My Crazy, Mixed-Up World

Striking close to home...literally

2008-02-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

So...I said I was going to keep up with this blog better. I guess I'm not being too successful.

On December 5th, 2007, a 19-year-old decided to enter the Westroads Mall in Omaha and kill eight innocent people just because he was depressed, for whatever reason. Having had lived in Omaha for eight years, that hit close to home. That entrance of the Von Maur they kept showing on television? That's the entrance I tried to use everytime I went to Westroads. (The parking lot nearby is usually fairly empty, and close to the doors) I had been inside the store just 2 1/2 weeks before. The main thing I was worrying about when I was there was that I wanted to get home safely with some iffy weather coming in. Many times at my previous job I would spend my lunch by going to Westroads and just walk around and window shop. What if I had been there that day? I was back at Westroads the day it was first opened after the shootings. I have not been back to Von Maur yet. I do plan on doing that within the next week or so. Probably going to buy a shirt for my niece for her birthday I saw that day I was there in November. I don't know how I'm going to feel...I know it's going to be weird. I know that if I do buy that shirt, I'm going to have to go up to the third floor where the gunman was. We'll see.

Now, another mall shooting. This one took place at a Lane Bryant. When I saw the news on Sunday morning, and they said Chicago, Illinois, I was almost 100% positive that it wasn't Chicago proper. When things happen in the suburbs of major cities, they just name the major city. They showed a clip of the police chief holding a press conference. The patch on his sleeve said Tinley Park Police Department. Tinley Park....the town not two miles east of my hometown. What in the world? It's a terrible thing to think, but it appears that mall shootings are going to be the new "thing". In the late 90's, it was school shootings, basically culminating in the shootings at Columbine in Colorado. Let's hope this type of violence ceases very very soon. And...I am certainly not wanting anything else to happen that somehow I'm connected to it.

Whew....

2007-11-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

That's all I can really say right now...whew. So...let us begin at the beguine(sp?)

Last November, Jason had an offer to be the news director at a set of stations up in Columbus, Nebraska...about an hour and twenty minutes west of Omaha. They're owned by the same company as the stations he worked at in Lincoln. After some deliberation, and some of my prodding, Jason decided to take the job. So, that set me off on my search to find a job in the same town. It's difficult to find a job that suits you best when you're going from a town of 400,000 to a town of 20,000. So now, I'm one of the traffic directors at the same place Jason works. No, that doesn't mean I'm up in the helicopter telling people about accidents happening at the intersection of Route 30 and 81. It means that I enter the contracts for commercials into the computer, and then schedule said commercials for each day. (Can't play two fast food joints' commercials back to back, or car dealerships, etc.) We moved into town on April 1st. (insert joke about April's Fool here) We're renting a house now, which we absolutely adore! The only thing I have a slight complaint about is no dishwasher. Yes, I was spoiled for five years with a dishwasher at the apartments.

Unfortunately, this past summer, we weren't able to take our annual trip up to Minnesota. Changing jobs means you also start over with your vacation. :( We did get to go to visit my parents in Chicago, though, which was a treat. Got to go see a Cubs game!.....and that night they lost the one game they lost in the series against the Reds. Tough luck concerning that.

There really isn't any other earth shattering news going on right now. But...there's my update. Here's hoping it isn't another year and two months before I post again. :)

I'M NOT DEAD YET!!!!!!!

2007-10-03T18:05:00.000-07:00

Really and truly...I'm not! Still alive and breathing...but a lot has gone on in....a year and two months. I hang my head in total and utter shame. :( I'll have to find some time this weekend to explain all that's going on. And I leave you with two words...GO CUBS!

I am very proud of me.....

2006-08-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

Look look look! I've got links now! And...links to friends' blogs! I finally figured out where to put the code to be able to do that! (Really, it's the little things) I don't have as many links as I would like, but I'm sure I'll add more in the next couple of weeks or so.

