Mood:  bright

Well I just got back from the Mid Winter Eagle Count and guess what? I finally saw an eagle. 

I arrived at my observation point which was on the Cheek Road Bridge at 6:45 AM.I was lucky I had approached the bridge from the right direction because I was able to pull up close to the side and had a clear view of both sides of the lake. It was still dark but the full moon glistening off the lake provided me enough light to get my bearings and to find the box of donuts I had stashed on the floor (plain donuts so as not to hinder my diet), The count didn’t start till 7 so I had some time to drink my coffee and start filing out my paperwork. Sky...still too dark to tell but looks clear. Wind....well the trees seem to be moving a little so I will write light. Precipitation.....none. Temperature....FREAKIN COLD!

I complain every year about doing this event because I have to get up early on my day off and it is usually cold but it is an amazing experience to be there and watch as nature starts the process of waking up. The moon by now had turned to gold and was just about to meet the horizon on the lake. To the East the sun was just starting to rise so the sky was a lovely shade of pink. I glanced back at the moon just in time to see a group of Canada geese skim the surface of the water in the moon’s reflection. The world had awoken. A quick glance at my watch confirmed it was now 7 and was time for me to start scanning the sky. 

I opened the car door and I was suddenly hit with a wall of freezing cold air. I zipped up my jacket, turned on my Ipod so something peacefully. Claire de Lune was just perfect music for a sunrise. I put on my gloves and my ear muffs and then last but not least, grabbed my binoculars and headed out onto the bridge. It was so quiet except for the occasional sound of gunfire from some far away hunters to the West. I scanned to the skies to the West and stopped at the Hickory Hill Boat Ramp. I could just barely make out the figure of one of the other rangers standing on the shore line. A quick wave but nothing in return. Most not see me or she is doing what I am supposed to be doing which is searching the sky. 

I turned to headed over to the eastern side of the bridge and scanned the sky and the shoreline in that direction. Nothing much to report except for s large flock of gulls and a lone great blue heron sitting on a sandbar. I stood out there watching the sun come up, until my poor fingers couldn’t take it anymore. I headed back to the car to warm up a bit and perhaps grab another donut. Little black capped chickadees were playing in the sweet gum tree beside my car and I giggled as they fought over a seed pulled from the only sweet gum ball still hanging from the branches. I put my gloves back on and opened the car door and threw them a few crumbs from my donuts. They quickly scooped it up and flew off. 

It was now about 7:30 and I headed back over the side of bridge. This time I hopped over the guardrail and followed the little path down to the shore line. I put my binoculars up to my eyes and scanned the sky once more. Seagull.....another seagull....Canada geese...Heron....some ducks....some more gulls....heron...wait was that a heron? I quickly back tracked to the place I thought I had seen the heron. Where did it go? Herons are large and hard to miss. Then I saw it circling close to the water. It wasn’t acting like a heron...maybe it was a cormorant. The cold had me shaking so badly that it was hard to keep the binoculars still. I took a deep breath and forced my body to hold still and my eyes focused just in time to see the bird turn. Then I saw that unmistakable sign...a bright yellow beak. My heart jumped as I continued to try to keep my eyes focused. It turned again and slanted its body towards me. It was an immature adult and had just a few patches of white at the base of the head and mixed into the tail.  I suddenly became all giddy like a kid on Christmas morning. I had completely forgotten about the cold as I tried hard to follow the eagle through my binoculars. Because it was mostly brown I would lose it from time to time in the tree line but then I would catch site of it again when it would turn and skim the surface of the water. When it finally had enough of entertaining the strange girl standing on the bridge, it took off to the West and disappeared completely over the tree line. I watched intently, hoping it would resurface but by now my body could take no more of the cold and begged me to get back inside the car where it was warm. 

I sat in the car and filled out what I had just observe. Looking at my sheet I realize now I will have to rewrite it Monday because I was shaking so bad you can’t read what I wrote. I ventured outside the car a few more times hoping I would see the eagle again but 8:30 came quickly and it was time to pack up and head home. 

I am still all giddy and excited and I can’t wait to get to work so I can share my news with the other rangers. We found out last week that the state ranger found two new nests this year bringing our nesting pairs up to 6. It is to be hoped that the bird I saw today will find a female this year and come next winter I will see it grown and possibly starting a family. 

Well I am off to take an extremely hot shower so I can warm up a bit but just wanted to share my news. I hope everyone is having a great weekend and I will catch up with you all next week.  

Mood:  don't ask

I am suffering from major cramps today so my mood is very poor. All I want to do is go home and curl up in a ball on the couch with a heating pad and a cup of tea. I have to find a way to perk up because I am manning our booth at the Fishing Expo this afternoon and I need to be personable and approachable. It is inevitable that someone will come up to me and ask a stupid question or want to bitch about something. In my current state I would likely tell them F*** Off!  Maybe I should stop by the Dr.’s office and pick up a muscle relaxer.

I will be working the expo tonight till 8PM and then I have to get up at 6AM Sat to drive to my assigned location in Durham (of course I always get the spot furthest away from my home) to conduct the Midwinter Bald Eagle Count. This will entail standing on a bridge over the lake with a pair of binoculars in the cold and possible rain to see if I spot any eagles. Of course I never see any. I am hoping I can get my car close to the observation point so I can run back there to get warm from time to time. This spot, even though it is a drive for me, isn’t nearly as bad as the spot I had three years ago where I parked my car and hiked a mile to the shore line in the dark. I managed to scare the crap out of myself when I stepped on some trash that someone had dumped and it popped up into my face. I screamed and punched what I thought was an attacker only to discover it was just part of an old couch. I will need to remember to stop and pick up breakfast on the way and I am hoping the police don’t confront me like they did last time and steal all my donuts.

Lennie has drill this weekend so don’t really know what else I will get up to. I have some cleaning to get done but much  to Lennie's dimay, I will not be doing with the French Maid's outfit on.  I wont be doing much shopping either this weekend because I had to have my debit card shut off. My bank called me last Sunday to tell me that there where some strange purchases on my card. There were 3 charges for $87.13 from a company called Lipaphen (sp?) I told them I have never heard of the company and don’t think I purchased anything from them. She told me that apparently their parent company is one called FWM Laboratories. Nope still didn’t ring a bell. She then told me that she would shut off my card and issue me another one and transferred me to the fraud department. The fraud officer and I  looked up the parent company and found websites dedicated to complaints about them. Unlike me these people seemed to have signed up for a free trial only to be charged over $90 a week later. They have tried to get refunds from the company but instead continue to be charge. The bank refunded my money and I filed a police report and filed a complaint with the BBB and the FTC. We were not sure if they were the ones who used my card but when I called the company to straighten it out and cancel the subscription the guy at the scam company said it would happen within 24 hours and I would get and email stating the refund amount. That has been 4 days and I have seen nothing. I have several issues with BOA but they are always on the ball when it comes to spotting possible fraud. At least I was able to get my money back from the bank.

Well I better go grab some lunch and get to the expo. I hope everyone has a fun weekend.

EDIT – It just occurred to me that I am going to have to put on a tie and my “Smokey Bear” hat. Could this day get any worse?

