Picacho Peak

The pictures are from our mini-hike to Picacho Peak on Easter Sunday. It was nice to get out of the house and actually go somewhere different. Usually when B wants to hike we go to Reddington (when there is water) and Reddington is just brown. J It was nice to see the flowers but there were so little and we only saw a few poppies. When I was maybe 10 years old, my entire family (the whole lot of them) went to Picacho for a holiday (Mother’s Day/Easter – cannot remember). All I remember is that there were flowers EVERYWHERE! We have so many pictures of my cousins and me and other family members posing in the flowers. The bad thing about these photos is that they were taken with a Polaroid and are now fading. So, when I think of Picacho I remember that time. This year was advertised as one of the best ever due to the extra rain we have had this year. I would have to disagree.

Thursday

Yes. It is Thursday. Which for at least this week is my Friday. I am so going to miss having my Fridays off of work. Good-bye 3-day weekends. L Well it was a good run. Good schedules do not last forever and I am extremely lucky that I have had mine as long as I have.

….well it looks like I am the only one (out of 4) that has come into work today. That should make things interesting.

WIP~WIP~WIP

Hey! It is still Wednesday. I finally get to post my WIP's on the correct date. LOL! Better late then never. I had to finish my chores before I could post. :-)

I really don't have anything much to show. Here is my ribbed scarf. Yes I know it is gonna be summer next week (well here anyways) but I just have not been able to find the time to work on it. Plus since I know I cannot buy any new yarn right now I don't want to finish it and have nothing left to do (not that - that would happen as I have many many old WIPs that I have been working on for years). As you can see it is almost done. Give me about an hour where I can sit still and it would be complete.

Now here are many WIP's. In this here picture you have TAXES that are dying to get done, about 3-4 semi-finished scrapbook pages just sitting there and a bag that does have a skein of yarn for another scarf. Oh and the huge WIP.......just cleaning up the darn thing. My desk is a disaster area!

Now this picture is a bit different. This is not yet a WIP but I sure would like it to be. I had planned to start this doily last week using the pink, green and white thread that I used on my flower bookmark. However, the pattern calls for shaded pinks and I am thinking the shaded pinks maybe prettier. I want to go to the craft store just to see first if I can find the shaded pink color and if so, see if I like it. If not then I will use what I already have.

Well that is it for the update. Time to go and look thru all the knitting and crochet books I checked out at the library. There are some really neat looking patterns that I am excited to try.

One down. Hopefully more to come.

The interview is over. Well this one is at least. I find out next week if I will have a second interview or if I will just get feedback on how I did.

I think I did okay. I never know how to answer the questions that are asked. There were 4 people in the interview with 3 asking the questions. Each person will ask a question and then they write down what you say. The questions they asked for this interview are different than any I have had in any prior interview. It does help when you know the people doing the interview - which I did as I have worked with them before. Three of them are the current schedulers, the other person used to work in the position.

Now on to the 2nd position I applied for which is just an analyst. I have an interview for that position on Monday. This interview will just be with one person as far as I know and does not involve multiple interviews as the scheduling position. I find this weird as both positions are in the same department with the same people (not more than 10). In fact both positions seem to overlap. Well they currently do but with the new setup I don't know if there will be stricter lines between the two.

Now I am back to work and trying to get caught up. I had everything pretty much caught up before the interview but a lot of requests came in during that time and also during my lunch hour. Tax season sure is not fun!

Business Attire

Yep. That is what I am wearing. My pants have creases!! Why am I excited you ask? It is rare to find someone in business attire at my place of employment. Work is so casual, new hires are told that dressing up is not that common. If someone is dressed up, you know they are having an interview. Everyone gets a chuckle when a new hire comes in all dressed up for an interview. Because of this attitude, when a current employee dresses up they do get teased about it. Jeans and T-shirts are the norm.

