word verification?

There is just something wrong when you go to post a comment on your own damn blog and you have to actually DO the word verification just to post! I mean c'mon... you see it's me... I'm already logged in. Are you too stupid to tell that I am the only owner of this blog?

And, in case you didn't know, it's not really "word" verification! I'm pretty sure that randomly throwing together a bunch of letters does NOT constitute forming a word. Sheesh!

Thursday Thirteen - Round 1

I almost forgot I was going to start Thursday Thirteen this week! Found the idea from Stacie. Thanks chica! Guess it's a blog trend right now, so I might as well jump on the bandwagon. Basic rules: You post it every Thursday (which I almost forgot!), you create the theme (might be hard sometimes), then list thirteen things that fall under that theme. I hope you try it too!

Thursday Thirteen - Round 1: Thirteen Things on My Breakfast Bar

1. Coffee maker
2. Bottle of Merlot
3. Telephone
4. Plant
5. Candles
6. Leaves (collected by Wesley while on a walk)
7. Camera
8. Computer
9. Books
10. Keys
11. Sunglasses
12. Organizer
13. School photos

I was tagged!

That crazy girl Stacie tagged me! So here goes...

Here are the rules: List seven songs you are into right now. No matter what the genre, whether or not they have words, or even if they’re not any good, but the must be songs you’re really enjoying now. Post these instructions in your blog along with your seven songs. Then tag seven other people to see what they’re listening to.

My seven:
1. You and Me
2. Chasing Cars
3. Fix You
4. Welcome to Wherever You Are
5. Far Away
6. Now Comes the Night
7. Everywhere

Seven people I'm tagging:
Liss
Sara
Groove
Jessica
Terri
Norman
Subservient Worker

I don't really expect anyone to do this... so no pressure!

is this my hell?

It's that wonderful time of the year again when I will be somewhat absent from the world. Why? Tomorrow my mother arrives for a week. {sigh}

As much as I thoroughly enjoyed having her here the last time, this trip was "sprung" on me (read as she booked the damn trip and THEN told me she was coming without asking if it was a good time for me) and it really wasn't a convenient time (had to change around some plans). Regardless, she'll be coming by herself this time... something she needs to do every once in a while to regain whatever sanity she's lost to my father. The other thing that bothers me about this trip is since I'm STILL not working, I'll be expected to spend that much more time with her.

Oh well... maybe this is my hell and I'm off to better places later in life!

back against the wall (update)

My prankster is back!

Well, I don't know if he/she ever left, but there hadn't been any pranks... until I wrote about it. :-)

Wesley goes to bed at 8pm on school nights... and I am ususally a night owl. Last night, however, I headed up around 11pm. Anyway, as you can calculate, I was the only one downstairs and awake for the 3 hours between 8pm-11pm. AND, I know I used the downstairs toilet several times during that time.

When I came down just a few minutes ago and went in to pee, how do you think I found the toilet??? Yep! Lid and seat fully up! LOL

Now does that make you want to sit with your back against the wall?

back against the wall

So, Stacie was asking us to share stories about feeling the need to have our backs against the wall. We talked about this a bit over the weekend, both of us having read Norman's creepy stories. It was actually a revelation to me (after reading them) that what I've experienced throughout my life probably IS attached to me, and not a particular house or location. Anyway, that said, I've got a bunch of creepy stories I can tell, but for now, I'll just stick with one that's sort of funny. (Don't want to creep anyone out too much!)

I have a ghost. Well, I think he/she is still around? Anyway, a little background. We moved into this house in October 2001 (WOW! just realized it's been 5 years yesterday). Wesley was just 16 months at the time. I truly believe children have the ability to see/hear/communicate on a different level that most adults either choose not to recognize or are too embarassed to admit exists.

When he was around 2-1/2, he started "talking" to someone... much in the way children create imaginary friends. He would giggle, smile, and actually "look" at whoever he was communicating with. I tried to ask him questions about his little "friend" not wanting to discourage his awareness, but he never gave me anything more than a playful laugh. I know he saw him/her. I know he played with him/her. Whether he still does now, I'm not sure.

