Things that are good

1) Lunch with a close friend
2) bonus pay out day
3) sunny crisp afternoons
4) oatmeal cookies
5) paying off debt
6) getting rid of an unwanted couch... (it hasn't happened YET, but I imagine that when it does it will be great.)

Every Girl Needs One!

I had a hard time transitioning into work TPgal today and did a little online shopping in the afternoon. It's totally uncool but only took like 15 minutes and considering I ate lunch at my desk while listening to the new guy (who is so filled with eagerness that he's still coming up with good ideas) I don't feel too guilty. Of course, I will completely fire any of the minions I catch doing this exact activity (ordering tiaras?) but that's my choice I'm management now. I can be inconsistent it's expected.

Photo courtesy of the Sam Moon Trading Company.

I intend to wear it the next time I'm feeling pissy. I'm sure it will cheer me right up!

Monday, Sunny Monday

(Sorry U2.)

Ah, morning brings good news from a non-profit called "the Hope Chest" that lo and behold is right here in my neighborhood. They are helping people get back on their feet, "one family at a time." It could be their family, but since they have the 503(c) status I do not care. The furniture should be gone by the end of the week!

I also discovered this morning that I bought the wrong milk - I'm a non-fat milk gal. It is just as nutritious but without the fat. Of course, it tastes like crap - but over cereal it doesn't much matter. Today I found out that I bought 2% yummy! Seriously, it's not that I'm stupid - in the organic brand the milk isn't marked by different colors instead they use words and come on... who reads?

MWR's comment about the street couch in his neighborhood made me laugh. It's sad that the other hip bohemian residents don't get your wry sense of humor. Although... and I encourage you take this in the best possible way... don't mock the woman who is bitching unreasonably. Women in that state of mind have a tendency to turn on the first live body that challenges them. Few dudes have survived such an experience which is why you may not know not to "poke the bear". You see, the bad mood may not have been caused by you, but in that frame of mind, it doesn't matter. I'm probably going to get a fine from the AoW (association of women) for divulging inner secrets but as your friend I couldn't not let you know.

Whaaaaaaa

Man, I am so cranky today. It's probably a good thing that I live alone. The urge to be a raging bitch is just under the surface. I did a root cause analysis and found that I'm selfish and that irritates me.

I hung out for yet another Saturday waiting for the gal to come pick up the couch. Her e-mail said

"We should be able to pick it up somewhat early Saturday morning."

To me this implied Saturday before noon. To Shiloh, this meant her boyfriend would call me before noon. They are doing me a huge favor by taking this unwanted furniture off my hands so I didn't want to be pissy with him. So, after he told me his tale of woe about the roommates moving out and leaving them furnitureless I volunteered to pay for half of a rental truck - yes folks I'm ready to start paying money to have the stuff go away. He said he would call me Sunday morning to let me know when they were coming.

Sunday... 9:30 phone rings...

"Um yeah, we can't make it because we just don't have the resources to get transportation."

OK, I'm really ready to get rid of the couch, but if I'm going to pay to move the couch anywhere I will donate it to charity and get a tax deduction. So I thanked him and ended the call. It really hacked me off tho'. If they didn't have transportation how were they going to pick it up yesterday?

So, stuck with the couch around my neck like an albatross I headed to Bellevue to meet friends for a 10:30 brunch. 10:40...10:45...10:50...grumble...11:00 am they walk in. "we had to get gas" I tried to not be pissy as this is the first time I've left the house since Friday night and I want to have fun during the 6 hours that someone is willing to spend with me (see how crazy I am today?) so I shake it off. Brunch is good and we walk over to see Babel. (whoa what was that movie about? Maybe GUNS BAD.)

My friend was supposed to me us at the theater and then come over to my place after. No show. A short message on my cell ( which is AGAIN spending the weekend on my desk because not only am I crazy, selfish and whiny, but apparently stupid) to say she fell asleep and wouldn't make it but I should call her.

