he has to wait until fall for that.

Hubby is changing his Tysabri location again! Hopefully this time will go smoother than the last. The office manager at his doctor's office is probably fit to be tied, I can't bring myself to call her and made him do it. But the place we switched him to is 60 miles away and after saying they could do weekend appointments have stopped doing the infusions on Saturdays and instead want him to come on Wednesday nights. This works fine for summer months in daylight hours but once it starts getting dark he'll have a hard time with nights unless I get my dad to take him. Plus with gas prices continuing to climb 120 miles round trip is expensive. $20 co-pay and $20 gas to drive there and back. So the hospital where he works is going to be able to do it, he will have to work 1/2 an hour extra on 4 days during the week of the infusion to make up the 2 hours he will have to just sit in the infusion center. He better not change again or I might strangle him (in line behind Office Manager who is making all the changes again only 2 months later).

Well I killed nearly an hour with this blog post, emailing my sister about mom and dad's anniversary and hubby about buying a lottery ticket so we can win $36 million and quit our jobs. It's called dreaming.

Happy weekend blog friends - one more hour until I can leave this place for two whole days! Sad but true - even though I do love my job, if I win I'm not coming back to this rat race lifestyle. The problem with the rat race is that even if you win - you're still a rat.

Thirteen random things in my world today (TT)

Thirteen things in my world today:

1. Starting to carpool on Monday - excited and nervous. I don't know this guy that well but am all for saving loads of cash on gas. He works with me and keeps a similar schedule so all is good there.
   
   
2. Tired of having the same conversations over and over with my husband because he can't remember having them the last 3 times. Tired of him getting angry and second guessing me and claiming we never had the conversation in the first place. Tired of what this fucking disease is taking away from him, from us.
   
   
3. Getting quotes for new furnace, geez these things are expensive. This is what hubby keeps forgetting by the way. He doesn't think we need a new furnace despite several furnace guys telling me we do and that the current one is not safe.
   
   
4. Sad that the swimming pool really was only a pipe dream. I knew it then but it was a nice dream to have for a few days. Maybe someday.
   
   
5. Happy that I have no plans this weekend, not a single plan! Will probably go look at fireplace inserts but that will be it. Might be frustrated with that as it is part of the argument about the furnace that never ends.
   
   
6. I went out to lunch with friends today instead of going to the gym. Sad but true - I'm made an excuse that is actually a real issue, I scraped up the back of my heel wearing fake croc's while gardening and then slipping on wet shoes. I don't think I can wear a real shoe on it - just having my jeans touching it yesterday hurt too much. Been wearing flip flops all week.
   
   
7. Happy that my migraine is gone and with it the PMS.
   
   
8. Wish hubby and I could move somewhere that would make him happy. Problem is I fear - there is no place on earth that he would be happy with long term. He is an essentially unhappy person by nature and that is hard to not take personally some days.
   
   
9. The floor bounces at my office in my new location. There is an empty space beneath us and apparently with only posts and not walls to hold it all up there is a lot of give in the floor, I'm starting to get motion sick it moves so much when people walk by. UGH
   
   
10. My maid came today. I get to go home to a nice clean house. Ahhhhhh that is a nice feeling.
    
    
11. I figured out a problem at work today that has been confounding me and others, it's a good feeling to be the one that figures it out.
    
    
12. I got my hair cut and colored last night. Had her layer it up a bit more into a shag type cut. Color is about the same - honey brown with blonde highlights. I like the new cut - takes the weight off without losing the overall length.
    
    
13. My old boss from old job a.k.a. The Devil had a nice embarrassing treat on Tuesday morning to see her brother (a local elected official) splashed across the front page. Arrested at 3:10 am for drunk and disorderly behavior! LOL Bet yesterday she wished she hadn't taken her maiden name back!

And that concludes this issue of Thursday Thirteen - random ramblings from my world.

Uhoh...

