Thursday Thirteen
Mood:  not sure
Okay so this whole thing started today with Diana Peterfreund (Author of the awesome book, Secret Society Girl) posting this Thursday Thirteen on her site and then my sister posted it on her site. So I figured, like the sheep that I am, that I would post one as well. Since I can't remember the names of episodes of tv shows that I watch nor are there 13 things I miss about college (I can only come up with two). I figured I would list the 13 things I miss about the town of Thurmont, MD. That is the town I lived in for 6 years before moving to Raleigh, NC. Just in case you are not familiar with its location...it is located about 15 minutes north of Frederick, MD which puts it close to the PA border.

Thirteen Things I Miss About Thurmont, MD 1. Chimney Rock in the fall. 2. Friday Night Horse Auctions at Eyler's Farm 3. Colorfest...home of the world's best pit beef sandwich. 3. The Country Kitchen Restaurant...where if you kill it...they will cook it. 4. Christmas Services at Eyler's Valley Chapel 5. Cunningham Falls (the largest cascading waterfall in the state of MD) 6. June is Unity Month...not in Thurmont it isn't 7. The Cream of Crab Soup at the Little Creek Side Cafe. 8. Living in a town with only two traffic lights. 9. My old neighbors Charlie and Phil, who I used to call Frick and Frack. 10. Covered Bridges 11. The High's Gas Station that still served Slush Puppies. 12. The Fireman's Parade and Carnival 13. My best friend Justin Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Diana 2. Anne

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

I get my kicks above the waistline, sunshine
Mood:  hungry
Today's title is a line from a song. The first person who can tell me the name of the song and the musical it is from will win an Official US Army Corps of Engineers Park Ranger Winter Baseball Cap.

I am back to my normal work schedule today which means that I had to deal with morning traffic. Traffic here isn't nearly as bad as it is in places like Washington DC but the people here just don't know how to drive which makes the commute very frustrating. I only live about 7 miles from the office. It should not take me 30 mins to get here. Most of the traffic problems can be avoided if people were courteous and paid attention to what they are doing (ie..get the hell off your cell phone). This morning there was a disabled car in the right lane. The traffic moving in the left lane wouldn't let cars from the right lane merge in, which caused a huge back up of cars.
If everyone in the left lane would let one car merge in front of them, things would go much smoother. Instead the people in the left ride the bummer of the person in front of them and scowl at the people in the right lane like "don't even think you are getting ahead of me." This morning...I was in the left lane. Knowing the proper rules of the road, I slowed down and allowed a couple of people to merge in front of me. The freakin Dilbert behind me had the gall to honk his horn in disapproval. This didn't upset me nearly as much as the people who I allowed to merge in front of me who did not give me the "window wave" to say "thanks!" This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the south. It is very rare that someone will thank you for allowing them to move into your lane. A lot of the time they don't even wait for you to offer to let them in. They just start merging into your lane...expecting that you care so much for your car that you wont dare hit them. If you are one of these people....WAVE!!!! Show some respect even if you momma didn't teach you any. Where the hell is the southern hospitality that I keep hearing so much about? ARRRGGGG!!! *sigh* Okay...rant over.

Last night I watched the new TV show HEROS . It was pretty good. Not nearly as captivating as LOST was but it was watchable. I really only had one complaint. When they showed the scenes with Masi Oka (the guy from Japan), all of it was in subtitles, which I hate. Not that I am so egocentric that I think everyone in the world should speak English. It is just that I don't wear my glasses at night while watching tv so when the subtitles come up, by the time my eyes focus the words are gone. So I haven't a clue what the hell he and his friend were talking about. All know is that his power is to manipulate time. I was happy to see Adrian Pasdar who played Nathan Petrelli in last night episode. He is such a cutie.

Well I should get back to work. Hope everyone is having a great day.

Peanut, Walter, and Jose come to Raleigh
Mood:  bright
I am so excited!!! I recently found out that ventriloquist, Jeff Dunham will be preforming in Raleigh at Charlie Goodnights Nov 2-5. I have caught his show a few times on Comedy Central and he was on David Letterman last week. He is hysterical. Check out this video with his puppets, Peanut and Jose Jalapeno.

Jeff Dunham

He also has a DVD out which you can get from Netflix if you are a member, entitled "Jeff Dunham: Arguing with Myself".

