The Wind Beneath My Wings :)

I'm on a mission to stay positive, because I had a really bad and extremely long day at work, and I'm determined not to let it get me down...so I'm going to focus on the most positive people in my life right now...

1) My husband, who is kind and loving and supportive, and who always tells me that I'm skinny - even when I'm having a fat day, who takes me to eat Freebirds when I'm blue, and plays cards with me when I'm bored, who goes on vacations where he doesn't want to go just to make me happy, who braves family reunions when he clearly would rather not, and who I can talk to about anything and everything. I'm one lucky girl.
2) My family: My dad, who takes my side no matter what and who shares most of my political beliefs; my mom, who is always real and who tells it like it is even if it's not what I want to hear; my brother, who makes me laugh more than anybody on this earth; Felicia, who doesn't take crap from me even when I wish she would.
3) My bestest friends: Lisa - you're always there for me and you make me dream; Amy - you make me laugh and bring out the silly side of me; Berly - you accept me for who I am without judgment; Allison - you've helped me through some of the toughest times in my life, and you're always so strong regardless of what you're going through; Wes - you're the best social planner ever. You plan our trips, you cook our food, you drive us everywhere, and you do all this without too much griping.
4) Rita, who shares a cubicle with me at work, who helps me get through each day by telling me that I'm justified in my complaints about my supervisor, and who brings comic relief to our stuffy office environment. Thank God for her.

"That's Why I Don't Like You Homeowner's Association!"

I can't believe that this weekend is already over...
I had a four-day weekend, and somehow it's finished and now I'll be heading back to work tomorrow so that I can get coughed on and yelled at multiple times throughout the day. Nice.
I don't know why I still gripe about the job - it's not like I'm ever going to leave it, though I make plans to do so every day. In the past two years, I've had several job offers and I've turned them down because I didn't want to give up the benefits that we have at my job. I've been accepted to law school and opted out of it because I reasoned that I might spend $60,000 on law school and come out with a job that's no better than the one I have now. And yet, my plans for post-SSA life continue...
On a different note, we got our first little semi-nasty note from our homeowner's association. It's a love-hate relationship that I have with them. I love them because they keep our property values up by forcing the trashy neighbors to clean their yards/flowerbeds. I hate them because evidently this month, we are the trashy neighbors with overgrown flowerbeds. We got this note in the mail (very official) that told us simply, "Your flowerbeds are in need of attention. They need to be weeded." They're definitely not much for small talk. In our defense, it's been a really rainy winter down here. Not many chances for yardwork recently. And also, we aren't the only ones - lots of our neighbors also have overgrown yards and flowerbeds right now. I wonder if they got nasty notes too. Hmmm...
So we spent the entire day yesterday planting new bushes and flowers, converting one of the flowerbeds to a rock garden, and cleaning out the other flowerbed. It's funny how much life can change in one year. I guarantee you, if somebody had told me a year ago that I would be living in Santa Fe, worrying about homeowners association rules and regulations, and spending an entire day doing yard work, I seriously would have laughed in their face. Never Say Never, I guess...

But I Don't Wanna Get Up Yet

It's 5:07, and I'm already up and playing on the computer...Kevin got called out to work this morning at 4:30 and I couldn't sleep after he left. It's been awhile since I've been up this early. I am so not a morning person. It's funny because lately, Kevin has been getting up at 5:40 and then pleading with me to get out of bed for 20 minutes, until 6:00 when I get tired of ignoring him and hiding from the bathroom light and give in to Kevin's desperate attempts to wake me. Then I fix my hair, brush my teeth, wash my face, and put on my clothes and makeup in COMPLETE silence. It never occurs to me to say anything to anybody in the mornings. It's not until 7:00 when I've already driven 45 minutes to work that I start to wake up. How scary is that?
I was the alarm point person until about 2 months ago, when we woke up 30 minutes late twice in three days. My privileges were revoked by "Top of the mornin' to ya" Kevin. How it is that he wakes up whistling every morning is beyond me. But I'm grateful that does, because if it was still up to me to make sure that we get up in the mornings, we might have both been fired by now...

The Rising Cost of Popularity

I'm attaching some facts about our nation's rising deficit...if you want more information on this, you can go to http://www.calltorenewal.org/ and click on public policy

Information about our Deficit
-Current deficit of $427 billion, the third straight record year for deficit.
-From 2005-2010, spending would exceed revenues, yielding total deficit of $1.82 trillion.

Tax Policy
-Federal tax revenues are at their lowest point since 1959 (as a share of the economy).
-New tax breaks would reduce revenue by $1.4 trillion over 10-year period.
-New tax cuts coupled with ‘01 and ‘03 cuts, if extended through 2015, would cost $2.45 trillion.

It's No Fun, No Fun, Staring At The Wall

Seriously, this is the longest day EVER.
Seventeen minutes to go, and yet somehow I'm convinced that 4:00 will never get here.

The DaVinci Code

I just finished "The DaVinci Code." Anybody who has not read that book should get a copy today and read it. It's good.

