BlueChicago1974

Ah Friday

Fri, 30 May 2008 13:24:20 GMT

After a long weekend its hard to get back into the swing of things. Although I didn't get everything I wanted to get done completed last weekend I think we made a pretty good dent. Even got the porch ready complete with all the flower boxes and planters cleaned out and replanted.

This upcoming weekend I have a few more little projects to accomplish including putting together a scrap book page for my girlfriend's baby shower on sunday. Yeah... Because Im so creative.... We have to create a scrapbook page that introduces ourselves to their baby. While I admit that the effort and sentiment is really sweet I am not a scrapbook kinda gal. I'm trying to not let my inner curmudgeon out all over this page but its very difficult. I'm sure it will be even more difficult on sunday when the girls make me play baby shower games.... So if you happen to hear about my freak accident involving repeatedly sticking a decorative toothpick that I got from a crustless cucumber tea sandwich into my eye....you'll know why it happened. Or at least you know what tactic I used to excuse myself from the aformentioned game playing.

This is baby shower 1 of the 3 I have to go to this month....Next one is next saturday...less than 7 days later.... Apperently people had a great autum/winter....and that one is for my YOUNGER cousin who got married AFTER I did. And the whole family will be there. Since you are all very smart people I think you can see where this is going. Oh so much fun. Can't wait. (see decorative toothpick comment) The upside is that I'll have my cousin/lil sister with me. Since she's jumping ship and moving to NYC next month I may be able to use her as a human shield. Its true... I have no shame. Anyway...happy friday....

40 minutes to go before I can leave here

Fri, 23 May 2008 19:23:41 GMT

I have completely checked out at work. They just told us after weeks and weeks of working every day and all the stress that our project will be postponed so our team (all 4 of us) can go work on another project that some slightly more inexperienced folks have hosed up.

Its the correct decision to make to be sure.....Its actually one of those decisions that you rarely ever see managment make. Most of the time I expect my managment staff to say hey....get it done... even if your work is now dependant on other service groups that you have no control over. Or, Get it done and throw more bodies at it. The other project is a much higher priority, can carry large fines if its not implemented on time, and is overloading the same resources we need to use for our project and timelines. Since our project services the internal IT staff, technically we can launch whenever. Anyway, I get why the decision was made. Its just a bitter pill to swallow considering the effort already expended.

So now I'm sitting in a conference room with my colleague trying to figure out what we're supossed to do. But to be honest I really could not give a flying fig in space.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend. For those of you traveling, I hope that the traffic is lighter than you expect and you can find that rare cheap gas price.

I need a cold adult beverage.....

sleepy....

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:02:09 GMT

quick hit. Chris had a birthday last week and to celebrate I made a 6 course meal and had a few friends over to celebrate. Here's the menu:

Goat cheese fritters on a salad of watercress and endive with a citris dressing and a tomato relish

Green Apple Sorbet (the shallots and garlic in the relish are pretty powerful so a pallet cleanser never hurts)

Potato and Leek soup

Dry aged NY strips with Pomme Frites and Asperagas

Poached Pears in a Port Wine Reduction over ice cream ( this is a mild pain since its a 2 day process but worth it)

Assorted Cheeses

....and there was supossed to be carrot cake but I got my signals crossed with another friend and that didnt happen. I think Im going to try my hand at it this weekend. I personally hate the stuff but since Chris loves it, I can try it.

All in all everyone had a great time. But next year he's getting a coke and a smile.

What to the up

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 20:03:50 GMT

I've decided that I'm loosing time. Somewhere during the week there's a rift in the space time continuum and I fall through it and loose an hour or two here or there. Which makes the day go by faster....unfortunately as a result my work week hasn't ended since Feb 10th. I would like to schedule a meeting with the overlord of the universe and ask him to stop messing with me because its not funny anymore.

Right now I'm sitting in my front room doing work. woopee.

Some headlines in our lives......

Our Nieces were born this monday. Lauren Elizabeth and Katherine Anne Allen. Twin girls...wow....We're going out to visit them and their parents/grandparents on the 11th. Some of the family friends may come down from montreal that weekend too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they can come. We haven't seen Sue Jeff and George in such a long time.

