Something So Strong (Crowded House)

A little of this:

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Plus a little of this:








Equals this:









Which inevitably leads to this, at 8:21pm:

So, Jeff called out "sick" again today. I wonder if my sick time was given as it's own separate bank of hours (as opposed to being lumped with our vacation hours), if I would call out as much as Jeff does. I really do like that ours is lumped together as Personal Leave. If I'm sick, I call out. If I wanna take some vacation, I take the day off. If I need some cash, I can cash out my hours. I like having that flexibility to do with it as I want. Our only requirement is that we must take 5 consecutive days off work each year. I *think* I can handle that (& still have plenty of hours to cash out or take random days off here & there).
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Today, I am thankful for:


1. Saving up my PL for use as I see fit
2. Halloween potlucks
3. http://www.allrecipes.com/
4. I'm almost caught up to "real time" Grey's Anatomy (1 episode to go)
5. Not waking Jeff up when I took that picture of him.
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What irks me today:
Each year, my company provides the opportunity for our staff to contribute to the United Way through either payroll deduction, monthly billing, or one time donation. I think giving is great in general, but giving particularly to the United Way is wonderful. I like to give for several reasons - you can confidentially give as much or as little as you can afford; you never know when you might be in a situation to where you might need some help; karma's a bitch. I started giving to the United Way when I first started at my company nearly 7 years ago & I only gave a dollar per paycheck & have increased it each year by a buck. It's kinda like your 401k. You learn to live without that contribution & by increasing the amount you contribute by just a small amount or percentage, you hardly notice it's gone from your bi-weekly paycheck. Anyways, I'm frustrated at people who can't even find $1 to donate every two weeks to a worthy cause. It screams selfishness to me, especially when I see these people buying their Starbucks or Seattle's Best or Tully's every other day.

Keep on Moving (UB40)

So, there's this guy that I met a long, long time ago. Okay, maybe not *that* long ago in the scheme of things, but I met him a good 4 years ago. His name is Maurice & he rides the train from Auburn to Seattle. He's an older man. Reminds me an awful lot of Bill Cosby for some reason. It could be because he is an older black man & it could be that he seems to be wise in his older age.

One thing that I think is so *neat* about Maurice is that he is, without a doubt, a "ladies man", but not in the creepy-oompa-loompa-I-just-wanna-get-in-your-pants sort of way. No. Instead, he actually knows a LOT of women on the train. Well, maybe he doesn't KNOW us, but he knows our names, at least. In my opinion, I think this is a pretty cool trait to possess - to know all these women & not come across as some perverted, dirty old man.

Maurice is in seemingly great health. He was in the military many years ago. He's mentioned to me that he stays in shape by working out frequently. When he'd take the stairs at the train station, he'd climb them two at a time. For the past several months, however, I noticed he's been squeezing himself into the elevator & riding up the two stories to the skybridge & then once into the garage, he'd take the elevator up the flight or two to his car. I'm kinda baffled by this because I'm still certain that he could take the stairs if he wanted to. I don't talk to him all that often, except for a passing "Hi, how are ya?" otherwise, I'd ask him why he insists on taking the elevator. I'm going to make the assumption that it's because he'll have a few more minutes with the ladies.

As for me, I've decided that as long as I am physically able to, I am going to take the stairs up & down the few flights of stairs at the train stations.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Working limbs
2. Recycling centers
3. Good hair days
4. Keeping up on my other blog
5. Comments from my readers

What irks me today:

Several weeks ago, my department approached our boss to find out if we could alter our schedules so that 2 people can get off work earlier than 5pm. As it is, we have 6 in our dept: one is off at 4pm, my boss leaves at 4:15, and the remaining 4 leave at 5:00. Is it necessary to have four people there til 5p? No. So, we came up with a schedule where in alternating weeks, two people could leave either at 4p or 4:30. After some hesitation & thought, she reluctantly agreed to it, but said she will not babysit it AND we can't start it until the new year begins. Cool!

