Over here at the Boca Vista Retirement Community for Canadian Snowbirds, Nana, the Littlest Princess and I just finished up a rousing game of Bingo before supper. We all had cocktails while Grampie cooked up the early bird special for us. Nana and I are heading out for some shopping here soon so we can be home for bedtime at 8:30. ;)
Today, JJ and I hit the pool and then the beach for a few hours. We were very lucky to watch a pod of about 6 dolphins frolic in the surf. It was awesome. I think Jillian has learned more in the last 36 hours than I thought possible. We're very lucky that my parents, aunt & uncle, and cousin are old pros at this. We wouldn't be seeing nearly as much if they weren't here to show us the ropes.
Tomorrow we are planning to hit Disney World. We're are only doing Magic Kingdom and Downtown Disney. It should be an experience. JJ is so happy on the beach and playing with cousins that we'll be happy to come back and hang out at the beach for the rest of the week.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Monday, December 08, 2008
Blah
Just so we're clear, I hate today. I hate the snow. My car hates the snow. I hate the cold. I'm pretty sure I'm going to hate Thursday too, if the weather channel is any indication.
If anyone (J, J, P, S...I'm looking at you) cares about me at all, they would take my away to some place tropical right away. Or by February by the very latest. By then I should be nicely set into the deep depths of despair.
If anyone (J, J, P, S...I'm looking at you) cares about me at all, they would take my away to some place tropical right away. Or by February by the very latest. By then I should be nicely set into the deep depths of despair.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Hiding the Christmas Pickle
Day 1 - It's 8:41 am and I've hidden that pickle 5.2 million times since 8 am. It's 8:41 and she has "given up" 5,199,999 times. O.M.G. The Christmas Pickle. I think I'll be cracking open the Christmas Sailor Jerry rum by about 3 pm today. Given that today is only December 6 and that leaves us 19 more days to play Hide the Pickle, I'd suggest you go to the liquor store NOW if you want any Sailor Jerry for yourself this festive holiday season. I said now.
Update 8:44 am - she just told me that she gives up and the Christmas Pickle is now looking for her.
Here is the story from the tag that came with the pickle. Jay gave us all these pickles for Christmas last year.
Legend of the Pickle - Start this tradition in your home...legend says that the pickle, a symbol of good luck (Um...I need about 50 more of these good luck charms), was the last ornament placed on the tree. The first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning was rewarded with an extra gift left by St. Nicholas. This tradition encourages children to appreciate all the beautiful ornaments on the tree, rather than rushing to see what Santa has left for them.
My spin on the pickle - put it on the tree as soon as you remember it in December. Tell your 5 year old about it so she can bug the hell out of you asking where it is, give up on it, find it, and repeat the cycle.
Spin #2 - Invite people over and tell them to find the pickle. Tease them mercilessly when they can't find it. Anyone want to come over?
Update 8:44 am - she just told me that she gives up and the Christmas Pickle is now looking for her.
Here is the story from the tag that came with the pickle. Jay gave us all these pickles for Christmas last year.
Legend of the Pickle - Start this tradition in your home...legend says that the pickle, a symbol of good luck (Um...I need about 50 more of these good luck charms), was the last ornament placed on the tree. The first child to find the pickle on Christmas morning was rewarded with an extra gift left by St. Nicholas. This tradition encourages children to appreciate all the beautiful ornaments on the tree, rather than rushing to see what Santa has left for them.
My spin on the pickle - put it on the tree as soon as you remember it in December. Tell your 5 year old about it so she can bug the hell out of you asking where it is, give up on it, find it, and repeat the cycle.
Spin #2 - Invite people over and tell them to find the pickle. Tease them mercilessly when they can't find it. Anyone want to come over?
Thursday, December 04, 2008
Wednesday, December 03, 2008
One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish
My kid is an incredible swimmer. I know every parent is proud of their child. But, seriously, that girl is an amazing swimmer.
The Littlest Princess started swimming "lessons" at the indoor pool when she was four months old. I have continued putting her in lessons as often as possible. I didn't put her in lessons at all last year because she was advancing too quickly. She had just turned 4 years old and would have been in a class with kids who were 5 and 6 years old. That's a big age difference so we took a year off.
She is back in lessons this year and she's amazing. She seems to "get it" so quickly. She and my dad spent sometime working with a flutter board in my parent's pool this summer. Dad, you will be happy to know your teaching did not go to waste. She took that flutter board and left the teacher in her wake. I didn't think it was a big deal until the other kids took their turn - trust me it was a big deal.