Mood:  don't ask

I don’t

I don’t have a clue what is wrong with me today. I just can’t seem to focus. I am trying to blame it on the cold weather. I was late for work this morning because I couldn’t pull myself out of bed. Then when I did I had problems performing my morning routine. Then I get to work and realize I forgot my wallet at the house. Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal but it has my CAC card in it which without that I can’t log onto my computer. I had also forgotten to pack lunch so I needed some cash to hit Subway at noon. Luckily for me, Lennie was also running behind this morning so I got him at the house right as he was headed out the door and he ran my purse out to the park. I  told him that I seemed to be having issues today and he just laughed and said that he has had days like that as well. Oh what I wouldn’t give to be curled up in bed right now. Maybe I can sneak out and run to Starbucks for a peppermint mocha or maybe a chicken biscuit. Those always perk me up.

We had a great New Year’s Eve. My friend Maria hosted a small party at her house which was nice not having to be in a crowded bar or standing out in the cold. When she first sent out the invitations she said that we would have heavy appetizers but when we got there she had roasted a turkey and baked some Mac and cheese. Yum! We then played a game of Scene It which was fun but I didn’t have my glasses on so I couldn’t read the question real well. We then played Phase 10 which was a riot and Maria had me laughing non stop. We then rang in the New Year and Lennie and I went home and crashed.

We got up Thursday morning and proceeded to clean the house. I had gotten a call from my father and he asked if he and his new girlfriend Susan could come and meet Lennie and takes us out to lunch. I haven’t seen the man in over 10 years and have only spoken to him a handful of times so I was weary about the visit. He always criticizes me for something so that had me a bit on edge but having Lennie there as moral support really helped. They arrived about 11:30 and we chatted a bit and I showed them the house and then we headed downtown for lunch. Most places were closed but one of the Irish Pubs was open so we popped in there. When our food arrived Dad insisted we say grace. This totally caught Lennie and me off guard.  My Dad, as far as I know, doesn’t go to church and isn’t really religious. Maybe he has found God in his old age? During lunch the conversation turned to Lennie and me looking at houses. See Lennie views the house we live in as MY house because I bought it and I pay the mortgage. He wants to buy a new house that will be OURS and one that we can raise a family in. I told Dad and Susan that we had found one is Wake Forest that we really liked but right now it was out of our price range. Dad then insisted that we go and take a look at it after lunch. This was a bit odd because I said more than once that even though it was perfect for us we just couldn’t afford it until Lennie sold his house and the seller dropped his asking price. But he said he just wanted to see it. So after lunch we headed out to the home site. As I was showing Susan the stone work on the steps, Dad insisted that I turn around so he could take a picture of me in front of the house. This was also a bit odd because well once again…it is highly unlikely, unless all the stars align, that we will be able to buy this house. But I posed for a picture anyway. From what they could see of the house they liked it as well. How could you not? It is gorgeous! They loved the development and the town of Wake Forest and said it would be great if we could afford it and Susan wished us luck. After checking out a couple of the other homes, it was time for then to get back on the road. Dad handed me a check for $100 (belated Christmas present) and they said their goodbyes and left. All in all the visit was not as bad as I was expecting. Susan is very personable and talkative which helps out a lot when Dad goes into his quiet moments. He never once said anything critical and even said at one point that he was proud of what I had done with my life.  I have a good job, own my own home, and have married a great guy. I don’t know if this will end up being the relationship that he hopes it will be but Lennie said that it was good to see that there might be a possibility of making a mends. He just doesn’t want me to get hurt again.

I know the rest of my family probably doesn’t understand why I agreed to meet with my father. They have, for the most part, written him off. But I met a woman not so long ago who had had a falling out with her father and hadn’t spoken to him in over 20 years. She had gotten a call from a friend of the family who informed her that her father was dying of cancer.  She thought it over for a few days and decided that she should make peace with him before he goes. She flew to his beside but it was too late. He had passed the evening before. She said that my father may not be perfect and it was true that he had made some horrible mistakes but he was the only father I would ever have. She said like it or not, he had made me the person I am today. All the anger I was carrying around for the man only served to poison my life. I was happy to let go of some of the anger yesterday. I am still waiting for it all to come crashing down but I will just enjoy it for now.

I hope everyone had a great New Years and I hope that 2009 will be the beginning of some great things.

I don’t

Mood:  a-ok

Well I am back! Did you miss me?  Thanks to my brother-in-law who installed a wireless router onto my mom’s computer, I did have internet access while in WV but I could be bothered with posting an entry. I had a 4 month old niece to cuddle with and a birthday to celebrate.

The visit home was nice but the drive there and back is getting a little old. Lennie did the driving but I just get so antsy when I travel. He doesn’t stop as often as I would if I were behind the wheel.

We got to mom’s on Tuesday and we headed out to the Charles Town Race Track for dinner (It was all you can eat crab leg night). I gorged myself on crab legs, shrimp, crayfish, and a huge plate of mash potatoes. Then I headed over to the chocolate fountain. It dawned on me as I was dipped marshmallows in the chocolate that I hadn’t eaten any vegetables. Oh well. After dinner we went out to the slot machines. I played a dollar and won 79 cents. Whoo hoo I know I am a big gambler aren’t I? We then walked over so that Lennie could see the track. There were no races that night and it was pitch dark but I think he could get the gist.

Wednesday we did a whole lot of nothing. Anne, Jimmy and the baby arrived that evening and we stuffed more food in our mouths and played with the baby.

Christmas morning mom went and got my Aunt Buddie who seemed in better spirits since her stint in the assisted living. Once everyone was up and had coffee in hand, we started opening presents. We didn’t buy much for each other this year but the gifts that were bought were great. I got some DVD’s, gift cards and a bag for my new laptop. Lennie can be a hard one to shop for so I just enrolled him in a Microbrew of the Month Club. HE will get 12 beers every other month for 6 months. He was thrilled.

After breakfast mom started making dinner. The rest of us relaxed and played with Naomi who was so happy that she squealed with glee no stop all morning. At dinner I ate way more food than I needed and it never dawned on me that my birthday cake was going to follow and I should have left some room. But I managed to eat about ½ a piece before feeling totally nauseous. Then it was time for Bday presents. I got a might mouse for my Mac, the 3^rd book in the Twilight Series, and an Ipod. I know…I am such a spoiled girl.  That night we rested as I tried to let the food in my stomach digest. We ended up playing a card game called Phase 10 which I really enjoyed. Mostly because I won (Thanks again Anne for not paying attention and giving me the cards I needed J ). We ended up getting the game as a Xmas present from some friends but Lennie hates games so I don’t know when I will have a chance to play again. Maybe I can take an ad out on Craigslist to start a Phase 10 meet up group. LOL

Friday I spent the day with Justin. Lennie stayed behind this time so that Jus and I could have some quality time together. We went to lunch and then headed to the mall to watch a movie. We opted to see Bolt because it was the only playing at 2pm. It was actually a cute film Rhino the hamster was the best and I even shed a tear or two.

Saturday we got up and headed back to NC. I was so happy to be home and Fenwick the cat didn’t leave my side all evening. I popped in a movie and we both feel asleep before it was over.

We got up Sunday morning and ran a few errands. I wasn’t in the mood to cook a huge dinner so I just cut up a huge plate of vegetables and bought some shrimp and we just relaxed and munched. Lennie then gave me the last of my Xmas presents. A Dyson vacuum complete with a French Maids outfit. See in Lennie Land I clean the house in a sexy French Maids outfit and he is trying desperately to bring that into reality. I told him that once he dons a Monty Uniform when we will talk. LOL Although he is kind of short so it may not be so appealing.

