April 28, 2005

New rug

Okay, I don't have a picture of the new rug I got at Kmart last night, but it helps with the yellow walls and peach carpet of the livingroom. And it was only $9. I was really excited about that. Photo later.

Last night I did my typical Wednesday tv lineup - As the World Turns (on daily tape), Alias, and Smallville. I am getting really tired of tv. I think that is a good thing. I started reading, Touching the Void, which is a true-life adventure. More on that later, for I am on a lunch break for crying out loud.

Tonight... bowling. Will the Gallactic Gutter Gals be in first place? Tune in tomorrow.

April 26, 2005

Apricots...

In making my Trader Joe's purchases, I did induldge on several really bad-for-me foods - cookies, chocolate covered espresso beans, chocolate covered almonds. However, I did make some wise choices - veggie pizza, fat free cheddar cheese and dried apricots.

I love apricots whether they are fresh, canned or dried. I had an apricot tree when I lived on Rangoon. Sad that the tree died, but it helped make a lovely root system at my Star Wars party.



Don't you love apricots too?

The wonderful things about New Hampshire...

After a rather long week, I decided to take a small adventure on with my good friend Sherri. For those of you who might recall, Sherri moved out to New Hampshire about a year agoish and I couldn't be more excited to have an old friend relatively near by. The first part of Saturday was spend at WW (gaining 2 lbs) and doing some errands. Then I started my journey to Manchester, where Sherr's boyfriend Jeff, lives. I got there at about 3pm, and it was time to begin shopping. It seems like whenever Sherri and I get together, we shop and shop. We went to Target. We went to Marshall's. We went to find Trader Joe's and got lost. We drove up 5 minutes after it closed. That was almost tragic. But Sherri, being the game girl she is was willing to try on Sunday. Somehow we managed to stay up until 2am. We were watching a really great documentary called "The Corporation." If you haven't seen it yet, you should. It's really informative and is one of those movies that really made me think. Hmmm.

SUNDAY
We began our journey Sunday early afternoon with a stop at one of New Hampshire's fine rest stops. It was so neat and clean. Lots of helpful pamphlets and the workers were so sweet.
Rest Stops are so nice in NH!

We went to a few stores where Sherri found this lovely wallet.


Park where you want... even on the curb!


And then... there we were. At TRADER JOE'S. It was like reaching a little piece of heaven. I haven't been in a TJs since I moved here. The nearest one is this one which is on the border of NH and Massachusetts. It was well worth the drive, I tell you . I spent about $80. I wish I had brought a bigger cooler. I would have filled that baby up. Lucky for me, Burlington carries lots of great products that TJs does. However, there is just something special about TJs. Part of it was a little home for me. But they also have really high quality products. We had a grand time.

I LOVE Trader Joe's!

Trader Joe's... Paradise Found!

April 20, 2005

It’s been ages… What’s going on?

Well, it HAS been ages since my last blog. The last few weeks have been really busy at work and let’s face it; I have been stressed and depressed. Having a cold for three weeks didn’t help any. But a couple of my projects were transferred to Greg and Mark G., so that helped me focus on getting Client Crazy D and CC done. I thank Greg and MG for helping me out. I think it kept me from jumping off the roof. Oh, the other day, there were people on the roof hammering away. Not conducive to a positive work situation. As I last noted, my team was in first place. Yippee for us! I am weeks away from getting my own bowling ball and bag. Exciting, I know.

Friday
I got my ticket to CA. I am really excited about going. And if that wasn’t exciting enough, I went to a really great concert at the Flynn, starring Broadway’s Audra MacDonald. Her mother turns out, worked for UVM. Audra interacted with the audience (always a performer plus), sang new songs by up-and-coming Broadway composers. She sang a couple of classics including Kermit’s classic song. Almost made me cry. One of the funniest stories was when she was performing in front of Bill Cosby and his wife at the Kennedy Center, she selected a song that she thought would be sweet and special for the couple. However, it made Bill yell from his seat in mock-annoyance. The song I believe is called “Bill” and it’s from the musical, Show Boat. The song is not exactly complimentary towards Bill. She didn’t tell us the song until after she told the story, so whenever the character describes Bill (not very flattering) we all laughed. There were some pretty hilarious songs as well as lullabies and sad songs. At the end, they passed out champagne and Lake Champlain Chocolates. Yum! What a wonderful evening it was. I would love to see Savion Glover and Cinderella which are coming very soon to the Flynn.

