Dear Muse - we need to talk

Dear Muse,

It was so nice to see you this weekend. Really. It's been such a long time. And while I normally would welcome an unexpected visit from you, we really need to discuss timing, as it's becoming a serious issue for us.

See, while it's good to know that you will make an appearance when I'm in deadline hell, it's important that you keep in mind what that deadline is. When I'm stressing over my term paper deadline, it's really not the best of times for you to pop in and talk incessantly about the next great american novel. Seriously.

Oh, and while we're on the topic of "not the best of times to pop in" we should go ahead and get a few other times out of the way. For instance, when I'm flying down the freeway at the speed limit (whatever that might be at the time), is not a good time. You see, I don't have any voice activated devices available to me and I'm pretty sure typing on my laptop while driving would be discouraged by any rational person.

Another time is when I'm in the bathtub because, while I don't instantly recall reading it, I'm pretty sure taking a laptop into the bathtub would not be a good idea. While it may not electrocute me, I don't believe water in its innards would do it much good.

While I'm at work is another "not good time". You see, my employer thinks I should do company work when I'm there. You may think it's unreasonable but, well, it pays the bills.

On the other hand, good times - and you'll always be welcome - to stop by are, when I'm sitting down to write. Despite what you think, it is NOT amusing to scramble the words in my head when I finally sit down. Wiping my brain free of the great scene, character trait, idea is also not amusing.

Now, dear Muse, I don't want to offend you. I just want to come to an understanding. I have the utmost respect for your special skills and love when you stop by. In fact, I would happily stop cleaning house to share some quality time with you. All I ask is that you be mindful of the timing.

Your faithful servant -

L

Winding down

I worked more on my midterm (which is due tonight) last night. I had done a draft of it over the weekend and decided to take one last look at it before I turned it in. I had hoped I would read it and think it read better than it had over the weekend. Instead my reaction was "I was going to turn THAT CRAP in??? And I redid everything. But I feel better about what I've done now. There's more of an analysis (as is requested) than a retelling of the story. At least I think there is. I may take one last look at it today at lunch but it's a good bet that what I have now is what will be turned in. So keep your fingers crossed that it's what the instructor is looking for - and that it's good.

I also worked a bit more on my term paper. I think I have a good opening hook, so to speak, on it and I think I have a good close for it. (The first part is written but the close is just in my head - so far.) I also (hand) wrote up the analysis for everyone that responded to my survey. Interestingly the pro-lifers are much more sympathetic to the pro-choicers, most saying they don't judge those who have abortions or who are pro-choice. The pro-choicers, on the other hand, came across as angry about anyone who didn't share their points of view. Is that all typical? I don't know but that's the snapshot I got. Only one response caused me to have a negative reaction, and that was someone who said it was cruel to force someone to have a child that was deformed or handicapped. I'm sorry but not having a "perfect" baby isn't a justification for having an abortion in my book. Aborting a child for those reasons, to me, is what is cruel. Of course I didn't respond to the person saying that because the point wasn't to get into a debate with anyone and I appreciate her honest feedback. But that comment didn't sit well with me.

I'm having a test next week in the government class (same day the paper is due) and will have three acts of another Shakespearean play to read next week so I'm still feeling a bit overwhelmed but I think we're in the home stretch.....

Interesting development

Today I went back to the old grind. Had class during lunch and something interesting happened. The young gentleman (and I do mean young) that sits in front of me stood up at the end of class, blocking me from leaving the room and proceeded to tell me he's writing a book. When we finally left the classroom, as we walked out, he told me all about it and how he came to have the idea and how it all played out.

Now I should tell you that 1) he's never initiated a conversation between us before. He will respond if I say something to him but he's never initiated a conversation - he seems quiet and shy. and 2) I've never told him that I write.

I just thought it was kind of interesting.

Last call

Today is officially my last day of vacation. I'm not ready to go back to work tomorrow. I didn't get much of what I wanted to get done, done. Plus, I just don't want to be working now. I was telling someone at work that I wanted to be a stay-at-home wife, only I didn't want to have to be married to do it. And that's really how I feel about it. I want going to an office and working to be an option. But, since that's not the case, I'll go back tomorrow. *sigh*

I did my taxes today and have already received confirmation that the return as submitted has been accepted. I just have to send in a signature page (I didn't have the information from last year's tax returns because of the computer crash last summer and my not printing out the return) to complete it. Just got to buy a stamp and put it in the mail. :-)

I have a draft of my midterm complete. I heard back from my instructor and she was pretty broad and vague in her response so I'm still not certain if I'm going to be giving her what she's looking for. I tend to think that it would be good enough if we were doing this in class but given that we have two weeks to work on it I would think the bar would (and should) be raised and I'm not certain I've risen to the challenge. I still have a few more days to refine it though, and then - once it's turned in - I plan to discuss the exam, and my answers, with a good friend.

My term paper is pretty well written - in my head, that is, it still lacks the "on paper" thing that most instructors prefer. I'm still doing research though. If I didn't mention it here, I'm writing on abortion. I sent out a small little questionnaire for an optional analysis portion of the paper and got a great response to it. Several people have thrown out some interesting tidbits on the topic and that has helped with the required research aspect of the paper. One person though, sent me some information and I thought it was great information but I can't find anything to support her claim. I emailed her and she can't find it either so I can't really use it but it would have been great to include. Basically I chose this topic because I have a strong opinion about it and thought the paper would be easier for me to write for that reason but it turns out it's been a learning experience for me - due in no small part to the input from others - which, when you think about it, was the whole purpose for this exercise.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a great Easter. :-)

Nearing the end

Yesterday was another blown day. I had pretty well made up my mind that I'd do everything this weekend. I finally heard back from my instructor last night and, as with everything else, her response was pretty broad and vague but I do know what sort of page space she's looking for for each response.

Anyway, I was feeling tired pretty early and decided to listen to my body and went to bed. I'd been asleep for less than an hour and woke up with a start and a realization that my term paper is due more quickly than I'd been thinking. I've still been looking at it as weeks out that it's due but it's actually due the week after next. Gulp! I tried to go back to sleep so that I'd wake up today rested and refreshed but that wasn't working for me so I got up and started reading my research materials for the paper. I was tired enough that it wasn't really sinking in but I still couldn't sleep. So I settled on having a major anxiety attack and a fitful night of sleep, including a dream where I went to a comedy club (but didn't laugh) and had my purse stolen, which was hard to shake off when I woke up for some reason.

So the plan for today is to finish up my midterm and then give serious consideration to the term paper - all while doing laundry. Tomorrow will be spent on finishing up rough drafts and reading Acts 4 and 5 of King Lear. Any extra time will be spent on the spring cleaning which was the whole purpose of me taking the last week off.

What are your plans for the holiday weekend?

Blah, blah, blah

That's how I've been feeling the last couple of days. Not sick, more like in a funk. I'm not getting everything done on the house that I want and I'm not fully understanding my midterm assignment (I did, however, email the instructor a few minutes ago for a clarification because my grade is very important to me). But I was thinking it was more than that and I realized, I'm really not happy in my job. A week or so ago they let me work from home one day and I was soooooooo productive and in a good mood. I think if I could convince them to let me do that more frequently it would help. Guess the worse thing they can do is tell me no.

Anyway, I wanted to get out of this funk today so I went out and did some shopping and got my hair and eyebrows done. Now, some of you remember a recent trip I made to get my hair and eyebrows done. I'm pretty sure I've been since then without incident but I went to the same place today. I would say I had gotten the same person as before except what happened when she went to do my eyebrows.

Are you ready for this? She brought a "kit" over with her that had these things that she fits over your eyebrows so that she can color them to know what does not get waxed. I really should have gotten up and left then. Seriously. But I didn't because my eyebrows have really gotten out of hand (they're naturally very bushy). I also dragged a customer over whose eyebrows looked good and told the lady that I wanted my eyebrows done about the same thickness as hers (the lady suggested she give me an arch in my eyebrows - but that's another story). She didn't seem to get it though because I think she thought I wanted them shaped like this other lady's eyebrows.

So she puts the think over my eyebrow, colors it and starts waxing...the top of my eyebrow. Again, I don't think you're really supposed to do that but at this point I'm kind of stuck...again. She spends a great deal of time on the left eyebrow. She tweezes and trims the brow before giving me a mirror to be sure the first one is okay before she moves on to the other eyebrow. I can't tell the difference between the two eyebrows - it's still very thick. I tell her I want more removed. More time is spent on the left eyebrow.

