You would not believe how busy I've been this week. I don't even believe it. Honestly- if this is how all of my weeks in Chattanooga had gone, I'd be in absolute tears to leave this place!
I don't even know what the last thing I told you was. I do know, that after I did blog last, I was conscious of my need to blog again. I make a willful effort to remember funny/annoying things that mean something or don't mean something and then I think of a great way to tell them back to you so you totally get it. And, I've been doing that all week. The thing is... it's been all week. I have no idea where I started or what was funny to me when. Oh, and there is this glass of wine in my hand that just makes it easy for me to not care if you are even following what I'm saying. But, I guess I'll do my best... if you even care to continue.
So, by now you all know how much I love Chattanooga and you all know how highly I speak of Chattanooga and pretty much you're saving all your money to move here - right? Exactly. So on Sunday me and a fellow coworker set out to show Chattanooga in all its glory to a few Yankees we work with. We pulled out all the stops. A road tour downtown to see the 5 bars and the Krystal building, a drive by a famous restaurant with too long of a line out the door filled with Southern Baptists, awesome barbecue that when you are finished you feed your leftovers to the goats, a stroll through an antique mall full of locals including witnessing a domestic dispute outside the Cracker Barrel, and then, of course, a good ole round (game?) of bowling. Miraculous. This was all capped off with a fabulous dinner at a Thai restaurant in a strip mall. I don't think you need any more details to know that it was fabulous... oh, except that my bowling name was "Cinderella" and I got my best score ever coming in at a fabulous 92.
Monday was work. Regular.
Tuesday was my dinner party. You know - I'm just so domestic and fabulous sometimes I can't even stand it. Since I'm leaving I made a dinner for my friends here in Chattanooga (yes, they are real!). I made a homemade alfredo sauce and a homemade vodka sauce. And, if I'm being totally honest, for winging my vodka sauce - I did a pretty great job. The special ingredient is hot sauce if you're wondering and gives it a great kick. Anyway, I had some bottles of wine and everyone was enjoying a beverage or two (and I might have enjoyed three...) and it was just a great night. My friend J who just got out of the Airforce was supposed to come but apparently there was some type of GPS issue that gave him an ETA of 2AM. I texted that the door would be open and that I was going to close my eyes. Well, you're probably thinking - that is not very safe. But you forget, it's Chattanooga and it is perfectly safe! (And, I won't ever do it again. Sorry, Ok?) Anyway - at 2AM I wake up out of my element and hearing people in my apartment and for a second I think "Goddamnit - I should have bought a gun" and then I remembered it was just my friend. So I talked for a few minutes and then went back to bed. The next morning I was again so domestic and fabulous and managed to serve cereal and eggs for breakfast and burn their bagels (not once, but twice).
Wednesday was traveling to Minnesota for interviewing on Thursday. Remember when I almost lived there? Holy crap is it cold. And bless their hearts for sending me to Texas. Interviewing was surprisingly enjoyable with a few good candidates. I mean, a few duds were in there too- but that's just the way it happens I guess. One person said "Um, you know..." 234392743 times and I couldn't help but mentally remove myself so I didn't laugh in her face at the twilight zone that is the midwest. But, in general, they are very friendly, smiley people who made me a little friendlier and smiley-er. The flight back though, that was me at the peak of all miserable-ness. As soon as I got in the airport I had an awful headache across my entire forehead. I just stood and swore under my breath (think: "oh for godsake, this damn day can't end soon enough, uh"). I was a total B. Imagine the even bigger total B I was when I found out I was in a middle seat.
In general, the middle seat is pretty much as bad as it gets. The only way it gets worse is if you are 5"12. Oh - and if you are sitting next to a man who happens to be brown and starts making the sign of the cross over and over again. I honestly don't know if Allah gets the sign of the cross, and I think the answer is he doesn't, but it still was a very weird religious behavior and the thought did cross my mind "this is it". And I know you may be all up in arms reading this thinking "that's racial profiling" blah blah - but it was a weird religious behavior AND our threat level is at ORANGE. Whatever that means. Anyway - this is the government's fault that I even thought it at all. I made it in one, uncomfortable piece to Atlanta, just late enough that I had to run to the gate like a wackadoo.
They attendant gets on the speaker and says "Here at gate D36 we are performing a MIRACLE!" WHAT? A MIRACLE? Thank God I got there just in time! "We are boarding THREE flights - starting - NOW!" Gainsville, Chattanooga, Somewhere else I don't remember, all at once. I was so terrified I would get on the wrong plane. But, I'll give it to them - it really was a miracle they got us all through the door at the same time. It was a maze once you got outside, but I made it the Chattanooga flight and everyone looked like they were in the right place (read: old). I got an aisle seat this time and it did not help my headache. I was so uncomfortable and shifting and moving and huffing and puffing. The only thing that made my life slightly bearable was to stretch my legs out in the aisle up to the seat in front of me. Well - lady next to me just couldn't get over this. Yes - I could feel her eyes on me going "What?! HOW DO THEY GO UP THAT FAR?" God. B. Mind your business lady or I'll wish my terrible headache on you. I did glare at her once, but she didn't get the picture and just kept looking at me taking up so much aisle space. God. Get overrrr it.
Chattanooga was cold when we landed. I mean, not as cold as Minneapolis - but definitely cold. When I got home, against my better judgement, I decided to check my work email... just 75 emails from being out a day and a half. GOD.
Friday was just regular again. Busy work day. Lunch with a mentor/friend (fabulous soup and sandwich). More busy work day. I was so happy to log out this afternoon only to remember my movers come tomorrow. They pack everything for me, but I do have to organize my 18 months of shit. This is no easy task. Which is why I decided to order Domino's pizza and finish up some of the left over wine in my fridge.
That's what my week was. And, I am expecting the same level of excitement my last week here in Chattanooga. THAT'S RIGHT - LAST WEEK!! Can you believe it? I really am in total shock. I mean - I always knew I was moving... and here I am 18 months and one week later... and it's here. I'm in disbelief. I think it will really sink in tomorrow after the movers take everything away and it's just me, my air mattress, my suitcase and left over Domino's pizza.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a box to pack and a glass of wine to finish.
2/26/2010
2/20/2010
Holy cow.... literally
I went to Texas.
My flight was super early Tuesday morning - I was up and out the door by 4:30AM. I made sure I had a great outfit on since I would be exploring and apartment hunting all day... I didn't take into consideration the fact that the built-in belt on my shirt would set off the metal detectors and force me to go through wanding/pat down. They also went through all my liquids with this weird wipe thing. Then once I THOUGHT I was done they wanded/patted me down again because they missed a step (or something). I don't know what step they missed... God.
So, because the security line (even without the extra pat downs) always gets me all rattled and all my crap out of order, I was trying to get everything back in its place before boarding the plane. Last call and I run on the plane and as soon as I sit down I get this weird feeling... check my bag and yep, left my wallet (license, credit cards, next boarding pass, etc) in the gate area. Need to stop the closing of the door and beg the flight attendant to PLEASE PLEASE go grab my wallet. This takes 20 minutes (I don't know why) and thank GOD they get it and return it to me. At this point in time it is..... 5:30 AM - a perfect morning.
I sleep on the first plane (read: eyes close, mouth open, most unattractive dozing-off situation ever), run to the second plane, and then enjoy my descent into Dallas. The airport is huge and I had to take a bus to the rental car area... on my trip there I saw a coyote. Seriously. Just sitting there, in the grass, minding it's business thinking "Yea, I'm a coyote, hanging out at the airport waiting to catch a flight... or a bird... or something". That's scary. He did look like Murphy though (RIP, Murphy). My dad was waiting for me at the rental car area (which is packed) and we get a regular car (with extra leg room) and exit the airport (which is huge, did I mention that?) and began the apartment search.
Saw a ton of apartments. I don't know how many of you had the chance to do intense apartment searching/viewing in a new area... but it is exhausting. I don't know how many we saw and at the end of the day nothing seemed "right". I mean, there were a few that would do-but none that spoke to me and said "Yes! I'm your new house!!".
All this driving we did... holy crapoly. I know highways in Chattanooga really aren't anything to write home about... but I have seen highways before. BUT - the ones in Dallas? Crap. They are like roller coasters. Stacked on top of each other and going every which way. Oh, and everything is a GD toll road. What's with that!? Once you get off the highways and back into the more suburban areas... there are cows! Everywhere! Longhorns!! HOLY COWS! I saw a few horses, but the cows were much more exciting to me. I love those big cows with the horns.
Wednesday was more apartment hunting... and... I found one! I can't tell if the agent was a total bro or that was just how he acted... regardless, I got a great feeling about the apartment! Although it is WAY smaller than what I'm in now... it's in a perfect location and he is giving me a storage space in the lease to put my dining table and other crap that doesn't fit! The complex seems to be a great young professional area, with pools, shopping, restaurants and bars all within a 2 block walking distance. Huge husband hunting potential. Also- 2 Super Targets in either direction, 10 minutes from work, and a Macy's!!! :) I'm really excited to move in and take visitors (hint)!
The next day I went to my new office. SO NICE! Just opened in November. Totally green building. Huge cafe, clinic on site, fitness center (TBD if I'll use it! LOL). Right next to one of the Super Targets and a TON of other restaurants and shopping. Everyone was so super friendly and I've got a great seat in a big cube by a window! One of the directors showed me around and took me to lunch - she was just fabulous and such a great time to chat with.
Friday I flew back to Chattanooga. Everything WAS going smoothly until I landed in Chattanooga. Missing phone. RIP Droid. I was so upset, I had K call and try to see if I left it at my gate. Nothing. Went to bed and slept until noon today (fabulous) until I remembered the DROID was still RIP. Tried to reactivate my Chocolate, didn't have a charger and had to buy a new one. Then I needed to report the Droid stolen in case someone activated it. Apparently if you get your missing phone on the list and the thief tries to activate it at a Verizon store they confiscate it on the spot and let you know. So that was 30 minutes in the store, 30 minutes on the phone, 30 minutes in Chattanooga shopping traffic... GOD. I definitely deserved the Panera I treated myself to.
Got back to the apartment and then I get a call from Chattanooga airport.. THEY HAVE MY DROID!! :) Rush to go get it and then BACK to the Verizon store... this was more of an hour in there because we had to get it off the stolen list, change passwords, deactivate the Chocolate and reactivate the Droid - oh, and of course there was the waiting. God. But they did let me return the $30 charger I bought to that was good.
Droid is charging now and is happy to be back home. I guess I'm happy to be back "home" too. But only for 2 weeks... I drive to Texas March 6th which will be here in no time!
