Day 30

Today has been hectic – lots of things to do at work, both older projects and new emergencies.

 

I am at the offsite office on a Thursday because of the class yesterday so I went out to lunch with the friend who had the baby that is a girl (but was supposed to be a boy) because she lives close to this site.  It was nice to see her and the baby is very cute, I think she is a little bored at home.  

 

One thing I have not mentioned is the quality of the coffee at the offsite is poor.   Last week it came out in globs and today it is lukewarm and tastes burned.  I don't know why I keep trying but it is cold here so I just want a warm cup.  It suddenly went from 55 degrees to 7 over the last 24 hours.

 

Well, I feel like I should have something momentous to say about the final day of national blog month but really I have to run and do work.  If I come up with something I'll post it later but just in case, November has been fun, I will likely continue to post daily even when I don't have much to say because my parents read and it is my way of keeping them in touch with my life in between phone calls.  If you are a 'new' person leave me a note or something in comments, I have noticed that my stats are way up.

 

Later

Second shopping trip of the Christmas season

Last night was really fun.  We went shopping at 9 pm and got a bunch of stuff and only paid* 8 dollars.  

 

Why did we go at 9pm?  Well I had an emergency conference call at 8pm (that part was not fun) and we had Kohls bucks to spend this week only and yesterday was the only evening we both had semi free.

 

$8?  We shopped a lot on Black Friday and got a $10 coupon for ever $50 we spent so we got gifts for a bunch of people virtually free

 

Today I ordered what my sister and her husband wanted from a catalogue so all I have left are some more catalogue/online orders and a trip to JC Penny, the Alpaca Store, and Brookstones so basically a trip to the Mall of America.  Darn... I bet we even end up and the good sushi place....  Maybe we will go next weekend, Lars is working all this weekend and we are doing so well shopping together.  This weekend I hope to put up the Christmas lights and I have a feeling I will be doing my take home final exam, I'll know more about that after tonights class.  I can't believe the semester is almost over, time flys with good classes.  Next semester is Stats and I'm not really looking forward to it but it really can't be all that bad.

 

Time to go to a class that has been canceled 3 times and is finally happening

Goodbye to a friend

A very good work friend is leaving the company today.  She got a great offer and it is the right thing for her to do but it is still sad for me.  I don't know why I bother making friends since either I or they leave.   She is one of those people who knows a bit about everything and was very wise in general and I'll miss having her around to visit during the day.  Oh well, technically she will be back mid December and she is going to stay with me so I'll see her and I'm sure we will keep in touch.

 

Last night was uneventful, I did my homework that ended up being easier then I thought but I didn't get any sewing done at all.   I fell asleep early in the evening but woke up when Lars got home and then I was wide awake until midnight so today I am a little off step.   I have a bunch of little meetings all day, nothing that will get me very far and they are spaced out just enough that I can't get into any of my other projects.  Tonight I am going back to Kholes to spend the Kholes dollars we got over the weekend and I must get my shipping done for my sister and nephew's birthday etc.

 

Nothing else fantastic – the silly calendar says that today is Make your Own Head day and Red Planet Day.  I have no clue about the former and the latter sounds like an ode to Mars.  I don't think either are too interesting, nothing like Party with your Bear.  

Monday again

I hope everyone liked my guest writer, Lars did well and he didn't even complain too much.  

 

Yesterday I did both sleeves for the outfit I'm making for Ambrose, ate dinner, and fell asleep.  Sitting in a car for 5 hours is tiring.  Today I need to do homework and reading for class and I need to mail a bunch of packages.  I also hope to make some more progress on the outfit and maybe cut something new out for me.  At some point this week I would like to do the Christmas lights but I think that will probably wait until the weekend but the weather is so warm I want to get it done before it turns arctic.  I won't turn the lights on for at least another week but getting them up there is the fun part.  

 

Household item – this weekend I changed all the felt pads on my kitchen table and chairs, they were starting to mark the floor so I pried off the old one and put nice new ones on. I should probably do this more then once a year but I never remember, I'll put it on my calendar for next year.  

 

Only a few more days of National Blog posting month, it has been fun and I promise to keep posting but just maybe not every day on the weekends.

back

Back from the event, it was a nice girls weekend (plus Josh).  I need to read through the hand out binder we got since I didn't get to all the classes I wanted to because many were in the same time slot.  After a fantastic dinner at the Great Dane nobody felt like post reveling or going to the club we kinda planned on going to and we all hung out and fell asleep.  We got up nice and early and hit the road and I am now home.  Lars did the dishes while I was gone (he must have missed me) so I think I'm going to get some sewing done and get ready for the week.

Guest Post

Hi all, Lars here guest posting for my wife. She is at an event called "Clothier's Seminar" I'm sure you all realize why she's there and I'm not.

I don't have much to say beyond that I miss her and look forward to her return tomorrow. I did get to do a little shopping today which was nice. Its a little rough having to shop for her birthday and xmas at the same time. I think I'm going to skip her birthday this year. (kidding honey....)

Well, that's about all the juice I have in me. I realize it wasn't terribly interesting and I apologize, but you're not getting the 60 seconds it took you to surf here and read this back, ever.