Tonight I am going to try to get back to the gym. I haven’t been in the last month and I really need to put it back in my routine. I also need to do better at eating healthy. I avoid fast food most of the time and I never drink soda but I have been making very heavy dinners and need to eat more fish and chicken. I do have a turkey breast in the freezer that I can thaw out for Saturday.

Well there is work to be done. I hope that everyone had a great holiday and that Santa brought you everything you hoped for.

Mood:  blue

This is a rant of sorts so I will understand if you don’t read it. But sometimes it helps me to get the words out. My husband has been great about it but he is always trying to fix it and he is often off the mark. But I do love him for trying.

My mother had called me Friday on the verge of tears. She and my Aunt Buddie had a falling out and she just needed some advice and someone to talk to.

For those of you just tuning in…we had to place my 98 year old great aunt into an assisted living facility. She had fallen 5 times in a 2 month period and we were worried that her next fall would put her in a nursing home with a broken hip. Of course, Aunt Buddie being the independent, stubborn person she is, didn’t want to go in “a home” so she fought it every step of the way and proceeded to make everyone’s life miserable.

At Thanksgiving when I was taking Aunt Buddie back to assisted living, she stated that she wanted to go home to her cottage and have Homecare. Mom and I discussed it and Mom agreed to look into it. We were hoping that it might maker her happy. Mom found a wonderful agency that agreed to come in for 4 hours everyday. It was a bit pricey but her insurance would cover most of it.

So that brings us to Friday. Mom got a called from the nursing agency and saying that Aunt Buddie had canceled their services. Then she gets a call from Aunt B who proceeded to yell at mom stating that she heard from the cleaning lady that someone had taken off her shower doors and put of a shower curtain which she didn’t want. Mom tired to tell her that she had never authorized that but Aunt B would hear none of it. She stated that Mom needed to butt out that she could take care of herself. Mom said fine. That the deal was that she could go home with nursing care and since she had canceled that and apparently can do for herself she could get herself home from the assisted living facility that mom was done with this. Aunt Buddie then hung up to phone.

When I got home from work that night I decided to call my great aunt to see if I could smooth things over. She immediately started in with how the last month has been hell for her and that she was finally going home on Saturday. I said I had just gotten off the phone with a mother in tears and there was a brief moment that she seemed sorry that she had made mom so upset. But it was only a brief moment. She started in with how mom was trying to kill her and take all her money. She said mom was being unreasonable and that she was just trying to stick her in a home so she didn’t’ have to worry with her. I tried to stay calm but she continued to say horrible things about mom and I eventually lost my temper and fired back at her. I told her that Mom had ALWAYS been there for her. Every time she called, Mom rushed over there. She traveled the 50 miles round trip and gave up social engagements so that she could tend to her needs and never asked for a dime in compensation. I said that if Mom truly didn’t care about her that she would have stuck her in a state run nursing home and just walked away. Instead she tried to find her a great facility and that she had never given it a chance. I said that Mom could have just left her there and gone on with her life but she continued to come over and she took all the verbal abuse Aunt B could dish out at her. I stated that she herself told me that she wanted home care so that is what Mom got for her. Aunt Buddie tried to stop me and said it was too expensive and I chimed in with the fact that her insurance pays most of it. The more I talked the angrier I became and the more unreasonable she became. When I finally told her that she was acting like a child she stated that she didn’t need anyone that she could take care of herself and she hung up. I was going to call back but thought in my mood it wasn’t a good idea.

So on Saturday I waited to hear something from Mom but never did. I started to write a letter to Aunt Buddie but every time I would start writing I would get angry and I didn’t want the letter to come from a hostile place. I wanted it to show how much I was hurt by her recent attitude and hope that she would one day see reason. I am hoping that tonight I can remain calm and finish the letter.

I did talk to Mom yesterday who sounded awful. She has been in bed sick since Friday. She said some friends had gone over to check on Aunt Buddie and that her hairdresser’s sister had moved in with her. I don’t know anything about the woman except for the fact that she has a home and a husband in Delaware so not exactly sure how long she is staying or even how long Aunt Buddie will put up with someone in her house. Right now mom and she are not on speaking terms and I know mom plans to write a letter. I hate to see things so strained between them because they have always had a good relationship.

I just don’t now where to go from here. I haven’t a clue how to make this right. How to get mom and her talking again. Should I trust this person who has moved in with her? What happens if they rob her blind? The whole thing just makes me uneasy.

Well thanks for letting me rant. I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything gets sort out by Christmas. I would hate for her to miss Naomi’s first Christmas.

It is POURING down rain at the moment. Normally I wouldn't care but I am duty this week which means I have to lock the gates tonights. I am going to get drenched.

I had a pair of rain pants in my desk but they have gone missing. UGH!!!! So not looking forward to this. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the rain stops at 4:30.

 On a different note I just got a call from my friend in India. Totally out of the blue and it has added a little sunshine to my day. I haven't talked to him in over two years and he is now married with two beautiful twin girls. I am so happy for him.  I just love surprise phone calls. Well unless it is someone trying to sell me something.

 ooooh nooooo it just got darker outside. Not a good sign.

Mood:  lazy

At least according to Apple I am. They even have software designed just for “switchers”. If you haven’t guess yet…I finally bought a Macbook. We drove over to Maryland on Friday while I was home for Thanksgiving and went to Bestbuy just to “look” at the Macs. The sales guy wasn’t all that great but he did allow me to play around on the new Macbooks for awhile. Lennie wanted me to get the Pro version but 1) They didn’t have any in stock and I wanted one right then and there and 2) I couldn’t justify spending $600 more just for a bigger screen and some video software. So I just opted for the 13.5 inch one. I got a little pissed with mom when she said to Lennie that he shouldn’t have let me open it till Christmas. WTF! I bought it…I can open it when ever I want. :P

So what do I think? I LOVE IT!!!! It is so much fun to use and super fast too. I wasn’t able to get online while I was at Mom’s (maybe I should get her a router for Christmas) so I couldn’t set everything up while I was there. But it was still fun running through all the application to see just what I can do with it. I will need to get the iWork software so that I can transfer my old word documents over. I still have a huge learning curve but the software comes with tutorials so I can learn the apps quickly.

I went to Bestbuy last night and picked up a Linksys router. I had researched online at lunchtime and it was touted as being the best on the market for the price and easy to set up. Well it was easy to connect all the wires but getting my laptop to connect to the router was a bit tricky. It wasn’t a compatibility thing it actually had to do with security. Linksys asks you to create a password, which I did and then comes up with another password that the system creates. I wrote both down and then ran to my laptop. I followed the Mac instructions and when it came time to enter the password I kept getting an error message saying I had the wrong password. I was entering the one I had created but instead it wanted the one the system made up. They should have told you that. Luckily the laptop locks in the password so I don’t have to retype it because it isn’t a password I would EVER remember. I can’t wait to get home and play around with it some more. Although Lennie is starting to complain that it is taking time away from him. Well now he knows how I feel. He only has to compete with a computer. I have the house, his tax class, and the dog to worry with.

