Le Meow...

This is Felix - thankfully he is a sweet, cuddly and forgiving cat. We were bored on Monday and I found a Sharpie. Nuff said.

Mustache is already gone today, he furiously washed his face all night I think? :)

Lunchroom Conversations

Lunchroom conversation between me and my fabulously gay friend B:

B: How are you?
Me: Not good - feeling in a fog today

B: Oh really? Do you know you just put grapes in the freezer then?
Me: Yes! They actually are good frozen

B: I just thought you were nuts
Me: Well that too I guess

For the record - white grapes are fabulous frozen!

It's Manic Monday!

This is a good week so far - very busy which is great - no time to get bored. Hubby has a job interview tomorrow with the Dept of Labor for NYS which would be awesome - State Job = Lots of paid time off and great benefits!

This morning on my way in we were listening to the Free Beer & Hot Wings Show - a syndicated radio show that is sometimes really stupid and sometimes quite funny. Well today they were giving people 30 seconds to pitch their candidate. Some people are super stupid is all I can say and it seems to be spread well across party lines. Here is what I heard today:

• "McCain is a Nazi and he hates Jewish people." Thankfully they cut this guy off soon after he finished this sentence saying there was no way they could continue. But they aired it anyway - assuming like most shows they are on a delay and could have just killed his bit altogether.
  
• "Obama has Muslim Values and since all Muslim's hate Americans and want us to die..." this is where they cut this woman off.
• "McCain should get the honor of being president, not because he will make the best one but because he sacrificed for our country."
• "Obama wants to take away our guns, raise our taxes, and kill babies." as soon as she said kill babies she got cut off.
• Someone named "Chuck Baldwin" is running?
• "Vote for McCain because he is old and he's going to die soon and leave a hot MILF running the country and we need some eye candy in the White House." this guy wins for funniest he also commented on Palin's daughter and her great balcony! ;-)

Then there was more of the stuff I've heard a thousand times. I'll be glad when this election is over. One more day!

Cat Shaving and Other Fun Weekend Exploits...

I have a cat named Felix who is very fat, very, very fat. We have put him on a diet, taken all dry food away from him (carb addict) and still he is very, very, very fat. He is a cat that should weigh about 13-14lbs and he currently weighs 20. He has become so fat that the poor kitty can no longer groom his nether regions as well as he should. Baby wipes work well when I notice a problem. ANYHOW - his lack of grooming soon led to hair mats forming on top if his back near his tail that required attention.

Poor Felix is also skittish - VERY skittish. He has bitten me more than once when I attempt to force him to do things he'd rather not do. He also bit me so badly once that I required 10 days of 1000mg Amoxy 2X a day and a tetnus shot - but I don't blame him for that one. I stood on his tail - yes STOOD - wearing wooden soled shoes while he had his head burried in the food bowl. He whipped around so fast and sank all 4 fangs into my calf - it was over before I knew what happened and he was gone but the infection started up fast.

So in order to facilitate removing (cutting) large matts off Felix's back it was best to sedate him so as not to get bit. 1 benadryl does the trick nicely. I risk life and limb to force a pill down his little throat and then leave him alone for an hour, when I come back he's awake but barely and kinda floppy - so relaxed. Good! I have scissors, undercoat rake, brush, and electric clippers if needed for the job. He just flops there on the floor next to me and I managed to cut out the mats without having to turn on the clippers that would have sent him into terror mode I fear. And I brushed and raked and brushed some more. Finally he looks like he got a hair cut from a toddler but he has no mats and should be feeling a bit better.

Funny though, he was still a bit floppy at dinner and fell asleep with his head in the bowl! LOL

So other weekend fun? - Friend over Friday night was a gas! She stayed until 1am and I had plenty to drink and eat and we sang karaoke for hours. And the gossip - such juicy stuff but I can't share yet - she made me promise. Then Saturday - nothing exciting but my parents for dinner and games. Sunday mowed the lawn and took the pup out for ice cream. That's about it. Cat shaving was the highlight of my weekend. (Not really Friday night was the highlight-but cat shaving is funnier!)

