37 posts tagged “life”
So, I have survived my crazy week of travel with our new team member. She, by the way, is fabulous and I can't express how much I enjoyed having some company on the trip. Getting home last night was...a nightmare really. Bad weather all over the place made for lots of late flights and cancellations. I finally crawled into the house here around 12:45am.
Today has been full of work stuff - wrapping up things from this week, conference calls, scheduling for July, etc. But, for the most part, I am done now and must move on to the insane amount of housework that has to be completed before 8pm tomorrow!
Laundry: I have to get the guest bedding and towels washed! All other laundry can then be done as time permits...but those first two are a must!
Cleaning: Vacuuming the entire place will happen this evening. There is dog and cat hair in and on and around everything. I will also try to get all the dog bedding washed before tomorrow evening so that it doesn't smell so stale in here. It doesn't stink, but it all could use some refreshing. And the bathrooms...they both need to be scrubbed. Top to bottom. Inside and out. I should probably do a quick scrub of the kitchen floor too while I have the supplies out.
Organizing: My office and bedroom look like a bomb went off. I need to get things put away. Granted, Dad probably won't be hanging out in my bedroom, but the office? For sure!
The car will go to the wash/detail place tomorrow morning to get cleaned and I will do a quick grocery shopping trip on my way home.
Then, to the airport. Dad gets in sometime around 8:00pm tomorrow evening. Hopefully, he will have an uneventful trip. Traveling these days is crappy as it is...weather doesn't need to compound the crappiness.
Totally unrelated - I got the shoes that I ordered from Simple Shoes. They are adorable, turquoise canvas style shoes. I am going to wear them around the house later today to see how they feel...but just from opening the box, I love the way they look!
Marly's ear is markedly better. She missed her ear drops last night due to my late night arrival home and my being too tired to wrestle with her, but this morning she let me do them and was such a good dog about it. I think she is realizing that the drops are making the itching and soreness go away. The report is that they were good girls at the kennel...however, I think the ladies there just love Sadie more than anything and would say anything to get her there more often. Even up to and including the fact that they charge for Marly at the 30-60 pound dog price. Ha! Both pups seem contentedly tired today which is nice since I have so much to do and don't have enough time to take them to the park today (besides which the weather isn't cooperating for that either).
Oh yeah, Neil put up some old photos of Marly...I already forget how tiny she was when she came to live here! She will be 11 months old tomorrow.
So this weekend on our little vacation Sadie surprised the living daylights out of me by bounding down a really steep embankment and then by proceeding to charge right into the stream and start splashing about. She even beat Marly into the water! Though, she still made it clear that she does not like to be in water where she can't walk about - she tried to follow Marly into an area that was a bit deeper and immediately turned around and stood on a rock in the middle of the creek and whined at Marly until she came back.
Getting back UP the embankment with Sadie was a bit trickier, but we got her there by placing her feet about half way up where there were some rocks she could get a foot-hold on.
Then this morning at the dog park she actually chased tennis balls with Marly! She out-ran Mars the first few trips, but then slowed way down. It was nice to see her active, but now she is gimping pretty significantly this afternoon. Doggy daycare tomorrow and Wednesday will be good for her. She can still play but it won't be so strenuous.
I have an insane schedule between now and my dad's arrival:
- Tomorrow - Wednesday: I am in Pittsburgh working
- Thursday: hair appointment over lunch and then a meeting with a branch manager locally here in the afternoon
- Friday: jam packed with con calls and prepping for my trip the following week
- Saturday: Marly to the vet in the morning for shots and to pick up heart-worm medicine, then in the afternoon I get to sit around and wait for the glass repair people to come and glue the chip in my windshield
- Sunday: pack for my work trip
- Monday - Thursday: in Winchester, VA for work (training a new team member to boot....whhheeeee)
- Friday: more con calls and trying to wrap up work stuff before my time off
- Saturday: car into the shop for routine maintenance and oil change. Dad arrives Saturday night
So, somewhere in there I need to get the car over to the detail shop to get cleaned since it is a disaster from our trip with the dogs, clean the house, and get all the laundry done. Heh.
Right now I have to go pack for my trip at oh dawn hundred tomorrow morning. If I am lucky, I will be able to catch a flight that will get me home around 7pm on Wednesday...if not, I am stuck not getting home until after midnight. *sigh*
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.
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.
It is Friday once again.
Really, nothing at all new to report here. Just the typical work wrap-up stuff from this week and some prep work for next week since I am starting a review on Monday instead of my normal Tuesday.
I have no real weekend plans. The lawn guy is supposed to be here today to finally cut the grass. It has reached the point where it is too humid and warm outside for me to have any desire to do heavy yard work. Or at least not as much as mowing the lawn takes in one session anyway. The patio stuff and the planting bed stuff I can do in small increments and eventually it will all get done.
