Welcome Back!

Well. What can I say, it’s been a while.
I haven’t much been in the mood to type in several months and during my long bike ride on Monday decided that I need to start again. I doubt it will be a daily thing – but I will try to at least weekly. Fifty two posts instead of 400? Should be easy…
Life has been crazy still. My dad died in October and although I really tried to back on track – it has not worked.
The holidays (Thanksgiving and Christmas) were emotionally unbearable. Right after Christmas our dog was attacked and lost her leg. January brought some stress with an attempt to get out of town and apparently I did not handle that well either and sadly is still a sore spot in my life. I’m working on that.
I have not been able to ride my bike as much as I would like to. I’m about ten to twelve pounds heavier than last year and it doesn’t appear that it’s going away anytime soon. There truly are not enough hours in the day. We had to make further cuts at the factory and I am now doing three people’s work plus my normal stuff. Adding to that I now work every Saturday at the local DirectBuy trying to sell my doors. I used to think that if we just made it through 2009, that 2010 HAD to be better. Nothing that is being proposed or actually passed has given me (or anyone else apparently) any faith that the economy is going to get any better this year. April normally kicks off the ‘busy’ season as people start thinking about spring/summer projects. Not happening – again.
Working your ass off when you are making money kind of makes everything worth it. Working your butt off to lose less money sucks ass.
My plans are to update my life a little more. Wish me luck on that…

Things I do when I have any extra time:

1. Watch TV on Hulu – favorites are: Community, 30Rock, Parks & Recreation
2. Investigate energy saving upgrades to the house: Windows, Doors, Appliances
3. Try to Sleep. I don’t get too much of that
4. Try to figure out what I can do.

Today is Monday

Life: Work: n/a
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
It’s been a while. I’m still trying to get through all of my thoughts. In some ways, I’m wordier (see last post) and in other ways I am not so verbose any longer. Here is a recap of since I got back from Vegas.
I went straight from the airport to work 😦 I had to complete all the paperwork for the end of the month and then get payroll completed. I was pretty late. I came home and did some laundry and then packed up for the next morning’s trip to the Austin, Texas area. I hit about six stores after landing and after checking into the hotel I had a hunkering for some crab legs. Say what you will, but a pound of steamed crab legs for $12 at Hooter’s is a good deal. Are they the best crab legs? No. BUT, for $12, some cold beer, and some easy-on-the-eyes people working around me while I devour crab – it’s hard to beat. I went back to the hotel and tried to crash. It didn’t work so well and morning came quickly again. I headed out and hit about seven stores before going up to Georgetown about 30 minutes north of Austin for my class. The class went okay, my first class that I had taught in exactly 364 days! I did okay but had to keep my notes out just for the outline. I used to be able to give the classes without any notes and my timing was pretty good. Not so much anymore. Out of eleven people, only one almost fell asleep. They all paid attention which was nice. After the class I went to IKEA and had dinner and shopped. I love that store. Back to the hotel and a little better night sleep. Thursday I thought I had it planned so that I would hit the last stores and be at the airport around 12:30. I guess the traffic gods were smiling on me as I hit the airport at 10:15. I had over four hours to wait. I tried to change my flight (I had three to choose from) and it would have cost an extra $172. Not worth it. I just hung around and shopped EVERY store there. I finally made it home.
Friday was the day from hell at work as I could not catch up. Lots of other curve balls were thrown at me that day but by 5 pm I was a basket case. The kids ended up at Mom’s and Sunnee and I went to dinner at some place that we had a coupon to. It was a Teppan Grille/Sushi place in Rio Rancho. I should have left after we walked inside but was just tired of the day by that time. The food was just okay – service sucked liked only Albuquerque seems to be able to do. We left, picked up the kids and made it home in time for me to go to sleep early for a change.
Saturday was busy with housework and then I went to the factory for about five hours to actually catch up on all the week’s worth of stuff.
Sunday was a little easier but hectic. I took Railee to her piano lesson and then the rest of the day was kind of a blur. I can’t tell you if I was productive.
Today – I actually did NOT go to the factory. I did a lot of computer work that was almost therapeutic. It’s kind of sad that I enjoy doing some computer work. It’s like exercising your brain in some ways.
I had to run a few errands and think I figured a way to get the ‘new’ car painted in a way that will make me happy. There’s some ,minor paint damage that needs to be fixed that I’ve been too busy to look into. I just need to save to get it done.
A very busy Tuesday is in store for me…

Today is Tuesday

Life: Work:
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
Back in town and on way to Austin. I will update the Vegas trip – LOVED IT!