My interview is today. So far, the day is going very slowly. I have not seemed to do much work today. I am not too nervous. Two of the girls giving the interview are scrapbookers so that has to count for something right? I sure hope so because I really do not have the ‘gayness’. Let me explain. At my workplace, it would be safe to say that about 90% of my co-workers are gay. The standing theory is that if you want to be promoted you need to be gay. There are 2 scheduling positions open and I have a friend that is also interviewing today. I told him he needed to share his ‘gayness’ with me so we both are hired.

Two of my co-workers have come back from their Japan trip. It is so funny listening to the stories of what they experienced. I guess in Japan if you are a guy (not Japanese) you have to protect your ‘package’. Especially if you are over 6 feet and black. This poor guy was dodging people as they tried to grab him. The way he is telling us what happened is so hilarious. He has the best story telling ability. He had this happen 3 times the same night.

And I cannot even talk about Amazing Race with the cube-mate as he TIVO’d it and did not watch it. He is so pro-Rob and Amber. I needed him to watch it so I could gripe about them!
Has anyone noticed that Blogger is now adding numbers to the link for each post? What is that for I wonder? Is sure does make for a long link.

Nervous but excited

I am nervous. I passed all the requirements and have an interview for one of the positions I applied for. My interview is at 1pm tomorrow. This particular position is for a Scheduling Analyst. I would be doing the scheduling for 100's of people in the call center. This is the position (out of the two I applied for) that has the most requirements and only a few people are trained do it in the building (currently 3 I have been told).

Good Morning

After searching online I was able to find a fix for my photo posting problem. It appears that Hello/ Blogger changes the name of the photo when you use their system. So I just had to tweak the HTML to fix. Well I could do that or use a photo with just a one word name. LOL!

Last night we watched the movie Taxi. It was okay as there were some parts that did make me laugh but B feel asleep so I guess it was just an okay movie. While watching I worked on my garter scarf. One of these days I will finish. J Actually I am almost finished with it and will probably complete it tonight. I am looking forward to posting my works-in-progress update on Wednesday, as I will have pictures now.

Tonight is Amazing Race and it looks to be a good one - lots of blood and drama. How sad is it that my days (well evenings that is) are based on what is on the television. At least I am not as bad as B. He turns on the TV as soon as he wakes up and it is constantly on even if he is not watching. It freaks him out. LOL! How weird is that? I would rather read a good book.

Did you see that I changed my profile picture? Yep that’s me!

The Twins - 9 months

Anna

Andy

It is so hard to believe how fast they are growing. It cracks me up how they look nothing alike. My brother sure is going to have his hands full for a very very long time.

Hello Sucks!

Hello sucks!!!!

Blogger sucks!!!!

Enough said!!!!!


Update: Ummmm Blogger and Hello still suck.

Okay. I have been searching online and it appears I am not the only one having the same issue with photos not posting. I guess I could use my Photobucket account but I am too lazy. LOL! I was able to find thru one forum some steps to fix the issue so I will be trying those soon. So, if you see some weird things going on………that is what is happening.

….well maybe not all me as Blogger seems to be doing weird stuff today. I will no longer discuss how long it took me to post this tiny update.


Cough Drops - 1
Soda – 1 (reg) 1 (diet and it was free!) = 2
Coffee – 1
Advil for headache – 2
Water - 1

Happy day after Easter

I have been loving my time away from the computer while at home. Working non-stop in front of the computer all day is starting to take its toll. I have been skipping lunch since I have so much to do. I don’t want to stop my momentum so I just keep working. I usually go home early then. Like today I am thinking may be a skip lunch sort of day. B started a different job today and if I leave early, I will get home before him. Yippee!!!

I am feeling more tired today than usual. Maybe because I got out of the house this weekend because I know that I went to bed much earlier last night. Instead of 4-5 hours, I got 6-7. I did not want to wake up. This is not a good thing as I am planning to meet my mom to work out at 5:30am when my schedule changes next month. That will be really hard for me. I am so not a morning person. I am determined to do it though.