I think I looked at it another time before she did a little more work and then didn't give me the opportunity to look at it before she moved on to the right eyebrow. She spent considerably less time on the right eyebrow, even though she went through all the same steps.

Finally she gives me the mirror to look at the two eyebrows. They look okay and I decide to make it be okay. I paid and left. When I got to my car I looked in the car mirror. They didn't match! By that point I was tired and just wanted to go home so I did some tweezing on the right eyebrow (followed by the left eyebrow, since I'd over tweezed the right one). Then I noticed...the left one is higher than the right one again! So it looks like I'm raising my eyebrow again! Not to mention they're jet black in color. LOL Guess I'm just one of those people that it takes longer to learn from their mistakes than others.

In any event, I bought two pairs of pants, two pairs of really cute shoes and a bra. Blahs be gone! I'm on vacation! lol

Little Break

Okay, so I didn't do anything more on the room last night. I decided to read instead. It is my vacation after all. ;-)

But I took a break to watch Dancing with the Stars last night. Are you watching that? The men danced on Monday night. My personal (sentimental) favorite is Steve Guttenberg. He wasn't the best dancer but he certainly had the most appreciation for being there and definitely put his all into it.

I thought Mario did well, as did Jason. I think Cristian did okay too. I wasn't impressed with Penn or Adam. In fact, I think Adam should be the first male to go. I love his partner, Julianne Hough, but Adam doesn't seem to want to even try. So as much as I hate to say it, I think they need to be the first to leave the party.

As for the women, I talked to a co-worker Monday night and said I thought Priscilla should be the first female to go. Of course, this was before I saw her dance. Shannon and Marissa were so cute when they were talked to so they would both get to stay, right? Marlee is the sentimental favorite and well, Kristi just had to do great because she's such a great skater. That left Monica and Priscilla. I really like Monica's partner, Jonathan Roberts. Which meant it had to be Priscilla leaving.

Then I saw them dance. First I have to say that the women really outdid the men, all the way around. They were great. And I have to admit that I was very impressed with Priscilla's dancing. She gave it her all and she was darned good! Kristi just blew me away. I expected her to be good but if I hadn't known better, I could easily have mistaken her for being the professional - and it's just week one! Marlee was great. I was so impressed with what she did. I was pulling for her from the time I heard she was going to compete and now I am even more so. She was good! Marissa was so adorable. How could you not like her? She has so much energy and, like Steve Guttenberg, she's just so happy to be there. I also liked Shannon. Which leaves Monica. She looked stiff and awkward and totally out of her element. So, while I love Jonathan, I think she needs to be the first female to go.

I tell you, this season is going to be hard to judge because I like them all...well mostly. ;-)

Did you watch? What do you think? Predictions? Expectations? Inquiring minds want to know.

Progress

It's 3:35 here and it just now finally started raining. I woke up early today and the news said the weather would get ugly "within a couple of hours". I raced out of bed to go get gas for the lawn mower and did I something that annoys me when other people do it...I mowed my lawn at an unreasonable hour. I followed it up with spreading the fertilizer (in the backyard only).

Then, when at lunchtime there was still no storms in sight, I did the weed-eating (no edging though).

I had done a little work on the office before lunch and have done a little more so there is some progress but not exactly where I wanted to be at this time. I'm not going to take a picture of it yet because I do expect to get more progress done before the end of the day.

But hey, if nothing else, I did get the backyard done! Right?!? ;-)

Today I think I'll...

Do you ever go to bed at night and plan the next day's activities? Something like, "I'll get up and then I'll (insert whatever it is you would do)". Then you get up the next day (which given the alternative is a good start, anyway) but then nothing else goes as planned. Yeah, that's kind of how today went for me.

Well, since I posted the blog with a picture of my office (if you can call it that), the plan was to get up and work on the room until it was done or when Dancing With The Stars came on, whichever came first. That was the plan anyway.

I slept in a little later than usual but decided to walk the dogs before I started working on the office. I figured it would get me up and going and energized for the planned activities.

Here's where I should tell you that I walk the dogs separately because, well, I'm only allowed to have two dogs, according to the deed restrictions, and I have three. And, not only do I walk them separately, I walk them on different routes. But the thing is, it's getting harder and harder to get one dog out at a time because the other two are always wanting to go - even if they just got back. This morning was no different.

I went out with Brewsky first. When we left, I could hear Harley barking. I hear him every time I leave with another dog but this was a little unusual because he didn't bark as long as he usually does. I didn't think much of it though.

When I got back with Brewsky, I planned to take Harley next. At the last minute I decided to take Max at the same time. I wasn't as energized as I thought I'd be and I figured I could just get it over with that much faster if I took the two of them together. As we walked away from the house, I heard Brewsky crying out as if his feelings were hurt. As with Harley, he does this every time I leave with another dog so it wasn't unusual.

Now, remember the plan was to come back and start working on the office room. Only, I came back to see this when I got walked into the house.

That's my dining room mini-blinds. Now, I have no idea which dog did it, although I'm leaning towards Brewsky but it could just be that I didn't notice after my walk with him but that's a front window and required immediate attention. The plan was officially changed.

I went to Home Depot (followed by Lowe's since Home Depot didn't want to seem to provide any kind of service to its customers) and bought mini-blinds and lawn fertilizer. It's supposed to storm tomorrow so I thought I'd rake the yard and then fertilize the lawn. Then I remembered I'd probably need to mow before I did the fertilizing thing. No problem, right? Until I remembered I didn't have any gas for the lawn mower. And I didn't want to go to the store all grungy (I worked in the yard most of the day...I had LOTS of raking to do) and who wants to take a shower to get out and mow shortly thereafter? So I just did the raking and put up the new blinds. Meanwhile the office still looks like this:
So, that was my day. I've been meaning to change out the mini-blinds in the dining room but I hadn't planned on doing it today - yet that's what happened. I'm hoping to work on the room tomorrow, particularly since it's supposed to be too ugly outside to do anything else. But, as they say, life is what happens when you're busy making plans so, we'll just see what happens tomorrow. ;-)

Spring Break

This next week is our spring break here. And since I'm taking classes this semester, I wanted to take the week off.

And I have big plans. Ambitious plans. I plan to organize my house (and my life) - and for those of you who have been reading my blog, you know that's no small order.

On the agenda is to clean and organize my office and guest room, specifically, and the rest of my house, more generally. I thought about what Jennifer Cruisie did a few months back where she posted pictures of her room and wondered if I should do it. Posting before and after pictures, like for her, would make (read shame) me into doing it.

Anyway, a little backstory - last fall I won a desk and bookcase in an online, company-sponsored, auction. I cleaned out the room I planned to use as an office so that the furniture (which was way bigger than I'd anticipated) would go right in it - and so the friend who helped me move it would only see a clean room. Well, since we had to bring the furniture in through the garage, it was the garage that my friend commented on. She wasn't ugly about it or anything but just mentioned that I might want to clean out my garage. I didn't take offense, since she was right. So, a few weeks later when I was so irritated at my boss at work, I took a day off and really got to work on my garage. By the end of the day it was all nice and clean, and I was proud of the accomplishment. It felt good.

It wasn't until the next time I went into the office (I don't do that much because I don't have a phone line in there yet) and couldn't get to the desk or my carousel of books that I realized why the job of cleaning the garage had gone so well. Turns out, I'd just moved everything into my office. And it was a few weeks after that that I did the ransacking of my office and guest room looking for the paper I'd written on my veteran friend so that now neither my office or guest room are "pedestrian friendly". Yeah, that's a good way to put it. LOL

Anyway, the plan for the week is to get them organized and ready for actual use, as opposed to being "junk" rooms. Also during the week, I need to work on my term paper for government (I'm doing my paper on the non-controversial topic of abortion), my Shakespeare mid-term and questions for my Shakespeare portfolio, due at the end of the semester.

I won't mention that I also would like to rip down the paneling in the living room and prep and paint every wall in (and outside of) my house because I don't want anyone thinking I'm wanting to accomplish too much. But then again, I did start off by mentioning that the plan was a bit ambitious, didn't I?

So, what you do have planned for the upcoming week?

P.S. Here are pictures of the office from two different angles.

How bad do you want a day off?

