Diet and Disney Woes

The day after I got back from Disney was diet doctor day and I had gained 16 lbs, but most (according to the nurse) could be attributed to water weight (since she couldn't get blood out of me, not an easy feat on a normal day, but darn impossible when I'm retaining fluids).

Today was my first real return to the clinic and, although I have lost 12 lbs from last Tuesday, I'm still in the gain category, so my ticker has gone down. It happens. As much as I was glad vacation was over food-wise (I was really sick of eating), getting back on track this week has been really hard! The day after last week's visit threw me into a Sonic run and got me hooked back on popcorn chicken. I've had them a couple of times this past week. Then, we had our work Christmas party Saturday night, which means food and booze consumption (and there was no way I was gonna sit in a room with people I work with without food and enough booze to forget where I am, but not enough to lose the food-which for me tends to me a lot...I lost count after a really horrible white sangria and 10 glasses of Reisling).

Oh well, I'm not really sure how well I will do this week either. Christmas food is being delivered to work by clients now and even the crappy chocolate we get from a certain clinic (Am knows who I mean) got Keiley-raided more than once (does it count if I didn't enjoy it or if I only ate the dark chocolate?). It is, however, extremely safe to say that the potluck Friday will definitely be avoided...if these people can't take care of their work environments and equipment that doesn't belong to them, can you only imagine what their houses look like? Yuck! I sure as hell am not going to eat after them!! I am not a potluck participant other than people who bring store-bought goodies and I know them and their houses personally...very short list! Besides, the smells coming from the breakroom are atrocious all day long! It's enough to keep away the mice and cockroaches!

Post-Disney Depression is in full swing though and pictures have not been touched. I'm using the excuse that I haven't got my sisters SD card yet, but it's a pretty lame excuse. Maybe I'll start on them first of January! I can still manage to turn them out in approximately 2 months if I work constantly on them!

Seriously?

Yep, it's official, I've been way too busy lately! Today was just like all the others I've had recently...I got up, came to work, and pretty much worked my tush off. Pretty late in the day, I was asked by someone, "why are YOU here today anyway?". My first reaction was, "umm, because I WORK here?". At first I was just plain offended and then majorly annoyed and then my mouth got the better of me (as per usual) and I started to get quite snarky with her. She just giggled at me and said, "you might want to look at the schedule for today". So, as I pulled up the nifty online schedule that I pushed so hard for the company to use, the wool covering my overly-worked eyes suddenly started to dissipate and I began to realize that I had actually scheduled today off for a vacation day! Yep, that's right...I SERIOUSLY FORGOT THAT I SHOULD BE HOME TODAY! Who does that? Well, me apparently. Hope this is not an indication of the weekend to come!

Happy Friday everyone! Especially those vacationers that remembered to NOT go to work today!!

Crazy Week!

I forgot how taking care of two puppies wears you out...but I wouldn't have it any other way! Little Bam ended up back at the vet's this week for his skin issues. It was a pretty quiet spring break week at work, which was good considering the home front hasn't been so quiet. First my all-region DVD player died (a devastating blow), then my plumbing went bonkers. Needless to say, not a lot of stitching got done this week in the Blair household. But what would life be without it's overly abundant and often painful hiccups?

Bam is doing a bit better today with his new food and meds. I replaced that crappy Philips player with a Sony (which just happens to have a hundred times cleaner picture with its composite connection than the HDMI of the Philips...god I love Sony!). The plumbing is temporary fixed until Monday. All and all, I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet, stitching weekend while watching the complete first series of Ripper Street!

So as I sit here finally able to watch the new Gary Barlow concert on DVD...a pup by my side and another asleep behind me, I'm inspired to post yet another Take That video. I won't burden you with yet another clip of Shine (at least this time, anyway), but rather Gary and James Corden (who I absolutely LOVE) singing Pray. James is surprisingly rather good actually! Enjoy your weekend and the video...hopefully I will have a stitch update come Sunday!

