Archive of Marcia's Musings December 10-16, 2001
Sunday, December 16, 2001
Where to Start?
Brian's working on the pictures so I guess I'll start by just "talking" with you and sharing a bit of our weekend.
Since I already told you about Friday, I'll start with Saturday. After the morning rituals were finished, we got a start on our day by going out to breakfast-- that's not something we do very often on a weekend! After a way-too-filling breakfast, we started down to Santa Cruz to go to the Natural Bridges State Park and visit the Monarch butterflies. (If you remember, we make this trek every year but this is the first time we've ever been in December. Earlier this year, in January, we went with Natali, Sue & Bill's daughter.)
At first, since we arrived at noon, the sun wasn't really on the eucalyptus grove yet so there weren't many butterflies visible. The "clumps" were dark and deeply hidden in the grove but, as the sun rose and warmed the trees, they started fluttering on the clumps and around the air. One of the ranger-types said that there were about two thousand there at that time which is actually a pretty low count. The ones that were there, however, were beautiful and put on an impressive show.
Then we walked down to the ocean; the beach has suffered quite a bit of erosion over the summer. We couldn't get to the rocks where we had taken Natali less than a year ago which was disappointing for Brian because he enjoys climbing the rocks and
playing inphotographing the tidal pools.After a couple of hours at Natural Bridges, we got back into the truck and set off up Highway 1, Pacific Coast Highway. Brian did his usually excellent job of narrating the drive and since Bill really likes lighthouses, we stopped at Pigeon Point Lighthouse for some pictures as well as an upclose and personal view of a brussel sprout field (Nummy!!). We continued on up the coast to Half Moon Bay and stopped for a walk through at our favorite antique shop. I found a Christmas ornament that, although recently made, had been styled to look as an old-fashioned ornament in the shape of a cocker spaniel-- of course, I had to get that, don'tcha know!
We went on from there to a place called Spanish Town in Half Moon Bay where Sue found a couple of bargains in a dress shop and I found a Christmas gift for one of my co-workers, too. All in all, a wonderful day. (Pictures to follow tomorrow-- no energy tonight; I'm just plum worn out!)
Today, Brian and I took Sue and Bill to meet my in-laws for brunch. Martha and Bob were their charming selves of course and, as I said to them at the end, at least now they've met most of my family. We met at a restaurant called Jack's Bistro in Jack London Square and had a bit of a walk-around after our brunch. Lovely area and lots of fun little fruit and vegetable stands in addition to crafty things to browse through on the wharf.
After we came home about 1pm, they packed up their car and, sadly, we sent them on their way. Its so nice to see my family-- we don't get that treat very often. (Yes, the next to talk into a visit is Karen-- technically, she's due out here next year but I don't know if we'll be able to talk her into it!)
A few minutes after Sue and Bill left, I headed off to the office while Brian cleaned up the backyard and cut grass. Then he and Sally, who was feeling a bit jealous with all of our travels, went for a long walk. I've been trying to fight a cold for a week so when I got home from the office, instead of doing laundry, I layed down with Sally for a cuddle and a nap.
She needs some more "Mommy Time" so I'm going to sign off for now, promise pictures of my sister's visit tomorrow and go watch some tube with Sally.
Thanks for your patience in my absence the last day or two and for coming by-- have a great evening!
Saturday, December 15, 2001Out Having Fun!
Friday, December 14, 2001Busy Day!!
Hit the ground running at work and it stayed that way all day. About mid-morning, one of the sales reps in Detroit, who was working a County Government contract with me, decided to be generous and share a virus with my computer! I was so thrilled needless to say-- especially when I couldn't send the document out that was going to be discussed in an 11:00 conference call with another customer. Thankfully, the MIS guy was coming by to fix my computer (remote login problems) anyway so he just cleaned the hard-drive for me while he had it. On Sunday (Yes, Sunday!) when I go in the office, I should have no problem emailing or otherwise.
Christmas Tied Up
This afternoon, after it was safe to knock off of work, the four of us headed over to one of the local malls to go shopping for the last bit of Christmas gifts that were needed. We had fun roaming for a couple of hours-- nope, no shoes were bought by me, just Christmas gifts.
Sue & Bill are packing up the last of the things that Natali left behind when she was here last and then, we'll knock off for the evening and probably watch "A Knight's Tale". They've been wanting to see it and Brian's been threatening to actually sit and watch it which is a switch.
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If you haven't already been over to the Christmas 2001 page or Sally's Home Page, go on over-- I updated them both last night.
