B-Wagon

Oh hell.

I got wrapped up in life and forgot to update my blog.  I apologize.  As I will again next time this happens. 

But for now, Melissa has inspired me to come back.  So, let's do the quick recap of what's happened in my life...

November:

• Terrie had a birthday.  We celebrated with friends.  Good times were had.
• Hubby & I did Thanksgiving solo - I made a turkey & fixings and then we went to see a movie.
• My coworker JB informed us that she had been accepted into the LPN program at the local community college and at the beginning of year, she would need to either become part time or leave the company.  Part-time was not available to her, so she helped in the interviewing and hiring process for her replacement.

December

• I received a Christmas card and $200 cash from an 'Anonymous Friend' in the mail.  Over the last few months, I sorta accidentally found out that it was from a coworker.  I sent a thank you card back to the return address (which had no name and was in California), and have let that person remain anonymous.
• I asked for a raise in lieu of the new responsibilities and additional workload that I'd be taking on with JB leaving.  I was denied.  But managers said that they would continue to push Bossman Bob to compensate me for the work I'd be doing.
• Holidays were lovely - had Christmas Day at our house for my mother-in-law & her boyfriend.
• Sang in the Christmas Eve mass with the choir - super long HOT mass, but very nice.
• Joined a...club?  A friend from choir invited me to join a group that she's in that consists of women that live in the area.  They do monthly events, which I've tried to attend at least one of per month.  December was my first time playing Bunco.  LOVED IT!

January

• I turned 29.  Holy hell.  How did that happen??
• JB's replacement was hired and started.  She's older (in her late 40's probably?), but very nice and is getting the hang of things.  I don't see us becoming good friends and going to lunch and getting our makeup done together, but I know we'll be able to work well together.
• JB left for good.  I cried as I walked down to my car that day.  I hate goodbyes.
• I planned a Baby Shower for Terrie with a Gone Fishing theme.  The invitations were handmade and amazing, if I do say so myself.  I had all type of fishy themed things planned, including fish bowl centerpieces with live goldfish on the two main tables.
• My managers continued pushing Bob for my raise and he finally gave in.  Yay!

February

• Terrie's shower was a success!  Everyone enjoyed themselves and I received a ton of compliments on what a nice job I'd done.  If only I could plan parties for a living.  That would really, truly be a dream come true.
• I have a new pet fish.  :-)  One of the two centerpiece fish went home with a guest from the party as a door prize.  The other one was abandoned.  No, really, the other guest who won the second fish had no interest in taking it home.  And I have to admit that I was kinda happy about that.  I wouldn't have minded keeping both of them. 
• You can't have just one fish in a ten-gallon tank, so we got two more.  They all seem to be coexisting happily together.  Freddie, Mortimer & Albert are all different types of goldfish and totally fascinating to me.  I can literally sit in front of the aquarium for over an hour and just watch them swim around.  Ridiculous, I know.

And I think that's about it.  You'll notice there are no updates on Hubby - he's still not working.  And there's still not a chance of a baby in the near future.  One is very dependent on the other, so I just continue to wait....:-P  Life is actually pretty good right now.  I mean, aside from the lack of a job on Hubby's part, things are plugging along.  The new responsibility at work is welcome.  I like having stuff to do for the entire day.  I like being the more experienced one.  I like feeling like a big fish in a small pond.  Always have.

Anyway, that's life for now.  Melissa is doing a fantabulous challenge, which I will be happy to steal and start doing tomorrow.  :-)  I hope that I'm able to get back into the swing of things.  I'm just going to have to figure out how to blog and watch tv at the same time. 

One month is better than two

Hello Friends!

Yes, I've let another month slip by without updating my lil ol' blog. I spent some time spiffing it up today. You like that, don't you??? :-)

I promise to try to be a bit more positive today than I was last time I posted. For the most part, things haven't really changed.

Hubby is still not working. He has been laid off for over four months now. We got a major wake up call a couple weeks ago, when we got a letter from the bank, stating that our mortgage was about to go up by about 30%. Long story short, our escrow was short when they paid our taxes this year because our taxes went up an enormous amount, so we're making up for that, plus putting in extra so it doesn't happen again next year. Unfortunately for us, we don't have an extra 30% of our mortgage just laying around. We've cut costs about as much as we possibly can. The next step will be to shut off our phones, which I'm really hoping we don't have to do. My dad has been very generous and has offered to give us a monthly loan, as needed. Which is great, but for God's sake. I'm almost 30. I'd love to get to the point where I don't have to ask my dad for money all the time!

The good part of this realization, though, is that Hubby has started applying for jobs and has even gone on a couple interviews. His last one was this past Monday. The job seemed to be a good fit for him and he thought that it went very well. The HR guy that he interviewed with said that he would schedule an interview for Hubs to talk with the floor manager and that he'd be in touch. We still haven't heard anything, though. Hubby tried calling to talk to the HR guy on Wednesday, but he wasn't in. So, that's about where it all stands. No further communication. I think it's going to be time to start doing some more applications this weekend.

Still no baby. No real progress on that. Perhaps now is not the time to really be pushing that, since we can barely afford to support ourselves, let alone bring a baby into the situation.

Things have been crazy at work lately. My friend JB just had her baby this week. A beautiful little girl. So this means that everything that she and I usually do together, will be all my responsibility. I'm tempted to ask for a raise, but due to other circumstances, I'm very hesitant. About a week ago, one of our main programmers - the guy that knows everything and does everything and is the go-to guy for EVERYTHING - let us know that he has decided to take a position with another company. This will be an incredibly BIG hit to our team. Everyone has been trying to convince the poor guy that he should stay. They've gotten the big-bossman on board and have offered this employee everything that he said were reasons for wanting to leave, but he seems to have made his mind up. He's been with the company for 15 years and I think it's just gotten to be too much. While he is that go-to guy, with that comes a lot of work. He works harder and longer than anyone else in the office. He takes on more tasks and is constantly being pulled in 7 different directions. I can completely understand. I think there's probably a lot of pressure coming from his wife at home, as well. So, this programmer has one more week with us.

In all of the craziness of trying to convince him to stay, the team decided to let another programmer go. This guy is new to our team, been with us for only a few months. But he's been very slow to catch on and just hasn't seemed to really fit with the rest of the team. I think a large part of that is a language barrier. He's Chinese and on more than one occasion, I saw him translating things online from English to Chinese and vice versa. I don't think anyone else really knew that because after he'd left and they were starting to prep his laptop for someone else to use, they found that just about everything on the computer (all of the programs, etc) were in Chinese.

