Not Forgotten
If anyone is still checking in ... I haven't giving up the with the blogging. I've just seemed to have given up on the having a life outside of work. I recently worked 30 out of 36 hours for example - and while I realize I did have those extra six hours available - I'm ashamed to admit that I chose to sleep. It all slows down tomorrow - and then vacation starts. I have 12 days off, and I'll be spending 11 of them in the car - but don't feel bad for me - I'll be heading to San Francisco, LA, the Grand Canyon and Vegas. I'm quite excited - but wishing I had had time to actually make a few plans. Or get a map. But really, how hard can the Grand Canyon be to find - I hear it's huge.
Priorities
It's amazing how quickly they can change.For the most part, I like how I've defined my priorities. Work often comes first, but there is plenty of room for friends and family when the opportunities arise - as best as I can fit them in around work. However, when I recieved news last Thursday that my grandmother would need a second surgery in 2 days, and was in danger of losing her leg, I suddenly thought work? What work?I left work early Thursday afternoon to spend time with her in the ICU while she waited for her turn in the OR. She was sleepy, but clear headed and while there wasn't much to say, it was important to be there. I then spent another 3 hours sitting with my aunt and my mom, while waiting for the news. In the end, the results were mixed. The doctor was able to save her leg, but she'll have a long rehabilitation and will have very limited mobility. I didn't see her the day after the surgery, as the rest of the relatives had arrived and were taking there time with her - and I'm only 90 minutes away, so I'll have more opportunities fo visits than some of the others - but by all accounts she's recovering as well as can be expected.The whole event left me a little uncertain about my priorities. I know my work is important, but I'm not certain it should have to take a crisis for me to give family a higher priority. I'm glad that I didn't hesitate to go when the need arose, but I'm thinking I should be a bit more open to non-crisis family events. Of course - then Monday arrived, and I was totally immersed in work again - especially with a day and a half to make up - and I wonder how I can possibly change. There is too much to do! Tonight when I got home, I knew I should spend time working on a seminar I have to teach tomorrow morning. I also knew I should call a couple of family members to get caught up on things. So rather than make a choice between the two, I spent a couple of hours playing Sims 2, managing imaginary priorities. They are so much easier than real ones. The only downside is that I'll now have to get up awfully early tomorrow morning - to prioritize, of course.
Feeling Unappreciated
Today at staff meeting, while we waited for those who were late due to traffic, some of my co-workers started sharing nightmare commuter stories.
I like to share too, so I chimed in with, "I hate it when I miss the light to turn left on 12th - it's guaranteed to double the time it takes to get here." They all glared at me. Oh sure, they can complain about how a stall on the bridge added 30 minutes to their usual 60 minute drive or how missing one bus added 20 minutes to their 45 minute commute - but me - I get no appreciation or sympathy for my circumstances.
Do you think it has anything to do with the fact that my regular commute is only 4 minutes?
Well too bad - I have no sympathy for people who choose to live where they have to commute across a bridge in this city. I learned that lesson long ago and now I relish in the fact that I'm just getting up when they are getting in their cars or heading out to their bus stop.
The next time they bring it up I'm telling them the story of the day I had to wait at the crosswalk for the slowest walker in the world - and it added 3 minutes to my commute. I can already imagine how they'll cringe in horror. And then let the air out of my tires later in the day.
Groceries R Us
The contents of my refrigerator this morning before my first shopping trip in 3 weeks: - Condiments
- Tortillas
- Apple Juice
- Cheese
- Carrots
The contents now include: - 12 cans of Diet A&W Root Beer
- 4 - 1 L bottles of V8 Juice
- 3 - 2L bottles of Diet Coke
- 2 - 2L cartons of milk
Apparently the "drink only water" part of the habit changes has been replaced with a new liquid diet plan.
Small Things
Things that made me happy for no reason today:
- Pictures of my turns-2-on-Saturday nephew looking buff.
- My "short-cut" home being re-opened after 8 months of water main repairs.
- That my blog now exists on google. Yay google search hits.