I was searching for info on spiders - cause I saw a really creepy looking spider with a big white body with black spots on it the other day in my garden and it scared the crap out of me. It wasn't particularly big but dropped in front of my face when I wasn't really expecting anything falling before my eyes.

So my search I click on this link and end up at www.cannabis.com and the effects of cannabis on a web based lifestyle - basically some fucked up webs that spiders who were fed drug soaked flies made.

I hope our annoying IT guy doesn't notice my surfing behavior and rat me out! LOL Drug tests for everyone!

20 Years Later...

So last night was my class reunion. The class of 1988 - 20 years later. First of all I went to a very small private Christian School. There were 7 in my graduating class and 5 of us had a reunion last night. The other two live quite a distance away and so we didn't even try to get them to come. Maybe we will have a larger get together with families at some point and see if they are interested but for last night it was just the girls. I have to say I think we all look better than ever!

So we all went to dinner and had a great time! Spent about 3 hours reminiscing and promised we will do this much more frequently from here on out!

Wonder what the guys look like these days?

BTW - I have no idea how much alcohol is in Smirnoff Ice...

Apparently my blog post about drinking Smirnoff Ice and falling down the stairs drunk is popular on the internet at large. Searches relating to Smirnoff Ice are the top searches that find me.

1. How much alcohol is in Smirnoff Ice? My guess would be about the same as a beer - it is a malt beverage after all! Definitely enough to get you drunk if you drink 2-3 of them and you are a total lightweight like me! Oh and if you are in a bar that does not have flavors - get a regular Smirnoff Ice and a glass of ice and a shot of something fruity on the side. Grape Pucker, Cherry Pucker, Madori all work very well. Mix the sweet tasty shot with the Smirnoff for a totally frufru fruity girly drink! LOL
   
   
2. How old to buy Smirnoff Ice? Well same as any other alcohol! In the US it's 21 to drink or buy legally! Sorry no advice for how to get around this one. Kids have been figuring this out on their own for decades so just DO IT! :)

TGIF - dear readers!

How to detect fabulously gay co-worker...

Add one major thunderstorm - producing hail and tornado warnings.

Send said co-worker (who happens to be company bean counter) out in storm to deposit the day's receipts before end of banking day at 3pm.

Ask said co-worker upon returning if he saw any tornadoes while he was out there.

Proceed to watch in open mouthed amazement as fabulously gay co-worker begins to sing AND dance ...

"The car began to pitch, my eye began to twitch, I landed at (Company Name) in the middle of a ditch..."

In case anyone doesn't recognize that - it's an improvisation of the song from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy explains how her house got to Oz and landed on the witch.

Singing and improvising showtunes in the office for an audience - no more "Is he or isn't he" questions! LOL Add another fabulous gay man to my corral of friends as I already love this guy - last week on my birthday he asked how old I was and then said "girlfriend, if I was a bartender I'd card you!" so really there wasn't any question in my mind anyway but had to share the fabulous showtunes story.

Even funnier - the straight as an arrow tech guys who sit near me all watching on in fascinated HORROR! LOL

We hired The Colonel...

I work in a very young somewhat hip (for techie's) workplace. The average age of people here is early 30's - a handful of twentysomethings, a few fortysomethings and about 2 people in their early 50's who don't look it AT ALL, very young, active, hip workplace.

Imagine how out of place this guy looks:
Okay so maybe he's really not quite that old but the new guy who started today looks to be in his 60's. Maybe he's not that old but he looks it! Snowy white hair, a distinguished gentleman look and manner, very grandfatherly.

What makes this awkward for me is he shares my cube wall and doubtless will hear every phone call I make, every curse word I utter. It's like my grandpa is sitting over there waiting for me to offend him with my potty mouth.

I guess I should just clean up the potty mouth? Mostly it's not that bad but I'm going to be self conscious about it from here on out I'm sure.

New guy is on my team too, I'll be sending him projects to work on. This is good - maybe once I get to know him I'll won't be weirded out by issuing orders to someone who looks like Colonel Sanders?