I just called - answering machine. Short "I'm returning your call" is all I could manage without being a raging bitch. Who needs the drama right? If I was a priority she would have been there, so what's the worry.

There's a local non-profit that might possibly pick up furniture so I've sent an e-mail and am hoping that works out. In the meantime I'll just sit here and pick at my desk.

I hope to be back to sunny tpgal tomorrow. I hate me when I'm cranky.

It's mine, I'll destroy it if I want

When I moved into Condo-copia I decided that the spare bedroom would be an office. I painted it (with the help of friends) a great color and have invested in storage that makes me happy. All the shelves and other items are white.

The desk my grandpa made was going to be in the office, but because it was stained ebony it didn't coordinate. I decided to paint it. Yeah, that's the sound of Antique Roadshow appraisers screaming in agony that you hear. I debated the value against the desire to make it a color I liked.

I painted it a nice white and it's been great. However, and my friend Robin is going to slap me for what I didn't do. I didn't sand or prep the desk in any way except to make sure it was clean. What does this mean? It means that the paint is not really on the desk. It's tightly attached to the wood finish but it subject to what the professionals call "failure". That's exactly what happened. A small area bubbled up and in trying to smooth it down it scratched and a small bit flaked off leaving a small but noticeable spot in the middle of the main work area on the desk.

Since that happened, the "little area" has gotten bigger and bigger as I peel the paint off the top of the desk. It's actually quite satisfying. I pick at it a bit and then every once in a while I get a "big" strip of dried paint to peel off.

The removal of the desk is innevitable and was from the moment of the first flake. It will be a spring / summer garage project to remove the paint, sand and strip the original finish and re-stain it. It will be more work than it would have been if I had just left it alone but I can't lament that too much now.

I normally would post a picture of the desk, but frankly it looks so bad that I can't. I also can't stop peeling. I may need to cover the top with a cloth to stop the picking. In fact it's taken me three times as long to write this because of all the pick breaks.

I have no discipline.

An open letter to bad drivers

Dear Other Driver,

You probably are not aware of this, but you aren't the only car on the road. It is important to use your mirrors before you change lanes. I know it's hard to spot the bright blue car that I drive and I shouldn't be where you want to go, but it's possible that maybe you can wait until I have moved before you merge.

Secondly, and I'm so sorry to be picky but it would be awesome if you didn't tailgate on the freeway. You may think I'm holding you up by only going 10 miles over the limit but sir, please back off or go around. Your giant SUV lights blinding me from behind don't intimidate but do make me want to tighten my seatbelt and hit the brakes. There are a lot of us trying to get to point b and we're in it together so be nice.

Finally, when I slow down in a parking lot it is NOT an invitation to zip around me at high speeds, I am the kind of person who lets pedestrians cross. You should know that you almost killed a small child yesterday and I think his mom shat herself a little as you whizzed around me last night.

I think it's important that you know that you suck.

Sincerely,

TP Gal

Converted

I'm not one would call an early adopter. I just downloaded FireFox and woohoo I love it!

I'm super excited to see all the blogger editing tools available and I will not longer have to rely on my horrid html skills to bold, add italics or do links.

It's too bad I don't have friends who are early adopters of things like TV shows and web tools to help me along.

The Tax Man Cometh

I love tax time. It's so wonderful to be able to fill out form after form about money I've already spent.

I'm in the paper gathering phase and I wish I had been more diligent about saving receipts for all the retail spending I accomplished in 2006. I LOVE Amazon for keeping my order history for years and years. Phoey on Apple.com for not. They offered to e-mail receipts at my last two purchases so maybe the store has a record even if I don't. I do have the receipt for the computer and that's a nice little addition to the sales tax deduction. Too bad I didn't put any money into a 401k or some sort of retirement account. That's going to be a bummer when I try to retire.

