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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

It's another fireplacing beautiful day, darn it!

Can you tell I'm in a windowless cubicle? Sitting in front of 4 computer screens? When I'd rather be out RINGING THE FIREPLACING DOORBELLS!

Sheesh.

On the up side, I've got two packs to do after work today. Total about 80 doors. I'm going to enjoy myself, yes indeedy.

What's up with you?

40 comments:

Sue said...

You know Liz, we may have to do a pixie intervention for this doorbell ringing. The first step is admitting you have a problem. WAIT - it's not a problem - it's AWESOME!!!!

We bow to your doorbell ringing reign.

Whine: Three funerals - Saturday, Monday and Wednesday. Two down, one to go. The Saturday family had a 30 year old family feud going on. The two brothers that started the feud both have Alzheimers and no one else knows why the two sides of the family don't speak to one another. It's affected three generations. Sheesh. Life is waaaaaaay too short for that kind of bullsh*t. Just sayin....

I'll be glad when this week is over.

Anti-whine: On Sunday I'll be 50. I've gotten used to the idea - I'm actually kind of excited.

Anti-whine: On Saturday, to celebrate my 50th, I'm getting another tattoo. I got my first on my 40th. This one will be a lovely phoenix.

Whine: I remember now that tattoos kind of hurt at first.

Anti-whine: I'll get over it. Eee.....excited!!!!

kathy a. said...

liz, happy doorbelling!

sue for some kind of prize -- 3 funerals in a week is like a triathalon already, and a 30-year family feud on top of all that plus normal work? i don't have words.

but happy early birthday! sending an elaborate virtual birthday cake, and popping the celebratory beverages!

Sarah at ratatat said...

Happy Birthday Sue! And may the feuding funerals-goers realize the past is past.

And I am in awe of your doorbell ringing, Liz.

Whine: my allergies are draining the life out of me. And like a bad horror movie, I am afraid it is coming from inside the house. How can there still be cat dander in this house after 2 years?

Anti-whine: the weaned baby is starting to take her bottles. At least she is spitting less at me. And I am feeling OK about the weaning.

Whine: After my daughter's recent emotional outbursts, we're going to see a therapist-type person. And I am worried this will be all my fault or that the brunt of the work to help her calm down will fall on me. Maybe I need to go too :)

Is it bed time yet?

kathy a. said...

less spitting is good! oh, sarah -- so sorry about your daughter, and yes, i hope that the therapist-type-person can reassure you, too. we all worry that it will be "our fault," but the truth is that kids (and their families) sometimes just go through rough patches. there is no shame, and often a lot of relief, in getting some thoughtful outside help.

which brings me to my big W/AW: this hideous lurking unmentionable work problem showed its ugly face last week. and i am just so grateful, because against odds, i get to brainstorm it on short notice with some excellent people for the particular problem. yay!

in further anti-whines, daughter cooked a delicious dinner the other night!

back to whines: i'm losing the battle of desk territory with senior cat. a couple days ago, i was gaining ground when i discovered she doesn't like post-its stuck to her. but she has conquered that obstruction to her divine right to sit on my work. also, my office floor looks like the aftermath of a confetti convention.

esperanza said...

Liz, I am in awe of your doorbell-ringing ability. My introvert self can't imagine anything more terrifying. And Sue, three funerals in a week is just incredibly draining, even if you are only 50. Take it easy when you can.

Whine/Antiwhine: Baboo and I (and Mini-Baboo, of course) are off tomorrow for the g'parents' house. You may remember this as the house where six people already live. And the teenager has a friend visiting from out-of-state. It will be fun to be there, but I'm not expecting to get any rest. What? I won't be able to go to bed at 8 pm??? Crap.

Antiwhine/Whine: The Sweet Baboo was at her self-entertaining sweetest today. After a yesterday in which I had to introduce the "time out" concept. Yes, she is approaching two. Why can't she be "delayed" in the tantrum department? She is showing some progress in standing up by herself. Woohoo!

Antiwhine: Teh Queasy is dissipating, somewhat. it still visits around supper time, but the rest of the day, I am starting to feel human. As long as I get my nap.

amy said...

handing out virtual naps to everyone needing one this week. :yawn:

and sticking post-it notes on the cat? genius. i nominate kathy for an office-space frontierswoman award, in spite of the temporary setback.

Sue said...

I'll second that nomination amy - post its on the cat...brilliant!!