Finally, to make up for the new guy and the go-to guy leaving, they've brought back an ex-employee who left five years ago to be home with her two sons. Both of her boys are in school now, so it seems that it was the perfect opportunity for her to come back to work. It's nice that she has some knowledge of our software and that she isn't brand new, but five years is a lot of time to catch up on. There have been countless changes to the software that she will have to learn about. She's been back to the office a few times since I've been with the company and every time, she introduces herself to me as if we've never met. And then proceeds to ignore me while she chats it up with all her old pals. She started working on Thursday and after she shook my hand again, telling me her name, I was half expecting her to do it again on Friday. But no, she finally remembered me.

I don't really have any feelings either way about her. Over the years, as she ignored my presence, I was a little peeved that she couldn't just include me in conversation or ask about me. But whatever, she was there to see her old coworkers, and I was not one of them. So that's cool. She's kept to herself over the last few days. Just asking questions when need be. The thing that I am most unhappy about with her coming back is that the office boss (OB) decided to give up his desk so that she could be in a more central location in the room. Unfortunately for me, that means that OB has taken up residence beside me. I feel as though he's looking over my shoulder all the time. He is a major micro-manager and I was annoyed by him when he was on the other side of the room. Now, he is in my space. So, because I need to get all of my issues with him out of the way, here is a list of all of the reasons why OB irritates me:
1. He's loud. As in using his outdoor voice when he should be using his indoor voice.
2. He has a tendency to smell. When it gets warm in the office, he has a distinct odor of cat urine. Even though he doesn't have any cats.
3. He is messy. Not just clutter mess, but dirty mess. His keyboard and mouse look like they need to be disinfected. And the mess isn't just on his desk. It spreads. The credenza that is behind us, where I used to keep a blanket and my laptop bag, has been taken over. As he moved all his shit over on Wednesday afternoon, he jokingly said to me 'We're going to have to fight it out for credenza space.' Fight it out my ass! He picked up my things and moved them to a bookshelf on the other side of my desk, blocking the white board where we write pertinent information. Which he never looks at. Obviously. So, I picked my shit up and stuffed it inside the credenza with some of my other belongings. Hopefully, he doesn't feel the need to put shit inside there, too.
4. He is snarky. He gets this chip on his shoulder sometimes and I just want to throw a fucking stapler at him. I suppose I've got a much better chance of hitting him now.
5. He talks to himself. When he's not yelling across the room or into the phone, and he's actually trying to do some work, he mumbles to himself. Just loud enough to disrupt me.
6. He walks heavily...We're on the 8th floor, so when people walk around, the floor sorta wobbles a little. But when OB walks around, I swear the floor is going to cave in. And he's constantly meandering around. He can never seem to just sit still. Dude, either go over there and do whatever it is that you think you need to do or sit the fuck down. You are distracting me!
7. He butts into conversations on the regular. I can't wait for JB to come back and she and I will be having a chit chat and he's gotta put his two cents in. I feel like saying to him 'Hey! We're not talking to you. Butt the fuck out!' I also feel like I'm going to have to take personal calls out in the hallway now. Before, if Hubby would call to just say hey or something, I didn't have a problem taking the call at my desk. But I feel like if I talk on the phone with OB next to me, he's going to be listening.

I'm quite positive that there are other reasons that having OB as my neighbor is going to suck. But for now, this is what I've got.

Anyway, work is going to be very interesting as all of these changes play out.

All my fall shows are starting. As of right now, I have 45 shows that I'll be at the very least watching the first couple episodes of. Some of these 45 are at the end of the season, most are just about to begin. I just finished watching the first season of Persons Unknown. I was immediately sucked in! I think I downloaded the first episode on Tuesday or Wednesday and I've watched the whole season already. Granted, it was only 13 episodes, but I really enjoyed it. I definitely hope that they're planning on bringing it back for another season.

I think that's all I have for today.

Hello, Friends!

Well, it seems that things at work have slowed down for a moment. I'm sure I could be testing something or investigating some bug or something productive like that, but I'm just not feeling it today. As much as I complain when it's busy, the time sure does go by much more quickly than it does when there's nothing to do. I've been watching the clock all day. One more hour to go. I keep asking myself what could I do to pass the time. Decided a post to catch everyone up on me would be a good start. :-)

I finally decided on a church. I've been going to St. Catherine's since the end of January. A couple weeks ago, I decided that while it's not aesthetically what I had in mind, they have a fantastic choir and I find myself becoming comfortable there. So, I called and registered as a parishioner. The woman that I spoke with tried to convince me that I should go to one of the churches that are closer to me, but I told her that I'd been to mass at both and prefer St. Catherine's. You'd think they'd be glad to get the additional income, however small it may be, right? I dunno. Apparently, you're supposed to stay with your most local parish. I said no and she went ahead an took my info. Al most two weeks later, I received a welcome letter (which also mentioned that I live too far away and should I try to register my hypothetical children to go to school there, the children that live closer would get preference. Good thing there are no school age children in my house, huh?), along with my tithing envelopes and a book that has a number of prayers and Catholic traditions explained in it. I went to mass Saturday afternoon and, of course, forgot my envelope. Oh well, next week, they'll know that I'm making my contribution.

A couple weeks ago, I got a pretty nasty cold from the girl that waxed my eyebrows. It's been fun. Started with congestion and a sore throat. Progressed into PINK EYE...In BOTH eyes... That has gone away, and now I'm back to being stuffy and the cough has begun its course. It's really been a joy. And my husband swears that he's a doctor without the education (or the paycheck). He always has suggestions of what's going to make me feel better. Tells me not to take this or to take that. He always has the answers, ya know? :-P I just nod and roll my eyes after he goes away.

Speaking of Hubby, he's permanantly back on 3rd shift. Two weeks ago, his boss asked him to work 3rd for a week and a half. Today, he was supposed to go back to 1st. Then Hubby comes home from work last Thursday and tells me that he's on 3rd for good. I'm so bummed! I really liked having him on 1st shift. Not that we spent a lot of time together, but it was nice to not be alone at night. And we'd eat dinner together a few times a week. And I'd get to go to bed good and early, since he had to get up at 4:30, he was in bed by 8:30 every night. It's not just the weeknights, either. The weekends are funky because he doesn't like to get his schedule out of whack. So he stays up most of the night and then naps during the day all weekend. Stinks! However, I'm not complaining because at least he still has a job!

The future of my job is still up in the air. The deal is now supposed to be done at the end of April. It keeps on getting extended. Which is just fine with me. The longer it drags out, the longer things stay the same. Perhaps that's a bad attitude to have, but I just feel like I have more security this way. I have updated my resume, but I haven't sent it to anyone or applied anywhere, yet. I am just terrified of the whole interviewing process. Ack.

