Random Tuesday Thoughts - Laissez les bons tems rouler!

Happy Mardi Gras, everyone!! Click on the Purple thingy and go see Keeley for some more Fat Tuesday fun. I'm not sure what you have to do to get beads, though . . .

I was in New Orleans for two weeks over Mardi Gras in 1996. On business. Yup, Mardi Gras at a really great hotel on Canal Street a half block from Bourbon Street on the company dime. Nice.
Will I ever go back to Mardi Gras in New Orleans? NOPE! (I'd love to go to New Orleans again, but I'm all set with Mardi Gras, thanks.)
If The Girl ever tells me that she's going to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, will I tie her up in the basement until Ash Wednesday? You betcha!

I have to admit, I'm quite disappointed that I didn't win the Red Mittens from Captain Dumbass. I hope that Jenn enjoys them . . . in Florida . . .
Don't worry about me, I'll just pull my hand into my sleeve to clean the six inches of snow off my car so that I can drive home from work.

When I didn't win the Red Mittens, I decided I would splurge and buy some Red Mittens. Only problem with that plan is that, apparently, I can't buy Red Mittens, they're sold out online and I'm not within easy driving distance of Canada to get to one of the stores conveniently located across the country. **sigh** I guess I'll check e-Bay when I get home from work. If I make it home from work today, with all the snow we're getting and the frozen hands I'll have from cleaning off my car. I want me some Red Mittens!


How is it that I can wonder how I've put on so much weight AND go to someplace that looks like this inside on the same day? I'm in complete denial about my less than stellar eating habits.

And how pathetic am I that I just broke into the Valentine's Day goodie bag my friend at work gave me for The Girl? I only stole one little Nestle Crunch heart, though. I'm blaming it on PMS.


Have a great week everyone, and please, give hugs to the ones you love because you just never know . . . We miss you Papa S.

Random Tuesday Stuff

Do the Random thing and click on the purple thingy to go see Keeley, 'kay? She's awesome.


Wow, it has been a long time since I posted. It isn't that I haven't had random thoughts on any given Tuesday, I guess I just haven't put fingers to keyboard when they hit.

We haven't had much in the way of "big" snow here yet. Is it wrong that I want a big storm? I guess what I really want is a big storm on a Saturday night so that none of us needs to worry about getting anywhere. The Mailman needs to keep up with that whole "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" thing.

The Mailman actually WALKS his mail route. No little square truck for him! The neighborhoods that he delivers in are in an older, hilly part of the city (not where we live), so the mail is delivered into the slots on or by the doors of most of the houses, some of which have 20-30 steps leading up to them. You'd think he'd be in good shape, wouldn't you? Not so much (but I can't imagine how bad it would be if he had a desk job!). He told me that he's going to go on a diet, and the thing that kills me is that he'll just cut out some junk and will drop 10-15 pounds. Grrrrrrrr.

When I saw the news last night, they were predicting that we'd be getting a foot or so of snow on Wednesday into Thursday. This morning, they're saying 5-8 inches of snow. Who knows what they'll be saying tonight or what we'll actually get. I think they overpredict early so that they can sit back and laugh at all of the people running around like nuts buying bread and milk like they'll never see the light of day again.

I bought myself some new "fitness" sneakers last week, the Avia version of the Sketchers Shape-ups. I tried both on, and the Avia seemed to fit better (and is plain white, not some crazy combination of colors like the Sketches). I figured I'd give them a try, what can it hurt? My BUTT, that's what it can hurt!! I wore them a few hours the first day, and I could really feel it the next morning. I'm not saying that these will be the answer to all my *ahem* issues, but they are sure working something.

The Girl fights me every time I tell her to take a shower, yet once she gets in there, she starts singing and then we need to keep yelling up to her to finish up and get out. She was completely amazed the other day when I told her that we had to pay for water. Oh, to be ten . . .