Today B started his new job. It is kind of funny how it all came about. He has been out of work for a bit and never got any calls for interviews etc. Well last week was the jackpot. He had an interview at a retail construction store and went in for background testing. While waiting for the response for that, he was hired at a fire-sprinkler place. It is still construction based and that worries me, as I don’t want him to be laid off again. That same day he got a call from another company to have him come work for them. He had to turn them down. What a weird feeling to have everyone want you. J Last week the retail store called and since they want to start him off at more money, he is going with them. It will be nice for him to have a job inside again. It will be nice to have money again. I can buy yarn. LOL! I so hate being the sole-supporter. Darn it!

My Dad is buying a fixer-upper house. On Saturday, I went to see it. It sure does need a lot of work. He wants B and me to move in when our lease is up in June. I admit it would be nice to be in a house and even though this is not part of what we planned, I am thinking about it. I am not quite sure though as I just don’t get a really good feeling about the house. I cannot picture what my Dad wants to do with it so I am just going to wait and see. I am sure it will look great when he is finished.

For Easter, we went to the in-laws. We drove out to Picacho Peak (pictures coming soon) to see the poppies. Unfortunately, there were not that many in attendance. I guess we went a week too late. After a very short mini hike (basically from the car to the side of the road) we got back in the car for the drive home. My in-laws had never been there (neither had B). My mother-in-law wore flip-flops so we did not go very far. We then went back to their place to have dinner and watch a couple of movies.

On the cold front. I am feeling much better. Just a sore throat and the choking continue but I am sure it is short lived.

I have been having such problems trying to post to Blogger recently. I am unable to get my photos uploaded and the site appears to be down a bunch. So I really am not slacking, it is more like giving up. Instead of trying over and over to post, I just stop after the first couple of tries.


Cough Drops - 1
Soda – 1
Coffee – 1
Advil for headache - 2

All by myself

It is so nice to have the house to myself. With B being out of work for a bit he was always here. I mean I love the guy but a girl needs some alone time. I always looked forward to having the place to myself. Bummer thing is…..it won't last long. Now that B is back working, my schedule is changing. I will no longer be working 4x10's with Friday, Saturday and Sundays off. I am so bummed! I currently work on a specialized team with only four members. Two of the guys have new positions that start April 1st. The other guy has an interview on Tuesday for another department (but he does different stuff than I do anyways). So that just leaves me. Since I will be the only one doing the job of four people I have to be there every day. At least I can decide on my own schedule. I am thinking 8-5 sounds good! Now my specialist team is actually being disbanded as the work we do actually belongs to other departments and we are trying to get these departments to do their own work. I do not know how long I have in my current position. I have had this position for a year now (Exactly 1 year on April 1st). I was one of the first members of the team when it was first created. Once the team is gone I go back to the phones which I am not looking forward too as it is for a new program. Don't get me wrong, I can do the work and have been doing it for 5 ½ years but it is getting old. I currently handle online customer issues via email and also work as help desk when needed for the rest of the department. Luckily the main managers are allowing us to know apply for different positions. Management had at first refused to let any of us leave our main department (phone support) so a lot of open positions that I would have liked are now gone. There are two positions that are currently opened that I would love to have. They are salaried positions so that means I would be chained to work but I am willing to do that for more pay and a promotion. My current manager is turning in my resumes and interest forms for me today. I believe interviews start next week. Wish me luck.

So back to having my day off….. I actually woke up at a decent hour but stayed in bed to finish reading a book I checked out. The book was Paradise County by Karen Robard. I liked it and it was the first book I have read by this author. I may have to check out some more of her books. It was nice to sit in bed reading as I have gotten away from it lately. Now I am getting ready to do tons of laundry but got sidetracked by walking by the computer.

As for my cold. It is still here. It is extremely hard to swallow and clear my throat but I just know I am on the mend. I hope to start a new project tonight……..

Sick & Tired of being Sick & Tired

Today has not started out well.