It is SO Friday today...I'm glad I have the weekend in front of me. :) And, I'm glad it isn't so hot anymore, either. (Sorry to all you East Coasters, but welcome what we had to deal with earlier this week)

Just a short and sweet posting right now...and my obvious pointing out of what I accomplished today.

A vacation from my vacation...

2006-07-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

Most of you would agree with this. You need a vacation from your vacation before you have to go back to work. Today was my first day back, and I just felt like I was in a fog the whole day. The alarm that went off at 6:30 was not kind to my mind or body that had a week of rest and relaxation.
It was great to see family up in Minnesota and spend some quality time with them. Living 2...6...10 hours away from family makes it awfully difficult to share time and lives with them as much as you want. When will the transporters from "Star Trek" ever be invented? Just "beam" over to Chicago for dinner and game night with my family. "Beam" up to Minnesota for an evening of fishing with my father-in-law. "Beam" to Ohio to visit with college friends. I guess this is just something I have to understand about how much I should appreciate the time I do spend with people that I deeply care about.
The actual fishing up in Minnesota was fun. I caught five...yes...five walleye for the week. I caught four just on Friday, which is absolutely nuts. But, I also caught my first dreaded bullhead. I heard the absolute disappoitment in my husband's stepbrother's voice when I pulled it closer into the boat. Jason did catch a walleye this week, so he wasn't completely shut out. We also got to meet Jason's youngest brother's new fiancee, who appears to be just the neatest girl. They'll be getting married next year. Crazy how fast they grow up. *sniff!*
I also had the neatest experience. I've always loved just the ride out to the fishing spot on my father-in-law's boat. He's easily taking the boat up to 50 mph, and just to feel the wind in your face is fun. (I must inherit that from my mother) Twice, I got the chance to ride out and back in to shore sitting in the front chair of the boat, right at the bow. The wind is blowing so hard and fast past your ears that it drowns out the rather powerful engine on the back of the boat. The second time was the best, though. The lake was absolutely calm at the time, like glass, with the morning sun reflecting off of it. I guess you can make the comparison to the movie "Titanic" where the character Rose is "flying" while standing at the very bow of the boat. Just a really awesome experience. And to hear the loons the last night we were out...gorgeous sound.
I would love to write more, but I yet have laundry to do from our trip.
Here's hoping I adjust back to the "real" life, at work and back at home. Till then!

Yep...full moon

2006-07-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ugh. It was sooooo a Monday today. Y'know the Carpenters song "Rainy Days and Mondays (Always Get Me Down)"? Well, it was both today. But we had a nice, soaking rain all day. We desperately needed it. The weathermen around here keep talking about how far behind we are on our annual rainfall average. Not to mention, we're going to be in the triple digits this weekend, supposedly. Softball on Friday will not be fun. Softball! That's a whole 'nother story from this past weekend...that...well...I won't tell till the whole thing clears up.

Why is it the week before vacation, a kabillion things are thrown on your plate at work to get finished before you leave? I feel like running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Not to mention, laundry and packing for the trip. And yes, we are yet again headed to the Great White North! Okay, not that far. But far enough into Northern Minnesota. Sitting out on the boat, line in the water, fishing for walleye, hoping you get walleye and not "bait" (Tiny perch), or "salad". (Seaweed...errr...lakeweed) Or! The dreaded bullhead. Ugh! My father-in-law caught one of those once when I was on the boat. I'd heard stories, and they're all true! It was lying at the bottom of the boat, making this gross, ugly sound. They finally tossed it overboard once they got the hook out. Then! 15 minutes later my brother-in-law caught the same bullhead! It'll be fun to hang around with family and just relax and enjoy. Jason's looking forward to playing with his niece and nephews. And brand new second cousin! Holy smokes, kids all over the place.

That's all for now...one work day down, four more to go till vacation. (yay!) I leave you with a photo of our nephew from last Thanksgiving...who calls us "Unca Jason" and "Aunt Cereal". Hey, I'll be Aunt Cereal! :)

2006-06-21T20:12:00.000-07:00

Nothing really exciting going on in my life...just haven't posted in awhile.