My goal for '07 is to be more organized and actually save all those crazy receipts for random purchases. If I save every receipt with sales taxes that are a dollar or more it could add up and be worth the sorting mess. SInce its early in the year it is the perfect time to do it. I'm sure some of you have perfect bins and sorting tables for all receipts but I just am not that with it.

My date with the accountant looms, and if you never hear anything more about it you'll know that I took it in the rear end this year. I need to adopt me some kids or something.

Almost Finished

WIth the new couches finally in my home, it became quite clear that I wasn't exactly done with my "e-z" livingroom re-deaux. The Dania coffee and side table were really short and practically useless with the new configuration. Not only that but the Cherry wood didn't coordinate well with the antique pieces that I have. I spent some time on line at my Barbie Dream Store (Pottery Barn) and didn't find anyhting worthy of $1500. On a whim I took myself to CostPlus world market where Becky got her fabulous dining room table just to see what they had in the "sturdy, yet attractive motif."

Yeah haw, not only did they have the exact style of table I wanted but it was ON SALE! The only thing holding me back was the TV situation - no longer would the blonde pressboard Circuit City Media case be at home in my fabulous new living room so was there anything in the same style that would work? Well - yes my friends there is. It's a "buffet" that was 40% off - which more than covered the cost of the coffee table - so I got both pieces for the price of the one, and a third the price of anything at Pottry Barn! hot dog. (I know you're asking yourself - where does she get the money --- it's called a savings account people and I HAD one!)

The buffet weighs about 9000 pounds so it's being delivered, but the coffee table is put together and in place! Check it out and find Peter at home in his new spot:

Gosh, does this mean we aren't going to the prom together?

Chavez to U.S.: 'Go to hell, gringos!'


It might be safe to say that Hugo Chavez doesn't like us very much.

Corpor-ganda in Action

MegaBank had its annual rah-rah meeting, which is a well run, flashy party with exciting PowerPoint presentations. It's generally not boring, contains a good recap of the previous year, and the new party line for the current year. They usually roll out a new catch phrase that ends up on presentations at the worker level faster than you can say "hub and spoke" which was last years technology catch phrase. One team even tried to put the phrase in a policy, but it was quickly squashed. "Hey, what happens when "hub and spoke" becomes as unspeakable as "deliver solutions" or "technology enablement"?" But this is also the same team that spent a year reducing the number of policies because of an off hand comment the executive made and then proposed a policy to make their group super important. Uh, hello!? You made the gruel - now you eat it!

So, back to the party, there's always lots of crap to be had at the vendor and department tradeshow. I tried to walk away with nothing, but the excitement of the free pens and blinking stuff gets to you. As you can see, I wasn't able to get away empty handed.

The last day is motivation day where they roll out a speaker to get us energized - last year it was Colin Powell , Magic Johnson has inspired us to do great things, and this year they brought in the teacher from the Freedom Writers movie. (I will confess that I would normally call it the Michelle Phiffer Dangerous Mind's remake but I'm high on kindness right now and you'll have to forgive me.) She spoke about her story and how she tried to connect with the "reject" kids and in doing so changed their lives. One of the kids also spoke and there was only one dry eye in the house. SportBoy is dead inside and thus he can not cry. We should start a foundation to buy him a heart.

What was shocking was our CEO came out after the presentations and was moved to tears. I guess you know that all people are people, but its easy to forget.

Anyway - mostly it was a great party and I can't wait to take my blinking lights back to work come Monday.

It's about attitude

Last Sunday after church I was doing the required post sermon mingle, which (confession time) is hard for me, and a young man popped over with a gleeful and excited expression to tell our circle that he was going to be on American Idol Wednesday and that we had to watch. He was practically spinning with joy.

Jonathon is a nice young man who is differently abled. I was immediately worried that he might be crushed if the AI folks made fun of him. If he had made it to the next round we would know, and based on previous years the "audition shows" typically drop in one or two good auditions but basically roast the horrid and make fun of people who might not be aware that they are the butt of a joke. I asked Jonathon and his mom if they were prepared for the judges to be unkind. Jonathon laughed and said "Oh yeah, Simon said my singing was horrendous" and then he spun away in glee.

