Mood:  hungry

Yesterday we did a prescribed burned. This burn was very small (only 2 acres) but it still took a lot out of me. Since I am still having issues with my back I opted not to run lines with the drip torch. Instead I walked the fire line to make sure the fire didn’t jump. The fire behaved very well except for moving too slowly through some spots but I would rather have that then it rushing towards me and me trying frantically to maintain the line while being scorched by severe heat.

The burn only last a couple of hours and then our Forester was kind enough to buy us all fried chicken and biscuits for lunch. YUMMM! My eating habits this week haven’t really been going along with my diet. Monday I went to the BBQ Lodge and had a huge plate of Caroline BBQ and some fried chicken (they have the best chicken). But I was good and didn’t order any banana pudding. Then Tuesday night Maria and I went to the Melting Pot. We had salad, cheese fondue, filet mignon, lobster tail, and Smores fondue complete with brownie bites, cheesecake, and graham cracker and Oreo cookie encrusted marshmallows. I was so stuffed I honestly thought I was going to have to be rolled out of the restaurant. It has been ages since I have been to the Melting Pot but I had a fantastic time and it is always nice to hang out with Maria. Last night I was too lazy to cook so I through a couple of hot dogs on the grill. So today I have decided to have a light lunch and a moderate dinner then hit the gym for an hour. I am hoping by back will cooperate.

Tomorrow I will be out checking lifejackets and getting things ready for the weekend. It is suppose to be really nice here Saturday and Sunday so I am sure this place will be wide open. Because I will be super busy I probably won’t have time to post. So I hope everyone has a great weekend.

My body hurts all over. I have been working out at the gym so I didn’t think I was out of shape. I guess I just over did it yesterday.

Monday was my first official day in my new position. The staff wasted no time in sticking me into the duty rotation. Since I will be working this weekend I had off Monday. I met up with a friend for and early breakfast at IHOP. I haven’t been there in YEARS. Then I came home and cleaned a bit before heading out to meet up with Co-workers and the Colonel for lunch. Our Colonel is leaving in July so I wanted to make sure I would have a chance to say goodbye.

After lunch I dropped Potter off at the groomers and headed over to Lowes to pick up supplies for my flower garden. I was going to put down landscaping timber but the guy said I would need to drill holes and pound in some rebar and I was going to have to cut some of the pieces to fit. I just decided it wasn’t worth it. So the guy showed me a product that he said was really easy to install (yeah right I have heard that before). It was a bunch of recycled plastic pieces, about 6 inches in length, with a scalloped top and sharp pointy bottom. He said the pieces connected and all you had to do was hammer then into the ground with a soft mallet. I got a few packs and headed over to get some compost. Not wanting my yard to smell like cow poo I opted for the mushroom compost which just happened to be up on a high shelf. I didn’t want to bother anyone so I decided to just get it down myself. I started pulling on one bag and as soon as I had it to the edge the bag ripped sending compost cascading down all over me. Why can’t my trips to Lowes ever be without incident? A young store associate came over to help me get the dirt off of me (he was of course trying not to laugh) and asked me why I didn’t’ ask for help and I told him it was because I was too independent for my own good. He laughed and ran over to get the fork lift. On my way up to pay I spotted a tool I was sure I was going to need…a hand aerator. It has a T-post handle with these sharp claws on the end and it said it was easy to use and cut through tough soil with ease (it obviously wasn’t tested on my soil). I decided to give it a try. At the very least I could use it to the compost in with the soil.

When I got home I dug up all the flower that had survived the drought. It was only my Easter Lily, some Verbena, and a few patches of Monkey Grass. I set them to the side and went to work on all the weeds that had taken over. Three hours later I had finished weeding. I had so much crabgrass that it had completely taken over and their roots ran on for miles. I decided to expand my garden a little which meant I was going to have to tear up the soil outside where the old bed had been. This is where the aerator came in. for the most part it was pretty easy to use. You just stuck it on the ground and turned clockwise. I was also lucky that the ground was still wet from the rain. I was going along at a good pace until the aerator hit a root. I went to twist with all my might and stopped suddenly which threw out my back. GREAT! I laid down on the ground in pain waiting for the throbbing in my back to stop. Most people would have called it a night at that point but I had pulled up all my flowers and really needed to get them back in the ground so I popped a few Advil and went back to work.

Once the ground had been aerated I started to install the plastic border I had gotten. It was just as the guy described…very easy to install. At about 9:30 PM I had finished the garden complete with adding the compost and it was time to finish up with putting in the flowers. After I had replanted the first plant the sky opened up and it started to pour. Put I was determined to finish so I sat out in the rain until all my little plants were secure.

As I stood up to walk inside I realized I was going to be sore in the morning. I just didn’t realize how sore. My alarm went off and I attempted to roll out of bed.  My body felt like it had been hit by a truck. Every inch of me hurt. I hobbled into the shower thinking the hot water might help…it didn’t. I even had trouble drying my hair because I could barely lift my arms. So here I sit completely loaded up in Advil and muscle relaxers. I am hoping no one asks me to do anything strenuous today.

I had called my friend Maria on Sunday and left a message to see if she wanted to go to The Melting Pot for Dinner tonight (we have been dying to go). I hadn’t heard back from her so I figured she was busy and I could go home and nurse my wounds. She sent me a text message this morning telling me she would love to go. Although I really should go home and relax, the thought of the fact that I will be eating fondue tonight has me all giddy and will surely help me get through the day. This will also give me a chance to celebrate my promotion.  

Mood:  celebratory

Apparently I get this new job and the power just runs to my head. What on Earth was I thinking trying to be helpful.

I didn’t get any sleep last night because I was furious with and incident that happened yesterday. I know it seems lately like I have done a lot of bitching on here. Sorry about that but sometimes it helps me calm down if I write out my concerns.

If you read Monday’s post you read that we had a change in regulations and that no one had bothered to tall any of us. I spent most of the morning on the phone with finance just furious that we were blindsided by this. The finance department in TN said that the information was sent to the Districts to hand out to the staff. Armed with that knowledge I called around our District Office to see who was responsible for getting this information out. I wanted to get them to alert the rest of the staff. No one seemed to have a clue who was supposed to get the word out so I decided I would be nice and share the info I learned with everyone in the District.