We had a great visit home although it was nice to finally come home. My mom’s house is just getting to be too small for all of us. I don’t know how Christmas will work out. Lennie may have to stay in Raleigh so I will have to decide whether to stay in town with my husband or make the long journey north. I have promised Lennie that when and if we have kids that will be the end of the trips back to WV. It is hard enough to make the journey with the dog and bird I can’t imagine throwing kids in the mix. Plus I want my kids to have memories of Christmas at home.

I did get to see little Naomi while we were home and it was amazing how much she has grown in just 3 months. At least this time she didn’t scream bloody murder when placed in my arms. For the most part she just looked around and smiled. The last time I saw her she cried almost non stop when I held her and it made me feel totally inept at the possibility of being a mom.

I also got a chance to see Justin. He met up with us at Bestbuy and hung out with me while I waited to get my computer setup. Lennie gave us some time alone to talk and it was so nice to be able to converse with him. I can be a total dork at times but he thinks it endearing and loves me in spite of it. I think that Lennie is a little jealous of our friendship and knows that even though we are married our relationship will be nothing like what I have with Justin. He is like my brother and knows that when I start to be overbearing and protective that it is coming out of love and that usually I am right. Where as Lennie gets that “who are you to tell me” attitude.

Well I should get back to work. My lunch break ended 10 minutes ago. We sill don’t have water so I am sure that soon I will have to make my daily trek over to Bojangles. This time I will try to resist buying a biscuit.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Mood:  caffeinated

What a weekend! I felt like I got nothing accomplished although I seemed to be running around a lot.

Saturday morning I had to be up because I was going to be in the Raleigh Christmas Parade. When I got to the living room and looked at the thermometer outside it read 24 degrees. Holy Crap! This would be the coldest Christmas Parade in a decade. I put on my eight layers of clothes then donned my parka. Looking at myself in the mirror I felt much like the kid from the movie A Christmas Story. I was a tick about to burst. Of course as soon as I have everything on, I had to pee. Never fails!!!

I got to the office at 7:15 with donuts in hand for the group and we loaded up or boat (now a float) and we headed to the parade location. Our recon team (the staff from Jordan Lake) arrived early and picked up our location information. Out of a 123 floats we would be number 121. Yeah I know…sucks! But we would be close to Santa so that was cool. We got to our street and got in the spot we were assigned. All the sudden we heard a very loud noise approaching and looked up to see a GIANT shopping cart headed our way. They were number 120. Great!!!! Now we had to walk behind this monstrosity and smell the exhaust fumes for the entire 1.5 mile parade route.

Could it get any worse? Yep it could. A woman came by and stated that we were they awful early. We all looked confused. The parade was to start at 9:30 and it was now 8:30. She stated that we were so far back in the line that we probably wouldn’t start moving till about 11 am. WHAT!?! So here we stood in the freezing cold for 2.5 hours. We took turns sitting in the Durango to get warm.

Finally a little after 11 we started to move. Dana and I handed out Frisbees but ran out half way through the parade. There were apparently 50,000 people at the parade and we only brought 2000 Frisbees. LOL At one point I was mobbed by a group of kids and turned around to find a homeless man standing in front of me. He smelled so bad that I recoiled and covered my nose. I felt bad but he took me off guard. He just really wanted to tell me how much he loved the Army Corps of Engineers.  I thanked him and ran to catch up with my group. Then at one corner we had to stop and this police officer came up to talk to me. He followed me for 2 blocks talking before it dawned on him that he had left his post. LOL

We got to the end of the parade and were taking the stuff off our float when the Santa float came up. I eagerly waited to see the man in red only to be disappointed. A FAKE Santa. You think with all the money and all the people out there with real white beards that they could have gotten a decent Santa. Hell borrow the one from Triangle Town Center.

When I got home I went online to watch the parade so I could see our float. I fast forwarded through the marching bands and bank floats and finally saw the giant shopping cart….okay we were next…I was so excited…cut for commercial. NO!!! Okay they will be back to us after the break right? Nope they cut us out all together and just had Santa’s float and that was it. I was PISSED!!!!!!! Oh well…here is a picture from the parade. If you look to the left you will see me in my life jacket. I know some people logged onto Garrison’s site and watched the parade and I think he zoomed in on me. LOL So at least you guys got to see it. Oh and to those of you who yelled my name as I walked by. Sorry if I didn’t see you or wave back. I was too busy being mobbed by kids and strange homeless men.

Saturday night Lennie had gotten us tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra. It was a great show but not at all what I was expecting. I wasn’t really anticipating the laser lights, the shooting flames, fireworks, and the snow but the music was fantastic. If they are coming to your area…check them out. You will be entertained.  

Sunday I ran errands trying to get things ready for our trip to WV, I still need to get new tires for my car. Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow.

Today is our 1 year weeding anniversary. I know I can’t believe it has been a year already. It has been a great first year and marriage has been wonderful. Granted he was gone for the first 6 months but the time has just flown by. We are going to Firebirds tonight for dinner and I can’t wait. The thought of a blue cheese filet with mini mushrooms and a loaded baked potato has me drooling already. I got us a little cake yesterday and some Asti so hopefully tonight will be fun and relaxing. We have both been so busy lately that we haven’t had much time together.

I am thinking of buying a new laptop and have been looking at the Macbook. I have been a PC user for ages and the idea of switching to Mac makes me a bit nervous. Everyone I know that has one LOVES them and have told me that once you go Mac you never go back. LOL This will be a Bday gift to myself. I haven’t bought anything fun for just me since my digital camera. It has a hefty price tag and with my buyer remorse it will be difficult for me to actually make the purchase. But Best Buy is offering 18 months interest free and I can pay it off in that time. I don’t know. What do you all think? I should talk it over with Lennie and get his opinion. I know he will tell me I never buy stuff for myself and it is something that I can really use but I just feel bad spending the money. DILEMMA!

Well I should probably get some work done. The pump broke on our well so we have no water here at work which means we also have no toilets. I have already made two visits to Bojangles which ended in a purchase of a breakfast biscuit. I feel bad just going in there to pee so I have to buy something. Damn my moral compass and the need to always do the right thing. But they really are good biscuits. Yummmm.

Awww I just got flowers from Lennie!!!! Makes my day

Mood:  loud

And I can pretty much guarantee it won’t be pleasant for anyone.

I got a chance to call my Aunt Buddie last night. I have avoided calling her just because I knew that she was extremely unhappy about being in assisted living and I know that I would have to hear how miserable she is. I wanted to give her some time to get settled.

She answered the phone in her normal Aunt B voice but when she heard it was me her voiced changed to the “poor, feeble, unhappy” Aunt B. She told me that I needed to come take her out of this hell hole. She wants to go back to her house and that if mom likes this place so much then she could stay there and how horrible the staff was to her and how she had asked for chipped beef and gravy for breakfast and they brought her runny eggs, one piece of toast and cold coffee. She said she hopes we are not doing to her what Mabel’s daughter did.  Put her in a home and sell off all her stuff. I asked her if she honestly thought, after all we have done for her over the years, hat we were over selling off her stuff. I told her the reason Mabel’s daughter sold the cottage was that Mabel could no longer make decisions for herself because of memory loss and confusion. She didn’t answer me but instead starting talking about the coffee and said that sometimes in the afternoon she wants coffee but that they won’t give it to her. I stated that there was coffee service right outside her room. She said she shouldn’t have to walk out there to get coffee. I informed her that it was the same distance from her living room into her kitchen at home. She didn’t like that answer either. She then started making stuff up to make the place seem horrible but I called her on it. I told her that they did not make her wait an hour for her breakfast after dragging her down to the dining room. She also said that no one has checked on her which I pointed out that at the beginning of the conversation she said the nurse had just stopped by to see if she needed help getting down to the dining room. She also complained about having diarrhea all day and that no one cared. I asked her if she told the nurse she wasn’t feeling well and she said no. Well then how the hell can you expect them to know if you don’t tell them? When ever I came back with an answer she didn’t like all I heard was…”I don’t like it here and I want to go home!” It was talking to a 5 year old.

