Winter Break for me

I was away from work from December 20th through January 1st.  I thought today would be really hard, but it really hasn't been.  Highlights with pictures...because everybody loves a multi-picture post, right?  Amiright?

This may not have been during break, but it cracks me up.  Lyka stole "his" spot and he didn't know what to do with himself.

Pajama pants were made after my only 2 pairs of pajama pants died.  I salvaged the waistband, pocket, and cuffs off of both pairs, but a strange size difference kept me from adding the cuffs to this one.

I was able to put the cuffs on this pair.  Oddly enough, I wasn't feeling this pair as much and it took me longer to get motivated to finish them.  It was like they were not playing nice with me.

So, of course, they split the day after I make them.  They are currently in my "think" pile.  Angrily.

Completely unrelated, this is Lyka's "worried" face.  She is the most sensitive dog on the planet.  You can see how Phaux is affected by things.

"Worried about what?"

I don't mean to end this abruptly, but...well...that's it!  More pictures to come! Office project in separate post.

Picture Explosion!

Thank goodness I'm a photo-taking-fiend or else I would not know what I have done in the past few weeks!  Or maybe I would, but it wouldn't be as entertaining.  My world:

New bath towels and hand towels happened sometime in November.

Memories of the sickness...round 2 for this season.

Barefoot in mid-November...no big deal...

Someone has the middle initial pi.  SO JEALOUS.

One of my brilliant ideas.  Works like a charm!  (And it's festive...double win.)

Pink garbage truck!

Tackled these bad boys on the 1st of December!  But now they're back...le sigh.

Okay, I guess those were mums behind the garage.

December has been and will be pretty wild.  This is just my work calendar.  (Family/friends birthdays not listed...)

Pie my coworkers and I won for winning the Halloween Costume Contest.  It was pretty good!

Same coworkers plus more decided to decorate for a decoration contest.  These are "post-it" sized squares that we taped to our windows.  I designed the Kwanzaa candles, penguin, and dreidel.  And I actually put up most of the penguin and half of the dreidel.  Festive to the max!

Oops, I lied...NOW it's festive to the max!  My "ugly/tacky Christmas sweater" submission.  It lost.  :-(  Ah well, I still got lots of remarks on it and showed it off around campus as our company broke into groups and did a campus-wide scavenger hunt....which my group won!!!!!  (Yay, $5 Starbucks gift card!)  PS, I sewed this after designing it.  I literally searched Google for visual ideas after thinking that this is what I wanted to do and I found zero.  None.  That is very rare for Google.  I think this was a true original!

Alright!  Seeing as the costume thing just happened today, I think I'm caught up!  See you next time!

New "job" and everything else lately I missed in the past 2 posts...

Man, it wasn't even a month ago that I posted last and I already am on my 3rd post today to get everything out!  Okay, let's try to cover everything...

My job under the contract RHYTTAC ended with September, although we didn't find this out for sure until Monday, October 1st.  We then had to get all of our stuff prepared to transfer over to the new contract holder and figure out what stuff couldn't be transferred.  That's what was happening for that week.  Then, on Sunday, October 7th, I came down with a stomach bug.  This lasted for way too long, turned into a cold, and I missed work on Monday, October 8th and Tuesday, October 9th.  Even though I was still kinda sick, I came to work on Wednesday, October 10th and in the afternoon moved my stuff to my new desk in my new department [Resource Family Training (RFT)].

RHYTTAC desk

New RFT desk (very similar to the old desk...but with plants...:^))

Went back to the RHY area a few days later to raid all of the leftover boxes.

I began really working in RFT on October 11th and have been hard at it since then.  The department was down several people for awhile, so we're still not caught up.  It's a very different environment than what I was used to, but I think I've getting used to it and they're getting used to me.  After I got access to the DHS database that we use (and a DHS e-mail address...randomly...), it was pretty smooth sailing.  Well, as in, I knew what I was doing.  I'm still not super fast at the process and keep double-guessing myself, so I'm behind.  :^(  I hate being behind.  Anyway, this is the bulk of what I've been doing in the past month.

We've also done some home renovations/decorations:

I decided we needed a fall wreath for the front door.



Remember these guys?  They finally got sealed!  Now they're ready to be hung!



We finally decided on new silverware that we both like.  (Yet had to take them back after they rusted after the first wash!  :-(  The hunt is back on...)

Trimmed back branches from scraping our roof.

The dogs enjoyed the branches.

