YEAH!!

Tiffany deserves a Mary Catherine "supa star" for her help on getting my blog template fixed!!! YEAH TIFFANY!!

I'm still waiting on getting the camera phone fixed to upload pics. stay tuned.

Chatty Cathy

I'm just a chatty Cathy today! Several entries in one day! WOW!

This particular entry is to warn you of possible upcoming VERY boring (not just the regular boring) entries. The cell phone picture feature is acting weird! As you may know, I only post pictures to my blog that I take with my cell phone, regardless of the fat that I have a pretty nice digital camera at home. (Ok, it would be considered crappy by King family standards - but it was a great little camera when I first bought it!! .... 4 years ago....)

Why do you only use the cell phone pics, you ask? It's complicated but I'll break it down for you. Said digital phone is only able to upload to home desktop. Hubby has a million anti-virus/firewall/protection thing-ys on home desktop that makes it nearly impossible to upload pictures from the desktop to the blog when I'm home. It can be done (after seemingly hours of troubleshooting and tinkering to figure it out) but you have turn off a million pop-up blockers- and not the one that you just have to click on the icon. Oh no - too simple. You have to turn off the simple ones first THEN you have to go into all these different programs, sort through their menus and pick out the teeny, ittsy, bittsy line that corresponds to their particular pop-up blocker and turn those off too.

Man - you'd think we were the Pentagon!

This process is way too complicated. Plus, since I'm on the road a lot blogging only from the home computer doesn't make much sense. Enter in the work laptop, cell phone and email address. I take a picture on the cell phone, email it to my hotmail account and download it onto my work computer. From here I blog on the laptop and download the pictures from the hard drive. INGENIOUS!! Work is cool with it - obvisously so long as I don't do anything too terribly immoral or, god forbid, illegal with it all. And since my nickname is grandma I'm thinking I probably have nothing to worry about...

Although my boss did warn me once not to have kiddy porn on the laptop (jokingly, of course) - not that he had to warn me because he found some or anything!! But I did let him know that there might be "kitty porn" like a snapshot of my cat licking his butt or something. He laughed. I don't think I'm getting fired over that one.

Funny Friends

It's ok - I'm boring and I'm ok with that. But I have funny friends. Most of the stories I tell either involve other people or are entirely about other people. They're funny - or at least I think they're funny.

I have a friend Sara. She pulls pretty funny stuff off the top of her head. My friend Tif is the same way. I'm jealous of them both. I'm not witty. (just a smartass - read previous blog entry) I just read an entry in Sara's blog that had me rolling. I'd point you there but it's on my space and she smart and keeps her profile private...

anyway - she made a joke about her boobs are now interferring with her knees (not true at all - but funny nonetheless.) I asked her about her gravity-defying undergarment and she replied - not missing a beat at all - "its amazing what a roll of duct-tape, two forks and some cheeze-cloth will do" where does she come up with this stuff???!!! I was rolling. Or maybe I'm just easy to entertain.

What the???

Ok - I admit I am not a pro at all with this blog-thing. You may have noticed previously that I haven't even changed some of the standard links to anything meaningful. But somehow I managed to change the template of my blog.

Mind you - I didn't mean too. I actually just went in and tried to change it back. No luck. What am I doing wrong???!!!!

TIFFANY!!! I NEED HELP!!!!!

Please stand by while I try and fix the technical difficulties I'm having....

Seat racing

Do you know what seat racing is in rowing?? no? well then, I'll tell ya. It's when the coach (that would be me) decides to race 2 people against each other to see who moves the boat the fastest. Now, there's a lot more detail to actually pull it off but I'll spare you the details. However, let's just say that the mere mention of "race" gets many of my ladies' panties in a twist.

Theoretically I really shouldn't even tell the ladies that they're being seat raced. I only did due to the "issue" that arose a few weeks back. However I definitely will NOT tell them who is actually being raced. Let them all sweat. It's been joked around that many people (not my ladeis in particular) develop all kinds of problems when faced with seat racing - upset stomach, pulled muscles, cramps, whatever... I know these tricks.

I say TOUGH! Buck up and show me what you've got!

Do I sound evil when talking about seat racing?? I don't mean to. It's just that I used to be one of "them". One of those that was afraid to see how they'd really fare when the competition really got heated. I was afraid to do my best. Doesn't make sense, does it?? I've found that most of my friends do not share this negative trait with me - they don't understand it. Let me explain it to you:
Girl excels in many things without much effort
Girl gets overly praised for good job done
Girl starts to participate in something new - doesn't know how it's going to turn out
Girl afraid she'll not meet expectations and disappoint someone(s)
Girl therefore does all sort of bizarre things - makes excuses, refuses to participate, etc...

Now don't go Dr. Phil on me here. I'm not trying to blame the parents or the teachers or anything. This issue is ALL ME - no one else's. It's just at some point, very early might I add, I realized that I might not always be the best. Instead of being ok with that I fought it.

Some people never have this problem. They always give 100% even if they're dead last. Some people have this problem and they never let it go and it haunts them forever.

However, some people start out with these issues, realize what a crock it all is and finally set themselves straight. I'm one of these people. And it's tough.

For example - I have not been regularly working out. I weigh 25 - 30 pounds heavier than I did in college and probably at least 10 - 15 pounds more than I should at my age. However, since I'm only 30 (very young by masters standards) and I went to Clemson there are many people that assume I'm some rocket on the water. Oh no - unfortunately I'm not. I say this and some people think I'm being modest. Nope - just honest and terribly out of shape.