I have an appointment to finally have my wisdom teeth taken out on Thursday. It was supposed to happen Tuesday of last week, but I had the stink eye and they made it very clear that I was not to come in if I had a cough or cold of any kind. I'm hoping that everything's broken up and I'm doing better by Thursday afternoon. If not, I'll have to reschedule again. Yes, I'm super scared about it. But I just want to get it over and done with. Have a few days of drug-induced stupor, eating mashed potatoes, pudding & sorbet...And then get on with my life. Rather than having this scary-ass "surgery" looming in the future. I have put it off long enough. I had a week or two there where I was in a lot of pain. Something must have gotten knocked aloose and the broken tooth was really being a bitch. That pain has since gone away, so that's good. But I can't delay the inevitable much longer. Besides, I won't have dental anymore after this deal goes through at work, so the sooner, the better.

Valentine's Day weekend was my sorority formal. A handful of my girlfriends and I decided to leave our men at home. It was nice to not have to keep my husband entertained for the night, but it was also a bit of a bummer because I had to drive BFF & me back home. She didn't drink and would've been fine to drive us home, but when there aren't any men to drive us home, the women all have to be responsible. It's no fun to get drunk when no one else is, ya know? But it was nice to have dinner and dance with the girls. I was super excited about my dress up until I got there and saw what everyone else had worn. My dress was pretty simple - bright turquoise, long, spaghetti straps with a little beading in a starburst kind of pattern that started on my hip. But everyone else had more like cocktail dresses...less like prom dresses. If I go next year, I'll definitely take that into account when shopping. I felt a bit out of place. There were a few girls with long dresses like mine, but we were definitely the minority. So...For your viewing pleasure, here are some pics from the dance. Please excuse my hair...It was flipping hot in that place and my bangs were washed that morning...They didn't last very long. :-P

Me & BFF @ my house before we left. We did NOT plan to have matching dresses. I convinced her to go with me a week before the dance and she borrowed the dress from her sister. What can I say, the girl has great taste!!

Black & Blue! :-)

Some Alumni Ladies

Just a few of the Girls

I'm at about 50%...

I always end up all over the place in these posts...I have so much to say, and just want to tell you everything! Perhaps if I posted more than once every two weeks, I wouldn't feel the need to jam it all into one post. Oh well. I do. Get over it. :-)

In one of my more recent posts, I discussed resolutions. I've been doing quite well with the church one. I've gone to mass every weekend since the beginning of the year. Granted, that's only three weeks, but it's 2 more weeks than the last time I thought I was ready to go back. And frankly, I don't see myself slacking on this one. I feel really good about it. That first Sunday, I went back to St. Charles Borromeo (SCB), the church that sort of reminds me of my old "home." It's about the same size and probably about the same age. They've got a choir (which is very important to me - I NEED to get back singing) and it's the closest. But I wanted to check out some of the other churches in the area, to make sure that I find the one that is right for me.

So, for the last two weeks, I attended mass at St. Mary's. I don't think I've ever seen a Catholic church this big. When I pulled into the parking lot, I literally out-loud, to myself, exclaimed 'Holy Crap!' It looked enormous to me. Inside is beautiful. Very, very large. It was built in 2001, so it has these modern-ish features. I don't know if I'd ever be comfortable in a parish that is so enormous. I've always enjoyed being a part of small things - small church, small(ish) high school, small colleges, small company. It does seem like St. Mary's has a lot to offer, including a choir (and a youth group that is looking for adult volunteers!). But I have to admit, I feel a bit overwhelmed there. And to be perfectly honest, the pews are really uncomfortable. lol They're low to the ground, and I find it near impossible to kneel on the kneelers. Maybe a silly con, but a con still.

This coming weekend and the week after, I'm planning on going to St. Catherine's, which a bit further (maybe 15 or 20 minutes from home), but I've heard a lot of good things about it. My aunt/uncle/cousins live in the area, so I asked for some suggestions. My aunt and cousin highly suggested this one, saying that they have a nice choir, youth programs, and while it's not a small church by any stretch, it's not as gigantic as St. Mary's. One of my coworkers told me that this is the church that she grew up going to and says that she likes it much more than SCB, where she had her children baptized. I'm really excited to go to mass at St. Catherine's on Sunday. I'm hoping that this one will be the perfect fit for me.

My second resolution - keeping better track of my sugar levels - is going okay. I'm testing at least once a day (supposed to do twice a day). I'm often surprised to see how high it is. Especially in the morning. I guess knowing is part of the battle, though. If I know it's high, I can be better prepared to combat it.

My final resolution - the same one that I have had every year since I was probably 9 - is stagnant. I just don't have motivation. I'm not hashing this out again. I'm just sayin...1.5 out of 3 isn't too bad, right? :-/

In other news, my birthday was a week ago today. It was really a fantabulous birthday! Seriously, best birthday in years. I must have gotten about 200 emails/facebook posts/blogs wishing me a happy birthday. I spent some extra time that morning and curled my hair, wore my favorite sweater and was ready for a happy day. Hubby texted me and told me to get home by 4, so that we could go to dinner. I got to work and my coworkers had decorated my desk (it's a tradition to do this, and usually I'm the one in charge of remembering bdays and buying a card & balloon). They got me the COOLEST balloon! It's bigger than your standard mylar balloon and it's clear! (I used to collect balloons in high school...Yeah, I'm an oddity of sorts...) I got to leave work a bit early, so I did a bit of shopping. Then went to dinner at Olive Garden with the Hubs. It was really a great day. It doesn't take much.

I spent a good part of Saturday working on my resume. I've finally decided to stop being passive about the whole situation and hoping that it gets better. I sent it to my dad, who gave me some suggestions on improving it, so I'm intending to update it later this week and perhaps start applying for some job openings next week. I'm nervous about it, but I need to at least see what's out there.

Today is 4 months since Opa passed. I still get choked up (and usually in tears) on a pretty regular basis. Songs do it for me a lot of the time. My birthday was kinda tough. But I guess I'm doing better. I talk to him a lot. Especially when I got teary eyed. I do feel his presence and I know he's always listening. So I take those moments to tell him how much I miss him and love him.

Hubby asked to go back to 2nd shift yesterday. He thinks his 1st shift boss is out to get him. I don't know what to think. He has a bad track record with authority figures (as in he pisses off his boss for some stupid shit and gets fired...), so if he thinks the boss might be heading down that road, then I'm supportive of the 2nd shift. I was really liking him on 1st, though. It's nice to spend time with him before bed. And to actually sleep with him at night. And to wake up together. I told him that I would've liked him to stay on 1st, but not if it means that he's going to end up without a job!

I think that's all I've got on news...I may be posting a meme next...We'll see. I really should be working right now. But I'm at a bit of a standstill with work tasks, so meme-ing sounds a lot more interesting. :-)

I'm here...

Here being at my job...But that's about all they can expect from me today. lol

The majority of our customers are in Canada, and since their Thanksgiving is on a different day than ours, we are required to have people in the office today. That being said...I'm not planning on actually doing much today. If an emergency arises, and I'm forced to do some work, I will do it. If not, I will continue to do nix. I could have taken today off, but I would've had to use vacation time. And really, what would I have been doing at home? Not what I should be doing, as I so perfectly demonstrated yesterday.

