I'm still here...I hope you are too. It's been a long week with our diabetic kitty. 3 full days of vet visits and insulin adjustments and we're not done yet. Kitty is doing a little better. Not dehydrated anymore. Not staying awake all night now. Not drinking way too much. His blood sugar is registering 400 or below most of the time. (a good range is between 300-100) We're getting there.
Work has been...odd. I have hope that it will get better. The training has been very minimal and constantly interrupted. I'm assured that's "normal" and everyone goes through it. I guess that's optimistic.
I hope you're well and nothing terrible is happening that I'm missing. I'll be by asap. Love and hugs to each of you. Aggie
The way to love anything is to realize that it might be lost. -G.K. Chesterton
Nothing makes you like other human beings so much as doing things for them. -Zora Neale Hurston
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. -Mahatma Gandhi
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. -Maori proverb
Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. -Paul Boese
Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them. Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but for the heart to conquer it. -Rabindranath Tagore
Gosh, I really miss chatting with y'all. I don't know what's new with any of you. Y'all don't go having any excitement, ok? I'll be by before Sunday. Promise! I haven't worked out my new schedule yet. I suppose things will settle soon.
Until then, I'd just like to throw a couple of thoughts out:
1 - Does everyone LOVE the music of a Zales Diamond commercial at Valentine's and Christmas? I do. I have to find the source and buy the album.
2 - I am very, very sad for the family of Anna Nichole Smith. She must have been suffering the loss of her son so terribly. HOWEVER - I'm pretty sure my husband is the father of her baby girl. Really. We need a paternity test. Hey - you could be the father too....just throw your name in the hat. Maybe you're related to her by genetic DNA. Who knows.
Ok, I'm just being silly. Your turn. Be silly too. Hugs and love and I sincerely hope you're all doing well and life is treating you beautifully. If it isn't, just read the quote at the top of my page. It's there for you - and for me. Love, Aggie
Ok...I didn't take THAT job, although I did see an ad in the paper for scoopers. Ack! Friday marked the end of my jalapeno & green chile customer service days. It was a bittersweet good-bye. I'd only worked there two years but it was a small company and everyone was so close. We all knew the latest and greatest news in each other's lives. Due to the events of the last year, I found (quite to my surprise) that I had a lot emotionally tied to that daily tedium. Ah well. C'est la vie. Que sera sera. They sent me away with flowers and a cake and even bought lunch. Boy, we don't know how good we've got it until it's buying you lunch, do we?
And then I had a weekend to empty out the old and prep for the new.......
The first day was as one would expect. Employment paperwork, lots of people telling me how wonderful the company is, lots more people being busy and wishing I wasn't sitting behind them. The good news is that I'm not shocked, confused or surprised by their daily business. It's all very common and normal and makes complete sense to me. I'll be in like Flynn....just as soon as the new network administrator figures out his job. hah.
The company sells promotional products. This basically means I will surf catalogs for pens, pocket protectors, and protractors that companies can slap a logo on and hand out for the general public to lose in the bottom of their purses and briefcases. It's lucrative, apparently. :) I'll play along. It's not complicated and I'll learn a thing or two. It's like shopping for gifts with someone else's money. Who doesn't like that??? Weeee.
Thanks all for the back pats and ego strokes. I am thankful for every one. I'll try to update as the days go on. The only drawback to the new employment is regular hours - 8 to 5. This cuts into my blogging time. (6:30a-7:30a) when I had a 9 to 6 job. Rats. I'll work it out somehow. If I start typing the dialog from some evening show, you'll know I'm trying to multitask.
Phil Says Spring is Right Around the Corner! Phil's official forecast as read 2/2/07 at 7:28 a.m. at Gobbler's Knob:
El Nino has caused high winds, heavy snow, ice and freezing temperatures in the west. Here in the East with much mild winter weather we have been blessed.
Global warming has caused a great debate. This mild winter makes it seem just great.