If I sat down at an erg (indoor rowing machine) right this minute I would score in the middle or back-middle of the ladies that I coach.

If I worked out really hard for the next 6 months and then pulled the same piece I'd probably bump myself up into the top 25% of the team, but not the top 5% or 10%. And that's ok.

If I had a coach start seat racing me right this minute I'd be nervous as hell. I'm the COACH and I'm nervous for them. But it's their time to shine - show me what they've got. Many women have expressed "concern" to me on their status in the boats. This is it ladies. Show me.

Put up or shut up.

I'm not in Kansas anymore.

Yesterday we all had a regatta (of the rowing sort) in Fairport, NY. Cute, ritzy little place - a bit like Hudson, OH for any of you that would know. Cute little winding river on the canal. Very quaint. Beautiful houses on the lake, sidewalk/ bike path... etc... It was great for just about anything BUT rowing.

If you don't know much about rowing let me fill you in. When racing, it is nice to have a wide enough river/lake/pond/anything that would allow boats to pass while races as well as having boats able to row up the outside on their way to the starting line. It is NOT recommened that the river be so narrow that it's nearly impossible to pass another boat going in any direction. NOT GOOD!

Also, it's nice to have the least amount of curves. Although the curves would make for a scenic, peaceful ride in a "regular" boat, it is HELL trying to manuever a fifty eight FOOT long, skinny boat that has limited steering ability through a bunch of curves. Yes, 58 feet is correct - not a typo.

Add to that enough wind to blow us all to Kansas. I have NEVER been to a race that had wind that bad and was not cancelled. Granted, the wind was not nearly as bad once you were on the water - the trees did a grand job of blocking most of the wind. BUT - while we were on shore my ladies were able to witness a boat (not one of ours, thank god) getting BLOWN off a rack. Imagine a 50-something foot boat, made of fiberglass, go flying off a rack. Not funny - well, it was a bit funny once you identify that it was not one of your own boats. Suckers. That's what you get for not tying down your boat better in 400 mph wind gusts.

Finally - the afternoon of the race ran very late. My boats were the last event of the day. We should have been off the water and loading boats on the trailer by 3:45 - 4pm. At 5pm we were still waiting on the water to dock. We didn't actually leave the regatta until about 6 or so. Not home until 9:30. I felt the worst for David - he had to get up at 5:00am this morning to catch an early flight....

I would have taken pictures but it's quite hard to take pictures while having to do all the things you have to do at a regatta. If you're not familiar with a rowing regatta try visiting one sometime. It's a cluster - to say the least. I'll have to remember to take pics at the next race so I can share some of the insanity with the rest of you. For now just relax and enjoy your blissful ignorance.

STOP THE INSANITY!!!

Oh my god! I'm addicted to Munchkins. No, I'm not addicted to some new street drug that you've never heard of and I don't have some weird, deviant sexual fetish.

I'm talking about Dunkin' Donut Munchkins. Donut holes, if you will. (said in a Jon Stewart-sort of way...) Those ittsy-bittsy pieces of heavenly goodness. Available in just one, quick bite. Ok, you can savor it and prolong the yumminess into a few bites. By why bother?? Pop one in your mouth and get another! Hell, you buy them in packs of 25 or 50!! I'm sure there's enough to have seconds, and thirds, and fourths, and fifths.... you get the idea. You can see by the picture I'm not the only one in the office partaking of the Munchkins... (no, I didn't eat that many by myself!!)

Morning person

I have always been a morning person - much to the chagrin of my friends growing up and now my husband. I remember spending the nite at a friend's house and falling asleep in front of the tv at 9. I also remember waking up at 6am and being the only person awake in the house. I could name many a friend that this situation applied to: Aarthi, Sara, Bryn, Kelly, Erin, Jessica, Chandra, Pam and Stephanie... I could go on and on. Aarthi lived across the street and Pam and Stephanie lived next door - if I was there the worst case - I'd get up and go home.

Once I had a sleep over with Bryn, Kelly and Jennifer - I'm thinking we were in 5th grade.... We were all on the outs with Pam and Steph (reminder - next door neighbors) and decided we were going to TP their house. We had it all planned out. TP - check Flashlights - check dark clothes - check The only thing left to do - wait. Wait until everyone was sound asleep. Then we'd tip-toe across into their backyard and let the festivities begin. Man, their back yard was FULL of trees. Pine trees too! It was going to be great.

But I was getting tired. I was afraid I couldn't stay up late. I lobbied everyone to go now. It was 9:30. Not exactly the hour we were waiting for. But it was my house and I got to set the rules. So out we went. We made a mess of the backyard. No one saw us. We were golden!! Then, someone dared me to go and TP the tiny, lonely little dogwood in the front yard. That was it. Mr and Mrs. Pawluch were still awake and I got caught. We all got caught. Not in-trouble caught - just geez-clean-up-your-mess-girls caught. It was still embarassing.

We wouldn't have gotten caught if I coulod stay awake longer...

Another instance: (that happened onmore than one occasion...)
College, 10:30pm, Tuesday. Call from Tiff.
Tiff: We're heading out to go downtown. Come with us.
Me: Please, I'm already in bed and you just woke me up. Forget it.
Tiff: Looser.

some things never change....

need sleep...

how in the hell does standing all day make one so tired??? I'm exhausted! Since having to attend so many more tradeshows with my new job I have a new found repect for nurses, therapists and food servers. How do they stay on their feet all day??!!!!

