The Mind Runs Wild

I’m hesitant to post about work situations, but I’ve just got to get this one out. So, there’s this woman who works here (you’re smart people, you probably could have guessed that). She assumed much of my prior role when I left this company in February of 2003. I am now in a different role and it is sometimes odd to see her doing what I once considered to be my responsibility. I’m sure it is odd for her as well.

Her extended family lives out of state. Apparently there were lots of BIG BAD THINGS happening among the extended family and she had to take a couple of weeks off over the summer and “go home.” This was all going on about the same time that I began conversations about returning to work here. At one point, it was thought that she might not return and I might slide back into my old role/her current role. She came back, I was rehired to do something different.

I want to make it very clear that I do not wish her any ill will and am perfectly happy doing what I do rather than what she does. Sometimes though, I have to wonder why this woman has not been fired. Yesterday was one of those days.

The Chili Cook-off began 4:00. Set up began at 3:00. The trophies needed to be picked up. So did the beer and sodas. She’s nowhere to be found. Phone calls are placed. Phone calls are not returned until 12:30. By that time, others had scrambled to make plans and gotten everything covered. The VP’s husband picked up the trophies. Uh, yeah – you read that right. We called around to some places we’ve ordered beer from in the past to find out if they had an order from her. Found the beer and found someone in Facilities with a truck to take another co-worker to pick up the beer. Found the card of the person that was coming from a charitable organization to judge the event - - contacted her to confirm. I think all the chaos was transparent to the employees. I hope so.

There was also a fire drill scheduled in the morning. She’s the point of contact for our floor and also the HR point of contact for Security in the organization of the whole evacuation program. Needless to say, she missed that too.

I think there’s more going on in her life than we all know, or care to know. She says she had a migraine yesterday. I suspect depression or marital problems. I have no idea and it really isn’t any of my business. But, if you need to be on FMLA, take it. And unless you are on an approved leave, step up to the plate and at least BE at work when you’re expected to be. Or call, for fuck’s sake.

Abbreviation Queen

I know that I value whole words, so I don't understand what is happening to me. What am I becoming?

I've been browsing and commenting on some other blogs and in the last two comments I've left I've used "w/" "btwn" and "ppl." I must stop! One that I hope I'll never succumb to is "Thx."

Hook Update

It has been reported by a reliable source that there are hooks in the public bathrooms at the Hill County Hyatt, a resort outside San Antonio.

Family Health Updates

Mom has been released from the hospital. At least that's what the nurses tell me. I called up there about an hour ago and they say she's gone home. No answer at home. No return phone call from the one I placed to her house last night. I suppose I'll her house again soon and then give Granny a call on her cell phone. I know that the important thing is that she's been released. But, I'm not pleased that I haven't been updated by her husband since I left on Sunday afternoon.

The HUSband's sister was released from the hospital on Friday and laid low most of the weekend. She went back yesterday because she had a bad headache and was experiencing sensitivity to light. Turns out that it was her first ever migraine. The jury is still out deciding whether the migraine is related to the electrocution.

Shocking News

What a bizarre week! My mother-in-law called me on my cell phone this morning. We'd last spoken to them on Tuesday night before I got the news that made me more concerned about Mom, so she didn't know I'd come to see her. I talked to the HUSband last night a little before 8:00 and not since. MIL assumed I'd talked to him since then and referenced his sister also being in the hospital. Huh? I was very confused. SIL electrocuted herself yesterday at work! They took her to an ER and kept her overninght at the hospital. She has some charring (eeewww) on one hand and a massive headache and some pain in her shoulders. The current went in one hand, across the shoulders and out the other. OUCH! FIL went to see her this AM before going to work. She is being released today, thank goodness.

Mom Update

Mom’s still in the hospital. Still in a shared room. The part about sharing a room is driving my Grandmother nuts. It turns out that the only way to determine if a person has Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is to test for antibodies after the patient has healed. Who knew? She is exhibiting the symptoms and responding to the treatment as though she does actually have it, but they’re not certain.

