What a Week... and It's Only Wednesday!

First off, Gram had her doctor's appointment yesterday. No, I have no information, or I'd share it. I'm going to be optimistic and say no news is good news.
Ok. Now that that's out of the way....
This has been a long week and it's only Wednesday.
I really, truly think Gak has gotten the raw end of the stick with this move of stores. His old manager was just a disorganized kid. This guy seems to be an idiot jerk. Yes, Gak has 40 hours this week, over 6 days, and 4 of those days he is closing.... oh, wait, make that 3, his Friday schedule got changed. This means, that even though I'm home this week, I won't see him for more than an hour until Friday evening. There are also several other little things, and not so little things, that are driving Gak batty. It's bad enough that they leave $300 in EACH register. (Last I checked, $150 could give you a good assortment of change...) They also leave those registers UNLOCKED overnight! So, there's $600.00 almost unsecured on the floor and only $200.00 in the safe.
Say what?!?!
Yes, you heard me.
Heaven forbid something happen when Gak closes one night. I'm afraid of what would happen.
There are also some little things, housekeeping of stock and the like that aren't what they should be. I hope like crazy this is something temporary and that Gak can either manage to fix/get fixed the problems (real and potential) or he goes to another store that's better run.
These late nights and long days have been making him cranky. (He did a favor and worked a few hours for his old boss and opened that store on Monday, and then didn't get done until 9:30 at his new job.)

My week's been a ton of fun too. And that's only a semi-sarcastic statement.
I've had several of the sales team in this week. Most of them are quite entertaining people. I like a good number of them, some are OK and there are a few I wish I could drop kick.
My part of the training went well. Mostly. They all seemed to enjoy my presentation and were interested in most of what I had to say. Where the trouble is, is with their organization and bosses. It was hard to keep them on track at times, but it was enjoyable none the less.
There was a dinner last night, which was entertaining. I was really happy because it was right near my house. The only problem being that Gak was working late so not only couldn't he join us, but I had to go pick him up. Actually, this was a convenient excuse for me to leave. I did enjoy myself, but It was getting late, I wanted to go home and I was tired.
We wrapped that up today, so I actually get tomorrow and Friday to do my other work. I've got a few frustrating things to deal with there. Joy. Oh well, the week is halfway over now. Yay!

I will update about Gram whenever I know something. I'll probably call mom tomorrow if she doesn't call me this evening.

Peace to all and may your weeks be better than ours.

Wii

This has been a good weekend. Yesterday there was a "fall festival" here in town. There were a few community things and some bands playing. I could hear a bit of it from our apartment. The coolest part, however, was the classic cars. Most of them were pretty cool, but not overly outstanding. There was one real antique with a kick butt paint job.

Gak had to work yesterday. He called me on his way home to see if I was showered and dressed. I was. He said he wanted to take me out to dinner. We went to Texas Road House down near the mall. Of course, this means we stop at Best Buy and look around. Gak picked up the Superman Doomsday DVD. We watched it. It was pretty good. I really enjoyed the "behind the scenes" of the whole creation of the comic arc. It had lots of neat info.
We then stopped in the Game Stop right beside the Best Buy. They had just gotten a used Wii in. Gak had set aside enough from this pay check to get one. So we did. We got the used Wii (it still had it's box and all the paperwork and everything!) and picked up Paper Mario as well. We also picked up a second controller and today Gak picked up a used copy of Wii sports. Man is it fun!
Today Ed, Buffie, Katie and Nik came over for dinner. It was good. Katie's birthday is tomorrow, so I made cupcakes and a lasagna casserole. After dinner we played on the Wii a bit. Katie really needs to learn patience. Hopefully it will come in time, but Ed is her dad... Actually, he has a lot of patience, when he needs to. It was an enjoyable evening. Hopefully in the next week or two we'll get together again to play Killer Bunnies. Buffie wants to play this time, which is really cool. I really do enjoy being able to have my friends over and relax. And man, Nik is getting HUGE! I mean, he is almost a year old now, but geeze.
I'm not looking forward to this week 100%, but that's because I've got the sales team coming in for training. At least I am not responsible for all of it. Also, Gak's got to work most evenings this week, so I'm on my own pretty much all week for dinners. Nothing new there, except for the fact that I'm at home. I'm not sure I mentioned it earlier this week, but a few days ago, he was informed he was changing stores. Luckily this one is still close to the house, but far enough away, that walking is out of the question. I guess we'll have to break down and get a second car soon.
Well, peace to all and I hope you all have had good weekends.