We didn't do Thanksgiving yesterday. I made Hamburger Helper with ground turkey for dinner. We spent the day as if it were any Saturday. With the exception of the mass amounts of texts that I sent and received, wishing a Happy Turkey Day to the recipients. I confess, I didn't even call the parents. *hanging head in shame*

I kept meaning to call, but before I realized it, it was 9pm and time to go to bed (and argue with Hubby, apparently). Dad was having Loopy (his mother) over for linner. I'm sure his hands were full between her and Mom. Loopy pretty much doesn't recognize anyone anymore. She is thin as a rail and mostly lives in her own head. Dad recently moved her to a retirement community that is less than five minutes from the house. He's had her in a couple different places, but the most recent one bumped up her rent and it was just getting to be too much. And frankly, my dad is the one that sees her the most often and takes care of her the most, so she should be convenient for him to go to.

Anyway, we stayed home yesterday because Hubby threw a fit when I suggested that we drive down to visit for the day. He whined about how he just wanted a weekend where he didn't have do anything (which is total bullshit...He does nothing every weekend). He said he wanted to save the gas money that we'd use to drive the hour and a half down there and back. I gave in, because when we have this argument about Christmas, at least I'll have Turkey Day to cite as a reason why he can't have his way again.

After the argument about not going to see my family, I suggested that we have his mother and her boyfriend over to our house this weekend. She decided to work the holiday (double time, man. If it was offered to me, I would've done it, too!), so we're having them over on Sunday. I'm rather excited to cook for them. Everytime we've had them over in the past, we either had spaghetti (the traditional Italian meal) or we've gone out. So, I think this is the first time I've actually cooked a meal for her.

I'm going to go to the grocery store this afternoon after work and I'm hoping I can get a good deal on some of the traditional Thanksgiving goodies, since it's the day after and I'm sure the stores are going to want to try to get rid of all the extras. I'm going to make a turkey breast (yeah, I'm not going to make a big ass bird just for the four of us. Even if I want leftovers, I have no desire to deal with the neck and insides and YUCK! I'll just get a big breast, tyvm.), Mashed Taters, Sausage & Apple Stuffing, Gravy & Brussel Sprouts - all the things that I LOVE! lol

I found a recipe for 'Night Before' mashed potatoes, which sound a lot like what Omi does, you end up baking them for like an hour before the meal. I've already made the stuffing once and it turned out excellent. I think I'll just steam the sprouts. Mother-in-law's boyf doesn't like sprouts...Thinking I might make some green beans or something for him. Or maybe he just doesn't get a veggie. lol

I need to clean tomorrow...I should have cleaned yesterday, but sat in front of my computer all day, instead. I have a slight addiction to the Sims 3. The game is fun, but the thing that I like doing most is building houses. I find floor plans online for these incredible houses and then try to recreate them in the game. Building and furnishing one house can eat up an entire day. Yeah, I do have a problem, but whatev. It's better than the old habit (WHICH I STOPPED 3 WEEKS AGO ALREADY!!! I could probably start sending out my resume now, without having to worry about that...yay!).

Oh, and I need to put up all my Christmas decorations. This was another task that I had planned to do yesterday and just didn't. First, it was Hubby's fault because he wouldn't get the shit out for me. And then it was my own fault, because, like I said, I have a problem. lol

Anyway, I'm all over the place with this blog. Just wanted to purge some thoughts. :-) I'll try to take some pics of the food that I make this weekend.

Deadline? What is that?

Sometimes, I could just strangle certain people. I'm not the best with deadlines...In high school and college, I would often wait until the last minute on projects and papers. My excuse was that I found that if I was given an extended period of time to work on something like that, I always felt like there was plenty of time to work on it. "I'll get to it later. Why bother now, I have six weeks to work on this 20 page paper. No biggie." I always ended up waiting until there was a week (or less) left and then I'd whip something up, even if it meant staying up all night the night before it was due.

Whatever. I got it done. ON TIME.

And I'm still a bit like that. When it comes to work, I kinda slack for a while and then when I see a deadline coming up, then I plow through like crazy. But I always get my shit done on time.

Unless I'm waiting for someone else.

And then I'm fucked.

Like tonight! I have a release that's scheduled to go out today. We (as in I) set this date over three weeks ago. We set a cut off date for last Thursday. This means that the programmers should complete all of their changes by that date. It allows JB and me just under a week to test all of the fixes that have been applied to make sure that everything is working correctly, as well as go through a set of standard tests - just making sure the stardard transactions go through as expected. This extra week also allows for any overlap, just in case the programmers can't get their code in right on time. Or to fix any errors that JB and I hit in our testing.

We have one programmer who is on the non-core team with JB and me. He is a great programmer. Very smart and quick to jump on random bugs when we send them out. HOWEVER, when it comes to new features, he doesn't do a very good juob of testing his own shit. Which always ends with JB and I waiting until the very last minute to get all of his crap tested. And because he doesn't do much testing on his own, there's usually a lot of bugs. And he just doesn't seem to grasp the concept of the deadline. Not only did he not have his stuff all done by last Thursday - he didn't have it all done until this morning at 9am!!! It takes almost two hours for the code to compile. And then I start testing it. And SURPRISE! There's bugs all over it.

Since JB has class tonight, I'm the lucky girl who gets to stay late and wait for everything to finish. I just love working until 7 or later, driving home for an hour and then coming back at 7am (WE FINALLY GOT APPROVED FOR THE REFI! WE"RE CLOSING TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!!!).

I just feel like every time we have a release going out, I end up taking it up the ass. And I feel like I'm just supposed to smile and say thank you. It just sucks.

On the plus side, I won't have to take vacay for the two hours that I was at the doctor yesterday. Yippee!

Thank you for listening/reading my rant/bitch session.

The End. :-)

Oh, the things I should be doing...

I have some stuff that I should be working on right now, but I'm SO not feeling it. Instead, I'll share my strange dream from last night.

I believe this dream was supposed be before my wedding or maybe some other big event. I was at a friend's house and he was doing my hair for this event. I believe that it was a trial run, not the actual event. Anyway, Steve's doing my hair and while he's in the middle of it, there were a couple other people that showed up (for some reason, I'm thinking it was my dad, but I'm not entirely sure) and they just stopped in to tell me that they were leaving. I think I thought I was supposed to go with them because I left Steve's and I started walking somewhere else.

I ended up in Park Forest, at Western Ave & Sauk Trail, waiting to cross the street and two of my sorority sisters appeared. I'm not exceptionally close to either of these girls, and I have NO IDEA a. why they showed up in this particular place and b. why they showed up in my dream at all! Jess & Wedgie (These are their real names/nicknames...I don't feel the need to protect them...There's no bad stuff goin on here...) gave me a hug and we walked together to Jess' parents' house, which was right on Western. We went inside and apparently Jess' parents owned a catering business and were going to cater this event. They were giving me samples of the food that they'd prepared and while they were kinda doubting the quality of the food (I remember meatballs...lol), I was very reassuring, letting them know how much I liked it.

