My Life (Or Something Like It)

Friday, May 20, 2005

Bye For Now!

This will probably be the last post you will see from me until at least next weekend, since I doubt that I will have internet access in California. No laptop = no posting.

I'm about to leave work - I'm taking a half-day because my friend Kara is getting married tomorrow 3 1/2 hours away. The rehearsal is tonight, and I'm singing a song at the wedding, so off I go! I'll get home on Saturday evening at about 9-10pm. Then Sunday morning I leave for LA. So, it's a good thing that I will be getting home just in time for Memorial Day weekend - I'll need 3 days to rest up!

Anyway, take care everybody and I'll talk to you later!


Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Good and Bad Things About My Job

Tired, so tired. But what else is new?

In half an hour I have another EHS Committee Meeting to go to. Well, not only go to, but actually run. We all know how those tend to play out. Oh, we start out nice enough, but then we start to disagree on an issue and all hell breaks loose! Hopefully we won't discuss anything too controversial today. I don't plan on it, but sometimes things just pop up unexpectedly.

I just looked up the 10-day forecast for Anaheim, CA (where I will be all next week). The high will be between 78 and 82 degrees every day I am there, and it will be sunny! Sunny I tell you! I am a bit nervous about going, but pretty psyched also. I wish I wasn't going to be inside most of the time, but oh well. I'll try to find some time just to sit around outside the convention center each day. I'll pretend to be seriously contemplating the notes I took during the technical sessions. Repetitive motion is bad, you say? Causes musculoskeletal disorders? Hmmm............

Friday, May 13, 2005

Farewell, Bonnie!

Something exciting has happened! Well, exciting to me anyway. Last night my husband and I went out and bought a new car. It wasn't an impulse purchase - we (mostly he) had been looking online at different makes and models to see if there was any car that we could afford that he could fit into ( He is a large man - about 6'4'' and a whopping 360 pounds). Then we went out a few days ago and actually looked at some cars. Anyway, to make a long story short, we ended up getting a Hyundai Elantra. I always said that I would never buy a foreign car, but if you're financially challenged like us you almost have to. American cars are not the cheapest. Unless you get a small stick shift. But I can't drive a stick. Not the car variety, anyway.

So, it's exciting that I have a new car, but it's also a little sad. We traded in my Dodge Neon that I bought 6 years ago at the age of 19. I loved her very much and even named her - Bonnie Blue - after Rhett and Scarlett's baby in Gone With the Wind. Yes, it was a blue car. We had a lot of good times together, Bonnie and I, but I guess all good things must come to an end. I've named my new car in an effort to hasten the bonding process. She (my cars are always girls) is silver so I named her...wait for it...Belle. It was the best I could do.

Well, back to work I go. I have another hour or so, and then I'm leaving for Lafayette. My baby sister (I say baby, but she'll be 22 in a couple weeks) is graduating from Purdue tomorrow morning so I'm traveling down to celebrate with the family. She got a B.S. in 4 years! Mine took 5 1/2, but then again I changed my major like, 3 times. All's well that ends well, though. She'll be going on to Purdue's school of veterinary medicine for the next 4 years. Good luck to her - she'll probably need it.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Minor Gripe

No no, nothing exciting has happened, but I decided to check in with my blog today.

Just got back from Applebees. Hubby and I go there every Tuesday for lunch. I have to say, they have the best mozarella sticks that I have ever tasted. The rest of the food is good, too, but why on earth does it take them so long to make oriental chicken salads? Has anyone else noticed this? I wonder if it's just the Applebees in South Bend, or if Applebees everywhere are making people wait 30 minutes for the Oriental Chicken Salad and/or Roll-up. That's your assignment, America (I love America's Funniest Home Videos). Go to Applebees, order an Oriental something-or-other, and report back to me on how long it took to receive your ever-so-festive plate of lettuce, chicken and chow mein noodles. Go ahead! I'll wait.


Monday, May 09, 2005

I'm Still Here

Boy, I'm getting as bad as Spiffy Tiffy about updating this blog! It's just that I hate to bore people with the mundane details of my life but, if I only post when something exciting happens, you won't hear from me very often.

