Saturday, September 30, 2006

lots of driving...

Friday night I had a box-turn seminar up in Swanzey. I was supposed to pick up the portable grill from my brother's house before heading up there but 93 South was a huge parking lot. So, I just headed up to the seminar, a scant 2 hours early. :)

We have a flyball tournament this weekend in Swanzey. There are only 3 of us going up so it should be very interesting as it takes a minimum of 5 people to run a team. :)

Anyway, I was originally planning on staying up there for the weekend, but I have to go to my cousin's surprise birthday party tonight. So I'm driving back tonight after the tourney, going to the party, then driving back up to Swanzey Sunday morning.

I still have a few things to do around here so I gotta jet!

D

Thursday, September 28, 2006

figuring it out...

Well, guess who's eyes got all bloodshot and runny yesterday? That would be Pacie. So now he's had all the same symptoms that Freddie had, which definitely makes me think that there's something in the yard they're getting into. With the hawks that are around, the owl that lives in the graveyard, and all the other critters, it could be anything. I'll go and have a look around again to see if there's anything I can find...again.

Yesterday was an ok, though not terribly productive, day. The server was down again in the morning, I forgot my badge and SecurID, a few more things popped onto my plate - like it's not overflowing as it is.....sigh.

I've only got another month of craziness so here's to hoping I can keep it together for that long. Then all the craziness that we've been putting off until after the upgrade will hit. Greaaaat. Can't wait.

I took Sue shopping yesterday to pick up a gift for her husband for their anniversary. It took longer than I had hoped, but we had fun. :) We have Mary's surprise birthday party this weekend, which should be interesting. My mother is coming up for the party. It's just such a pity that I have so much planned for the weekend. ;)

Ok, have to get to work!

D

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

It's been a while...

Wow. I can't believe it's been that long between posts! Sorry about that. :) I'm not sure I'm going to remember all that I've done over the last week.

Let's see.... I went out to lunch with a group of people from work on Friday. I was supposed to go out to lunch with Kate on Thursday, but I had another production issue and didn't get back to my desk, from the second I walked in the door, until 12:30pm'ish. So that didn't happen.

I got home Friday to the sound of water in the basement. Ever since the flood, that sound will cause me to panic instantaneously. There was water pouring out of the hot water tank from an overflow pipe. I didn't even know I had an overflow pipe. :) I was going to call the heating company but figured I'd call my Dad first. Of course, being the best Dad in the world, he knew exactly what was going on and told me how to shut it off. Apparently I need to get a hose for that thing. :)

The weekend... hmmm... Saturday, I was here doing homework, and then went over to my neighbor's house to celebrate Kim's birthday. After that, Sue came over and we went to see Mary in her first starring role of a play. She did great!! She played Anne Sullivan in the story of Helen Keller. We were so proud of her. :)

On Sunday, I did a ton of homework. Sue & I made plans the day before to visit my grandparents. So we stopped at a few stores first, then headed over there with a cake - my grandmother's birthday was Thursday. We hung out and talked about baby stuff. They're both so excited as this will be the first grandchild they'll actually be able to spend time with.

As far as Sue goes, she's popped! She has this cute little pregnant belly now. :) I'm trying to figure out what I can give her, that would be unique, for the baby shower. I picked up a few crochet books yesterday so I'm hoping I can find a really cool pattern. Of course I'll get something off of the registry too.

On Monday, I worked from home. Pacie has been sick the past couple of days. :( It's basically the same thing that Freddie had, minus the eye thing. I'm supposed to bring him to the box turn seminar this Friday, but if he's still feeling like crap, I'll bring Freddie instead. I can only guess that they're getting into something in the yard. I've walked around and looked for anything that could be the culprit but couldn't find a thing. I'm hoping he gets over it quicker than Freddie did!