I wrote a lengthy email and attached the page from the manual with the new regulations. When I was done I hit distribution D which sends it out to EVERYONE in the District. I felt a sense of accomplishment and felt good that I may have helped save someone the headache of having to redo their work to follow the new regs. The feeling was short lived.

My boss called me into his office yesterday and said that he was instructed to have a talk with me about proper channels of communication. WHAT!?! Apparently when the email hit, the head of finance in our District ran down the hall to my boss’s boss’s boss (we will call him Mr. S) and asked him who authorized a lowly park ranger to disseminate policy. That in fact no one had the right to disseminate this information except for him and that Mr. S needed to have a talk with his employees about the ramifications of going outside your job. He then stated that it makes his department look bad.  Luckily Mr. S came to my defense and said that he has known me for awhile and is positive I sent the email out just to be helpful. That in fact if finance had done their job I wouldn’t have had to send out an email (I am sure Mr. S said it with much more finesse). But he said he would make sure that in fur future I only send out those notices to just the Operations Department. So hence the talk I had yesterday with my boss.

Although I am not in trouble with my boss or Mr. S I am still upset. I feel it all just makes me look bad. I am angry that I was trying to do the right things and I get scolded for it by the man who should have gotten me the information in the first place. The new regs came out in Jan and here it is May and we still got nothing from him. So I spent an hour on the phone scolding this poor woman when we in fact had the info. It just makes me look bad and that is not something I tolerate well. I pride myself on having high standards of work and there is nothing I hate more than to have to take time out of my day to go back and correct something.

So what has this incident taught me? Only look out for yourself. In the future if I discover any information I am going to keep it to myself. Screw everyone else. I can be just as petty as they can be. I hate being like that but I won’t risk getting others and myself into trouble.

Mood:  bright

That's my new title.  

It is now official. I am now a Natural Resource Specialist. It has been a long time coming.

Most of you who read my blog regularly have heard me mention sometime back that I applied for a new position with the Corps. I am currently what is called an Admin Ranger, meaning that not only do I do normal ranger activities but I also handle all the office admin stuff like time keeping and purchasing. Lately I have grown tired of my job. It has become more Admin related than I was comfortable with. Back in September they gave me the budget to manage and I hated it. So when this new job opened I put it for it and was interviewed in February along with 2 others. After the interview the talk of the job had grown quiet. Normally once they select a person it takes about 2 wks to do all the background and reference checks before the job is offered. I waited 2 wks but still heard nothing. Every time I tried to talk about it to my boss I always got the same answer…”I would love to be able to talk about it but I can’t. We should hear something soon.”

There were some rumors last month that I had been selected but once again I never heard anything official. Then a few weeks ago I got a call from personnel asking me for my driver’s license and a copy of my transcripts. They then called to ask me to sign a mobility agreement. But still nothing official had ever been offered.

Last week two managers for other projects congratulated me on getting the new job. I looked at them puzzled and said I haven't gotten the job...yet. They both got red in the face and totally had that "Whoops we shouldn't have said anything" look.

This morning I sat down with my boss and stated that we need a schedule for the month of May. No one has a clue when they are suppose to work. He stated that he was working on that. After lunch he called me into his office and closed the door. He asked me how I was doing and said, "If this is another drug test I am going to walk out right now." He laughed and said no that he in fact wanted to offer me the job. Of course I said yes...after about a minute or two of looking completely confused. He then stated that because of the multitude of critical tasks that I do in my current position, transitioning me completely out of those responsibilities immediately is not feasible. So I will remain where I am until they can find a suitable replacement. I am anxious to take over my new duties so I have asked to see if they can offer my old job as a temporary assignment to someone.

My new job will consists of tasks that I have been helping with for the last year since we lost our co-op position. But instead of just doing them once every other month I will be doing them full time which means I will be out of the office more. This improves my moral greatly. I have asked to take over the Bald Eagle program as well as our Hydrilla and Zebra Mussel surveys. I will also be doing some hydrology work, checking and reading dam instrumentation, and my favorite…controlled burns. I will also get to use the boat more (which I can really use the practice) and I will hopefully get my own patrol vehicle.

Now I just need to start packing up my desk and move it all to my new cubicle

It has been a bad start to the week and only promises to get worse. My phone has been ringing off the hook since I got in this morning. It started with the fact that no one had done the morning report. Well that’s because we don’t have a schedule so no one knows when the hell they are suppose to work. The reason we don’t have a schedule is because the ranger who creates the schedule was waiting to see who was hired for the new job. We still don’t know who got the job (although I am assuming it is me) so I informed my boss and the ranger to put out a schedule with a 4 person rotation to exclude me for now. Even if I get the job I can’t start that job until they get someone to replace me in the one I am currently doing.

The second incident this morning involved a change in a regulation that apparently no one bothered to tell those of us in the field. So I spent most of the morning yelling a people on the phone. I don’t like to be nasty with people but if you want me to play the game you have to let me know the rules. It just makes me look bad when I am not informed of changes in the regs and looking bad in front of my peers is not something I will except. Especially if it was not my fault.

I have about a million and 1 things to do this week one of which is to get our Environmental Stewardship Budget for 2010 entered into the system. Yeah I know it is only 2008 but we work way into the future. None of the numbers I enter will be even remotely close to what we end up getting but it is still a requirement that we enter something. I also need to pay bills, reconcile my credit card and enter training plans for all employees for 2009. With everything that I have been scolded for not signing up to help with Waterfest. I CAN’T DO EVERYTHING!!!!!

I wish I could have more days like Friday. I attended a Bird ID workshop in the morning which was awesome except for the fact that I came back covered in ticks. They were deer ticks too so I am watching the sites on my skin to make sure I don’t get Lyme Disease. Then after the workshop Dana met up with me and we drove to a little farm outside. Silver City to pick up some snake replicas that we had made. While we waited for them to load up the snakes we got to play with horses, goats, and puppies. I hated to come back to the office.