-Lars

Mood: Chipper
Weather: Surprisingly warm for Minnesota.
Gas: $ 2:17
Reading: Gerorge RR Martin's "A Feast for Crows"

Black Friday

I must admit, I did not make it out at 5am.  I took a look at the door busters and there really was not anything that I had to have.  Don't get me wrong, I'm still shopping today because there are some fantastic deals all day/weekend but 5am was not happening.  I also convinced Lars that he had to come with me, we are compromising and saying we are getting to Kholes at 10 so he has another half hour before he has to wake up that I will use to pack for the weekend.  I have my doubts about us all fitting in the car we think we are all driving in so I'm going to drive the suv to the meeting point and have it be ready.  Maybe we will all still fit, that would be very nice since the suv does not get great mileage.

 

On my shopping list there are very few question marks so provided I can find everything I want I'll be able to be inspired for my question marks and have a stress free couple of weeks.

 

In birdfeeder news (I'm sure you were all wondering)  I have attracted two cardinals and a bunch of the tiny brown birds.  I'm still don't have constant visitation but that may be because it is still 65 degrees outside or because I'm using leftover birdseed from my wedding.  Right now the kitten is sitting on the deck staring very intently at the birds that she has no chance at all of getting but she does like watching them.  Occasionally she makes a little jump into the air like she was just about to get one but since they are 30 feet up I doubt she will make it.

 

Ok, off to pack then shop - Giulia, please call with departure time.

Happy Thanksgiving

Short post today to wish everyone a good day off.  We are gong to go join friends about 1ish for a PJ themed Thanksgiving and I'm making bread and a veggie.  Hope everyone has a safe fun day

Goals of the Holiday Season

1.  Avoid ever seeing a jewelry commercial, especially K Jewelry.  I hate them so much!  I like jewelry and I wouldn't mind more but I really really hate the sappy commercials.  I believe with careful use of Tivo I should be able to avoid them completely

 

2. Write and mail Christmas Cards – I didn't make it last year but maybe this year

 

3. Get shopping done early, I'll have a good start on black Friday but I would love to be done by Dec 11 so everything can be mailed

 

4. Put up Christmas lights and inside decorations.  I end up slacking on one or the other but I'm looking at a gorilla ladder on craigs list so putting up the lights might be easier this year

 

5. Avoid stress – If I get stuff done early I should be fine

 

6. Work out atleast 2 times a week, this should help with the stress and the looking decent in a bathing suit in Jan (in Cancun!)

 

7. Send a note to anyone else in the neighborhood that puts up decorations, we were the only ones last year

 

I am sure I'll have more but this is the time I have.   I am hoping that we all get to go home early today so I need to get work done.  I have a feeling not many people are working today because I only have 3 e-mails so far today and I usually have well over twenty by now.

Tuesday

Yesterday was a roller coaster of tiredness.  I woke up very awake, I was practically asleep during the day.  I made a deal with myself that I would nap after I made a few calls at home and by the time I was done with the calls I was totally awake again.   I made dinner and we ate and I fell asleep about 10:30 trying to watch tv.  This morning I was up 20 min before my alarm, hopefully it is a more normal day today.

 

In our effort to get stuff fixed in the house, today the plumber is coming.  He is going to (hopefully) fix our very leaky faucet in the upstairs bathroom.  For the past 2 years we have had a problem turning it off so it does not drip but over the past two weeks it is much worse so we are calling in a professional.  Since he will be there anyway, we got new bathtub fixtures that match our new sink fixtures so he will be able to change that for us.  After this is done, the major repairs are mostly complete.   I still want to change a bunch of light fixtures but that is a project I can handle myself.

 

Next big thing on the agenda is make a pavilion!  Step one is to decided between a spoked round or a wedge.  We want a small tent that will fit a double airmattress and some stuff and all poles will fit inside our small SUV.  Our big pavilion is great for pennsic but it is too big to fit in the car and is too big for most other events.  Step two will be to order the canvas with G2 (who will need to figure out what she wants too first) and anyone else ordering so we can share shipping and maybe get a volume discount.  Step three will be to actually cut and sew.  Step four will be poles.  Step five will be decoration, who knows if this will happen sooner or in 10 years but I've always wanted to paint a pavilion and hopefully this will be a good size.

 

This weekend is a cool event that I get to wear my awesome coronation garb to.  I need to fix the underdress in the next few dayst (add lacing) but that should be too big a deal and I'm excited to wear it again since I'm sure at a costume symposium it will be very well received.

 

Ok, work time....

Happy Monday

Weekend review....  I got a ton of little things done, so menial and trivial that it would be more dull then my average post to list them all but it is very satisfying to cross stuff off the list.  I didn't actually get to everything but I have all week.  Class is canceled this Wed for the holiday so I'm going to sit and do homework and I should still have time to so other things too.  Yesterday I picked up  a supplier from Malaysia and took them to their hotel and then out to dinner.  It was a fun meal and we enjoyed ourselves.   Today I'm hosting them at work and tonight I hand off to a coworker who has them for the next 3 days.  