This is a bit short but, you'll understand, I'm sure. "Hi!" to Milton, a faithful "Dynasty" fan, and thanks again to all of you for stopping by!! Have a great evening!
Thursday, December 13, 2001Wasted Days
Well, that wasn't fun!! I had a conference call with a customer that had incorporated some of the changes from my last document but then, also didn't incorporate some of the changes from my last revision. Then, they said that they never received my last revision which makes absolutely no sense at all, of course. We were on the phone for an hour and a half-- well, OUR side was on the phone for that length of time while they were 15 minutes late.
Sigh!!
John said to me at one point: "You've had a busy day, haven't you?" That's because it has been one right after another of phone calls and conference calls and sales reps calls and . . . well, you get the picture.
So Excited!!!
Sue & Bill (my middle sister and her husband) are coming in for a visit, arriving tonight and staying through Sunday. They arrive in time for a late supper of pizza and then we'll all pile in to get some sleep for tomorrow. Of course, I can't take a day off in December (end-o-quarter/end-o-fiscal-year) but I am going to work from home tomorrow afternoon. We'll have Saturday together and part of Sunday and then they'll leave to drive to see their son, Aaron, in San Diego. They'll be out here in California for a week and, considering we haven't seen them for a year and a half, we're pretty excited!
Posts and updates here are going to be a bit meager for the duration of their visit but I'll make up for it by posting pictures of their visit and our travels during that time, etc., next week.
Thanks for your patience on that!!
I've updated both Sally's Home Page and the Christmas 2001 page so Enjoy!!!
Well, I'm off to make the final preparations before my sister's arrival-- have a nice evening!!
Wednesday, December 12, 2001Dogs-n-Chocolate?
I can't remember but I know that there's something about how dogs should not eat chocolate. Of course, my local Chocoholic thinks that life is incomplete without chocolate so, if you know the answer to that question (preferably with scientific links to websites), please respond directly to me. Believe me, I'll make sure he sees it and does NOT give her any chocolate!! Thanks!
And another thing . . .
Last night I mentioned that I was going to enter into a monologue that was basically going to end up being a rant. I changed my mind but, I've decided to revisit that train of thought.
Yes, Ann Dominik mentions guilt and a sense of need as her inspiration for gift-giving and Christmas card-sending. My theories are that you should want to give a gift or Christmas card to someone, and that's why you give them the gift or card in the first place.
I learned a valuable and important lesson along the way in this life: You give to those you want to give to-- it doesn't mean that you don't like others any less, just differently. If you give a gift or a card to someone and they don't give one back, the question you should ask yourself is "So?", not "Why not?" (if you feel the need to ask any question in the first place). There could be a myriad of reasons as to why the person didn't send a gift or a card and none of them may have anything to do with how the person feels about you. It may be that this year, they are caught a little short.
If you give gifts or cards because you want or need gifts or cards back from those individuals you were giving to, you're giving a gift for the wrong reason. I give gifts and cards because I want to not because I expect anything in return or feel any guilt about a need to send a Christmas gift or card to someone because they've sent me something. The sheer joy of knowing (or imagining) their facial expressions upon receipt and opening of the card or gift is sufficient for me.
To me, the point of giving a gift or card is to remind a friend or relative that you're thinking of them-- again. That's what people do during the holidays: think of friends and family and those you would like to gather around yourself.
In our conversation yesterday, Ann also made a comment about "needy wants" and "greedy wants" when we were emailing each other about it. I explained that if I want something, I get it. I don't hint around waiting for Brian to get it for me (come on, he's a guy-- how long will that take?!?!?). In almost all cases, I think it is far better to want someone or something in your life than to need someone or something in your life-- "needing", in that sense, is too desperate sounding which is never going to be a Good Thing. So, philosophically, I have a problem with the "needy wants" and "greedy wants" theory as well.
Now, because Ann was raised in a Catholic school (she said something about that making guilt easy to come by or something like that???), I'm sure that there are also little nuances that are being lost between the lines that cannot be caught on emails. But, we closed our discussion by saying that these were our individual opinions and our individuality is what makes us neat and different overall, ya know. We can appreciate that about each other, I think.
Sally's Visit at Work
Once again, Sally came to work with me today. This time, she stayed seven-- count them: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and SEVEN hours!!! She was soooooo good and cute and sweet and loveable with everyone!! Joyce, the department director, asked her to go for a walk so they did and she even "gave" Auntie Joyce a reward: she used a "public facility"!!! Mommy was soooo pleased!!!! I gave her a biscuit and praised her at the same time-- she deserved both indeed!!