On this Groundhog Day we think of one thing. Will we have winter or will we have spring?
On Gobbler's Knob I see no shadow today. ___________________________________________________________________________ Now, aside from the fact that I don't know where in the entire U.S. that the sun is shining enough for a shadow, it seems to me that that silly groundhog has gotten way too involved in meteorology. El Nino? Seriously. What does a rodent know about El Nino?
Anyway, I'm all about an early spring. Bring it on.
Well, happy February! If yours is anything like ours, it's freaking cold. One more month and things will thaw and bloom. YAY!
It's been an extremely busy week. I'm training someone else at work so I've had very little privacy. Terry, I think you asked when the new job starts. Well, Monday. Over the course of a weekend I'll have to dump old ways and start new. That's a lot more stressful than one might imagine. Gosh I hope it goes well.
Verizon has decided to run a plethera of cables into our walls and since we rent we have no say in the matter. They keep coming back into our house and making us move our furniture! Very problematic. I'll be glad when they're gone.
Ok, busy busy busy...can't believe it's Thursday already. But it is so here's today's HNT.
I always wondered how Captain Kirk's days were numbered. They never made sense to me. LOL
Anyway, here's the update.
Pooh, our 18yr old diabetic kitty (now known as Grandpa Cat) began acting odd. (don't worry...this doesn't end badly) Saturday morning I went to his upstairs suite (aka our bedroom) and couldn't find him. "Poooh. Pooooooh." ::Scratch head:: Eventually I turned him up. He was sleeping inside the nightstand. This is an odd act for him. He's never done it before. The first thing that went through my mind was that he knew his time was short. Kitties will go hide when they know that. I panicked. Called the hubby at work. Panicked him. He came home...kitty was fine. "Fine" is a strange statement with Pooh. He can't see much and I think his hearing and his smeller may be off too. He's only happy when he's being cuddled in his daddy's arms. He doesn't sleep much at night. It's been a year or so since we've had a full night's sleep and some nights he wakes us every couple of hours. Much like having an infant I guess. You get up, give him food, warm his water (because those old teeth are sensitive to cold), pick him up, pet him....hope he goes back to sleep. He doesn't. He's a waif of his old, plump self. I don't suppose he's long for this world...but I didn't suppose that last year. Ah well. He's with us today. That's enough.
We did "The Big Clean" this weekend. I hate it but it must be done. The two new kitties shed white fur. I had two black cats before and all I have is dark furniture. I had to do something about all that fuzz. LOL It's done. Carpets shampooed, floors mopped, couch vacuumed. Fun, fun fun. (ouch I ache)
Since that's pretty much all I've got, I'll go ahead and drop an inspiring frac. We all need a little Monday inspiration, right? Here's one for the Star Trek theme. LOL
I'll try to stop by tonight for a visit. Thanks all for continuing to peek in here on occasion. Happy Monday love and hugs.
If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well. -Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first and most important step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed. -Nelson Boswell
Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning. -Bill Gates
Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts who stood their ground. -Anonymous
If people concentrated on the really important things in life, there'd be a shortage of fishing poles. -Doug Larson
Yeah, so...I got the job. The new job. The old job is going away at some very secret, predetermined date. (about a month from now) Anyhoo, I interviewed and I got the job. The new guys seem very nice....(and very financially stable. hah!) I hope I don't eat those words.
Everyone at the new place has worked there for a rediculously long time. Most in the double-digit years. And they don't even seem disgruntled. That's a good thing. Right?
It's less than 5 miles from the house. That will be fantastic when I need to go home for lunch so I can scream at the top of my lungs. Sometimes a gal needs that, you know?
Finally, it pays right. I mean, it isn't a gazillion but I can live on it. LOL I start in two weeks.
I'm a little sad and trepidacious. I LIKE the job I have now. I like the people. I'm going to miss the security of it. Let's hope the next one fits like a glove and I never want to leave it. Happy Tuesday Hugs to All.
