Current Reads

Although I think the era when I would read six books simultaneously has long past, I still enjoy immersing myself into the plots of two or three books. I recently finished the Dune series by Frank Herbert. I adore that series even though it is so far removed from what usual repertoire of Victorian-Georgian literature. I was restricted to one book at a time for the Dune series as I was teaching for the vast majority of it. It took me four months to read the six books, and I must admit I'm a little embarrassed at the scant amount of time I was able to devout to my literary life.

But with my new job, I can reclaim my life, my afternoons, my weekends. I have many books in my personal library that I've never actually read (I'm a bibliophile and have difficulty refraining from purchasing new acquisitions.), and was finally able to pick up Wakefield Hall by Francesca Stanfill. Firstly, this is no soon-to-be classic. The protagonist is rather translucent with flaws that are not logical in comparison to the rest of her characterization (haha, I initially typed "characterisation" - that's what I get for reading so much Brit. lit.), and there lacks a driving force behind the plot that nearly made me forgo the book after the initial chapters. But, Stanfill's verbiage and turn-a-phrase is pleasant, and the characters are interesting enough.

It was this book that mentioned Edith Wharton and got me rereading The House of Mirth. I know I've read this book before, but it's been long enough ago that I can't remember anything until I read it again. I only started this book again yesterday, so I'm not too far in the book, but I'm already engrossed in Lily Bart and the social castes and gender roles of the turn of the century.

Nike: Robots in Disguise!

In honor of my husband, I felt that this discovery on The Manolo's Shoe Blog (fun in its own right) warranted attention.

Don't worry, Dear... our anniversary is just a month away. If you're good, maybe - just maybe! - you'll get your very own pair. Then you can add them to the upstairs box with all your other Transformers. :)

Kissy-kissy, Smoochy-smoochy LT

To heck with 401ks and flexible hours... who cares about work-paid trips? The real perk to this job is the karaoke provided by otherwise starchy lieutenants (LTs). As my business analyst (BA) is vacationing in Hawaii (thus making it a quiet week for me), I have been dropping in on other project meetings. Yesterday morning, I attended a working group meeting for Project: Ugly Baby. (no, that's not its real name.) The meeting was essentially a bust in that the planned objectives were completely untouched. Our attending LT, who is apparently known for his temper, was pretty steamed as we left. Speculations were made as to how his temper flare would be projected this time. (The prime computation was that he'd get in his truck and leave us all stranded.) Needless to say, the rest of us were not expecting a pleasant ride back to our building.

You know me and details - all this to set the scene.

As we settle into LT's pick-em-up truck, cowboy hat firmly established on dashboard front and center, imagine our surprise when LT cranks up his radio and starts singing along to

spent the whole day lyin' on the beach,
wearin' nothin' but a smile,
playin' kissy-kissy, smoochy-smoochy,
talkin' mooshy-mooshy 'bout nothin'.

Steve Holy song, "Brand New Girlfriend"

You can find the entire cd (by the same name) at Amazon.com and listen to a clip from the song just to hear for yourself how COMPLETELY AWFUL and GOOFY the song really is.
Caution: Hemorrhaging of the frontal lobes may occur to persons not accustomed to modern country music. I am not responsible for any ensuing trauma and/or anguish caused by listening to country music.

Wow.

Yes, this is a real article. I double checked by searching the paper's archives and found it. Please click on the article to view a larger, more readable, image.

1st Day & Lovin' It

Well, I don't feel like going into details about my first day on the job... but suffice to say that it... was... AWESOME! The job itself is great, the co-workers are great, the benefits are great, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

I've got to get up early tomorrow though... *pout* .... off to bed with my sleepy head....

Too Funny

Today, my last day of unemployed bum-dom, I stopped by Wal-Mart for little bit of light shopping. As I headed for the check-out lanes, I walked past the men's undie aisles. Much to my amusement, I got to witness Good Ol' Boy Farmer A hold up a pair of bikini briefs and say to Good Ol' Boy Farmer B, "Now do you wear these here briefs or those boxers?"

To which I wanted to reply, "Go with the briefs. They're very sexy with those overalls."
I'm proud of myself though... I managed to walk 3 more aisles before the laughter overcame me. :D

Enjoying the Weekend

Nobody took my last post too seriously, I hope. Granted, Aaron and I still plan on buying/doing all of the things on that list (except for Rosie), but it's not like we're going to go out this weekend and check off everything on the list. Some of things may never happen, and many of those things will be spread out of the next year or so.