I can’t wait to go to Scotland. I need a vacation.

I think I am putting my phone on Do Not Disturb for the rest of the day.

Mood:  mischievious

I know you all are socked. Two post in on day but I read this article and it made me laugh. It is no wonder the rest of the world thinks we are odd. Why woudl anyone drive around with testicles on their vehicles? Is this replacing fuzzy dice?

Florida Lawmakers Consider Bill Banning Ornamental Testicles

Posted: Apr. 26, 2008

Mood:  bright

It was a fairly relaxing weekend although I should have spent time finishing my spring cleaning; I decided I would do it next weekend instead.

Saturday morning I got up and the weather was just perfect. It was cool and the air smelled fresh. I decided to grab my coffee and my book and sit out on the patio reading and listening to my fountain. It was so relaxing and it felt good to be able to spend some time outside. My friend Maria came over about 11:30 and we headed to the fairgrounds for the Southern Women’s Show. It didn’t realize how big it was going to be. It was almost overwhelming. We quickly created a plan of attack and were off. We looked at purses and jewelry and even got a makeover at Clinique. The makeover was okay but since wearing mineral makeup I HATE liquid foundation so all I really wanted to do was run home and wash it off. She put brown blush on me which I also hated because it makes it look like I had dirt on my face. The eyes looked good but I am also not used to wearing mascara so it felt a little odd I did like the cleansing system and the lip liner so I bought those. The price for the cleansing system was $50 which at first I thought was too steep but then she told me the supply should last 8 months which when I totaled  what I spent on skin care products for the year s it was well over $50. Maria wanted to get her teeth whitened (yeah they did that at the expo as well as hair removal) but the cost was $125.

When we finished with the first building we headed to the second one. This building was mostly food and wine. By this point I was starving so it was great to hit the booths and get some free food. We stopped at this one stand that had cheese ball and dip mixes which we sampled all of them. They were all very good. I ended up leaving with a chocolate Chip Cheese ball kit and a White Chocolate and Cranberry kit as well as their original veggie dip kit. I can’t wait to make them. All in all it was a great show. They had some strange booths that just didn’t really fit in like companies that make gutters and a nudist colony booth, which Maria hurried me past. LOL

After the show we headed over to Ruby Tuesdays for a light lunch then we headed home. The rest of the day I spent sitting out on the deck with my book which I was finally able to finish. It is a booked called “The Lightening Thief” by Rick Riordan which is sort of like Harry Potter meets the Greek Gods.  It is about the young boy named Percy Jackson who finds out that he is the son of Poseidon and it sent on a quest with two friends from camp half-blood Annabeth daughter of Athena and Grover a Satyr who was sent to protect Percy. They must find Zeus’ missing lightening bolt before the summer solstice or a war will break up between the Gods and destroy the world as we know it.  It was a good book, a bit slow in spots, but a good quick read. I found out that they are making a movie base on the book which should be released next year. I think it is being produced by Disney which I am sure they are trying to catch up to Warner Brothers who has had a huge success with Harry Potter. This book is the first in a series I think there are four in all. I have started the second book called, “The Sea of Monsters.” I have gotten a huge stack of books to read from family and friends and I am trying hard to make a dent in them.

Sunday I got up and took Potter to the lake to swim. We met up with a guy and his black lab Shadow. Potter and Shadow played and played until Potter finally collapsed and I knew it was time to go home. They were fun to watch though. Shadow’s owner and I laughed so hard a times. He would throw a stick in the water and Potter would swim out to get it. Shadow would stay close to shore and wait till Potter came back with the stick and she would grab it from and run off. Potter didn’t mind, he enjoyed chasing her down to get his stick back. At one point the stick was too far out in the water and Potter wasn’t comfortable swimming that far so he came back without it. Shadow was so distraught that she didn’t have a stick that she swam over to a sick sticking out of the water and tried to grab it not realizing it was attached to the ground. Too cute! I hope we run into them again because the pups seemed to pay so well together.

We came home and Potter immediately fell asleep. I changed clothes (mine were all wet) and headed over to Lennie’s house to get Eric’s key and to collect the money for the bills that he was refusing to pay. I am so relieved to finally be done with him. I will have to find out what Lennie said to Eric to get him to agree to pay what he owed because Eric didn’t like having to deal with me. I think he feels I am too far below him to deal with. I mean after all I am just a woman and in the Mormon world I don’t hold any authority.  He wonders why bad things keep happening to him. It is called Karma my friend and maybe if you tried to treat others with respect then maybe Karma might smile kindly on you.

I stopped by the store on my way home from Lennie’s to get a few things. I have some bananas that are starting to turn brown so I figured I would make some banana bread. When I got home we had a terrible storm which kept knocking out the power so I decided I would make the bread tonight. Hopefully the weather will clear out and I can do some work in my flower beds. My Easter lily is growing and I haven’t decided what I am going to do with it when I construct the new beds. I am afraid to dig it up for fear it might stress it out and not bloom. I also have some verbena and some monkey grass the drought didn’t kill that I will need to replant as well.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Most of you know them as IT but we refer to them in the Corps as IM (Information Management) 

I have been trying to finish up getting my name changes. You never realize how many things you need to change when you get married. The last thing I needed to do was to get my name changed with the Corps. It sounded simple at first but has turned into a nightmare.

First I needed to do what is called and RPA (Request for Personnel Action). So I did that and sent along a copy of my new license and a certified copy of my marriage license. Once that was complete and they gave me my SF 50 I was suppose then notify our IM department so they could make the changed in the email system.

Over a month ago I called IM to let them know that everything with personnel had gone through and I needed IM to do their magic. They informed me that I needed to get a new CAC card first. Unlike the district folks we here in the field need to go to the National Guard Depot to get new cards. We have to make appointments which is always a pain because usually only has slots open two weeks after you need them. Every time I have been there, there has never  been anyone else waiting.  So I made an appointment and drove over to the National Guard Unit to get my card. When I got there I was about 20 minutes early and the guy made me wait in the hall while he read the newspaper until they clock struck 11. Then he called me in and told me that the machine was broken. What you couldn’t tell me that when I walked in? So he sent me away and told me to come back in two days which I did. This time apparently I needed to have a form signed by my supervisor so they sent me away again. I was getting very aggrevated by this point. Then I found out that our security office was going to be making a trip up here with there CAC machine and that they would take care of me then. So I emailed IM to let them know what was going on.

