Posts (page 2)
Survived the trip to GA. By the way, anyone looking for a pet friendly vacation spot should check out the Sliding Rock Cabins in Ellijay, GA. We stayed in a very nicely furnished cabin that was stocked with all the utensils and linens and bedding and such...including necessities for the dogs (bowls, towels, a dog bed, and even dog toys and treats!). The cabin was on a gorgeous lot back in the woods with a creek running out back. The dogs (even Sadie) had a blast back there...it was shallow enough to wade all the way across but deep enough in a couple places that the dogs could swim.
Friday we rented a pontoon boat and puttered around Carter Lake (I think that is the name). We stopped a few times and went swimming (the water was devine!) and I got a bit pink, but no one seemed to come away with any serious sun which was good. (Of course, we were all pretty well covered with sunscreen and when not in the water we were under the canopy on the boat.) Neil got some great photos of some nesting Great Blue Herons. It looked like mom, dad, and three young ones. I took some photos too, but didn't have a very long lens so we will see how they turn out. You can see Neil's photos from our trip on Flickr.
Saturday we went horseback riding. It was a blast...just an hour trail ride. Nothing extreme, but a ton of fun. It was Chloe and Neil's first time on a horse and they both did great. Beth and I both have ridden in our youth so once we were back in the saddle as it were, things came pretty naturally.
Then today was the long trek back home. Marly is being a pill now that were are back in our own house (dumped the water dish in the kitchen, got out and ran into the neighbor's yard across the street - the lady was a bitch about it and I told her to go jump in a lake...I was already pissed enough as it was without having to deal with her). I was going to bathe the dogs, but I think that will wait until tomorrow...after I haul them over to the dog park. I think I am going to try to get up and over there right at 7am when it opens so it isn't too hot and I can get back here to work during normal office hours. I also need to soak my plants again in the morning...some of them were about dead when I got home this evening. *sigh*
I had a blast on this trip, but I am still annoyed at having to go...there is SO much to be done here and no time to do it. Tomorrow I have to cram a ton of work stuff in while doing all my laundry. Then I am gone Tuesday and Wednesday (Pittsburgh....blech). Thursday and Friday are filled with all sorts of meetings and then I fly out at the crack of dawn the following Monday and will be gone until early Friday morning (by early I mean 2am or so)...while still being expected to put in a full day Friday which will be crammed with finishing up a ton of things before my dad gets here Saturday. Gah. Somewhere in there, I need to get the dogs groomed, my car into the shop for 30k maintenance and oil change (and probably new tires soon too), and also get it over to the car wash place to get cleaned inside and out before my dad comes. God knows when any of this will happen...oh yeah, I need a haircut too. SO low on the priority list, and yet SO needed.
okie dokie then...
Today I work and then we head out to Ellijay, GA for our little vacation. I am not looking forward to the driving...an hour and a half to the branch I am reviewing, another hour to the meet-up spot and then another 4 hours to the cabin. I put in five hours of driving yesterday already. Bah.
And it is still hot. The weather forecasters keep calling for cooler weather (back down in the 80's) but thus far it doesn't seem to be happening. So, I soaked all the plants outside this morning - hopefully they will survive four days without water in this weather. Maybe we will get lucky and have some afternoon rain storms?
The dogs are already with Neil...my car is loaded with all kinds of stuff. You'd think we were moving there permanently to look at it all, but I am discovering that traveling with two dogs and a small child (Chloe is going with us) requires lots of extras.
I think it will be fun...I just don't want to go. *sigh* We get back Sunday sometime and then Monday it is right back to work and more travel for me. My idea of vacation is staying home these days.
Today I have to try to get a bunch of projects finished up (or at least cleaned up) for both work and around the house. Tomorrow and Wednesday I am doing a review...tomorrow evening we will be packing up my car for the big trip to GA. Then Wednesday after my last meeting I will be meeting up with folks to make the trek over there. I despise driving as it is...coming straight off a work day into a 5 hour road-trip isn't really my idea of fun. There are so many other things on top of that that are eating at me right now - I desperately want to just throw in the towel and forget about it all. But that isn't fair to the other parties involved. And I don't doubt that we will all probably have a very good time - that isn't the issue at all...but I can't seem to properly voice what the issue is so that everyone else understands.
Right now I am off to tackle a couple files that need finishing up - then later I get to try to track down the manager of the review I am supposed to be doing next week to find out exactly WHERE we will be meeting. She has been a pain in the ass to deal with...today is not the day for her to continue to be. I am not. in. the. mood.
Again? Yes, again!