Speaking of Freddie, we have a tournament this weekend in Swanzey, NH. I'm not looking forward to the drive. :( I was going to plan on staying up there this weekend, but my cousin's 18th surprise birthday party is Saturday night and I can't not go to it. So I'm hoping we're out of there early. Then I have to head back up to Swanzey Sunday morning - eww. We'll be short 2 people so it should be an interesting, and tiring, weekend. I did take Monday off. :)

I've met a few people over the past couple of weeks that are potential future dates. I soooo don't want another bad date so I'm taking it nice and slow. Although, bad dates are good blog fodder. :) I'm sure there will be some interesting stories to come.

Off to work. :)

D

Thursday, September 21, 2006

employee appreciation event

Yesterday we had our employee appreciation event at work. I completely forgot about it until I saw the sign for it when I walked in the door.

I had planned on not bringing home my laptop last night. I wanted to head over to my Dad's house, pick up my book and drop off his water. I was going to take a night for myself and get on board with the class that starts today. Instead, I left work around 7'ish after having a few beers and a surprisingly good steak. I mingled with all my coworkers for a while and then hung out with Jason watching everyone do the electric slide and the marcarena (sp?) After that I came home and played with the dogs for a while. They get their energy back when it's cooler out so they were all raring to go. :) After that we watched a movie and hit the hay.

So today I either have to drive down to Melrose and pick up my book or see if I can talk my brother into coming up to drop it off. I also have to do some work - get some last minute changes done to a new collection I'm working on. I think it's going live next week sometime so we'll see. I like being busy at work, I really do. But it's getting harder and harder to keep up such a killer pace of 12-14 hours a day. I have other things going on in my life that I'm falling behind on and I'm not happy about it. Soon, hopefully soon. :)

Fingers crossed that my brother is feeling really generous tonight. ;)

D

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

overslept

And I'm running so late it isn't even funny!

I haven't really done a whole bunch - really just been working. I have more than half of my time in for the week and I haven't even started today. I think I'll be leaving early at some point, or taking a day off maybe. I'd probably just work though. :(

Off to work...

D

Monday, September 18, 2006

oh yeah, today sucked

It took me so freakin' long to get to work due to all the stupid Nascar traffic leaving New Hampshire this morning. I get into work and all of our development environments are down. I called 14 electrical companies before I found one that had time for me. And most of the ones I called were beyond rude - like how dare I call them and want someone to come before 3 months time - don't I know they're busy?! Sorry. I forgot to turn on my ESP before calling. Oh, and good customer service by the way, I'll recommend you to everyone I know!

I was testing a new app and I found a data issue that affects a ton of employees that needs to be cleaned up by the end of the month. I'm supposed to be done testing the self service apps in integration but the developers haven't moved them *in* to integration yet. Right now we're about 2 weeks behind schedule so I highly doubt we'll be going live in 4 weeks. No stress though.

The electrician came by tonight and looked at the pool pump outlet. Guess what he did. No really, guess. He flipped the switch and it turned on. No shit. The damn thing, that I spent 3 hours on yesterday, just turned on. Arggghhh! Damn thing. But, the guy was really nice and didn't charge me, even though I offered to give him something for coming by after hours and everything. He gave me a fridge magnet with his number so I'll keep it and use him if I can't get in touch with Joe. And I *will* recommend him to people.

There's a commercial for Pirates of the Caribbean on now. Mmmmmm....Johnny Depp. Mmmmmmmm Orlando Bloom. :)

Anyway, I turned the pump on for a while and am hoping that it won't mysteriously not start up again.

Well, those Cosmos that I had are kicking in so I think it's time for bed. Plus, Silvane is coming in the morning and I have to make sure I'm awake for her. And when I get home, the place will be spotless! Woohoo!

