Hump Day

I realized this morning that I never post about my own favorite blogs. I make it a rule not to list any on the side like many blogs do. It's personal preference, really, not wanting to clog up my blog. But I'm ending my ban, because this is by far one of my favorites. I've often thought of submitting something, but can't think of anything creative enough. Someday, maybe... http://postsecret.blogspot.com I paid our property taxes today. Whew, it costs a lot to live in our dump of a house. We've got to move! I must once again congratulate the American public that voted for W. Billions squandered in Iraq, hundreds of thousands or Iraqis dead, 3085 of our own soldiers gone, and I'm still paying $2.50 at the pump. Well done. (I'm getting pretty politically cantankerous these days, in case you couldn't tell.) Can anyone believe that the Miami government is planning a party for Castro's death?!? The Orange Bowl is reserved, t-shirts printed, and salsa bands reserved. Not that I'm a big proponent of the man's policies, but WOW! At work we have to have weekly touchbases with our direct reports. (Their language, not mine) Anyhow, I've decided to make them productive. So tomorrow my direct report and I are going to get manicures during our time. Friday I'm scheduled to go golfing with my other report. I've never been told they have to be in the office... C-man was officially limited to Bob the Builder last night, and no nightmares. Thank God! I'm so sick right now, though, that it doesn't feel I slept at all. Hopefully I can catch up tonight.

Twosdays

"He's changing the history of the past." Last night on my way home, I was listening to W talk about Iran. And I swear, this was a direct quote. Um... as opposed to the history of the future? This guy is an idiot. I met a former co-worker out last night. He informed me that Hugo Chavez gave Joe Kennedy oil to be sold. The money then is to go to get poor people heating fuel money. Brilliant. The problem? People won't take the money because it's from Chavez. Yet they'll buy it at Citgo? Yet we finance the belly of this country off Chinese loans? Yet we give away our fundamental manufacturing jobs to "nuc-clr" Korea? I'm so amazed by the political system we've got. Okay, enough ranting about that. Just when I thought it was gone, the circles have reared their ugly head again at work. My VP came to my desk and asked for more. So I have 2 questions: Why is a VP concerned with the size and color of paper circles? and Are you effing kidding me!?!?! C-man has been having night terrors the last couple of nights. I'm cutting him off all TV except for Bob, because I know it was his monster truck video that did it. I didn't know this until Beerman informed me this morning that they were watching tanks blow things up. Um... no. I still have my cold, but now it's shifting back into my lungs. Perfect. No sleep and now coughing too. The sweet thing is that Beerman has been dropping C-man at daycare this week so I don't have to endure the heart wrenching departure. With Beerman, C-man is just fine. If I drop him off, he's a mess, and then I'm a mess, and then it all sucks. This way, we're all much happier. I'm hoping he gets over this morning anxiety thing soon. I'm hoping that cutting off the tanks blowing up crap on his DVD will cut the nightmares, thereby cutting the anxiety. We'll see. In other good news, it's payday today! Whoopee! But tomorrow's tax day. So it all goes to that. Boooo!

Hazy Days and Lazy Nights

What a crazy, hectic day. I'm not feeling all that well, so I think the haze I've been walking around in is due to a bit of the head cold I've been experiencing. 24 is the best show ever. I just wish it wasn't on at the same time as Heroes. I finished listening to the book The 5 People You Meet in Heaven. Always been on the list of to-reads, but was worried it'd be a bit Purpose Driven Life, if you know what I mean. Anyhow, it wasn't. It was a great story, well told, and kept me fully engaged. I really enjoyed it. If you want a good story, pick it up. I've watched some crappy movies lately. Any recommendations out there?

No.More.Meat.

