The Boys are Growing Up

Is there one single person out there that's not puny? Everyone I know is sickly with me on the verge. This bizaar weather we are having isn't helping much even though I love the fact that I ditched my coat already and it's only 11:30 a.m.

I had a great weekend at my annual trek to nerds day out. The Friends of Library Book Sale is where I get all my books for the year. The only problem is that I have yet finished reading the books I got at the previous two booksales. I now have more than 60 books to get through before next February rolls around. Winston and my new house cut into my reading time so the average of 20 to 30 books a year has drastically dropped. So why did I buy 28 more books this year? BECAUSE I COULD. Yes, I am a nerd and the book sale is way fun.

My high school nephew who lives in another state, is being looked at by the wrestling coach of the University of Oklahoma City. How cool would it be if he were to go to college right down the street from my work? Everyone keep your fingers crossed.

Army nephew is doing real well, he graduates from NCO school this Friday. I am very proud of all his efforts in the Army and hope he keeps it up. I think/know his new wife wants him to get out and become a wrestling coach/history teacher. Army nephew has never wanted to do or be anything other than a solder and joined up as a junior in high school. I know the corporate and educational world and do not think he would be happy in it. Also, if he leaves the Army due to any other reason than his own and he doesn't like what he ends up doing, he will resent those who influenced him to leave. Everyone keep your fingers crossed for him too.

Enough for now.

Keep Swinging George!

I feel like an icicle! Here ya go Ice Chick, your winter weather has arrived. I am not going to moan about it considering the wonderful weather we've had so far. The funny thing about this weather is watching Winston go out in it - he doesn't like his feet to get wet so he hoops to various places in the yard and when he must stop to investigate something he will hold one paw up until the other gets too cold then alternate.

I do have one complaint - has the world gone mad? I am living proof that tag doesn't kill you. As a little girl in school I loved running around the playground chasing my friends for no good reason. These idiots who believe tag is bad for the children are just stupid in my opinion. That brings me to my next point, the idiot who has filed suit over Curious George is just as stupid. I loved those books as child and still do! Why do idiots think that we should all do as they do? Why don't they just not play tag nor read Curious George and leave the rest of us alone!

enough for now.

I Need Food!

My diet is going well, I have lost enough weight to fit into my "not-as-fat" clothes but still not quite into my "skinny" clothes yet. The problem is that I am bored with this diet, 1,000 calories a day, anyway I want just no more than that. Mentally, I am also bored with this diet, so I think I am about to starve. Whenever your head is not on straight the diet will fail and my head is all crooked right now. This has been the hardest week yet and I am six weeks into this endeavor. I fear that my resolve to be skinny again will faulter - I want MacDonald's, Taco Bell, Sonic, Wendy's and Pizza Hut.

enough for now

Blog Blocked and Need Help

Sometimes this blog haunts me, it whispers in my ear saying "blog darn it, blog" when I don't blog for a few days. I didn't realize how much spare time I had when I rented my little apartment and didn't have a demanding beagle. Winston gets quite put out with me when I enter my office - to him, it's the scarry room. So five minutes after I sit down at the computer he is running in and out of the office jumping on me. I have been trying to blog after he goes to bed (yes, around 8:30 p.m. he gets up and goes to the bedroom and goes to bed) but by then I am tired or not in the mood.

So here I sit at work at 12:28 p.m. and I am blogging - the problem is that I am not inspired. My life has settled down now that all the house projects at my place and my parents are done. Work is incredibly dull and I dread going every day. So what's left to blog about? World Politics? Okay, who knew cartoons could be deadly! Are there really that many crazy muslims in the world that would riot because some idiot drew something offensive? I am a Christian and there is no drawing or cartoon of Jesus that would alter my reverence or awe of him and I know that come judgement day God will be judging the cartoonist not me. So I would just ignore the idiot and his work and go about my day. I just don't get the protesting and violence.

Another topic, how did I get in all those phoney stock brokers who want me to buy stock email databases and how do I get off? How did my name get on E-harmony's database and how do I get them to stop emailing me. I haven't reached the desparation point that I will spend money on a personal ad. When I need a date I'll go to their site - when I need stock I'll go to Ameritrade. SPAMMERS LEAVE ME ALONE!

Enough for now.

