Winston was next

I spent this weekend holding a very sick puppy. With everything so chaotic around the house we didn't fully notice Winston was getting sick. We did notice that he wouldn't eat his cookies. Then Friday night I noticed he had a problem going to the bathroom. So Saturday morning I take him to the vet and he ends up getting an IV for hydration, a shot to stop the vomiting and an antibiotic for whatever it is making him sick.

The vet told me if Winston didn't get well in 24 to 48 hours we would have to hospitalize him for intravenous drugs and observation. Man, oh man, did I pray those antibiotics would work. This morning was 48 hours and he seems better, more active. The tale tell sign will be if he eats today.

I am not a happy person right now!

Enough for now...

What's next?

It's 5 a.m., there an awful pop somewhere in my house. I bolt straight up, Winston starts barking his warning mean bark. I get up to investigate, there nothing amiss except for that horrible burning smell in my office. To my horror, my computer's power supply burned up and made my morning just fabulous. I spent my lunch hour and $80 purchasing a new power supply eventhough my computer is still on warranty. If you've ever bought any thing from Best Buy their wonderful warranty policy is to send things off for three to four weeks or give you the option to buy the part they have on hand and they won't even charge you for the ten minutes it to do the install. Mighty big of them don't you think?

My co-worker said that I havn't been living right or something because the last two weeks have been horrible. My AC went out and needed to be replaced, okay fine new A/C. In order to get new A/C have to have $1,200 in electrical work done. Then found out my duct work was substandard and only meant for heating another $800 bucks! Then to top it off-dad's belly button exploded and he has to have hernia surgery tomorrow to fix it! crap...........whimper, sniff, sniff.

More than enough for now.

How things change!

I got news from my old job that everyone is quitting or getting fired. I have to say that I am thrilled to be gone from there or I'd be stressed to the max. I got the impression that the new director wasn't real bright and didn't get that he took a demanding job.

Anyway, my new job is causing me to learn a lot. I am teaching myself CSS and have a long way to go but I am doing a little and it's rather exciting to validate my code and learn that its all good. The accessibility thing is something that I never even considered - leaving a large chunk of the population out of the mix with my old job's website.

Whoops, better go....Winston is standing on my chair trying to get my attention.

High Desert Take Me Away

It's been a while since I last blogged mainly because I haven't been in town. One week ago, co-worker R and I flew out to Salt Lake City via Denver. Then we had an hour and a half shuttle ride to get to Logan, Utah for web accessibility training. BTW, this blog is not accessible - sorry JAWS users I will try to correct that with future entries. I learned a great deal and feel like I can do my job a little better now.

It was really nice in Logan - they are in a drought right now and are praying for rain. The sunshine, mountains and dry wind was soooo refreshing that I really didn't want to come home.

When I began packing I realized that I had not left Oklahoma since I bought my house, three years ago. So you can imagine that the funky airport security 3-1-1 rules were really odd to me. However, I was proud that I didn't get singled out for a private screening, which was nice.

Winston didn't miss me - he just kicked Seamus off mom and dad's bed and slept in his place. I don't know if I should be glad that he wasn't shook up or offended that he didn't notice?

No Lift, No Air, No Mas!

Well, today was a Monday if there ever was one. I get to work and the elevators aren't wanting to work right and I office on the fifth floor. NO...I do not opt for the stairs, I wait and wait and wait and the elevator finally comes. Then we lose the air conditioning and it got rather warm. Then a problem I have been researching for two weeks, I get the answer - it's not a real problem at all and I'm just not supposed to save my ASP file anywhere but the root web. An odd work around if I ever saw one. It was just a weird day!

We finished the recreation of my bookcase in the office and it looks fantastic! I also decided to remove all the book jackets on my books and made all the difference in the world. It really makes my office look like a private library. We are about to finish replacing the baseboards with my new really wide baseboards and all the home improvement projects will be complete with the exception of the bathroom which will require a lot of mula and a weeks vacation. I am a little scared about not having a hobby anymore.

We found baby's OU tee shirt which he loves to wear. The minute I had his jersy in hand Winston was standing on me saying "that's mine, give it to me." My little Boomer.

Enough for now...

Pain, So Much Pain

Well here I sit, ready for work and I realize it's 6:37 a.m. ! I don't have to leave for work till 8:00 a.m. I think I got up at 6 not 7 thanks to day three of a stupid sinus headache. This does not bode well for today's prospects. Should I just strip off, go back to bed and call in sick? That probably would be the best idea.

Okay we started a new project -- I know, I know, but we can't just sit around and do nothing. We were pinging off the walls, so we decided to convert my office shelves for my books to look like a built-in and a piece of furniture. We have the painting done and we're waiting on dad to do the build. It's going to be great.

