Halloween Extravaganza

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hello, my little ghouls and goblins! Tricks or Treats? I promised treats in yesterday's post and boy do I have them. Some of the tricks can be seen on the videos. It will be obvious that we didn't have a productive day today, but we sure had a blast. It was filled with breakfast treats and a costume contest sponsored by HR and lots of candy everywhere! Enjoy...

Lisa as a really cute Witch.



Bridget on skates & My Gang (Bridget, Boss & Temp)


>>>Please watch the volume on the videos.<<<

Bridget Rolling Down the Hall



Bridget Dancing...Gotta Luv Her!



Leann as a Happy Pumpkin in action is hysterical!



Here she is again...stationary.



Ooops, Officer Evie -- Here's what happened....


Christine having fun with Take Out.



Cruella stopped in, too!!



Are you tired from all the tricks and treats? Whew. Me, too, my Halloween Honeys. From the candy that Bridget brought in to being delivered some candy by other peeps and gobbling brownies made by Evie, I am Halloweened out.

Hope you and your kiddies had a safe one. And if you didn't participate in any way during this second most popular holiday in America (Christmas being first!) and have some childish fun, my message is in Bridget's belt buckle:


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Halloween Extravaganza

Santa's a Little Early

Fifteen precious minutes were robbed from me this morning by my dog. I was experiencing a good night's rest and he wanted me up before 5am. Yes, master. Cool breezes and maple leaves swirled everywhere at dark o'clock...Ichabod Crane anywhere?

I was reminded it was the end of the month in the Finance Department thanks to dozens of e-mails and phone calls having us verify items we've purchased. Why do I forget about the end of month pain when I am a part of the same department? Must be a subconscious thing. I had to restrain Bridget and remind her to go to her happy place when her frustrations escalated with people in the other building.

Drove Tawny, Jeff and me to the mall for lunch and for me to stop at the wireless provider to upgrade my wireless card before it stops working...in a couple of days. Imagine my surprise walking around outside and inside and saw that Christmas' horrible presence was everywhere. Call me Scroogette. I don't bloody care; I was sickened. They didn't even wait until after Halloween! To top it off, this wireless provider branch was an authorized dealer, but didn't provide those upgrades. Grrr...

Soon Santa will be sitting in front of the giant snowglobe...




Tried to get to another official wireless provider branch to upgrade my card on the way home and they looked at me like I was on crack when I told them what I needed. They referred me to a website. Good grief! I will have to attempt to install the upgrade myself tomorrow morning and let our telecom peep know if it is not successful. I may have to get a new card and wait for a couple of days. We'll see.

I am not as zen-like as yesterday, but trying with my jasmine tea right now. Tomorrow should be fun with people encouraged to dress up at work for Halloween. No, I am not dressing up, but I will play photog. Wait until the video with Bridget tomorrow and a pic of my boss in his costume. We will all have a great time ghoulishly looking at that posting! Heh-heh.
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Santa's a Little Early

LQ: Numberless Forms from Tagore

"I seem to have loved you in numberless forms, numberless times, in life after life, in age after age forever."

- Rabindranath Tagore

...Just found out about this impressive man. The awesome entry in Wikipedia was lovingly compiled and thorough. Read this man's colorful life. You can say he truly lived using his passions. If I were only brave enough to do so. Working on it.
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LQ: Numberless Forms from Tagore

Blissful Blur

Cooler breezes followed me from my early walk with Cabal at 5am to my day at work. I remember being present and working. Bridget and I exchanged weekend Halloween party photos, I finished my portion of the software testing, and I answered lots of e-mails both professional and personal. I recall chuckling at some of my favorite blogger's recent entries and hearing the following joke from Demented IT Guy Kevin that had me giggling for quite a while:

A six and a seven year old (brothers) decide that they are going to starting cursing one morning. The older one says, "Okay, your word will be hell and mine will be ass." Downstairs they went for breakfast. Their mother asks the younger brother what he wants for breakfast. He replies, "Oh, hell. I'll just have some Cheerios." The mother smacks her son for cursing. After administering the punishment, she turns to the older brother and asks him the same question. He had seen what had happened to his brother who was still sobbing at the table and begins to rethink his decision. Tentatively, he replies, "You can bet your fat ass it won't be Cheerios!"

By day's end, it was like a mysterious zephyr had carried my memories making them into gossamer curtains waving away along with any worry or stress. Strange indeed, but nice. Spent a gentle evening enjoying quiet time with a Chinese dinner, playing with my Pretty Boy Dog and watching a new episode of Heroes before sipping some jasmine tea. Its warmth filled me and my being with a comfort strong enough for me to desire sleep. Amazing.
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Blissful Blur

Sunday Wisdom

"Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option."

...I saw this again yesterday after many years and it is worth sharing.
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Sunday Wisdom

Howling Halloween Party

Almost forgot I had a hair cut appointment this morning, but was able to get myself in the shower in time to be there. I promised Halloween co-hostess' Kathy and Tawny that I would make a vegetarian version of my Filipino eggrolls which made a stop to the Asian store a must after my haircut. Ended up making 50 eggrolls, but decided to fry them at Kathy's house. It was too humid with the rain to try and make sure they cooled completely and stay crisp for a couple of hours.

Walking around towards the front door, I noticed the personalized graveyard. Kathy and Jamie were have been very, very busy...

AGOL's is funny, but I loved Mart's that says, Water My Grave with Beer



The Graveyard



Cindi and Her Cutie........&.......Cindi with sis Kathy



Jason with his girlie Allison



Glam Witch Jill with Kool Keg hubby Mart. (I teased Mart that the pump wasn't for the keg, but actually a penile pump. It brought screams.)



Ant as Minister of Death with Wild Witch Wife Becca



Blaspheming the AGOL! Tawny and Kathy thought it would be funny to have the banned Chip and Dip at their party. Notice the dip wasn't even taken out and put in a proper bowl. They cackled the whole time about this addition. The party was still a howl despite this intentional blemish.



Party accouterments: Ouija board at fortune telling table and plasma action. Too bad I didn't get to try the drink mixers from test tubes.



Who has the better bump? Becca or Dan? (I can't believe you missed this Jeff!!)



Jamie being an ghoul of some sort and avoiding the wedding issue with Pretty Pirate Kathy. AARGH!


Backstory: Ant is a bonafide minister thanks to the Internet and his wife Becca is a notary. We figured, all our friends and some family were gathered in one place so why not get married during the party? Had everything been set-up, it would've been legal. Jamie's scariest nightmare almost came true. Hate to tell you this, Jamie, but you guys can already be construed as common law man and wife. Happy Halloween, Jamie!

Sisters being cheery...



Matt winding down and chillin'. His wife was Britney Spears (trashy version), but forgot to take pic.



The Grave Outdoors...

Difficult to see, but you'll get the ghost...er, gist.



Jack scaring away guests and a special Witch's Brew complete with rotating hand.


There are so many other pics of other people, but I am posting those on Picasa for my buddies to see in their entirety. Sending more video clips to them, too. Jeff ended up missing most of the party to help someone with a costume contest at Ybor City's Guavaween so hopefully those will help him get a feel for the ghoulish delights we experienced. Thank you very much Kathy & Jamie and Tawny & Jeff for putting together a really fabulous party. You outdid yourselves with the decorations and the food. It was well-attended (two dozen?) and great fun!