I was surfing the net and came across this article about a man who wanted a day off. We've all probably called in sick when we just didn't want to go in to the office but this is a bit...extreme, if you ask me. I don't know about you but if you have (and are willing) to go to these lengths to get the day off, something's wrong. And if I ever approach any of you to be the "friend" in this scenario, please, just help me with my resignation letter instead. K?

Where else would it be?

The other day I had a doctor's appointment. It was the third in a series of appointments I'd scheduled. Thing was, I got to work that day and the appointment wasn't on my calendar. I knew I was supposed to be there around lunch time but I didn't know the exact time. So I went digging in my purse.

I started in the middle zippered thing because that's normally where I'd put something like the business card size appointment reminder. I pulled everything out of there (except for the feminine products) and laid it all on my desk, going through each thing, item by item. It wasn't there.

I repeated this process with the two main pockets of the purse, followed by the minor pockets and even my coin purse/wallet. Before it was all over with, the entire contents (with noted exceptions) of my purse had been splayed out on my desktop. And no appointment reminder was found.

I started thinking maybe I'd imagined that I'd had an appointment. So, knowing the office was still closed but that I'd get voicemail, I called the doctor's office. I said that I thought I'd had an appointment and could someone please let me know if I did, and if I did, what time I was supposed to be there. And I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Yet no one called me. So somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30 I called the doctor's office again. Someone would surely be there by then and answer the phone. Again, I got voicemail. Frustrated, I left the message that I had thought I'd had an appointment but I didn't know what time it was supposed to have been so if I DID have an appointment, I was cancelling it because I didn't know when it was and I didn't want to waste my time by going on the wrong date/time. *sigh* (I later received three phone calls telling me it was scheduled for 12:30 but by then it was too late for me to go.)

I should tell you that I've gotten into a bit of a routine where my schooling is concerned (this really is related to the blog topic...honest). See, if I get to my government class before it starts, I work on Shakespeare homework. And if I get to Shakespeare class early (which I almost always do) I...read for pleasure (bet you thought I was going to say "work on government homework" ;-) ). So, two days after my missed doctor's appointment, I get to my Shakespeare class and whip out the book I've been working on since early January (it's a good story by a good author...I just don't have much time to read for pleasure these days) and out falls...you guessed it, my doctor's appointment reminder. *mental forehead smack!*

I'd been reading while waiting to see the doctor at my last appointment and had the book with me when she gave me the appointment card. And I obviously put it in my book (which I'd had with me the day of this last appointment...just didn't think to look in it).

So, I continue to put (and find) things in the oddest of places. Not that I'm disorganized or anything..... ;-)

Men are from Mars

Today is Thursday and as I drove into work I was listening to Roula and Ryan's Roses on the radio. I've blogged about that before but how it works is that if a relationship is in trouble (or one of the parties think it's in trouble) they contact the radio station and, if selected, Roula will contact the other party of the relationship and pretend to be starting up a floral business and offer them a dozen free red roses to see who they will be sent to, while the person who contacted the radio station listens in. Once they say who they're sending the flowers to and make out a card, they're let in on what is going on and the two parties air their dirty laundry on the radio. It's kind of sad but it's one of those things I just have to listen to on Thursdays.

Anyway, this morning the guy they called was familiar with the program and knew exactly who was putting them up to calling. And he was furious. He broke up with the girl on the radio and accused her of trying to push marriage on him. She said she didn't want to get married that she was only 25 and she seemed fine with the breakup. Usually they take calls from listeners to get their take on the situation...was the other party lying, etc.

Well today was different. Instead of their usual calls from listeners the topic went to talk of guys assuming girls have an agenda when they don't. Why do men assume all women are marriage minded? I found it quite interesting because that does seem to be the case. It seems if we smile at a man, he assumes we're coming on to them when really we're just being polite. We accept a date and they assume we're planning the wedding.

I dated someone a couple of years ago who was making - or trying to make - plans for us months in advance. It was freaking me out because he was assuming we'd still be together that far out and I wanted to take things one day/date at a time. And then he mentioned that he was concerned that I was wanting more from the relationship than he did...that maybe I was getting too serious. About the third time he said that to me I asked him what the heck he was talking about because I needed to know from what he was getting that vibe from because I was NOT looking at the long term. And just in case he didn't believe me, I broke up with him at the end of that date.

So what's up with that? Anyone have any thoughts on why men think the slightest gesture means we're in love and marriage bound? If you do, please share them because I'd really like to know.

To Be Opened by Addressee Only

The other day I received ten boxes - ten LARGE boxes at work. Now, I have a rather small office so they take up quite a bit of room and make it difficult to get around. So today I decided to open them up, see what was in them and handle the contents so that I could get these boxes out of my way.

No problem, really. I open the first box and it contained a bunch of full binders. And an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet that said - in big, bold letters - TO BE OPENED BY ADDRESSEE ONLY.

I did mention that this sheet was INSIDE the box, right?

Did I also mention that every single box had a sheet in it like that. INSIDE the box?

Maybe I'm just easily amused but that cracked me up. And made me wonder about who it was that fixed those boxes up that way. ;-)

So what cracked you up today?

Best Kiss

I stayed home from work today because, well, I kind of wanted to. I mean, there were legitimate reasons for me TO stay home - like I came home to a busted window last night that needed repairing and I needed more poison - er medication - for Harley. And a storm is coming tomorrow, which makes it harder to get some things done (like grocery shopping). So today was a good day to get things done - so I took a personal day.

Anyway, after I got things done (actually it was all done before lunch, if you can believe that...and that was with me heading out to the vet - which is 25 miles away - TWICE - poor Harley), I decided to watch some things on my DVR.

I just finished watching Derailed with Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston. I won't spoil (much) if you haven't seen it. It's a thriller. But there is one scene in it that I loved. Owen and Aniston's characters are sitting in the bar and he says "I'll bet you $20 I can kiss you without ever touching your lips." She takes the bet and then he kisses her and says "It was worth every penny." I really liked that scene.

I also really liked the movie. It was different and not what I expected.

But I really liked that scene. I think it's my new favorite kiss scene. And I wonder, would that line would work in real life? ;-)

What about you? Do you have a favorite kiss scene from a movie? If so, please share. :-)

Understanding Men

Okay, I don't mean to imply that I understand because honestly, I have no clue about them. There are characteristics that I like about them but I really don't get them. It's like their from...Mars or something. (Yes, I know there is a book about that and although I haven't read it, I'm a believer.)



Anyway, here's the latest thing that has me a bit puzzled about them and maybe you can help me out here. The man from work (aka secret crush guy, aka SCG) and I have been talking about tattoos. I don't really recall how the conversation came up but basically we were "supposing" that I would get one in San Francisco. And while we may have carried the whole conversation a bit far (considering he is married) that's not really the point of this post.



You see, he actually wants a tattoo but is a little, shall we say, chicken to have it done. Plus, he thinks he needs to get one where it's visible because after all, what's the point of having a tattoo if no one ever sees it (I, on the other hand, would have one that no one but my warm, close, personal friends - and medical professionals - would ever see...but that's just me). But he also thinks it's not terribly professional to have a visible tattoo in the work environment.



I suggested he get one on his chest, over his heart - of a heart with a little banner that had his wife's name on it. He didn't like that idea because apparently it's not "butch" (my word...not his) enough for him. Not to mention, what would the guys at the gym think? Because, after all, the people he works with go to the gym, and apparently stare at his chest (yeah, don't think I haven't given him grief about that! LOL).



After I let up on the ribbing about the guys staring at his chest at the gym, he said something else...he'd want it to be a decidedly female name. Not one that could be used for either gender (like Stacy, or Terry, to name two).



Uh, did anyone else catch that I'd suggested his wife's name to him? And yes, it's decidedly female. So I don't get the problem. Although I could, if he were having someone else's name tattoo'd on his chest. Can't see his wife being happy about that.



Anyway, that's just part of the question for me. I don't see why a man, who thinks tattoos in general say "bad ass" to those who see them, would think the tattoo suggested would be a problem. I don't get it.



But the bigger question for me is, why is it that men - who are mostly homophobic to begin with - stripping down, comfortably mind you, at the gym? Most women can and will change discreetly in the dressing area and find a private shower, if possible (although I will say that the women's locker at the work gym has a community shower - only one is private) and they typically make it a point not to look at other women dressing. It would be by accident if someone saw a tattoo on another woman's chest (you know, like you turned around and it was just "there"). So why do men do that (strip down) if they think someone is going to look at them and assume they're gay? Anyone have any idea? Because I just don't get it.