Daily Grind
Mood:  not sure
Well here I am back at work after a very lazy weekend. I got a lot done around the apt but didn't venture outside much. I did scour the town on Sunday, looking for tent spikes for sand for my upcoming camping trip this weekend, but I didn't have any luck. I did find snow spikes that the sales guy said will work fine but I didn't have the right attachments to my tent to make them work so I would have had to purchase extra hardware. At $1.50 a piece per stake (I would need 5) and $6.00 for the attachments I decided it was a tad too costly and I would rather spend the money on the stuff to make smores. My co-worker has offered to let me borrow her stakes. I just hope she remembers to bring them in.

Today is my last day to be early ranger. If it wasn't for the fact that I have to get up at 4:30 AM I wouldn't mind it. It is actually nice not having to deal with the typical morning traffic I encounter when I come to work at my normal time. I also get to see the sun come up on the lake and now that the weather is cooler and the water is still 74 degrees there is a nice mist that rises up off the surface. Mix that with a bright golden sun and it is really quite beautiful. The rest of the staff starts trickling in about an hour later so I have lots of time to get things done without interruptions.

I think I have finally finished all my year end stuff. I have faxed everything into the district office and now I just sit here and wait for the inevitable phone call to tell me I did it all wrong. *sigh* They change the procedures every year so none of us have a clue what were are doing. Everyone keeps calling me and asking for advice, like I am some end of the year end budget guru. I haven't a clue what I am doing. LOL

Well like I said earlier...my camping trip is coming up this weekend. I am so excited I can hardly stand it. I just can't wait to get out of Raleigh for a weekend. Don't get me wrong...I love Raleigh, I just need a change of scenery.

The following weekend my mother comes down. She got us tickets to the Lion King. The rest of the weekend will probably consist of shopping and eating. What we do best!

Well I should get back to work. We have another VIP visit this week so we are busy trying to get the office ready. I luckily don't have to make lunch or dinner arrangements. *YEA!*

Men in Trees
Mood:  hungry
Friday night as I laid on the couch flipping through tv channels I came across ABC's new show, "Men in Trees". I am not a huge Anne Heche fan but there wasn't really much on, so I decided to watch it. I LOVE this show. It has such a cute premise and the guys are so adorable.

Premise:

"Finding a good man in today's world isn't as difficult as some women think. You just have to watch out for the signs. You wouldn't drive with a blindfold on, but for some reason, women continue to date with one..." So native New Yorker Marin advises a crowd of her devoted fans. Marin thinks she has found her good man, fiance Graham, but discovers, bound for a speaking engagement in Elmo, Alaska, that he's been cheating on her. Plans for the wedding come to a screeching halt. Concluding that she really doesn't know anything about men, Marin resolves to temporarily stay in Elmo, where the ratio of men to women is ten to one, and get started on her new book - about men.

Marin's subjects are quite a lively bunch. Adorably affable Patrick, an avid fan of Marin's books, runs the town's only inn and radio station. Man's man Buzz owns and flies the only plane in and out of Elmo. Sophisticated Ben runs the town's only bar and has an unusual past. Last but definitely not least, strong and silent Jack protects the environment and comes to protect Marin from a possibly rabid raccoon and, occasionally, herself.

There are women in Elmo too. Both Theresa, Ben's estranged wife and former rock musician, and Sara, the town's "working girl," introduce Marin to a whole new way of thinking about men. And of course there's Annie, Marin's biggest fan, who moves to Elmo after hearing about Marin's break-up to reassure her -- mostly by quoting the relationship advice she has learned from Marin's books. Back in NYC, Marin's tough-girl editor, Jane, lends her long distance support, and even braves the ice and bad cell phone reception for the occasional visit.

Marin learns that she has been living with her eyes closed for too long. Now that they're finally open, she sees the amazingly beautiful world around her, and for the first time she'll have the chance to stop and breathe. Now if she could just get the raccoon out of her hotel room, this place might be perfect.

"MEN IN TREES" stars Anne Heche as Marin Frist, Abraham Benrubi as Ben, Emily Bergl as Annie, Seana Kofoed as Jane, Suleka Mathew as Sara, Derek Richardson as Patrick, Sarah Strange as Theresa, James Tupper as Jack and John Amos as Buzz. "

Check out this link to watch a preview of the show: Men in Trees

Saturday I spent a large part of the day at Bugfest. They had some great exhibits this year. Including a station where you could construct a robot insect. I saw a bunch of kids at the table and thought, "how hard can it be. I do have a college degree after all." But apparently a degree in Recreation and Park Management did not prepare me very well for this task. I got my box of parts and my instruction sheet and started to build. I am about 20 minutes into the project when this 7yr old boy sits down beside me. He immediately starts assembling his insect and is finished before I even have the first leg attached. The instructor had the patience of a saint with me and I am sure at one point he wanted to just take the damn thing out of my hand and finish it for me. LOL An hour later I had it complete and left it on the table for the world to see. They also had a really good evening talk for adults called, "Insects in Movies" which was very interesting. And yes for those of you wondering...I did eat a cricket and a couple of meal worms. They weren't half bad.