I have a confession to make. Many people in this world are obsessed with "American Idol". Ugh. So you can sing...so what? I can sing, too...kinda. At least I was in organized choirs when I was school. But anyway...I think the show I'm hooked on is "So You Think You Can Dance?" Well, I know I can't dance, that's for sure. I claim to be a white girl with rhythm, but no coordination. Closest I've ever come to dancing somewhat is in the musicals in high school. It's fun to see some of the "better" dancers out of their element. Jazz/hip-hop dancers doing ballroom or modern dance, and vice versa. Some of them are pretty darn good...some of them...let's just say you can tell that they're out of their element.

College World Series in Omaha this week. CRAZY!!!!!!! In a good way, though. It brings a lot of money to the city of Omaha, and it puts a spotlight on Omaha for a week. I've chosen to root for North Carolina this year, and just earlier today, they made it to the championship round. U of Miami's out as of yesterday, and that's a good thing if you ask me. ;) Yeesh...it's been a year since Craig visited here, since he was visiting during the CWS. (Hi Craig!)

The other excitement I get to look forward to this weekend is that I'm going with my best friend to get a pedicure. Yeah, I know...girlie. But I haven't had one in years, and I'm using some birthday money to go get it done.

As I said...really boring...nothing inciteful. Glad it isn't as hot here as it was a couple of days ago.

Y'all have a good night, y'hear?

29.1

2006-05-23T20:19:00.000-07:00

Just how gorgeous was yesterday? Lower 80's, sunny. One of my babysitting "charges" wanted to go swimming, so I just sat out on the pool deck, reading a book. A wonderful mixed aroma of flowers and someone firing up the grill for a barbecue in the air. (I'm pretty sure I wasn't smelling the steakhouse across the street about a half a mile away) The water in the pool was still pretty cold...I dipped in a toe...but he still had fun. It's supposed to be 95 on Saturday! Holy smokes. But, you'll hear around here that people would rather have heat than rain on Memorial Day weekend. A nice start to the summer if you ask me.

Sooo...tomorrow is "the" day. Run away! ;) The monthly birthday luncheon was held today for the IS department at work. The head guy over the department pays for a luncheon every month, and invites anyone that has a birthday that month. Sometimes you get people that weren't able to attend the month their birthday was actually in. Turns out I share my birthday with said head guy. I really should call him the CIO, Chief Information Officer, which is what he really is. All we had was pizza and salad and breadsticks, but it was still pretty good. And hey, it was free. But as for tomorrow, nothing exciting planned. At least, that I know of. My husband is scheduled to work tomorrow night since he's taking a chunk of the weekend off. I plan on plopping myself down in front of the TV at 8 and watching the season finale of "Lost". My parents are coming in this weekend, too. Something's up, though. My husband having a "secret" conversation with a friend after softball. He just shooed me away by handing me his cleats and glove and saying "Hey, can you put these in the car? I need to talk to Brad." Uh huh...yeah. Then, I was at my best friend's house last night, making sure I got her son to bed. He wanted to get online, so I went to type in her password. As I looked down at her desk, there was a small piece of paper with my parent's e-mail address written on it. Yeah, nothing's up! I'm just playing dumb. I'll tell Carol to be more careful next time.

Maybe tomorrow, if I get a chance, I'll espouse upon the joys of getting older. Better yet, the joys of having more "old" moments.

And, just as an informational tidbit! I'm re-discovering the joys of listening to Chris Rice and Steven Curtis Chapman. Kind of cool how lyrics get engrained into your mind. Haven't heard some songs in a very long time, yet I can still sing them like I just heard them yesterday.

So...good-bye 20's! You were a pretty decent decade for me. I learned a whole lot about life and about myself in 10 years. Here's to another 10. And again, I thank you.

Remember when...

2006-05-11T17:20:00.000-07:00

Do you remember when....