Saturday the hair before...
After a .2 lose at WW, I went to a cosmetology school (where one of my co-worker’s wife works) and got my haircut. That’s right. Cut. I know, you want to see the front. I will post another picture when I get the right looking one. Anyhoo, back to the story...It was wonderful! Carrie and her sister Mary were also there getting their hair done. While Carrie was finishing up, Mary and I ate lunch at the Asian Bistro in Williston. Pretty good Asian cuisine. I would love to go there again. Then we met up with Carrie and went to the movie theater. Carrie and Mary were going to see “Sin City”, but as I had already seen it, I went to see “Sahara”. It was horrendous. Even the joy seeing Matthew Maconoughey wasn’t there. I think it was his extra white teeth. I can’t even tell you how much his teeth distracted from the film. Okay, there were about 5 or 6 writers on the project, which also spells doom. For a movie that cost over $120 MILLION to make, it sure sucked. The wide, vast desert scenes (which could have been lovely) sucked. The white man and exotic foreign woman save the day in Mali. Then there is the goofy and smart sidekick. Need I go on? I think not. It sucked. When I got out of the theater, I headed over to Marshalls, for some aimless wandering. Summer sandals are out now. Apparently in Vermont, we are headed into rain, rain, and mud. So I am thinking that sandals aren’t appropriate just yet. Carrie called because her sister was gone. After a little search, it was discovered that Mary, who didn’t like Carrie’s movie choice, went into another movie. All ended well. We went out to eat at the Ponderosa, which is a crappy buffet and steak place like the Sizzler. I had ordered a medium steak, and it was rare, verging on still pumping blood. Yeah. That gross. All in all, it was a good day. And the weather was clear and super sunny.

Sunday
I went to church and afterwards I went to Costco, watched some dvds, took a nap. Basically spent the day just chillin’. I was going to go out and about, but by the time I really started formulating a plan, it was too late.

Monday – Wednesday
Filled with more excitement than I can write about. Work, TV, read, eat, poop, sleep. That about sums it up. Tonight I went and saw “Bride and Prejudice”. Hmmm. I should have suspected it was an Indian musical. I think if I had known that, I would have been more mentally prepared. It wasn’t entirely awful. Much better than “Lagaan”. The costumes were beautiful and brilliantly colored. The main actress and actor were gorgeous. The dancing was fun. And the story was based on Jane Austin’s book, Pride and Prejudice. It was a Bollywood spin on a classic. Totally worth the $2 I spent (plus kid pack.)

April 15, 2005

We're #1 and we lost

When I got to the bowling alley, I checked out our stats.

WE ARE #1!!!!

But we lost last night. That's okay, we still had fun. I bowled under par. Game 1 was 30, Game 2 87 and Game 3 54. Sad. Even Ralph Machio didn't help me.

April 13, 2005

Busy workday and bowling

Today was just another busy work day. What can I say about it? One of my clients from last week has been particuarly a pain in the neck. Client BW, contact "Lisa" ( Not her real name) is pissy at me because things didn't go right with her three site launches. Too many little details to bore you with. Let's just say, I am willing to be 40% responsible in the issues. However.... I emailed her, left her messages etc. and there were lots of delays as a result. She blames me. Shame on her. THEN, two of the chicks who work on the other two stores (Lisa was my main contact) call me because Lisa never gave them the information that I told her she needed to give them. They couldn't figure out why their access wasn't right. That's because LISA never set it up or communicated it to them. Blah, blah, blah. That, along with a few other calls really interrupted my three project goals of the week, much to the dismay of the powers that be. So, I worked on one of the three tonight for about three hours on the laptop and modem. It was slow, but I did get a bunch of stuff done on the key client.