Post party...
Putting my costume together was easy as was the fantasy make-up. I didn't as elaborate as I wanted to in case I had an allergic reaction to the paint. Dummy me forgot to take the picture when the application was "fresh" and other special effects "visible" so here it is with a slight touch-up several hours later when I got home.

Tired gypsy fortune teller...


Jumped in the shower (third time today!) to get rid of all the make-up from face, neck and arms. Finally made it to bed after 2am when my jasmine tea helped to wind me down.
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Howling Halloween Party

Sigh...

Having major issues with Internet Explorer thanks to changes work made yesterday afternoon. Just installed Firefox to be able to get into my blog for the first time since the changes were made. Having a busy morning; will update later. What a cluster. Grrr..


Updated in the evening...

Who knew browser issues could cause so much havoc? In my company, it was dozens of user calls to the helpdesk because they couldn't get into one of our multitude of applications. I was just glad one of my buddies on the helpdesk was able to help me with a solution earlier today.

Had lunch with Lisa and Bridget. We all scarfed down some calamari with our lunch. Yum! I am good friends with each of these ladies, but they are not to each other, just acquaintances. Lisa ends up talking to Bridget sometimes when she visits me at my cube when I am not there. Everyone had a good laugh, but we were Weebles wobbling back to work.

Was a busy bee in the afternoon and couldn't wait to get the weekend started. Tomorrow should be fun with the Halloween Party. The invite said that costumes were optional, but I have a feeling about half or more of the invitees will dress up. Speaking of...my camera battery needs charging for pics and vids. I'd better do that now before I forget.
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Sigh...

Viewing Van Gogh

With leash and dog in tow a little after 5am, the full moon greeted us with diffused abandon. Our closest natural satellite looked like it had been dry brushed with clouds of cream from side to side.

Seeing this love quote from Van Gogh reminded me of it again during the day:

"The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others."

Viewing his Irises at The Getty Museum in Los Angeles several years ago took my breath away. I was lucky enough to stand in front of it for several minutes without any interruption in my viewing pleasure as if I was its own private audience. My eyes focused on the lone white iris to the left. I got the strong impression it was him sticking his tongue out to the world. The other words or feelings I received were I may be in an asylum, but I can still stand out and I can still paint my essence on canvas. No one can take that away from me. I loved it.

Meanwhile back at the asylum I call my work, I had another round of software testing. I will have to continue it next week thanks to a miscommunication between the project manager and my boss. I was hoping to get it completed this week. Sometimes that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Rushed home to take care of my Pretty Boy Dog so I would be ready when Tawny picked me up around 7pm. I was accompanying her on a shopping errand for the Halloween party on Saturday. Two stores with a stop for dinner in between got me home around 11pm. I tried to settle in quickly by attempting to finish this post, but I soon discovered browser errors that would not allow me to log into Blogger.com. I performed all of their recommendations to the same negative results. Disgusted and sleepy I made it under the covers with more positive results.
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Viewing Van Gogh

For Schizzle at Schnitzelhaus

The gentle rain falling must have washed away some of the commuters' reason. I left late on purpose and unfortunately got to work even later thanks to the sluggish traffic. How easy is it to forget to drive in the rain?

You know how I always talk about my Filipino side? Well, today my German side was satisfied when Ant drove Bridget and me to Schnitzelhaus where we had a delicious sampling of German food. It is now on the AGOL Approved List and perhaps some day we will be able to drink beer from their famous stein as seen on the link above. I doubt it, but Ant has high hopes. The owner's approach was rather brusque especially with his version of bon appetit which was something like You will enjoy! I know he didn't mean anything by it because the place was very welcoming. His great food spoke for itself, danke.

Our afternoon walk around the building was considerably cooler than yesterday thanks to the rain. Bridget and I remarked on the difference in temperatures and what we can look forward to in the changes. Gosh, Christmas is just two months away! I hope to surf right over the holidays. Maybe if I close my eyes it will pass quickly...

With the rain beading outside the third floor windows and knowing it was cooler made me think about having a Baking Day. Baking day with flour, sugar, eggs and chocolate since I don't have a honey to have the other kind of Baking Day. Ha! Staying at home on a rainy day and having a (lazy) loving day with someone you care about is so much fun. You just might be able to incorporate baking cookies or a cake. Need sustenance, non? Sometimes your AGOL has way too many ideas. Sigh.

I decided on soup for dinner from my Chinese place. Instead of calling ahead of time, I was on the phone with Tawny who had stayed home from a hyper extended knee. I arrived at the Chinese place and put my order in for some egg drop and won ton soups plus other stuff I ordered at the last minute because it smelled so darned delicious in there. Hmpf!

Selecting a chair on the side to wait on my order, a lady struck up a conversation with me by asking if I always order the same things. I replied that I almost order the same things because when you have a craving for something, that is all you want and deviating from it results in disappointment. She agreed. I told her that I usually call ahead when I am at a certain point on the highway and that I have a preset on my phone with their number. It is filed under "China". She laughed and thought it clever. We continued to happily chat and I told her that her son had held the door open for me when I came in. She was grateful to hear something nice; she'd been experiencing teen angst with him.

Back home, I walked Cabal in no rain which was a godsend. My meal was exactly what I wanted and will be able to enjoy it again tomorrow for lunch. The soup definitely hit the spot.
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For Schizzle at Schnitzelhaus

LQ: Pure Love and Suspicion

"Pure love and suspicion cannot dwell together: at the door where the latter enters, the former makes its exit".

-- Alexandre Dumas

...Another one of those Frenchmen whose brain I like. He wrote some really fun stuff.
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LQ: Pure Love and Suspicion

The Wright Stuff

Began the day with visiting the bank to activate my replacement debit card. I couldn't bring myself to change to a new PIN number. I've had the same one for about 15 years, I think. Talk about a habit! I have too many logins at work to remember not to mention all my other online stuff. We've become a culture of Username and Password. I'd like at least one of those to remain constant.

Saw an e-mail announcement with a picture of my division's new president and was startled. The feeling that I got was that he was one foot in the grave. I'd like to offer more of an explanation but just in case my company finds my blog...forget it. My impression of him wasn't helped much when I had to help direct him to the garage when I got off work. Strange feeling indeed.

My boss took us all out to Wright's Gourmet Deli which is a Tampa institution. I love the fact that their consistency of excellence has held through the years. I've been going to them since I was 18. It was my boss, his boss, Bridget, the temp and me stuffing ourselves for a food coma in the afternoon. Next time Bridget and I are ordering half sandwiches. Damn, it was just so good.

The only freakish moment was with the temp. This woman is a piece of work. My patience only goes so far. She found a way to complain. Geez! Our boss is spending his own money and not expensing it. He's driven us in his cushy vehicle and is sharing something important to him since he is a part of the company. I wanted to scream, Don't be so bloody rude! You've never been here. This is a great place to be so sit down, eat, be quiet, be thankful and enjoy. God forbid you don't include her or she'll harp on the fact. Yes, my boss heard her complaining that she didn't get a piece of rum cake he brought Bridget and me last week. She was on vacation. Are you feeling me here?

Spent the rest of the afternoon working diligently while trying to remain awake. Bridget was having a more difficult time of it so I made her take a walk with me around the building. It was hot and humid. I can't wait for the cooler weather.