 

Friday I was declared a perfect candidate for Lasik, my eyes are a very good shape and I have good corneas with no weak or thin spots.  I need to look at the calendar and make the appointment but I am thinking after Cancun in Jan.  I might actually end up doing it in Feb since I will need to take a day off I don't want to do that too close to a vacation, just looks bad.  Late Feb I am planning on going to Korea and China with a work group, I am filling out paperwork for it now.  

 

It is very nice to have a short week ahead of me.  Work through Wednesday, Thanksgiving at T&K's on Thursday, Black Friday 5am shopping then a nap then travel to Costumers event.  Saturday nice event all day and maybe a club that night and Sunday home.  Thanksgiving this year we are doing a PJ theme, I think I'll check out Wal-Mart for some fun thanksgiving themed stuff.  I miss the classic formal meal with my family but since it can't be recreated here we might as well have fun with the change.  Any cool Thanksgiving plans with you all?

 

Next week a bunch of coworkers will be out and the holiday season begins... 

How can you tell your hot tub has been idol too long

A frog is living it it...

Yes, finally, the hottub is fixed (temp sensor broke off the board) and I wanted to clean and fill it. I opened the lid and there was something that looked like a hornets nest by one of the controls. I poked it and it was soft and squishy and looked at me. I was expecting to break a papery nest so the slime was extra unexpected. I closed the lid and will deal with mr frog later. BTW, the hottub does NOT look like a swamp, I closed it clean so I think he was just hibernating there.

Edited 12/1 to add; Here is a picture of the little guy. I took him inside to look up his species and he is actually a toad and he is very common to this area. Once he reanimated I took him out to the garden and hopefully he dug a nice hole and went to hibernate again. Otherwise, I guess I killed the little guy...

Friday Forward - "Not my job" award of the year

weekend

Looks like we might not be going to the event this weekend.  I have been having on and off stomach problems, not as bad as Tuesday but I've just cut down on eating.  The icing on the cake was that Lars was scheduled to work last night and expected to be done by 1am and did not get to bed until 7am and he has to work today too.  We will have to see I guess.  I was asleep by 10:30 so I feel rested but for dinner I ate a bowel of cereal and some popcorn.  I ate my oatmeal this morning and so far so good.

 

 

I have my eye doctor apt this afternoon to see if I am a lasix candidate so I need to cram a lot of work into the morning so I'm going to get to it.

Party with your Bear day

I feel much better today!

 

I slept from 6-8 and then from 11-7 and ate a very bland dinner and all seems to be well.   I have to meet an electrician today for an estimate on changing the ceiling fan and installing some lights, hopefully he can do it today but if he needs more tools then it might have to be tomorrow or this weekend.  I also got volunteered to pick up a supplier from Asia on Sunday morning so I don't know if I'll be going with Lars to the event this weekend or not.  Might still since we can leave right after the event and drive straight through and get home late, have to talk to him.

 

I've been ignoring the interesting holiday list, over the past week they have been dull overall.  Today is have a party with your bear day and I thought that disserved mention because an old nickname for Lars is LarsE.Bear so we will have to have a party.   Or... I need to party with G1 or G from WI as they are both bears too.  I might feel better but I'm not up to massive party so rain check to the bears J

 

I got conned into helping someone do a chart in excel so now I have to get going on my stuff.  I'm very glad it is Thursday and I am very glad that I don't feel like puking.

Complaining (I don’t know how to do the fancy thing were there is a link to see the whole text so I made the words white, you need to highlight below to read but feel free to skip)

I can’t resist the urge to complain to the internet world about my flu. I only ate half a sandwich at lunch, a bowel of cereal, and 2 eggs all day yesterday. While having violent stomach cramps and camping out in the bathroom I felt the overwhelming need to puke. I surveyed my options; sink? – too far away, trash can? – full, dump the trash on the floor and clean it up later? No, too much risk of something gross or bathtub. The bathtub was my only option .... gross!!! I did feel better once my stomach was empty but then I could not reach the knob to turn on the water so I was forced to co-exist with it for a min or two. My only further comments are I need to chew my food better and what did I eat that was pink?

I did get to the water and cleaned the tub (nothing says adult like cleaning up your own puke) and then took a shower. I forgot that I didn’t have contacts on and got into the shower with my glasses. I can’t see my feet without visual aids and I get dizzy trying so since I wasn’t in the best shape I just left them on. It wasn’t as bad as it could be and they only fogged up a little at the end and I rinsed them off and put them back on. So after my shower I was still camped out in the bathroom for a while but I did feel better after a bit. I still came to work and I’m keeping myself semi isolated in my office but I wrote to my professor to say I’m not going to class since I still don’t feel great. So far I’ve kept down some oatmeal and water and one hot pocket. The hotpocket is not sitting well so I might be heading home. I (sadly) have already evaluated my puking options for the office (trash can – very empty, with a plastic liner so I can just dispose of it all).

Now I need to try and concentrate more on work again, “lunch” time is over.

flu

I feel distinctly flu like today.  Last night I could not keep anything down and this morning I just feel delicate.  I need to decide if I want to go to school tonight, I am paying for the class and we have off next week for thanksgiving but I am getting an A and can afford to miss one.  I'll wait and see how I feel after lunch.  I did not do any reading last night at all but I could read at lunch...  on the positive side, my ear doesn't hurt much today, I don't think it was an infection as much as congestion from my flu/cold.