JJ will be starting diving lessons in January. Just as a precaution, I asked her swimming teacher to evaluate her tonight to make sure she is a strong enough swimmer to take diving. I watched as the teacher asked her to swim across the pool. Remember, JJ only turned 5 years old in September of this year. She jumped into the deep end of the pool, without a life jacket, and swam clear to the other side in about 30 seconds. I was confident she was a strong swimmer but I was surprised at the speed! At the end of the lesson, the teacher came to the door and I looked at her questioningly. She simply shook her head and said "She's strong enough."
She's such an innocent looking little girl with her blond ringlets and lack of front teeth. I'm thinking of taking her to the pool and putting her in races against unsuspecting teenagers. I'll place a few bets and see what happens. She may as well learn the art of fleecing people early and from I've seen at swimming lessons...she's quick study.
The Littlest Princess started swimming "lessons" at the indoor pool when she was four months old. I have continued putting her in lessons as often as possible. I didn't put her in lessons at all last year because she was advancing too quickly. She had just turned 4 years old and would have been in a class with kids who were 5 and 6 years old. That's a big age difference so we took a year off.
She is back in lessons this year and she's amazing. She seems to "get it" so quickly. She and my dad spent sometime working with a flutter board in my parent's pool this summer. Dad, you will be happy to know your teaching did not go to waste. She took that flutter board and left the teacher in her wake. I didn't think it was a big deal until the other kids took their turn - trust me it was a big deal.
JJ will be starting diving lessons in January. Just as a precaution, I asked her swimming teacher to evaluate her tonight to make sure she is a strong enough swimmer to take diving. I watched as the teacher asked her to swim across the pool. Remember, JJ only turned 5 years old in September of this year. She jumped into the deep end of the pool, without a life jacket, and swam clear to the other side in about 30 seconds. I was confident she was a strong swimmer but I was surprised at the speed! At the end of the lesson, the teacher came to the door and I looked at her questioningly. She simply shook her head and said "She's strong enough."
She's such an innocent looking little girl with her blond ringlets and lack of front teeth. I'm thinking of taking her to the pool and putting her in races against unsuspecting teenagers. I'll place a few bets and see what happens. She may as well learn the art of fleecing people early and from I've seen at swimming lessons...she's quick study.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I Had a Vision
For once I had a vision and it actually worked out. This is not normally the case. Things don't usually turn out the way I see it in my head.
JJ and I are starting completely from scratch with Christmas decorations. As of 2 weeks ago, all we had was a Christmas pickle (thanks Jay!) and a Christmas wine stopper (mine...not JJ's). We have decided to go in a completely new direction. Think color and sparkle. None of that stodgy old monochromatic stuff for us. We felt we needed some pizzaz.
On to the vision. A few months ago I came up with the idea of wiring groups of Christmas balls together to make cluster. Then I thought I would put the clusters on the tree as a base. Much to my surprise, it turned out just the way I envisioned it. We are using only 5 colors on the tree (I had to have some standards). We're using red, silver, green, blue, and purple. The clusters have 4 balls each and the color combos are whatever I grabbed. I love how it looks and I'd like to do the entire tree like this. However, my dear daughter is very excited to put more on. So, of course, that is what we will do and it will be beautiful!
Here are some photos and they do not do the tree justice. It doesn't look as skinny in real life. I got the tree at Michael's last week. I didn't not look as glittery when it was waaaaay up on the display shelf. I'm going to be glittery for months. Maybe it will give my personality some sparkle.
Top part of the tree:
Whole tree:
JJ and I are starting completely from scratch with Christmas decorations. As of 2 weeks ago, all we had was a Christmas pickle (thanks Jay!) and a Christmas wine stopper (mine...not JJ's). We have decided to go in a completely new direction. Think color and sparkle. None of that stodgy old monochromatic stuff for us. We felt we needed some pizzaz.
On to the vision. A few months ago I came up with the idea of wiring groups of Christmas balls together to make cluster. Then I thought I would put the clusters on the tree as a base. Much to my surprise, it turned out just the way I envisioned it. We are using only 5 colors on the tree (I had to have some standards). We're using red, silver, green, blue, and purple. The clusters have 4 balls each and the color combos are whatever I grabbed. I love how it looks and I'd like to do the entire tree like this. However, my dear daughter is very excited to put more on. So, of course, that is what we will do and it will be beautiful!
Here are some photos and they do not do the tree justice. It doesn't look as skinny in real life. I got the tree at Michael's last week. I didn't not look as glittery when it was waaaaay up on the display shelf. I'm going to be glittery for months. Maybe it will give my personality some sparkle.
