Sunday, February 26, 2006

Don't drink the water...

I don't know what the hell is going on but I wish it would just *stop*! I found out today that yet another flyball teammate is pregnant. While that's awesome for her, enough is enough!! There are only 3 of us left that aren't pregnant or haven't just had a baby out of the whole freakin' team!

From now on, no pregnant people are allowed to sit in my chairs. They have to bring their own drinks and can't touch any of mine. Oh, and no more shoulder rubbing. Better yet, just don't breathe on me either. :)

I'm happy for all of my friends - really, I am. But enough is enough! That's 5 prego's on *one* team at one time. And their all due starting in April and going through August. *That's* why there are only 4 of us heading to NET's tourney in VT this year - they're all pregnant! The team is being decimated by procreation! Now if that isn't ironic, I have no idea what is. :)

Congratulations Susan - I'm really, truly happy for you. :)

D

I'm *done* with winter...

I've come to the realization that I will never be completely happy about weather in New England. I will always find something to bitch about. :) It's been sooo cold lately and I'm really tired of it. I want spring here *now*. I want to be able to go out and do stuff outside with my dogs. I want to start planting stuff for fall. I don't want to spend another day in the house looking at the snow outside, which is exactly what yesterday was. Granted, I got a lot of homework and laundry done yesterday because I didn't want to head out, but I could do the same thing when it rains in the spring. Stick a fork in me 'cuz I'm done with winter.

Bitchfest aside, I did get all of my homework done, which was a great feeling. And I do have clean clothing to wear, which is quite the bonus as people generally frown upon nudity in public. But I'm feeling a little restless today because I didn't *do* anything yesterday. Thankfully, I have a 5 hour scrimmage to head to in an hour and I'll be able to run off a lot of that restlessness. :) The one thing that made me feel the best yesterday was the gorgeous bubble bath I took before bed. It was nice and relaxing and my skin feels so soft from the bubble bath stuff and the cream I used after.

Tomorrow I have a Dr's appt with the spine guy to talk about getting that stupid, painful procedure done again. The nerves are starting to come alive and I've been very sore so it's time to zap them again so they stop working. I dread getting it done, but the 9 months of pain-free living are really worth it.

But now, I'm off to cut up hot dogs so I'll have something to reward Freddie with during the scrimmage!

D

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Blew a vein...

Damn. I had an appt. to donate platelets today (I'll go into that in a bit), and everything was going fine until they started doing my right arm. Apparently they put the needle in too far and it was under my vein or some such nonsense. So, they weren't able to get diddly out of me today because they blew the vein. Bummer.

If you haven't heard about it - apheresis, or, platelet donation is a form of donating blood without actually giving them the blood part, to put it very simply. What they do is take your blood, put it through this machine that separates the whole blood from the plasma & platelets, mix your blood with saline, and then give it back to you. It's used for a number of reasons, but most importantly, it's given to people that can't chance or handle getting whole blood - really sick people.

I found out about it a year or so ago at a company blood drive. They had pamphlets and a sign up form there, so I did it. I've always wondered why they don't advertise it more. Sure, it takes a *lot* longer than just giving blood, but there's such a need for it. I did ask one of the nurses a long time ago and she said it was because so few people can actually be platelet donors. There are so many factors that have to be taken into account that not everyone can make the cut. I'd strongly suggest trying though. If you are healthy, have good veins, and didn't do too many stupid things in your youth, you have a shot at it.

I keep at it for a couple of reasons. First, it's a way for me to 'give back', so to speak. I feel good knowing that I'm helping people. Second, I'm a double donor, which is fairly rare. In one sitting, I donate the same amount that one person would need two sittings for, or the same amount that two people give in one hour. Since there's such a need (I'm talking *really* sick people), how could I possibly stop? Please try it...

Ok, off my soap box for the moment. :) I have to head over to Sue's house for the Pampered Chef party...yay. But first, homework!

D

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Hump day

Thankfully there are only 2 more days to go in this work week! I'm not sure why, but I just haven't wanted to go to work *at all* this week. Normally, I really enjoy my job. There's something different every day, I get to do what I love, I get to analyze stuff, and problem solve - basic analytical type of job. This week has just bit the big one tho'. :)

I got my taxes done yesterday so that's one less thing I have to worry about. Uncle Sam wasn't as good to me as I was hoping he'd be, but ah well - at least I don't have to pay!

