Things To Do This Summer

Ok, so my official last day of work is June 13. But the Florida office took over my department's work last week, and we've all been sitting at our desks, twiddling our thumbs. And, also, playing internet games, gabbing, and inventing a game called Paper Pong (which was a lot of fun). Our bosses planned a potluck lunch for yesterday, which was nice. I brought my Spinach Dip. We mingled. We ate. We had fun. They even let us bring our cameras (only for the conference room where the party was). Pictures below. And because we've had no work to do for a week, our manager was trying to get Florida to agree to let us stay home for the rest of our employment. As of yesterday afternoon, we were pretty sure we would not be coming back, but still did not have the official word from Florida. I had to leave the potluck early to go to a dentist appointment, so I did not get to hear the official word before I left. I said goodbye to my friends and took all my stuff just in case. And sure enough, my boss called me later to say for sure that we did not need to come back to work. So I'm home today. I tried to sleep late today, but I accidentally fell asleep at 6pm yesterday (with make up still on my face, my teeth unbrushed, and without my nightguard in my mouth). I woke up at 3am but was able to go back to sleep until 8:30am. Woohoo!

So, now I'm up. I had cheesecake and coffee for breakfast. I am trying to get in the groove to clean up the house, but my back is sore, probably from all that sleeping. I got a call from the HR chick, I have an appointment next Thursday to go back to work and sign the papers and stuff for the whole being laid off and severance thing. Then later that day is another going-away party at the office, so I'll stay for that, too. And I honestly forgot, until a few minutes ago, that today is a weekday and The Boy will be coming home from school at 3pm. (In my defense, The Boy was at his Dad's place last night, so I woke up alone in the house today, and since I didn't have to work, it kind of felt like a Saturday. One of the Saturdays that The Boy is with his Dad.)

And I've been thinking for a while about all the things I want to get done this summer:

• Sew my new throw pillows, bench cushion, and window valance, and re-cover the cat's new chair. I have most of the fabric to do it already, and the rest is on the way. I'd love to start today, but I just need to clean the house up first; it doesn't feel right to be doing 'extra' things when the house is a mess. That's one of my rules for myself.
• Sew my new quilt. It's going to be a denim and flannel quilt, made of mine and Jake's old jeans, and flannel shirts and jammies. It's going to be Way Cool, and I started cutting pieces for it a few weeks ago.
• Keep the house cleaned up so I can have people over.
• Go to the drive-in as often as possible.
• Go visit my friends from work, often, who all have the summer off, too (and some have swimming pools).
• Go visit Meghan again, after River comes.(woohoo!!)
• Find a new job. Preferably one that starts after Labor Day, is close to home, and pays a lot more than my previous job.

Trish, one of cubemates.

Louise, another of my cubemates. She was being difficult because she didn't want her picture taken.

My supervisor, Bill. He didn't want his picture taken either.

My manager, Brenda.

Me, Lou, and Trish.

Team Lead, Mike. I guess he's been laid off three times in a row, all facility closings. So this is obviously all his fault, and I told him so.

Judy, another cubemate. She is the sweetest thing, ever.

Kay.

Eileen, Brenda, and Lil.

Lou. Since she wouldn't volunterily pose for pictures, I had to trick her by calling her name, and taking a pic quickly when she looked my way. Hence the deer-in-the-headlights look. It would have been better for her if she'd have just posed for me.

Phil, being silly. Phil wasn't in our cube but was in "The Room", part of our department.

Me and Phil.

Bart.

This is Judy, the second before she thought she'd be funny by sitting on my lap.

Ericka and Phil. Ericka was my cubemate, too. We had a lot of fun together. Ericka, if you're reading this, don't tell Lou I put her pictures on here!

Time Warp

May 1996

May 2008

Where does the time go? It's always been amazing to see him grow. But now, at twelve, he's changing very much and very fast. It's fascinating to see. I'm so glad I get to be his mom.

Childproofing items, anyone?