More Miscellany

Well, Slime Boy (the probably married man that asked me out) got let go. He was supposed to work until the end of the month but his agency informed us they were pulling him because he wasn't showing up. Someone from our group (not me) said they we were okay with him still coming back because we had things for him to do but supposedly the agency said no - that this wasn't his first time to pull this kind of thing. Oh well, guess we're not going to make it to lunch after all.

As for school, I went to my first "big girl college" class on Thursday. If I haven't shared it here, I'm taking a class on Shakespeare's works. I missed the first class because I hadn't been cleared to register until this past Tuesday. They had been assigned to read the first three acts of A Midsummer's Night Dream. We (and by "we" I mean "they" - since I hadn't read it yet) discussed it Thursday night. I was surprised by the enthusiastic participation in the class. That's not typical of what I remember about classes and certainly not what I'm seeing in my Government class. However, it did occur to me that Government is required so that people are not there because they want to be, whereas there may be some in Shakespeare that don't want to be but, for the most part, people are in it because they want to be. Therefore the people in the Shakespeare class would be more enthusiastic. In any event, I'm enjoying both classes so far. Although...I do have to turn in an assignment for the Shakespeare class on Thursday and I have three more acts to read...

This past week at work was very hectic. A co-worker of mine was out sick with the flu so I had to step in and fill in for her. Which normally isn't a big deal except that she has several people in her group traveling to Saudi Arabia this next week - and that requires a business visa. And that requires a lot of work and coordination to pull it off. There was a last minute addition to the team going and there is so much you have to do to pull it together. I sent off the request for the required Letter of Invitation the traveler needed Wednesday morning. Thing is, that's Wednesday evening for them and their weekend is Thursday and Friday, which meant they wouldn't get my request until their Saturday morning. Since we were told that if the consulate didn't have this traveler's package by 10:00 am on Monday, he wouldn't be going, I went in to the office yesterday so I could work the issue if it wasn't in my inbox. I had nothing in my email so I started shooting off emails because I knew they were no longer in the office. I provided them with my home phone number and email so that they could send it here so that I wouldn't have to go into the office today. I worked for a couple of hours (since I was there anyway) and then came home. I woke up this morning and didn't have an email from them. Shit! I went into the office, hoping I had email there. I'd forgotten to set my alarm so I didn't have time to do anything (like shower!) before I went in, if I needed to contact them when they were in the office. Again, there was no email. I wasn't certain of the time difference but I started making international calls like crazy and freaking out when all I got was voicemail. I left messages, leaving my work and home numbers begging them to call me and let me know the status of the request. About ten minutes later I got a call. Come to find out the letter of invitation had gone out their Saturday afternoon, only they hadn't copied me on the email. Fortunately they forwarded it to me so I was able to put together what I could...now the traveler just has to provide the rest of the documents. Meanwhile, someone else traveling to the Netherlands had a letter of invitation and it wasn't even needed! LOL Just a busy week.

Oh, and in other work news, I posted for a job that I really really want and they called to schedule an interview!!! I really suck at interviews so I asked a friend for some tips and she sent me to monster.com, which has some good tips. However, it suggests you ask the interviewer questions about themselves (because everyone likes to talk about themselves). I don't think I can do that. It says it's good to ask that when they ask you if you have any questions because interviewers hate it when you say you don't have any questions - that they've covered it all (which could explain why I suck at interviews, considering that's usually what I say to that). Anyway, if you have any interviewing tips or possible interview questions, please tell me. The interview is Tuesday and I really want to nail it!

Well, Eight Below just came on and I think I need to turn the TV off, since I bawled like a baby when I saw the TRAILER! Yeah, that wasn't at all embarrassing or anything.

So, what's new with you?

Weird / Random Facts

I think I did this tag recently but since Maria tagged me again, I'll see if I can come up with 7 more weird or random facts about myself.

Here's the rules:

Link to the person who tagged you; Leave a comment on their blog so that their readers can visit yours; Post the rules on your blog; Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog; Tag 7 random people at the end of your post; Include links to their blogs; Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I worked as a professional temporary for ~10 years, by choice. I really enjoyed it and if I knew for a fact I could still meet my financial needs, I'd go back to it again in a heartbeat.

2. The only concerts I've ever been to are Christian concerts or concerts performed at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. I once bought tickets to see the BeeGees but decided not to go at the last minute. It's not that I haven't wanted to go to other concerts, that's just how it's worked out.

3. I was so upset that Erica got over the death of Mike Roy (he later turned up alive, despite dying ON SCREEN for the world to see) so quickly, I didn't watch the soap opera All My Children for years.

4. Way back when, I thought when people said it was a quarter after the hour, I thought they meant it was twenty-five minutes after the hour. (Hey, a quarter is twenty-five cents and I knew money!)

5. My first official college class was Ceramics and my initial degree plan was Visual Arts. I enjoyed it so much that I went on to teach it in the Continuing Education program. I haven't done it in years and I miss it.

6. The only car I've ever owned that wasn't in a car accident while I owned it was my very first car. It was a yellow VW bug. I owned it for about six months and it was working about six days of that (hence the reason it was never in an accident).

7. I bought my first car (the VW bug) for $400 and sold it (six months later) for $2000 (it happened to be running that day). It was during an energy crisis and those cars were selling like hotcakes. Despite the issues with the car, the dealership made a nice little profit on the car when they sold it.

I'll skip the tagging others since I think I already did that. But if anyone feels inclined to play along, let me know so I can stop by. :-)

Not ready for prime time

Do you remember that television show, Magnum P.I. (with Tom Selleck)? It was on during the '80s...when I was married (kinda dating myself there but, oh well).

Well, my then-husband and I never watched it when it was on. And then it went into syndication, while it was still on the air in prime time. You know, like most successful shows do. Anyway, my ex-husband used to stay up really late at night to watch the syndicated version of the show, but he never watched the prime time version. And he'd be dragging by the end of the week because he wasn't getting enough sleep because he was staying up so late.

One day I asked him why he didn't watch the show when it came on during prime time and you know what he said? "It's not as good then."

After I stopped laughing at him (I was supportive like that and all), I pointed out that it was exactly the same show. That the only possible difference would be if they cut parts out of it to allow for more advertising to make more money. He looked at me kind of sheepishly and said he knew but he never watched the show during prime time television because he really thought it was better in the middle of the night (it's amazing what seems like a better idea when you're sleep deprived).

I never got that. Until recently.

A few months ago they started airing Two and a Half Men with Charlie Sheen (it's Charlie, right?) at 10:30 at night. Now normally I'm asleep by then but I guess there were a couple of nights that I couldn't sleep and I caught the show. (I'd never seen it before.) And now I'm hooked. For the last month or so, I've been staying up until 11:00 every night to watch the show. Then dragging my rear into the office the next day because it's been a late night. By Friday I do good to be productive at all after a week of this. But I can't help myself - the shows too funny.

It's also on during prime time (writer's strike and reruns notwithstanding) but I don't watch it then because, well, for some reason...I just don't think it would be as good then. ;-)

Schooling

Well, there have been a couple of changes that have taken place since my last post. The next day I went to work and called a friend and told her I'd registered for the classes. She was excited for me but then asked if I had my two-year degree. I do, so she told me I shouldn't be taking any more classes at the junior college because they won't transfer.

So, I called the "real" college (as my boss calls it, and which makes me want to bitch slap him) and turns out, she's right. I spent THAT morning at UofH (the "real college) trying to register. Long story short, I wasn't able to register that day (or yet even) because it takes a couple of business days to get in the system. Okay. But I did learn that, as I said, I shouldn't be taking any more classes at the junior college (JC). Except for government (it's considered a sophomore class but it's required for UofH). So, I went back to the JC and cancelled all my classes and signed up for government. I signed up for a Monday / Wednesday class during lunch, since the UofH classes would all be at night. Plus, the instructor I wanted only teaches during the day.

Monday was the first class. We spent the entire class going over the syllabus. Being the kind of girl I am, I read ahead. I got to this one point and it was like I had these little people on my shoulders. Not so much an angel and a devil (although one was probably a devil's advocate) as just thinking the situation through. I'll call them RS (right shoulder) and LS (left shoulder). The conversation went something like this.

LS: Crap! We have to write a term paper. I don't want to write a term paper!

RS: Uh, hon, you're an English major. You do realize that there are LOTS of papers in your future, don't you?