No, I'm not going vegetarian. But maybe just for today. Last night we ditched Koz's to spend some time just the 2 of us. We went to Sabor, a Brazilian Churrascaria. For those unfamiliar with the concept, you have a 2-sided coin. When on green, men come around with meat on spits, carving it off onto your plate. When it's on red, they don't come. Well, they came, and came, and came. Then we rested. Then they came, and came, and came. And we rested. And then Beerman had them come once more. Ugh. Beerman has just asked me if it's possible to have meat poisoning. Or if there's a place to go to detox. Oh my God. We were so meat overloaded, we couldn't bear going out to do anything after. Considering C-man was clingy and sad when we left, it was okay going back. He had been sad for quite a bit of the night. :-( He's been going through a separation anxiety phase again.

Satur-lazy-day

Beerman and I are skipping Koz's tonight and going out to eat together instead at a Brazilian Churrascaria. MEAT! Enjoy your weekend!

Philadelphia Chickens

Whew, I've been on my feet a lot today. Teaching classes, going from meeting to meeting, and standing in line to get autographed copies of the Philadelphia Chicken and Rhinocerous Tap by Sandra Boynton. Kind of a fun thing to have for C-man. Next time I'm going to be standing this long, remind me to not wear cheap high-heeled boots. Argh. It's the weekend. Woopee! I've got some freelance to do, some geocaches to get, some Koz's to bowl at, and naps to find. I'm looking forward to it. Good weekend to you!

Tortilla Soup Thursday

Every Thursday is tortilla soup Thursday. It's yummy. It's also 4 warm cookies for $1. Now how can that be bad? Tomorrow is jeans Friday. So things are looking up. My mother-in-law came over last night. Poor thing was sick as a dog all night. She was sleeping in C-man's bed when we left this morning. I'll be Lysol-ing that room tonight before he goes back in it. Only 2 more days until Koz's. Woo-hoo!

It's Empty

C-man loves chapstick. "Lip!" "Lip!" So I gave him a tube, with his promise to put it on his lips only. About 5 minutes later C-man says, "Empty". Beerman says, "Well, at least his face won't get chapped." One of those moments that in retrospect, I should have had a camera for... not a spot on his face wasn't covered. Another busy day. My necklace fell apart, so I've used double-back tape to put it back together. It just has to hold through my presentation. Saturday Beerman and I are going to Koz's mini bowl with a group. For those of you who remember his 30th birthday party, that's the place. It's duckpin bowling with real pin setters, and loads of good times on the south side. I'm very excited.

Busy Day

I had a busy day. Now I'm tired. But on the way home I stopped at Chicos and got a kick-ass jacket and sweater to wear tomorrow on their 50% sale. Heaven. Do you think after 6 years in Washington, Bush could speak clearly? If you're going to talk about border patrol, please don't pronounce it "bodrer po-trol". He sounds like Roscoe P Coltrain for God's sakes. It's embarassing.

Vacation Planning Monday

Beerman, C-man and I are going to Florida in March. We were planning on going in 2 weeks to see the Daytona 500, but flights are too hard to come by, and everything just too damned expensive. So March it is. C-man can stay with Grandma and Grandpa for a few days so Beerman and I can get away to the beach for a really, really needed break together. 24 is on tonight. As always, Jack is such a perfect specimen of television viewing, that nothing can be wrong when 24 is on. C-man has been accused of having "sassy hands" while at school. Can someone explain what the heck that means? Beerman is meeting with the administrator tomorrow. We'll see what that means.

Holy Snow!

So that's what snow looks like! I had plans to get out and do stuff, but after our failed geocaching attempt, no way. It took us 20 minutes just to get down the road and back. So, it's hot cocoa and Bob the Builder from here on out! Enjoy your day.

To Shedd and Back

The family went to Shedd Aquarium today in Chicago. C-man ran until he couldn't anymore. It was cute. For the record, he enjoyed the fish, but climbing the stairs and pushing all the buttons that made things light up or spray were definitely higher on the list. It was a fun day, though.

Can this day end?

It's Friday... I'm exhausted from being up with C-man this week... I've beat my head against the wall all damn day at work... and I'm sooo glad I only have a few hours left until freedom. Overall, this hasn't been one of my favorite weeks. So to think positively, the family is headed to Chicago tomorrow to see some fish and have some fun. I'm really looking forward to it. I've got an hour and a half drive each way, so need to think of a good knitting project to take. The purse I'm doing is going to take me for-ever it's so detailed. Maybe I'll find a good pattern online for something, or actually start the sweater I purchased a pattern and yarn for but am too scared to actually start!