Work is going well but I am in ASP hell [yet, again]. Does anyone know how to change a web-bot in front page? I need to change that stupid web-bot to read [carat symblol]! - -include# virtual= instead of [carat symbol]!--include# file I can actually see the offender grayed out but cannot get to the original file to change it. It's maddening! I am currently dreaming about databases and ASP and servers and that may be why I got out of bed way too early.

Enough for now...

There's only one of me!

Winston thinks he owns the bed! He will dig in the covers till he gets them in a pile to his liking.


This was kind of cool! I am the only American with my name.

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Winston Speaks...

Today, it's my turn to talk. Mom, has been crazy with all this banging about my house. I am not sure what they are doing but Grandpa's the worst. Everything he has make awlful noises and scares me. I have been locked out the house for I don't know how many days but today has been like old times, just mom and me sitting on the couch.

The house is put back with everything back in its place. I am happy again. I also found that brown hoppy thing that makes mom scream at me. I like my brown hoppy thing.

Arff for now...

Frog Proof - Finally!

Things have been very hectic this weekend but we got a lot of work done on the house. Check out my "Green Door" blog to see other pics.

I have whined and whaled about Winston's obsession with frogs and now I can show the world what a pain my little man can be.

What's Up?

" Hey Sarah, watcha doing?" This isn't a new photo but I just love it because this is what Winston does. He gets right in your face and wrinkles his little forehead as if he's trying to figure you out.

The rain is going away and I am sitting here shivering as though I am in Alaska. Hurry, sunshine, hurry.

Mind, Body and Soul Much Better Now

I am better! Just thought I'd announce that. The icky weather and the icky allergies are not as bad as they were last week - so I can cope a lot better. My head no longer fells as though its revolting against the body.

Work is better since I finally got to order the proper Adobe software to do my job. I have recently been trying to work with Word and anyone who has worked with Word knows that is for letter writing nothing else. I can't wait till next week when it arrives. I have truly been frustrated in ways I didn't think possible, mostly when it came to footers and subdocuments. My books has it's own page numbering system and Word would keep changing it - I have given up and now I am just waiting for my Indesign and Acrobat.

I have to say it really felt good last weekend to be outside and not be sick. Then to be planting pretty flowers to boot - it was a really good weekend. Even better is that the flowers haven't died yet, keep your fingers crossed for me, I have a tendancy to kill plants. If you haven't seen them check out on my "Green Door" blog and see all my pretties.

I am hoping to finish the refrigerator nook this weekend - Dad started mudding the drywall last night and that usually means the begining of the end on these kinds of projects. My house is a complete disaster since I refuse to clean during renovations. Its a complete exercise in futility to do so or you must clean daily and that just pisses Dad off since he can't find his tools the next day.

Enough for now - Winston says Arrf to everyone.

More Icky-ness

I am sitting here praying the weather will improve. I cannot stress enough how badly I need a sunny day. My work has settled down tremendously but I still have some getting used to in the personalities department and if I felt good it would be easier. Plus, all this rain has my allergies mad as all get out and they are pounding behind my right eye making being at work hard.

Last night was spent on the couch listening to dad work on my kitchen. That is not a good feeling, its your house and you are supposed be in the mix of the repairs. Mom sat with me and kept me company - I need to feel well both in mind and body.

Enough for now - the coffee has not kicked in.

I Need Sunshine

I don't know about you, but I am about to lose my mind. These gray and depressing days are really bugging me. It is totally awesome to have floor to ceiling windows in your office until you have days like this. I am freezing and it feels like it's 8 o'clock at night! I am NOT liking this.

Dad and I've begun another home improvement project. Building a nook for my refigerator so that the doors are in the kitchen but the body of the frig is in the garage. I barely have room to build the walls around the frig, so the project requires a lot of thinking it out. Which really means I stand around and listen to Dad talk it out. It's one of the main projects I've wanted to do since I bought the place. The kitchen is way too small to have a big bulky frig taking up half the floor.

Mom called me at work today to tell me that she had my dog and that he had decided to crawl under the covers. She thought he was just going to play a little but instead he promptly turned a circle and laid down and went to sleep. That is Winston's way of sleeping - I created a little monster by letting him sleep under the covers once and he was hooked. After a few minutes, she couldn't stand it and pulled him out. She was afraid he couldn't breath well enough under the blankets - bet he's royally pissed right about now.

Enough for now...

Exhausted and Aware

Some of you may have wondered where I have been. Well, work has been just crazy. Last Wednesday, our office hosted an awareness day at the state capitol. Its the biggest thing our office does all year. So needless to say we were crazy busy and to make matters worse one in our office has been out sick for at least a month. I am not mad or irrated at her no one can help things like that it just made it a little harder. Any way the event is done and went well - we managed to feed more than 375 people, visit legislators and have more than 30 exhibitors. It was a good day.