Update

Well... it looks like after almost a week of nothing from me, you get updates three days in a row!
Training went well as did my drive back to Bakersfield. My flight leaves in the morning and I'm glad.
Just wanted to post a few quick updates. Gak's dad had shoulder surgery today. After finally tracking down his brother, all is well. (The scary part is, we're getting more and better info from Brian than from Gak's mom these days... We had to get the info of what was being operated on and when from him, his mom was just being tragic and didn't tell us diddly...)
I told you last night that Gram had her PET scan yesterday. Well, today she had an appointment with her regular doctor. According to what she told my mom and mom told me, it wasn't good. I have no idea what that means. I know that they moved her oncologist appointment up to Tuesday instead of the 15th or whenever it was going to be. I know that the doctor made some mention to Gram about thinking about moving out of her apartment. I have no idea what's going on. All I know is I'm on an emotional roller coaster with this one. I've been either extremely optimistic or fatally in denial for the past year since all her problems started shortly before Thanksgiving. I still don't want to face the possibility of loosing her. Not now, not ever. She's my only grandparent and the thought of loosing her is about as painful as the thought of loosing Mom, Dad, Jon or Gak. Loosing Kat would only be a hair less painful. Maybe it would be different if her mind was going, but she's as sharp as ever... just in a boatload of pain. It really hurts to see her being betrayed by her body so badly. It almost would seem like a blessing to have her mind and body fail at the same time... but probably not. I'd have to ask Michelle... her last grandparent is slowly disappearing due to Alzheimer's. That really can't be a whole lot better...
Ok. All I'm doing is wallowing in self pity and that won't help anyone. It sure as hell can't do anything for Gram and all it will do is make me toss and turn all night and be really cranky tomorrow. She's lived a good long life and when it's done, it'll be done. I'll just have a huge void that'll have to be filled somehow. Like I said, she's my only grandparent. Ever. Well, almost. Dad's parents died before I could remember them. Gram's father died when I was about 9, but I barely remember him and her mom died when I was 12 or 13, but we were never close.

I hope everyone can have a good weekend. Gak works tomorrow but has off Sunday. He got moved stores. Apparently some chick at the store he's moving too had issues working with some of the people there so a lot of people got royally shuffled around. Oh, other news on the job front; Kat starts her new job Monday, literally about a mile (less as the crow flies) from my work. It's been a long time coming, but I really hope this one pans out as well as it is sounding.
Peace to all and don't take your family for granted. We're only granted their presence for a limited time.

Continuing California

Today was a pretty good day. I had another 6 people, and the training went well and smoothly. Well, except for the places where for some reason our system decided to bomb out. I've only seen some of the errors they're getting at one other plant, and that was yesterday's!
Since it was only operator training again, this meant I had most of the afternoon free. I really wish I'd had my dad with me today. I spent the afternoon driving around, enjoying the scenery, listening to Jazz on the satellite radio and stopping at a winery. I think Dad would have enjoyed it very much. I always think about Dad when I'm out for a drive, especially if I have Jazz on the radio. Jazz is traveling music to me. It's what Dad always put on while we were in the car. That or it is a Saturday afternoon and he's in the basement reading. (The funny thing is, the image that I have in my head is from the house in Kansas, not PA... we haven't lived there in over 20 years and have spent way more time in the PA house....) I enjoy it very much and it's very comforting music, even the more pointed sounding stuff. It reminds me of family road trips and comfortable weekends. Mom would have enjoyed the trip, but I really wish Dad had been there. I like going on drives with him.
The one winery I made it to was pretty nice. I can't remember the name off the top of my head. I didn't buy any wine though. While it was all very nice, none of it seemed better than, or even very different from, any of the others there. There was one nicely 'chewy' red and a nice crisp white, but nothing that really stood out and said 'take me home'. (That and I looked at the prices... oops.)
No, I don't have any pictures. Where I'd stopped the area wasn't the best photographically and the light wasn't very good either. It was still too early in the afternoon to get any good shadow definition or slanted lighting. Although, the lighting this morning on my way up to the site was great. Of course, you can't drive down the freeway and take pictures at the same time. It's dangerous to everyone involved. I also didn't stop anywhere else, even though I drove for about another hour or so. I was going to stop at a park, but just couldn't bring myself to pay the parking for 20 minutes. And the light still wasn't right. Yes, I'm a light snob. But I take photographs, not snapshots. (Even if I do use a point-and-shoot digital.)
Just thought I'd let you know what a nice afternoon I had.
Oh, yeah, I also talked to my Gram tonight. Last night I said she had a PET scan scheduled for next week. I was mistaken, it was today. She said the test went very smoothly. We should have some much more definitive answers in a week or so when we get the test results back. My friend in the office who has successfully fought off lung cancer told me that she should get a PET scan and that would more definitively tell us if it's cancer or something else. When I told Gram this tonight, she was very happy to hear it. She's been in tons of pain recently. Also, the not knowing and the waiting is horrible. I mean, once you know what a problem is, you can fix it or learn how to manage it to make it not so bad. Not knowing means you're loaded up on pain pills and anxiety. Not a good thing at all.
I'll let you know what and when I know.