Jump to this past week. I was bored & thought, 4 - ten hour days would be pretty cool & with 5 working employees & 5 days in a week, well, you do the math. Without ANY hesitation, denied! I tried to tell her it would work. She didn't care if it work, she wanted nothing to do with it. No was her final answer, Regis. I altered it a bit, rotating it from each person having a day off every week to one person having a day off each week & the weeks would rotate . It too would work. Not even a budge. No was her answer once again. This time, she offered the explanation that we don't have enough work to do in our daily routines to constitute working an additional two hours a day, for four days.

I think she had thought long and hard about what reason she would give when it was brought up again, but actually getting a reason made me feel "okay" with the result. As it is, I really don't have enough to do to fill an 8 hour day. I honestly don't know what I would do with a 10 hour day. Still made me mad though.

Cryin' (Aerosmith)

I was cryin' when I met you

Now I'm tryin' to forget you

Love is sweet misery

The plan was to catch up on Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy before watching Season 4. Well, I didn't entirely watch all of Season 3 before seeing the first episode of Season 4 a few weeks ago. I don't entirely know what's going on with everyone, but I haven't been living under a rock for the past year either. I know Burke & Yang were engaged to get married & didn't. I don't know who Ava is. This morning, I watched episodes 9-12 from Season 3 & boy was I balling. See, episode 12 was where George's father died. I think anyone who has lost a parent would completely understand the tears I cried this afternoon.

The past week was fairly uneventful.

Last night, we had an unexpected, unwanted shortlived houseguest. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the sucker was ginormous! The body of the spider was a little bit larger than a quarter.

Last Thursday, the local weathermen predicted some wind storms. According to Jeff, the lights flickered off & on all day & Shiggy hid under the bed. Scaredy cat! We weren't really affected at work. I didn't go outside except to walk to the train station. Fortunately, I had my trusty ol' umbrella to keep me dry. And, even better, it didn't flip inside out in the winds.

Coming home, was another story. The train folk decided they weren't going to drive any further south than Kent (there was powerlines &/or trees on the tracks) & I would have to find my own way home. I didn't have my cellphone with me & so, couldn't call anyone to come pick me up. I ran into Randy on the train who was going to hitch a ride with some girlfriends of his. I ran into Katt among the crowd of passengers who said David was going to come & get her from Kent Station. I found a bus & was lucky to get on AND get a seat. Even better, it was an "express" bus & so it didn't stop at every single stop between Kent & Auburn, which was nice. By the time I walked into my house, it was only about 35 extra minutes than it usually would have taken. Not too shabby.

Yesterday, Jeff & I helped Kat move into her new/temporary residence: with her friend/co-worker Laurie. Laurie lives with her husband & daughter up on the Issaquah Plateau. Or, is it the Highlands? Either way, she has an incredibly beautiful home.

What's on the agenda for the week? Tuesday, I'm going to Famous Dave's in Tukwila with Joanna & Kat. Yummy! Maybe I'll even bring a rib home for Jeff.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Sam's Club
2. Getting paid to stamp
3. I can get all my laundry done in a day
4. Tacos
5. Big-girl panties

What irks me today:

I'm not saying I'm perfect, by any means, but I wish people would update their blogs on a more regular basis. By "regular" I think weekly or bi-weekly is a good timeframe (not monthly or bi-monthly). I know folks with blogs & other online sites where they *could* be updated more frequently & they're not. How do I know this? Because I check. I check. And, I check again. Is it a waste of time? Perhaps. But, there is the off-chance possibility that I could be surprised with an update of what's been going on in their lives. Plus, I'm nosey. I *want* to know. So, if you think nobody reads your blog, you're wrong. I may not post a comment, but I do read 'em. So, post away!

When I Said I Do (Clint Black & Lisa Hartman Black)

When I said I do, I meant that I will

'til the end of all time

Be faithful and true, devoted to you

That's what I had in mind when I said I do

'

Hard to believe an entire year has passed since I said my vows to Jeff on a fabulous Hawaiian beach in front of our friends & family.

