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Showing posts from 2006

Glue, part two

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Well, sometimes the glue isn't enough, then again... I wish I had the pics to post, but I think my camera was left behind in Bob's hotel room. Bob just called to confirm this. We went down to Sarasota last night and saw two more of our oldest and dearest friends. I met Bob (or Bawb, as he's typically addressed) the first day on campus at my alma mater. He now lives in California and is married. The last time we met up in person, to the closest any of us can recall, is 1998. He was about to move to California for a new job and Ed and I were about to purchase our first home together. While the miles between us were many, the phone calls kept us in touch. It's nice to note that even though we hadn't seen each other in years, last night felt like it'd only been a week since we last hung out at one of our Long Island haunts. Donna had ventured down from Jacksonville, and it was a miniature WHPC reunion. The two of them had noticed a greek restaurant o

Merry Christmas

Santa has arrived at our house, and in a few hours the kids will be happy to find the things they've asked for under the tree. This year, though, they'll find a letter from Santa. He's told them that the elves were really busy and the computer parts will be shipped to Daddy to put it together for them. Heck, they've watched him put together computers before and so this probably won't seem that strange. Everybody wins, too, they don't get a machine loaded with crap they don't need and a huge hard drive. In other news, my freaking leg is driving me nuts. The ointment works well, but it feels like I'm pouring sulfuric acid on my leg each time I use it. The ulcers are gettng much better, so I suppose the pain is a small price to pay to have a healthy leg. Our Christmas Day will be spent at the inlaws, consuming smoked turkey and vegging. Curious to see how well Williams Sonoma smokes a turkey-I usually hate smoked meats. We're bringing sides and d

Merry Christmas from the state of Florida!

We got something in the mail that beats any present money could buy. The state of Florida has determined that Gameboy is eligible for Medicaid. This is a huge relief, as we can now get more services for him. The social skills therapy that three psychiatrists have recommended and we've been all for since the initial diagnosis, for one. We can get him occupational therapies as well. This means that the financial hell that we've experienced will slowly get better. No one really wants to hear of anyone's money woes, but folks, we were there at the bottom of the barrel. At one point, I was seriously ready to sell my car and get a junker to pay for those meds that make his ability to function possible. I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am-it is the thing I wanted the most this year. The letter is just the beginning-and the adventure ahead in learning what I have to do to get the child what he needs is going to be interesting! A bottle of champagne is in order,

On the mend

Back to the Vascular group today. Nurse M looked at my leg and likes the improvement. She did some debridement-not fun. I got woozy and felt like I was going to pass out, but fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Now I've got some festive green ointment that seals the wounds and pulls out more of the crud. Still hurts like the dickens, but I can see how much better it has gotten in the week since I last saw her. She concurred with Kathi, that I need to take the Vicodin on a regular basis for now and not just when I'm in excruciating pain. The swelling has gone down enough so that I was able to get the compression stocking back on the foot. Woohoo. I also got my professional crocs and I must say, they look pretty good with a pair of dress pants. A note to any of you considering the crocs-the professionals probably have the narrowest fit of any of the styles they carry. If I didn't have the swollen foot, I would love this fact. Back to have a foll

The Wedding Weekend

I promised I would write about the wedding. :) It's December, so of course, I had to work Saturday. I worked until noon, then headed home to find Ed and the boys packed and my dress ready to go. I just had to throw a few things into the bags and we would be on our way. We did have to head back to the house because we forgot meds for oldest son. We had reservations for one night at our favorite resort, the Polynesian, as we couldn't get two nights at anything but a Deluxe resort(thanks to hectic retail schedule, I didn't make reservations early enough). However, reservations made through CRO have a 48 hour cancellation window. On the way there, I called CRO and found a room at Port Orleans Riverside for two nights. That worked-the rooms sleep 5. Jane was kind enough to watch the boys through all these events-otherwise, we wouldn't have been able to go. We were told to meet at the Poly for the bus to the dessert party, so we headed over a little early to view the

Glue

Sometimes, I'm tired of being the glue. You wonder what that is? It's when you're the only thing keeping something together. When the ex and I still lived in New York, it was basically me being the 'cruise director' and coordinating all the activities our group of friends did and keeping things together. Once I moved to Maryland, it was frequent phone calls back to NY-but the calls were reciprocal. The difference was, my phone bill would be triple or quadruple anyone elses. I was glad for this-it was part of being the glue. The ex and I split, jobs changed, but through the years, I've picked up friends along the way and lost far too many of them that I wish were still in my life. As much as I hate AOL, I have to thank them for Instant Messenger, because it's how I maintain being the glue with a few friends who I don't even have phone numbers for (paging Dave, Jeff and Russ-this means you!). To an extent, the blog has some glue like properties, be