Stopped at the store to get some odds and ends on the way home. It was a quiet endeavor. I noticed that thing that happens with me where the waters seem to part wherever I went and how helpful and polite everyone was to me. It goes beyond the everyday niceness. It is like they can't wait to do me a favor. Strangers strike a conversation with me and ask me my opinion. I get waited on first even being a latecomer to a line. The guy at the exit door gives me an extra pep of Have a Good Evening, Ma'am. It is borderline embarrassing. I need to bottle that thing somehow and make money at it. The really good part was when a little boy in a car, waiting with a relative, was watching me like a hawk while I unloaded my cart and got into my car. I waved at him and smiled and was rewarded by him releasing his pacifier to smile back.

In other news in case you missed it, there is something new in travel: Singapore Airlines' New Airbus A380. You can take a closer peek at panoramic shots of the inside. Use your mouse to swirl around and take a gander at the ultimate comforts in traveling.

And then...if you're not up to that, check out the latest in gourmet food. My Hawaiian cousins can't be wrong. It is really tasty when you make it with fried rice. I believe it deserves to be its own food group next to chocolate.
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The Wright Stuff

AGOL: One Year Blog Anniversary

"The world moves for love; it kneels before it in awe".

-- Edward Walker, in The Village


One year and 374 Blog Posts...Who knew what would snowball after My First Blog Post? I don't know what I expected to accomplish. The only important thing was to begin it.

It was a slow start and gathered momentum at Christmas and the first half of this year. Now it is still going not just with daily diaries, but with love quotes, original AGOL poems and writing, videos, pics I've taken and other fun stuff. It is a way for people to catch up with me who know my blog exists. Most of my family doesn't know it exists. I share so much with them already.

An AGOL has to keep a part of herself (almost) a secret and safe from familial criticism no matter how well-meaning. A few think I am too free with things. Like I always say, "There is Beauty in Truth". I'd just rather not have to explain myself and I don't often...

All I have to do is live a loving life and share it with others. That's all.
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AGOL: One Year Blog Anniversary

It's the Little Things

Washing bed pillows, using special shampoo on my make-up brushes and cleaning my everyday jewelry are just a few of the things I found myself tackling today. I had other plans complete with an itinerary, but I decided to leave them for another day. Sometimes life just goes that way.

It is tackling the little things that can give you the greatest satisfaction. Perhaps it makes the bigger things that much more doable. A whole lot of little things, as you know, can outweigh a couple of the bigger things. Sounds simple doesn't it?

Preparing my small corner of the world with more fall decor to last until Thanksgiving. I am not doing my handmade ornament party this year the Sunday before Thanksgiving. It is just too much pressure on my plate right now. Also, been putting together my costume for next weekend.

I decided to be a gypsy fortune teller which is not too far off the mark for regular AGOL. I am a gypsy at heart and I have been a fortune teller in brief circles. Luckily on my costume, I own most of what I need to complete it and need to pick up two items. The biggest decision is on how much fantasy make-up I will do. It involves a lot of glitter and colored eyeshadow that will extend way beyond the eyes. Oops -- just remembered that I will have to buy a couple of colors to go with the outfit.

Mostly an overcast day which I very much appreciated. A different variety of medium size dragonflies were still dancing about with butterflies next to my car as Cabal and I emerged again in the afternoon. They had brown bodies and brown gossamer wings that looked like they had been dipped at the tips in a cloud.

A good night's sleep, tackling many small things and generally keeping away from the world brought me a contented measure of peace. Other than love, I very much treasure feeling peace. Sometimes this gypsy would like to hang up her worn shoes and just sit around the fire drinking a warm liquid for comfort. In this case, no fire but some rain this evening and a good quality tea made with whole green tea leaves and jasmine blossoms. Wishing you the peace I am feeling at the moment.
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It's the Little Things

Funny Quote: Life with Men

Life with men is like a deck of cards. You need a Heart to love them, a Diamond to marry them, a Club to beat them, and a Spade to bury them.

...I'm thinking these do not have to be in this exact order with the exception of the last one unless you don't want to go through the other three. Let me know.
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Funny Quote: Life with Men

Cheshire Smile

Debated on posting this on Saturday. It is now Monday. Well, here you go. It is meant for one of my readers, but not sure who. Let me know via e-mail if it is you.

Creeping slowly like a monstrous sloth uncertainty’s cheshire smile widens. His shadow seeps within the crevices filled with secrets you thought well-hidden

The light from the smile sheds bright enough to make your secrets tremble. Uncertainty begins to feed on the fear giving it life akin a dormant fountain now spurting. Demonical laughter echoes in your being. Is it uncertainty or is it really you? Were you successful in inviting it in beating it as its own hunt for new game?

Embrace uncertainty, you embrace fear to help you shed them and let them flow. The true secret is once the shedding is done uncertainty no longer has a life of its own. In a turn of table, you are now the hunter where it is the one running, cowering. Smile a victorious smile, my sweet, feel it expanding fast to shed light on it all.

Cheshire Smile

LQ: Gold and Clay

True Love in this differs from gold and clay,
That to divide is not to take away.
Love is like understanding, that grows bright,
Gazing on many truths; 'tis like thy light,
Imagination! which from earth and sky,
And from the depths of human phantasy,
As from a thousand prisms and mirrors, fills
The Universe with glorious beams, and kills
Error, the worm, with many a sun-like arrow
Of its reverberated lightning.

- Percy Bysshe Shelley

...I included the rest of the poem because the whole is more beautiful than the highlighted more popular brief version. The structure of the words are so beautiful that I am compelled to reread them many times over when I alight upon them again.
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LQ: Gold and Clay

Omens, Wisdom, Cellophane & Free Rice

Arrived to work encountering an omen (though not alarming) but caught on the fourth floor parking garage right before catching the elevator down. I received a similar one while walking with Bridget under the covered walkway later. Might be a little too creepy to describe since it involved two small dead creatures in a beautiful repose. Even in death things can still be beautiful is the paraphrased version from Tawny when I discussed these findings with her...

There is a lady at work who reminds me of a gypsy with her seductively dark eyes, wild curly hair and her a modern gypsy version of dress. I love talking with her and we've found a mutual admiration society in one another. She says we are kindred spirits with gypsy hearts. I believe her. Today, I asked her for wisdom. Whatever comes to you...the first thought...you are my instrument of wisdom today. She said her first instinct was politically incorrect, but then said some words that held very special meaning for me. Can't share, but I know I will probably update this post a month or two from now with it when it is not so fresh on my nerves. I thanked her and told her she was a good cookie. She told me that I always look great everyday.

On my way back to my desk with breakfast in my hands to write down the wisdom, I met Lisa in the hallway who brought me a small sweet present. She saw it and thought of me. She's a good cookie, too, but she made me forget my wisdom. I had to e-mail my gypsy friend for it again.

At lunch, I told the cafe's manager about my lunch mishap yesterday and she wanted to give me free lunch today and I declined. She allowed me to pay today, but gave me a card with a free one for the future. Wasn't that nice? I was floored at her generosity.