I have so much reading to do between work and school it's ridiculous. I also have to go to a stupid Pampered Chef (?) party tomorrow night, where I'll be bored to tears, but will feel bad for my cousin so I'll end up buying stuff I don't want or need. Anybody want to go in my place? Please? Maybe I can bring my books with me and daze (killing isn't nice) 2 birds with one stone. :)

D

Sunday, February 19, 2006

A Surprise Success!

Having completely surprised a friend that has only been surprised once before in her life is quite a treat!

Last night I had a Baby Shower for Holly & Rob, flyball teammates. Most of the flyball team was here, along with their significant others, including children. I kept Roxie, a rescue, and Pacie in their crates while everyone was here. I know Roxie wouldn't have been good with that many people and especially the young children. Pacie, I'm not sure how he would've done with the kids and I wouldn't have been able to watch him as thoroughly as I would've needed to. So, to play it safe, they stayed in the bedroom. :)

Millie, Skootchie, and Freddie had a great time, were in as many laps as possible, and probably got a ton of food from everyone. There was only one incident with Millie and the kids, but she reacted the exact way I trained her to so I was extremely pleased with her!! I wasn't there to see it, but the parents were around and said it was appropriate. One of the kids pulled Millie's tail fairly hard and she made a "that hurts! knock it off" type of bark with a little bit of a growl. But, she didn't snap or put her mouth near the kids at all. I heard her and rushed in to the living room to find out what happened. Once I found out she reacted in an appropriate manner, she got a lot of praise and a couple of pieces of cake. :)

The party ended around 11pm, which I thought was good since there were a lot of pregnant people there. :) I have a lot of dishes to do today, but that's really it! The food came out great (Rob graciously stood outside and grilled everything that was marinated), and there's barely anything left. There is a ton of cake left (anyone want some??) because it was *huge*.

We didn't play any of those stupid games you're supposed to play, thankfully. :) It was just a great night talking, listening to Mike FM (which I became addicted to Friday), eating, and laughing. :) Holly did get to open a bunch of presents but I didn't really get to see it since I was cleaning up the BBQ and setting out the cake/deserts. I love hosting parties (not real formal ones), but it's a lot of work! I had a ball and it looked like everyone else did as well. :)

I've been lazy all morning, so I better get to the dishes and then get a jump on laundry & homework. Fun!

D

Saturday, February 18, 2006

The weekend is here...

...thankfully! Today is nothing but a cleaning day until tonight when everyone starts showing up.

I left for the conference Thursday afternoon around 1pm. The drive down was pretty good, until I hit NY, then I was in stop and go traffic for the rest of the ride. There was a car on fire on the Cross Bronx Expressway. The weather was great, around 50 degrees and sunny. In CT somewhere, I saw this beautiful site. There was a big wall of rock, as is fairly common on highways. Cascading down from the top were these rivers of ice that caught the sun. It was one of those times where I wish I could've pulled over and taken a picture. It was a simplistic site, but beautiful and interesting in the way only nature knows how to be. So that was nice. :)

Once I got to the hotel, I checked in, decompressed a bit, and then went to the restaurant for dinner. The meals were expensive - $30 for a wheat pasta and roasted veggies dish, and just ok. I read some homework while eating dinner and the day crashed down on me. I went back to my room, checked mail quickly, and became a bed potato. :) The bed was very comfortable and very big. So I watched Mythbusters for a while until I fell asleep.

Usually I don't have trouble sleeping in strange places too often, but it's common on the first night to wake up from sounds I'm not used to hearing. That and not having a dog pressed up against me kinda freaks me out. :) I got enough sleep, but it was an interrupted sleep - which really doesn't make me wake up feeling refreshed. Ah well. :)

I got up, got breakfast and headed to the registration tables as I volunteered to help check people in. Then it was a day of going to different sessions and listening to what's new with the PeopleSoft/Oracle. There were a few informative sessions, and an equal number that were a waste of time, which is fairly normal.