I am cleaning out my closet today, and I came across some old childproofing things that I'm obviously not going to need anymore. Would any of the new mommies out there like any of them? They're not new, and some of the plastic is discolored from sunlight and age, but they work, and they're free.

four cabinet locks, white

five cabinet locks, white

seven outlet covers, beige
(fyi, these are the BEST and easiest to use outlet covers I ever found.)

one vcr cover, black

Please let me know, I'd be happy to pop them in the mail for free.

Favor, please?

Can any of you, my awesome readers, use any of your awesome computer skills to tweak up a picture for me?

Here is the pic:



What I would like is to add some red to the flower petals, to tie the colors in a bit. And if the orangy-red in the outer ring of the symbol could be made a little 'redder', that would be swell, too.

A cookie, and my forever undying gratitude, to whoever can help me!

Thanks!

Scene from last night:

Jake had his friend Jay sleep over last night. At some point, Jake and I said something silly to each other. I can't even remember now what it was. But then this exchange took place between the boys:

Jay: I can see you two have a lot of fun together.
Jake: Well, my mom IS my best friend, so, yeah.




Way cool.

Today I...

• ...brought some nail polish to work, and I painted Louise's toenails for her. Then I was nearly done with her fingernails when our boss walked into the cube and caught us. But we all (including the boss) are distinctly in the "screw it, who cares, what are they going to do, fire us?" stage. So we just laughed. Then for some reason he declined when I offered to do his nails for him.

• ...enjoyed some coffee, a little breakfast and later, some lunch, and watched some more of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica, but did very little actual work. (See above.)

• ...left work early to get home before The Boy, so I could get the presents and gooey chocolate cake ready, because...today is The Boy's twelfth birthday!!!! I am in complete and utter awe of him. Of course, he's very smart, and funny, and caring, and kind, and handsome. Of course. But he's also been changing so much so fast, it's making my head spin. His too, I'm sure. Here he is last June:

And here he is a few weeks ago:

He's also grown an inch in the past month. He is thisclose to being as tall as me. I've already told him that his job for the rest of his life is REACHING THINGS FOR HIS MOTHER!

• ...found out that Bon Jovi is indeed coming to Boston this summer, right after I had pretty much given up on it and decided it was for the best that they didn't come, because I didn't have the money to go. Now I have a dilemma.

• ...had to drive to the post office to send a bracelet to Northern Ireland, and again marveled at the way the counter staff there treat people. First he tells me that a puffy envelope can't go International. I tell him I've sent many before, and he tells me that's wrong. Then he kind of amends his statement to mean that puffy envelopes can't go Registered International. I explain that because it's jewelry, I have to send it First Class International Registered. And now he says that since it's jewelry, it may not even be able to go at all. Some countries don't let you send jewelry. (No shit, Sherlock?) And he tells the other guy, the one actually waiting on me, to look it up. I explain that I'm already sure that jewelry can go to the UK First Class International Registered. In fact, that's how it has to go. But I wait while the man looks it up, because he's not the one being a dink. I mean, really...do you think I went through all the trouble of posting at my stores that I will ship to the UK unless I was sure it was allowed? And that I drove all the way to the post office with the customs form and the registration form already filled out, because I didn't know if I could ship my jewelry to the UK? Really? You don't think I might have researched that a bit first? And to be clear, I don't mind that he questioned it and wanted to look it up to be sure. I'm all for that. My problem was his ATTITUDE. Rude and short and acting like I'm trying to pull something over on him. There are two other post offices in town. I have to remember not to bring my international packages to this one any more!!

• ...made fried rice for supper.

• ...watched the rest of season 3 of Battlestar Galactica. Woohoo! Now I'm ready to dive into season 4, at last. And may I say, I found out the identities of the four Cylons, and am very disappointed at whom one of them turned out to be. Frak it! Frak it all!!
  

• ...need to call my sister to find out what's up for Mother's Day. Oh, joy.

Dear Diary,

Today I made my boss stab himself in the neck with a pen. It was a green pen. Then I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. It was the first time I've ever made another person stab himself in the neck with a pen. It was a very special day.