I guess the good thing is my company does not appear to practice any sort of age discrimination.

Thirteen reasons why turning 38 doesn't totally suck balls...

Yes dear internet friends today is my birthday - the day I entered this world screaming and probably haven't shut up for a minute since! June 12, 1970 was the day - 6am was the time!

So in honor of my turning 38 today here are 13 reasons why it doesn't totally suck:

1. At least I'm not turning 40
   
   
2. The alternative sucks (dying before reaching 38)
   
   
3. I still look like I might be under 30 (on a good day)
   
   
4. I no longer feel totally insecure in every situation
   
   
5. I no longer care what everyone thinks of me and jump through hoops to please them
   
   
6. It's okay to not have a bikini bod at this age (versus 25 when it just sucked)
   
   
7. Being appreciated more for your mind than your boobs
   
   
8. I don't have to go out and get totally wasted tonight to have a good time
   
   
9. I have great friends who make getting older a fun journey
   
   
10. I'm not single and lamenting another year without someone special in my life
    
    
11. I know what I want and for the most part how to get it
    
    
12. Going to your 20th high school reunion knowing you are by far the most educated and successful of your former classmates is kinda sweet (I hope -2 weeks from now)
    
    
13. I know I said it before but it bears repeating - at least I'm not turning 40!

And here is a gratuitous cute shot of what I looked like about 35 years ago:

Kharma is a bitch - and so am I...

This is a post about RBT (rat bastard trainer for those who might not have been here for my early posts) the guy who was my trainer and *choke* would be mentor when I started my job in October. Those 2-3 of you who read my blog then will remember that I wondered what he did all day, and was annoyed that a total slacker like him was so presumptuous as to tell me that I might make him look bad.

So anyway since I've moved jobs (internally) I have little to do with RBT anymore but heard a rumor that he was going to be moving from being an Account Manager to being a Data Processor. This sounded like a demotion to me, instead of being the one in contact with the customer and creating the processing specs for the processors to follow he would be doing the processing? But I figured since he is such a *star* he must have wanted the move.

Well lo and behold today I discovered that it was not a voluntary move! That the powers that be had indeed noticed that RBT was less than industrious. And more importantly that his customers had noticed and COMPLAINED and it was discovered that RBT had let major things fall through the cracks and had not been following up properly on his biggest customer and keeping them happy. Next week another account manager "K" and the VP and a Sr. Manager are all going out to smooth things over with the customer. "K" is very experienced and very thorough, they will have no problems with her.

So the kharma train finally caught up with RBT, and I admit I'm chuckling a bit here just thinking of it. The downside to all this? I sit among the processors so RBT is likely to be looking over my shoulder more often again - but he has no power over me.

First things first...

Duh (re: prior post) Father's Day isn't until NEXT weekend - who was afraid to tell me I was wrong? LOL

And now the real subject of this post - NATURE INVADING MY YARD! :)

Look at this sweet little bambi I found under my willow trees this morning - isn't he adorable?

His mother no where in sight and him being extremely weak and not at all scared made me nervous. I wondered if he had wandered off and got lost or had some other way gotten separated from his mama. I called the sheriff wondering if there was a wildlife/game officer for this area they had me call a hotline at the Department of Environmental Conservation. They told me that it was common - that the mother had left him to go eat and rest herself but that she would be back. They said she could leave him there for 3-5 days and he'd be fine. WOW a newborn going 3-5 days with no food and he'd be fine? I was skeptical.

They also said not to touch him - but my husband, ever the rebel, had to do exactly what I told him not to. This really made me nervous. But we went out for a few hours and when we came back Bambi was gone. Off in the adjacent lot which is an overgrown field we could see a lone doe standing and staring at us. I assume that was her probably thinking she had snatched her baby from the jaws of death. I'm happy and a little disappointed too - was planning how to get some old goat bottles from my parents and calling a friend who has goats to get some milk and raising myself a pretty white tailed fawn! :)

In other news our brief trip out today was to go to a pool place and look at the costs for above ground pools. I might be able to swing it - a pool that is! WooHoo! Would so love to have a swimming pool.