I finally got home just a little past 7:00pm after a long, traffic-filled trip. I actually didn't hit as much traffic as I thought I would. The majority of it was in NY, where they have no room for a car to breakdown, not enough lanes for the traffic they have, and no room to build more. There were a couple of people that were being complete assholes, switching lanes constantly without a signal and cutting people off rather harshly. I guess you wouldn't be surprised to hear that they were all from MA. :) No wonder why they call us Massholes.

I had a bunch of web stuff to do for my friend Donna's site so I ended the day cuddling with the pups with the laptop and watching the Corpse Bride. Tim Burton is a genius. And it didn't hurt at all that Johnny Depp was the voice of the main character. :)

After sleeping a solid 9 hours, I'm off to clean and then get the food ready. I think it's going to be another long day. Fun, but still long. :)

D

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Black Tuesday...

I'd actually never heard that term before today. My cousin knows all of those weird name things. :) The good part is, I won't have to sit through any of those *stupid* V-Day commercials anymore. Sheesh. It would be much more fun if the networks decided to charge SuperBowl money for ads before V-Day. Then at least they'd be much more creative and hopefully much less corny. One can wish. :)

Is it wrong to want to head to bed at 7:45pm if you're bone tired? I'm thinking not. But I will force myself to stay awake a little longer so I'm not up at 3:30am staring at the ceiling fan going round 'n round. I've been going solid since I got home, trying to continue getting this place ready for Saturday night. Needless to say, there's still a lot to do!

My brother is supposed to stay here Thursday night while I'm away to take care of the dogs for me. His car broke down though, and he found out Monday that it's a serious problem that just isn't worth fixing. So, he's now carless and lives about 1/2 hour away. I wasn't sure how he was going to get up here, or who else I could have stay with the kids. But, we got it all settled today - I'm renting a car for him so he can still watch them. It's really the only way since they'd certainly go insane if I boarded them and it would cost me a billion dollars. :)

And in the spirit of Black Tuesday, I learned the signs for "single", "engaged", and "married" in my American Sign Language class today. Then we had to stand up and sign to the rest of the class what we were..... I'm sure you can probably guess my reaction to that one. All in all though, the class is fun! I forgot my book at home today and I was actually able to sign, albeit a little choppily (is that a word?), what had happened when the teach asked. I have forgotten so much but I'm slowly getting back into the swing of things. :) It'll be good to be able to keep in practice since the class is at work and the teacher is a MITRE employee as well. :) I do enjoy signing!

But, I survived the day and I was even able to not be too insanely jealous as I saw the roses arrive hundreds of times today. That's the bad part to having a window office in the front of the building!

Ugh! Only 15 mins. have gone by! Well, nothing left to do but go pass out in the recliner. ;)

D

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Are they kidding?

While watching a Tivo'ed Monster Jam show, I saw a lame commercial that I couldn't help but blog about. Vermont Teddy Bear. In the commercial, a woman receives a Valentine teddy bear while at work. The other women come over to read the card and coo over the gift. In the meantime, all of the guys in the office are looking over their cubicles to see what's going on. Then one great actress asks where she can get a guy like that. All the guys hear this and pop back into their cubes to order them over the phone and online. I mean, seriously. Are guys that gullible?

If you're going to spend 80 bucks on a gift, get something thoughtful, something that would be appreciated. What is any grown woman going to do with a teddy bear? That would become a dog toy in my house.

Here are some tips for you guys searching for Valentine's Days gifts - 'cuz you and I both know you haven't planned anything or purchased anything yet. ;) Jewelry is always good, chocolate works too, but not as the only gift. To get something your girl would really appreciate, think. What does she like to do? What has she hinted about? (Every girl hints about things, it's just a matter or whether A) you're paying attention, or B) you remember if you did catch the hint. What's even more special is if you do remember something she mentioned from 6 months ago. Then she thinks you *are* paying attention, that you care enough to want to please her. it's really quite simple if you think about it. :)

Now I'm going to finish watching Monster Jam...Yes I'm a girl!

D

Not *quite* a blizzard...