So that brings us to today. I came in this morning and was first in line to get my new card. It went smoothly except for the fact that they kept wanting to put a “p” in my last name. With my new card in hand I called IM to tell them that I have my new card. This is our conversation.

IM: IM Help Desk This is Barry

ME: Hey Barry its Rebecca…I have my new card.

IM: (sounding a little confused) Okay?

ME: Barry you told me to call you when I got my new card with my name change on it.

IM: (still confused) UmmmOkaaaay?

ME: I emailed you like a month ago about the fact that I got married and needed to get my name changed. You told me to call you when I had my new card.

IM: Is this your first card?

ME: Barry I have worked for the Corps for 4 years now.

IM: So this isn’t your first?

ME: (sigh) No this is not my first card.

IM: Well what is it you want us to do?

ME: Change my name in they system.

IM: Well you need to send me an email with the information.

ME: I sent you an email over a month ago.

IM: Who did you send it to.

ME: I sent it through Ann and she sent it to you.

IM: Well you need to send it to me. Ann has been out of the office all week.

ME: No I sent it a month ago.

IM: Okay? Well I will let them know but you will need to send me an email.

ME: Barry I can’t send it again because I can’t log onto my computer. I have a new card and need you to change the name in the system so when I log on the names will match.

IM: Oh that’s right. Okay hold on.

ME: (I wait as he types some things on the computer.)

IM: Okay you should be able to log in. What is your new name?

ME: Thomson without a “P”

Barry: No “P”

ME: Yeah it is T-H-O-M-S-O-N

IM: T-H-O-M-P

ME: No there no P

IM: Gotcha! We’ll take care of it.

So I hung up the phone and waited about an hour or so then logged into Outlook to see if the name change had been done. What did I see?

Rebecca G. Thompson

SCREAMMMMM!!!!!

I called IM Back.

IM: IM Help Desk. This is Barry.

ME: Yes Barry it Rebecca again

IM: Uh huh What can I do now?

ME: You spelled my name wrong

IM: Let me see (pulls it up on his screen) Rebecca Thompson. Is there two “b’s” in Rebecca?

ME: No the first name is right. You put a “p” in my last name

IM: There is no “P” in Thompson.

ME: No it should be T-H-O-M-S-O-N. It should read Rebecca G. Thomson SAW

IM: Okay I will fix it.

So I hung up and waited about an hour and re-checked. This time the first and last name is right but they forgot my middle initial and my District code. So I call IM back.

IM: IM Hel…

ME: (interrupted) Barry it Rebecca. It still isn’t right. You forgot my middle initial and the district code. (See without the District code I get lost in the global address book and district notices won’t show up in my box).

IM: Huh? Oh yeah I see now. (He tries some things) Yeah I am going to have to work in it.

He then hangs up the phone. While at lunch I get a call from him stating that someone is working on it and it will be fixed tomorrow. Tomorrow? So what am I suppose to do till then? I called him back and discussed some option and asked him about forwarding my mail which I know can be done because they did it for people who move to other districts. He wasn’t sure how to set that up. So now I have to wait till tomorrow to have email access. I have already been yelled at about not responding to 3 urgent emails this morning.

Our IM department was taken over by contractors (Lockeed Martin) about a year ago and we were promised that things will be much better. They have actually gotten worse. I don’t’ know where they find these IT people. I have gotten so mad at 2 of them that I went off and made one of them cry. They now refuse to talk to me. We have 3 computers that need to be fixed and have been after them to come and fix them. They called me two weeks ago and asked if someone could load them up and bring them to Wilmington on their next trip. First of all…it isn’t my job to disconnect and haul computers. Secondly…Wilmington is 2.5 hours away and we don’t have anyone going down there for awhile. They said they don’t have a budge to travel. They are contractors…they don’t need a budge to travel. They do the work and charge the Corps. I am just so frustrated I could spit.

I am not a computer expert but I could do their job better than they do. There have been a few times when I have fixed some computers here in the office because the staff hasn’t gotten any help from the District. Next time I fix something I need to ask for a charge number so I can get paid for my time.

Tanya….Steve Jones just walked into the office.

Mood:  hungry

I got a lot accomplished this weekend but still have tons to do. I managed to clean the house and did accomplish to do a bit of spring cleaning. Still need to do the windows. I started to get the outside cleaned up. I cleared everything off the patio and hosed it all down to try to get the pollen off. There is still a tinge of yellow here and there but at least I am able to sit outside without being grossed out.

While outside I devised a plan to redo my flower garden. Last year Lennie and I Put in a plastic border which the directions said would be easy to install. The ground was so hard that we weren’t able to install it the way I wanted to. I was very unhappy with the final product. So this year I plan to rip it out and place landscaping timbers down instead. It won’t have the way pattern I had hoped for but I think in the end it will look great. It is going to take some hard work and some measuring which you all know is not something I do well. By using the timbers it will hopefully create sort of a raised bed which should help with some erosion issues I have.

Now for the flowers. Spring Hills Nursery (and online establishment) sent me a catalog and a 50% off each item coupon. How could I pass up not using it? So I order what would have been over $250 worth of flowers but with the coupon it was only around $123.00, SWEET! I paid more than that last year at Lowes and didn’t get as many flowers as I got with this deal. I order three complete garden packs which equals about 66 plants. One pack that I am excited about is the butterfly/hummingbird garden which is what I wanted last year but I had waited too long in the season and Lowes wanted a ton of money for a full grown butterfly bush. The plants should arrive in May so I have to get cracking on building the beds.

I also went out to Mulch Masters on Saturday to talk to them about getting 2 to 3 cubic yards of mulch delivered. It turns out to be way cheaper that buying bagged mulch at Lowes. Yes I know I can get mulch really cheap from the city but I don’t have Lennie’s truck to pick it up. The guys at MM were very nice and got a big kick out of me. When they asked me how much mulch I needed I shrugged and then proceeded to show them on the floor of the store just how big my flower beds would be. Yeah I know I am such a girl.  I will also need to mulch the front yard so I am hoping the extra I order will help with that.

