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Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Crazy Week...

I had a 3 day weekend, so I only have 3 days of work this week, thanks to the PWC Chicago Meetup! I'm so excited... But SO not ready...

Another thing I wasn't quite ready for was my husband's departure this morning to go back to work. I could have had another couple of days with him, since I was ROBBED this past weekend being sick...

Thanks to mechanicals and the ever-belching Mt. Redoubt, he is stuck in Anchorage tonight. He threatened to come home and try again tomorrow... I didn't agree with him... Mostly because it would have meant me going to get him late tonight from the airport, just to get another 4-5 hours of sleep before he would have had to go back in the morning... I'm glad he bunked there in Anchorage with some other stranded pilots. It'll make it easier for him to get to work if/when they can fly again. Although, it does mean spending more money this month than we anticipated...

I have work that I brought home again... I also have to pay bills so I know if I can afford my new toy... I hope so... I could really use it in Chicago... (It's a Blackberry, for all you dirty-minded folks...)

I'm hoping that I can work through the mountain of work on my desk tomorrow and have time to come home and finish cleaning the house AND groom the dog AND pack for Chicago AND pack the dog, etc, etc...

Sure could use another me this week...

Monday, March 30, 2009

A day of a boy and his dog...

I am sort of feeling better... Well enough to do the work I brought home to do. A has a project at the hanger, so I suggested that he take Noni with him. At first, he didn't want to. But then I appealed to his softer side and told him that she was going to miss him A LOT this rotation since he leaves tomorrow and doesn't come back until the 21st. So he will have his dog with him to help him with the project.

I now have my peace and quiet to work on MY project...

Sunday, March 29, 2009

AAACCCKKKK!

I HATE being sick... HATE IT HATE IT HATE IT!!!!

I came down with something Friday night... Started as allergies (as it usually does) that changed to a sinus thing within about 24 hours. Now the sinus pressure has subsided, but I have a sore throat... On the plus side, my appetite is practically non-existent, and when I am hungry, I can only stomach MAYBE two pieces of toast...

On the down side, I've been in bed MISERABLE all weekend so far. It's a 3-day weekend for me here and I have work that I brought home, not to mention the taxes that I have to finalize before A has to go back to work on Tuesday, so that he can sign the documents... I so don't have time for this...

So, I'm sitting here at my computer, sniffling and hacking, trying to at least get the taxes done and hope that I feel well enough tomorrow to get my actual work done.

Here's hoping...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

10 Years Ago, Yesterday...

Yesterday, was our 10 year anniversary of our first date. We tried to re-create is as close as possible since we are not in the geographical location of where it took place.

First, we went to the hanger. Everyone here gets confused because we have a popular restaurant called "The Hanger" and they all assume we went there for dinner... No, I mean the place where our plane is stored. Our first date started there, so we did too...

Then, we went to dinner at a small "diner" called Donna's. This was an homage to all of our initial dates, which happened in Salt Lake at 2:00 AM at Denny's. The closest we have here in Juneau is Donna's.

Then, we went home and re-created the infamous cake... Well, at least an edible version of the cake. I made A make it, as he made the original. But this time, I gave him the proper equipment to make a cake and talked him through making it. We made a german chocolate cake with the coconut frosting, just like before. And, as before, he frosted it right out of the oven. It was warm and gooey and very tasty.

It was an awesome recreation of our first date and I am very glad to have him in my life.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

This always soothes me when I'm stressed...

For those of you reading this on my blog, when ever I have "bloggers block", I will utilize Plinky to give me some random topic ideas. Today's topic is "What comfort food do you reach for when things get stressful?"

My answer: Diet Coke & really good chocolate...

I don't know what happens with the combination of the two, but it seems to work for me. Diet Coke or chocolate alone will not work. And it has to be good chocolate, like Dove, not Hershey's. That tastes like chocolate flavored sugar...

What comfort food do you reach for?

Monday, March 23, 2009

I know... this is nit-picky...

I was excited to watch "Northern Lights" on Lifetime over the weekend. It is one of my favorite Nora Roberts books and was intrigued to see how they depicted it in movie format...