This weekend has been pretty low key for us. Friday, I was in Portland for a Stampin Up conference & didn't get home til late Friday night. Saturday, I tried to organize my stamp room some, but got distracted by all the television shows that were waiting for me on the DVR. I caught up on most of 'em, but there's still one or two waiting for me. Today, Jeff & I went to The Melting Pot for dinner. Very tasty, but man, I am SO full!! I love melted cheese!

I *finally* got all my photos uploaded on Flickr. I even got some of Jeff's galleries on there too (most of our vacation pics are from his camera). It was a little time consuming, but I'm glad it's done. In the future, it won't even be a big deal because I can upload them as I take them (for the most part).

Yesterday, Jeff's folks came up to drop off some ground cover & we all went to lunch at the Performance Grill. While there, we were reminiscing about Maui & talking about how we all are wanting to go back. I see a Hawaiian vacation in my future. We'll be going to the U.K. in the spring for Kim's wedding, but perhaps, Christmastime 2008 I'll be soaking up some tropical sun.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. My husband
2. Celebrating anniversaries
3. Love
4. Song lyrics online
5. Happiness

That irks me today:

Today, I am frustrated that I have a stamp camp in less than two weeks & I still need to come up with a 4th card. My 3rd card took some time & I'm not 100% happy with it. I may tweak it some, but only if I have time to do so. For now, it'll have to do. I was hoping to get my 4th card designed today, but I'm thinking I won't get to it til tomorrow. I've got a husband that needs my attention tonight.

My Favorite Things (Julie Andrews)

There are a few things I love about this time of the year. I love all vibrant colors that fall brings as the leaves change colors. I love watching & listening to the rain fall. I love the smell of soups cooking in the crock pot & I love the warmth the fireplace puts out.

Most of all, I love looking forward to & celebrating the anniversary of the day I wed my best friend.

Take a Picture (Filter)

I finally did it. I joined Flickr. I was holding off as long as I could, but I couldn't hold off any longer. The reason: I just didn't want to pay for this kind of service was one reason. The other was that I didn't think I 'needed' this kind of service.

A few days ago, I was reading someone's blog & they had a "freak out" moment where they thought their hard drive had crashed & along with it, all their digital pictures. That got me to thinking, what if MY hard drive crashes. I will have NOTHING. All my digital memories are on my computer & nowhere else.

Not quite a year ago, a co-worker recommended Shutterfly. It's quite similar to Flickr, but free in all aspects. I could keep my digital pics there. I could share certain pics. I had my wedding photos on there & just gave out the password/username to my friends & family who wanted to see all the albums. I was fine with this because it didn't cost me anything & I had nothing but wedding pics on there. Well, then I started uploading all my other pictures (for back up) & then thought I would like to share some of the pictures, but maybe not all of them & I don't want to give out my password in this situation. Come to find out, I can only share 250 pictures. This simply won't do.

Next stop, Flickr. I went back to Flickr to find out exactly what I get for free. Well, 3 sets & 100 MB of photo upload space per month. I started uploading & come to find out, this really isn't much. So, I caved. I paid the $24.95 for the one year subscription & you'll find the link to my Flickr Account to the left. The sets really aren't in any kind of order, but I was able to get most of my 2006 & 2007 galleries posted, a few comments made & the photos within the sets are organized to the best of my ability.

If you would like me to add your Flickr, Picasa, Shutterfly or any other photo gallery, just send me the link & I'll be happy to add it to my blog.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. Digital photography
2. Blog links
3. My computer not crashing
4. Portable cameras
5. Flikr

What irks me today:

Today, I am frustrated with all the dirty laundry that has been piling up in my bedroom closet for the past week or so. It's kinda "my job" to do the laundry & surprisingly, I do enjoy doing the laundry. Most of the time. I just have very little motivation to START doing the laundry. I think this is because our dryer takes 2 hours to dry each load & I get so discouraged, thinking, "the laundry is going to take too long so why bother?" You don't need to tell me that makes no sense; I know it doesn't.