I've got some visitors in Chattanooga tomorrow. My program director and another person in my program are here for Monday interviewing. My PD asked a program graduate "what are we going to do on Sunday" so now I'm participating. He is hoping to get some "southern culture exposure". I know I give Chattanooga a bad name... but it isn't like we use outhouses or anything, God. However - we have planned the most honky tonk day long adventure for the visiting yankees. More details to come...
My flight was super early Tuesday morning - I was up and out the door by 4:30AM. I made sure I had a great outfit on since I would be exploring and apartment hunting all day... I didn't take into consideration the fact that the built-in belt on my shirt would set off the metal detectors and force me to go through wanding/pat down. They also went through all my liquids with this weird wipe thing. Then once I THOUGHT I was done they wanded/patted me down again because they missed a step (or something). I don't know what step they missed... God.
So, because the security line (even without the extra pat downs) always gets me all rattled and all my crap out of order, I was trying to get everything back in its place before boarding the plane. Last call and I run on the plane and as soon as I sit down I get this weird feeling... check my bag and yep, left my wallet (license, credit cards, next boarding pass, etc) in the gate area. Need to stop the closing of the door and beg the flight attendant to PLEASE PLEASE go grab my wallet. This takes 20 minutes (I don't know why) and thank GOD they get it and return it to me. At this point in time it is..... 5:30 AM - a perfect morning.
I sleep on the first plane (read: eyes close, mouth open, most unattractive dozing-off situation ever), run to the second plane, and then enjoy my descent into Dallas. The airport is huge and I had to take a bus to the rental car area... on my trip there I saw a coyote. Seriously. Just sitting there, in the grass, minding it's business thinking "Yea, I'm a coyote, hanging out at the airport waiting to catch a flight... or a bird... or something". That's scary. He did look like Murphy though (RIP, Murphy). My dad was waiting for me at the rental car area (which is packed) and we get a regular car (with extra leg room) and exit the airport (which is huge, did I mention that?) and began the apartment search.
Saw a ton of apartments. I don't know how many of you had the chance to do intense apartment searching/viewing in a new area... but it is exhausting. I don't know how many we saw and at the end of the day nothing seemed "right". I mean, there were a few that would do-but none that spoke to me and said "Yes! I'm your new house!!".
All this driving we did... holy crapoly. I know highways in Chattanooga really aren't anything to write home about... but I have seen highways before. BUT - the ones in Dallas? Crap. They are like roller coasters. Stacked on top of each other and going every which way. Oh, and everything is a GD toll road. What's with that!? Once you get off the highways and back into the more suburban areas... there are cows! Everywhere! Longhorns!! HOLY COWS! I saw a few horses, but the cows were much more exciting to me. I love those big cows with the horns.
Wednesday was more apartment hunting... and... I found one! I can't tell if the agent was a total bro or that was just how he acted... regardless, I got a great feeling about the apartment! Although it is WAY smaller than what I'm in now... it's in a perfect location and he is giving me a storage space in the lease to put my dining table and other crap that doesn't fit! The complex seems to be a great young professional area, with pools, shopping, restaurants and bars all within a 2 block walking distance. Huge husband hunting potential. Also- 2 Super Targets in either direction, 10 minutes from work, and a Macy's!!! :) I'm really excited to move in and take visitors (hint)!
The next day I went to my new office. SO NICE! Just opened in November. Totally green building. Huge cafe, clinic on site, fitness center (TBD if I'll use it! LOL). Right next to one of the Super Targets and a TON of other restaurants and shopping. Everyone was so super friendly and I've got a great seat in a big cube by a window! One of the directors showed me around and took me to lunch - she was just fabulous and such a great time to chat with.
Friday I flew back to Chattanooga. Everything WAS going smoothly until I landed in Chattanooga. Missing phone. RIP Droid. I was so upset, I had K call and try to see if I left it at my gate. Nothing. Went to bed and slept until noon today (fabulous) until I remembered the DROID was still RIP. Tried to reactivate my Chocolate, didn't have a charger and had to buy a new one. Then I needed to report the Droid stolen in case someone activated it. Apparently if you get your missing phone on the list and the thief tries to activate it at a Verizon store they confiscate it on the spot and let you know. So that was 30 minutes in the store, 30 minutes on the phone, 30 minutes in Chattanooga shopping traffic... GOD. I definitely deserved the Panera I treated myself to.
Got back to the apartment and then I get a call from Chattanooga airport.. THEY HAVE MY DROID!! :) Rush to go get it and then BACK to the Verizon store... this was more of an hour in there because we had to get it off the stolen list, change passwords, deactivate the Chocolate and reactivate the Droid - oh, and of course there was the waiting. God. But they did let me return the $30 charger I bought to that was good.
Droid is charging now and is happy to be back home. I guess I'm happy to be back "home" too. But only for 2 weeks... I drive to Texas March 6th which will be here in no time!
I've got some visitors in Chattanooga tomorrow. My program director and another person in my program are here for Monday interviewing. My PD asked a program graduate "what are we going to do on Sunday" so now I'm participating. He is hoping to get some "southern culture exposure". I know I give Chattanooga a bad name... but it isn't like we use outhouses or anything, God. However - we have planned the most honky tonk day long adventure for the visiting yankees. More details to come...
2/15/2010
Call your grandparents!
Sorry about the lamest entry ever yesterday - I just knew I needed to post something to keep me in the habit. Hopefully a more exciting update at the end of the week, post Texas. Hopefully, this one is even 2% more entertaining for you...
My alarm noise is so annoying! It's this awful rooster crow that makes you want to rip your ears off - but also wakes you up immediately. This morning when it went off I was so thankful because I was having the weirdest dream! I was in the "after life" with a bunch of other dead people (dead people that I know and are alive) and we were shopping at this mall to decorate our after-life apartments. So weird. I was happy to wake up and be returned to the before-life.
I worked from home today because my movers were coming to assess my crap and see what an approximate weight would be. I have so much stuff. I've been doing a really great job at getting rid of things - three bags of clothing to goodwill, 2 tv's gone, a giant area rug gone, a dresser in the garbage... Lots of things won't make the move with me. But still, a lot will. I'm not a candidate for hoarders by any means, but a regular person just has a lot of stuff. It was a pretty quick meeting and I'll be "hearing from them" soon enough. I hope they understand that March is basically here.... and I move in March!
While working I have all my calls from my work line forwarded to my cell phone. This is great, except all calls come in from a general number and I never know who it is. I got a call this afternoon from a man whose first language was not English and I literally could not understand anything he said. I assumed he was calling me for a reason but honestly in 5 minutes of conversation I couldn't figure out what on earth he wanted. I finally convinced him to message me through our work system. The conversation went like this:
Him: You want to remove access for user from ABC123/thing/321CBA
Me: I'm sorry - what is that?
Him: It's a thing to remove access from
Me: I'm sorry - I don't know what that thing means. No changes can happen until 3/1
Him: I want to confirm with you the change
Me: I'm not sure what is changing
Him: Access
Me: Access to what?
Him: The thing. Can we change it?
Me: I don't understand what access does.
Him: If you request a change you should know what for
Me: I've never heard of that before and don't remember requesting it
Him: Do you want to confirm with manager
Me: I'm the manager. I don't know what that does. You can do it on 3/1
Him: Can I close it
Me: Is there someone else I can speak to regarding what this thing is and what it does?
Him: The user does not have access now
Me: I thought you want to remove access
Him: The request is to remove access
Me: But you said the user does not have access
Him: Yes, which is why I want to close it with no action.
Me: So what do you need from me?
Him: Please confirm I can close with no change.
Me: Confirmed
Seriously, dude? This is the summary version and the conversation was actually 10 minutes of messaging. I have to mind my manners since it IS work. But... really? REALLY? Again... looking forward to my next role.
So- I fly to Texas tomorrow morning... 5:30 (ick!) and I have my first housing appointment at 11AM. Small world! My Nanny's (my cousin's grandma, but my grandma too) neighbors from North Carolina (where we cousins vacationed for years and years) have a son that lives in Plano and is going to meet with me and my Dad tomorrow to help with the area housing search and figuring out some of the roads. I pretty much have the highest hopes for this man because his step mother and father were two of our favorite neighbors to visit.
See, when we would visit NC and stay with Nanny and Poppy we were the youngest by.... 60 years! LOL. It was an obvious grandparent hang and sometimes we'd get lucky and there would be other grandkids, but most of the time the oldies would have us over and spoil us with treats, dinners, outings, etc. It was pretty much the best vacation package you could ask for! B and I set up a fabulous ice cream sundae bar for us once and introduced us to all the ducks that lived in the pond in the back yard. We named them all but I distinctly remember one duck that had a mental disorder and this weird reverse cough instead of a quack and this turkey-like coloring. Weird. We told my sister that was "her" duck and my cousin and I took the normal white ducks for our own. And when I say "took" I mean - looked at them from the porch and said "OH! There's my duck!"
Post work I did some grandparent calling. My poppy let me know that my grandma was out shoveling snow (Old people- they never listen) and my grandma let me know that a "ta-bac-ah chewin" cowboy is unacceptable but a nice man that owns a horse farm is ok. My granellie is just so "tickled" that I called her and let me know my cousins wedding date is set for the end of July. Left a VM for Nanny and Poppy- but I expect that me and Nanny will do some Bachelor chatting and recapping on which of the girls is her favorite to win. If you haven't called your grandparents in a while... you should. Now. They love it!
So... Buzz. It's all over the internet as a huge privacy issue. I don't think I really have anything super private (except this blog, which I'm still mindful of when typing/posting) but the internet has got me all worked up. I turned Buzz off. Sorry for those I tried to convert (you still can at least give it a try), and sorry to Buzz- make my profile privacy options easier to update and maybe I'll come back.
Enjoy your week, readers - oh, and why don't you just "follow" me via blog! And don't give me this crap "I'm not following a blog blah blah". If I've made you even smirk, which you've told me I have, you could so kindly give me a follow. That way I know I'm not writing out into space! Although, if you know me, you know there is a chance I would continue to write into space... Regardless, go ahead... follow me.
My alarm noise is so annoying! It's this awful rooster crow that makes you want to rip your ears off - but also wakes you up immediately. This morning when it went off I was so thankful because I was having the weirdest dream! I was in the "after life" with a bunch of other dead people (dead people that I know and are alive) and we were shopping at this mall to decorate our after-life apartments. So weird. I was happy to wake up and be returned to the before-life.