LS: Ugh! You're right. (thinking) I wonder how much of my money I can get back if I walk out now and forget the whole thing?

Anyway, for now, I'm waiting to hear back from the UofH to see if (something about being out of school for more than seven years may be a problem) and when I can register for classes. I figure, if nothing else, I'm getting the government requirement out of the way.

I'm also debating what the paper will be on. It has to be on a public policy or law. He gave us list of acceptable topics (others have to be approved by him to be accepted). The list includes:

Capital punishment
Electoral College
Affirmative action
Abortion / Assisted Suicide
Teen Court
No child left behind
Prayer in public schools
Space Exploration

Right now I'm leaning towards the electoral college (since it's an election year), teen court (because I'd never heard of it before), abortion (because I have strong opinions on that), and (although I'd forgotten it until I whipped out the list just now) prayer in public schools (because, again, I have strong opinions about that). Someone at work suggested stem cell research funding, which I think would be a good topic but I'd have to get approval first so I don't know about that one.

What do you think? Thoughts or suggestions on the topics? Please feel free to throw out more topic ideas too! I'm all ears!

Big Day

Last semester I was so jealous because my friends, Ellen and Kristen, went back to college. I've been thinking about it for a long, long time now but I've just never seemed motivated enough to go through with it.

Until now.

And I don't really know if it was motivation so much as, I had to poop or get off the pot (so to speak) because today is the last day I can officially register (there's Saturday but not only will it be a living hell for those who wait until then, I have plans for Saturday). But anyway, I made a snap decision I raced over to the college before I could change my mind...or think about it too much.

Anyway, I get to the college where I'm handed a number (475) and told to wait until my number is called. I whip out a book (Erica Spindler's Copy Cat) and start reading. I don't get very far when they call me back (well, along with a gazillion other people). We are directed to sit at some tables until our number is called (still 475). I pull out the book again. Again, didn't get too far until we're all called again, where we go sit at some different tables.

A man asks us all if any of us need to fill out an application or filled it out before they got there. A half dozen people raise their hands. He tells them that it doesn't matter what number they have, they can go straight to the back of the room for help. I mutter under my breath, "well that bites". The man then says to the group "before you get all upset, that's not the direction you want to go in. Those people are going to be here all night!"

Then he says, "is there anyone here who has not taken a class at this college in the last year?" Well, it's been four years since I took a class so I raised my hand. "Are you sure?" he asked. "I'm positive," was my reply.

He handed me an application and told me to fill it out. Now, normally I'm pretty quiet and say nothing but sometimes, things just come out. "Does this mean I'm going to be sent to the 'crappy, all night' line?"

"Yeah, probably shouldn't have mentioned that part yet," he said.

Crap!

So, I fill out the paperwork and head back to the "crappy" line, which only had two or three people waiting in line. Really not that bad.

Well, until I got my turn. First there was a problem with the computer and then with my file. I was there a good twenty to thirty minutes. I was then sent to another line where someone could tell me where the next line I needed to stand in was. Only the person wasn't there. Fortunately there was only one person in front of me. I was asked what I wanted to sign up for and I told her so she told me to head to "scheduling".

Hmm, I wanted to go to counseling to be sure I was signing up for what I really needed. But, like a good girl, I headed to scheduling (passing the parking pass guy and the cashier along the way). When I get there I tell someone that I really want to talk to a counselor first, so they send me to counseling, which is past the cashier and parking pass guy (PPG). The PPG asks me if I want to get my parking pass as I go by. I tell him I'm not quite ready for that yet...I'll be back.

I get to counseling where they give me a number (15) and tell me to have a seat until they call my number. Then they called out 3. I pulled out my book and started reading again. A good thirty minutes later, I was finally called back. I told the counselor that I wanted to confirm what I needed to transfer. Long story short, the requirements have changed. I do still need the two sciences and history but now I need another government, philosophy and possibly a computer competency class. UGH!

I look at the schedule and decide on environmental science, history and introduction to world religions (philosophy). She gives me the numbers and sends me back to scheduling. I go back past the PPG and the cashier to scheduling. I have help inputting the classes to register myself and get in the science and philosophy class but am told the history class is full. I'm going to need approval from the head of that department to be able to get in. K. Where are they?

I'm sent back to the lobby, past the cashier and PPG (who tries to give me a parking pass again but I tell him...not yet...soon though). I find where I'm going, only to have the department head not there. So I wait until he returns. Turns out it's an instructor I had a hundred years ago for government. I LOVED this guy. Anyway, we chatted for a few minutes and he okay'd me to take the class.

I head back to scheduling (past the cashier and the PPG) and have the full classification overridden. Yea! So I leave there and head for the cashier. I get in line and I'm looking at my schedule.

You know the history class that I had to get special permission to get in? It was the wrong class! It wasn't the one I meant to sign up for!

I get out of line and head back to scheduling. The helpers in there by this time are no doubt thinking I'm too stupid to be in college or figure I started taking classes right out of high school and it's taken me this long to get this far. And even if they don't, I feel like an idiot.

I confirm that I can change the schedule (so soon?) and cancel the first history class that I registered for and sign up for the one I meant to sign up for.

I head back to the cashier (who asks me if I'd cancelled a class or something? Uh, yeah.) and pay for my classes before I visit with PPG and get my parking pass and then going back to my old government teacher and letting him know that I don't need the exception for the original class after all.

I got back into my car and headed home. Only three hours after I'd gotten out of it to start this process. Classes start Monday and I'm wondering...did I do the right thing? LOL

Miscellany

I've been thinking I needed to blog lately but nothing seems to be coming to me. Well, that's not entirely true, things come to me at times when I can't blog (like when I'm at work) and then I can't remember them later (like now).

But anyway, I read all these other blogs and they seem so fluid and fun and light...like a conversation with a good friend would be. Then I think of mine and feel like they're very...structured, for lack of a better word. It's kind of like reading a book. I love reading a book that is light and funny because it just goes so quickly. At Nationals in Atlanta two years ago, I stopped by to talk to Julia Quinn (whose books I love and as a person...well, let's just say I'm glad she didn't press charges after the incident of '05 in Reno...). I remember telling her that I loved her books because they read like she just sat down one afternoon and typed up the whole thing. The next day (or two) after that, I went to her workshop and she said the highest compliment she gets is to have someone tell her exactly that. I wanted to ask her if she was referring to our conversation the night (or two) before but didn't because she may get told that all the time. But anyway, those are my favorite kinds of books to read.

On the other hand, I loved Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. LOVED it. But it was hard to read. At the time I read it I was reading five books a weekend (all part of a contest - not for most books read but to get enough chances at a win - prize was $250 gift card to any bookstore and I really wanted it...not that I have a problem or anything). It took the entire weekend to read Pride and Prejudice. But I loved it anyway.

So, it doesn't have to be an easy read for me to love it but well, it does help. But anyway, I feel like some blogs are the Julia Quinn book type of blog and others are the Jane Austen book type of blog - you enjoy them but man are they hard to get through. I don't know where my blog falls in there - probably in some other category - but just know, I'm working on having the Julia Quinn book type of blog. :-)

In other news, I told my boss (well, actually my boss's boss) that he scared me. I told him that today. He's really the nicest man you'd ever want to have as a boss but he makes me really uncomfortable and just scares the bejeezus out of me. He kept asking why and I told him I didn't know. Then I told him that I hoped his knowing would maybe help the situation. Then for the rest of the day, every time I saw him, he'd curl his lip up at me and growl. I think we're going to be okay - now that the ice is broken (somewhat). :-)

Oh, and then I was talking to one of my work directors (my secret crush, who happens to be married, so we're just close friends). Not sure how the conversation got started but during the course of the conversation I said something about my visa bill being high this month. Told him it was in the neighborhood of $500 (which is a lot to me). He started laughing hysterically, which I thought was kind of rude but he ended up telling me his has run anywhere from $1800 (minimum) to $8800 a month. $8800 in one MONTH????? What the heck is he doing that costs that much? He said several months in a row were that much. If I didn't have anything taken out of my check and didn't need things like food, rent or other essentials, it would take me two months just to pay that bill! This is the same man who told me his daughter wanted a $450 designer purse for her birthday next month. She'll be 13. And he's seriously thinking he'll "work something out" for her to have it. I don't think if you added up the amount of money I've spent in my entire life on purses that it would equal that amount. I think it's insane! But kind of explains the huge visa bill, don't you think?

