Inane Chatter

Oh, damn, it’s after midnight and this will get posted for Saturday instead of Friday.  Everyone made it.  We had dinner with Mom, Dad, Mindy, and Mark (delicious – I love Lightfoot), and we met the puppy.  She is as adorable as advertised, and Riley only knocked her over once.  That I saw.  They seem to be getting along fine.  Mindy and Mark are sleeping on the air mattress in the living room tonight, so we’ll just have to see how they handle all three dogs all night long.  If no one tries to eat the puppy and Roxy doesn’t have a seizure (did I just jinx her?), I’ll call it a success.  John’s family arrived around 9:30 (I think).  We all had a drink and hung out around the house until we were too tired to stand up anymore.  And now I’m too tired to type.

I’m going to sleep.

Seriously, don’t mind me.  I’m just dead.  It was the LONGest day.  (Not that Longest Day.)  Huh.  The more I type “longest”, the weirder it looks.  Anyway, I got up at six, got to work by 7:45, worked from then to a little after 5, exercised until almost 6:30, came home and ate dinner, and then spent an hour and a half cleaning.  I’m done.  Can’t do any more.  Brain isn’t working, legs barely work (getting up from this chair is going to be really painful).  Fingers feel okay.  Elbows are fine.  My hair doesn’t hurt.  The rest of me?  Let’s not talk about it anymore.

I am still reading A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  I think it’s the longest book of all time.  I’m sure most of that is because I haven’t had a lot of time to read.  And that’s at least partly an excuse.  I haven’t been making time to read.  I’m relying too heavily on italics.  And I’m unable to stay on topic.  I’m heading for the shower and then my bed.  I don’t want to be exhausted all weekend.  Busy busy busy!

John and I weren’t planning on watching more than the first couple of minutes of last night’s Daily Show this evening, but the first thing Jon Stewart did was tease that Spinal Tap would be performing during the regular interview spot, so we were hooked.  If you haven’t seen it (and you care at all about Spinal Tap), go here.

That’s all I’ve got tonight, though.  I’m sore all over – almost every movement hurts – and I have to get some cleaning done.

I was sore today.  And now, after my second boot camp workout, I am sore in new places.  Similar, but new.  Tomorrow is a day off from that, but I’m still going to run in the morning.  It might be more walking than running, but whatever.  Movement is what I’m after.

I’m starting to get anxious about the stuff I have to get done in the house before Friday when the hordes arrive (yes, I called you hordes).  Anxious, but not enough to do any of it tonight.  Three nights a week of exercise exhaustion is really going to lower my productivity.  But not at work!  I was very productive at work today.

Oh, hell, I’m being boring again.

Our company, as one of the benefits, sponsors one of those boot camp fitness programs at the office.  An instructor shows up at 5:15 three days a week, and whoever wants to go can go.  I decided to give it a try today.  All I do is run, and I haven’t been very good about incorporating any other sort of exercise into my routine on my own.  Anyway, it was hard, and it was hot, and I think I’m going to be sore tomorrow, but I also think I’m going to go back tomorrow and try again.  We’ll see.

I finished The Shell Seekers yesterday morning.  I really like Rosamunde Pilcher, but I think I’m going to have to space out her books.  That one made me cry twice.  And when I wasn’t crying, I was hating two of the characters.  I’m still kind of looking for what to read next.  I’m not quite ready to re-read The Time Traveler’s Wife, although that will probably be next, after whatever I choose now.  I picked up A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, by Dave Eggers, but I’m having a hard time getting into it.  John just finished it, and I think he liked it, but I was ready to give up on it about 100 pages in.  He gave me a hard time (just a little), so I’m still trying.  And it’s getting better, I think, but I’m not really involved in it.  I’m not hurrying to finish typing so I can get back to it or anything.  I should be hurrying so I can go throw away almost everything stored under the bathroom sink in the hall upstairs.  That stuff goes in the category of it’s-been-there-and-I-haven’t-used-it-since-we-moved-in-almost-four-years-ago-so-throw-it-away-already.  There’s a lot of stuff all over the house in that category.  But I may not get to that tonight.  Back to the subject of picking a new book.  I have several books that are the first in a series.  I deliberately only bought the first ones, thinking I’d try them out and if I like them, I’ll buy the rest.  But since I don’t have the rest yet, I’ve been putting off reading the first books.  What if I love them and I don’t have the others?  So I’ve backed myself into a corner.  Just read one of them!  It’s not like I don’t know where or how to get the next book quickly.