I found out Tuesday night that she had some fluid in her lungs (and was on oxygen) and that her kidneys were being closely monitored. I was assured that I shouldn’t be overly alarmed. I decided to come up to Dallas after all. I left work early on Wednesday and worked from home for a bit, then headed north. Went to see her at the hospital and then went to Granny’s to stay the night. My company has an office in Irving that I’ve been able to work from yesterday and today. Little do they know that most of the work I’ve been doing has been reading blogs.
Mom slept through the night on Wednesday night and almost all day yesterday. Granny just called from the hospital and said that she’s tired again today. I’m skipping out of here in about thirty minutes or so.

Where Have All the Hooks Gone?

Where is a lady to put her purse? I've noticed a trend that I don't like one bit. The hooks in public bathrooms are disappearing. I believe this has something to do with preventing theft of items hanging on hooks. I know it must happen somewhere, but I've never had someone stick their hand in my stall and grab something off of the hook. If it is really that important for you to protect the safety of my purse, please give me a place to put it other than the grimy floor. A ledge, a hook on the side wall of the stall... somewhere, please.

Mom's In the Hospital

She began to feel bad on Wednesday evening and spent most of the day Thursday in bed with a fever and a spreading rash. She went to the doctor on Friday and she was given some Prednisone and told to take Benadryl and apply Cortisone cream to the rash. The doc even said she wasn’t sure how to treat whatever mom had. Clearly, steroids weren’t the way to go.

The family gathered in Arlington Saturday night to celebrate Granny's birthday, but Mom decided to stay home. When we made it back to Dallas late Saturday night, the rash had spread more and she was still running a fever of over 100 degrees. We took her to the ER and they decided to keep her overnight. I took the car back to Mom's house and her husband stayed with her. Turns out that she didn't get into a room 'til 4:00AM. Ugh.

We went up to the hospital yesterday before heading back to Austin. I was tempted to stay, but felt like I really couldn’t help much. She’s in a shared room, so there’s just one chair in a corner for a visitor to sit in. Her husband stayed with her all night Sat night and went home to shower while we were there. I called last night after we got back and my Uncle and Aunt were there… I think Granny is going to go over today.

I talked to her about 30 minutes ago and she said that she thinks the fever has finally broken. The doctors aren't certain what she has, but think that it may be Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. She said the doctor hadn't been in to see her yet today. I imagine that her response to the antibiotic and other medicines will help them finalize a diagnosis.

One of the amusing things to me about all of this is the name under which she is registered at the hospital. She was born with the initials M W C, but always went by the name that starts with a W. She married my dad and went by W C B. Now, she’s married to another man and uses the initials W B H. I have no idea what her legal name is. Her name on the hospital records is M H. Odd.

Happy Birthday, Granny!

My Grandmother - Granny - is 81 today. In her wonderfully quirky way, she's celebrating her 77th birthday today. You see, last year she decided it was time to start going backwards. She didn't want to get any older. So, instead of turning 80, she decided she was turning 78. And this year, it's 77.

Her "babies" (me and my cousin, the youngest grandchildren) turned 30 this year. She had a hard time with her babies reaching that milestone.

We're headed up to see her this weekend. Mom and her husband, my Aunt & Uncle and at least one of the two cousins (+ wife) will all take her to dinner Saturday night. If she had it her way, she'd cook a roast for us all. Preparing a meal of that magnitude just wears her out these days. She's physically tired more often. But the wit is always there. Granny's got an edge. . . an edge that has rubbed us all the wrong way at times . . . an edge that makes a damn good scratching post . . . an edge that holds together an incredibly soft interior.

Wednesday Fun

I found this over at Life ... & then some. Come play along. Here is a list of words. You write the word that first comes to mind after reading it.

1. shaggy - carpet
2. biscuit - breakfast
3. locomotion - c'mon baby
4. monkey - bars
5. plunge - clogged
6. rock - paper , scissors
7. amusement - laugh
8. butter - bread
9. jacket - fall
10. coaster - glass
11. trailer park - tornado
12. buh-buh-buh - Bennie & the Jetssss - Elton John

Good Weekend

We had a good weekend! I wish they could all be like this one. I skipped out of work on Friday early thinking that that I'd be able to connect from home. But, of course, I ran into difficulties. I need to remember to try to get that resolved today. Friday night we watched Man on Fire. It was much different than I thought it would be, but very good overall. I'm still not used to Denzel not playing a good guy. In this, he was at least on the good side, but did some not so good things.