Luckily no customers to entertain tonight. It's jeans, t-shirt and beer (still with the boss and other work-people) but hey - I'm all over those jeans.

I'd write about the tradeshow but I don't want to be accused of making you fall asleep whilst reading my blog....

It's the little things

I'm on the road again - this time in Atlanta. I'm staying at a Marriott. You know my one complaint? They have internet service in the rooms but you must have a cable! So prehistoric!! I want wireless! I want to be able to sit in bed, in my jammies and surf the web, check email, write in my blog... David and I have wireless at home. I often sit on the sofa and diddle around on my laptop. It's when you don't have something is when you really miss it!
AAHHH!

Serious Contemplation on Human Nature

You know, call me niave, but I like to think the best of people until they prove me wrong. If you think the worst then you're cynical and who wants to be cynical? or around someone who is cynical?

Now, I understand there are inherent risks invovled when you assume the best in people first. For example, at some point you're going to be disapointed. It's not a matter of "if but "when" -since no one is perfect. However, maybe a person's shortcomings only surface in instances when you're you're not around. And - depending on how much time you spend around a person, I guess there is a possibility that you may never see their flaws. But I doubt it. At some point it's going to come out.

Growing up I have been accused of being defensive. (although I'm not sure about this anymore. My mother is the only one that really called me defensive on a regular basis. If you know my mother, or my relationship with her then you're probably not surprised by this.) However, I have made an effort to try and correct this. Now don't get me wrong - if you attack me I will revert to my defensive behavior in a heartbeat. But who wouldn't do that if getting attacked??

I also have the habit of being a smartass. This has gotten me in trouble in the past. I have also worked on this too. I'm learning to keep my mouth shut lest I spout out a smartass remark. This is a two-edged sword, though. In my psych test I had to take for my current job (ok, no funny jokes here. EVERY new hire has to take the psych tests...), keeping my mouth shut was labeled as a negative. I was told that I have good things to say and I need to learn to say them, regardless of how other people take it. I hold too much back because I'm scared I'm going to say it wrong or people will take it wrong. It appears I need to find a comfortable median.

I think finding the true personality of a person is best done when they are under pressure or stressed. This is the true test - this shows you the real person. Not the fakey-fakey. Anybody can be fakey-fakey. When I'm stressed I think I really clam up - see previous comments on being a smartass. When I'm stressed is definitely the most likely time I'll say something that will really offend someone so this is why I've learned to shut up. Although continue to push my buttons and I will explode. I promise. No matter how hard I try, I will.

I have been very surprised at what I have learned from people over the years. I have met people that seem very high-strung and flighty - but when faced with extreme stress they calm down and become Zen-like. I have also seen people that seem composed and together that completely fall apart when the going gets tough. I guess you just never know what you're going to get. "Life is like a box of chocolates...."

And that's the hardest part for me. Since I'm always expecting the best in people I have to admit that I'm easily thrown when I get a negative reaction that I wasn't expecting. Although I'd much rather know the true person, even if it involves blow-ups, rather than the fakey-fakey person. The real person is more, ... well, real.

Choose your airline carefully

I fly a lot. But so does the hubby. Difference is, I travel around to different places. David travels to the same airport 99% of the time. That airport would be Detroit. If you're a frequent traveler then you'll not be surprised to know that he flies Northwest. (Detroit - BIG hub). He has this routine down so pat that he usually flies there and back on the same flights. When we hear a plane over our house he's been known to take a look at it and shout out what NW flight it probably is - assuming it's a NW plane. You can't tell what airline it is but I play along anyway :)

Yesterday he was due to get on the 7:15pm flight (I'm sure it's probably 7:18 or something, but as the wife of the flier, I don't care about specifics - I round.) It's supposed to land in Syracuse around 8:30pm. There have been several times over the past few years that he does not get home anywhere close to 8:30 - but last night takes the cake.

message on my cell left at 6:20pm, listened to at 8:15pm: "Hi hon, it's me. I know you're at practice but wanted to leave a message that our flight is delayed because the crew isn't here yet. I'll leave you another message when we board."

I only had one message after practice. I call him to leave a message back to jokingly chastise him for not calling me when he boarded. To my surprise he answered. He did not sound like a happy camper. They had not yet left - still no crew. Rumblings about "all these freakin' planes here and no crew to fly our plane. I'll call you when I hear something."

9:30pm: "ok, we're boarding. I'll call you when we land." Ok, sounds good. He should be in around 10:30 or 11. I decide I'm going to be a good wife and wait up for him since we haven't seen each other except in bits and pieces over the past few weeks.

11pm: "We just landed... in Rochester." WHAT??? Um, wrong airport. It appears during the first attempt at landing at Syracuse there might have been deer on the runway. Went back for second pass. Too foggy, couldn't see, redirected to Rochester. For those of you who don't know, it's about 1 hour from Syracuse (our house), driving.... really fast.

Ok, I'm falling asleep on the couch. Love ya hon but you're on your own. I can't stay awake any longer - still sleep deprived from waking up every two hours previous night. must get sleep - see you tomorrow.

1:30am Friday morning: Sure enough the dogs went CRAZY when they heard the very quiet garage door opening, scared the shit out of me (I was sleeping peacefully, knowing the basement was not flooding). David's home. He rented a car and drove home. It's one-thirty in the morning on Friday. it's not like we can sleep in, we have to work today.