Update to owwwwww

I'm back from my doctor's visit and still in pain, but this is the upshot: 1. I got to see the two nurse practitioners instead of Dr. S (Halleluiah!). The one nurse has pretty much seen me since I moved to Florida as she was involved in the first Doppler they did on my leg in July '04. Seems the wounds are getting worse because there is an underlying infection (who ever though that the capris I was living in prevented infection?). 2. We discussed the what and why and then they went to consult with Dr. S and Dr. J happened to be on the floor (in between surgeries-Thursday is his OR day). Both docs suggested debridement, while Nurse M thought moist dressing and then an Unna Boot once the infection is gone. Nurse A concurred, and both nurses came to me with the treatment options. I told Nurse M that I'd called my sister (nursing student) when I couldn't get in to see them, triaged and asked what SHE would do if I were her patient and sis suggested moist dressing,

Owwwwwww

As I write this, it's 3:32am and I can't sleep. Why? Because my vascular issues in my leg have gotten so bad that I have resorted to taking the painkillers left over from my last surgery. Unfortunately, I took the last one last night-and I had no idea that it had gotten this bad in the two weeks that I'd started taking them. I think I fell asleep at 11:30 and was up at 12:05. The best description I can come up with is that my lower leg stings as if I've gotten severe road rash. In addition, there's the sporadic stabbing pain-this is what prevents me from sleep tonight. I'm dealing with a double edged sword. If I wear my compression stocking, it adheres to the scabs on my ankle. This means excruciating pain when I take the stocking off (more intense pain than the stinging and stabbing), but by not wearing them, the sores on the leg are worse. Yes, I know it's gross. My friends, you know that if I'm to the point that I'm taking the damn painki

Will he ever get it?

The frustrations of Asperger's Syndrome: Imagine if you will, a child with genius intelligence. This child can read at nearly college level and has amazing recall abilities. However, this 1o year old acts emotionally on the level of an 18 month old-temper tantrums and all. He's stubborn, willful and wants everything HIS way. Never mind the fact that all the adults in his life tell him he has to do XYZ, he wants to do ABC. Rewards to encourage good behavior don't work-you give him an inch, he wants a mile. Punishment to discourage poor behavior doesn't work, either-he continues to be bad because he can't get his way. I just got back from a visit to the school for something unrelated, but of course, my child is in the principal's office for shoving another student in his class after a morning of bad behavior. A child who must use a walker to get around. The principal and teacher are on the same page with me and Ed and said he wanted to call the sheriff

Trial by Fire

What is the craziest time of year to start a new job in retail? Yep, last week. :) New job is going extremely well. The first couple of days, I was worried that it's not nearly as hectic as what I'm used to, but the past couple of days have more than made up for it. I'm picking up extremely fast. Boss is rather impressed and keeps complimenting me. You all know me, that's not good enough-I want to be the 'answer lady' again and the sooner, the better. I learn best by doing, and this is the perfect time to accomplish that. As good as Disney's benefits package was, this company is better. Granted, no free park admissions (wah), but the rest of it is NOT bad. More personal days each year, more vacation time starting in year 5 and sick time that rolls over each year. My coworkers are a great bunch. Head boss is very honest and refreshing. If I suck at something, she won't lie-I like that. The rest of the management team good to work with-lots of c

It's Over

Well, I'm officially unemployed for another 24 hours. The last two days were sheer hell and kinda reinforced the fact that I'm making the right move. One of the owners was asked to come over and help us out on Friday. He was asked to come wash dishes because we had a session of 8 and we were overbooked and had a group of 15 in the later session. To give you an idea, we always run with two employees and a dishwasher when we've got more than 5 guests, and we run with three employees and a dishwasher for 10 and up. Well, he would be the dishwasher to me and one employee. Did he wash any dishes? No Did he clean any of the tables? No again Did he help in ANY way? That would be no. Instead of boring you with all the details, suffice to say that I got so mad that I ended up dropping 4 F bombs in venting to another employee. Yes, 4! That's 3 more than ever gets said, and at that, I maybe use that word once a year (probably less). I think I scared the rest of the staff,

Tally

Hotel room for 2 nights $160.00 Hotel room for the babysitter for 2 nights $160.00 (thank you, Jane!) Tickets for the boys so they can go with babysitters into WDW $205 Watching two friends get married at the Happiest Place on Earth -PRICELESS! :) (oh yeah, since I seem to have become a bawling mess lately, I suppose I should spring the 2 bucks for a box of tissues, too)

The joys of no insurance...