She said that she was going to have a serious talk with mom and that it wasn’t going to be pleasant. I stopped her mid sentence and told her that she needed to show mom a bit of respect. Of course I got well she didn’t show me respect by putting me in here. I said that none of us get any pleasure from her being there. I would love nothing more than for her to be in her cottage. We are all worried about her safety and know that she has been lucky so far that she hasn’t broken anything during her recent falls but that her luck would soon run out and I would rather her be in assisted living than be n a nursing home which is where she will end up should she fall again. She stated that if we didn’t want to care for her then she would find someone else that would. I stopped her there and told her that all we do is care for her. Mom travels 50 miles round trip every time she calls and never asks for a dime to help pay for gas. She has been getting her groceries, taking her to doctor appointments, and sorting out her medication.  But it is apparent that she needs round the clock care and mom just can’t provide that because she has a full time job. Mom isn’t doing this to be mean, she is doing it out of love and that if she gave it a chance she might just like it. She knows she can’t argue with me like she does mom and because I don’t put up with it. Mom can be a bit more diplomatic than I am. Aunt Buddie quickly changed the subject to when am I coming home and when will I be by to see her. I allowed her to change the subject because I knew that she could only take so much and I knew she was starting to cry. When we ended the conversation it was upbeat and positive about seeing up and maybe the baby and it would give her something to look forward to.

Mom then called her about an hour later and Aunt Buddie laid into her. It was so bad that mom called me on the verge of tears. I felt bad that I couldn’t talk to her but we had just sat down for dinner and Lennie had reached his “Aunt Buddie Drama” quota for the night. Luckily Aunt Pat called her after I hung up so she got the brunt of it. When I called her back after dinner she was much calmer. I reminded mom that the staff told us it would be rough for a few weeks and that Aunt Buddie is scared and that mom is the only one right now she can take it out on. Mom has to go over today to take Aunt B. to the doctors and I know the car ride will be more of the same from last night.

Mom said she will call me later to tell me how it went. There is one thing I will not tolerate from Aunt Buddie and that is a lack of respect. Mom has done so much for her and she doesn’t need to act ugly. I have a feeling she and I are going to have to have a come to Jesus meeting. I don’t care if she gets mad at me I can take it but poor mom is just trying to do the right thing and is losing sleep and is just being beaten down.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Mood:  caffeinated

Seriously I think it froze over. It is FRIGGIN COLD!!!!! It was 24 degrees this morning when I got up. Luckily Lennie was kind enough to take Potter for his morning walk. He has finally come down with the crude I had weeks ago and I feel so bad for him. He looks miserable.

The weekend was nice except that for some reason my brain didn’t want to function. Orvis was co sponsoring an event with the Neuse River Golden Retriever Rescue where you could bring your dog in and get its picture taken in front of the Christmas tree and fireplace. For some reason I had it in my head that it was Saturday. So we got all dressed up and brushed out Potter and showed up at the store and there was no one there. Apparently the event was Sunday. So we loaded back up and dropped Potter by the house and then headed down the The Nog for the evening. Lennie was presenting at the Whiskey Tasting and I was to meet up with Maria and her family to hear the Belfast Boys. It was a great night but I was glad to get home and curl up in bed.

Sunday morning I woke up to a flat tire. Lennie took it in to get fixed but after looking at all the tires I really need to get them replaced. There goes $300 I don’t really have. The rest of the day Sunday was spent cleaning and doing laundry. Then at 4pm we all loaded back up in the car and headed over to Orvis. There was a big line of people waiting for pictures. Most of them had goldens that they rescued so it was fun talking to everyone and Potter enjoyed it because everyone had treats in their pockets and were happy to give him a few. The pictures were $40 for 2 poses. One of just the dog and then one of you and the dog. I did get a little annoyed with the photographer at one point. She has just given birth to a beautiful little boy. I seriously mean JUST gave birth as in the baby is only a couple of weeks old. She is breastfeeding which is great but the baby started to cry to be fed while she was taking pictures. Instead of having an assistant take over she rushed us through the pictures so she could go off to feed. They sat Potter up on this bed which isn’t the pose I wanted. They all start calling his name and squeaking toys to get his attention so he jumps down off the bed to get to the toys. So we have to keep picking him up and putting him back on the bed. I could tell that they were getting annoyed so I said if you just hold up your hand where you want him to look and say “focus” you won’t have an issue. Once they got a couple of shots of Potter they started to bring in the next dog. I spoke up and said we were to have one of us as well. So they sat us on the bed and Potter on the floor in front of us but he kept walking over to the other dogs. She took a picture and then tried to dismiss us and I spoke up again and said I wanted a better shot with Potter closer to us. She sighed and looked at her husband and the crying baby. I felt bad that she wanted to go feed but at the same time I am spending $40 bucks and deserve to get the same attention as everyone else and have a decent picture. I just know they are going to turn out crappy. We ended up winning one of the raffle prizes which made the evening a little better. It was a large basket of dog toys and treats which Potter drove right into pulling out the big rubber ball.

There was one funny moment in the evening when this yuppie couple walked into the store. They were dogless so wasn’t aware why there was a multitude of dogs running around the store. The woman came up to me and asked what was going on. I told her about the NRGRR and Orvis having a professional photographer here to take pictures of your pets. She went back over to her husband and explained it to him and then said, “Have you noticed something? The dogs are all beige. I have never seen so many beige dogs. I saw one black dog around the corner but the rest of them are beige. You think they could find dogs with other colors.” LOL Hello! Golden Retriever Rescue!!!!

I spent last evening out with Maria. We met up with her friend Michelle at a tapas place called Oliver Twist. Michelle has crush on this musician named Matt who was playing last night. It was an odd evening to say the least. Not sure if Matt is all that into Michelle or if he is just too shy to show her he likes her. I was just brought along so that Maria had someone to talk to. Which I don’t mind because Lennie had class last night so it got me out of the house and I always enjoy hanging out with Maria. She makes me laugh. J

Lennie got tickets for us and Maria and Todd to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra this weekend and I am so excited. I have the parade in the morning which is going to be COLD but I can’t wait to see the show. I have been dying to see them and every year I try to buy tickets but they are always sold out.