Stitch update

It's that time again...another week ended and my stitching due for updating. This week was rather trying; work totally sucked pretty much the entire week, my heater decided to die just as it started to get really cold again (and I absolutely HATE cold!), and, because of three headaches (yes, three, more than I have had in the entire month of January), very little stitching got done. It's difficult enough to talk or walk on Stadol, let alone push a needle through very tiny little holes of 28ct! At least I didn't have to call my sister to come give me Alsuma shots. I really hate bothering her, but seeing as I am too chicken to give myself shots, even if they are auto-injectors (that just makes them more painful and scares the crap out of you when they go off), I really have no other choice. There is no one else I would trust to stab me with a large gas-powered needle connected to a tube of extremely cold liquid, but I will still try to avoid it at all costs.

Anyhoo, enough of my moaning...the week started here:


And here is where I am today:


I'm trying to look at it as I'm almost 2 pages down in my final 5 1/2 pages, but it was just a disappointing week all the way 'round, and optimism just isn't in my bones. Luckily, neither is pessimism. I have another chance of getting caught up next week and there is no use dwelling on the disappointment of this week, thus the mantra of a realist...hopeful, yet unexpectant of anything other than what will be.

Big weekend!

We had our work Christmas party Saturday night. I haven't gone in many years due to the fact that they are boring, that the religious faction has blocked the alcohol availability, they've been in horrible restaurants, and most importantly, because I'm not a fan of most of my fellow co-workers (as most of you know).

This year was different...there was the promise of co-workers embarrassing themselves by singing karaoke, there was finally bar access, it was in a really good restaurant, and finally, my new position requires me to at least show my face at such functions. So T and I braved the bad and managed to actually have a really great time! Sure, I didn't do much socializing (shock), but the Guinness element and Tony's great company definitely made it worthwhile (and it didn't hurt that I looked absolutely amazing!). I did somehow manage to get a big bruisy knock on my noggin (and I'm still not sure how - hopefully I didn't make a complete ass out of myself), but thanks to my strong family "constitution", I woke bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning, no hangover in sight!

So I got to spend all today stitching and I got a ton done! Here is where I am now:

It really is amazing how fast these HAED's go considering their size! I'm totally addicted now!

Updates (or lack thereof)

I am a horrible blogger, a horrible stitcher, and a horrible friend (or at least it seems that way lately!). I have been holed up in my house just vegging. Post-Disney Depression still lives large in me.

But I do have a major rant. Since starting my new position, I've been super busy with cleaning up everything and getting everything back on track (my predecessors didn't have the time and very important things got left on the side of the road, some for several years). Plus, the added "bonus" (torture is more like it) of covering my old job when the transcriptionist is off (my punishment this week and part of next) on top of my real duties.

One of my big new projects has been setting up the billing office with new computers (10 in all). The process started out very smoothly, until I hit the first major snag, one computer was infected with a virus that copied over to the new computer. Easily enough fixed, but I started being more careful and started scanning the old ones first (which I probably should have been doing in the first place).

Everyone else turned out pretty much ok (well fixable), but one old computer was so infected, I have no clue how it was still running! I have NEVER seen a computer so infected and I've been working on computers for family and friends for a very long time (even more infected than the person who regularly surfs porn, and theirs is usually pretty bad). 17 virus, 56 trojans and more pups and tracking cookies than I care to mention (although they are usually side effects of browsing anyway, but they should be cleaned upon occasion...well over 15,000 is just too friggin much!).

How do you manage to get into such nasty stuff at work? I have regularly throughout the years removed toolbar after toolbar and "coupon-this" and "coupon-that" from this particular terminal, but they always get put back on, no matter how much this person gets told to stop it. I have no power in that arena, it's up to the billing manager.