Although this weekend's expenditures are clear evidence that the spending freeze has melted. Melinda and her boyfriend, Jason, came down for what should have been a huge softball tournament. Unfortunately for Jason, it got rained out. It was so great to see her again! We pampered ourselves with an hour massage which was a first for us both. It was... incredible! Next time... oh yes, there will be a next time, I'll have the massage focus just on the back, neck, and right arm. (Right arm cuz I'm a computer addict.) pure bliss..... :) Let's see, the four of us ate at Olive Garden, perused The Avenue and Wolfchase malls a little, and went down to Beale St. to get a diver's bucket at Silky's until we got frozen out... at which point we moved over to 152 to dance. By this point we'd joined up with Carl and Rogie, who'd remembered to leave his hat at home this time. :) (That hat got us thrown out of the club last time!) We got home around 2:30 am, at which point Aaron and I were so tired that we pretty much were asleep by the time our heads hit the pillows.

Aaron and I joined up with Melinda and Jason at IHOP this morning before they left for Missouri. It seems like such a short time that they were here, but it was great. And I'm so glad I finally got to meet Jason! Aaron and I think he's hilarious, and I'm so glad to see Melinda in a happy relationship! She finally has a boyfriend I like, lol.

On other notes, I got to buy three new pieces for my new job - a blouse and two slacks. We also stopped by Lowe's and, among other misc. items, bought some window decal sheets that when applied on the windows, give the appearance of stained glass. My goal is to be able to open the blinds in our huge master bathroom window without letting on the neighbors getting a clear view. The awkward thing is that the window is so huge that we had to buy three faux-stained glass sheets. Since I didn't want the seems to be unseemly (hehe), I bought some screening spline (thin black rubber tube) that I'll cut in half and then glue along the seams to act as the soldering between the stained glass panels. Not sure how we'll put all this together.... but it should be interesting!

Oh, and I start work on Tuesday! Exciting!

Death to the Spending Freeze, Long May it Melt!

Ding dong, the freeze is gone! Which deep freeze? The spending freeze! Ding dong, the spending freeze is gone!

In no particular order... wait, yes they are... they're in the order in which I think them! :P
(Listed updated: 07 May 2007)

√ Guest bedroom set (used from friend)
2. Painting supplies and, duh, paints. We'll start with the dining room.
√ DirectTV cuz momma's gotta watch her some Tudors! Mmm... he is so fine!
4. New fridge
√ Deep freezer
6. New kitchen sink.... literally, I hate it. It leaks, and it's ugly.
√ Cosco membership
8. Storage shed
9. Waterscaping for the backyard
√ Going to the movies! (omg, Blades of Glory was SOOOO hilarious! Aaron and I went to see it tonight, and I swear I haven't laughed so hard for so long in a long, long time.)
11. Dinners out! Carraba's and Olive Garden, here I come!
√ Home furnishings/wall art.... started, no where near finished
13. Oriental rug for the living room... still want the same one I blogged months ago.
14. Washer and dryer... one of those huge capacity ones with the front-loading dryer, like Jeanette has.
15. Thea-tah room furniture, namely a small couch and some recliners
16. Built-in bookshelves in the computer room
17. MacBook (Pro, hehe) G5
√ Oh, and some new clothes for me! I haven't bought any new clothes in like.... a year!! I am completely deprived! I am so neglected... *swoon* ..... ..... isn't anybody going to rescue me? *pout*
19. New mattress for our bed - I really need something to where I can sleep at night and not wake up in pain.
20. .... Rosie the Maid from The Jetsons :D

The Great Global Warming Swindle

An online friend was wonderful enough to share this program, The Great Global Warming Swindle, with me just today. It's a terrific documentary - just be forewarned that it's a little over an hour long! (But sooooo well worth the time.) Here's a quick summary provided by Google (just be aware that it's British spelling):

Accepted theories about man causing global warming are "lies" claims a controversial new TV documentary.

'The Great Global Warming Swindle' - backed by eminent scientists - is set to rock the accepted consensus that climate change is being driven by humans.

The programme, to be screened on Channel 4 on Thursday March 8, will see a series of respected scientists attack the "propaganda" that they claim is killing the world's poor.

Even the co-founder of Greenpeace, Patrick Moore, is shown, claiming African countries should be encouraged to burn more CO2.

Nobody in the documentary defends the greenhouse effect theory, as it claims that climate change is natural, has been occurring for years, and ice falling from glaciers is just the spring break-up and as normal as leaves falling in autumn.

A source at Channel 4 said: "It is essentially a polemic and we are expecting it to cause trouble, but this is the controversial programming that Channel 4 is renowned for."