The dogs are good. Marly finished her antibiotics for her urinary infection last night. I am supposed to take a sample into the vet to have it retested, but that is going to have to wait a bit since my finances are all a mess (yet again).
Family news: My BIL, Nick, blew out his knee a couple weeks ago playing soccer. (He and my sister both play in an indoor league and are both excellent players who are still in very decent shape.) It was a very late night game - my sister got the call that she needed to come pick him up. She said when she got there, he could barely walk on it and it was blown up like a balloon. Both of them (and all of their friends) have been around their fair share of knee injuries and everyone who witnessed it happen (including Nick) were pretty sure that he had torn his ACL. Their insurance requires them to see a PCP to get a referral to a specialist. The PCP that he went to see didn't think there were any tears and would only refer Nick to the physical therapist. He went to a couple visits...each time his knee would swell up and be worse looking when he left than when he got there. The therapist finally did a could movement tests and told him that they also thought it was torn and that the MCL might also be torn and that they would not see him again until he had gotten an MRI.
Nick went back to the PCP who still insisted that there were no tears. Nick had to argue with him to get a referral to a knee specialist and to get the MRI. The knee specialist took all of a few seconds to say, yes, indeed he was sure there was tearing and that they needed to do the MRI right away to see what the actual damage was. The MRI result showed that the ACL was completely torn and the MCL partially. The good news is that the MCL will heal itself in time because it wasn't a complete tear, but that he would need to be completely opened up to repair the ACL. And that also, the best way to repair an ACL is to use tissue from the other knee (there are other methods, but as with any transplant that uses an external source there is the risk of the body rejecting the tissue). So, now, poor Nick will be out of commission for months. The first two of which (after surgery) include as little movement/activity as possible. Read: bed rest....for TWO months. Then comes months of rehab to rebuild all the muscle and tissue strength.
Poor guy. It has been one thing after another. I am not sure what, if any, recourse is available in regards to the stupid PCP who was refusing to give the referral that Nick wanted (and needed). There is even the strong possibility that this guy's ignorance and stubbornness could have caused additional damage to Nick's knee. But, I am guessing any legal recourse would cost more than it would gain in the end. At the very least, though, I have suggested that he contact the Attorney General in the state and also the head of the clinic or hospital that this doctor is affiliated with and file a formal complaint.
OK I guess that is enough rambling on to you all for now. Maybe this weekend I will get some painting done.
It is Neil's fault that I have fallen in love with the taste of some good bubbly mineral water. Either because a) he is the one who introduced me to drinking the stuff (it is his general favorite thing to drink and it is always in the house) or b) because he is the reason I moved to this ultra-warm climate and the cold bubbles and light mineraly taste are darn good after working in the yard. Regardless, it is his fault.
I am doing a review for a branch that is spread out in several locations locally this week. It is a blessing and a curse...mostly blessing. I get to sleep in my own bed each night. I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn each day (not that I don't do that naturally anyway). And all my toiletries are on hand without having to dog through a suitcase or a make-up bag. The curse is that I have quite a bit I ought to get done in the evenings that I am not doing because I am home and have other things to do during my off hours. Normally, this wouldn't be an issue even when doing a local review because most branches are a bunch of people in one place. Unfortunately, this is a bunch of people all in their own locations. Which means I don't even take my laptop with me because there is no place to hook-up and no time since all my 'down time' is spent driving to the next office. Ces't la vie. I will get it done tomorrow afternoon and Friday.
Tomorrow is another story all together. My manager is going to be listening in on one of my interviews as part of our internal quality control. It makes me nervous even though I know I have nothing to be nervous about.
*sigh* I always feel like I am back in school and I am going to make some horrible mistake and get in big trouble. I HATE that feeling. Though, to be truthful, I live almost every day with that feeling...that I have somehow done some unknown terrible thing that is going to get me in huge trouble (i.e. permanently ruin my relationship, lose my job, get evicted from my home, have my dogs taken from me, etc.) Over-anxious much? Yeah. I dream almost nightly of major natural disasters and wake up in a panic (after fully panicking in my dream) because I am not ready. Well no shit (pardon the foul language), but no one, even if they think they are prepared, are truly prepared for such an event - I mean I am talking cataclysmic floods, earthquakes, etc. So yeah, my point with all this, besides pointing out to everyone just how much of a freak I really am? I am stressing out because I think I am going to lose my job tomorrow even though I logically know I won't.
So yeah...tonight I am going to veg out in front of the TV with a couple beers, a movie or two and my dogs...snuggle them close and try not to think about What-If.
I am back in PA. This time in the Western part of the state...a couple hours outside of Pittsburgh. It is amazing to me how dilapidated this entire area is.
I understand Pittsburgh can be a great city with some fabulous museums, sports, art, etc...but so much of it has been let go. I know the economy here is rough - has been - since the decline of the American steel industry. But still, it is an entirely different perspective to witness it first hand.