Daddy's Hands...

In honor of Father's Day this weekend I'm going to talk about my daddy

How to tell it's time for a trim (down there)...

Today was picnic day at my office - we had a BBQ with hot dogs and burgers, salads and chips, and brownies, etc. A nice big potlucky kinda lunch with the meat provided by our activities committee. I was outside mingling and having fun with my co-workers, having a nice chat with my former boss (prior company) and now friend along with someone she is working on a project with. The other girl is about 30, very thin, athletic, energetic, a total tomboy. She has on pretty lowcut jeans in about a size zero and a t-shirt. She is stressed about the project, she raises her hands and places them on top of her head and her tshirt lifts up I can see her stomach AND curling over the top of her jeans I can see her pubic hair! GAG

So what do you do? Would you mention it? Ignore it? Try not to stare at it? Walk away? All of the above? I definitely didn't mention it. I tried to avert my eyes and ended up walking away to talk to other people. Talk about awkward!

Manic Monday - happy to be alive!

Friday night I had a near death experience - well as near as I ever want to get that is! I was on a turboprop plane from Detroit, MI to Champaign, IL and if anyone lives in the midwest they know Friday night was a bad one for storms capable of creating "tornadic" activity.

The flight was scheduled to leave Detroit at 4:50pm and land in Champaign at 5:3opm - there is a time zone change in there so really only about an hour in the air with take off and landing time. We were delayed in taking off by about 40 minutes because the plane was late getting in and through customs (came from Canada). Then we zipped into the air and we were off. About 40 minutes into the flight things got bumpy. We kept on going through it, but apparently losing speed flying into storms, another 40 minutes passes, very bumpy and rough. The captain comes on we will be landing in 20 -30 minutes. Finally we start descending, we come out of the clouds and the storms are raging. Rain is pelting the plane, lightening is flashing on all sides, the plane is pitching violently from side to side and the ground is in sight. I am dying to get me feet on solid ground, grasping the arm rests and trying to breathe deeply to calm myself. I am a good flyer - but this was awful!

Finally it seems we are not landing after all but heading up, up, up again. Captain comes on - diverting the plane to Cincinnati because the wind shear is just too great and we can't land. 20 minutes later captain is back on - we do not have enough fuel to make Cincinnati - we are going to make an emergency landing in Evansville, IN. We land - they tell us to stay put, we are on a deserted tarmac, and the entire airport appears deserted. (Anyone see The Langoliers?) Finally a truck comes to refuel us - they tell us we are awaiting authorization to take back off and try Champaign again - this time dipping south below the storms and then coming in from behind the cells. We are patient - I use a bathroom that is smaller than my office chair in desperation. This plane holds 34 people total - the bathroom was the tiniest thing I've ever seen but it was necessary. THANK GOD my ass didn't get wedged in there! I was really worried for a few seconds but the full bladder won out. As soon as I emerge from coffin/bathroom they announce that we are going to deplane so we can get in the air conditioned terminal. But they warned us not to leave the terminal area as there were no TSA agents and we would not be allowed back through. No problem for me but the smokers were jonesin bad!

In the terminal everyone is breaking out cell phones. One guy's wife was at the airport in Champaign when we were coming in and there was an actual tornado warning and they were all funneled under the escalators - safest place I guess? She told him the board was showing our flight cancelled - 5 minutes later they announce the same to us. Great - I'm going to be stuck in Indiana? BUT the airline actually chartered a bus to take us the rest of the way. It took 3.5 hours by bus.

I finally got to Champaign airport, had to take a taxi cause the car rental counter had long since closed, and my nice early flight ended up getting me to the hotel and in bed by 12:30am.

This morning I'm wiped - got home on 2 very uneventful flights thankfully but very late - it was 12:30 when I climbed into bed. I am nearly dead today.