Mosaic was THE internet browser
Yahoo! was the only search engine. Well, there was Alta Vista, too.
A 486 processor was pretty stinkin' fast...and if you ever mentioned Pentium, there was a collective "Ooooo..." from the room.
BBS's ruled!
We were pulled kicking and screaming to use Windows e-mail
Not every single TV commercial had a URL attached to it
Personal web pages were created with HTML, long hand, and we liked it!

This is just a list I came up with while I was bored at work. Add on in comments as you wish. :)

The "Clock"

2006-05-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

First off, I said it before, and I'll say it again. I need to post more! Since the last time I posted, I've been on-call twice for work. (This entails me carrying my beeper at all times for a week and being paged at any time that I'm needed...including 2:48 AM) I'll say this...the second time was a lot easier than the first time. But I digress...

This post is more to speak about the sometimes loud *bink...BINK...bink...BINK* in my head. (Imagine the timer from the TV show "24") Yes, I do believe it's my biological clock. I am now...wait, it's WAY after midnight...I am now 17 days away from my 30th birthday. Let me explain. Towards the end of last summer, we found out that friends of my husband and me were expecting their first baby. Awesome! (Healthy baby boy was born 4/23, in fact) Middle of September, we find out my husband's cousin and his new wife are expecting. That was quick, since they only got married August 6th. :) Double coolness. Beginning of March of this year, find out that my sister-in-law is expecting with their second. Woo hoo! Another niece or nephew for me to spoil! The day after I return from aforementioned cousin's wife's baby shower, I find out that one of my best friends is pregnant. This is probably the coolest news since they'd been trying for a long time, and the talk between her and her husband had begun to be "If we have kids..." and not "When we have kids..."

So, needless to say, I'm starting to feel the natural pressure of having kids. It is, I believe, unwise of me to want to have kids just because everybody else around me does. Some logic in my brain, though, is saying that I'm not getting any younger. By the time my mom turned 30, I was almost 8 months old. Maybe it's that I feel like everyone else is moving on with their life, and I've kind of been stuck for the past three to four years. Am I not supposed to have kids? I don't want to think about that...but it's there.

The brain is tired...and so are the eyes. It's definitely time for me to get myself to bed. Until next time...hopefully sooner than three or four months...

Man, I'm tired...

2005-12-17T23:50:00.000-08:00

Think perhaps it might be because it's 1:50 AM CST here? I NEED to go to bed. Don't wanna. I took too long of a nap this afternoon.

Just flew back from Philadelphia last night after being there for some training. Oh my goodness. Waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for my flight. Something was going on at Chicago O'Hare, because it was majorly backed up. My plane landed at O'Hare at the time I was supposed to catch my connecting flight to Omaha. But, all flights were backed up, so I caught my connection. I was supposed to land in Omaha at 11:25 at night. I landed at 12:45. My actual class was good in Philadelphia. My actual trip back stunk to high heaven.

Oh, if you've been following along, you would have noticed my rant from last month. Not two weeks later, I got some type of ink on my khakis that wouldn't/couldn't come out in the wash. Found some khakis on Eddie Bauer's website that I liked, cool. On sale for $29.99. By the time I went through and paid tax and shipping and handling, it turned out to be $40 and some change. Blah. Not happy about that. But, I do like the khakis.

Okay, I'm really going to go to bed now. Till next time!

My rant

2005-11-03T17:12:00.000-08:00

In the grand scheme of life, this rant means extremely little. It's just something that's been building up for the past 15 years or so of my life, and perhaps I've finally had it.
Let's set up two things first:
1) I'm a 6' tall female. This blesses me with a 34" inseam for pants. I don't posess a defined waist like most females. I'll say it...I wear a size 12. No big deal to me.
2) With my heighth comes the blessing of big feet. But no, I have to have "extra special" big feet. The length of my foot would measure as a woman's 10 1/2. That wouldn't be bad in and of itself. No, my foot has to be really wide at the toes. But wait! I also have a skinny heel. Yes, it's true, I have flipper feet. With the wide toes, I have to wear at least an 11 wide in women's shoes. I could wear a 12 medium, but the 12 tends to be a bit too big, and will slip off the back of my heel.