Top part of the tree:
Whole tree:
Cluster:
Sunday, November 23, 2008
That creative flow from this morning came to a very abrupt halt around 2:30 pm. The phone rang and JJ's father said "JJ need to go to the hospital." I immediately asked where they were. He told me about the accident and said he needed to get her stuffed animal and then she needed me. I told him I would meet them at his house.
They had gone sliding at a friend's house this afternoon. Apparently, they got about 15 mins of sliding in and she had an accident. She was going the hill by herself and hit a rock (as big as her) head first. He said she hit so hard that she flew backwards into the air. She split her head open and hurt her foot.
I arrived to see her and she enough her head was split open. I could immediately see that it needed stitches. Bad thing to say. She started screaming that it would hurt. Right or wrong, I told her it would hurt but only for a second while they gave her medicine to take the pain away. I don't believe in lying to her. Her foot was injured too and she couldn't stand on it at all. Off the ER we go.
There was a huge waiting period at the hospital but she needed her head look at. We waited about 3 hours in the waiting ear. I just say the LPN (Marion) on duty was fantastic. She was very helpful and compassionate too. She bandaged JJ's head to keep the wound from drying out and it was hilarious. I wish I had a picture but grabbing my camera was the last thing on my mind. Finally, they offered to glue her head for us. By that point she could stand on her foot a bit, wiggle her toes and rotate her ankle. It was mildly swollen but nothing horrible. I told them to glue her head and we would call our doctor about the foot tomorrow.
The nurses started to clean her head wound and tears started to well up in JJ's eyes. She held my hand but you could tell it hurt. She loves to sing so I told her that when I hurt I sing to make the pain go away. So right there in the middle of the ER, we weren't in a room...we were just behind the triage desk, I started to belt out Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I didn't even try to keep my voice low. I just let it go. JJ sang along with me and by the time we finished the song the glue was done. As I got her coat on to leave, she started to sing the song again and looked up at me and said "It stings." and she kept right on singing. I almost cried.
She is such a brave little kid. I made her laugh hysterically at one point in the waiting room. I looked at her with fake surprise and said "I can't believe you hit a rock head first and that tooth STILL didn't come out!!" She thought that was hilarious.
They had gone sliding at a friend's house this afternoon. Apparently, they got about 15 mins of sliding in and she had an accident. She was going the hill by herself and hit a rock (as big as her) head first. He said she hit so hard that she flew backwards into the air. She split her head open and hurt her foot.
I arrived to see her and she enough her head was split open. I could immediately see that it needed stitches. Bad thing to say. She started screaming that it would hurt. Right or wrong, I told her it would hurt but only for a second while they gave her medicine to take the pain away. I don't believe in lying to her. Her foot was injured too and she couldn't stand on it at all. Off the ER we go.
There was a huge waiting period at the hospital but she needed her head look at. We waited about 3 hours in the waiting ear. I just say the LPN (Marion) on duty was fantastic. She was very helpful and compassionate too. She bandaged JJ's head to keep the wound from drying out and it was hilarious. I wish I had a picture but grabbing my camera was the last thing on my mind. Finally, they offered to glue her head for us. By that point she could stand on her foot a bit, wiggle her toes and rotate her ankle. It was mildly swollen but nothing horrible. I told them to glue her head and we would call our doctor about the foot tomorrow.
The nurses started to clean her head wound and tears started to well up in JJ's eyes. She held my hand but you could tell it hurt. She loves to sing so I told her that when I hurt I sing to make the pain go away. So right there in the middle of the ER, we weren't in a room...we were just behind the triage desk, I started to belt out Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. I didn't even try to keep my voice low. I just let it go. JJ sang along with me and by the time we finished the song the glue was done. As I got her coat on to leave, she started to sing the song again and looked up at me and said "It stings." and she kept right on singing. I almost cried.
She is such a brave little kid. I made her laugh hysterically at one point in the waiting room. I looked at her with fake surprise and said "I can't believe you hit a rock head first and that tooth STILL didn't come out!!" She thought that was hilarious.
Mish Mash of Stuff
I have my internet homepage set to Yahoo and when I got online this morning I saw an article that made me chuckle. The headline is that a woman was charged for careless driving. What was so careless you ask? She was trying to eat a bowl of cereal while driving. I know you think I'm going to ream her for trying that, right? Wrong. I've tried to eat soup while driving. Not from a fast food place either. In a bowl I brought from home. Let me tell you, it's not easy to eat soup while speeding down Route 8 because you're late.
I woke up with a bit of a creative itch this morning. That is big news in itself (is that grammatically correct?). I've been so creatively stunted lately that it's driving me crazy. I have nothing to say let alone to write about. I have no desire to make or send Christmas cards. In fact, I think I'm going to get rid of my stamping supplies. The same unfinished scrapbook layout sat on my table for over a month Decorating is not even on my radar. Clean is good enough for me.