Last night, I'm at work and it is B! U! S! Y! The cell phone starts ringing, and it's Ed. Uh Oh. Seems small child decided to put an eraser in his ear at school and doesn't bother to tell Dad until bedtime. He was afraid he'd get grounded. Ed looked, and sure enough, there was one-which couldn't be removed with tweezers. Argh. I kept small child home this morning, with the plan that I'd take him to our doctor as soon as they opened. Well, that means 10am on Thursdays. Promptly at 10:00, I call. No appointments until 3:45. The receptionist cautions me that they may not be able to do anything, either. If so, they'll send us to the pediatric ER. Lovely. Small child has been bugging me for weeks to pick up Lego Star Wars for the Game Cube, because it's cool on the small GBA screen, imagine 13" of it. Alas, I had to inform him that today's doctor's visit will cost far more than the game does. Also had to inform him that an ER visit

Good news and so so news

I went into the new job yesterday to get the new hire paperwork out of the way. I got a tour of the stockrooms (clean, yes, organized, not so much) and watched a dvd on one of the product lines. Met the new Assistant Manager, and it looks like the team is a good fit. At least we're all into wines, lol! The good news is that the insurance starts on my first day. Yippee!!!! Most retailers that offer it make you wait until 30 or 60 days have passed, so this is a relief for us. I found out that they interviewed 27(!!) people before hiring me and AM. My coworkers and guests have been so sweet the past week. I've been telling the regulars where I'm going and why and it's been good. However, the owner has been rather cold and aloof (nearly rude) to me since I've given notice. She knows *why* I'm leaving and that it's not anything against them in any way, but the cold shoulder continues. Typical me, I'm being my usual self with her, doing everything

Yes, it's really happening

I'm still in a funk, but starting to feel good about the job move. My coworkers, as expected, are making me cry with the kind words. I have to be careful, lest their words make my head so big that I can't get out the door. I've heard the opinion more than once that maybe I'll be asked to come back. Dunno, just going to take it one day at a time. Maybe this is a good thing. Ed'll probably leave as well, and perhaps that means he'll get a career-type job again. A source of frustration for me has been seeing others get everything for their homes that I've wanted but can't afford in the current situation. It bothers me when I talk about my ideas for decorating or improvements and next thing I know, it's staring me in the face-at someone else's house! Yes, the eyes DO turn green sometimes. However, something I'm not jealous about: Tim and Joyce have welcomed their third child and second daughter on Tuesday. I'm very happy for th

Changes

Today, I made a very hard decision... I accepted a management position with a different employer. It's breaking my heart. The current job makes me happy. I really love the interaction with the guest and what the company stands for. Unfortunately, the business hasn't built up as quickly as we'd all hoped, and it's killing me financially. That, coupled with the fact that son's meds cost us 1300 bucks a month made this a neccessary change. That said, I'm going back into retail. Not back to the mouse, someplace different. The company I'm going to is one that I've enjoyed shopping in and has been around for years. Yes, I am insane for going back into retail the week before Thanksgiving, but I'll be fine. They're fine with the fact that having Tuesday nights off is sacrosanct. The store runs with SEVEN managers-what an alien concept-so managers work every third Sunday. The hardest part? Leaving the wonderful assistant manager and team I'v

Last day in California

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Grrr, fargin Blogger. I lost the Hollywierd entry and everything else is out of order. I need to take some time to fix it-but it's really ticked me off, hence the delay in posting the rest of the trip report! Day six-we'd originally planned to head back into LA and find Pinks, Tail of the Pup and look for some of the LA landmarks we'd heard about. However, the venture into Hollywood made us realize that it wouldn't be all that great, so we went to plan B. A goal for the trip was to dip our toes into the Pacific. We live near the Gulf, we'd grown up near the Atlantic, so to travel 3000 miles and not do it would be dumb. After vegging in the room (which now would cost 70 bucks tonight, woohoo!), we decide to head west on Harbor Blvd. Suburban Orange county is much like LI, and similar to Florida as well. It's like LI in that towns merge into one another without any clear indication that you've entered the next one. It's like Florida in the sense th

Day Three-California Adventure

Day Three-California Adventure We get down to the lobby and hop on the free shuttle over to Disney. The shuttle takes 10 minutes, and we’re at the entrance before the 10am opening. Today’s plan is visit California Adventure, as the hours don’t alter from 10-6 at all this week, but Disneyland will have later hours Friday and Saturday. Our first order of business, after entering the gates and having our pictures taken, is to get something to eat. I split a cinnamon roll with older son and Ed and younger both get rice krispy treats. What the heck, it IS cereal! The shop was rather cool-the façade looked like a train. Next stop was Condor Flats, where we walk onto Soarin’ over California. The ride itself is identical to WDW’s, but the queing area is themed differently-more like an old time airplane hangar. The orange smell is different, which Ed and I figure may be due to an attempt to make them more like the local orange groves. Florida’s smells more like

Day Five-Disneyland

At last, the Disneyland blog! I’ve wanted to walk through those gates since I was very small. Getting to the West Coast was not to happen, and we’ve been quite happy to visit WDW on a fairly regular basis. As much as we love Da World, we still wanted to walk in the park Walt walked in. Friday was a perfectly sunny day, and we made our way down to the hotel shuttle for the four block ride. When we got through the bag check and the gates, there was a band playing in front of the train station. Walking through the tunnel, it was familiar-but different. I love the fact that DL is chockablock with mature trees, so even in the heat of summer, this park has ample shade. We hopped aboard the train and found the most hyper conductor you could ever find. Kat was her name, and boy, she was more jazzed than Stitch. It was mildly humorous to watch this person who makes me seem like I’m on tranquilizers. The train ride was different, we really traveled back in time.