I'll take one of those virtual naps tomorrow afternoon in place of my planned yoga class. I think by this time tomorrow (after funeral #3) I'll be pretty much toast.

Sarah - sorry to hear about your daughter. I hope the therapy helps. It's always been good for me.

esperanza - I'm glad Teh Queasy is easing up a bit. Our yoga instructor is expecting also and she keeps leaving us in impossible poses for a VERY long time while she delicately exits to do Teh Puke. My muscles will be glad when her baboo makes an appearance.

Liz Miller said...

84 doors, people. And they weren't tidy, close-together, apartment doors either. They were single-family-detached-with-a-two-car-garage-and-a-lawn doors.

But very nice people.

I'll keep my comments re: whines for the awards Thursday, but I'm taking notes!

Sue said...

***applause applause*** A definite Standing Ovation for the Doorbell Queen.

Elizabeth said...

Anti-whine: Home, and no more work travel on the horizon.

Whine: The next 2 weeks are still going to be totally insane at work. And we're supposed to launch our new website next Friday.

esperanza said...

84 doors plus exercise! You are quite the multitasker, Liz.

An Old Skool whine on behalf of the Baboo: I inherited my da-da's butt. It is flat. These cute capris are sliding off my butt and taking my diaper with them.

kathy a. said...

woot! 84 doors!

elizabeth, condolences on the 2 weeks of work insanity.

a vote for esperanza's sweet baboo and diaper disarray. [which probably does not bother her in the least.] and for esperanza -- glad the queasies are subsiding! and oh my, about the twos.

Madeleine said...

Pixies may remember last year's SG Comes Home From Camp whine: 2 duffle bags full of sandy, damp, pee-scented clothes and linens.

This year?

Anti-whine: No pee. Haven't actually sorted them to see if there's sand.

Whine: One bag came home instead of two. "I had two duffles?" she said, befuddled. "No wonder I couldn't get everything in and stuffed those last few things in my pillowcase."

We went back to her cabin and searched the storage room. We left a message in the office. We haven't heard anything.

Anti-whine: It's an empty duffle, so only the bag itself is a loss. I know it arrived at camp because if it hadn't she'd have spent two straight weeks in the same set of clothes. She unpacked it, she just doesn't know where it went after that! Altogether, it's an Old Skool sort of whine, really.

Love to all pixies. Must finish work item I procrastinated yesterday so we can go start the summer's Tour de Gelato.

Elizabeth said...

Update on the work insanity. I just agreed to do another presentation. This brings me up to 5 in the next 2 weeks. I've already done 2 in the week since I got back from vacation.

The anti-whine: While I'm overwhelmed by the work, this is pretty much what I dreamed my career would be: getting to talk to people about issues that I care about.

kathy a. said...

madeleine -- one lost duffle is not bad, in teh scheme of things. can i go on the tour de gelato?

and can we send some to elizabeth? she sounds a tad stressed. in the good way, but gelato can't hurt.

i had my brainstorming, got great advice, and one of my panel of experts is going with me to help do TWO jobs i'm dreading. yay! gelato for everyone!

Sue said...

Count me in on teh Tour de Gelato, please. Yummmm

Anti-whine: hubby bought me an ipod touch for my birthday!

Whine: It's taking me a very long time to figure out how to use it.

Anti-whine: I have two university degrees - this tiny machine is NOT smarter than I am. Is it? Nah. I'll figure it out. It's FUN!!!!!

Name Under Development said...

Sue, I feel your pain--only in my case the tiny machine is my new Blackberry. I saw a cartoon earlier about a hypothetical game show--"Are you smarter than your cell phone?"


Stay tuned to find out.

Whine in 3 words: External. Grant. Review

Whine/Antiwhine--Boss is away til Monday, AKA Day of doom (consultant conducting review arrives). Therefore all final paperwork, data massaging and paperwork fire extinguishing must be done by remaining staff.

Major whine--Unbloggable department personnel issue has the potential to make this year's 2-day session even less fun than last year's--and I'd rather have a root canal w/o an anesthetic than repeat last year's.

In addition, major campus remodeling project in progress--boss & admin asst in "temporary" digs, half our files in storage. Advisor and I to begin our nomadic quest at some (undetermined) date in the not-too-distant future. Anybody have a red stapler?

Esperanza, glad teh queasy is passing. Baboo will pass out of the "two's" someday soon.