Overall, it was OK. Much like "Montana Sky" before it, a lot of story was left out, vital parts were changed, etc... It kind of upsets me to know that after all that work that Ms. Roberts does to research her stories to make them more accurate, they screw up her story in the movies. I guess if she doesn't mind, why should I? I'll tell you why...

They went through the hassle of rounding up Alaska license plates, changing the fictional town to depict something that might be seen in AK, but the airplanes they used all had Canadian registration... If they couldn't have gotten a hold of an American airplane, couldn't they have digitally removed the C# and put on an N#? It would have made it more realistic for me... I know, they probably filmed it in Canada, and no offense to Canadians, but this film/story is set in Alaska, as in the United States of America... The could have done their homework and done something about the N#...

And on another point... The chick had 2 HUSKIES in the book, not ONE freaky-looking boxer-type dog...

The rest of it was close enough to the book to not have me complain about... Other than the fact that the movie was mostly the two main characters writhing around in bed together, and the book has much more substance to it...

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Hopefully this is the end of the working weekends...

I am at work (hopefully) for the last working weekend for a while. I wouldn't even be in today except for the fact that we received a whole crap-load of claims in the last week and a half and I have a lot of reports to do on them. If I don't finish them today, I won't meet my other deadlines on other projects, so here I am...

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Seat me next to the irritating talker, please

I'd rather talk to someone than be stared at all day... I was taught it wasn't polite to stare... It makes me uncomfortable...

I have a tax headache...

I know I'm a little later than most of you good little people who have filed your taxes in a timely manner, but I'm still earlier than I normally am... (Yes, I am one of those ones who waits until the weekend before April 15th to calculate my taxes)...

We are trying to get everything set before the man leaves again, so he can sign the documents. So I have been agonizing over the stupid tax forms well into the next day... Only to find out that I have to pay taxes yet again... This is after itemizing a whole bunch of stuff...

I think we are going to have HR Block review our taxes to see if there are any additional deductions we can take... Maybe I'll go through our saved receipts with a fine toothed comb to see what else I can find...

Here's hoping...

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Movie Review

I don't have that much to complain about right now. Really busy still, but it's getting better now that I have my new admin... So, yay, me!

I did see a really good movie. If you haven't seen "August Rush", you should. I love the way they portrayed music, combining genres (classical and rock), and using it to communicate. It's kind of a fairy tale, with a little "Oliver Twist" twist to it... It is a wonderful story line. It also has Robin Williams in it, playing a character that you love to hate. He's not exactly evil, but he can be pretty scary from the view point of the 12 yr old boy... He definitely doesn't have August's best interest at heart.

We loved this movie so much, and the music, that we will be buying the soundtrack, which I normally don't do. I couldn't resist with this one. It's music that moves you...

Monday, March 16, 2009

The Flu...

I heard on the radio that the flu is going around town... It was then confirmed by a friend of mine, who's son was REALLY sick with the flu... That's just great...

I did not get a flu shot this year, nor will I. I don't believe in flu shots. That's OK if you believe in flu shots, but my philosophy goes more in line with letting my body fight it off. That's what bodies do... And the team of naturopathic/chiropractic doctors don't hurt either. Last time I had the flu, I was given several chiropractic treatments that kick-started my immune system, a couple of natural remedies and sent to bed. It lasted a couple of days tops... I think my fever broke the day after the treatments, when everyone else in the house was sick for over a week... I don't care if you think chiropractic and naturopathy is voodoo or not (my husband follows this line of thinking)... I know what works for my body system, so why mess with what works?

So, I really hope I don't get sick with the flu this year, but I won't be surprised if I do... I have a chiro appointment later this week and I'll have her work her magic on me... (Oh, for anyone out there who thinks I mean a "rack-em & crack-em" chiropractor, I don't. I always look for chiro's who do SOT -Sacral-Occipital Technique- which works the best for me. These chiro's are hard to find, but they are out there... I'm really lucky to have one in Juneau, because the only other one in the state is in Anchorage...)

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Happiness is...

...snacking on the rare and wonderful item known as a Samoa... Girl Scout cookie, that is...