A Simple Observation

A woo hoo! I sent off our tax return this morning. No more hassles with TurboTax, no more running around like crazy trying to make sure I have all my tax forms. It's always such a relief to get that done and not have to worry about it anymore...You know what I don't get though, is that somehow taxes and all "office" duties have somehow fallen on my lap. Does Kevin feel the urge to grab a tax form and input it? Nnnoooo.
I think he thinks there's this natural separation of duties - inside stuff/office stuff: mine; outside stuff/grilling: his. But here's the problem with that - our grass only grows about 7 months out of the year, leaving him without duties for the other 5 months. And I appreciate his ability to grill, because I do reap the benefits. However, here's how the grilling goes in our house: I season the steaks with italian dressing and other seasonings and I wrap it up so that it can marinate for a few days. Then when it's grilling day, I get the meat out, put it on a plate and hand deliver it to the patio, where Kevin takes it, puts it on the fire and watches it turn brown. Seriously, how hard can that be? While he's watching the fire outside, I'm inside setting the table, making the salad, the garlic bread and the macaroni and cheese (or whatever side items we may be having that day). Meanwhile, he's sippin' on a beer and turning the steaks over with the fork that I, no doubt, took to him. What's up with that? I swear, something about drinking a beer and watching a fire makes men feel so masculine. The only thing stopping them from ripping their shirts off and beating on their chests is the knowledge that their wives are somewhere nearby, cooking and setting the table...

Happy Birthday To Amy

Who's 25 years old today? It's Amy, it's Amy! (FYI, that was supposed to be to the tune of the SNL cheerleader's cheer, "Who's that Indian in my teepee..."
Anybody who wants to send Amy a birthday greeting, please feel free to do so at gridera@yahoo.com
I hope you have a great birthday and I love you lots!!!

Are We There Yet?

Today I went to the longest wedding ever. It was a Methodist wedding, and being that I grew up in the Methodist Church and never saw a wedding last more than 45 minutes, I was not expecting to still be in the service almost 2 hours later. But rest assured, I was. Two hours.
It was a really pretty wedding, but just when things would get rolling, we would have to break for a 10-minute song. This happened 4 times. And the songs caused all of the bridesmaids to cry, forcing them to bring out the tissues and blow their noses. At most weddings, this is normal and not a big deal. But being that we took communion today, complete with the bridesmaids (who had obviously not washed their hands after an hour and a half of holding their own crumbly tissues) breaking and handing out the bread, it posed a problem for me. See my previous post for information on my weak stomach.
It was funny though, because after we took communion, prayed and sang our hearts out for two hours, one of the guys from my office was like, "I need a drink, boy." Classy, that one. I was waiting for the church roof to cave in...

The Milton In Me

Note to self : Never ever eat a hot dog (or any other type of food) while watching CSI. It's not, and never will be, a good combination. I think I have the weakest stomach on earth. They show one autopsy and I'm finished with hot dogs for life.
Some people are much better equipped to deal with that kind of thing. My friend Allison used to sit down in front of the TV, food in hand, and tune in to random surgeries. I'd walk in to Allison eating pizza and watching brain surgery, and my knees would go weak. Meanwhile, Allison's dipping pepperoni rolls in to a vat of ranch dressing, never giving it a second thought. This is why she's in nursing school and I'm not, I suppose...Allison, you know you're a freako, right?

So today was a much better day at work. I just go through slumps sometimes, and then I eventually emerge from them, happier than ever. What's that about? I think I have attachment issues. I get attached to people, and then it's really upsetting when something happens and I have to leave, or they have to leave. This week started off really badly, when my favorite supervisor at work retired. She was the one person who really looked out for her employees. She cared about our feelings, and she seemed to want to form personal bonds with us. Our other bosses are very statistic-driven. They literally keep stats on us at the office, much like a baseball team. It's bizarre. Every key stroke that we make on our keyboards are tallied, and then they divide the amount of work that we did by the number of hours that we worked to come up with our stats. In December, I was working at 115%, which is higher than they expect from us, but because my percentage had dropped from 116% in November, my unit supervisor made a point to let me know that we don't want our stats to drop. Evidently, they want our stats to continue to climb throughout the year. So my new strategy for this year was just to hang out in January, maybe do a few inputs in February, perhaps an actual application in March, and then I might just take a complete interview in April. That way my stats will be progressively better throughout the year...a good plan, I think.

My job is very much like the movie "Office Space." Sometimes, I even feel a little like Milton. A few months ago, they ran out of cubicles for everybody and had to move the newest people(including me) to these make-shift work spaces. I didn't have my own office to begin with, but when they took away my cubicle, my space, my shelves, etc, I wasn't happy at all. So I drew the line, and decided that I was taking my filing cabinet with me, regardless of what the boss had to say. It was a very Milton thing to do...very reminiscent of him scrapping to save his stapler after all his dignity was lost. So there I was, a relatively small girl, trying to drag this heavy filing cabinet across the office. When my boss spotted me, she was like, "Courtney, where's Lanie going to put her files?" This didn't concern me. Didn't she know this? I just muttered something about them not taking away my filing cabinet and kept on pushing that big old thing, inch by inch, to my new desk. And you know what? This Milton prevailed. Though I have no cubicle, no dignity, and not much shelf space in my new work station, I do have my own filing cabinet. It was my battle cry: "You'll never take my filing cabinet...NEVER!"