Maybe all of us with office follies can go eat virtual gelato somewhere and let the moving fairies sort everything out. There aren't any? Why do I just now learn this? :>)

NUD

kathy a. said...

there definitely should be moving fairies. bearing gelato.

kathy a. said...

bearing gelato *and* posties to stick on the departmental personnel issues. and GLITTER! if we are going to order up fairies, we may as well make it good.

Sarah at ratatat said...

I like these fairies. Gelato sounds marvelous.

Hugs for Elizabeth to survive the post-vacation work week, good luck to Esperanza to find some peace and privacy at the g'parents. Maybe Madeleine should challenge her daughter to a packing contest - impressive that she got so much into 1 bag. And Sue - I hate new gadgets. Many sympathies! May this year's consulting review (that does sound horrible) go better, NUD. And Kathy A - double yay on helpful experts.

I am ending my whining week with 2 anti-whines: I am technically on Thursday morning because I just saw the new Harry Potter. I really liked this book...the movie is good, but missing so much good stuff. But it was still an evening out and great fun.

And the therapist's visit this afternoon went fine. I guess I am glad she didn't say that it was all my fault, there was no problem or the problem was unfixable. Potential weirdness O Wise Pixies - the doctor has children who attend my daughter's school. Not the same grade. Any dealbreaking red flags going up? I am taking a wait and see.

amy said...

My little Tater had his standard CBC at his nine month well child check up last week. He has low iron. We have to put him on supplements. His number is only barely low (unlike my daughter, whose number was so low, they considered transfusing her at our local Children's Hospital), so that's good, right? But the thought of doing iron supplements again gave me a panic attack. They caused and contributed to my daughter's eating problems, and they are nasty. We're going to try a different kind this time, but still - the thought has me feeling sick.

The best part of this whole thing would be my mother blaming me for it. She claims she is not, but I think she is. After this bit in an email, I have quit talking to her about it:
"your mother never had any kids with iron deficiencies because when the kid was ready to eat, she fed 'em. She didn't wait for any doctor to tell her when to start feeding stuff. He would have been eating meat in jars at 6 months if I had been his mom and he wouldn't have a deficiency now. - Not picking on you - just telling you that I think doctors go overboard..."

I think any time you have to say "not picking on you," you might stop to consider whether you are lying.

In other whines, Tater has started waking up at 3 a.m. to eat again. Growth spurt, anyone? My antiwhine to this is that I made an excellent choice last/this night and went to bed an hour early. It's only 3:30 right now, and I can already tell that extra hour is going to make a difference in the real morning. Yay sleep!

amy said...

P.S. It's not like I don't feed the boy. I do. I just don't give him everything off my and everyone else's plates, like cake, ice cream, peanut butter, cheeseburger, eggs, bacon, french fries, etc., because he's not reaching for it and he chokes on anything thicker than baby oatmeal. Maybe I'm not aggressive enough in introducing new foods - that is a reasonable criticism - but he does eat and he is happy.

JenR said...

amy ... maybe mix some blackstrap molasses in the oatmeal? Lots of iron, sweet & yummy - unlike the icky iron supplements.

Madeleine said...

amy, oh my god. A paragraph that includes both "If I was his mom he wouldn't have this problem" and "I am not picking on you" has so much cognitive dissonance I think my head has exploded.

Time for some Berlin Wall era boundaries. Good luck.

Sarah at ratatat said...

Amy - it sucks so much not to tell things to your mom. At least for me and my mom. Good luck with the iron...I wonder if I should be concerned that none of my kids have ever had their iron levels checked so we all assume they're OK. Too late now...

Sue said...

(((amy)))

I'm liking this Gelato Glitter Moving Fairie more all the time. She could make the cardboard boxes PRETTY! And serve us all Gelato while she does all the work. All we would need to decide is which flavour to try next. Ah, heaven....

kathy a. said...

oh, amy. that sucks in so very many ways. "if he were my son" takes the cake. babies are so individual in when they are ready for more challenging foods [and/or weaning, as recent discussions illustrate]. also, it doesn't sound like your doctor is seriously concerned about the borderline iron finding. you'll look back on this and laugh when tater is 14 and eating the entire refrigerator at a sitting.... [lots of iron in refrigerators, btw.]

nominate madeleine for the mullet of wisdom award, for "berlin wall era boundaries." well put!

kathy a. said...

sarah, glad the therapist appt. went well! wait and see sounds good on the doc having kids at the school.

jealous you've seen HP! i was going to go with my daughter tonight -- our little local theater opened again! -- but the 7 p.m. is already sold out, and i don't think i can do a 10 p.m. when i have an 8 a.m. thing tomorrow. sigh.