I had hoped to go to the Wine Festival in Cary this weekend but by the time I finished my chores it started to rain. So I stayed in curled up on the couch and watch two really good movies…Water Horse and Greenfingers. If you haven’t seen either I highly recommend them. The Water Horse is a cute movie about the Loch Ness Monster and Greenfingers is about a Prison Gang in England that takes up gardening.

Well I should get some work done I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I don’t know how much posting I will do this week. I am working on a training program to train my staff to do their own travel vouchers which will probably consume my time.

Mood:  bright

I was mowing my lawn Wednesday night and I can to some wood debris that I had left over from my patio. I went to move it out of the way so that I could mow but when I flipped it over I had a surprise waiting for me…a huge female black widow spider. YUK!!!! Now my friend Bryan would be totally stoked and would be collected it to show his school kids (he is a science teacher) but what did I do…knocked her off the board…stepped on her…and then ran her over with my mower. Yeah I know the mower part was a bit over kill but just wanted to make sure she was dead. 

I don’t really know why I have this fear when it comes to spiders. Reading about them and seeing pictures of them I am actually rather fascinated by them. But when I see them in person, the way they scamper, for some reason really freaks me out and the fear part of my brain kicks in and tells me to KILL IT!!!! I get the heebie-jeebies just thinking about it.

Today I haven’t been able to get much work done. It seems that my official duties today consist of being a snake wrangler. We have had a black racer sunning itself on the patio. I have moved it twice (I am one of the only ones in the office that isn’t afraid to touch them) but it keeps coming back. I don’t want to move it too far because I am pretty sure its home is in a crevice in the stone wall. If I could just get it away from the top of the steps. My fear is that someone will walk up the steps and see it there and fall backwards. They pose no harm to humans but Black Racers are a tad bit different than your ordinary Black Rat Snake. First off they are more streamlined so then tend to be very quick (hence the name racer). Secondly they tend to have a pissy attitude. Most black rat snakes will hiss if disturbed but seldom every bite but racers have no problem giving you a strike or two. Luckily they don’t have any venom to back it up but it still hurts like hell. This snake appeared not to mind human interaction that much. It may have just enjoyed the fact that my hands were warm. So since my desk I located close to the patio I am instructed to keep an eye out for our little friend and move him out of the way of visitors.

On a very bright note…I saw 3 loons today. I was getting the morning report when I saw what at first I thought were mallard ducks. When I looked closer I saw they had a more streamlined structure and a bright white patch on the front then I observed them dive under the water. When the male surfaced, he called out and it filled my morning with such joy. I have never seen a loon in the wild and they make the more beautiful sound. I would have gotten pictures but didn’t want to spoke them off. Chances are I won’t see them again seeing as May will soon be here and they will move further out to the coast but it was definitely a highlight to my week.

I don’t’ have a big weekend planned. I do need to clean the house and get some laundry done. It is supposed to rain Saturday and Sunday so I will more than likely be confined inside.

Hope every has a great weekend!!!

Mood:  hungry

It has been a fairly quiet week although I am still swamped at work. Most everyone is on travel this week so there are only two of us in the office. I have restarted my gym routine which makes me feel so much better. I had taken a week off to pack up Lennie’s things so that I could move them out of the house. During my break from the gym, my trainer Olo got hired on by a new gym. This really sucks because we had really gotten a good routine down. He was a tough trainer but also knew how to keep me motivated. He usually let me work out on my own because he knew with Lennie being in Iraq I couldn’t afford to pay his trainer fees. So from time to time he would take my work out sheet and change it up a bit and if he noticed me struggling he would yell to me from across the room that I could do it and don’t give up. I will miss him. One of the other trainers confronted me about signing up with him but I think for now I will just work out on my own. I think I have enough notes form Olo that I will be just fine. I also had a workout partner but she has had to change her workout days and times so I am truly on my own now.

I didn’t get much rest this past weekend. Saturday we had our 1^st annual Falls Lake Festival and I agreed to help out. I don’t know why I feel the need to always volunteer. I guess I know that if I don’t then Dana would probably have to do it all herself. It was suppose to run from 11 to 4 but most of the people showed up at 10. We had a great turn out until the rain started at 1:30. The event was such a huge success that we plan to do it again next year.

Sunday I was up at 6AM to go back over to Lennie’s and finish up some packing. I had tried to do it Friday but ran out of packing tape and then Saturday I had the rain to deal with. I didn’t have much left to do. I just needed to get his storage shed cleaned out and pack up his tools. The Navy folks showed up at 10 and we started loading stuff up. I got a little aggravated because every time I would lift something one of them would come over and take it from my hand saying not to worry with this stuff…they would do it. We were all packed up and on our way to the storage unit within an hour. Unloading went just a quick and I think they were a little upset that it didn’t take longer because it meant they had to go back to the base. LOL Everything except the furniture is safe and secure and I now have to get the alarm system installed and the house cleaned. Eric left it in such a mess.

I got some news from my sister Monday night. It appears that I was right…she is having a girl…Naomi Gayle. There were apparently several people who thought it was going to be a boy but I just knew that she was carrying a girl. See when Anne first told me that she was pregnant, I had a dream that she and Jimmy came to visit and Anne was holding a little girl. Now I am not saying I have prophetic dreams but I just think my mind knew or hoped that it was a girl.

In closing….This morning I got an email from a friend who knows how much I love the movie Labyrinth.  We have always talked about dressing up for Halloween as characters from the movie. While scanning EBay for Labyrinth costumes he came across this doll of Hoggle. I would LOVE to have that doll. He looks so real. Too Cute.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Mood:  don't ask

Last night before I left work my boss stopped me to make sure I was planning to come to work on Friday. I was a little unsure why he would be asking because I rarely ever take time off and if I do I usually let him know way in advance. I told him that yes I would definitely be at work. With the Festival coming on Saturday, there was so much that needed to be done. My boss said, “Good, well I need you to come see me as soon as you get in.”  And with that I got in my car and drove off.