But anyway, the 12 year old...er 24 year old, that asked me out finally showed back up to work yesterday (he'd been *cough* sick). He sent me an email asking how the holiday was. I said fine. He replied asking what happened while he was out. I replied with "nothing out of the ordinary". He sent me another email asking if we were still going out. I said he might want to stop by my office to discuss. So he did. Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Are you married?

Him: No.

Me: Well, I was told that you told someone you were. (in case you didn't know, I tend to get right to the point...very direct)

Him: (looking pissed - and not because I was asking him this, but more like he didn't appreciate someone telling me his business. but I could just be projecting here) Who told you that?

Me: I'm just saying that someone told me you were married.

Him: I'm not. (not looking quite as pissed, as if he realized he didn't want to show that emotion...but again, I could just be projecting here)

Me: Well, I was told that you said that the seven year old was your wife's by a previous marriage. You can mistake a 'yes I'm married' or 'no I'm not married' but saying a child is your wife's by a previous marriage is kind of hard to misunderstand. (did I mention I'm pretty direct?)

Him: Well...I'm...uh...(through gritted teeth or my active projecting imagination) they're all ours.

Me: (made note that he didn't say the child was his but rather 'they're all ours' which would be what someone who helped raise a child might say but doesn't necessarily reflect a shared DNA) Were you married?

Him: Common law married.

Me: Did you get divorced?

Him: (blank look on his face)

Me: You do know that in the state of Texas a legal divorce is required for a common law marriage, don't you?

Him: I didn't know that.

Me: Yeah. You'd have to go through the courts to get a divorce.

Him: But we didn't have any assets. She had a car and I had a car.

Me: Doesn't matter. You'd still need to get a divorce. So, then, you're still married?

Him: I don't...I didn't... (pause) We signed papers. (I'm guessing the declaration of independence or some such thing.)

Me: (deciding to drop the marriage thing) Why did you move down here?

Him: I want to be a tennis pro and there's a great program here to help that. (Baytown, Texas has a great tennis program? Interesting...)

We talked for a few more minutes before I agreed to go to lunch with him on a day to be determined. I told a co-worker about the conversation and she said "Tennis pro? He told me he moved down here to get into criminal law. He said he wanted to be a police officer."

Apparently he's a pathological liar and since that's a deal breaker for me, so there'll be no lunch. Or anything else. Guess someone else will have to help me with my New Year's goal to have a scandalously inappropriate affair this year.

Oh, did I forget to mention that goal? ;-)

I Second That!

On her blog, Maria Geraci said that forget about it by Caprice Crane was worth staying up for. Well, I have to agree with her on that.

Based on her recommendation, I tried to buy the book before Christmas but the bookstore I went to didn't have any copies, so I put in a request for it at the library.

I picked up the copy this past Saturday and sat down to read it New Year's Eve. I was thinking I would read it that afternoon because I didn't know where to count it if I was still reading it New Year's Day. Would it count as a book read last year or this year? I didn't know, so I thought I'd try to read it from cover to cover on Monday.

Granted it was after midnight when I finished it but since I didn't fall asleep or anything before I finished, I think it technically counts as a 2007 read, don't you think?

Anyway, Maria got it right. It was so worth staying up for. I knew in the first paragraph that I was going to like the book and by the middle of page three I had decided that I was going to have to order myself a copy because it was that good and that fun. No, I don't read books a second time but that doesn't mean I don't want a copy for my collection.

And, like Maria, I think I'm going to have to also buy a copy of her other book...Stupid and Contagious.

If you haven't read forget about it and you like fun, laugh out loud books, you might want to consider picking up a copy. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Happy New Year

It's the time of year when people make resolutions or make goals. I prefer to set goals. A few of mine are as follows:

1. Get baseboards put down in my house (don't ask) and paint (inside and out).

2. Write "the end" at the end of a book...and mean it.

3. Get a passport (and maybe use it).

4. Take bigger chances in my personal life...go out on a limb once in a while.

5. Host at least one party in my home.

6. Cook more - at least once a week - and try new foods and recipes.

7. Reach my next personal goal weight.

So, those are a few of mine. What about you? Goals or resolutions? And how will you bring in the new year? Me, I'll probably be watching my favorite movie of all time. :-)

Thank God I Touch My Country Boy Self

I've blogged before about getting a song stuck in my head at inopportune moments. Well, it happened again this past week while I was visiting my step-father. It's usually not so bad if there is background noise to keep my mind occupied. But that was the thing...we didn't have the TV or radio going very much of the time I was there. So all of the days I was up there (four full days) except one (my dog was "missing" - but eventually made it home, so all's well - so my brain was full of, shall we say, other things that day), my brain was filled with songs. That wanted to come out of me. One way or another. Two of those days the song stuck in my head was I Touch Myself. I'd never heard it before a few weeks ago until Amanda Ashby added it to her blog. Yet when I'm visiting my 80 year old step-father, I can't get it out of my head.

The other day I was up there the song stuck in my head was Thank God I'm a Country Boy.

So there I was, fighting to keep from humming and, heaven forbid, singing these songs during my visit.

Oh yeah, good times. LOL


In other news, I was told that the possible boy-toy/research material guy from work that asked me out is married. He told me he wasn't (I asked him point blank the day I met him because one person at work told me he was and another said he wasn't and I wanted the straight scoop from the source) and I haven't seen him since I talked (again) to the co-worker who had told me he told her he was married. Sealing the deal was that he has three kids (a seven year old and twin 5 year olds) and he'd told the co-worker that the seven year old was his wife's from a previous marriage. So it would seem he's a liar (no matter how you look at it - he lied to one of us) and possibly a cheat. A definite deal breaker for me but I'd like to know - from him - the truth.

I've lost my mind!

Okay, I'm hoping that everyone that has ever read my blog will read it this evening and offer words of ...I don't know, whatever I need. I did something today that I still cannot believe. I'm just in shock. Heck, send your friends over here to offer their advice/comments too - I'll take what I can get.

Anyway, to give you a bit of background, I've always been told I look younger than I actually am. Most people think I'm about ten years younger than I really am. It's one of those things that I think people are nuts when they say that because I look in the mirror and see an old person but enough people have told me I look (ten years) younger, that I have to believe that maybe I do - at least at times.

I'm 46 (just turned) by the way.

So anyway, I was out of the office the last two and a half weeks. During that time they hired a temporary worker to help out. It was a man (which is a bit surprising but that's another story and not relevant to this one).

Monday was my first day back in the office and when I first met this man. He seems nice and all, very gentlemanly. But very quiet, soft spoken.

Today he sent me an email, subject line of "Question". Body of the email says something to the effect of "I want to asking you something. It's personal but it's driving me insane. It would need to be just between the two of us though. If you can't do that, that's okay. Let me know."

Now, he's in the office next to mine. When I've needed him over the last few days I just yell for him. He sends an email asking if he can ask a question. Ohhhh...kay.

I walked over to his office and our conversation went something like this:

Me: Yes? You had a question?

Him: Well, I wanted to put it in an email. (this was kind of weird to me because he has a question for me and I'm standing right there!) I just didn't know if I should.

Me: (law background piping in) If you're not sure you should, you probably wouldn't want to put whatever it is in writing.

Him: Oh. Okay.

Me: What was the question?

Him: I don't know if I should ask it.

Me: Why not? What is it? (because now I'm curious)

Him: Um, well, uh, how old are you?

Me: Why are you asking? (just curious...not suspicious or trying to be secretive or anything)

Him: I don't want to say.

Me: No really, why are you asking?

Him: Well, I wanted to know if you were available and would be interested in going out with me.

Me: (recalling how old he told us he was yesterday but wanting to confirm) How old are you again?

Him: Twenty-four.

It was at this point that I officially lost my mind. I believe it was about 2:08 Central Standard Time today. I'm a bit embarrassed to tell you my reaction but if I want honest feedback, I guess I have to give a full disclosure so here goes (taking deep breath).

Me: You know, I'm almost twice your age. I'm forty-six. (continuing talking without a break so that he can't voice anything negative, as the clock strikes 2:08 CST) But that's not a problem for me...the age difference. I don't have a problem with that. (did I really just say that???)

Him: It doesn't bother me either. (big grin on his face) (pause) and the other thing?

Me: That would be nice. (wait...did I really just agree to go out with someone HALF my age???)

Him: Okay. (he stopped talking here)

Me: Anything else? (thinking he might want to follow up on the question here)

Him: No, that's it.