Boycotting Monday

I have not been in the office on a Monday yet in the month of August. The 4th - working from home for the install that never happened. The 11th a vacation day and I spent it with my sister, shopping and having fun. Today - working from home again and furnace is being installed as we speak. Two men are here and they have been working for just over 2 hours now. I haven't bothered to stick my head down and see what they are doing - but maybe I should? HMMM

Anyway I definitely enjoy this boycott of Monday I have going! I think I will have to go in next Monday but then the following week is Labor Day right? Cool!

I guess if I never had to go in on Monday I'd just start dreading Tuesday instead?

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.

Monday, Monday...

No telling what might happen on a Monday! Even the Monday, Monday song shows two possible outcomes to Monday.

The first verse starts out like this:
Monday Monday, so good to me,
Monday Monday, it was all I hoped it would be

And the second verse like this:
Monday Monday, can't trust that day,
Monday Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way

So what kind of Monday is it going to be? So far I'm doing a-okay! Got to work mostly on time, not too awfully tired today. Hubby is picking this up after work today:And we are both excited to be getting our 2nd new car in 6 months! :) Yippee - no more repair bills, no more truck nickel and diming us. No more horrific gas mileage. And a pretty, somewhat sporty new car to make me smile in my garage!

So hoping that overall this Monday will be good to me!

Monday Sucks

This pretty much sums up how I feel today. Monday is strangling the life right out of me. I got up and showered and then contemplated calling in and going back to bed. I contemplated this for oh about 40 minutes until I decided I should go in and then rushed around like a mad woman to finish getting ready and out the door in 10 minutes. MONDAY. SUCKS.

Then at the office, I'm still dragging. I am not busy today, this is a bad thing to be not busy when you are already tired and dragging. It's 2:43 and I have been watching the clock since 10am. MONDAY. SUCKS.

I do have a few personal errands to do - but they involve calling car dealers and trying to play them one off the other to see who will give me the best deal on a trade in. I don't want to do this because no matter what day of the week - IT SUCKS!

Today was to have been the day I started watching what I eat in addition to my gym visits to attempt to shrink my ass in some significant way before June 22nd. Good intentions and all I totally blew it today. No great surprise. One good thing I did today was purchase a bottle of GNC's Women's Ultra Mega Vitamins! :) Maybe they will help me get some more energy? The Diet Mt. Dew isn't working anymore. Or maybe I just have a case of the Monday's? MONDAY. SUCKS!

Manic Monday - Ramblings

First of all - MY CAR IS BACK IN THE GARAGE! ARGH - on Friday the 18th I had to take it in for a loud engine noise that turned out to be something stripped and flipping around on the starter. They kept it until Tuesday the 22nd and I expected all to be well. Then this morning I turned the key and nothing happened! (well lights came on and things dinged and the radio was blaring, but the car did not start) After turning the key about 15 times with the same result I called the dealership. Not a happy camper but they told me to call Roadside Assistance and have it towed in. So I did - and that was an experience worthy of blogging about - the tow truck driver was approximately 20 years old? Maybe 22-25 but YOUNG, and he took the most indirect, backasswards way of taking my car to the dealer I can possibly imagine. He went at least 10-15 miles out of his way, he took the worst roads imaginable, he refused to take interstate routes and insisted on going straight through the heart of Schenectady going up State Street to the dealer. From my house it is about 40 miles to the dealer, if I was driving it would have taken no more than 50 minutes, we left my house at 9am and got to the dealer at 10:20. UGH Now I'm waiting to hear back as to what crazy thing is now wrong with my BRAND FREAKING NEW CAR that should be having no such problems. :(

