Another step closer

I met with the super serious psychologist today for an assessment. My assumption is that it went really well, I operate under the assumption that I'm not mentally ill.

We talked about history, how much my mother and father screwed me up by staying married, working and working out their differences by not throwing things or yelling. (A-holes)

Then we talked about how terrible high school and college was with all those friends, and all that fun stuff we had to do.

After an hour I took a little "test" - 650 some statements designed to delve into my psyche. They were true/false and for the most part very easy but there were a few that were so convaluted I wasn't sure what the heck they were saying:

I often know that the problems I have are red shoe, trunk lock because people is what I think obsessively nightly.
( ) TRUE
( ) FALSE
( ) WTF?

Most of the statements were pretty depressing:

My friends and family would be better off without me.
I don't sleep at night and sleep all day.
All food tastes the same to me
I often lose my train of thought.
I am often forced to tell people what is wrong with them.
I often hear things that others can not.
My skin hurts me.
I often lose my train of thought.
I need to touch animals in a hurtful way.
It secretly pleases me when those who are out to get me are hurt.
People are plotting against me.
I often lose my train of thought.

Wow... I hope the person for which those statements are true has a good support system and a packet of Post-It's to keep track of the conversation.

(also... had a little issue at work unrelated to the blog, but I will refrain from referring to activities there for a while. I'm sure you'll be sad not to hear about that.... DULL.)

Oh... and talked to Rico about my apprehension about being THE entire music coordinator for the wedding and was a left a message today that said he and Cindy talked it over and they are confident I'll be great. Oh good, so I guess thats it then.

The BIG news

After a lifetime of struggling with my weight I'm about to take a dramatic step in a new direction. Since the beginning of the year I've been thinking about weight loss surgery. I've done months of research and checked out hospitals.

I've worked out the financing (yikes... NOT CHEAP - think of the cost of a mildly well equipped new VW Beetle Convertible) and found a hospital with a good program.

I'm still going through some pre-tests to determine if I'm a good candidate, but my primary doc gave me the thumbs up and so far all tests have been really good.

It's a big deal and doesn't come without risk, but my primary care doc thinks I'll do just fine.

My work insurance doesn't cover it, so I'm not sure I'm going to loop them in. I just may take some time off and screw them if they don't like it.

I meet with the psychiatrist Wednesday to make sure I don't have unrealistic expectations. I'm pretty sure she and I aren't going to be fast friends, our one phone call to schedule the "event" was more challenging than I would have expected. She is a serious serious person. I had been working on a joke about my expectations after the surgery, but I don't get that she would see it as a joke.

I don't think it's wholly unreasonable to expect that within a month or so I'll be a size 6, and that HRH the prince of wales, William will come knocking on my door to wisk me away to be the future Queen of England. Oh, and I'll win $300 million in the lottery and George Clooney will beg me to come live with him on Lake Como in Italy. It could TOTALLY happen.

In reality, it's gong to be a lot of hard work and will require permanent behavior changes. It is not a get-thin-quick scheme. I'm in the process of trying to relearn how to eat, and for the most part its going well. Social situations are going to be a challenge. (This holiday season for one will be really different.)

I've told the most of my people (sorry if you're hearing about this first right now) and my family is on board. Mom is ready to move in to help support me during recovery. I think two weeks will be my limit for "help." I'll be out of work for three weeks, but that last week I think I'll muster on my own.

The surgery date isn't scheduled yet, but I will let you know. I'll also post photo's of progress, but I promise not to turn this into a 100% weight-loss blog. I'm more than my weight and hope to always be a (forgive this pun, I can't stop myself) a well rounded person.

Well, that's the news. I gotta run and finish the laundry so I have something to wear this week.

oh how I love thee

blogging from the iPhone isn't quite as easy as a normal key board type interface, but it doesn't totally suck either. Flipping the phone onto its side gives me a larger keyboard.

so, I want to share that I'm not a huge fan of my new boss. He's a little slick for my taste. He's also really ballsy. He takes off early (10:00am) on Wednesdays and Thursdays to golf but still has the balls to complain about how everyone clears out by 4:30 on Fridays.

What ever dude! What's sad is that my peers who I really respect are thinking about jumping ship. That really blows.

So, not loving (or respecting) boss 4.0, and we're so convinced that he doesn't fit in that we've started a pool to see how long it takes for him to be given the opportunity to seek new options or spend more time with his kids. (that's "business" for FIRED.)

Its Friday, and I'm sure I'll be back to being a good little trooper come Monday.

Remember when we were in our 20's?

Remember those years when all we worried about was which bar to go to on Saturday and how to actually pay for the drinks? It is good being older, the stability is very nice and I love that my inner dialog is mature and I don’t often get caught up in the drama of stupid things, but there is a down side.

I am noticing a disturbing trend that I would like to put a halt to immediately! Health issues among friends, a dear friend is dealing with fibrous tumors in her girlie region, another sweet friend is having a “lump” removed and one of my grade school classmates just passed away!

None of this is ok people! Both ladies are going to be fine, but the health care roller coaster isn’t fun. Plus, they don’t give you a map or a plan so you can plot out your strategy, each stop along the way provides another clue to your next destination. I also think it’s AWESOME that lab results take anywhere from three days to three weeks, because it gives the patient something to DO. Don’t mind me, I’ll just sit here and imagine that I’m dying while you mail my tests to the outsourced lab in Peoria. Frankly, this waiting borders on cruelty.

As for the childhood chum, well here’s a case for some sort of national health care. Dave didn’t have insurance and let his dental work slip and ended up with a terrible infection. He ended up in the emergency room and (just my opinion folks) had he had insurance they would have admitted him, but instead sent him home with antibiotics, the next day… DEAD. This is a guy with a high school education, a job, and a family. He wasn’t a drugged out loser, or a drain on us tax payers… he was a tax payer. I have high hopes that we can figure out a way to get the basic needs of our fellow man met, because I’m not sleeping very well at night.