I'm trying to convince The Mailman that we should hire a cleaner to come every two weeks. So far he's not buying into it, but I'm working him. You see, I hate house cleaning, I'm a terrible housekeeper and I don't want to spend my time that I'm not a work dusting baseboards and scrubbing toilets. I know it isn't essential, but I really think it will do a lot for my state of mind. Plus, I have a hard enough time keeping up with laundry. (On a side note, I have no idea how people with a bunch of kids keep up with the laundry - it is just the three of us, and sometimes I feel like I'm being buried alive. I have three siblings and my grandmother lived with us, and I don't remember having this much laundry when I was a kid.)

Do people actually LIKE green tea? Am I the only one that think it sort of tastes like sock water? I drink a lot to tea at work because it is freezing in my office, so I figured I'd try some green tea, since it is supposed to have good stuff in it. My physical therapist recommended one with blueberries, which isn't too bad, and I bought one with pomegranate which is okay, but they are still pretty blah.

Sniffle, sniffle, cough

Lots of randomness going on over at The Un Mom's place.

I'm working from home again this Tuesday, this time because The Girl is sick. She not terribly sick, but did have a slight fever this morning, and I think they told us that we have to keep 1/4 mile from school if she's had a fever in the past 12 days or something ridiculous like that. Okay, she really has to be "fever free without medication" for 24 hours before she can go back, which means she's home tomorrow, too. *sigh* I'm grateful that I can work from home. I wish I could get her to do something other than watch TV.

I had a list of things I was going to get at Target today on my lunch hour . . . so much for that idea. Maybe I'll go tonight on my way home from getting my hair cut, if I'm still awake enough.

The Christmas Tree is finally decorated!! The Girl finished yesterday. The tree went up on the day after Thanksgiving, and I was getting used to having it there with just the lights. Now lets see how long it takes The Mailman to bring the Rubbermaid bins back down to the basement . . .

The bottom 18 inches of the Christmas Tree are pretty much bare, because Nut Job cat was taking all the ornaments off. He's way worse this year than he was last year when he was 5 months old.

The Mailman has been given the assignment of buying gifts for his parents for Christmas and for his brother's son for his birthday (on the 20th) and Christmas. The kid is going to be seven, so you'd think that would be easy, but he's a bit of a horror and doesn't like anything. I struggle with these gifts every year, so I handed them off to him, since I take care of everyone else. We'll see how it goes. I hope it isn't one of those "If I do a really bad job she won't make me do it again" things . . .

Random Tuesday from home

Why am I working at home you ask?  Excellent question!  The painter is here to . . . wait for it  . . .  FINISH the bathroom project!!  How happy am I?  VERY.  Having a shiny new shower that I was advised not to use until the new plaster and wood was painted has been like torture.  The only bonus has been listening to The Girl when she's showering in the downstairs bathroom.  She talks, she sings - it can be quite entertaining.

Usually when I work from home, I put my work laptop on the kitchen table.  Today, because the sewing machine is on the kitchen table, I have my work laptop on the desk where my home Mac is.  I keep using the wrong mouse and/or keyboard.  I might have to move the sewing machine and move my laptop to the kitchen table.  This is getting annoying.

December?  Are you kidding me?  I'm so not ready for it to be December.

The UPS guy is going to hate me.  I'm doing most of my Christmas shopping online.  I have no patience for shopping in stores anymore.

Hey, Keeley?  We've got a mouse, too.  We seem to get one or two this time every year.  I found his telltale leavings by the cat food.  The Mailman set a trap, but so far, the little bastard has eluded us.  I'm waiting for the middle of the night cat scramble to wake me up.  Always a good time.

Have a happy Tuesday everyone.  Go see Keeley for more randomness.  Don't worry, its safe.  She only traps little things and zombies.