I don’t know how much posting I will be doing this week. I have a ton of stuff on my desk and I still have to get things ready for the parade so I hope everyone has a nice week and if you are in Raleigh head down to the parade and get your Frisbee from me. J

Mood:  bright

Sounds like an interesting premises for a book doesn’t it? But actually it was my dream from last night. Totally bizarre and so life like. In my dream Lennie and I were living in what appeared to be a dormitory. This dorm has actually been in several of my dreams lately and I don’t have a clue why. Anyway, right next to the dorm was an elementary school. One day the floor inside the school gave way exposing an ancient temple. One night I was walking and pass the school when I was suddenly hit with an urge to see the temple. The door to the school was unlocked but this didn’t strike me as being odd. I walked down the steps into the temple where I was greeted by a tribal boy about 10 years of age. He took my hand and said the others were waiting. We walked down a low dimly lit corridor and arrived in a beautiful golden room. There were many people there dressed in tan togas. Upon closer inspection I noticed the crowd was full of people I have met before both from the past and present including my friend Maria who was smiling and holding the hand of a beautiful little dark haired boy. She looked at me and nodded and said its okay we have all been through it before. Been through what? At that point the tribal boy takes my hand and leads me to a large wooden throne that had hand carved animals all over it. It was amazing. The boy said that the chair is different for everyone. He sat me down and faced me towards the fire pit in the center of the room. An old man entered from somewhere and gave the boy a cup which he then handed to me. He told me if I drink from the cup my path will be made clear. He said he would guide me that I shouldn’t be frightened. As I was just about to drink from the cup a sound woke me up. It was Fenwick playing with the blinds. I got up and shut him out of the bedroom and tried to fall back asleep and continue my dream. When I did fall back to sleep I wasn’t in the temple anymore. I was in the school standing at the steps leading into the temple. This time the entrance to the temple had collapsed and there was police tap all around it. Lennie was there this time and I heard the chiming of a security alarm and I realized I had set off a silent alarm. We both ran outside and as we did we saw a little white kitten sitting in the grass. She was so cute and cuddly and purred as she brushed up against my leg. I picked her up and held her in my arms and then heard the police sirens and knew they were looking for us so we ran back to the dorm. That is when I woke up for the second time. And try as I might I couldn’t get back to sleep. I have been trying to rack my brain with just what my dream might have meant and little disappointed that I didn’t get to drink from the cup and see what was true path and life was. Oh well…maybe another night.

My great Aunt Buddie enters an Assisted Living facility today for 30 days. She has fallen 5 times within the last two months. This last time (Sunday Night) we managed to falls backwards hitting her head on the ground and bringing the walker down on top of her. She has been lucky not to break a hip but we are all worried that she can’t seem to stand upright. Worried for her safety mom suggested that she go into Assisted Living for a time Aunt Buddie refused at first but I think now is resolved to the fact that she doesn’t have a choice...she needs help.  I can see the issue from both sides. We want her to be safe and know that right now she needs round the clock care and needs time to heal. But she and I are a lot of like. We are both very independent and stubborn so I know that if it were me being forced to go I would hate it and also be scared out of my wits. Will my family just abandon me? Will I ever see my home again? She also has it in her head that she will have to sleep on the floor and be force to eat with people she doesn’t like. It is only for 30 days and I am hoping she will look at it as a kind of vacation. I know the first few weeks will be tough but I do think if she gives it a chance she might like it. She is a very social person and living by her self she sometimes gets depressed so maybe being around other will perk her up a bit. Once she gets settled in we will send her a card and some flowers.

Well I hope you all have a great weekend. If you are in Raleigh next weekend come check out the Christmas parade. You might just see a familiar ranger walking in front of a boat handing out Frisbees.

Mood:  bright

I woke up this morning with a feeling I haven’t had in a long time. Hope! Not just hope for a better America but for a better world. There is an energy in the air today that can’t be denied. I knew when I went to bed last night that Obama had won but this morning it was made final. What an historic day for all Americans. No matter whom you voted for you can take pride in the fact that you participated in the greatest election of our time. Not just because we have elected our first black president but because a record number of people registered and voted in this historic event. I have voted in every election since I turned 18 and even though there were times when I thought it was pointless because my voice would never be heard, this election proved that to be untrue. As a woman when I stand in the voting booth I am overcome with emotion. There was a time when my gender would have been denied access to such locations.  But women from all over the country…democrats and republicans… came together and fought for the right that every person in this county should have…the right to vote. We can come together again to turn this country around and put it back on the right track.

Americans stand at a great precipice. Do we continue to allow ourselves to be divided by this great chasm of differences or do we search for a bridge to unite us. I am flooded with thoughts of what this election could mean for us all. We have the opportunity to change for the better. To show the world how great we really are. Like Obama has said…we are not red states and blue states but the United States.

I look forward to January when he will take the oath of office and can get started on all those campaign promises. I know that we will not see results quickly. Our current situation didn’t happen over night and it will take time to set it right but I have faith…hope that we can all pull together to help to get the job done.

But now there is just one question remaining….What kind of dog do you think they are going to get?

Mood:  don't ask

This probably won’t be a long entry. I have so much to get done today. This morning has not started off well and I am hoping that I can get it back on track by lunch time.

I am apparently supposed to be early ranger this week but I had it in my head that I was the duty ranger. So instead of showing up to work at 7am I showed up at 8:30. It wasn’t a big deal. Dana got the morning report for me but for some reason I am totally frazzled now and just can’t seem to get organized and do what I need to do.

To make matters worse I had some really bizarre dreams last night and I keep running them through my mind trying to figure out what they might mean. Very Distracting!

Halloween was a lot of fun but I think I am still recovering. LOL My body just doesn’t party like it used to. Not that I was much of a party person to begin with. I got home from work on Friday and started getting ready. Lennie cooked dinner and handed out candy while I finished putting my makeup on. Last year we only had 7 kids and I ended up with a bunch of candy left over. This year we managed it give out all the candy except for 4 Hershey kisses. At 8:30 we headed down to the pub. Everyone loved our costumes especially Lennie dress up like Jesus. Our friend Annie was just about to announce the winners of the costume contest when we walked in. She ended up giving us 1^st place. Yeah she was probably a little biased but the $50 bucks we won went towards our drinks for the night. I had my picture taken so many times throughout the night. One of which was for a newspaper but I was too tipsy at the time to ask the guy what paper he worked for so I have no idea where it was printed. I have checked all the local papers and it didn’t show up anywhere. * shrug *  I also managed to scare the crap out of some poor woman. Apparently she is terrified of cockroaches and she was too freaked out by the fake ones I had crawling on me. She ended up having to leave the pub.

Well I should get back to work. Hope you all enjoyed the weekend and gaining an extra hour of sleep. I would have enjoyed it if someone had told the cat and dog that they time had changed. Oh well Lennie had drill this weekend so I will be able to sleep in.  J

Mood:  hungry

It seemed as if every radio station I turned to this morning was playing “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by the Blue Oyster Cult. Don’t get me wrong I love the song but hearing it during my entire morning commute to work was a little much.

Happy Halloween everyone! Oh how I wish today was a federal holiday. I wonder if there is any chance we will get dismissed early…probably not. My costume is finished and my makeup is all in order. I now have to set up my plan as to how to apply everything. I have this huge elaborate plan but of course it never turns out like that because…well…I am a park ranger and not a makeup artist.

I am feeling much better today. I took off Tuesday and slept all day. Well except for Michelle Obama calling at 10am to remind me that I could vote early in NC. Potter thought that I had stayed home to play with him all day and tried desperately to find a toy that I was interested in playing with. I woke up at one point to find the bed littered with balls and squeaky toys. His favorite of which is his new hedgehog that grunts when he bites down on it. He insisted on playing with it right by my head. I finally had to take it and hide it under the covers so that I could go back to sleep. He finally got frustrated and laid his head on top of my back and let out a huge sigh and fell asleep. Too cute!