I've determined Northwest sucks. That's why I fly USAir...

SUCCESS!!

AHA! I procured a new sump pump, PVC pipe and necessary connectors and adhesive. I proceeded to install the new sump pump all by myself!!! No man needed!!!!

Now, I understand that men, whether they'll admit it or not, like to be useful and be able to complete tasks in order to keep their "man card". However, it's also nice to know that, when in a pinch, I can do it myself. Since my husband was able to unclog the kitchen sink last week (even though it did include lots of words I don't necessarily feel comfortable repeating here), for yet another mark on the "man card" I do not feel bad taking this opportunity away from him or his dad. (I'm sure Dave has had plenty of opportunities to obtain marks on his "man card" at his own house...)

YEAH GIRLS!!!!

Flooding Disaster

Murphy's law... I came home last night, feeling better, and decided I would properly unpack from my last trip and do some laundry. I go down into the basement and to make a long story a little shorter, there is water EVERYWHERE! AAAHHHHH!!!!! In case you don't know, my basement is finished - half with carpet (luckily with that really tight, low carpet) and half with painted concrete floor. (by the way - if any of you decide to paint your concrete floor, DO NOT use latex paint, like the previous owners of our house did. I'll explain later...)

I run into the small part that isn't finished to take a look at the sump pump. Ours is the model with the motor on top and water is overflowing from the hole and the pump is spinning, THROWING WATER EVERYWHERE! I panic. Oh god, oh god!! In a moment of undescribable clarity I grab the float and push it down and it stops the water. Ok, I have everything a slight bit more under control than when I started.

Picture this, I had just gotten home from work - I'm in khaki pants and shirt. I had taken my socks off and rolled up my pants - sort of a Huck Finn meets biz casual girl. cute look, you should try it some time.

Ok, what would any girl do next?? (did I mention the hubby is out of town?) I call my dad, never mind he's 1000 miles away and really can't do a whole lot unless I have video conferencing right there by the sump (which I don't). I'm standing, barefoot, squating (not comfortable), holding the float down with cell earpiece in ear trying to explain what the hell is going on to my father in SC.
dad: "can you pull the plug out of the wall?"
me: "sure, I guess, but I have to hold my foot on the float and stretch over there to get it."
dad: "WAIT. you're standing in water, right?"
me: "uh, yeah. that's the gist of the whole problem"
dad: "Can you pull it out with the cord, not touching the plug - don't want you to electrocute yourself."
me: "it's a flat plug - not sure I can but I can try. you stay on the line in case I do electrocute myself you can call someone." (I thought this was a much better idea than me hanging up and then electrocuting myself and no one to call for help.)
dad: "no - don't do that."
me: "David's ringing in - let me call you back"
I fill David in as I start to try and unplug the sump. SUCCESS! and I didn't electrocute myself! YEAH!

Smart, engineer hubby has me get the pool pump (that we use if the pool outside gets to high) and rig it to start pumping water out and into the utility sink. Ok, we're getting somewhere. However, because we're not sure what caused the pump to malfunction in the first place, David doesn't want me sitting the pool pump on the bottom of the hole. Fair enough - so I sit on a step ladder and hold it.

Meantime, hubby calls his dad, who lives 15-20 minutes away to see if he can come over. David let's me know that Dave (father-in-law) is on his way. So, here's me holding the pump, waiting for help to arrive. I had to remind Dave (remember, not hubby, but father-in-law. I know, confusing, isn't it?) he'd have to let himself in because I couldn't leave my post.

So now that I'm waiting I start thinking. Oh god - I hope curiosity didn't get one of cats and that's what's clogging this. Oh god - what if, as the water starts pumping out, there's a dead cat down there. Oh god! It would probably be Cabby because she's the one with the wierd water fetish. (and she's the fluffiest, being most likely to cause the most clogging...)
As I'm thinking these horrible thoughts Cabby comes around to investigate the water sounds going on. (I'll have to write about her water fetish some other time, sorry) WHEW! Ok, one cat accounted for, only THREE more to find. Luckily the remaining three all make appearances to see what the hell is going on. They are not happy about having to slosh through water to get to their litter and food.

Which brings me to the next real issue I'm dealing with. In the next room (actually you can see the doorway behind Cabby's rear in that pic) is the workshop (as named by previous owners.) To us it's the "cat room". Yeah, it's furnished like a workshop with cabinets and great shelving and other storage, but that's not it's main purpose in our house. We do keep all the tools, manual and power, there but more importantly we keep the cat food and THREE XL litter boxes there too. The litter boxes are sitting on top of industrial rubber-backed mats. This tries to catch the litter off the paws and keep it to a minimum in the rest of the house. Right in front of the boxes the litter really starts to pile up. We vacuum the mats off at least once a month - last time we cleaned was about a month ago... We use clumping litter. I won't go into detail but just imagine a bunch of wet litter. I won't say any more but to say it looked like sludge. Use your imagination to fill in the rest.

The painted concrete is white. Why? I have NO IDEA! That's the dumbest color for any part of a house EVER!! So now, there are little dark gray spots (individual pieces of litter) that are now full of water all over all the concrete floors. Have you ever seen bacteria grow in a petri dish? Yeah, it looked like we had little cultures growing ALL OVER the floor. GROSS! Add to that, the previous idiot owners painted it with latex so now we have paint bubbles popping up all over the floor. The floor looks like a mix of bacteria cultures and boils. EWW!!!