Saturday I hung out with Donna during the day shopping on South Congress and at Barton Creek Mall. It was fun to catch up with her in person. Later that night we decided to include the husbands as well and went out to dinner for some tasty Indian food. Her brother-in-law and his girlfriend joined us also. Good times.

Today is Monday #4 at the new/old job. I'm finally starting to get a feel for the type of work that I should be doing. The hard part seems to be motivating myself to do it. Wish me luck.

(Almost) 100 Things

This is by no means an all inclusive list . . .

1. I was born in August of 1974.
2. I was born 28 days after my due date.
3. I was due on my mother's 28th birthday.
4. My parents gave me two middle names at birth.
5. One of them is my father's grandmother's name.
6. It has eleven letters.
7. Now my maiden name is my (only) legal middle name.
8. I'm an only child.
9. So was my best friend when I was growing up.
10. She seems like the closest thing I have to a sister.
11. I have some amazing girlfriends. Only two of them know about this blog at press time.
12. They are the family I've been able to pick.
13. I have two cousins that are close to my age and used to be very close to them.
14. Now that we're all married, it's been hard to maintain that closeness.
15. I'm the youngest grandchild on that side of the family.
16. And the only grand-daughter.
17. I have lived in Austin since 1997.
18. I know some Japanese - - used to know more.
19. But I left Japan in 1997 and don't know when I'll go back.
20. It is too damn expensive to get there and pay for a place to stay.
21. I liked living in Japan.
22. It never felt like home though.
23. I taught English at the Junior High in a small town.
24. I met some incredible people from all over the world while living in Japan.
25. I grew up in a college town.
26. Both of my parents worked at the University.
27. Dad was Staff (rather than Faculty).
28. Mom taught ESL, but it wasn't a tenured position.
29. They worked year-round.
30. I was exposed to people from many different cultures as a result of my parents' jobs.
31. My first pets were two parakeets.
32. They were a gift from some of my Mom's students.
33. I named them George and Martha after some hippos in a book I liked.
34. The father of on of my friends was a professor in the Oceanography department.
35. Her mother didn't work.
36. Their family spent the summers in Maine.
37. She took sailing lessons.
38. That seemed so extravagant to me.
39. We used to write letters when she was away for the summers.
40. I think I still have some of those letters.
41. I keep too much old crap like that.
42. I have all that old crap in our house.
43. My HUSband still has some of that sort of crap at his parents' house.
44. My parents divorced when I was 25.
45. A month after their 30th anniversary.
46. 5+ years later and I don't think I'm dealing with it very well (still).
47. They're both remarried.
48. And happy.
49. That's good.
50. My HUSband and I were married in 2002.
51. We were engaged on September 8, 2001.
52. He proposed atop Mount Bonnell.
53. We closed on our first house on February 2002.
54. This is the longest I've ever lived in one place since I moved from my parents' house to the dorm.
55. We originally thought we'd only live in this house five years or so.
56. The thought of moving again so soon doesn't seem fun to me.
57. We still haven't changed the color of the walls in the living room - - If you have any suggestions, please send them my way. update: we finally painted the living room!
58. We got our cat in August 2002.
59. His name is Neko.
60. That means "cat" in Japanese.
61. Sometimes we say that his full name is "Gato Neko."
62. Naming a cat "Cat Cat" is/was a silly thing to do.
63. I had a dog for about 6 weeks growing up.
64. His name was Brady Beagle.
65. We had to take him to live on the farm with my grandfather because he was just too much to handle.
66. Yes, he really did go to a farm in Arkansas. We drove him up there in my dad's 1981 Honda Civic.
67. My first car was a 1991 Honda Civic.
68. My second (and current) car is a 2000 Honda Civic.
70. My next car, sadly, will not likely be a Honda.
71. My father-in-law works for GM and can get us quite a deal.
71. I don't like to exercise much.
72. When I was in college, I was better about it. I used to go to 2-3 step aerobic classes a week.
73. The apartment I lived in during the last two years of college shared a parking lot with a shopping center with a gym in it.
74. That same shopping center also had a bar/club with some great drink specials.
75. We used to come home to go to the bathroom if the line got too long.
76. I now try to make it to a yoga class at least once a week.
77. Yoga makes me more aware of my body, especially of my posture.
78. It also helps me relax.
79. I like to think that I'm a rather relaxed or laid-back person. Most of the time I am. But there are times when I strongly believe that there should be a plan and it should be adhered to.
80. I spend too much money on Bobbi Brown make-up. And manicures & pedicures.
81. I'm lucky to have a job that I can wear open-toed shoes to.
82. I don't know how I used to wear hose and heels to work an 8+ hour shift at Casual Corner.
83. I enjoyed the employee discount (probably too much) when I worked at Casual Corner during and immediately after college.
84. I only like to eat eggs when I can't tell the difference between the white and the yolk (mostly scrambled or an omelet).
85. I like to read quite a bit . . . memoirs, chick lit, & historical fiction mostly.
86. I've been in two book clubs. The first one sort of fell apart as many of the members finished graduate school and moved away. The one I'm in now doesn't actually read the same book each month anymore. We talk about what we're reading and get ideas from each other. I like it better that way. Many times, I only had time to read one book a month and never got around to reading ones on my list.
87. I currently have about 20 books in my queue to read.
88. I read more when I traveled for work. That's one reason I miss traveling (flying) for work.
89. I also liked the airline miles (and HiltonHonors points too).
90. I prefer that toilet paper be dispensed from the top of the roll.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.