Today is Sunday

Life: Work: n/a
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
I guess I forgot to post yesterday…
Thanksgiving was full of family and food – not necessarily in that order.
As usual, I ate way too much but it was all worth every calorie intake. The sad part is that I didn’t even pig out on the desserts! It was a good night.
Yesterday, more laundry – I stopped counting after load sixteen. But I am happy to say that there is NO MORE LAUNDRY to do before I leave!
The kids and I put up the Christmas tree as well so I am leaving taking care of most all the tasks that everyone has expected me to. I even got a bike ride in before the next front moves in – it’s supposed to snow tomorrow.
I have been busy trying to burn a DVD of a bunch of slide shows for my oldest sister who is coming through town later today on her way for a long mission trip in Mexico. The DVD is burning now and says it still has a little over three hours to finish. I hope it is finished before I leave.
I don’t know if I’ll post while gone – I think I will keep a ‘journal’ going while there and upload it when I get back. We’ll see. I’m not making any promises.
Enjoy your weekend and I’ll see everyone back here on Monday (or so).

Today is Thursday

Life: Work: n/a
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
Hey! I’m back. Well…. sort of.
In the past seven days: I have sought counsel from both professional and non-professional means, attempted to busy myself, think things through, did some yard work, attempted to run away to Las Vegas, ignored ALL laundry duties, and….. I think I’m okay.
I have realized some things that perhaps I’ve been avoiding dealing with that most likely can’t be avoided any longer. I have been told that I need to take more ‘me’ time. Most of all, I know that I possess something that most people don’t have available to them – friends. Some are casual, some are business, some are friends of friends, some I’ve had for over 20 years, most in the 10-12 year range. Even more so, I realized that a lot of other people consider me their friends and even in some cases the sage advisor to help them through things. That’s what it is all about. Having the people to go to to talk through things. Some may be small things – like what exactly is ‘chutney’ and others are how to deal with death of a close person. Some people choose to google things – others seeks more personal advice. Sometimes I feel bad for those who choose the impersonal way of investigation.
Either way – I think I have a better handle on things and will be back to at least my version of ‘normal’ very soon. It will take me four days to catch up on the laundry issue! Sadly, I am not exaggerating.
Last weekend I spent Saturday laying brick pavers around the chicken coop. Who would you say digs around the coop the most? Dogs? Hawks? Chickens? Raccoons? Skunks? Wolves?
Nope. Little freakin’ sparrows and finches. They want in to get to the chicken food. The smarter of them have figured ways in through the roof – the others literally ‘dig’ from the outside in. The pavers now take care of this and when/if we actually ever get any precipitation – it will be less muddy for the caretakers. I brought one carload of pavers from the factory and leveled out the dirt area and…. needed another load. I think I put out about 120 of the little suckers and honestly could have added about another 50 or so to complete the job. You know? It looks better and solved the issue.
Sunday I rode my bike – see post here.
The rest of the week I spent slogging through trying to work. I thought that I had Monday off and had planned to tackle some tasks when I regretfully remembered that it was a short week because of Thanksgiving and the factory was operating Monday through Wednesday this week. Oopsy.
That kind of set the tone for the rest of the week as I had to cram five days of work into three. I lived through it – although I was there until 8 last night.
The other good news is that this weekend I will host my sister to 39 hours of Las Vegas. Jill has NEVER been to Las Vegas! Who Knew?! We received some great deals on travel and I have got us set up. I will post more and hopefully have some great pictures too.
Today – going to my Mom’s at 4 pm. Is that some unwritten rule about starting Thanksgiving? Starting at 4? Okay, I am beginning to realize that I DO need to post more often or I get rambling posts such as this….

Today is Thursday

Life: ?? Work: ??
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
Okay. I’m about to admit that I have no control over me.

