Baby, It's Cold Outside
Holy crap, I have sooo much to tell you all! Gather around, scootch in close and listen up. You there, come closer ... don't make me tell you again about the scootching. Ok, so workmate Curtis and I went to Ithaca, NY in January. Not the smartest thing in the world to do, but it was necessary for work type official stuff. It was a very good trip all around and I was pleased we made the trek. In fact, while the past two weeks have been long in the work related world, they've been very rewarding. We had one of our big meetings recently and those are always a good time for me. I managed to not get sick (which is a first since for the past three years in a row, I think I've either felt like hell and/or lost my voice). I am the one person in the company who usually does the "dog and pony" show on new features and new products. It's an exhausting event to be "on" for so many people who all know who I am but I have to struggle to remember folks. But we also tease that our users group is more like a cult than any sort of average gaggle of users, so it makes for close bonds and good times. I was told not only by my co-workers how good I did, but by several colleagues and customers. Hooray me! It's always nice to have positive feedback. The meeting was in Boston (yes, Hannah, I tried to e-mail you but your mailbox was full) but we managed to miss out on the Blizzard of aught 5 and get out of town before any snow really stuck to the ground. We were back home soon enough and while I worked all weekend, it was a good time.
I spent lots of money on stationary for Regan and congratulated her parents on the birth of their new son (w00t!). I'm excited to see him in person and to show Regan her goodies. Co-worker Kathy and I spent many hours in Levenger and Papyrus gasping at amazing feats of paper and ink and I justified many of my purchases (like the animal shaped rubber bands - both the pet and zoo variety) on their uniqueness and the fact that Regan would like to see them. I think I'm a stationary fanatic. I could spend hours in Office Max. Don't even get me started on the new highlighter I found (who's hyperlink just sucked up another 30 minutes of my life in browsing and gasping).
In stationary news, I used my fancy new highlighter in my two new books I'm reading. I finished 1984 while in New York (of course, reading all the dramatic parts while in flight so I'm sobbing while the flight attendant is putting seatbacks in upright positions). The Puddin' claims it is "required reading for living in a free society." Interestingly enough, my fancy private school never required it for class. But my father's one room farm school in Edgecombe County, North Carolina offered it as part of its curriculum. So apparently Daddy went to a better school than I.
After finishing that, I've moved on to Gloria Steinem's Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions. Let me tell you, it's very fine. I had read bell hooks' Feminism is for Everybody and while it was a great primer, it was much more angry. Steinem's essays are so articulate and human and genuine that I am quite smitten. Her writing style is similar to that of
I had great Gary last Friday and he listened to my whole schpeal about Steinem's essay and then loaned me Mary Catherine Bateson's Composing a Life. Look for a book report from me on that as well soon.
This weekend was relaxing in that the Puddin' and I had a grand time puttering about. We spent several evenings where he would play WoW online and I would read feminist essays to him. Amazingly this works really well. I comment on the murlocs he's killing or the flight path he's taking and he comments on Steinem's essay about her mother's mental illness. Such a grand time.
Other highlights involve my falling down the stairs Saturday morning. I woke up with low blood sugar and the Puddin' looked so cute I didn't want to wake him. I didn't want the Sprite that was upstairs in the fridge designed just for middle of the night low blood sugar but wanted juice from the fridge in the kitchen. About four steps from the bottom, my feet slipped out from under me and I smacked my right arm, my butt and the back of my head on the stairs on the way down. I was too tired to cry and was only glad I didn't crush the deaf dog on the way down. And the huge THUD didn't even wake the Puddin'. I got my juice, crawled back into bed and whimpered a bit til I fell back asleep. Puddin' woke up and frowned at me for not following the "Genie low blood sugar procedure" of waking him and kissed my elbow to make it better.
Sunday I bought the world's best closet organizer, which I hope to take pictures of soon and post and topped off the evening with my water heater shorting out and smoking up the laundry room. Daddy is coming over tomorrow to replace it. Dad rocks. I called to tell him "my water heater is smoking" after I killed the circuit to it and he came over to diagnose, explain how they don't make water heaters like they used to, diagram how the two elements work and then work up the plan to replace it sometime this week (it's a slow leak that dripped and blew out the switch). Only my father would have a water heater switch just lying around on a Sunday night to replace for me so I can have a hot shower. I repeat, Dad rocks.
So those were the high points. I still have more to say about the Steinem essays, our plans for the house, what level my WoW character is and a variety of other things, but those are for another day.