There has also been a strange little cold front that is blowing through (same with back home too)...temps dropped over 10 degrees from this past weekend and are then expected to rise almost that much with this upcoming weekend. The overnight low tonight is supposed to get down to freezing here. Strange. Good thing I remembered to bring my jacket!
Apparently this evening Neil bought each of the dogs a hickory smoked beef thigh bone. This is after they got to go to the park again today and chase squirrels. *laugh* According to Neil, Beth got to witness just how fast Sadie can be. She doesn't show it much these days with as stiff as she is getting, but for a squirrel? Oh heck yeah! Tomorrow there are a couple trips to the dog park planned...I am jealous. I want to go too!
Now it is time for me to finish up the work I was doing this evening and maybe read a bit before I head to bed. Unfortunately, traveling out of this place doesn't work well so I am stuck here until Thursday. *sigh* Too bad I wasn't thinking at 4am on Monday while I was packing and didn't also throw in some project stuff I am working on. I am sure I will come up with something to fill my time.
The city has let up slightly on the water restrictions. For the time being I am now allowed to water my lawn on Thursdays (even number homes Thurs...odd are some other day of the week) and I can wash my car on Fridays.
Unfortunately, the lawn watering on Thursdays is highly inconvenient since I am usually out of town or traveling and arriving home very late on Thursdays. I may try to enlist the help of my neighbors with this. And I have a confession to make...I have owned my truck for over a year now and have yet to wash it myself. Don't get me wrong...it has been washed, but always by the dealership when I take it in for the oil changes and maintenance.
This weekend will be another jam-packed one. Today is housework day. Tomorrow morning Neil and I are going to head out to the opening day of the farmer's market in Charlotte. If I remember correctly, the local market in Mount Holly here opens next weekend or the one after that - when it does, it will be much more convenient. Hopefully, they will have lots of good stuff. It is their second year here in town.
On the way home from Charlotte we will be stopping by the rockery so that I can get prices on red rock and also paving stones (with delivery). Of course, I also have more shrubbery thoughts in my head too...I would like to dig up the prickly holly that is in front of my windows and replace it with a few different shrubs that will stay smaller and will bloom (a gardenia or two and a couple camellias). But that project is going to wait until I get the hardscaping taken care of and I get one last tree planted.
Tomorrow afternoon we are planning to take the pups to the dog park that is nearby (at lunch today I am hoping to have time to get out and get the Pooch Passes for the pups so we can do this). Apparently, there is a nice little beach area there at the dog park too!
Sunday will be spent doing the yard work that I will have intended to get to Saturday evening but won't have. Mowing and edging and chopping down overgrowth on the hillside and gully out back. FUN!
Next weekend will be actual hardscaping work if I can get the items I need delivered.
Then bright and early Monday morning I fly out again. Whhheeee. I really hate the travel. I am so tired of cramming my life into three days on top of all of my daily chores because I am not home in the evenings to take care of the mundane tasks like a normal person with a normal job.
To-Do
- pooch passes
- vacuum
- laundry
- scrub bathrooms
- scrub floors
- mow
- edge
- remove overgrowth
Shopping List
- flowering tree
- weed-n-feed/grass seed
- spreader
- groceries
- paving stones
- red rock
Today was my work week, or 'is', I should say since it isn't over yet. And I have been incredibly productive - I am all set for my review next week (including remembering to print MapQuest directions to the branch and from the branch to the hotel - something I routinely forget to do when preparing for a Monday departure), I have sent out requests for all my May review dates, I have reviewed the content of our entire database for Q2 (a huge undertaking - you may now call me Goddess), and I have endured two very tedious con calls (one of which I even had to take notes for and publish to our internal website). Oh yeah, AND I returned all emails and phone calls received while I was out this week.
I am not looking for kudos - really I am just impressed with my own lazy self and wanted to share.
It was a perfect day for working too because it is yucky and cold and rainy outside. Actually, yesterday was too - I watched movies all day yesterday and tried to get my lower back to recoup from all the tree hole digging that went on.
Tonight I am hauling some things out of my garage and over to Beth's garage for a yard sale this weekend. Which then means I have no more excuses and tomorrow will tackle actually cleaning out and organizing the rest of the garage. I am also making a trip (yet again) to Home Depot to pick up the last bit of red rock needed to complete the bed out front. I also need to get two much longer hoses, a metal rake, and a wheelbarrow (if the budget will allow). I am also going to price out rolled insulation to see what it will cost to insulate my garage. I may be tackling that as well if the budget has room in it. Sunday I will actually finish spreading rock (assuming I am not buried in an insulation project!). Yes, I have a habit of biting of way too much all at once because I am impatient and once I get on a roll with getting things done, I want to get them ALL done....now.
So there is my personal weekend itinerary. I know you all care. Ha! Really, it is pretty sad I guess that this is all I have going on to talk about, and yet, I am quite pleased that I have reached a point in my life that this is all I have going on to talk about.