I am so tired of being sick. I cannot sleep. I cannot eat. I have no appetite and so I have to make myself eat, as the only thing I have in my stomach is medicine. I am constantly nauseous. What I do eat makes me choke. Damn it! This is just a cold! I just keep telling myself that everyone else who has been sick has gone thru this. B is mad at me for being sick and it does not help. I have had this thing exactly 1 week and 2 days. B keeps saying that 2 weeks is too long to be sick. I have not been sick 2 weeks. Sickness does not run on a business day schedule! Just because he had this thing and it was over in 3 days, he has to make me feel even worse about it. So, even though it is hard I try not to cough or blow my nose so that he does not get irritated. However, now that my voice is gone it doesn’t matter if I do any of those things. I so want this crud to go away.

So on top of this cold I ended up falling this morning. This is the 2nd time. This time I took 5 steps out the door and down I went. You know that feeling when you trip and think that you are going to catch yourself? I had that feeling the entire time and it was not until I was down on my butt that I realized I was not going to catch myself. I did not trip. My ankle refused to work. Just like the last time I fell. This time was different though. Last time my foot was asleep and when I went to step on it – it would not hold my weight. My ankle was like Jello (all wobbly) and my foot would not move. This time, my foot was not asleep. I had been up for a couple of hours, standing and climbing stairs before I left for work. Everything I was carrying went flying. I have a basket I have been taking to work with my 50% sale items and all those nail polishes went flying. I am so lucky nothing broke – just a little scratched.

So here I sit. I am now starting to feel what body parts hit the ground (hopefully the redness won’t turn into huge bruises) and trying not to let this cruddy cold kill me.

At least today, there are 2 other guys working with me. I am not working alone like yesterday.

Well that’s it for whiney ‘ole me.

Remember me?

I'm back.

Thanks Julie and Natalie for the well wishes when I was away.

This cold is killing me!! I don't think it will ever go away. I slept most of the weekend! I did nothing crafty as I was not in the mood to do a thing! I went back to work yesterday but it just exhausted me. Well it does not help that I am doing all of my work and the work of 1.5 other people. The main part of my cold is gone now but the coughing has started. I know I am getting better but it sure does hurt. My voice is about gone and the guys at work are getting a kick out of hearing me try to talk.

At work one guy is on vacation in Japan and another got a different position. So it is only me and one other person. Well guess who decided he did not want to come in tomorrow? Guess who will be working on her own? I am so behind I am stressing!!!!!!

Then last night I found info online on a friend from high school. Well we hung around the same group of friends. I could not tell you if she would even remember who I am. I was excited to find the info and when I was showing the guys at work I came across another site that excited me but I can see it is going to bug me too. Last December a bunch of people (different ages, different schools) got together for a party. At least I can say I knew about the party so I am not totally out of the loop. However the person that told me about the party forgot to give me the webpage to get the info. I was also told about the party from another source and still did not get the info. Yeah, you can say I am partly to blame for the slackiness (how do you like that word) but now that I found pictures of the party I so wish I was able to attend. Maybe next year - or maybe not as I don't believe anyone that I remember, remembers me. How sad is that? So then my main point about writing about this is that I am so toally disgusted with myself after seeing pictures of everyone! Everyone looks absolutely gorgeous! Argh! I guess I better get busy and start working on myself! Makes me feel better that I did not go to the party. Whew!

Now isn't this the bummer post?

Okay. Enough griping. I am going to try again to see if blogger will let me post some pics because it really is starting to get to me that it won't!!! I hope to have some updated project content soon!

Under the weather

I managed to leave work for home a bit early yesterday and went straight to bed. I slept until it was time for Amazing Race. No matter how I sick am I cannot miss that show. I was hoping that the girls did not get eliminated as the one ate all that meat when the men gave up. Of course they really screwed up by missing the turn. The show is interesting this time as they are not giving out the non-eliminations as early in the show as usual. That is from what I remember from previous shows but I may be wrong as I keep forgetting this was only the 3rd episode. LOL! After watching that I swigged back some Nyquil and went to bed. The Nyquil helps but I never get that good nights rest as for some reason I always wake up every hour when I take the stuff.

I am now at work and my brain is all Nyquil fuddled. There is just two of us here today (just me doing my stuff - the other guy has a separate queue he work in). So I am doing the work of three today as one started his vacation today and the other has the day off. I am thinking about taking tomorrow as a vacation day and sleeping thru the weekend.