As for the rest of you who may be thinking about catching a little cancer or up and dying… DON’T YOU DARE! TPgal needs you! (because it’s all about me?)

Mrs. Rico V2.0

Rico is sad no more. He and the lovely newAli (who officially has her own name and identity) will be tying the knot on September 1st. Cindy is a really amazing and I like her - especially as a partner with Rico.

They have a good communication style and want the same things out of life. As couple they have expanded their world of friends and those friends are healthy sane people (unlike the toxic DeMonica and the do-one-thing-wrong-and-you're-dead-to-me B&K.)

So, with the oldest friends blessing, they are hoping for sunshine on the 1st as they will gather in a friends yard with 45 of their closest people and do the deed.

One minor oddity about the wedding (because you might think this was ghost written if I wasn't a little evil) I'm doing the music, including the bride processional, but haven't been invited to the rehearsal. I've been to enough weddings that I suppose I can wing the clicking on of the iPod without practice but I do think its an odd omission.

Got to run, busy day today. (leaving for work at 5:56, that's just WRONG)

Resolve

I'm back on a healthy eating plan. I've talked to a nutritionist and it's working. I've lost 19 pounds in the last month (go me!) and the rules are easy:

6 small meals a day
40-60 grams of protein a day
lean meats
fruits & veggies
whole grains
eat slow
don't drink with meals (no water or nothin')
avoid caffeine
no carbonated beverages
64 oz water a day

Frankly, with work and the water there's no time to eat crap. I still want to and passing on the donuts during our last marathon work meeting was a struggle. It kills me that all those skinny people can hork down 2+ donuts while I know I can't.

Anyway - I'm not here today to whine about what I can and can't eat. I'm ok with the new plan - plenty o' good food. I'm here to complain because the nutritionist wants (demands) that I document my food intake.

I was really good for a week, but then I went on vacation and stopped. I didn't ever start again.

She just sent me a letter telling me to mail in my food logs.

CRAP!!!!!

I've spent the morning going over my meals and was able to recreate the last 2 weeks but I don't think I'm going to be able to go all the way back to the 19th of July.

It's good that I've been (mostly) sticking to the rules - but I'd hate for her to boot me to the curb for not doing my homework.

Damn Nurse

I had my annual physical and had blood taken for cholesterol test... I'm not an easy person to draw blood from... but damn that hurt!

Fictionary Additions

Blurticide: the statement you can't hold back said to an executive that kills your career.

Fictionary entries

From MWR:

Fam-elope -- when you and your significant other go away for the weekend to "visit my parents" and come back married.

My friend just did this, telling no one of his friends in advance.

Soonics -- nickname for Oklahoma City's NBA franchise

Bye Bye Rove

One more crony down... two big ones left. Jan 20, 2009... tick tock

Yikes!

Wow, I think my neighbor really pissed someone off. His car is covered in what looks like baby powder and the passenger window in smashed in. The stereo, his sun glasses and his leather coat are still in the car, which leads me to believe it was a personal attack.

I'm glad I wasn't here to witness it, and I hope I'm not here when he finds it.

I think screaming and the "F" word are in someone's future.

Thirty-'effing-Nine!?

Whoa I'm cruising towards middle age... (ah, denial such a pretty place to visit) I wonder when I'm going to start feeling "mature"?

So, here's the funny thing. Usually I'm all up in arms about my birthday and it almost never meets my expectations. So, no matter how wonderful my people are I'm a whiny spoiled child who is pouty because my sense of self worth is out of whack. This year however, I wanted a low key kind of birthday. Not because it's the last year of my 30's or because it means that my chances of finding mister right and getting married are smaller than the likelihood that I'm the next big lotto winner, but because there's bigger more important stuff going on and it doesn't have to be about ME all the time.

Long story short - didn't mention the birthday to anyone at work and I'm the birthday faerrie at the office so I was set. However, Becky sends the prettiest flowers on Monday with a big "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" balloon.

Tuesday, Janie and I have a lunch date which I was super excited about. I get off the elevator totally anticipating her usual "embarrass tp gal" antics and what do I see? Not only is she smack dab in the middle of the main lobby with a giant balloon bouquet, but she's got both kids, her husband and our friend Robert who lives in Miami. They were holding signs and made a huge fuss. I was so excited to see everybody that I forgot to be embarrassed. I did the happy dance across the lobby to pass out hugs and kisses to everyone. We took the balloons up to my office and Janie insisted on taping the signs to the exterior of my "office." I'm a good sport and the signs will stay up until 4pm tomorrow just as she would want it.

Later that day, mom and dad's super pretty flowers arrived. People are so smart not to send them on the actual day (Thursday) but early in the week so I can enjoy them.

So, while I didn't want to be the center of the world at work, I certainly am. People I've never seen before are popping their heads in to wish me a happy birthday. I've given up explaining that it isn't until Thursday - but I still blush every single time. Those of you who know me know that blushing isn't in my normal routine.


Big huge gracious thank yous to Becky and Janice for going totally over the top and making my week a lovely one. I am sincerely touched and grateful for having you in my life.

That goes for the rest of you too. I am a very lucky gal! (Dang, who watched a hallmark channel marathon tonight?)

Reading Is Fun

So I'm accidentally reading three books right now. That doesn't happen to me very often, I like to start and finish one before I start another.

I'm reading Saving the World by Julia Alvarez - so far very interesting. Two women, one in modern day and the other ages and ages ago. This one is going back and forth to work every day and should be wrapped up soon.

Chesil Beach is a short little book by the author that brought us Atonement (wonderful). It's in the dining room and gets a few pages a day.

Emma was pulled from the bookshelf during my write up of the movie Becoming Jane and I started to read it and now it's on the night stand.

I don't know what I'm going to do when the book club book arrives this week along with the three other books I happened to throw in for good measure.