Why don't people who spend their entire workday working on computers know more about them than they do? They can do enough to get through their job, but other than that, they are computer illiterate. It should be a requirement that anyone who works on a computer at least has the basic knowledge to know what is safe and what is not and what to download and what to not and when to open and email and when to not and even how to clean up their own machine. You don't drive a car without a license, why not have to take a "computer test" to make sure you're computer literate enough to operate one?

Granted, even the most diligent of people sometimes get viruses (I haven't ever, but it is a possibility and I'm always prepared for it). I personally have had my email hacked a couple times throughout the years, but again, that happens to the best of us. I don't limit my internet browsing at work...I don't do anything at work that I don't do at home and I'm always safe, so again I ask, what in Hades could this person have been doing to get so infected? Are they secretly coming up on the weekends to surf porn?

We have new virus software that has a control panel, and my answer was to jack up the security settings so high, they can't do any damage. But after the first day and receiving dozens of calls because they can't get here or do this, I dropped it back down until I can put in a list of safe sites, but until that moment comes, how much damage will be done? At the same time, these are adults...they shouldn't have to have their computers "child-proofed"!! And the person in question is managerial level as it is (which means they should know better than anybody).

I've actually stepped away from that particular computer for the past couple of days...I just can't bring myself to face it. Those computers are old (running XP) and slower than Christmas (one person's takes a full 17 minutes to go from boot to a fully loaded user). It took over 6 hours just to run one scan and one scan is never enough to remove all the viruses. I will probably just end up copying their files over one at a time instead of transferring them all to prevent further infection (yet another reason I can't face it).

The person in question isn't too worried that they are so infected...I saw this person Christmas shopping online just yesterday (yeah, on a computer loaded with viruses, let's put in our credit card numbers, shall we? Stupid much?).

OK, I'm gonna soapbox dismount now...but this issue is not over, not by a long shot! If I have it my way, no one (well, no one but me...it is a Woot-off this week after all) will be doing anything on their computers but working!! Nor will their be no phone charging, iPod playing, USB drive usage...basically, my inner Grinch is about to be all up in this place!!

Updates, IHSW, & TUSAL

Here we go with a combo post, frankly because I'm too lazy to split these up.

I'm two weeks into my new job and I have yet to work less than a 12 hour day (so NOT according to plan). But boy has EVERYTHING changed! I'm even more stressed out now, but it is such a good kind of stress! I leave everyday with such a sense of accomplishment! I also haven't had a headache in two weeks (and yes, I'm sure I just jinxed myself).

It hasn't been all wine and roses though. My old co-worker took on the transcription part of my job, she's doing it all by herself now. Problem with that is, when she's off, I still have to cover her. Needless to say, she was off last Thursday and Friday and it made for some incredibly hairy moments. It was even way too much for me and I snapped at people who kept bothering me (alot apparently, I heard my name and "bitch" mentioned in the same sentence quite a few times...gotta love the supersonic hearing and heightened senses that comes with Asperger's!).

But all the trauma of the past couple of days managed to scale me over a giant wall I've been ramming my head against for the past couple of weeks. I've been bogged down by this feeling of something akin to guilt by the fact that the docs didn't hire someone to try to replace me, they just divided all my other work up between several others. I've watched these people becoming more and more stressed as the days have gone by, especially since they keep insisting on coming into my new pretty office to dump their crap about how horrible work is for them now, how A is doing more work than B, it's all my fault because I took on too much responsibility in the first place, yada yada yada...blaa blaa blaa.

I may have been "rude" (someone else's word, not mine) to people both Thursday and Friday (but that's nothing new so why it was surprising I have no clue), but the utter lack of respect I was shown just made me see that all this "emotion" I've been feeling (be it guilt or something else) has been wasted on those that don't deserve it. They whine and bitch and blame, but still expect me to do the double-load and manage their lives at the same time. Suck it up and take it people...you are many, I was one and I handled everything just fine all by myself for not only the past two work days, but for the past 17 years. The only thing I feel now is sorry for the next co-worker that comes into my office to whine!

