who's that lady?

...sexy lady.  Rob--you'll know what I'm talking about.  Not really.

I have been here long enough, and I have a pretty standard schedule to the point that I recognize certain faces on my way into or home from work.  The mile + that I walk to and from the train stop afford me plenty of opportunity to smile and say, "good morning" or "good afternoon" to random strangers that I feel a bond with since I see them at least 3 times a week.  Not to mention the characters that ride the train with me. 

On my way into work, there's a girl (probably late 20s?) who runs everyday.  She usually is just leaving her apartment as I walk by, so she darts out in front of me and takes off.  Only, she's not that fast, so I kind of stalk-follow her for a couple of blocks before she turns right and I go straight.  She reminds me of a girl that started at Offwire a few weeks before I left, so I always want to say, "hey, carrie" when she runs by.  I don't, though.  It'd probably WAAYY freak her out. 

The next person I see is a person who I'm 78% sure is a female to male transgendered person.  He's super feminine looking, but he's got a lot of facial hair (full beard).  Also, he's just stuffed into his clothes, like he recently gained about 25-30 pounds, but never bought new shirts to compensate.  He's very shy.  I've been trying to make eye contact and say hello since about day 2, so of course, by now he's completely scared of me.  I've seen him cross the street so he doesn't actually have to walk past me.  My heart soared a few weeks ago, when I smiled and he smiled, but since then, it's gone down hill.  I still vow that by the February, I'll have gotten him to say something, so I can hear his voice and be sure of my suspicions.

Today, I forgot my work badge.  I also forgot my drivers license.  The weird thing is that I remembered my purse and my wallet.  It just so happened that I didn't have my name badge in my purse, and I had taken my license out of my wallet for traveling yesterday.  Oops.  So even though a bunch of people see me everyday at work, and even though I work in the basement, totally tucked away from anyone, I was still advised to get a visitor's badge so I wouldn't be harassed by random employees in the hallways.  Because it does happen.  Weird.

Back to work blues

Even though we didn't take the super late flight home yesterday, it was still a late night for me.  Not to mention it was an all-nighter Friday night, packing for a long time on Saturday, and then sleeping on the floor with 3 other people that night.  As far as weekends go, it was kind of like college all over again, only I'm way too old for that nonsense.  This morning, I drank my mugs of coffee like they were shots.  Head back, throat open, coffee down.  Repeat.  Even with the extra caffeine booster, I nodded off a couple of times at my desk.  Hopefully tomorrow goes a bit better.

Today was Bubba's first (again) day at daycare.  He hasn't been since before he turned 1.  So it's been a good 9 months or so since he's be able to play with other kids and follow a strict routine throughout the day.  I dropped him off around 6:30, and got him a little acclimated before taking off.  Ben and I picked him up together after Ben got into town and we got the storage unit rented.  The poor thing was quietly reading a book with a teacher, and when he saw us, he burst into tears.  "Mama!"  (cry-cry-cry)  "Daddy!"  (more tears).  It was pretty sad and pathetic.  But he actually had a really good first day.  He had a good nap (we were worried, since he kind of likes to be in the action), and he ate all of his meals.  Nice work!  Hopefully, this turns out to be a good fit.  Sometimes, kids that age just save up all the emotion for when they are comfortable enough to express them, ie, when they are with their parents.  It's nice to know we're still needed.  I guess.

watch me flex

So I got the notice late last week that in order to save some money at the office, we're going to have to flex.  Of course, I immediately get mental images of the guys I work with standing in front of mirrors.  But that's not what HR meant (obviously)...the mental scenario alone was enough for me to want to talk to someone about a hostile work environment.  They meant that we have to take vacation.  And a lot of it.  40 hours between September 10th and March 31st.  Unfortunately, I won't have 40 hours of vacation accrued by then.  Fortunately, they will allow us to use budgeted people who might not actually work in our departments, yet.  So there's a whole person who we will count from September-March.  I think it'll cover all of our flexing, and none of us will actually have to take our shirts off.

Home again, home again jiggity jog

I took a day or so off the blogging to head back to Omaha and help pack the truck before giving my saintly husband a quick kiss as he took off with the moving truck to parts unknown.  Actually, he's heading to these parts.  But he doesn't have a map or any written directions or access to google while driving, so it may as well be unknown for him. 

I took the brutal flight back to Omaha, again, leaving my apartment at 8:20pm, and arriving in Omaha at 7:30am.  I slept more on this go-round than I did the last time, though, which helped me stay awake through a 13 hour day packing boxes and trucks.  Sadly enough, we were about 10 "casemate" boxes short.  If only I had worked at Offwire for one more day...  I guess that's what you get when you have way too much stuff. 

Today, Ben left early (6ish?  maybe earlier?), and the kids and I slept in until 8.  When Scooter got back from church, we picked up a little and then headed to the zoo.  None of us realized that it was halloween day at the zoo.  The place was teaming with children.  We saw a lot of witches, Harry Potters, Iron Men, scream charatcters, etc.  Whenever we couldn't figure out what a costume was, my mom would announce that it was Lady Gaga.  After the 2nd or 3rd time of this, I laughed, and my mom stated quite seriously, "Well...lady gaga has several different 'looks'."  That she does, mom.  Good call.  I'm just not sure that a grown woman with glittery hair and a "wifey for lifey" actually qualifies as dressing up as anything, much less the lady of gaga.