Oh geesh...Tawny had a good laugh watching me trying to get rid of a piece of cellophane. It wouldn't have been so bad, but her husband was there and this guy named John to witness. The static was too strong between me and the cello from a small package of crackers so I ended up wrestling it with my hands. What seemed interminable, finally ended with me getting it off my hands and whispering expletives. Never a dull moment.

Left early to pick up a FedEx package at my complex's office and opened the three new votive candle holders I ordered on Saturday. They are elegant and go with my decor. Now where to put them....??

Called Myrna and she picked me up for quick eats and a trip to Old Time Pottery in Brandon to sashay (ha!) down the aisles with a cart, scouring for deals and stuff I may or may not need for the home. Ended up with stuff to make a "-scape" of some sort in my bathroom. I had an idea for it and now that I have it up, I may rearrange it again. There is a very sweet white ceramic angel my cousin Angie gave me about 12 years ago and wanted to give it a lift and a nice surround. Sometimes I swear I am a gay man trapped in a woman's body. Even gay men who know me say Wow.

My cousin Angie sent me this very smart link to Free Rice. I stopped after I got a score of 700. Don't know why I am amazed I have a vocabulary. Maybe it is because I don't get to exercise it as much as I'd like to without providing pocket dictionaries. It was good brain fun. You try it at Free Rice. How can I not love something with rice in it and it helps others?
My fellow gypsies wisdom for me today: If you seek ME, you will find ME, if you seek ME with all your heart.

Omens, Wisdom, Cellophane & Free Rice

Charity Case

Sat in my temp's cube and wanted to hang myself just to spare myself from the agony of sitting in her area. The one lady who sits on the other side of the cube wall is a woman I do not care for because she is loud and classless. She's on personal calls most of the time at least the couple of hours I was there. Across the aisle from me is another lady I don't care for either. This woman has to chime into conversations and give her unsolicited opinion. Bridget doesn't like her either because she tends to go on and on about her little dogs and what (outfits) they wore. We're a tough crowd to please.

Okay, this is going to sound slightly pathetic but here it goes. At Cafe Shi'thole (pron. she-toe-lay according to demented IT Guy Kevin) downstairs, you can get a card punched for every lunch you buy. After 10 lunches, the 11th is free. It took me a couple of months, but I was ready to get my free lunch. I had decided this morning that I would get a Reuben Sandwich because I wanted the tartness of the sauerkraut.

I arrived back on my floor with the only sandwich worth eating downstairs at Blandville. Said hello on my way into the breakroom to a couple of buddies. Picked up a some parts of the newspaper to read and as I was about to sit down, I promptly dropped my lunch on the floor. No salvaging it at all. Crestfallen, I cleaned up the mess for about five minutes. I was tired and not feeling well to begin with and I didn't feel like battling the lunch line to get another one so I sat down and moped. Other people offered me parts of their lunch, but I wasn't to be appeased.

I texted Tawny about the incident and in her second visit to me in the breakroom, she took out a small frozen meal from the freezer and handed it to me. I refused it and she said she got the wrong thing at the store anyway and she was going out to lunch with her husband. In the microwave, my lasagna cooked. Lunch was saved. Good thing, too, because I was about to get into a second package of crackers. You're right, Tawny, you are nicer than me, but I am still more thoughtful than you...little overachieving do-gooders we are. Ha!

My boss brought Bridget and me rum cake from his favorite deli so I shared that ginormous piece with Tawny later in the afternoon as a thank you. Bridget and I have our boss trained to bring us goodies if he goes somewhere good and he still adheres to our wishes not to be talked to until after 9:30am. You don't want to disturb this Dream Team before we get settled in the morning.

Listened to reggae mostly which helped calm the day until I decided I was too tired to function well and left. Stopped at the grocery store for a few things including a sympathy card for Tawny's mother-in-law. The relative who was on life support passed this week. They've been going through her room at home and found some happy surprises which cheered them like pictures they never knew existed taken through the years. Not much else, but I was glad to be home and resting in my own space.

Charity Case

A Peppering of Humor

I quickly remembered why I am no longer doing my temp's job that I trained her for a year ago. It just plain sucks. It was like riding a bike in the processing of IT-related requests, but I still had to IM my IT buddies when I hit a few bumps. The only bad thing for the users was that I am now included under the cloak of capital expenses police. I'm sure several people enjoyed my justification requests. My UK parent says cinch the purse strings tighter, I help cinch the purse strings tighter.

It wasn't all work and typing like a fiend. There was a peppering of humor. In my IM to Kathy who is co-hosting the Halloween party at her house, I teased her and asked if her boyfriend who is of a smaller stature (5'5" to her 5'9") will be dressing up as the Keebler Elf, Ernie.

Sarah says: is jamie going to be the Keebler guy?
Kathy says: ROTFLMAO!!!!!!!!!! OMG THAT IS HILARIOUS!!!
Sarah says: tell him to dress up like FRODO from Lord of the Rings
Sarah says: a hobbit
Kathy says: he was thinking of being this guy, but not enough time now that he's working: http://www.tronguy.net/
Sarah says: OMFG
Kathy says: i know!! total nerdom
Kathy says: and imagine, the tron guy works as a computer consultant
Kathy says: I just texted Jamie your idea on keebler and his response was "Tell Sarah to KMA" (kiss my ass)
Sarah says: LOL

The AGOL is the original Evil Kitty...Jamie will get me back at the party. Don't you worry.

Enjoyed some more Alaskan crab legs for dinner. I just love this stuff steamed and seasoned with Old Bay seasoning and vinegar or wine. I sat on the floor using my large glass and iron coffee table as my dining table and happily camped out. Yeah, baby.

Completely sucked into watching the new Bionic Woman series. I had a metal lunchbox in the 70s from the original one. I can't wait until the next episode... While watching TV at my real dining room table, my dog sat down near my feet. Something made me look down and I saw this, my dog telling me he wanted a chest and belly rub:



He must have been really wanting attention because he was patient and let me take pictures. Jeezus, I can't decide whether to be embarrassed or amused. Is this canine cutie actually smiling??



How can you top all that? You can't. You just gotta laugh.

A Peppering of Humor

Nice Evening with Nan

Maneuvered through traffic nicely and called ahead that I would be 30 minutes early. Arrived at my aunt's house about 6pm with a hot Starbuck's Caramel Macchiato to be reheated later before I leave. I had already sucked down the iced version in the car. The house makes me fall asleep as it is six degrees hotter than my Antartica version. Ick.

The whole visit was really pleasant. Usually one part sets off my temper, but not tonight. I was animated (thanks to coffee) and my conversations with my aunt and uncle were lively as I caught them up on AGOL Land. My aunt prepared me a feast of Alaskan crab legs, eggplant prepared a Filipino way and some stinky dried anchovy stuff plus a fresh pot of jasmine rice. What could be better? Ended up denting the Alaskan crab legs, a half-serving of the eggplant and no anchovy. I was sent home with leftovers to enjoy later.

Nan was sweet as usual and she responded in light conversations. She was tired so her memory started skipping around and when I would ask her questions that would force her to remember things, she ran into some difficulty to which I smoothed it out and hopped into another subject I knew she would have the answers.

She kept being amazed at how many answers I would have while watching Jeopardy. Not sure if she knows I am a closet geek. Nan, on the other hand, amazed me with a weird habit she's adopted. She was going through her photo albums and chucking away pictures from them. I enquired as to what she was doing and she said she was getting rid of pictures she no longer wanted to keep. That statement would have been fine if it weren't for some of the subject matter she was tossing. Some were pictures of her late husband. Mentioned it to my uncle later and they already knew and would sift through the paper bag at night.

