December 2004 Archives

'Tis good to be home. I spent 9 whirlwind days in Connecticut for the Christmas holidays. It was a lot of fun. No, really, it was. I got to spend time with my folks, my brother and his lovely family, E's mom, saw friends that I haven't seen in, literally, years, saw friends that I see everytime I go to CT but wish I could see more often, and finally met a bunch of E's friends that he's been telling me about for years.

It was a good trip.

There was snow on the ground when we got there. But it quickly melted in the 50 (yes! 50!) degree weather and rain. Christmas day was bleak, but we got snow the next night, which was lots of fun. And there was a flurry the last day we were there as well. Yay! Snow! And yes, I did scrape the ice off the car Christmas morning and clear the snow off of it on Monday. So I had the full "winter in New England" experience. (Though I did make E drive on the snowy roads.)

We made it to NYC, which was fun. I've been saying for weeks and weeks that my goal in going to NYC was to get bagels and knishes. We made it uptown to Zabar's and got 5 knishes that were AMAZING and H & H Bagels which were also really, really good. E and I were both looking forward to the bagels more than the knishes, but the knishes turned out to be JUST SO GOOD. I picked up a Jewish cookbook yesterday just for the knish recipe. I can't wait to try it.

I'm glad I went. I wish that I had had more time to do more. Each day was packed with people to see and things to get done. It was relaxing yet hectic at the same time. But it's good to be home. I missed my kitties. And I missed the Feathery Flannel Goodness that is my bed. And I missed being able to walk outside without a coat, gloves, scarf, and hat.

Oh, and if you are really curious, you can see the pictures that I took as well as the pictures that E took.

Things I had to do on Monday:

1. Wash sheets and towels. And remake bed.
2. Buy cat fud and litter.
3. Vacuum.
4. Pack for trip.
5. Call about health insurance.
6. Mail presents to Mags and Bekita.
7. Go to recycling center.
8. Pick up gift bags and gift tags.
9. Clean bathrooms (why is this ALWAYS on the list of things to do?).
10. Mail Sierra Club trip paperwork.
11. Write and post Christmas cards.
12. Figure out what books and movies to take on trip.
13. Go on a mousie hunt for Smudge. (We found 13!)
14. Not get angry at the stupid holiday traffic and congestion.

"I did not go to school today, said little Peggy Ann McKay." - Shel Silverstein

I'm not at work today. I don't have to go to work. I don't have to go to work for another 29 days.

*happy dance*

Unfortunately, I can't spend the day in bed eating bonbons and playing with the felines. Tomorrow E and I fly to CT for the Christmas festivities. Which means today I need to:

1. Wash sheets and towels. And remake bed.
2. Buy cat fud and litter.
3. Vacuum.
4. Pack for trip.
5. Call about health insurance.
6. Mail presents to Mags and Bekita.
7. Go to recycling center.
8. Pick up gift bags and gift tags.
9. Clean bathrooms (why is this ALWAYS on the list of things to do?).
10. Mail Sierra Club trip paperwork.
11. Write and post Christmas cards.
12. Figure out what books and movies to take on trip.
13. Go on a mousie hunt for Smudge.
14. Not get angry at the stupid holiday traffic and congestion.

This isn't necessarily a priority list. Just things that I need to get done before I go.

*sigh* And it's already after 10 o'clock. How come yesterday we seemed to have all the time in the world, and today the day is already slipping away? I better hop to it.

Today is my last day at PeopleSoft. We just got back from a farewell lunch in downtown Pleasanton. All my files are copied and backed up. The books are packed and the walls have been cleared off. It feels strange.

I know I'm not letting myself feel too much right now. I'm sure I'll cry at Tea Time today at 4, when I start hugging everyone goodbye. I hope that these people don't leave my life forever. I know some will, that always seems to happen with at least some percentage of co-workers. But there are a lot of really good people here. I'd really like to keep them in my life.

Everyone at PeopleSoft is going a bit nuts with getting their networks up-to-date and whatnot. Not surprising since it's a little more than a month until the axe drops upon most folks here. Invitations to LinkedIn are flying around like nobody's business.