Trying to Save Every Penny

Just call me the super saver! I have been on a rampage ever since I received my $143 gas bill - geez, give me a break, I only have a 1,000 square foot house. I have put my decorative sconces on a timer so they come on only when I am at home. My garage light is now on a motion sensor so that I can get to my car without stumbling in the dark or leave that light on all day. And I have replaced my thermostat with one that I can program to lower the heat while I am away and asleep. I think my old thermostat was not working properly since my heater rarely comes on with these beautiful days that we are having. I wish I could just live in the most comfortable way but I have to be careful and $143 is not careful.

I wish I had something insightful to write but I feel yucky. My diet is going well but I am hungry - my sinus' are rebelling and I am battling another infection. Arrrggg. On a good note, I've already file my income taxes and already received my state refund. Gotta love Turbo Tax!

Enough for now.

Reverse Sneezes Suck!

Today started all wrong starting with oversleeping then stupid people started bugging me. Normally, I don't have a hard time with people in my building but today those that do bug me all decided to seek me out. By noon I was about to go postal!

I probably could have dealt with people at work better if I had gotten enough sleep last night but Winston had a very bad night thanks to his allergies. At 2 a.m. we were up with his reverse sneezes that scares both of us to death. It sounds as though he's having an asthma attack. The vet showed me a way to stop them by holding his mouth shut and covering his nose but the last two nights these attacks have be so severe that the trick didn't work. After one of these attacks Winston is so shook up that he won't lay down - he'll only sit at the edge of the bed very upset. I think the drainage that causes these attacks gets worse when he lays down. So last night I ended up sitting up with him and holding him upright until he feel asleep. My poor baby is having to take allergy medicine that makes him groggy and I hate it. Keep your fingers crossed that whatever is causing this problem goes away soon. I need my little man's world to be right again.

Enough for now.

Happy Birthday to ME!

The dozen roses on my kitchen table tells me that it's my birthday (again, whimper). It was a good day for a Monday. Mom instructed Dad to go get me roses and then we all went to my favorite Mexican restaurant. Oh yeah, for the topper I got my car's oil changed - okay, did that while at dinner but a productive evening none the less.

All my birthday presents came as usual at the same time as the Christmas presents. As a child, Jan. 9th was always a special day set aside just for me. Now, it just easier to open my Christmas/Birthday presents at the same time.

Winston and Seamus spent the day together. When I got home and let them in Winston ate and promptly went to bed. He tuckered himself out completely. So little man hasn't been much company tonight. I'll just have to wake him up when I go to bed and get him out of my spot - he'll groan and moan but he'll live.

Enough for now.

The Count Down Begins

One more day and counting, if I can make it through tomorrow - I'll be home free. Starting at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, I will walk out of the central office and not think about that place for two weeks. The insanity of where I work is that I get 22 days of vacation a year.

I managed to finish purchasing all my Christmas gifts last Friday and all's I have to do it sit back and wait. After running around for two weeks searching for that perfect gift, I have nothing to do. I am a little antsy - I have been on the run since the middle of November and it's oddly harder than you'd think to relax and be still.

Winston update...he's still pooping and peeing in Mom's new house. The Christmas tree has been the latest victim. Mom caught him once but we're not catching him enough to stop the behavior and spanking him after the fact won't work. I need a Dog Whisperer to tell him to STOP!

Enough for now...me sleepy.

Winston's latest pic

Get back or Tigger gets it...all joking aside Tigger is very important.

My New Kitchen

This is a better view of the new tile counter tops and my new stainless steel sink.

Okay not a great pic but it does show the great new pantry that dad built

Toilet Paper and Tickets - Merry Christmas!

Life is returning to normal - mom and dad are all moved in to their new home and out of boxes - oh wait, it Christmas time and the mad dash to purchase presents is on. Normal will have to wait a bit. Since I last wrote my muscles have recovered and all the bruises have healed. Winston however has lost his mind and is shaming the family at every turn. Every time he goes to mom's he spends the first 15 minutes escaping from us and pees on something. He has got it in his head that he is going to claim every inch of the folk's new house. He even marked mom's fancy Santa that greets everyone at the door. Mom has been great about it but I truly wish the little dummy would knock it off! His other new trick is shredding paper, mom left both Seamus and Winston in my house for a couple of hours and Winston decided to take the last roll of toilet paper and tee pee the entire house. The little monster only does destructive things when he's unsupervised so we can't scold or correct this behavior. I love the stinker but gee whiz....