Oh, and P.S., when you piss me off, don't come into my office 10 minutes later to tell me how mean I was and expect me to be all calm and rational and apologize. I won't be over it in 10 days, let alone 10 minutes and, after all this time, these people should know that. What part of "leave me the fuck alone so I can get this mountain of work done" wasn't clear the first 5 times I told them? Expect on time 6 to get a new asshole chewed! If you don't respect me, how in the hell do you expect me to respect you by being civil?

On the diet front, I also really haven't lost any more weight in the past couple of weeks, but we've had all kinds of food events at work and I still haven't had the time to exercise. Come hell or high water tho, tomorrow I'm gettin on the bloody treadmill!!

On the International Hermit And Stitch weekend front...gosh am I completely ashamed! I stitched through about two episodes of Downton Abbey tonight and that's all! It's definitely my worst IHSW yet. But when you are working on a project you're not really into (especially one you have already done once), it's hard to keep at it. I'd like to say I accomplished a ton of other stuff instead, but that would be a lie. I played apps all day Saturday while finishing up series 3 of the Vampire Diaries, and today T and I went and saw Nemo in 3-D. But here is the sad fruits of my non-productive labor:


As far as my Tusal goes, I can't remember what last month's looked like, so if this one was different, I would be surprised. But here it is anyway, placed on the free framed pin set I got from buying a Disney gift card:


I have managed to get caught up on everyone's blogs (although I didn't post comments because I have been reading for several hours and I'm a pooped pup). These new work hours suck! Normally this time of night I'd normally still be at work, only to come home in a couple of hours and stitch like crazy till the sun came up. Now, I'm nodding off as I'm typing. How people get up in the morning to go to work will always baffle me. Give me a night shift anytime!

And that's about it for now! I am determined to start my new Disney OCD planning series next week (along with my own preparations for my October trip, which I am ashamedly behind on). We'll see how it all goes! Let's just hope I managed to make enough people hate me last week that I'm finally left alone this week! Hate is an emotion they can throw at me all day long, I can just put up the walls and shut them down completely. It's the easiest energy to block (love being the hardest). They are just spoiling their own vibe by filling it with useless negativity.

I survived day 1!

I had a solid working day (although it was a day of reorganizing instead of actual projects) and came home totally pooped!! I still cleared a good 10 hours and I'm having a lot of trouble controlling myself from running everything. Don't even get me started on the guilt I'm feeling about all my old jobs being dumped on others - but I've really got to learn to let things go. But, oh my Donald Duck! How lovely it is to have my own quiet private office!!!

Good news, bad news

First off, thanks so much everyone for your kind words about my blogoversary! And everyone watch Kate's blogs, because her blogoversary is very soon!

Well, on to the news...I am the new IT Manager of my lab! Not bad for an art major drop-out! I opened a bottle of wine to celebrate, but I didn't open a good one because the celebration is not a big one.

My predecessor is gone, I've moved offices and I am settled enough to start work on Tuesday at...ugh...9 am. At least I'm not sharing an office anymore and I have complete control of my own world instead of dipping my toe in every other department. For the first time in my entire career there, I actually feel like I'm making a difference, and it's a pretty good feeling!

But, and there is always a but, they put me on salary, so even though I got a little raise, I will be making a lot less money because I won't be getting the massive overtime or shift diff, and I have to go to the training course in December instead of waiting until next year.

On the plus side of the negative, I won't be working as many hours (hopefully, or we're gonna have to have a discussion about the salary situation) and I got to pick the location of the training course (so you can only guess which city I picked...Orlando, of course!).

I did my last transcription tonight (hopefully for a while, but I still have to cover my co-worker when she's off, so that could be an issue), I also did my last cytology prep ever, and I never have to cover histology at night again (not to mention the nine million duties I do that no one even realizes...they just think that house gnomes come in at night and do them I guess). They haven't decided on adequate cover for any of my old jobs, but that's not my problem anymore. I've made myself sick enough worrying about it and I just can't do it anymore. I have a new job and new responsibilities to worry about now (and I will keep repeating that until I believe it!).