Jon began phase 1 on popcorning the office ceiling.

We bought a new ceiling fan for the office.

Jon had to change a door knob and deadbolt because the old one started locking when it wasn't supposed to.

The season of fall had some surprises up its sleeve:

Random bloom in October

I guess we have mums.  I also guess they don't bloom in spring - only in fall.

Our yucca plants are back again.

Jon became Dad to another musical instrument sometime in the past couple of weeks:

Playing it a lullaby...on...itself.........okay, so the dad/kid metaphor doesn't work...

I participated in Halloween at work this year and our group won for most creative!

Rock Paper Scissors...me, previous boss Danielle, and our bestie Merritt

Look how many people dressed up at work!  We're a fun group.  Yay.

I also found out that the health insurance I had selected will no longer be an option for OU employees next year, so just today I researched which one I needed to choose and enrolled.

Now we have Election Day coming up Tuesday and I have printed out our sample ballot, but I've yet to research everybody and everything.  I'm most worried about the state questions.  I don't feel like I really know what they are saying.  They also have a question about "abolishing" DHS and I kinda work for them and have a sister-in-law that works for them and the term "abolish" is pretty much terrifying me.

So, there you go.  There's everything.  Or at least as much as I can remember right now.  Big Gulp, huh?  Welp, see you later!

Ramdom added cuteness that describes how I feel.

Getting asked on a date...at Wal*Mart

Excuse me if this post bores you, pretty people, but I literally don't remember the last time I was blatantly hit on, so I was very surprised by the going ons of Friday night.
Let me take this chance to talk about yesterday in general - it was an odd day.  I will asterick off the general day stuff.  If you just wanna read about me getting hit on, skip to the bottom.

*****
I was talking to a previous member of my group that is now debunct and another previous grouper came up.  We'll call the 1st person Beth and the second Ann...just for fun.  I believe Ann is from Wisconsin and is pretty much the epitome of every stereotype you can think of about Wisconsinites.  Wisconsoners.  Dwellers of Wisconsin.  Whatever.  Beth was talking about rap of some sort and it reminded Ann of a story.  Let's stop right there and dip our toe in the "descriptive" pool for a second.  All 3 of us are white girls.  Very white girls.  Beth does seem to enjoy some rap, but Ann and I look like we couldn't pick Snoop Lion out of a lineup.  I think I could, though.  Not sure about Ann.  Alright, Ann's story, in full Wisconsin accent:

"I woke up really early the other morning, at like 4am and couldn't go back to sleep, so I turned the TV on...and it would up on MTV." (Pause for us to think about her watching MTV and laugh.  We did.)  "So this video was on and it was something like, 'B*tches bad, hos better, ladies good.'  It was like a positive message video and it was shot like a silent film.  It was actually pretty cool!" (Another pause for us to think about Ann bobbing her head along to that chorus and for us to laugh.  We did.)  "And then at the end it said it was dedicated to Paul Reubens who played Blackface."  I furrow my brow and ask, "Who?" as I did not know Paul Reubens had ever painted his face black for a film.  "Paul Reubens...wait..." All 3 of us at the same time: "That's Pee Wee!"  Lots of laughs, tears even.  Anyway, she went back to her office, googled it, sent us the link and declared "Paul Robeson!  I was close"

Very.

 

Close.

After that whole fiasco, I dipped into a sad phase.  I was out of things I could do under the ending contract, and hadn't been trained in the new contract yet.  However, things picked up and I was invited to hang out by 3 different groups...a first group that made plans with me the night before, a second group that texted me during the day, and the last group was my boss' boss asking if I wanted to go have drinks at On the Border after work with a couple of other people from the ending contract.  Anyway, it made me feel special.  So, onto the whole point of the post...
*****
 I got home from work and was tired, but needed to go to Wal-Mart for some stuff.  I decided to take a nap and then go about 11pm.  Jon was close to getting off work and after not being able to get ahold of him to see if he wanted to join me, I headed to Wal-Mart alone.  (For the record, he had misplaced his phone and was freaking out thinking he lost it altogether.)  I got a shopping cart from one of the outside cart returns and was one more aisle away from going in when a truck pulls up to my right (My wedding ring was/is on my left hand, so I'm going to assume that he didn't see it...). 