Sunday I ran a bunch of errands including a trip to Dick's Sporting goods to buy myself a pair of Crocs that I had been eying for awhile. I had a gift card so I decided to put that towards the purchase. They are so cute...light blue. They will be great for my camping trip which is coming up in like 12 days. SO EXCITED!!! I haven't't had any time off since May.

Well that is it for today. I should probably get back to work.

Rain, Rain Go Away!!!!
Mood:  blue
It is raining again today. We need it but still I wish the sun would come out. I have loved the cool weather this week. It has felt a lot like fall. It is suppose to get warmer though by the weekend.

I came into work this morning to yet another power outage. This time it blew my surge protector as well as my boss's. So now I have to scamble to purchase new ones. The outage also caused the pump at the well house to blow so we are also currently without water. *sigh* My boss, our two co-ops and our Chief Ranger are all down trying to get it fixed.

I am about to go and purchase over $20,000.00 worth of IT equipment. 2 new laptops, 1 new desktop, 2 new laser printers (one is going on my desk, Yea!) a new GPS unit, a HUGE scanner, and some thumbnail drives. I LOVE spending money...espeically when it is not mine. LOL

My plans for the weekend aren't many. Saturday is Bugfest at the science museum which should be a lot of fun. I am hoping I work up the nerve to eat a cricket. LOL Other than that I am just going to relax and enjoy the warm weather.

Why am I always in the dark?
Mood:  irritated
I came into work this morning to find the power out...again. I don't know why they can't seem to get the problem fixed. Apparently there is exposed wire somewhere in the ground that is shorting everything out. The worst part is...the power is only out in phase I which includes where my desks sits. So my cubical is dark and I haven't any internet access. So right now I am sitting in the corner at the back of the office typing away on an old laptop. *sigh* Hopefully the power will be back on soon. I have SOOOOO much work to do today.

On a lighter note: I watched another good movie last night, "Akeelah and the Bee."

With an aptitude for words, 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson (Keke Palmer) is determined to spell her way out of South Los Angeles, entering scores of local contests and eventually landing a chance to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. Despite discouragement from her mother (Angela Bassett), Akeelah gets support from her bookish tutor (Laurence Fishburne), her principal (Curtis Armstrong) and proud members of her community.

In the movie Akeelah is studying with her tutor when he asks her what she wants to do with her life. She shrugs and says she doesn't know. He then gets up and asks her to read the words in a frame on the wall. This is what it said...

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our Light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves -- Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are we not to be?" Taken from Dream of this by: Marianne Williamson

Wow! How true is that? A lot of us go through life not knowing what great potential lies before us because we don't believe enough in ourselves.

Hearing that quote made me remember a poem that a friend shared with me a few years ago. I posted it on my old blog and I often read it from time to time when I get discourage with my life and the people it it. I thought I would repost again for those of you have never seen it.


Desiderata by: Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.


Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.


Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.


Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.


You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.


Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.


With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

Kinky Boots and the Big Reveal
Mood:  mischievious


Did that grab your attention? LOL

No this is not going to be an x-rated post so you don't have to make your kids leave the room. Sorry if I got your hopes up.

Let's start off with the "Kinky Boots" part of the title shall we?

Kinky Boots is the name of a movie I happened to watch this weekend. Several months ago I heard a critic talk about how he saw this movie at Sundance and how much he loved it. I thought it would be enjoyable so I decided to add it to my Netflix list. It arrived Friday and I popped it in. What a FANTASTIC movie!!! It had drama, comedy, and a few "tissue" momentst. It was just a good story about not being afraid to be yourself. Below is an overview of the movie and a link to the trailer. Read it...watch the trailer then run out and rent the movie.