We (COMPANYNAME.COM) went bowling tonight right after work. I sucked, or should I say, fell below my excellent average of 74 (ha ha ha) but I had a good time with my co-workers. Some of them like Steve, Jai and Chris are pretty good. Even the Big Enchilada held his own. Enchilada #2 brought his wife and kids. The little one (Mini Enchilada) bowled and he's not even three years old. Now that I am warmed up, Thursday I should be on top of my game. ha ha ha.

I really need to swim tomorrow, but still feel congested and cloudy. It would be good for me, so maybe I will bring my stuff and go after work. We shall see how the day carries me. Hopefully it won't carry me off into the deep end.

April 11, 2005

Last week's breakdown and an interesting and lovely weekend...

I have been meaning to write for several days now about last week's emotional breakdown. I have to say that towards the end of the week, things got better. I still feel I have too many clients for my little brain to process and I really need to work on time management. I also would really like to see my company pause (not stop, just pause) and work on getting us all on track by better training and better communication. Maybe that's one of the reasons why I am here. I would like to work on the training manual, but there is always too many other things to do. Enough about work. I ended up having a really good day on Friday. AND it was payday.

On top of the joy of Friday and payday, Uncle Sam also gave me my tax return. However, I think God had a plan that wasn't revealed until Saturday. Friday after work, I went with Carrie, Elissa and Rocky to a bowling alley. We bowled three games. Carrie has the cold/cough bug that all of us in the office seem to have or have had, but she ended up scoring more than we ever have during the league games (not counting the handicap...) It was so much fun.

Saturday - I was resisting going to WW, and I also slept in. I got to the meeting just in time to weigh in. I lost a pound. Yippee. Now if I only had written down what I had eaten all week.... Anyhooo, I am glad I went. After that, I drove to the Ethan Allen homestead, which is not too far away from the WW meeting. Ethan Allan is a larger-than-life folk hero of the American Revolution. Though the museum and actual home were closed, I was able to walk around and just be. It was a gorgeous day out - the sun was shining, no clouds, birds were chirping. I saw some gulls, a waxwing, a heron nest, squirrels, and I think some finches. I will post a picture in a day or two (I am too busy typing, whilst sitting in the lazyboy.) After the lovely, peaceful morning, I stopped by the office to meet up with Carrie and work for a couple of hours. However, I couldn't get the key to work in the door, so I wasn't meant to work. I continued on my errands by going to Sears (payment) and then to Staples. My goal with Staples was to find a table and get paper for my printer. I found the perfect little table. It is about the size of two tv trays, smaller than a card table and PERFECT for my workspace and laptop. It is multifunctional, so I can use it as a little dining table when I entertain (whenever that happens...) I put it in my car and went over to the gas station to add a little air to my tires. I completed the pump and went to start the car. It was making a strange sound, so I thought I should turn it off. I flipped the key into the off position, but the engine didn't shut off. I restarted the car, and went to turn it off again. Same thing happened. What the hey? Thankfully I was at gas station, so I asked the mechanic on duty if he had any idea what it was. He thought it was strange, as I was holding the key in my hand while the engine was racing. He disconnected the battery. He also called a tow truck for me and I had it towed to the same place I had the starter fixed at. They were closing for the day, so I knew I was out of luck. But here's where I started thinking about the tax return. At first, I was thinking it was God's sense of humor. Afterall, whenever you get money, it is Murphy's law that something should happen so you can put all of that money into it. I was expecting to plug the whole tax return AND paycheck into the car. I just knew that was the plan. Between the walk home (about 1/4 mile) and hanging at the house, I was thinking that the thing was that God provided the money not as a "ha on Mrs. Han Solo," but more of a "you've got it covered thing." I spent the evening making phone calls and watching TV. It was good to catch up with people. I had really great talks over the weekend with VeAnn, Noemi and Lana. Saturday Night Live was okay. It was great to see Green Day. I would still like to see them one of these days.