help

I want to post "100 things about me," but I don't know where to start. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. I feel like the first ten or so items should really define me....

Only Child Syndrome

I like to think that I'm not a typical only child. But these last few days have made me realize that I do not share well. The HUSband's car is in the shop and we're having to share my car. This is the second day in a row that he's ridden with me during my commute and then takes the car on to his work. I miss my private time listening to NPR and eating my bagel and banana. I miss my passenger seat where I can put all my stuff for the day.

Definitely looking forward to Yoga tonight.

Insurance Woes

I knew that changing jobs would mean changing insurance, but I forgot how painful that process is. I started working here on 9/20. As of yesterday, the new (old) insurance carrier didn’t have our information. Of course, I had to go through crazy automated menus on the phone before I could get to a real person. Since I’ve had this coverage before, they were able to bring up my record - - and then there was this pause and realization that their system showed that my coverage ended in February 2003.

The HUSband has a procedure scheduled for Friday and the provider needed to confirm benefits. I called the Service Center to ask that my information be manually transmitted to the carrier. Having to go through the motions is frustrating to me. When I originally came to work here, I was a benefits specialist and did exactly what I was asking be done for me. In 2000/2001 benefits administration was centralized (moved from divisional to corporate) and I took on a new role. Yesterday, I really wished that I still had the authority to contact the carrier directly (and the current contact information for the carrier). It only took two phone calls, but it is now resolved.

The provider called this morning and confirmed that we have coverage. The meds will ship from Houston today and will be at our house in time for Friday’s ordeal. Hooray.

I haven’t tackled the Dental coverage yet. And yes, the HUSband has a cleaning scheduled for tomorrow. What fun!

Yum!

I've been eating a lot of yummy food lately. Well, one look at how tight my clothes are you anyone can see that I've been eating a lot of food lately. Or at least not exercising. Or both. Probably both. Yeah, I'll admit it: it is both.

I ate this weekend like it was going out of style. Friday lunch was Mexican at the request of a co-worker. It was a birthday group lunch thang, so you can't say no. I didn't HAVE to get the refried beans, though. We thought we'd have a low-key leftover and snacky dinner on Friday, but the in-laws ended up making it to Austin in time for dinner. Obviously we hadn't planned for that (in fact, we'd asked specifically about it on Thursday night - - but that's another story), so we headed out to eat again. And guess what? Mexican food again! Saturday I had a bagel for breakfast, some peanut butter crackers around 4 and a big ol' hamburger from a place called Fat Boy Burgers in Johnson City. It was tasty, and the fries were wonderful, but I shouldn't have. Yesterday we went to brunch/lunch for a friend's birthday at Cheesecake Factory. The portions are so huge there - - and the Key Lime Cheesecake was so good.

I'm doing better today - - a Smart Ones frozen meal for lunch and a tangelo for an afternoon snack. Wish me luck to keep eating this way all week.

My biggest challenge while at work is the tin of butter cookies sitting out for public consumption. All the pretzel shaped ones are gone by now, but the round ones with sugar on top still call out to me.