Our ghost isn't a harmful one. He/she is actually a prankster. On one occassion, when The Rents were visiting, he/she played a trick on my mother. For whatever reason (and there always is one... neck pain, pissed off about something, my dad's snoring) my mom decided to sleep on the couch in our family room for the night. As I found out the next morning, she awoke during the night to use the restroom, and when she went to "sit" on the toilet (with the lights off) found herself falling in the bowl since not only the lid, but the toilet seat were up. With three boys in the house (my dad, my ex, and Wesley) this wouldn't be an uncommon experience except for the fact that SHE was the last one to use the toilet the night before and when she went to bed... everything was down.

We asked all the boys if they'd for some reason come downstairs in the middle of the night to use the toilet instead of using one of the two perfectly funcitioning ones upstairs. Of course, they hadn't.

I couldn't help but laugh, and told her it was obviously the ghost playing tricks on her. Not only did she NOT think it was funny... she just looked at me and said, "I can't believe you REALLY think you have a ghost in this house!"

Well... how else do you explain it?

i've never

The real things I have never done are in red.

I've Never French-Kissed A Member Of The Opposite Sex.
I've Never French-Kissed A Member Of The Same Sex.
I'veNever Had Sex With A Member Of The Opposite Sex.
I've Never Had Sex With A Member Of The Same Sex.
I've Never Had A Three-Some.
I've Never Been In Love.
I've Never Had Sex In A Public Place.
I've Never Had Group Intercourse.
I've Never Been Spanked.
I've Never Been Tied Up.
I've Never Regretted Having Sex With Someone.
I've Never Made Out With A Stranger.
I've Never Gone On A Blind Date.
I've Never Had A Crush On A Teacher or Professor.
I've Never Slept With A Co-Worker.
I've Never Had Sex At The Office.
I've Never Been Married.
I've Never Been Divorced.
I've Never Had Sex With More Than One Person Within The Same Week.
I've Never Posed Nude.
I've Never Watched Porn.
I've Never Gotten Someone Drunk Just To Have Sex With Them.
I've Never Received Scars From My Sex Partner.
I've Never Had Sex At A Friend's House While They Were Throwing A Party.
I've Never Had Sex In A Dressing Room.
I've Never Flashed Anyone.
I've Never Met Anyone From Online.
I've Never Cheated On My Significant Other.
I've Never Masturbated.
I've Never Used A Sex Toy On Myself.
I've Never Used A Sex Toy On Someone Else.
I've Never Danced On A Table Or Bar.
I've Never Strip-Teased For Anyone.
I've Never Received A Hand Job.
I've Never Given A Hand Job.
I've Never Had Sex In A Hammock.
I've Never Performed Oral Sex.
I've Never Received Oral Sex.
I've Never Had Anal Sex.
I've Never Had Sex involving a strapon.
I've Never Given/Received A Golden Shower.
I've Never Had Sex With Someone While Fantasizing About Having Sex With Someone Else.
I've Never Had A Sex Dream.
I've Never Had An Orgasm By Myself.
I've Never Had An Orgasm With/By Someone Else.
I've Never Had Phone Sex.
I've Never Had Cyber Sex.
I've Never Role-Played.
I've Never Played Strip Poker.
I've Never Cheated on my Taxes.
I've Never Farted on the TV Screen.
I've Never Fantasized About Having Sex With Carmen Electra.

So... Stacie and Liss (and anyone else who wants to play along)... what have YOU never done?

the Hoff

In our neverending quest to bring joy to Liss, our pink belt, stiletto heel wearing, little people lookin', green tea drinkin', David Hasselhoff lovin' girl, we bring you David Hasselhoff is the Antichrist. No longer will she have to have abandonment issues.... she's got The Hoff.

the interview

It went well.... maybe too well. Now I'm worried I'm getting my hopes up too high. And what if I don't get this? The company sounds great and the two guys I met seem nice. I think it would be really cool to work for a small company again... especially since they're growing. They said they had a couple more candidates to talk to but I sure hope I hear something in the next couple of days.

1st grade

Yesterday was Wesley's first day of school. The 1st grade. Where does the time go? It seems like just yesterday he was starting Kindergarten.... then summer came and went.... and now he's back to school again.