Based on a true story. Charlie Price thinks he has finally escaped the dead-end industrial town of Northampton with ambitious fiancee Nicola, when his father suddenly passes away, leaving Charlie unexpectedly in charge of the sinking family business in sturdy shoes. Trapped between a world of cheap knock-offs and to-die-for Jimmy Choos, Price & Sons seemingly doesn't need a manager so much as it needs a savior. With mounting dread, Charlie soon realizes that to even stay afloat he's going to have to lay off many of his dad's loyal, life-long employees. Then, one dark night in Soho, Charlie is literally smacked in the face with an idea that could bring the factory roaring back to life. When Charlie meets tough, tender Lola and her teetering high heels, everything changes. They might come from completely different walks of life, but both men have reached a point where they have nothing to left to lose by taking a risk. Deciding to buck tradition and boring loafers, Charlie sets out to conquer the brave new world of sexy cross-dressing footwear, with Lola as his fashion advisor. But it isn't just the assembly line that the disarming Lola transforms. As the make-or-break Milan fashion show approaches, everyone in the factory--from the macho Don to the stalwart Mel to Charlie's confidante Lauren--finds the unlikely dreams of Lola and Charlie catching fire.


Kinky Boots Trailer

Now onto the big reveal and the moment you have all been waiting for. Okay maybe not all of you but I am sure at least some of you.

As most of you know by now...my friend Marie and I have decided to go to a Renaissance Festival...in costume. Now before you start saying, "Oh Lord she os one of THOSE kinds of people!", let me just say this is the first time I have ever gone to one of these things in costume. Normally I go in plain clothes and I mostly attend for the food and the story telling, not to mention it is a great place to do some people watching. But I am always up for an advanture and I always enjoy doing things outside the norm. So I took the challenge and decided to make my own dress. I started it back in June and about a week ago I finally finished it. It was a lot of work. More so than I thought it would be. It has some flaws but,I don't think it is too bad for my first attempt. I have promised that I would post some pictures when it was finally complete, so here they are. Enjoy!


Rennaissance Dress Pictures

Stingrays are not evil creatures
Mood:  not sure
Like the rest of the world I was saddened by Steve Irwin's death. I was not a fan of the show, mainly because I thought his antics encouraged people to take risks around wildlife and invade their space. I saw this first hand in my first year with the park service when some idiot thought he would pretend to be the crocodile hunter and tried to pick up a timber rattlesnake to impress his girlfriend. He ended up getting bite and having to go to the hospital. Luckily timber rattlesnake venom is not lethal in most cases but the whole thing could have easily been avoided if the man had respected the snakes space.

I do however agree with the message the Steve was trying to get out there. Just because something has scales instead of fur and would rather bite your head off than cuddle on the couch with you, it still has a purpose on this planet.

The news has been filled with stuff about Steve, which is normal when someone so popular dies. But last night I saw something that really irritated me. I believe it was on one of those entertainment news shows. They were trying to scare the public into thinking that stingrays are these evil creatures that are out to hurt humans. The basic message was that stingrays often strike without warning. This is SOOOOOO not true. I get so mad when the news tries to villainies an animal just because someone was hurt by it. The public then gets scared and wants to eliminate said animal from the planet. Steve would not stand for this and neither do I.

Stingrays are, for the most part, very gentle creatures. I had a chance to swim with them while on vacation in the Cayman Islands. They enjoyed being touched by humans and even seemed to enjoy swimming with us. After they had been fed they could have easily swam away but they stayed until the last person got out of the water. At one point while I was snorkeling along a ray past me and circled back and came up on my side. It was sort of like it was checking me out. Maybe it was laughing at the way I looked in my snorkel and mask. I found the whole thing to be very therapeutic and to this day it is one of my fondest memories.

But like every creature, even humans, it will defend itself if it feels like it is endangered. I truly believe that is what happened in this case. It was said that Steve was on one side of it and the camera man was on the other. The poor thing felt trapped and struck. I don't believe its intent was to kill Steve. Just injure him enough so that the ray could get away.

There is no reason why everything on this planet can't co-exist. I don't think anyone of us would enjoy a stranger coming into our homes and poking around or getting too close to us. Animals are the same way. So just give them the respect and space they need

Love holiday weekends
Mood:  not sure
I love having off 3 days in a row. Although my internal alarm clock woke me up yesterday at 5:30. *sigh* It's okay though...I wanted to get some hiking in anyway.