D

Need an electrician

My pool pump stopped working yesterday. I tried everything I could think of, cleaned all the filters/baskets, checked the breaker, unplugged it/plugged it back in, and checked all the hoses. Nothing worked. So I called the pool store and they said to return it. Let me tell you how fun it was to take it all apart. Not. I cut my finger and bruised the nail bed in the process. But, I finally got it all apart and brought it back to the store. They didn't have an identical pump, they had one with a little more horsepower....such a shame. I was planning on paying the difference between the two just to get it back up and running. Imagine my surprise when, because of a sale, the better pump was cheaper than my own! I thought I'd have to pay $30 but actually walked out of there with a $21 store credit! I kinda feel bad about it to tell you the truth. I told the guy I dealt with that they didn't have to give me the credit but he said he didn't have a choice, that's how their computer system works. So, I got a deal. :)

The unfortunate part of the whole process is that it wasn't the pump that was the problem. Or at least I don't think it was. I hooked everything back up and it still wouldn't work. Damn. I called my friend Joe the electrician but he was up at the Nascar races and wouldn't be back in my area until 10pm. He works a full-time job and is an hour away so he wouldn't be able to come up for a while. So, I have to find a company that is willing to come out today to take a look at it. I personally think it's the switch, which, if it is, I'll feel stupid because I think I can replace that myself. But, I have a healthy respect for electricity and really don't want to take the chance it's a short and electrocute myself in the process. I'd have really crazy hair for sure then. :)

But, yesterday was another good, productive day. The computer room is kinda trashed right now, but mostly everything has a place to go. :) I did almost everything on my to do list (forgot the damn tree, again) and then started cleaning out some boxes that were in the closets. I went through all the clothes in the closet and in the dressers and got rid of a bunch more. I now have 6 bags of stuff to donate. I went through all the boxes of pictures and consolidated them all. There's a few more boxes I need to go through, but I'm guessing whatever's in there will be Freecycled, thrown out, or put up in the attic.

For the first time in a long time, Freddie went into the pool yesterday. I finally think he's almost himself again! He's still pretty clingy and he needs to gain some weight, but I think we're almost there. :) Millie hasn't had another episode either so all in all I'm feeling better about the kid's health. Of course I almost caused Pacie to go blind when I went to kick a ball and he put his face in the way. I got him right in the eye. Bad Mom! So now I'm watching his left eye to make sure I haven't blinded the poor guy. Let me tell you how bad I felt!! Sigh.

I think this work week will suck again unfortunately. Here's to hoping I don't start drinking when I get home to get away from it - that would be bad. But, no sense in putting it off anymore; it's time to shower and head into work.

D

Saturday, September 16, 2006

James Blunt

Back to Bedlam by James Blunt is the latest CD I'm wearing out. I can't pinpoint exactly what I like - don't know if it's the music, the lyrics, his voice, the melodies, etc., but that's all I've listened to the past week. I think it's helped keep me calm during my stressful times. :)

So it's noon on Saturday, it's gorgeous out, and I'm sitting on the couch testing applications. Again. Thankfully this is the final round of testing we'll have to do for authentication. I'm testing the timeouts right now, which means I have to sit here and not touch that particular window for 20 mins. Yep, it takes a really high intellect to do this testing.

I got my grades for the last class I took yesterday. It's now official - I've graduated from Baker College with a Certificate in Web Technology with a 4.0 gpa. Woohoo for me. :) I went out after work and had a few drinks to celebrate with a co-worker who wouldn't let me just brush it off. I'm proud of the accomplishment. I'm glad I went back to school. I appreciate it far more now than I would have at 18. So I think, for me, it's worked out for the best. It fits my life now, even if it does steal a lot of free time. It's worth it.

So, I made myself breakfast this morning, caught up on mail, and hung out for a bit before getting started. So far, I've finished the closet (no, seriously), and have everything in there. I started laundry, changed the dog's bedding, went through a stack of papers that's been sitting in the kitchen for a month, picked up the bedroom, picked up the bathroom, cleaned out one of the file cabinet drawers, filed away a bunch of tax, ins., & manuals that have been on the desk for a year, and have a nice pile of stuff to throw out. Pretty impressive, huh??

I still have to take down the big crate in the bedroom and bring that downstairs, organize all of the Xmas gifts that are scattered all over the place, finish the PC, bring all the stuff on the credenza downstairs, plant the freakin' tree that's probably just going to die now, mow the lawn, do the dishes, and sweep the floors. I'll probably close the pool tomorrow, but it's supposed to be nicer out so maybe I'll use it first and close it next weekend - not sure - we'll see.

