This is vacation?

Ok. I'm supposed to be on vacation. Why in the world am I worrying about work and feeling like there are 7 million things for me to do.
Oh, wait... there are....
But I can't do any of them.
The (fill in the blank as you wish) person at the training center in Phoenix never did get me that quote, even though when I finally talked to him on Thursday, he said he'd get right on it. (6 months after we first asked....) He said I had the room reserved, so I plan on holding him to it. No quote, no payment though. I need to get out email confirmations and info to everyone. But I left all that info at work.
I want to scream.
This is why I needed Deb and Andrea in the KC office helping me.
Corporate felt otherwise and eliminated their positions. So therefore, not just myself, but anyone doing a seminar is up a creek without a paddle, or a prayer.
I've been out of the office almost every day the last 4 or 5 weeks.
I don't have the time or, in reality, the resources, to do this. (Ok, so I also get overwhelmed easily by projects like this and can't seem to figure out where to start....) I don't have some of the needed skills for this. I also don't have the attention span. I mean, I'm never in the office long enough to pay enough attention to the project to even get it started, let alone set up!

I'm supposed to be on vacation and relaxing.
I'm not supposed to be working at all.
I did get some fun in. I spent more time online with friends, but I'm probably not going to log in much tomorrow. I need a break from it. I need to just do something non computer. But, with everything not going on at work, I'll probably end up at least checking the email if not trying to get ahold of my boss again. Oh, wait, no I won't... he's on vacation the rest of the week and out of town. Never mind. Guess I'll just have lots of unhappy people, including myself.

Ok. enough rantage and raving. I did come across something extremely funny (from my point of view) last night.
Meera, my level 35 ranger, was exploring the new Gnomish homelands, Steamfont. The gnomes are tinkerers. But, the also have the department of Gnomeland Security.
Wait, it gets better.
I find one of the guys and he sends me on a quest. This is the first quest he sent me on. Apparently the local bad guys were capturing local animals and training them to hurt people. I was asked to remove said animals (who were innocent bystanders) because by taking them out would hurt the bad guys.
Yes, you can read as much political commentary into this quest as you like. The actual wording was much funnier, but I can't remember it. I think I giggled about SOE and their sideways comments for a good 5 minutes.
The next quest involved taking out a bunch of the baddies and 'capturing' some of the brew from the two different camps. Yes, read what you will into this, I know I did.

Well, I'm just rambling now and still a bit grumpy about work (and a new in-game thing that is really pointless and could have been so much better). And the sooner I stop writing about it, the sooner I can focus on something happy... like my bed and sleep.
Peace to all and when you take a vacation or come home from work, please, leave work at work. It's so much better for both you and your family!! (Yes, it's hard, but please try......)

VACATION!!!!!

I've been on vacation since Friday afternoon. It hasn't really felt like vacation until now, when I'm about to head to bed and I realize that, despite the fact that I'll be awake by 7am, I don't have to be... For an entire week!

Yesterday was a normal Saturday, if one could call any day normal. I did my normal daytime things, except laundry. I talked with mom several times in brief snippet conversations. I picked Gak up from work and made dinner. Yep, normal.

Then we went online. We grouped up with four of our friends and took our 'big kids' out for a spin. This meant I got to play as Addey, which I love. After a bit of chaos in the beginning, it turns into a good and fun evening.

Note to self, don't go into Mistmore Manor alone, or even with a group of six. The vampires who live there really don't like visitors. I suggest taking a whole slew of people, probably 12 or more. Yes, definitely a lot of people with really good equipment and skills. We gave it our best though. Poor Kas, he really did want to tank it the silly Templar healer.

After our Mistmore misadventures we end up in the town in Loping Plains and just pick up about a half dozen quests. We then proceed to mow our way through them. We also end up getting me a really kick-butt pair of gloves. They're part of a set and I can't wait to get more pieces! We stayed on later than usual and you could tell. We were using Vent, which always adds more fun, and we were getting downright punchy. At least Charitee and I were. Kas was a blast to have around as usual. Too bad Syn had to log early to do his second job as potato peeler (for his wife).

Today was a lazy day. I didn't even bother to really get dressed, jammies are so much more comfie. We spent a lot of time online with friends. This morning, (or was it noon-time by then?) we did a pair of instanced zones. Treats came away with a great pair of bracers that were part of a set. Again, lots of fun was had by all.