I finally tracked down the Girl Scouts. I have been jonesing for some cookies, and I haven't been able to find them for quite some time... I'm talking years, people... I guess they don't go door to door anymore, which is sad. They were set up at a table with cookies at the store when I went in to buy milk. Of course I had to buy a box. And knowing that my husband will want some when he gets home, I found out they will be in the store every weekend until the end of the month, so he can go get some when he comes home... That's right, I have a box of Samoas and I'm not sharing... ;)

I also asked the troop leader if they still do pre-orders, because I can spend a lot of money stocking up on cookies... She said they do pre-orders in January, so I told her to swings some girls by my office and I'll be happy to order more than one box... I would have gotten a box of each one that I like while I was at the store, but I had limited cash and didn't bring my check book... I mean, I wasn't expecting to be able to get GS cookies today....

I'm glad they had several adults with the girls today, but it is sad that it has come to that... About a week ago, some kid in a ski mask stole the cash box for a GS set up at one of the other stores... Made off will all their cash, about $800 worth. Who would steal from Girl Scouts, you ask? Some 17 yr old punk... Yeah, they caught the guy. Some good samaritan got the license plate of the get-a-way car... I'm glad they caught him... It's sad that this is the kind of world we are living in...

Another group I want to see is the Boy Scouts... I don't care much for their popcorn that they sell, but I like supporting these kinds of groups, so I usually order at least one box of popcorn. I haven't seen them outside of my parent's church. I know I could order from the kids there, but I don't want them to have to ship it up here... So, hopefully the Boy Scouts come around. They did last year, but at a time when I was out of the office so I didn't get to place an order.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Things I learned on my business trip...

This is a list of my realizations on my trip to Anchorage... Some of you who know be best probably already know some of this, but it is fairly new to me...

1. I am a redneck... Seriously, I was almost gawking at the doorman to our hotel... I have NEVER stayed at a hotel with a door man... Do they still do charm schools where you learn to be a civilized member of society? I mean, I was told that our board meeting was pretty laid back (as this is Alaska) but MAN! I am so not used to that kind of treatment. I was so out of my element. And they were lying about the laid back aspect. I imagine it's not as strict as, say a board meeting in New York or something, but it was still a bit more buttoned up than they led me to believe...

2. I was intrigued and somewhat offended (I know, weird combo, right?) that the toothbrush I bought at the hotel gift shop to replace the one I forgot was in packaging that was in English, French and Arabic... Really? Arabic? Is there a high concentration of Arabic speaking people coming to Anchorage? I can understand the English/French thing, because we get a lot of stuff from Canada, and everything there is bilingual... But Arabic? (I do have to say here that the language is beautiful. It looks like a piece of art that says what kind of toothbrush I bought). I would have expected the English/French/Spanish combo, but never Arabic... That was one of my many surprises...

3. I get really nervous when I am meeting new people, I am really bad with awkward silences, and feel the need to fill them with what ever is in my head at the moment, making myself look like a blathering idiot... I did this with a couple of board members, the chairman, and with my supervisor when I gave her a ride home from the airport... I'm not saying that this was the first time meeting my supervisor, but I generally don't spend time alone with her outside of a work setting. Admitting the problem is half the battle right? Hopefully this will get better and I don't make a fool out of myself at the next one...

4. I have adapted some meditative techniques when I fly... I have a tendency to get anxious when I fly, not because of the fact that I'm flying, but due to the number of people on board. The more people there are, the more anxious I get. When flying commercially, I HAVE to sit on the aisle, unless I am traveling with people I already know or there is no one else on my row, and I HAVE to sit either as close to the front of the plane as possible, or as far back in the plane as possible... If I am in the middle, my anxiety gets worse when we land and everyone stands up simultaneously... It's very nerve-wracking. So, this trip, I practiced some breathing techniques that I do when I do tai-chi and it seemed to help. At least, until the poor mother one row behind me had to deal with a very upset child who was screaming... I feel bad for parents who have to deal with this situation, but as a fellow passenger, it is upsetting to me... It's also one of the reasons that we own an airplane. I don't get anxious on our plane, and when someone is crying, I just tell my husband to be quiet. LOL ;) There is a lot more control involved... And I will say this, that the kid was quite for most of the trip, but that was mostly because he exhausted himself screaming from the time that the plane was pushed back to about 10 min. in the air... And they had to de-ice us after we had boarded since some frost built up on the wings while we were waiting.