I have to hit the pool store and pick up a few things too - I almost forgot about that. I better start writing this stuff down or I'll miss something. Not that that's unusual either.

The flyball demonstration is tomorrow. I figured I'd wait and see how Freddie was doing before making a decision on our attendance. He's doing better, that's for sure. But he's still not 100% so I don't think I'm going to chance it. I really don't want him to do anything that might cause any kind of relapse. His health and safety are number one so we won't be going. Plus, I really want to make sure he has as much time to get better as he needs since we have a tournament at the end of the month. I'd rather him be good for that than for a demonstration.


Back to the grind....sigh.

D

Friday, September 15, 2006

tired of working

Technically I could stay home today since I have more than 40 hours in already. But, I have to head in for a few meetings. I like it better during the summer when the VPs send out an email stating not to schedule meetings on Friday afternoons. :) That little perk will disappear since it's clear summer is waning.

Millie is doing fine. She hasn't had another episode and she's been acting normally. Freddie is doing better as well. Everyday he's perking up and doing some of his normal things. Last night it was barking at Millie from the crate when she was trolling for cookies they might've missed. I can honestly say I don't miss that one!

I'm still debating on whether or not I should bring him to the demonstration we have this weekend. I want to go, like I wanted to go to the last one, but I really don't want to push it with him. He's acting okay, but what if he's not? So I'm still up in the air on that one.

This weekend: I have to find one of those bins that you can drop clothes off at, I have to buy a pump, vacuum the pool and then close it, I have to mow the lawn, I have to buy vacuum bags, bring a ton of stuff down into the basement, put together the shelves for the closet, and finally, finally swap computers so I can give my sister the 'old' one. I needed to upgrade the 'old' one, not because it's old - it's less than a year - but because I needed a more powerful one for school.

Today I'm supposed to go out to lunch with a co-worker. I think he wants to stay on campus - I definitely want to go out and have a drink with lunch. So I may reschedule with him and head out with someone else. It's been too busy, too stressful, and too hard a week to sit in the cafe.

The bulbs I ordered should be here any day now, so I'll have to find some time to get those in the ground before the first frost. With how wacky the weather's been, we've probably already had it. We're still trying to schedule a KRF trip before it closes too. It looks like that might happen in mid-October.

So that's all that's been up with me. I have a week off before school starts again. I'm waiting for my grades from the class that just finished, which should be an A, and which gives me my certificate with a 4.0 gpa. Nice. :) See, I'm smarter than I look. ;) Well, when it comes to book-learning anyway. I've clearly demonstrated that I'm not even close when it comes to men. :)

Speaking of which, I'm still on my hiatus from bad dates. I've had a few offers that I considered briefly but ended up turning down. I just don't want to go through all the crap to get to the good ones - if they still exist. Not right now. Not anytime soon. I really do have enough going on in my life. :)

Work time...

D

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

quiet night

I started the laundry, did all the dishes, packed up the pots & pans I'm giving away, skimmed the pool, added chemicals, and cooked dinner. I did *not* log into work but I did log into school - kinda don't have a choice there.

I had another health scare with a different dog last night. I think my kids are starting to show their age a bit. :( I was down in the basement doing laundry and Millie was down there with me. She walked up the stairs to outside and then did this weird head tilt. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't see her eyes or anything until she came back down where the light was. I told her to come to me and realized after the first step I shouldn't have done that. She was extremely apprehensive and acted like she didn't know where the first step was; like she couldn't see it. So I walked up there and guided her down the steps. Once we got back down, I could see something was drastically wrong. Her eyes were pointed towards the side of her face (opposite of how they look when they look at your nose) and they were twitching back and forth. She seemed ok, just scared - unsure of why things weren't working right.

I ran up the stairs to grab the phone and she came up right after me. I grabbed the phone, looked at her, and she was fine. Her eyes had gone back to normal. I started testing her vision by seeing if she reacted when I put my finger near her eye. She didn't have the sort of reaction I think she should have had, but I don't know if that's because she couldn't see, or if she just trusts me that much. I don't know. When I did it again this morning, I got the same reaction - she'll close them but I have to be as close as her eyelashes before that happens. Anyway, then I checked her dilation, which was fine in both eyes. She was able to see my hand coming up from the side of her face and she tracked my finger in all directions.