Someday I hope all the time I've spend in these novels will come to some good. Maybe it's only to steer you away from books that I've read that you shouldn't. Beware of paperback books covered in praise for an authors previous book. That is never a good sign. The rule does not hold true for hardbacks - it's a crap shoot at that point. I'm hesitant to publicly slam the latest "worst book I've ever read" winner as my attempts at fiction are juvenile at best. Let me just say this... the Lovely Bones was wonderful and I highly recommend it. That would be my comment on the back of any new title by the author that I may have read.

Bourne Ultimatum

What can I say that hasn't been said. It F*cking ROCKED!

Three minor complaints - the first is about minors. Children under the age of 10 should not be at a rated R movie unless they are likely to sleep through the dang thing. There were multiple small (4&5 year olds) at this movie and frankly it really pisses me off.

GET A BABYSITTER! Your kids don't need to see someone killed up close in hand to hand combat.

Second item - and it's not really a complaint but an error. In the movie we see a document about Jason Bourne and it provides personal data like date of birth and the like (blood type) and later we see his dog tags (no spoiler there) and they have his blood type printed on them... different blood type.

I don't care how powerful your super secret wing of the government is, you aren't changing a dude's blood type.

Final item, the camera work made me dizzy. There were a couple places where I had to avert my eyes because I was starting to feel woozy.

Don't let these issues distract from the over all message. This movie was one of the best part III movies I've ever seen. It was exciting from the beginning to the end and I left wanting a fourth movie. Not because it's not wrapped up, but because I can't get enough of Bourne's quick super powers. He's a killing machine but he's got a soul and that makes him fun to watch.

Bottom Line: Get a baby sitter, take some Dramamine and see this movie!

I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry

Can a movie about two straight guys who pretend to be gay to solve an insurance problem be at all funny? Wouldn't you expect it to be insulting and rude? The answer to both questions is yes.

The convenient movie time drove the selection of this particular flick. It's hard to find a movie that starts at 8. You either have to rush through dinner to get to a 7pm show or wait around for the 9pm showings.

Anywho... Chuck & Larry (Kevin James & Adam Sandler) is ultimately about changing preconceived notions about people, and friendship and love (blah blah blah.)

They aren't able to shy away from the juvenile "f*g" jokes, but they do attribute those jokes to moronic assholes. It's a cheap way to be able to make the soap on a rope joke and still be about acceptance. That ploy was very transparent.

There were some very funny bits and while my companions were surprised I wasn't ha-ha-ing in the obvious spots there were a couple times where the humor was brilliant and truly made me laugh.

I'm pretty sure the gay and lesbian community won't be running out to hold this movie up as the cultural equivalent of the womens suffrage movement. However at the end of the day, as Adam Sandler movies go... this was pretty harmless.

Kudos to Rob Cordry for a very nice send up of the asshole "man of God" who goes to funerals of gays with the "f*gs will burn in hell" signs.

Bottom Line: matinée or HBO

Becoming Jane

In the world of chick flicks seldom is a story where passion goes unindulged. Generally, those films follow the satisfying path and eventually the Miss Bennetts of the world get their Mr. Darcy. See When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle, Almost Heaven, Sweet Home Alabama, Two Weeks Notice, Hope Floats as a few examples.

Often when love goes unfulfilled a greater lesson is at hand, and we are better for it. I am often frustrated with authors who feel the need to wrap a little bow at the end of their stories (one notable example recently is the author who gave his characters the long lost love, freedom from tyranny AND a big bag of money. It was a beautiful book and I am recommending it amongst friends so I will not out the author here.) At the movies and especially in the romance genre I do not heap this criticism, and am often irritated when a fluffy film tries to teach me something.

Becoming Jane does not follow the expected route of a "Jane Austin" movie and is quite satisfying. For fans of Austin's written work (or the movie adaptions) the producers of this film have dropped in enough likenesses of characters we love and love to loathe to make it a tasty treat. Also, rather than hit us over the head with these cameos they are subtle and not at all distracting.

Anne Hathaway (of Princess Diary, The Devil Wears Prada fame - and stellar work in Brokeback Mountain) does a bang up job of playing an Englishwoman. Her accent is less forced than other American actresses who try to pull it off - Jenna Malone in the terrible big screen edition of Pride & Prejudice. Kiera Knightly is very pretty but she is NOT Elizabeth Bennett.

James McAvoy is a lovely actor who is the star of "The Last King of Scotland" and is graceful in this period film. I would run away with him in a heartbeat - bad teeth and all. He's not your typical tall, strong, manly movie hero, but he's very appealing. Ooh, tpgal has a crush!

So, bottom line, this would be a good matinée movie date, or a rainy night snuggle on the couch together kind of film. If you pay full price like I did you won't be disappointed, but it's not one you HAVE to see in the big screen.

Why is that news?

Thanks CNN for this headline:

Pistons coach '20 yards' from bridge tragedy

Why not post a scatter chart of all the NBA coaches and their distance from the bridge collapse? God knows what we would have done if someone important like Paris Hilton had been within driving distance of the bridge. Thank heavens they are safe.

A shout out to the great beyond

Happy Birthday to my Grampas! Miss you both (and hope you have Internet access.)

Understanding Right from Wrong, a new pamphlet for the Taliban

Kidnapping South Korean aid workers who are in country to provide medical care to the poor - wrong.

Killing their leader -wrong

Shooting another captive and leaving him by the side of the road - um wrong

Failure to value the lives of others - wrong

The world thinks you're ass-holes.

Back At It

It's noon, day one back from vacation. The work world has continued to churn and so I'm 7 days behind everyone else - oh well.

