Frigid

Yes, it is TRITE to blog about the weather, but I've been called worse things.

It was a whopping 16 degrees outside when I got up this morning. The bed with the warm winter weight down comforter and the warm, heat generating dude was hard to transition away from. When you poke your nose outside the covers and it goes all cold getting up isn't high on the activity list.

I wanted to shower and dry my hair before seven so that when last nights episode of the Daily Show came on I could enjoy it while I sipped my coffee. Well, darn it if the Daily Show wasn't a rerun. I was waiting to see what John Stewart would do with the Iraqi Journalist shoe throwing incident. Showing the Prez with stinky shoes is a fantastic insult, and funny to boot. (pun intended) I worry that the offending journalist will be hanged for his actions - I don't mean like lose his job and his credibility, but like dangling from the last standing tree in Iraq.

I will give Georgie some props, he has excellent Duck and Weave reflexes. I wonder if he's been playing the soccer game on the Wii Fit? It must be easier in real life to tell the difference between the soccer ball and the shoe, because on the game console I whack my head against the shoe all the time. I bet he'd be able to dodge the panda head too. (Although, that is a pretty disturbing image, children kicking a severed head of a cuddly, endangered animal at you.)

So, like I was saying, it was cold this morning. It's supposed to snow tonight, which will be awesome! I've already made arrangements to work remotely tomorrow so I'm SET. J will be working, so I'll have HOURS to work on my Guitar Hero Career. I mean, on lots and lots of MegaBank activities.

Actually... last night, I played a small two song gig on my career and earned an encore. I played some Linkin Park song that I'd never heard in my life and played it PERFECTLY. 100% of the notes hit! Woo Woo. I'm not at all ready to advance beyond the easy skill level, but I am actually enjoying Guitar Hero. I run out of patience after about 2 hours of it being on... it is loud and our house is so small that even with the door to the back bedroom closed I can't quite get away from it.

I'm hopeful that once we sell our houses, get married, and I get a new job that we'll get a house that is big enough to separate the game room from the primary living space... or big enough to have a quiet TP gal room where I can putter in my own noise when needed.

This isn't a sign of terrible trouble in 'THE RELATIONSHIP" I have always needed a quiet space. As a kid I would have friends over and my mom would notice that my friends were playing without me, and she would find me in my room or taking a nap. I would exile myself for my own "time out".

J is actually really great about this and when I've asked for a break he is kind and understanding. I also acknowledge that I could go home and have quiet, but I would rather be at J's than be alone. I used his address when mailing my x-mas cards which is kind of a back door way to announce that we're living together. At 40, it's really no one's business where I live, so it wasn't intended to be an "announcement" but it has increased my email and telephone inbound communications.

It has been great to talk with everybody. (Oh my, I am rambling on and on...)

So, last tidbit. Work is fine, not much to report, life is good, winter is here, x-mas is upon us. I'm happy happy happy!

Sick Night...the revenge

OK, so our sick day the other day was a stretch. Well, for me any way. J was honestly feeling punky and used the day to recuperate. However, taking it easy to stem the tide of an oncoming cold was nothing compared to what we went through last night.

We had folks over for dinner last night and then watched the finale of Survivor (Go Bob!) Half way through the show, J started quietly disappearing into the back of the condo. By the time the show was over he was spending more time in the loo than in the living room.

If all four of us hadn't eaten the same meal, I would have bet that J was suffering from food poisoning. Thankfully (and selfishly) I am not also throwing up and well... the other unfun evacuation from the back end.

I feel for the guy, and there's nothing I can do. I chilled his favorite flavor of Gatorade and keep offering to clean up any mess. He won't let me do it, and I understand. I wouldn't let him do it for me if the roles were reversed.

I didn't have ANYTHING on my work calendar for today so I decided to work from home. I feel a little helpless and basically useless, but I can keep my guy in toast, or whatever foodstuff isn't terribly painful if it comes back up.

We were up most of the night, but he's sleeping peacefully at the moment. (I'm not mean enough to take a photo for you, but trust me, he looks cute all snuggled into bed.) He is getting color back, which is a good thing. A grey, pasty J... NOT PRETTY.

Happy Wintry Monday everyone!

Sick Day

With a cold rapidly approaching (and two use-it-or-lose-it days of sick leave left in my bank) I decided to take it easy today. My poor work ethic was aided by J who is also fighting a little something. I'm sure it is a complete coincidence that we both are sneezy and are reaching for the lotion coated kleenex.

Anywho, we called in sick this morning and then went back to sleep. Waking up at 8:30 was such a treat, and one that rarely happens even on the weekends. We popped a DVD in the player and started to get caught up on Weeds. After a couple episodes we changed out of pj's and into semi-ok street clothes and went to breakfast.

Our weekend breakfast place looked completely different on this late Thursday morning. Imagine that?

We made a quick stop at the Kirkland Sur La Table and then headed back home where the remainder of season one of Weeds was waiting.

Because we are bascially big children we have already broken into the Christmas presents and have also been playing Guitar Hero all afternoon. I had to take a break because our standing Thursday night guests will also be playing and I can't "Rock" for more than two hours at a time. J has much more stamina than I and will be the stronger "player" -- always.

I, however, am cute and intend to bank on this fact until it no longer works for me.

Thankfully, we are experiencing a rare moment of quiet. J is trying to get the Playstation Home feature to work. We have no idea what it is supposed to do, but it was released today so we are super excited. (woo woo)

I did finally shower in anticipation of our guests tonight and have enjoyed my "secret Saturday." Going back to work tomorrow won't be fun or exciting, but it's Friday, so it'll be fine.

The day has been wonderfully relaxing and I hope that the cold doesn't "reimerge" next week. That would be so sad...

Lethargy & The Holidays: A Festivis Miracle

There is very little work to do at my job these days. There are small little bursts of activity which I should be grateful for…but they are sad little tasks that I don't really want to do. One such task is awaiting my attention right now. I am supposed to create a little report for each one of my staff that is 'exiting' so that we can track their exit activities.

Um… ick. It's sad that my sheets look like this:

Name: Joe Employee
MegaBank Manager: Me
More MegaBank Manager: N/A
Current Responsibilities: none
Transition Activities: none
Issues: The function this person was performing has been "absorbed" by MMB and all archived data is available until 1/29/2009.

There have been lots and lots of great and wonderful things that my team has done, but it now means nothing. It is a discouraging reality.

This sad reality also makes my desire to get cracking on this report really small. It's one thing to work on something that says how fantastic and smart your people are, but to basically report that we have been made useless is dreadful.

The days drag on here… thankfully it is the holidays. I wandered downtown today for a bit of shopping. I seem to be doing a good job with my future mother in law (Fmil)but poor Ffil… he's got nothing headed his way. That’s not entirely true, but its close to being true.

I ordered something really great for my dad on 10/31 and the damn thing hasn't arrived yet. If today is not arrival day, I am going to demand a refund. Darned online sellers.

So….as I was saying, work isn't "work" it is a matter of being here long enough during the day to call it a full day's work. The first bus home is at 3:30 and every day I am on it. I am not the employee I want to be right now. Not at all.

Becky & English Beat

Here's Becky and Dave, from English Beat.

Holiday Disclaimer

This was at the bottom of an email from one of J's co-workers:

Please accept without obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low stress, non-addictive, gender neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. And in lieu of a Happy New Year... please have a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling, and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great, (not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country or is the only "AMERICA" in the western hemisphere), and without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith, or choice of computer platform of the wishee.


DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTABILITY -- (By accepting this greeting, you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for her/himself or others, and is void where prohibited by law, and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year, or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher.)