Peace to all and may you find a pleasant way to spend a pretty afternoon.

California Catchup

This is a pre-recorded message… soon we will return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

(I’m writing this Tuesday morning when I don’t have an Internet connection…)

First let me apologize to my handful of regular readers for the lack of posting. For most of the past week or so I’ve come down with a big case of “IDontCare”. Last week really was a very uneventful week. I spent a large chunk of it putting together the materials for next week. It was a bit painful. Partially because I needed info from other people and then when I got it, it wasn’t really what I needed. The other reason it was painful was because I had a hard time convincing myself it wasn’t just busy work. I don’t do things like that very well. Ask any of my professors how many of the ‘research’ reports I ever turned in. Ask any of my high school teachers what percentage of homework I actually turned in. If it doesn’t seem useful, I have a very hard time getting myself to do it.
I still have a handful of things on my list of tasks from September that just haven’t been finished. I’ll get there, I hope.

This week I’m here in California. This is going to be a bit a painful trip. I have no idea about the students, but hopefully that’ll be ok. I’m looking at this purely from a travel perspective. I had about a 16 to 18 hour travel day yesterday. It was a three-plane trip day and then about another 2 hour drive on top of that. Getting to California can be painful enough, but getting to the middle of the state is really painful.
Where I stayed last night is nothing more than a glorified truck stop it seems. It also stinks of cow manure. (Not inside, but as soon as you set foot outside… UGH!) After I train today, I’ve got about a 1.5 or 2-hour drive to my next stop. Luckily, where I’m staying is a bit larger and supposedly nicer. The biggest drawback is that it’s about a half hour from where I’m training Wednesday and Thursday. Thursday evening I drive back to Bakersfield, which at this point is about two hours away because I fly out early Friday morning. It shouldn’t be quite such a long travel day Friday, but the layovers are a little shorter than I like. We’ll see.

Ok. I’ll hopefully have an Internet connection tonight. I should, I’ll be at a Hampton Inn. I’ll upload this and maybe add some more about today.

I hope everyone’s had a good week.

*************************************

OK Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Today was actually a good day. It was a short training day, since it was only operator training. I had a fun group of people, which always makes the day much better.
The drive out to where I am now was about as long as yesterday's drive, but not quite so boring and long feeling for some reason. It was really bright and everything was still that monochromatic desert brown broken up by random splotches of green groves.
I'm staying in a wine country region. Of course, that's a little hard not to do in California. As I'm typing this in the lobby of my hotel (the wireless signal wasn't strong enough in my room) I'm enjoying a complimentary glass of local wine. Don't ask me what it is. It's a fruity, sweet white and I'm enjoying it. This is a very nice way to relax for the evening. Too bad I have to check the work email after I post this.
I think this will be a good week overall, even with all the driving. That is, if the people at the other two plants are as cool as these guys were. We had fun and a handful of laughs. The site is a little messed up and I talked to the engineer about it. Most of it will have to be turned over to the software people. They are getting some of the strangest errors I've ever seen, and I've seen a lot in the last 7 years.