Jonathon asked us to tape the show so he could have a copy and I agreed to do so. Frankly, I don't like the show mostly because of the audition shows. It's clear some of the folks who are on the show are not fully capable of doing their own taxes and I think it's terrible that they are the butt of a national joke. It's cruel - even if they did volunteer for it.

The show itself was a train wreck - thankfully many of the strange people were not from the Seattle area, but even though the show was recording on a second tv I couldn't turn it off in the living room. Jonathon was nowhere to be found in hour one, but suddenly before a commercial there was a teaser of what was to come. "Stay tuned for the good, the bad, and the.... (shot of Jonathon) cuddly.

When they finally got to him they did a little story about him and a young man he met in line and how they became fast friends. The "friend" was an odd looking diminutive dark haired boy with large googly eyes. Simon compared his looks to a big eyed animal that you would find in the jungle. The boy walked away his horror and was obviously hurt. Then it was Jonathon's turn. Fear gripped my heart.

His audition was not great and the judges told him that singing wasn't his thing, but basically they were nice to him. Simon commented that it was clear that Jonathon was a nice guy and Paula was positive about him finding something (outside of music) that would be "his thing." They did make fun of his weight but he seemed to take it in stride.

The Seattle Times interviewed Jonathon and his jungle animal friend and the friend is still really peeved about the experience, while Jonathon is soaking in the moment. He's enjoying the attention, agrees that the audition wasn't great, and hopes to find something else to do in the media.

Good for him! I wish I had the ability to find the good in any situation and to appreciate things for what they are.

No Couch, No Superbowl

I hiked up the hill today to go to church. It was a beautiful walk and it was awesome to be outside. The snow looked pristine in the play field behind the community center and it sparkled in the sun like a million diamonds. I half expected to find and abandoned Macy's truck at the top of the hill. I did find the corner of Index and 16th where someone lost control of their vehicle and took out the street sign.

The sermon at church today was fantastic. The Bible passage was Corinthians something (I know.. I suck) and it was about how God is everywhere regardless of how people worship. This pleases me as it validates my long held belief that God is within and it doesn't really matter if you're Catholic, Lutheran, Muslim or Jewish. The traditions of each of these faiths it something to be honored but at the end we're all talking to the same God. Sermons like this are the main reason why I like this church. The call to action is encouragement to be better people and accept that we are all faulty. It's not about being "better than anyone" or us and them.

After Church Rico and Cindy asked me to go with them to the mall. I was excited to go - anyhwere really would have been fine with me. We had lunch at Z-Tejas - not my favorite. I've never been a huge tex-mex fan. I want my Mex straight up with out the tex. Yes, I am bizzaro girl.

They dropped me off at the top of the hill and I hiked back down into the pit of condo-copia. It warmed up to almost 38 degrees today so where the sun hit the roads it was starting to melt. I have hope that tomorrow I will be able to go to the grocery store.

Once home I puttered around and then made a makeshift seating area in the living room and watched some TV, but I kept falling asleep. It's a damned exciting life I lead.

I'm also putting the bedroom back together, but am being very conservative about what actually makes it back into the dressers - this weekend is all about clutter removal. The bedroom looks great, but the office still has a way to go. Maybe everything will be sorted by tomorrow. The furniture delivery place is open tomorrow so rescheduling furniture is also on the to do list. Three day weekends are great - even with no transportation and no furniture.

Seahawks lost in overtime. That's that I guess.

Reward for Lost Macy's Truck

They called me 30 minutes ago to say they were lost. However, they were only 7 blocks away.

They haven't called back, but they aren't here, and it's snowing again.

Where the heck is all that global warming when you need it?

Trapped!