Some Days You're Productive...

...Some days you're not. Today was the latter. These nights being up with C-man are tough on the body. Not much is going on with me today. So as promised, here's me sporting the lopsided hat and scarf I knitted:

Hump Day

Beerman stayed home with C-man today. Since he still had a fever, they went in to the doctor. The good news is no pneumonia or influenza. The bad news is what we already knew - ear infection. I'm hoping he's good to go back to school tomorrow, but I don't think he will be. I got invited to a geocaching janboree this weekend. Beerman said, "If we go to a geocaching janboree, I'm going to need a lot to drink." I guess we'll go to Shedd Aquarium instead. I finished knitting a scarf and hat for myself. The hat is a bit lopsided, but that's cool. I just put a tassle on top and hold my head high when I wear it. When I have the energy, I'll post a picture of me sporting my "beautiful" creations. Brother-in-law Tim starts a new job next week. Yea for new jobs in a thriving company! Let's just hope it's not a mean corporate job like I've got. Because those blow.

Blogging at Home

C-man was up all last night. And when I say all last night, I mean ALL LAST NIGHT. He wasn't feeling well. But, we went to work/daycare anyhow, hoping he'd be better with other kids. Well, he wasn't. His ear hurts, he's got a 102 fever, and his eye is goopy. I got the call at 10:30 to come and get him. So now I'm home eating pizza and he's laying on his couch watching Bob the Builder. I'm so tired that I'm going to be sleeping as soon as I finish my pizza. But the dogs are happy. I got a first to find (FTF) geocache today. I figured since the cache was placed 53 feet from where I'd placed my rejected one, I knew right where it was. So I picked up C-man, he fell asleep in the car, I did a quick grab, and we came home.

Working on MLK Day

I didn't know people worked today until I got this job. Unbelievable. Harrybones got home at about 10:30 last night. Poor dog was barfing up green stuff this morning from the after-effects. He's pretty much alright now, except for a half-shaved ear. I didn't get to watch much of 24 last night. I recorded it though. Although, I'm not sure when I'll watch it, since American Idol is on tomorrow night! Ja-ack is ba-ack! DAMNIT!! The big drag of my day was getting an e-mail that the geocache I planted isn't allowed, because someone else planted one about 53 feet away and reported it a couple hours before I reported mine. Poo!

Sunday or Bust

Well, it was a total bust today. I was up half the night with C-man because he was sick. So I wasn't in my bed when the alarm went off to make it to my appointment at 8. Beerman just kept hitting snooze, failing to tell me it was going off. I realized this was happening at 7:30... After I got home from breakfast, Rileydog bit Harrybones and split the last inch of his ear in half. There was more blood than a horror movie. We tried to geocache and C-man wasn't having it, so we came home with nothing. At that point, we realized Harrybones' ear wasn't clotting (we took him caching with us to make sure he was okay) and one of us needed to take him in. A 2 hour wait later, I'm told it's $300 - $500, and we can pick him up with his stitches after 9 p.m. tonight. I got home and Beerman immediately had to go into work. (He'd already received a phone call asking where he was at this point). The laundry wasn't even folded (the only thing I'd asked for when I left on my pet emergency quest), the house a complete stinky disaster (I'm still trying to completely clean up after Rileydog's explosion earlier in the week), 5 loads of laundry left to be washed, clothes are not put away all over the bedroom, and I'd eaten a McChicken sandwich to fill the hole because it was 2:30 p.m. and I was starving. Ugh... So I took C-man shopping for new shoes and got a pair for myself. If that doesn't cheer a girl up, nothing will! Here's hoping Monday will be better than Sunday.