I worked from home today because my movers were coming to assess my crap and see what an approximate weight would be. I have so much stuff. I've been doing a really great job at getting rid of things - three bags of clothing to goodwill, 2 tv's gone, a giant area rug gone, a dresser in the garbage... Lots of things won't make the move with me. But still, a lot will. I'm not a candidate for hoarders by any means, but a regular person just has a lot of stuff. It was a pretty quick meeting and I'll be "hearing from them" soon enough. I hope they understand that March is basically here.... and I move in March!
While working I have all my calls from my work line forwarded to my cell phone. This is great, except all calls come in from a general number and I never know who it is. I got a call this afternoon from a man whose first language was not English and I literally could not understand anything he said. I assumed he was calling me for a reason but honestly in 5 minutes of conversation I couldn't figure out what on earth he wanted. I finally convinced him to message me through our work system. The conversation went like this:
Him: You want to remove access for user from ABC123/thing/321CBA
Me: I'm sorry - what is that?
Him: It's a thing to remove access from
Me: I'm sorry - I don't know what that thing means. No changes can happen until 3/1
Him: I want to confirm with you the change
Me: I'm not sure what is changing
Him: Access
Me: Access to what?
Him: The thing. Can we change it?
Me: I don't understand what access does.
Him: If you request a change you should know what for
Me: I've never heard of that before and don't remember requesting it
Him: Do you want to confirm with manager
Me: I'm the manager. I don't know what that does. You can do it on 3/1
Him: Can I close it
Me: Is there someone else I can speak to regarding what this thing is and what it does?
Him: The user does not have access now
Me: I thought you want to remove access
Him: The request is to remove access
Me: But you said the user does not have access
Him: Yes, which is why I want to close it with no action.
Me: So what do you need from me?
Him: Please confirm I can close with no change.
Me: Confirmed
Seriously, dude? This is the summary version and the conversation was actually 10 minutes of messaging. I have to mind my manners since it IS work. But... really? REALLY? Again... looking forward to my next role.
So- I fly to Texas tomorrow morning... 5:30 (ick!) and I have my first housing appointment at 11AM. Small world! My Nanny's (my cousin's grandma, but my grandma too) neighbors from North Carolina (where we cousins vacationed for years and years) have a son that lives in Plano and is going to meet with me and my Dad tomorrow to help with the area housing search and figuring out some of the roads. I pretty much have the highest hopes for this man because his step mother and father were two of our favorite neighbors to visit.
See, when we would visit NC and stay with Nanny and Poppy we were the youngest by.... 60 years! LOL. It was an obvious grandparent hang and sometimes we'd get lucky and there would be other grandkids, but most of the time the oldies would have us over and spoil us with treats, dinners, outings, etc. It was pretty much the best vacation package you could ask for! B and I set up a fabulous ice cream sundae bar for us once and introduced us to all the ducks that lived in the pond in the back yard. We named them all but I distinctly remember one duck that had a mental disorder and this weird reverse cough instead of a quack and this turkey-like coloring. Weird. We told my sister that was "her" duck and my cousin and I took the normal white ducks for our own. And when I say "took" I mean - looked at them from the porch and said "OH! There's my duck!"
Post work I did some grandparent calling. My poppy let me know that my grandma was out shoveling snow (Old people- they never listen) and my grandma let me know that a "ta-bac-ah chewin" cowboy is unacceptable but a nice man that owns a horse farm is ok. My granellie is just so "tickled" that I called her and let me know my cousins wedding date is set for the end of July. Left a VM for Nanny and Poppy- but I expect that me and Nanny will do some Bachelor chatting and recapping on which of the girls is her favorite to win. If you haven't called your grandparents in a while... you should. Now. They love it!
So... Buzz. It's all over the internet as a huge privacy issue. I don't think I really have anything super private (except this blog, which I'm still mindful of when typing/posting) but the internet has got me all worked up. I turned Buzz off. Sorry for those I tried to convert (you still can at least give it a try), and sorry to Buzz- make my profile privacy options easier to update and maybe I'll come back.
Enjoy your week, readers - oh, and why don't you just "follow" me via blog! And don't give me this crap "I'm not following a blog blah blah". If I've made you even smirk, which you've told me I have, you could so kindly give me a follow. That way I know I'm not writing out into space! Although, if you know me, you know there is a chance I would continue to write into space... Regardless, go ahead... follow me.
2/14/2010
Nothingness
I was on such a streak with the updating... and then I totally blew it! But, it's not my fault (yep- excuses, excuses!).
I went into a 36 hour hate/depression because of work (nothing Texas related - phew!) Even though blogging is therapeutic(ish), it was not going to hit the spot for my anger. I was having an issue at work and felt like a bad manager! And, that's really sucky because I didn't want to ruin anyone's life but someone was making me feel like I was a life ruiner. GOD! I am not a life ruiner!!! So, I stressed (read: ate cookie dough, called my mom and bitched, called my sister and bitched, just in general pouted/sulked), prepared for confrontation (read: found every policy online and printed them out) and then had the conversation I was dreading. Guess what.... it turned out phenom!! I was so shocked at my composure and the complete 180 in attitude from the person I was talking with... It was such a relief! See - I'm not a bad manager!! But, I am a happy to take a temporary project role and not be responsible for other humans... I need a breather before my next team.
Speaking of my next role... I go to Texas this week!!! I've really been doing my research the best I can - but it's really so stressful. I was going to try to live close to my work - Plano - but, it is a suburb and I'm going to see what I can get closer to the city... to the action... to the young people. I want to be where the (young) people are! - That is so Ariel (my Disney princess, obviously).
I don't even know what I did this week. A great happy hour on Thursday. Nothing at all this weekend (standard). Oh- I volunteered at the animal shelter. My program at work is service based so we have to do service at work and in our communities. I go to the animal shelter to get my sweet puppy love fix. They are oh so cute.
Saturday I volunteered at a birthday party for 10 6 year old girls at the shelter. God. I hate kids. I mean, I really try to like them and there are some really cool kids, in life, they just weren't at this party. We walked them through the center and brought in puppies and kitties for them to pet and squeal over. It was a little cute... for 20 minutes.
Today I was at the pet store trying to get our shelter puppies adopted. They were so sweet too. It's a long 5 hours because usually people don't chat too much (and I love chatting) but S and L were there and they are the sweetest old ladies ever. L doesn't have many teeth and adopts seriously injured animals (most recently - a mini poodle, blind, that someone dumped in the middle of the road - this person should be shot) and then S just recently adopted an older beagle mix that we've been trying to adopt for weeks and weeks with no success. These ladies crack me up and they love to talk about my job. L just thinks I can do so much shopping in Texas she just hopes I make enough money and that I don't put it on a credit card. S's daughter lives somewhere in Texas and she is happier that I'm moving to a warmer climate. L always brings popcorn and feeds it to the dogs and the humans - even if we don't want it. S brings coffee and dog treats. Sometimes S will take human treats from L too. Woop for 8 hours of service this weekend!
Well, I guess I'm going to go enjoy my Valentine's meal for one: diet coke (obv) salad with hard boiled egg and vinegarette dressing, pork cooked in worcestershire sauce and garlic rice. For dessert, the classiest of desserts, a fudge round and a giant glass of milk. Delsih!!
Hopefully a more exciting update at the end of the week once I've visited Texas! :) Send happy thoughts and lots of luck my way!
I went into a 36 hour hate/depression because of work (nothing Texas related - phew!) Even though blogging is therapeutic(ish), it was not going to hit the spot for my anger. I was having an issue at work and felt like a bad manager! And, that's really sucky because I didn't want to ruin anyone's life but someone was making me feel like I was a life ruiner. GOD! I am not a life ruiner!!! So, I stressed (read: ate cookie dough, called my mom and bitched, called my sister and bitched, just in general pouted/sulked), prepared for confrontation (read: found every policy online and printed them out) and then had the conversation I was dreading. Guess what.... it turned out phenom!! I was so shocked at my composure and the complete 180 in attitude from the person I was talking with... It was such a relief! See - I'm not a bad manager!! But, I am a happy to take a temporary project role and not be responsible for other humans... I need a breather before my next team.
Speaking of my next role... I go to Texas this week!!! I've really been doing my research the best I can - but it's really so stressful. I was going to try to live close to my work - Plano - but, it is a suburb and I'm going to see what I can get closer to the city... to the action... to the young people. I want to be where the (young) people are! - That is so Ariel (my Disney princess, obviously).
I don't even know what I did this week. A great happy hour on Thursday. Nothing at all this weekend (standard). Oh- I volunteered at the animal shelter. My program at work is service based so we have to do service at work and in our communities. I go to the animal shelter to get my sweet puppy love fix. They are oh so cute.
Saturday I volunteered at a birthday party for 10 6 year old girls at the shelter. God. I hate kids. I mean, I really try to like them and there are some really cool kids, in life, they just weren't at this party. We walked them through the center and brought in puppies and kitties for them to pet and squeal over. It was a little cute... for 20 minutes.
Today I was at the pet store trying to get our shelter puppies adopted. They were so sweet too. It's a long 5 hours because usually people don't chat too much (and I love chatting) but S and L were there and they are the sweetest old ladies ever. L doesn't have many teeth and adopts seriously injured animals (most recently - a mini poodle, blind, that someone dumped in the middle of the road - this person should be shot) and then S just recently adopted an older beagle mix that we've been trying to adopt for weeks and weeks with no success. These ladies crack me up and they love to talk about my job. L just thinks I can do so much shopping in Texas she just hopes I make enough money and that I don't put it on a credit card. S's daughter lives somewhere in Texas and she is happier that I'm moving to a warmer climate. L always brings popcorn and feeds it to the dogs and the humans - even if we don't want it. S brings coffee and dog treats. Sometimes S will take human treats from L too. Woop for 8 hours of service this weekend!
Well, I guess I'm going to go enjoy my Valentine's meal for one: diet coke (obv) salad with hard boiled egg and vinegarette dressing, pork cooked in worcestershire sauce and garlic rice. For dessert, the classiest of desserts, a fudge round and a giant glass of milk. Delsih!!
Hopefully a more exciting update at the end of the week once I've visited Texas! :) Send happy thoughts and lots of luck my way!
2/10/2010
Just a few crushes...
I have a few Chattanooga boyfriends. None of these relationships are two sided. Except for my crush on the handsome man on the 6th floor - that is definitely a two way crush.
Sixth floor man, who I assume is in sales, is very near to retirement age. BUT! Before you freak out, he is really a handsome, older man. He is always in the 5th floor break room (mine) and I"m pretty sure it's so he can see me. He winks at me too. Which may be weirder elsewhere - but there is a lot of winking that happens in the south so I'm not really going to read too much into it. Anyway - I saw him yesterday getting off of the elevator and said "hi!" because he is someone I've seen enough that I can speak the words "hi" to even though I don't know his name.