Me: Okay. (goes back into my office, looks for brain and wonders what just happened)

I re-read his email and saw the "driving me insane" comment so I went back to his office to ask what he meant by that. When I stepped in the door he had a grin on his face and said, "I just sent you an email."

It was at this time that I pointed out that others could read my email and he might want to keep that in mind with anything he sent me. He appreciated the tip and I don't recall if I got an answer to MY question (although I did ask it).

When I went back into my office I had an email with the subject line of "Free" and body that said something like "When will you be free?" (which could be an innocent comment, if you didn't know the context of it, considering he's our "helper")

I gave no response before I left for the day (an hour or so later). Plus, it dawned on me he was born the year I got married!!! Not to mention that after the initial conversation and first email, I almost feel like he's trying internet date me. Anyway...

Am I nuts? Should I even consider going out with him? Please stop laughing long enough to leave comments/advice. And don't forget, send your friends. I need all the help I can get! LOL

Not that I'm disorganized or anything...

Tuesday evening my local chapter had their Christmas party. It was a lot of fun and I spent some time visiting with Alyssa Goodnight.

Well, since there were going to be a lot of authors there, I grabbed all my books (that hadn't previously been signed) by the chapter members and put them in my car. Only I couldn't find one author's book, which was pretty annoying since I'd ridden around with it in my car for months, hoping I'd see her, and I didn't remember taking it out. Anyway, I tore my house apart looking for that book. I even went out to my car and looked under the seats and everything. Couldn't find it to save my life. I mentioned this to Alyssa (whose book I had with me and she graciously autographed - thank you) at the party and she said "weren't you the one who blogged about finding a book on their nightstand". Um, well, yes but it was a cookbook. I don't keep books for reading on my nightstand. But thanks for bringing up the fact that I find things in weird places. ;-)

So, I come home and the next day I decided to blog about the party and tease Alyssa a bit. But when I posted the blog, weird things happened to my blog, so I took it (the post) down. Which didn't help. I shut off my computer a couple of times and it still was doing weird things so I shut it down one more time and went to bed. Yesterday morning everything seemed fine.

Yesterday afternoon was a different story though. Weird things started happening with the blog again and with my personal email so I was trying to get online tech support. It said I was next in line and that the wait would be approximately 7m and 58s. I foolishly thought it meant 7 minutes but apparently it meant months. I eventually disconnected and started messing with things on my own. Now, I've mentioned before that I'm technologically challenged so doing things on my own is never a good thing...just so you know.

I started deleting programs that I didn't recognize in the "add/remove" section of my computer. Let's just say, I don't recommend that unless you know what you're doing...which obviously I don't. My computer was even more off after that. I shut it down and rebooted a number of times and reinstalled Internet Explorer (not one I'd deleted but one I thought needed to be "repaired"). Still had problems. Again, shut it down for the night only this time I still had the problems in the morning.

Eventually I installed something that seemed to do the trick, so all was good. But after I did all that, I decided to play with my playlist (sorry you can't see it Maria...I don't know what I did to make it invisible...it certainly wasn't intentional and well, being technologically challenged, I don't know how to change it!). I was looking for a particular song but wasn't confident that I knew the name of it. I figured it would come to me if I saw it - but I was wrong.

I finally broke down and went to my car to pull my CD to get the name of the song. Guess what I found in the little cubby I keep my CDs in...my author friend's book!!!!!

After all, where else would it be? *sigh* LOL

Tagged again...

Alyssa tagged me again so here we go...

Two Men I’d Love to Date if I Were Single (and they were single)
Do I have to limit myself to two since I AM single? Okay okay...
My secret crush at work
Brad Pitt

I Am Wearing Right Now
Pajamas (If I'd had to list two things, underwear would've had to been the other...I know TMI)

Two Things I Would Want in a Relationship
Honesty
Laughter

Two of My Favorite Things to do
Reading
Having a massage

Two Things I Want Very Badly At the Moment
Winning lottery ticket
extended paid leave of absence

Two things I did recently
Added a playlist for my blog
Finished my last newsletter for my local chapter

Two things I ate today
Eggs (scrambled with cheese)
Biscuits

Two people I most recently talked to
My friend Lara
My co-worker Christine

Two things I’m doing tomorrow
Going to work (ugh! see things I want!)
Making dish for Tuesday's party

Two Favorite Holidays
I'm not a holiday person but I'll say Christmas and Thanksgiving because we get more days off work for those holidays.

Two Favorite Beverages
Strawberry Margarita (no salt, please)
Water

Two Things about me, things you may not have known
I used to teach sign language at the local college
Growing up I was very athletic and very much the tomboy

Two places I have lived
Pasadena, Texas
Baytown, Texas

Two of my Favorite Foods
Most Italian dishes
chocolate

Two Places I’d rather be right now (again, see things I want)
Vacationing on a beach with a stack of good books
Vacationing in the mountains with a stack of good books

4 people I think will respond
Mel
Honey
Laura Drewry
Kim

Building Characters

I think it was Laura Drewry who said she buys magazines to clip out pictures for visuals for her stories. I think it was mainly for the characters but it may have been more.

Her idea sounded great but I couldn't see spending a ton of money on magazines if I didn't want to read them too. Kind of put the idea on the back burner. Well, I subscribe to exactly two magazines...People and Soap Opera Digest. I share People with a friend of mine so if I saw something I liked in it, I wouldn't want to cut it out (guess I could always scan it, now that I think about it) and never expected to see anything in the Soap Opera Digest.

Anyway, I've been kind of behind on my magazine reading (did you know Britney and Kevin Federline were having marital problems? yeah, I read about it a week or so ago...but I digress). So, yesterday I was reading my Soap Opera Digest and I came across this great picture of Crystal Chappell that I had to cut out. It's a picture of my new heroine. It's great. I finally know what she looks like. And now I want to go get something to stick/glue it to so I can work on a collage for the story to put other things on (when I find them) so I have the visuals for my story.

But I'm curious, what methods to you use to put your story together and how do you figure out what your characters look like? Inquiring minds want to know.

The new "slut" dress

I have this dress that I love. It's a long black dress that buttons all the way down the front and is "fitted". I like the dress itself - the way it looks, the way it fits...everything.

Well, a few weeks ago I wore this dress to work. I'd been at the office a few minutes when I looked down and realized more cleavage was showing than I was comfortable with. Hadn't really ever noticed that before. Kind of made me a little self-conscious. A little while more had passed and another cleavage shot moment happened. On the third time, I realized the top button (or two) was unbuttoned. Fortunately I had gone in early that day so that if everyone in the office had gotten an eye full, it wasn't that many - because I realized it pretty early (thank goodness!).

Then today, I wore the dress again. I didn't go in early today so pretty much everyone was there when I looked down and was flashing the world again. Thing is, when that happens you don't know if it just came unbuttoned or if you've been flashing people since you left the house. So, I was already pretty self-conscious (who knew if my flashing was a once a day occurrence or if I'd repeat throughout the day) when I ran my hand down the back of my dress. (I sometimes do this self-consciously because I have a fear of having my dress stuck down the back of my panty-hose - yes I wear those! - and I feel better when my hand has a dress to go down, if you know what I mean.) Well, I had a finger "catch" on a HOLE in the dress in the back! It was a small hole but apparently my chest wasn't the only thing I was flashing. I'm thinking I need a new favorite dress. Maybe, instead of being called my "slut" dress, it should be called my peek-a-boo dress.

Here's to hoping there are no more unintentional flashes in my future. ;-)

Status Please

A number of years ago (shortly after my divorce was final) I had to fill out one of those forms which includes the question of "marital status". Well, as far as I'm concerned there are only two relevant options - married or single. That's it. Period. And I feel rather strongly about this. So, when I came to this question I marked "single" because, despite the fact that there was a "divorced" option, I was single. Didn't matter how I came to be that way...I.was.single.

Anyway, I get into the room with the Nazi nurse (oh yeah, it was a medical facility by the way) and she's looking over my form. She gets to that question and looks down her judgmental nose at me and says, "you've never been married?" with disgust present in her voice.

"Yes I have," I said. "But I'm single now."

"Divorced?" she asked.

"I don't see how that's relevant. I'm single."