 

The one semi exciting thing I forgot to write about from Monday is that I changed my hair some.  I went in for a trim and came out with long bangs.  I'm not sure how I feel about them but I'm just not really fond of my face with glasses.   People at work think it makes me look younger.  My hair grows so fast that it will be grown out soon anyway so I'm not that worried about them.  I'll try and get a picture but it really isn't that big a change.

 

I don't feel too animated today so this might be it for the day -

Tuesday

I just got home from a business day trip that was a bunch of driving and more or less watching other people work. I brought my designer and engineer and they talked to the other designers and engineers and I kinda listened. I was there to make sure they started, covered all the topics I needed them to, and to get them out the door ontime. Work will be alot of catchup tomorrow.

Last night I got all the applique done on the garb I'm making. It is supposed to be a black phoenix with the head straight up coming out of yellow fire on a green background. It took a while to get going on this but I like the way it turned out. I also cleaned the garage so now both cars fit in. It wasn't too bad, just needed some stuff thrown out and our patio furniture and folding chairs and bikes put away nicely. I even went the extra step and swept and organized tools in one spot, garden stuff all together etc. We still have a ton of our friends stuff including some framed abstract posters. For the last two years I've been able to half see the one so yesterday I pulled it and another cool one out so I can see them when I drive in. I like seeing them pulling in, maybe I'll start a new trend of garage art.

I am sleepy for not doing much and my ear hurts. I've only had one ear infection that I remember so I don't know if this is one or not. My glasses bug me but I am getting used to them. I think I'm going to go be a vegetable for a bit and then read my chapters for homework.

Maybe Big News

 

I am taking the big step toward having 20/20 eyesight without poking myself in the eye daily.  I have an apt on Friday to see if my eye are good candidates for laser eye correction.  If I am then I am putting a great big chunk of money in flex spend.  If not, nothing really lost, I don't mind my contacts.  The only down side is that for a good exam I have to wear my glasses for a week before the appointment so I am sporting my glasses.  I bought them as back up and to wear at home so they are not non-glare and they are not high index and they are not exactly fashion glasses (although they are not that ugly, just small and not really outstanding).  I made the appointment this morning so I ran home at lunch to quick change to glasses.  Here's hoping that this week of fashion tragedy is not for nothing J

Weekend Review

 

Ok, weekends with no plans are getting dull.  I really liked the first one, the second was ok too, but 3 in a row is dull!  I also have to stop blaming traveling for why the house is messy because it is still on the messy side and I haven't gone anywhere.  I actually have more opportunity to make mess with projects when I'm home.  I made a good start on Ambrose's jerkin.  I got a good phoenix design, sized it right and cut it all out.   I got the black leather to be color fast with vinegar, all those years of Easter Eggs I should have thought of it more quickly.  For future reference, I rinsed the leather many times in hot water and then soaked it in the sink with hot water and about 2 cups of white vinegar for 3 or 4 hours.  I don't know if that amount or time is perfect for other projects but when I rinsed it again at the end the water came off clean.  I hung it up to dry and Sunday afternoon I cut a very nice phoenix out of it.  I think the fire section turned out well too, I did it freehand and just kept cutting away until I was happy with it.  Tonight I need to glue it a little so it won't slide around while sewing and then I will cross my fingers that my machine can handle this.  I got leather needles so I'll hope for the best.

 

This week is my grandmother's birthday and her gift is in the mail so hopefully she gets it.  

 

That's it for now, I need to get to work

***my Sunday 11/13 post is on LJ***

I never got to write a good one but I'll write 3 today.  Anyway, for the competition here is my yesterday post; http://katelmn.livejournal.com/4911.html

Happy Veterans Day

Happy Veterans Day to all the vets and those serving.

 

I'm well under way with my pattern so I'm getting back to it.  Anyone have a good idea of how to make black suede colorfast?

 

Date night and My blogging theory

I am very overwhelmed with the number of blogs out there.

 

I knew there would be tons, and I knew that mine is on the mundane side, but I'm just about shocked into silence with some of the things other people are going through.  There is one in particular that a man is watching his wife suddenly get so sick that she is almost dead.  Morbid topic but his writing is so easy to read.   I still read my favorites that are basically people I randomly choose to start reading and stuck with and then there are a few people that I actually know who I read to keep up with their life.  I keep finding more and more that I could spend all day reading but I don't and I won't but now that I know how many are out there and I'm sure the list is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

I have identified how my blog is different from others; I've said it before, I write half to keep my parents informed of my life and half as a record for myself of what I did or thought.  I don't write specifics about anyone other then Lars (and Lars is a pseudonym anyway) and I try not to talk about work since this is public.  I don't write any big news or air dirty laundry.   I don't link to hot news articles and I don't really have a theme, themes I've tried sorta get lost.  I doubt I will ever be a blogger superstar but I don't really need to be, I have a fun life and plenty of friends and I don't need the internet to need me.   I have my real name published because I don't mind at all if an old friend googles me I want them to find out what I'm doing.  I don't really even mind an old enemy finding me either since I only write pretty positive stuff.  

 

So thanks to those who read, it makes me feel cool that people I don't know or only know a little read me and it makes it easier to write my little observation and stories.   To the people I know – I'm glad I'm worth checking in on.  Who knows, I might get more interesting with time.