I think the bug bit yesterday. I finished the layout. It just needed a title and I even had the title in my head. I just didn't have the motivation to put it on paper. After that, I used some scraps to decorate an empty coffee can in a Christmas motif. This morning I woke up at 6:45 to watch cartoons with the Littlest Princess. After she left with her Dad at 8:30 am, I did an entire layout. Yup, a whole one. Then I saw the Yahoo article and decided to blog.
I need to get up and do something else before this creativity escapes me again. Who needs a shower anyway? I'll just rub some glitter on myself and call it pretty.
I woke up with a bit of a creative itch this morning. That is big news in itself (is that grammatically correct?). I've been so creatively stunted lately that it's driving me crazy. I have nothing to say let alone to write about. I have no desire to make or send Christmas cards. In fact, I think I'm going to get rid of my stamping supplies. The same unfinished scrapbook layout sat on my table for over a month Decorating is not even on my radar. Clean is good enough for me.
I think the bug bit yesterday. I finished the layout. It just needed a title and I even had the title in my head. I just didn't have the motivation to put it on paper. After that, I used some scraps to decorate an empty coffee can in a Christmas motif. This morning I woke up at 6:45 to watch cartoons with the Littlest Princess. After she left with her Dad at 8:30 am, I did an entire layout. Yup, a whole one. Then I saw the Yahoo article and decided to blog.
I need to get up and do something else before this creativity escapes me again. Who needs a shower anyway? I'll just rub some glitter on myself and call it pretty.
Friday, November 21, 2008
For the Love of Money
I've mentioned in the past that my 5 year old daughter loves money. She especially loves toonies because they have a "golden middle" and pink and golden are her favourite colours, you know.
JJ lost her first tooth in August while camping with my parents in Shediac. Unfortunately she swallowed the tooth and boy was she pissed about it. All ended well because Grampie helped her write a letter to the Tooth Fairy explaining the situation. The money left behind by the Tooth Fairy left a lasting impression on my daughter. Teeth equal Toonies. It's that simple.
A few months ago, I realized that JJ had 5 more loose teeth. From that day forward, it has been her mission to get those teeth out of her head and under her pillow. She plays with them constantly and 2 of them have been hanging by a string for weeks now. Wednesday night, JJ had been in bed for 45 mins when I heard her yell like her pants were on fire. She came charging out of her room yelling that she pulled her tooth out. She was beyond herself with excitement. So we put the tooth under her pillow and, sure enough, the tooth fairy came in the night.
Now, you must understand that my daughter is an all or nothing kind of girl. Of course, she sees this tooth thing as a way to get more toonies and it just so happens she has 4 more loose teeth. What luck! Last night after she'd been in bed about 20 minutes, I hear a yell and we have a replay from the night before. The little bugger tried to pull out another tooth! This time it didn't go nearly as well. She came of out of her room with blood dripping down her face and the tooth still attached. She asked me to pull it out but after one failed attempt she was over that plan.
I cleaned her up and put her back in bed with strict instructions to leave the tooth alone. The things we will do for money.
JJ lost her first tooth in August while camping with my parents in Shediac. Unfortunately she swallowed the tooth and boy was she pissed about it. All ended well because Grampie helped her write a letter to the Tooth Fairy explaining the situation. The money left behind by the Tooth Fairy left a lasting impression on my daughter. Teeth equal Toonies. It's that simple.
A few months ago, I realized that JJ had 5 more loose teeth. From that day forward, it has been her mission to get those teeth out of her head and under her pillow. She plays with them constantly and 2 of them have been hanging by a string for weeks now. Wednesday night, JJ had been in bed for 45 mins when I heard her yell like her pants were on fire. She came charging out of her room yelling that she pulled her tooth out. She was beyond herself with excitement. So we put the tooth under her pillow and, sure enough, the tooth fairy came in the night.
Now, you must understand that my daughter is an all or nothing kind of girl. Of course, she sees this tooth thing as a way to get more toonies and it just so happens she has 4 more loose teeth. What luck! Last night after she'd been in bed about 20 minutes, I hear a yell and we have a replay from the night before. The little bugger tried to pull out another tooth! This time it didn't go nearly as well. She came of out of her room with blood dripping down her face and the tooth still attached. She asked me to pull it out but after one failed attempt she was over that plan.
I cleaned her up and put her back in bed with strict instructions to leave the tooth alone. The things we will do for money.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Safety Warning
You should never attempt to blow dry (actually any activity involving electricity) your hair at the bathroom sink while a 5 year old is brushing her teeth. Failure to heed this warning could, no, probably will result in electrocution.