Well, that was one long Thursday, huh? Actually, I spent the weekend nursing the flu. Yum. Lots o' fun. hee hee A week ago Saturday I drove home from Houston. I did it at the same time that the cold front was coming down across Texas. About 100 miles out of Houston the temperature started to drop about 1 degree every mile. When I left Houston the temperature, according to the ol' overhead temp gauge in the truck, was 80 degrees. I watched it fall. 79-78-77-76...69-68-67-66...59-58...49-48...39....... 34 degrees when I got home. A difference of 46 degrees in less than an hour. And so...I got the flu. lol It stayed cold in Dallas. I stayed sick.
Yesterday was the first sunny day in over a week. Yesterday, the antibiotics FINALLY kicked in. I can wholly attest that Alka-Seltzer Colds Plus works infinitely better than Thera-flu and twice as long.
I'm off to work. The sun will shine again today. YAY. I owe you all an update about the job prospect/situation. I promise I'll toss that into the next post. There's a real good quote post coming our way soon too. I sincerely hope today is filled with sunshine for each of you - inside and out today. Hugs and love to all.
(I had a great pic. Blogger won't let me upload a pic for some reason. Arrrrgh!)
"Bisexuality immediately doubles your chances for a date on Saturday night." ~ Rodney Dangerfield
"There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL." ~Lynn Lavner
"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope." ~Camille Paglia
"Sex is one of the 9 reasons for incarnation. The other 8 are unimportant." ~George Burns
"Women might be able to fake orgasms. But men can fake a whole relationship." ~Sharon Stone
"Hockey is a sport for white men. Basketball is a sport for black men. Golf is a sport for white men dressed like black pimps." ~Tiger Woods
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." ~Jack Nicholson
" Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives, but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is." ~Barbara Bush
"Ah, yes, divorce, from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man's genitals through his wallet." ~Robin Williams
"Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place" ~Billy Crystal
"According to a new survey, women say they feel more comfortable undressing in front of men than they do undressing in front of other women. They say that women are too judgmental, where, of course, men are just grateful." ~Robert De Niro
"There's a new medical crisis. Doctors are reporting that many men are having allergic reactions to latex condoms. They say they cause severe swelling. So what's the problem?" ~Dustin Hoffman
"There's very little advice in men's magazines, because men think, 'I know what I'm doing. Just show me somebody naked !" ~Jerry Seinfeld
"See, the problem is that God gives men a brain & a penis, & only enough blood to run one at a time." ~Robin Williams
"It's been so long since I've had sex, I've forgotten who ties up whom." ~Joan Rivers
"Sex is one of the most wholesome, beautiful & natural experiences money can buy." ~Steve Martin
" You don't appreciate a lot of stuff in school until you get older. Little things like being spanked every day by a middle-aged woman. Stuff you pay good money for in later life." ~Elmo Phillips
" Bigamy is having one wife too many. Monogamy is the same." ~Oscar Wilde
" It isn't premarital sex if you have no intention of getting married." ~George Burns
Well I went down to Houston and met that sweet little baby. Only 3yrs since the last one and I'm still amazed at how tiny she is. Little, bitty head...no bigger than your fist. Tiny feets and fingers. She smiled. I know it was gas. She's very gassy. haha Doesn't matter does it? Smiling infant ranks up there on the top of the list of "great things to see". :)
Sleepy baby. Big brother hasn't really figured out his place in all this. He's hoarding attention. Why doesn't the world revolve around him anymore?? Very confusing when you're only 3. His daddy is teaching him, "Don't mess with my sister or I'll give you a knuckle sandwich." Nice, huh? lol All in fun. To help out - and to remind Riley that he's still special - his parents bought him a Superman outfit. ("Oh, give me a red cape, I wanna be Superman" ~ John Mayer '83) Riley spent the evening running around and looking behind him to see if the cape was flying. I was lucky enough to catch that on camera: No worries little boy. You will always be Superman to me. :)
Now I'm home in frozen-over Dallas. The roads are iced up and everyone is bumping into one another. Me...I'm watching from the couch. Everyone bundle up and stay warm. Hugs and love.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
"There is nothing like a newborn baby to renew your spirit - and to buttress your resolve to make the world a better place. " Virginia Kelley
Hello little girl. I haven't met you but I love you already.