 

Anyway, enough navel gazing, back to my life ~

Last night Lars and I went to see the comic Demetri Martin.  The show was in the cities so we left ourselves an extra half hour to park and we got there in plenty of time.  The theater itself was very nice but on the small side.  Sadly, I have sat in more spacious coach airline seats...   The crowd was a very interesting mix of regular couple like Lars and I (clean cut, dressed up a little but not over the top, and young), Freaks and Geeks, (hard to tell from just looking at them but they are the pink hair, outrageous outfits, or outfits that just didn't work), and families – tons of teens and tweens for a show that started at 8pm.  The teenage boy next to me smelled very very very bad and had bad breath and thought this show was the funniest thing ever and kept laughing really loud and knee slapping.  He also started spreading into my space since I leaned over on Lars to avoid his smell.  The show itself was good.  There were two other comics and the first one was very fun and the second was kinda dull.  The main act had all new material and that was good since we recently saw a comedy central special.   He is half physica/propl half observational comedy.   I left feeling like he would be a cool person to hang out with, he had a good stage presence and even not comic stuff he did was funny like when his equipment was almost making feedback he just sorta started talking to the sound guy.  He was very cool about the whole showbiz thing.  On reflection, I'm glad we went because the live show was different then a comedy central special but watching it on tv has a lot of advantages too.  The best part really was leaving the house with just Lars and going to do something fun and I think he felt the same way.  For that reason, I would go again and have a good time.

 

Two more hours of work til the weekend.... time to blitz the e-mail so I don't have to work over the weekend.

Happy Friday

I accidentally woke up too early and thought I was late so as a consequence I got to work early.  I really need to get a watch, or a clock in the bathroom, or both.  I have gotten used to not having a watch (mine broke in Aug on the way to pennsic).  This has happened once before when I worked in NYC for the summer, I got really really good at finding clocks in the area and I even remember looking into certain shops on my walk to work because they had good line of sight for a wall clock.  At work here I find myself looking at clock in conference rooms when I walk by and here every phone and computer has the time displayed so I don't go too long without seeing the time.    I can't think of any positives about not having a watch on other then Lars does not ask me what time it is so much anymore.  I don't think I will ever be the type of person that time does not matter and that watches and clocks are unnecessary.

 

This weekend I was supposed to go to a baby shower in Fargo (3 hours away) but all the people I was going to drive with canceled so we are going to just throw our own shower for her.   Therefore my weekend plans are nil.  I have two goals, clean the garage and start garb.  The garage isn't that bad but since it was such a pain to put cars in we have stuff just sitting in there not really put away.  If I get really ambitious I might get a bunch of hooks and customize the storage to my needs instead of just sticking with the built in shelving that has been there since we moved in.  Whoever build all the work bench areas was a giant.  I'm not short, but I need a step stool to get so that something on the bench is waist level, on the ground they are mid chest high on me.

 

So what are other people's weekend plans?  Give me some inspiration.   Oh, or I'll take suggestions for blog topics, weekends are the hardest for me and I'm not going to drop out of the competition!

Dull day turned interesting

Yesterday was a tense day here.  They did a 'resizing' at work and although I knew my group was pretty safe it was still an angst filled day and every 2 hours you looked around to make sure friends in other groups were still there.  We are not communist so jobs do not have to be there.  The Company is doing the right thing taking action before it is bad and they tried to do it in the best way possible.  We had one person move to another group and no actual losses.  I am going to end up with more work I'm sure but I suppose that makes me more valuable.  My good work friend got offered a job outside the Company and she was waiting to see what happened yesterday before she gave notice so I am loosing a friend but she is getting a great bump up in pay that she really needs and disserves.

 

It wouldn't matter if they were handing out $100 bills yesterday for working, I got about half of my regular amount of stuff done.  Today I catch up and I went from no meetings to three before very suddenly and I need to go to the other site after lunch and I always enjoy a little drive in the middle of the day but it does mean I won't be quite as productive as I had hoped but I always get a lot done offsite.   I try not to focus on work, in my life and in my blog, but that really did dominate my day.  

 

Yesterday was dunce day, I did not celebrate even though I was at class and someone could have had to sit in the corner.  Class was interesting but for the first time I looked at the clock during lecture.  It wasn't that it was dull but I was tired.   I got home, opened the mail, got the new battery for the phone that has needed it for a while, ate some sushi and went to sleep.

 

Lars has made a nice habit of buying sushi while he is out on Wednesdays'.  It is a good light meal for 9pm when I get home and it is totally a spontaneous thing from Lars.  He knows I enjoy it but I never really expect it so every Wednesday it is a treat and a surprise.

Homework

I must finish my homework today at lunch.  The assignment was to brief a MN summery judgment case and the decision document he gave us to work off is the worst written thing I've ever seen.  I had to read it 3 or 4 times to figure out what they were even talking about right and the assignment is only worth 30 points.  I have no clue if I identified the issues he wanted because the thing is full of issues.  I wrote the majority Monday night and I didn't even touch it yesterday so I have to get done today.