As I was driving home I wondered what it was that Tom wanted to talk to me about. Then it hit me…he is going to offer me the job. I was so excited and wanted to call everyone I know but didn’t want to jinx it. I didn’t sleep last night because the excitement was just too much and I had all these questions running through my mind.

So I got up this morning and drove to the office and headed straight to Tom’s office. I was a little nervous and was running through my acceptance speech in my head. Tom asked me to have a seat. He then pulled out some paper work and the nerves started to get worse…OMG here it comes. “You have been selected….(OMG OMG OMG)….to take a random drug test.” WHAT!?! A drug test? Didn’t I just have one of these a few months ago?  You can’t understand the disappointment I felt when I heard drug test instead of a job offer. I grabbed my paperwork and grabbed Dana (she was randomly selected as well) and we headed over to the clinic.

We entered the clinic and filled out our paperwork and proceeded to sit there for an hour. I drank way too much coffee this morning and had to go soooooo bad. The nurse finally called our names but it wasn’t to take us back for the test it was instead to tell us that they didn’t have our Chain of Consent forms and that we were going to have to come back on Monday. Are you kidding me? So needless to say I have started out my morning in a very pissy mood.

Mood:  happy

This won’t be a long post because I have two eagle nests to inspect today and I need to get on the road but something happened last night that put me in a better mood than I have been in quite sometime.

I was over at Lennie’s again last night trying to get his stuff packed up. Yesterday it was all about his office. He has a bunch of work and army manuals that need to go into storage. As I cleared off one of the bookshelves I noticed a greeting card sitting on an empty shelf. Upon further inspection I realized it was the very first card I had given Lennie.

It was a Valentine’s Day card. I went for humorous since we aren’t really sappy people. The card had a couple on the front having a picnic and the woman says, “Dan, tell me your dreams.” Dan replies, “They start out differently but they all pretty much end with you naked.”  This was appropriate for Lennie because he always talk about in Lennie Land (his mind) I am wearing a French maid’s outfit. LOL

On the inside of the card I wrote about how for the first time in a very long time I was looking forward to Valentine’s Day and was hoping he could finally break the curse. Which he did.  I was so touched that he kept the card and that he had it displayed on its very own shelf for all the world to see.

My husband is not an overly romantic man but there are times when he does little things like this to make me realize just how lucky I really am to have him in my life. It all made me miss his badly.

Sorry I haven’t updated everyone on the weekend’s activities but I have been swamped at work.

I had a great visit with Marie. She came in town Saturday night and after visiting for a bit we headed out to Taverna Agora for some Greek food and to watch some belly dancing. Yeah I know belly dancing isn’t Greek but no one really seemed to be concerned with that.

After dinner we headed down to Hi5 for a bit of drinking and dancing. I totally forgot that the basketball game was on and instead of dancers crowding the bar we had a plethora of UNC (I think that was the school…I am not a sport nut) fans. We had one drink there and then headed upstairs to Bogart’s. They had the game playing there too but we only had to wait 10 minutes for it to end and for the DJ to set up. At first the DJ started playing some great songs. Mostly from the late 80’s but we quickly realized that he was only playing about the first 2 minutes of each song. Then he went into some R&B and rap music that I just wasn’t into. We hung out till about midnight and headed home.

We got up Sunday morning and I made waffles and then we got into our costumes and headed down to the faire. It was rather chilly and the rain from the day before caused the whole place to be one big mud pit. Usually this place is packed with vendors but I guess since it has rained every day of the faire, most vendors decided to pack up and head home. We stayed long enough to watch a joust and the NC State Pipers and then we headed to our cars. Marie had driven herself and left to go back to Charlotte right from the faire. I got home to find that Marie had left her jacket at the house and that Potter decided to take a liking to it. He was sound asleep on top of it and had at one point chewed through one of the pockets. BAD PUPPY!!! I feel so bad and I hope Marie will let me replace it. My $13 dog is starting to cost me a lot of money. This is the first time he has gone for a jacket. Normally it is just shoes and purses.

Anyway I have included a picture of my outfit. It was Tartan Day at the faire so I wore my husband’s tartans sash. I know it doesn’t really match the outfit but it came in handy to help to stay warm. Plus it was like Lennie was there with me.

Monday morning when I came into work I had 4 strange voicemail messages on my phone. They were all from this guy named Herbert Oberson Jr. He claims that we was kidnapped as a child and say at one point that he is George Bush’s son, then says he is Herbie Hancock’s son then back to George Bush. He says that he appears to be black but in fact he is white and claims that when he was kidnapped they covered him in brown putty. He thinks I am someone named Ms. Smith and says that he needs to come in and give me his finger prints and foot prints. He claims that he is 32 but that he looks older because he is trying to conceal his identity. He said the communist are trying to kill him and someone named Jim and he thinks they are also after the Queens of Great Britain (I didn’t know they had more than one Queen). He thinks I am a Blood (as in a member of the street gang) and that the Crypts and the Chinese Koreans are working for Obama to start the new war and that he alone is trying to preserve the white race. He claims to be a Republican, Democratic, Libertarian (wow I didn’t know you could be all those at once) but that he is first and foremost a Republican and that he worships the ground his father (George Bush) walks on. He does mention in his last message that he is Paranoid Schizophrenic (really? I couldn’t tell) and that he is staying at a homeless shelter in Raleigh.

When the messages ended I notified the Sherriff’s office. I wasn’t too concerned that he would show up here but worried that in his paranoid state that he might try to hurt someone. I wasn’t at all pleased with the response I got from the officer who took the call. He tried to make it sound like I was over reacting…stating that most of the guys at the shelter have some sort of mental disorder. I said that that may be true but those other guys didn’t call me and that I would not be able to live with myself if I heard that he had done something to someone and I had not reported what I knew about him. I told the officer that I have had experiences with someone who was Paranoid Schizophrenic and they really should be taken seriously. I informed the officer that I had done my part and now the ball was in his court. If he chose to do nothing then if something happened the blame would be on him. That last statement got a little more action from the officer. He called the shelter and they stated that they knew the guy and that he had come in to use the phone several times. They stated they would tell him not to call me anymore. But once again that wasn’t my concern. These people just don’t get it and I truly do hope this guy doesn’t harm anyone. I wish I could find a way to let you all hear the messages. I tried to record them onto my computer but the government disabled the microphone.