"F*cking Lame"

Those of you who know me, know that terrible customer service gets my blood boiling.

 

I'm not completely unreasonable and I am aware that everyone has a bad day, but there are times that I can't let it go.  The quitting the gym experience was one that bothered me mostly because it was a process set up to be intentionally difficult

 

J and I pulled together a cross selection of family to dine with the Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday.  We were a party of ten and when I made the reservation (many days in advance) I called the restaurant to ensure it wouldn't be an issue. 

 

Having dined at Maggiano's Little Italy in Bellevue with a large group I knew they could handle our party.  Well, there are things you know, and things you THINK you know.

 

The Friday after Thanksgiving might be the craziest time to try and dine out especially at a place connected to a major shopping center, but we all made it to the restaurant and found parking.

 

Having checked in we were taken back to our table, which was not placed in the main dining room.  The restaurant opened up its banquet rooms and converted them to seating for parties of 10 or more.  We were perfectly happy to be out of the loud dining room and seated ourselves around a large table that was preset with plates, glasses and silverware.

 

The waiter arrived with 5 menus (there were 10 of us) and proceeded to hand them across the table (rather than walking around to hand them out.) He told us we had to share. 

 

In looking at the menu we quickly figured out that instead of being given the normal menu we were looking at a family style meal that was a fixed price and that we were supposed to order two of every course for the table.  Honestly, this was a fine way to go and I think we spent less per couple than had we ordered individual items.  My issue is that the server should have explained it.  He handed out the menus and then walked away.

 

When he returned he asked if we wanted drinks and at that point we asked for the wine list.  The waiter, let's call him Doofus, seemed put out and spun and went to retrieve the wine menu.  J's dad ordered a 3 liter bottle of wine and while we were waiting for it to arrive he and J's mom noticed that their plates were dirty.

 

I mean dirty, like smeared chocolate on the bottom of the plate and chunky potato gunk on the top of one of the plates.  During the wine arrival a quiet complaint was made about the plates.  Doofus responded with the confused question "oh, do you want new plates?"  Uh, YES.

 

The main meal service was basically fine, although when a second bottle of wine was ordered, J's dad surprised Doofus by requesting a new glass to taste the wine.  I know, it is unreasonable that you can't just pour the old wine into the half full glass already on the table, but you can't.

 

The family meal we were enjoying allows for unlimited refills and I would like to take the opportunity to say that we did not ask for seconds of any item.  The reason this is relevant is to show that while we were a large party we weren't running the server back and forth for more pasta, more bread, more, more, more….

 

We ordered our dessert and the dinner plates were removed and new plates brought out.  They weren't brought to each place setting, but a pile of 10 plates were handed to my future mother in law.  She immediately noticed that they weren't clean.  In fact, they looked like they had only been rinsed. 

 

At this point, I started to loose it.  None of these individual issues was enough to be upset about, but they just keep adding up and Doofus seemed unequipped to deal with it.    I got up to quietly ask for the manager.  I gave him the run down and said he needed to do something for the table, because the service we were getting was terrible.

 

While I was in the hall explaining the situation, my fFIL (future Father in Law) grabbed Doofus and rejected the desert plates.   Upon my return Doofus was standing behind a sturdy woman in a white coat (the executive chef) and she was explaining that she was sorry about the plates.  She adjusted the wine off our tab and then she walked away. 

 

This would have been a nice resolution, but….

 

The damned deserts were brought out and when Doofus set them on the table he said "will there be anything else?"  I couldn't stop myself from sounding a bit snotty when I said "Oh I guess we'd like some serving spoons or utensils."  This clearly pissed him off because he huffed away and came back with about 80 big spoons that he just set in the middle of the table.

 

We resumed our meal, enjoying the food (which throughout the meal was great.)  At one point cousin D. excused himself to use the restroom  (he could have gotten up to quietly cover the bill, but he's just a jerk like that….)  and when he was returning to our banquet room he stepped into the hall behind Doofus.  Doofus was complaining to a colleague that he "had the table from hell," and that we were a "bunch of f*cking losers."

 

Thankfully this wasn't relayed to me until the next day. 

 

When the bill arrived we noticed that a note was printed on the bottom "For Parties of 10 or more, we add 18% gratuity for your convenience."  I really hate this practice because I think it limits the tips the servers get, but in spite of the terrible service we didn't balk at the addition.  We divided the tab by the number of couples and paid our tab and left.

 

The next morning, J was doing some math and figured out that there was no way the tip was added.  A seriously not planned waiter stiffing.

 

I wrote a letter to the manager of Maggiano's to explain my disappointment at our experience and J believes we will get a reply.  Having emailed the letter Saturday and finding myself here Wednesday with nary a peep, I think we have a case of "eh, who cares?" 

 

I'll let you know if we do, but in the meantime I strongly suggest you find another location for you big post-holiday family get togethers.

---

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The Verdict

As I predicted, my last day with MegaBank is slotted for the end of March. I’m ok with this timeline because it comes with a reasonable severance package. If the new owners of MegaBank follow through with their proposed job offer the dates may change.

I had a not-so-secret wish that the date be closer to summer so that I could justify taking the rest of the year off, but I’m happy with the timing as proposed. I’ll work until spring, and then start looking for a job. Who knows, maybe I’ll have no break and can use my severance to do something wonderful.

That’s the good news. The harder news was that MegaBank had the local managers tell their teams the news about their disposition status. Meaning, I had to sit with each of my team and tell them the decision that someone else made about the future of their employment. In my opinion this was good and bad. It was really awful to deliver hard news that I had no ability to control, but I’m happy that they heard it from me because they know I know how hard they worked and what great people they are.

Having been through the demise of a company before, I’m fortunate to carry the knowledge that life goes on and more work will come. However, I know my circumstances are different from most of my team. I’m a single gal who doesn’t owe much money to anyone and isn’t supporting a family. I can live lean and was already planning to sell my condo; I don’t have the same responsibilities and stresses as the majority of my group.

I’m thankful that I’m going into this with a positive attitude and hope that as the year progresses that I can take the time to enjoy my ‘time off.’ Gosh, maybe my job this summer will be to go to the gym and be the fittest bride on the planet by September. That and hand making party favors. I can see it now, at every place setting at the reception there will be a depiction of the person, made with macaroni and yarn. Doesn’t that sound AWESOME!

Decision Day

MegaBank tells us today how long we can stick around....

My guess is 3/31 and I'm a lucky one. I am ready for any news even 1/31.

I slept like crap last night, stress dreams and multiple periods of awakening. Yuck.

More info as it arrives.

Giving You The Bird!

Happy Thanksgiving!

My brain

I had a stress dream about work and I haven't been able to turn off my
brain and go back to sleep.

I'm off today, but here I am wide awake at 5:30. Arg

Random Monday Musings

The work stuff is in a separate entry. The other topics on my mind are:

The Wedding Update: We met with a photographer Saturday. I liked them a lot and felt they were true professionals. Photography is a big deal and I’ve seen quite a few of my friends not be happy with their photos so I want to take my time in the selection. I did open my big mouth and tell the photographer that she had photos on her web site that I didn’t think positively reflected her skills. As soon as I said it I felt like an asshole. My need to manage others or speak my mind is really irritating to me. She emailed later that day to say that she was grateful for the information and that she removed some photos from the site, but I still felt badly about the incident. We’re meeting with a couple other folks over the next few weeks. I hope to find someone we love!