 

Last night Lars and I voted.  We went right after I got home (and I pressed all the garage door opener buttons a few times) and we done within half an hour.  It was an odd set up, there were only 10 booths so they let anyone who wanted to just fill out their ballots any where in the room.  Lars and I sat at a desk and there were other people sitting on couches in the waiting area.  All the scantron forms went into the big machine and then they gave you a sticker and you could leave.  The 'booths' were fairly lame, they were just tall plastic desks with plastic dividers on either side and the legs are really shaky.  It looks like the entire thing folds down to a briefcase size.  This morning I found out the stuff I was voting for passed so our schools won't need to lay off teachers and hopefully the taxes only go up a little.

 

After voting I roasted a chicken and made mashed potatoes and spaghetti squash.  The squash was my 'bold' thing for cook something bold day and I am always amazed at how much one squash yields.  Good thing I like it.  We invited Timmy over for dinner and after we played the blokis (the new game we got last week) and we all had a good time.  We rounded out the evening with two episodes of Scrubs then Lars went to play poker while I watched Gilmore Girls.  Gilmore Girls is a little disappointing this season, I didn't think I would notice different writers but you really can tell.  The episodes are not as good as the first couple seasons but I will still be sad when it is over.  I am fairly sure this is the last season because they say the last show is when Rory graduates Yale and she is a senior so the end is near.

 

 

Three random things of note

Three things of note

 

First; for a review of all the blogs doing the challenge, Writing Aspirations is doing a cool job.  (I bet she reads mine and lumps it into the dull category)

 

Second; Today is Chaos Never Dies Day.  I love that my mom taught us chaos theory

 

Third; Update on the ass from college.  He replied with the great comeback of; "whatever".  Bravo to him.

I note about an ass from college

My day was going well, great actually.  People are e-mailing me back quick, I called Lars and the garage door now opens and shuts with the touch of a button and I even had intelligent discourse about the issues up for vote today at lunch.   I took my mile walk after lunch and since the pregnant lady isn't slowing us down we get done much faster so I went to check in on some websites I like including Mike's.  Mike if a fabulous writer and always has been, he writes the out there creative stuff that is just fun to read.  I read his site for the humor (or irony) not because he tells the world what he is up to like most blogs I like to read.   I occasionally, over the past 6 years, call or e-mail him to keep in touch and I believe he reads here every so often.  Anyway, I also choose to keep contact with a few other college friends via blog or phone and there are a few I ask about but I don't actually keep in good touch and then there were those I was just fine to never think about again.

 

One such gentleman decided to post a comment on Mike's site referring to me by a nickname that I loathed.  I made no secret about hating it and any that cared stopped using it.  Seeing it again just annoyed me.  I gave the matter some thought (maybe a whole 60 seconds) and it comes down to the fact that this guy was never very smart and this stupid insult is the only clever thing he could come up with.  He always was a pseudo-intellectual and when it comes right down to it I feel bad for him.  He was a non entity to me for most of college, we were in the same group of friends, but he evolved into a smug ass and I think it is all a defense mechanism to cover up for his insecurities.  I read a few of his posts and see that he really hasn't changed, he does not seem to have moved away from his 150 mile zone in Pa where he has spent his whole life.  Looks like he was just left by another girl, I skimmed his profile and see that he is putting that college education to work in security and that more or less he hasn't grown up.

 

I'm not looking fabulous here myself by this little rant but after that first minute of annoyance I could not stop my morbid curiosity at what had become of him so I clicked.  Posting this is on the petty side but I'm sure he will get satisfaction that he got some sort of attention and I got to mock him just a bit.

 

On an unrelated topic – don't forget to vote today J

"important" holidays

Over the weekend and last week I neglected a few important holidays;

 

Friday; Housewife day and sandwich day – I wonder if they are related?  The one true house wife I know said she liked the idea of her own day and she enjoys being a housewife and raising her kids so Friday I brought over dinner for her (and us) and it was well received.

 

Saturday; While I was being lazy and playing silly computer games I was really celebrating King Tut day – I'm sure he didn't do laundry on weekends

 

Sunday; Gunpowder Day and Guy Fawks Day.  I have no idea who Guy Fawks is but I did nothing with gunpoweder.  Most of my coworkers were expressing their fondness for gunpower by hunting.  One coworker actually even uses a blackpower gun to hunt, the season for black power is longer, but I had a lot of interesting conversations on Friday about all the hunting plans for the weekend.  

 

Today is saxophone day and Marooned without a compass day.  Neither are exciting.   I can use a compass but I don't really need one for my life, there are enough landmarks to figure out where I am and what direction I'm going.  I also try to keep my self out of situations where marooning may occur.  I can not play a saxophone nor do I know anyone who can.  

 

Tomorrow is bittersweet chocolate with almonds day and cook something bold.  I will eat an almond joy and maybe add one to dinner....

7th day of the challenge

Another day of work.  I am sitting here sipping my midmorning coffee after making headway on many projects this morning and I am looking forward to when I get home today, not for the normal reasons but because the GARAGE DOOR WILL OPEN AGAIN!