I called the vet office, who was still open due to it being their late day, and talked to Dr. Lisa. I gave her the symptoms and was given 2 possibilities: seizures or peripheral vestibular syndrome - she thinks it was a seizure tho'. I was instructed to keep an eye on her and report back in a few days. She also told me to keep a video camera out so that if it happened again, I could tape it.

I looked up the symptoms for both options and think they were identical to PVS. I have some doubt though because from what I read online the symptoms usually last from 3 days to 3 weeks and she was fine within a minute. It could've been a seizure but didn't have any of the characteristic symptoms of it - eyes rolling up & back, flopping around, etc. I think seizures are one of those things that give different symptoms depending on the dog and the severity of it. So it could've been a seizure - not sure I'll ever know. Great.

I'm going to go through the yard with a fine toothed comb this weekend to make sure there isn't a dead squirrel or something around that they could've gotten into. Makes sense to rule out as many outside factors as possible.

So after that lovely scare I was too hyped to sit around. I guess there was a good aspect of it since I got a bunch done. I'm sure Millie was confused as to why I had her in a down stay with me while I was washing dishes and cooking. :) I just wanted to keep an eye on her.

She was very lovey and kissy before bed. When it's cool she likes to sleep under the covers with me. Our routine on a cool night is for her to jump up and kiss me while her tail goes a million miles a minute in a circle. Then she tucks her head against me and I scratch her neck, under her collar. She gives me a few more kisses and rolls over for a belly rub. Then she nudges the sheets so I can lift them up for her. That's the normal routine. Last night you can times the kissing parts by 10. Then add a crying session where I told her she couldn't get sick and leave me because I love her too much, which just brought on more kissing. :) Then she went under the covers and curled up into a ball near my stomach.

So I'm about done with weird maladies hitting my dogs but I still have 2 left that haven't had anything weird happen to them lately. I'd really like to keep it that way because I'm not sure I can handle the stress associated with something wrong with my kids. I'm sure I popped about 30 grey hairs between Freddie and Millie since the weekend. The unfortunate part is that they didn't all come in the same place so I could have one of those cool 'bride of frankenstein' stripes. :)

I have to head to the supermarket tonight to pick up a few things I forgot and also grab my Dad's Fruit2O. I'm going to make eggplant parmesan for dinner - haven't had that in a while. Then I'll do some laundry and probably cuddle with the pups while watching a movie.

I'm debating on whether or not I should head into work today. I think I only have a staff meeting, which I could attend over the phone. I probably have nothing to worry about with Millie, but it's better to be safe than sorry. However, I *really* need to be in work to finish up a few things. Maybe I'll go in for half a day. I don't know. Either way, I have to shower.

D

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

just stuff...

Update: 2:32pm - I don't know why this didn't post up earlier. Fingers crossed it will this time...

So we went to the vet yesterday. They did a full blood work up and a lyme test. Blood came back fine, lyme came back negative. Good news, but it doesn't explain his bizarre behavior. The vet said there's a lot of swelling in his eye so we're continuing with the antibiotic ointment in it. She also gave me an anti-inflammatory/steroidal pill to help with the pain and reduce any swelling.

At this point, I don't know if we'll ever find out exactly what was going on with him. I'm gonna guess and say he had some sort of dog flu/cold. I took him to work with me yesterday so I could leave right from work and head to the vet. He was in his crate in the back of the van. It was cool out, and I parked right under a tree, so he was fine. It got me to thinking that most people would be horrified to learn he was crated in the car without me being around. I guess it seems odd unless you're used to competing with your dog in some sport. It was all I could do to not keep the back open like I do at flyball tourneys!