I figured since tomorrow is my last day here, I might as well join the fray and get as much info up-to-date as well. There are way more folks that I know on LinkedIn than I was aware of. So, yes, you are prolly getting a "please add me to your network" email from me. If you don't, please feel free to send me one. It is mostly likely due to my eyes blurring at the screen and just not seeing your name.

It's kinda fun (in that ego stroking way) to see how many connections you can collect.

I love my iPod. I really do. What I don't love is my FM tuner that I use to connect my iPod to my car stereo so I can listen to my iPod instead of the radio. It is a piece of crap and I hate it more and more each day.

Mostly I hate it because I didn't spend $400 on an iPod to listen to static. I hate static. It's the number one way to drive me insane in a car. Put on a static-y station and I will be clawing at the roof in moments. There are two stations that work mostly okay on my FM tuner for the drive from Pleasanton to Sunnyvale. The music is mostly clear, except over the Sunol grade. Then it gets static-y. Grrrrr.

The FM tuner has started a new trick though, which drives me even more insane than the static. It is has started randomly turning itself off. As in it is plugged in, getting power, transmitting the signal from the iPod and then suddenly goes dead. Which means the car is suddenly filled with deafening, static-filled Christian rock or Spanish music (depending upon if I'm tuned into 89.6 or 91.5). Not fun. And I don't know what is wrong with it that it is doing this. *grumble spuz*

In other news, I now know what is going to be at the top of Freesia's and Smudgie's Santa Paws list:

I think I'll have to get two, otherwise they'd fight over who has to, I mean, gets to wear it.

Today I am wearing my new Funky Shoes!

On Saturday E and I took a trip into the city and went to the John Fluevog shoe store in the Haight. It was quite fun. He got two pairs of Funky Shoes, and I got the one.

It's quite enough funkness for me at the moment. I have to ease into the funk slowly, for one must be careful of funk overload when one is not used to the funk. But I must say, they are fun to wear. w00t!

When I was a little girl I loved horses. No, I mean I LOVED horses. I didn't play with dolls, I played with model horses. I drew them. I read about them. I wore horse-themed clothing. My room was filled with them. I dreamed of horses. I didn't want a husband when I grew up - I wanted a horse.

When I was 10 I tried to convince my father that he should buy me a horse. He said that he wanted to wait until I was 16 and then I could choose between a car or a horse. I said we could both save time by getting me the horse now, since I would want a horse more than a car. I mean, duh. How could he ever think I would feel differently?

Almost all of my Christmas ornaments from my childhood are horse related. There is one ornament in particular that was my favorite growing up. I couldn't wait until we found it in the box of ornaments. It was the most beautiful ornament ever - it was a white and golden pegasus. I used to spend hours playing with it and watching it "fly" on the tree. It was the best. The most lovely.

When I moved out of my mother's house, she gave me all of my childhood ornaments.

Oh my God. What was I thinking?

E is the best. He's the best for many reasons, but I'll only go into one account of his bestness here today. You see, E recently purchased a new camera (see his Flickr account for what he's been up to with it). And this meant that his previous camera and lens needed a new home, since they wouldn't be getting much action anymore. And seeing how I've been without a digital camera for the past 9 months or so, there seemed to be an opportunity for us both to get something out of this.

So, I am now the proud foster mother of a Canon EOS D30. I have a single lens, a Canon EF 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 II USM.

Needless to say I am very excited about this. I've been taking photos all night, much to the cats' dismay.

I'm having some trouble with the lighting - when I use the flash the photos look blue and washed out. But without a flash they are very dark. The autofocus is having trouble focusing on Smudge. I think it's cause he's so dark.

But I was able to get a couple of good ones. I guess this is like getting to Carnegie Hall - practice practice practice. At least I feel better about taking lots of photos, than I did when I took that photography class back in high school. I can take a lot of crappy shots and it's not going to cost me anything but my time. It's not like I'll be wasting film and developing chemicals. Let's here it for digital!

I guess this is my chance to also really learn Photoshop. I have an old version (v. 4!) that I'm using at the moment. But if I can color correct the images in Photoshop that will also help. E is able to work some magic with his images, but I don't understand what all he's doing as he clicks and slides scales. I guess it's time for me to go over to Border's and get some photo books. Ah, what a shame. I need more books. Heh. "Need."