I started to get sick on Monday and just flat ignored the cough and sore throat. By Thursday I felt totally crappy so my new boss gave me comp time for Friday to cover all the over time I have worked for the event. Winston and I stayed on the couch covered up all day - he's very good at snuggling especially when I'm sick.

Well think that's enough for now, Seamus is pacing the house wanting to go out.

Herding Frogs

Winston lives in a constant state of homical hunt. Today, Dad came over to mow the yard and in doing so released four to five frogs into the open - Winston was in heaven. I spent about three minutes trying to capture my dog and point out the frogs so that Dad wouldn't mow over them. In the end, I think he had to pick them up and move them into a gravel area because they would keep hopping into the area Dad was mowing.

After that, both Winston and Seamus, got baths today in a special effort to speed up the shedding process. You should see the bathroom, it is covered in doggie hair but I've learned the key to cleaning up after doggie baths. Let everything dry and you can simply sweep it up. Winston won't go near the bathroom right now, he's a little irked.

Enough for now...

Forget Calgon Give Me No Dose

I still like my new job but I am exhausted all the time. I don't know if it's the 6 a.m. work outs, the stress of not knowing much about the subjects I am writting about, working at mom and dad's after work stripping wallpaper and painting or if I am coming down with something. But geeze Louise I am tired.

I had a little scare with little man about a week ago, when Winston came in from outside with a bloody eye lid. I don't know if Seamus got too rough, or the dead robin in the back yard fought for his life or one of the bushes Winston runs to for cover from Seamus scratched him. The whole ordeal required a vet visit - no scratched cornea, whew.....oh crap, I didn't even think about that, am I a bad mom? We got antibotic cream to spread on his eye, yeppers, I had one pissed off beagle for seven days.

Enough for now...

So This Is the Real World

Well I am three weeks into my new job and I am loving every minute of it. I have a great office, great co-workers and an overall happy attitude. I didn't realize how, the district was depressing me until I left -- so this is what it's like to be happy! I just wish I knew what I am supposed to be doing. Disabilities are vast and complicated, so my learning curve will be two or three years.

Currently, I am going to the gym every morning before work (6 am to 7 am). I am up to walking 4 miles per day and hope to get to 4.5 by the end of March. I am dieting like a big dog and now walking - if this doesn't get the weight off I don't know what will.

News from my old job comes in the form of a funny phone call on Tuesday. My old boss calls and asks if I am sitting down. I say yes, as that is my habit at my desk where she called. She then tells me that the woman who made our lives so miserable that we all began looking for new jobs has given her notice to quit. Ironic, that she ran us all off and in turns around and runs away with the communications department a total mess!

Hey, I am new to this blogger system what's the labels for and why should I do it?

Enough for now...

I GOT A NEW JOB

This morning at 9:30 am, I received the call offering me a job with the State. When she told me the salary she could pay, my mouth dropped and I said when would you like me to start! My first day will be February 5th and my last day at my current employer is February 2nd. Nothing like closing the chapter of one part of my life and opening a new one all at once. I am okay with it - actually I am very excited about it and wish I could start tomorrow.

Enough for now.

Thanksgiving Down, Christmas to Go

I am almost done with the holidays - I got through the Turkey Day meal without totally destroying it. I had to throw out the first attempt at the sweet potatoes and send dad to the store for more yams. I am the cooker of the dressing and sweet potatoes - even though I hate both of those dishes. We are still learning mom's new house and how things work. Her stove top has a dual burner and we learned that makes things a little too hot. I burned the yams.

I have all my Christmas shopping done with the exception of my co-workers. I hate to shop during the holiday season so I always try to get it done before thanksgiving. I managed to almost finish so I feel good about that.

What's new? I bought a recliner for my livingroom and have been using it a lot lately - what I love about it is that Winston thinks he has to sit on my lap when I am in the recliner. It doesn't matter that there's an empty couch in the room, he has to sit with moma!

Enough for now.

Happy Tuesday

Good Tuesday morning all. Why am I so chipper - don't know, don't care! Maybe its the Gregorian Chants in the background, maybe its the fact that I am over that icky cold/sickness, maybe I just want to spastic and silly.

I am once again back into my reading habit - it's amazing to me how one bad book can knock you out of your reading groove. Since I finished the bad uninteresting book - I have read the Dreaming Water by Gail Tsukiyama and I will finish the Hobbit by JRR Tolkien tonight. Less than one week I have finish two books and it took more than 2.5 to 3 months to finish the bad one. I have a policy as to not start reading another book till I finish the book I am currently reading, if I do I'll never finish the bad books and they will yell at me from the bookself. It really bugs me not to finish a book. I highly recommend both Tolkien and Tsukiyama. I learned about Tsukiyama by accident with the Friends of Library books (no book jacket - just a leap of faith) with her book the Samurai's Garden it's turned out to be on of my all time favorites.