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Perfectly Perfect
Do you know someone who has the perfect life? Everything about their life is just textbook perfect...everything is just so and the way it is all "supposed to be". Everything is just so perfectly perfect. You know, the person who makes you feel inferior because you didn't iron your underwear today or serve a full course breakfast using the fine china before sending your kids out the door this morning.
For these people, no mountain is too big to climb, no crisis is too much to handle. Just put on a smile, be positive, and charge on. Oh, and don't forget the perfect handicraft for the occasion. After all nothing says "Flood Relief" like a homemade tea cozy.
Funny this is, I find that often these perfect people tend to be the most judgemental. Geez, if I could just have made the perfect Christmas topiary then maybe my marriage wouldn't have fallen apart. DAMMIT! I deserve to be judged. Actually, I think that judging is just part of human nature. I'm guilty by times. If anyone tries to tell me they are too perfect to judge, I would call them a liar. We all do it.
Over the past 10 months since my separation, I've tried to stop talking about issues pertaining to other people. I'm not perfect and yes I have my opinions. But I've tried to stop sharing those opinions. More specifically, I've tried to stop gossiping. I try not to say anything that I wouldn't want to be public knowledge. Gossip is hurtful and often not true. I'm well aware that separation/divorce is a juicy subject. But you likely don't know the whole story. I've been pretty lucky in my situation. The whole thing has been amicable and my soon to be ex as even said that he realizes that I did the right thing and it was courageous.
Unfortunately, it seems like I set off an epidemic. Alot of people around me are having similar issues of their own. Unfortunately, it seems that marital issues are a conversation topic that is too good not to talk about. It might do us all good to remember that Karma can be a real bitch. Be careful or she might just bite you in that perfect ass of yours.
Well, I'm off to scrub the floor with a toothbrush. It is simply the only way to make it sparkle to perfection.
For these people, no mountain is too big to climb, no crisis is too much to handle. Just put on a smile, be positive, and charge on. Oh, and don't forget the perfect handicraft for the occasion. After all nothing says "Flood Relief" like a homemade tea cozy.
Funny this is, I find that often these perfect people tend to be the most judgemental. Geez, if I could just have made the perfect Christmas topiary then maybe my marriage wouldn't have fallen apart. DAMMIT! I deserve to be judged. Actually, I think that judging is just part of human nature. I'm guilty by times. If anyone tries to tell me they are too perfect to judge, I would call them a liar. We all do it.
Over the past 10 months since my separation, I've tried to stop talking about issues pertaining to other people. I'm not perfect and yes I have my opinions. But I've tried to stop sharing those opinions. More specifically, I've tried to stop gossiping. I try not to say anything that I wouldn't want to be public knowledge. Gossip is hurtful and often not true. I'm well aware that separation/divorce is a juicy subject. But you likely don't know the whole story. I've been pretty lucky in my situation. The whole thing has been amicable and my soon to be ex as even said that he realizes that I did the right thing and it was courageous.
Unfortunately, it seems like I set off an epidemic. Alot of people around me are having similar issues of their own. Unfortunately, it seems that marital issues are a conversation topic that is too good not to talk about. It might do us all good to remember that Karma can be a real bitch. Be careful or she might just bite you in that perfect ass of yours.
Well, I'm off to scrub the floor with a toothbrush. It is simply the only way to make it sparkle to perfection.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Hold on....
The following is a statement I've heard many times at work this past week from multiple peoeple:
"Hold on, just let me put my teeth in."
Um, okay.
"Hold on, just let me put my teeth in."
Um, okay.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Weird Pet Peeve
I have a bit of an odd pet peeve. Actually, I'm not sure it's really a pet peeve because it doesn't irritate me...it just grosses me out.
I don't like it when I hear people using nail clippers at work. It just grosses me out for some reason and I can't even tell you why. It doesn't bother me if someone pulls them out to do a quick little fix. But right now I can hear the repetitious click of someone cutting all of their nails at their desk. That grosses me out. I think you should save your manicure for home. I don't think you should pick your nose at a red light in the car either. But that is probably just me being picky and critical again.
I don't like it when I hear people using nail clippers at work. It just grosses me out for some reason and I can't even tell you why. It doesn't bother me if someone pulls them out to do a quick little fix. But right now I can hear the repetitious click of someone cutting all of their nails at their desk. That grosses me out. I think you should save your manicure for home. I don't think you should pick your nose at a red light in the car either. But that is probably just me being picky and critical again.
Thursday, October 02, 2008
Coffee Review
I wrote this yesterday afternoon for a few ladies I work with. It is about me trying the new coffee machine in the lunchroom.