It was kinda nice to be "off" to see him to school. After getting his stuff put up in the classroom we headed up to the gym for morning prayer. With all the classes in "formation" I noticed just how small the new Kindergarten class looked. It was hard to believe that our kids looked that tiny... that scared... that wondering just a year ago. And now, they stood there confident... ready to face the challenges ahead.

In Wesley's words "My first day was GREAT!" It's good to hear and hope it doesn't change for a long time to come. His teacher this year is a wonderful lady who is both caring and challenging. I just hope Wesley meets the challenge head on.

could it be?

Week 1 - The "forced" vacation. I relaxed, played, slept in and basically had some fun! It was great!!

Week 2 - Time to get in gear. Lots of stuff around the house, a little bit of fun, and lots and lots of hours spent on applications and resumes.

Week 3 - Enough of this SHIT!!!

Last night I hit an alltime low. I was pissy and throwing a pity party for myself. I was in serious hope that after the long holiday weekend I'd start to hear something. And I did. Two "thanks but no thanks letters" arrived from the city and the state patrol. Well pfffft!!! I am SICK of not working. I feel like my brain is rotting away.

Then, today, a glimmer of hope. A call on a resume I sent out two days after my layoff. The guy was more than interested. Kept making reference to "your job" and "what you want to make it"... I've only heard that sort of speak after the interview and before an offer. I have an interview (woohoo!) on Monday morning. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high... so we'll see. Keep your fingers crossed.

Thanks to those of you who've been more than supportive during this chaos and drama filled life of mine. You know who you are... and what it means to me.

round 2

So where was I?

As my wonderful Sis pointed out, I guess it's been awhile since I've updated. You'd think I'd have more time to do this with not working, but life's been pretty crazy the past week.

Well my last day at the big computer company that's STILL cleaning house (or so I've heard) was last Friday. It all went much better than I'd anticipated. Just roamed around saying my good-byes then went out to lunch with a pretty good sized group of (now former) co-workers. Yummy mexican food.... even BETTER margaritas!

The job search is going. Not sure where, but I'm working on it. Back on the 10th I took a "test" for State Farm (I use that term lightly as it was really more of a personality probe filling in the bubbles and then having the big dot reader in the sky determine if I'm full of myself). So after waiting much longer than the 3-5 days they said they would contact people, I finally got a phone call on Tuesday and have the Round 2 stuff to attend to tomorrow morning. Interview with an HR rep, take a typing test, and complete an application. Don't even know what they've got for openings right now, or the pay structure... so we'll see.

Other than that, just getting caught up on the piles around the house. And having a little play time too! It's like being on vacation... until I go to pay the bills and wonder where I'm gonna get the money.

It'll all work out.

pass the hat

Quick update on on a couple things...

Congratulations Steve, Stacie & Michael! Little Piper finally made her appearance this morning around 6:30am ET at a very healthy 7lbs+. Can't wait to see her!!

I've got my walking papers... A couple weeks ago you might remember I posted that I was in the right place at the wrong time. Well, this past Wednesday I was told my end date - Friday, August 18. Even when you know it's coming, it's still sort of surreal. I've never been in this situation before - getting laid off and not knowing where my next job would be. So I've been stressing pretty hard lately. Have a few irons in the fire and am just keeping my fingers crossed one of them turns out. If not, I may have to resort to one of the suggestions made by two friends - pass the hat before leaving on my last day, or get back out and work the street corner. Nice.

observations on the fair

By fair standards, the Thurston County Fair really isn't much of a fair. Oh, they have all the big fair events - livestock auctions, horse riding competitions, vendors, agriculture, art, concerts, food and the carnival - but on the scale of county fairs... it's peanuts.

Nonetheless, Wesley looks forward to going every year, and we made our annual trek last night with Cathy and Cody. This year I got smart and planned ahead.