I LOVE the snow, it is so pretty and it's great to be outside all bundled up. However, I'm somewhat trapped here in the condo-copia because of the hill and my car. Don't tell the Jetti that it isn't a good snow car - because with front wheel drive once you get going it can zip everywhere - but since we're down in a hole here - there's no getting to the top of the hill.

If I was smart (which I'm not) I would have took the Jetti to the top of the hill the MOMENT it started to snow so that I could at least get out. My neighbors are zipping here and there with their Subaru's and Explorers - but I do not need to go anywhere so badly that it can't wait a few days.

Maybe after the couch is delivered I'll hike up the hill and carry back some snacks from the ghetto grocery next to the Goodwill. The thing that makes it ghetto - just so you know - is that all the dairy and meat products are on their last legs. At the QFC and the Super Safeway you can get milk that lasts for three weeks or more if you buy organic but at the GG it's only four days before the milk goes tits up and the lunch meat gets that attractive iridescent sheen.

Macy's called yesterday to tell me the drop off time for the couch and I tried to explain the road situation to the scheduler but she didn't seem to care. I have no doubt they will be able to get down the hill to deliver the items, but I wonder if they will be able to get back up to go elsewhere. We'll see.

I know you're very excited to to see the evolution of the living room and as soon as the couches are here and I get everything settled I'll post another photo.

In the meantime, here's a couple shots to show why I'm housebound. The one is blurry but you get the idea.

There's Chiton my floor

I was certainly right about the horrific amount of work that needed to be done to prep for the 8am arrival of Installer Uno and Installer Dos of the we nod at everything you say carpet installation co. Actually - they were very nice and the language thing was only a little issue when I tried to explain why I didn't want my cherry coffee table out on my nasty deck.

By 10 pm I pretty much had everything moved out of the living room and bed room. As you can see I have too much stuff. This stuff WILL be prioritized before it moves back into drawers and closets. This pile is OUT OF CONTROL.

This is what happened in the dining room and kitchen:























They were working away in both rooms at once - and I in the office on a dreadfully dull task when I realized I hadn't seen the cat in a while. I popped out to find they had blocked me into the office and asked if they had seen the cat. The laughed a little and pointed to the deck. There, in a snow drift, Peter sat puffed up to keep warm and swaying in the wind. He was clearly in need of a nap (having been up for at least an hour). I had to carry him in to the office where he quickly found the safe space under a dresser and only just came out even though the installers have been gone since 1pm

The new carpets are lovely. The Berber in the livingroom is stunning (and yes, you can not really see the difference in the before and after shots - but believe me I can tell. The bedroom "Chiton" (shit on) is a pretty mocha color and it should wear nicely. Ok, I've got to go, I've only got 5 or so hours to put my house back together.

Tis the spending season

In addition to cashing in some stock to pay off lingering debt I'm also investing in the house again. The new couch and loveseat will arrive Saturday and I'm taking the opportunity during this week without furniture to install better carpet.

The salesman just left and I have a MASSIVE checklist of items to do before 8 am. Move the electronics - thank heavens I haven't bought a 102" tv (yet?) move the clothes from the closet, move the china, and the hutch (they don't do antiques) and (this is what I'm dreading) empty the drawers in the master bedroom. I think I'm going to go low rent and toss everything into plastic bags and deal with being organized on the reinstall.

As you can see there's many drawers to unload, so I'd better get crackin'.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I had a great conversation with mums this evening. She is a funny lady and has been a great mom, You must take anything I post about her has the musings of a selfish, well-raised and ungrateful child.