The In-Laws Update: T-minus 3 days until we meet for the first time. I am sort of already living at J’s house but for the Thanksgiving holiday visit I’m moving “home.” We both agree it is a good idea, and neither of us like it. I swing back and forth between feeling like I’m being kicked out (I’m not) and knowing that this first visit is critical. His parents haven’t met me and by insuring they (J and his M&D) have alone time it will help them transition into a world of J & TP gal. I started packing up some of my things for the week and I got a little sick to my stomach.

I don’t want to be the clingy girl who can’t stand to not be away from her boyfriend. It is only 5 nights, and I can do it. We’ll see what happens at Christmas though. Mom& Dad-in-law are coming for about 10 days and I really don’t want to move out for that long. It’s not a sex thing…it’s a sleep alone thing, or drive across the county each night thing. Plus, J’s place feels like HOME so, this banishment sucks.

Christmas Update: I did some early Christmas shopping and I’m still happy about my August/September purchases. I got something for my dad, but it hasn’t arrived yet and based on the slowness of shipping I’m having unreasonable anxiety that it won’t come by 12/24. Mom’s gift is a tougher nut to crack. I know what I want to do, but I’m not sure I’m up for the expense.

The Annual Exam(s) Update: We got the all clear on the mammogram and girl exam results. It is news because BOTH tests originally came back abnormal and I had to go back for additional workups. The deeper mammogram was fine… very quick, new pictures and then an ultrasound. The doctor came right in and said that the thing that was causing the extra attention was the fact that I have MORE tissue than I did 4 years ago. It is unusual for that to be the case. After a quick rule out of some more ominous reasons I shared that I’d lost a little bit of weight (130 pounds) and the doc put the ultrasound machine down and said…”that’d do it. See you again in 6 months just to be sure.” WHEW.

The other test was a LOT less fun. Without being overly graphic the doctor painted my inner girl parts with vinegar and then took “samples” of anything that turned a strange color. Thankfully only two spots needed ‘sampling’ because it hurt very badly. Thankfully those biopsies came back clear too. Although, the nurse who called left this message:

“This is Chris from Dr. T’s office and we wanted to let you know that both samples came back showing no abnormal cancer. Come back in 6 months for another visit.”

The phrase “abnormal cancer” is what caught my attention. Clearly she meant to say “nothing abnormal” or “no cancer” instead of something that implied that the normal cancer was there.

The Messy Martha Update: The only way to get back the final social security payment that was paid to my aunt and then mailed back to Social Security by People’s Bank (who don’t know Social Security laws) is to set up an estate for my aunt. The cost of probate was going to be significantly more than the $1,700 I spent out of my own pocket to cover the error by People’s Bank. It is frustrating as hell to incur a loss like that, but I’m going to let it go. I may write the People’s Bank people a letter to let them know their lack of knowledge of the law has resulted in hours of headaches and ultimately the loss of my aunt’s ability to pay off the rest of her creditors. I’m out money, but on a more impactful level the Medic One people didn’t get paid, nor did some of the hospital people.

Martha’s friends in Bellingham send me letters from time to time to tell me what they did with all the arts and crafts supplies. Apparently, there are senior centers and rehabilitation centers in the Whatcom county area that are benefiting from all the pens, paper, quilting and sewing supplies that we salvaged from the mess. That is a nice thing to know. While burning down the house seemed tempting at the time, it is good to know that others are enjoying the items.

That’s it for now. I am pimping for topics these days… feel free to drop a suggestion in the comment box below.

The underemployment chronicles

Have you ever had those days at work that are so hectic that you don’t have time to finish one task before three more kick off? Those are the days where you have to interrupt someone so you can run to the bathroom so as to not pee on the floor. Those days tend to fly by in a whirlwind of activity.

I’m not having one of those days. In fact, I’m not having one of those months. MegaBank was “sold” to a MoreMegaBank in September and since then my work life has been like a cheese factory. It is a flurry of activity, and then weeks of sitting followed by a tiny spurt activity and then nothing.

We tried to lead the way with a project plan to transfer our important activities in a meaningful and smart way. MegaBank has made many acquisitions and we know what needs to happen, but the MoreMegaBank folks don’t really seem to feel the same way as we do about our “important” activities. They took one look at the project plan and said something like “oh, isn’t that nice.” WOW, not an overwhelming vote of partnership.

I’m trying to stay positive and keep my team motivated, but with not a lot of work and our partners falling like domino’s it is a challenge. There is work to do, but since our division doesn’t have an exact mirror on the MMB side we are talking with 6 or 7 people to make decisions vs. 1 or 2. I feel like I’m in LIMBO. December 1 is looming and we are promised information on or by that date. Seven days… I can endure seven days.

In the meantime, to keep myself busy at work I’ve cleaned up my desk, updated my addresses, and gotten rid of MegaBank Operational Excellence materials. (we aren’t operating excellently anymore…) I’m making sure my employees files are together and moving through old email. The Control+A and then Delete is something I’m not ready to do just yet, maybe I’ll be ready on 12/1.

It is disappointing to be at a company that is being ripped apart. These folks I work(ed) with are smart, bright and dedicated. We were doing good stuff and now it doesn’t matter. Do I think that corporate greed is to blame? Oh heck yes I do. I get to feel removed from any blame because I’m a technology person who wasn’t part of decisions to extend loans to folks who had no business getting a loan, but I think the financial crisis is due to greed and bad ethical decisions. Did I personally profit from the dastardly deeds of others…. probably. Certainly not to the 14-24 million dollar range, but I’ve made a good salary with decent benefits and tasty annual bonuses. I’ll be getting a nice little package to walk away. I would be dishonest if I didn’t admit that feel a little guilt.

I will get another job and will meet new people and think that they are smart and brilliant too but I will miss my colleagues here at MB. The only upside that I can see is that my “network’ just expanded. As folks I respect, and who hopefully respect me, move on to other companies I have a broader reach into organizations. Usually people scatter one at a time…this is a much more dramatic event.

For the most part I’m trying to be upbeat, but it is hard when people you love are exiting. Remember way back in May when Mike left I was so devastated about working here without him? I still feel that way, and I guess I’m getting my wish. Soon, none of us will work here without him.

Another “positive” thing is that my readership can now expand. Folks who worked at MegaBank weren’t invited to the blog because there is a sharp difference between work TP and blog TP and I needed to not sit across from someone in a meeting who knew my inner thoughts on the weight loss world, or my short dip into the dating pool. It was short but eventful… happy to be out!

That’s it I guess… on this topic. I’ll post a random topic blog in mere moments. I have time to write one. In fact, feel free to make suggestions about any topic you’d like to hear about. I’m an open book.

Happy Birthday Dave!

In honor of friend Dave's birthday his friend Erika organized a huge dinner out. Sadly, due to strange forces of nature the party of 12 turned into a party of 5 (hmm, that sounds familiar.) Over wine and yummy nibbles at Union (on get this... Union) in downtown Seattle Dave's people enjoyed a small but lively evening.

Conversation mostly roamed around the perils of dating. J boldly inquired about why Erika (totally cute) and Dave (completely wonderful) hadn't ever dated. While the two friends awkwardly tried to explain that they'd been 'friends for 20 years' J endured the claw of death while my hand gripped his knee under the table. Hey, you never know...

In anticipation of shared bottles of wine, I booked J and I a room downtown at the Fairmont Olympic. The corporate travel discount at former MegaBank still has some pull. I am shocked that we got such a good rate considering the ENTIRE Washington Redskin football team and their subsequent posses were in the hotel. The lobby was teeming with huge men followed by little people drafting off of their speed. Some of these folks reminded me of those little fish that swim along with the shark and feed off any of the bits the shark misses in its frenzy.

