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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Howdy

Hi everyone, I haven't posted in a while...suffering from a bit of mental pause I think :-)  Things here have been chuggin' along.  The normal routine of working despite still not having a federal budget.  The big rumor at work is that there will be a furlough (lay off) of federal employees if a new budget or another Continuing Resolution isn't passed. 

In my typical, career broadening fashion, I earned some negative points during a recent meeting on the topic when I spoke up and announced that if they were looking for volunteers to be furloughed that I'd like to be at the top of the list :-) 

The last time this happened, in 1995...."non-essential" employees had to stay home for four days...after the budget was passed....everyone received back pay for the days they stayed home...and were not charged vacation time...sounds like a great plan to me !!!

BIG NEWS!!!  I finally got to meet LilSis' boyfriend Friday night!  It was a very spur of the moment event prompted by LilSis...with great trepidation.  Once she made the invitation, she was as nervous as a politician hooked up to a polygraph machine :-)  If it hadn't happened so fast (20 minutes from invitation to meeting) I think she would have backed out.

We met at Texas Roadhouse for dinner and if possible, he was even more nervous than LilSis.  I must be getting soft in my old age because they looked so on edge and uncomfortable that I didn't have the heart to jerk his chain...even though it would have been sooooooooooo easy to do :-)  I was on my best behaviour and didn't even enter into "Protective Dad" mode, we had a nice, quiet meal. 

I didn't get to see or hear enough to come to any conclusions about Big Bird (because he is tall, not necessarily yellow) but he didn't say or do anything stupid and he seems to be very deferential to LilSis...which as Dad, I like :-)

That's it for tonight...the Xbox is calling...I hope everyone is well and living the dream.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Snowy Sunday

Yep boys and girls...it's friggin' snowing again!!!  Apparently I was very bad in a previous life and all this snow and cold is my punishment.  Is it too late to say I'm sorry???  If not, I'M SORRY...now bring on the sunshine.

It's been a very quiet weekend and fortunately it seems I've recovered from the creepy crud...yay me.  I didn't get to see Jumble Mash or LilSis this weekend but BigSis needed stamps so I drove the twenty miles to her work this morning to give her stamps...it seems I am the only one in the family that knows the well guarded secret of how to buy postage stamps :-)  It was worth the trip just to see her and it won't be long before she moves (mid-April) and I won't get to launch these rescue operations for her :-(

I'm having a hard time with this whole "empty nest, the girls no longer need me thing".  I keep telling myself that it's just another of life's many transitions and I'll adapt and move on...like there's a choice...but it just keeps gnawing at me.  I fully understand that in some way they will always need me and that they love me but it's just not the same.

I'm extremely proud of the women they have become and have complete faith in their ability to make it in the world...and that's what I want...at least the rational part of me wants that for them :-)

Last night I was wandering around the house at a complete loss of what to do with myself.  This is pretty unusual for me, I'm generally able to entertain myself with little difficulty.  I've tried to keep myself busy today but now it's almost 8 o'clock....my domestic chores are done...and I'm feeling kind of disconnected.

Wouldn't it be great if the intellectual side of us could smack down the emotional side and save us all this grief! 

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Bathroom Design

I've picked up a stomach virus or some other nasty crud that has pretty much kept me in the bathroom for the last three days.  Worked half the day Tuesday, not at all Wednesday, and half the day today.  I thought things were calming down this evening and took Jumble Mash and BF to Outback for supper.

As always, I enjoyed spending a little time with them...it never seems to be enough.  JM and I got into a disagreement about who would win a fight between John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.  I tried to explain that they would never fight because they are both good guys.  But since JM just can't leave the universe in a state of harmony, she says she's going to do a poll on her blog.  I tried my best to give her the benefit of my wisdom :-)


Since I have spent so much time in the Throne Room over the last couple of days, I put it to good use.  I'm going to remodel.  I have a large Jacuzzi in my bathroom that I'm going to replace with a claw foot tub

and replace my shower with a 5 foot stand alone shower...cause I'm "big boned" :-)  And I'm going to build a bookshelf between the toilet and the shower with a reading light over the Throne...cause a mind is a terrible thing to waste!

Haven't decided on flooring but I'll let you know when I do.

Well....gotta run (pun intended) the Throne is calling.