Ummmmm let's see what else... I've been working out with a trainer at the gym and Im down about 10 or so pounds. Which in my opinion is pretty cool beans. Even if he makes me run stairs holding a medicine ball above my head. bastard. I can't wait to see what he can do with me once I can devote more than 2 days a week to working out.

That's really it. I miss everyone.

ok bye.

Whoa

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 13:50:38 GMT

So the company closed again yesterday in the early afternoon. My manager was nice enough to let us work from home. But twice already this season the company has shut down. I didn't know companies could or did do that. Kinda weird.

750AM

Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:36:08 GMT

That's what time it was when I got to work this morning....... after 2 hours of being in the car. That's also the time the email came out to tell everyone that THE COMPANY WAS CLOSED!!!!! because of the bad weather.

Seriously.... I can't win.

ah...the holidays

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 21:30:02 GMT

So here we are at holiday time again. So much has happened these past few months.

The job is going great although we can't hang on to consultants which isn't so bueno. It just means that there's more work for me to do. But the work is interesting and Im fully engaged in it. Which makes it fun. I feel in this project that I really know what I'm doing at all times. Even though its technically new software that we're putting in and I'm learning as Im going....Im not intimidated by it in the slightest. Thats a great place to be in my opinion. My manager is thrilled with me and my project manager is digging what im doing and the shear amount of deliverables I can produce. So its good. Our project will get pushed out beyond the original spring launch time frame....which makes our personal lives a little hard to plan but gives us more time to get ready for the launch....and as everyone knows theres never enough time. Again....a positive overall.

On the home front we've been busy busy busy. Between October and December we had 3 weddings. Two different cousins and one set of friends. The last one was Jason and Jen's. Got some great pictures out of that one. If I ever figure out flicker I'll load them up in there....There really is too much detail to go into but the highlights were that everyone had a great time and it was one of the last few times we would see evin and noah before they moved to GA. One of the not so great parts was being hung over the next day and having to schlep all of their presents up three flights. The bride and groom left the next morning for their honeymoon. Since Chris was the best man and we have the big car the responsibility fell to us. Good lord did that ever suck.

For Thanksgiving we were out in CT hanging with the inlaws. We also had a memorial service for George (Grandfather). I got to meet his side of the family and see old friends of the family that we haven't seen in some time. Everyone traded stories about George and Lynn and started to really heal from their passing.

Something that sticks out in my mind though.... Some of George's "close friends" came to the luncheon and then back to condo. While they were there they asked if they could have one of the paintings that Len (MIL biological father that passed away) had painted. Anyway my MIL said that they could since they worked that out with George prior to his passing. That's what they said anyway....So when they left they took it. It was hanging on the wall over the couch with a room full of grieving relatives staring at it. Now I'm sorry but couldnt they wait a few days after the memorial to come and get it? Its not like they live all that far away. They only stayed at the condo for five minutes so you know that's all they came for. Totally inappropriate in my opinion but maybe Im just too sensitive.

Anyway in other quick hits, we saw Evin and Noah off to GA, helped move James and Josie, celebrated Matt and Josie's birthdays and are geared up for the holidays. I even made fudge. (ok the first attempt it was grainy pudding...the second time it was fudge)

I guess the last big thing is we consulted for the first time with a financial planner. We're going through all the stuff that no one likes to think about. Including things like life insurance and disability....and the ever popular portfolio so Chris doesnt have to use the carpenter's retirement plan. (which as I understand it is a deli tray and a pine box) On deck after that is the will. Somewhere along the line I grew up a little.... how frightening.

Alrighty....all of you have a great holiday season!

Whoa

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:33:15 GMT

Time really does fly when you have no idea what's going on.

THe recap goes like this:

My MIL and SIL were here for a few days. Always great to see them. And since SIL is almost 4 months pregnant with twins, it will be the last trip they both take out here for a while. We didnt really do all that much while they were here. Mostly hanging out. We went to the around the coyeote art festival and did the brunch thing. We did have dinner with them and my mom at Matou. And since James has a thing for older Jewish women, he got some eye candy for the evening starring at my MIL.