I think that makes her happy...or maybe she has gas. :)~
First and foremost, Nora Beth Robinson joined our world today. I haven't gotten a single detail except that she is a "she". She has all her fingers and toes and both eyes and ears. ARGH. I can't wait for pictures! Can you??
Secondly, the interview went just fine. Well, phenomenal really. They didn't intend to pay what I want/need but the gentleman I interviewed with said he didn't want to miss the chance to snatch me up. :D I think they're going to meet me where I need to be. I'm thrilled.
Finally, I have an interview tomorow with the president of the company I went to this morning. That's a damned good sign. Christa, keep those eyes crossed. I think you and Autumn pulled it out for me. Tree - I'm not sure you should cross those two particular things. Sounds painful. It worked though. LOL
Hugs and love and thank you all for sending a little vibe of luck my way. :)
Monday morning, 8am. Two months of looking and I've finally scored "THE JOB INTERVIEW". Don't you hate those? It's always a hideous schmoozefest. You go into it absolutely sure you're going to be sitting across from this guy:
...who'll be judging your every action while you try desperately not to snicker or stare at his hairpiece. OMG.
Ok, that's just silly. I'm qualified. OVER-qualified, if I do say so myself. I look pretty good. I have a very nice outfit - all pressed and ready. I have a copy o' my re-su-me and a copy of an award I won once for outstanding service. I'm good. He can't possibly turn me down. I mean, if Miss USA can have a boozefest AND a second chance, I'm golden, right??
Everybody cross everything and wish me luck. All I really want is for this company to answer the question "How much does the position pay?" with "Well, it pays an enormous sum of money! You'll be set for life." Is that too much to ask?
Hugs and love all Monday long. Aggie
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Chance is always powerful. Let your hook be always cast; in the pool where you least expect it, there will be a fish.
-Ovid
You don't just luck into things...You build step by step, whether it's friendships or opportunities.
-Barbara Bush
Self-trust is the first secret of success.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Miracles sometimes occur, but one has to work terribly hard for them.
Ever had an in-body experience? This happens to me on very odd, rare occasions. I'm driving home from work or I'm at the grocery store looking at the breakfast bars and suddenly.... suddenly...
I step inside myself. I stop and look around and all of my surroundings seem distant, somehow disconnected. I am taken aback, just for that second, by how vast the world is and how small a piece of it I am. I am aware of my existence and of my impermanence all at the same time.
How to explain it? I don't really know. Today it came upon me as the thought (more the feeling really) of how far I am from my family crossed my mind. It was "Wow. I'm REALLY FAR from them. They have NO knowledge of this mundane thing I do right now. It is as if this thing I do does not exist to them." Isn't that odd.
If you're not really feeling it, I beg you to take a look at this little movie. It might illustrate the feeling a bit. The movie is of a fractal. The movie continues to zoom in on the fractal....WAY in. Somewhere, in a place that never crossed your mind, is yet another fractal. Yet - it was there all along.
Need I say more? :D I'm gone until next Wednesday. Heading down to Houston to hug that little boy. Please have a safe and happy holiday. All my love to you and yours.
There are a few things that must happen at holiday time. 1) I must hear Arlo Guthrie's "Alice's Restaurant" at noon on Thanksgiving day. 2) I must hear The Eagle's Christmas song...at least once.... 3) I must hear Cheech and Chong's "Santa Clause and His Old Lady"
I'm funny like that. These are family traditions. We actually call each other to say, "I heard The Eagles today" or "I heard Cheech and Chong"...and it doesn't matter because we each have them recorded somewhere and we WILL listen to them together at some point.