Why, as a tall female, can I not find pants long enough for me in a typical store? They have a specialty department for petites, they have a specialty department for "womens" sizes. They have stores for "Big and Tall" men. Eddie Bauer used to carry tall sizes for their khakis, but they don't carry that anymore in the store. I would have to order through the website and pay the shipping charges. Old Navy supposedly carries talls...ha! I personally do not know of any store in Omaha where I can go in and buy a pair of khakis/chinos/what have you off the rack that would fit me. Jeans? Sure! Eddie Bauer and Old Navy carry jeans in long or tall, a lot of stores do, but not in khakis. Dockers say they have talls, but tall means about 32 1/2" inseam. On top of that, I have to pay extra since I'm tall. Yeah, I know, supposedly there's more material. Five dollars worth of more material? Ummm...don't think so.

Some of you might be saying "Well, why don't you wear skirts?" Find me some dress shoes that fit, and that would be great! Find me dress shoes that fit that don't cost $80, doubly great! Find me dress shoes that fit, are affordable, and don't have a heel, awesome! Dress shoes that fit, are affordable, don't have a huge heel, and don't have cutesy beads or flowers on them, yay!!!!!!! *wipes the sarcasm off her keyboard*

So, I'm guessing my lot in life is to a) I need to start saving up money as a "clothing allowance", and b) make sure I have enough to buy the pants when they're a real bargain at the Eddie Bauer Outlet website. *heh*

Okay, I feel better. Thanks for reading.

Life is doing better...

2005-08-22T18:10:00.000-07:00

Much better. I got a promotion at work this past Friday, and along with it came a very nice raise. Financial difficulties aren't TOTALLY out of the picture, but things are looking so much better. My title is now "junior analyst", and I'm going to help run reports for our team. I'm thinking I'm going to be learning a LOT on the job. When my dad asked me if I was going to work with Crystal reports, I slightly freaked out. My dad retired as a senior systems analyst at Excelon in 2003. He never worked with Crystal, but had heard of it. I'm getting to know stuff on par with my dad. Scary...but exciting...stuff.
Jason's been calling minor league baseball this summer as much as he can. There's a team with the Northern League in Lincoln, and Jason has gotten to do color, and some play-by-play, this summer. He has fun, and the "regular" play-by-play guy likes working with him.
I'm listening to Cubs baseball on the radio, and watching pre-season football between Seattle and Dallas on ABC right now. (Go Cubs, go Seneca Wallace, Iowa State alum, 2nd string QB for Seattle) SPORTS OVERLOAD!!!! September is a crazy month sports-wise. College and professional football begin, and the race for the playoffs begins in baseball. They are absolutely NUTS for Nebraska football here in this state. Too crazy. Sure, I root for Nebraska, but with some people, the sun rises and sets on the program. Oooo....fantasy football draft on Sunday! I'm the only girl in the league..."manager" of the Walla Walla Wookies. Hoping to do better than last year where we collapsed towards the end and just missed the playoffs.
My niece and nephew keep growing and growing and growing. My niece is 18 months old, but still isn't walking, as far as I know. I'm not worried about it...both my sister and I were late walkers and talkers. I heard that she's standing on her own for longer amounts of time. She just sits there and babbles away, and you have to wonder what she thinks she's saying. She loves to clap, and have everyone clap with her. My nephew, on the other hand, has a mean streak in him. At my husband's cousin's wedding, he was just throwing a fit afterwards. Better afterwards than during the ceremony. He's going to be two!!! Seems just like yesterday my husband called me at work to tell me that he was born. My niece and nephew both have memorable birthdays, for different reasons. My niece's birthday is on Valentine's Day, which I think is cool. My nephew's birthday is September 11th. Some joy HAS to be brought on that day, though. We should never, ever forget what actually happened on that day four years ago. But, we can't let what happened on that day absolutely paralyze us.