It is so cold in this building I can hardly move my fingers. I am not sure if it is the building or just me. :-( I am finding it really hard to concentrate today.

As for my co-workers dog, he was not even sick. Just a little sad that his owner is going away for a bit. All that drama yesterday morning for nothing.

bleh....

I am sick.

Last night it started with just a little sore throat but a big swollen throat. This morning my throat is on fire! I am really hoping I can leave work early today as I am not allowed to take any time off of work. So far I seem to be okay as long as I do not talk. So my plan is to drink hot tea all day. The sad thing is, I am really hungry and cannot eat anything. I think it does not make it any better that B is home sick with the same thing (thanks honey). I wanna stay home too! Plus tomorrow I will be the only one working.

.....well scratch only working a half-day. The guy next to me that is leaving for Japan (tomorrow) for the next 3 weeks is going to take the day off to take his dog to the vet. I am not against animals but this guy lives with multiple roommates that refuse to do anything (including work). Considering this guy does not have a car and his roommate is going to have to pick him up anyways to take the dog to the vet.......it just bugs me - why can't the roommate take the dog? I cannot be too upset as my co-worker is asking himself the same thing.

I am so selfish.

So far so good

This morning has turned out to be good so far. I was able to drag myself from bed and realized that I really could not call in to work. So I got my butt into gear and got ready for work. It is a good thing I did as we are short 2 people today. Monday's are very busy anyway but today will be super busy I am sure.

I bought breakfast at the cafe here at work and got a middle-of-the-road coffee out of the coffee maker and not the machine. Of course I had to pick myself a nice leaky cup to use. I am not a big coffee drinker but lately I have been having a cup in the mornings when I am at work. We have three stages of coffee here at my workplace. We have the low grade coffee that you can get out of the coffee machine (what I normally get). Then there is the middle-of-the-road that is out of a coffee maker dispenser. Which is too far to walk so I don't get it too often. Then there is coffee you pay for. We have a coffee cart for those that really like their coffee. Since I am poor I rarely buy it but even so it is also far away (right next to the free coffee maker). The building I work in is huge and it takes my entire 15 minute break to walk down to the cafe area to get food and coffee. The coffee machine on the other hand is right by my cubicle. You do the math.

Well break is over. Time to get back to work.

It has been awhile

Talk about boring. I have a blog and I don't write to it. Sorry to all of you that visit and there is nothing new posted. I cannot believe it has been a week since I last posted.

Work has been so busy that I just don't even try to post during the week days anymore and on the weekend I try to stay away from the computer (since I work on one all day long). I have actually been trying to post some recent layouts but Picasa/Hello does not seem to want to work. One of these days I will have pics again.

I had a very nice relaxing weekend where I did nothing (well I did complete a 2 page layout). B told me not to even clean and so I took him at his word (you don't have to tell me twice - LOL!) It has been very warm this weekend (in the mid-80's) and since the A/C has not been turned on we can only open the windows in our apartment. It was quite warm this weekend so that also put me in the mood to do nothing productive.

Friday I went to the scrapbook store to spend a gift certificate I got for my birthday. I am usually pretty good and not buying duplicates but I bought something I already had. I have so much that I do not know why I still shop for supplies. In fact this item I bought was not even stashed away some place but sitting on top of my desk when I got home. I guess I really wanted it. LOL!

I have been wanting to update the site and I just seem to run out of steam when I get ready to start.

I want to make an oval doily. Does anyone know of a good site that has one?

Well I am off to bed. I will try to post updated layouts this week. Good Night.

Just another Monday

I had a busy weekend at home.

I cleaned out my bedroom. The only problem I have with it being cleaned out is that it now echoes. I am thinking that is why I had trouble sleeping this weekend. Now my closet....you don't want to look in there. Especially now that a lot of stuff that was in the bedroom in now in there.