I can’t tell what’s going on other than an official ‘not much’. I am not returning phone calls, emails, or anything else. I can’t tell you if I have actually accomplished anything in the past eleven days. Nobody is yelling – that I have heard at least – so I don’t know. I tell everyone that I am okay because I believe that but as of this morning – I’m thinking…. not so much.
I don’t feel any more sad about my dad’s death than before. I had kind of turned off that emotion the past few years because if I truly spent the emotion that ‘may’ have been required at that time I would be a wreck. So, my thought process was that I would believe that any ‘thing’ would actually bring about his death would be when I saw his lifeless body. Well, I did. And I did cry and feel emotions – but most of those were happy thoughts because we all did have a chance to visit, enjoy memories, laugh, and visit.
I can’t tell you how much I have enjoyed getting emails and texts from people that just ask ‘How Are You?’. Also, the people who still keep talking about the service, the slide show, the music, and how we are all good people. I will admit to everyone who asks that Dad picked out the music. It’s what he wanted. Had my Mom not planned the 70th Birthday slide presentation, we would not have had all those photos already scanned. I did nothing other than get the stuff to the church for the service.
Maybe in my showing ‘strength’ for everyone I used it all up and just need to recharge. That’s what I’m hoping for. I’ve tried sleep, that has not helped. Actually it made me more tired. I had a back adjustment, that usually helps something. It hasn’t. I am eating my weight in the kids’ Halloween candy and that depresses me every morning when I step on the scale. Maybe Jill can help direct me or maybe I just need to go somewhere else and ignore responsibilities.
I may not update regularly because even typing this seems like a chore.
I will be okay. I’m sorry for letting anyone down. Bear with me…

Today is Monday

Life: Work:
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
Wow. What a night. I relived my dad’s funeral all night in my dreams. Only this time, he wasn’t willing to go so quietly. He ‘woke up’. Then he refused to get back into the casket and there was some serious conversation as to whether or not he should. I mean, he was walking around – who are we to not allow him? It’s not like he was a zombie-dad or anything but he needed assistance. It kept waking me up and then it would take about an hour for me to fall back asleep. The dream would continue and then wake me up again. Needless to say – not much sleep. I never was able to see how the dream ‘ended’.
Examples like this are exactly why I stayed until he was buried and made one last double check before he was lowered into the grave. Out of everyone – I KNOW that he was in there (and was not animated). I also know that he was buried. No questions left to answer – closure. Or so I thought!
I don’t know if it was something I ate or not, but regardless I could do without another night like this…

Today is Sunday

Life: Work: n/a
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
BRRRRRRR! It is cold outside. Like ‘winter’ cold.
I’m baaaaacccckkkk… The Atlanta trip did not go so well. I knew there was going to be problems when they finally get me set in front of a computer and I’m looking at a new version number. After an hour, the told me that it was something ‘totally back-end’ that they didn’t change anything else. After about two hours of testing…. Ooopsy. They broke something. The lady that runs the whole thing had asked me to get them to push an order through to our EDI program so that we could all confirm that it was working. I purposely did this before 11 am so that they couldn’t have any excuses. Then I kept asking him every hour if it was done. ‘That team is working on it’ was the standard answer. I took a late lunch and actually went outside – it was in the high 70’s and beautiful.
We don’t get much of an autumn unless you go to the bosque – the only real place that we have an abundance of trees. Being in the middle of all the trees in Atlanta actually made you feel like it was fall – just that I could have just as easily been wearing shorts.
The rest of the afternoon was me fighting with the guy waiting for ‘his team’ and waiting for the boss-lady to have time to see what was going on. She was so upset that they had tried to push a new, untested version on us that I thought that her head was going to explode. Then we discussed how different business is anymore and how nobody will take responsibility for anything and how frustrating that can be. She would not let our version be distributed as it was and the only good thing is that I made her promise that I would not have to fly back out to sign off on the new version. I also found out that they could have made all the changes that I had asked for in September, there was no ‘freeze’ on new work. Grrrrrrr.

