Archive of Marcia's Musings January 7-13, 2002Sunday, January 13, 2002
Things Got Done Today!!
Well, the laundry got finished in due course after having made the Costco and grocery store runs. The situation became a bit more desperate for Brian when he realized he wasn't going to be able to go to Costco next weekend and he only had 1-3/4 cases of Coke in the house. Problem solved-- stock is back up now to 2-3/4 cases-- life is good, ain't it, sweetie?
I've been looking around for a refrigerator for my office cubicle and, although the grocery store-- yes, the grocery store!!-- had one, it had it at a ridiculously expensive price compared to Sears or Penneys or some place that I found online in Indiana (the Indiana place had free shipping on orders over $50 so I was cool with it). Anyway, Costco didn't have any in stock this morning so we were going to head over to Sears or Penneys to see what we could find but that wouldn't be until after we went to the grocery store. So we wandered through the grocery store and, there it was: on sale!! Yes, the same grocery store had the same refrigerator on sale for the same price as Sears or Penneys so, I now have a refrigerator in my cubicle at work (Brian and I brought it over this afternoon) without having to make a special trip to another store. Pretty cool, eh? (Yes, yes-- pardon the pun!)
Then, while doing the laundry and trying to keep Sally from laying on the foot pedal to my sewing machine, I managed to finish the inner top of the quilt from my class. We're supposed to have that finished so we can start on the borders in the next class so I've accomplished that. I had every intention of then working on the wall-hanging but, my tired eyes got in the way and, Sally and I cuddled up on the sofa for a nice long nap. She's getting more settled in and doesn't kick me when napping as much as she did when she first came to live with us! (That is a Good Thing, indeed!!)
That leads us up to now and Brian's cooking dinner. I've got less than 10 squares to finish on the afghan so I'll probably be getting that finished tonight. Then, I'll just need to sew the squares together which is always the fun part!! So much to do, so little time to do it ALLLLLLL!!
Thanks for coming by and, as always, have a nice evening!
Saturday, January 12, 2002Sew Much Fun!!!
The fact that I've been sewing, in various forms, since I was about 12 years old (and maybe a little younger if you count making homemade Barbie clothes), proved to be a distinct advantage today during my quilting class. I've got half of the inner top finished and am about 2/3 of the way through the other half of the inner top. Most people, when I left the class were just finishing up the first half of the inner top.
There were eight students and all of us had varying degrees of expertise in sewing. The more comfortable with sewing and the sewing machine, the less intimidated by the project at hand. I wasn't afraid and, yes, I did make a couple of mistakes but, when I corrected them, the instructor was pleased that I didn't throw my hands up in the air and scream at her. When she said that, I said "It was my fault: because you were talking with someone and I wasn't patient-- why would I yell at you?" And, while all of that makes sense to you and me, my Gentle Readers, apparently, there are those who would've (and have) yelled at her for their mistakes. Of course, my guess is that they're still not quilting because they wouldn't have anyone to yell at if they made more mistakes in their homes.
Alas, however, I must confess that I pulled my usual "Kid at Christmas" routine and got very little sleep and complained that it was Brian and Sally's respective snorings that were keeping me awake. I know better but don't like to admit it-- I'm bad with anticipation when its something I really want and, if you'll recall, I signed up for this class the day before Thanksgiving. I'd been waiting a long time to go and was excited to get the learning started!! As a result of that, however, I ended up burning out about 3:30 so I left and came home to take a nap with Sally.
Since being awake from my nap, I've eaten dinner (snack night tonight since neither of us feels like cooking) and I've once again moved my sewing to the dining room. I tried keeping it in my office but it is just too crammed tight back here. I'll have to clean it up when someone comes over but that actually doesn't take all that long and it is certainly more convenient! I'm already making plans for new things that I want to make for myself and other people-- yes, Barb, I'm hooked on quilting!! (Won't she be proud of herself!)
My task for tonight or tomorrow is to clean my office-- again-- and then, continue to sew either my wall-hanging or the quilt for my class. I think while I crochet tonight, I'll watch the Nina-loaned "Moulin Rouge" because I want to return it to her on Monday.
As usual, thanks for coming by and have a great evening!!
Friday, January 11, 2002Successful Day
Today was a very productive day here at work. I'm beginning to get adjusted to working at home and am feeling more comfortable with it. I was able to accomplish the most important task: read/analyze the new Master License Agreement and, of course, I've come up with a bunch of questions. That's okay, as if I catch questions, that means I'm "listening" to what I read so that I can figure out what I'm reading which, as confusing as it may sound, is really a Good Thing.
Not So "Poor Sally"
Sally is feeling much better-- thanks!!
So many of you have written to see how she's doing and if she's feeling better. I'm happy to report that she is in fine shape, thanks!! She has not had a lurping incident since Wednesday and has happily scarfed down her dinner for this evening already (from 6:09 to 6:13pm!!). I must report however that, one of you wrote to encourage her behavior!! Oh, those English boys!!