After dinner, J and I slowly walked (super high girl shoes on TP) back up to the hotel and had a night cap. We found a little table in the corner near the piano man and watched the hoopla. Eleven PM must have been the first warning for curfew because all the huge athletic men got up, signed tabs and exited the lounge area leaving pockets of people who suddenly seemed just a little bit less cool.

At breakfast this morning, J asked me why Shawn Alexander (my Christmas card buddy from 2006) hadn't stopped by to say hello. My thought is that he probably thought that since we met for only about 90 seconds a couple years ago that I wouldn't remember him. But that's not the case Shawn, I remember the little people, you should have felt comfortable to stop and say hello.

Our room was lovely, as you would expect at the Olympic Hotel. I did find a 1 1/2 inch piece of metal screw on the floor near the perfectly coordinated chair and almost stepped on it. J, who surprised me with this touch of evilness, suggested we call to the manager and claim I injured my foot and see if we couldn't turn it into complimentary nights at the Lake Louise property in Banff during our honeymoon. When I suggested we jam it up his foot and pretend he was the injured party that idea quickly faded. (What a pussy!)

Taking a "stay-cation" in a local hotel, even at a good rate quickly adds up. As a future unemployed MegaBank employee this might be the last adventure out for a while. However, it was completely worth it because we had so much fun at dinner with Dave and his great friends and didn't have to worry at all about driving.

We did have so much fun that I had to take a nap when we got home. I'm rested now, and J (who doesn't nap) is "watching" the Seahawks / Redskins game with his eyes closed. He hasn't moved in over 30 minutes and I assume that he is either dead or in some sort of meditative state.

Apple Cup 2008

It's official, Washington State University sucks just a little bit less than the UW this year.

It has been a miserable football season for both teams, with WSU losing to teams in the PAC-10 in a fantastic way, 3-66, 14-63, 13-66, 0-69 (ouch), 0-58, 0-31.

While we did win one game this season, and UW did not, they managed to put a lot more points on the board and so they were (as of today) ranked 9th in the PAC-10, while we followed up in the #10 spot. Woo Woo Go Cougs!

We did win in the big Apple Cup this year in double overtime.

J and I are off to dinner with a bunch of Huskies (UW folks) tonight, but I'm sure I won't be doing ANY bragging. 0-69!? There is just no pride in that.

Duh!

This confidentiality disclaimer was on the bottom of an email J received today:

***************** CONFIDENTIALITY DISCLAIMER ******************

The information contained in this e-mail may be confidential. IF YOU RECEIVED THIS IN ERROR, please call the Virginia Mason Privacy Officer at (206) xxx-xxxx. Thank you.

Patients: E-mail is NOT considered secure. By choosing to communicate with Virginia Mason by e-mail, you will assume the risk of a confidentiality breach. Please do not rely on e-mail communication if you or a family member is injured or is experiencing a sudden change in health status.

If you need emergency attention, call 911.

This is the line that got me.... "If you need emergency attention, call 911."

Can you imagine the email that prompted this addition?

To: Dr. Smithson
From: tpgal@dumbass.com
RE: My severed head
Message marked: Urgent

Dr. Smithson,

I accidentally removed most of my head from my body. (LOL) It actually hurts quite a bit, and I'm wondering if I should come in?

Could you mail me back and let me know if it is normal for my head to keep flopping over to the left like this.

THX,

TPgal

1 year anniversary

I was reminded today by a friend that today marks the one year anniversary of my surgery.

ONE YEAR!!! WOW

I'd like to say that it feels like yesterday that I was checking myself into the hospital and waiting with my mom for the surgery team to come gather me, but it doesn't. So much has happened and that person who agreed to go on this nutty journey isn't really here anymore. She pops up every now and then in a fleeting moment of shopping insecurity like when I walk past the big lady section at the mall and I wonder if the sales people in the petite section will let me try on the clothes I've chosen.

I adore that big girl because she took a huge risk that allows me to be where I am today. I hope to always see her as brave.

It is a dangerous association for people who are considering weight loss surgery to equate the loss of weight with the finding of your life partner so I don't talk about love on the support sites. However, if you had said to me last November 19th that one year to the day that I would be going to an open house with my fiance to taste the menu for our wedding I would not have believed you. (Have the ravioli, ooh it is so good!)

This year has changed me in many ways. I'm a smaller person and yet my appreciation for little things is so much greater. I have more energy than ever before, I enjoy going to the gym, and my body temperature is LOW. I AM COLD ALL THE TIME. I have never been cold before - that is an oddity.

Do I recommend this surgery for all people battling obesity? NO!
You have to be willing to walk away from food choices that are not good.
You have to give up carbonated pop, you have to focus on nutrition.
You have to work out.
You HAVE to take your vitamins.
You have to be prepared for people to gush over you when you want to be invisible.
You have to be prepared to be a little irritated that people are nicer to you when you are smaller than when you were big, but you're still the same person.
You have to embrace the fact that sometimes you will throw up, sometimes you wont poop for a few days and then when you do it won't be very nice.
You have to be ready for your hair to fall out, and then grow back funky.
You have to be ready for it to be "all about you" even when you want to focus on your friends and family.
OH, and you have to be ok with food holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Hanukkah or Thursdays) to be about something different, but that your people will still eat more food than you could eat in a week. You have to be ready to have the servers in restaurants to think there is something wrong with your meal when you eat 1/3rd and don't want a doggie bag. (It's better to split with someone....)

I am ok with all of these things. I even love some of them. I don't feel like I'm deprived, I enjoy good food and am having the time of my life!

Thank you Terri for today.

Waiting....

I'm not a patient person.  I am in limbo on a few things that are making me nutty right now.  Here's my list:

1) The actual news about my employment status.  (11 days until they HAVE to tell me; and a phone call about my status isn't the same thing as the real letter.)

2) Annual girl test results.  The test was Thursday, waiting waiting waiting
3) First mammogram results.  I'm 40 now so that's a fun new test
4) Waiting for some actual work to do at work

When I complained to J about this he replied back with this list. 

1) Waiting for the first snow
2) waiting for 9.19.09
3) waiting to go to Denver for the first time
4) waiting to meet the in laws
5) waiting to go on our honeymoon
6) waiting for the time to come home

Ok, his list is better than mine, a tad bit more sticky sweet than you may be able to stomach, but still…it's a better list.

The Fuzz!

A while back I blogged that my hair was finally coming back in.  I'm happy as all get out about this development as I am rather vain when it comes to my mane.

There is now a very even distribution of new hair growth long around my entire head.  This new growth is about 2 inches long and is mostly tucked under longer hair, but where it is visible where I part my hair.  I normally sport a sleek part but I now have a mess of curly fuzz.  No matter how much time I spend with the hair dryer in the morning, I have this halo of new hair around my head.  There is a fine line between not enough hair product and too much.  The amount of product it takes to make the fuzz lay down makes me look like I've been working in a potato chip factory over the industrial fryer.  (NOT PRETTY)

I am hopeful that it will continue to grow and within a few months I can get a haircut that will blend the new in with the old.  In the meantime, I am ignoring it as much as I can.  I guess a fuzzy do is better than a bald do (for a girl anyway.)

My doctor said that the Iron he prescribed will also help with the hair growth, so I will endure the unfortunate gastric effects (uge) of taking massive doses of Iron in order to have lovely hair.  If I would increase my fiber, the UGE would be lessened. 