Saturday Marie and I had our massages. A half hour massage wasn't nearly long enough for my aching back but it has helped. Still searching for my hunky masseur. I have yet to receive any application. Maybe in OCT I can afford the 1 hour deep tissue massage. After the massage we sat in the sauna for what felt like an eternity but was probably only 20 or 30 minutes. Then we were off to lunch and some retail therapy, where Marie convinced me that my life would not be complete until I owned a corset...so I bought one. It was on sale and it wasn't another pair of JEANS! So proud of myself. We finally got back to my place about 5PM and Marie pinned the hem on my dress for me and she headed home. Thanks for everything Marie! It was a fun day.

Sunday I did a lot of "me" things around the apt. I sewed the hem of my dress and ironed the whole thing. I have someone coming over next weekend hopefully to help me take some pictures of it. I then did some laundry and cleaned the litter box. About 6PM Tanya and Andy showed up at my apt and we talked about what we could do on Monday. We then decided to go hiking (not Tanya's favorite activity) up at Hanging Rock. Andy called some friends and they agreed to meet us there in the morning. All this talk about physical activity has now made us hungry so I searched my pantry and came up with enough ingredients for a pretty good chicken casserole. I combined cubed chicken, frozen vegetables, cream of chicken soup, white wine, swiss cheese and stovetop stuffing and popped it in the oven.

Monday morning we all got up early and headed up to Danbury, NC (a 2.5 hour drive). We had just gotten on I-85 when Andy's friend called and said that they were all too hung over to join us. We then decided (actually they decided...I was still gung-ho) that maybe we should just stick close to Raleigh. So I turned the car around and we went to Ulmstead for a short 2 mile hike. *sigh* I was hoping for something like 6 miles. Oh well...next time.

We then came home and headed up to the pool for awhile then came back and cleaned up and they took me to one of my favorite places to eat...Firebirds. I think they felt bad that we didn't make it to Hanging Rock. We came home and I crashed on my couch and spent the rest of the evening watching the Dark Angel Marathon on Sci-Fi.

So now I am back to work. Counting down the days till my camping trip. I have just started our year end closeout. For those of you not familiar with the federal govt...we end our fiscal year 30 Sept.. Because of this I will be SWAMPED so I don't know how often I will get a chance to post. But I will try my best.

I am a happy ranger now!!!
Mood:  celebratory
For the past two weeks as I have been driving to and from work I have heard the commercial for Verizon's new chocolate phone. There is a song playing in the background that really caught my attention. I tried typing in what I thought some of the lyrics were and came up with nothing. As a last resort I emailed a friend of mine who works at a radio station and asked him if he knew what it was. Oh course he didn't have a clue but suggested I goggle Verzion Chocolate Ad. Why the hell didn't I think of that. *sigh* Thanks Dan!!!

So just in case you were like me and wanted to know what the song was it is:

Strict Machine by Goldrapp

If you have never heard the commercial or want to hear the song in its entirety, log onto my Myspace page and have a listen.

My Page

Some of you have asked me about the song "Haunted" I had on my page for the last few days. The song is by Gary Numan. He has a Myspace page as well where you can here some of his songs. Most of you are probably familiar with his song "Cars" Thanks to Thomas for introducing me to that song. It was his page I stole it from. LOL

Gary Numan Music

Also my friend Marie has a blog on Myspace and I keep meaning to put up a link. Check it out if you have time. Rie's Blog - Sociological Experiment

Time to get my waders on and board my Ark.
Mood:  mischievious
Well Ernesto is on his way to Raleigh. We have already had 3.5 inches of rain and they are expecting up to 7 more inches by the time this is all over with. Thanks to all of you who offered a place for me to stay and wait out the storm. I will not need it though seeing as by the time it gets here it will only be a tropical depression. We wont have heavy winds to deal with just lots and lots of rain. It also looks like the rain will end by Friday night so my weekend plans wont be washed out. *cheer*

Speaking of my weekend plans. After yesterday's entry, my friend Marie commented that her neck has been killing her and today is pay day for us both so we should hit a Spa this weekend. My neck and back are so full of knots that it has become quite painful. I can't complain because I do it to myself. I need to find better ways to de-stress and relax.

I called the spa just to see if there was anything available. The place I usually go to, Iatria Day Spa, was voted best in the triangle for 2 years straight so I just knew that there wouldn't be any open appointments, but thought I would give it a try anyway. What luck...they had two openings at the same time. That almost never happens. Normally when my mom comes to visit we go to the spa and our appointments are often 30 to 60 minutes apart. But because Marie and I decided to keep costs low and only do the 1/2 hour back and neck soother (the full hour is almost $80)they were able to squeeze us in. YEA!!!! My plan is to get there early and enjoy the tranquil room before my massage, maybe drink some herbal tea, then have my massage, and lastly get into the sauna until my body can't stand it anymore. *sigh* HEAVEN!!!My back is already asking me if it is Saturday yet.