Day Two

The nice thing about vacationing three hours further west is that you can feel like you’re sleeping in, while in reality, you’re up at a normal time. We got up around 7 and went and got breakfast. I have to say that the free expanded continental breakfast was good. The waffles were filling. To avoid traffic, we got on the road at nine. However, this IS California, and we encountered some traffic. We got to the zoo just before 10am. The internet is our friend, we had $8.00 off coupons-seems others had $3.00 off coupons they wanted to give us. We start our day by taking the bus tour around the zoo. It was pretty comprehensive and shows us that the exhibits were built into the landscaping, rather than the other way around. The zoo is quite hilly, something we’re not used to anymore after living in Florida for a couple of years. Once we’re done with the 35 minute bus tour, we get off the bus and our first order of business is to go see the koalas! They

Day One

Legoland was the first stop on our west coast journey. After a nice breakfast at the hotel, we drove three miles to the park. We're so conditioned to WDW that at 10 minutes prior to park opening, we were shocked that the parking lot was nearly empty! The next shock was paying for the tickets. We lost the free tickets for the boys in the debris moved from our old office in the house to its temporary home. Ouch. I'm sure they'll be found within a day of getting back to Florida-100 bucks that won't be recovered! However, the park was quite pleasant. The boys are the perfect age for this-another two years and I think they'd have scoffed at the rides. The Lego sculptures and art were impressive. We were able to do the whole park in the 7 hours that it was open, as one section was geared towards preschoolers. After leaving the park, we continued on Cannon avenue to the Pacific. Yep, we're that close. We took a drive down PCH for about 10 miles and got some

We're in CALIFORNIA!!!!!

After several false starts, rebooking penalties from Delta and disappointed parents and kids, we finally are in California! I sit in our hotel room, by my watch its 4am and can't believe that we are here. Flight was fine-rental is even better. We'd reserved a Dodge Magnum, but ended up with a Charger instead. It's nice, rides great. It's been a very long day, but the midnight snack (well, local time anyway) was In and Out Double Doubles. OMG, these are the best chain burger ever. The fries are delish, too. Only thing that could have made the meal better was a frosty brew. Tomorrow: Legoland. Signing off from the land of fruits and nuts...

Four days to go!

It's a go. We are FINALLY taking our trip to California. When this was first planned, I was an ASM with Disney Store and we'd get into Disneyland for free. Alas, we'll be paying A LOT to go now, but WE'RE GOING!!!! This morning's agenda is to find cheap rental car, but I think I've got that covered. Next up, figuring out how much it's going to cost to get to the airport. Our airport charges 11 bucks a day for parking, let's see if we can get four of us to the airport and back for less than 100 bucks. Three reschedules thanks in part to the DM who approved the vacation, then was beholden to the new ASM at my store who said 'he couldn't work without me'. If that hadn't happened, we would have seen the park Walt walked in 18 months ago. The car still smells like epoxy. I think I need to put an air freshener in it while we're out of town. Florida primaries yesterday. Fortunately, one of the morons running for governor was creame

Grrrr!

Lots to be annoyed about, let's see what you think. First up, I paid the phone/cable/internet bill online on August 3rd. All of the info is saved into my online profile, so I know it's correct. Funds were in the account (with plenty to spare at that time). I get a confirmation email that they received the payment, but they never deduct it from my account. This week, internet is shut off-they say they never received payment. I look it up (love online banking) and see that they never took the money. Hmmmm. I call and spend two hours in hold hell, transferred to another person hell, getting people who don't understand why I got transferred to them hell and then back to the original department hell. I spend 1.5 hours on the phone, only to get disconnected. Call back and start over. I vent my spleen at the first person, then apologize. I'm transferred AGAIN, and I tell that woman from the get go why I'm being such a bitcch. She's good, she takes my cell n

Update

Seems I have a back door in, so I'm taking advantage of it. I can't get to the dashboard, but I'm not worrying about it . The car: The dealer had it for two weeks. The check engine light came on after changing out myriad fuses. Ultimately, the gas tank and evaporator cylinder were replaced. I got the car back and returned the Nissan (still don't like them). The SA told me they filled the tank, but when I started up the car, it said 1/3 full. Hmmmm. I drive it for three days and the gas gauge barely moves, even with me driving 150 miles. We fill it-and it only takes 4 gallons. Back to the dealer, where the float for the gas tank is replaced. When I got the car after spending two weeks at the dealer, it had the shop smell. Now, it reeks of gasoline. Ew. The kids: We started scouting off with a bang. At the first meeting, we were invited to a picnic that Saturday. Ed and the boys went and won tickets to a ball game the next day. Sunday was spent at the b

Fargin blogger!