With some upcoming scheduling changes and sitter availability, I needed to get the girls collars with the clips that are easier to get on and off. Their daycare removes the collars during the day for safety with all the dogs roping together and such (probably a very good idea since I think Marly has actually eaten one of Sadie's tags. I found the other tag and the clip on the bedroom floor the other morning - no sign of the license tag though). I have found that the buckle style collars are next to impossible to put back on a dog who is VERY excited to see 'mom' and is bouncing all over the place.
Marly has returned to being the green dog. She got a pretty lime green collar that has white daisies with orange centers and dark green stems. The clip and ring are chrome. It is a very feminine collar which is somewhat funny seeing as how stocky and huge she is.
Sadie is still red. She got a fun red collar that has white Hawaiian print hibiscus flowers all over it. Her clip and d-ring are heavy-duty black plastic. Very much her sweet personality. I always remember how good the air smelled in Hawaii because of all the pretty tropical flowers blooming.
Both girls look very summery and cute. I also like the fact that the clip collars are adjustable so I can get the right fit. I have a problem with Sadie, unless the holes are in exactly the right places her buckle collars are usually too tight or too loose fitting. These I can "personalize" to fit just right.
Yesterday was a productive day, mostly.
I got almost all of the papers that had piled up in here sorted through and either filed or shredded. Admittedly, there is still one more smaller stack to go, but it is about a quarter the size of what I got through yesterday! (I filled two kitchen sized garbage bags with the shredder!)
I also got through a couple of the boxes that were in here - now I just have to tackle the remaining stuff that is stacked in the laundry room. I am hoping to get it all done this weekend so the trash stuff can get hauled away on Monday.
I did forget to pick up juice while I was at the grocery store, but the pet store was still out of cat food yesterday, so I have to head back out that way again tomorrow anyway.
Speaking of tomorrow, it is the DogsWalk Against Cancer. Marly and I will be participating. Unfortunately, it is supposed to be 100 tomorrow. UGH! And humid, of course. It should be an interesting morning.
The rest of the weekend will be spent trying to get this placed cleaned up. I am running out of time before my dad gets here (due to work travel and our little vacation with the dogs, I will be gone a lot between now and the end of the month). I need to vacuum and dust and try to get the spots out of the carpet where Sadie had her accident a couple weeks ago. (I did clean it, but it needs some real scrubbing/deep cleaning...and even then I think the stain might be permanent.) And I have a TON of laundry to get done...like the sheets and towels for the guest room and all the dog bedding.
I have given up on getting the painting done before he gets here. In fact, I am pretty much resigned to the fact that I will probably be doing that while he is here. Heh.
OK I am off to start some laundry...
Well OK then...
I survived my first major home repair. I have a new found respect for modern conveniences like air conditioning. I don't know how people survive down here without it...and why one Earth the first settlers decided to stay here? I have no idea. Maybe the more mild winters. At any rate, it is fixed, my house is back to a comfortable 70 degrees and the dogs are much, much happier.
Later today I have a minor home repair to take care of - the spring latch on the closet door here in the office got bent (I think it was never installed right and after almost 2 years of use it is finally in need of proper installation). I can fix it with a hammer and screwdriver.
I am also going to clean out the closet in here today. There is a gigantic stack of papers that needs to be sorted and filed (or shredded) and I have all sorts of random boxes of stuff that I need to go through and either bag up for Goodwill, or unpack and put away, or repack for storage. Someday I will finally get my office organized in such a way that it might actually stay that way! I also need to dig through the camera bags and re-confiscate my CF cards. I had two extras, but I think they have wandered over into Neil's camera bag.
Grocery shopping is on the agenda for the day as well. Though, probably not until much later in the day. The cleaning and other work stuff has to come first. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.
Right now I am going to schedule to have the auto-glass people come out and fill a chip in my windshield and then I am going to call the dealership and schedule an oil change. Go me!
At least it is fixed. The starter for the motor went out. It was receiving power but nothing was coming out the other side...hence, no motor on the AC unit running.
Other than that, the guy was very nice, tuned things up, though he said it all looked really good and didn't need much else at this time. So now, it is SLOWLY getting back to a normal temp in here. But, more importantly, the air is drying out. There is nothing worse than the inside air being as humid as the outside air!
Now I am off to pick-up Neil at the office and head out for some sushi. I have been craving it for weeks now, but the only really good place is over on the inconvenient side of town and we just haven't been over that way or felt like making the trek...however, after two days of no AC I am ready for some cool food for dinner. Raw fish just seems to fit the bill perfectly!
We retreated to the haven of cool air at Neil's house yesterday afternoon. Though, we did return last night to try to air the place out, and I wanted to be here this morning/today so that I am around when the HVAC guys call.