I think I need to search those online dating sites for a single, available, hunky masseur or better yet a massage student who needs a warm body to practice on.

The Calm After the Storm
Mood:  caffeinated
The Colonel's visit went very well. He enjoyed his day with the rangers out in the field. Because Falls doesn't manage their own recreation areas (we lease them to the state) people in our district office wonder just what exactly we do. He was amazed at all the tasks that keep us busy. Whether it is playing mediator between the different state agencies, dealing with encroachments, monitoring endangered and exotic species or just running the dam. He commented on how we accomplish so much with such a small staff and how wonderful he thought it was that we all got along and seem to work well with one another.

Dinner last night ended up just being the Falls staff, the Colonel and or Lakes Manager. I was kind of upset that the other two offices didn't make an effort to join us but in the end I was glad it was just us. The Colonel got a good taste of how well we all get along. That we tease and joke with one another and he throughly enjoyed it and even participated a few times.

Now that the visit is over I feel physically drained. I sit here and I can barely keep my eyes open. I didn't stay up late last night. I actually went to bed about 9:30. I think I have just released all the stress of getting ready for the visit and my body is worn out.

The exotic animal show is this weekend. A friend of mine was suppose to drive up from Wilmington to go with me but because of the threat of Ernesto looming, he has back out. I still plan on going but will have to see if the weather will cooperate. We are suppose to get 7 inches of rain and if that happens a lot of the main streets will flood. The thought of being cooped up in my apt all weekend is horrific. I still have yet to reschedule my massage. I really need to do that soon. The muscles in my back and shoulder and really starting to hurt.

The week is starting off with a bang
Mood:  irritated
I hate hectic Mondays. I want to be eased into the work week. Starting off the week in a stressful manner has a severe effect on my mood.

If you read the previous posts you have learned that our District Commander (AKA The Colonel) will be coming for a visit tomorrow. I have been put in charge of dinner which in itself is bad enough. I have narrowed it down to either Carrabas or Olive Garden but I need to get a head count because Carrabas can't handle a large group. This wouldn't be a big deal if it were only my staff that was invited but we have invited 4 other offices and trying to get them to RSVP as been a vexation to my spirit. It is not a hard decision. It is either yes or no. These people act like I have just asked them if they would like to invade a small country. I get responses like..."I will only decide once a location has been chosen." It will be either one of the two locations in the email you nitwit. Both are Italian...what is to decide? "Have you considered people's dietary needs?" WTF!!! The only dietary need I considered is the fact that we all need to eat to survive. If you don't like your choices then don't come or plan the damn thing yourself.

To make matters worse they just sent my boss to FL for Hurricane response. Which means it will be up to the rest of the staff to give the Colonel his tour. *sigh* Keeping fingers crossed that it all goes off without a hitch. This Colonel is a lot more laid back than the last one so it should all be okay but we still want to make a good impression.

I have been so stressed that I forgot I was early ranger today and I have totally gotten my days all messed up. For some reason I have been looking at the month of May instead of August. *sigh* I even thought I had a dinner thing to go to on Thursday. Two dinners in one week? Could my budget handle it? It turns out though if I had been looking at the correct month I would have seen that it is next week instead. Could have saved myself some extra stress. Sorry Marie if I made you panic.

I spent a good part of the weekend working on my dress. It is finally finished. Well except for the hem, which I will need help with. My poor fingers are all red and sore from trying to put in all the grommnets...18 total. I was working on the veil and the instructions said to sew the head piece to the headband. I started trying to sew it and it just wasn't doing what I wanted it to do. So I threw up my hands and ran to get my glue gun. Worked like a charm. LOL The person who invented glue guns should win a Noble Peace Prize cause it really kept me from going postal. Once it is all finished I will try to take some pictures and post them on here.

Well I better get back to planning dinner for tomorrow.

Later Ya'll...

Freaky Friday
Mood:  not sure
This morning my outreach ranger came to me and asked me to check into a budget matter. I have somehow been labeled Budge Guru, which is funny because I can't even balance my own checkbook.

Here was the situation. Dana was trying to order something and charge it to a certain account and it kept coming back that there weren't enough funds in this account. Turns out there was $1400 unaccounted for. After doing a little research and running a couple of reports I figured out the problem Someone from another project charged to that account without letting us know.