I haven't neglected the blog, more like Blogger hasn't allowed me to post! They seem to have a glitch in the system. I'd decided to add a blog for Ed and I to post opinions of wines we've tasted and food critiques. The first 'name' I chose was shot down-try again. So I did, and surprise, I found two blogs with the two names I chose. hmmm. Ever since, I haven't been able to access. I get the darn 'unknown error' message. Blogger sent a list of not so helpful links that don't quite address my issue (nor is it a *known* problem). I did blog an entry into Word two weeks ago, and if this is successful, I'll post that shortly. It's mighty frustrating to not have my writing outlet. Meanwhile, let me see if I can delete the rogue (possibly duplicate) blog address and post *something* to this thing!

trying to access this sucks

Well, Blogger appears to be unable to allow a user to have multiple blogs. I haven't been able to sign in since I created the second blog. I keep getting error messages when I try. Cutting and pasting the blog entry that I had to write in word: Blogger’s down. I’ve been trying to blog for a week with no success. Added a blog, which Ed and I will team on. It’s called yum, and you can find it at www.wineiacs.blogspot.com . So far, it’s only got the first post because of the blogger issues and Ed’s not on it-but that will change. Car is in the shop-again. Got it back and within 24 hours, the check engine light was on. I called the dealer and brought it back the next morning. Friday, still not fixed and the service advisor and I talked in the afternoon. Luis said it’s just a sensor, it will be fine to drive up to Jacksonville. Well, sometime between that conversation and Ed coming to get me to take me over there, Luis appealed to the boss to get me a rental

The car, part two

Here I am, at the dealership. Love the WiFi access, makes the wait tolerable. So, when last I reported, the appointment was made to bring the car in this morning. I went out to the car, loaded the kids and my junk in and turned the key. clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclick. Oh, crud. Call the dealer, then call Roadside Assistance-the towing company was the weak link here. They were called at 10:15, VW called me back to say 1.5 hours. Fifteen minutes past the appointed time, VW calls back. They call the tow company, who says 15 more minutes. VW calls me back at 15 minutes-more like 30. The driver told me he'd only had one tow all morning. Scratch them off the thank you card list. Now I know it's gotta be a warranty repair! Phew!

Da Car

I though I'd blogged about the car. Two weeks ago, I went into the store on my day off to do some organizing. Ed and I walked out to get lunch and we discovered a SCREW (no, a nail's not enough) in one of my tires. Off to VW to get it replaced. If you live in these parts, you *MUST* get the tire warranty with a new car, it is sooooo worth it. This is the third time a nail/screw has been in a tire in two years. Weeeeeellll, I decided it was time for a tune up, so I told our intrepid service advisor to go ahead. Not cheap, but it's especially important in times of high gas prices to not suck up more of the liquid gold than neccessary. Alas, I got a call that the rest of my tires were at 3/32" and I should replace them, too. (See above about tire warranty-this is the tire shredding part of the state). Total spent on the car was almost a grand. So I got myself tires for my birthday. Apparently, the car likes attention from the dealer. The check engine light came

The big 40

Hello, from the decade that starts with 4. Everyone makes such a big deal about it, but I still feel like I'm in my 20's. Without the drama. The milestone birthdays usually incite a person to take stock of their life. I suppose that's why this one isn't a big deal. It's because I've got two reasonably healthy kids, a good husband (good at driving me crazy most of the time-but I knew that going in, lol), a job I enjoy, a nice house and a car to drive. I live far away from the annoying relations, but too far away from the sister and her family that I'd prefer live in the next town. I guess that means I'm in good shape for the next milestone birthday. I need to get some traveling in before then!

1-20-09

Saw a woman wearing a black t-shirt today with that date across it. Knowing that Tampa will be hosting the Super Bowl in '09, I asked if the shirt is to recognize that event. Nope, she said. It's to remind herself that the world will be free of George Bush on that day. Too funny!