• Dinner at Cathy's - FREE
• Parking - $2.50 (Cathy paid the other half)
• Entrance - $2.00 (plus two donations for the Thurston County Food Bank)
• Unlimited carnival ride wristband - $15.00 (purchased before the fair started saving an additional $5)

Besides the people we ran into from school, summer camp, or wherever else we know people from, I have to say there are some really weird people that hang out at the fair. Some of my favorites were:

• The couple who wanted to know where the stage was (there's 3) and then argued with me when I told them where each and every one of them were.
• The kid that kept going in the exit and out the entrance of the haunted house after being told by the carnie at least 6 times to go the other way. (Where the hell were the parents?)
• The mother who argued with one of the carnies about 'why would she be allowed to buy tickets for her daughter to ride the rides and then have her daughter not be allowed to ride them'. (The girl had a full cast on her right arm.)
• The man who dropped his cell phone while riding the Zipper and somehow got it stuck inside the fiberglass seat he was riding in causing the ride to be shut down for 15 minutes while they tried to retrieve it for him. (Didn't happen... maybe when they tear things down in the middle of the night on Sunday.)
• And my most favorite... the old fat lady who wanted me to watch her purse and bag while she rode the rides so she wouldn't have to take them on with her.

Of course there were many other skanky, poorly (or barely) dressed people floating about, but it's rare when you can say the carnies looked more normal and approachable than many of the fairgoers. The carnies are on their way to you next week, Stacie. Wish I could send the rest of the underworld with them!

referral denied

It's pretty bad when you have to submit a resume for review by some anonymous person, and they're the one who decides if they will give you a referral to the company looking to hire. I submitted such referral request this morning and by this afternoon I have a lovely email with the subject line "Referral Denied".

Let's take a look at the job posting and how I meet (or EX-freakin-CEED) the damn qualifications, shall we!?!

Job Requirements:
* AA Degree; Check!
* Five (5) years of increasingly responsible administrative support experience; I only have 15+, so apparently this should read "No more than five (5) years..."
* Strong computer skills, including MS Office Suite applications; proficiency w/ MS Access is a plus; MS Office Suite, PageMaker, FrameMaker, Photoshop, PrintShop, Acrobat... just to name a few
* Excellent written & verbal communication and customer service skills; last time I checked English was my first freakin language
* Self-motivated & self-initiating, with the ability to organize & prioritize workload, anticipate, plan and multi-task; uh... yeah... kinda have to have all these to do any freakin job, don't ya!?
* Detail-oriented, able to review & understand general instructions, prepare & provide detailed information, yet flexible and adaptable to change; English... I speak English
* Valid WA State Driver's License and own reliable transportation & telephone; I sure hope so since I'm putting at least 30 miles a day on my car and paying out the ass for all the gas
* Pass pre-employment drug screening and reference check. Check... done that 7 months ago

Maybe Stacie's right... I better go scope out my old street corner.

for terri

Double the YUM!!

right place... wrong time

Accepting the unknown has always been difficult for me. Yet I find myself being taken there again and again (especially in the past 2 years). So far, I think I've done pretty well making my way through all the changes.

So, here I go again. Nothing 'official' yet, but my contract is being terminated. Could be next week... a couple weeks from now... or even a month (highly doubtful). Just another one of those being in the right place at the wrong time situations. In some ways I can understand the 'why', but it doesn't make it any easier to pick myself up and start looking for work again. And the fear of the unknown came roaring in last night. (Which is why I waited until today to try to make any sense of it.)

The sense that I've come to is this... I've proven to myself that I can still do it! I knew going in there were no guarantees. Then again, there never are guarantees in life, so that should have been a no brainer. I tried to keep the mindset of 'if my badge doesn't set off the alarm on the way in the door, and my computer boots with my login... then I'm working today'. Watching 'permanent employees' (what an oxymoron) be walked out the door (some 18 or 20 year workers) was awful. Working side by side with people who I now consider friends facing their own uncertainty has been a strain. But trying to keep a smile on my face and go about 'business as usual' knowing that my business will come to an abrupt end in a matter of days is the worst stress of all. I'll have another notch on my resume for my time spent there. I just hope someone sees that sooner than later.

I spent the night feeling sorry for myself. And today I'll spend some time picking myself up and moving on. But at least I'm not annoying!

holy shit is it ever HOT

Day 4 of 90+ weather here in the Pacific Northwest. Friday... 101, Saturday... 98, Sunday... 99, and as of now it's 95 frickin degrees. This is insane!