And then I woke up. And I thought to myself 'What about a catering business........'

I could cook, which I love doing, and I would be involved in event planning, another thing that I love to do... A friend once asked me if I'd considered doing catering. I had been complaining about my current job and saying how much I love to cook. But a good friend has discouraged that idea, as she's had a lot of BAD experience with the restaurant business. And the more I think about it, the more I realize that a restaurant would not be good for me. I LOVE to cook, but at my own pace. I watch shows like Hells Kitchen & Top Chef and man, they've gotta bust ass. I just couldn't handle that shit. But a catering business...? That might be a little more relaxed...

Or maybe I'll just continue to work a desk job where I have a steady income and dread going in every morning and count down the hours til it's time to go home...:-P

Dressed in costume = lack of motivation

I have a BUNCH of friends who are teachers and so many of them were dreading this day. They have a hard enough time keeping their classes tame on a normal day. Throw in costumes, and it just begs for the students to be distracted.

I feel the SAME WAY today!!! I am completely unmotivated to do ANYTHING! I've checked my email and Facebook about 15 times. The first two hours of my day flew by because everyone was far more interested in the costumes and the fun-ness of the day. But the last 52 minutes have dragged on for seemingly EVER! It's almost lunch time...and then I can wander away for another 20 minutes or so.

I work in an office building, so most people are just dressed in their everyday attire. I guess once you get to a certain age, you don't feel like dressing up anymore? Or maybe you just don't have the time or the energy or whatever the case may be. But I love to dress up. I started working here just over three years ago, along with two other newish employees. One of our coworkers told us that everyone in the office dressed up. He gave examples of what everyone normally dressed as and he convinced us all that we should show up in costume, as well.

I'm sure you can see where this is going...

The three of us showed up in costume and not a single other person on the floor was dressed up. JB & I laughed it off, but the other guy was pissed. He'd dressed as a priest, and as soon as he saw that he'd been duped, he went to the washroom and took it off (obviously he had clothes on underneath his robes).

JB and I have since made it a tradition to dress up every Halloween. That first year, I did the quick and easy cat costume - black shirt & pants, ears, tail & whiskers - not the drawn on with eye liner kind, though. They were plastic and had a little ring, which hooked onto the center of my nose. JB was a referee. The next year, I dressed as a dark fairy. Super fun. Black dress & shoes, red, yellow & black wings, a short black pixy wig, and fun, colorful makeup in black & oranges. JB was preggers that year, days from her due date, so she skipped it. Last year, I was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. Omi made me a dress, I had a long reddish brown wig in braids, I had the ruby slippers and even a picnic basket with Toto in it. JB was a flapper girl.

This year, JB had a costume that she felt wasn't work appropriate, so she came up with a second one - a sock hop girl:


Another one of our coworkers finally joined the party and he wore his costume as well:


I decided to go as a witch this year. I like alternating between good and evil characters every year. The evil ones seem to be much more fun - mostly because I get to go crazy with my makeup.Apologies for the shoddy camera work. My phone had a bunch of dust over the eye.




I love my makeup today, but I think I may do it differently tomorrow night (not that I'm going out or anything...I'm just passing out candy to the youngins that come to the house). I mean, you've got one opportunity all year to go crazy, why not???

Happy Halloween, Folks! I hope you all have a great (AND SAFE!!!) time this weekend!!!

Oh, the day from hell...

Today has just been one shit storm after another...Started off bright and early, when my alarm went off at 5. My husband so kindly (No sarcasm...I did appreciate it) hit the snooze for me, so I wouldn't have to get out of bed. He was gone ten minutes later when it went off again. I got up, shut off the alarm and got my phone so I could check my email. Went downstairs, had some breakfast and a cup of coffee. Everything was going so nicely...



And then I left the house. Started out late for my dentist appointment. The place is literally less than 10 minutes from my house, but I can never get there on time. Then, I sat through an hour and a half of rooting around in my mouth, so I could get three new fillings. yay. I left there, thinking that would be the worst of it. My face was completely numb on the right side, I felt like I was drooling and was certain that when I blinked, my right eye was staying completely open.



As I drove to work, I tried to call work to let them know I was on my way. However, I was informed at that point that my service had been suspended due to an unpaid bill. awesome.



I pull into the parking lot at work, and notice that there's a lot of people milling about outside. Oh look! A fire drill. Luckily, I didn't have to deal with that in any way. I drove down into the parking garage, took the elevator up to the main floor and walked up just as the rest of my coworkers were coming in from outside. Apparently, if you behaved, you were rewarded with a sucker. No sucker for me. boo.



Just as I was getting settled in for the morning, the office phone rang. I answered it (because the programmers are too cool to answer the phone, ya know...) and it was the loan officer that FINALLY called me ysterday to say that we'd been approved for the refi and would be closing later this week. Yeah, not so much. He was calling me this morning to let me know that because we paid the September payment on October 1, we're fucked. And can I just mention that this late payment was the LOAN OFFICER'S fault!?!?!!? I started going through this shit again on September 2nd. He tells me on the 25th that we're not going to be able to close in Septmber. Dude, do you really think I have 2 grand just laying around? I had to wait until Hubby got paid, which didn't happen until the 1st. Loan officer tells me to call the current mortgage company and ask if they can help me out. I get transferred around a couple times and hung up on once. Finally, I speak to someone that I can understand. And she tells me that she'll put in a work order and I'll find out in up to 15 business days if they can remove the 30 days past due from my account. WTF? Seriously? The payment was due on Sept 1. I paid it exactly 30 days later. Please help me. I call Loan Officer back, tell him the deal and he says okay, then we just wait. super.



I call the cell phone people, have them turn my service back on, after making a payment (managed to get that taken care of before Hubby found out. Thank the LORD!). Get back to work. Manage to get some work done and then Hubby calls and is like WTF are you talking about? Why isn't the refi gonna go through? And then I have to explain the whole thing to him more than once. We get off the phone, but he's pissed. At me.



Two hours later, he calls back, much calmer, after having talked with his mom and sharing all of our business with her. Whatever. If that's what it takes to have him realize that a. this is not ALL my fault and b. he needs to accept some responsibility, then fine. Let her be all up in our shit. After we talk out the whole mortgage/bills/money thing, he starts telling me about how he wants to move the litter boxes. He wants to put them in a storage closet and put a doggy door on the door to the closet. He'll close off the back part of the closet, so that they can only get to the boxes, but not the rest of the junk in there. I didn't feel like talking about any of this, so I told him we could discuss later. Five minutes later, he sends me a text that the damn cat took another steaming shit on our bed. fuck.