On the subject of the training course, I am more than a bit freaked out. Sure, I've been to Disney by myself before, but I have never rented a car or driven from the airport to the resort on my own (or with anyone else for that matter, we always use a car service and use Disney transportation once we get there). Unfortunately, Orlando is a pretty spread out city and the distance from the airport to the resort to the training college are just way too far apart to count on taxis or a car service (not to mention the large quantity of toll roads). I had already planned to up my tickets in October to an annual pass so that I could start making long weekend trips after I got my new vehicle and that will cover the park ticket part of the trip. The lab is paying for airfare, car rental, hotel, and meals for the course dates, so if I stay any longer, any extra expenses come out of my pocket (which will be painful so soon after the October trip), but I can't imagine not doing so. I have to do a lot of research this weekend to at least come up with a base schedule.

They said we could re-evaluate the salary situation in 3 to 6 months, so you can bet I'll be asking for a big raise (especially after the training course!). I wish I could say that I have been spending the extra money I have been making wisely (or even saving it), but I can't...it's just not in my nature! I come from shoppin-type folk, we are all the same. Sometimes I wish I had a significant other to share the burden of the living expenses (not to mention to share my life with), but I never was the sharing type! Besides, I can't take it with me when I go, so I might as well enjoy it now!

I'm just really looking forward to just having more time to enjoy life. I just hope I'm not making a huge mistake!!

IHSW August-delay

For some stupid reason, I thought that this weekend was the IHSW, but apparently it was last weekend! My life is flying by so fast right now I can't keep track! So, since I missed it last weekend, I'm gonna do it this weekend (because I haven't missed one since I started blogging and I don't want to break tradition now).

I do also want to give big thanks for everyone's kind comments about my head and my stitching. You guys have been great! Another week is passing and still work is kicking my tail feathers, but I'm determined to be a better blogger after the first of September has come and gone! Besides, I gotta focus on planning a Disney trip, it's just around the corner!

Ferg-id is alive and well!

I wanted to wait until I officially spoke to the neurosurgeon to tell you guys the news.

Ferg-id Quinn #1:


Ferg-id Quinn #2:


Ferg-id is not growing but is getting a bit denser (in layman's terms). So, I guess the good news is, no skull cutting. Bad news is it isn't the cause of my headaches which means the neurologist has been right all along and it's the stress from my job. Frankly, I think I'd rather have my skull cracked open, it would be a much easier fix. I've been fighting the neurologist for so long, swearing that my headaches had nothing to do with the stress from my job, but now I have to suck it up and realize he's right and things have to change, or I've gotta get a new job.

It's my fault that things are like they are, I've allowed them to milk me for every drop of blood I have, and I gave it gladly for the good of the company, but the longer I'm there and the less I see others doing, the more resentful I'm becoming. It's literally eating me alive. The new job is supposed to make life better (when it starts), but so far, things are getting much much worse. Tomorrow is a new day and, as of now, tomorrow will be different...one way or the other. Now, if I could just stick to it...

Oh, and for those that don't know, Ferg-id Quinn is my left frontal lobe meningioma named after the three doctors I work for that make my life, in a word (or at least a nice word), difficult.

Update (in more ways than one)

I have been horrible at blogging recently, but I have good reason - everything at work is about to change, which, in turn, is about to change my entire life (I just hope it's for the better!). I've worked so hard for so long, I just hope it's about to pay off. Once the official decision is made, I'll have a new job (with hopefully a new salary), new "normal" hours-in both time of day and length of shift (which probably freaks me more than the extra responsibility), and the scariest of all - a week's long training course by myself. I was able to choose where (and you can only guess where I've chosen-Orlando of course), but the when I couldn't choose, two months after our official Disney trip. I don't even want to think about it too much right now...one lump at a time. Besides, they are definitely milking me for everything I have until then, so I don't have much of a chance TO worry about it!