For your listening enjoyment, here is Cheech and Chong's "Santa Clause and His Old Lady". (Forgive any offensive pictures...I didn't make the video. In fact, it's better if you listen and don't watch.)
Cheech: (Playing piano) Mamamasita, donde esta Santa Cleese...the vecto wit da bony knees...he comin' down da street wit no choos on his feet...and he's going to...No, no, that ain't it...Mamamasita, donde esta Santa Claus...da guy wit da hair on his jaws...he's...Nah. Hey, man, come over here, man. I need some help, man. Chong: Yeah, man, I can dig that. Like, what are ya doin', man? Cheech: Aw, I'm trying to write a song about Santa Claus, man, but it's not comin' out... Chong: About WHO, man? Cheech: About Santa Claus, man. You know, Santa Claus, man? Chong: Oh, yeah, man. I played with those dudes, man. Cheech: WHAT? Chong: Yeah, last year at the Fillmore, man. Me and the base player sat in, man. Cheech: Oh, hey, man, you think Santa Claus is a group, huh? No, it's not a group, man. Chong: Wha? They break up, man? Cheech: No, man. It's one guy, man. Y'know, he had a...a red suit, man, on with black padded leather choos...you know the guy, man. Chong: Oh, yeah...he's with Motown, ain't he? Yeah, I played with that dude, too, man. He's a good singer, man. Cheech: No, no, hold on, man. He's not with Motown, man. Chong: Well, then he's with Buddha, man. Cheech: Aw, man, you don't know who Santa Claus is, man! Chong: Yeah, well, I'm not from here, man. Like, I'm from Pittsburgh, man. I don't know to many local dudes. Cheech: Oh...I see. Well, hey, man, sit back and relax and I'll tell you da story about Santa Claus, man. Listen... Once upon a time, about, hmmm, five years ago, there was this groovy dude and has name was Santa Claus, y'know? And he used to live over in the projects with his old lady, and they had a pretty good thing together because his old lady was really fine, and she could cook and all that stuff like that, y'know. Like, she made da best brownies in town, man! Oh, I could remember 'em now, man. I could eat ONE of 'em, man... Chong: Wow, did you know these people, man? Cheech: Oh, yeah, man. They used to live next door to me, y'know...until they got kicked out, man. Chong: Wha? They got kicked out of the projects, man? Cheech: Yeah, you what happened, man? They used ta live with all these midgets, y'know, and da midgets used ta make a lot noise, y'know, like pounding and hammering and pounding all night, man... Chong: Typical freaks, huh? Cheech: Oh, yeah, man, they were REALLY freaks, man. As a matter of fact, they all moved up north together, y'know. Chong: Oh, they had to go get their head together, man? Cheech: Yeah, get their head together. And they started a commune, y'know. It was called the...uh...Santa Claus and his Old Lady Commune...it was a real famous one up there, man. And they used to sit around and groove all the time, y'know. Chong: Oh, yeah? Cheech: Yeah, a really good time there, man. Chong: That sounds heavy, man. Cheech: Yeah, they eat da brownies, man, and they drink da tea, man...and what they did most of da time, though, was make a lotta goodies, y'know? And they had everything they needed...they only needed to come into town maybe once year or something like that... Chong: To pick up the welfare check and the food stamps, right. Cheech: Yeah, man. No, no, what they did, man, is that, once a year, when they made all the goodies, y'know, they used ta put 'em in a big chopping bag and, then, they used ta take da chopping bag and give 'em to all the boys and girls all da way around da world, man! Chong: Hey, well, that's hip, man! That sounds real nice, man. Cheech: Oh, yeah, they were really nice people man. And so much class, man... they had so much class, y'know. Like, give or take da way they used ta deliver da toys, y'know. It's, like, Santa Claus used ta have this really charp chort, man, y'know? It was lower to da ground, had twice- pipes, candy-apple red and button