Archive of Marcia's Musings November 5-11, 2001
Sunday, November 11, 2001
I mentioned quickly on Friday that Natali was going to have two birthday cards. One for this year and . . . one for her 8th birthday which, either because of her geographic location or mine, we weren't able to celebrate together. We made up for it by having 8 candles on the birthday brownies (couldn't find a 1-layer cake in a flavor everyone would like) and a birthday card for her eighth birthday. See? I'm a good aunt, I am!!
Next Project
Well, the ornaments are done so my next big project has to begin and soon since it is limited by a time schedule. My oldest sister picked up the family album while she was visiting my next-oldest-from-me sister in Maine this past summer. I have three or so weeks to get it scanned in and burned to CDs before my middle sister comes to California to pick it up (and see us, of course!). My middle sister will bring it back to Michigan and leave with my oldest or my only brother for them to enjoy and, somehow, get back to my next-oldest-from-me sister in Maine. (Confused yet?? You shoulda seen us at Christmas!)
In between that and making Thanksgiving Dinner and preparing for Christmas and our little bundle-o-joy, I'll be working on sewing projects. No, I haven't forgotten about them but because of all of the visitors, but I did have to put my sewing stuff away. After Thanksgiving, I'll be able to take it back out and leave it on the dining table leaving but enough room for Brian and I to eat dinner and play cards.
Noper, nary a dull moment around this house!
Lesson Learned
When you're 22, you need to look at your travel/airline itinerary closely or suffer the consequences. Yesterday, Natali told us her itinerary said that her flight left at 10; we backed two hours for security checks out of that time and told her we'd have to have her at the airport at 8. She begged us not to get her there before 9 so we agreed to leave at 8 but, yes, she got there before 9 anyway. We got her a cart for all of her luggage and gave her hugs good-bye and, she asked for the cell phone number "just in case something happened".
Southbound on 101 from the airport about 4-5 minutes later, we got a phone call-- She had read her itinerary wrong. Never asking straight out if she wanted us to come back and pick her up, I simply suggested that her staying there made the most sense. She agreed so she remained there, with her luggage unchecked because it was too early to accept at the ticket counter.
When we got home, Brian reminded me that we got up at O'Dark Thirty this morning because she had to be at the airport at 9!!! Man, I didn't even think of that!!! We could've had a nice sleep in instead of the 3-1/2 hour nap that I had this afternoon!!! Wow!!! Its a good thing I didn't remember that when I was talking to her!!! ;>)
Oh, well, we won't see her again until next year-- not a Good Thing by any means. I used to miss her 21-ness when she was 21 and now, I will miss her 22-ness. Oh, to be young again!
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That being said, after my 3-1/2 hour nap this afternoon, my tummy doesn't feel all that much better. I think we've managed to get a bug-- joy of joys!!
This is early for my usual evening posts but late for my morning posts-- you decide but whatever, have a nice afternoon and evening!!!
Saturday, November 10, 2001Natali Here - No Post
Friday, November 9, 2001Whew!!
Made it through another one!! I'm really surprised at the amount of busy-ness that I am experiencing. The work flow in my main region (Southeast) has increased to the point that I receive at least one new document a day to negotiate and, frankly, that's the highest it has ever been. I don't know why but while I enjoy the "pressure" of the stress of negotiating and drafting, by the end of the day (and most assuredly, by the end of the week), I'm exhausted!! Whew!! Today I received an agreement for $75K for testing services which will be followed closely by a similar agreement with the same customer for testing software which will amount to $780K!! Yeesh!!
I had to chuckle because when I got off the call with that customer (which included technical, procurement and legal folks on their end), the sales rep called me back and told me about a deal he is quoting for over $2.5M!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Double-YEEEEESSSSHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Early Bird
I didn't realize it immediately last night but when I finished putting all of the craft supplies away, I noted with interest that I was finished earlier this year than I ever have before with Christmas ornaments. Nope, you don't get to see any pictures until I put up my Christmas 2001 page (and, yes, there will be a Christmas 2001 page) but, you can always go back and look at Christmas 2000.
This year, we hope to have a little bundle-o-joy of our own to keep from toppling the tree and messing with the presents-- hopefully!! I'm looking forward to it and, yes, Barbara, I've already made up my own "tree alarm" ornament-- in fact, I've made several!!!
Many Things To Do and Tomorrow, People to See
Tonight, I need to clean up my office and start a printing job for my friend, Myrna. I (with a little help from Brian) created a document for her that requires photo-quality paper and our new color printer which will definitely be getting a work out printing 20 copies.
I've also got dinner to make (halibut) and my office to clean up... yes, I know I said that before but it has gotten pretty bad and, one of those "people to see" is Natali, who will be arriving tomorrow.
Did I mention it was her birthday on November 1???? No, I was a bad aunt and skipped right over it so we're going to make up for it tomorrow by having birthday cards (yes, more than one for a reason that I will explain after she opens them[back to top]) and birthday brownies and ice cream. If you'd like to send Natali a birthday greeting, feel free to send it to my email address and I'll "give" it to her when she arrives tomorrow. (Thanks, in advance!)
So, even though this is an incredibly early post for me, I'm going to sign off and get to it-- have a nice evening!
Thursday, November 8, 2001Netwidow here . . .