Yes, indeed, this IS what I'm blogging about.  I know there are world events that require our attention, but you do not turn to me for my opinions on Iraq's desire to have our troops gone by 2011, or the guy who shot his 6 year old (who turned out to have been a little drunk at the time… grrrrrr), or the idea that Hillary could be Secretary of State (a VERY nice way to get her out of the Senate and since she's NOT an idiot, it might be a good move.)

I blog about my hair.  I’m not ashamed.

True, but funny?

I'm continuing to get mail from hospitals and companies who are eager to get paid by my deceased aunt.  I've called PharMerica (an online medical supply company) 4 times to provide Aunties physical and fiscal status and I still get mail.

I'm on the phone with an associate in their collections department and I said I wanted to let them know that she was "still dead"  and "still broke" - the dude didn't laugh, smirk or even acknowledge that what I said was mildly funny.

I think my humor is too dark for collection agents. 

That's just sad.

Be Careful What You Ask For...

J is a great sport, he's easy going and generally very open to new ideas and experiences. I'm not quite sure he was ready for the aftermath of the "Will you marry me?"

I have an acute awareness that the wedding is only a day, and that the important thing is the life we are building together. However...the wedding planning is an experience.

If you've been paying attention you've heard me say that I am a big fan of the Martha Stewart Wedding empire. I faithfully buy the quarterly offering of the latest dresses, cakes, and ideas. I knew J was a keeper when (before the actual engagement) I saw the newest issue and bought it with him and he didn't run for the door. Poor guy didn't know that at home I had about 20 additional issues. These are for reference...and damn it, it's girl porn! (I don't and won't complain about Maxim that arrives monthly. We each have our interests.)

The planning is going well. We're ahead of the game in a lot of areas and are currently mulling over the invitations and will start the photographer search in earnest after the holidays.

While I am "the bride" I am working on not being overly "it's my way or the highway" on things. I am presenting options and photos so he can see my vision. There's a new idea floating around for the bridesmaid dresses that is really exciting to me and at first discussion J wasn't all that warm. But with more information and a few visuals that may change.

There are certain things about a wedding that the groom just isn't equipped to deal with. It's not that they aren't smart enough, or strong enough...but really, what heterosexual man cares about chair covers? Shoot, what straight (never been married) guy even KNOWS about chair covers? It's a crazy expense and I think it will be worth it. The chairs at "the manor" are terrible and chair covers will neutralize them and be a dramatic decorative element that will make our floral investment pop. As committed as I am to this expense it was hard to bring it up. Even talking about it was a little embarrassing. The look of confusion on J's face was one I don't want to see again.

We've set a budget and little items like this will increase the spend. However, I'm happy to cover things like seat covers out of my monthly play money. Suzy Ormond probably would yell at me for that, but damn it...it's my day. (lol) It's our day. OUR DAY

I'm not complaining about the wedding planning. I've waited a while to put an event like this together and am enjoying the process. I love that I had a vision and that my gal pals are contributing -- fun fun fun!

J is enjoying it too... last weekend we sampled the first idea for wedding champagne. TERRIBLE. So, we'll keep looking. The search for the right wine and champagne offering will be fun.

There will be more wedding stuff here in the future, and when it is all said and done -- photos! Until then...have a great weekend.

A day off

Oh how I love a day off. I got up this morning at the same time I would if I were going to work and I got so much done.

I bought a dress for a dinner out later in the month. One dress, ah ah ah

I had a mammogram on two breasts, One, Two! ah ah ah, two breasts!

I loaded up three boxes of stuff for goodwill. One, two, three boxes, ah ah ah

I did four loads of laundry, One, two, three, four! Ah ah ah ah! Four loads of laundry

I purchased 5 pairs of black (sexy) panty-hose. One, two, three, four, FIVE pair of panty hose, ah ah ah ah

I purchased 6 items at Fred Meyer, one, two, three, four, five, six items. ah ah ah.

I also made dinner for my guy, picked up a ring that had been sized and made the bed. (making the bed isn't really a blogworthy item, but this is my list damn it!)

It's back to work tomorrow where my largest contribution to the world will be holding down a chair for the most of the day. ah ah...ick

Veteran's Day

Here's a TP Gal shout out to the veteran's I know:

To my dad who served in Korea - woo hoo!
To my brother who served in Iraq (twice) - woo hoo!
To my uncle who served in Vietnam - woo hoo!
To my future father in law who served in Germany - woo hoo!
To my friend Brett who served in the Gulf and Korea - woo hoo!
To my friend Craig who serves in the Gulf - woo hoo!
To Becky's dad who served in Korea - woo hoo!
To my cousin Vern who served in Germany - woo hoo!


To all veteran's, thank you for doing a job that I wouldn't want to do! Your service is appreciated!

Possible Honeymoon Location

We're talking about honeymooning in the Canadian Rockies... this little hotel seems mighty fabulous.

The Weekend Update

I love the go go go weekends because time flies, I get to see friends, it is fun and good.

This weekend my plans sort of fell apart and while I was sad to not be able to get together with a friend who I haven't seen in ages I'm basking in a glorious two days with no obligations.  Laundry is getting done, J is busy going through his pantry and ditching lots of stuff.  If you make waffles once every 8 years, do you need a waffle maker?  Personally, when I NEED a waffle, IHOP is happy to make me one.  

We bought a new coffee pot - the kind with the pods.  I'm torn about this little machine.  The first issue that was resolved prior to the acquisition, this little wonder has a filter so we can have coffee without having to buy the pods.  Thankfully the pods are recyclable but I'm still struggling with the plastic.  My second issue was the fact that it only makes one cup at a time. However,  I'm finding that I like a weaker blend of coffee than J, so I can have my "weak ass cup of coffee" and 2 minutes later he can have his "stomach lining killer blend" and we're both happy.  The other thing I like is that we make 2 cups, not 8 and the machine is off (rather than warming coffee we're not going to drink) thus it seems more energy efficient.

J's interpretation of this paragraph is that I was "kind of a bitch about the coffee pot, and now I've warmed up to it."  Then he added  "kidding!!!  (I mention this because it is actually true...he said it, and it was accurate.)

I just finished the 2008 holiday card.  I figured since I didn't send one out last year, and 2008 was such a huge evolution that it needed to happen.  It's a lot of "me" pictures, but I suppose it won't look too vain.  (hope)

I did get some indication of where I'll fall out in the work situation.  There's a job that the new overlords are looking at me as the possible candidate.  It's a great opportunity, not much of a stretch from my current responsibilities, but of course 100% different.  The challenge... LOCATION.  It's in Delaware or in New York.  Rather than force me to decide right this second the manager is putting me in a grouping that will give us time to work together to decide what is the best thing for everybody.  

Moving...well its a crazy idea, but there is some up side, especially if it was only for a few years.  Living on the east coast would be a new and different experience.  If we were in Delaware we could rent and then keep our home out here so we would be sure to come back.  Nothing is decided - I don't have ANY details on the offer or when I have make up my mind.  (Er... we have to decide, this is a group decision between J and me.)

Next on the agenda is errands, I bought a suit and it needs to be shortened (HOBBIT), I need a 3 hole punch to help keep my wedding binder in order (OCD?) and I may need to have my toes professionally painted.  I can get down there now and do it, but it's only $15 for a very professional job and...they massage my feet.  GOODNESS!

I should run and help J.  It is wrong to ask him to throw stuff away and then not help.  

Grammar Police

Ok people, there are many little rules and nuances in the English language that are confusing. I do not claim to be a professional writer and I am certainly not a qualified English teacher, however there is something that has been bugging me lately.

I was in a meeting with my esteemed colleague MJS listening to some very high mucky-muck talk about the future of the IT organization and the culture and blah blah blah. He had a casual, likable style about him and I thought to myself that he was rather smart. Smart, that is, until he dropped this bomb:

"Irregardless of the next few...."