There's not much to do:

250 e-mails (respond or delete)
Financial planning for 2008 (Due Thursday)
Prepare for not one but THREE new minions
Catch up so I can help my team while broom hilda is on vacation
Resume the fully enforced eatting plan (decaf non-fat latte in hand!)
Catch you up on the eatting plan - the why's and such
65th birthday gift for Glenda the Good Aunt of the East
Wedding present for Rico and the next Mrs. Rico (9/1 he goes off the market ladies... better hurry if you want a shot at him.)
Get my keys back from the cat-sitter (why she took my mail key I'll never know)

That's it for now... gotta run... e-mail is calling.

Vacation PIX

Racoons in the tree behind the cabin! Collin named the mommy raccoon "Lisa". I'm not sure where he get's it.

This is the lighthouse at Port Warden.

A seal sunned itself on the swimming dock all day Thursday.

An "arty" shot at Pt. Warden

delayed post

I finished Harry Potter last night at midnight. Its been a while since a book made me cry. No spoilers, but it was good!

Today we drove up to Port Townsend today. What a cute place, I found a fun tablecloth in a store designed to take all my free money.

Cols, who is now 4 1/2, had a major melt down at the beach which resulted in not one but two attitude readjustment sessions. The second was a full-on pull the car off the road and exit the vehicle type event. Becky was amazingly cool in spite of a screaming grunting fit being thrown her way. The sad thing was that the fit resulted in the revocation in our planned movie night. Damned four year old ruined it for me.

There's terrible cell reception here so who knows when this will post.

Camping

the local
lay out the tent
poof it's up!

Ok, I admit these are pictures from last year. (Notice the sunshine as a clue.) If I don't think the rain will ruin my camera I may opt for some "rain" shots for this year.

It's supposed to clear up Monday, so I'm going with the rising rivers on this one. The only real bummer is that instead of packing lightly, I've had to bring everything in the world I own. Sun clothes and rain clothes, ok, well not everything, I am leaving the snow gear at home... I hope I don't regret it!

I may e-post a little but if I do please ignore the typo's. My iPhone is awesome, but not really intended for word processing.

Have a great week.

He's Here!

whining

Doing the right thing isn’t always easy.  I’ve started a revised food plan (under doctor’s supervision) that isn’t a “diet” or any sort of named eating regimen, heck, I’m not counting calories.  This is six small meals per day, 60-90 grams of protein (which is A LOT), no processed sugar, good carbs (whole grain), fruits, veggies and cheese, but:

NO CAFFIENE

I had already eliminated the carbonated soda – I will miss mineral water but not as much as the damned caffeine.  I didn’t think I was drinking that much – a coffee in the morning, and then a few cups of hot tea throughout the day. Apparently I was wrong, my head hurts like I slept under the wheels of a bus last night.  Sadly, I’m going to have to pick up a different habit like Cocaine or Meth to get me through.

Using meth could be a bonus – I’ll save a ton of money on dental work once my teeth fall out.  There’s no down side!

I’m going camping next week so only the wild animals will have to hear the gnashing of my teeth, by the time I return to civilization I should be fully detoxed.

First the non-diet and the next thing you’ll know I’ll be working out.  Bwahahahahaah

Speed Reader

Golly... we had our July book group meeting Tuesday and needed to change the date of our August meeting. The only day we could agree on was July 31st!

It wouldn't be so terrible to read a book in two weeks (especially since I'm going "camping") but Harry Potter arrives on my doorstep Saturday and I want to start reading it right away.

Ahhh the pressure!

(Clearly, I'm not quite as deep as your average Doctor, Human Rights Advocate or even high schooler.)

Starbuck Oracle

What does your drink say about you?

My Grande non-fat no-water chai apparently tells the world that I am:

Personality type: Pseudo-intellectual

You're liberal and consider yourself to be laid back and open minded. Everyone else just thinks you're clueless. Your friends hate you because you always email them virus warnings and chain letters "just in case it's true." All people who drink Grande Non fat no water Chai are potheads.

Also drinks: Sparkling water
Can also be found at: Designer grocery stores

My iPhone's world tour

I still haven't received my iPhone yet, but it's on it's way. I'm happily tracking it on the FexEx Track site.

It shipped from Shenzhen CN on Wednesday and arrived in Anchorage on Friday. I didn't know that Apple had manufacturing plants in Northern Canada, but maybe the NAFTA thing made it really economical. A quick search on Google Maps improved my knowledge of geography just a little. Shenzhen is in Eastern China. (The CN should have been a clue, but to be honest I haven't sent much mail to China.) Shenzhen is currently home to the worlds 8th tallest building. (Cool!)

I was thinking from Anchorage it would be a quick hop down into Seattle and I would have my phone by Monday. FedEx has a different plan.

My phone flew east from Alaska to Indianapolis where it spent ten hours where I'm sure it stopped at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Hall of Fame Museum.

At 11am this morning, it hopped a flight to Memphis to take a whirlwind tour of Graceland before catching the next flight at 3:10. I'm hopeful that Tom Hanks isn't on the same plane. He seems to be bad luck.

The next stop on this journey is unknown. I'm thinking Cancun or maybe Havana.

I was at the mall today and was briefly tempted to buy a phone and simply reject the one in transit, but decided to wait. My need for instant gratification must be ignored.

tp gal crushed by a ton of bricks

I thought for sure I had the worst cold. I've had a sore throat and an cough for a few weeks. I've been medicating with some Day-Qyl in an attempt to make it through the days.

During my fence building adventure in Eastern Washington the symptoms started to go away and I was feeling better. I'm sure it wasn't the restful sleep.

I thought I was over it but the morning after I arrived back in the city my symptoms were back and then it hit me - Allergies! Duh!

Since then I've been taking Benadryl and feeling fine.

Do allergies get worse as you get ... dare I say "older"? I don't recall having allergies as a kid.

My sweet brother has them: dust, grass, and pollen. He spent a blissful summer in a freakishly clean house and got to avoid yard work. My parents caught him outside in the yard smoking the house went back to its normal state of 'clean' and he was told if he could tolerate smoking he could tolerate mowing the lawn.