Now for the freaky part. Here was my horoscope for the day:

A group you're affiliated with could find some discrepancies in their financial records, and they might ask you to check into it, Rebecca. This is probably due more to mistaken entries or lost pages than to any major disaster, but it'll set everyone's mind at ease. Don't be surprised if you have to dig through little scraps of paper buried in the bottoms of files. It'll be worth it, though, as everyone will be very grateful! Have fun!

I usually just read my horoscope for amusement sake. Not once have they gotten it right...except for today. FREAKY!

It is great when a plan comes together!
Mood:  happy
I was pulling into the office this morning when all the sudden a panic set in. I saw the landscapers here and they were doing something around the flowers I planted yesterday. I was afraid they were putting pine straw down and I didn't want that tacky stuff around my plants. I immediately ran up to the patio and my boss stopped me. I guess he could see the panic in my eyes. He said not to worry that Delmer was taking good care of me. I looked over at Delmer who was smiling from ear to ear. I then looked down at the flower beds to see he was placing this beautiful hardwood mulch neatly and delicately around my flowers. I almost started crying. Delmer came through!!! He said he knew from the look on my face the other day that I had an absolute hatred for pine straw and he wanted to make sure I was happy (probably because I am the one who writes the checks). Well needless to say that I am VERY happy. The front of the Visitor Center is really starting to look nice. It is actually a pleasure now to look out my windows. The Colonel probably wont even notice all the hard work we did but I will know and that is really all that matters.

I uploaded a couple of pictures to photobucket this morning. These pictures were taken yesterday before the mulch. But just imagine that the flowers are now surrounded by a beautiful dark brown mulch. Enjoy!

VAC Flowers

Flower Power
Mood:  happy
Well I have convinced my boss to let me plant flowers in front of the office. We have these plant beds along the front of the building. They used to have plants in them but a year or so ago when we remodeled the outside of the VAC the workers trampled all the plants so that left us with a pile of dead plants and weeds. Since our Colonel is visiting next week, the original plan was to just cover it all up with mulch. I must have really been charming yesterday or my boss was sick of me mentioing how a splash a color would make the place more inviting to visitors, because he sent me to Home Depot to price flowers. I can't get what I really want till spring but I have come up with a plan that I think will work really well for now. In one section I am planning a butterfly garden...should look great. I will try to take pictures. I should have taken some before shots so you could have seen how bad it really looked.

I came in early this morning and Josh and I weeded and prepared the beds. It is already hot outside and I think I managed to sweat off 5lbs. I am not looking forward to being ourside planting this afternoon. Must make sure I drink TONS of water.

Another Day in Paradise
Mood:  hug me
I hate Tuesdays! Why? Because Tuesdays are the days we have staff meetings. It seems that when we come out of the meeting I have about 80 other things to add to my to-do list. *sigh*

Our Colonel is coming next week so we are running around in a panic trying to get everything ready. Pulling weeds, getting the grass mowed, cleaning the office..etc. Luckily Tom will have him out in the project most of the time so I don't have to worry much about what I am going to talk to him about. He is actually a very nice man. He is down to earth and puts you at ease. We often talk about Catoctin (the park where I worked in MD) because he was stationed in DC for awhile and used to pass the park on his way to visit family in PA. We are planning a dinner with the Colonel Tuesday night and it is my duty to pick a restaurant. The only problem is...the places I like to go can be pricey for some. So I need to do some research.

I am trying to get my boss to agree to let me plant flowers outside my office window. He is worried it will be something else we have to keep up with. I assured him I would pick flowers (cone flowers, day lilies) that would be easy to grow and wouldn't take much care. I have end of the year money left in my budget so I might just go ahead and do it. I think he would really like it once I get done. We have a landscaper here doing some weeding and putting down mulch. I think he has a slight crush on me. His name is Delmer and he is just a sweet heart. I was outside talking to him about what kind of mulch he plans to use and he said pine straw. I immediately turned up my nose. As most of you know... I detest pine straw. It just looks tacky. He asked me what I would like to see used and I said some sort of bark mulch or cocoa hull mulch. He smiled, winked and said he would see what he could do. We will more than likely end up with pine straw because it is cheap but I know Delmer will do his best.