My neighbors across the street (who also moved here from AZ) asked on Saturday, "Remind you of Tucson?"

"Hell NO!", I said. "In Tucson I was hibernating in air conditioning." (A luxury I don't have here, but they do. Sheesh!)

At least I got to spend the day in the AC at work. Of course being at work was another story entirely, with org changes still being announced, and stupid people thinking it's thier business to tell me first thing in the morning "I hear you're contract's been cut" when they know NOTHING of the sort and are just bitter and angry that they had the axe lowered on them (as a permanent employee). Cut the dead wood... but watch that it doesn't come back and try to fall on you.

The weekend was pretty good even with the heat. WJ was with his dad and I got the carpets shampooed and went to the movies... by myself. LOL First time for that. But shit... it was hot... and I didn't feel like waiting around for someone to go with me. Saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Mans Chest. Don't know what it is about Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom as pirates, but they sure are yummy! Good flick. If you haven't seen it, go. Great comedy and action mix.

Also read the 11th in the series of Stephanie Plum books by Janet Evanovich. The 12th comes out tomorrow, but I'm cheap so I'll wait for it to come in paperback.

So that's it. Nothing too exciting. Now I'm off to grab another beer and maybe stick my head in the freezer for awhile. Cheers!

exactly

"Never, never, never do the least bit more than what is expected of your job in this business. You will never get anything in reward, and the only gratitude you may sense from superiors is not for you, but that they found someone who would willingly overwork themselves."

- a bitter waitress

i'm back

Sheesh! Didn't mean to be gone for so long. It's been a busy few weeks with the Rents here, Wesley's birthday, Mom's birthday, 4th of July, and all the usual junk. So, here's a quick update and some pics from our past few weeks.

The Rents arrived June 21st and stayed until the 4th. Much to my surprise, it was the best visit we've had in many years. Not a single argument, no walking on eggshells. Just lots of fun, and laughs.

Wesley turned 6 on the 26th. This year's theme was.... (can you guess?).... sports! His favorite gift was a Seattle Sonics jersey I just happened upon at the last minute. In the past week, he's worn it at least 4 days. He spent a whole week celebrating his birthday starting with the weekend prior going camping (in a cabin) at a lake with his Dad, opening his presents from Grandma/Grandpa and me the day before (followed by dinner at his favorite restaurant - the Mayan), then going to see Cars on his actual birthday. Throughout the week, Wesley and the Rents played at the park, went on outings, and had a great time together. The following Saturday was a joint birthday party at the YMCA with his friend Cody (who turned 6 on the 30th). Again, a sports theme complete with basketball, hockey, rock climbing, and adventure zone play.

The holiday weekend was packed with a trip to Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, Mom's birthday, the Rents heading back to California, and the 4th. Got some great pics at the zoo. These are two of my favorite of the animals.
This crazy walrus came and sat right in front of us, posing for pics. He is 24 years old and weighs 3200 lbs. The look on his face is priceless, like there's 24 years of wisdom bottled up in his little head. My other favorite for the day is this pic of one of the polar bears. It was a hot, sunny day and after spending some time "sun bathing" he jumped in the water and started showing off. At one point, he came down right in front of Wesley and just looked at him (but there were too many people in front of me to get a good pic of it). Don't know how old or big this guy is, but I did learn that male polar bears can get as tall as 10 ft.

Wesley also got to go on stage at the animal show, having an Asian owl swoop down over him.

The 3rd was Mom's birthday... shhh... don't tell anyone. She doesn't like anyone to know. We had a pretty low key day, just hanging out, a little shopping, and the Rents packing to go home.

On the 4th, Wesley and I drove the Rents to the airport, then went to Fred Meyer and picked up some flowers, transplanted them, and kicked back until it got dark. Our neighbors who we normally celebrate the 4th with were gone this year, so we just lit a few fireworks off out front and then watched all the other crazies shoot hundreds of dollars worth of "bang" into the sky. Don't get me wrong, I love to watch, but for all the money spent on fireworks I might as well just roll up a wad a cash and set it on fire.

So, now we're back to the weekly routine of work (ugh!) and summer camp. And I'm missing my friends who are off on vacations themselves. Plans for this weekend: R-E-L-A-X