I started job and things have been going well. I did have to go out to King of Prussia for training for a week. The class was good but the logistical stuff was not so good. I stayed at the Sleep Inn which was for lack of a better word a PIT! Naaasty. All sorts of ew. Im not sure if it was the dirty walls, the forest green gross carpet or the mystery hair which I kept finding all over the table tops. But I was glad to be free of that place and get home.

PHL airport.....yeah...it stormed on Friday while we were trying to get out. Do I need to say anymore?

I did make it on standby for an earlier flight which ended up leaving 1 1/2 hours after my flight was supossed to leave. But I got to listen to some of the rudest gate agents and security people yelling at passengers for 7 hours while I was waiting. And I do mean yelling... loud! One TSA security person was yelling in this 80 year old woman's face because she forgot about a tube of hand cream in her carryon. I seriously thought this lady was going to break down into tears. Now I dont think these folks all started out the day this pissed off but man whatever they went through that day sure made them angry little punkins.

Coming up in the next few weeks are more weddings, a little birthday action, and the holidays. I was in target yesturday and all the christmas stuff is already all out. I cant believe its almost time already.

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 14:29:52 GMT

If I wasnt so tired I would be doing th happy dance right now. I don't have to go back to STL....evah! If I dowanna anyway.

So what's been going on with us? Well, we had folks over on sunday for kind of an inpromptu bbq for my home comming. So good to see everyone. I haven't gotten to do that in well over a year. Since we used to be the party throwers and havent really done that in years it was nice to have something small where we could all get together for a couple hours.

The friday before was our cousin's wedding reception. Hanging with the family always has some sort of drama. This time it was my mom getting wasted. HA! Now as many of you know the woman can handle her liquor so it was strange that she turned to me half way durring dinner to let me know for the fourth time that she was pretty drunk. So being a good daughter I got her some diet coke and we took a nice long stumbling stroll through the marriott lincolnshire resort. Unfortunately she didnt perk up like we hopped and she had to go home. My sister's family then had to leave because they brought her. I think the cutest part of poor drunk mommy was the I love you mans came out before she left. That and that Youre really a good kid. Hysterical. I felt bad for her that she didnt get to enjoy the reception like she would have wanted....but not too much to have a good giggle about it with her.

On the home front.... well.... my husband convinced me to buy a new car. Not exactly new. A used one. But new to me nonetheless. So the CRV is no more. But we kept in the same family of cars and got an MDX. The car is freaking huge inside. Huge....to me anyway. Since I'm used to very small cars it will be a minor adjustment. But it gets about as good gas milage as the Honda and its a V6 so it has some plums when you step on the gas. Much to Chris' delight. No more hampsters under the hood. And its a really nice car that one could potentially fit car seats in the back if one were so inclined to do so. (Not yet...you will a ll know when) Please refreain from telling me all about what an @ss I am for getting a larger vehicle for a few days. Just a few days ok?

We got interested in the car because my MIL has one. We love driving it when we visit her.... and she already did all the research so we had the 411 on the car and how it has held over the years. I really like it... Although I'm not thrilled with having a car payment again. That took a lot of convincing from Chris. Its close to the same payment I was making before so its not a stretch....But its still a car payment. We have been discussing getting a new car for months. When I found the one we wanted yesturday I just said what the heck.

I turned in my laptop and the rest of my company property yesturday....walking out of the office it felt real for the first time. I wasnt rushing to the airport yesturday and I didn't have to be seperated from my family this week. I'm very happy. Im sure that driving every day in the craziness will wear on me but it really is better than being on the plane.

On the getting healthy front I joined the gym down the street. This will become a part of my weekly routine and I think I will really enjoy it. Their list of included classes is very extensive so I can take a class if I dont want to rock out on the machines. I'll be setting some goals for myself once I get into my routine of being home and commuting.

I need to get moving. MIL and SIL will be here on Friday and I have a tone of stuff to do before they get here. I'm so excited to see them. SIL is pregnant with twins so Im sure that whatever we do it will be low key.