Let me sum up the health news for the family: We're not sure if Gram has bone cancer, Paget's disease or both. We know she has Paget's, but there are some other things going on that might be bone cancer. We hope to find out more when she has a PET scan next week. Mom is in PT for her arm. It turns out that is probably isn't the tendons in her arm, but in the wrist. Zoe is out of her cast, but Ed is in one. (He broke his arm playing football with some guys from work... silly boy!) Dad's still grumpy, cranky and worries too much about Mom, Gram and me. Jon seems to be enjoying Becca's company and Abi is trying to figure out a new relationship. Chelsea and Michael seem to be doing well too. I think that about covers all the news...

Peace to all and may you have fun days, relaxing evenings and lots of time with friends, family and loved ones in general.

Wonderful Day

SugarPeople
Originally uploaded by Addey Rat.
Yesterday was a very wonderful day spent with family.

Before I get too far into the story, I must post a belated Happy Birthday to Gak. We didn't get much time together yesterday, but we made the best of what we did get.

Yesterday was the day of my cousin's son's Bris. No one knew the boy's name, as they were saving it for the naming ceremony. After I dropped Gak off at work, I went down to my parents' house. Mom was making cookies to take and I was just in time to help.
We headed down to Baltimore around 11:30, dad and I both thinking it would take a lot longer than it really did. It was nice in a way, because when we got there the only people there were immediate family. Jenny comes from a HUGE family. Our family isn't.
The ceremony was very nice. It is wonderful to be able to celebrate a new life. According to Rachel, who is a nurse, this ceremony takes less time and causes less stress to the little boy than when they do it at the hospital. Somehow, I don't doubt it. There were cheers and tears all around. We finally learned this little man's name. I don't remember his Hebrew name, although it's very similar to his English name. His name is Daniel Ryan. It turns out that they chose a very appropriate name for him. Ben shared a story, which I can't remember all of, about the name and how it turns out that it fit so well. He's a little cutie and I'm sure he'll be a wonderful handful for mom and dad.
Milo, their dog, seems pretty mellow about the whole deal. He's a good puppy. I loved the little security shirt they had him in.
I can't really begin to say how nice it was to see all the family there. I only knew a few people, most of the people there were either Jenny's family or neighbors. But, at least like uncle Richard said, we weren't outnumbered 10 to 1 this time. (I think it was more than 10 to 1 at the wedding... or at least it felt that way.) It was a beautiful day and a wonderful time. I didn't get home until after 10, but it was worth it.

Oh, I told you I'd post a picture of my new corset. Well, it's up on my Flickr, you may have to actually click on one of the pictures to get to my photo stream to see it, but it's there...

Peace to all and may you have many happy family events.