 

I finally pulled out all the adds from one of the ad flyers and made a list of the 5 different options so I could see what they offered in comparison.  I called two and ended up making an apt for today.  Lars is supervising, it is nice to have him work from home, so easy to schedule things like this without having to be there myself or have it after business hours.   We are getting an upgraded belt drive unit with two remotes and a keyless entry, hopefully there is no trouble installing it because we couldn't find a stud in the right place to anchor it.   We honestly did try to fix this thing we just failed miserably.   In the end it was very easy to arrange, I don't know why I waited so long.  

treat day and a trick

I think I mentioned that I got the blue treat box last week, I'm not sure.  Anyway, I had to bring in treats so I made some of the cake bread from the starter I've been using and I added vanilla pudding mix and chocolate chips.  I used the big loaf pan and cut it up into chunks and set it on my desk.  It was all gone by 11 so I view that as a success.  Anyway, the trick... I don't know who did it, but someone messed with my desk chair settings!  Not a federal offence but annoying.  I'm in process of adjusting it back to how it was...

testing a randomizer link

Hopefully this works - if it does I'll put in in my link section...  It is supposed to link to one of the bloggers who promised to blog atleast once a day so you should get something with each click that is;

1. not a spam site

2. updated recently

3. in English

 

As for topics or writing quality I give no assurances.

 

http://www.pinkelephants.org/nablopomo/

My two year anniversary

 

Lars and I, as of noon eastern time, will be officially married for 2 years.  We dated apx 5 years starting more or less on my 20 ^th birthday and he proposed at Northshield 1^st crown.  I realize that if we were both really Minnesotan then Oct 6^th would not have been a good option because it is deer opening weekend.

 

I don't believe we have any special plans tonight.  We have tickets to see a comedian we both like in the cities on Thursday so that is our going out.  I have a chicken to roast and spaghetti squash and home made bread for dinner tonight so we will be staying in.  Going out isn't all that big a deal, we go out to eat often between traveling or not wanting to cook so a good meal at home is more rare.  I pulled out our candle from our pre-cana retreat so that is the only sentimental thing.  I should check, but our marriage has outlasts a lot of celebrity ones (low bar) and we have had a fairly calm yet fun couple of years.  Some of the 'calm' things since we got married are; buy a house, move on the coldest day of the winter, both of us changed jobs, won crown and reign for a year, 1 family birth, 1 family death, trips to 9 different states and one other country and that is just what I can think of off the top of my head.  I suppose it is the bored people that find time to have problems or keep grudges.  

 

The year to come I'm sure will have challenges, hopefully everything turns out ok.   I don't have any particular plan for things that must happen in the next year but I have a think or two in mind that if they happen would be well received but I don't want to over plan.

Nice relaxing Sunday

I did two things of note and one thing I've been intending to do for ages.

 

First, I got a bird feeder for our yard.  I wanted it to hang level with our 2nd story window so I could see birds when I was sitting on the couch and I thought it would amuse the cats.  I am positive it will amuse the cats because the hour of trying to throw the cord over the right tree branch had all of them sitting at the window looking at me.  I won in the end and got the right branch but it took way more effort then I think should have been necessary.

 

Second Lars and our friend Timmy went to see Borat.  His choice.  He might not get to choose again for a long time.  Borat was funny and kept us talking about it all through lunch but it is disturbing on a few levels too.  There is also an extremely gratuitous nudity (and it isn't pretty).

 

Last I finally made the draft blockers I've been intending to make for a month.  Just a basic tube filled with rice, only trick is holding the funnel and the tube tight enough to not drop it and rice all over the floor but loose enough to get rice into the tube.

 

I also made bread, two loaves.  I have improvements on my method for next time but I had two slices for dinner and they were tasty. 

 

I didn't get all that much done but Lars wants to go watch some more Scrubs and cuddle time is important too.

Peaceful day

In an effort to post daily I am checking in here at 7:30pm. Today I talked to my parents, put away the Halloween decorations and ran 1.5 miles. I also moved our old DVD player to the downstairs tv that I watch while running because our new tivo has a dvr so I can take my tivoed shows and watch them while running. I think this will help me exercise more (maybe). I am looking at the fabric that needs to turn into garb and that is an important first step. Tomorrow maybe I cut it out~

No Motivation

That is it... I am not motivated to work at the moment.  I will, I have stuff to do, even kinda interesting stuff to do but I'm just not all that motivated.

I follow the group

I am only posting this because it was so oddly right

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Philadelphia
The Inland North
The Midland
Boston
The South
The West
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

Big news - one day old

I completely forgot yesterdays big news.  The girl from work I sit next to and eat lunch with often had her baby on Nov 1 at 6pm.  She spent a lot of time, energy, and money making the nursery perfect for her little boy – right down to big block letters spelling out his name.   They had umpteen sonograms saying he was a boy and they were ready for a little pro base-foot-basket-ball player (according to the strong sports theme of his room).  Well, they had a girl.   She is really happy because either was really fine but it is just funny that after all that photo evidence he ended up a she.  Everyone at work was shocked and we are all fairly sure her poor husband was sent from the hospital to go paint the room pink.  

 

If I ever decorate a nursery I'm making all the design decisions based on what I want to look at.  Babies can't see much nor do they care what theme their room is but if I am the one up at 2 or 4 am I want nice things to look at.

 

Today I am at the offsite location so there is no knowing what might go on today. Sometimes it is super quiet and I get a ton done, sometimes not so much.