I got a new boyfriend yesterday leaving work. I was walking and droiding (not as dangerous as driving a droiding) and I looked up and what do I see? The most handsome boy ever! Young! In a suit! Going somewhere! So I looked back down to finish my droid sentence and then when we got closer I gave a nice, natural smile. And he smiled back. (Lovee!). And not a "Why is this weird girl with medusa hair smiling at me maybe I'll smile back at her and she won't put a spell on me" smile, but a "I'm a nice guy, and I'm going to smile back at this nice girl" smile.
The next one sided relationship... is maybe actually two sided. On his side he is being overly friendly and always appearing near my cube. On my side it is an active fear that he will appear and ask me to do something I have no desire to do and plotting ways to get out of it. There was the forced coffee date (I don't even drink coffee), there are the drive-bys "just to say hi", there are no subject emails that I "don't need to respond to" (and don't!), there was the orange juice delivery, there was the request for my presence at the symphony (avoided), there are shuttle rides to work when it is raining and I have no other choice (short, quick conversation), and then today there was a request to "do something different" and get lunch with him. God. I mean, I know that in general I'm a super charming person- but, come onnnnn, I have actively been trying to uncharm him.
During a meeting he did a cube drive by but thankfully I couldn't say anything to him. But, I knew that meant he would be sending me an email shortly. Which he did:
"Hi Megan, Pardon the interruption earlier. I was going to ask if you felt like doing something different today, let's go across the street for a bite at lunch. Let me know either way. Kind of last minute, but it'd be fun."
God. "Pardon" - who says that? Things that go through my head: I'm moving soon so I could continue to be nice. I could invite Princess Brown to come with to make it less awkward. Princess Brown always brings his lunch- if he doesn't get anything, it will look super awkward. I could make up a boyfriend. I could make up a meeting. I will get caught in a lie. God.
Final decision is to take the short walk to Subway with Princess Brown and my relentless suitor. I do whatever I can to be the opposite of charming. Like I said before, this was hard especially because I am having a great curly hair day. I said I might give up swearing for Lent and he was like "you swear?" so I said "YES!" and then I ordered a tuna sub for lunch- that's pretty much the most unattractive meal you can order. I also talked a lot about all my reality tv shows especially American Idol. I think boys hate American Idol. And I said whatever I could to make him talk to Princess Brown and not me "Oh! He owns two businesses! He can tell you all about it...." Etc. I then proceeded to take the elevator straight up to my desk where I was going to eat, alone, at my desk.There were no follow up emails.
Oh, and Buzz?! I can't wait to figure it out more!
Sixth floor man, who I assume is in sales, is very near to retirement age. BUT! Before you freak out, he is really a handsome, older man. He is always in the 5th floor break room (mine) and I"m pretty sure it's so he can see me. He winks at me too. Which may be weirder elsewhere - but there is a lot of winking that happens in the south so I'm not really going to read too much into it. Anyway - I saw him yesterday getting off of the elevator and said "hi!" because he is someone I've seen enough that I can speak the words "hi" to even though I don't know his name.
I got a new boyfriend yesterday leaving work. I was walking and droiding (not as dangerous as driving a droiding) and I looked up and what do I see? The most handsome boy ever! Young! In a suit! Going somewhere! So I looked back down to finish my droid sentence and then when we got closer I gave a nice, natural smile. And he smiled back. (Lovee!). And not a "Why is this weird girl with medusa hair smiling at me maybe I'll smile back at her and she won't put a spell on me" smile, but a "I'm a nice guy, and I'm going to smile back at this nice girl" smile.
The next one sided relationship... is maybe actually two sided. On his side he is being overly friendly and always appearing near my cube. On my side it is an active fear that he will appear and ask me to do something I have no desire to do and plotting ways to get out of it. There was the forced coffee date (I don't even drink coffee), there are the drive-bys "just to say hi", there are no subject emails that I "don't need to respond to" (and don't!), there was the orange juice delivery, there was the request for my presence at the symphony (avoided), there are shuttle rides to work when it is raining and I have no other choice (short, quick conversation), and then today there was a request to "do something different" and get lunch with him. God. I mean, I know that in general I'm a super charming person- but, come onnnnn, I have actively been trying to uncharm him.
During a meeting he did a cube drive by but thankfully I couldn't say anything to him. But, I knew that meant he would be sending me an email shortly. Which he did:
"Hi Megan, Pardon the interruption earlier. I was going to ask if you felt like doing something different today, let's go across the street for a bite at lunch. Let me know either way. Kind of last minute, but it'd be fun."
God. "Pardon" - who says that? Things that go through my head: I'm moving soon so I could continue to be nice. I could invite Princess Brown to come with to make it less awkward. Princess Brown always brings his lunch- if he doesn't get anything, it will look super awkward. I could make up a boyfriend. I could make up a meeting. I will get caught in a lie. God.
Final decision is to take the short walk to Subway with Princess Brown and my relentless suitor. I do whatever I can to be the opposite of charming. Like I said before, this was hard especially because I am having a great curly hair day. I said I might give up swearing for Lent and he was like "you swear?" so I said "YES!" and then I ordered a tuna sub for lunch- that's pretty much the most unattractive meal you can order. I also talked a lot about all my reality tv shows especially American Idol. I think boys hate American Idol. And I said whatever I could to make him talk to Princess Brown and not me "Oh! He owns two businesses! He can tell you all about it...." Etc. I then proceeded to take the elevator straight up to my desk where I was going to eat, alone, at my desk.There were no follow up emails.
Oh, and Buzz?! I can't wait to figure it out more!
2/09/2010
Stupid news...
I don't know if you know this... but I hate the Chattanooga news. Honestly, I don't know how these people got on TV.
Number 1- they are awful presenters of the news.
Number 2- they are not attractive.
Number 3- they are not funny even though they think they are.
When I watch the news I want to be informed and charmed. The all star news lineup was Good Morning America with Diane, Robin, Sam and Chris. I was not really ever a huge fan of Chris, but boy was I a huge fan of GMA. Now with MVP Diane gone and standins George and JuJu (JuJu- really?) it's just ok.
Back to Chattanooga news- I hate it. They report on useless things. They try to navigate their facebook page while on the air. The weather man is a complete idiot and appears very slow and sloppy. Sometimes they don't even get to the weather in the first ten minutes... Honestly, that is the most important part of the news! I wish I had a better account of some of the ridiculous things they've aired, but I don't. But... that changes today. I'll keep you all posted as things come up. This morning they aired the story of two delinquents who stole their mother's car and crashed it into a house and put a hole in it. They interviewed someone who appeared to be totally unrelated to the incident and asked her what she would do if those were her kids. Her response? "I would beat them." (Yep. Beat them). "And then I would let them spend some time in juvenile." The interview closes and flashes back to doofus reporter who thinks this is so funny and says "Tough love. Coming up next....". Honestly, if they were my kids I would probably beat them too... but, really, is this news? No.
The best news story I saw was on how grillz (for your teeth, not your burgers) got their start in Chattanooga. I have no idea why they thought it was a good thing to air that. Apparently people were getting arrested for grillz in Atlanta so they came to a shady Chattanooga hotel to illegally install grillz in people's mouths. The interviews were priceless. The information from the interviews was ridiculous. ... Oh- AND NOT NEWS! If you want to talk to talk, get a blog. God.
So, things are super busy at work. I had a cube drive by from Pricess Brown who caught me eating KitKats. I wouldn't be surprised if there was chocolate on my face. I LOVE kitkats. They are my most favorite treat of all time. I LOVED LOVED kitkat bites- but they don't make them anymore. Annoying. Anyway, last night at the Target a bag of mixed Valentine's treats was an impulse buy. And I bought them with the best of intentions to give them to my team as a Vday treat. But... I wanted one. And then the bag was open, so I had another one becuse two mini's equal a regular size treat. And then I couldn't see the kitkats between the hershey bars so I dumped the bag out in my bottom drawer and honestly, just kept snacking. Then I was caught by Pricess Brown and he wanted one, but I'm not sharing a kitkat. So I opened the stash and let him take a regular hershey bar. And now I have to be well behaved and save some to go on my Vday treat plate for Friday. They expect treats from me here- I've set the bar high. Packaged candies is a pretty lame treat and not enough packaged candies is pretty much the worst treat ever.
I also had a great meal with UGAa and UGAb - soon to be married (aww!) And we watched Star Wars (well, part of it). I don't know anything about any of those Star movies and being not in a movie theater I have a pretty bad attention span and tend to ask a lot of questions. I'll need to rent this and watch it from the beginning - black holes, time travel, tv show mixed with movies, pointy ears and flying motorcycles? This definitely needs a closer look.
Number 1- they are awful presenters of the news.
Number 2- they are not attractive.
Number 3- they are not funny even though they think they are.
When I watch the news I want to be informed and charmed. The all star news lineup was Good Morning America with Diane, Robin, Sam and Chris. I was not really ever a huge fan of Chris, but boy was I a huge fan of GMA. Now with MVP Diane gone and standins George and JuJu (JuJu- really?) it's just ok.
Back to Chattanooga news- I hate it. They report on useless things. They try to navigate their facebook page while on the air. The weather man is a complete idiot and appears very slow and sloppy. Sometimes they don't even get to the weather in the first ten minutes... Honestly, that is the most important part of the news! I wish I had a better account of some of the ridiculous things they've aired, but I don't. But... that changes today. I'll keep you all posted as things come up. This morning they aired the story of two delinquents who stole their mother's car and crashed it into a house and put a hole in it. They interviewed someone who appeared to be totally unrelated to the incident and asked her what she would do if those were her kids. Her response? "I would beat them." (Yep. Beat them). "And then I would let them spend some time in juvenile." The interview closes and flashes back to doofus reporter who thinks this is so funny and says "Tough love. Coming up next....". Honestly, if they were my kids I would probably beat them too... but, really, is this news? No.
The best news story I saw was on how grillz (for your teeth, not your burgers) got their start in Chattanooga. I have no idea why they thought it was a good thing to air that. Apparently people were getting arrested for grillz in Atlanta so they came to a shady Chattanooga hotel to illegally install grillz in people's mouths. The interviews were priceless. The information from the interviews was ridiculous. ... Oh- AND NOT NEWS! If you want to talk to talk, get a blog. God.