Oh well, now that I've got the symptoms beat I'm a happy gal. Benadryl puts some folks to sleep but I can function pretty well on it - although I have been falling asleep on the bus on the way home from work. It could be the warm weather, but I caught myself snoring today. HORRORS... the public open mouthed nap. It's not a pretty sight I'm sure.

Movie Review: Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix

Was it worth standing in line with teenagers dressed like Harry Potter?
Was it worth being laughed at for seeing the midnight showing?
Was it worth $10.25?

ABSOLUTELY!

For fans of the movie series this stacks up to the rest its not too long and has tons of good things to see.

For those of us who love the books this is a fair representation of JKR's longest book. The screenwriter gets kudos in my book for cramming a lot of information in and still making it a fun show.

They took a couple liberties with the story line but I'm ok with it. I've been worried because Percy Weasly has an important role in the book and thus far in the films it's like he doesn't exist. He finally got screen time and for those of us who know who he is it was nice to see him.

I really enjoyed the film and won't be surprised if I watch it again.

HOwever... it's rated PG13 and I think it was quite scary so watch the little ones!

WHY!???

Why is it that when I’m super busy at work all I can do is think of all the things I’m not getting done and wish for free time, and then when I have a day were I’m not running from place to place I don’t want to focus on work?

Harry Potter: a quick history

To: MWR
From: tp gal
RE: Harry Potter Movies

There have been four movies so far:

1: HP: The Sorcerers Stone "Yer a wizard "arry!" Harry goes to Hogwarts for the first time and learns he's the Wiz. He over hears someone talking about a "thing" and uses all his spare time to find it thus giving Voldemort a second shot at life. Ooops.

2: HP: The Chamber of Secrets: Second year at school. Turns out HP can speak "snake", kids are being petrified, he finds a diary and ends up under the toilet battling a huge snake, saving little Ginnie, and killing the boy who came out of the diary (a young image ne memory of Voldemort.

3: HP: Escape from Ass-Kaban The annoying house elf is in this movie, the time changing thing, werewolves and dogs oh my. Harry gets an uncle -- Gary Oldman... COOL! (In spite of being told to leave it alone, he solves the "mystery" that everyone knows about and gets his favorite teacher fired. NICE) He's a bright kid, but doesn't seem to notice that Professor Dumbledore has been replaced by a less Wizardly man.

4: HP: Goblet of Fire. Year four - a 20 year old HP comes back to school only to learn there is no school. There's the TRI-WIZARD TOURNAMENT - so HP is the fourth competitor, someone locks the new creepy teacher in a box and Harry snoops around P. Diddy's (dumbledore) office and goes for a swim in the least disturbing memory ever. We're told that the Ministry of Magic thinks Prof. Snape is a bad wizard and memory dumbledore defends him. Harry uses his super dooper powers of sweeping to beat a dragon, gets naked with a Ghost, goes for a swim with some big mouthed fish. He's always a hero and in "sharing" victory gets the only HOT British guy at Hogwarts killed. He does the wand tango with the newly embodied Voldemort and brings the dead body of the HOT kid back to torture his father.

This movie is #5: The Order of the Phoenix - where HP's uncle comes back for actual screen time, Harry and the gang leave school for a field trip to the worst possible place ever and he gets a little action with the dead kids gal. Oh... and there's a new BI-ATCH in town. The new teacher is a tad opinionated in the "Russian Revisionist History" kind of way. "Vat are you talkin' about? Ve von the var, and if you claim you are hungry again ve vill shoot you!" The Weasly twins should get some good screen time too...

Potter Frenzy

Ooh, what an exciting week we're about to have. The Order of the Phoenix (TOOTP) opens Tuesday at 11:58 pm and the last book The Deathly Hallows (TDH) arrives on the 17th.

I actually have tickets for TOOTP and will be at the show with Becky, Durf & Craig - we're nutty. This was my favorite book, I liked that he started to teach others, he got a little action, the twins were a total hoot, and the Ron/Hermie thing is starting to take wings.

I am a tad tired of the whole "Harry doesn't know the whole story and gets into hot water because he's making assumptions" thing. Its a little too "Days of Our Lives" for my taste - but I'm hooked so what am I going to do about it?

This really should be the best movie yet. I'm thankful that the same actors are coming back to finish the series. Yes, they may not be even close to the age of the book Harry/Ron/Herm I am willing to accept it, more so than I would a new "Harry."

Then... as soon as I'm rested TDH will arrive on my door. I will refrain from calling in sick to finish it but will need to steer clear of others until I'm done.

Here are my pre-read predictions (stop reading here if you haven't finished the last book):


I believe that by the end of the book that Snape will prove himself to be the trusted soul that the dear departed Dumbledore believed him to be. In the end he will give his life to save Harry.

Harry will join (or at least be offered a position) with the Auruors regardless of finishing his final year at Hogwarts or not.

Don't Fence Me In

I arrived at Casa Momma Pappa's pretty early yesterday. The drive over was great, not too much traffic, and it didn't get HOT until I hit Ellensburg. I snapped on the A/C after desending into the Yakima Valley and enjoyed the remainder of the drive in my favorite way, windows down and the A/C on.

Don't send me hate mail about the waistfulness of a/c with the windows down because I only use my a/c on 90 degree or hotter days which means almost never. Some of you... and you know who I'm talking about Janie... are a/c on any day over 68.

Still plagued with a cold that has moved into my chest I was hoping the uber hot weather would help clear it up and it has somewhat. Mom informed me that Aunt Sandy & Uncle Ed would be here at 7:00am to start the re-building of the fence between the house and the pasture.

7:00 AM!!! For pete sake I came over here to relax. Oh well, there was no way that I could have slept until 7 anyway... mom has chickens and a rooster. Joy oh Joy. It's hot over here and her house a/c doesn't run all night so the windows are open. At 4:30 am the (&%*%#)ing Rooster started crowing. I managed to fade in and out of sleep until 6 and then I was up.