Later

1 day left in STL

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 20:44:10 GMT

That is all.

The Bad and the Good

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 00:01:32 GMT

Bad News:
Chris' Grandfather passed away this week. George was his Mother's Stepfather. Her father passed away when she was 16. So George is the only Grandfather on his mother's side he has ever known. It came as really no surprise although the circumstances are a little unusual. He was admitted to the hospital for what may have been pneumonia. He was stable and in a bed talking. MIL asked him if he wanted some medication for pain which he said yes to. She went out of the room with one of the doctors to discuss the medication. Mere minutes had passed when they returned and he was gone. Unusual but still not a complete surprise. Since Lynn, his wife, passed a few years ago its been down hill pretty much ever since. ALthough, he still had his faculties and could still do many things for himself....the guy was slowly dying of a broken heart. Lynn was and will always be the love of his live. Without her, the house was too big and the colors of this life seemed to fade. The two of them did not want services for their passing. Both wanted and have been cremated. We will be comingling their ashes and spreading them out over the beach in the hamptons where they owned a home. (They were moving out when Puff Daddy moved in down the street) This way (symbolically) they can watch the sun rise and set over that beach....together for all time.

Amazing man, George. Very loving, highly intelligent and a tollerance for vodka that I have never seen before or may ever see again. Remember that he was of the age that had the martini waiting for them when they got home from work. He had been all over the world. He was a marine..... on the beach at Normandy in the second world war.....and lived. About which he only commented once. Just that he had seen things that no human being should ever see. And that was that.

All in all he was a wonderful man that lead a rich and full life. We will miss him very much.

Good news:
I quit my job. I will be starting the new one Oct. 15th. No more traveling....little less bull sh!t. And I get to see my husband every day....and even sleep in my own bed everynight. What a luxury!
ok .... I need to get back to packing for my last trip to STL. Since this is my last week Thursday cannot come fast enough.

Dude... its not fun getting old

Sun, 23 Sep 2007 19:15:33 GMT

So when last we met up with our heroin she was puking her brains out and fainting in her bathroom. I did get the test messages of support...Thank you so much for thinking of me.

This week I tore my deltoid and one of the muscles in my neck. Can you freaking believe that? I slept funny and in the morning was feeling very stiff.... then I went to crack my neck. I didnt feel anything actually rip right away. Over the course of a few hours (and a heating pad session and a hot shower which I didnt know was not the thing to do) I went from just being kinda stiff and a little sore to not being able to move my head (or sit down,lay down, get up, stop myself from crying uncontrollably...etc). It was pretty excruciating. Over the last 2 days I've been sporting the anti inflammatories and lots of iceyhot. I did the cold packs the first day and heat yesturday. I was successful in getting out of bed un assisted this morning which is a huge deal. Thats how bad it was. You don't realize how much you use certain muscles until you try not to. Well fo rthose that are very active Im sure you know all about it but for me....the human slug...I dont. All I could think of was Really? This is really happening? Im not an athlete anymore...there should be no reason for this.

I'm hoping that Ill be good to go tomorrow on the plane. My neck always hurts after a plane ride so Im thinking that I'll have to buy one of those neck pillows in the airport just so I dont further aggravate it.

In other news Im still waiting for my offer. The reference surveys went out and people are answering them but since my future manager came looking for me Im thinking its a little unnecessary. And what's further weighing on my mind is the fact that they want me to start no later than the 8th. Which means I would have had to resign this past friday to give 2 weeks. With no personal time in between. Im not quitting with no offer.... I could have floated for a couple weeks since I currently have 95 hours of vacation accrued but Im not chancing anything..... especially going into 4th quarter when nobody is hiring since theyre all out of money for the year. Im keeping my fingers crossed for an offer tomorrow and I can get my act together.

Ok I cant sit anymore..... I hope everyone is good and pain free!

First day of the rest of your life....or something

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 01:02:38 GMT

O man what a week. I was in my bathroom monday morning getting ready to leave and I suddenly felt really nausious.... Then I passed out. I didnt fall so much as I slid down the wall and regained consciousness before my head hit the tile. After getting violently ill I went back to bed. My first sick day on this job. Needless to say I didnt travel this week. I really wish I could just work from home all the time. It was really great.