So, things are super busy at work. I had a cube drive by from Pricess Brown who caught me eating KitKats. I wouldn't be surprised if there was chocolate on my face. I LOVE kitkats. They are my most favorite treat of all time. I LOVED LOVED kitkat bites- but they don't make them anymore. Annoying. Anyway, last night at the Target a bag of mixed Valentine's treats was an impulse buy. And I bought them with the best of intentions to give them to my team as a Vday treat. But... I wanted one. And then the bag was open, so I had another one becuse two mini's equal a regular size treat. And then I couldn't see the kitkats between the hershey bars so I dumped the bag out in my bottom drawer and honestly, just kept snacking. Then I was caught by Pricess Brown and he wanted one, but I'm not sharing a kitkat. So I opened the stash and let him take a regular hershey bar. And now I have to be well behaved and save some to go on my Vday treat plate for Friday. They expect treats from me here- I've set the bar high. Packaged candies is a pretty lame treat and not enough packaged candies is pretty much the worst treat ever.
I also had a great meal with UGAa and UGAb - soon to be married (aww!) And we watched Star Wars (well, part of it). I don't know anything about any of those Star movies and being not in a movie theater I have a pretty bad attention span and tend to ask a lot of questions. I'll need to rent this and watch it from the beginning - black holes, time travel, tv show mixed with movies, pointy ears and flying motorcycles? This definitely needs a closer look.
2/08/2010
Slowing down...
I like stress. Not stress over my move... but stress in my job. It keeps me on my toes, it makes the day go faster and usually it means I get to do a lot of talking to people. I love talking to people. Well, that isn't entirely true. I can think of lots and lots of instances where I would absolutely under no circumstances want to be bothered with conversation. But, at work, when I'm leading meetings and trying to figure things out and just in general socializing- I do like it... or, at least, I put on a great show.
This version of myself is "Presentation Megan" and she is fabulous. But, now that Presentation Megan has to manage people and get things done, she's merged a little with Regular Megan and I've created Southern Megan. Southern Megan also puts on a great show, but instead of endless patience (Presentation Megan) she has limited patience and headphones. Southern Megan also gets to say things like "Well, bless his heart... but that is just not the way we are doing it" or after obvious disagreement from someone else "I understand your concern but appreciate your continued support".
Someone that doesn't come out too much in Chattanooga is Drunk Megan- she's a lot of fun and has probably introduced you to Blackout Megan. I haven't met Blackout Megan yet- but she looks like a lot of fun from all the pictures. She's also super sneaky- always deleting my text messages and leaving things in weird places.
Anyway..... Southern Megan is getting lonely. My meetings have dwindled to... hardly any. And, I sit in the work-at-home corner (everyone around me works at home often) so there aren't even fun people to chat with. There was one whackadoo, but she left the company. She was always telling me about her so smart nephew and all the schools he was getting into... except he was in 10th grade. Total nerd.
One of my meetings today was a follow up call with zero action items and I didn't expect it to last more than 3 minutes. It turned out to be my best laugh of the day and lasted twelve minutes! We were talking about my next rotation (she thought I was still going to MN) and she is just IN LOVE with me going to Dallas. "Oh- You know what they say about Texas!!!! Big hair, BIG diamonds!!!!!!"
She used to travel there for business and just LOVED so many of the GREAT CLUBS!!!!!!!! She is a total Southern gem (too wild to be a belle) but living in New Hampshire now. I got to meet her once when she was in Chattanooga - she is a kindred spirit... nearly 6 feet tall. Anyway, she thinks Dallas is wonderful because there won't be any of that "New England French blood" and it just more acceptable to be tall there. (I didn't know I was unacceptably tall somewhere else.) She also wants me to make sure that wherever I live they have a pool with lots of single activities. And my, my, my there is just "something about a nice ole boy in a cowboy hat". I'm pretty sure she was having heart palpitations remembering the man she dated while she was there- Cash. That was his first name. Like money.
While exciting, the conversation was over quickly and I was left to my own devices to find things to do that were still outstanding. This included resume screening for my program. Well, all these resumes came in with cover letters. And not your generic cover letter "I am excellent for this position because...." they all had a ton of fluff and were really long and in general, these people put a lot of thought into it. Especially one. Amazing. He talked about analyzing his steps to class and how he could make each converstaion better. He talked about his bedroom-hybrid-studio-something that helps his left brain get just as much exercise as his right brain (or whatever side belongs to whatever type of activity). It was laugh out loud enjoyable and my peers at work couldn't believe that I liked it (Regular Megan is a cut-the-crap kind of girl... but I don't know why I'm saying that because I think anyone reading this knows who Regular Megan is). But, I did love the cover letter. And I'm so excited to hear how the interview goes. He is going to have such a great personality, I can just tell!
In other news?... Nothing. Super Bowl commercials were regular to me and Drew Brees is very handsome. The Tsunami of 2010 became the Blizzard of 2010 again (there were...15? flurries in the air) and some schools were closing at 10:30AM. Seriously, it's unreal. I bought poppyseed dressing from the store for homemade wraps and it is so great and sweet and tasty. Oh, and Bryer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (my favorite of all time) was on sale at the Bi-Lo (BOGO) so I got two. Oh! And the Bachelor, hometown dates, is on!
This version of myself is "Presentation Megan" and she is fabulous. But, now that Presentation Megan has to manage people and get things done, she's merged a little with Regular Megan and I've created Southern Megan. Southern Megan also puts on a great show, but instead of endless patience (Presentation Megan) she has limited patience and headphones. Southern Megan also gets to say things like "Well, bless his heart... but that is just not the way we are doing it" or after obvious disagreement from someone else "I understand your concern but appreciate your continued support".
Someone that doesn't come out too much in Chattanooga is Drunk Megan- she's a lot of fun and has probably introduced you to Blackout Megan. I haven't met Blackout Megan yet- but she looks like a lot of fun from all the pictures. She's also super sneaky- always deleting my text messages and leaving things in weird places.
Anyway..... Southern Megan is getting lonely. My meetings have dwindled to... hardly any. And, I sit in the work-at-home corner (everyone around me works at home often) so there aren't even fun people to chat with. There was one whackadoo, but she left the company. She was always telling me about her so smart nephew and all the schools he was getting into... except he was in 10th grade. Total nerd.
One of my meetings today was a follow up call with zero action items and I didn't expect it to last more than 3 minutes. It turned out to be my best laugh of the day and lasted twelve minutes! We were talking about my next rotation (she thought I was still going to MN) and she is just IN LOVE with me going to Dallas. "Oh- You know what they say about Texas!!!! Big hair, BIG diamonds!!!!!!"
She used to travel there for business and just LOVED so many of the GREAT CLUBS!!!!!!!! She is a total Southern gem (too wild to be a belle) but living in New Hampshire now. I got to meet her once when she was in Chattanooga - she is a kindred spirit... nearly 6 feet tall. Anyway, she thinks Dallas is wonderful because there won't be any of that "New England French blood" and it just more acceptable to be tall there. (I didn't know I was unacceptably tall somewhere else.) She also wants me to make sure that wherever I live they have a pool with lots of single activities. And my, my, my there is just "something about a nice ole boy in a cowboy hat". I'm pretty sure she was having heart palpitations remembering the man she dated while she was there- Cash. That was his first name. Like money.
While exciting, the conversation was over quickly and I was left to my own devices to find things to do that were still outstanding. This included resume screening for my program. Well, all these resumes came in with cover letters. And not your generic cover letter "I am excellent for this position because...." they all had a ton of fluff and were really long and in general, these people put a lot of thought into it. Especially one. Amazing. He talked about analyzing his steps to class and how he could make each converstaion better. He talked about his bedroom-hybrid-studio-something that helps his left brain get just as much exercise as his right brain (or whatever side belongs to whatever type of activity). It was laugh out loud enjoyable and my peers at work couldn't believe that I liked it (Regular Megan is a cut-the-crap kind of girl... but I don't know why I'm saying that because I think anyone reading this knows who Regular Megan is). But, I did love the cover letter. And I'm so excited to hear how the interview goes. He is going to have such a great personality, I can just tell!
In other news?... Nothing. Super Bowl commercials were regular to me and Drew Brees is very handsome. The Tsunami of 2010 became the Blizzard of 2010 again (there were...15? flurries in the air) and some schools were closing at 10:30AM. Seriously, it's unreal. I bought poppyseed dressing from the store for homemade wraps and it is so great and sweet and tasty. Oh, and Bryer's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream (my favorite of all time) was on sale at the Bi-Lo (BOGO) so I got two. Oh! And the Bachelor, hometown dates, is on!
2/06/2010
Snowed in...
I woke up on the wrong side of the bed yesterday... I should have expected the rest of the day.
I love the snooze button. LOVE. I set alarms all over the house, get out of bed to snooze them and then get right back in bed to sleep through them. Some days are better than others and I'm not sure which is considered the better day: when I get up on time, or when I snooze an hour.
Yesterday I snoozed an hour. Because of my road trip, I hadn't been grocery shopping and didn't really have too much to pick from for breakfast. I obviously decided on Oreos and milk. I ate these slowly while I continued to not get ready for work.
Next my dad calls me- any call before... noon.. I think is an emergency and I mentally prepare for a death in the family. No death today. Just a worried mother who made my dad check the weather for my entire route. The northeast is participating in the Blizzard of 2010 and I was no longer going back to Pittsburgh.
It isn't cold enough down here right now to continue the Blizzard of 2010 so now we have the Tsunami of 2010. You won't find many people down here that complain about all the rain we get since there was apparently a drought for 3 years. But, honestly, this is a LOT of rain and it's just so dreary! And, as expected, the only thing Noogans hate driving in more than snow is rain. Needless to say... commuting was awful.
Since I was pretty much as tote mis as you can be, I moved to work at home for the afternoon. This perked me up a little bit, but then some jackwipe cut me off in the middle of an intersection. I was not in the mood. I laid on the horn for... 30 seconds? That's a long time in a horn's life. This man looked at me like "what!?" so I looked at him with a "YOU ARE A COMPLETE MORON" look and continued driving. I just hope it wasn't anyone I worked with because I was not discreet....
So, plans for he weekend changed drastically. As soon as I logged out of work yesterday I fell asleep... for four hours. I only woke up because a friend called at 9:30.... So that woke me up for 3 hours and then I went back to bed. I woke up this morning having a really weird dream (that I can't remember now) and have been up since 8AM.
I have watched 8 hours of Dogs 101 on Animal Planet mixed with some Bravo TV (Millionaire Matchmaker, Law and Order, Kell on Earth, Orange County Housewives) and TLC (Little People, Big World, Say Yes to the Dress, What Not to Wear). There was a lot of channel surfing involved in my day today. And I know you all think I LOVE TV (which, ok, I do) - but, believe me, I'd give up my TV to have a fun/wild night/day out... but unfortunately that doesn't exist for me too much.