This afternoon I ventured down to the second floor with great anticipation. I was about to try out the new coffee machine. Imagine my delight upon learning that for $1.25 I could have coffee creations of my choice. Mochachino, latte, cappuccino…all the tips of my fingers any given time the moods strikes me. Woo Hoo – I can hardly contain my excitement. Down the stairs I go, smile on my face, and anticipation bubbling under the surface.
I enter the lunch room with caution looking around for the cute little machine. Instead I find an impressive technological beast sitting beside the vending machine. I feel a bit of trepidation and intimidation just looking at the chrome beast. “Suck it up!” I think to myself and I approach the promise land. Decisions, Decision! What should I get? I finally decide to play it safe and I get a regular coffee with milk. I didn’t see the buttons allowing me to add sugar but all is good because I have sugar in my desk. I keep to the task. I put my money in and hit the button. I listen to the whirling of the machine as it freshly grinds my beans. Next, I hear the clunk of my cup dropping. I look and think to myself “Hmm…that’s a small cup for $1.00” but I still maintain my optimism. After all, I have so many choices from one machine. After about 30 seconds of brewing and mixing, the machine signals me to remove my cup. I reach in and gently take the cup. Gently quickly flies out the window and turns to full on tugging as I wrestle with the machine to extract my coffee goodness. I throw caution to the wind not caring if I slosh hot coffee on myself. I want my cup ‘o’ joe! Finally the beast releases the wares and I retreat to my office with my prize in hand.
I sit at my desk and smell the coffee. I immediately think I will need lots of sugar in this one. I put in the sugar and gently take a sip, careful not to burn my tongue (because I hate that). It turns out I worried for nothing. Tepid bath water is more dangerous than the swill in my cup. Not even a good dose of Bailey’s is going to save the train wreck of a coffee. My anticipation and excitement has been quelled. My curiosity and wonder has been satisfied. The bottom line on this coffee is this….for the love of all things good, either bring your own or bring Tims!!!!
This afternoon I ventured down to the second floor with great anticipation. I was about to try out the new coffee machine. Imagine my delight upon learning that for $1.25 I could have coffee creations of my choice. Mochachino, latte, cappuccino…all the tips of my fingers any given time the moods strikes me. Woo Hoo – I can hardly contain my excitement. Down the stairs I go, smile on my face, and anticipation bubbling under the surface.
I enter the lunch room with caution looking around for the cute little machine. Instead I find an impressive technological beast sitting beside the vending machine. I feel a bit of trepidation and intimidation just looking at the chrome beast. “Suck it up!” I think to myself and I approach the promise land. Decisions, Decision! What should I get? I finally decide to play it safe and I get a regular coffee with milk. I didn’t see the buttons allowing me to add sugar but all is good because I have sugar in my desk. I keep to the task. I put my money in and hit the button. I listen to the whirling of the machine as it freshly grinds my beans. Next, I hear the clunk of my cup dropping. I look and think to myself “Hmm…that’s a small cup for $1.00” but I still maintain my optimism. After all, I have so many choices from one machine. After about 30 seconds of brewing and mixing, the machine signals me to remove my cup. I reach in and gently take the cup. Gently quickly flies out the window and turns to full on tugging as I wrestle with the machine to extract my coffee goodness. I throw caution to the wind not caring if I slosh hot coffee on myself. I want my cup ‘o’ joe! Finally the beast releases the wares and I retreat to my office with my prize in hand.
I sit at my desk and smell the coffee. I immediately think I will need lots of sugar in this one. I put in the sugar and gently take a sip, careful not to burn my tongue (because I hate that). It turns out I worried for nothing. Tepid bath water is more dangerous than the swill in my cup. Not even a good dose of Bailey’s is going to save the train wreck of a coffee. My anticipation and excitement has been quelled. My curiosity and wonder has been satisfied. The bottom line on this coffee is this….for the love of all things good, either bring your own or bring Tims!!!!
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Try Again Tomorrow
I just called another area of the organization I work for to get some help because I was having a technical issue. Do you know what the solution was? "Try again tomorrow". Wow.
I've been covering for my supervisor for a week now and I get many calls in the run of a day asking me to look at issues etc. All this time I've been actually taking the time to address the issues when in reality all I had to say was "Try again tomorrow." I wish I'd know that this time last week when I started covering the position.
They first told me to wait a few hours and try again. When I said it had already been a few hours they told me they'd check with another part of the organization and call me back. In all fairness, it was the second part of the organization that said to try again tomorrow.
So there you have it. "Try again tomorrow"...the put it off catch phrase of today.
