1) Marginally less annoyed with my job. I've minimized playing into some of the drama by limiting my contact with the dramatists.
2) There are some really really cool community garden planning initiatives going on in my state, and I'm positioning myself to advocate strongly for them. It's awesome.
3) I might have a friend in town this weekend. Yay!

1) I Finally remembered to look at MeCha

2) Dr. Appointment today. Fall has fallen hard.

3) Being able to move a server's disk file to another machine with no downtime is wicked cool.

1. overslept (need a space heater for the dressing room, or a programmable thermostat).
2. shoring up my commitments for GotV and for the voting rights protection project.
3. nonetheless, would rather be in my kitchen today.

1. HAPPY
2. INTERNATIONAL
3. CAPS LOCK DAY!

1. World series starts tonight - Go Rays!
2. About to take the kidling to the doctor for 6 week shots. She's so happy right now. I feel like a bad, bad person.
3. Got new running shoes yesterday. This makes me very happy.

1. CAPS LOCK and wombats! My cup runneth over!

2. Cold. Cold cold cold. Too stingy to put the heating on.

3. Full of ideas, for some reason. It's nice.

1. Yogurt, banana, ryevita, muscavado sugar.
2. Cramps. Bad cramps.
3. Glad the husband has taken Thursday and Friday off for a mini vacation.

i have FINALLY booked the Pollokshields branch fundraiser

Basil P. Cat is showing a stheriouth amount of belleh

Leafletting in the cold later, boo

1) Computer parts are "Out for delivery" which means that I get to hunt them down after the delivery man realizes that I'm not home.

2) A medium latte at the local coffee shop costs more than a large latte at Starbucks, I am now at a nexus of cost vs. morals.

3) Raining! I love the rain! Did I mention I like rain? Only when I'm inside, and I'm warm.

1. Going on a retreat in the mountains this weekend! We leave Friday morning!

2. Must get house cleaned, laundry caught up, groceries purchased for hubby's meals while I'm gone, and I probably need to do a wee bit of clothes shopping.

3. Am eating like a pig these days-need to go to the gym too! ARG!

1. Our "Classes at the Local University for Adults who Like Learning but who Don't Want to Earn any Credit or Do any Homework" on Russian politics past and present starts tonight. I am very excited about that.

2. Slept 12 hours last night, feeling like a CHAMP today.

3. As a result of point number 2, I woke up with a plan to get ENORMOUS AMOUNTS OF CRAP DONE TODAY. If I get half of it done, I will consider the day a success.

1. Jaw still not right (see yesterday's update), but better. Starting to worry I may need to see someone about this.

2. My co-worker just tried to make a happy emoticon in her signature, and she made this: 8-D I'll admit my head is in the gutter at all times, but, come on!

3. Dog was very good at dog class. One of his biggest problems is that he's always getting up in other dogs' grills. Only with the best of playful intentions, but it's often overwhelming for them. At class, one of the exercises was that we'd walk in a circle, then on command, everyone would try to cross the circle simultaneously, creating a bit of a jam of dogs in the middle. He stayed focused on me the whole time. Such a clever lad.

1. I'm feeling some sickness coming on (nose won't stop running and hurts, fever blister has appeared, general feeling of crappiness) but I know better than to mention anything to anyone. (At work, they have no problem with people taking sick days. That's what they're there for. The problem would be staying home and having to deal with my bitch mother 'you're not that sick, you lazy ass.')

2. General feelings of confusion and anger and worry about EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD.

3. I'm wearing a cashmere sweater today (Christmas present from last year). It's quite cozy and I would normally be inclined to take it on the trip. Unfortunately, it's this hideous pink/purple color and not exactly the most flattering of clothes. But it's WARM!

1. I got business cards and they have a shiny silver stripe on them! They look fancy.

2. Listening to John Hodgman in the background.

3. Going to a concert tonight and hopefully eating Vietnamese beforehand.

1. Got new glasses last night! I love them but I've been wearing my contacts for so long I'm not used to the weight of glasses on my nose. This should take some getting used to.