 

This weekend I again have no firm plans.  It is very cool to know I can just do any of my projects and not need to do anything more then grocery shop.  I hope to start some garb and put away the Halloween stuff, that's about it.

 

Any of you have good weekend plans?

Thursday Morning

My goal for a post is 10 am, today at quarter to ten I got a meeting reminder and there goes an hour and a half.   It was a good meeting, got a lot done, but none of the blogging I look forward to in the morning.

 

Class was good as usual.  It is suddenly much colder and darker at 5:30 so my 6 block walk is now more of a chore then it was when it was nice and sunny and warm.   I actually had to parallel park yesterday in the car with no power steering (not broken, was always manual) but I was pretty proud that I did it in only 4 moves.  We spent half the class going over the test and I argued myself into 4 more correct answers.  I didn't technically need the points but class participation is 1/3 of our grade and he wanted discourse so we gave him some.  When I got home we ate dinner and then we watched about 60 episodes of Scrubs.  Ok, it was only 3 but Tivo collects 5 episodes a day and Lars is obsessed with the show so all he wants to watch is Scrubs.  I do like it so it isn't a big deal but after too many you start dreaming in Scrubs.  Last show we did this to was That 70's show and I think I like Scrubs better but they are such different shows it is hard to compare.  

November fun date list

Happy November~

 

I went to the super fun site http://holidayinsights.com to see what was going on this month and there is quite a bit.  I doubt I'll blog or celebrate the majority of these but they are still fun to look at.

 

I also found out today that November is (unofficially)  National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo, a derivative of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)and I signed up so there will be at least one post per day.  The weekends will be the hardest but I think I can do it.

 

I also need to organize birthday's for this month this week, and, start thinking about Christmas

 

As for Nov 1 - Veggertarian Day, I celebrated by eatting chicken (not reeeally a meat) and a varity of greens (romane and spinish) and since I'm going to class I'll likely eat a yourgart for dinner.   

 

 

Month:

Aviation History Month

Child Safety Protection Month

International Drum Month

National Adoption Awareness Month

National Epilepsy Month

National Model Railroad Month

Peanut Butter Lovers Month

Real Jewelry Month

National Sleep Comfort Month

Week Celebrations:

Week 1 Chemistry Week

Week 3 Game and Puzzle Week

 

Each Day:

1 All Saint's Day

1 World Vegetation Day

2 All Soul's Day

2 Look for Circles Day

2 Deviled Egg Day

3 Housewife's Day

3 Sandwich Day

Book Lovers Day - first Saturday of the month

4 King Tut Day

5 Gunpowder Day

5 Guy Fawkes Day

6 Marooned without a Compass Day

6 Saxophone Day

7 Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day

7 Cook Something Bold Day

8 Dunce Day

9 Chaos Never Dies Day - you've got that right

10 Forget-Me-Not Day

10 USMC Day

11 Veteran's Day

11 Air Day

12 Chicken Soup for the Soul Day

13 National Indian Pudding Day

13 Sadie Hawkins Day

13 World Kindness Day

14 Operating Room Nurse Day

14 Young Readers Day

15 Clean Your Refrigerator Day

15 America Recycles Day

15 National Philanthropy Day

16 Button Day

16 Have a Party with Your Bear Day

17 Homemade Bread Day

17 Take A Hike Day

17 World Peace Day

16 Great American Smokeout  - third Thursday in November

18 Occult Day

19 Have a Bad Day Day

20 Absurdity Day

20 Beautiful Day

20 Universal Children's Day

21 False Confession Day

21 World Hello Day

22 Go For a Ride Day

23 Thanksgiving Day

23 National Cashew Day

23 You're Welcome Day

24 Buy Nothing Day - always the day after Thanksgiving...does anyone abide by it!?!

25 National Parfait Day

26 Shopping Reminder Day

27 Pins and Needles Day

28 Make Your Own Head Day

28 Red Planet Day

29 Electronic Greetings Day- now who do you think created this day!?

29 Square Dance Day

30 Stay At Home Because You Are Well Day

We had about 25 trick-or-treaters and they all arrived between 6 and 7pm so it was relatively easy.  I took pictures of our decorations and I'll post them from home, I forgot to mail them to myself at work.  Our neighbors little boy was very very cute but he doesn't quite understand the concept yet, we opened the door for him and he came right in and looked at his mom like she was crazy for standing outside.  The weather kinda cooperated.  Originally they were predicting snow and that didn't happen but it was very cold, in the 30's, so all costumes included a coat and gloves.  No other mischief happened – no smashed pumpkins or toilet papered houses in our little area so that was nice but just in case the cats got locked in the garage for trick or treat time and then were not allowed out of the house after.  I got one chapter of homework read pre treaters, and half a one done after so I have 1.5 to do today at lunch.  We are going over the test today so I bet we don't get to the third chapter but I'll skim to make sure.

 

Today at work I got a very nice surprise.  I was given my yearly merit increase!  I completely forgot that they moved my anniversary to November because I changed internal responsibilities last year.  Previously my anniversary was my hire date of Jan 15...   So it was a 10 min meeting to basically say I got a raise.  It isn't huge but it is nice.