I think Lennie was hoping that my being sick would prevent me from celebrating Halloween. I told him about the year I had Bronchitis and still went to several haunted houses and a hayride. I reminded him that I worked hard on my costume and I would make sure that if I was still sick that I would highly medicate myself so I could last through the night. Good thing I am feeling better. ;) He is still not looking forward to it but I am hoping that it is like the dinosaur thing that he will enjoy it once he gets there.

I did find out a little bit of upsetting Halloween news. My favorite haunted house in Leitersburg, MD closed its door last year for good. They had put on the show for 30 years and they decided to call it quits. It took place in an old school house and they said it was getting harder every year to keep it up to code. Even though I haven’t been since I moved in NC it was nice to know that it was still there. It will be missed for sure. People would come from miles just to have the crap scared out of them. It is truly the end of an era.

Well I should get some work done. I hope you all have some great plans for tonight. If you are going out…have a great time, be safe, and have a designated driver.

Oh and for those of you who are bored at work and want a little Halloween fun….here is a link to one of my favorite short stories. It is a lesson it being careful of what you wish for.

The Monkey’s Paw

Mood:  spacey

I feel like crap this morning. I wanted so badly to just stay in bed and sleep and that is exactly what I should have done. So why am I sitting here at work? Because I have too much to do. I just can’t afford to be sick right now. Not in a financial way more like everything is due this week and I need to be here to get it all done.

I was feeling great last week. Well except for waking up every morning with hives. So I called my Doctor on Friday because the allergy meds she gave me just weren’t working. I hate taking medication so I was hoping that she could find out if there was something in my environment that I could change to get rid of the breakouts. She told me to come in and she would run some more blood work and allergy panels. Of course when I got there the waiting room was FULL of sick people so therefore now I have a cold. I suggested to the nurse that they need separate waiting rooms for sick and healthy people. She laughed and said, “Honey, people don’t come in here if they are healthy.” Which I guess is true but there are some of us who aren’t contagious and would like to stay that way. Poor Lennie…I thought my feeling crappy this weekend was my allergies acting up but now I know that I have a cold and I am pretty sure I have managed to pass it on to him but he isn’t showing any symptoms yet.

The Doctor still can’t find out the source of the hives. She thinks it could just be a change in the seasons since it happened this time last year. But last year we wrote it off to nerves since I was running around trying to get things ready for the wedding. She suggested I go see my dermatologist but she doesn’t have an appointment available till January. The hives have gotten better though so what ever was causing it has subsided a bit.

I should have rested this weekend but the house was a mess and there was laundry that needed to be done. I spent most of the day Saturday cleaning and baking cupcakes for work. I even managed enough energy to finish my costume and make dinner for Lennie. I think he knew I wasn’t feeling 100% because he offered to take me out to dinner instead. I just made a Chicken Broccoli Braid and a salad so it wasn’t anything gourmet but I was still utterly exhausted. .

Sunday We got up early and Lennie went over to work on his house. He came home around 1pm so we could go vote. We stood in line for about an hour but the line moved quickly. I was surprised to see that many people out voting. Things ran smoothly until I got in line to get my ballot. The guy in front of me started causing a scene because apparently they couldn’t find his information in the computer. The woman took his information to the back to look it up on another computer and asked the gentleman to step to the side so that others behind him could be helped. Well apparently the fact that others were getting their ballots and he wasn’t set this man off and he started yelling at the polling place employees that there was a conspiracy to prohibit him from voting because he was a McCain supporter and that he wanted his ID back NOW and Government employees couldn’t do anything right.  He then pushed me to the side so that he could prohibit me from picking up my ballot until he got his ID back. The woman tried to calm him down and said they would trying hard to locate his information and if they couldn’t find it, he could re-register there but this guy was having none of it. They gave him his ID and he left. The poor guy behind the computer where I was standing had gotten so flustered that it took him a minute to remember that I was still standing there waiting for my ballot.  Personally the think the guy was purged from the system because he was a nutcase. But I managed to cast my vote and I feel good about my decisions. Now I just have to wait till Nov 4^th to see the results.

Well I better get back to work. Hope you all had a great weekend.

Mood:  caffeinated

I was hoping to post yesterday but I spent the entire day reading through resumes. Yep we are finally working on getting someone hired for my old job. I still have about 10 more to read today but I am taking a moment to drink my coffee and write a quick post.

Wednesday night I had tickets for Lennie and I to see “Walking with the Dinosaurs”. Lennie was not anxious to see and tried just about everything he could think of to get out of it. But I told him that I spent $50 on his ticket so he was going to go whether he liked it or not. I reminded him that I went to see Rod Stewart and never complained.

The weeks leading up to the performance every time someone brought up Wednesday night Lennie would sigh and say things like, “Rebecca is making me go see Dancing with Dinosaurs” or “We got to go see Barney and Friends”. I knew once he got there and saw the show that he would like it.

We had to leave early because the State Fair is going on right across from the center and traffic would be a nightmare. We ended up having to pay $10 to park which pissed me off a little but we got to park close to the center. I had gotten special tickets in the balcony section which provided us with our own bar and free popcorn and soda. Once Lennie saw that he started to brighten up s bit. We got some burgers and beer and took our seats.

The show started and I was amazed from beginning to end. I have never seen anything like it. The dinosaurs looked so real and you forgot at times that they were puppets…very LARGE puppets. They even had a full size Brachiosaurus. AMAZING!!! And what did Lennie think of the show? He really liked it. He said it was no Rod Stewart concert but he was glad I had forced him to come.

If you see that the show is coming to your town….BUY TICKETS!!! Especially if you have kids. It is amazing and you will be entertained. Just check out the video below.

Walking With Dinosaurs

Well my coffee is finished and I need to get back to reading resumes. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Mood:  hungry

What a weekend! Let’s start with Saturday shall we. Lennie spent much of the day at the Library.  He had dropped Potter off at the groomer then headed over to try to get some studying done for this tax class. This left me at home to clean and do laundry. I was a little pissed that Lennie didn’t at least offer to help clean seeing as for the past 3 weekends I have stayed home to clean while he worked on his house. I was so perturbed that I had to give up my free time to clean and sew buttons on his oily uniforms that I decided that he could make it up to me by taking me out to dinner. We decided to go to our favorite little Greek place, Taverna Agora.

The dinner was fantastic as always. We of course had the flaming cheese (Sananaki). YUMMMMM! For dinner we both had the sea bass with a caper/garlic sauce over seasoned rice and veggies. Very tasty. We had just finished our meal and were relaxing with the remainder of our wine when all the sudden there was a HUGE explosion outside and the place went dark. It turns out that a transformer blew and they said it would likely not be repaired or a few hours. Luckily we had already eaten but there was a huge party that had just placed their order. We sat there for about an hour in the dark with just a few candles to see by until they could figure out what to do with our bill. They finally had to calculate it by hand and had to run the credit card through one of those old imprint machines. I wasn’t too worried about the blackout and like I said we had already had out food so we weren’t waiting hours for out food but I think they should have offered free dessert or wine.