I know it sounds as though we never clean - but I swear we do. However 4 little cats can track a hell of a lot of litter around in a short period of time.

Ok, back to the story (it's gets going faster here...) Dave shows up and brings his 16 gallon wet/ dry vac. He rigs the pool pump so I don't have to hold it and he proceeds to HELP ME clean up this disgusting, gross place we call our basement. He's bent over sucking up water while I'm moving things off the floor. He helps me roll up the nasty rugs and carry them outside. I move into the carpet rooms and start sucking the water up there. He's still moving things off the floor onto high ground.

Now, I wasn't very optimistic about the carpet. I immediately start seeing $$ as I think of how we going to have to replace it. Have you ever used a huge wet/dry vac on wet carpet? Check this action out! See the lighter part where I sucked the water right up?? I was in business!

At this point all I really have to do is continue to suck water out of the carpet. I tell Dave I really apreaciate his help but I have it from here. No need for him to continue to subject himself to this misery. But no - he stays. He's in it for the long haul. Good thing too - I sucked up so much water in such a short time that I definitely needed his help to carry it up to dump outside. Dave ROCKS! I think he was here for about THREE HOURS!

Well, at this point it is clear the sump pump needs replaced. (did I mention how lucky we are we have a super duty de-humidifier? it's been going on hi ever since the beginning of this fiasco.) The hole keeps filling up and will need to be pumped every so often. I set the watch - every hour I'm going to be down there pumping until I can get the sump replaced. - tomorrow. I call a friend at work and explain that I'm not going to be in the office in the morning due to this pumping predicament. Later in the evening I realize I can go 2 hours between pumps. YEAH! I slept on the couch - closer to the basement. I was up every two hours pumping out water. If this is what it's like to have an infant, forget it!

So, now I'm at home, mopping the floor with a bleach solution and pumping every 2 hours. In a few minutes I'm heading out to purchase a new sump pump and Dave is coming over tonight to help me install it. I have some rugs in the garage that need wet/ dry vac-ing. I'll do that too this afternoon. In the end I decided to take a vacation day. I'm not really getting much work done when I'm trying to bleach-mop the floor, etc... This weekend (or next, once everything is REALLY dry) I'll be steam-cleaning the carpet downstairs too.

Morals of the story:
1) keep your basement clean. You think it's "just the basement" but someone is bound to see it at it's worst.
2) make sure you have someone, and a back-up someone, to help you when you really need it, even if the job is WAY disgusting. Sometimes you may not know who that person is until disaster strikes.
3) don't store things on the floor of the basement - even if it is finished and you think it's safe
4) keep a close eye on the sump pump for failures.

If you want to stay my friend...

Had a reason to call a friend yesterday that I hadn't talked to in a while. Turns out I'm a reference and I just wanted to let him know I had been contacted. No big deal. I leave him a message, sort of cyptic since it was at work, to call me at work or on the cell. He calls me back this morning and I tell him why I called. His response? "oh, gee, I thought you were going to tell me that you and David were pregnant!". Um, no.

Now I should mention, this is not a one-time occurance. My best friend, on about every third call, will ask me if I'm pregnant too. Family members (not just the in-laws) make comments or hints about it - although they don't come right out and ask. Here's a hint: STOP ASKING IF I'M PREGNANT!

First of all, I get all self-concious thinking I'm getting too fat - but then again, everyone who usually asks me this doesn't even see me - we're talking on the phone. Secondly I already get enough "hints" from the family - I don't need you too. Finally, in case you missed the memo, there is no law mandating that people who are just now married for two years MUST start procreating immediately. If that law actually does exist then I missed it - and don't point it out to me because I'm happy in my ignornance.

If I sound a bit harsh, I'll explain further as to why. See, last night I had the dogs with me at practice (I take them with me when David's out of town, such is the case now). I like to think I can handle several things at once. I'm a woman, right? I'm born to multi-task. However, trying to get myself ready for practice AND keep track of 2 dogs AND clean up doggie poo AND trying to coax dogs in and out of a coaching launch, well.... that well surpassed my limit. I got to thinking later - sheesh! I definitely can't handle kids yet, hell I can't even handle 2 dogs!!! And to top it off I got the call from the friend this morning thinking I was pregnant.

I like to think I can handle a good bit of stress - but this puts me over the top. So, if you want to stay my friend, DON'T ASK ME IF I'M PREGNANT!!

as promised!

as promised... I have pics of the "kids" in their doggles. Aren't they cute!!! Nikki is still getting used to wearing hers. I have to wrestle with her to keep them on. Liam is slowly coming around and getting used to his.

These pics were taken last night on our way to practice. I love driving to practice, or anywhere for that matter, with the dogs in their doggles. People look and point and laugh and giggle. Kids and grown-ups both get such a kick out of them. I love it that we can bring a smile to someone's face!

Almost back to normal

I'm back at work today. Not 100% but I'd say at least 75% - enough to get some work done.

Speaking of work... it's interesting to see the cross-section of friends I have that read my blog. (Yes, I'm NOT ADD - I've been tested. You just have to keep up with the shifts in my brain. Ask Dee, she'll explain it to ya.) Some from high school, some from college, some I just met at work during the past several years. Each person, depending on when they met me has an idea of how I work and function(or not functino, as the case may be). Some people might see me as organzied - others, just the opposite. When I worked at Oneida my office looked liked a bomb exploded. In retrospect - that's fitting seeing as how that's also how I felt while I was working there. Too bad I don't have a picture of it for comparison purposes. At my job now I'm much more at peace. Take a look at my desk. You can actually tell that it's made of wood!!! I even have a plant! (well, actually it came with the office, I didn't bring it in....)