Sunday - I slept in. I thought alot about the day and the car situation. I didn't want to waste a perfect weather day sitting inside my apartment watching TV. I set up my printer (which was so much fun) and took a walk to downtown Burlington (it's only about a 1/2 mile away.) I wandered around and window shopped. I found myself at the movies. I saw a Woody Allen movie called, Melinda and Melinda. It was pretty good. I usually like Woody Allen movies when he isn't in them. And he wasn't. It was two stories in a story - one of the inner stories was a romantic comedy of sorts, and the other inner story was a drama. After the movie, I stopped by City Market and continued on my journey home. At home, I watched some DVDs and did a little house cleaning. It was an overall, great day. The weather was once again, so sunny and clear. So lovely. I think I am liking Vermont more and more. :-)

Monday - In thinking about the car situation, I decided to walk to work. I think when the weather gets alittle warmer, I will walk to work more often. It was a good walk and took me about 40 mins. I walked at a casual pace. It was crisp and clear. Walking by Lake Champlain was really nice. Clear skies again. The lake looked so beautiful. I was resigned to pay for my car with my whole tax return. If that is how it has to be, so be it. I had a busy day at work. The pressure to get a few clients up this week is already stressing me out. I feel I didn't get to all of the ones I should have today. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better. I talked to the mechanic and you will never guess.... I can't tell you. Okay, I will. Well, let me put you in suspense a little longer. My car was ready and so I asked Elissa for a ride to the mechanic. We left just after 5:30. (Are you totally dying to know how much it cost? Are ya?) NOT A DIME. That's right!! Free of charge!!! I had the starter replaced in November (I think...) and apparently, a wire was rusted out. So they replaced it. Sweet!!! So, though I don't know what God's plan is for my tax return, I am hoping that the car lasts another 40,000 miles at least. I will buy my plane ticket this week and maybe tickets for the cats. I am so excited to have Smudge and Steve with me once again.

Life is good.

I love watermelon!

I would write more than that, but that about sums it up. I will write later about my weekend, the car, and the weather.

At lunch today, Elissa took me with her to the Price Chopper. I bought watermelon. It is sooooooo good. I freakin' LOVE summer fruits!!! I could eat watermelon, grapes, cherries, white nectarines, plums all day, everyday.

I love watermelon. I really do.

April 05, 2005

Still sick...spring fever...and would you like some whine with that?

Before I really get going, I would like to say that I am soooo not interested in commercials about penial rectal disfunction. DO YOU GET ME?

The Weekend –

As I was still sick, I didn’t do much this past weekend. I watched DVDs, did laundry and saw “Sin City” with Elissa, her husband Rocky and their friend Mark. It was a pretty good graphic novel-to-film. I think it was very typical of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarrantino in the style. I thought the characters were interesting. Mickey Roarke really surprised me with how good he was. It’s a violent film and not for kids. It’s presented in black and white with some shades of red now and then. Most of the time, when the characters would bleed, they would bleed red blood. One of the more quirky characters was yellow and spurted yellow. I think there was also green and maybe blue. All used sparingly.

I am nearing the end of this cold cough thing, but it is such an annoyance to have allergies AND a cold. It was also an absolutely GORGEOUSSSSSS day outside today. I wish I could have just lounged on my beach chair, sipping margaritas while Pablo fanned me and massaged my back. THAT would have been perfect! Alas, that was not to be.

The following part of this blog is pretty much a gripe session. So, if you don’t want to read about my whines and complaints, come back tomorrow.


First I have to say that I have allowed myself to get so stressed out this week that I didn’t exercise (which I am SURE would have helped) and I am eating whatever I can. I have really carbed out. It’s a good thing that some piece of self-control is still in place so that I don’t have junk food in the house and I won’t stop at the store to buy it. So, when I stress eat, I am stuck with the crap I already have. I am sure I am doing some nice damage even without the candy bars, ice cream and nachos.

I am still congested. The positive thing is that taking Zicam I think helped more than any of the Niquil or Dayquil. In the morning, as I got ready for work, I called the Vermont Tax people. They had sent me a letter about some kind of adjustment. Turns out they didn’t get the right or all the paperwork they needed, so I have to fax them. I took the paperwork to the office with every intention of faxing them. No such luck. I remembered as I walked to my car. I MUST remember to do that tomorrow.