I don't know what the hell is going on with that cat. He pees and poops on the furniture. This is not something new. He's been doing it for years. I don't know why. I've taken him to several vets and no one ever has any solid suggestions. Change his food. Pay more attention to him. Give him kitty valium. And my husband's suggestion...put him to sleep. Is that going to be his suggestion when his child wets the bed?

I wrote this post yesterday, at the end of a horrendous day. And then it was all put into perspective when I found out that a friend had a miscarriage over the weekend (she was about 7 weeks along). I guess that while my day was pretty darn shitty, when you look at the big picture, an unpaid bill and some poop on the bed is pretty insignificant. Here's to having a better day today.

Three Weeks

Wow...I can't believe it's been three weeks, already. It's incredible to me how quickly the time has gone by.


I guess I can say that things have gotten a bit easier. Or maybe it's just easier to push those sad thoughts to another corner of my brain while I try to get other things done. Because honestly, as soon as I think about Opa not being there, tears fill my eyes and I've got to swallow a lump the size of my ass, just to keep from breaking into sobs.


Omi called on Friday and told me that she's going to have the Memorial Service on the 25th. She asked me if I would speak at the services. I told her that I would, and through her tears, she asked me to tell some funny stories from when I was a kid. I was thinking about sharing one of our old knock knock jokes and maybe some of the tidbits that I shared in my blog the morning Daddy told me he'd passed.


I don't know if I've fully come to terms with him being gone. Since we haven't had any services, it just doesn't feel real to me. The time that I've spent at Mom & Dad's house just felt like he was at his own house, while Omi, Mom & I played dice and painted Mom's fingernails. No one talked about it. No one cried. We just went about life as if nothing had changed.

I'm really nervous about speaking at the memorial. I know that it will be good for me and for others to hear happy stories about him. But it just makes me sad that he's not there to remember those stories with us. I miss him so much...It's not like I saw him all the time. Three weeks is actually a pretty short amount of time to have gone by between visits. But the knowing that he won't be there the next time...I never truly understood what it meant to lose someone. To feel that sadness. I feel like words can't even express how much it hurts...To say I'm sad about the loss...It's so understated. I'm sad that the stupid Cubs can't pull their shit together to win a series. I'm sad that I have to spend most of my paycheck every week on bills. To say I'm sad about losing Opa? It just doesn't measure up.

I have so much shit going on in my life right now. Besides dealing with this, things at work are really up in the air. The week that Opa passed, we had people from the company that is buying from Bossman Bob in the office. They talked about employment contracts and benefits and the future of the company. They've decided to sign the 18 month employment contract for the 5 core team members. I am not a part of this core team. I also get NO sort of employment guarantee or anything. They're saying that we'll all keep our jobs, but they're unwilling to extend some kind of offer (not even an increased severance package) to the remaining three of us. They keep talking about how they want to grow the business and improve the software. How everything's going to be hunky dorey. I feel like I'd have to be an idiot to just blindly believe that everything's going to be okay for me.

So, I've been looking online for job postings. Talking to friends about openings where they work. I need to update my resume pronto. My dad is worried that I'm going to wait around and get canned and then it'll be too late. It's a gamble, ya know? On one hand, I go out looking for jobs and get an offer for a really good job, paying about the same as what I'm getting now, but I start over. I'm bottom of the barrel again. I have to learn all new tasks, get to know a whole new group of coworkers, develop a new routine. On the other hand, I could stay with my current company, and if things go well, I could end up having an important role in the development of the company. If they're serious about building up the company, it'd be good to get in early, right? There's so much more room for opportunity, that's what the core 5 team members keep telling the other three of us. But it also could go terribly wrong and I could end up laid off, with three weeks severance and then what? Unemployment until I find something that's maybe as good as what I was doing/making. Hubby's income plus unemployment is not going to be enough to cover our bills. I can't wait for that shoe to drop. I need to be proactive. I need to go out and find the next big thing. And just hope that it provides a better, more stable future for myself.

Anyway, my bad for being a little all over the place. Hope everyone's doing well. I've been a terrible blogger/blog reader lately. Sorry, ya'll. One of these days, I'll get back into the swing of things. Until then...

So...I'm on the hunt...

This week has just been a bad week. I'm ready for the weekend, already!!!

On Monday, we found out that Bossman Bob received a new offer for our company. (To catch up on the whole story, go here, here and here.) The new offer is much closer to what he was asking and it looks like he's going to take it. The three "managers" (who are really just programmers who've been here the longest) and one of the other programmers, who's been with the company for about 6 years, spent most of the day in our conference room, while JB and I worked in the office. When they came back to the office, they told us that basically we're looking at a buyout in the next 60 days or so. So, now the next step is to work with the new company on employment contracts - basically to make sure we all still have jobs. I asked one of the managers (Messy) if he thought this was going to be good or bad and he said that he thought it'd be a good thing for the company and for the software. The company that is buying us is much bigger, has more resources and has a better vision for the future.

JB was more interested in the contract negotiation, though. She asked when we'd be talking about it and Messy simply said that the "group" (the four programmers plus one more programmer who works part time) would be discussing it, but that everyone (the only remaining employees are myself, JB & one other programmer who's been here about a year) would be protected.

So, we both went about our business. Monday came and went. About halfway through Tuesday, the "group" were kind of talking in the office about benefits and whether or not they all approved of this or that. It was the kind of conversation where you know there's something not being said. So, JB went snooping. And very easily found a document that the "group" had put together. This document basically outlined our "demands". In it, the "4.5 core members" of the team would be guaranteed 18 months employment, whereas the "other 3 employees" get a 6 month contract and a chance to train for new roles.

I feel like they're throwing us under the bus. And I also feel like if JB hadn't gone snooping, we never would've known what was coming. She told me she asked one of the other managers this morning (Barbie) about what was going on and Barbie DID tell her about the 18 month/6 month variance. She said that the 5 of them have been with the company for longer and blah blah blah. JB and I have been here for 3 years, doesn't that count for something? I just feel like they're looking out for themselves and if we happen to keep our jobs in the process, that's super duper.

On one hand, if I were in their shoes, I would understand, but since it's my ass on the line, it makes me angry. And it makes me resent them for not looking out for the whole team, like they'd originally said they would. I know I've complained about my job and how I'm bored (and I am), but when it comes down to it, who wants to look for a new job in this shitty economy? Well, I do, since who knows if I'll have a job come next spring.

I called my dad last night and talked with him about the whole thing. He told me (and I was already planning) to update my resume and start looking for new jobs immediately. So, I have. I started doing some preliminary career builder searching last night. I'm going to contact my alma mater and see if they have some sort of placement assistance. It's just incredibly stressful. My dad also pointed out the fact that even though they're asking for six months for us, the buyer might say hell to the no, they get two weeks and then hasta la bye bye.