This week I am busy packing up Lennie’s house. His Navy friends are coming over Sunday to take everything to the storage place. We have our Falls Lake Festival on Saturday so I will be tied up with that most of the day. I don’t know if I will have a chance to post anymore this week so I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.

Well Spring is here and I know that not by the fact that it is April but the fact that everything is covered in pine pollen. My friends in the North don’t understand this phenomenon because in the North they have mostly hardwoods. Oh don’t get me wrong they will get a light dusting of pollen here and there but it is nothing like the mess you get down here. You can wash your car and in the span of 30 minutes, you car will be covered again. You don’t dare leave your windows open because before you know it, everything in your house is covered in yellow-green dust.  The pollen coats everything. It even lays on top of the water causing it to look like some sort of chemical spill.

I went out and mowed my lawn the other day (well attempted to mow…I need a new blade which I hope will not be a big deal to replace.) when I came inside I was covered from head to toe in pollen. Yuk!

The good news about pine pollen is that it does not cause seasonal allergies. According to my doctor my stuffy head and itchy eyes are caused by pollen from grass and other plants. This deluge of pollen should end in about a month and I am hoping by then it will still be cool enough to open the windows again. I miss the way my house smells when I open it up and let the fresh air in.

There is a lot going on this weekend and I am not sure if I will make it to everything but thought I would tell you all about it incase you were in Raleigh this weekend and looking for something to do.

Tonight at Tir Na Nog, Davey Morrison (From Albannach) will be performing. I have gotten several emails from people telling me that Albannach will be performing at the pub. I hate to break it to everyone but no the whole band is not performing just Davey. It looks like so far Albannach’s only gig here in NC will be the Highland Games at Grandfather Mountain in July. But head out and see Davey perform from 7 to 9. He will also be brining some of his artwork with him. Then stick around afterward because Seven Nations will take the stage at 10:30. You might see me down there. I have a lot of running around to do but hope I can be done to stop down for a bit.

This weekend is also Tartan Day at the Renaissance Faire. It is like St. Paddy’s day for the Scots. My friend Marie is coming in from Charlotte to go and we had plan to go Saturday but they are calling for some nasty rain all day. So the plan now is that she will come Saturday evening and we will head out for some dinner and then go out to celebrate her engagement. Then Sunday we will head to the faire. I finished my dress and can't wait to try it out. It ended up being more like a slutty peasant than a gypsy. LOL

It you have never been to a Ren. Faire before you should go at least once in your life. You don’t need to have a costume. I enjoy going in costume because it gives me a chance to practice my sewing skills. They always have some great food and performers. For those of you in MD…don’t worry you have a Ren Faire of your own starting in August. and running through October. http://www.rennfest.com

On the job front…I have gotten a ton of emails from you guys wanting to know about whether or not I got that job that I applied for. Well there are some unusual things going on at the moment and once I get it all figured out I will let everyone know. I think at the moment there is a major mix-up in communication.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Mood:  bright

I recently watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age and I LOVED it!!!! Much better than the first. What made it better was Clive Owens portrayal of Sir Walter Raleigh. I have seen other movies with Clive Owen but for some reason he hadn’t really struck me until now. Don’t worry I still have an undying affection for Gerard but I can squeeze Clive in there somewhere. ;)

He has a way of acting that you don’t often see. He is subtle and uses his face to establish the mood more so than his body. There was one scene in the movie where he stands on a ship and looks out at the battle on the sea. You know in reality he is standing in a studio on just part of ship with probably a green screen in the background. But in that instance…when you look at him…you feel as if he is really on the sea. There was just something about his facial expression in the shot that got me. There were also the scenes with Elizabeth when he would give that oh so subtle smile that just made him so irresistible.

Picture provided by Clive-Owen.com

The night after watching Elizabeth, King Arthur came on TV. I had forgotten that Clive was the lead in that film. Although I am not a huge fan of the movie (I prefer the TH White version of the Arthur Legend) I must admit that Mr. Owen was a very sexy Arthur.

I am sure I have seen many other movies starring Clive Owen but like I stated before he just never made my radar…until now.

In searching for pictures of Clive I came across this BMW short film/commercial with Clive Owen and Madonna. It made me laugh. Just look at some of the facial expressions on Clive's Face. It will give you a better idea of what I mean when I say he acts with his face. *sorry..I tried to embed the video but wouldn't work*

BMW-STAR COMMERICAL

Mood:  chillin'

It is that time of year again. Time for our annual bald eagle monitoring. Actually it started a few months ago but I forgot to mention it. LOL This year we have had some exciting news. We have discovered a 4^th eagle nest on the lake. It is unfortunate though that this nest is in a location only accessible by canoe or kayak. Our current canoe is in a horrible state so I am pushing for a new one.

In other eagle news I have been monitoring the Norfolk Botanical Garden’s Eagle nest from the web again this year. The eagles moved to a new tree and NGB have set up a new camera with night vision. Very cool. You can check out the nest here. Norfolk Botanical Gardens There has been some drama this year with the mating pair but all seems to be going well and they have successfully laid 2 eggs. A new feature this year is some snap shots of the days monitoring as well as some night shots. One of which was the squirrel incident mentioned in the title line.

I was amazed when I saw imagines of the little squirrels and wondered if these squirrels were either very smart of very dumb. In the first picture below taken from the website you can see the squirrel building its nest just below the eagle nest. What is it thinking? Does it not realize that eagles eat squirrels? Granted they are not part of the Eagle’s main diet but they will do in a pinch. And how convenient for the eagles. If they are in the mood for a night time snack all they need to do is reach down below the nest and grab a squirrel. Maybe the squirrel is betting on the fact that an eagle would think that a squirrel wouldn’t be stupid enough to live right under the nest so they may never realize they are there.