My other good news is that Dana can't drive and talk on the cell phone at the same time. I do really stupid stuff when I try, for example, I run red lights right in front of cops. A $173 ticket right at Christmas time is not my idea of fun. Mom helped out by demanding to pay half since it was she who called. The funny thing was that when I told her "Oh crap, I just ran a red light." and she gave the "well pay attention" then I interrupted her with "Oh crap, I just got caught." She replies "No, oh baby I'm so sorry." Then she kept apologizing and I kept trying to get off the phone with her - I finally had to say "gotta go bye" and hang up on her. As bad as she felt I think she would have asked to speak to the officer to try to talk him out of giving me the ticket. I really don't resent or feel bad about this ticket because I completely earned that one. Only thing is that I hear that almost all of the IT department saw me get the darn thing! Boy, do I feel blonde!

enough for now.

(whimper) Send Help Now

pain so much pain...moving hurts. toooooo tired to type, too tired to sleep and bruised all over. send messages of hope my way. happy thanksgiving all. (sigh)

enough for now.

Keeps going and going and going

All who read this please note, if I end up in the hospital and the treating physician calls the police on a battered woman in his ER - come quickly and help me explain that the multiple bruises all over my legs are from moving boxes. Between student handbooks (more than 500 boxes of 110 books) and my parents contents from their house all had to be moved. I am almost as purple as Violet from Willy Wonka.

Mom and Dad close on their new home this Thursday and my sister may be able to come down to help. Please, oh please, let her come with her husband (6'3" big man) and son (6' big boy). My parents have way too much stuff! We have a storage unit full to capacity, my garage full to capacity and my spare bedroom full to capacity!

I do have good news in that Friend Shanna got a new job and finally gets to move out of hell! Yippee, I shall live vicarously through her until my life gets back to its normal boring. The renovation of my kitchen and then the mad dash to pack and move the folks has made for some very long nights. My goal is to start looking every day for a new job and be gone for good before its time for commencement production. I am hopeful but won't hold my breath. I choose a sucky profession and I am little confused as to what to apply for since I don't want to do PR anymore. Does anyone know the best way to change careers without going back to school?

Skip the Prozak - Where's the Padded Room

I have a beautiful new kitchen. I am exhausted and don't want to do another home project again! SNAG! Mom and dad just sold their house and made an offer on another - so turn about's fair play. I will be working in their new house over Thanksgiving break (whimper).

Where are my marine ROTC friends from college now that I need them the most? In college, I met some great friends when my roommate mentioned that we needed help moving to one of them - very casually and mostly in jest but marines take things very seriously. On moving day, presto, a hoard of marines-to-be showed up with trucks and moved us in one fail swoop. We all became fast friends. Jay and Burl - if your out there somewhere, thanks for defending democracy for us and there's still a $5 entry fee to the john!

Hurricane Dana Hit My Kitchen

So what's new? I've gutted my kitchen! I am tired and do NOT want to do any more but since the only thing completed is the new pantry, I guess I must force myself to move forward. Here was the plan, first remove the old baby size antique built in oven, strip out the cabinet below and above build a pantry (two days), cut out the cabinet for the new range and rebuild the two cabinet on each side (two days), cut out the cabinet for the dishwasher and install (two days) and tile the counter tops and back splash (four days). Well we're on day seven already and only the pantry is done, the range area is cut but no side cabinets, the dishwasher area is cut out but it's not in or installed. I guess my aspirations where greater than our ability to produce.

On a more serious note, Jeff if your out there, I hope all is okay with your family. These hurricanes really must stop. You and yours are in my prayers.

V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N!!!

My first vacation in a year where I am healthy! No puny lungs, no whimpy back - I am well and gonna love every minute I spend away from the hell hole in which I work. Unbelivably, I had a great week - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I spent in training out of my office so not only was I learning cool new printing equipment but I was away, away, away!

I decided to take this week off due to the fact that I am baby sitting Seamus since mom and dad went to Vegas to gamble and over to Bishop, California to visit family. I haven't had much sleep the last three nights, do you know how hard it is to sleep with a 70 pound dog at your feet (or better put, across your legs) and a 20 pound dog at your shoulder pushing you toward the other side of the bed? Not a pretty sight!

I will be spending the cool morning hours this week putting boxes in the attic - who's coming over to help? I can make coffee. Then I will prep my kitchen for the next round of renovation, I bought a dishwasher, garbage disposal, new kitchen sink and faucet. Dad will have to rebuild one cabinet to house the dishwasher and run electric under the cabinet for the garbage disposal - unless someone handy out there wants to come over do it this week. Any takers? I can make coffee.