My aunt and uncle were home from their church meeting one hour sooner than I thought they would get home which was great. I reheated my cup of coffee and my aunt packed my goodie bag to take home. There were no road closures on the highway and good music was playing on the radio. And the most important part? My four-legged beast was happy to see his mistress in a good mood and early home; he received extra playtime.

Nice Evening with Nan

TuesGay Theme

The universe has conspired against my sleeping pattern. Do I really have one? I was in bed at 12:30am and woke up at 4am. I tried to go back to sleep only to take a new position as clock watcher for the next hour before finally raising the flag of surrender. Cabal was the only one excited that I was up. Good thing he is cute.

Armed with some goodies from the Chinese grocery store for breakfast and lunch at work, I drove off to fill up on some gasoline and caved into a craving for Fruit Punch flavored Gatorade which I ended up spilling on my trousers and my carseat. Grrr. Back home the AGOL goes to try and salvage the said trousers with water and a spin in the dryer.

Work has been okay so far today. I conducted myself like the loving person I am by extending good luck wishes to my temp's vacation plans and meant it. She did a great job of cleaning her work before I get into it today.

Lunch was fun with the gang and found out there is such a thing as "A-Gays". It is akin to A-Listers. One of the guys is helping out with an invite-only gay Halloween ball. I will leave the rest to your imagination and then take it to a scarier place. Tawny started the whole thing about what was worse than aging groupies: gay aging groupies. She saw several at a David Cassidy (from the Partridge Family) concert that her husband indulged her in last night at EPCOT.

And then...Tawny's husband had helped pose for a modeling shot this weekend where he was holding a gun while surrounded by near nude/nude gals. His portion was silhouetted. It was said that he was going to appear in Playgirl magazine and Tawny corrected the person and said, "No, PlayGranny". The lunchroom exploded in loud guffaws.

I am leaving at 3:30pm to go home and take care of the Pretty Boy Dog and then going to my aunt's for Nan-sitting. It'll be me and my favorite q-tip hanging at the crib, chillin'.

TuesGay Theme

It's Bunday!

I was falling asleep in my morning conference call that was also a webcast. Standing helped me stay up until I was silently begging for our vendor to end the call that had gone about 20 minutes too long. My boss, on the other hand, was starting to do the pee-pee dance in his chair and ran down the hall when our call was over. Hee.

Decided to postpone my meeting with my temp till the afternoon. I didn't want to feel extra tired before lunch so I sent the invite for later. Meanwhile, I ended up calling my bank trying to find out what happened yesterday. Funds are readily available again and all is good with the bank who apologized for the error.

Meeting with the temp was quicker than I thought, but will meet with her again tomorrow morning. Spent the afternoon catching up on stuff. Truth be told, I was bored. Sigh.

You have to see this Cute Bunny that gives us the blog post title of Bun-day. Angie sent this to me in the afternoon and the pictures almost made my teeth shatter. We're all about cute at AGOL-land.

I needed to do some food shopping but didn't feel like going to a normal grocery store so I found myself with a mini-cart at the Oriental Market. Picked up some Yaki-Soba noodles that I will stir fry later with veggies and the seasoning that came with the noodles. Splurged on a very lean cut of flank steak that I sliced later for a stir-fry with broccoli and sweet spicy sauce. Bought several other things including a couple of new Filipino items to take to my aunt's tomorrow.

The only thing I had trouble with was buying a small bag of jasmine rice. They had broken jasmine rice, but not regular long grain jasmine rice in a small bag. The only alternative was to buy a body bag size of rice. That is more than enough rice for one Asian family for a few months. I declined. The lady checking my groceries felt bad because she looked on the shelves, too. When my goodies were bagged, all of a sudden she said, Here - a gift for you. She handed me a parting gift at the end which was a new package of blueberry cookies. I thanked her and drove home.

After taking care of Cabal, my house soon smelled nicely of Asian food and I still had rice previously leftover to have with my stir-fry. Watched some really good programming like Heroes and I was set for the evening.

It's Bunday!

Cooler Sunday

A cool breeze accompanied Cabal and me as we walked the complex. No other souls were walking around at 7:00am. There were a few cars driving about but essentially it was an AGOL and her beautiful beast surveying the dawn. Thankfully the water sprinklers were not on anywhere; however, the birds' songs were filtering through the branches from above.

Received an update from my old school friend Sheila. She's a design editor at a local paper in Colorado. The poor girl has been having a time of it with her supervisor quitting and her cat causing her to injure her foot.

(For those close to me, you know my cat rule: Only one pussy cat per household: Me! Sheila would not have had that problem had she followed that rule for herself. Yes, I do like cats, but I tend to be allergic to them and the little things love to rub and purr themselves silly all over me. Weirdos.)

And then...Sheila also had to call 911 on her neighbor's visitors who were causing a ruckus by her home last night. I told her she needed some martinis as soon as possible. It would be a start.

I called Myrna near noon and had her laughing for almost 30 minutes straight. At some point she started to cough and choke and I had to let up. It started with me bragging that I passed an online survey that invited me in as a member. She and husband were both rejected when they took it years ago. I played with that for a while and moved on to other subjects. I can make anything ridiculously funny. I have the Filipino side of my family to thank for that skill.

My nails were filled in by my regular gal Mary's brother Jimmy. She was busy air brushing some tacky design on a hookerella's nails that took a very long time. I skipped the pedicure and will come back on Saturday.

I wrote a slightly scathing note to my bank. I am having an ATM/debit card replaced due to age and the magnetic stripe wearing off so I put the order in online late Friday. The representative responded on Saturday said that my current card would still be valid until I received the new one next week. Imagine my surprise at attempting to withdraw some cash at two of their locations (just to make sure). The machine informed me that my card was invalid. I'm expecting a call by 10am before my first meeting tomorrow. Grrr.

Next week will be H-E-double hockey sticks...My temp will be on vacation from Tuesday through Friday. I will be doing her job while she is gone and Bridget gets to be both of us during the same time. I am not relishing splitting my time between her cube and mine. Sigh. I need to put a positive spin on the thing. Please feel free to chime in with ideas. Really. Anything at all. I mean it.

...Going to watch an episode of Doctor Who now.

Cooler Sunday

LQ: To Keats with Affection

I have been astonished that men could die martyrs for religion - I have shuddered at it. I shudder no more - I could be martyred for my religion - Love is my religion - I could die for that.

- John Keats

...That he would die so young with many more lovely words within him is the tragedy, but that he has given us so many is the triumph. Bittersweet, have you no shame?

LQ: To Keats with Affection

Girlie Day with Home Decor

Tawny and Jeff were at my complex at 10am viewing apartments with their needs. They were looking at the bigger 2 bedroom/2 bathroom offerings. Their stay at British Jeff's house is almost over. There are two people interested in buying his home and Tawny/Jeff would no longer be renting it to help out British Jeff who now lives back in Liverpool. They wanted something on the first floor for their aging relatives to manage easier when they came to visit. Of course, Tawny was also thinking about Cabal and how at his age he will not be able to maneuver the stairs as easy. Damn dog even gets consideration when it comes to choosing a new home other than his. So spoiled and His Prettiness knows it, too!