...is what I heard on the news a little while ago. My question is, if I'm still going to get 15-20+ inches of snow, does it really matter what name they use to describe it? ;P

Today has been a hugely productive day, in part due to the blizzard-that-is-not-a-blizzard. :) The computer room had become a dumping ground for things that needed to go in the attic and stuff that I haven't found a place for yet - mainly Xmas gifts. So I spent a few hours going through all of the boxes, putting stuff away, putting stuff on FreeCycle, and throwing everything else away. Actually, I only have one box to put in the attic! Since I'm having a gathering next weekend, it's a very good thing it's almost clean. :) Now I just have to do the rest of the house. ;)

Yesterday, I had actually planned on getting *all* of the cleaning done, but it didn't happen to work out that way. Instead, I spent the entire day on the computer doing homework for my final project. Thankfully, I mastered enough XML & XSLT to successfully complete my assignment...it just took the whole day. :) I did take a break at one point to fix the gate on the deck. The slats had come off and were lying around for the past couple of weeks. :) So that's at least one thing off of my never-ending 'to-do' list!

I suppose I should get back to my cleaning!

D

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Powerball

Just what is the attraction to winning the lottery? Is it dreaming that you'll never have to work again? Is it the financial security you'd have? Is it the thought of buying all of your loved ones everything they want? *Just* what is the attraction?

Say you did win the lottery, what would you do? Travel the world, buy a couple of houses in various states, buy a few cars.... then what? How long would you be content? A year? 5? 15?

What kind of purpose would your life then have? Would you care if it didn't have a purpose? Would you donate your time to some charity? Would you become a couch potato with a maid and a butler? Would you go to school for the hell of it? Get a job? What would you do with your time? Would your life have any meaning? Would you become one of those elite that could command hundreds and treat everyone like a serf?

What would you do for fun if the world was your oyster? Would fun be fun anymore? What if it wasn't? What would you do then? Get involved with the Hollywood Party scene and become a Paris Hilton type person? Known for nothing but how hard you party and what outfit you wear? Would you become addicted to anything? Would you mind being shallow?

What kind of person would you be? Would you be happy with yourself? Your life? What if you were miserable?

If you had the money and the means to make all of your dreams become reality, what would you dream about? Would your dreams just become bigger and more expensive? What if you ran out of dreams? Can you imagine not having any wishes or anything to look forward to? Yikes!

I don't know the answer to any of these questions. I don't know what I would do if I won millions. I also don't know what kind of person I would become. I'd like to think that I would still be me but just wouldn't worry about money. I'd like to think that I'd build a farm and that my furry kids would live the life of luxury. I'd like to think that I could finally transfer my cleaning responsibilities to someone else. :) But I don't know if I'd become a jerk, or if I'd just stay me.

I didn't buy a ticket for tonight's Powerball, so I guess my dreams will still be around for a while. :) Is that really such a bad thing?

My beautiful girl is lying right next to me looking at me with those incredible brown eyes. A glance over will cause her to wag her tail and give me kisses. Money can't buy that... :)

D

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

It's Tuesday....

...and feels like Monday. :)

The concert was *phenomenal* Saturday night. Billy Joel hasn't lost a thing. His voice was incredible, his energy was non-stop, and his stage presence was captivating. He started out with some old classics from the 70's and moved along to a bunch of hits. In the middle of the show, he broke out into an ACDC cover of Highway to Hell. It was GREAT! He took a 10 minute break and came back to Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and a few other songs. He took another short break, and finished off the concert with Piano Man, which my brother and I expected. It was truly an incredible show. :D

Sunday I was *exhausted*. I didn't sleep well Friday night, then got up early for the flyball tourney, ran around all day, got to hang around for 1/2 hour, and then went to the show. I think I was in bed around 1:30am - wicked long day. Needless to say, I felt and looked like a rug. I went out for breakfast around 10:30am and hung around the house until Greta's parents came to pick her up. After that, I went to my Aunt's house to pick up a recliner she didn't have room for anymore. I hung out there for a while, visited with my grandparents, and just chatted until 4'ish or so. Then I went home and did homework until Donna showed up. Pacie gave her a love bite while giving her kisses. Then we went over to Mary's for her annual Torey Memorial Superbowl party. We sat around, ate, and watched the superbowl until Donna & I left at the beginning of the 4th quarter. We were just too tired and we both get up early for work. Why don't they have it on a Saturday so people can party appropriately?! ;)

I thought the FedEx commercial was the best, the Pepsi commercials sucked. I'm not sure I should even go into the half-time show, it was that bad. I'm a fan of the Stones, have been since I was a really young girl, but that was terribly disappointing. I've heard of every excuse from the accoustics of the place, to the sound system, to the network editing their lyrics. You can call it whatever you want - it just sucked.