Quilting & Class
Last night I was able to sew up about a third of the applique squares for the wall-hanging. There are oak leaves, maple leaves and something that looks like a poplar leaf. The hardest, because of the turns are the oak leaves followed by a close second on the maple leaf for the pointy bits. Lots of fun though, I must say and, so long as I spell my back every little bit, I'm finding that I'm really enjoying this a lot.
Tomorrow is my class and I have already got my sewing machine and box packed up; I made my lunch today when I was . . . making my lunch. :) I'll bring bottled waters, an orange and maybe a banana with me as well. It is supposed to go six hours so I'm curious to see how the class will go. I'm really quite excited!! Its actually the first time that I'll get to get the instructions for cutting and sewing the quilt that we're making in the class. I'll let you know how it goes either tomorrow or Sunday, depending on when I get to post next!
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I'm off to work on the afghan for the rest of the night-- only 20 squares to go!!Have a nice evening!!
Thursday, January 10, 2002How can you tell . . .
I worked one agreement today-- it was a non-revenue agreement. It was a "strategic partnership" type of agreement-- there was no one around to sign it because they were all at the Sales Meeting in Florida. How can you tell that everyone is at the Sales Meeting in Florida? That was the only thing I had to work on today!! Man, I was bored!!
I'm working from home tomorrow because we have a new Master License Agreement that I need to memorize or at least become as familiar with as I was with the other one that we've been using for the past two years that I've been with the company. My concentration level at the office is crap so I figured if I stayed at home, printed it out and made myself read it and think about the strategies that I'll need to work it, it would help. I'm actually looking forward to the concentrated time that I can spend on it-- that is hard to come by these days!!
Sally's Visit
Although she was miserable most of the time that she was at my office yesterday, I took pictures of her with various people and on her "binky" and in her bed under my desk. You can find this on her most recent update on her page.
This afternoon, I was the first one home from work and I experienced something new with Sally: The Full Body Wag! Man, was that cute!! She's not a small dog-- 45 pounds-- so when she really wags her tail cuz she's super happy that you're home, she ends up wagging her whole body!! How fun that was to watch!!
Confirmed!!
This afternoon I confirmed my quilting class for Saturday-- I'm really excited about it even if I didn't wait for it to start before I started working on a project! I can bring a lunch so I'll bring a pasta salad for my lunch that I made a few weeks back-- it was delish (and I'll post it on my recipe page soonish). This is a six hour class during which we'll learn the basics and also start cutting the pieces for the in-class quilt that we'll be making.
I've started sewing the appliques for the wall-hanging. It was fun trying to figure out how to do that with some of them-- there are a lot of turns!!
I'm going to get back to it though so, once again, thanks for coming by and have a nice evening!
Wednesday, January 9, 2002That's It!!
Well, so much for torturing our Poor Sally!! When we first got her, there were those (who will remain nameless so as not to make them look bad) that suggested that we put our Sally on "better" quality food. The adoption people-- whoops, well, I guess that secret's out, eh?-- suggested that we get her on one of the so-called quality brands that are only available through pet food stores. That's all well and good but, if she's vomiting the next day, where is the good in the higher-quality food for her??
For the past two weeks, Poor Sally has vomited almost daily-- just once and usually its just stomach bile-- and granted, it could be caused by any one of a dozen things but since the most notable change has been her food, we're going to attribute it to that and change her back to the food that she had been having when she came to us. If it turns out not to be right, well, at least we tried rather than continuing to torture her!
Poor Sally, who usually has such a good time at my office, didn't feel well today and was very much under the weather most of the morning. All because she started her visit in a lurping position!! After I got her outside, Auntie Nina helped out by cleaning it up (amazingly good friend, eh?) for me. We're not happy about torturing our little girl, so if it worked for her before, it'll work for her again: We're going back to the old food that she had when we got her!
Let's hope this is the answer to the problem.
Didja ever notice that when you get normally decent people together they seem to forget all of the things their mothers told them and any good habits they may have developed along the way and find a whole new set of bad, nasty habits to mess with other peoples' stuff? People who normally won't let anything sit in the refrigerator at home for more than three days without pitching it, seem to forget what they've brought to the office and where they've stashed it. As a result, the refrigerators that are provided by the office are...well, just plain nasty! I'm personally tired of trying to figure out what is messing with my olfactory organ every time I go near the refrigerator.
Today, I requested permission from the building management to bring in my own refrigerator. That way, I don't have to worry about how long something has been there because I will know how long it has been there. If something smells bad, I'll know what it is that smells bad, etc.
Well, as it turns out, the building management people said I can bring in a refrigerator-- I just have to do it on a weekend so that it is a whole lot less obvious to people around me that it is here. I don't mind doing that-- not at all if it means I can have the privacy afforded having my own stash!!
Bon Voyage
Sue & Bill are returning to Brazil tomorrow and we will be calling them shortly to wish them a safe trip. I'm so glad they came to California for a visit!! It was so good to see them!!