WHAT THE HOLY HELL!?

Irregardless is NOT a word! If it were it would mean the exact opposite of how people use it. Regardless means "no matter what" and "ir" means "not" so "irregardless" actually means "not no matter what" or "not at all. " Do you follow me? No, try this:

You say: "I will love you irregardless of your weight!"
You mean: "I will love you fat, thin, chunky, tiny, huge, whatever!"
You're actually saying: "I will only love you at the right weight."

If you only learn one thing from the TP gal, it should be this. STOP using "irregardless!"

For the record, none of you whom I know in real life use this word. There was a frequent offender, but we don't run in the same circles anymore. (The cause of the separation is 100% unrelated to the offending word under discussion.)

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest. I feel a sense of relief.

What TP is talking about on this historic day

I'm thrilled about the election.  I was fearful that even though President Elect Obama had the lead in the polls and the majority of votes that the vast right wing conspiracy machine would kick into action (again) and further kill my trust in our system.  I'm excited about the change, but agree with some who believe that 4 years may not be enough to undo the steaming pile of pooh that we're in right now.

 

With that said, what's on my mind today?  Work.  Grumble.  I'm so very frustrated with the lack of information, the inability to see or understand the line of thinking around transition activities.  My (former) management made us go through and map out everything we thought we would have to do to transition the work we do to the new company.  This wasn't a fun activity, but I did it.

 

We met with our new management and they looked our plan and basically said "well, isn't that nice?"  A bit dismissive if I may say so.  I'm ok with them driving the transition (or rather non-transition) but I'm still being asked by my (former) management to provide dates and status on the list I made up.  They are aware that no one cares but them, and yet I'm still being pushed to march forward on this silly stuff.

 

I LOVE MAKE WORK!!!!!  It is totally super.

 

MOOD:  CLOUDY

 

Some days I am positive and feel like there is transition work that might keep me employed here until March or April (my dream would be June - that's a financial dream, not a "wouldn't it be fun" dream) but today, I'm in the "get me the f*ck out of here!" place.  I'm thinking that 12/1 - I will get a 60 day notice of termination.  Today, that plan doesn't seem terrible to me.

 

Financially, getting let go in June rocks; it would enable me to "retire" until 2010.  A January departure date would still enable me to pay off my tiny credit cards and take a little time to deal with the condo I'm about to sell, but the priority would be getting a job before the money runs out.   Either way... I'll be able to fund this wedding (which will be fun fun fun) and start my marriage with no debt - that's not a bad scenario.

New Fictionary Additions

Joggle = the unfortunate movement of my extra skin (after the weight loss) that occurs when I try to go for a run.  "I'd love to go for a jog, but the joggle messes with my rhythm. 

MapGuess = the MapQuest printout of areas that it isn't quite sure of (like the Redmond area.)  "I'm not sure if it's 23425th SE 345th Court West or SE 324th Avenue West or 324th North Court East South?

Hold on to your shorts....

I've been hinting at something for a few days now and it is time to share. J and I have been talking and we've decided that we're going to get married. You heard me... TP gal is getting hitched!

I've heard it said that when you know, you know, and believe me -- I know. Without getting overly mushy and sappy I would like to share that J not only feels like family to me, he is the partner for which I had been hoping. We have a lot of fun together, but I feel strongly that when the chips are down that he's the one I want by my side. He has been amazing regarding the work thing; he's supportive and listens when its needed and provides distraction and entertainment when the situation is required. His family is fantastic and he has been fully accepted by my parents and the Aunts & Uncle.

We've scheduled a September wedding (09.19.09) and have picked a location and a caterer! The ceremony itself will be simple and sweet and we're hoping the party will be fun! We'll be doing some dancing and I believe we will have at least one bottle of wine on hand!

Picking caterer was a huge decision that we wrapped up this week. We got a few quotes from caterers that are clearly proving a level of service that I frankly can't relate to. The one company 'cut down' the number of bartenders by three to bring the food cost down to only $1000 over my entire wedding budget. Conversely we were given the name of a caterer who offered us a screaming deal, but I couldn't get her on the phone and her staff couldn't answer basic questions. I would rather pay more for a partner than cheap out and have to stress that the food is even going to arrive. J has been amazing about the planning and a good sport about everything that has to happen now vs. later. He's interested and has an opinion, but so far not any violent opinions about things that are ... um... not to sound all "Bridezilla" but wrong.

J mentioned that his cousin Teresa would be making our cake and my first thought was 'uh oh, my first lesson in compromise.' But it turns out that she has been to culinary school and is a professional cake person. Fan-damn-tastic! How thrilling to have someone who likes us make our cake. J has some fun ideas about what he'd like to have and I just want it to be pretty so I'm happy.

I did accidentally try on a wedding dress - even though it is WAY to early to pick something out. I saw it in the window and popped in to see the price (to get over it if it was hella expensive) and it was quite reasonable. The shopkeeper asked me if I wanted to try it on? Oh my... the idea that I would be able to try on dresses that weren't in the big lady store floored me so I said yes. As I stepped out from behind the red velvet curtain in that white dress my body temperature rose about 10 degrees and my heart started to race. I looked like a bride!!!!! I do want to go dress shopping with my girls and I hope that in the spring we can coordinate a weekend to make it happen - in the mean time, I'm envisioning myself in that pretty dress saying sweet things to my wonderful guy.

On the 'attendant' front - I'll be having four ladies standing up with me, Yaz, June, Becky and Janie. They all have been supportive and important in their own ways that there is no way in HELL that I'm picking a "Matron of Honor" They all mean the world to me and I don't think there needs to be a hierarchy so I'm not going to do it!

Here's hoping TP gal doesn't turn into the wedding update site, but you may have to hear about it more than you want. What can I say? I'm a 40 year old woman who is about to marry a man who makes her heart flutter and makes her laugh until she can't breathe. I'm happy happy happy!

World Series

I'm not a sports blogger, but it is super exciting to see former Mariner Jamie Moyer be part of team that won the top prize in baseball.

He was a solid, stand-up guy in the Seattle organization and I was sad to see him released. This win makes the sadness of not seeing him in Mariner colors worth it.

Way to go Jamie!

Congrats

Tee Hee

Those of you without older brothers may not get this, but it made me laugh out loud:


more animals


And this one... we'll you know where I sit:

see famous look-a-like faces

The work update

Things are still status quo at MegaBank; still no definitive news on what's what. There's lots of misinformation rolling around. People share their opinion about what they think is going to happen as if they know what is going to happen. It is easy to get caught up in the hysteria. Honestly I'm trying not to get too worked up.

I'm resigned to the idea that I'm going to lose my job. I'm just hoping that the timing is good (as if there can be good timing to be unemployed.) My fingers are crossed (a perfectly acceptable strategy) that my release date will be in the summer. Let's put our collective heads together and pray for a June 30 date. June 30. June 30, June 30!

There's NOTHING magic about that date other than it is halfway through the year and the weather starts to get good in July. I could spend some time with Becky at Gambleside while my poor boyfriend slogs to work everyday. (He's sweet, but he won't quit his job to play with me even if I ask nicely.)

A March release date is a more realistic expectation, I can make that work too. It won't be the "retirement 2009" situation that a June date would be, but I'd still enjoy my summer.

The "Retirement 2009 Program" scares J a little bit. I wonder if he's worried that I'll NEVER go back to work and that he'll be stuck with a deadbeat girlfriend. tee hee. (It wasn't a planned thing to make him fall in love with me and then for me to suddenly have no income... honest. I'm totally trustworthy.)

ok -- enough. Get back to your life, but.... come back soon - there is gjavascript:void(0)oing to be exciting news here soon.