Okay, I'm hungry. Time to scrounge something up to snack on before dinner. (Can't eat till hubby comes home from baseball game) Y'all come back now, y'hear? ;)

Shame on me

2005-05-16T18:35:00.000-07:00

I need to stop this sporadic posting. It's been a difficult past couple of months. My husband thought he had a full time job at the radio station, and then three weeks later, it was taken out from underneath him. Nothing he did wrong, just the radio station management being stupid. I'm trying to get him to take a part time job out of radio, but that doesn't seem to be going over all that well. I can't force him to do so...but...grrrr.... I ask for prayer for that situation....big time prayer.

I always seem to post when I'm about to go see a niece or nephew. Just me this time going to a wedding in Cincy for a really good high school friend of mine. Flying into Chicago, and then driving the rest of the way with my parents. It'll be just like the old family vacations...plus a 15 month old! ;) I keep thinking that it'll be a "normal" 5 1/2 hour trip from Chicago to Cincy. Now, from what I hear, it would be more like 6...6 1/2 hours with the little one. But that's okay!!!
Still at the same job. Still chipping away...chipping away. Not that that's a bad thing...just can get a bit tedious. One can get a fried brain quite easily.

Days are getting warmer...that's always something to be happy about. Now if the days can just be a bit more steady with the warmth, it will be all good!

Went to church for the first time in a looooonnnnngggg time this past Sunday. Saw the new pastor...I like him for now. My short term goal is to go for a whole month, and then maybe go back and join the orchestra. I want to be able to play for the Christmas pageant if I'm still here at Christmas time. Baby steps...most overcome the temptation to sleep in.

So that's all for now....I'll post again when I get back from Illinois/Chicago.

Hey look!

2004-12-07T22:08:00.000-08:00

A new blog entry, and it's been less than a week since I last posted! Woo hoo!

So, I've returned in one piece from Chicago. My niece is such a cutie. My sister felt bad since she had an ear infection, and therefore wasn't a hundred percent. And, she had to take some nasty medicine. While I knew she didn't like it, she took it like a trooper. The only other problem was that the medicine caused some...ummm...not so pleasant side effects, which created diaper rash. So she was sore on both ends. But, she seemed to feel better towards the end of the weekend, and was just babbling away, or just making baby "singing" noises. Wish I could see her a lot more often. The next time I'll probably see her, she'll be walking around all by herself. *sigh* Sorta sad. Guess I'll have to rely on my parents and their trusty digital camera to get me some pics.

Heehee!!! My husband's b-day is in two days...he'll be 29...and will be 29 for many more years to come. He'll always get grief from me about being older than me. At least it isn't as bad as my mom being only two days older than my dad.

So, I'm hoping to keep this "at least make one post a week" streak going. Woo hoo! And maybe, just maybe, be a bit deeper than my past ones.

Okay...so it's been awhile...

2004-12-01T18:28:00.000-08:00

And I apologize profusely!!!
So...what's new? Well...the temp job I had that I talked about previously, is now a permanent job! Woo hoo! And a VERY nice raise along with it, plus benefits. *does the Snoopy dance* Husband's job is going well...he did a good number of play-by-play/color jobs for HS football this season. That gets his foot in the door. And, he'll be doing basketball games once the season gets going. Bonus! And no, we aren't in Lincoln yet. But, that's okay.