These are the things about my mom that are amazing:

1) She means well. Everything she does is well intentioned.
2) She's always learning something.
3) She never shied away from hard work. She always gives it everything she has.
4) She has a knack for turning people's cast aways into hard cold cash.
5) She didn't like what she saw in our home town so she ran for city council and won.
6) She joined the volunteer fire department in the early 70's - the first woman to ever do so in our town.
7) We didn't have a lot of spare money while I was growing up and she made me beautiful dresses for the formal dances and frankly they were stuning.
8) She once stayed up all night to finish a stupid mini-skirt and flashdance top (it was the 80's!) so I could wear it to school the next day - no special reason just because it was cool.
9) She loves pumkin pie and makes a massive one for every Thanksgiving and Christmas and has never noticed that the rest of us don't eat the pumkin pie. It wouldn't be the holidays without the massive pie that only she eats. I love that she doesn't sacrifice something simple that she loves just because she's the only one who does.
10) She has a wicked sense of humor.
11) She once set me up on a date with someone's son who "was about my age" and that's the only thing she knew about him. "He's single and about your age. He and his mom will be here at 4." - great! When the man of my dreams' (or just my age box) mother pulled into our driveway she hid in the hall with me until we were sure he wasn't in the car.
12) She hasn't tried anymore set ups since that fiasco.
13) She's proud of me even though I'm not perfect.
14) She gets excited about the smallest things. "Did I tell you I bought a pitching wedge!?" "yeah mom, about 10 minutes ago."
15) She loves to sing and doesn't let her total inability to carry a tune to hold her back.
16) She's not afraid to try new things.
17) She put a lot of effort into making a safe and happy home for our family and not in a crazy neurotic way.
18) She could always come up with fun activities on days that it rained. "I know... let's move the wood pile!" (We moved the wood pile twice that year... that's a lot of walking logs across the yard in the rain - just so you know.)
19) She loves camping and made sure that we did fun family things.
20) She invented the Summer Nights on the Deck - where we would move our beds outside and camp out under the stars on the back deck. More often than not she would wake up alone or with just Brandy the neighbors scruffy stinky dog.
21) When she's right about something she doens't hold the "I told you so" over your head more than once - even when you're really really wrong.
22) She still laughs at the story about losing the bet about how many light switches there were in our family room. Although, technically you could count the circut breaker as a "switch" - I conceed that maybe it might have been a tie.
23) Mom's brush with fame was being hit on by Steve McQueen back when he was the bomb and she told him to hit the skids.
24) She showed me that things and people who are worth having in your life are worth fighting for.
25) She demonstrates that integrity is a way of life.
26) She is a living example that life is what you make it, and happiness can be as simple as a hammock under a beautiful tree.
27) She taught me how to change the oil in my car - we did it together by ourselves!! (No... we did not do it by driving to a Jiffy Lube...we crawled under the car and did it ourselves.)
28) She is a lot of fun and our nutty southern vacation was truly enjoyable.
29) She experiences many things with the joy of a kid, I'm not sure how she does it but she's still got the ability to get out of her 'adultt.
30) She admits when she's wrong - like about me stealing her pillow - very funny!

Don't get me wrong - she's still a wack-job but I'm proud to say that she's my wack-job and I'm proud to be just like her!

the perfect gift

I was online just now and found the perfect gift for my friend’s 40^th birthday. Too bad it is months and months away.  I may pick it up now and hold on to it.  It’s totally over the top and my friend pooh-pooh’s the idea of gifts but when it’s the right one… you gotta get it!

Speaking of 40^th birthdays…. When is the MWR celebration?  I have my card, my gift and my good wishes and no time with MWR?  Due to the terrible timing there’s no way I can prove that my gift isn’t a ‘christmas re-gift’ It’s not… but there’s no proof.

FREE: the update

Craig's List is AWESOME! No bites yet on the couch, but the cute couple who picked up the junky Fred Meyer shelves took a single sit in the green chair and will be back Tuesday to get it!!!

Now, I just need to find some kid with a big truck who needs a lipstick pink couch. Maybe (just maybe) the couch will not go to a good home. (The color might be holding it back - because no matter how comfortable it is no frat guy is going to stick a pink couch in his basement.) ACE hardware has a reciprocating saw on sale... I could chop the couch up into little bits and throw it away over time. How sad. I almost made a "lay away" joke.