Work was crazy busy. I have several clients, each with their own issues and needs of course. I was told earlier in the week that Client W and Client B were my top priorities, no matter what. Anything else was secondary. I have had a big struggle trying to get in touch with Client W and Client B was panic-mode about their old site being shut off. I was told I had to get approval on W and B this week. In the meantime, I have other clients who want attention and need my eyes on it. Yesterday, I was asked about my other clients - what was the status and when did I think they would be done? Admittedly, I was a little snappy back. You want me to focus on these top priorities so why would I even know about the others? I know I have time management and multi-tasking problems. Also, I refuse to work at home. I come in on the weekends and work for a couple of hours. Does that help? I just don’t really know. Today I had a breakdown. I can’t say that it really had anything to do with being sick. No, I wasn’t on the rag. (That was the problem I had over the weekend.) I was just really unhappy and felt harassed. Updates, get it done, Mrs. Han Solo. Don’t you know how important it is? You need to take this more seriously. Two or three times I had to step out to calm down and cool off. The last time, I even took a drive for 15 minutes. I cried. I tried not to cry in the office. That would have been embarrassing and I don’t want to have people thinking I am unstable. Maybe that’s really what I am. Unstable. Or bi-polar. Okay. I realize that isn’t funny, but I don’t know what else to say about my range of emotions. One of my co-workers commented on how this is a multiple day of me being grumpy and pissy. Well ¾ I am. So what if I am not being happy, singing damn musicals, whistling, crakin’ jokes? I can be pissy if I damn well feel like it. I am always pleasant to my clients. Even the royal pains in the assi like Client W and Client TC. I don’t always understand what I am doing or who to ask to help me understand what I am doing. I understand the company is about making money. And I am very happy to be getting a paycheck. And I DO like the job (though I think it really sucks this week.) I do like the people. I do like Burlington. I am not a sales person and have bad skills in that area. I just don’t have what it takes to sell. It’s not my job to sell. I am also a bad liar and when a client asks me something, I have a hard time stretching the facts. I have always been like that. I am a project manager with a really annoying sense of needing to have good customer service. I have a problem when we are so focused on the dollar that we ignore good customer service. Years at Mauschwitz and other customer oriented places has done that to me. It’s something I struggle with weekly here. It took me 15 years to create that customer service, co-dependent, #$% Pollyanna and heaven help me if it takes me that long to break that way of thinking. I think it is breaking out of me whether I like it or not. I need to go with the flow. I have begun to be okay with our tools not working perfectly. But I still have a hard time telling my client that they need to approve something when I feel I really haven’t finished my end of it. It’s just business. Try to remember that Mrs. Han Solo. If I do what is expected of me (based on certain requirements on paper) then why do I hold on? Let it go, let it go.

Tonight’s resolution: Work 40 hours. Contact each client even if it’s only an email for 5 mins of time. Leave after an 8 hour day. Don’t work on the weekend. Don’t take anything personally. Tell whoever you need to to lay off, and not stress you out. Tell the clients not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear.

April 01, 2005

Being sick sucks

I just wrote up this whole thing about being sick and bowling and having to work Saturday, but I went to publish it and got a Java Script error. So here are the highlights:

  • Being sick sucks
  • Being sick sucks
  • Being sick sucks
  • We lost the bowling game last night
  • Yoda scored me a strike, Lavar Burton and John Cusack - spares
  • Being sick sucks
  • I have to work Satuday as I am behind because of items 1, 2, 3 and 6

Being sick sucks

Not to state the obvious. I suppose with some illnesses, being sick can work in your favor.

Yesterday, I was down on my game. We lost. I am sure it was becuase I was sick and had nothing to do with the fact that my average is 79. When I did call upon the spirit of John Cusack, I did get a strike. Same with Lavar Burton. Yoda landed me a spare. But Lief Garett, Shawn Cassidy, Phil Collins and Patrick Stewart did nothing for me.

I came home and watched Angie on the Apprentice. I fear she is close to being out. Looks like Carolyn is a supporter, but George wasn't too pleased with her. It will be interesting to see what happens.

This morning I woke up feeling worse than yesterday. It seems as the virus has moved from my chest, to top of head to center of head. I sound froggy, have a headache, runny nose and cough. The DayQuil isn't doing jack for me. I also took some Midol, which isn't really helping either.

I want to go home. I might. I will be in to work tomorrow (yes, on a Saturday) because I am behind on my clients. I am functioning at a very low level today. But not as bad off as the Pope, that's for sure.