Thursday, April 30, 2009

Money Managing Extroverted Builder

I'd agree with the Money Managing Builder part, but I have never seen myself as Extroverted.

I took the 43 Things Personality Quiz and found out I'm a
Money Managing Extroverted Builder

Swine Flu Trickery?

I was listening to NPR on my way into work today and I was struck by the realization that it seemed like I was listening to an April Fools Day report.

I'm getting used to the constant updates on the "Swine Flu" pandemic from the media, from those I follow on Twitter, from talk at the water cooler, but I wasn't at all prepared for the strange story I heard on NPR this morning about how Egypt is ordering the slaughter of all their pigs.

There were many statements in the story that made me think I was being played a trick on:
  • There are no reported cases of the "Swine Flu" in Egypt.
  • Most in the Muslim world consider pigs unclean animals and do not eat pork because of religious restrictions.
  • Health authorities have said you cannot contract the flu by eating pork.
I think it should be asked, in this age of information overload, are we forcing this seemingly irrational behavior by keeping everyone too informed?  Every 4th Tweet I see has "Swine Flu" in it.  Every other story on the news and on NPR is about Swine Flu. 

Are we forcing people to panic?

At least we're hearing less about how horrible our Economy is and how the Recession is ruining every ones lives.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Oh Hai!

Well hello there neglected blog.

Have you forgotten me?  I have not forgotten you.  I've just been a little distracted lately.  I realize that is no excuse, so I hope you can forgive me.

What have I been up to you ask?  Well lets see.....

I've been working.  I love my new job (not really so new anymore is it), and I am busy building, cleaning, creating, deploying, and training.  Compared to my job a year ago, this job is at the opposite end of the busy spectrum.  It has taken some getting used to but I think I am finally hitting my stride.  I recently completed a list of my Q1 accomplishments and it shocked me, and quite a few others.  I just hope I can maintain through Q2!

Chris has been very busy also.  Our schedules are not in sync and I am slowly forgetting what he looks like (I recently brought a picture of him and pinned it next to my desk at work as a reminder).  He's learning new skills though, and advancing his career.  He's even learning dancing.

As President Obama (I so enjoy typing that!!) would say "This is our moment, this is our time".

Our house received a face lift a couple weeks ago.  We finally broke down and had all new windows installed, including a new sliding glass patio door.  So there has been painting, window covering, and broken part replacement (really long story) that has gone along with that.  Oh but how wonderful the new windows look, and how amazing it is to be able to open windows and let a breeze through the house!

The kitties are doing well.  Percy is as angry as ever and is constantly yelling at us to "Turn on the bathtub faucet" and "Let me outside to roll in the dirt".  It is annoying, but he's Percy and we're scared of him, so there ya go.  Ares is doing well also, his hair is growing back.  Did I tell you about the great hair loss of 2009?  We still don't know what caused it but he seems to be (thankfully!) on the mend.

And then there is Jet.  What is there to say about Jet other than he is just the greatest little dog ever.  And thanks to them I am starting to know my neighbors (they all know him and call him by name, they are slowing realizing that he and I are a package deal) and we've explored our neighborhood like never before.  He's also introduced me to my dream home.  You can view and fall in love with it to by clicking here.  Oh yes, it has its own website.

So now you're all caught up blog.  I realize it isn't very exciting, but that's how it goes sometimes.  I hope to find time to be witty and tell interesting stories, but right now I can't promise anything.  All my creative juices seem to be eaten up by process definitions and custom object building.  At least someone is benefiting from them, I'm just sorry it isn't you dear blog.

So please take care and I hope to converse with you again soon.

Kthnxbye.


Monday, April 20, 2009

CATS

I realize that I'm very very late to this party, but on Saturday I finally saw CATS.

I loved it.  I'm still singing the songs.

Our seats weren't great, and there was a young girl kicking my chair the entire play, but I was mesmerized.

I always forget how much I love musicals until I actually go to one.  I really should go to more.

And the best part, I got to spend an entire day downtown shopping, eating and theater going with my mother.