We worked until 1, ate lunch under the big Walnut tree and decided to start again in the morning. Thankfully Ed has a nice backhoe and we weren't digging any of the post holes by hand.

I love that my family pitches in to do hard labor at each others homes. It's fun and everybody feels a sense of accomplishment. Together we've installed a new floor into the barn, put a huge deck around Sandy & Ed's house, the fence, and lots of other smaller projects. Growing up mom would get bored and she'd make us move the wood pile around the yard. What fun these rural Washintonians have.

Mom has been telling me that "Gang Bangers" have moved in up the road. I interpreted this to mean that people under the age of 50 have moved in up the road. But, now that I'm here, I'm pretty sure it's not your average household. All day long cars filled with Kevin Federline looking dudes in tanktops drive up the lane, stay for 10-15 minutes and then leave.

Tonight they are having a party and there must have been 30 cars, trucks and a couple campers filled with people going by. The Dodd's (the old OLD folks up the lane) must be thrilled. I'm sure the police will be by soon as it's getting close to midnight...

WAIT... Rooster.... gotta go must get a few hours in before that damned bird wakes up. (Maybe we're having chicken for dinner tomorrow so I can sleep in Monday.)

You gotta love technology

Nope, you won't get any scathing comments from tpGal about the Scooter Libby thing... do I think Bush is unhinged and wholly without a thought in his head other than what's good for him and his friends? YES. Will you hear me complain about it? NO! (what!?)

Rather than go into a tirade about Bush and his circle of friends I wanted to say how great things like Instant Messenger are. My dearest brother is doing time in Texas before he spends a year in Iraq (wow, sounds like prison) and he's able to have IM and Video Chats with his wife. That will help ease the time away.

When he was there the first time - you know in 1991 (grrrrr) all we had was letters... like snail mail. I'll send those too because frankly I'm a fun person to get mail from, but the IM situation is awesome! Thanks Mr. Gore for the Internet!

woohoo!

My new iPhone is on the way! It's not the instant gratification that I would have got had I stood in line for days on end, but I'm still pretty excited!

They sent an e-mail telling me how to prep my address book and stuff to be ready to sync, so I'm gettin' ready! It's prompted me to update the online address book and calendar. I've been operating via a paper calendar and the numbers in my phone.

iWantit

The BIG idea

I've been struggling with something huge in my life and now that I've finally made a decision and am starting to execute the pressure is off and I find myself in a happier place.

I'm sure fear, uncertainty and doubt will creep in from time to time, but I know me, I am generally happier when taking action. When the time is right, I'll loop you in.

I'm not coming out of the closet or quitting my job or anything so keep your shorts on.

Macy's New Customer Service Promise:

Macy's: We Excel at Fixing Our Mistakes!

I'll give Macy's one thing, they sure know how to make up for their customer service errors. I bought some shoes before vacation and the very nice sales person forgot to give me the discount for using the blasted Macy's card. I left a message on the Macy's store web-site and the store manager e-mailed me and fixed the issue without my having to make an extra trip to the store. (Nice!)

When I purchased the new couch and loveseat I wanted to buy some extra fabric to cover the cat scratch zones they sent the wrong stuff. I took it back to the store and re-ordered it... weeks later the wrong fabric arrived again. Grr... I've been moving it around my house trying to work up the desire to go back and deal with it. Lo and behold, they sent a customer satisfaction survey so I mentioned it.

I promise that I didn't flame the salesperson, but just noted my frustration. Tonight, there's an e-mail from the store manager who has credited my account for the cost of the fabric AND sent me a $100 gift certificate for my troubles. I never would have asked for that but won't turn it down - Macy's does good Christmas gifts.

Thanks Macy's for exceeding my poor service resolution expectations!

Maybe they make their money by fixing more complaints faster than the other guys?

TP gal aka "The Slugger"

I'm on the church co-ed softball team again this year. You may recall that two years ago we took the championship for the Renton Inner City Lower Recreational League (Lower Rec indicates we are the least professional of all non-professional teams.)

Last year we had a great record but on play off day we lost our first game and were eliminated. It was hotter than a vat of oil (what!?) that day and our "ringers" were out but they did beat us fair and square.

So far our record is 3 and 1. I was hoping for a rain out today, but as the hour of the same approached I changed my clothes and headed to the park. The team cheered when I arrived as I rounded out the minimum number of people to play and we wouldn't be charged with a forfeit if the game was called. The other team was scrambling for people and in the end we allowed them to borrow one of our guys as a catcher until their team members could get there.

It was a sad sad sight... the field was a muddy mess and they immediately got four runs. We were able to get the next three players out one - two - three.

Our first up to bat was actually pretty horrifying. We scored 10 runs and was half way through the rotation a second time before they finally ended the inning.

I made it to base on a walk and the next batter moved me to third with an unfortunate bobble at the short stop. My first scoring run was the next hit. (cheers for tpgal!)

The pitcher got me out my next at bat and then in the 5th I was up and hit a grounder (with umph I might add) straight at the pitcher. I thought I was out for sure, but I felt I had done my job by advancing the runner. Her throw to first was a lob that my dead grammy could have caught - but it overshot the first baseman and I got to take second. The next batter made it to first but in the confusion as to where to throw the ball the damned third base coach waved me in.

People... TPgal DOES NOT RUN. It is not a pretty sight - but somehow I beat the throw to home to score my second run (ever!)

The other folks played well too (this is MY blog... if they want glory they should write their own) and the ump called the game at 24-4.

As soon as we stepped off the field and opened a beer (we're church people... we aren't judgey up-tight people) the sky dumped on us like crazy. So, while I prayed for rain (and got rain) in the end it was a fun day.

Smart Source It

There was an article in the Sunday paper today about how the education curriculum is becoming so standardized that teachers don't have the latitude to deviate or take classroom discussions into needed areas.