I hope it goes on all night.  We had a major thunderstorm two nights ago, too.  I’m not sure how much it actually rained, but it was right on top of us.  Almost no time between lightning and thunder, and once I nearly jumped across the couch ’cause the lightning almost hit the house.  There was a huge CRACK and everything powered kinda paused and you could feel the electricity.  It was a little scary.  Today it’s just regular rain.  It was really sunny and very hot (but low humidity – it didn’t feel like 90 degrees), and we were planning on going to the pool later in the afternoon.  We did go, but not for long.  We had a few sun breaks, but the wind picked up and the clouds rolled in, so we decided to head for home.  Walked in the door just as the first raindrops were falling.  Maybe we’ll have better luck with the pool tomorrow, but I think I’d prefer a full day of rain.

I went to the mall with Christina this morning.  We were looking for a light, casual summer dress, but we both struck out.  Tomorrow, depending on the weather (but I think it’ll be dry enough), we’ll do yardwork.  Yay.

This looks like it was so much fun.

I can’t focus.  I think I left my ability to concentrate (what there was) at work.  My thoughts keep jumping from work (we start testing this new software tomorrow) to possibly sending John to OR in September (tickets are over $500 per person – we can’t both go) to all the stuff we need/want to do this week to the Paul McCartney concert next weekend (with all the visiting family that comes with) to the South Park episode we watched while eating dinner tonight to the possibility of running into our new financial advisor while walking the dogs (he moved into our neighborhood a couple of weeks ago, and John saw him this morning while running) to – you get the point.  None of these things are bad, none of them are worrisome, and I’m looking forward to a couple of them (the concert and the visiting family in particular), but I can’t settle down and just do something.  Like type (it’s taken me forever just to get this far) or read.

I’m gonna give my book (and some m&ms) another try.

If you haven’t seen Jon Stewart’s latest interview with Brian Williams, you should go watch it now.  It’s hilarious.  I love the way they play off each other.

Brian Williams Interview on The Daily Show, July 20, 2009

Wow.  “Dying” looks SO not right.  It looks like you’d pronounce it “d’ying”.  Totally weird.  Anyway…

Work was actually kinda fun today.  I got to play with a working model of the project I’ve been working on before we start officially testing it.  I didn’t get anything else done today, but I can get back on track tomorrow.

I think I want this evening to be very restful.  I’m making tortellini (ooh, boiling water – that’s hard), and then after dinner I just want to read my book.  Or possibly throw out almost everything stored under my bathroom sink.  That could be therapeutic.  I want to take the dogs for a walk after dinner, even if only for ten minutes.  And I really hope it rains tonight.  We haven’t been getting nearly enough, and our poor sickly tree looks sicklier than ever.

See?

Check out the very healthy green trees behind it.

The poor thing is losing all its leaves.

That was my weekend.  Not in that order, though, and it wasn’t my nap.  I watched Colin so Christina and Will could go to the movies on Saturday, and Colin slept the ENTIRE time.  I hope he slept at least some of Saturday night.

We went out to dinner that night and then to the movies ourselves.  We saw The Hangover, which really is as funny as everyone says it is.  I thought it had a bit of a slow start, but I laughed my head off through most of the rest of it.

Then today, I went to see 42nd Street with Amy (from work).  It was awesome.  I love big dance numbers and they’re ten times better when they’re big tap-dancing numbers.  The “Audition” (the show opener) was probably my favorite.  I love the way the curtain comes up.  You hear the music start, and then the dancing starts, and then the curtain rises, just a little, so you can see all the feet.  It’s so cool.  And “Lullaby of Broadway” was fantastic.  Oh, and the end, when the director is on the stage by himself, and he sings the first few lines of “42nd Street” and he hits that note and holds it…man, that’s good.  And this guy was really good.  On top of that, the actress playing Dorothy Brock (the aging star, appropriately enough) was Loretta Swit!  As in Hotlips Houlihan from MASH!  That was so cool and such a surprise!  (And we didn’t figure it out until intermission because we’re blind, apparently.)  She was really good.  The only thing that was a little off was Peggy Sawyer’s singing voice.  It was annoying.  A bit.  She was so heavy on the vibrato you couldn’t tell what note she was singing half the time.  But it was so much fun.  I want to take tap-dancing lessons again.  And actually learn something this time.

