Busy Anyone?

I haven't heard from any of you in awhile, so I suppose you're just as busy as I am.

Good news from the powers that be. No vacation time will be approved until the beginning of next year...wait a second. I don't think they were entirely truthful about how good tht news was. Yeah, actually I'm pissed about that. They're reasoning? "There's just way to much work going on right now." Hmmm, smells like PHB (1)talk to me.

In lighter news, hubby had his extraction and bone graft done yesterday. Damn it! They lied to me again. Well I guess it's not entirely bad news. He feels a whole lot better. Plus we're acually paying the bill out of pocket. No interest. I feel pretty good about that considering the entire bill is about $2200. We paid a thou' yesterday and have three months to pay the rest off. Thank God for forbearances!! (Student loan forbearances, that is.)

Hubby's contract at work ends this Friday. But thankfully he has another job lined up. Not too far away either. We might actually get the chance to pay some bills.

Well I gotta jet, gotta get to work, earn the money, yada, yada.



(1) Pointy Haired Boss, see Dilbert cartoon (www.dilbert.com)

Corporate America

You know...it's funny. I used to stand up for the big guy. Business is business and what not. But, well, I'm just so sick and tired of the bullshit that goes on now-a-days.

I have two friends that were laid off recently. One was actually masked as a firing because my pal didn't meet the new requirements for her own job after the company got bought out.

This has been about my fifth time in a corporate layoff/merger/let's fuck over the peons.

I just get so tired of it. You give your all to a company. You spend most of your waking hours there. But in the long run, you just end up being a number.

There are slight advantages to big business (but I'm just making excuses for not taking risk), such as medical benefits, paid time off, not to mention the slacker factor.

But whenever this happens I just get so disillusioned. What happened to TQM? Fostering good teams? (Hmmm, well I guess unionizing didn't help much, did it? But then again paying workers shit for dangerous jobs isn't all that great either.)

So who's to blame? Well I guess we are. We got us here. And many of us still believe in long-term jobs. We don't view ourselves as contractors. We don't work on ways to sell ourselves and we've become too attached to our jobs.

I need to update my resume...just in case. ;-)

Found her!

Little brat. The roomy found her.

I printed off some instructions on doggy escape artists, so hopefully if we follow those...

Friggin Dog!

She got out again! Apparently dug a hole in the fence. But we don't know where she is this time. The roomy is out combing the streets for her right now.

I'm of mixed feelings about this. I am worried about her. I really don't want anything bad to happen to her. But I'm getting sick and tired of losing and hunting down this dog.

I would go out looking for her myself, but (A) I'm all alone, with no help. And (B) without help there's no way I can get her. The last five times she's picked up on the fact that when hubby and I get her she goes home. So she runs away from us. The only way we've been able to get her is to have a complete stranger call to her and give her to us. It's so frickin aggravating.

So I sit here. Waiting for the inevitable phone call. She has a collar on and tag. I just hope it isn't the "You're dog has been hit by a car" phone call as opposed to "Come pick your conniving escape artist of a dog" phone call.

(By the way, called hubby and let him know. He responded appropriately with most sincerity even though I know he's been tempted just to open wide the gate for her because he's sick and tired of having to track her down.)

When you google your name...

you never know what you're gonna get.

I found this little blurb in the RateItAll website for my name. I found it kind of disheartening.

McDonalds Coffee...

Never AGAIN!!!

Intermittently over the last few weeks, I would get terrible stomach aches (that's the nice term for it) in the morning. I couldn't figure out what it was.

Usually I run out and get hubby and I coffee from McDonalds. However one morning I got Diet Coke instead and voila! No stomach-aches. So I've been avoiding the McD coffee.

Today I wanted coffee, so I ran to a different McDonalds. Guess what happened?

I think they throw in microorganisms that are the equivalent to an explosive colonic to their coffee.

Ugh!!! Never AGAIN!! Damn that red-headed clown!!

Do Over!

I would like to call a do-over on this morning.

First of all, hubby was doing things this morning that REALLY pissed me off. I asked him not to do it, THEN he did it, THEN he apologized. How about ya just NOT do it in the first place? Especially right after I asked you not to?

Then I drove him to work, the traffic was horrendous on my way back and after I spent 10 minutes at one light to make a right-hand turn to my work, I get a voicemail...

One of our dogs got out. I call the roommate. Conversation was:

Me: "Hey, have you checked the backyard lately?"
Roommate: "Yeah, I just brought in the dogs."
Me: "How many were there?"
Roommate: "Two."
Me: "Uh yeah, the third one is at school."

So I asked him to go down to the elementary school and pick the dog up, while I attempt to rush through traffic to get back home. On my way there, I end up behind two people going 25 mph in a 35 mph zone. "Move it granny!!!" I was actually holding up fingers (no not that one) indicating the correct speed to her just in case she didn't see the twenty posted signs on the way down the road.

I finally get home. The dog is there, but the roommate left for work. So I check the back gate. Let me just explain my feelings with the following phrase:

"FUCKING APS!!!!"