Oh and no... Im not pregnant. Just sick.

I did however take the last steps to becoming a permanent part of the Chicago area. Just waiting for the last bit of info. More to follow.

Strangers with candy

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 18:57:01 GMT

No not the improv group. Actually it was more like strangers with mountain dew. So I was one of the lucky people to be on the traveling end of last night's storms that went through chicago.

When I got to the airport last night my 639pm flight to ohare was still showing "on Time" on the boards. I knew that there could be a delay because of weather but no one knew how bad it would really get. The 3 other flights that were booked before mine were still there. The 1 oclock flight had already sat on the tarmac and deplaned once by 5pm. Then the fun really started. 2 plane fulls of people that got diverted from ohare (as in they waited to land and ran out of fuel so they came to st louis) spilled into the terminal. We knew that things were only going to get worse when they reboarded those flights, they sat on the tarmac and then deplaned them with the hotel discount pink vouchers. The vouchers later became known as the "pinks slips of shame".

Around 9pm the 1 oclock flight that had since boarded and deplaned a second time and was back on the plane waiting to make a third go of it. At this point we were still being told that the flights were going to opperate and that we should just stand by. And although the 639pm flight had been canceled everyone had been rolled to the 2oclock flight and the 4 oclock flight.

The problem with a situation like this is that if you say screw it before they cancel the flight, you get charged a change fee if you rebook and its an entirely new ticket that you have to buy. If youre on a project thats very cost conscious like mine this isnt really an option.

I did have a glimmer of hope around this point. There was a small hole in the weather and when they called my name for the 2 oclock flight standby list I thought that we might have a shot. We boarded....and we sat.
God love our captain! He shared with us that the towers had changed our routing several times and we didnt really know how much feul we were going to need. He didnt want us to be stranded in the air and have to land again like the other two flights. So we were waiting to get confirmation on the routing. He also let us know what time the crew had clocked in so we may still have a shot. But after sitting on the tarmac for an hour we pretty much knew that the crew was probably going to run out of flight time.

At a little after 10pm the hammer came down on our hope. The 1 oclock flight that had taxied out to the runway rolled into view on our left hand side and parked in the gate next to us. So the captain called the gate and got us off the plane. He said essentially that it was better to be trapped in the terminal than on the plane. We agreed.

While on the jet bridge waiting for my gate checked bag (I was on a regional jet) I concocted a plan with 3 other strangers to drive. We picked up a fifth person from our flight while checking in to get the car. We all introduced ourselves on the car rental shuttle and managed to get in an suv and be on our way home by 11. The joke was we were going to tell our significant others that we were lured into the car full of strangers with candy. At the helm was the attorney Todd, riding shotgun the fuse engineer John, in the back Scott the infusion pump sales guy, Me and Jodi the teacher that would not shut up. We stopped for supplies, a bathroom break, and gas around 1am. Then John took the wheel and we hit Weber road (I55)and the rain around 3am. After we dropped John off I was home and in bed by 415am. It was a very entertaining drive. We all laughed alot and talked about who we were and what we did. Jodi the self proclaimed documentor of the trip took pictures the whole way and is going to email them to us. Kind of a weird gal but whatever.....

It seems like a crzy thing to do but consider this. There were 6 stranded flights of people just at the United gates trying to get to chicago. When we deplaned they told us that we couldnt get out friday at all. And no word on when we could get back. So as Tom Cruise in Risky Business says Sometimes you just have to say what the F(*&k.

back by popular demand

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:01:28 GMT

Remember how I said United hates me? Well Im home again after going to the airport and waiting around for 4 hours only to go back home because my flight was canceled and they cant get me out till tomorrow at around 10 am. What's funny about it is the automatic phone calls that I get from them said I landed on time.....lol

Anyway this weekend was full of more birthday goodness than I think anyone really bargained for. Jason bearly survived the one too may gimlets we had saturday night and sunday at brunch we were all showing our age. It seems that little Maggie Chong decided to not be outdone by Jason and joined the world on what will now be referred to as HER birthday. Sorry Jay.... I saw the pictures of her and she's cuter than you.