I finished The Sparrow this morning.  It was very good, and only barely deserves to be called science fiction.  It’s science fiction in the same way Contact (by Carl Sagan) is science fiction.  Yes, there is travel through space, and yes, there is an alien race, but that’s really not what the book is about.  I really liked it.  I want to re-read The Time Traveler’s Wife before the movie comes out, but I’ve still got lots of time so I’m putting it off.  I’ve decided to read another Rosamunde Pilcher book, since the last one made me feel so good.  I started The Shell Seekers this evening.

Today was like any other day this week.  Busy, with an undercurrent of oh-my-god-what-happens-if-we-both-lose-our-jobs. I think that fear is rational, even if it is at least somewhat unlikely.  It’s so hard to tell!

So I’m not going to talk about that anymore.  I definitely feel better, calmer, having made the decision not to go to Kentucky in early August.  I can concentrate all my worrying on job stuff.  Which I’m not talking about!

Hm.  Well, I might be babysitting Colin tomorrow so Christina and Will can see a movie.  And on Sunday I’m seeing 42nd Street at WolfTrap with Amy.  Oh, I should email her.

John and I might see a movie this weekend, too.  Maybe have an actual date.  I just want to do relaxing things this weekend.  Nothing that requires effort.  I’ll get new lenses for my glasses, but that doesn’t require any exertion on my part.  I’ll just sit and read my book for an hour while that gets done.  Poor me.

The first thing I’m going to do when I get home is walk the dogs.  It’s not nearly as hot as it was last night.  Then I need to stop myself from ordering pizza for dinner.  It’s calling out to me.  Maybe John won’t feel like pizza tonight.  He’s not a pizza fiend, like I am, so I can probably rely on him.

Hey, we can leave now.  Yay!

I ran this morning (hard – SO humid), walked the dogs for about 40-45 minutes this evening, and had a very healthy dinner (salmon, mushrooms, broccoli).  I’m working on getting back to my healthy habits.  Slowly.  And all my snacks today were healthy.  I had baby carrots and grapes for lunch with my turkey sandwich, some cereal for a mid-morning snack, and an apple just before heading home.  Man, it sounds like all I did today was eat.

I’m so very glad tomorrow is Friday.  And that’s all I have to say about that.

I was lazy today.  John, too.  Actually, he didn’t hear the alarm, so he wasn’t lazy on purpose.  I couldn’t get my eyes to stay open.  But I am NOT going to let that happen again tomorrow.  I WILL run in the morning.  And I WILL try to post sometime other than last thing before I go to bed.  By that time of day, I don’t have anything left to say and all I want to do is sleep.  This is better.

John dropped his wedding ring under the center console (by way of the emergency brake) in the car today on our way home, so when Will showed up (they’re practicing tonight), he found us with all the car doors open and our butts hanging out while we were heads and arms first under the console trying to figure out how to take it out.  We were successful.  John has his ring back.

Later:

So much for getting this done before it was the last thing at night.  I was summoned to the basement to sit in with the guys.  The dogs eventually found us, too, and they mostly hung out behind the set with me.  Very companionable.  And it was fun.  I really do like to play with a band.  I think the worst part about it will be carting a drumset from bar to bar, putting it together and taking it apart before and after every gig.  I realize I’m jumping the gun a bit, but whatever.  That’s what I dread.

I’ve been trying to think of the weirdest combination of things I’ve ever bought at the grocery store.  You know, when you’re out of milk, toilet paper, and batteries or something and you don’t need anything else.  But that’s not all that strange, really.  Yesterday, I went to Bloom for milk and grated cheese.  Just that.  But still, not all that weird.  Today, the guy in front of me at Wegman’s bought two 1-liter bottles of flavored water (like Propel, only not), a package of Klondike bars, and twelve little cans of cat food.  That’s it.  I think that might qualify as weird.

I finished September just now.  It was such a nice book.  I’m going to start The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell, when I go up to bed.  Which will be any minute.  I’m afraid that if I stay up any later, I’ll start to worry about work and our future.  I can feel the anxiety mounting, and if I can just get to bed, I’ll be able to put off worrying until tomorrow.  I think.