Some signs that he's getting better: he played with the ball yesterday a couple of times, he barked and growled at Pacie for coming within 10 feet of him, he licked my legs after my shower, he humped the cat for the first time in a week, he was a little shit when I was trying to put his eye ointment in and wouldn't keep still, and he laid next to me last night and kept nudging my hand to pat him - all very typical Freddie things. :)

So we're doing much better, which so helps with my level of stress! Couple that with my final group project turned in, my web portfolio turned in, and this class ending tomorrow and it's like I have nothing to worry about! Of course my next class starts Thursday, and it's a math course, so I'll have a whole new set of worries soon enough. :)

I logged in after the vet appt. and worked for hours to make up the time, while watching Ultra Violet & The Princess Bride. I also had to do round two of testing for the authentication model that's being put in place. Round 3 will be this weekend.

I have a drs appt this afternoon, a sink full of dishes to do, laundry to do, and need to head by my Dad's house today. I also need to ge that damn tree in the ground this weekend before it's frozen solid. I don't think I have any plans on Saturday (this was the weekend I was supposed to be in New Jersey) and it's supposed to be nice out so here's to hoping I can get 'er done.

I had to turn the heat on this morning and I was *not* happy about it. I guess I'll close my pool this weekend too since it seems like I'll never get to use it again this year. Then I won't have to worry about picking all the leaves out of it too. Good idea.

Ok, now I'm really late for work and I still have to shower.

D

Sunday, September 10, 2006

scared witless...

I wrote a quick post on Friday and somehow the day went to hell. Since Weds., Freddie had been winking at me. Normally that wouldn't be so bad, except it doesn't mean the same thing in the dog world. :) Anyway, I figured he just went barrel assed into the back yard and ran into a weed or something. But, since Weds., he'd been progressively more lethargic and by Friday, after I wrote that post, he was nothing like himself.

I was supposed to go into the office for a few hours before my hair appt. but decided to work from home in the morning so I could call the vet and get him in there. They had an appt., then called to reschedule it to the afternoon. So I worked from home and then brought Freddie to my hair appt. Everyone was so impressed with how well behaved he was since he didn't do much but sit in my lap the whole time. It was extremely clear to me that something was wrong because calmly sitting in my lap isn't usually in the same sentence with "Freddie".

So after my hair appt. Freddie and I went to the vet. We were there for a little over 2 hours but they couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. They did a bunch of tests on his winky eye since that was the most consistent symptom he had. He doesn't have ulcers or cataracts and his pressure is fine. They gave me an antibiotic ointment to stick in his eye.

The rest of the day on Friday and on Saturday, he wasn't doing well at all. He wouldn't follow me when I got up (always happens), he wouldn't lick my legs when I got out of the shower (always happens), he didn't want to play with his ball (never happens), he looked sick and miserable, he didn't want to do anything at all but lay next to me. He was barely wagging his tail. He wasn't growling at Pacie (!!!). He didn't want to jump up on the couch - or down. He didn't want to go down the 5 stairs leading to the backyard. His back is hunched and he makes groaning sounds when you try to feel his stomach. He won't jump up to say hello like all annoying small dogs do.

He was not himself *at all*.

Saturday I had plans to go to Mary's BBQ. I went, but worried about him the whole time. I did drive back in the middle of it to see how he was doing (she lives 5 mins. away). He was about the same, no better, no worse. I went back to the BBQ for a little while, but didn't end up staying that much longer after that.

Last night I burst into tears because he looked so sick and helpless. This is probably the first really big scare I've had with any of them and I didn't know what to do. I realized this morning that he looked so badly last night because it was 2am. Duh. Apparently when you worry your ass off, you lose the ability to think logically.

We were supposed to go to PetRock today to do flyball demonstrations but we didn't. I sent an email to my team yesterday letting them know that we probably wouldn't be going because Freddie was sick. Without knowing exactly what's wrong with him, I don't want him to be near other dogs for his safety, and for the other dog's safety. He'd probably still go up and down the lanes because he's insane and addicted to flyball, but I don't want him to do anything physical until we know more.

In a way, it was a good thing as I spent all day on the computer finishing up my group e-commerce site as well as my web portfolio. Psyche!