Sunday morning we got up and noticed that Potter was scratching a lot. We thought it was from the groomer not rinsing out all the shampoo so Lennie put him in the tub and rinsed him off but as we dried him off we noticed a rash on his belly. We figured we would wait and see if rinsing him off help but last night we realized something was wrong. He kept us up all night scratching and licking at the rash. He finally fell asleep at 3am and I finally drifted off to sleep. The alarm went off at 5:30 and I was furious that I had to get up with only 2 hours of sleep. I would have called in sick if I didn’t have a conference call at 9. I pulled back the covers and noticed that the house was FREEZING. We had dropped down into the 30’s last night and so I had set the heat to come on in the middle of the night. It apparently never had. I went to the thermostat and tried again to turn the heat on…nothing. So I went in and woke up my lovely live in HVAC repair guy. Lennie was not amused but he got up and went up in the attic to check it out. He cycled it though a couple of time and then all the sudden warm air starting flowing. YEA! He then decided that perhaps Potter would need to go to the vet so he drove him over so that I could get to work. Turns out he has seasonal allergies and will be on these pills for the next 10 days. I hope it will relieve his itching. The poor thing is so miserable and we really need to get some sleep.

So here I am at work today and highly unmotivated to do anything. I have been on the phone with Progress Energy this morning for about an hour trying to get copies of our bills. They sent me late notices but we never got our original bills. The steps I had to go through just to get them faxed to me. My god I had to confirm who I was with 4 different people and send in an email request. I think I hear the fax machine queuing up now so I will end it here. Hope you all had a nice uneventful weekend.

Mood:  a-ok

What a fantastic weekend. It was so nice that I didn’t want to come back to work today. I was able to sleep in all three mornings while Lennie had to get up for a change and take the dog out and make the coffee. I still had to feed the bird but he doesn’t mind waiting till I get up. Potter let me sleep in till about 8am but then insisted that I get up and entertain him. We lounged around the house in the mornings and then headed to the dog park to enjoy the beautiful weather.

I did manage to set some time aside to carve my pumpkin (funkin actually) and decorate the outside of the house. It felt odd to be decorating for Halloween in 80 degree weather. October is supposed to be chilly so you can wrap up in warm blankets and sip hot apple cider all afternoon.

Lennie still isn’t enthused about Halloween. He did finally pick a costume which was a huge improvement from the previous…I am just going to skip Halloween this year. He has decided to go as Jesus which tickles me to no end. I just hope he doesn’t get struck by lightning when he steps out the door. I still don’t understand his dread about the holiday. I know he hates Christmas because he doesn’t like to be told that he has to be nice to everyone and has to buy gifts for people. But Halloween is just a fun holiday. You don’t have to buy presents and you don’t have to be nice to anyone. You just put on a costume, drink a few beers, and maybe have a laugh or two. Maybe it is a Scottish thing. * shrug * I keep telling me that he is turning into his father and that one day I will come home from work to find him sitting on a stool in the kitchen watching his soaps on a small black and white TV. It just reminds me of that scene from French Kiss….”you people make my ass twitch” He swears next year he is just going to fly Justin down to deal with my whole Halloween obsession.

As I was decorating the house yesterday I noticed my neighbors walking by and giving me strange looks. My neighborhood has a large religious sect and you don’t typically see Halloween decorations. The closest you will ever see if some sort of Fall flag or maybe a carved pumpkin or two. I am the only one with spider webs, creepy door hangings, craved pumpkin, mice and spiders. I am sure this has the neighborhood in a tizzy and I will get some letter from the Homeowner’s Association. See when you live in the Bible belt you are surrounded by people who think that Halloween is associated with Satan. I have heard from one of my neighbors that the Africans who live next door think that I might be some sort of witch. Their reasoning is that I have a fairy in my yard and I refuse to go to church. Now I have all this “satanistic” stuff on my porch. Come on folks! They are just decorations!!! It isn’t like I am sitting out on my front lawn with a Ouija board, communicating with the dead. Oh just wait till they get a glimpse of our costumes. Me dressed as a zombie bride and Lennie dressed as Jesus. Heads will spin. LOL

Well my lunch break has ended and I need to finish inspection fire extinguishers. Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

Thank god it is finally Friday. What a long week it has been. I have been so tired the last two days. Probably because I haven’t quite recovered from the Albannach Show. I didn’t drink much…just 2 glasses of wine and a sip of some 20 year old Whisky. But we didn’t get home till midnight and I had to be back up at 4:30am to go to work. I keep telling my boss that we need a cot in the conference room so I can take a nap in the afternoons.

Today has been pretty good so far. It started with the Janitor reminding me that I will have off on Monday because of the holiday. I had totally forgotten and probably would have shown up at the office and wondered where everyone was. With the holiday and Lennie having drill this weekend I have been so blissfully happy that Lennie will have to be the one to get up while I get to be the one that sleeps in. I can just feel myself cuddled up in my bed as I type this. Granted I only sleep in till about 8am but still that is better than 4:30am. I originally thought that my mother might come down this weekend but she decided to go to Baltimore with her friend Carol instead. Which is actually good because I am hoping that Lennie and I will actually be able to spend some time together. I haven’t seen much of him since we came back from Scotland. I know I am being selfish and I know he needs to work on getting his house on the market but I feel a little neglected. L

Everyone else has been out in the field today so I opted to stay in the office and catch visitors who came in. I am glad I didn’t because I have gotten lots of goodies today. There is this little old guy named Glen who has come by to see me almost every day. His wife died last year and I think he is rather lonely and just needs someone to chat with. I am always happy to oblige because he has some great stories. Anyway…while I was talking to him this morning my stomach growled very loudly. I laughed and said that I had skipped breakfast. He left shortly after that and came back with a country ham biscuit. YUMMMMM!

Then right before lunch one of our daily walkers to the dam stopped by to bring me some homemade cookies and fudge. She knows how much I love her snickerdoodles so every time she makes them, she always brings a few by for me. I am hoping I can hide them from the rest of the staff so I don’t have to share. Yeah I know…I am mean like that.

Then one of the security guys installing our cameras brought me a HUGE bag of chocolate for helping him the other day. All I did was stand and watch the monitor and told him when the camera was in the right spot but hey it’s chocolate so I happily accepted. Hmmmm thinking about it…may have to contact our lawyers to make sure it doesn’t qualify as a bribe. I am sure it was way under the $20 limit but the feds can be funny about that.

One of our co-workers brought her dog to work today so I have been dog sitting while she is out talking to a contractor. Buster isn’t a bother and is such a sweetheart. We played Frisbee in the hallway for a bit and then he went and laid down under my desk. I wish I could bring Potter to the office everyday although I don’t think I would get anything accomplished.  

At some point today I need to review some road improvement plans and review our recent budget submittals. Yeah I am still doing admin work and it SUCKS!!!! I got hired for my new job back in May but they have only just recently advertised my old job. I am hoping by the end of Nov we will have someone hired and I don’t have to do this type of work anymore. Instead I will be spending my days out in the flied. Bliss!!!

I also need to go down and check out a pest problem on the dam. Apparently we have an infestation of Japanese Beetle Grubs destroying the grass on the slope. Not cool. I don’t really want to spray that close to water so I don’t know what kind of treatment to opt for. I have read that there is a parasitic nematode that has been used with much success. It eats the grub from the inside out. * evil grin *

Well it looks like Buster wants to play another round of Frisbee so I am going to end it here. I hope everyone has a nice weekend and if you have off for the holiday…go out and do something fun. LATER!