That’s the plan.  I’ll let you know if it works.

So I’m trying to get back in the habit of posting every day, but once again, not much happened today and everything that goes through my head sounds inane.  More than usual, anyway.  I have some standards.

Actually, all I can think about is getting back to my book.  And my book makes me wish I lived in Scotland.  And I’ve also been reconsidering a career as a librarian of some sort.  I need to do some more research.  I’ll start with the ALA website tomorrow.  In his presentation on Saturday, the CakeLove guy talked about how he realized that what he really loved to do was bake, so he decided to quit his job as a lawyer and open his first bakery.  I’m a little jealous.  How do I make a living doing what I love?  Ooh.  If I get an MLS, can I be a librarian in Scotland?  That would be cool. 

John and I just spent the last five (six?) days at a resort in Cambridge, Maryland (Eastern Shore) for work.  Poor us, I know.  Our company (the one at which we are still employed) sends everyone to some hotel, somewhere, every summer.  We don’t like to call it a retreat, but that’s really what it is.  It was fun, but not entirely relaxing, if only because you can never fully relax when your boss and her boss AND the owner/president of the company are hanging out with you.

John and I got there Tuesday afternoon, had band rehearsal that evening, and then dinner with the band.  Always a good time.  We went to a seafood place on the water (naturally, being on the bay in MD), and almost every one of us had crab cakes.  Again, naturally.  They were good crab cakes.  We had Wednesday to ourselves until 8pm, so we slept in for the first time in I don’t know how long and found a local diner for breakfast.  We wandered around historic Cambridge for a little bit (not long – it’s not that big), and then went to the pool.  Eventually, we went out to dinner with a few band members and couple other people who had arrived by then (band members had to be there on Tuesday, but the rest of the first session people showed up Wednesday afternoon/evening).  This time we went to an oyster bar, where again, I think most of us had crab cakes.  Wednesday night was our first get-together with everyone there for the first session, so we hung out by the firepit (next to the pool) and melted s’mores.  Thursday was our first full meeting day.  Activities in the morning (lots of icebreakers), lunch, and then in the afternoon, we broke into teams and built (and raced) boats out of cardboard and duct tape.  One person from each team had to get in the boat and row it out to a buoy and back.  In the bay.  River.  Whatever it was.  My team lost.  Our boat sank as soon as our team member climbed in.

Thursday night, we went to a crab-picking/processing factory.  I’m not sure what to call it, actually.  They catch crabs, then people open them up, get the crab meat out, and package it for sale.  We went for dinner.  They had four long tables, with the professionals set up at the end, and they showed everyone how to tear those crabs apart and find the meat.  And eat them.  I ran into my whole-animal thing in the middle of tearing apart my first crab.  I pulled the shell off, pulled the claws and legs off, but then woman said, “Now, cut off the mouth,” and my stomach turned.  I left the crab-picking to everyone else.

Friday was a half-day for the first session, unless you were in the band.  We sat through some presentations in the morning and were done before eleven.  So the band headed over for our last rehearsal and lunch.  Thursday night, after the crab factory, a bunch of us were at the hotel bar when we decided to add a Michael Jackson song to our set as a tribute.  So we trooped over to the band room from the bar and learned “Billie Jean”.  I love the band.  We had so much fun.  Anyway, we played Friday night for the whole company.  It was more of a club setting then a concert (thankfully), and I think we were actually good.  People danced!  Of course, we had a cash bar, which is a step up from previous years.  It was fun for us, and I think it was fun for other people, and I really like to play when someone is out there enjoying it.  And I really like the people in the band.  We had a really good time.

I don’t remember Saturday morning at all right now.  In the afternoon, we played a game (based on “What’s My Line”), and then the guy who owns a local chain of bakeries (CakeLove) gave a presentation.  He was really cool, very personable, and he gave a good speech.  AND (most importantly), he gave us cupcakes.  REALLY good cupcakes.  We had a couple hours free after that (I read by the pool, John napped), and then we had our big corporate dinner.  More crabs and crab cakes, of course, along with steak and chicken and other yummy things.  The owner gave little speeches about the employees who reached their 10th and 15th years with the company this year (each employee gets a polo shirt of a certain color at their 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20-year anniversary, and the owner always talks about each employee when they’re given the new shirt), and when she got to our boss (who reached 15 years this summer), the owner also announced her promotion to executive vice president.  Surprise!  So I’m thinking that despite losing our contract (not that it was her fault, of course), her job is safe.