I'm taking him back to the vet tomorrow, although they don't know it yet. :) I'm going to get a full panel done and a lyme titer. I want them to focus on his stomach/intestines and his spine. My friend Donna said it looks like he needs to be adjusted by a chiropractor. I'll be bringing him to the chiro lady as soon as she'll see me, just in case that's what it is.

Keep your fingers crossed and nothing but good thoughts for Freddie. Let's hope I can get some sort of answer on what's going on with him....

D

Friday, September 8, 2006

Overwhelmed

A quickie since I, again, don't have time to write all that I'd like to.

I haven't been to bed before midnight this week - doing work or homework. The last 2 day sit's been 2am. Let me tell you how tired I am of that, both figuratively and literally.

I babysat for Zeke last night and worked after he went to bed. I was up testing web apps the night before. I can't even remember what I did before that. I know it was all work related tho'. I love 3 day weekends, but I hate paying for it by having no time for anything the rest of the week.

I'm getting my hair done this afternoon. Then I have to concentrate on school since this is the last week and everyone's dropped the ball on our group project. I just remembered this morning to pay bills. Ooops.

I have a party to go to Saturday afternoon, so the morning will be spent doing school stuff, probably the night too. Sunday I have to head to PetRock for a flyball demo - you should come by, there's a ton of stuff there.

And then it's back to Monday where my group project is due, I need to build a website to show off my portfolio and have that in by Wed - haven't even thought about it. Then another sucky work week.

I'm so tired.

D

Thursday, September 7, 2006

maybe today..

I'll get a chance to login and type. Highly doubtful tho'.

Yep, been that busy....

D

Wednesday, September 6, 2006

no time

I'm running beyond ridiculously late.

I'll log in later.

D

Monday, September 4, 2006

yeah, didn't happen..

No shocker here, but I didn't finish the closet. I really have no excuse why to tell you the truth. I did do the kitty litter box, laundry, and I took a bath. But then I got sucked into the new Terry Goodkind book and that was the end of me. Although, I did play with the dogs outside when it stopped raining.

I Tivo'ed a Discovery special last night - Inside the Twin Towers. It was an interesting show, one that I'll watch again. In one week's time it will be 5 years since the attacks. Remembering that day, it still seems so surreal.

Do you remember where you were, what you were doing that morning?

Of course you do. Everyone does. How can you not.

I was at work. One of the computer guys was there working on my officemate's computer and he said a plane had just hit a building in New York. I went to Boston.com and saw a picture of the tower with a massive amount of black smoke coming from it. I then went to CNN.com and watched the live feed. I remember my boss coming in and telling us that we could leave and work from home if we wanted after the 2nd plane hit. I think it was known by then that it was caused by terrorists. The threat level was at FPCON Charlie when I left. I remember talking to my Dad the whole way home on my cellphone. I don't remember what we said though. I learned afterwards that they had a mandatory evacuation shortly after I left and later went to FPCON Delta and lockdown. The people that were still inside were not allowed to leave. Work was closed for 2 days.

I guess I should explain that I work for a government contractor and we follow what Hanscom Air Force base has for levels. We don't have a choice - I guess it's part of managing FFRDC's.

Once I got home, I had CNN on and tried to do some work. I wasn't very successful. The more I heard and saw, the less I wanted to hear and see. I couldn't figure out how anyone could hate people that much. I really couldn't grasp what was happening. I remember crying. I remember feeling numb. I remember feeling overwhelmed for the people inside. I remember being devastated for the families that were watching the same thing, desperately trying to get in touch with their loved ones, not knowing whether or not they got out. I remember the emotional storm that hit me when the towers fell. I remember being horrified when the Pentagon was hit, praying that there wasn't another plane and it wasn't headed for our other location. Then there was another plane. And more people died. And I cried. (Melissa Ethridge wrote a great song about a passenger on that plane.)

Then the flags came out. Everywhere you turned there was an American Flag. I refused to buy into that. While I thought the sentiment was right, I couldn't ignore the fact that it was just for companies to make money. It was a fad. I didn't want my patriotism to be a fad. Have you seen as many flags since? Neither have I.