In other news our new furniture should be showing up at the store this up coming weekend which means that we should be able to schedule a delivery sometime next week. I cant wait. Of course now that Elvis has taken to marking the leg of the couch we cant pawn it off on any of our friends....so getting that beast of a couch out of the house wont be fun. But Im hoping the the people of the alley will take it away soon after it makes an apperance on their turf.

This upcoming weekend will be very full. We're double booked every night. Between my cousins shower, the anniversary party, my old colleague's margarita bash and saying goodbye to Mary we will be all over the chicago land area. It will be fun....but really tight on time. Hopefully I'll get some laundry done at some point so I dont have to go to all these things nekkid.

Ok I have to get back to work. Its not easy keeping up the lie that Im engaged in my job at this point. All I need is the offer and Im putting in my two weeks.....unless I cant stand it before that time comes......

United hates me

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:26:44 GMT

On the way down to good ol stl the plane broke down enroute to ohare. The flight I'm usually on is at 730.... So I waited around for a few hours. When they still had no information at 10 ish and the proposed time to get to stl was possibly 2 or 3pm I left and rebooked my flight for the next day. On the way home the brakes went out on the plane and we went back to the gate. Then after a few hours of sitting (boarded at 7) we deplaned around 9 so they could test the fixes.... for a 630 flight we landed in chicago around 1030. I swear united sees me coming and decides to have a hiccup. I did get to Matou for some Jayno Birthday action around 11ish which made it all better. Granted the 2 blue cheese olives I had in my martini didnt make much for dinner so now Im nursing a light hang over....but Im glad I could share in a little of the fun.

I'm updating my resume again and getting it ready for my move to a new company....yes children I should be a permanent part of the chicagoland area very soon. One way or another. If I like what I see in this job req that I am being sent I should have a position back in the med field in sept. HR already knows Im coming and from the prelimenary talks with my potential new boss the salary requirements that I have should be accomidated. The only downside that I can see so far is the commute. Well and losing the ability to work from home 1 day a week for probably a year. I'll be putting in the systems that will enable me and others to work remotely. So there is the potential to get that perk back....

I can admit Im spoiled.... but with the commutes that I have to endure, getting some of that time back isnt too much to ask for.

Anyway if I don't like the new position I may have to go to plan B. That may include taking some time off and going through recruiters. One way or another I need to come home. I hate to admit it but my boss may have been partially right....some people just arent cut out to be consultants. If it means that because I dont like the constant travel and the strain that it puts on my family that Im not cut out for it ....so be it. There are more important things in my life than my job.

yeah ok...Ill stop now

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:17:41 GMT

I came through the other side of the call with the possibility of a new job by the end of August.....At tleast thats the current expected time frame. The job is being created essentially for me which is very exciting. Its similar to what Im doing now but Ill be working with a small team...solving the process problems of the company through technology. In this role Ill end up a project manager and still be dialed in to the technology and from what it sounds like....Ill also be doing quite a bit of training and presentations. All good things. And from what Ive been told thus far the department has tons of money. That means our projects wont get pulled halfway through and Ill get to go for some training if I want it. Woohoo!

On the down side the manager of this brand new department kept making references to my fantastic work ethic. Which is a compliment and a drawback. Ive worked with this guy for years and he's a workaholic....when Im in project mode so am I. So I'll have to rely on Chris to pull me out of my work and up for air. The other thing is they dont have a paperless system right now. Ill be impletmenting it as one of the projects Ill be working on. So I cant work from home on a permenent basis for a while. I have to admit Ive gotten used to working from home on fridays. Ill miss it. But I wont have to see the inside of an airport for 4 months. Although the thought of commuting again doesnt really appeal to me either.

Definitely pros and cons. More Pros then cons......