B cleaned out our hall closet. I had done it before but did not do anything with his stuff except box it. So he went thru his boxes and then thru mine. Urgh! He told me when he started that he would ask me before throwing anything out. I am a huge packrat and stuff just holds sentimental value for me. I have to go thru a huge thing to throw something out. I tried not to stress over him cleaning out the closet and since he asked me if he could do it first I was relaxed about it. It started out nice enough with him asking me a few times if he could throw something out. Then it happened......he came downstairs with a bag of garbage with a pair of candle holders that my uncle made us for our wedding. I told him he did not ask if it was okay to throw them out. His response was that since it was given to both of us that he did not have to ask me. Uh... NO. You would think after as many years that we have known each other that this was not a good move. He then proceeded to tell me they were broken. I told him that I wanted to keep them and they meant a lot as they were made for us. He then took them back upstairs and like the pain in the rear he is - he threw them down. Of course now they probably are a bit more broken. LOL! They are pretty durable actually. They are made of rod iron and have decorative leaves. It is the leaves that bend and one has broken off. I glanced in the closet and it looks great (he was able to move and stack stuff I was unable to). I can now fit my vacuum back in the closet. I must say though I did not check to see if the candle holders are in there.

I had a great time scrapping this weekend. I managed to finish 5 pages and hope to have them up soon. It feels great to have some type of project completed. Now if I can only keep the momentum going.

Oh and this morning while B was taking his shower the tub was leaking thru the ceiling into the kitchen. Just what we need. Now we have to see if we can get a maintenance guy to come and fix it while we are home as we don't want anyone in our place when we are gone.

Well I better get back to work. I am the only one here today (out of our group of 4) and I have a lot I need to do.

FO: Thread Flower Bookmark

It is official. I have completed my 2nd thread project and my 1st project using a color other than ecru.

Here is the bookmark that I made for my Mom. I would have made her more than one but for some reason I could not get past the first row. She loves it and has been showing it off. Now that sure does make me feel good.

Thanks to Heather for pointing me to the direction of the pattern.

I thought it was about time to post something with crochet content. *Ü*

MVD SUCKS!!!!!

Because of their incompetence and unwillingness to admit they were at fault I received my first ticket yesterday!!

After working thru my lunch, I left a little early from work. There was an accident on the way home so I had to drive out of my way. Due to this accident there were a lot of cops on the street. I was in the left turn lane with a cop behind me. As soon as the light turned green he had on his lights. As he walked up to me, I had my payment receipt ready and explained to him that the car is actually registered and that my dad and husband had been at DMV all day (5 hours!!). He told me it did not matter. He stated that he could see the car was registered but that it was forbidden for highway use. Now tell me how can you have a car registered and yet you are not allowed to drive it? He ticketed me and then proceeded to tell me that I could go to traffic school or pay the fine (yeah right - which is what I told him). He seems to think the judge will not let me off of this ticket. I did not know what to make of this guy as he was nice and then he would say things that were not - like he felt I was lying. He told me that even though the car was registered, the previous owner (of the tags - not the car) got a refund. Due to the new stupid law of keeping the plate with the person and not the car, we had to go thru this. The cop then proceeded to tell me which way he was driving. He then told me not to tell him which way I was driving. He stated that if he got behind me (or if any cop got behind me) I would be given another ticket. He then proceeded to drive across the street and park his car and watch me. So I had to stand out in the cold until B came to give me the new tags.

So now to B's story at the MVD. The idiot rep told him that if we wanted this resolved we would have to pay an additional fee. So even though we paid $150.00 to register our vehicle, we would have to pay a $70.00 fee and then pay the $150.00 again. This was a MVD mistake and they are causing us to lose money and to be in court twice now this month! I need to take a letter to the judge about what we have been thru. It has to be from MVD but MVD will not admit to their mistake. I am so ready to get rid of this car. B does not know how but my dad was able to get us all of our money back (I hope he did not pay the fee which would be just like him).

Now onto today........ I again worked thru lunch but with how busy it is I will be here way past the end of my shift. So far I have been here over 10.5 hours. I don't want to miss Amazing Race tonight but I also have errands to run. Well back to work I go.

....oh and did I mention that MVD sucks??????