Proponents say that having all students get the same education regardless of which physical school they attend is a good thing. In theory that makes a lot of sense to me, all students with a high school education should have had equal education in the basics.

Where they lose me in the argument is that some classes can go far beyond the basics, and some classes may need to spend more time in the basics this scripted teaching doesn't seem to allow for that.

It also occurs to me that if the entire curriculum is scripted, why do we need to pay professionals to teach? Couldn't we hire some off duty police officers to keep order and an actor to teach the lesson? Better yet - do away with brick and morter schools altogether and have each of the lessons online and kids can learn from home on their pc's.

They can call a 1-800 number for any questions. THe state would save a lot of money and while you might have accredited teachers on the help line at first, as soon as you figured out the top 100 questions you could script the answers and outsource (oops smart source) the call center. If a student made it through the IVR and the "teacher" couldn't answer the question they could escallate the call to tier two support. For a fee you could have access to tier two support without having to talk to a teacher first.

"Thank you for calling Roosevelt High School, please enter your student Id."

(beep, boop, beep beep, boop)

Hello, TP Gal, please enter your class number, for Language Arts, press one.... for assistance in espanole, marque ocho.

"beep"

"Thank you, you have selected Language Arts. Please state the keyword of your question."

"Shakespeare"

"I heard you say shape sphere if that is correct press one"

Oh my, it could go on and on and on. It would be great!

Vatican Issues Ten Commandments for drivers and here are mine:

The "Drivers' Ten Commandments," as listed by the Vatican, are:

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

TPgal’s Version

I. When merging the rule is ye go, thy go, ye go, thy go…. Take ye turn or ye shall burn in hell

II.  When ye see that thy lane is ending, merge at the next possible safe moment, don’t zoom up to the front to by-pass all the safe drivers

III.    HANG UP THE PHONE

IV.     Pretend not to notice the people who art singing in thine cars.

V.      If ye must pass gas, lower the window.

VI.     Ye may sing along to songs with someone else in the car but ye may only sing the words to the song as you know them, and ye shall not make up melodies or harmonies.

VII.    If ye has had too many cocktails or a nip at the briarweed – ye shall not drive.

VIII.   Thine car shall not be a trash bin.  (Toss Thy Shite!)

IX.     Thine nose shall not be picked while in thee car

X.      Speed if ye must, but stay a safe distance back or face the wrath of tpGal.

What a week

I don't want to whine about work, but FRACK I am busy! The new boss has kicked off a huge thing (can't really go into it and honestly it isn't all that interesting) and has doled out assignments to the management team.

Normally, I would just pass these off to the minions and take credit, but since we're down two already I have to buck up and contribute. (What a hassle.) Today was a big due date for some pre-milestones. The PM who is overseeing the work we're doing is REALLY EFFICIENT and while I want to pop him one in the kisser every time he checks in on me I'm going to have my crap done because of his diligence. So, I have to admit that he's extremely effective. You can't fault a dude for being good. I still spit in his coffee every chance I get - a gal can only be so mature.

So, (isn't the work stuff so exciting?) today I ran the first of three huge things (two huge, one not so huge) by the under-boss and the first words out of her mouth was "why are you working on that?" I shat myself a little and clarified (that's business for: screamed in her face) that it was a direct result of her comment that we needed an X strategy. I also mentioned it's been on the status report that PM has been producing to HER weekly. Step up and read the shit you ask for!!!

We finally got on the same page (business for: one of us caved) and I went back to my desk where I got a call from the "other company" that I interviewed with like three months ago. Surprise surprise, they hired someone else. I was completely shocked. I mean come on, we talked once in March and never again... how could they NOT have chosen me? (They'll be sorry and when this dude quits or they have to fire him. They'll really pay to bring me on board - especially now that I have experience writing strategies for things no one wants. That is a skill people pay for!)

I had my review, apparently, I'm a star! Of course, the mid-year rating doesn't mean much but what a great way to keep me working like a dog in the promise of financial compensation at year end! I love it.

Then... (it was a busy day and truth be told this timeline has been adjusted to play in the time allowed) I had a "hand off" meeting with one of my now former co-workers. Hand-off should imply that outgoing person hands a packet of stuff to someone else, not so in this case. About 2 minutes in to the discussion my head popped off my body rose up about 3 feet above the table and exploded like the Death Star. I scooped up the pieces and decided that with an hour left in his last day that no amount of bitchiness on my part would change anything other than a chance to have a cordial relationship with someone who is fun which I guess makes up for the lack of delivery.

Note to all you future consultants... don't offer your 'discounted' service rate to your former employer to finish up the shit you had YEARS to do. You already got paid to do that work...

Breathe deep.

Then, I went back to my desk and answered an email from a friend. She's in public relations and will sometimes ask me to comment on a product or products. It's pretty harmless and who doesn't like to tell others what they think. However, I did reply back with a question.. am I the ONLY person in your focal group? She responded with *giggle* . So I'm guessing yes.

After work, I popped up to the chic bar and had cocktails with the departing dude. I held my tongue because I'm a good person. (Well, I held my tongue until 9:45 tonight when I let the angry raging bitch loose.)

Anyway - I'm glad this week is over. I intend to sleep in tomorrow, catch up on laundry, update the book group blog and figure out the plan for the evening tomorrow. (Got me some ballet tickets and we're supposed to have dinner but the e-mail planning didn't really pan out.)

That's not a double entendre.... there's no other way to take it

A new co-hort at MegaBank said that during one of his interviews with a senior manager she was asking a thousand questions on one topic. (She wanted to hire someone that "could go ten questions deep" into the security domain.) While she was asking the next layer question he said he caught onto her game and said to himself... Strap it on!!! Uh, I can't be too sure, but I think the phrase is "bring it on."

He tried to cover with "Oh I meant, you know, strap it on like a backpack."

Yeah... and when I tell you to "kiss off" I'm nicely saying goodbye.