I've also come to the conclusion that I don't hate traveling for work (like I'm prone to tell people) it's just that if there is some virus or bacteria to catch on a plane I end up with it. And if not... well then I get a sinus infection instead. THAT is the part that I do not like about traveling. Although this past trip was, um, adventurous, to say the least.



Quick recap:
-ruined presentation... check
-ruined clothes and tioletries due to exploding mousse... check
-running out to grocery to get replacement mousse at 5am (it's ok, I had jetlag)... check
- getting back to hotel room only to then find that toothpaste was runined too... check
-paying $5 for the "travel" kit in the room in order to have toothpaste that didn't taste like orchids and green tea... check
-hotel forgetting to launder ruined clothes in time for me to wear ...check
-tripping on the sidewalk in front of LA county hospital (NOT where you want to trip) in front of the one sales rep that will NEVER let you forget it... check
-runny nose, sneezing, everyone asking if you have allergies... check
-meeting interesting Dir of Respiratory in CA, find out he's from Toledo, a big racing fan and offers to send your hubby collectibles and get him into the Indy races because he's on their rescue team... check (I'm SO winning wife of the year this year!!)
-staying at friends house and thinking the little Ewok dog peed on your comforter... check
-loving to stay at friends house because you get room with A/C (and it blowing directly on your face, I LOVE THAT and I'm not being sarcastic etiher...)... check
-showing friend other friend's blog and having her laugh so hard she almost pees on the couch... check
-eating great Thai food and drinking fabulous wine (unfortunately not at the same time) .... double check
-waking up with head feeling like in vice grip... check
- flying home with head feeling like it's in vice grip doubled by a wicked hand over... double check
- suitacse not showing up at airport... check
- call in sick from work(due to sinus infection - hang over is long gone)... check
-suitcase showing up more than 24 hours after it was supposed to... check
- warn chirporator that if he even comes close to touching sinus areas on face will hit him... check (I really did that today... not hit him, but threaten to.)

Well, I usually fly without a hitch, except for this last time. So hopefully I'm set for some smooth traveling over the next few months now.

Tonight have practice - I coach masters women's rowing. I'm sure pretty soon I'll have some goodies to tell about that too. You just wait!

Ugh! I'm not done.

I'm not done whining yet. I landed in good 'ol Syracuse yesterday around 5-ish. Went to get my bag only to find out that USAir FORGOT to load 15 bags on the place before we left. How do you FORGET that??? I mean, hell, my bag alone is big enough to attract attention when just left sitting on the tarmac (which is, apparently, where they accidentally "left" the 15 bags.) I'm second in line to claim a lost bag and get reassured they'll have it to me by this evening once the next plane from Philly arrives. It's 3:10pm the next day and still no bag. The good news is they at least are noe telling me (via automated telephone response) they have my bag. That's better than a few hours ago when they still could not locate my bag....

I'm not feeling well, had the sniffles all week and have the hubby stop at the pharmacy to grab drugs for runny nose. Grab them, get home and take the nyquil. I went to bed at 8 or 8:30. I have decided this is the best way to beat jetlag. (even though it was done unintentially) By the time I went to bed I could tell I was really getting a good cold. The clincher? When I woke up in the middle of the middle of the night achy, sore and feeling as though my head was going to explode. Took more drugs, went back to bed. I called insick this morning.

I am feeling better - but not by much. I feel like I've been beaten with a baseball bat. Why is that?? I have never been beaten with a baseball bat but that's what I equate it to. Maybe I should say something more like "I feel as though I was riding my bike hard and fast down a steep hill, hit a rock and went flying over the handle bars and this is how I felt the next day." That's pretty acurate too. AND, that I have done that so I'm confident in the comparison. And it's not just the body aches. The worst part is feeling as though someone shoved a huge snot/ booger stopper up in my nose, halfway to my brain. Now don't tell me I grossed you out with that. I'm sure every single one of you reading this has had that experience at some point in your life. And you know exactly what I mean. I am confident that I will be back at work tomorrow. I have faith the snot stopper will unlodge itself soon and I will feel much better. (I just like the word "snot". It sounds like it looks - what's that called again? )

I did end my CA trip on a good note. Christy, Ann and I had great Thai food one nite. Then the next night we grilled out and Christy and I drank WAY too much wine - especially since I had to be at the airport at 5AM the next morning. It was rough. I ate McD's once I got there because I really needed some greasy food to try and settle the tummy. Nothing like being on a cross-country flight with a hang over. (although it does beat the time I flew across the Atlantic with a hang over - my very FIRST hangover, might I add...)

If you get the chance, Rosenthal (Malibu) makes an excellent 2001 Cab. I just recommend that you don't drink 2 bottles of it with a friend and then start on a third, cheaper, oh sorry - less expensive, wine after that.

cheers!

Why California??

I have lived both east and west of the Mississippi and liked both very well. However my experience to the west was only as far as Colorado (MAN I miss it!!) It didn't extend all the way to CA. I have now had the opportunity to come to CA a few times with work over the years. I distinctly remember my first impression as I looked out the window as the plane was coming into LAX : "Wow that's a lot of smog! how gross!" That was several years ago when I was working with Waterpik. My reaction has pretty much been the same each time I have flown out since.