And speaking of lumps, the lump in my head is getting scanned next week as well. If it's growing it will explain so much about my head, but could mess everything up with my job because they will want to cut it out (which will also make the pain stop). If it's not growing, then it doesn't explain the headaches and I get to live to continue living with them for heaven knows how long - a right cluster...well, you know cluster what. I don't want to think about that either.

A good thing to focus on is the Duran Duran show is this Friday night! But, (and I promise I'm not trying to find negatives everywhere), there are massive fears with that as well. I don't know the venue or how it's all gonna work yet and I don't do well with the unknown. My social problems are kicking up a right stink just at the moment. So, moving on...

One more chance at positivity for this week, a stitch update - but unfortunately, I didn't do very good with that either...see for yourself - Monday's work:


to today's:


I'm not nearly as far as I wanted to be, but at least she doesn't look freakish anymore! Plus, I was a bit worried about the colors not blending right, but the more I filled them in, the better they got. HAED's never cease to surprise me! Now, if I could just get over the 5 o'clock shadow it looks like she's got, I'll be extremely happy!

Hopefully, I will get a chance to check everyone else's blogs this week and get a bit of work done on my little girl as well. Things will happen as they happen, no need to upset myself by thinking about it (which is Asper speak for if I don't think about anything, I don't have to deal with anything)! Besides, things will catch up to me soon enough!

Promised stitch update

Well, it took another 6 hrs, but I think I finally got the virus at work taken care of. I really hate it when my weekend gets screwed up! But anyhoo, here is the stitching update and I'm gonna post two because the first one was finished last Saturday (since I started Epic Mickey again last Sunday):



And the second one I did tonight.


As much as I hate doing one color because I get bored, it sure does go quickly. It's funny how stitching goes in batches...obsessively stitching one minute, and can't bare to look at it another, but it's usually when you want to stitch life kicks you in the bum!

I hope everyone has a good week and I'm gonna wish the same for myself!

What a week!

The last couple have been crazy, but this one was MURDER! My I.T. duties have swamped me at work (on top of all my other ones), and it ended on a high note with one of the computers having a virus and the virus protection had been shutting off for heaven only knows how long and it was never reported to the I.T. department. We really need to come up with a better process for checking these machines. I just wished the time allowed for me to manually go around once a week and do all the necessary checks!

These people around here may use computers all day, but they know absolutely sod all about them!! That's gonna be my biggest struggle as a new I.T. specialist...dealing with these people! Maybe it's just me, but when I have to use something, be it an electronic device or what-have-you, I make it a point to know all I can about it BEFORE I operate it! Or is that just a girl-thing? Reading the instructions BEFORE you touch something new? Sure, once you're familiar with the territory, just scan the manual or read up on the latest innovations, but there still has to be that initial burst of learning, right? Or is that my Asper brain working again? Oh, why can't everyone be an Asper with OCD! Life would be so much easier!

Needless to say, I'm back at work today (and I never work weekends), to make sure it all still OK (which is why I have time to do at least one blog!).

I didn't get much stitching done this week because I started Epic Mickey (again), and could have finished it Friday night so I could get back to stitching, but I ended up at work until 6 am Saturday and when I finally got up yesterday, I didn't wanna do anything but look for Disney travel stuff online!

Hopefully, if I'm not here too long, once I get home I can stitch and post an update before the night is through!

On the diet front...had a bit of a setback (and only I could think of it that way). I've been working harder than ever to show my neuro that I am trying to loose weight. He said if I was at least trying, I was in a weight class high enough (and that's NOT a good thing) to be eligible for diet pills. Never in my whole fat life has any doctor agreed to give me diet pills! So, I tried my hardest, and when I went for my appointment Friday, I had done so good on my own, he wouldn't give them to me! Said I obviously didn't need them because what I was doing was working! UGH! I was brought up in the fast-food generation and this eating healthy sucks! I will NEVER get used to eating vegetables!