Controversial director Martin Durkin said: "You can see the problems with the science of global warming, but people just don't believe you - it's taken 10 years to get this commissioned.

"I think it will go down in history as the first chapter in a new era of the relationship between scientists and society. Legitimate scientists - people with qualifications - are the bad guys.

"It is a big story that is going to cause controversy.

"It's very rare that a film changes history, but I think this is a turning point and in five years the idea that the greenhouse effect is the main reason behind global warming will be seen as total bollocks.

Jobless bum no longer!

What beautiful words - "We would like to offer you the position."

Be still my beating heart! This all happened so quickly. Monday held little promise when it came to my job prospects. I had paid $200 to take health insurance classes for 4 solid days this weekend for an insurance sales position that I didn't want, no other jobs had shown interest in a while, and no one was calling to schedule an interview. Then I get a call to interview for a position as senior technical writer. But wait, there's a catch! They want to fill the position as soon as possible and can't wait even a few seconds. Can I interview tomorrow? I start to worry - I have an ob/gyn appointment (which are nearly impossible to schedule quickly and always take several hours) and the Ashley Furniture repair technician was FINALLY coming by sometime in the mid-day to early afternoon (which forces me to hang around the house indefinitely). Can we interview on Wednesday? No! Too late! Now I really start to panic - I can't lose this opportunity and I can't over-schedule. So I hesitantly offer that late afternoon might work and they snatch the opening. Even though they'd getting off work, they coordinated a central meeting area at Bennigan's on Popular Ave.

The interview is scheduled, and I show up at the restaurant at 4:00. What they said would take maybe 40 minutes ended up lasting an hour and a half. Always a good sign! They looked over the copies of my resume and responded very encouragingly to all of my answers. ("Sounds exactly what we're looking for" and "That's what we like to hear") When they asked how quickly I could start, I answered "as soon as possible" - to which they responded, "How does Monday sound?" I was surprised that they didn't grill me very much; much of the conversation was centered on what the job entailed, with whom I would work, and the details of gaining security clearances, etc.

The job honestly sounded too good to be true. Cynical person that I am, I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop. I would be working with a small team of about 20 people - that's everybody. Within that, I'd work closely with one other person on a given assignment, or billet. I'd work on several billets at a time, as needed. As described in the job posting I linked above, my main responsibilities would be to edit, format, etc. - all the stuff that I love doing already. There is opportunity for advancement, and when Aaron takes another job and we move again, I'll have the perks of working for a huge global company by working my connections and easily (or more easily) finding another job. Ok, that's not the reason I want the job, but it's a unique advantage I've never had before.) They talked about the other employees, how certain things in my resume reminded me of So-and-so, how they work as a very close team, all sorts of wonderful little things. It's a salaried position, and they encourage staff to "work hard, play hard" in that if you put in extra hours on Monday, you can give a little notice and reclaim those hours later in the week. Since it's military based, there are ten paid holidays. And vacation time is not divided into personal and sick time - which I adore - so it accrues more quickly. It will likely involve some travel periodically, especially to main navy bases on the East coast. I see this as an awesome perk.

When the interview started to wind down the team leader said that they had one interview that they had to conduct, but that I should expect to hear from him at 8:00 the next morning. He even went so far as to ask how early he could call because they really wanted to get the ball rolling on this. He went on to explain in detail the next phase of application/documentation. Every once in a while he would throw in an "if you get hired," but the sheer fact that they went into such minute details -that I would need x, y, and z documentations to obtain facility parking permits for my car, for example - made me feel pretty secure that I'd gotten the job. All in all, the interview couldn't have gone better!

8:00 this morning came and went... then 8:10.... then 8:20.... then 8:30..... and with each passing minute, my doubt and worry grew. Had I really misinterpreted yesterday's interview?

And then the phone rang at 8:34 and I nearly flung O-ren, who had been peacefully purring on my lap, against the wall in my frantic rush to answer the phone. After a very little pleasantry, they offered me the job, and I tried, without success, to respond affirmatively with at least a modicum of dignity. I'm relieved and excited to hear that I'll be making the same as I was at GMS.

The spending freeze is OVER!! Woo HOO!

A Pinch of This, A Smidgon of That

InuYasha

This picture has nothing to do with anything, but it's just SO adorable that I had to share it. I may be mad that the series was never finished, but I'll always love InuYasha!