Faire Fun

Yesterday turned out to be a wonderful day.
I did end up wearing my garb. I thought I had a different bodice than the one I ended up wearing. About halfway there, I remembered. I had given it to my mother. Sure enough, when we show up, there she is, wearing my old bodice. It looks good on her.
There were a few things that could have made yesterday better. The PA Faire has gotten very expensive. It was almost $60 for just Gak and myself. When I first started going in the mid '90s, it was about $18 a head and I thought that was a little steep. It's just about doubled in 10 years. But, then again, so have gas prices. I wouldn't mind paying so much if the entertainment was more and better. This year the revel schedule was pretty full, but once you looked at it, you realized that it was mostly the same handful of acts again and again. I'm not really complaining because some of them are worth seeing more than once, but they really only had a few quality, nationally known acts. (One of which were the Tartan Terrors, always a favorite!) They've done quite a bit of structural improvements to the buildings and grounds, but they've been loosing their best acts over the last handful of years.
We did watch the Terrors, eat some good food and go shopping. Gak and I purchased a print of the Green Man from Sabrina the Ink Witch back in June when we went for Celtic Fling. She was hoping to have Green Woman done by Faire, but it didn't happen. So, this means we'll have to pick her up in June, or order it off her web site when she gets it finished. (She's drawn, but not inked yet.) It will be nice to have the pair hanging in the house. Our dining room seems to have a 'tree' motif going, which is nice.
I figured since I was wearing my bad, well... not good, bodice, that meant I was able to go shopping for one. Mind you, I bought the green Irish dress I've been wearing in 2000 or 2001 I think. It has served me well and will serve me well again when I loose some weight. I ended up paying way more than I was going to, but I figured it was partially a birthday gift for Gak. I ended up with a new corset. I'll have to download my pictures off the camera and see if there's a good one to post. Gak was already having a hard time keeping his hands to himself. I think this made it all but impossible for him! (Not that I'm complaining mind you...) It took my waist in a good few inches and my bust up and out several more. I was so amazed at how I looked in it that I really didn't mind paying what I did.
Gak got new clothes too. Or, well, he will have new clothes sometime this week. He actually tried on a kilt. Unfortunately, the ones that they had were all about 4" too short to sit at his waist right. He looked very good in it. The owner of the shop said he'd custom make one for him, at no additional charge! Yes, you read that right, for nothing extra and will ship it to us. The plaid we chose is navy/black-gray/cream. It will look stunning on him, especially with his wedding shirt and vest. I can't wait to see him in it. Unfortunately, my corset doesn't match him in any way. The one side is a bright-ish red and black and the other is black and silver. Oh well, we don't clash at any rate.
Even Michelle bought clothes. While Gak was trying on the kilt, she was petting the wraps they had. They're a synthetic fiber so she can wear them. She wasn't going to buy one. The first one she tried on was a beautiful light green. She looks good in green. She ended up buying it.
So, it was a day of a few big purchases, a few interesting conversations and acts. (I think the shop keepers were more entertaining this year than some of the acts...) Overall a good day.
That is until the drive home. Can I tell you how much I hate I-78? They've been working on bits and pieces of this road for at least a decade. On the way out we went down to one lane, with no problems and the traffic in the other direction wasn't bad either. Well... on the way home it was bad. At one point, about 6 miles from the actual merge for the construction, we sat for at least 15 minutes, probably more like 20 or 25. I think it took us 1.5 hours to go about 10 miles. It normally takes 1.5 to 2 to get home. So, instead of going to the dinner after getting back, we settled for Arby's drive through.
Like I said, it was an enjoyable day for the most part. We did have a few not-so-pleasant bits, but that's ok.

Today has been a total loss at work though. I woke up stuffy and by the time I got to work my face felt like it was dripping off due to snot and drippy eyes. Allergies. I took a Benedryl around 9:30 and only just now feel awake again. I can breathe and my face isn't dripping so I'm happy, but it shot any productivity I had out the window. Oh well.
Tomorrow I go down to Maryland with Mom and Dad for the Bris. I can't wait to see my newest cousin and finally learn his name. I can't wait to see Ben and Jenny... and the dog Milo. I'm sure they're very happy to have expanded their family, but are exhausted right about now. I really do enjoy my cousin. I feel bad that we never get together more. They're not that far away. Bah. Yet another thing I'm not good at.
Peace to all and I hope you had wonderful weekends as well.

Celebrations

This has been a good weekend so far. Well, other than Michelle's drive up here. It should take about 4 hours, it took her almost 6 thanks to the Beltway and an accident on 95.
Wednesday while we were finishing up over at Scott's, Kat pulled me aside and asked if we wanted to do something for Gak Saturday. His birthday is Tuesday, but because of Halo 3 and my cousin's son's Bris, neither one of us will be around. That and Michelle is up this weekend. So, in about 5 minutes we came up with a plan. Kat made real pulled pork barbecue, Zoe helped make the cake and I pulled together the rest. Scott's job was to get Gak out of the house.
Scott came and got Gak around 10 am. Apparently, and I don't know the full story, Scott had a bad day dealing with coworkers on Friday. Scott was supposed to bring Gak back around 5. Well, they show up at about 4 and nothing was ready. He quickly comes up with some excuse to get them back out of the house. By the time they got back, everyone was here and Gak was a bit surprised at who all was here, but had figured out something was up.
It was wonderful to have a house full of friends. Especially when Al dropped by. He actually had his daughter with him. It was funny, I just happened to be walking past the front door when I spot this cute little blond girl walking in. I realize this is Al's daughter. (Mind you, this was the first I'd ever seen her, other than a few pictures. She's 2.5 years old!) I stick my head out the door and grab Al and drag him in.
I'd forgotten that last night was Equinox. My friend Chelsea has a very beautiful ritual written up on her blog that they did. I like ours just as much. Traditionally this is the time of the ending of one year and the beginning of the next. The harvest before the long winter and rebirth in the spring. I think we celebrated it in an appropriate manner ourselves. Maybe not so formally, but with just as much love and joy, even if not everyone realized it.
Today we are going to the Faire. I'm still not 100% sure if I'm going to wear garb. My beautiful green dress doesn't fit. It was tight last year, but apparently this year it's beyond tight. There is no way in the world that I'd be able to even remotely clasp the clasps. I do have an older bodice that does fit. I'm not sure how much I like it. It does have a few not-so-good or at least not-so-happy memories tied to it. That and it feels like such defeat, like I'm such a looser for not being able to keep my weight the same, let alone loose any. I was comfortable with myself while the clothes still fit. I admit, I was at the upper end of the sizes I wanted to be. But having the dress just outright not fit hurts. I think that and the fact that a month ago I didn't think I'd be wearing garb to fair because it wouldn't be fitting for other reasons. I don't get hung up on that often, but it's the oddest times that it makes me cringe a little.
I am looking forward to the day. Mom will be with us as will Michelle. It is supposed to be a nice day. Faire is almost always fun. Although, over the past few years the acts at PA have been steadily declining. From having people I know work there, I squarely blame the management. The Faire has been running for many, many years now, so it's not a lack of name kind of thing. It's at a nice time of year, but does compete with the MD one which is only a few hours south. Ah well, whatever.
I guess I should probably think about waking the other two. It's just about 7:45 and we have about 2 hours to get breakfasted and dressed and out the door.
Peace to all and may you be surrounded by friends and family in this time of the waining of the year.