Geocaching Fool

We got 4 caches this morning (1, 2, 3, and 4). Despite it being colder than Antartica on a winter day, it was a good time. Other than that, it was errands, house stuff, and finishing watching the DaVinci Code. The book, as always, was better. I'm not sure why it was such a bomb though. After all, the book sucked too, and nobody seemed to mind that... Enjoy your weekend.

TGIF

What a long ass week. Whew. I'm pretty glad to wrap this one up. Our plan was to go to Shedd Aquarium this weekend, but I've put the kabosh on that. I've got some work to do (freelance, so it's worth $$$) and a hair appointment. So we're definitely there this weekend. Plus, this gives me the chance to find those damn caches I haven't been able to locate in a skirt and heels before work. Although I did thoroughly enjoy the tip to bring breakfast to my colleagues so my "lateness" would not be questioned, I still think the dirt stains on my hands and knees are a dead giveaway to my activities. Beerman sent me a great flowering mum plant at work today. What a sweet surprise that was. Funnier yet was that I saw them on my way back from lunch and commented to a co-worker that I was sure they were mine. :-) Our home internet access is down. Roadrunner can't seem to explain why. Jerks. For $40 a month you think they could think a little harder.

Beckham Becomes a Yank

The best news of my day... David Beckham is now going to be a Los Angeles Galaxy. Yum! This definitely calls for a trip to Chicago when they play. The other great thing was my 2:30 chair massage. It was so wonderful. I just wish you didn't get those funky lines on your face after you get up. I've been trying to geocache on my way to work in the morning, and it just doesn't work. I don't know what's wrong - the fact that I only have a few minutes to find it, that I'm in heels crawling under trees and on riverbanks, or that I'm missing my C-man yelling "MUGGLES!" Anyhow, somewhere in the middle of the errands this weekend, I'm going to log a few in. So many caches, so little time. Anyhow, did I mention David Beckham is coming to play in the U.S.??

Hooray for Hump Day

What was once lost has now been found. Like the prodigal son, my gps has found its way back to me. Okay, so it accidentally fell into a laundry basket in our hasty unpacking, and it's not all that dramatic. But I'm back! So I stopped at one on my way to work. I couldn't find it. Maybe it's because I was crawling around on the ground under pine trees in heels and a skirt. As so many of us know, this is the first full week in a long time. And boy does it feel like it! In my continuing saga of "corporate America blows", we don't get a day off until Memorial Day! What about MLK day? Presidents Day? Good Friday? Easter Monday? These people have no sense of balance around here. I'm almost done with scarf #2. I haven't decided if my next project is to be a sweater (which I purchased acorn-colored alpaca yarn and a pattern for - does this sound like me at all?) or a felt purse. Regardless, I need to start thinking about what my next hobby should be if I'm going to do 12 new things this year. I'm debating whether it should be guitar lessons or language lessons.

Tuesday Thoughts

At least I didn't have to cut out circles today. My boss, however, did give me a thank you note on a giant circle with circle smiley faces all over it. Just put me out of my misery. Congrats to Bruce-man on the new job! A big woo-hoo to the Californian Canadians and their newfound ability to pay for that cool table they just bought! And as promised, here's my first knitted project, modeled by Beerman himself:

It's Monday Again

I got a 3.966 GPA during grad school. On Friday, I cut out circles. Today, I cut out circles and discussed - for over an hour - the merit of having each circle a different hue and size. I am going to stick a pencil in my eye. Corporate life is beyond ridiculous. No wonder Dilbert is so funny to some people. A bunch of geocaches were hidden this weekend. I found the one in Chippewa Falls. Somehow in the unpacking process, I can't find my gps. Tonight I'm on the search for it because a couple are on my way to work in the morning. Yes, I know, I'm addicted. Staying with the addiction theme, the Journal-Sentinel had an article on knitting this weekend. I've decided I want to try to make a felt purse. And for the record, I ate meat lasagna for lunch. And what do you do with your poinsettias after Christmas? I have a cute little one on my desk, which I hate to throw out, but it is past its prime. I feel bad for it. Okay, again, I ate meat lasagna for lunch.