Day two of Aaron's and my Feaster vacation in Missouri. I just finished trolling the job boards, Earl and Aaron and outside getting ready to pour cement for a new shed, Laura-mom is upstairs, and Lydia is finishing a half-day of school. We're celebrating Lydia's birthday this evening since Aaron and I won't be in the state for her actual birthday. Her present, a blue iPod, is still buried in my purse. I brought Aaron's and mine, but I haven't gotten it out while here because I didn't want to risk any iPod-y conversations with her. Apparently the birthday girl announced this morning that she wants to eat at Chevy's. I would bet ten-to-one that certain knowledge of her how her big brother always complains how we don't have one near Memphis and how we only get to eat there when in mid-Missouri had something to do with her decision. :) At least that sounds like something I would do.

Surprisingly enough, my full paycheck was deposited this morning. Surprising in that my last paycheck was presumably my last full paycheck. I had thought this this Friday's paycheck would contain only the residual summer money from opting to have my 10-month salary equally distributed over the entire year. Maybe that's all this paycheck actually is. I guess that would make sense... I only left two months early, which means that I'd already have had my the vast percentage of summer checks already pulled out. This is really confusing and speculation is completely pointless. ... so anyhoo ...

Aaron and I want to see if we can't convince Dad to let us have my old bed. He only uses it to fold socks - a big extended dresser - anyway. We have two sets of friends that are planning on visiting us this spring - one next weekend! I'm really exciting about the prospect of having old friends in for the weekend, but I'm not thrilled to think of where they'll sleep. Because I moved the TV upstairs, the futon had to go up there too to serve as a couch. If anybody stays the weekend, that makes the upstairs "thea-tah" into a potentially awkward guest room. I don't want the family room and the guest room to be the same! Granted, it's not the worst of all possible scenarios, but since buying a bed frame, comforter, and mattress are currently out of our budget.... having Dad give us my old bed seems like a perfect solution!

Complete and total love affair

Yes, I am having a love affair . . . . . with a chat program. No, not on a chat program; you read correctly the first time.

I LOVE Adium! This is an amazing chat program, not unlike Trillian, which allows Mac users to congeal several different chat programs into one seamless program. And did I mention that it is almost completely customizable? This makes all other chat platforms look archaic. I have all the benefits of every chat program, such as MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, AIM, etc. but I also get great unique style and customization that nobody else has. I even have it set up so that the computer says the name of the person signing in. So now when I'm somewhere else in the house and hear somebody sign in, I don't have to run over and see who it is - I'll already know! Here's a screenshot of how I've customized Adium to look. It expands and collapses as people sign in and out. Yes, it's completely strange looking; like I said, I heavily customized it. You could make it look completely traditional if you wanted. But seriously, that's no fun!

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

Nostalgia, according to Merriam-Webster Online, is sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy or personal associations. Most of us are guilty of this at one time or another. I certainly have been. Who hasn't wished for the innocence and stressful life of a child? Ah, with what rose-colored glasses we dream!

Even as a small child, I somehow intrinsically knew to sign, date, and save many aspects of my life - both good and bad. I've always, at some level, wanted my future self to remember who I was, to not forget my past.

As I was cleaning an upstairs closet, I stumbled upon a letter that I wrote during the winter of 1991. This would put me right around 9 or 10 years, depending on if "winter of '91" refers to the beginning or end of 1991 since both are still considered winter. Either way, it's a primary document that reminds me of my past - the good and the bad. Click on this thumbnail to view a bigger - readable - image of the letter. There was so much going on in my life when I wrote this! It's almost difficult to read the anger in this letter because of my sense of humor and my obvious awareness of how others might perceive myself and the letter. It's also interesting from a psychological standpoint - I threaten to run away, and I give the family until summer to make the necessary changes to keep me from following through with the threat.

If I'm not mistaken, I *did* run away after this letter. I packed approximately 3-4 plastic Wal-Mart-type bags with some food, clothes, and a few items such as books, stuffed animals, etc. to keep me company. When I left, I walked away from the highway in front of our house and deep into the woods, along the creek, and through some fields - a huge U - so that I could circumnavigate the neighbors' houses and thus avoid detection. I then got back on the highway and started heading east toward a major junction where I planned to hitch a ride. That's really as far as my planning got me. I made it quite a few miles until Berry hauled me in and took me back home. I was so embarrassed and mad at him! I still remember the stretch of road where I was picked up.

Lightening and Thunder

Although Aaron and I went to bed at 9:20 tonight, we were pulled away from our reading with the sound of torrential downpour and hail. But, at least it gave me time to play around some more online! I love storms.. they're so exhilarating!

And we leave for Missouri tomorrow evening, horray!