Curve balls

Well, I thought that we'd be giving day care two weeks notice yesterday. Once the kids start school, we'd be able to juggle the work schedules such that care was no longer needed. However, an event occurred that brought her to the decision to surrender her license. While I understand the reason, it still is sad to see her no longer in the business. She revolved herself, her homes and her free time around making sure she had everything for 'her kids'. Mom's been on my mind a lot lately. Some days, the hurt is really fresh (and a comment on the DIS today just drove it home, but in a good way). Others, I just can smile at something that reminds me of her. She's making her presence known here and there-what I would love for a private audience with John Edward. I know that she'd be telling him lots of stuff! Little man's had the extended birthday. He got his present on the actual day (Thursday), Carvel cake tonight and spending the day at Sea World

Yes, I've been busy

A friend IMed yesterday and commented that I haven't updated lately, so here's the quick version of the past two weeks: The weekend of the 4th was spent in the company of Donna (yay!) and she is now graced with a laptop. We just need to head up to her neck of the woods sometime soon to finesse some stuff. It was great having three days in a row off, but I spent the next four working 56 hours, including two 16 1/2 hour days. TIRED does not even begin to cover it. Boss lady says no more stretches, so after this week's schedule, they're over, woohoo! This past Sunday marked the anniversary of Nancy's passing. The clan spent the day together at the zoo-felt right to do something together. Little man's b'day is today. This is the first year he's really going on the countdown. Other news: probability that he's got an issue with colorblindness. Same as my dad, trouble with brown. We'll get that evaluated soon. New meds for bigger kid. Cross yo

We have liftoff...

For the first time, I witnessed a shuttle launch without watching it on TV. Kennedy Space Center is 120 miles northeast of us. We stood in the back yard and watched the speck on the perfectly blue sky until it disappeared into the blue. All that could be seen within 15 seconds was the contrail marking where it had been. Wow.

Channelling Bob Pucci

Who is Bob Pucci? He was the marketing teacher in my high school. He also is/was extremely short-shorter than me. The man wore shoes with 4" lifts every day (and polyester disco type shirts, long after disco died). Well, I picked up my orthotics Thursday and put them in my shoes. Instantly, I was more than an inch taller and thought to myself "this must be what Bob Pucci felt like". You know, you're in the kichen, getting something out of a drawer, and things are lower than you remember. Can you imagine being a guy who is shorter than me?

Pixar does it again

We went to see Cars today. Pixar is a refreshing company, in that each movie they do, they challenge themselves to break down another wall in animation. This time, they animated landscapes that looked like they had been filmed. It was easy to lose oneself in the notion that it'd been filmed in the buttes out west (a la Dinosaur, the Disney CG/film blend movie from 2000). Nope. Storyline was similar to another movie in the 80's, but done with a fresh spin. There was plenty of humor for adults and kids, too. If you're a pixar fan, keep your eyes open for lots of visuals that harken to previous films. The credits succeeded in making me tear up. The movie was dedicated to Joe Ranft, one of the innovators of Pixar who died in a car wreck last year. Apropos, as this was their best movie yet.

Plantar Fascist

The foot hurts again. Bad. It must be the granite floors at work, easily the hardest substance I've spent time standing on. I'm finally picking up the orthotics that I was fitted for the beginning of March. I'll say one thing for the Crocs, they definitely worked. However in the war of flooring, the score now stands Granite 1, Crocs 0.

Father's days and phone calls

So, father's day I called my stepdad. We had a nice, but brief phone conversation. It's always a trip to talk to him-we have very different views on life, yet we find a lot of common ground. Monday morning, my phone rings. It's my stepdad. "Did you call me?" Yeah, last night. "Oh, I was outside and when I came back in, the caller id was blinking". We ended up talking for a half an hour, mainly about the new job (me) and the house cleaning and preparations to eventually move (him). It hit me today that this seems to happen every time I call him-I get a call the next day and then we have the *real* conversations that go beyond the pleasantries. We moved down here, with the thought that we didn't want to live so close to Mom and Bill, to give all of us space. Now I feel bad that he's by himself and we're 45 minutes away. It's just a little too far out of his comfort zone to drive and our hectic schedule always interferes in getting

Ponderings on the Electoral College

I know, you're expecting an update of the busy week that has passed. Instead, we consider the Electoral College. What can I say, a phone conversation last night made me think that we should send the Electoral College to Iraq. Do you think the wonks in Washington might take what's happening over there seriously if their butts were on the line? Then we wondered what the admission policies were? How do you get in? Is it a party school? What kind of degree do you get? I ventured Stupidity (since the college has no real correllation to the popular vote). Ed says one gets a Vestigial degree. How many years does it take to get a degree from the Electoral College if you only convene once every four years? (Yes, I am officially out of the loop here....Florida is not a bastion of political awareness, folks)

Alberto

The first named storm of the season was greeted in the Suzanne household with relief. We haven't had much rain since early February (I think a total of .75 inches total accumulation). The state has been hammered with forest fires. It had been just too damn dry. My elation at rain (if you could call it that) has turned to annoyance. The refrigeration guys were to work on the fridge and freezer at the store today. Our compressors are on the roof. The roof that is getting a good, steady rain. So much for the refrigeration guys working on the units today or tomorrow! So yay rain, boo rain!

What a busy week!