Joyce, as she was leaving, looked at me and said, "I can't believe how good she is!!" The idea of using the Sally-Gate really worked well. She didn't like it at first but she liked being able to move around my cubicle and sometimes sat under the desk that I face and sometimes under the desk behind me. There was usually two or three people per hour that came up to her so her naps were pretty interrupted but she had a blast-- I could tell!!
The funny part was that when she went to take her walk with Joyce, I explained that Brian would be at the office in about 20 minutes to pick her up. Joyce said something on the order of "Oh, is Daddy gonna take you home?" and really, from that point on, all she wanted to do was go find Daddy!! It doesn't take long for Old Dogs to learn New Tricks, eh?
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Tonight Myrna and Roger are coming over and we have leftovers to heat-- have a great night and thanks for coming by to visit!!
Tuesday, December 11, 2001Why Bother?
I had a monologue that I was going to sound off on tonight but, changed my mind-- why bother? Life's too short!!
In the meantime, other than work, nothing major has been happening. The woman who did the home visit on Saturday night wrote to say that she liked Sally's Home Page-- lots of pictures of a happy dog being spoiled silly by her owners! (Yep, that would be the plan!)
She's gonna go with me to work again tomorrow-- the director of our department is looking forward to it as are a bunch of other people. Let's see how the baby gate (hereinafter "Sally-gate") works tomorrow; it actually looks like its going to work out okay.
Sorry to be so short but I'm kinda tired and I've still got stuff to do-- thanks SOOOO much for stopping by and have a good evening!
Monday, December 10, 2001
Update at 7:11pmThanks!!
Just a quick note to thank everyone who has written to congratulate us on our New Arrival. We are definitely hooked on her already and she appears to be moving in the same direction. You should've seen us tonight when I got home from work: Sally laying on the futon, me sitting on the futon at her head, Brian sitting on the futon at her feet and both of us rubbing her tummy!! Definitely Doggie Heaven!!
Sally's First Adventure
Yes, it was a real treat, let me tell you!! She had lots of fun cuz she got to meet Dave and Maria and Debra and Mike and Cindy and Heather and Julie and, of course, Auntie Nina was there to take her for a walk. She had a great time but, by 10:15am, she was bored and restless so I brought her home-- Brian was "scheduled" to be here by 12:30 so she wasn't alone for very long.
Of course, the problem is that she slept the entire time that she was here alone, not even hearing him when he came into the house, including calling her name-- she's a deep sleeper!! Since he's been home, she's been sleeping and, as I type this, she is sleeping. Obviously, she is way more comfortable at home than anywhere else, which is as it should be, I suppose.
I decided that if I didn't feel like I had to watch her to keep her in my cubicle, it would be easier on both of us so tonight I bought a baby-gate. I'll put that up at the office and try again on Wednesday. I'd like her to be able to come to the office (as would everyone else!) as much as possible because she would be a great de-stresser for all of us! We'll have to see how this works out so we will, of course, keep you posted.
New Parents
(Caution: Graphic Content Included Below)Well, what can you say? Just like all new parents, we've taken dozens of photos (yes, there are a couple of new one's up on her page tonight) and we watch and marvel and giggle at everything she does. You would think that she was a real child as opposed to a four-legged one-- we're quite obsessed, indeed.
This morning after we got home from the office, I let her outside and noticed that she immediately went out and did her business! Well, the first thought that ran through my mind was: "Hey, kiddo-- we are traveling people and plan on taking you with us so you need to get used to using 'public bathrooms'!" In other words, she needs to be able to "go outside" at other places than just our house or she's going to end up with a major bladder infection!!
The second thing I noticed was that she . . . um . . . no, I can't say it after all-- so much for the graphic content! Let's just say that everything moved along through her system from yesterday. Like any proud parent, I couldn't help but yelp with delight at her first do-do in the backyard.
Sick, yes, I know!!
Laddie Meeting
On Wednesday night this week, Laddie is going to be coming over (yes, with Roger & Myrna) to meet the Sally Girl. He's looking forward to it as are we-- it should be interesting to see her interaction with him!
That sets us up for a busy week, however: Tuesday night is Weight Watchers for me, Wednesday night is Laddie, Myrna and Roger and Thursday, Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday, my sister and her husband will be visiting!!
And through it all, Sally will . . . sleep-- she seems to do that really well!!
Ah, well, many things to do tonight to keep it all moving along!! Have a nice evening everyone and, as always, thanks for coming by!!!
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I put the recipe up for the Chinese Chicken Caruso-- try it sometime and let sometime and let me know how you like it!!
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