Testing Photos Via Email

Guess not…  unless the photo is a blank box with an error symbol.  You never know you may someday need to post one of those and blogspot will come to the rescue.

Testing Photos Via Email

Blogspot lets you post remotely by sending e-mail to a special address.  It’s pretty great and it will retain the formatting if you send in HTML (my mom read that and thought to herself, “hitmal?”)  I’m wondering if it will post pictures that are sent via e-mail as well….

Let’s try it shall we?  Below this sentence (in my e-mail) is a picture of an unlit light-bulb.  Can you see it?

 

Fictionary

Clobberation: (noun) Working “together”. The act of working together with one or more people to achieve something However, one or more people have strong and unmovable opinions about the outcome and will take all measures to get their own way.

In a sentence:

“Mary invited me to a clobberation session where she had all the answers pre-defined before I walked in the room. Any attempt on my part to propose an alternate suggestion was met with complete resistance. Later, when I disagreed with her in a meeting with my boss she screamed at me “But we agreed in our working session!”

Ramblings

I'm sad to see the picture of Duran Duran move to a lower profile in the blog. That photo represents a me that pops up every now and then. She's perky and silly.

The today TPgal is a little more responsible than TPgal circa 1984, but 1984 girl is still inside.

One little work story (maybe two) it has been established that the work e-mail system is on the fritz and personal e-mails have been lost. A quick chat with the offended friend today eliminated the need for paranoia. Whew! We won't be playing cards anytime soon, but at least we'll be hanging out!

Second story - one of my favorite co-workers is leaving for a new job. SportBoy is headed off to greener pastures and I wish him luck. The crazy thing is that the new BIG BOSS has decided that I'm the new "Marketing and PR" guru and the replacement SportBoy person will report to me. My minionhood grows and grows. However, as the smartest person on the team pointed out today my team just grew by negative 1. (The responsibility but no body.)

So in a year I went from one person to rule over to eight... dang I am management. I guess my next task is to figure out how to make their lives miserable so I can feel important.

In real life, I got a call from Elizabeth at Empire Windows about the entry I made into a drawing for all new windows in my house. "Sorry Elizabeth, it's a condo, I didn't enter a drawing. Don't call again." Click. Crazy telemarketers.

Talked to the parents, who are back from their whirlwind trip to Salt Lake City for a visit with my older Bother (that's how dad refers to him for me.) The visit was SHORT. Kev-o's wife and my parents don't mix well. Kev & M&D were chatting in the living room and Dee was in the kitchen and wigged out because she "KNEW" they were talking about her, so she stormed out. So, then... they talked about her. DUH.

It's easy for me to sit back and wonder at how she can be a b-atch sometimes and why does he stay? But what do I know... single gal, no mans, maybe you deal with your partner being a complete wacko sometimes because you love them? I don't think that's entirely true to the same level of slamming doors and storming out (that's a tad bit immature) but everyone has their nutz-o moments right? Even those of you with 2.3 kids and the little house in whitey-McWhite neighborhoods have your moments... right?

Seven and the Ragged Tiger

As a kid I laughed at the older generation for spending big dollars to see aged bands from their childhoods. What was the attraction? I wanted them to say good-bye to the seventies and embrace all that was right with the cool and totally awesome 80's.

Now that I'm *choke* almost 39 I see the attraction. A few years ago Duran Duran came on a tour and not only did I pay big bucks to go, but I almost cried when the music filled the arena. At one point I had to take a breath and soak in that I actually was there. No, Duran Duran is not at the same level as say the Beatles or for you youngsters the Nirvana reunion tour, but for a gal who had Simon LeBon posters plastered all over her room it was pretty great.

I did manage to skip the Air Supply Native American Casino Tour and the Rick Springfield, Rockin' the County Fair Tour. But the Hall and Oats concert at the pier made the list.

Next up, The Police! My seats suck, but I'm actually in the arena so I'm happy. I'm looking forward to it, but I wish I had old concert T-shirts to wear so I could be really cool.

Thankfully I can't put my finger on who I'm holding out to see next. Michael Jackson had a pretty big hold over me as a teenager, but now it's just sad, creepy and morally repugnant. I enjoyed the likes of Wham!, but am pretty sure that world touring might be a parole violation.

Ooh, actually I would go see Tears For Fears, but that's because I really loved their last album and because I need to Shout! Shout! Let it all out. (Get THAT out of your head!)

Paranoia

Memorial Day Weekend with friends was great but it kind of ended on an odd note. I resorted to name calling during a card game (and it was totally not done in anger, hate, or frustration) and I went too far. The name calling 'thing' is a terrible habit that I picked up from the family.

It isn't intended to be anything but funny. Clearly, I need to tone it down as I offended my friend Patti. She made it clear that she didn't appreciate it but finished the game where (thankfully I lost) but was quiet the rest of the evening.

She and J. left at 6am the next day so we didn't really get a chance to make amends. She did however leave their dog bowls behind. Rather than having S&K mail the dishes back I took them and dropped them at her house on my way home.

I haven't heard from either Patti or J. since the weekend and I thought for sure I at least would have received a small 'thanks' message as their house is about an hour out of my way. But there's been no communication.

I did fire off an e-mail mid-week regarding a dispute we had over the weekend as to the age of Lindsay Lohan and whether or not it was creepy that the guys think she's hot. She's 20, but it's still creepy. Poor poor rich girl.

So, I'm giving her some space, but I will not allow this friendship to just poof away over something stupid like bad sportsmanship on my part. The other thing to note is that she's out of town on business and probably hasn't given it a second thought. Once the negative thoughts stop swirling in my head I'll approach her as is nothing happened (for the record I apologized the moment the unfortunate word popped out of my mouth. In fact I think the sound of my apology overlapped the sound of the word. It was instant awareness.)

You all know that the last thing I need is to be dropped by another friend.

Push It

This Comcast commercial cracks me up.