It would seem that the cats are so excited about Santa Paws coming in a few weeks that they decided that the Christmas tree lights should stay on all night long. I swear I turned the lights off last night (actually, I don't think I ever turned it on). But when I got up this morning, lo and behold, the tree was lit up, like, like, well, a Christmas tree.

Now, I suppose some would call this a Christmas miracle. A tree that lights itself. Others may say that the cats know something about the meaning of Christmas that I need to learn myself. A beacon in dark times or some such.

However, being the realist that I am, it says to me that I need to find another place for the power-strip that the string of lights are plugged into. The cats must have trambled upon the "on" button while they fought under the tree last night.

Smudgie was all curled up with me this morning. He was so cute and sweet. I was all sprawled out on the bed, hitting snooze every 10 minutes for almost a hour (before I realized I had a doctor appt in 35 minutes). Smudge was curled up on the pillow next me, as I went in and out of sleep. And he kept reaching out his paw and lightly petting my cheek or lips or nose. It was the sweetest thing ever.

I am so in love with my cat.

And I really need to get a camera so I can subject you to the power of his cuteness.

Happy Tuesday everyone.

Everyone keeps calling me a "short timer." This is a phrase that I had never heard until it was applied to me last week. I guess I really am though. Especially in light of things like coming into work at 10:30 this morning (let's just say it was a bit hard to get the engine going this morning). It's hard to focus on the remaining bits of work that I need to get done before I go. The fact that I am so fucking tired certainly doesn't help with that. Folks ask me what I'm going to do with my time off between jobs and they laugh when I say "sleep." I think they think I'm joking. But I find myself daydreaming of the feathery-flannel-goodness that is my bed and I long to curl up there. Just for a couple whiles.

I've been bringing my Mac with me to work this past week and I'm really enjoying it. Of course, I use it mostly as a big silver stereo system. I turn on iTunes and just let it sing in the background. I find that it's easier than using my iPod, since I don't have cables all around me and I can be more aware of the ambient sounds around me. It won't be very practical at Adaptive Path though, seeing how it's one giant open room, essentially. I doubt all of them will want to listen to John Denver or Toto or the other gems from my "mellow" playlist. From what Peterme said I won't even have a wall to lean against. I'll miss my office door.

I need to start packing things up in my office and bringing them home. Like posters and books and whatnot. That will make it all so... official. At this point it is all still this unreal dream that might not happen. At some point I'll wake up and be on the same old course as always.

You know, if ever I get married again, I just hope that they are still making this dress.

Have you ever seen anything so hideous? It just makes me laugh.

Morality for Beautiful Girls

Ran

Six Feet Under: Season 1: Disc 1

The insomnia monster is haunting me again. I've been going to bed fairly early - 9ish or so, mostly because I'm so tired it hurts to be up later than that. But I'm waking up around 1 am or so and then tossing and turning for the rest of the night.

*sigh*

I thought I had gotten over this. I was sleeping so well the week of Thanksgiving. I was finally starting to feel almost caught up on sleep (what with all the napping). I'd go to bed and sleep soundly all night. I can't loose my ability to sleep everytime some stress comes into my life. Stress is going to happen.

I feel very disheartened today. Like a little black cloud has settled above my head. I hate this.

Half Not, by Fred Marchant

smell of book-glue, of old cardboard,
    and red ink at the edges,
the must almost alive, a papery
    feel in the air, summer
like purpled, swirly endpapers, cool
    shelves and oiled oak
floors, a long, varnished table of shifting
    and murders, boy detectives,
with enough fear to get lost in before
    the turn back to the real
where my mother stood in line, a return
    slip being stamped with
the gentle thud and purple due date
    of promises, all the books
I wanted to bring home to my brown bread
    supper, to sweet corn
and my father who is on his way home, too,
    who will stop off for a taste,
who will meet me later at the table,
    the two of us a little loaded,
the two of us just a bit unsteady,
    a book open in my lap,
half under the table, and half not

Sometimes I miss working at the library. I'll have to spend some time a the CHB when I'm home at Christmas.