**Good lord, just a side note here. As I was writing this, co-worker that I don't know just looked in my office and said "Where does Suzie Sunshine sit?" I said "She is directly below me on the 2nd floor." We sit on the 3rd floor. Nameless co-worker looks at me and says "I'll put it in the mail." Yeah, good thinking you lazy ass. Send it across town on a truck and back rather than walk down one flight of stairs. I would hate to see you save some money or worse yet, get some exercise. This organization is just full of quality employees. FULL!
I've been covering for my supervisor for a week now and I get many calls in the run of a day asking me to look at issues etc. All this time I've been actually taking the time to address the issues when in reality all I had to say was "Try again tomorrow." I wish I'd know that this time last week when I started covering the position.
They first told me to wait a few hours and try again. When I said it had already been a few hours they told me they'd check with another part of the organization and call me back. In all fairness, it was the second part of the organization that said to try again tomorrow.
So there you have it. "Try again tomorrow"...the put it off catch phrase of today.
**Good lord, just a side note here. As I was writing this, co-worker that I don't know just looked in my office and said "Where does Suzie Sunshine sit?" I said "She is directly below me on the 2nd floor." We sit on the 3rd floor. Nameless co-worker looks at me and says "I'll put it in the mail." Yeah, good thinking you lazy ass. Send it across town on a truck and back rather than walk down one flight of stairs. I would hate to see you save some money or worse yet, get some exercise. This organization is just full of quality employees. FULL!
Monday, September 15, 2008
What a Diffrence a Year Makes
Every now and then I take the time to read old blogs. I like to go back a year from the current date to see what was going on in my life at that time. It is certainly an interesting read.
At the beginning of 2008, I wrote this sentence at the end of a post "I'm jumping on to see where it takes me and I think it's going to be good." I was talking about life and how I was going to approach the year to come. At that time I didn't realize that my entire world was about to implode on me.
All around the same time some aspects of my social life had a melt down, my marriage ended, and I was so bogged down at work that I felt like I was drowning most days. All of a sudden I had to worry about finances, my mental state, my daughter,s mental state, where we were going to live, and about 10 million other things. I still had to drag myself out of bed when most days I just wanted to hide under the covers to get away from the stress. I had no idea that damn train I was about to hop onto had sooooo much freaking baggage.
Luckily, I've always believed that life continually evolves and changes. I also believe that life will be what I make of it. I've really had to repeat this to myself alot over the last 9 months. But as I approach the one year mark, I'm in a better place. Using the famous Big Brother line "It is what it is." I can't change the past nor can I change other people...I can only make the best of the present situation.
I've wanted to jump off this ride many, many times over the last few months. Some days I still want to get off. But I keep trudging along. I feel more at ease now and I think those closest to me can see that. I bet if I go back and read this is another 6 months, I'll be surprised at, one again, how things have changed in such a short span of time.
At the beginning of 2008, I wrote this sentence at the end of a post "I'm jumping on to see where it takes me and I think it's going to be good." I was talking about life and how I was going to approach the year to come. At that time I didn't realize that my entire world was about to implode on me.
All around the same time some aspects of my social life had a melt down, my marriage ended, and I was so bogged down at work that I felt like I was drowning most days. All of a sudden I had to worry about finances, my mental state, my daughter,s mental state, where we were going to live, and about 10 million other things. I still had to drag myself out of bed when most days I just wanted to hide under the covers to get away from the stress. I had no idea that damn train I was about to hop onto had sooooo much freaking baggage.
Luckily, I've always believed that life continually evolves and changes. I also believe that life will be what I make of it. I've really had to repeat this to myself alot over the last 9 months. But as I approach the one year mark, I'm in a better place. Using the famous Big Brother line "It is what it is." I can't change the past nor can I change other people...I can only make the best of the present situation.
I've wanted to jump off this ride many, many times over the last few months. Some days I still want to get off. But I keep trudging along. I feel more at ease now and I think those closest to me can see that. I bet if I go back and read this is another 6 months, I'll be surprised at, one again, how things have changed in such a short span of time.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday to my sweet, sweet little girl. The Littlest Princess turns 5 years old today. It has been a big year for her with many changes. She started kindergarten last week and is handling it like a pro. Every morning when I drop her off, I watch her walk on to the playground. Often none of her friend have arrived yet but she doesn't seem to care. She happily walks over to the swings and does her thing. This morning I was watching in the rear view mirror as she tried to dry off the swing to sit on it.
She just turns 5 years old today but she looks much, much older. She looks older than most 6 year olds yet she is probably one of the youngest kids in her class. I think people expect for from her on a cognitive and emotional level because they think she is much older than she is. But if you took the time to look in her eyes and talk with her, you quickly realize she is a sweet, sensitive 5 year old little girl. She still needs all the things 5 year olds needs.