Movie Review: The Invasion

What the world needs is more remakes of decent quality scary movies from the 1950's.  In 1956, Invasion of the Body Snatchers was a scary concept.  The idea of space travel and aliens were high on the list of things that were frightening to folks.  These days, alien invaders in the form of microscopic organisms isn't as scary as say some guy becoming President, dying and then his pretty, but inexperienced VP runs our nation.  **Shiver**

 

(Get off your soap box tpgal...) 

 

In the 2007 version of Invasion Nicole Kidman has to fool the alien infected masses by looking stoic and unemotional, which is right up her Botox Alley.  She also has to beat the shit out of some kid and get spit on my Jeremy Northam (who was totally dreamy in Emma, and can't seem to play anything but creeps now.)

 

To be fair, Invastion wasn't terrible; it wasn't OH MY GOD awesome, but it kept my attention and at one point I did require the comfort of a big strong person to save me from the stupid thing that Nichole was doing.  Note to self, when you're locked in a pharmacy and waiting for help and you hear a room full of people banging on a blood soaked door - DO NOT OPEN IT.  The blood is a CLUE dumbass.

 

The pace of the movie was good, and while the dialog got a little 'fake medical' at times, I found myself caring for the characters.  So, as a mildly entertaining DVD during the halloween season, I give Invasion a thumbs up. 

I need a day off from my weekend

Oh my...my description of everything on the agenda for the weekend was pretty accurate. Here is is 7 p.m. Sunday and I'm pooped.

Our mashed potatoes for the cider pressing party turned out great. In typical TPgal fashion, we made too much. We were told that we were cooking for about 20 people, but it turns out the kids dined on pizza so our two huge crock pots of warm, creamy garlic mashed potatoes were too much. However, we did not come home with pounds and pounds of leftovers. I scored enough turkey, gravy and potatoes to make a yummy dinner tonight.

The cider pressing party was good fun. Becky's parents have this large wooden press that you feed the apples (and some pears) into to chop up and then once the barrel is full a wooden lid is screwed down onto the fruit and the excess juice is squeezed out. It was a true group effort in that all the chopping and pressing is done under manual effort.

In addition to pressing 15 cases of apples into the freshest and best tasting cider I've ever had, Becky also pulled of a perfectly wonderful turkey.

We've been enjoying stunning fall weather so we were outside the whole day under a tree that was shedding leaves. Fabulous!!!

A busy Saturday

I'm officially back from my non-vacation to Greece so I guess I should start acting like I'm in town.

Today there's a lot on the agenda. Breakfast with J's work buddy Bob (the anti-relationship guy.) I liked Bob the first time I met him. He told this "great" story about how when he moved his family back to the US from South Africa the funny folks on Air France thought it would be funny to tell him that both the family dog and the bird they were transporting had died in flight. I'm not really sure where someone begins to think that something like that might be funny - but it really wasn't. When they landed in Paris Bob made the folks show him the dog and the bird. For some odd reason every Air France manager was on the tarmac to apologize and make sure Bob was happy. (This happened years and years ago, I'm sure by now they know it isn't funny.)


After breakfast, we are running to my house to pick up some stuff (i.e. my desk and the crock-pot.) A trip to the grocery store is in order as we're bringing 20 pounds of mashed potatoes to a harvest party at Becky's. (20 pounds pre-cooked.) Later this afternoon, while Sleep Country replaces the torn box spring on the brand new bed that J purchased I'll be peeling and boiling potatoes.

Tonight we're going to dinner with our friends Doug & Chelsey. (Are they friends...are they family? They are both.) Anywho Chelsey's parents are coming into town and we're all gathering to celebrate some big news.

Last night, J and I went on a date. We went to SIP in Issaquah for wine, cheese and a yummy dinner and too much desert. He's great for me, as we split the appetizer and the entree. We couldn't decide on which desert to order so we got two, but didn't eat half of either. The leaded coffee was a bad idea, but it tasted GOOD.

So, this day is underway... Bob awaits at the Kirkland Pancake House, so off I go.

*blush*

A friend sent me a copy of a Facebook exchange between two friends that I'm sure was horrifying for the people involved.

The scenario is this, girl 1 posts a photo of herself with a famous person whom she knows through an artistic skill that they share. Girl 2 comments that the famous person has not aged well and refers to her by a common but incorrect nickname. (i.e. referring to Mother Teresa as "terri" -- NOT COOL)

So, the exchange is going back and forth and then BAM the famous person comments "what's up?" The girls try to cover with saying how she looks like some teacher of theirs from ages ago and the famous person says:

"so, I guess I have aged - well yes we all do! and I am not a Patty thank you."

OUCH!!!!

The lesson here...be careful what you say on the Internet about people, they likely are reading you. I've made that mistake about folks in my real life, but have thankfully edited myself after my senses took over. I am prepared to apologize for my comments no matter how true or justified I felt they were at the time.

It's one thing to talk smack about some famous person you don't know, but if you do know them, perhaps you should either remember to be kind or be prepared to say to their face, "hey you look old."

Voting

I'm so sick of all the political ads that are so negative and hateful. The governor race in Washington is awful, neither of the candidates has anything to offer in the way of hope for a renewed future. Instead of telling us what the candidate will do to improve the state, our economy or education for our kids they are posting ad after ad that vilifies each other.

The presidential election isn't much better, but I have a solution!

My absentee voter packet came in the mail, so I'm going to vote today and all these ads will go away.

You can thank me the next time you see me.

Maybe this will help

Without going into a lot of detail for those of you not subjected to my daily "I'm so in love" emails - it may need to be said that things with J are going extremely well.

We are however settling into a routine that allows for more independent time to pursue our own individual interests while still enjoying each others company. Right now, I'm blogging and he's vacuuming something. I feel no obligation to run into the other room to help.

He has not only met my parents but gone "home" with me for a visit. This was a big deal, most of my best friends have never gone home with me. J was able to spend time with the Aunts and with Uncle Ed. We did the standard TPgal family event where we helped someone around their house. (This time it was my parents.) J and I hit Costco and brought M&D much needed supplies and then puttered around their house. J is technical support for the family (his and now mine) and he installed the new big screen tv.

This weekend we bought a (gasp) new bed. J's set up was more than 10 years old and needed to be refreshed. You are now wondering... are these kids shacking up!? The official answer is "of course not." I have my home and he has his. My place will likely going on the market after the holidays, but for right now I have my own place.

So, we made it to church this morning and somehow I got volunteered (meaning I didn't say no) to teach 6 weeks of Sunday School and to give a 5-7 minute talk during Advent on the "Power of Waiting." Pastor Kirby thinks "my story" is inspirational. Um.. I was angry and sad and finally decided to take control over my life. I'm sure my "speech" will be more than that. I know that my pre-2008 life taught me a lot about how to be really appreciative of the joys of my world. It's not all about the new relationship either...it's about really loving things like being active, feeling attractive, having a sense of direction and ownership over my own destiny.

The Sunday School thing is just wrong. I'm a tad bit too evil to teach Sunday School, but maybe I'll learn something. Maybe there's a life lesson for me.

Work...well, it is pretty bleak. I'm balancing the desire to get laid off with the guilt over not coming anywhere close to my normal level of work ethic. I will be looking for new work, but am likely to hang out and collect a severance check. There's something in the hopper, but no details yet.

Have a great Monday (or Sunday if you're hanging out on line.)

OUCH!!!