Another Pleasant Valley (Random) Tuesday

I think it has been a couple of days since I mentioned it (coincidentally days that I was NOT in the office?  Don't think so . . .), but it is really annoying to read blogs, think of a nice/witty/caustic/charming comment and then realize "Shit, I can't comment on blogs from work anymore."  I tell myself that I'll go back when I get home, but by the time I get to it, all of my nice/witty/caustic/charming comments have left my head and all I can think of is "Shit, I think I forgot to switch the wash."
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Two, yup, two Boston radio stations are 24/7 holiday music now.  They each started some time last week.  Last year, one of them started on November 1st, way to early, so this year they split the difference, I guess.  The Girl is ecstatic, The Mailman not so much.  Me, I'm sort of "meh" at this point.  I'll pop over during commercials and inane chatter on the other stations, but it still seems a bit early to me.  They used to start Thanksgiving week, which sort of made sense.  
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Marshmallow Fluff has to be one of the BEST INVENTIONS EVER.  My condolences to those of you that have never experienced Fluff (I know it isn't available everywhere).  Other marshmallow cremes just don't compare.  
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I feel like I'm being set up to fail at work.  My colleague and I have been given a project that is going to suck and most likely suck the life out of me.  I've told my boss that I'm uncomfortable with the scope, that there are parts of this that we don't have the technical expertise to deal with and he assures me that I'll get the help I need.  I just have a really bad feeling . . . It won't be really kicking off until after the holidays, so I'm going to try not to think about it too much.
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The Halloween candy is almost gone, just in time for the Thanksgiving baking to begin.  I bought an outrageously expensive cake pan from Williams-Sonoma after Captain Dumbass posted a picture of it in his guest blog.  Of course, for its maiden voyage on Thanksgiving, I also bought the even more outrageously expensive cake and filling mix as well.  I believe that in making the two I will use 3-4 sticks of butter.  Just contact the cardiac unit now and let them know to expect my entire family next Thursday evening.
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I'm feeling a bit under the weather this evening, hope I'm not turning into a zombie getting the flu.  The Girl and I are going to hunker down and watch "Merry Madagascar."
Have a pleasant Tuesday evening, go see The UnMom for more random stuff.

RTT on my Friday!

Today is my Friday!  I am oh so happy!  I decided to take off Thursday after the Wednesday Veteran's Day holiday and I am not supposed to work on Fridays (although I do at least once a month, usually more) so I have five days off!!  Yay ME!!

I'm writing this RTT post from work in an e-mail to myself at home to post later because my employer has decided to block all things bloggy.  It doesn't matter that I work through my lunch hour, it doesn't matter that I work on my days off, it doesn't matter that I haven't had a raise in lord knows how long . . . they have to just suck every last bit of joy out of the day.   They haven't figured out to block Google reader yet, though, so I can read some stuff (but can't see the prettiness or leave any comments) . . . shhhhhhhh, don't tell them!  I'll take what I can get at this point.

I'm trying to improve my eating habits, lose a few pounds and fit into some of my clothes . . . I've been eating some Progresso Light soups for lunch some days and just had a very impressive carrot explosion in the office microwave.  Yes, I cleaned up after myself and apparently after a lot of other people too.  Gross.

Just got an e-mail from the "Reporting Department" asking me to run a report for them, because I (not a member of any reporting department) apparently have access to reporting tools that they don't have.  HUH?

The Girl has just started reading the Little House on the Prairie books, correction, MY Little House on the Prairie books.  She found the set at my mom's house, with my name in "early cursive" on the box.  I must have read each of those books a half dozen times at least, and I think it is really great that she's not only reading the books, but reading MY books.  

The Mailman and I have a fun event coming up this Saturday that we've been really looking forward to (more on that as we get closer to the weekend), but I was greatly disappointed that I can't go to "Star Wars: In Concert."
From Boston.com:

"Fans of the classic science fiction trilogy, which was given its legendary and stirring score by former Boston Pops conductor John Williams, can enjoy scenes from their favorite space-age bash on a three-story HD screen and accompanied by the sounds of a full symphony orchestra and choir. The event will be narrated by C-3PO actor Anthony Daniels, and props and memorabilia from the films will be on display."

Sounds pretty good to this geeky girl.