Back to more important things.... Dogs 101 is by far the best show on TV and I learn a lot about all the breeds every time I watch it. I'm pretty good at the pop quizzes too. Q: Which breed of dog holds the record for longest eye lashes? A: Cocker Spaniel. I learned things about my favorite, the Shih Tzu. Did you know that Shih Tzus were feet warmers for Chinese royalty?! Awww. Did you know that Shih Tzus were almost extinct but seven boys and seven girls were saved and all Shih Tzus in the world can be traced back to those 14 dogs? I learned some other cool things, but I don't want to share all my interesting facts with you in one reading/sitting. You'll just have to wait for more... later.
I booked my "secure housing" visit to Dallas for Feb 16-19. I'm super excited. But, I'm also getting paranoid. Apartment searching in Chattanooga didn't go so well, and I don't have much positive energy towards apartment hunting in a bigger and realer (not a word, I know) city.
When I apartment hunted in Chattanooga... I'm pretty sure I cried every night. It was a family emergency. It is completely exhausting. Just think about it... a brand new culture, a totally new town, a new role, ZERO sense of direction and needing to secure housing in a few days so I have somewhere for my stuff. I didn't know what was a good deal, I didn't know what was a good location, I didn't know if old people were everywhere or just where I was looking, I didn't know what the crime was like or where the grocery stores were... it was awful. On the last day I picked a place, cried some more and left.
When I moved into the place I picked, my parents pretty much crapped their pants. They thought I was a total idiot and couldn't believe this was the place I picked. It was awful. More crying. More emergency phone calls (on Labor Day mind you) and one place was open. The woman opened up the leasing office, showed us a few great apartments and left the lights on in the loft apartment because she had a "feeling" I was coming back. I did. It was also a disaster because the moving company was going to the old address, and then we had to tell them not to. So they were going to put my stuff in storage. But then I had the new apartment. So I had to call them back and "Uhhh, fine, yes we can come today". And my parents were asking me "which way do you want the couch?". Ugh. I am not looking forward to that AT ALL.
Because I am so emotionally unstable in personal, high stress situations, my Dad is coming to Dallas with me. Parents are so great for handling big decisions, even if I'm supposed to be a grown up and be able to handle them myself. We'll have two days to scope out the area and get me a lease. And the apartment can't just be any apartment... I'm living in over 900 sq ft right now with a real dining room table... I will need at least 750 sq ft. Ick- when did I become a person that talks square feet? Barf. I'm so old.
So, I've got the one friend who is from Plano and I'll be hounding her for help (THANK YOU!), but, obviously, all help available is needed. If you have any friends I can borrow in the Dallas area, that would be wonderful. If any of them are 6'4, handsome, single and employed - I promise to take good care of them.
I love the snooze button. LOVE. I set alarms all over the house, get out of bed to snooze them and then get right back in bed to sleep through them. Some days are better than others and I'm not sure which is considered the better day: when I get up on time, or when I snooze an hour.
Yesterday I snoozed an hour. Because of my road trip, I hadn't been grocery shopping and didn't really have too much to pick from for breakfast. I obviously decided on Oreos and milk. I ate these slowly while I continued to not get ready for work.
Next my dad calls me- any call before... noon.. I think is an emergency and I mentally prepare for a death in the family. No death today. Just a worried mother who made my dad check the weather for my entire route. The northeast is participating in the Blizzard of 2010 and I was no longer going back to Pittsburgh.
It isn't cold enough down here right now to continue the Blizzard of 2010 so now we have the Tsunami of 2010. You won't find many people down here that complain about all the rain we get since there was apparently a drought for 3 years. But, honestly, this is a LOT of rain and it's just so dreary! And, as expected, the only thing Noogans hate driving in more than snow is rain. Needless to say... commuting was awful.
Since I was pretty much as tote mis as you can be, I moved to work at home for the afternoon. This perked me up a little bit, but then some jackwipe cut me off in the middle of an intersection. I was not in the mood. I laid on the horn for... 30 seconds? That's a long time in a horn's life. This man looked at me like "what!?" so I looked at him with a "YOU ARE A COMPLETE MORON" look and continued driving. I just hope it wasn't anyone I worked with because I was not discreet....
So, plans for he weekend changed drastically. As soon as I logged out of work yesterday I fell asleep... for four hours. I only woke up because a friend called at 9:30.... So that woke me up for 3 hours and then I went back to bed. I woke up this morning having a really weird dream (that I can't remember now) and have been up since 8AM.
I have watched 8 hours of Dogs 101 on Animal Planet mixed with some Bravo TV (Millionaire Matchmaker, Law and Order, Kell on Earth, Orange County Housewives) and TLC (Little People, Big World, Say Yes to the Dress, What Not to Wear). There was a lot of channel surfing involved in my day today. And I know you all think I LOVE TV (which, ok, I do) - but, believe me, I'd give up my TV to have a fun/wild night/day out... but unfortunately that doesn't exist for me too much.
Back to more important things.... Dogs 101 is by far the best show on TV and I learn a lot about all the breeds every time I watch it. I'm pretty good at the pop quizzes too. Q: Which breed of dog holds the record for longest eye lashes? A: Cocker Spaniel. I learned things about my favorite, the Shih Tzu. Did you know that Shih Tzus were feet warmers for Chinese royalty?! Awww. Did you know that Shih Tzus were almost extinct but seven boys and seven girls were saved and all Shih Tzus in the world can be traced back to those 14 dogs? I learned some other cool things, but I don't want to share all my interesting facts with you in one reading/sitting. You'll just have to wait for more... later.
I booked my "secure housing" visit to Dallas for Feb 16-19. I'm super excited. But, I'm also getting paranoid. Apartment searching in Chattanooga didn't go so well, and I don't have much positive energy towards apartment hunting in a bigger and realer (not a word, I know) city.
When I apartment hunted in Chattanooga... I'm pretty sure I cried every night. It was a family emergency. It is completely exhausting. Just think about it... a brand new culture, a totally new town, a new role, ZERO sense of direction and needing to secure housing in a few days so I have somewhere for my stuff. I didn't know what was a good deal, I didn't know what was a good location, I didn't know if old people were everywhere or just where I was looking, I didn't know what the crime was like or where the grocery stores were... it was awful. On the last day I picked a place, cried some more and left.
When I moved into the place I picked, my parents pretty much crapped their pants. They thought I was a total idiot and couldn't believe this was the place I picked. It was awful. More crying. More emergency phone calls (on Labor Day mind you) and one place was open. The woman opened up the leasing office, showed us a few great apartments and left the lights on in the loft apartment because she had a "feeling" I was coming back. I did. It was also a disaster because the moving company was going to the old address, and then we had to tell them not to. So they were going to put my stuff in storage. But then I had the new apartment. So I had to call them back and "Uhhh, fine, yes we can come today". And my parents were asking me "which way do you want the couch?". Ugh. I am not looking forward to that AT ALL.
Because I am so emotionally unstable in personal, high stress situations, my Dad is coming to Dallas with me. Parents are so great for handling big decisions, even if I'm supposed to be a grown up and be able to handle them myself. We'll have two days to scope out the area and get me a lease. And the apartment can't just be any apartment... I'm living in over 900 sq ft right now with a real dining room table... I will need at least 750 sq ft. Ick- when did I become a person that talks square feet? Barf. I'm so old.
So, I've got the one friend who is from Plano and I'll be hounding her for help (THANK YOU!), but, obviously, all help available is needed. If you have any friends I can borrow in the Dallas area, that would be wonderful. If any of them are 6'4, handsome, single and employed - I promise to take good care of them.
2/04/2010
raw
Wow, I didn't think I would have anything to blog about and then BAM.... things to blog about!
I went to happy hour after work to the fabulous establishment: Taco Mac. Our server definitely didn't like us too much since we were getting HH beers (obviously) and $2 chips/salsa. Conversation was around things that were annoying me (are you noticing a trend....?) and then the bathroom.
"Why were you talking about the bathroom?" - I know you're wondering. And, I'll tell you. There is this woman at work who is so unbelievably short. I mean... REALLY short. I'm always so awkward talking to her (she initiates conversation, not me). I'm not awk because she is short, I'm awk because she is and then I'm always thinking "God, she is SO short!". Well, in the bathroom the other day she was in the stall next to me and her feet DO NOT TOUCH THE FLOOR. That is how short she is. This is a very standard toilet, too. Her feet should touch. And whenever I noticed that I of course had a case of the 3rd grade giggles. Which is weird to have.. in the bathroom... when there are only two people there... and you aren't talking to each other. So, I of course told people about her swinging, toilet legs and today we ended up discussing it.
Friend (I think I should give all my friends code names so that I can protect their identity. But, they probably know I'm talking about them and you probably can figure out who I'm talking about..) Anyway, friend, let's call him.... Brown, was trying to figure out what the women's bathrooms look like that I can see her feet swinging. (Obviously, because the stall doesn't go all the way to the floor in case you need to give your neighbor toilet paper.)
Ok, so one thing leads to another and we are comparing men's vs. women's bathrooms and friend Brown is asking if we have the paper seat covers because he takes "LIKE... FIVE!!!". And I said- I don't use those. And he says... "WHAT? You go.... FLESH TO PLASTIC?... YOU GO RAW?!" Yes. I go raw. I didn't think it was a big deal and neither did other friend, let's call her, UGAa. So Brown goes on and on about all these precautions he takes when in a public bathroom. Turns out he puts napkins on the floor, takes off his shoes, takes off his pants and then hangs them on the door.
Yes. Puts napkins on the floor. Steps on them. Takes his shoes off. Takes his pants off. Hangs his pants ON THE DOOR. And THEN goes to the bathroom.
Super weird. I will now call him Princess Brown.
*For the record- if I'm wearing a skirt I pull it up and if I'm wearing pants I pull them down. BUT- not to the ground. That is always weird. And people could see my name badge. That would be awkward.
That was a pretty exciting HH and I came home to a great little gchat from friend.... let's call her, Teapot. She reminded me that right now we would be getting ready for Indigo and looking for a french. Then we started talking about past attractives and this of course involved some facebook research. Well, an attractive is recently single! He is very east coast while I am now very western, but it's still great news. I don't need any attractives going and getting married until I'm ready and have decided I'm not interested. She thinks that she can get him (which will not happen) so I'd ask you all to say a prayer that when she goes to look for a "boob shirt" to flaunt her stuff in front of him she finds only a 100% cotton turtleneck with a kitten print. Thank you.