But I did want to drop a little figment (hehe...Disney people get that) of new knowledge on you. My friend Kate over at The Suddenly Kate Show has been doing quite alot of indie music reviews from bands in and around London, Manchester, and even Birmingham, so drop by her blog and give some of them a listen! You may find your new favorite band!! Not only has she got links to songs and videos, but she also has been able to interview band members as well through Twitter! She never ceases to amaze me!

OK, right, back to the grind...Hope everyone has a nice week (if I don't get around to blogging and/or reading blogs again this week), and we're in double digits now for Disney time!! Woo Hoo!! Because, in the end, all this work and struggle is just to support my Disney habit afterall, so bring on the next virus (OK...maybe not a virus, but some simple hardware matter, which is more where my area of expertise lies!).

Haven't been updating much...

I'm getting more used to the diet, but I'm still pretty low on energy. I have managed some exercise, although not very much. I know I need to get my feet ready for Disney World, but my motivation is lacking a bit. I'll get there in the end, I always do and no matter how much I walk on the treadmill, my feet will never be truly ready for the torture that is Disney World!!

Speaking of Disney, things have been quiet. I've been on the Dis Boards, but they annoy the living crap out of me...it's full of hateful, cruel, horrible people who ask the dumbest questions and get pissed when they get called dumb for it. In all the years I've been on them, I've rarely ever posted. I pretty much stick to the threads of photos and really only do that when I can't get my Disney fix from the various news sites. I do read the rumor posts, but most all of them are crap to be taken with a huge grain of salt.

On the work front, things have either gotten better, or I have just accepted my fate of being eternally walked on. I'm sure it's more option two than one. I'm making a paycheck, I guess that's all the matters. Work is work and home is everything. I just have to remember it.

And speaking of home, somehow I managed to give Zachary a haircut this weekend as a stitching break.

Yeah, he's worse than me when it comes to picture taking:


This is a bit better:


I didn't manage to make a dent in the shows piled up in front of my TV this weekend though! But without Once Upon A Time this week, I felt a bit TV lost (no pun intended...for those that don't get the pun, the writers of Lost are the ones that created Once Upon A Time). I'm still completely blown away by the finale! That really was an amazing show and really cool how it all came together and I can't WAIT for season 2!

Next week Gary Barlow is gonna be on Graham Norton on BBC America and I'm so excited! A little piece of my world is finally coming to my real world. I did find it kind of annoying that on the previews of next week's show they didn't mention him even though he's a main guest. Guess because people in this country don't know him.

Guess I'm rambling and I need to stop since this was the stupid post ever!

What a week!

First off...my wonderful Sister took my last post to heart because this arrived at work yesterday:


But then, she had to take me to the ER with a massive headache (the first time I have ever a-been to the ER with a headache and b-missed work because of one). This headache was completely different than the ones I'm used to though, and, upon reflection, it scared me as well (although I was Miss Brave Pants at the time).

I've learned that hydrocodone is a completely useless drug and I don't know why people kill to get it, so I hit the Stadol yesterday, which I have a different reaction to everytime...yesterday was apparently stoner reaction day. That put one of my doc bosses in total freak out mode - they usually aren't around when I'm having a bad headache (or I hide it well), but it's really hard to hide stoner mode! Needless to say, by the end of the day, he had my sister up here, had me rushed into the ER, and had me an appointment scheduled with the neurosurgeon for next week! Sometimes it's good to have connections (sometimes, it's just annoying because they get all up in your business).

I think the most important lesson I learned yesterday was suffer through the headache until the coast is clear to use the Stadol or you'll end up in the ER! Can't wait till that bill shows up! But then again, between the MRI last week and the CT they did in the ER, I'm sure I've met my insurance stop loss and any future med costs for the year should be covered!