And, in a note unrelated to watching what I eat and fitting into my clothes . . . Do calories consumed at a place like this count if they're donating 25% of all purchases to the PTO at The Girl's school?  Yeah, I didn't think so either.  Guess what we're having for dinner?  What?  It is for a good cause! 

I bet you're wondering, given my comment above about bloggy blocking, how this is getting posted in the middle of the afternoon . . . Well, when the boss takes a half day and everyone else in the department is either sick or on vacation and 99.99% of my work communication is done either by e-mail or phone, then heck yeah, I'm doing that from home!

Happy Tuesday, see Keeley for more fun, 'kay?  The zombies haven't gotten her yet . . .

Let's Get Ready To RANDOM!

With a title like that, you'd think I'd have more than I do, but not so much.

All of the good candy is over at Keeley's.



Halloween was fun.  I just wish The Girl had some friends around the neighborhood to go out with.  She didn't seem to mind going out with her Dad, I just feel like she's missing out.  I guess it is more my issue than hers.  I feel like she's always been "out of the loop" with playdates and stuff because The Mailman and I both work full time.

Our pumpkins, and my ghostly vampire:

I'm not sure why, but the end of Daylight Savings seems to have really kicked me in the ass this year.  I'm all out of sorts still.  The Girl seems to be having a time of it, too.  She was up way too early this morning, and this kid (like her mom) needs to get enough sleep.

I'm working from home today, because I was going to be the only one from my department that was going to be in the office in our location.  My boss ended up being in the office.  Oh well.  He did give me the option, so why do I still feel guilty?  Maybe because I'm sitting here and not over there on my work laptop?

I've finally come to the realization that I need to do something productive about my eating and exercise habits.  For the past few months, WAY too much of one, WAY too little of the other.  I'm sure you can guess which is which.  I've been feeling lousy, my knee has been killing me and I'm just being blob-like.  I really think that shedding some weight will do a lot to help all of those things.  Now to just do it . . .We've got a lake in the middle of town that is about 3.2 miles to walk around.  I dropped The Girl at school this morning and walked the lake, which I haven't done in months.  It felt good, it was a beautiful morning (and I didn't think anyone would be looking for me at work - oops).  Too bad it is now dark whenever I'm home and I can't do it more regularly.  I'll have to hit the elliptical at the gym at work.

RTT - still waiting to want to kiss him full on the lips

I can't get this old commercial out of my head, from about 10 years ago, I think. I don't even remember what it was for, but it had a contractor in it, and it basically said "You hire me, I come in and rip out your walls, your floors, you ceiling, everything, then I disappear for two weeks, leaving you with nothing. Then I come back without explanation, put it all together, better than ever, and you're so happy you kiss me full on the lips." Okay, I don't quite have the two weeks going, but I did have MIA plasterers for three days, and nobody can do anything else until the plasteres are done. I just want want my bathroom back, we should have been done this week ... it is only a little bathroom, people, how long does it take?


We went to our friend's daughter's wedding over the weekend. It was very nice, but I proved to myself that I am, in fact, not as young as I used to be. I got up Sunday morning, feeling a bit, how should I say this ... under the weather. The Mailman sent me back to bed after a while, he couldn't take looking at me curled in a ball on the couch. We had rain and snow (yup, actual snow, WAY too early for that) all day, so it was a good day to spend in jammie pants under the covers. The cats were happy because I didn't move much all day. Remind me of how I felt the next time I want to drink cosomopolitans, okay?


After much debate, I got The Girl the H1N1 vaccine this morning. I went to her doctor, who I trust very much, talked it out with him, he calmed my fears and I ended up convinced that it was the right thing to do. We've already had several confirmed H1N1 cases in her school, with a bunch more kids out sick. She's had the seasonal vaccine in the past with no issues, and will get that again when she goes for a checkup in a few weeks. This parenting thing is hard.



That's all I've got. Go see Keeley, over there by the purple button. There are probably some people over there that aren't still trying to recover from Saturday night. And let's hope Keeley's wrong about the "zombie virus" thing...