The recap of my busy week: Monday: finish calling all the people on our waiting lists. Play with website by placing the June and July sessions on our calendar. Tuesday: Go to the local job development office to place an order for dishwashers. God, I wish it were that easy! We now appear on their website and hope for the best. Tomorrow's to do list includes scouring the local restaurants to see if they've got anyone looking for more hours that they can't provide. Wednesday: FIOS! Fielded lots of calls for work, and felt like reservations east. So it wasn't a day at work, but I did work throughout the day. Kinda removed the guilt that I was taking a day during crunch time! Thursday: We assembled shelving units at the store and did a lot of cleaning. By the end of the day, things started to look like something resembling our other location. Friday: A very looooooong day. cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more. At the end of the (12 hour) day, we looked like a bu

Delivery day!

Today's jam packed with stuff, though the majority is not work related. Haverty's was to make their third attempt on the table. The first two were damaged, and the third time was the charm. We now have a closed table in the dining room, rather than the 6x6 fully opened table. It arrived at 7:40 (window was 8:15-11:15) Verizon called yesterday to bump up their window. I only got it as a message, so they called again this morning at 8:30. Could they come early? Heck, yeah! Tech got here around 9:30. I made the decision to make the guy's life easier. The original plan called for cable in son's room, I decided that instead we'd use the coax jack in the master bedroom. I'm not one for TV in the bedroom-but this prevents older son from sneaking into his brother's room at 4am for some cartoons. He wouldn't dare do that in our room, and we can hear anything going on in the living room from our room. Shut down that possibility. Now that we've d

Woohoo!

I spent most of today scheduling my store calendar for June and July. It's something of a rush to go check out the website and see people have made reservations. Tomorrow is the calm before the storm, unless our shelving has shown up. Then I'll have the task of assembling shelves, retail units, the reception desk. It'll be just like working at Monkey Wards and putting all the computer desks together. I spoke with the client that scheduled the very first private party on opening day. We joked that we need to have some champagne. I agreed, so damn it, I'm bringing champagne! :D I'm thinking a nice Mimosa or Bellini cocktail for the first people! Adrenaline is my friend right now.

My, how the emails pile up

I'm in the beginning of a very time consuming task. My company email is currently web based. Call me crazy, but I prefer the web based accounts and abhor MS Outlook (great way to get viruses, imho). The new website has email integrated, so we're dumping the other email provider (we like them, but the developers for the new site include hosting and email). Well, that means I need to port the mail over and sort through all the stuff I was too lazy to file appropriately as soon as they'd been read. Plus with the store opening just around the corner, I need to email all those people who emailed us with "when are you opening?" questions. I've been on the system since April 3rd and I have a scary amount of emails already. The current web host for the email is pretty good-I can toggle the whole page of messages and then get a digest form of all the mail. Saves me sifting through 325 emails, one by one. It'd be nice to sit on the lanai and do this on the laptop, b

Crunch time

Okay, so you don't get any phone calls, the next few weeks, if I don't get you while I'm driving in my car, I won't talk to you. Don't take it personally. Well, if you want to take it personally, go ahead. (Heck, I've done a lot of that the past week myself) We open in two weeks. Staffing is moving along nicely, I've been extremely fortunate that some incredible people have applied. We'll have a very good blend-students, retirees, a teacher. My challenge is to find dishwashers. One thing in our favor is that we pay much better than many other businesses in our area. Then you add in the employee perks and it makes for some very happy people. (I love staffing and scheduling, so I'm in my glory right now) I want to post a picture of my 'executive desk' and may do so tomorrow. I'm using a 5 gallon paint bucket for the laptop, another for my planner and sitting in a seat taken out of the boss's Toyota minivan. Nothing but the be

Anticipation

I had a three day weekend. In my previous life in retail, they were as rare as gold to come by. Yes, I did get six holidays a year, but frequently that involved working the Sunday or Monday of the weekend, sometimes all three days. I'd get the extra days off while Ed was working and kids were in school. Such is the world of management. So I greatly anticipated this past weekend. Three glorious days off-friends down from NY, others from New Jersey, possibly activities to do. We did see the friends from NY on Saturday, but the rest of the weekend? Totally and utterly wasted. I did get a call from the NJ friends, however, I knew that inflicting my pissy mood that inspired the previous post on them would *not* be a good idea. We stayed home. Donna was in the same boat. We'd invited her down, she had a friend talk of coming up there, so we took a raincheck. They had dinner together Saturday night, and that was the extent of her companionship for the three day weekend.

Life

In life, friendships seem to change and evolve. Some people grow closer as events happen, some drift apart. I've been fortunate to have a core group of friends for around twenty years now. A few of these friends have been around since my gawky, gangly teenage days, some from college and some were assimilated from work. As we've gotten older, life events have changed the relationships. Ed and I were the first to have kids, so we weren't as 'pick up and go'. Other friends have caught up on the child front, my sister as well, and those relationships seemed to grow stronger because we'd already walked a mile in those shoes. Some friends call more, some call less. One right now has a chaotic work and test schedule, so I make the effort to call her, knowing full well that times will change and she'll pick up the phone more often when life allows. In some cases, I get the lightbulb moment that I never get phone calls-I'm the one doing all the calling a

Ikea is coming, Ikea is coming!