2. My skirt barely fit over my butt this morning. I know I've been slack about eating right and exercising the past few weeks, but I hate how quickly it shows. Worked out on the elliptical this morning pretty hard for 45 minutes.

3. Completely out of shampoo. Off to LUSH today!!

1. Am halfway through a week off, and it's been very nice so far.

2. The plan today is to stay home and de-clutter the house a little, do laundry, do some online Xmas shopping, and watch a movie.

3. Tomorrow if the weather's nice, I'm planning to buy a 24-hour rail pass and take a photo safari around town all day.

1. Freed from jury duty! After less than an hour this morning- what a waste of leaving the house. But whatever, I'm free!
2. Massive work and life catch-up for the rest of the week.
3. Tonight- a visit to the Apple Store to pick out and hopefully buy my new computer + iPod!

1) YAY CARPOOL! so a couple months back I met some random dude at the bus stop as we were both standing around kvetching about the RTD -- we'd both been denied service on the express as it was full up with bikes. He was like "hm, I have a colleague who also lives in [lfrHood] and since we both also work across the street from [BigPharmaCo], we should really do something about this... So last night we got our first really nasty cold snap. I'd completely forgotten about this encounter, and was all like FUCK ITS COLD, now I gotta drag all my winter shit out and dress in fifty layers and look like some homeless douchebag on the bus (plus the first time you gotta ride in 20 degree weather for the season really kinda sucks cos you're not used to it). Right then out of the blue Random Dude sends me a txt "this is RD rmbr from the bus? carpool tmrw u in?" and I was like HELLS YEA cos it's freezing cold and super windy. RD shows up right on time this AM with his colleague / carpool buddy and a nice euro sedan with (get this) heated leather seats plus they both managed to hit it off bigtime with the mister by somehow mentioning bike racing, Crowded House, and tossing in an apropos political snark all in a ~30 second conversation. Riding in with them takes half the time it normally does for my commute so I got to sleep in and wear nice clothes to work, even. Bonus: not only does the mister like them and they live close by, but we've all got lots in common so yay! cool neighbours! I guess the moral to this long-winded anecdote (for my own benefit, really) is that not every random sketchy dude one sees at the park-n-ride is some crazy nutbag bent on panhandling, proselytising or gropery, so it doesn't hurt to be civil.

2) I am currently casting sidelong glances at the nasty shitpile of editing on my desk that I must at some point cease avoiding.

3) CAPS LOCK DAY FTW!!!

1. Thanks to day job, I totally understand and emote womanfully for every graphic designer friend I have ever known or will get to know.

2. Forgot to charge iPod last night and now I am doing graphics stuff without the benefit of music to soothe my savage inner wee beastie.

3. Ex-boyfriend is making duck for dinner on Sunday. "I do looooove a duck dinnah."

1. My cat is sick. Waiting to hear her test results from the vet so we can start treating her for...whatever it is. She is so fatigued and weak and in need of help.

2. HAd a very depressing meeting with my boss this morning as we discussed our budget projections for 3 years out, recognizing that endowment/investment income, donations, and disposable income will be drying up quite a bit. A very, very unpretty future here. Is it time to bail?

3. I have awesome leftover beef bourguignonne for lunch. Made last night using this recipe with one change: I didn't have any thyme on hand (which is odd, I need to cut some) so I decided to use herbes de Provence which have been sitting in my cupboard since my mom brought them back as a souvenir from France. I accidentally dumped, like, 3 T. of the stuff in the stew. You know what though? It wasn't bad, it was darn good that way. This was an awesome meal and not at all hard to make (first-time try for this dish, and I don't eat much beef, so I wasn't sure).

mskaz: you are totally cute and I bet those glasses are perfect! Also, I wish I were going to Lush. I wouldn't even mind being on that part of Michigan Avenue. I switched from the godiva shampoo bar to the shine shampoo bar and I don't like it. But the budget doesn't call for a Lush trip until January.

Miko: Awesome website with the food! I bookmarked it.

Yeah, that site was a nice find. She has some other really good-looking recipes and I like how she shares her weekly menu plans.