Back at the hotel I watched the last Disney/Pixar hit – ‘Up’. It looked like a good movie but I never had time to see it in the theater. Wow. What a disappointment. Not only was the story kind of dark, but very violent for what I was expecting. Here’s my take on Pixar – do not include adults. You do a very poor job trying to make them cartoon-y. Look at the adults in ‘Wall-E’ – they sucked. They lacked personality. The boy in ‘Up’ looks EXACTLY like one of the offspring of the blobulous space adults. The most amazing part of the movie was the first ten minutes with very little dialogue. EXACTLY like ‘Wall-E’ – the first ten minutes told more of a story with NO dialog – then most movies could accomplish in 190 minutes. After that it just turned sour in ‘Up’. There’s some amazing animation but almost feels like they had to rush it out. There’s shooting, hitting, betrayal, bullying, and other things that are not appropriate. When it’s monsters, cars, or toys – it’s okay – but with people? No. Not worth the $19 – but it did include a digital version….
Friday night I went into town and picked up my old friend Jal. We had not seen each other since ’99. She looks awesome and is doing well. We went to an area of town that is kind of like Nob Hill but with more restaurants. The food was awesome and we just sat there catching up on things and solving the worlds’ problems. It was wonderful. I passed out once I got back to the hotel but woke up at 6:30 am and could not go back to sleep. I left there around 10 am to drive back to Birmingham. There was some big football game that I was afraid that I would be stuck in traffic for – I wasn’t. Birmingham to Chicago. Why did I book this flight again? I had a yogurt in Birmingham and tried to think of something good to eat in Chicago which truly has so many different restaurants – good ones too. My issue was still having to have a 3 hour flight. That made me cross off pizza, hot dogs, and even popcorn off my list. Before I knew it, it was time to board and I opted for…. nothing! By the time I hit ABQ I was so hungry I was going to eat anything I could find. Everything was closed – even the bookstore with the snacks. By the time I got home I was shaking from lack of food. I hit the fridge like a ravenous bear just waking from hibernation. I just pulled containers and through them in the microwave. Ate that while I heated up something else. My body was using all the energy to digest the food and I was out very quickly.
I actually slept pretty good too.
Today – dressed in jammies and a large to-do list of things to catch up on.

Today is Thursday

Life: Work:
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
I always need to remind myself that on Federal holidays, we are busy. Everyone who is off – which includes a great customer base of the Los Alamos Labs – tends to come in. Or call. I walked into a set of customers from Los Alamos first, fielded questions from DOE folks, and answered a bunch of emails from people who were looking on the website. One bought, one is still looking and the others we’ll wait and see…
Sunnee was off – but she worked. The kids were NOT off, I don’t get that one. They fixed her car within the day and it was only… $454.33. Wow! I was expecting a little over $600 but they ‘said’ that the brakes were fine. Brakes aren’t supposed to feel that way when activated so I’m thinking that they didn’t drive it – just visually looked at the suckers. Oh well.
I stayed late to finish making copies of files and printing all the stuff for Atlanta. I need to run in to make a deposit before I leave but otherwise all is ready. I even packed last night! I haven’t done that in quite a while. My normal method is to pack about 30 minutes before leaving.
I don’t know if I’ll update while gone. Home Depot doesn’t exactly just open up their network to guests so it may be Sunday before I’m back. We’ll see.
I’ll be sharing the skies with Kat as she goes to NC to help take care of Ash today. I’ll wave if I see you!

Today is Wednesday

Life: Work:
Weight: Hours of Sleep:
Sleep. It doesn’t come easy this week. You would think because I get VERY tired around 7:30 pm that it should be easier. Nope. I try. I lay down. No sleep. My mistake – other than finding an Ambien – is that I tend to turn on the TV or Hulu. That pretty much insures that there will not be any sleeping until later. MUCH later.
The only good thing out of this is that I am freeing up some drive space on the DVR’s so that I don’t miss any of the new episodes. Why am I even bothering watching SNL? I have watched five episodes from this year and think that I may have laughed out loud six times. Watch 30 Rock, Modern Family, Cougar Town, or Community and I’ll laugh at least six times – and that’s in a thirty minute show! SNL gets 90 minutes and it’s amazing how few laughs they can pull out of those minutes. The digital shorts and the special guests are the only things that tend to be funny. They could shorten that up to 30 minutes – drop the lame recurring sketches that have sucked since the early 80’s. Make the sketches shorter and pack some humor into them. I’m just saying…
Work went well yesterday as far as being productive. I’m getting everything ready for the Atlanta trip. Hopefully I will get to hook up with a long lost buddy on this trip. I’ll take pictures. I forgot that the remnants of the latest Gulf Hurricane are pouring on the area. I hope its drier by the time I get there.
Today – finish up and get packed! Woo Hoo!