Friends are at WDW this week, and we went over to property again for dinner last night. During the dinner conversation, we discovered that there was news this week that Ikea is coming to Orlando. Woohoo! Easy access to I4, too. Okay, one down. Do you think maybe Wegmans can be convinced that Florida stores would go over well? :)

Fluff and stuff, or I bought People magazine again

I admit it, I am a People magazine addict. It's my guilty pleasure-junk food for the brain. Now that I've perused most of it (it's probably good for an hour's reading time), I ask: Where is the picture of Tom and Katie's baby? I don't think she really exists-and why did they name her after a Lemur in Disney's Dinosaur? Do they still produce celebrity Death Match? It'd be kinda funny to see Denise Richards get clobbered by Heather Locklear! Is Chris Knight marrying the girl who was swooning for him on "The Surreal Life"? Is Star Jones whatsherface off the View or not? I've only seen this show in doctor's office waiting rooms and found the woman to be unbelievably annoying and full of herself. I thought she was kicked out because Rosie was joining, but People says she *may* be out. LOL You all know how little tv I actually choose to watch, so I find it weird that this stuff is so fascinating. That said, I'm glad the guy fr

The sidebar stuff...

So, the sidebar thingies? The quiz results? I added them a WEEK ago and they did not show up. Now, I have blogged three times and they finally appear. Weird.

This Sunday thing...

It's very cool having every Sunday off. We get to actually DO stuff, instead of trying to figure out "well, it's *supposed* to be my weekend off, but we've got a floor move, so whatever we do has to be finished by 5pm" type garbage. Sometimes, this mean we will do positively jack, but at least I was off for it. Yesterday was good. Bagels, then a Costco run. We needed detergent and minced garlic. This house would cease to function without the minced garlic and the 32 oz jar? It probably lasts two months. The 4 oz jars from the supermarket wouldn't make it a week with the way we use it, lol. Then we headed over to the inlaws and Ed installed a video card. It was nice to veg for a while. Finally, friends drove down to WDW from NY and we went over and met with them. We had a nice evening together, and made plans to go back over before they leave on Sunday. Poor Ed was not thinking and had a couple of bowls of chili at dinner. I'm sure he's havi

Haverty's

We bought a table last year that I went gaga over. Ed will be the first to tell you, I do not go nuts over furniture. I've got my likes, my dislikes (half the time, they're the polar opposite of my other half) and the "eew, you want THAT in your house". Last winter, we'd gone to several furniture stores. The saleslady at Haverty's, Jean, led us through the entire store. She listened to what we wanted and showed us this great Arts and Crafts inspired dining room suite (sweet, not suit-grrr Hagerstown flashback there). Then she took us clear across the store to another set they'd just received. She was never pushy and was great at finding what we said we wanted. I went gaga. I started GUSHING about a piece of furniture. It's counter height and has a parquet style inlay, Arts and Crafts feel to it. I had to have it. We subsequently joined Direct Buy and I said I was still buying that table. I wanted one that would seat 8, because the possibili

Happy news for friends

About a year ago or so, a very good friend (who reads this, btw) started in with "I want another one", as in she wanted to have her third child. Me, with my thoughts that kids should not outnumber the parental units, did all that I could to talk her out of it. Then someone came up with a philosophical question about the issue of "should we have another?" that I thought was pretty astute. Look around the dinner table at your brood and ask yourself if someone is missing. So, I passed this nugget of wisdom on. For me, the table seems fine. Apparently that question may have helped them in their decision-she's expecting number three! I'm very happy that they made their decision, very happy I'm done (lol) and looking forward to seeing another cute kid. Her son is adorable and contributed to the baby lust by being so cute. The auto dealerships are going to start salivating when they see them coming-two kids in tow and an obviously pregnant woman! Prepare

Thanks, Mom!

I miss my Mom a lot. It's not something I talk about, but she's there in my head, every day. In honor of Mother's day, I'm going to do what Mom would. Celebrate the positive, instead of dwelling on the sad. Thanks, Mom: -for fueling my Nancy Drew addiction -for keeping the Newsday subscription when I was the only one reading the paper every day (4th grade news junkie) -for being an example of grace under pressure -for keeping a smile on your face and a song in your heart when others would have been reduced to curling up in a ball and crying. -for celebrating the little things and the big things -for making holidays important -for Monday night dinners (everything in our house was celebrated on Monday) -for waking us up at 5am on July 3, 1976 to take us down to Jones Beach to see the ships sailing in for Operation Sail -for all the trips to "Row Row" (Nunleys) -for the evenings down at the pool and the Carvel runs on the way home -for laughing with us at the