I need to think positively about the situation. A new job means new opportunities. New friends. Possibly a shorter drive to work. Maybe more moula. It's also terrifying.

By the end of the night yesterday, I was okay, though. I'd come to terms with it, I was psyching myself up about the potential goodness of this change.

Let me rewind just a second. A couple weeks ago, I posted about how I'm on this shitty ass late schedule and I hate it and couldn't wait til I could go back to my regular hours, remember? So, last night, I sent an email to the three managers, basically saying now that it's slowed down, I'd like to go back to the early hours. Messy had already left for the day, so Bouncy told me to remind them today. I send a reminder email this morning, and the response is basically that they want me to work 9-5 (or later) from here on out. WTMF???? I never wanted to work these hours. I got FUCKED because all of a sudden we need later coverage?

As much as I love JB and I'm happy for her that she's going to school and shit, it's her fault. She used to work the late shift and I had the early one. I liked it that way. I hate leaving work at six and not being able to do anything after work. I get home at 7 or later. I seriously cannot get a damn thing done working these hours. So, now that she has an unmovable schedule, I'm stuck with the shit hours. It's just bullshit. It just pissed me off to no end this morning. There's nothing I can do about it. I tried to hint to JB when I told her about it that it might be nice for her to work the late shift when she doesn't have class on T/Th, but she's got a kid at home. I can't ask her to be away from her child every night of the week. And as I'm typing those words, the other side of me wants to say it's HER choice to go to school three/four nights a week. Why do I have to sacrifice for her? Because I'm not a bitch. Because I let people walk on me. Because that's life. Suck it up and eat it.

So....Moral of this pissed off story is...If you know of anyone that's hiring in the Chicagoland area, give me a shout. I'm a smart girl; I learn quickly; I'm good with numbers and grammar. I'm a good team player. And I need a new job...Soon.

OMG...I'm dyin here...

I have one hour and 8 minutes until the bell (in my head) rings, signaling the end of the work week. Normally, I can easily pass an hour reading blogs or futzing around on Facebook or reading/sending emails. Today, there is NOTHING. No blog updates in almost two hours. No emails since this morning. And it seems everyone I know on Facebook is at the Crosstown Classic. So, it's pretty quiet over there, too. What am supposed to do for the next 66 minutes?

Work, you say? Pfft.

I'm so over that for this week.

This weekend should be fun. I need to clean some - my floors are looking kinda grungy. And the litter boxes are bad. I asked Hubby to take care of that more days ago than I care to count. I hope he cut the grass today. We put down a bunch of mulch around the trees and flower beds. Looking pretty nice, even though it's not the color that he was supposed to get. Still looks fresh. That's what matters. I guess.

Oooh..I sent some texts. And looked at FB again. Now we're down to T minus 45 42. Woo!

My hair is a big fluffy mess today. If I spray it with curl enhancer when it's wet in the am and give it a little scrunch, I get nice wavy-ish curls. Most of the time. Today, apparently I didn't put enough enhancer in. So instead of loose, wet-looking waves, I have dry, fluffy (It's really the best word to describe the state of my hair) Shirley Temple-ish curls. Not so cute on a 27 year old.

I got some AWESOMELY CUTE (not to mention inexpensive) sandals at Sears yesterday. Three pairs, $35. Today, I'm wearing brown. They've got a cute little wedge heel and topaz colored jewels on the straps. And the part that's actually touching the bottom of my foot is a fuzzy material, instead of rubber. Makes for less stinkiness later, I thinks. I got white ones that have a white, almost pleated ribbon on the straps, with a little rhinestone buckle. These two pair were marked down to $8 from $13. And the last pair is just a plain black leather (maybe pleather, given the price) flip flop, originally $30, marked down to $16. I haven't been wearing a lot of sandals this summer. Mostly because my shoes are all still packed away in some unknown location, but also because when I do anything other than socks and gym shoes, my feet and ankles swell up like the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man. And that ends up meaning sore ankles. But, at least my toes aren't hot...Right?

T minus 26. We're doing good here!

Melissa and the kids are supposed to come over on Sunday. That should be hella fun! If Hubby gets his shit together, I might have a quasi-photo studio set up by then, so we'll have a place to take some pics. And then maybe if the weather cooperates like it's supposed to, we can head over to the Forest Preserve for some more candid-type photos. Mel - would you be interested in going to the pool after pics? There's a zero depth pool, where we can take the kids (I'm sure there will be plenty of other kids there, too). If not, I'm cool with that too. Just thought I'd throw it out there. I'll have to see about visitor passes - let me know.

Okay, the boss just asked me to Proof read something for him (yeah, my grammar freak tendencies have gotten around), so if I wanna get out of here in 21 minutes, I better hop to it. Thanks for helping me kill some time, folks! :-D

True to to nature...

I'm going to do two posts in one day, one was a meme and the other, a belated Weekend Update. Good times, huh?

My weekends have been pretty quiet for the last few weeks. Hence the lack of Weekend Updates. Last weekend (the weekend of the 13th), I went out to see Steph for her 23rd bday. The plan was to hit up the local drive-in, but the weather just wasn't cooperating. So, instead, we went to the regular movie theater. We saw The Hangover. It was a pretty good flick. We sat in the third row, because the little theater was PACKED! I thought I'd be feeling nauseous or have a headache by the end, but I didn't, so that was good. Quite funny. Andy from The Office (I don't know his real name and don't really feel like going to look it up) was in the movie. HilARious! Love that guy!

This past weekend, Hubby came home from work early on Friday night...Got home at like 3am. I didn't know he was there until 5, when I was hollering at the cat and he responded. Scared the shit out of me for a second until I remembered that his vacation time started over and it was only a matter of time before he left early. I could care less, as long as he has the time. He has a bad habit of using all his vacation and personal time early in the year and then for the last six months, every time he wants a day off, or a couple hours off, he has to take no pay. Which he never seems to have a problem with. I could kick him every time.

Anyway, I went back to sleep and woke up around 7, thinking that we were going to go to Menard's to pick up some yard stuff and then work in the yard for a few hours. That never happened. Hubby didn't leave his desk chair all weekend, with the exception of a few hours when he napped and a couple potty breaks. What a turd. Saturday was just a blur. I got Culver's and TacoHell for dinner. We did not a damn thing.

Sunday, I went to visit the fam. My grandparents were there, which was nice, but they only stayed for a while. Opa wasn't feeling well and wanted to go back home. Poor guy. He starts radiation this week. I don't really have any more info, except that they did some more tests last week to determine if the cancer has spread to any organs. As far as I know, we don't have any results on that.