The job req is being written right now and should be sent to me this week. If I like what I see, it will be posted and Ill be sent the HR contact. Then its formalities after that. I need two weeks for my current project and 1 week for myself. Hopefully, around my anniversary Ill be a new employee. And Ill be working with a ton of people that I used to work with in the old department....when it was good to work there. I just hope this doesnt turn out to be a frying pan vs fire type of deal.

up the date

Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:52:31 GMT

So that happened. We made the mistake of staying too long in Vegas. When I booked the trip I thought that even though it was really for the conference we would make a vacation out of it. So I made the reservation through the weekend. That was definately a mistake. By the time we got to the weekend we were pretty vegased out. The Sahara is a pit. And since they put us in room 777 we were then as it turned out cursed if we gambled in that casino.

On the up side KA is a cool show. If you ever get out there go see it. The pool action proved a welcome distraction to the craziness as well. I even got a tan....ok well as tan as I can get with spf15 on. Spending time with Chris was nice too. A whole week with my husband is a luxury these days.

I'll write more later about our adventures in vegas. Right now I am preping for a call that Im taking in about 10 mins with one of my old contacts from the med world. I am very excited about this call!

Wish me luck!

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 18:14:26 GMT

And away we go.... we leave in an hour for the airport. I am excited to have a few days off alone with Chris.... We'll have a good time Im sure and Chris will get to play with all the new exciting toys in the wood working world. Wish us luck!

General stuff

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:31:29 GMT

And the count down has begun for Vegas..... T minus 1.5 days and counting..... I so can't wait to get out of here for a while. Chris will be attending a woodworking convention and I will be relaxing by the pool and catching up on my sleep..... ok ok maybe not. We'll be going to see KA while there which is really exciting. Man how I dig on Cirque.

I am not looking forward to getting on yet another plane but I have to admit I am pretty used to it by now.

I updated my resume and I need to proof read it... then send it out into the vast wasteland of the internet to see what kind of responses I get. Hopefully Ill be able to come home soon. I also asked one of the independents for a list of recruiters that he enjoys dealing with for staffing. Although its really more help if I wanted to go independent (which i don't because its more risk than I can handle) still good contacts to make.

Most of my contacts are still in the med products areas and up in the northern suburbs. Which would be fine if we could afford to live in the north shore....but that may not be in the cards for us. Chris is talking more and more about moving down to the Forest Park/River forest area. Which is close to 294 if I decide to go back to working in the north. Im not liking the idea of a long commute again. But if I can get a great job....well it might be worth it to get a house in a good neighborhood that we could actually afford. What a novel concept that is. And since he loves his job so much and has a real future with this company...and he has tons of contacts down there it might be a good place to consider.

Of course we still have to finish our place. We're on track to save up for the new kitchen and a few other things to get our place ready. Even though the housing market isn't great right now I do have hope. Our neighbor is selling his place....its been on the market for just under 3 weeks and from the grape vine it sounds like he has a viable offer on the table. He did a stunning job on his unit. I'm hoping that ours will be just as attractive when the time comes. Only time will tell.

Home again Home again

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 13:59:47 GMT

Thursday is turning out to be my favorite day of the week. I get to go home! I miss home.

I only got to run 1 1/2 days this week so far so I'll have to make it up over the weekend. Yes I started running.... no, I'm not exactly proud of myself for doing it. I should have been doing this all along. I finally just ran out of excuses and now I fight for machines in the gym at the hotel. (ok and I try to leave work before 9pm so I can)

Unfortunately I cant run outside...it doesnt really feel all that safe to me since I dont have a running partner.

Anyway, it takes me about 37 mins to run 3 miles on the treadmill which I know really blows. But I have to start slow...start somewhere...Hopefully in a few months I can get up to 5 miles in that time. And again this is something that I should be doing. I haven't been cursed with knee and joint injuries or pain like a lot of other people I know so Im capable and really dont have an excuse not to...

In other news, Matt is doing much better. He got the cast off and as he says "my thigh is like puddin'" and it is. We got them out of the house last weekend for a little while....and I've never seen someone so happy just to be out of the house. Or to play playstation....