The next time that we will see them will be in 2003-- I'm still thinking about that one though: they're telling me that we'll have to go to Michigan which, as you may or may not have guessed, is not my favorite place to go for a visit. We'll see about that one, won't we?
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I'm going to start the sewing on my quilt tonight-- cross your fingers for me!Thanks for coming by and have a nice evening!
Tuesday, January 8, 2002Note to Self: Buy Lottery Ticket
Man, I really hated having to go back to work today but, there is only one way that I'm going to be able to avoid it from here on out for the rest of my life. The unfortunate part of that is that we don't play the lottery so the odds of it happening are slim and none. Yeesh!!
Work was fairly slow (or was that me?) today although there are loose ends to clean up after the end of the quarter. It is slow enough that I think it won't be a problem for Sally to go with me tomorrow so, she will go with me! Man, it is so hard to try to sneak out the door with those big brown eyes looking up at me!!
Auntie Nina's been asking after her and so has everyone else for that matter-- I have no identity!! I'll try to remember to get the camera from Brian so that I can have some new pictures to post on her website.
Busy Girl
During the day, besides sleeping, she's been busy. Today Sally wrote a post that has been added to her website. She got some good news on Saturday-- her ear drops are done-- so she's quite happy now.
Yes, well, that's why they're called "The Holidays"! I took one-- for two weeks-- from Weight Watchers and, yes, I paid for it (or at least, I will be paying for it). I've gained a couple of pounds but not nearly the amount that I thought I'd gained and, yes, I am back on Program as anticipated-- now.
I felt the need to take a guilt-free rest from the suffering. I did so and now I'm ready to go back at it-- with a vengeance!! Anyone feel the need for a challenge? Let me know!!
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I'm thinking that I'm going to spend the night with my crocheting. I've actually got most of the squares done for this afghan and will soon be completed with the initial crocheting. Yes, of course, then there's the fastening them together but that actually goes quite fast!
So, I'm off to it-- have a nice evening!
Monday, January 7, 2002New Archive
So that you have it for future reference, here's a link to the 2002 archive files and a link to the index for all of the years that I've been doing this journal. I've been doing this now for all of 2000 and 2001 and for the last third of 1999 and have been enjoying the communications with all of you. Thanks for coming by and writing when you do because it all makes this a whole lot more fun by your presence.
Fantabulous!!!
Well, as my Better Half has already told you, we had a wonderful dinner at LePapillon last night! Brian's description reads:
"For me, there was Grilled Day Boat Sea Scallops with Ruby Grapefruit, Marinated Cucumbers and Caviar as an appetizer, followed by Baby Lettuce with Citrus Sections, Dungeness Crab, Cilantro And Cointreau Vinaigrette for the Salad course. My selection for the main course was Grilled Rack of Lamb with Light Curry and Crispy Shallots. Dessert was an Orange and Bittersweet Chocolate Tart.
"Marcia enjoyed the same appetizer, then had a Pear Salad with Baby Lettuce, Toasted Pecans, Feta Cheese and Chambord Vinaigrette. Her main course was Roasted Veal Loin Topped with Butter Poached Lobster in Chive Jus. She had a Traditional Crème Caramel for dessert."
But what he left out was that the reason that I chose the same appetizer as he was because I'd never had caviar before and wanted to try it. That was a Big Mistake: I want more of the same caviar-- a LOT more!! I know I've had scallops before but apparently, anywhere that I've ever had scallops didn't know how to cook them! These were tender and juicy and oh-so-melt-in-your-mouth delicious!! The combinations of flavors together, i.e., feta cheese and chambord vinaigrette, were amazing. I'd take a bite and say that it was the best thing to ever cross my lips . . . until the next thing that crossed my lips!! The veal/lobster was an extraordinary combination as well-- Brian's promised me that he'll order that the next time and, I believe I'll try the rack of lamb.
It was phenominal and the service impeccable-- if you're in the Bay Area and looking for a restaurant of fine quality French cuisine, you must go to LePapillon!! You will enjoy it immensely!!
Now I can't wait for our anniversary!!
LOTR
This afternoon, we went to see LOTR-- well done on special effects giving you many times over the queazy feeling you get when you're in too high a place or things around you are moving too quickly past you. It does leave you wanting to finish the story but, that's how it is supposed to go with a triology, eh?
For tonight . . .
Brian's graciously agreed to assist me with finishing out the scans of the family photo album. He's much better at cleaning photos up than I am so I am glad and grateful to have his assistance. Hopefully, we'll get to shake this CD loose to the family in the next week or so-- with his help, it would be possible.
. . . and Tomorrow
Its back to work and the real world for both of us tomorrow-- ah, well, I'm looking forward to thanking John "personally" for our delicious dinner. I've managed not to check my email or voicemail all day-- aren't you proud of me?
For tonight, however, thanks for stopping by and have a nice evening!
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