5. In reference to item #1, I couldn't drink what I wanted at our big dinner the night before the board meeting... I took my cues from everyone else at the table, who ordered very classic, very simple cocktails... And then they switched to wine, which made my stomach upset this morning... I had to order room service for ginger-ale at 5:30 this morning... It's still not very steady...

6. I am insecure... I am so afraid of offending someone, mainly because if/when I do or have offended someone, no one usually tells me until sometime later. This usually add to my nervous tendencies making #3 even MORE pronounced...

7. I feel like an ignorant person... One aspect of my new job is taking the minutes of the meeting... I really only got down about half of what was said, and understood less than that, when they were going over the company's financial standing... I have never understood investments and what they mean and how this applies to that... I found that if you don't understand the subject matter, your notes are going to be incomplete and serious gobbel-de-gook... I am SO glad that my supervisor was tag-teaming the minutes with me so I wouldn't miss something my VERY first time doing it... The insurance part that I have been involved in for the last year was a lot easier to understand. I feel my notes from the afternoon session will be much more complete... I'm going to have to schedule meeting(s) with my supervisor to have her explain it so that I will be much better prepared for the next board meeting.

8. I have very little patience for stupidity... I constantly wonder if I am just not communicating well, because it seems that I am surrounded by stupidity... Case in point - I had several emails and phone calls with the hotel staff (sales & catering) on how our food for our meeting was to be arranged... Very detailed and precise... Yeah, they just kind of did what they wanted... We didn't get the full breakfast that we ordered, and some yahoo put us down for our dessert at 2:00 PM when we CLEARLY requested it to be served with lunch... Yeah, I think they are getting a phone call to recap and possibly get a credit on services ordered but not received... And then they tried to say that we were getting a "Mixed Dessert" in addition to the one we special ordered... In fact, we tried to order a variety and they told us then that they couldn't accommodate us on the desserts since our group was so small this time... Whatever... I looked at the banquet order that catering was working off of and it wasn't even on there... Don't know where they pulled that one out of... If it is my communication skills that is the problem, then someone needs to tell me so I can do something about it... Seriously... See #3.

9. While I have no patience for stupidity, that doesn't mean that I am not stupid... I cannot figure out what I did (at least, not yet) but I screwed up our phone system just before I left so that anyone calling the office would be put into a never-ending loop unless they were smart enough to select my extension or one other person... For some reason, we were the only one's who's voice mail was working properly... Unfortunately, the ones who weren't working properly are the ones who's work phones were supposed to be transferred to their cell phones... I can tell I'm leaving a lasting impression on everyone, if not a very positive impression...

10. I am not very intuitive in new situations... I need someone to tell me what to do and when to do it, again, so I don't look like a blathering idiot... But then the sheer fact that I feel I need someone to tell me what to do makes me look like a blathering idiot... It's a catch-22...

So, that's all I can think to list at this time of night... I will say that the babysitters worked out wonderfully. Noni enjoyed her time and bonded with their teenage son. They pal'd around together, she slept with him, and they generally enjoyed eachother's company. He was happy she was a smaller dog and could "snuggle"... I guess he doesn't think the 2 big dogs are great snugglers... I was told that anytime we need them to watch Noni, they would be happy to. So I've already enlisted them for the first weekend in April when I go away for the weekend. I feel better knowing she has such a great place to go to.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Neglect...

I feel like I've been neglecting all things internet lately... I haven't been posting regularly, and I haven't checked my twitter account and facebook account in days... and it is going to be another few days before I will be able to check everything again... So, I guess this post is to let all my readers know that, yes, I'm still alive... I really hope this last "mad dash" of work is the worst I will have to endure for a while...

I need a vacation...