My plans for the week? Not many. Mom's going down to MD to take Gram to the Dr. on Tuesday. I thought about going with her, but we decided that it probably wasn't the best idea. I'm going to go down at some point, but not this week. I'll make time in the next few weeks. I think we might be going to her place for Christmas day anyhow. I really want to make it down before then though. The only thing I really know that I'm doing is laundry tomorrow morning.

Ok, well, I'm tired. Peace to all and spend some time with friends and family. It's so much better then being alone.

Welcome to Faydwer!

Welcome to Butcherblock Mountains. This is the view I had as I took the boat from Thundering Steppes to the new lands.
It is so beautiful over there.
I didn't get a whole lot of time to explore, since it took about 5 hours for the thing to update. It's very pretty and they've made some substantial changes.
This morning I'm going to try and create my Fae, while most people are asleep.

In other news, the training continues to go well, only one more day this week. Lots of last minute chaos for my December trip to Phoenix, but hopefully I'll be able to reign some of that in today in the office.
Well, peace to all and find something to explore!

Weekend Fun

This was a very good weekend. A much needed break after last week.

Michelle came up Friday afternoon.

Friday night we went out for dinner and Gak did something evil.

He showed Michelle the new Fae that are being added to EQII. Michelle does not play computer games, unless you count solitaire. Michelle does not play well with computers in general. Needless to say this created much amusement for all involved. I just wish I'd been on the beta server myself. As is, I created a newbie on my normal server and putzed around.

She chose a Conj, because of the classes she liked, they had the outfit she liked best. (I heard that shudder from all you game type people who stop by here!) I couldn't see what she was doing because Gak's and my computer face away from each other, but I could hear. It was interesting and fun.

Saturday we tried to go jeans shopping for me. This is a x4 Epic quest most days. This weekend I think it was an x6 Epic quest. We managed to find a lot of things to laugh at. (And why, why, must designers etc. think that stretch means we can make it too small but it'll be ok???) We also managed to find me a pair of khakis to replace my 8-year-old pair that look it.

We then went to JoAnn's. More as a consolation than a reward like we hoped. She talked me into buying fabric and tools to make a quilt like she makes for the babies in her family and her friends' babies. Mind you, it didn't take much talking, more of "wouldn't this fabric make a cute quilt?" kind of persuasion.

Well, Saturday night we cut out the squares and sewed them together. Meanwhile, I did something evil. I (well, Gak too...) got Michelle hooked on Full Metal Panic!. It is one of my favorite anime series. Just enough chaos, some mech fighting and a tremendous story line. Sunday we continued the Panic marathon and finished the quilt. This meant a ton of snipping and cutting. The beauty of this quilt is that it doesn't need batting and you want the edges to frey.

I washed it today when I did laundry while I was "working" from home. (I actually did get stuff done, but it was sporadic and around chores.) The picture above is it. Sam has claimed it I think. We'll see. It's nominally my niece's for when she's over for a visit. It's red and lady bugs on one side and red and funny bugs on leaves on the other. I love it. It was fun and easy and a great weekend project.

Tomorrow and Friday I teach, and will be in the office the other days. Next week I'm on vacation!!!!! (And my brother is coming home for Turkey day, which is also my b-day.)

Peace to all and find something to do that you enjoy. It makes life so much more fun.

p.s. The viewing/funeral for Pat was on Sunday. I didn't go because Mom didn't call me until Sunday morning. I told her to give everyone hugs for me. I'm both glad and sad I didn't go.

Loong Week

This has been one emotionally draining week.

Training and being excited and interactive with a bunch of strangers is hard enough on me some weeks. (It worked OK Tuesday and Wednesday because I knew Larry already...) I only taught 3 days this week, but that really does take a lot of energy out of you.

Gram had surgery and the news, while not horrible, wasn't really all that great. Her temperature has stabilized and should be going home tomorrow. (She'd rather stay in the hospital really, better care in some ways.) The anesthesia has messed up her memory a bit, but not permanently. She's not quite up to par enough to stay in her own apartment, so she'll be in the assisted part. Missing her own TV and her own recliner. It'll be OK though, because it'll mean she's on the mend.

Worrying wears you out, and I've done plenty of that this week. Mom's exhausted too.