I found out that they have Monster Jam shows in Hartford, CT. There's a show coming up the weekend of the 18th. Unfortunately I'll be away on a business trip that Thursday and Friday, and then have a bunch of people coming over on Saturday for a surprise Baby Shower for one of my friends. Glen was talking about potentially going to Las Vegas for the World Finals - which would be *really* cool! Hopefully we can make it happen.

I have a bit of homework to finish up before hitting the hay early tonight. I think I might be fighting something off as I've been extremely tired since Saturday and I should've bounced back by now. Maybe I'm just getting old. :)

D

Saturday, February 4, 2006

Decompressing...

I have a little bit of time before I have to jump in the shower and head to the concert so I'm decompressing by cuddling with the dogs, surfing a bit, and watching Monster Jam (I love the theme song.)

I actually got out of the tourney at 4:30pm - *very* early for a one-dayer at All Dogs. Denise from PA was judging and she kept the day moving along smoothly. :) Freddie did *Crappy* today and I have no idea why. If he didn't boggle the ball and then miss the first jump completely, he was dropping the ball right before the start line. Ugh! Since he's never done that before, it wasn't something I could fix right in the middle of a race. After moving his position (from 3rd to 4th), changing balls, and bringing him outside a lot more, I decided to get him a massage.

"A massage?", you might ask. Yes, a doggie massage. Usually there is a doggie masseuse at these things, and for good reason. I know it sounds odd, but if you stop to think about it, it makes sense. These dogs run over 100 feet in 4-6 seconds. They also SLAM themselves into a springloaded box at amazing speeds. Of course they're going to be sore and knock themselves out of wack by doing this. They're athletes. Not couch potatoes happy with a 1/2 hour walk once a day. The kinds of dogs that are involved in this sport have *drive*. They've got some sick energy. They're not happy being a lap dog. For example, Millie & Skootchie hare completely content to lay on the deck on a summer day and soak up the sun. Freddie, however, will bug the shit out of you until you throw the ball. And once you throw the ball, you'll be stuck throwing the ball for the rest of the afternoon. If you don't throw the ball, or stop to get a drink or something, he'll again bug the shit out of you until you do. There's a bit of a difference between the types of dogs that compete and the ones you have just as pets. Athletic dogs are NOT for everyone. Heck, that's how I got Freddie and Pacie in the first place - their previous homes couldn't handle their energy. So yes, my dog got a massage. :)

After that however, he ran wonderfully. Completely clean, no mistakes, no issues. Perfect even. It's just too bad that it was the last race of the day. ;) Ah well. We'll get 'em next time.

I brought Pacie with me today. I wanted to get some training in with him. He did great! We worked on heeling inside & outside, and then did some down stays right outside the lane. Having a dog that can focus on just you during a hugely distracting dog sport is a very important thing if you want to compete with said dog. :) I thought he would be a pain in the ass, but he wasn't. He usually whines while he's in the crate and can see me, but that's another thing he needs to get used to if he's going to be a working dog. I only had to squirt him a couple of times. :)

Ok, I'm off for the shower - and I really need one!!!

D

Friday, February 3, 2006

Rain...

Gray, rainy days, like today, make me reflective for some reason. I like rainy days, truth be told. I like them better when it's warm out - I love being out in the rain during the summer. Playing in the puddles, not caring if your work clothes get ruined, it's a break from being a grownup. At least I think so. :)

But the gray, rainy days get me for some reason. I think way more than I normally do (which is really saying something as I know for a fact I think way too much), about things that normally don't get more than a simple thought. This is the type of day where you want to burrow down into the covers when the alarm goes off. Where spending the day on the couch watching the Discovery channel is wayyy more appealing then going to work.

I've heard about seasonal disorders, and wonder if rainy days count towards that. Is it really a disorder though? Aren't most people happier when the sun is out? Isn't that just normal? I'm not trying to trivialize seasonal disorders, so don't send me hate mail if you are affected by it. I admit I know nothing about it at all - I'm just thinking out loud.