KLee said...

I'm here, late this week, of course. That seems like the only way I do things lately.

I have to revise an earlier whine -- that "60" I got on a project? I worked on it some more, and I just got my adjusted grade -- I got a 95! Woo-hoo! You can't see it, and that's probably a good thing, but I'm doing the happy dance!

I do have a very tiny whine about the double whammy of suffering a (small) migraine AND my period while on vacation. That is the height of suckitude right there.

kathy a. said...

woo hoo, klee! about the grade, not the migraine plus. happy dancing with you!!!

this isn't my whine, but i'll whine anyway because it is bumming my beloved out. his best friend was fired monday, told to get his stuff out the same day -- downsizing, but not in a friendly way. best friend's parents both died in the last few months, and he is dealing with estates. his wife left a year ago, and things have been horrible, but he hasn't gotten a lawyer yet because he still wants to get back together. they have 2 teens and a pre-teen, and things are not smooth for them. such a sad mess.

Liz Miller said...

Keep whining, folks! I'm home with a feverish Muffin Man who wants to be glued to me, so awards will come after bedtime tonight.

kathy a. said...

aw, liz. hope MM is feeling better.

amy said...

Is my daughter the only one who can have a potty accident *while* watching Bear in the Big Blue House's Potty Time DVD?

Thanks for the support, pixies. Overall, my mom is pretty good about letting me be mom to my kids, but every so often her filter fails and she says something stupid. (Always about food or modern "rules" about when you do stuff with babies, like, say, waiting to give them peanut butter.)

JenR - I like the molasses idea. I've already started him on some iron-rich solids, which - and I think this actually matters - I hadn't been feeding him yet. Tater had been getting virtually no iron-rich solids yet. So, I ordered the stupid supplements* today, and we'll hope that after a month, some supplements and a lot of iron-rich foods will get him where he needs to be and we can quit the supplement nonsense. [sigh.]

*supplements to increase his iron, not stupidity.

Madeleine said...

New category for Cluestick Posse visits: People who took their Stupid Supplements.

Minor whine: Had my first boob squishage photo op today, aka mammogram. It wasn't bad, very nice clinic with lovely surroundings and kind staff. Had to explain to SG afterwards what it was and that I don't have cancer. (Probably.)

kathy a. said...

People who took their Stupid Supplements! wooooo!!!! That is the most brilliant category evah, Madeleine!

Also, glad teh squishage is over.

Sue said...

Liz - I hope MM is feeling better McSoon.

Could someone please pass the Stupid Supplements my way? I was awakened far too early by a playful kitteh and now must come up with the last sermon I need to write before holiday time (only because next Sunday is a non-sermon Sunday for me - holidays don't actually start until August 1st).

Pixies - the last sermon before holiday time is notoriously hideous. Not just for me - but for a whole lot of clergy I've spoken with before on the subject. In fact, in my third year of ministry, I offered what I now call the "Finding Nemo" sermon because THAT WAS ALL I HAD. When Nemo rescues your sermon, that's when you know you're running on fumes.

Just sayin...

So I'm hoping that a dose of Stupid Supplement will save the poor folks of our two churches the agony of another dismal Nemo sermon.

KLee said...

I spoke too soon on whining that my migraine was a small one. Hoo boy -- it later turned into a major one. Not cool at all. I had to force my family to leave dinner early and clawed the hell out of my own arm in order to keep from vomiting. And the clawing didn't help in the end, because I ended up vomiting all over the bathroom any damn way. Can I just mention how priceless the memories formed when cleaning your own vomit off of the side of the tub whilst your brain threatens to pound out of your eye sockets are? Truly something for the scrapbook if you could only get it on film.

amy said...

Actually, KLee, I think Creative Memories has a template sticker set for that event. You should talk to a rep. ;)

Hope you feel better soon!

kathy a. said...

oh, klee -- that is really really awful. i hope the headache is better today.

amy for the Creative Memories prize.

sue, how 'bout some happy listeners sermon freshener?

Sue said...

((((KLee))) Been there honey - indescribably awful. Feel better soon, 'kay?