"Will you be my friend?" was inquired to me by a upper 30's-lower 40's looking redneck kind of man.  Thinking he just needed directions or something I smiled and said, "What do you need?"  "Well...a friend.  Will you be my friend?"  Thinking this was some drunk escapade or someone really not playing with a full deck, I said yes.  Then he asked if I might want to go on a date sometime.  I then told him I was married and got this surprise response:  "You are cute." (I thanked him.) "You are SO CUTE." as he drove away.  (I thanked him the second time, too.)  Add in the fact that I saw a person dressed in a halloween outfit from head to toe as I walked in and I was pretty freaked out.  Then I realized that I didn't know if creep-o was parking to come shop or if he was leaving.  Once I was safely tucked away in the bread aisle, I texted my husband to beg him to come to Wal-Mart.  He found his phone, saw the 2 texts, the missed call, and called me back.  He came to save the day.

I have no idea what the guy was doing.  I don't feel very hit-on-able, so I almost feel like he was trying to compliment me or something.  I was not dressed up.  I pretty much dress down to go to Wal-Mart, partly for this very reason.  I had napped in my clothes and makeup, didn't re-brush my hair, and probably still had drool caked on my face.  I have a hard time believing that people go to Wal-Mart to ask other people out on dates.  Needlesstosay, I shall not be going back to that Wal-Mart unescorted at night again.  Especially so close to Halloween.

A HEALTH Update?

I don't want to jinx anything, but I think I might be getting healthier by going into the Danger Zone (What?  You don't know what that is?  It's where I go every night when I put my flight mask on...AKA CPAP machine...).  It was a gradual change and there are still some nights when I want to rip the mask off and throw it against the wall, but I'm getting more energy.  And I'm keeping wild hours because of my husband's recent work schedule, so I don't think I'm getting MORE sleep, I think I'm getting BETTER sleep.  I have to sleep with the mask on for 4 hours each night (It knows if you are wearing it or just have it sitting on the bed).  Some nights I literally count down until I can take it off.  Other nights, I wear it all night.  The horrible, "rip-it-off" nights are getting fewer and further between.  Tuesday, I took the day off from work and I mowed our entire yard - front and back - after weeks of growth and I've never tackled both sections before.  Granted, I was beyond sore after that (reminded me of my factory days when standing for a shower after my shift was some sore of cruel punishment), but I did it (mowing and the showers).  And I edged around most of the front yard today, which only took about 20 minutes tops - another feather in my cap since it's something I'd never done.  Then the battery died and my company arrived.  I hope to finish tomorrow unless it rains. 

Also, I think my overall mood is better.  I mean, I'm probably not the best judge of that, but I don't feel so bat**** crazy anymore, which seemed to be happening more and more as I got older.  I feel normal.  I feel tired sometimes, but I'm not nodding off at work.  I feel sad at times, but not the deep dark abyss I've traveled to once or 5,000 times.  I feel happy, but not run outside and jog the block once or 5,000 times ecstatic.  My contract ended at my job and I'm not in freak out mode.  Know that I was always told that I had a spot waiting for me, so I never had to worry about not having a job, but that's still some pretty scary stuff.  I guess I'm just trudging through the emotional toll it is/will take on me.  I was in no way prepared to say goodbye to this small group that gave me a shot 8 months ago.  I hadn't realized that we were so close - that we were actually friends and enjoyed each other.  We lost one of our 7 to another company and time will tell how many more.  I'm just switching to another contract, but that means another building, another desk, different people.  Transitions.  But I'm game.  I'm trying my best to wrap up the contract we lost so I can move full speed ahead into my new contract.

I'm better?

Snapshots of Our Busy Lives

Where I spend 8 hours each day.

Some sort of storm tracking truck

Phaux was humiliated by a bird.

Sylvester the Cat's head fell off.

My birthday at OU! (Cat card not pictured)

My birthday at Saied's!  (Another cat card, oddly enough...)

Children playing near the street at midnight at Jack in the Box.

Danielle's birthday!  Her favorite color is purple, by the way!

My car clock is lazy now...telling me 'bout what time it is.

One of these is mine.  $0 if you guess which one.

Siegi's "medium-sized" beer

Lamborghini in Tulsa...shut your mouth!

That crazy Astoria - half bobcat/half regular cat

Danielle has mad baking skills and was still badmouthing this cake....(Koo Koo!)

Phaux LOVES his new toy.

Sleeping with one eye open...

Dad gave us a loveseat...more seating!  Whoa!

New TV stand.  It's much prettier in person....and in better light....

T.HANKS for checking out the blog!

I'm not gonna apologize for not blogging all that often.  I'm living my life!