I passed Tawny and Jeff in the car on my way out to Dunkin Donuts to get donuts and ginormous cups of iced coffee for us, including Myrna who was coming at 10:30am. Soon we were all in my apartment getting jacked up on caffeine and sugar. Jeff left us girls to enjoy our breakfast and to start our Girlie Day.

Myrna and I received our invite from Juleen's annual open house to buy Christmas and Autumn home decor items at a discount. By the time we arrived before noon, most of the premium and popular items had been scavenged clean.

This woman's two-story home was crammed with items throughout all the rooms including the bedrooms and laundry room. Pretty packages wrapped in cello wrap everywhere. I went last year and bought a pumpkin soup tureen and two candle sticks, etc. It was a madhouse with over a dozen women milling about like ants at any time trying not to bump each other and the displayed items. Next year, we are asking for an advance preview so we'll get more choices. We were able to ask her for something I wanted and didn't see displayed hidden in her secret stash. It pays to know the hostess. We didn't do any real damage this year. I bought mostly jar candles smelling of autumn spices and homey christmas scents.

A few hours later, Myrna drove us back to my apartment. Tawny stayed for about 20 minutes before going home while Myrna and I enjoyed a late lunch/early dinner at Cracker Barrel. After dinner, we got to see more Christmas and Autumn items for sale at this country store. No more stuff made it home with the exception of one thing. I bought a popular northern candle maker's gel car refresher in a scent reminiscent of home (so it says) and its directions for use had this:

Remove the gel car refresher from bag. Hang freely using the attached string. As fragrance is drawn from the gel, you will notice some shrinkage and pulling away from the plastic holder. This is normal and is an indication that it is time to replace your gel car refresher.

Did you notice anything peculiar with those directions? Me neither. Wink.

My Girlie Day ended at 5pm. Tomorrow will be an AGOL Day when I go to get my nails done and a spa pedicure.

Girlie Day with Home Decor

Abe Vigoda is Not Dead

I remembered to send someone warm wishes for his birthday last night for today and received a nice thank you back this morning. It is important to remember birthdays because it is unique to that person. It's not like sharing the holidays with your family unless your birthday and a holiday are on the same day which would suck if you were a kid. Birthdays now just remind me of advancing years. I guess I am not in that feeling the wisdom stage though I feel I have earned some of the wisdom thing.

I don't know what made me get on this kick today. In the 70s, a wonderful detective sitcom called, Barney Miller came to be. A memorable character named, Fish played brilliantly by Abe Vigoda was introduced. There is a running joke I have that is used as a punctuation to anything or a useless FYI that I on occasion end my conversations with, "Oh, by the way, Abe Vigoda is not dead." He is often mistaken for having crossed into The Great Beyond. In his 80s now, he is still very much alive. I sent my new boss the link as a joke. He had been receiving interesting news e-mail from me regarding our UK parent company and later decided to switch it up on him. Can you believe he has never heard of IMDB? Now he's sucked into IMDB. He also feels more secure now that he knows that Abe is still alive. (Not.) Certainly helps me sleep better...Wait, uh...I don't sleep. Scratch that.

My boss encouraged me to leave early as he was leaving on time. My day starts at least one hour later than his. Who was I to disagree with him? It gave me plenty of time to do some errands and still get home at my normal time. Hee.

Talked to Kathy while I was driving. She went to work and afterwards attended an unplugged (acoustic) concert at the House of Blues Orlando last night with her boyfriend Jamie. Her doctor on Wednesday had diagnosed her with strep throat and prescribed some antibiotics. Poor thing was worn out and stayed home today. She will not be attending Girlie Day tomorrow and she'd been looking forward to it.

Trish called me from San Francisco later in the evening. Things are going a lot better now that she and her boyfriend are living in the same apartment. Her job's excitement factor has leveled out, but she gets to meet celebrities. Simon Cowell turned out to be really nice and more handsome in person. There are more details I would like to share, but I cannot because I'd rather not air semi-dirty laundry. No, nothing remotely horrible, just odd tidbit. Too bad for us.

Making it to bed earlier. Really tonight I have no choice. My body knows it is the weekend. Tomorrow is going to be great fun with the girlies so I'd better rest up.

Abe Vigoda is Not Dead

Shake It Up Baby

Nothing like a little shake-up with an executive cleaning in the first month of the fiscal year. Read an e-mail announcement of the sudden loss of execs including the president of our North American division. You remember him? The one I was campaigning to for my (imaginary) Smile Ambassador appointment? I really liked him because he was genuine. Nice guys don't always finish first, do they?

The news was posted 7am UK time and has spread like wildfire all over cyberspace. My boss followed it up with a little "smoothing of the feathers" to Bridget and me so we understood what it meant. We know what it means: a little house cleaning to make room for new furniture. On a good note, our own division president is rumored to start next week. Okay, we'll hold off on the good news part until we meet him.

Spent a quiet day working with brief but frequent interruptions from my boss. It didn't bother me today...I was happy to see Tawny in finally. Spent some time with her, but she was holed up in conference calls all day. She was winning friends and influencing people. Eek! Tawny has a way of gently pointing out stupidity and backing it up with facts and figures. I've seen her in action; she's good.

My cell phone rang on my drive home, but realized it was in my zippered pocket of my trousers. My haste made driving and extricating the cell phone a challenge. Myrna was finally returning my call from Friday. I was going to call her this evening with worry.

Oh gosh, I almost forgot to mention that I was forced to repeat a joke Tawny texted me two Saturdays ago for my boss and a girl from marketing. The chickie from marketing needed a corny joke to tell her boyfriend and she forgot how I told it the other day. Nothing like being put on the spot. I almost forgot how to tell the damn thing: Where does a bee go to the bathroom? The BP Station!

Shake It Up Baby

LQ: From Bono and the Boys

"True love never can be rent, but only true love can keep beauty innocent. You can run from love, and if it's really love it will find you, catch you by the heel, but you can't be numb for love. How can I hurt when I'm holding you? The soul needs beauty for a soulmate. When the soul wants, the soul waits...for love and sex and faith and fear."

-- U2

...Lyrics from their song "A Man And A Woman". Irish eyes are smiling with Bono and the boys OR maybe they've kissed the Blarney Stone too many times? Ha! I enjoyed the words nonetheless.

LQ: From Bono and the Boys

Mostly I'm Silent

Sleeping is just crazy. I made it in between the silk-soft sandwich of golden sheets at 12am, but woke up between 2am and 3am. Was also awake before 5am, but forced myself to stay in until 5am.

Work was the boring midweek slump. The only thing jumping around was my boss. Luckily, he is getting sucked into several committees. Those are the kinds of activities I believe he thrives on which allows his attention to flit from one thing to another. It'll be a win-win all around for our group.

Tawny worked part-time from home today. The critical care relative will now be relegated to hospice to make the rest of her days as comfortable as possible. The patient was awake today and watched TV. Just days ago, she was in a medically induced coma waiting to be taken off respirators. Nothing is ever simple or understandable, is it?