What do I think of when I get reflective? Lots of things about nothing, decisions that I've made in odd situations, my feelings on the more sober topics (like politics), and little things here and there that are of no consequence anymore. Stupid stuff really. Kinda like this entry. :)

D

Thursday, February 2, 2006

Change of plans...

Well, I was planning on going to the flyball tourney on Saturday, and then heading over to Glen & Elissa's house for Jeff's Moving to SanFran party. However, I had forgotten (because I never wrote it down) that the Billy Joel concert is Saturday night as well. Since that is my brother's Xmas present to me, and I told him I'd go, I'll be missing Jeff's party. :( I'm not too crushed as I'm pretty sure I'll be able to catch up with Jeff for dinner or something before he moves away. I was so in the mood for a party though. :)

Only two more weeks until the end of this class, which I'm pretty happy about. It's not that I don't enjoy learning "Advanced HTML", it's that I know 99.9% of it so the class is dragging by. I have to create sites for each of these web classes and I'm about done with coming up with interesting ideas about nothing.

I went outside to get some fresh air this afternoon and I got sucked into a conversation I never wanted to have in the first place. Y'know how there are some people that, as soon as you say hello, they do this huge emotional dump of everything bad or wrong in their lives? Well, there's a couple of people like that at work that I would barely consider acquaintances. And there was one of them walking outside today just a few seconds behind me. It's hard getting out of those situations without being rude. I mean, unless you want to be tagged as a huge bitch, you can't say stuff like, "Don't you ever do anything but complain" or "Y'know, I'm really very uninterested in just about everything you have to say." So instead, I did the "uh huh", "really" thing until I was able to escape. Needless to say, I didn't enjoy my time outside like I thought I was going to.

Greta, a dog that I adopted out years ago, is coming to spend the weekend starting tonight. Her parents are going away for a long weekend so she'll be a member of the pack again for a couple of days. I was planning on taking Pacie with me to the tournament to work on some training. But, I may take Greta instead, we'll see.

I guess I've procrastinated enough. I have 9 chapters to read and I'm on page two. :)

D

Wednesday, February 1, 2006

Trucks, friends, and 'dooms' day

There was an accident on 495 this morning, so traffic was barely moving. Normally, this is an irritating occurrence, but nothing that gets me tweaked. This morning, however, there was an 18-wheeler behind me for the majority of the trip.

Now, I know I'm sensitive to having trucks behind me since getting rear-ended by one 2 years ago. It's become a knee-jerk reaction to always check my rear-view mirror when traffic stops short because of it. So, I recognize that I'm more sensitive than most when it comes to trucks behind me on the highway.

Anyway, my experience this morning sucked. We weren't going fast at all, so I wasn't too freaked about getting hit. It was the fact that every single time I came to a stop, the truck would stop inches away from me. And without exaggerating, I'm talking *inches* away from me. Seriously. The only thing I could see from my back window was the grill of the truck. No lights, no hood, no bumper, nothing. Just the grill with "Freightliner" at the top. Each freakin' time! At one point, I looked over to the left lane and I could see an amazed look on the face of the person creeping by - they were looking at the truck, that much I could tell. It bothered me, to say the least, but I'm sure it sounds kind of silly here. Maybe I'll get over it if I keep reading my own posts. :)

A friend of mine from a long, long time ago is leaving for San Francisco in 2 weeks. Glen & Elissa are having a going away party for him Saturday night. I have a flyball tourney on Saturday, but we should (hopefully) be done by dinner time. So I'll shower quickly and head over there afterwards. Which reminds me, I have to head up to All Dogs to save a space for Saturday.

Valentine's Day is in 2 weeks and I'm dreading it. I hate hearing about all the plans and dates that people have, and then getting that "look" when I say that I don't have anything planned. I wish people could realize that I don't need to be pitied, that my life is awesome without having plans for Valentine's Day. What I really need to do is figure out a way for the looks not to bug me so much. Someday...

I'm watching an old friend on TV, Frank Pino Jr. My ex is in Frank's band, and it's kinda weird catching glimpses of him on TV. Anyway, Frank is the coach for a 16 year old girl from New Hampshire that wants to win her school's Battle of the Bands contest. It should be an interesting show!

I'm off to catch up on homework and do a bit of laundry so I can actually wear clothing tomorrow (they kind of frown upon showing up naked.) :)

D