Blarg

Well, this week started off well on the work front. I actually got quite a few things accomplished, but have been steadily running out of steam since. Today was almost useless in many respects. I did get a few odds and ends cleaned up, but none of the major things I needed to tackle got touched. Although, I can't really get too far on one without the input from one of my programmers. I'm doing a special seminar of sorts for the sales guys and this programmer owes me information. I asked for it by tomorrow, but I get the feeling I'll be lucky if I see it by Wednesday. I have to complete it by the end of next week because I'll be gone the week after and then the sales guys will be here. I've got to be able to get it printed while I'm away. No fun.
Last night Gak and I went over to Scott's. He and the guys were playing Warhammer and Kat and I were talking Girl Scout stuff. It looks like Kat's got a lot of neat activities lined up and our girls will earn several Try-It's without even trying too hard. I'm not sure when the first meeting will be, but it should be in a week or two. I know, a bit of a late start to the year, but this is a new troop. Zoe's school has never had any scout troop of any description, so convincing the school to let us is a little more challenging than at some. I'm sure we'll have a blast though. Hopefully by the end of the year we'll attract a few more girls so we can do even more fun stuff. I'm so excited about this.
Tonight I had signed up to go on a raid with Despair. Gak's in this guild. I haven't moved into it yet, I don't want to abandon Wings. I mean, I've got Whispe there still as well as a few others, but I feel like I'd be abandoning Syn and Charitee by moving Addey over. Oh well. But since I'm not actually a member of Despair, I am an alternate for raids. Unfortunately they managed to have a full roster of healers from within the guild. So no merc money or XP or loot for me tonight.
It actually worked out for the best though. I fiddled around on the Internet for a bit and was just about to start playing Paper Mario when Abi called. It was great to talk with her. Her parents are going up to RI this weekend so she was cleaning up a bit and figured she'd see what I was up to. We had a great chat. She was away last weekend in Phoenix with a bunch of people from a game she plays. She really had a great time, which is good. We all need good vacations. We still have tons in common and similar outlooks on a lot of things. Amazing because we came at them from such opposite directions at times. I'm sure I'll be getting at least one email this weekend telling me she's about ready to shoot her parents. (They mean well.... mostly....)
My weekend is looking fun. Michelle is coming up tomorrow night and will be here all weekend. We'll be going to the Ren Faire Sunday. Mom is probably going to join us. (I have to call her and double check.) Gak actually has both days this weekend off. It's been ages since he's had two days in a row off from work. It'll be nice. I almost wish one of those days was just going to be the two of us, but it's OK, we will be with friends we both enjoy.
I found out when my cousin's son's Bris will be. It'll be on Tuesday. It also happens to be both Gak's birthday as well as Halo 3 release day. Gak has to work the midnight release party as well as open on Tuesday. I knew I wasn't going to see him on his birthday much. At least this time it wasn't my fault to begin with! (Stupid, useless sales call last year because the person who was supposed to go got hurt at the picnic that Friday.) I will be heading down to Baltimore for the event. I can't wait to meet the little guy and finally learn his name. I think it's both cruel and cool that Ben and Jenny are keeping his name secret until the Bris. I know for a fact it's driving the grandparents up a wall. Luckily the day is almost here.