So, we're doing the whirlwind tour of our nieces and nephews these past two weeks. Saw our 15 month old nephew on Thanksgiving. He's walking around all by himself now, and I'm sure is giving mom and dad some good exercise. He LOVES to open and close doors and drawers. He'd just stand in the kitchen and open the door and WHAM! close it. Do they need cabinet testers? I'm sure that would be a great job for him. They're so much fun at this age, they're just starting to develop their personalities and all. Oh, and I've nicknamed him either "Fang" or "Snaggletooth". He only has one tooth in, and it's his left upper eye tooth. *shrugs* Poor kid. Sunday, we went and saw our brand new niece. (My husband's stepbrother's daughter) She was five weeks old exactly that day. What a BEAUTIFUL baby! And very well behaved. She makes this perfect little "O" with her mouth, and her eyes get really wide like she wants to check out the whole world. And what hair! The sad part is, her dad has to leave for his third tour of duty in Iraq in January. *sigh* He's part of the medical unit, and therefore, is always right behind the front lines. I'll be praying everyday that he'll come home in one piece. And this weekend, we'll be flying to Chicago to see our other niece, my sister's daughter. I've only seen her once, and that was when she was 3 weeks old. My husband hasn't seen her at all. She's 9 1/2 months old now. My parents say she's the cutest thing, and has a great personality. I guess she'll wake up in the morning, and just kind of babble to herself. My sister will wake up to that, give her her pacifer, and McKayla will lay back down for another hour. My mom told my sister "You don't KNOW just how good you have it..."

I promise, I'll be better with my posting! Promise promise promise! And perhaps, something much deeper next time.

Such a good dog...

2004-08-18T21:20:00.000-07:00

Small back story...I never had a dog while growing up. I know, some of you are thinking I never lived the American dream. Well, we had a LARGE yard, my mom said that the dog would have to stay outside, and there was no way we were going to fence that large of a yard. (This is what happens when your mother grows up on a farm...all the animals stayed outside)

Fast forward to my early 20's when I get married. My in-laws have a sheltie named Chelsea, pictured here. She's kind of goofy, but a good dog. In my mind, she sort of becomes the dog I never had. Unfortunately, earlier tonight, we got a call from my mother-in-law, saying that they had to put Chelsea to sleep. :( She was having trouble walking, and all of the sudden it got worse. That, and she wasn't eating. She was 13 years old. Bear with me, but I want to relate three stories, if I could.

My first memorable encounter with Chelsea was while I was taking a nap on my in-laws couch. I'm just about asleep when all of the sudden I'm licked right on the lips and nostrils. Ugh! That's what happens when she's right at face level while you're lying on the couch. Thank you, Chelsea, love you, too. The second story was when my husband and I were house-sitting/pet-sitting while my in-laws were out of town. I ran back to their house over lunch hour to throw some laundry into the dryer. In the morning, Chelsea was locked up in the basement, and I had already let her out in the backyard. I step on the rug in front of the dryer to start throwing laundry in...and...surprise. A nice present where I couldn't see it, and I stepped in it with my bare foot. She got reprimanded for that, although I felt bad after doing it. And finally, my last encounter with her. We were dropping my brother-in-law back off at home after visiting my father-in-law in Minnesota this past July. We were just standing around, talking, and I kept getting the cold nose right in the kneecaps. I finally bent down, ruffled up Chelsea's fur around her neck, and said something to the effect of "Yes, I know Chelsea, you want attention, too." At least the last memory is a good memory. Maybe she knew something and was trying to say goodbye. I'm glad she did.

We'll miss you, Chelsea. No more scavenger dog...no more "easy clean-up" for my mother-in-law when she's a little klutzy and drops some food...no more boxing...no more asking for you to fill out complicated tax forms. Be a good doggie.

Two blonde moments in one night? Oy! (or "Caught in the Hamster Wheel")

2004-08-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

Which may compound itself into a third moment...since I can't remember the first moment! *shakes head* Really, I'm usually not this scatterbrained.

But the moment that I just came across. Cleaning out the walk-in closet in our bedroom. This task has been needed to be done for a long time. I clear off enough stuff to actually be able to see the floor, and I find a pair of Eddie Bauer denim shorts still in the packaging from ordering on-line. *looks down at her tattered denim shorts she's wearing* Doh. But wait, it gets better. I received a $25 gift certificate from work to Eddie Bauer. Guess what I used it on and is on its way right now to my mail box? Yep, pair of denim shorts. And it's not really that I can return the one I recently bought. Ya see, I lost some weight between the two orderings, which is about two years. The older pair are a size too big. And now, I think I can only get store credit for the shorts I'm going to return. Oh well, it isn't that bad.