But, hats off to Am, baby sis of the year, for putting up with her useless big sis!

And oh, BTW, in case you were wondering, that is my desk at work covered in Disney crap and that is just the tip of the iceberg! And you thought my house was bad!

Finally!

I think this the longest it has ever taken me to finish a page of a cross stitch! But here it is...page 1 of A Summer Ball! Let's just hope the other 8 don't take as long! I did actually do the backstitching on this page. I usually wait until the end of the project to do all the backstitching, but I thought it best to do this one as I go along. I really feel like the pants should be completely backstitched, but then I think about it, and...awkward!!



I think if I get home in time tomorrow, I'm gonna start on 35th Anniversary Celebration! Work has been crazy and I just haven't had a chance to start it yet. More on that in a minute.

I also have another new stash, but I can't show it. Why, you ask? Well, because it's a gift for someone (love ya T!) and I don't want him to see it! We may both be octogenarians before I finish it, but hey, that's when he'll see it! Since it matches his decor, I've already told him he can't paint or redecorate until I finish it and he's displayed it for at least a year, so if we are 80 before I finish it, he's gonna get awful sick of his current wall colors!!

On the work front...good news and bad news and don't know yet news and pissing me off news and getting better news and maybe future news and more bad news! Sounds like a lot of news, doesn't it? Well, I got a promotion at work! That's the good news. The bad news and don't know yet news is it may or may not come with a raise, and if it does, the raise is technically the same as I'm making now because I get tons of overtime and shift diff, so actually I make several dollars an hour more than I really make and they are only raising me up to that higher tier and I'm going down to 8 hours...long story short, less hours, same pay. The pissing me off news is the fact that I started this new job on Monday, and as of Wednesday, I have yet to work an 8 hour day, I'm still pulling my usual 10-12 hours. The getting better news is that I absolutely LOVE the new job and although technically it's tons more stress, since I do love it, it's good stress (if I could stop worrying about the pay and the working overtime still). The maybe future news is that this promotion could grow into a position really grand and I have every intention of showing off my talents and making sure it does go the way I want it too! And finally, the more bad news is that I'm still being pulled in fifteen different directions at work and added more titles to my growing list...I guess now my official title is Assistant LIS Manager/PM Coordinator/Transcriptionist/Cytology Prep Tech. The computers went up 50% and I'm supposed to split the other 50% between the other three jobs that I used to do in 100%. Yeah...I know I suck at math, but tell me it doesn't work out for you either! The transcriptionist part is supposed to be cut down and transferred to someone else...let's just leave it at that.

I just keep chanting...I'm going to Disney World, I'm gonna spend a shiteload of money on stupid crap that only I could love, I'm gonna see Donald Duck, I'm gonna ride Haunted Mansion, I'm gonna eat taco salads at Pecos Bill's, I'm gonna buy tons of Originals at Earl Of Sandwich, I'm gonna stay at Wilderness Lodge, I'm gonna ride Tower of Terror over and over again, I'm gonna sing along with Pirates Of The Caribbean while I ride it (which I always do), I'm finally gonna get that picture of Captain Jack at the end of Pirates Of The Caribbean, I'm finally gonna get a good picture of the Scottish It's a Small World kid, I'm gonna get stocked up on my Twinnings tea and my Basin Bombs, I'm gonna actually buy a bottle of Ice Wine this year, I'm gonna buy my Duffy Bear more clothes, I'm gonna ride things I've never ridden before even if I don't want to, I'm gonna make Am spend a whole day in Animal Kingdom...and enjoy it, I'm actually gonna see every parade and fireworks show, even if I have to do it alone, I'm gonna take pictures with characters, even if I have to take multiple xanax to do it, I'm gonna actually stop and take pictures instead of snapping while I'm walking, and finally, Am and I are gonna have the best time ever because IT'S DISNEY WORLD!!