I'm going home this weekend and taking Monday off. I'm very much looking forward to Monday off. Before I go I need to clean my apartment. Most (actually all) of you are probably thinking "Of course- no one likes to come home to a messy apartment!". But that isn't why I clean it. I clean it because if the plane goes down or the car goes off the road I know my mom will be mad if she has to clean out my apartment and it is messy. So, I need to do the dishes, clean the bathroom and make my bed before I leave tomorrow. Busy night!
PS: I saw a dead bird yesterday on the way to work. It was like it was sitting on a ledge, froze and just fell over on to the sidewalk. Weird.
I went to happy hour after work to the fabulous establishment: Taco Mac. Our server definitely didn't like us too much since we were getting HH beers (obviously) and $2 chips/salsa. Conversation was around things that were annoying me (are you noticing a trend....?) and then the bathroom.
"Why were you talking about the bathroom?" - I know you're wondering. And, I'll tell you. There is this woman at work who is so unbelievably short. I mean... REALLY short. I'm always so awkward talking to her (she initiates conversation, not me). I'm not awk because she is short, I'm awk because she is and then I'm always thinking "God, she is SO short!". Well, in the bathroom the other day she was in the stall next to me and her feet DO NOT TOUCH THE FLOOR. That is how short she is. This is a very standard toilet, too. Her feet should touch. And whenever I noticed that I of course had a case of the 3rd grade giggles. Which is weird to have.. in the bathroom... when there are only two people there... and you aren't talking to each other. So, I of course told people about her swinging, toilet legs and today we ended up discussing it.
Friend (I think I should give all my friends code names so that I can protect their identity. But, they probably know I'm talking about them and you probably can figure out who I'm talking about..) Anyway, friend, let's call him.... Brown, was trying to figure out what the women's bathrooms look like that I can see her feet swinging. (Obviously, because the stall doesn't go all the way to the floor in case you need to give your neighbor toilet paper.)
Ok, so one thing leads to another and we are comparing men's vs. women's bathrooms and friend Brown is asking if we have the paper seat covers because he takes "LIKE... FIVE!!!". And I said- I don't use those. And he says... "WHAT? You go.... FLESH TO PLASTIC?... YOU GO RAW?!" Yes. I go raw. I didn't think it was a big deal and neither did other friend, let's call her, UGAa. So Brown goes on and on about all these precautions he takes when in a public bathroom. Turns out he puts napkins on the floor, takes off his shoes, takes off his pants and then hangs them on the door.
Yes. Puts napkins on the floor. Steps on them. Takes his shoes off. Takes his pants off. Hangs his pants ON THE DOOR. And THEN goes to the bathroom.
Super weird. I will now call him Princess Brown.
*For the record- if I'm wearing a skirt I pull it up and if I'm wearing pants I pull them down. BUT- not to the ground. That is always weird. And people could see my name badge. That would be awkward.
That was a pretty exciting HH and I came home to a great little gchat from friend.... let's call her, Teapot. She reminded me that right now we would be getting ready for Indigo and looking for a french. Then we started talking about past attractives and this of course involved some facebook research. Well, an attractive is recently single! He is very east coast while I am now very western, but it's still great news. I don't need any attractives going and getting married until I'm ready and have decided I'm not interested. She thinks that she can get him (which will not happen) so I'd ask you all to say a prayer that when she goes to look for a "boob shirt" to flaunt her stuff in front of him she finds only a 100% cotton turtleneck with a kitten print. Thank you.
I'm going home this weekend and taking Monday off. I'm very much looking forward to Monday off. Before I go I need to clean my apartment. Most (actually all) of you are probably thinking "Of course- no one likes to come home to a messy apartment!". But that isn't why I clean it. I clean it because if the plane goes down or the car goes off the road I know my mom will be mad if she has to clean out my apartment and it is messy. So, I need to do the dishes, clean the bathroom and make my bed before I leave tomorrow. Busy night!
PS: I saw a dead bird yesterday on the way to work. It was like it was sitting on a ledge, froze and just fell over on to the sidewalk. Weird.
2/02/2010
yeehaw!
Before this becomes unnecessarily long and I lose some of you throughout the blog... I need to get a few important things out there:
1) This doppleganger crap needs to stop. I've had my laugh at who some people think they look like, but I'm definitely over it now. And I don't want to hear this "so and so told me I look like him/her". They were lying. Get comfortable with your own face.
2) I'm glad Jake the Bachelor dumped Corrie. This crap that he dumped her because she was a virgin is.... crap. She was SO boring! "I go 10, he goes 90" blah blah... barf. Get over yourself, girlfriend. AND nobody liked her from the beginning anyway, so what's the big deal!!? I know who wins already- I couldn't resist the spoiler. But I'm still so caught up in what is easily the best reality TV drama ever!(American Idol is not a drama. It's just the best reality TV ever.)
3) I saw alive birds today. Multiple alive birds. But I paid special attention to one particular live pigeon who was making a nest in a weird part of the tree.
Now that that is out there...
I'm moving to TEXAS! Can you believe that!?!! TEXAS!! The first time Texas was put out on the table I was a little.. um.. nervous. And now, that's the way it is. Texas!! I'm really excited. When my director called to tell me he told me to grab my "big hair". Obviously, the wild mane is my favorite style of them all. Obviously, this was meant to be. And now I can go get the wild cowgirl boots I saw in Nashville that I couldn't justify buying since I was moving to Minneapolis! But now... Now they are justified.
Get this... I was so excited to get my rotation fate, I was actually smiling at work today when I was sitting at my cube! Now, you're probably thinking "Why is that so special? Megan, you are one of the happiest, smiliest people I know!". But, the truth is, I'm not always like that!! Believe it or not.. my natural "resting" face is.. well, not a smile. And lately I'm more aware of this (particularly in the South where someone is always smiling back at you or waving or holding the door for you even if you don't know them). So, I've been taking hints from friends (smiley friends) on how to walk and smile naturally. Honestly, the no-tooth smile is a little awkward. And, if you think of anyone you've deemed "creepy" they were doing one of two things:
1) Lurking.
2) Smiling. Alone.
So, you can see that there is a very fine line to walk when it comes to smiling. But, today I was so great. I noticed in the bathroom when I was washing my hands... I had a closed-mouth smile and people were probably like "Wow, why is Megan so happy today!?". So, to practice walking and smiling to be more approachable I'm going to just think "CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE MOVING TO TEXAS AND NOT LIVING IN A BOX!" and hopefully that gives me the perfect not awk (but awk because I'm alone) smile.
Did I mention I'm moving to Texas?!!!? Ohhh.... the attractives! I have such high hopes for husband hunting. And people watching. I'm definitely getting a gun. Not to shoot people or attractives, just because I think if you own legit boots, you should also own a legit weapon. Especially if you're in Texas.
Tuesday was a good day. Until... the final hours. Part of my team hasn't had a staff meeting since November? Maybe December? Well, did they have things to talk about! I try to silently listen and not let it be known that I'm on the call... but when I'm particularly keen on not speaking to them, it always happens... "Um, well... let's see. Megan? Megan are you on the call?" Mute. Sigh. GOD. SIGH. Unmute. "Yes! (smiley voice!) I'm here!". It was whine after whine. Any suggestion given was answered with an unrelated complaint to cement the fact that YOU AREN'T LISTENING TO ME AND I AM COMPLAINING. It was a long call. A really, long call.
FAFs going ok, thanks for wondering. My trouble is breakfast... I really love cereal and milk. But, lately, all the cereal I try is just so... vom. I don't know. Frosted Mini Wheats is a pretty good stand by- but I was eating it this morning and it was getting so mushy and just... blah. I might have to go back to Special K (boring). I will not go back to Corn Pops though. Super yuk. That was a mistake. It's a cereal that occasionally I see in the store and think "Oh, that's from my childhood. That would hit the spot!". It NEVER hits the spot. It is NEVER a good choice.
This is totally a cattywampus entry. You're welcome.
1) This doppleganger crap needs to stop. I've had my laugh at who some people think they look like, but I'm definitely over it now. And I don't want to hear this "so and so told me I look like him/her". They were lying. Get comfortable with your own face.
2) I'm glad Jake the Bachelor dumped Corrie. This crap that he dumped her because she was a virgin is.... crap. She was SO boring! "I go 10, he goes 90" blah blah... barf. Get over yourself, girlfriend. AND nobody liked her from the beginning anyway, so what's the big deal!!? I know who wins already- I couldn't resist the spoiler. But I'm still so caught up in what is easily the best reality TV drama ever!(American Idol is not a drama. It's just the best reality TV ever.)
3) I saw alive birds today. Multiple alive birds. But I paid special attention to one particular live pigeon who was making a nest in a weird part of the tree.
Now that that is out there...
I'm moving to TEXAS! Can you believe that!?!! TEXAS!! The first time Texas was put out on the table I was a little.. um.. nervous. And now, that's the way it is. Texas!! I'm really excited. When my director called to tell me he told me to grab my "big hair". Obviously, the wild mane is my favorite style of them all. Obviously, this was meant to be. And now I can go get the wild cowgirl boots I saw in Nashville that I couldn't justify buying since I was moving to Minneapolis! But now... Now they are justified.
Get this... I was so excited to get my rotation fate, I was actually smiling at work today when I was sitting at my cube! Now, you're probably thinking "Why is that so special? Megan, you are one of the happiest, smiliest people I know!". But, the truth is, I'm not always like that!! Believe it or not.. my natural "resting" face is.. well, not a smile. And lately I'm more aware of this (particularly in the South where someone is always smiling back at you or waving or holding the door for you even if you don't know them). So, I've been taking hints from friends (smiley friends) on how to walk and smile naturally. Honestly, the no-tooth smile is a little awkward. And, if you think of anyone you've deemed "creepy" they were doing one of two things:
1) Lurking.
2) Smiling. Alone.
So, you can see that there is a very fine line to walk when it comes to smiling. But, today I was so great. I noticed in the bathroom when I was washing my hands... I had a closed-mouth smile and people were probably like "Wow, why is Megan so happy today!?". So, to practice walking and smiling to be more approachable I'm going to just think "CONGRATULATIONS YOU ARE MOVING TO TEXAS AND NOT LIVING IN A BOX!" and hopefully that gives me the perfect not awk (but awk because I'm alone) smile.
Did I mention I'm moving to Texas?!!!? Ohhh.... the attractives! I have such high hopes for husband hunting. And people watching. I'm definitely getting a gun. Not to shoot people or attractives, just because I think if you own legit boots, you should also own a legit weapon. Especially if you're in Texas.