1. I have ONE! WHOLE! DAY! OF! WORK! today.

2. I'll try not to spend it in one place, ifyewknowwhudimean.

3. Heading out to lunch.

1. First day with my new boss today. I feel a bit rotten saying it after Miko's post, but new boss was ecstatic with how my colleague and I've managed the scheme and the budget for the past 11 months - we've bought everything we need, held several large training sessions and celebratory events, had £95k taken by senior management a few weeks ago and are still projecting an £80k underspend (for the third year in a row). We fund the other, overspending disability services (who don't receive a large chunk of central govt funding, as we do) - it isn't actually anything to do with great budget management, it's just the way it is, but it still feels good to be recognised! And now I only have one person's job to do, after 11 months - YAY!!!!!

2. I finally booked the personal stylist session and makeover/expensive haircut I was given in February. Someone is going to come to my house and look through my clothes ohmigawd. I am so looking forward to a haircut though.

3. I hab a cols, and am a bit buzzed from Sudafed.

Great story, lfr!

1. The 5:30am bikeride to the gym is getting less fun, and it will only get worse between now and April. It's warmer (and getting light) once I go from the gym to work, and a pleasant ride. Plus I had some really nice gortex windproof bike gloves and lost one of them, en route somewhere, because I forgot that I had them on my rear rack and then took off and only one of them was on the rack when I got to where I was going. . .so it's ski gloves for now, which are much less soignee.

2. My Internet world seems to be shrinking. .here, MeFi (a little), LATimes, NYTimes, SFGate, CNN (a little), my credit union, Flickr, and not much else. I used to chat and IM a bunch but I never to anymore. . .I miss it. Wanna chat?

3. Can't even walk by a LUSH store without gagging. . .seriously, I cross the street to avoid the one in Portland. . .it's a fine store, I am sure but the odor is overwhelming to me. I am not sure I would survive being inside one.

1. Finally clicked that my backache is due to passing another kidney stone (#3 or #4)

2. Blood glucose is still high when it shouldn't be, yay stress

3. Off to mum's tomorrow for an over-nighter and I really don't want to go

1. Got all hired up at the temp place on campus and am now waiting for my first assignment. She called and left a voicemail yesterday to talk about assignments, but she hasn't returned my two voicemails since then. It'll be nice to get out of the house and to have some income, but it's going to be a serious lifestyle adjustment after working (and not-working) at home for 3 years. I think I still remember how to act in public, but am not entirely sure.

1a. I temped when I first moved here and HATED it, partly because of the way I was treated (i.e., as an idiot non-person), and partly because while the pay was decent, there was no health care and temps didn't get paid until the 8th of every month. I mean, how can you pay rent when you don't get your meager paycheck until the 8th??? But things have changed since then. I was quite pleased to learn that there is now basic medical coverage, and the payday is on the 1st. Makes me feel less awful about having to temp in the first place. Let's hear it for the union! Solidarity forever!

2. Applied for a job doing what I'm good at, and toward a plant-related end that really interests me. Learned yesterday that the department shares a building with the Office from Hell, away from which I ran screaming several years ago. I am just cynical enough to believe that this is the universe playing a joke on me, and if I get the job (or even an interview), it'll be because of its location, not because of my stellar skills and sparkling personality.

3. I just learned a new word from danf, but I'm not sure I'll ever have the chance to use it.

4. On preview: Yay, deborah's back! Sorry to hear about the health problems, but happy to see you around!

1.My Phillies Phever, which has been in remission since 1993 (Damn you, Mitch Williams!), seems to be returning. I have actually decked out my kids in matching Phillies gear today. Even put little red and white bows in the girl's hair. (I KNOW!)

2.Yet, I'm nervous about cheering for them because I cannot conceive of a world in which the Phils are the champs and Obama is the president. I feel like I need to save up all my crossed fingers, wishing well pennies and blown out birthday candles for the election.

3. And yet, still, GO PHILS!!!!

I just learned a new word from danf

I learned it from some press coverage of Marilyn Quayle in '92, the "newly soignee Ms. Quayle," or some such thing. . .the phrase could have been been used, today about Ms. Palin.