top. Ooh, clean! Chong: Hey, that sounds like a hip snowmobile, man. Cheech: No, no, it wasn't a snowmobile...it was a sled, y'know. One of those big sleds, y'know? And he used ta have it pulled by some reindeers, y'know, like, reindeers? Chong: Some WHAT, man? Cheech: Some reindeers, y'know. He used ta hook them onto da sled, and then he used ta stand up inside da sled and hold on to da reins, and then call out their names, like, On, Donner! On, Blitzen! On, Chewy! On, Tavo! C'mon, Becto! And then, the reindeers used ta take off into da sky and fly across da sky, man! Chong: Wow, man! That's far out, man! Cheech: Yeah! And then, when they flied across da sky, they used ta come down to place like, oh, Chicago, L.A., Nueva York and Pacoima and all those places, y'know, and then land on top of people's roofs, and then 'ol Santa Claus would make himself real small, y'know, like, a real small guy, and he'd come down da chimney and then he would give you all da stuff that he made, man. And...dig this, man...he did it all in one night, man! Chong: Hey, just a minute, man. Now, how'd he do that, man? Cheech: Oh, well, man, he took da freeway. How else, man? Chong: No, man. No, man, how'd he do all that other stuff, man? Like, how'd he make himself small, man. And, how'd he, like, how'd he get the reindeer off the ground, man? Cheech: Oh, well, man, he had some magic dust, man. Chong: Some magic dust? Cheech: Yeah, magic dust, y'know? He used ta give a little bit to da reindeer, a little bit to Santa Claus, a little bit more for Santa Claus, a little bit more... Chong: And this would get the reindeer off, man? Cheech: Aw, got 'em off, man?!? Are you kidding, man? They flew all da way around da world, man! Chong: Hey, that's far out, man! Hey, I come I never met this dude, man? Cheech: Oh, man, he doesn't do that bit anymore, man. It got too dangerous, man. Chong: Yeah, I can dig that, man, 'cause that's a dangerous bit, man! Cheech: Yeah, lemme tell ya, it sure was, man. Like just two years ago, man, he got stopped at the border, y'know, and they took him into another room and took off his clothes, man, and searched him and searched his bag of goodies, man...and then, when he was leaving, man, he was flying through the air and somebody took a chot and his reindeer, y'know. Chong: Aw, that's a drag, man. Cheech: Yeah, it really was, man. And then, man, he went down south, man, and they tried to cut of his hair and his beard, man. And all the time, he was getting stopped and pulled over and asked for his ID, man...just everywhere he went, he ran into too much recession, man. Chong: No, man, you mean he ran into too much REPRESSION, man. Cheech: Aw, repression...recession...it's all da same thing, man. Chong: Yeah, man. But, it's a drag, man, 'cause we could sure use a dude like that right now. Cheech: Oh, he still comes around, man. Chong: Oh, yeah? Cheech: Yeah, but he comes in disguises now... Chong: Aw, he went underground, man. Cheech: Yeah, underground, man. Chong: I can dig it. Cheech: Yeah. But you ought to see his disguise...nobody would ever know it was him, man. Chong: Oh, yeah? Cheech: Yeah. He's gotta job in front of da department store, ringing this bell and playing this tambourine next to this black pot, y'know? Chong: AW, I'VE SEEN THE DUDE, MAN! Cheech: YEAH! You know who I'm talking about, man! Chong: Yeah, man! I played with that cat last year, man! Cheech: WHA?!?!? Chong: Yeah, we played in front of a store, man! We made a lot of bread, man! Cheech: Aw, hey, wait a minute, man! Santa Claus is not a musician, man! Chong: I'm hip, man! That cat didn't know ANY tunes, man! Cheech: Oh, hey, wait a minute, man...no, he's not hip to that at all, man. Chong: No, but I played with THIS dude, man. Cheech: Are you sure, man? Chong: Positive!
I'm still here...I hope you are too.
Yeah, so...I got the job. The new job. The old job is going away at some very secret, predetermined date. (about a month from now)