I hold a tiny, itty, bitty glimmer of hope that it will be this morning, but we'll see. Unfortunately, it was still really, really humid last night so it is all sticky in here this morning. Everything is all closed up, lights are off and only minimal appliances/electronics being used (except the ceiling fans which are all on full speed - it is sort of like a mini-hurricane in here now, minus the rain part!).
Of course, today is supposed to reach 95 and tomorrow 98 (and humid...have I mentioned that part yet? I know we need the rain, but man does it make things gross.) Please, please let the nice HVAC people come before it gets too warm!
The dogs have been troopers....really, for Sadie this is old hat (with the exception of the humidity). Summers back home usually had a week of really hot weather and we would retreat to the lower living levels of the house to sleep - she would usually go to the condo entrance where there was nice cool tile flooring. Last night was no different, she was found sleeping in the kitchen. Marly, who sleeps in my room, slept on the bathroom floor (after I thoroughly cleaned up every last small-ish item that she might chew on). Sadie will sometimes come sleep with us in the bedroom too, but I think last night it was too warm for her to make the effort to move. ha!
I think this evening (assuming the AC unit has been fixed and I can leave the house!) I will make the trek to find a wading pool for the pups. I despise WalMart with a vehement passion, however, I have not see any kiddie pools anywhere else I have been (Target, HomeDepot, etc) except the blow-up kind which won't work, so I may end up over there anyway. Wish me luck today!
I finally got around to calling the HVAC people to come do routine service on my system...the appointment was for next Monday. So what happens? The AC unit croaks this morning. Tomorrow is supposed to be the hottest day yet this year...thankfully, even though today is hotter than blazes, it is cloudy out. (But extremely humid!) So, I have all the ceiling fans on high and the blinds all closed up tight - it is 81 in here according to the thermostat.
As soon as I finish up a few last things and take a quick, cold shower, I am going to be heading over to Neil's with the dogs where there is cool air.
I called the HVAC people to schedule an "emergency repair" - they will come tomorrow sometime (they are calling as soon as they find someone who can fit me in). *sigh* So then next Monday I will still get a regular cleaning and tune-up of the system. Heh.
What timing. What luck. Bah.
Sunday Nail and I went into the city to take pictures of stuff. I just wasn't feeling inspired. I think I snapped about three shots. He got some good stuff though. In the afternoon we took the pups to the park to burn some energy and then over to the lake where they splashed around for a bit.
Yesterday I had to work just during the day, so the dogs stayed home. Holy cow! They were actually OK last night, but this morning Marly has been a pain in the ass - eating books, dumping the water dish/fountain all over the kitchen, stealing the kitchen towels, eating shoes, etc. I know it is because she was locked up all day yesterday...but unfortunately today, we won't make it to the park until later this evening. I am not sure I am going to make it until then without killing her! (It would help if she would quit whining, but she won't. She is desperate for attention and her sister is off sleeping right now.)
It is hot. Summer showed up with a bang...it is already 81 and humid. They say the high today is only 84 - I don't believe it since it is already so warm. Tomorrow is supposed to be 94. *sigh* At least I got all the plants watered this morning.
I also scheduled to have my HVAC system serviced next Monday. I have lived here two years (as of August) and haven't had it done. I suppose I could read up on how to do it myself, but I just don't have the time or energy...and it is one of those things that I want to be sure is done right. I also need to pull out my fridge and clean the coils on it. Maybe I can get my dad to help with that when he is here.
Speaking of which...he is coming to visit at the end of the month (June 28 - July 5). He is still pretty gimpy with his broken collar bone so most of this trip will be light projects (read: he will watch TV while I paint) and sight seeing. It will be good to see him though.
Next week we are headed to GA for some vacation time. The dogs get to go which will be very fun - we are headed to some cabins up in the mountains that cater to having the four-legged family members along.
I have been taking on the huge project of digitizing all of my DVD collection so that I can download movies from the server here at home when I am on the road. It is slow going, but so far so good! Really, the fact that the Xbox360 is out of commission right now is what sparked this move to get the movies onto the server. The Xbox was my DVD and HDDVD player...without it I wasn't able to watch any of my DVDs.
I had planned to work on painting this week, but I think right now the focus is going to move back onto just getting this place clean. It is really, really gross. I am embarrassed.
Right now, though,I have to get some stuff done for work. The rest of the week is full of projects - my Q3 schedule, finishing up a couple files, completing a couple proposals, and I think a few con calls. My 1:1 with my manager is today so we shall see how that goes and what pops up that needs to be done from that. My goal is to be completely caught up this week so that next week on vacation I can just relax and enjoy without worrying about what still needs to get done.