Soignee, you're not pup, and I love you for that.

3. And yet, still, GO PHILS!!!!

Lifelong Dodger fan here. . care to make it interesting?

3. And yet, still, GO PHILS!!!!

The Phillie Phanatic on YouTube.

The Phanatic is hilarious. One of the few things i miss about living in Philly is going to evening Phillies games, where the Phanatic launched hot dogs at the crowd out of his Hot Dog Launcher. I love that he's not really an animal or anything recoginizable, just kind of a big fat green sports fan.

1. I have a lunch tomorrow entitled "Who has the best balls?" - our office got free tickets as we're entirely made up of women, and, for some unknown reason they seem to have more men than women attending. Free lunch, free booze, can't complain.

2. I'm going to a "Karaoke" night tonight - but with a twist. The Basics are the house band, and all the songs will be Crowded House songs. Should be fun - Wally, the drummer, has been touring Europe until a couple of weeks ago with his solo stuff, and the boys are on a mega tour of Australia until December, so I won't see them again for a long time - and with one of the band members moving to Ireland, this will be one of my last chances to see them in action. A whole lot of memories with these boys, it will be the end of an era.

3. I tried making mushroom pate last night - but my sister - who I'd asked to take the mushrooms out of the car when she dropped me off somewhere - had left them in her room over night, and they went super sweaty, and funky and mouldy. NOT HAPPY JAN. (er - that wasn't directed at essexjan, it's a weird saying that I picked up from an ad for a telephone directory)

1. Awful, awful cold is finally getting better. I can rest my head on a pillow without choking. This cold was a his & her affair. Hubby's feeling better, too.

2. Got very scared when I couldn't reach my mom Sunday night (my 93-year-old adopted mom). I figured she was either on the phone with my brother, who's been in the hospital for two weeks on I.V. antibiotics for lysteria, of all things, or she was sleeping through the phone, which was possible, too, but it turned out my fears were justified. She was, in fact, at the hospital with my other brother, who's a doctor, with bad abdominal pains and dizziness. Thankfully, tests were negative, and she was home by morning. I finally reached her at 7am, before I went to work. I was never so happy to hear someone's voice. I should have called my brother right away when I couldn't reach her. Next time I will.

3. Parent/teacher conferences this week. I'm awfully, awfully tired, but it must be done. I bought candy for the occasion. Often there are little ones who come along. Class of 2022 or so. (Yikes. I'll be ready for retirement.)

(Bonus: I got another grant from DonorsChoose.org -- the site that matches teacher proposals with potential donors. A class set of SAT prep. books! Yay! I must put up more proposals. I'd kill for a class set of Edwidge Danticat's The Farming of Bones or N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn. There are so many books I'd love to have for my students.)

1. Full of tempura and seafood.

2. Exhausted.

3. Caps lock without pictures is just so much crockety bloat most of the time. Sad. May need chocolate cake.

1. Packed up more of ex's stuff. This time 'round it's not sad, just "hey, there's space here!"

2. Got smote by a bronchial infection. Came home and slept.

3. Waiting for the kids to go down so I can, too.

ethylene - I went looking for fast chocolate cake and found this!

What did you have in mind, danf?

There is extremely chocolately cake at the ready.
i was just eating leftover tempura, thinking: WOW, SUCKS TO BE YOU PEOPLE, WITHOUT LEFTOVER TEMPURA. WHY, THIS LIGHT, CRISP BATTER IS DELICIOUS, THANK YOU.

HAP! CRAZY KITTEH IS AFTER MY SOOPERCHOCOLATEY CAKE. STOOPID CAT. We has had to hide the cake and now must hug the crumbs out of her.

Thanks, mups! It's nice to be back.

What did you have in mind, danf?

Oh, I dunno. . .*thinking*

How about a meetup. . .a barbeque. . .you're not a vegetarian are you. . .




We could roast up Cole Hamels' SEVERED LEFT ARM and share it. .

(seriously, the guy is scary good these days, no?)