I'm sure I'm not the first (or the last) person to utter this. They already lost our dog once before, by not locking the chain on the gate well enough. We went through a hassle with them explaining why we changed the lock, "YOU LOST OUR DOG! Hello?! Speaka de english?"

So I locked it up tight, cursed APS a few more times under my breath and headed back to work.

Already knowing one road on the way was backed up, I decided to take another route. Little did I know that the alternate route turns into a small ocean when it rains. The first few feet was fun. I hightailed it through there splashing tons of water all over the sidewalk, but that water was getting too darn deep. So I moved over with the rest of the cars. Then all of a sudden, all I saw was blue. "WTF?!" (I utilized my curse word vocabulary very well this morning.) Some big ass truck was going fifty next to me and splashing water all over the place. It covered my windsheild and I was blind for a few seconds. "Freakin idiot jerk."

Once I got off of that road, and onto a drier one, I was stopped by a red light. I leaned on my wheel, looked up to the skies and said to the almighty:

"I know why you made that flood. And I admire your ability to
not flood all of humanity out again. Only a God would have this much patience
with this many idiots."

Just a Few Pics

See that stick to the right? That's his CLUB. Apparently when this guy drives he stores it on the passenger side head rest, pointed towards his ear. Saw this at McDonalds.

Mmmm, yummy! I wonder if those nuts come salted?

Blueberri and I caught this on the way back from our WW meeting. How many drinks does it take...?

infertility and life

I was reading someone's explanation of my blog and it reminded me of all the occurances recently where I've pined for kids.

There's just too much going on right now, but I think soon I'd like to go in and get tested. I can't say as the dead goldfish helped my self-esteem in this area though. Even hubby was joking about it. That morning I bemoaned the fact that if we couldn't take care of a goldfish, how could we take care of a kid?

Anyway, the frustrating part is being around town. We'll see a family together. I just look at them and wonder, "Do they realize how lucky they are?" Of course, the logical part of me also says, "You never know. They could have had difficulty conceiving that child and DO realize how fortunate they are."

But then I see the teenage moms and knowing they are probably stressed out and unhappy I wonder, "Will they realize how fortunate they are? Will we ever get that chance to be so fortunate?"

I imagine what it would be like to be them. Right there. Just hubby and I and are sweet little one. Maybe eating breakfast out. Little Jordan or Robert coloring franticly on their little kids menu, while we try to catch the juice drink balanced precariously on the table edge.

The other night there was a mom with her two kids swimming in the pool at a hotel we went to for a shindig. The kids were giggling and jumping around. The mom was very caring and cautious.

Some days I just wonder. Is it destined to be?

I need a full-time maid...

So when I woke this morning, thoughts of how I could fill my day were racing through my head. They consisted of:

- relaxing
- cleaning house
- rearranging furniture
- sex
- build a food menu to ensure weight loss and scrumptious homemade meals

I thought about cleaning the house, as it's something that just needs to be done and my thought wandered to why this task is so difficult for me. Then I thought about the kitchen.

Yesterday I cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast. I put away the clean dishes in the washer (which earlier I had to run because no one else will), cleaned off the counters, and emptied the trash.

Last night when I went to bed, I saw tons of empty water bottles left on the counter and I'll pretty much place bets that there are already a few dirty dishes in the sink.

Then when going to bed, my husband paws me as if wanting to have sex. My response? "Really? No seriously, you really want me to have sex with you? After you've been harrassing me all day and haven't lifted a finger to help clean house? You couldn't even hold the dog earlier when I was trying to get through the front door with a full laundry basket. Be a good boy tomorrow and maybe you'll get some."

Look, I don't wanna be like that. But for heaven's sake, men! Do a few dishes. Help your women out. Just like you think it's sexy when we're cleaning the house, well vice-versa. Try making dinner AND doing the dishes for your woman tonight. You won't regret it.

For My Blogging Homies

I blog about cartoons, and cartoon about blogs. I think I've come full circle.

Thank guys...

I am feeling better.

Today for lunch, I put my foot down with my lunchmates (two male co-workers that always want to do QT or some other fried food place.) One couldn't go, but I told the other one, "We're going to Sprouts!"

Once we got there, I got a pack of carrots, a green/white tea blend, and a turkey sandwich with bacon (couldn't resist) on rye. We had a nice relaxing lunch, didn't rush. It was nice.

Yesterday I had coffee with another friend (girlfriend to the missing lunchmate today). We had a blast. But as usual we were two boisterous girls in a room with echoes. By the end of the night, one of the last patrons said he didn't want us to leave. Apparently he wanted to hear more penis stories. LOL

I needed that.

One problem though, is I seem to have a horrible attention span. I kept on trying to focus on what she was saying, but it just eluded me sometimes. I think I just need to get better about my listening skills. I have the attention span of an ADHD boy on cocaine.

Can Nothing Go Right?

I've actually gained weight since last week. I'm so freakin frustrated. I can't seem to lose this freakin weight. Auuggghhh!!!!

