An Explination

I'm unfriending some people on FaceBook. Don't be offended if you're one of them. It's not because I suddenly hate you. I've decided Facebook is going to be a (slightly) more private/personal thing. So I'm only keeping friends I have met in Real Life.

My online presence is taking a different turn. That's all.

Good Days and Bad

Good News: We had a snow day today, so I didn't have to go to work.

Bad News: My truck didn't pass inspection.

Bad News: It cost $440 to fix.

Good News: It didn't cost $700 to fix, like they quoted us at the first place.

Bad News: We are -$50 in our checking account.

Good News: The Boy™ gets paid on Friday and I think I'm getting my check tomorrow instead of on the 1st (because BossMan and BossWoman are supposed to be going out of town.

Bad News: I cut the middle finger of my left hand chopping onions and I burned the index finger of the same hand on the too-hot bread machine (when the bread was finished baking.)

Good News: We had yummy homemade curry and homemade bread for dinner, with lots of leftovers.

Bad News: I'm going to have to go back to work tomorrow.

Good News: It's Thursday, which is a short and easy day for me.

Good News: BossMan and BossWoman will be out of town for two weeks. Hopefully this means things will be a little more relaxed at work (keep your fingers crossed!)

Good News: I have this monster to keep me company -



In all, I supposed the good outweighs the bad.

Vacation!

No, we're not on vacation. Yet. But we have one planned!

The Boy™ and I are going to Tacoma, WA for Spring Break. Partly to see Snazzy Joe. Partly to get the heck out of town and have some fun. Partly to check out the city (and Seattle) and see if it's a place we would like to move to when we're done in PA.

I don't have a whole lot planned for the trip so far. Seeing Snazzy, of course. We'll take the bus to Seattle for a day and ... check out the city, I guess. I've gotten some information on some museums I'd like to check out. I'd like to at least walk through the theatre district, even if we can't see a show. And, of course, find a yarn store.

So, what do you think? Any suggestions of things we should do in Tacoma or Seattle? We're open for ideas right now. (Inexpensive ideas; we don't have much money.)

Craziness

Just got word that BossMan and BossWoman are going to be gone for two weeks. Starting Tuesday.

Still trying to decide if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

Nothing Much

I've been more sporadic with my posting than I intended to be this year. I'd like to be one of those daily bloggers who unknowingly entertain me while I am work.

My life just isn't that exciting.

I go to work. I come home. I knit, I read, I chat with The Boy™. I go to bed. I do the same the next day.

Every day.

Except Sunday. Sunday is my day to run around like a chicken with its head cut off. Grocery shopping, other errands. Clean the apartment. Try to squeeze in some relaxation time.

That is my life. Not much to blog about.

I did, however, get a quick trip out last Sunday with Circus, B and Weeble (who was down visiting from NY.)

Some pictures:



Mystery Person Poses With Evan Pugh.

(psst ... it's Weeble!)




Old Main in the Snow.



Jersey Prints.

(We're all ready for spring.)

A Day to Remember

Welcome to the White House, Mr. President.

Frozen

I know I shouldn't complain. I know there are places in the country colder than it is here. But I'm frickin' freezing!

It's three degrees in PA right now. Count 'em .. one degree ... two degrees ... three, three degrees (ha. ha.) (Oh, that's minus 16 for you Celsius people.)

I am at work right now. The heat is broken in my part of the building.

Did I mention it is THREE degrees out??

I feel like a popsicle.

Thankfully, I have a little space heater (which I'm practically sitting on) that is keeping hypothermia at bay.
The HVAC guys are here. Hopefully they'll get it figured out in the next hour and a half before I leave.

New and Exciting!

Okay, maybe not very exciting, but there are two new things on the Blog.

1. You can now check out some of the things I'm sharing in Google Reader. It's over in the box on the left. It's blue. If you're not currently using Google Reader, go check it out (and then share stuff with me!)

2. You can now subscribe to the blog to your favorite RSS reader (if you're not using Google Reader) by clicking the handy link at the bottom of the page. Go ahead, scroll down and subscribe. I'll wait.


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Done? Good. Thanks!

That's really all I needed to share right now.

Wasting Time

I shouldn't be here blogging, but I am. I'm at work right now. Things are slow. I ought to be sending out invoices to people who haven't paid their tuition (some of them since November.) I'm working on it, slowly. I'm just having trouble being into it today.

I think I've hit my mid-winter slump. Which is a bit of a concern, since it is a little early for that. We still have at least three more months to go. I'm getting ansy for something new. I don't know what that something new is, but I'm ready for it to start. It's really just Spring I'm ready for.

The upshot of this, is that I feel slightly bi-polar. I go from days where I have tremendous amounts of energy and I clean and organize and knit and paint and create until I drop from exhaustion, to days where I don't feel like doing anything. I can't get up off the couch or care about what's going on in life. It's not depression, per say, just a kind of ... general malaise. I need a new project or something to jolt me back into life again.

Why is Gina Awake At 2:30am?

You may be asking yourself. I will answer simply.

The college kids are back.

They are celebrating in the parking lot.

This means the rest of us get no sleep.

Thoughtful little bastards.



(You may say I did the same thing when I was in college. At least I had the decency to live in the dorms. The only people I was disturbing there were other college kids.)

Snow Day!!