Monday, March 9, 2009

The Babysitters from HELL!!!

Shannon has requested that I give up my story about the pot incident. I'll try to make it as interesting and scandalous as I can...

While we were living in Hawaii, we were invited to visit Disneyland with my father and step-mother. We would be gone for 5 days. We knew no one in Hawaii who could/would watch our dog for us... So, we did a little research and found a service that finds homes to "foster" your dog while you are on vacation. We thought that it would be better for her to be in a home setting than to be in a kennel, so we went with that option...

And we regret it ever since...

First, they charged a whole lot of money...

Second, they fed her WAY too much food while in their care... We sent a bag that normally lasts us a month (it just happened to work out that way) and it was 3/4 gone... So they either fed her too much, or they fed our dog's food to the other dog(s) in their home... Either way, it's just wrong...

Third, I don't know what EXACTLY they did to her harness (I think that maybe they didn't take it off her, but I don't how it would have ended up this way) but it was TRASHED and frayed... We had a hard time taking it off her and haven't been able to use it since...

Fourth, she came home with a contact high... That's right, my dog smelled like pot... You could tell she was pretty out of it, definitely not herself. She hadn't seen us in 5 days and she didn't even try to jump on us... She just kind of stared at us... Definitely weird... She stank so bad, you would not believe it. Maybe she was fostered by Cheech & Chong? I gave her a bath and within an hour, she started to perk back up to her old self...

Unfortunately, the service that we used wouldn't tell us who watched her, as part of their contract, so we have no idea... I just wouldn't recommend them... It's a nationally franchised company, so I couldn't say for sure if you would have the same experience as we did, but the one on Oahu sucked... We didn't go on any more "vacations" while there... Just to avoid the whole situation...

Sunday, March 8, 2009

The Babysitters...

I have to go away overnight for business this week, and my lovely husband is out of town to work... That leaves us with having to find a babysitter for the dog...

Luckily, the wife of one of my co-workers has agreed to watch her for me. So today, I took Noni over to their house to see how well she gets along with the wife (she already ADORES my co-worker, as she spent a lot of time in his office while she was with me at work... he was sneaking her treats...) and how well she gets along with their other two dogs... I wasn't nervous about her meeting the other dogs, until I met the dogs...

They are HUGE!!!! One is a purebred English Lab (or retriever, I can't remember). He looks to me like a cross between a Mastiff and a Golden Lab... The other is TALL TALL TALL... He came up to my hip, and no, he isn't a Great Dane... The English Lab just had surgery earlier in the week, so he is being restricted on movement until he heals up, but that didn't stop him from OBVIOUSLY invading Noni's space. She wasn't very comfortable with him running around the house, and would hide behind my chair under the bar until he laid down or went outside...

The other one was extremely playful. We let Noni and the tall dog run around outside and chase each other. She would play with him, but was very wary of him because he is so large. If he got too close, she would yelp as if he stepped on her (which, of course, he didn't, she's just a yelper)...

The wife LOVED her and said she will enjoy a smaller dog who can snuggle with her on the couch and in bed, since her husband will be out of town with everyone else. I feel pretty comfortable leaving Noni with her.

It'll also be nice having her stay with someone who will return her to me without the smell of pot on her... But that's another story...

Saturday, March 7, 2009

One more week to go...

I am counting down the days until the new girl at work starts... I cannot wait! It means less on my plate, where I am more able to focus on my new duties so I can stop feeling like a moron for misplacing things... yeah, that's right... It's all about me... lol... I'm not really that conceited...

When she starts, the whole dynamic of the office will change. I'm used to my friend being here and putting up with my crap... I don't know how this new person will integrate into this place, but i hope it will all be fine...

I wish I could say that this is my last weekend where I am at work, but I know it won't be. In fact, I will probably work next weekend too, just to make sure everything is set to go for the new person to start. And then after that, will be making sure that all projects will be complete.

The next countdown will be when I go to Chicago with the PWC! Now, that I REALLY can't wait for :)

Friday, March 6, 2009

All is right with the world again... so far...