Now I understand that CA is a highly sought after locale- evidenced by the real estate prices. Call me dumb - but I can't for the life of me figure out why! (I should note here that I'm talking mostly about southern, coastal CA since that's all I've seen. I'm going to offend many people with this post, I'm sure, and I don't want to offend any more than I have too....) Aside from the smog there's the constant threat of the "big one" shaking up your living quarters, perched precariously on the side of a cliff. My favorite part of CA- the 405. (of course, insert sarcasm here) I think I spent at least half of my trip n traffic on the four -oh- five. Yes, there were parts that actually moved above 40mph - but I really only remember the parts where I was standing still or going at the amazingly breakneck speed of 25mph cursing at how anyone could stand to live here and put up with this crap.

Some people will argue about the scenic ocean and the beautful weather. Well for those of you that know me- I could give two craps about a beach and salt water. I do not like laying out and I do not like having to rinse in unmentionable places to remove sand. As for the arguement about the weather - Fall is my favorite season! I could not stand to live somewhere that the weather is almost the same all year long! Yes, I know you could surf in the morning and ski in the afternoon if you live in CA - but I don't surf!

Why the negative outburst, you're asking? Well, I've essentially been lying to people for the last few days about yes, I agree that CA is wonderful, yada, yada, yada. I need to vent the truth for once!!! Maybe the one other thing I really don't care for in CA is the attitude. Not the Hollywood-type attitude but, well I can't put word to it - I can only explain it. See - each time I met someone new they would ask me how I liked CA. I don't get asked this in other places I travel. I originally started with short and sweet answers because I wasn't comfortable lying a big lie- just little ones. I'd answer "it's nice". But no one lets you get away with just that. They continue to probe until they are satisifed that you absolutely LOVE CA, act as though you're jealous as hell that you don't live here and feel as though you are the stupidist person on earth for not picking up and moving to CA this very instant. I think they do this because they need a stranger to concur that all the money they spend out here is worth it. Whatever. Some people are too sissy to handle the snow - that I understand. nothing wrong with it. Why can't people just buck up and admit it! (actually one director did, John. Except he doesn't count because he's a transplant from Toledo, OH.)

Ok - there is ONE redeeming quality about CA - the food. You can get great food, of any kind, just about anywhere. Not only that but you can find great food in both big, expensive, fancy places as well as in little dives and everything in between. I was in heaven! Yes, I hate the beach, I hate shopping, but I sure as hell can eat my through a place like southern CA! Case in point: (ok - see picture at top - I can't figure out how to get it to show up down here.) Note to self - figure out how to get pics where you want them....
This picture was taking of my dessert (and Steve's the sales rep) at a place in Laguna Beach. He was all impressed with himself - going to take me to a nice restuarant on the ocean, at sunset. Even stop if I wanted to shop or dip my toes in the water... (sounds like a date, doesn't it? Little creepy, isn't it???) Well boy did he have me pegged wrong! And due to his, um, unique personality, I didn't feel the need to lie to him. I could care less about the ocean and the sunset (I have jetlag, buddy! If I see the sun go down I'll face plant right here on my dinner plate!) I'll only shop if you want to see a true panic attack and me break out in hives. However, it was a great dinner and even greater dessert. I had the chocolate mousse!! yummy!!

Ok, I had another great dining experience last night too but I think I've blogged everyone's ear off by now. I'll save my Thai dinner for another time... (Tiff!! We had water weenies!!! I mean, spring roll thingy-ies.)
toodles!

The trials of travel

Well, the other morning I woke up in Rodondo Beach, CA. Sounds cool and fun, right? It's not too bad. I was staying at this neat hotel, the Portofino. It's all sailing themed. Well, I'm getting ahead of myself - let me tell you about me getting here.

Tuesday morning I got up in NY and packed. I should mention here that I have a packet of copies of papers I need for my presentation Wed. morning. I put this packet not in the very front zipper of the suitacse, but one of the ones further back - but not in the main compartment. This was a mistake... I then went for a quick run, took a shower and left for the airport. (I added the running part, not because it's essential to the story but just because I wanted to.)

I get to LAX, rent my car and go meet Christy and Ann for a bite to eat in Santa Monica before heading to my hotel. We had GREAT mexican food. Christy said that it's good but there are better places... I'm just excited to get mexican food! Syracuse's idea of mexican food is Taco Bell.

I drive down to my hotel and check in. By now I'm exhausted. It's about 8:30 but my brain thinks it's 11:30. As you know, anything past 10 is way too late for me... I get to my room and start to unpack a few things so I can get ready for bed. The first thing I pull out are my copies for my presenation the next day. They are sopping wet!!! Apparently someone at the ariport decided to leave my suitcase on the tarmac in Philly where it was pouring. So now I have to make new hand outs before my presentation. Ugh!

Next I pull out my nifty little Lands End toiletry bag and immediately I sense that something has gone terribly wrong. It's wet. I'm thinking it's because of the rain in Philly but I'm stumped as to how it penetrated that far into my bag. (I dont think the airport guy left it on the tarmac now, I'm thinking he dunked it in a tub water....) I pull out a t-shirt and give it a smell, Just water. huh - how 'bout that. THe rain did penetrate into the main compartment! I then take my toiletry bag to the bathroom and in the process notice that it's slippery. I give it a smell. Not just water... smells flowery. I open it up and sure enough the inside is SOAKED! The top (not just the lid, but the actual top) to my brand new mousse bottle is gone. I pull the bottle out and it's EMPTY! It was brand new! apparently in-transit the top popped off and mousse has been dumping into my toiletries case the whole trip. Although now the mousse-y part is gone and everything is slicky wet. I'm tired, I want to go to bed. But alas, I start pulling everything out and rinsing each item and setting it out to dry. I hung the case in the shower- I decided to deal with it in the morning. I needed to go to bed.