The rest of the afternoon/evening, I just hung out with my parents. I read to my mom for a while (who needs a book on tape/cd/mp3 when you have your own personal readers??) and then checked out my dad's Father's Day gift - a new grill. He was testing it out on me - he made ribs, red potatoes and asparagus (and showed me an awesomely easy way to grill the asparagus!!! You take a couple toothpicks and stick them through the spears, making a "boat" of sorts. Makes it way easier to turn them and you don't lose them through the grates of the grill...Good deal!). Very nice dinner with my dad. After dinner, I got back in the car - I had Hubby's - no way was I going to put up with the heat when I didn't HAVE to - and made the long journey back home. I pretty much went to bed as soon as I got home, while Hubby continued to play the game straight through the night and until noon on Monday. Seriously, that man has an addiction. Last night, though, he did comment that he needed a break from WoW. Like a whole weekend. Call me Thomas, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Not much else is going on with me. I'm bored with life in general. The future of my company is still up in the air. Bossman Bob met with the potential purchaser (we'll call him the Donald) yesterday, and while he hasn't accepted the deal yet (wasn't offered enough moula), he also didn't turn them away. He's going to mull it over for a week and get back to them. If he does decide to sell, the Donald says that he'd like to keep all of us on, but in new roles. He'd want to send the programming/development over to India and the existing programmers/developers would move to sales/support. Which made me question my own job. If the programmers, who have far more knowledge than I do, are bumped to support, where does that leave me? I mean, that's what I do now. As a tester, JB and I are the main contacts for our clients. They call us, JB and I try to work out or duplicate the problem and then we submit the issue to the programmers. If they're doing our job, where does that leave us? It's a little concerning, but, as I've said before, I feel bored. And if my job security was in question, chances are, I'd be on monster and careerbuilder faster than ... well, I dunno what. But fast.

I sent an email to a bunch of my friends, with a link to my photo blog and told them all that I'm looking for human subjects and that I'm offering my services free of charge. I have three or four pretty definite things set up, and a handful of others saying they're interested, just let 'em know when. So, I'm glad I did that. I'm a bit nervous that I won't be as good as I'm hoping, but that's the whole idea, right. Develop the portfolio. Develop the skills. And they're my friends. They've gotta at least pretend to like the photos. ;-)

Wow...This turned out to be much longer than expected. Well, there ya have it. That's most of June, so far. :-)

Belated Weekend Update

This weekend was quite nice. I already gave ya'll the lowdown on the wedding Friday night. I drove home in the pouring rain, took me nearly two hours. But it was definitely worth it.

Saturday, we did a whole bunch of nothing. I convinced Hubby to help me clean a bit. And I think I cooked dinner, though, for the life of me, I can't tell you what I did or didn't cook...Must've been really great. I made it to level 80 in WoW...This is the highest level and Hubby is definitely more excited about this than I am. He now has another 'toon' to play on. :-P Whatev. I'm so over WoW. I can't wait for Sims 3 to come out! It'll be nonstop, I tell ya!

Sunday, Hubby's Mom & her boyf were planning to come over around noon. I needed to go grocery shopping and Hubby really wanted to get a firepit, in case they stayed after dark. So we hit up the grocery store first. Man, is he like a little kid. Not that he wanted everything he saw, which is how he used to behave when we did the grocery shopping together. No, now he feels like everything I purchase is too much. He tells me I think I'm a gourmet chef. Sorry I don't like mac n cheese, frozen pizza and hot pockets for every meal, Buddy. I prefer real food...Like chicken and beef and vegetables. And God forbid if I want a couple bananas, too. Apparently THIS is why he doesn't go with me anymore. Because I like to buy food that's not processed a million times over. I do my best to ignore the 'tude and we make it out alive. BTW, I spent only $100 and this is for a week's worth of groceries. That's better than I've done in quite a while! After the grocery store, we head over to Menard's to look for the firepit. We set a budget of $150 and end up finding one for $60. We also got some tiki torches to put up near it and a couple other odds & ends. Spent less all together than we planned on spending for the firepit alone. Woohoo!

We went home, got the house all ready and waited for our guests to arrive. His mom showed up at 12:30 without boyf in tow. Turns out he had made plans to go on a ride (he's a motorcycle rider) and had forgotten about it. So whatev. We watched the Cubbies lose (they tried really hard, though!) and then I BBQ'ed. M-I-L has a charcoal grill and doesn't really know about the gas ones. Hubby has no idea how to work any grill. So, it was nice to kinda show off my grillin skills. lol We had burgers (if anyone has a good burger recipe, please pass it along. I had WAY too many onions in the mix...), dogs, corn on the cob and grilled pineapple (my mouth waters every time I think about grilled pineapple...It is one of the best tasting things on earth). Everything got eaten, so I guess it was a hit. Hubby didn't stick his nose up and MIL gave me a couple compliments, so that was nice. After cleaning up all the dishes, we played some Guitar Hero with his mom. We're both pretty out of practice, so we all sucked it up. Good times. :-)

She left around 5:30, we went for a walk and spent the rest of the night relaxing. I was exhausted! I don't know whether it was all the cleaning and cooking or if it was the walk or what, but I was out by 9:30.

Hubby's back on 3rd shift this week - and it sounds like this is going to be the end of the flip flopping. Ugh. Third really sucks, for me anyway. Positive things about third shift:

• I get the bed to myself - I can sleep sideways, if I choose to.
• I can snooze in the morning without having to worry about disrupting Hubby (the negative of this is that I turn off the alarm and sleep til 6am...Duh.)
• If he wanted to, we could have dinner together before he leaves for work.

Yeah, that's all I've got...But it's something, right? :-)

I have some sorta unsettling news, as well. On Friday, the reason that I was wearing a skirt was that the programmers were giving a demo of our product to a gentleman who works for another software company. There is potential that he could do marketing for our product to the European market, which could be great for our company. However, the programmers that I work with are a bit leary about this, as another option is that they could be interested in buying us out. And honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if the big Boss decided that was the route he wanted to take. He's all about the bottom line - and for him, it's all about the money. If he can see better potential with a buyout, I would imagine he'd have no hesitation.

So, let's just say he does sell. Where does that leave me? One of the "managers" that I work with seems to think that if Big Boss sold out, he'd be loyal to us. As in, part of the sale/contract would be that they keep all of us on for five years, or something like that. I can't imagine, even if that did happen, that it'd be a good situation to be in. So...this leads me to the question of where would I go? What would I do? Do I look for another job testing software? Do I look for a job that's related to accounting? Do I try to find something related to my degree, which was in business administration? Do I fall back on what's easy and familiar, and I have connections - retail? Or do I sit down and think long and hard about what I want to do? What could I be passionate about? What would I enjoy doing every day and be excited about doing? If you asked me right now what my dream job would be, I couldn't answer you. Teacher? Hair stylist? Chef? Event planner? Computer programmer? Software tester? I'm sure I have no idea...

If you were given the opportunity to start anew, in terms of your career, what would you do?