Second of all - my house is clean, not spotless but clean. The maid came for 4 hours on Saturday, she thoroughly cleaned both bathrooms and the kitchen. She did a good job in the bathrooms and the kitchen. She also "dusted" in my bedroom. The "quotes" are because she did not pick up the doilies or remove anything and dust underneath. She did not use pledge but just used the dampened cloth she had used to clean the mirrors, damp with WINDEX - on my wood! (hubby saw her do this) And she did not dust the base or sides at all and they were dusty. While she did bathrooms and kitchen I dusted all wood furniture in living room and dining room, I moved all the furniture away from the walls and vacuumed under and behind. I washed the windows in the living room. I moved the furniture back and vacuumed the rest of the room. I also took all the animals aside and used the deshedding comb and brush on them to try and prevent future hair problems but they are still shedding like crazy (it's that time of year). So the maid is coming back this week, she did tell me that I should give her direction for how I want things done, and if she isn't doing something to my liking to tell me as she is not sensitive. So I probably won't mention the WINDEX incident but I will ask her to use Pledge on all wooden surfaces and to please remove everything and dust then put it back. Seems like common sense to me? But then I am often guilty of dusting around things when in a hurry, but I don't do this for a living either. So we'll see - if she truly is not sensitive and takes direction well then she may work out. If not well there are other options.

And finally - work related - I have been here for six months and had my review last week. It was excellent. When I was hired I was told I would get a raise at the six month mark. Payday is Wednesday and no one has mentioned it to me. Also I have been given a new job opportunity and am finally free to start working on it more full time and my new title is a promotion without a doubt. So, do I wait until Wednesday and see no raise in my paycheck? Do I address it now? And who on earth do I address it to? My "old" boss who gave me the review? His boss, the VP who hired me and made the promise? Or my new boss who gave me the higher titled position? I'm leaning toward the VP that made the promise - but he is someone I find a bit intimidating so talking to him is "scary" LOL. EEEKS? I can't do nothing? I've earned this raise, truly I have and I want it now. If no one turned in a pay increase for me then there's no way it will happen this pay period anyway so maybe I should just wait till Wednesday and then mention it as I'm leaving for the day (Thursday and Friday are going to be vacation days for me). I'm so bad at this type of thing!

Random Thoughts...

We got a letter from the insurance company on Saturday - Hubby's 2nd dose of Tysabri was billed and the claim rejected - they said it had not received pre-approval. But it was approved for 6 doses so I don't get it? I think the infusion center screwed up and billed it incorrectly. I am wondering what I will need to do to facilitate this getting paid? If they send the bill to me ($5,128) it will definitely NOT be paid, but hopefully they will take care of what needs to be done. I better make the call before his next infusion just to make sure they don't turn him away.

I'm about to surpass $1,000 in donations for the MS Walk and still have a few stragglers who have promised to give. This is twice what my original goal was. People are much more likely to donate to things like this when you have a personal sob story to tell. I wish I didn't have a personal sob story.

I had good intentions today - I went out at lunch, I had decided, I was going to join Curves (the gym) BUT their hours are 6-noon and 3-8pm! Really? Not open at lunch time and there they are in the middle of office buildings all around. I would think lunchtime would be a busy time. I was annoyed, I was going to start working out at lunch, and NOW? I CAN'T!!!! The only other gym nearby is the YMCA and it costs twice as much! I can't afford twice as much. So I'll walk when I can and just deal, sucks when you get up your nerve to do something and then you can't.

My nephews are the cutest little boys on the planet! I took pictures of them yesterday (with me) and they were wearing their Thing 1 and Thing 2 shirts that I got them at Universal. :) I had a Thing 2 shirt on too! I'll try to drag them off the camera tonight if I remember. Funny thing about those two boys - the oldest is almost 5 and you'd think he was my child instead of my sister's - he is so much like me it's not funny! The youngest is more mellow - maybe more like her? But the older boy really loves to torture his baby brother - he is constantly in his face, kissing him and trying to hug him and mauling him. Poor baby is really annoyed by his brother most of the time.

Reminds me of me and my sister - I used to torture her. Having a little sibling is like having your own private punching bag! Your own private servant! I got all the good roles when playing games. Princess and the servant girl - of course being the older sister I was always the princess and I treated that servant girl like dirt but of course. So my older nephew being very much like me will likely reap the benefits of being the oldest child - just hope his baby brother isn't a total tattletale like my baby sister always was! :)

Manic Monday Musings

So my Xavier Muskie's pulled it out and are on to the Sweet Sixteen - yippee! I'm rooting for them to go all the way although that is probably unrealistic. But enough about basketball.