Keeping Up With the Jones'
When I first discovered blogs, I quickly found myself needing to feed my lurking habit and to check each one daily. In the beginning, if there was no new post, I contented myself with the archives. But once I was all caught up, what then? Somedays, I found blog after blog with no new posts. I would get almost frantic, clicking from blog to blog - waiting - hoping - needing a new post. Checking just one more blog to get my fix. Since I have started blogging myself, I have a HUGE new respect for those who write everyday (or even almost everyday). It is so hard to find both the time and the inspiration to write everyday. I really don't know how they do it. I guess I'll have to start tackling some memes! Oh - and working less than 12 hours a day.
Run for the Border
You would think she hated living here. Jasper that is. The dog.How else to explain why, whenever she accidentally gets loose outside, she makes a run for it?Tonight, in my pink meat hating induced haze, I attempted to take Jasper out for her nightly walk. I clipped the leash on, opened the door and watched as she ran freely out the door while the leash stayed behind in my hand. Oops.I grabbed my keys (thankfully!) and headed out after her. She was already across the street in the neighbour's yard and wasn't falling for my "Hey Jasper , let's go for a ride in the car" trick. She headed down the block and I followed, alternating between fun, excited, "Let's go for a walk. Come on this way" attempts to lure her back and yelling "Wait" in the 'mean voice' - both of which work like a charm - when she's on the leash. Off leash - she barely looked back, and when she did it was just to see how big of lead she had.She finally reached the end of the block and seemed a bit confused. Which way to go? A whole new world was open if she wandered off of this most familiar block. I grabbed the opportunity and called her one more time and she finally came barreling back towards me. And kept right on going.I happened to be standing beside a neighbours open gate, so I went in their yard and called again. Jasper was intrigued. Normally she's not allowed in this yard. And a dog lives here. She fell for it and came running in. I closed the gate, cornered her and this time - got the leash on properly.It wasn't until we were walking back that I remembered I was wearing my pajamas.
Not So Well Done
Today I took a few of my staff members out to lunch with some gift certificates that had been donated to us. It was a great time to just hang out and spend some time discussing how they are each doing and feeling within their roles.At least it was a great time until I looked down at the burger I was eating (I was about 3 bites in) and saw pink. Lots and lots of pink. I sent it back and received a very well cooked one in return. I'm not usually too picky about my food (other than wanting it to be cooked) so I didn't think too much of it and enjoyed the new non-pink burger.About 3PM this afternoon I started to worry that perhaps those 3 bites of pink meat were not quite agreeing with me. By 4:30PM, after 6 runs (in many senses) to the bathroom, it was official. Pink hamburgers do not agree with my digestive system! One more reason to renew my membership in the "I Hate Pink Club."(On the plus side - I got to go home early - although I went to work early this morning, so I still technically put in 8 hours - but at least no extra today.)
Isn't it Ironic
That the Blogger spell checker doesn't recognize the following words: - blog
- blogger
- webpage
- commenters
I'm just saying ...
Red Tape
Last Saturday I filed my taxes. Not because I am an excellent citizen (although I am) or because I am particularly enthusiastic about taxes (because I'm not) - but simply because I'M GETTING CASH! And I want it now.This morning I went online to check the status of my return. When do I get the CASH? This year, instead of simply answering 3 questions to get access to the info, I had to apply for an "epass account", which offers "Instant access to your personal income tax and benefit account information."So far it has taken me longer to apply for this account than it took for me to file my taxes. I'm still not in, as apparently after providing them with every bit of personal info I can muster, I still need an activation code that should have arrived by mail - but in my case, didn't. Perhaps, to be helpful, they'll send this useful code that enables me to check on the status of my refund, with my refund. It seems exactly like something the government would do.BREAKING NEWS: I just found the following statement ..."you can check your refund status on My Account beginning in mid-March."I guess their fancy new system wasn't quite ready for keeners like me - who just want their CASH. Good news is, it says it should only take 2 weeks. Who needs a stupid activation code? By mid-March - I'll be too busy shopping to have time to log onto my special "epass".