Stupid freakin body. I hate you! I'm not your best friend anymore!!

Stupid freakin work. They're workin us like dogs. It's so aggravating. I'm just so tired of everything.

Hubby and I have been walking the dogs (speaking of which I dreamt of the dog whisperer last night, but even in my dream he was uninterested in what I had to say).

Even my face is driving me nuts. I'm breakin out all over it. And I feel so greasy.

Why isn't anything going right????

Good News for my British Bud!

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

I love the Muppets!!!

You Are Fozzie Bear

"Wocka! Wocka!"You're the life of the party, and you love making people crack up.If only your routine didn't always bomb!You may find more groans than laughs, but always keep the jokes coming.

Muppet Personality Test

I kinda hoped I was a PPIIIIGGGG IIINNNN SPPPACCCEEEE!!!!

Did I mention I have a comic strip?

Did I ever happen to ask to send it along to anyone and everyone you know? (www.complicatedcomic.com) This is about as close to begging as it gets. Just wanted to let you know.

We had ice cream today. I needed it. I'm stressed.

Over one thousand dollars due on Thursday does not a happy Onyx make. But it's all good. Blue and hubby and I hubg out this weekend. Went to a party. Had ice cream. Did multiple strips. It's all good.

But I tell ya. I've never smoked pot, but if I did...this would have been the weekend to do it. It's a good thing it wasn't one of 'those' parties or else I would have been TOKEN IT UP! I could totally be blitzed this weekend.

Oh well, *sigh*

Oh and a fish died. :-( Sorry buddy, Patty finally bit the dust. I guess three years was pretty good, but I am considerably bummed.

I promised you an update and I'm actually following through...

Wow!

Anyway, hubby had his dental appt today. Ouch! It was just a consultation but we're gonna end up with about $2200 in charges prior to implant charges. At least the implants won't have to go in until after six months of healing. I just don't understand where all the money I'm paying for dental coverage goes. Supposedly only about $120 of it is going to be covered. Geesh!!

But that aside, I seem to be taking things in stride lately. My stress level is down a bit. Which is good. I've got a "We've handled it before, we'll handle it again" mentality. Which is good.

My weight loss, okay rather my eating habits, have gotten much better. I need to remind myself that it's not the weight loss that's so important so much as the better eating habits. These are LIFETIME changes, NOT 'just until I lose the weight' changes.

Doh!

Well I did update my Interesting Things To Eat blog, then did a quick search and actually found a list of low-point foods by store. I thought I would share the website...

http://members.cox.net/debilost43/What%20to%20Eat%20by%20store.htm

However, I would NOT suggest the No Pudge brownie mix. It's horrendous!! I suppose you could try it yourself, but Blue, back me up here...there are much better ways to spend your points/calories.

Anyway, just enjoying a few minutes of refuge. Hubby is in bed. He's been driving me nuts. Today is all about, "You always portray me as an idiot in your cartoons." Which is not true. I'm an equal opportunity mocker. If he had READ all the strips then he would see that I do not make fun of him all the time. I poke fun at everyone...including myself.

This late night thing really works though. Going to bed at the same time as him has not been paying off. I'm getting all kinds of things done. I think I'll keep going to bed later than him and see how it works out.

We got a lot of things done today though. He's been a good doobie. Called up two of the three student loan places and requested a forbearance (postponement of payment) while our consolidation goes through. This will help us catch up on some other stuff. What I don't get though is one of my loan places just needed a verbal confirmation on the phone to do it, the other required a $150 processing fee AND another $400 payment by Sept 1st. Weird, huh? Oh well, either way I don't care. All I know is that for about $550 we don't have to catch up on about $2000 worth of bills for the next couple of months. Whew!

However hubby does have some dental work to do. But I'll tell you all about that later. Perhaps Wednesday.

Hasta chickies...and roosters!

Got a minute

I actually have a calm minute free to update my blog without any disruptions. (Well except my husband shouting, "Look, look at the t.v.!!"
Well life has been hectic, but I've decided it's time to get organized.

I pulled out my old Handspring Visor and worked on setting it up all day. I have a way now to track my to do list, my weight watchers points, my calendar, all in my electronic organizer. Rather than having to write it down every day in my big, fat Franklin organizer. There are pros and cons to electronic vs paper, but I think for this time in my life, electronic is best.

Today I am going to attempt cleaning house, a little grocery shopping, laundry, and seven days worth of comic strips. I've been too rushed in the afternoon to be able to really get out some good quality strips. So I think if I focus on the entire week's worth of strips on Sunday. I'll be better off.

Well I better jet. I have a lot to do today, starting with work.

Have a good weekend!!

Arrrrghhhh!!!

Well if you can't tell from my latest post, I just got finished with doing finances. I think I'm going to ask for a forbearance on my student loans. Hubby did not get paid anything last month in income, so...we're a little behind. We're doing better now, but not enough to make a dent in last month's student loans.

Anyway, just a quick update. I'm exhausted and frustrated. Ugh!

Take it easy, sleazy.