Easter Weekend - we had plans to spend the afternoon at my sister's house with my whole family and there was going to be an easter egg hunt for my 4.5 year old nephew and lots of family time and a spiral sliced ham (which I LOVE). But Saturday I got a call from my sister - Easter is canceled because my mom and dad both had bad colds and didn't feel up to it and even worse, my brother-in-law was suffering from some stomach malady that might be viral in nature and probably transmitted by the boy. So we were in no way willing to risk stomach bug or flu bug so we spent the entire weekend at home alone.

One exception - we went out Saturday night to Outback Steakhouse. We got there at 8:30pm and they were still packed so we sat at the bar. About 1/2 way through our meal a nice old lady wearing far too much old lady perfume came and sat next to us. My sinuses were not happy but she was very nice so I tried not to hold it against her. As we were getting ready to leave hubby went outside first to have a cig (he does not smoke in my car) and she told him to drive careful as he left. He laughed and pointed at me - said tell that to her. So I told the old woman that he doesn't drive much unless he has to because he has MS. She seemed shocked - said "you'd never know it". Well of course not - he was sitting down the entire time. The only way you'd know is if you watched him try to walk more than a few steps. I'm not sure if she thought he should be a drooling idiot because he has MS or not? Maybe she hasn't got a clue what it is? Anyway I set her straight! LOL

And today - Bad News, VERY BAD NEWS - My friend "T" who only started here two weeks ago decided that she couldn't handle the drive and being so far away from her kids school during the day. She only gave it two weeks but she talked to the devil woman on Friday and they said they would bring her back into her old job, same salary, same vacation time, etc. So today she told her boss that she was sorry but she didn't think it was going to work and she didn't want to drag it out any longer and waste more of their time and resources. He was upset but understanding and she left at lunchtime today. I am so bummed - I was so glad to have her here. And I wish she'd gone anywhere else other than back to the DEVIL WOMAN. I'm sure she thinks she has won! I told "T" good luck but that I'd rather scratch out my own eyes than go back there. To each his own I guess.

That's about it for this edition of Manic Monday. *sigh* I'm seriously bummed.

Manic Monday!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I've got my Irish on again today! (Meaning I managed to do laundry yesterday and am wearing the same sweater I wore Saturday night!)

And it's official - I let the VP's both know I was taking the Database job and they are thrilled. Then we had a team meeting and I was able to announce to my team that I was taking a promotion to the Database Team - they were all surprised and the look on RBT's face - PRICELESS!

In other news my Alma Mater received a #3 seed in the NCAA tournament! WooHoo! The first game is Thursday night - let's say it all together - GO XAVIER!

In lieu of Manic Monday - Good News!

Friends - I have my husband back. Well technically he never went anywhere but he was definitely absent from any effort in the relationship for awhile. He's been semi-depressed for awhile and more agitated and irritable than anything. We tried drugs, we tried therapy, we tried more drugs, his therapist had him reading books on anger management (well he bought them at least not sure he ever actually "read" any of them). We did find a drug that was more a mood stabilizer than an anti-depressant, we struggled to find the right dosage. Finally we found it, and the anger subsided. That was something. It was not enough. He was still not happy.

Remember the "he lied to me post?" well that first contact with an old girlfriend actually started to bring him back to life. She wasn't really the answer though (thank god) and he's had no contact since. But he joined reunion.com and classmates.com and started searching for people from his past. And finally he had some success - on Friday he found a friend from high school (this one is a guy so no worries on my part) and found out he lives only about an hour and a half away from us. He emailed back and forth pictures, they talked on the phone and we now have to set a date to get together with him and his wife.