Lunch was pleasantly quiet throughout my meal with a few people popping in to say hello and inquire why I was lunching alone. I find it curious that some people cannot fathom being able to enjoy a meal by themselves. The focus allows you to empty your mind and concentrate on the act of nourishing yourself from the action of feeding to masticating your food. It also brings your heart rate down and allows a calm to come over you. In my case, it was shattered by an influx of loud talkers.

What I despise more than dumb women are dumb men. I am not talking about being naive or being ignorant, but of smart people exhibiting stupidity. I had the unexpected pleasure of instructing a man on how to use a new microwave at work. How do you set the power level? How do you set the cooking time after the power level? I gave instructions and he kept at it. I got irritated at the whiny tone and said sternly, Dude, you're in IT. Figure it out. He didn't appreciate it and tried to play it off that the microwave wasn't hooked on the network. This man gets paid twice as much as me. He was a pilot in the Air Force. He's well travelled. Give me a bloody break. I've had discussions on politics with him and he loses every time. Tawny has had discussions with him, too, and lost. I don't think he enjoys being bested by a woman or is that his case of the dumbass being pointed out to him? Tough call.

Gave Bridget a makeover and a make-up lesson after our department meeting. I decided to give its own space: Bridget's New Look for her roller derby calendar photoshoot on Saturday.

My cousin Angie IM'ed me with this link to a Free Online Habit Tracker. She further mentioned that I could put the tracker on my blog. What do you think she was trying to tell me? I don't have any goals right now that I would like to have publicly tracked. I am mentioning it in case one of you would like to track yours.

Drove home using a quicker route by taking the toll road. The drive was silent, too. The car radio was on, but my being was quiet. It continued when I ate my dinner this feeling of silence within. I am unsure what or where to attribute it. I'll have to be more cognizant of the silence later when I go to sleep and see if it speaks to me.

Mostly I'm Silent

Bridget's Makeover & Make-up Lesson

My department meeting dragged for an hour starting at 2:30pm. I was too excited about giving Bridget a makeover after and teaching her how to wear the quality make-up she bought. We scurried into the ladies restroom and camped out in a small section of the long vanity. I would do one side of Bridget's face and stopped at each step so she could complete the other half.

Historically when I've given makeovers, I make sure the client always knows how to do it themselves. What is the point of them buying all of the cosmetics if they don't have the knowledge and newly learned skills to recreate it at home? Bridget proved to be a hilarious, but willing student. At one point, she had a small scuffle with the mascara and the mascara almost won.

BEFORE ..........................................AFTER


The makeover result was a more even skin tone and no dark circles around each eye area. Bridget loved it! She is a beautiful girl with or without make-up, but her new look allows us to focus on her sparkling eyes. Sigh. I've always wanted light eyes and instead I have this weird brown color. When I was 13, a schoolmate named Alan DeLapp said that my eyes were like pools of fudge. He was writing me an impromptu poem in front of everyone, the little darling.

Bridget's Makeover & Make-up Lesson

Petting a Dragonfly

If it's Tuesday, it must be a work day. Yes, I know, it goes for the other weekdays. Our temps are still high and it makes going to work an extra chore. I was hoping for a taste of the cold front the weatherman kept alluding to some time this week. We're in the 90s now. Will we have to break out sweaters for the 70s or 80s? Doesn't matter to me. I still wear cardigans because I dress for indoors.

My manager had his director and conference calls to occupy him today. I got more work done. Go figure. Bridget enjoyed it as well. We were both happy to catch up on our paper piles. They multiply like rabbits. How do paper mate? They copy each other. Holy heck. I just made that up.

Bridget and I took a walk under the covered walkway around the building around 3-ish. The temperatures were still in the 90s, but there was a cool breeze going. As we walked in front of the glass walls near the front, we spied a small black dragonfly. It had landed on the small metal ledge by the glass. I was overcome with a desire and succumbed to the need to stroke its wings. The wings and body were like black velvet. My beautiful dragonfly allowed me to touch it for several moments. I nudged its tail and it stayed where it was and I stroked its wings again. It was pure magic. I told it to go on ahead and as we started walking, it flew away. I reveled in it. It was one of those divine moments. Bridget was quite amazed, too, at the trust of such a little creature.

Tomorrow I get to teach Bridget how to put on make-up in preparation for her photoshoot for their sexy derby calendar. I have an idea of what will look good for her and she needs to practice for Saturday. We've already discussed a plan and I have shown her magazine shots we can emulate as well as tips on how to crank up her hair for a more glamorous look with the help of hot rollers. If I didn't already have plans on Saturday, I would be there to do it for her...

Left work early to take care of Cabal and straighten my sanctuary a little before Kathy came by to pick me up for Vietnamese food. The food at this place was tasty. I love the way they marinate and charbroil their meat on skewers. It reminded me of street food in the Philippines. We finished it off with our boba drinks. Kathy had watermelon and I had avocado. Can't wait to try another dish on the menu. She brought me home and I gave her the mini steamed rice muffins and cassava cake pieces I saved for her in the freezer from my aunt's house. Kathy loves these Filipino pastries.

Was able to talk to Tawny for a little bit tonight. Felt her absence at work. No real updates on her end regarding Jeff's aunt in critical care. She will be back tomorrow. Poor thing. Meanwhile, I need to put away my laundry and get ready for bed. I didn't get to sleep until a little after 1am and woke up at 5am. I am starting to feel it this evening. G'night.

Petting a Dragonfly

LQ: Beautiful

"You are beautiful...when you let friends have their space, when you believe, when you laugh, or are moved to tears, when you let it just roll right off your back, when you talk about your dreams, when you help a turtle across the road, when you try to do the right thing even when it comes out wrong, when you love."


Anonymous

...This just rolls off your tongue nicely when you read it aloud and fills you with a small measure of joy culminating in a smile. You can be beautiful just as you are no matter how you are. Be yourself.

LQ: Beautiful

No New Discoveries on Columbus Day

Columbus Day gave us lighter traffic and no mail delivery. I need to work for the government to get these kinds of bank holidays off. Lucky ducks. Instead I work for a UK owned company who CLEARLY do not let their US subsidiaries observe the same amount of holidays, etc. that they do in the UK and other European subsidiaries.

Bridget wasn't in first thing and I thought she might have stayed home another day because her son had not been feeling well. My boss remembered that she had a doctor's appointment. She was in by noon, but I lost my own productivity somehow at the worry that she would not be there because I would have to be the designated buyer for the day. I had my own plans of reorganizing which I did chunk out a good bit today. Hooray!

Tawny's mother-in-law's sister was not taken off life support yesterday. They have signed a DNR (do not resuscitate) when the time comes. Apparently, she suffered severe damage in her heart. Tawny and Jeff will not be in tomorrow to support his parents. My prayers and love to you all.

To cheer my Monday, I showed a couple of people Carter's videos from yesterday and I replayed them to myself a few times. All three just made me laugh. I have other interview questions for Carter the next time I see him. It pays to carry around a handbag that is often mistaken for luggage so I have enough room to tote my digital camera. That is one of the reasons anyway. It doesn't quite describe my other obsessive compulsive items....like chewing & whitening gum, special toothpicks, hand sanitizer just to name a few. Yes, a few!

Received Kathy's Halloween Party e-mail invite which means I need to think my costume through and design the make-up I will be wearing. Can't decide if I will wear false eyelashes or not. I need to buy some body glitter, too. Where are my sketchpad and colored pencils to write and draw all this stuff down?!

Stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get a treat for Cabal. Well, $63 later... I bought food stuff for myself over the treat package. It is a bad idea to go shopping when you're hungry for dinner. I saved $12 with the Buy One Get One Frees, etc. That is what I kept telling myself when I only expected to spend $7 at the most. What are you gonna do?

Watched more riveting episodes of Heroes and Journeyman. Chuck which was on before Heroes was okay. All three were nice mental bubblegum before the news and Jay Leno.

OMG - Bad Joke from The Tonight Show with Jay Leno:
Q - Who is China's favorite band?
A - Lead Zeppelin!

No New Discoveries on Columbus Day

A Six-Year Old's Wisdom

It was family day at my aunt's house for a total of 15 adults and children this time around. We were there for a goodbye lunch for Nan's sister-in-law, Aunt Wilma. My aunt made a mouth-watering feast as usual. I saved up so I could sample everything and ended up taking some of it home to enjoy later.

I did have one plan which was to get clips of Carter since he always provides spontaneous entertainment. You can hear my voice interviewing him in the middle of our meal. This six-year old is priceless.

>>> Watch the volume please! <<<

CARTER BEFORE RICE:



CARTER AFTER RICE:



CARTER KNOWS FILIPINO:



As the family party wound down, my cousin Ida and her husband left me to take their kids home later. Ended up helping my goddaughter's twin, Crystal with her homework which she was finishing up at my uncle's computer. My cousin's printer had been acting up and needed to print out her homework.

Drove the kids home around 5pm and I drove myself for some Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks. My aunt's home has the power to sap my energy for some strange reason. Got home and took care of Cabal before e-mailing the pictures and videos taken from the party.

My friend Jill called me to demonstrate for her how skype works. She has some new computer challenged clients who need a quick tutorial. Her video was streaming, but mine was static. My webcam hasn't been properly calibrated since...nevermind. I'd better get some more usage out of it for the good money spent.

I keep looking at Carter's videos and they just make me smile with his charm. Kids are the greatest, aren't they? How can you not have a Happy Sunday after spending time with him and the other kids. They remind us that life is still...livable.

A Six-Year Old's Wisdom

Blogloss...Almost

The Saturday Four didn't get done this morning...again. Kim had several things on her plate. I will have to bite the bullet and do it. Just have to be smart about walking the woods by myself. Safety first. Stop chuckling, Tawny and Angie. I will not bring a flare gun no matter how much I want to. Cell phone, hurricane whistle (loud as a mofo) and water are the minimum gear.

Oh! Did I mention I was having more Yahoo e-mail issues? I've tried sending to both Tawny and Jeff a set of links and have done so a couple of times. Grrr. I tried sending it to Tawny via messages in myspace. I didn't hear if the regular e-mail work because they were having a family crisis.

Jeff's aunt, who lives with his mom and dad, had to be induced into a coma yesterday and they didn't expect her to live. Something about an extended heart attack. During that wait, Tawny found out that her own great aunt passed this morning. This afternoon I find out that Jeff's aunt will be taken off life support tomorrow and will be cremated. Both will be losing family members by tomorrow's end. It's a shame. Sending you both my love and lighting candles for your family.

Listened to Queen Latifah's new album Trav'lin' Light. You can click and listen to the music sampler of her impressive rendition of old jazz and R&B tunes from Phoebe Snow, Sarah Vaughn, Etta James and Peggy Lee. Dana Owens, her real name, has transformed herself into a real class act. Did you see her role as Momma in the movie Chicago? She was fierce and sexy!

Almost lost my blog forever this evening. I was messing with something on the template and accidentally deleted most of the codes and SAVED it. Ordinarily, this would cause an ACM (AGOL Crisis Moment), but I had another instance of my page open only to see that it was for one month only. The archived pages are not the same as the homepage. I used Tools>View Source and copied the codes just in case. It would give me a good start at rebuilding my page that was a custom creation by Tawny's daughter Jess. She was really good in getting the flavor I wanted and it centered mostly on the color range of mandarin orange to frangipani pink. Jess was the one who added the kiss mark on the header and she was right on with it.

I was looking at the codes when it dawned on me to use googlecache.com which takes a snapshot of everything including my blog earlier today. I was able to copy ALL the HTML coding and save to have my complete blog page again. Only had to delete a few lines attributed to googlecache.com at the top. Whew! It took a fast five minutes to fix my error. I am one lucky and very smart AGOL.

Blogloss...Almost

30 Boxes of Pizza

No playing hooky today. It was back to the salt mines for this AGOL. Friday couldn't come fast enough. I anticipated another unusual day and I was not disappointed.

It was "Grunge Day" at work where the plaid shirts, the cargo pants and a general dirt look could be seen everywhere as part of our last theme day for Customer Service Week. Bridget wore something sort of grungy, but it was more of honoring a bet with a troglodyte in our area. She looked cute though!

Bridget had a couple of moments in this get-up. She had to drop off her son inside the school, pump gasoline in her car and meet our new boss' wife (surprise!) at her desk dressed in this outfit first thing this morning. I died laughing when she told me.

Ta Dah! Bridget standing in her cube. Mine is the one behind her with the hearts aka The Love Zone. Our co-workers love us because they never know what to expect from our Dream Team. Yes, we're both the same age, but we act like our shoe size.


Reality set in soon after when I saw Tawny present at work. She ended up coming in and canceling her plans with Rosemary. Come to find out that her mother-in-law's sister was admitted to the hospital overnight and had to be induced in a coma. Tawny was also waiting to have her review with her new boss. It was a stressful day for her.

Lunch for our site came in 60 boxes of pizza (30 boxes for each floor we occupy). Can you imagine being the company fulfilling that order? It came at 1pm and I usually eat lunch around 11:45am so I missed it until I needed a snack later in the afternoon.

My friend Lisa was a little cross with me at lunch. I had told her that I was not going to put up a tree for Christmas. She said I was going to and I said I threw out my tree earlier this year. My tree was six-feet tall and I would wrap it with 1200 mini/fairy lights and cram it with ornaments when completed. Her reply? I will buy you a damn tree. Tawny just sat back and listened. She knows better. My apartment can look and smell like a Christmas Wonderland akin to the ones in retail displays, but my heart is not in it (or at least this moment.) Lisa is mulling the whole thing over.

Kathy finally sent me her Autumn-themed "Pimp My Cube" pics. She did a great job. The student has become the teacher. Love it! :::a lonely yet joyful teardrop escaping from your AGOL's eye:::

Kathy, your cube is inspirational in the middle of your floor's construction job. I didn't know your cube was this big.


Are those little leaves that have blown inside? I wonder where I've seen that before? I'm sure I don't know...


Thunder and rain decided to make a visit in the afternoon and continued in the evening. I was lucky enough to walk Cabal during a lull. He doesn't like to get wet. God forbid his paws step into water! Spent the evening curled in the sofa watching Ghost Whisperer, Moonlight and Numb3rs. Glad it was TV having the dramas. I'd rather watch or write about dramas and not be in it. Maybe next week will be better to be in one. I can feel less pressurized at work. Cross your fingers...

Update: I won't be a complete Grinch. I will still decorate my door like this with multiple poinsettia filled pots at the bottom.

30 Boxes of Pizza