Speaking of Playstation.....
Chris is on his 3rd playstation 3 btw. 3rd. If this one breaks he's going to the xbox. It started with my mom buying him a unit for his birthday. So he got it in early May. After about 5 days of playing it..... it just shut off and wouldnt turn back on....with a game in it...so Chris called Sony and they sent him a box to send it back because you cant return it to the store you got it from. It was supossed to take a week....it took 3 1/2 weeks just to get the box to send it back. He got the 2nd one back 2 weeks later. Turned it on to try it out and it wouldnt accept a game. Meaning that when you try to put the cd into the drive it would go half way in and then spit it out. So he calls sony again and asks them if he can just take it to a sony store since they only sell sony products...Nope... he has to go through the whole refurb process again. This is not the correct answer....but thanks for playing.

What he ends up doing is going to the store where my mom got it....(they have an outlet close to our house) and begging the people there to take it back (he had the receipt). And they did. They said that normally they wont but that they would deal with sony. And all was right with the world.

ok...I really need to get back to it.

Waaaaaa again

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 02:04:44 GMT

Yet more bizyatching from me about my horrible job....

I can't update all too long. But this day is 14 hours long with no end in sight. I think Im going till about 1 am and then I have to stop for a few hours. I'll pick it all back up tomorrow morning. I have an unrealistic deadline set for a bunch of stuff to get done that my manager should have been doing all along on this project. And today on a call with the client he once again threw me under the bus for something I had nothing to do with. A piece of development didnt get done because we're now on our forth developer that should have done it ....the other 3 either quit or got rolled off. And somehow he's asking me why its not done. Im not a coder and you dont pay attention to what your team is doing....That's why.

So much hatred......

Ok back to it.....

Our Project is cursed

Sat, 02 Jun 2007 22:19:36 GMT

So we got a replacement for one of the people that quit. He also quit the company after 2 weeks on our project. But we got 3 new people this past week. All of which I have to bring up to speed. Im already on boarding a colleague that I staffed the week prior. Its someone I actually took from my previous job. I have to say its nice having someone from the old crew with me.

This weekend is very quiet. I have to say Im happy for it. Just laundry, cooking and cleaning on the agenda. It makes me a very happy girl. We got the deck cleaned up and all the flowers planted.....it looks awesome! Soooo happy with that. I should put some pictures up soon.

Last weekend was jammed packed with friends.....which is always goood. Specifically, a couple that we know just move back from out of the states and moved into our neighborhood. Its always great to have people to go to brunch with on the weekend in your hood. Next weekend is the first of the street festivals in our neck of the woods.....I cant wait.

Ok back to the cleaning..... I know...really boring entry.

So what's up

Wed, 23 May 2007 13:41:44 GMT

I can't wait for this weekend.....because it will be spent in chicago and not in st. louis. And I can finish the rest of my weekend projects. OK ok....make another dent in the list.

Last weekend we got rid of the rest of the stuff that seemed to be weighing us down. The salvation army truck finally came and got all the stuff from the basement (ours and the rest of the building's after a failed yard sale) What wasn't going to them we got boxes for and I packed everything else up to get it ready for its new home.

For those of you who have ever had to schedule a pick up in the city its not easy. Amvets wont come to your house unless you put things out on the lawn. Doesnt really work when you live in a condo right across the street from a high school. And its almost impossible to find the right number for a local office of the salvation army to schedule a pick up.

This weekend we need to clean up our deck and plant new flowers in the flower boxes. Our neighbor across from us is putting his unit on the market after this week and who knows when people may be coming to look at the place. So we want to be ready and have our deck looking good for that (and for us).

The spring cleaning bug has definately bit me....hard. I want to clean and organize everything. I think it may be a sickness.

Oh for the love of .....

Wed, 02 May 2007 18:15:13 GMT

Over lunch I found out that one of our sub conractors quit and one of the full time's is putting in their 2 weeks on friday....

Which means that a person will leave every 2 weeks for 8 weeks.....

Total body count:

Total of 5 permanent spots and 2 sub contracts...

out of the 5 perms: 4 have quit or will be quitting as of this week. (I replaced the one that was on the project for a week)

2 Perms were loaned out to a different project

1 Sub contractor gave 2 weeks this week......

so technically we've lost as many people as we have spots for......because its so fun on this project.....