I got a call today at lunch from my mom. She was expecting to get my voicemail. Remember how I said we went to a 'family' get together last month in Maryland. Well, Pat, the mom of Dave, Jim, Linda and Robin, passed away last night. She was younger than my Gram. But she was in much worse shape. She'd had several mini-strokes starting over 10 years ago now. She wasn't looking all that good last month at the gathering, but it was good to see her. She'd been in the hospital (I didn't know) and they thought she had gaul stones or the like. Well, last night she went into surgery. When they opened her up, the closed her right back up. She was full of gangrene. She passed within the hour.

I'm thinking it was for the best. She'd been in poor health for quite some time. She'd been in a lot of pain. Now she's not. The sad part is, we'll probably loose her husband, Strad, soon too. He's in poor physical health, but he's still mostly there mentally. I'm not sure this blow to his spirit won't be fatal. They'd be together again at any rate.

OK, enough on this. My brain is going to melt.

This weekend should be good though. Michelle is coming up. I'm done with teaching for the week. It's also gorgeous outside (we have the windows open).

Somehow the picture of Jorge staring out the window seemed appropriate today. (I have others that would work, but they're not on this computer yet...)

Peace to all, and like I've said all week, hug those you love and call the ones you don't see everyday.

Quick Update

Ok, I told you that my Gram had surgery earlier in the week. Well, she's still in the hospital and probably will be for another day or two. The surgery went well, but took more out of her then she thought it would. (She is almost 84 after all...) That and she's got slight pneumonia due to the fact that she almost always has some congestion and it hurts to cough right now.

What she had surgery for was to remove this odd lump on one of her kidneys that had doctors confused. They got about 90% of it and did more tests on it, since the original biopsy was 'inconclusive'.

Well, it turns out it's malignant and it's bladder cancer. On her kidney. I'm not sure exactly how that happened, but she'd had a few spots of bladder cancer years ago that were taken care of. I guess one of the cells got loose or something or backed up into the kidney and took root.

Anyhow, what this means is that she's got to go see an oncologist for a second opinion (she's been referred to one that everyone where she lives seems to really like and trust...) and she'll possibly have to have more surgery to remove the whole kidney at some point.

My mom is driving home this morning from MD because she's got a ton of work backpiled at her and dad's shop. She's hoping to head down again some time next week.

All I know is that I really wish I could at least stop by the hospital and give her a hug. I love her so much and times like this make me miss her even more.

I know it'll all work out ok, she is pretty healthy over all and a very strong person, but it's this in-between time that's got me worried and anxious. I'm going to take one of my vacation days the week of Thanksgiving and drive down to see her... maybe my brother will come along....

The picture is from when she said grace at our wedding last year.

Peace to all and, please, hug those you love and call those who are too far away to hug in person.

Rain, Rain....

Not much today. It's a rainy Tuesday... er... make that Wednesday.

Yes, I have absolutely no sense of time.

I used to, but I think I left it on a plane somewhere.

Oops.

Anyhow, managed to vote yesterday. My county switched to an electronic voting machine. Pretty nice, since it lights up the choice you made so you can't make a mistake (unless you happen to be red/green color blind and can't see a red light on a white background. hmmm....). And they have paper trails too.

Not sure how I feel about the elections. I'm glad we get to keep Ed as governor. He did a great job with Philly (one of the most corrupt local governments there is) and came out clean and has real, achievable goals for the state. I'm still not sure I made the right choice for Senate, but I just couldn't bring myself to vote for the other guy. *Sigh* They're still trying to figure out who won the House election in my distract, there is about 1500 votes difference between the two. I'm pretty sure I made the right choice here.

Oh well, enough wondering. I just hope something gets moving with the politicians. Shake things up. It seems like everything has been stagnant for years.

Enough politics. I don't really like them and only pay enough attention to figure out if the person who's there is the one we should keep.

Training goes well this week. I wrapped up early for the three-day session. We pushed through and got everything covered in two. This is due to several reasons, including the fact that I only had 5 people and the knowledge level was already somewhat high. Also, they let me know upfront what was and was not important to their job so that's what we hit the hardest. The rest was just icing really. This means I'm going to work from home and run errands tomorrow. Should be good.

Ok, I'm just rambling to let everyone know that I am paying attention to the world and I haven't disappeared. Good news is that my friend Michelle in MD is coming up for the weekend. Even better news is that my Gram is recovering nicely from surgery. They still have no idea what the lump they removed from her kidney was, but there was a stone in the middle. They're running still more tests on the removed tissue and Gram will go home in the next day or so (if she hasn't already, I haven't heard from Mom today...).

Well, peace to all and enjoy a nice cup of soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. They make cold grey days sooo much nicer. Especially if shared with someone you love.