Speaking of work...eep. Right now, I'm working for a temp agency, which started right before Thanksgiving last year. The place they placed me at is great. I love my supervisor, who has to be one of the most cheerful, patient people in the world. And it's not that annoying cheerful. The work is interesting...working with duplicate medical records and making sure there's only one enrollee in the system per patient. And, I don't have to answer phones. Super mega bonus points for that. We were originally told that the job would probably last to the end of January of this year. Annnnddd....I'm still there on August 12th! It appears that the mess was bigger than anyone anticipated with getting rid of a bunch of duplicate records. Then, throw in mixed records, and the ongoing problem of duplicate records being created....oy. (You'll find that I like to use this word) Oh wait, it gets better. Middle of June, and our supervisor pulls us three temps into one of the conference rooms. Says that by the end of the week...this is on a Wednesday...she can only keep one temp. Making the decision on work output, and how much each person knew what to do, she decided to keep me. I'm quite flattered by this, but also relieved that I don't have to go to a new place. So, Friday's the last day for the other two temps. 8:45 am rolls around, and all of the sudden, they're needed to stay on. Huh? It seems that the health system where I'm working was going to implement some new software come July 11th. They needed every single mixed record in the system to be fixed. And, at the time, I was the only one out of the three temps who really knew how to fix mixed records. So, crash course on that with the other two temps. Make a long story short...I worked 85 hours the week before the July 4th weekend...didn't even have a weekend! Came in every single day and worked from 8 - 14 hours to get the system cleaned up. Finished...finally. Told that we couldn't do any duplicate record merging for a week after the software was implemented. That's cool, we'll just write/type what needs to be done, do it the next week. Well, it's been five weeks, and we still can't merge duplicate records. The stack of work piling up is just getting bigger and bigger every day. As my supervisor put it, when talking about the new software "Things that we didn't anticipate to be a problem at all are a problem." Greeeaaaattt. It is quite frustrating sitting at work, having a pile of stuff that needs to be done, but not being able to do any of it.

There's a "Part Deux" to this whole mess of work, but this entry is way too long as it is. The next entry will have to wait till Monday, though. Busy weekend with helping out with some friends' wedding. Yay! Is it bad that I was having wedding dreams/nightmares on Tuesday and it isn't even my wedding? Oh well.

My first blog

2004-08-06T23:14:00.000-07:00

It's my first blog. Wow! Does this date go up there like my wedding day and the birth of my first child? Okay, maybe not.

First off, no, I don't have any children yet. My husband and I are just not financially ready, not to mention we don't have medical insurance right now. People keep saying "Oh, you'll NEVER be financially ready." Yeah, well...when I'm the one making more money than my husband, and I want to be a stay-at-home mom. Some things are going to have to change, and actually, it seems to be looking up. We wanted to have a child before we turned 30. For my husband, that gives us till December '05. Stay tuned! *heh*

Oh...well. My name is Sara, I'm 28 right now. I'll have been married for 6 years this Sunday. Eek. Right now I'm living in Omaha, Nebraska, and we're looking to move to Lincoln in the very near future. I'm originally from the Chicagoland area. Nobody has heard of Mokena, Illinois, so I just always say I'm from the Chicago area. Husband works for a radio station down in Lincoln doing the overnights. Hence why we're looking to move to Lincoln. More details about that whole deal in a later blog. Right now, I'm working in a temporary position in the information systems department at a health system in the Omaha area. Well...perma-temp is what I call it. I started the job the week before Thanksgiving '03, and I'm still there. They just keep extending and extending and extending. Not that I mind. I like the people I work with, I like the work I'm doing. But, I'm slightly stuck. Again, another day, another blog about that.

So, that's me for now. Hopefully I'll keep this up more often than not. Hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy the last couple of weeks of "summer".