ACK! Is it Tuesday already?

I love the Monday holidays, I really do, but it sure does mess me up for the whole week. I know, it doesn't take much.

I just took a swig of my coffee, which was almost gone, and got a mouthful of coffee grounds, which I will now be picking out of my mouth for the next hour. Does that count as unprofessional office behavior?

The Mailman, The Girl and I went toilet shopping over the weekend, as part of the Great Emergency Bathroom Renovation. Nothing says "Big Friday Night" like toilet shopping. The toilet we bought is advertised as being able to flush a bucket of golf balls. I'm sending The Mailman back today to buy another one for the downstairs bathroom, since we now have a plumber in residence to install it, and you just never know when you might need to flush two buckets of golf balls. I'm thinking this might be a good way to get rid of some crappy (ha!) Happy Meal toys that just so happen to be about golf ball sized.

Swing by Keeley's place for more random stuff. She might still be recovering from her turkey coma, but she's got a friend house sitting and they've got the keys.

Random Tuesday Quickie

I just got back from The Girl's 4th grade field trip. Wonder of wonders, I was actually picked in the random drawing for chaperones. The Girl was happy, because it is also her birthday. I was happy for several reasons . . . I got to spend the day with The Girl on her birthday, I only worked a half day and the half day I am working is at home, so I can catch up on some laundry.

Oooooh, I just remembered, there are leftover cupcakes from Sunday's party in the fridge downstairs. Be right back . . .

Okay, that's better, where was I?

Oh yeah, the field trip. Boy, can 40 4th graders on a bus be LOUD. The chocolate cupcake was for medicinal purposes, you know, for my headache.

Okay, I'm done. Told you it would be quick (I'm working ya know).
Click on the button and go see Keeley for more Random Stuff.

Get your randomness on

In an effort to save money and the environment, the building that I work in no longer puts liners in our office/cubicle trash cans, and they only collect the trash from them twice a week. We are no longer supposed to put anything food related in the trash in our offices, we're supposed to put that kind of trash in the approved bins in the pantry areas, which are emptied daily. Now, we have paper recycle bins in our offices/cubicles, so I'm not really sure what my trash can is for anymore. I've taken to bringing in plastic bags from the grocery store to put in my trash can so that I can put my coffee cup / tea bag / banana peel / apple core / yogurt container / whatever in it and "bus my own table" at the end of the day. It's either that or walk halfway across the floor with my garbage four or five times a day. I know I need the exercise, but it just ain't going to happen that way.

The grocery bags win. So much for the environment.

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President Obama apparently called Kanye West a "jackass" yesterday. Can't say I can recall hearing a President quoted using the word "jackass" before . . . Can't say I disagree . . .

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The Girl BEGGED me last night to let her sign up for violin lessons at school. She made lots of promises about practicing and commitment and I finally relented. The Mailman was out watching the Patriots game when this all took place. He's gonna kill me . . .

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The Girl and I heard on the radio this morning on the way to school that Patrick Swayze had died at 57. She said to me "57 is awfully young to die." Yup.

Random Tuesday

Yup, it is Tuesday. Feels like Monday after the long weekend, but I'm sure that everyone has heard that already today.

I read this on Boston.com today, and it made me sad thinking about the possibililty of a generation of kids growing up without books. We love books in our house. We have too many books in our house. The Mailman goes to the library at least once a week. I can see myself someday using a Kindle or some such, but I just don't see it in the same way as curling up with a blanket and a book.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I told The Mailman that I want an iPhone. Not holding my breath.

Why do I have to fill out the same paperwork for The Girl's elementary school every year, when NOTHING has changed? There has to be a better way. One of the forms is a computer printout with all of the information on it that I have to sign to say it is correct, but then I need to fill out five other forms with the same info. WHY?!?!? I get that the teacher needs a copy, the office needs a copy, blah, blah, blah, but why can't they use the info that they have IN THE COMPUTER? Yeesh.

Thanks, Keely... I love RTT!