Enough for now.

Great Blues and Thunder Claps

I can't believe it's Thursday already. Do you ever feel like your life is flying by? I have been meaning to blog ever since Sunday and yet, here it is five days later. Saturday I had a fabulous evening at Friends Ellen and Rob's house warming party. It was good to see everyone again and to be out in the real world. Robby's band played outstandingly and it made me miss my Norman days where we went out to hear live bands every weekend.

Friend Ellen is a fantastic hostess but I didn't get to chat with her enough - WE MUST GET TOGETHER FOR A FULL BLOW GOSSIP SESSION, ELLEN! My stupid back began to hurt half way through the party, so I ducked out early but throughly enjoyed myself anyway.

As it turned out it was a good thing I left the party early, since I return home to no power (thank you thunderstorm). The bigger problem was that early in the day I had gone grocery shopping and bought all my microwave dinners (just call me chef). At 11:00 p.m. that night, mom and dad came over and took all the food from my frig to their house. Do I have the greatest parents or what?

Stop the Madness

Pure chaios! That's what my days are like right now. To give you an example, it was 1:10 p.m. before I realized that I had not gone to lunch yet. The days are flying by before I can get all the work I have done.

I had a total melt down on Friday with all the Back to School work I have and Mean Co-Worker doing her thing. I told the Boss all about it. I think the only reason she believed me was because I ended up choking back tears as I told her the whole saga. At first, she asked if I thought that I felt this way because I was so stressed over the monster project I am currently working on. She was rather nice and sympathic to me but I think she thought I was over reacting. Then today, she ask for something that Mean Co-Worker was working on - I told her that I didn't know if it was done but I'd check. When I asked Mean Co-Worker if the job was ready she growled "YES!" Boss later said that the rudeness needed to stop. I just feel better that she now believes me - it won't stop though.

On to another note, I am an Army Aunt. Any day my nephew could be sent to Iraq and yes, I know I work in an organization filled mostly with librals, but do I really have to listen to people bad mouth the war or the military. Twice last week, I have had people bring up how bad the war is and how bad the military is and they are people that I am not comfortable saying my mind. So I have to listen to their rant but I won't agree with them. I think they caught the hint without my saying anything. If I were still dating Solder Boy who was in Baghdad three or so years ago and deploys often all over the world or my nephew was actually in Iraq - I doubt if I could have held my tongue. Look out world, if this month keeps on it current pace, I will be fired by Labor Day for going off on the wrong person at the wrong time.

Send good mojo this way, I need it!

Enough for now.

Weirdness to the Extreme - Mean People and Balls

Everyone who is totally exhausted, please raise your hand. Me! Me! Me! I don't think I've ever been worked so hard. My office has turned into twilight zone where I actually feel as though my only friend is the boss! Co-worker S is so weird - I never know who is coming to work, Mean S or Friendly S. I've quit trying to be nice and get along, I just flat ignore that she's there. After four or five angry responses to my questions, I've quit asking anything. If she plans on being hateful then I am going to let her hang herself.

Co-worker J is nice but because Co-worker S won't lift a finger to help me with jobs, I haven't had time to get to know Co-worker J. He's does have a quirky (in a very good way) sense of humor and I like that. I just wish he'd quit trying to show me that icky pic of that girl diver wacking her head on the diving board - it's gross.

I wish all my computer skills weren't self taught or I'd look for a new position in our IT department. I've got seven years in the organizations and I am really not in the mood to learn a new system and new people but I am afraid that I really don't have much of a choice. We spend eight hours of our day at work and when it becomes a hostile environment it's time to go. Wish me luck all....(don't worry, I know that I won't find employment else where anytime soon, so those who know me at work I'll still be around torturing you with all my mass emails.)

And by the way, Winston is now off the market. He hasn't killed any birds or frogs this week. He ended up with a staff infection on his tummy, and the vet thinks it's from allergies. He loves his peanut butter laced medicine and is rather snuggly right now so I gues I'll keep him. I am considering turning him into a unic but he's so tiny and it feels like I'd be doing something mean to him. I am really weird I know but it's like he's never grown up and is still a puppy - small dogs are really different than big dogs. It never bothered me to neuter the dalmatians because it was good for them but the idea of neutering Winston scares me to death (whimper).