I don't normally blog about sports but as an alumni of WSU (cougars) this headline caught my attention:

USC ends Cougars' scoring streak 69-0

I think the next time the Cougs call asking for money I'm just going to scream into the phone... "69 to Zero!?"

Americans...tisk tisk

I was standing in line at Dairy Queen and the guy in front of me was marveling at the display of candles for sale. They had all the numbers for you to buy to pop on top of your ice cream cake.

I couldn't help but overhear as he said to his friend:

0,1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9... I guess you just get screwed when you turn 10. That sucks.

Yes indeed...

Joe The Plumber

While watching the debate last night I knew that the reporters across America were scrambling to find "Joe the Plumber" and sure enough, there's news regarding his failure to hold a plumbing license in the town in which he operates.

The article also says that he doesn't earn more than $250,000 - which is the income level at which Obama's tax plan would actually increase. (Having done none of the research myself I'll trust that the figure that 95% of us make less than $250,000 is accurate.)

Joe Wurzelbacher "the plumber" said "if you believed (Obama), I'd be receiving his tax cuts." UM so, why the fuss???

I give Joe credit for acknowledging that perhaps too much time was spent at the debate talking about him. He said he felt like Britney Spears with a headache, everyone wanted to know and that he hoped he wasn't embarrassing himself.

Not at all Joe… not at all.

Last day

Today marks the last day of my non-vacation. I spent the weekend at my parents with J. He got to meet the relatives and help Mom and Dad with some needed household things.

We managed to visit a couple of wineries in Prosser, Kestral and Airfield. My college chum Flint is the wine maker at Kestral, but he was not around when we arrived. Airfield was fun the sampler people had a lot of energy and made the experience a hoot.

We bought lots of wine at both places.

Today we're running errands, getting me a bus pass (because I am actually going to work this month) getting the cars washed and a few minor things for around the condos.

I am woefully behind on my bookclub book and fear that I'll be the one that doesn't finish it, even though I've been off for a week. Starting the daily commute will help I'm sure.


I'm still in a good place (mentally) about the job situation. If (when) I get laid off the severance will be enough to survive for a while without much worry. Don't fret about the tp gal, she will land on her feet!

Happy Columbus Day!

I'm still not in Greece

Having had to go into work for two VERY IMPORTANT meetings with the new owners of our company, the fact that I chose to be in town has turned out to be a good choice.

I'm keeping up on email, but mostly playing house to fill my days. Last night I made a yummy chicken garlic penne pasta with fresh tomatoes. So good! (even if I may say so myself.)

Dad is in the hospital, so J and I are going over Saturday for a quick visit and to help M&D with some things. It is a one day trip and yet somehow the aunts and uncle have been informed that we're coming. Lucky J!

Dad is mostly ok, he's anemic and they don't know why. Those early morning phone calls suck though. He says he feels good, but they won't let him leave the hospital. Maybe he's not the best judge of what's going on.

I'm glad the schedule has worked out that we can go to visit.

Other than that, the week has been a whirlwind of chores, shopping and visiting friends. I'm not sleeping in or anything, but am having fun.

The Work Situation

It's still not ok to comment publicly about the company I work for and I wouldn't dream of discussing anything remotely confidential. However, there has been a lot of articles in the press lately that I would characterize as very similar to the information provided to the folks on staff at former MegaBank.

When a bigger company gobbles you up, under any circumstances there is an evaluation of the staff on both sides of the acquisition that are evaluated to determine who is redundant. The evaluation of the staff on the acquirer side is usually a convenient opportunity to rid the payroll of problem people - most of the staff on the acquirer side are considered to be "safe." Those of us on the acquired side do not have the same safety net.

I'm extremely confident that in spite of my excellent skills, good attitude, and moderate salary that there's likely no need for TPgal at the new company. I'm ok with this reality. I'm financially better off than I was when eCharge closed its doors without notice, and my support system is stronger.

They're telling us we will know our disposition (aka fate of employment) by December 1st. There are a couple of options within that scenario that are attractive, but I don't be waiting until then to start looking. I would rather walk away from a severance package and into a stable job than pass up an opportunity to advance my career, or even take myself in a new direction.

For folks who don't feel like they have options, the December timeline is terrible. Two months (well... 6 weeks at this point) is a long time to twist in the wind. I personally don't feel like I'm twisting, I still feel in control of my own reality.

It would be a bummer to walk away from a year end bonus (I KNOW, HOW ON EARTH CAN A COMPANY THAT WAS TAKEN OVER STILL HAVE BONUSES?) that I had hoped to use for an event later in 2009. But...if the right job comes along, I will gladly take it. I understand that there is a cost to sticking it out to the bitter end in a situation like this, morale tends to drop to negative numbers.

As much as I'm motivated by money, I need to be happy. I've spend enough time being cranky.

So, more news as it comes out. When I know what's going on with me I'll share. In the meantime, I'm being super conservative with my money and not regretting the cancellation of the Greece trip for one moment.

The Non-Vacation

I'm having a 1950's housewife vacation. Well, not the vacation of a 1950's housewife, but pretending to be a 1950's housewife. I'm cleaning, cooking being way too domestic.

Yesterday after I had lunch with Becky and ran errands (returning one of the swimsuits) I ran to the grocery store and picked up things for dinner.

In an homage to the 1950's I made a big garlicky meatloaf, homemade mashed potatoes and threw in some asparagus to green up the plate. It was a meal that I wouldn't have done just for me, and was way too much for just J and I. Fortunately, Thursdays are Survivor Nights with our friends (and family) D&C. The four of us devoured my heart attack special in no time.

The trick to my meatloaf... using two different kinds of meat - the leanest ground beef you can find, and plain old ground sausage. Holy Crap... it is a good combo. It also helps to not be shy with the garlic and the spices. I didn't find the bread crumbs until after I was done with the mix, so I took salad croutons, crushed them and used them as filler.

Over the course of dinner (and two bottles of wine that C and I mostly polished off ourselves) we hatched an evil, diabolical plan. Wanna hear it? Good!

In looking at my things with a critical eye (something I strongly recommend to you all after cleaning up Martha's things) I realized I have a rather large collection of arts and crafts supplies. I use to make my own holiday cards and scrap books. Now I have lots of rubber stamps, special paper, cutters and embossing materials.

Since I don't use these items anymore, but I do have a significant investment in them so throwing them away or giving them to strangers doesn't feel right. C is in the same boat in that she has lots of this crap laying around too... so here's my diabolical plan:

C will plant an idea in the ear of "the one they warned me about" to have a craft night with the idea that we'll swap stuff that we no longer need. C and I will bring all of our stuff, and intermingle it with everyone else's stuff and then suddenly get called away and leave EVERYTHING behind!

Yes, it would be easier to give it away but this feels more, oh I don't know...evil. And I like being a little bit evil.

I am moving so slow this morning... maybe it has to do with the two bottles of wine. I just can't seem to get going. I've showered, watched an episode of Law & Order but fell asleep so I had to watch it again. I'm a slug.

I am off though... I have a plan for today and it doesn't involve an elaborate dinner. J is working late tonight so we'll probably grab some quick chow later on and watch a movie. That's my plan anyway; he is allowed to have his own ideas. I haven't completely squashed his free will just yet. (In the secret rules of women guidebook it says to wait until after you're married to kill their free will. I may not actually get to that activity because I'm having so much fun in the "woo him" stage - why move on?)

Love Birds

I'm honestly trying not to love blog too much, but I did want to share some photos from the weekend in Long Beach. Don't worry, I do know the difference between things that are fun to do, and things that should NEVER be photographed...