I'll pay you $25 to take the couch... sounds like a deal to me!

Free to good home

Making way for new matching furniture. TP gal is coming up in the world!

I posted pix on Craigs list and while I was at it I added two junky little shelves from Fred Meyer and I've had zero responce on the couch and chair and 27 hits for the stupid shelves. Go figure.

Still with power

I don't think I was wrong to worry, but the power held all night and the latest storm has passed.

My mailbox (snail mail) brought me greetings from Wells Fargo and my mortgage lender letting me know their thoughts are with me and my neighbors during this natural disaster. Um... thanks? How about a credit to my account - no, their thoughts aren't THAT with me.

I was discussing with the manager of the business continuity dept. at work about the 3 days 3 ways campaign the state has going on right now. I don't think I was prepared for three days without power let alone seven. I had enough food and water but I wasn't prepared for the cold. I'm not sure how to change that either - a generator seems like overkill for a condo, but I heard one in the complex so it's not completely off the table. I could have hung out a long time with a little heat and warmish water.

Maybe it would have been different if I wasn't having to worry about getting to work during those days but I imagine even with a major earthquake (which is the most likely scenario in the pnw) that eventually I would have to go back to work.

Some one asked me last week if we had any crime in our area during the aftermath and I'm happy to say that I didn't hear of anything, although someone did lose their house. The fire may not have been storm related, but the timing is right. It was a small house with one floor and I'm hopeful that everyone made it out ok.

I'm still a little jumpy when the power flickers but I think more than anything the big blow of '06 should be a wake up call to be better prepared.

Here we go again?

I just bought a car load of replacement groceries tonight. I filled my freezer and the fridge with wonderful things like vegetables, cheese, eggs and uncooked toast (I don't eat a lot of straight up bread) and the weather threatens to plot against me yet again.

The wind is blowing out side and my *^$*()__ power is flickering. I am NOT onboard with the idea of less power that I currently have.

Keep your fingers crossed, or I'm going to move into a mobile home in Oklahoma where it's safe.

Check out the new blog

ANOTHER member of my book group is moving away from Seattle and so we decided it was time to start to post our readling lists for our remote friends.

Click the Seattle Girls Book Group link on the right to see what we're reading.

Those pesky kids

I was holding June's lovely son this weekend and the little tyke coughed on my face. Now I'm sneezing as if I just walked out of a pepper factory.

He's cute, like most children, but he too is a carrier of the plague.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of pj's, tv movies, and Nyquil.

Three fun things

ONE
I learned something new today:
When uploading photo's from my iMac it matters where I navigate. When I select pictures from the "Data" folder I get the thumbnails, and when I select from the Originals or the Modified folders I get the correct pictures. What I don't understand is why the thumbnails are larger in file size than the photo's with better resolution. It is too bad that I figured this out after uploading 130 or so photo's to shutterfly so I'll have to do it again. Even with DSL/Cable it is a slow process.

I also don't understand why neither the data file nor the modified folders have the pictures listed by the new file name if I rename it. Half of the point of renaming a file is so that you can find it without having to open or preview it.


TWO
Mom and Dad gave me queen sized sheets for Christmas. I think it was a hint to ditch the full sized bed so I broke down and bought.... a new couch! Well, couch and a love seat to be exact. The couch has a queen pull out so mom and dad have a place to sleep when they are here. (More than likely, there will be a new queen bed in my future but I don't want to spend the ENTIRE year end bonus money in one shopping adventure.

THREE
My friend June is so cool. She and Abs made a massive gingerbread house before Christmas and for New Year's she let the kids tear it apart and eat anything they wanted off of it. It was exciting and all the kids said it was the most fun thing they had ever done. Here's our before, during and after shots. You might be able to tell which is which.












































Please note that while this might not have been the most healthy activity it was served with milk.