Well, that's about it for my life the past few days. I honestly think the highlight was either last night's Girl Scout talks or tonight's call from Abi. What a life huh?
Peace to all and may there be some bright spots in your life.

Sunday Sauntering

Yes, I know it is Tuesday and the title implies Sunday.
I just didn't get around to writing yesterday and Sunday evening I was just too tired to write.
Saturday afternoon Kat calls and wants to know what, if anything, we were doing that night. She also calls to talk about the Girl Scout stuff she picked up and to ask me if I needed a 10-year or 15-year pin. I said that this year should be 15 years and that I still have my 10-year pin. (Can you believe it?! 15 years!)
We also get onto the topic of orienteering because we were talking about camping. The training weekend for DVOA was in Hickory Run this weekend. Yet again, I didn't make it to the training. I had to have turned in my registration by the first of September, and that date came and went without me even noticing. Oops. The Sunday meet was open to all, so Kat said she'd see if Scott wanted to go and the three of us could make a day of it. She also asked if Gak and I wanted to go see 3:10 to Yuma that night after Gak got done work.
Well, we did end up going to the movie. It was pretty good. Gak's not a huge Russel Crowe fan, so he didn't enjoy it as much. I thought they did it justice. I've never seen the original, so I can't compare. I really liked the way they shot it. They didn't use the steady-cam for every shot, but they didn't totally make it vomit inducing with the motion. The story is a good one and the characters believable and complex.
The only real problem is that we got home at about 1am and we were meeting Kat and Scott at the dinner for breakfast at about 8:30. Gak had to work but Scott, Kat and I were heading up to Hickory Run. Breakfast actually came off without a hitch.
We had a total blast at Hickory Run. We got up there just about 10:30 or so after breakfast. Now, keep in mind that Scott was in the Army for a while and is used to doing this the way the Army did. Kat's gone a few times, but hasn't really since our Girl Scout days and this is only the 3rd event I've made since March. To say there were some comic moments would be an understatement. It was comic getting to the start. It was comic getting to numbers one and two. The start was comic because we were in the camp ground and in anything remotely resembling civilization, I get lost. The first two were comic due to differences in approach.
We did the Orange course as a group of three, but each had our own maps. this was good because we knew Scott would just be a map hog and I wanted a copy for myself to take home anyhow. The course was about 3.5 Km as mapped with about 100m of climb. Not bad really. I've had Yellow's that long and steep. The course was well designed. I think it might have been slightly on the easier side of Orange, but some of the controlls were a bit tricky, or could have been if one in a different order. (Actually, the two we messed up were two of the easier ones, but again, they were across the campsite so we didn't do too well with that...)
The three of us didn't have a stellar time, but none of us were too unhappy with it either. We walked. We made some obvious mistakes. We had fun, which was probably the most important. We all would have been happier if we'd shaved about 20-30 minutes off, but for a first outing, everyone did just fine. Scott was very pleased with the event. I think I've hooked another one. This is good. I can't wait for Steve to get home, we'll have to convince him to come out too. (Next time, we'll pit Steve against Scott, it'll be almost as funny as making the two of them be on the same team.) Kat and Scott both want to go again and there are several more events (several I can't make) between now and the winter break.

Ok. I just totally lost my train of thought. My email beeped at me and now I can't think. It was an email from my cousin announcing his son's birth this morning. No, I don't have a name. They're keeping it secret until the Bris, which will be on the 25th, which is Gak's birthday. I plan on going down to Baltimore for this happy event so I can give him the blankie I made. I don't have pictures yet because I haven't washed it yet. Luckily it's getting washed tonight, and no fabric softener and super gentle soap. (Ben has some fun allergies to chemicals and fairly sensitive skin, which is a family trait. Therefore, we don't want to risk accidental making Peanut break out.)
Peace to all and may your life be full of happy surprises.