After the zoo and a trip to a park so the kids could get the stink off, we headed to the airport.  I brought Bubba back with me on this trip.  He was a dream on the flights (kind of).  He was a dream for the other passengers, but kind of annoying for his mother.  It was all peek-a-boo and smiles with the lady sitting behind us, which meant a lot of him standing on me or leaning WAAAYY over.  But at least he didn't scream the whole time.  He was a little (a lot) leery when we first arrived to the apartment.  He refused to get out of his stroller.  I finally got the boy in bed, but it was all up-down, roll, giggle for a while.  He's having a hard time of this.  Hopefully, Ben will find these unknown parts tomorrow, so we can get a real spot for Bubba to sleep in.

Genius in the making

I took one of my study guides' practice tests today.  85% is passing, and I got an 87%.  I took 2 points off my total when I checked my answers.  It was a timed practice test.  I had 30 minutes to complete it, and I took 22.  The first one I got wrong, I knew was wrong when I answered it (it was a true/false question), but then I talked myself into leaving it because I wondered if it was a trick.  Oops.  The second one I actually got right.  I had to list and link the tables to create a fake report.  I had all the tables I was supposed to, and I linked 4 of them correctly, but I missed the last one by making it a left outer join instead of a right outer join (which reminds me of a joke, but I'll spare you the groans).  It was a 2 point question, so I took a point off (we're allowed partial credit).  Maybe I should have taken .5 of a point off, but I was being tough.  So I passed.  Kind of. 

The other super smart thing I did today was learned something else new about my iPod.  I've had this thing for about 3 years, now.  It has 3996 songs on it.  On the drive out here 5 weeks ago, I learned how to shuffle the songs.  Although it's about a 24 hour drive, I barely made a dent in the number of songs I heard.  Mostly because I didn't realize that if you shut the iPod off all the way, it resets the shuffle.  Oops.  I learned last week, that if you just PAUSE the song, and the iPod shuts itself off, it'll remember where it was when you turn it back on.  Today, I learned that I can make a playlist on my ipod, without having to go through itunes on my computer.  And not only that, but I can also make it shuffle the playlist.  I know, I know.  Things I probably should have figured out by now, but I'm proud of myself for learning my new-fangled gadgets.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll tackle the pager they issued me at work a month ago...

Is it breezy in here?

Since coming to Portland, my butt has been cold, and not in the "your butt is so stupid" kind of way.  I mean, my rear end has been chilly.  First of all, I don't have any furniture in my house to sit on.  My sister in law was so kind to let me borrow one of her camping chairs, which I've been sitting on everyday.  I have also refused to turn the heat on in here.  I will turn on the baseboard heater in the bedroom when I sleep at night, but other than that, it's pretty cool in the apartment.  One thing I've learned in this experience is that these chairs are breathable.  And my butt gets cold at night. 

During the day, I work.  The office is a large room with 8 other people (give or take, as we work from home 6 days per month).  The room starts out warm in the morning, but by 10 or so, it's pretty cool in there as well.  The boys in the office run 2 fans pretty much all day.  The chairs in the office are those awesome, ergonomic kind that are mesh.  I had one at my old job that had a mesh back, but the seat part was cushioned.  These ones are all mesh.  They're breathable, too.  Extremely breathable.  And my butt is cold during the day.

I'm already paranoid about cool bottoms.  I mean, I did split the bottoms out of 4pairs of pants in a 3 year time span.  I am pretty much an expert on what a cold butt means.  Portland isn't an exceptionally cool place to live, but my backside wouldn't know it.  I might have to start wearing fleece underpants just to regulate my body heat - and protect against anymore accidental moonings.

Good men are hard to find; pennies are not.

My husband has been living in Omaha, with either one or two kids for five weeks, now.  He's working, getting the house packed and ready for sale, and single-handedly raising his son and sometimes step daughter.  I am beyond proud to call him my husband.  We talk everyday.  Multiple times.  He usually calls in the morning to make sure I got up.  Today, I was running late and had JUST gotten up when he called.  I usually call at lunch time and right when I get off work.  And then we talk one or two times in the evening.  I'm pretty sure we'll both have brain tumors when this whole thing is said and done, but it's worth it.  What's that saying?  Absence makes the heart go wander?  Just kidding. 

Today during his lunch, he picked up the moving truck.  This evening, my mom came over as did one of Ben's friends, and they packed all the heavy stuff.  The rest of it will probably get done this weekend, while I'm home.  He has done such an amazing job while under such a tremendous amount of stress.  I can't wait until we can all be together under one roof.

Scooter is coming home tomorrow to say good bye to the nanny.  She doesn't have school, and it's supposed to be a pretty nice day for some bike riding.  She's hoping that more leaves fall off the trees, so she can crunch them with her bike.  I'm excited because that means I might be able to skype with them on Thursday AND Friday, and then I'll be home on Saturday.  This was such a long stretch without seeing my family.


I found a penny on my way home today.  I have found probably $0.45 in mulch beds, and today was more of the same.  I am beginning to wonder if there is some sort of superstition around here regarding putting coins in flower beds.  Like...they are little monuments to someone's dead grandmother or something.  Either that, or the copper in the pennies helps break down dog poo faster.  Eeewwww...