Sunday Already

I can't believe it's Sunday already. After spending a good portion of the day in the car, my body sure feels it. The good part about being in a car that long is that I knitted a scarf for Beerman, and have one for me almost finished. Despite saying things to the contrary, I'll have to post a picture or two of them. It's my first project, so I'm pretty pleased with myself and my crooked scarves. We were in Chippewa Falls for a wedding this weekend. I got some good pictures and will post them soon on the family website for those who care to see the good times. In other good times, we took the time to find a cache in Chippewa Falls. For those of you who still don't understand geocaching, here's the deal. You find coordinates at geocaching.com like this one. Then you drive yourself near the coordinates, get out of the car, and walk around until you locate the coordinates. (Which can be tricky if it's overcast or on a weird elevation, like today!)

Once you're at the coordinates, you need to locate the cache. Sometimes it's a film cannister, sometimes a Rubbermaid container, sometimes a coffee can, etc. This one happened to be a peanut butter jar, taped with black tape, hidden behind wood wtihin a hollow tree. (It has blue tape around the lid.) I had to move the bark to find it, which makes it trickier.

Then you've found your cache. You take it, open it, log your team's name (therysewyks), take a trinket (we took a plastic horse) and leave a trinket (pencil-topping frog). Then you log that you found it on geocaching.com.

Back in Blue!

Well, we're back, back Well, we're back in BLUE! What a good day in our country. One of the best since, oh, let's say 1992. Go Nancy, Go Deval, Go BLUE! Woo-hoo!! We're going to Chippewa Falls this weekend for a wedding reception. I'm hoping to get a few geocaches while there. I won't have much time, but there's always time to get one or two! I got a travel bug at this one today. Bertie London is supposed to get to London. If anyone's going East, let me know so I can get Bertie to you! In the ongoing saga of Why Corporate Life Sucks, today I was assigned the project of finding circles. Yes, paper circles. 20-8" dark shade and 20-6" light shade circles; 24 dark shade 6" circles and 100 light shade 4" circles. All in cardstock. Oh, and do it by tomorrow morning. I'm so glad I got a 3.96 GPA. It makes it all so frickin' worthwhile.

Is It Friday Yet?

Last night we had a Beerman-special made-up-from-fridge-ingredients dinner. But I'm in love with it, so I thought I should share. Bake a sweet potato. Fry up some ground turkey (one of my favorite meats these days), add a can of tomatoes, some cumin, some chipotle, some green chiles, and a splash of cayenne, salt and pepper. Put meat mixture on top of potato with grated cheese and sour cream. Hea-ven in less than 30 minutes! In hobby/knitting news... (note from paragraph 1 that I ate meat last night - I'm not in the deep end yet) I'm knitting a scarf for Beerman right now. I'm about half-way done. I'm pretty proud of myself that I'm able to do this. I actually bought a sweater pattern, and will try that next with some beautiful Alpaca yarn. I'll probably rip it out 400 times before it's right, but whatever. It's a January hobby. Notre Dame plays LSU tonight. I'm going to a co-worker/neighbor's house to eat pizza, drink beer, and watch the game. Go IRISH!

Happy 2007!

Another year is here for me to make the best out of it. Huzzah! My personal enrichment initiative this year is to learn 12 new hobbies in 12 months. Studies show that retirees do not do new activities, despite their always purporting to do so. Instead, they do things that htey learned and enjoyed in their younger years. So I'm looking to be a busy old girl. Knitting and geocaching are my first 2 hobbies. Technically, they started in 2006, but so far at the end of 2006, that they fall into 2007. (Hey, if you've got a problem with it, create your own list.) I'd like to finally learn to play guitar, and of course, learn another language. As for the other 8 hobbies... that's why there are 12 months. As for resolutions - laugh more, pray more, and floss daily. Okay, that last one isn't very inspirational, but it's a necessary one. In finishing my 52 books in 52 weeks, I just finished Emily Giffin's Baby Proof. I guess it'd be a good book if you never wanted kids and needed to justify it to everyone. It was well-written, but the topic sucked. It shouldn't have received the rave reviews it got.