I don't have friends in New York, or that work in the Pentagon. I found out later that a guy I graduated from high school with was in the towers and perished. I wasn't particularly close with him, just enough to say hello and have idle conversations with. Nobody deserves to die that way.

I imagine that there will be a lot more in the media remembering 9/11 as the day gets closer. I wonder if we'll be complacent again. I don't think it's over.

D

Sunday, September 3, 2006

the plan for the day

1. go for breakfast
2. take a bath with bath salts
3. laundry
4. finish the closet
5. put together the shelf thing for the closet
6. put my linens on the shelves in the newly cleared closet
7. find somewhere to put all the things I took out of the closet
8. do homework
9. do work work
10. change the kitty litter

Apparently one of my favorite childhood movies, Xanadu, is #83 in E's top 101 Guiltiest Pleasures. I really don't know how I get sucked into this crap.

Anyway, I got a lot done yesterday. I visited Sue in the hospital, hit a few stores, got some Xmas shopping done, got some regular shopping done, got some work on the computer done, played with the pups, and paid some bills.

Probably the best thing is that I did some xmas catalog shopping and am now down to 9 people left to buy for. The hardest part is buying for the kids. Finding an age appropriate gift for a 6 month old is not nearly as easy as finding one for a 3 year old. Even then it's not that easy for me, not having kids. So hopefully I won't tank with the choices I made.

Ok, time for breakfast!

D

Saturday, September 2, 2006

loong weekend

So I remembered on Thursday that it's a holiday weekend and we have Monday off. While I could really use the extra day, I'm probably going to be working at some point this weekend, which will kind of negate the day off. Oh well.

Yesterday *sucked*. Big time. I was so freakin' busy I didn't eat lunch until after work when I went out for a drink with a co-worker. Every time I attempted to get something done, the system would go down, or I wouldn't have all of the info available, or something else would break and take me away. I'm afraid I'll be having many more of those types of days over the next 2 months. :(

This morning I've done some homework and I got the lawn mowed. It's supposed to start raining some time this afternoon so I'm glad I got that over with. Now it's time to go visit Sue and do some errands. That way I can spend the rest of the day working on the closet and doing a few other things I want to finish up. And I can have a nice relaxing night, cuddling under a blanket with the dogs, and watching a flick before my time is no longer my own. :)

I'll be able to sleep in tomorrow since I don't have flyball practice so I'll probably head down to the diner and get some breakfast. then I have no idea what I'll do. Maybe I'll feel productive and do some stuff around here, although there really isn't much since Silvane is so thorough. I'll probably finish up this week's assignments for school and then do a bunch of work.

Monday I'm heading over to Ellin's to spend the day there. It'll be the last time I'll be able to visit for at least a month so the day off is a good thing. :)

But, I have to go take an allergy pill so the grass that touched me while cutting it and using the trimmer won't make me itch for the rest of the day.

D

Friday, September 1, 2006

I was hiding...

Last night I hid. I hid in my house with the dogs, didn't answer either phone, didn't talk to anyone, just hid.

Chris called me around 9:30am and told me Sue was in the hospital. She's about 6 months pregnant now and any kind of bleeding is a bad thing. So I left work and went to sit in the hospital with her for most of the day. I ended up leaving around 1'ish so I get back to work for my 2 afternoon meetings. Because I was out of work, I had to work last night. So I hid. I didn't want to talk to anyone, I didn't want to explain what was going on with Sue to anybody, I just hid. And it was nice!

I also shut off the ringer on the phones and went to bed early. I wanted a little me time that had nothing to do with work. The dogs pigpiled around me on the bed while I read until it was time for sleep. Then they went into their crates and I passed out. Not what I thought my night would be, but it worked.

It's supposed to rain all weekend, or so the weather forecasters think. I guess I should try to get out and mow the lawn again before that. I need to hit the mall at some point too, which is a good thing to do on a rainy day. I'll probably spend most of the weekend either working or doing homework. Today I feel like I have a very boring life. :)

D