We got into a very heated discussion about the "accuracy" of my responses. I challenged why it mattered and she spewed out some garbage about the health of a person based on their marital status. That resulted in me going off on a tangent about people who have been married more than once. One of my sisters had been widowed but was remarried. Did she need to check both boxes, I asked. And would someone like say, Elizabeth Taylor, have to put eight (or however many) X's next to married AND divorced? I also wanted to know about those that were unhappily married...why wasn't their a box slotted for them? On and on I went. In the end I admitted to being divorced but said that I WAS SINGLE!!!!! My little card came back with a WFD for white, female, DIVORCED. I was so pissed off.

Now, I'm looking at a form for my jury duty. It has the options of married, single, divorced or widowed. I'm having the same rebellious response to this question. I'M FRIGGIN' SINGLE!!!!! AND I LIKE IT! So leave me the @$%&*@ alone! I'm seriously considering marking through the divorced and widowed options and just marking single. Or just leaving it blank. I'm just a little worried either of those would come back to bite me in the backside though. But it's definitely pushing some of my buttons (or couldn't you tell?).

It's married or single people. There are no other options!!!!!

So that's one of my big pet peeves in life. What pushes your buttons?

Summons

Yesterday I retrieved my mail from my mail box to find I'm being called for jury duty. This is the third time in my life I've been called. The first time I received the summons on the Saturday before I was to appear on Monday. I had moved and it was just catching up to me. Since I'd moved out of the county, I was excused from service.

The second time came when I happened to be taking some college classes. Someone had asked me to take a class with them and rather than sign up for the one class, I took a full load. I'd planned on doing my duty until I realized it came during finals week and I really couldn't afford to be picked so I used the "student" exemption that time.

This time, I have no outs. I'm going to have to go. But I think it's funny that this would happen on the heels of reading a blog post about jury service and what not to do if you don't want to be picked. Guess I laughed too hard at the post. LOL

Actually, part of me would like to be picked, part of me wouldn't. So, I'm looking for ideas on how to get out of it, should the part of me that doesn't want to get picked shows up on D-Day. At the moment my only plan is to take my book How to Murder the Man of Your Dreams and display it prominently during the voir dire. What do you think?

I know I saw it...somewhere

Earlier this year I bought a Weight Watchers comfort food recipe book. It has some great (low point) recipes in it and I fully intended to make a list of ingredients I needed and purchase them at the grocery store and make all these wonderful new foods.

That's what I intended. What happened is I brought the book home and promptly lost it. I've been searching for it for several months now. I thought it was in my "office" room and have been digging through boxes in there (don't ask) for some time now, without success. It was getting to the point that I was considering the possibility that someone broke into my house for the sole purpose of stealing the recipe book. Not likely I know but what else could've happened?

Then fast forward to today. It's Veteran's Day and we had a little celebration at work for the veterans who work there, along with a couple of special guests, including a WWII veteran. It was really nice. Well, eleven years ago I was in an English class and had to write a paper on a veteran. A co-worker had referred me to a friend of hers and we were going to meet for ten minutes or so so that I could interview him for my paper. Well, ten minutes turned into about four hours (during business hours - oops). I remember him getting emotional and my taking notes. And I remember the final product but not writing it (although I do recall looking at my notes and thinking I needed to include something I'd written down). I was very proud of the final product and to this day it's the one thing I've written that I'm most proud of.

Anyway, since it was Veterans Day (and I had planned on meeting this person at the celebration but due to a mix-up we're having lunch together instead) I wanted to find the paper (yes, I still have it...somewhere). So this evening I went digging for it. Without success (although I found a draft copy of pages 1, 2 and 3).

However, following is a list of a few things I DID find:

1. A pair of smiley face underwear (who they belong(ed) to is anyone's guess).
2. Several paintings I did a number of years ago.
3. Some leftover author promotional items that I thought I had returned (oops).
4. A ton of books (I'm starting to think I might have a problem).
5. The 2006 Golden Heart entries I judged.
6. A book all about Leonardo DiCaprio (don't ask).
7. A letter I wrote to my ex-husband five days before we separated (I read it and I cannot believe I said the things I did in it - and I only remember the date we separated because it was my mother's birthday).
8. Notes, papers and tests from a bunch of my college classes.
9. A belt to a dress I can't quite fit into yet, but is my goal.
10. An erotic story I wrote a number of years ago.
11. A picture I had forgotten I had but never got framed. (I really need to because I really, really like it)
12. Performance evaluations from 1986.
13. Several letters of recommendation, including one from a company that shortly after they gave me the LOR, I left during lunch and never returned.
14. About ten copies of a resume and letter of recommendation on someone I worked with nine years ago.

and.....

15. The cookbook. Wanna know where I found it? On my nightstand!!!!! Yeah, because THAT's where all cookbooks should be kept. (Really makes me wonder where the heck this paper can be now...)

Anyway, if you enjoy your freedom, thank a vet. :-)

Stupid "Announcements"

Lately I've been reading things that just seem stupid. Periodically (monthly, quarterly? I have no idea) my work sends these newsletters about health related matters. This month's(?) newsletter was about diabetes. In one article it was said that one million people (I think that was the number) have diabetes but didn't know it. The thought that went through my head in the instant that I read that was "well you obviously know who they are so why don't you tell them?"

It's like the census poll. They'll say x number of people didn't report their information. If you know that, just add them. Not to mention, why is a poll being done if the numbers are already known? Seriously.

But I also love the cautions on items. For example, I heated up a microwave dinner for lunch today. The instructions tell you to 1) take it out of the box (were there people who would heat it up still in the box???), 2) ventilate; 3) cook on high for so many minutes; 4) remove from microvave (um, has this been an issue for people?); 5) remove plastic cover (okay, I want the names of the people that warranted this addition). Then it has a caution...It will be HOT. Really? No kidding! Learn something new every day.

Thing is you know they have to add all those things because someone did something stupid and there were probably lawsuits involved. But it just cracks me up.

So what about you...read anything lately that made you wonder why those details were necessary?

P.S. To answer a couple of questions recently asked in comments...No I didn't dress up for Halloween (I know, I'm a party pooper). And yes, I am doing some writing.
Thanks for asking. :-)

What's on your Mind?

I'm taking an online class right now (my first in a couple of years) on showing vs. telling. We've been given writing assignments that we're to post for the instructor (and other students) to comment on. Well, I told a friend (which I think most of you know in one way or another) about the class and she signed up with me. She's like the teacher's pet, turning in her assignments first and getting high praise from the teacher and other students. And then there's me...waiting until the last possible minute to turn in my homework, waiting for the instructor to ask "did you not understand the assignment?".

You see, I have this thing about people reading what I've written (yes, I know I have to get over that but does it help explain the secret blog at all?). Anyway, the assignment for yesterday (which we received on Thursday or Friday, and my friend, who went out of town this weekend still got hers in first) was to write a "flowery" scene and then rewrite it, tightening it up. I had a million ideas of what to write about and even started six or seven of them. What I ended up writing was a sex scene. A sex scene! Where that came from is anyone's guess...just something on my mind I guess. LOL

Inspired by Mel, I thought I would post what my local chapter does when they show up to support their friends at a book signing. (I figure it's okay to post here since a couple of the participants have posted it on their respective webpages.) Enjoy. :-)

And what's on your mind these days?

What DWTS and Writing have in common

I was watching Dancing with the Stars last Tuesday and was as surprised as anyone when they announced that Sabrina and Mark were going home. Now, I have to say that there was something about Sabrina that I just didn't like. I don't know what it was - I could never quite put my finger on it - but I just couldn't get behind her, even though I, like everyone else, had her pegged for the finals. I kept saying I wanted her to be gone but still, as I said, like everyone else, I was stunned. Despite how I felt about her personally, she didn't deserve to go.

So anyway, you're probably wondering what that has to do with writing. Well, I'll tell you. First of all let me say that I'm pretty easy when it comes to books. It has to be really bad for me not to find something good about it. I don't even so much mind predictable books if I'm on board with where they're going. However, I love it when things are shaken up by something that is so totally unexpected that you never saw it coming. That if you'd stretched your imagination it never would have gone where the author took you. But it works for the story, and the eventual conclusion.

Tuesday night's show was the unpredicted shake up that is taking the story somewhere else. Somewhere unexpected but in the end everything will turn out fine. (It is, after all, just a show. It's not like anyone's life is being ruined or anything.) But it got me to thinking about my writing. I don't want to be predictable. I want to shake things up and take the reader somewhere unexpected, but where they'll be pleasantly surprised. So that's what I'm working on.

And just think, if I wasn't a DWTS addict, I might never have had that little epiphany. ;-)