But, even though I'm exhausted I realize I need to check my clothes and be sure I have something to wear to my presentation the next morning. I go through everything in my suitcase, sorting between "good to wear" and "wet with water" and "wet with out of control mousse". I had something to wear the next day - I decide to worry about the rest later.

I love traveling....

Ma King, we're not the only ones!

Ok, all this talk of rescuing animals made me want to share with everyone the fact that Ma King and I aren't the only two "suckers" for hurt, sick animals in need of a home. My great friend, Christy, is one of us too!! She and Anne have 3 small dogs (Cockapoo, terrier and a small Ewok-looking fluffy dog named Duffy Dillon [my name sake!!]) and 4 cats. I can't remember all thier names at this moment but I know that one has only three legs. I beleive the story is that Christy (who works for a large vet admin. company) was at the vet and they shared with her that someone had brought in a stray and it was currently in surgery because one of his legs was severly infected. It ended up being amputated. Christy decided she would adopt it. I'm just excited because I get to see all of them at the end of this week.l I'm traveling to CA for work and staying and extra day to see Christy and Anne and the "kids"!!! I can't wait!

I'm disappointed!

David and and I decided to go to the New York State Fair yesterday. We go for Dinosaur BBQ and people watching. I also go for the 24oz wine slushies! I decided that this would be the best place to give Tiff and her sis, Amanda, a run for thier money on who has the most mullets! I wanted to bring the camera to document my findings but the hubby was very vocal about me NOT doing that. I think I embarass him on occasion... So I settled for the camera phone.

I saw LOTS of interesting people but they were going way too fast for me to snap pictures. But no mullets. What a disappointment! I'm convinced it was the rain we've been having. I'm sure the mullet-heads decided to stay home lest their mullets get wet and all tangled! However, as I was leaving to go home I got the next best thing - a radio station that was keeping mullet count for me!!! I'm guessing the numbers are so low due to the rain all week.

What really gets my goat is that when you say your from NY almost EVERYONE assumes you're from the city. However, there is more to the state than one huge, crowded city. It's in these small places that mullets are tucked. I was for sure that I could compete with Tiff and Amanda.... I guess since Billy Ray cut his the NY mullets decided to follow his trend.

The Ries Taco

Here is Ries (pronounced Reese - but named after the wine, Riesling...) We call this the Ries taco - he cuddles in the "cat pad" on the sofa. A little history on Ries:
I got him as a kitten in CO to keep Cabby (another cat, actually named Cabernet - see a trend?) company. Needless to say - it didn't really work out that way. He was SO sick when I got him - I spent $700 in three weeks on him (of my grad school loan, mind you). When I first brought him home I showed him the litter box back in my bedroom. Later we were playing in the family room and he had to go. Either he couldn't remember where it was or he had to go too bad - so he hopped up in a potted plant I had in the room and pooped there. Very resourceful...
In case you've heard me bitching about it in the past - or if I say something about it in the future - this is the "puking cat". He's the reason we own a $400+ steam cleaner.....

Life in our house

Don't you wish you were a cat in our house?? This happens to be Jax - my stray from Toledo - taking a nap. Rough life, isn't it?

Not quite like a Marriott...

Have you ever stayed overnite in a sleep lab?? Well, I hadn't either - until last night. I SWEAR I don't snore (and my hubby agrees) but they felt it pertinent to test me for sleep apnea. (They being, well, I'm not really sure... somebody with an MD after their name, I guess...)

So I flew home from Loos-i-anna, via Messa-sipee, last night, went home, grabbed a bite to eat, showered, grabbed a pillow and headed to the sleep lab. I sort of knew what was going to happen. As I thought, I was hooked up to a bunch of wires. My biggest fear - worrying that I'd have to pee in the middle of the night. Now, you're allowed to pee - you just have to call them because you need their help to untangle you from all the wires hooked to ya. No, peeing isn't exactly the fear - waking up inthe sleep lab to pee and NOT BEING ABLE TO FALL BACK ASLEEP! The fact is, when home, I usually stumble to the toilet and pee with my eyes half open (ok - usually shut. It's a good thing I don't have to stand.) This way I don't turn on any lights and truely wake myself up - otherwise I'd be awake for the rest of the night. And since I do pee almost every night I have this down to a science.

Instead, I laid awake all night thinking "gee, I have to pee, but if I get up I'll wake myself up and won't be able to fall back asleep." Go figure.

The worst part of the sleep study - how they attach the electrodes to your head. They use this goopy stuff, reminds me a lot like the wax my mom used to put in my brother's ears for a bath back when Justin had tubes. They wrap the electrode in that goop and then stuff it on your head. Dont' worry, they mash your hair around it to keep it in place. I had to wash my hair about 5 times this morning and STILL found a gob of it behind my ear that I had missed! YUCK!

Well, I'll keep you posted as to whether I have to start sleep sleeping with a Darth Vader mask on at night (aka, CPAP machine). And if I do have to get a CPAP, don't expect me to announce that we're going to have kids any time soon....