This morning I said Happy Birthday to her and she said "Am I 5 now?' I said "You sure are!" and a huge grin spread across her face. I hope today is a great day for her.
She just turns 5 years old today but she looks much, much older. She looks older than most 6 year olds yet she is probably one of the youngest kids in her class. I think people expect for from her on a cognitive and emotional level because they think she is much older than she is. But if you took the time to look in her eyes and talk with her, you quickly realize she is a sweet, sensitive 5 year old little girl. She still needs all the things 5 year olds needs.
This morning I said Happy Birthday to her and she said "Am I 5 now?' I said "You sure are!" and a huge grin spread across her face. I hope today is a great day for her.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Just So You Know - Part 2
* it is NEVER okay to take files into the bathroom stall with you. Please!
* I'm sure you find your loud opera music to be lovely. However, it makes me want perform a lobotomy on myself. You now have a door, use it.
* payback is a bitch and someone is working their way to hearing a full rendition of me singing "Umbrella" in their office. I haven't yet decided if dancing will be involved but it's a real possibility and it wont' be pretty.
* your perfume is lovely. But a little bit goes a long way. There is no need to fill the entire hallway with your "come hither" scent. Save it for somewhere else...anywhere...just not here.
* I'm sure you find your loud opera music to be lovely. However, it makes me want perform a lobotomy on myself. You now have a door, use it.
* payback is a bitch and someone is working their way to hearing a full rendition of me singing "Umbrella" in their office. I haven't yet decided if dancing will be involved but it's a real possibility and it wont' be pretty.
* your perfume is lovely. But a little bit goes a long way. There is no need to fill the entire hallway with your "come hither" scent. Save it for somewhere else...anywhere...just not here.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Just so you know...
* roast beef sandwiches are supposed to be made with mustard not mayo. A dill pickle on the side wouldn't be a sin either.
* badly is a word.
* sauerkraut is essentially rotting cabbage, it ferments for 12 days before it's ready to eat- thanks for the heads up, Jenny Mac.
* it is NOT appropriate to eat sardines in your office for lunch. The smell makes me want to vomit for the rest of the day.
* if I vomit from the smell of sardines, I will do it in the offender's garbage can if I can't make it to the restroom.
* I have decided to switch from flip flops to boots because I don't want to redo the polish on my toenails.
* a thong with lace in the back can be uncomfortable.
* badly is a word.
* sauerkraut is essentially rotting cabbage, it ferments for 12 days before it's ready to eat- thanks for the heads up, Jenny Mac.
* it is NOT appropriate to eat sardines in your office for lunch. The smell makes me want to vomit for the rest of the day.
* if I vomit from the smell of sardines, I will do it in the offender's garbage can if I can't make it to the restroom.
* I have decided to switch from flip flops to boots because I don't want to redo the polish on my toenails.
* a thong with lace in the back can be uncomfortable.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
You Could Have Just Told Me
I recently got a hair cut. It was quite a drastic change...at least it feels like it to me. I went from long curly hair that came below my shoulders to an inverted bob that falls about an inch below my jaw line. Sometimes I wear it curly and sometimes I wear it straight. Mostly curly because straight is just too much work.
I like the new hair cut but I am certainly not the biggest fan of my new hair. I have been receiving compliments left right and centre. In fact, one lady at work couldn't stop telling me how much she just loved it. She told me in the morning and then later on she came back to tell me again when she heard someone else complimenting me on it. I seem to get at least one compliment a day. Yesterday someone told me my hair makes me look sassy. Hehehe...jokes on them because I am pretty sassy. My parents used to tell me so all the time.
I hope the compliments are sincere. However, the sheer volume of them makes me wonder....How bad was my hair before?!?! I mean really, I know it was kinda wild and unruly but it must have really looked like crap! Someone could have just suggested the hair cut along time ago and saved me the horror of walking around looking like a Sasquatch. Geesh.
I like the new hair cut but I am certainly not the biggest fan of my new hair. I have been receiving compliments left right and centre. In fact, one lady at work couldn't stop telling me how much she just loved it. She told me in the morning and then later on she came back to tell me again when she heard someone else complimenting me on it. I seem to get at least one compliment a day. Yesterday someone told me my hair makes me look sassy. Hehehe...jokes on them because I am pretty sassy. My parents used to tell me so all the time.
I hope the compliments are sincere. However, the sheer volume of them makes me wonder....How bad was my hair before?!?! I mean really, I know it was kinda wild and unruly but it must have really looked like crap! Someone could have just suggested the hair cut along time ago and saved me the horror of walking around looking like a Sasquatch. Geesh.
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