I heard from "A" last night. I was actually surprised that he called. Sunday night while I was out with Tanya and Andy I mentioned that I wasn't sure there was anything there between us. That it seemed to be more of the friendship than a romantic relationship. I thought that it was just my commitment phobia rearing its ugly head because after all it was the 2nd date and there is a holiday coming up. Well apparently "A" had the exact same feelings. He told me that I was a nice person but that he just wasn't feeling a connection. Wow I have never had a guy call and be so honest. Normally they just stop calling or ignore my phone calls or send me a crappy email. He says he still wants to be friends and hang out but just not on a romantic level. And before you all start sending me emails and calling me to see if I am okay or to bad mouth "A" in some way...remind yourself that it was only 2 dates and I was in no way emotionally attached to him. He respected me enough to be honest and that says a lot about him.

Well I guess I should get back to work. I have a lot of dining research to do. Later ya'll!!!

Where has the day gone?
Mood:  not sure
I just looked up from my computer to see that it was 4PM. Where has the time gone? I have had my nose buried in my computer all day and I probably would have worked through lunch if my boss hadn't told me it was time to eat.

The weekend went well. "A" and I had our second date. He picked me up around 11AM and we headed into a new park that the county has opened call Historic Yates Mill. We hiked about 1.4 miles (not nearly long enough for me but it was fun) and then headed over to look at the mill. The mill is apparently the oldest in the US and still runs with most of the original parts. They just got their Ag license so they will soon be making and selling corn meal. How cool would it be to stick some ears of corn in the sheller and then feed the kernels into the mill stone, then buy the corn meal you just made?

After the park we headed to Napper Tandy's which is a really quaint Irish Pub in Raleigh. We ordered lunch and watched rugby, which was a first for me. Man those guys are tough. What a sport. Don't understand the rules at all but it was fun to watch.

Once we finished lunch he brought me home and he headed back to Durham. The second date lately seems, for some reason, to be the date the kills the relationship. We will have to wait and see.

Sunday I got up and put a roast in the crock pot. I then did laundry and cleaned and even worked some on my dress. Then about 5PM there was a knock at my door. Tanya and some friends had stopped by to say hi and immediately smelled the pot roast and invited themselves to dinner. After devouring the meal I had hoped would last me all week, they felt bad and decided to take me to the movies. We went and saw World Trade Center. It was a great movie but too depressing to watch on a Sunday night. It ended up setting the mood for my Monday.

I have been a wild eyed best all day and I know it is PMS. I have tried hard to lift my spirits but no such luck. Maybe a peppermint patty will make me feel better? Let's go find out....

Finally Friday!!!!
Mood:  irritated
What a week it has been. I finally got my phone repaired after numerous phone calls to Bellsouth. My modem also arrived last night and I was able to get that installed...luckily without incident. I called just about everyone I knew to let them know that I was talking to them on the phone and surfing the net at the same time. It was an odd feeling. At one point I was reading email when my phone rang. I thought, "wait that can't happen...I am on the net." then it dawned on me. Whoo Hoo. The DSL is so much faster than my old dial-up. It is outstanding.

I just got done paying $700 worth of bills. Actually made me nauseous. Not only did I have my normal bills to pay..ie phone, cable and electric, but I also had my car insurance and my NC Personal Property Tax. *sigh* Can I just vent for a minute. It just irritates me that in this state I have to pay for the right to own a car. I paid taxes on the car when I got it and I have to pay for my registration, inspection and tags every year. You would think that would be enough, but NOOOOOO they send me a bill for $147 every year. The taxes are based on the value of the car at the time of purchase not what I actually paid for it and I don't think they care about depreciation. It just makes me so mad. They love to tax people in this state. They have a tax on food, which I think is absurd. When the tax was first put in place it was only to be for a few years. This year the tax was to be removed and they decided to leave it in place. I just want to know where all my money is going to. Also when you buy a car they charge you a fee...this fee goes into an account for a rail system (sort of like a metro) which we do not currently have here and there doesn't seem to be any plans to develop it in the future. Okay I will stop venting now.

My boss pulled me in his office this morning and told me that he wants to put me in for an award. I didn't really do anything special to get it. I just did my job. I realized that that rangers who work Sundays should have gotten premium pay so I went back and corrected everyones time from April to now. Yeah it was time consuming...but it is my job. My boss now wants me to write a letter that reads as if he wrote it bragging about myself and the job I did. I have stared at the screen for about an hour. I just hate bragging about myself. In any case I hope it will be a big award if I get it. May make up for the $700 I just spent on bills. LOL

I have a Dr's appointment this morning and even though I know it will only take about an hour or so, I have decided to take the rest of the day off to relax and get some chores done.

Have a great weekend everyone!!!