*dance of joy*

BossMan has canceled already (a first for him -- not a single flake has fallen yet.)

I don't have to work tomorrow!

*dance of joy*

A Rant. Apologies.

Oh. My. God. I. Hate. Sallie. Mae.

Does anyone else use this company for a loan?

I don't have a problem with the loan itself. Taking out the loan was fine (it's my student loan,) the payback plan is fine, the interest rate is ... whatever. An interest rate.

But the online bill paying is SUCH a pain in my ass! They ask the confirmation security questions EVERY SINGLE TIME. And there's like FIVE of them! And not simple questions like "What's your mother's maiden name." Questions that don't change every time. They ask stupid questions like "What's your favorite color."

I went onto the site today and had to deal with a brand new bundle of joy. Went through five different screens (panicking for a minute) just to be told that, because they are living in the STONE AGE I cannot be e-mailed information about my account. I have to be snail mailed the information. I thought for a minute (hence the panic) that I couldn't pay the bill online anymore. The only browsers they support are Netscape 4.7, IE ... something (I didn't look because I can't stand IE) and Firefix 1.0. Netscape 4.7??? WTF?? That was like 6 years ago! Get with the times, Sallie Mae!
(The upshot of this is, I suspect, that they don't support Macs. Too bad for me.)

After dealing with the usual log-in bullshit (which is always longer and more complicated than it ought to be,) I was finally able to fork over my monthly $200.

I can't wait until this loan is paid off just so I can stop screwing around with their awful website.

Ready to Explode

Back to work today.

Last night, around 7:30, I got an e-mail from BossWoman saying that our schedules are changing for Monday. Ain't it great how she waits until Sunday night to tell us that we're changing work schedules for Monday?

Just a small gripe. The change is actually a change for the better for me. I'm working 10-6 on Mondays instead of 9-5:30. This actually gives me a chance to go to the gym before work. Which was nice today. I actually felt alert and energized all day. Don't know if that was because I have just had three weeks off, or what. But it was nice.

I am exhausted now, however.

Pile three weeks of back work on top of the first of the month work. On top of mid-semester schedule changes (people wanting to change their class/lesson times because their personal schedules have changed.) On top of a million new inquiries and registrations which always happen mid-year.
On top of losing (unexpectedly) a piano teacher, for whom BossMan is taking over.

I brought in a nice, warm cup of coffee to work with me at 10 this morning. I left with it cold and half full at 6:15 this evening. It was a busy day.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

It is 2:30 on Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow, I will be returning to work after nearly 3 weeks off. Back to the routine. Back to the real world.

I am of two minds about this. Part of me is bored to tears and ready to go back. I feel like a kid at the end of Christmas break. I've played with all my toys. I've built as many snowmen and snow forts I possibly can build. I've thrown as many snowballs at my sister as my parents will tolerate. There is nothing good on TV. I don't want to read anymore. I'm bored. Time to go back to school.

Part of me dreads going back. Back to the difficult parents. Back to the obnoxious children. Back to exhausting hours and too short weekends. I think I'd be alright if I could have regular weekends like regular people. I know that some of you have worse work schedules than I do, and I'm sorry. I oughtn't bitch like this. But bear with me. I hate working Saturdays. Every Saturday. It just sucks.

But, like my mother says, it's time to pull up my big girl panties and deal with it. I do need the money after all. And if I have to stay in this apartment all day for one more day with nothing to do, I might hurt someone.

I'll take a cue from Louie. Do some yoga (Louie picture here doing some turtle yoga.) Take some deep breathes. Relax.

Happy New Year!

Okay, a day late, but Happy New Year nonetheless. I somehow lost yesterday to the comfy-ness of the couch and the new quilt we got from Grandma and Cousin Suzie for Christmas. It makes our very cold apartment bearable to be in.

None of my New Year's Eve pictures came out very good. We went downtown to the First Night celebrations with Circus, B and Sam. The ice sculptures were good this year. There was a giant throne one that B and Sam waited in a line of kids to sit and get their picture taken on. We caught the tale end of an interesting drum band (more band than drums, in my opinion,) and then went over to see Deirdre Flint who is absolutely hysterical. The Boy™ saw her during Arts Fest last year and told us all we needed to go. It was totally worth the walk in the freezing cold.
After another cold walk to the school to watch the last band of the high school battle of the bands, we wandered around town for a little while longer. We wrote our resolutions on the burning man, but missed the actual burning. By 11:30, we'd had enough. The Boy™ and I got home in enough time to watch the ball drop on TV and were in bed shortly after. What party animals we are, eh?

New Years Day was the laziest day I've had in a long time. I think I left the couch long enough to take a shower, get dressed and put away the Christmas decorations. The Boy™ stayed in his pajamas all day. It was indulgent and nice.

We made up for it today, however. Ran a lot of errands this morning. I made soup and some Art this afternoon. We're relaxing now, having fed Circus and B's cats for the evening. We're taking care of the little monsters while they're away for the weekend (kidding, they're actually very sweet kitties.)

Tomorrow is Chili, Chips and Competition at Amber's. The Boy™ and I are bringing vegetarian chili and will do our best and whatever board games people have to offer. I'll bring my camera and hopefully get some decent pictures.

Maybe I'll get some knitting done tonight. Still have those Anastasia socks to finish for Momo.