It was a fun night, and everyone stayed up late.  This morning we had breakfast and then listed to the annual State of the Company address from the owner.  Admittedly, we were all VERY interested in it this year.  She touched on the issues we’re facing and some possible solutions, but only in a very positive, somewhat vague way.

John and I got home a little after two today and have done as little as possible all afternoon.  We hardly checked email at all this week, so I’m putting that off until tomorrow.  I’m very tired, and I want a vacation.  A real one, with no tension and no stress.  No watching what I say or who I say it to.  Office politics are exhausting.  We both feel a little better about our status in the company (pretty confident we’ll be able to stay there), but that’s not certain yet, so we can’t relax about it.

I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

I finished The Secret of Lost Things a couple of days ago.  I liked the beginning better than the end.  It didn’t turn out to be what I expected.  Okay, but not great.  So I started a Rosamunde Pilcher novel (September), and I’ve decided that her stories are perfect for peaceful vacations, for lazy afternoons, for any weather…I really like it (and I loved Coming Home).  I like the pacing and I like that they’re sort of cozy stories.  Some drama may eventually occur, but it’s not going to be a crime novel or a thriller.  Family drama, maybe.  I need think about this some more.  But I really like it.

I need to wrap up and go to bed.  The dogs are happy to be home, I’m happy to be home, and I just want to rest up and get everything back to normal.

I haven’t been posting much (sorry), and that trend will most likely continue until next week.  We’re on our way to the annual corporate conference (which should be interesting), and while I should be able to check email regularly, I probably won’t spend enough time in front of the computer to post anything worthwhile.  Not that anything I’ve posted lately has been worth while.  Whatever.  I dropped the dogs off at the kennel this morning and asked them to track what time they actually give Roxy medicine every day.  We’ll see if that has anything to do with her post-kennel seizures.  And then I’ll start looking for a new kennel.  More on that later, if anything comes up.

We’re off!

Wait – almost off.  I completely forgot to mention that I finished The Alienist.  It had a slow start, but once they got to Sing Sing, I couldn’t put it down.  My next book is The Secret of Lost Things, by Sheridan Hay.  I bought it a while ago, and then almost bought it again over the weekend (I remembered in time that I had it already).  If it looks so interesting I try to buy it twice, I really have to read it.  So far, so good.

I think I like them better when we have Monday off (’cause then a three-day weekend is followed by a four-day work week), but this one is just fine with me.  We slept in yesterday, went for a run, and then picked Erik up to go have lunch.  We have finally been to Ray’s Hellburger, which was totally mobbed, and totally good.  I went to the eye doctor after that and found out there’s nothing really wrong with my eye.  I had a few eyelashes that were rubbing my cornea, causing a slight abrasion.  The eye doctor got rid of them, and since corneas heal quickly (when the source of the problem is gone, anyway), I’m pretty much all better now.  I felt a ton better as soon as the eyelashes were gone, and I’ll try putting my contacts in later today.

Roxy had another seizure last night.  It was right after we went to bed.  Normal length, and this time she actually recovered a little quicker than usual.  We headed back to bed maybe 25 minutes later.  She’s fine now, but I need to let the vet know there was another one.  The last one was about two and half weeks ago.

Okay, time for breakfast.  Happy 4th of July!

I decided to wear my glasses today BEFORE I noticed anything weird with my eye, I think.  I mean, the doctor suggested I wear them a little more often and my contacts maybe a little less.  But on the drive to work, I felt like there was something in my left eye.  I checked it out in the mirror once we got there and couldn’t see anything.  I asked John to look – nothing he could see.  But my eye watered all day and it still feels like there’s something in there.  I made an appointment to see my eye doctor, but I can’t get in until tomorrow afternoon.  Today would have been a pretty pleasant day, if not for the constant tears and the stuffy nose that followed.  At least I know this wasn’t caused by dry eyes.

I can’t stare at the computer screen anymore.  I managed to do it all day, but I think my eyes have had enough.  The worst part is that it makes it hard to read.  I mean, really.  What could be worse than that?

Don’t answer that.