In the second photo you can see the squirrel taking advantage of the eagles feeding time by scavenging the nest for down feathers so that they can line their own nest. Once again not a smart move. Eagle are very protective of their nests and don’t often fly far for fear that that another eagle might move in. To risk this move you would have to be on constant guard.

I haven’t noticed the squirrels moving below the nest. They could be really good and slipping out unnoticed or the eagles could have discovered their new “neighbors” and invited them over for dinner. Or the squirrel figured it just wasn’t worth the price of getting caught and have moved on. But in any case…it is neat to watch.

It was a very quiet weekend at the Thomson house. I didn’t answer my phone unless it was family or the hubby. I didn’t want to take the chance that I might get called into work. I spent most of the day on Saturday cleaning the house. I got a lot accomplished but still need to do the windows. It was such a gorgeous day that after the chores had been completed I decided to take Potter to the dog park. Everyone must have had the same idea because it was packed. Potter played with a Staffy Mix and his good friend Dottie the Dalmatian for a good hour. When he finally tired it went over to this poor guy sitting in a lawn chair and made the guy pet him for 20 minutes or so before I stepped in. I figured when the guy tired, he would just push Potter away, but he didn’t. I went over and apologized for Potter being such an attention hog. The guy laughed and said he was in love with my dog. His dog is usually more interested in other dogs and not people so he was enjoying spoiling Potter. Potter was enjoying it as well

Sunday morning Potter got me up at 7:30 AM. I tried to sleep in but the neighbors had hidden candy outside for the kids to find so Potter ran from window to window as the kids ran around screaming. I got up and ate breakfast and then took Potter back over to the dog park. It was a little quiet which was good because I could work with him on his fetch.  I guess everyone else got to sleep in. We came home and I managed to finish the bodice to my dress and then I made a quick call to the family to wish them all a Happy Easter and then it was time to prepare the lamb.

I love lamb but I haven’t prepared it before. I found a really easy recipe and all the online reviews said it was the best lamb recipe EVER. It called for a boneless Leg of Lamb but unfortunately all I could find was a butterflied leg of lamb. Luckily with a couple feet of kitchen twine, I was able to put it back together. The recipe was great but of course I must change it up a bit. I decided that garlic and lamb go really well together so I made a few slits in the lamb and inserted some sliced garlic in the holes. I topped it with the rosemary, thyme, bread crumbs, and olive oil crust and popped it in the oven. It smelled so good cooking and only managed to take about an hour which is good because I was STARVING. I carved off a few pieces and it seemed tender I just hoped it tasted as good as it looked. I fixed my plate and went over and popped in a movie. I then took my first bite. OMG!!!! It melted in my mouth. It was so tender and juicy. I had used the pan dripping, which wasn’t just lamb juice but also contained chicken broth and white wine, to make some gravy and I practically licked the plate clean. The lamb was so yummy that I woke up in the middle of the night craving it. But I was good I left it in the fridge. I have brought some for my lunch today and I can’t wait till noon so I can eat it. YUMMMMMM!!!!

On a sadder note…Tomorrow is Andrew’s memorial service and Tom has agreed to let me take the afternoon off so that I can attend. There is a really great article in the Raleigh Chronicle which talked about Andrew’s life and his many accomplishments. Famous Spy Novelist Dies Suddenly Check it out if you get a chance. I still can’t believe he is gone. It is indeed a very tragic loss. He will be missed.

I hope everyone had a good Easter. I am busy this week so I don’t know if I will be posting much.

Mood:  hungry

It sucks that the Government doesn’t give us off for Good Friday. I am trying to remember if we got 59 minutes off last year. I highly doubt it. I don’t have big plans for the weekend. For once I don’t’ have to work so I will likely spend it working on my dress and taking Potter to the dog park.

I have been invited to several places for Easter dinner but I think I am just gong to stay home. I have been feeling very tired lately and just want to have some time to myself. I have been so busy lately that my house is starting to suffer. It is suppose to be in the 70’s on Saturday so some minor spring cleaning and open windows should do my soul some good.

I wasn’t planning to make anything for dinner on Sunday. Lennie isn’t here and unlike in the past I don’t have a bunch of friends stuck in town so I figured why make all that food for just me. Well last night while flipping through the channel I came across a cooking show and they were making leg of lamb. Now that is all I have been craving. So I looked up the recipe online and I plan to make that, some steamed red potatoes, green beans and maybe some dinner rolls. My mouth is watering as I type this. I have never cooked lamb before so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it turns out. I figured I could use the left over lamb to make Gyros. I was going to make my famous pie but I think that is on my diet list of what I am not supposed to eat.

Speaking of diets…I had my monthly evaluation at the gym. I always have to laugh because they try so hard to get you to sign up with a personal trainer and at $60 an hour that is just not an option for me. Most of the trainers know that my husband is in Iraq and that we don’t have a lot of money so they don’t press the issue too hard. But they have this new guy and he took all my measurements and we came into the office and inputted the results into the computer. They ask you a bunch of question like do you smoke, drink, have high blood pressure, etc. and then an image of what your body looks like from when you started and what it looks like now which is cool because you can see your progress. What also pops up is your age and what age your body is. Mine comes up that I am 33 in a 29 year old body. The poor new trainer just didn’t know what to do. Normally it is reversed for most people. Like you are 33 in a 55 year old body. This would be the point where they would say, “well if you hired one of our trainers, you could reverse that and look and feel young again.” With me I got, “That’s interesting…(pause) you could probably do better with a personal trainer.” I just looked at him, smiled and said, “No thanks”. The weight isn’t pouring off like I thought it would but my BMI has decrease a lot. I notice that I am toner. I talked to one of the trainers and he reassured me that I am on track and that I am increasing muscle which weighs more that fat and with my added workout routine I should start noticing a bigger loss. We will see.

There is this older black woman named Ida who I often work out with because we use some of the same machines. We were talking in the locker room before I headed back out to do my cardio (I had come back in to grab my MP3 player). She told me that they have a Salsa workout Saturday mornings now and wants me to try it out. We will see.

Well I should get back to work. I hope everyone has a great Easter!