The missing item has been found... Exactly where I put it... Once another person in my office started going down this particular line of thinking, it jump started my brain and I remembered where it was...

Whew...

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Idle hands are the devil's playthings...

It's amazing what a plate of "home-made by a loved one and shipped especially for you" peanut-butter fudge and a project will do to take your mind off your problems.

I took up jewelry making (well, beading, to some extent). I took some jewelry making classes in high school, but I do not have the equipment for soldering and polishing, so I've turned to finding items to integrate into pieces of jewelry. I've been working on some pieces for a special weekend coming up. I am pretty proud of myself for how they have turned out. I want to post a picture, but I can't, so I won't. One day, there will be a picture of my creation. They aren't too fancy, but I'm proud of myself none-the-less...

I'm still a bit upset from my day, so I'm going to finish my night curled up with a book that has taken me forever to read...

Here's hoping tomorrow is better. :)

Crappy, crappy day...

I did not have a good day today. It started out AWESOME! One of those days where you are glad to get out of bed and enjoy life... My hair was awesome this morning, I wore one of my new outfits, the sun was shining, life was good...

Until around 11:45 am... I won't go into too many details, but we'll just say that a stack of papers disappeared off my desk after the mailman came... That was fun to track down...

Then around 4:00 pm, I start working on a small task, which the results of this task ruined my evening and I am still upset about. Again, I won't go into details, but something important got misplaced and I don't know where it could be... I don't even know if I was the one who misplaced it, but my boss says she gave it to me... So now I feel like an utter moron who can't keep track of a piece of paper... While it was acknowledged that I have a lot on my plate right now and something is bound to slip through the cracks, I still can't help feeling like an idiot when 2 things happen in one day that are sort-of my fault... I know I am smarter than this... I am normally very organized, but right now I feel like my world is tilting... If I lost this thing, what else have I lost? I am second-guessing everything I do now and it's irritating.

So, at the suggestion of my friend, I left work to come home and relax and try to not think about work so that I go back with a fresh set of eyes and brain in the morning...

I hate feeling like a moron...

Monday, March 2, 2009

Monday went by fast...

I don't know about you, but I'm too tired to rant about anything today... I'll just give you the highlights...

I got my hair cut... I was looking for something new and professional and easy... Instead, what I got was essentially the same haircut I got last time... One that requires time in the morning if I want it to look right... We'll see how long I live with it... I think I'm going to go buy some velcro curlers so I don't have to take the time to style my hair in addition to all the other things... I can just put it up in the rollers and continue with my normal routine... Anything to avoid the hair dryer (which has black paint smeared on it, BTW) and the curling iron... Sorry, but I've never really been a "fussy" gal when it comes to my hair... I want it to look good with out any extra steps... Get out of the shower and run a comb through it and I'm good...

I broke open a new set of contacts about a week early... The other ones were getting so blurry and I think I may have ended up swapping them... It was amazing this morning not having any problems or irritations from my contacts... Now, after wearing them all day, that's another story... I think the next time I order contacts, I'll go with dailies... I have found that I won't wear my contacts every day (mostly every other day, to give my eyes a chance to rest in between wearings...) so it won't be too big a deal to go with dailies..

I'm going to go to bed here in a little bit... Quite a bit earlier than normal, but I tell you, I am beat...

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Ravings of a mad woman...

Yes, you read that correctly, and this will be a ranting post... You've been warned...

Are they no longer training cashiers in the supermarkets the proper way to bag groceries, or is it just my town? (it doesn't matter which store you go to, they always mess it up...)

Yes, I went grocery shopping today. My husband would have been proud that I kept the items separated into "like-groups" for easier scanning and bagging (although, they were not in a straight line, like you do, honey...) I even had a conversation with the cashier about how I grouped items together. He didn't seem to care... Then proceeded to bag ONE of my frozen juice things with some Zatarains, my cucumber with some canned items, my milk with a box of couscous, etc, etc...