It's Monday again, but I am in a surprisingly good mood. I think it's because of all the sleep I got this past weekend. And yesterday I planted some pretty pretty flowers on my balcony! I got two 30'' planters and two 24'' planters and filled them up with begonias, petunias, marigolds and snapdragons. I also got a hanging basket with white petunias in it. Last year I got pink begonias, but it didn't do so well. I'm hoping that I won't kill the flowers but, if my house plants are any indication, their time on Earth is limited. For the time being though, my balcony is oh so springy.

Yesterday I also got the bathroom sort of cleaned. This is an ongoing battle with me - I absolutely detest cleaning the bathroom. I heard a comedian once say that he could look at a man's bathroom and immediately be able to tell if the guy was married or not. A single man, he said, would have stuff growing in his bathtub, but a married man's wife would not let it get that bad. My bathroom disproves this comedian's theory. I am doing well if I get it cleaned once a month. But, for now at least, I have a shiny white tub and no toothpaste spots on the mirror. Life is good.

Well, better get to work. Talk to you all later. Maybe.


Thursday, May 05, 2005

Way Too Much Drama

Wow, what a week. On Monday around 3:30pm my husband called me at work. He just asked "Can you come home?" He was crying, which he rarely does, so I was obviously concerned. It turns out that his father had a stroke. So, needless to say, I told the HR Coordinator that I had to leave. She said to take as much time as I needed, so hubby and I drove to Illinois to see his father in the hospital. To make a long story short, he is ok. He did have a stroke, but he got to the hospital very quickly and doesn't seem to have any lasting effects. The paralysis that he initially suffered on his left side is gone. He can talk, walk, eat, etc. - all of those things that we take for granted but are no guarantee after a stroke. He'll hopefully be out of the hospital by this weekend. I only ended up taking Tuesday off of work, which is no biggie. I am lucky enough to work at a place that gives it's employees a pretty good supply of paid personal and vacation days. So, all's well that ends well.

Other than that, not much else is going on. Just working and trying to get everything done that I wanted to do this week (which is definitely not going to happen, since new stuff keeps piling up). I'm pretty tired, but tomorrow night I plan on sleeping for a very long time! It will be the last weekend for a few weeks that I won't have to go anywhere, other than grocery shopping and all that good stuff. So I plan on enjoying it!



Monday, May 02, 2005

Another Monday

Well, sore boobs or no sore boobs, I'm still not pregnant. Not that Aunt Flo has arrived, mind you, but the test that I gave in and took this morning came out a big fat negative, as usual. I told myself that I wouldn't get disappointed - afterall, we've only been trying for 2 months - but I'm afraid that it put me in a bit of a funk. It's Monday, though, so I guess I would be in one anyway. You know, getting pregnant is harder than I thought it would be. I didn't have nearly enough fun in college.

So, it's back to the old grind today. I have 3 more weeks of straight work, but then I get to go to a conference and exhibition in Anaheim, CA for a week. I'm a bit nervous. I have to fly into O'Hare and change terminals, then I have to fly into LAX and find the shuttle station so that I can be transported to my hotel in Anaheim. And then I get to do it all over again (only in reverse order) 5 days later. I've traveled alone before, but never for so far or so long. It will be interesting. I will know some people there because Purdue University has a booth at the exhibition and a couple of my old professors will be there. I still don't know if it will be better to go it alone or hang out with a couple old guys with PhDs. Probably the latter - I'm not sure how safe the Anaheim area is for a lone female walking to dinner. Maybe I can make some other friends at the Purdue booth, too.

After the conference it's back to work for a couple weeks but then, in June, hubby and I will be going on a vacation to Tennessee. He has a sister that lives in Nashville so we'll be spending a few days there, and then going on to Gatlinburg where we have rented a cabin for a few days. It may not be LA, but at least it's not Indiana (not that I mind Indiana - it's a nice place to live. But sometimes you just need a change in scenery).

Ok, well I better get back to my Workplace Violence Prevention Program. No, it's still not finished. I had it finished, but the Human Resource Administrator had to put her 2 cents in and now I have to rewrite some parts. I like her and everything, but maybe she should have just written it herself!