Well, I'm definitely living up to the name, aren't I? Husband? What husband? Oh, you mean that guy I thought I saw this morning on his way out the door? Yeah, I guess that was him . . . I think . . . Man, I hope so-- but he did kiss pretty good . . .
(Yes, I am having to give Brian a "ton of it" since he is over-dosing on computerese-crap this week.)
Niece Revisiting
My niece, Natali, wasn't supposed to come back here until some time after she finished college in Michigan. Did I ever tell you that she is (now) 22 and is prone to changing her mind significantly from time to time? ;>) Yeah, well, she is and don't you wish you could have the time back to be 22 and re-make ALL of those decisions you made?!?!?
Anyway, she is arriving for a visit on Saturday to see us (and let us help her celebrate her birthday a week or so late) and re-pack for shipment the stuff she left here in September. She called this morning and firmed up that she would be arriving on Saturday afternoon. I'm looking forward to her visit-- it'll be fun, as usual, and Chinese for dinner!!
Those Were the Days
When I was single, I loved being alone-- I used to pull what I called my "I want to be alone" weekends every now and then because I didn't want to go away with friends or on dates or whatever. I just wanted time for quiet reflection. I haven't had that for awhile and, suddenly, I have two nights in a row!!
So, to take full advantage of the situation, I'm going to sign off regardless of how short this post is and go do my thing and the laundry. Man, I do know how to have a good time, eh?
Try to see if you can do better than me-- have a nice evening!
Wednesday, November 7, 2001Nobody's Fooled!!
A week and a half ago I said to Brian, "Honey, do you want to go away the weekend of the 3rd-- just for a night-- to get away?" and he easily responded with "Yeah, sounds good." Right then, I should've known something was up: three days later he announced to me that there was (1) an SVLUG meeting to go to on Wednesday (November 7), (2) a meeting up in Oakland having to do with Linux on Thursday and Friday (Novermber 8 & 9) and (3) a presentation by Donald E. Knuth to go to on Thursday night. I knew it-- it was too easy!! Man, I'm gonna be a little more cautious from now on, let me tell ya! If he's toooooo easily swayed to my idea, there has to be something in it for him!!
(The above is a joke-- yes, I teased him about it but I really do NOT believe that he easily agreed to our weekend in Downieville simply because he knew he had a grueling schedule coming up this week. At least, I think I believe that . . . I should believe that, right? Yeah, I'm sure that's it . . . I think.)
No Prom Date for Me!!
I had four conference calls scheduled, five by the time that the day was done and, of the five calls, only two materialized!! The other three were pushed out to Friday and Monday which isn't necessarily a good thing!
Even though my calls didn't happen, my day was still very full!! There doesn't seem to be a lack of work at my office-- I think that's a good sign for the economy.
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Short-n-sweet, huh? Well, I can't help it-- I've got some things that I want to look up online so, I've gotta get moving since tonight is also "How to" night.Take care of each other and have a nice evening!
Tuesday, November 6, 2001Minor Updates
Let's see . . . work was BUSY (!!!) and I didn't go to Weight Watchers tonight. Admittedly, work has been getting busier and busier (which is an extremely good sign to me) but, I can't figure out why since there is no pattern per se which is causing the busy-ness. It used to be that we would have a little lag time at the beginning of a month but we don't have that anymore-- it is hard-n-fast all month/quarter long. Granted, its a good thing cuz I really don't mind being (read: love to be) busy-- I just find it interesting.
As far as Weight Watchers is concerned, I've found that I haven't learned to cope with grief without eating. Eating is a comforting activity and, when one is grieving, it seems a natural thing to do. Yesterday, I told myself that I was going to stop eating and learn to grieve properly, if that's possible. I also told myself that I was going to do 30 minutes on the bike and, I only made it to 27 today, I'm certainly doing better than I have in a bit (again). Dinner was fish tonight as it will be Friday and Monday nights-- I have to pay for the "cheating" that I did last weekend. Next week, I hope to have much better results at the scale but, in the interim, I'm not going to press my luck.
A Few Finishing Touches
There are signs that the ornaments for this year will be done by the end of the week!! Yeah!!!! I enjoy doing this each year but there are many things on my plate right now and, in particular, I need to get the family album scanned before the middle of December.
So, speaking of which, I'd better get moving along. Have a nice evening!
Monday, November 5, 2001Good-Bye
We said good-bye to Grammy today-- it was a ceremony mixed with sadness (because our selfish selves don't have her anymore) and happiness (because she was a loving person to know). She will be missed but her love will be felt for generations to come.
Trip Report
The trip report from the weekend in Downieville is up in case you missed it-- we'll be going back again next spring for our usual unsuccessful fishing trip. We checked and, it is the kinda place that's in our "Fishing in Northern California" but, unfortunately, we're never very successful on those kinds of trips so we'll plan for it by bringing our own food to the cottage.
Plans are also moving forward for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival next July. We make this trek every other year and as usual, that happens next year-- yes, of course, we're looking forward to it already!! Five plays and a backstage tour in five days-- sounds like fun, doesn't it?? We can hardly wait!!
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Tomorrow, we go back to work but from the looks of my office email, things are in about the same place that they were before I left on Friday. Nothing new there, I suppose, is a good thing.I'm going to try to finish up some Christmas ornaments tonight so I'll have a nice evening-- you should have a nice evening, too.
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