If there wasn't a line behind me, I would have had him re-bag everything in this order:

Breads together with cucumber (I didn't have any other produce this trip)
Bag of Cereal (yes, the cheap stuff) and bag of tortilla chips together
Canned items in 2 bags, each double bagged
Frozen fruit juice with milk
boxes of food together

I'm not crazy, right? Things that "sweat" should not be put with things susceptible to moisture, right? Things that are heavy should be double-bagged so they don't disintegrate on the way in the door? Produce should be by itself or bagged with light items?

I know, I could have avoided all this if I had those "bring your own" bags... Well I do have them, but I forgot them... But he probably would have screwed it up with those ones too. I have even had someone put my bread in with a container of laundry detergent that we didn't find out until later that it leaked... Yeah, they are real winners up here...

It sucks that this store is the only one in town with any real selection... They know it too, so the customer service is lacking... I had to find some items to wear to the board meeting in two weeks (because all of my "nice" clothing is too small, and we are office-casual at work) and you can not go through the clothing section with a shopping cart, it is impossible. And I found a pair of boots that I liked well enough to pay a bunch of money for, but I got the "sorry - we are clearing out our boot selection to make way for summer sandals... we only have 2 pair left in size 8 1/2 and 11..." WTF... And these were actual boots, not fancy heeled boots that make my legs look fantastic... Actual "romp in the snow and not fall on your face" boots. And keep in mind, Juneau will probably still be in winter until April, and then it rains a bunch, so sandals are not really a great option here... Especially if this upcoming summer is anything like last summer... It was so unseasonable cool that I COULDN'T wear my sandals for fear of freezing my feet off...

I am going to make a formal complaint to the store about the following:
-The employees smoking in front of the entrances to the store.
-The fact that you can't navigate the clothing section.
-The lack of customer service when you need assistance
-The lack of common sense in the cashiers to know that they shouldn't put this thing with that thing...

Am I being too picky? Should I not get what I paid for?

I am also irritated that in all the land (or at least at the local Fred Meyers) there is no bra in my size... Crazy, I know... They had practically every size BUT mine... Or if they did have it, in a completely uncomfortable or ugly monstrosity... Extremely frustrating... So now I have to order one online and hope it fits... I'm not holding my breath... I tell you, it almost makes me feel like a freak of nature at the moment, if my clothing options are lacking... I'm not exactly plus size right now, but I'm not "regular" either... Sigh...

I tried watching 2001 again... I do not get that movie... Granted, I wasn't really "watching" it, I just had it on while doing some chores this evening for noise... But seriously... Someone needs to explain to me what the monolith thing has to do with anything... I mean, in the beginning, it's existence caused the monkeys to kill each other rather than just screaming at each other, and in the end, it caused the guy to go on one acid trip from hell, and you had the creepy computer in there too... I just don't get it... The best part is the computer... The interaction between the humans and the computer gives enough drama to keep me interested in those scenes, but the rest of it, I just don't get... Will somebody please explain it to me?

Once again, my husband, the love of my life, constant irritation, has done the smallest amount possible to get away with it... I'm talking about him cleaning up after himself during this rotation home... I told him that he needed to return the state of my dining room to the manner in which he found it... Well, it was ALMOST there... The table was clean, and the general area was clean, but there are packing peanuts all over the floor and one of the old side panel pieces that he just replaced... I also specifically asked him to take out the garbage before he left, but he didn't. He also didn't clean off my other desk that he was using while soldering stuff on the last rotation... I can give him the benefit of the doubt on some stuff... Like the garbage... He probably forgot it... And he probably didn't give himself enough time the day before he left to make the dining room any cleaner. OK... And I told him I wasn't going to nag him about the desk, but apparently I needed to... Anytime I noticed it wasn't clean (it honestly wasn't that often, as I've been crazy busy) I would ask him when I would be... He would always say, "I'll take care of it tomorrow" and I would leave it at that...

Honey, I know you are reading this, and I love you, but please do something when you say you are going to... You have no idea how irritating it is when you don't... Please clean it up when you get home... I mean, like, when you get off the jet, you'll unload your baggage into the house, come upstairs to let the dog out of her kennel, pet her head, change out of your uniform, then clean the desk, PLEASE! I could really use the space up here...

So now that you've read my novel, I feel better... Rant over...