I'm feeling pretty lucky and fortunate.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Jet's New Boyfriend

At the dog park today Jet meet a Basset Hound that really took a liking to him.

It was quite hilarious actually. As soon as this Basset caught wind of Jet he fell in love.

Everywhere Jet went the Basset would follow.

When Jet would stop, the Basset would slobber on his back and lick his ears.

If another dog tried to come near Jet the Basset would growl and bark until the other dog left.

It was actually quite creepy.

Finally we had to leave the park to escape the lovesick Basset. He followed us all the way to the gate and just stared at us with those sad Basset eyes as we left.

Jet seemed pretty happy to get away from him.

Jet and his boyfriend:

Street Racing

Last night Chris and I were caught in the middle of a street race of sorts, and not by choice.

We had gone to Ballard to have dinner with some friends and play a really fun game called The Farming Game. I kid you not, the name of this game was The Farming Game, and it takes place in Yakima.

We left their house around 10pm to head home, I was driving. We turned on the West Seattle Bridge from the 99 and I proceeded to move all the way over to the left, as I always do, so that at 35th we could make a left. We were about to crest the top of the bridge when all of sudden in the rear view mirror I noticed two cars barreling down on us. One in my lane, the other in the lane to my right.

It all happened so fast.

They must have both been doing at least 80 or 90 mph, I was doing 50 and they flew by us. I thought about moving over, but it was way to late. The car in the right lane flew by me, and the car in my lane flew by us on the shoulder.

ON THE SHOULDER.

And if you've ever driven on the West Seattle Bridge you'll know that there aren't really shoulders. Just a small strip of extra pavement on the left hand side.

They flew by us so fast I couldn't even tell what type of cars they were, let alone get their license plates.

But oh man, I wish I would have gotten their plates.

I mean seriously, what the hell.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Christmas in April

I feel like a little kid at Christmas.

I just confirmed our new windows installation for Thursday / Friday this week.

I never thought I could get so excited about home improvements!

Sunday, April 05, 2009

Jetty Pants

Sadie's new nickname for Jet is Jetty Pants. How cute is that?

Sadie's 5th B'day

Yesterday I drove south to Portland to attend Sadie's 5th Birthday party.

The weather was amazing and the drive just flew by.

Of course I took Jet with me, he loves kids....LOVES KIDS.

Sadie is just the right size.

The playhouse is almost finished, and it looks great in the sunshine! Ella and Sadie are very proud.

Sara made a pinata for the festivities...

It was a big hit (get it big hit, haha).

Yep, she's 5!


I only wish I could go back again next weekend to help Ella turn 8 (Friday). 8 years old.....where does the time go?

Friday, April 03, 2009

Just Like Home

This is exactly what Jet did on Tuesday when we let him out to "take care of business" shortly after we had given him a bath......

funny pictures of dogs with captions

Thursday, April 02, 2009

My Brain is Bringing Me Down

I am very busy these days. I love being busy.  I love what I'm doing.  But I am very very busy.

I have a ton of things going through my mind.  Lists I'm making, projects I'm working on, functionality I'm building, training I'm providing, the yard work that I keep putting off, and the impending house projects (new windows!!).  Oh so many things.

I'm pretty strict with myself about getting a good nights sleep.  The alarm goes off at 5:30am, 5 days a week, and I have to be in bed, drifting off to dreamland, by 10pm to be alert and effective the next day.

However, on average, once a week, my brain wakes me up around 1am and begins it's insane spinning.  And spins and spins and spins.  Lists rotate around, projects jump in and out, panic sets in about things I need to get done, and may or may not have forgotten to do.  Eventually I just lay there, heart beating rapidly, listening to Chris and Jet snore, until my alarm goes off at 5:30am. 

And then I'm not living up to my potential. 

Don't get me wrong, I can still function, I still get things done that I need to get done, but I feel like I'm teetering on the edge.  I pride myself in always being ahead of the curve, not on the curve. 

So, here is my open declaration to my brain:  Knock it off!  You're not helping anything.
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