Tuesday was a good day. Until... the final hours. Part of my team hasn't had a staff meeting since November? Maybe December? Well, did they have things to talk about! I try to silently listen and not let it be known that I'm on the call... but when I'm particularly keen on not speaking to them, it always happens... "Um, well... let's see. Megan? Megan are you on the call?" Mute. Sigh. GOD. SIGH. Unmute. "Yes! (smiley voice!) I'm here!". It was whine after whine. Any suggestion given was answered with an unrelated complaint to cement the fact that YOU AREN'T LISTENING TO ME AND I AM COMPLAINING. It was a long call. A really, long call.
FAFs going ok, thanks for wondering. My trouble is breakfast... I really love cereal and milk. But, lately, all the cereal I try is just so... vom. I don't know. Frosted Mini Wheats is a pretty good stand by- but I was eating it this morning and it was getting so mushy and just... blah. I might have to go back to Special K (boring). I will not go back to Corn Pops though. Super yuk. That was a mistake. It's a cereal that occasionally I see in the store and think "Oh, that's from my childhood. That would hit the spot!". It NEVER hits the spot. It is NEVER a good choice.
This is totally a cattywampus entry. You're welcome.
2/01/2010
A bad case of the Mondays...
Uh. Monday.
You would think after 17 months Mondays would be a little easier? False. By 10AM I was already dying to get out of the office and get home.
The Blizzard of 2010 continues with school closing and delays scrolling across the news. You'd think there was actual snow out there the way they talk about the freezing point and the slick road conditions. But, guess what? There isn't. Like a normal person used to snow/ice, I spent a whopping 5 minutes clearing the frost off my windows before driving on the "slick" roads. For as scared as these Noogans are, you'd think they'd do the same- right? Wrong. I saw minivan (probably with kids in tow) with a little face hole on the front windshield- everything else iced over. Seriously, people? If you are so terrified to drive in these "conditions" don't you think one thing you could do to ensure safety is... I don't know... clear off at least your front windshield???!!! Oh, and maybe put the defroster on for your rear window? Inbelievable.
(Inbelievable - not a typo. Definition: Unbelievable, but I believe it.)
I'm truly becoming afraid to drive in these "conditions" - not because of the actual conditions but because of the total lack of intelligent people on the road and behind the wheel.
Since the Blizzard of 2010 is pretty much the most amazing and catastrophic event to hit Chattanooga, talk all morning was about the weather. In the elevator, walking to my desk, in the break room, through chat. "It's so cold!" "Oh, my! The traffic on Friday!" "My neighborhood was COVERED in snow!!!!" "The conditions are so slick- people were slipping all over the roads!" "I prayed and cried the whole way home!" Seriously... I can't take it.
My peer let me know that because the weather was so awful, terrible on Friday she let my team go home early (I don't care) but since they aren't here yet (9:15 on a Monday during the Blizzard of 2010) have I spoken to them and am I sure they are ok and weren't in an accident!!!????
Yes. I'm sure. No. I don't need to call them.
Also, no news on my next rotation. Sweet. Despite my vow to the leasing office that I would never do business with them again, I'm requesting an extension on my lease. (Insert foot in mouth.) Yes, I hate them. Yes, I would never in a million years recommend my complex to anyone else. Yes, they are probably going to rip me off big time with what they consider a reasonable "prorated" rent amount. But, no, I do not want to sleep outside in my car while I wait for my relocation fate.
In other news, I tossed the chocolate/chocolate cake. It wasn't a giant cake, but it was more than enough for one person. And I was going through it too quickly. Fat-Awareness-Friday's (FAFs) have been slipping and I think I'll bring them back to life for February. What is FAF you ask? Well, in order to increase our fat awareness, me and Kimchi share our Friday weights with each other. It goes one of two ways:
1. Down 1-2 lbs: OMG! THAT IS AMAZING!!! You are so great!!!
2. Up 1-2lbs: Lame. Who cares. Are you going out drinking/out to dinner tonight?
(Yes, I realize that FAFs can also be Fat-Ass-Friday).
Oh! And I can't believe I didn't start with this! The dead bird curse is back. Maybe the person that put the hex on me is reading this? You can stop now. For those of you that don't know about the dead bird curse - well, I see dead birds. (Yes, I get that is like the Sixth Sense and "I see dead people". No, I am not making this up.) I did some gmail research because I know I've talked about the dead birds before and I've been seeing them for a while. Gmail confirms that I've been seeing them since EASTER. That's a long time. I wish I tracked every dead bird I've seen- I mean, I can remember a few standout situations, but surely not all of them.
So, yes, I see dead birds. And I've tried everything I can to stop seeing dead birds. I documented the situation in May to the Circle. It pretty much covers everything you need to know:
"every week since easter i have seen at least one dead bird. at first i didn't really notice because i thought they were babies that fell out of the nest. well last week i started picking up on all the dead bird sightings (flattened in parking lots, dead on the sidewalk, necks twisted in planters) and i was telling jenn and ajay "i see dead birds everywhere". they thought i was crazy but as soon as i finished my story, in a parking garage mind you, i see ANOTHER dead bird. not a baby, but a young bird, no feathers, neck twisted, in the parking spot next to me. shocking. i can't believe dead birds are following me. so, i decided to make an effort to notice alive birds. and i started noticing a lot of them- some flying, some just standing on my car, and i really thought my luck was changing. well, it isn't. this morning, strolling into work, loving the 70 degree morning and my blue shoes what do i see but a dove. dead. it was like it was sitting in a tree and just fell out! again, a twisted neck. but wings in, eyes closed. just peaceful and dead. but i was not happy about this and stomped my foot and said ARE YOU KIDDING ME outside my office building. i came in early today so i dont think anyone saw me, but i scurried inside when i remembered i was in public."
So, dead bird sightings have continued off and on for almost a year. One time I even saw the remains of a chicken wing on the sidewalk. Today's dead bird was particularly awful. Dead. Frozen looking. On the railroad tracks. I had to step over it. Yuk.
I'm going to go back to noticing alive birds tomorrow. Even the annoying ones that sit on my chimney and squak.
You would think after 17 months Mondays would be a little easier? False. By 10AM I was already dying to get out of the office and get home.
The Blizzard of 2010 continues with school closing and delays scrolling across the news. You'd think there was actual snow out there the way they talk about the freezing point and the slick road conditions. But, guess what? There isn't. Like a normal person used to snow/ice, I spent a whopping 5 minutes clearing the frost off my windows before driving on the "slick" roads. For as scared as these Noogans are, you'd think they'd do the same- right? Wrong. I saw minivan (probably with kids in tow) with a little face hole on the front windshield- everything else iced over. Seriously, people? If you are so terrified to drive in these "conditions" don't you think one thing you could do to ensure safety is... I don't know... clear off at least your front windshield???!!! Oh, and maybe put the defroster on for your rear window? Inbelievable.
(Inbelievable - not a typo. Definition: Unbelievable, but I believe it.)
I'm truly becoming afraid to drive in these "conditions" - not because of the actual conditions but because of the total lack of intelligent people on the road and behind the wheel.
Since the Blizzard of 2010 is pretty much the most amazing and catastrophic event to hit Chattanooga, talk all morning was about the weather. In the elevator, walking to my desk, in the break room, through chat. "It's so cold!" "Oh, my! The traffic on Friday!" "My neighborhood was COVERED in snow!!!!" "The conditions are so slick- people were slipping all over the roads!" "I prayed and cried the whole way home!" Seriously... I can't take it.
My peer let me know that because the weather was so awful, terrible on Friday she let my team go home early (I don't care) but since they aren't here yet (9:15 on a Monday during the Blizzard of 2010) have I spoken to them and am I sure they are ok and weren't in an accident!!!????
Yes. I'm sure. No. I don't need to call them.
Also, no news on my next rotation. Sweet. Despite my vow to the leasing office that I would never do business with them again, I'm requesting an extension on my lease. (Insert foot in mouth.) Yes, I hate them. Yes, I would never in a million years recommend my complex to anyone else. Yes, they are probably going to rip me off big time with what they consider a reasonable "prorated" rent amount. But, no, I do not want to sleep outside in my car while I wait for my relocation fate.
In other news, I tossed the chocolate/chocolate cake. It wasn't a giant cake, but it was more than enough for one person. And I was going through it too quickly. Fat-Awareness-Friday's (FAFs) have been slipping and I think I'll bring them back to life for February. What is FAF you ask? Well, in order to increase our fat awareness, me and Kimchi share our Friday weights with each other. It goes one of two ways:
1. Down 1-2 lbs: OMG! THAT IS AMAZING!!! You are so great!!!
2. Up 1-2lbs: Lame. Who cares. Are you going out drinking/out to dinner tonight?
(Yes, I realize that FAFs can also be Fat-Ass-Friday).
Oh! And I can't believe I didn't start with this! The dead bird curse is back. Maybe the person that put the hex on me is reading this? You can stop now. For those of you that don't know about the dead bird curse - well, I see dead birds. (Yes, I get that is like the Sixth Sense and "I see dead people". No, I am not making this up.) I did some gmail research because I know I've talked about the dead birds before and I've been seeing them for a while. Gmail confirms that I've been seeing them since EASTER. That's a long time. I wish I tracked every dead bird I've seen- I mean, I can remember a few standout situations, but surely not all of them.
So, yes, I see dead birds. And I've tried everything I can to stop seeing dead birds. I documented the situation in May to the Circle. It pretty much covers everything you need to know:
"every week since easter i have seen at least one dead bird. at first i didn't really notice because i thought they were babies that fell out of the nest. well last week i started picking up on all the dead bird sightings (flattened in parking lots, dead on the sidewalk, necks twisted in planters) and i was telling jenn and ajay "i see dead birds everywhere". they thought i was crazy but as soon as i finished my story, in a parking garage mind you, i see ANOTHER dead bird. not a baby, but a young bird, no feathers, neck twisted, in the parking spot next to me. shocking. i can't believe dead birds are following me. so, i decided to make an effort to notice alive birds. and i started noticing a lot of them- some flying, some just standing on my car, and i really thought my luck was changing. well, it isn't. this morning, strolling into work, loving the 70 degree morning and my blue shoes what do i see but a dove. dead. it was like it was sitting in a tree and just fell out! again, a twisted neck. but wings in, eyes closed. just peaceful and dead. but i was not happy about this and stomped my foot and said ARE YOU KIDDING ME outside my office building. i came in early today so i dont think anyone saw me, but i scurried inside when i remembered i was in public."
So, dead bird sightings have continued off and on for almost a year. One time I even saw the remains of a chicken wing on the sidewalk. Today's dead bird was particularly awful. Dead. Frozen looking. On the railroad tracks. I had to step over it. Yuk.
I'm going to go back to noticing alive birds tomorrow. Even the annoying ones that sit on my chimney and squak.
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