Last Monday I had gotten a strange comment on my MySpace page about hubby from a woman in Oklahoma - turns out her husband was his best friend in high school. She searched hubby's name and found my home page that lists his name and has our wedding pictures, etc. Then she searched MySpace for me and found me. So hubby then joined MySpace so he could view their pictures and stuff. Then exchanged info online and his buddy sent a phone number, and so he called him on Saturday evening. My husband who HATES the phone and will keep his conversations as short as humanly possibly talked to his best friend from high school for 4 HOURS!!!!! They covered every detail of the past 24 years it seemed. Then on Sunday they spent 2-3 hours on instant messenger. His buddy and wife are now planning to come see us for a long weekend in April. They are going to fly out from Oklahoma and spend 4 days in upstate NY probably mostly drinking and playing pool and chatting and the men (if the IM conversation was any indication) reverting to acting like 17 year old boys. So his friend left him a comment on MySpace that says - never lose touch again - Best Friends Forever.

I laughed my ass off! What are they teenage girls? BFF? But I love that he has found this great friend from his past and that they seem to be able to pick up where they left off like 24 years have not passed at all. I'm sure I'll hit it off with them (I mostly get along with everyone because I'm a pleaser) and we'll have a great time.

So hubby has been - sweet, affectionate, attentive, smiling, laughing, looking forward to things, not moping, not depressed, not angry. It's like the guy I married is back! And this time it feels like it may last. I can't tell you how happy I am to see him being happy.

Manic Monday - my weekend discoveries....

So this was a relaxing laid back weekend and here are some things I discovered:

1. I rock at Wii tennis! Who knew since IRL I can't play tennis to save my life. Give me a Wii remote and I'm practically Anna Kournikova (okay so I look nothing like her but this is my fantasy right?)
   
   
2. Roasting whole cloves of garlic in olive oil in your oven makes your whole house smell like garlic. I still smell it in my coat this morning. It tasted great in the lasagna but damn the stench is too much.
   
   
3. Wii boxing is very hard - I suck at it! If it were real I'd be looking like my face was raw meat today. I don't think I'll try that again.
   
   
4. Four month old babies may just be the sweetest creatures on the planet. Playing with a cooing, giggling, sweet baby boy was a highlight of my Sunday. Conversely 4.5 year old boys with too much energy and not enough discipline are a fantastic form of birth control. I love him too but I don't want to snatch him up and take him home with me like I do with the 4 month old.
   
   
5. Wii bowling is great fun for the whole family (especially me since I am good at it! MUCH better than real bowling since there I usually end between 80 and 120 pins and in Wii bowling I hit 210 the other day). Saturday night a Wii bowling extravaganza with my mom, dad, me and hubby. I think we took turns winning and played until we were pooped then sat down at the table and played some good old fashioned board games.
   
   
6. Even Oscar Winners like Hilary Swank are not immune from making bad movies now and again - The Reaping - case in point. Hilary is the only redeeming thing about this very bad cult movie. Don't waste your time is my advice.
   
   
7. When the temperature goes from 38 degrees in the morning to 4 degrees by night time - I am probably going to get sick. Sure enough this morning a sore throat and a sinus headache are plaguing me. I hope it doesn't turn into the croupy cough mess I just finally got over.
   
   
8. Newly minted happy adoring hubby survived the weekend. Maybe he really is going to stick around? Here's hoping.

Happy Monday everyone (that part for VBC) and hoping that you don't have a case of the Monday's.

Just Another Manic Monday...

I wish it were Sunday... :(

So back at work today - but some good news! We have a new account coming in - a giant account - an all consuming account - a very important account - and I will be part of the account team! Yippee! This account is being led by my former boss (from prior job) and current friend who knows and understands my struggles here. She will be great to work with- helpful and a good communicator. She started here just 6 weeks ahead of me and is a big part of the reason I came here. I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it if I end up on her team when this all fleshes out. (she doesn't have a team yet but will soon - she was hired in as a senior manager and has been training on the systems and getting ready to lead a team.)

My current manager is a nice guy, but I doubt he's had any training in how to manage/mentor/motivate. He constantly just does things himself cause it's easier than showing me how to do it. So how am I ever going to learn? Just today he did some things that are on my white board as to-do's that he had asked me last week to wait on. Once things were set for them to run instead of giving me the go ahead he just did them - and DIDN'T TELL ME! ARGH

So yep I'm excited at the prospect of working with my old boss again! She was fantastic at managing/motivating/mentoring!