Caps to the Capitol

Just a quickie this morning. As some of you know, I sometimes crochet blankets for Project Linus http://www.projectlinus.org/index.shtml. I enjoy it because it is for kids in need and also because it's a national organization but the blankets stay local.

Well, I'm on a new charity project for the moment. My friend at work who also crochets told me about a project called Caps to the Capitol and sent me the link in today's headline. I did some investigation and Save the Children is a long-time, well managed group that helps kids both here at home as well as around the world. Knowing that, I've thrown myself into the project. They are asking knitters and crocheters across the country to make little caps and send them in. They will be compiled along with letters and delivered to the President in January. Their goal is to ask him to do more for the babies of the world. It amazed me the number of little ones that don't live just because they spend too much precious energy keeping warm to live.

Anyhow, check out the link to check out the info or if you feel the need to contribute. The caps pictured here I made in less than 2 hours between Thursday and Friday. I plan on making a handful more before shipping them out. (It's also a great, heart happy way to use up some odds and ends.)

Well, that's enough from me. As you know, I don't 'soap box' often, but occasionally feel the need. Peace to all and hug a child, they're all precious, no matter where they're born.

Yarn and Hockey?

Yesterday was an interesting day.

I finally made it down to Skippack to the yarn store I found online a few weeks ago. Actually, make that over a month ago now. (Man, time really flies when you're on the road!)

I spent a good chunk of time just touching and feeling all these wonderful yarns. I mean, what you can get at the big-box craft/sewing places is nice, but well... boring. Or maybe ordinary is a better word. At any rate, a real yarn store has so much more than 50-million choices of almost the same color in almost the same material. I ended up only buying 3 skeins. The deep turquoise is for a project for someone special (who reads this site on a regular basis). I'm not sure exactly what I'm making, but it's a wool/silk blend and is light as a feather. The variegated is from South West Trading Company. It's a fiber they call soy silk. It's recycled soy fibers that are left over from the process to make tofu. Yep, this is the non-edible part of tofu. (Yes, I know some of you out there doubt that the part they sell in grocery stores is edible either....) I have no idea what I'm doing with it but it's very pretty and very soft. I want to make something for me, but I need to find just the right pattern.

After I went to the yarn store I visited with my friend Barb at a craft fair. She was doing her tastefully simple thing. This meant I spent more money. Oh well. She's also doing fundraising for Muscular Dystrophy. Her oldest son, Bren, is living with this, so it's something near and dear to my heart. Remember that bear I made, it was for her younger son's first birthday. We had a nice visit but then I realized I still needed to run to the store before picking up Gak from work. Eeep!

Last night was fun. I'd gotten a call from Kat Friday to tell me that she might have hockey tickets for last night's game. In a box. Cool. She messaged me and said she'd pick me up around 6. Yeah.

We were running late, which is ever the case with us. We missed the first period of the game, but that's OK because the Flyers botched it pretty badly. The third period went well, but not well enough to pull off a win. We had a good time (and I left my brother a message letting him know that I wasn't watching the game on TV but from a box) and better yet, a good time to just hang out and talk. We both agree we don't get to do that enough. We used to have Thursday evenings together. We did this for a couple of years after Zoe was born. Now, with my travel job, we're lucky if we get a few hours every few months. It really sucks. Hopefully we'll be able to change that soon.

Well, I'm off to do other things. One last note though, Monday (tomorrow) my Gram goes into surgery. It's nothing really major, but it's a big enough deal that we worry. Mom is down there to shuttle her around and be support. I wish I could be.

Peace to all. Call your grandparents and your parents, they love you and need to hear from you too.

Not MIA... just nothing exciting...

Since Monday, nothing really exciting has happened.
I'm enjoying not having to travel and actually be able to be home and spend time with my honey Gak.
Wednesday was a raid night, if you want to call it that.
It was probably the worst raid we've had in ages. We had a ton of fighter types and almost nothing else. We were going after the twin dragons. You have to keep them within 5% of each other.
Our Vent server is down.
We don't have TS any more.
No voice communication.
Needless to say it was a disaster. No communication and no damage control. I think we wiped in under 2 minutes. Mind you, that was after standing around with our thumbs up our butt for about an hour 'waiting'. Waiting for what, I'm not too sure.
So, I guess that was something interesting, if only because it was frustrating.
Oh well, I'm off to work now.
Peace to all and my your frustrations be few.