vendredo

Today I got some photos my mom sent me. What a treasure trove! So many good memories. Thanks so much for holding them for me, Mom. I've scanned in everything and have about half edited for posting online.

Here's my favorite birthday photo, from my first birthday in Michigan, number 6. Mom made the cat cake and Anne made the cat toy that I'm holding.



Another really great one that I had forgotten about is from when I was just a couple months old We were tent-camping and Mom had an ingenious way to give me a bath.




Some of the items she sent were not photos. There's a cutting from the local newspaper announcing my class' valedictorian (me) and salutatorian; a couple graduation announcements; the program from the prom; my first resume; and, best of all, my original, typed copy of my valedictory. I remember being so nervous about writing it that I didn't let my brother or parents read it ahead of time. I had some good material to work from since our class song was "We are the World".

ĵaŭdo

There's been a dog in the office off and on for the last few weeks. It's pretty quiet and stays with its owner for the most part. I occasionally hear a little bark or yip. I haven't asked if it's going to be a permanent situation. I hope not. I think it might be just while it's a puppy.

Sallie and I are wondering if Anne will want to go see Race to Witch Mountain with us. It comes out the weekend she's here. If not, we'll go later. Sallie really likes Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and we both liked the original movie.

I'm gonna take off a bit early today. I got a lot done today and am pretty tired. I can tell cuz I'm having trouble thinking of things to say!

The A's started playing Spring Training games this week and I've forgotten to listen to them. I feel like a bad fan. I'll try to do better.

merkredo

I finally remembered to call Zoe this afternoon. She left me a voice mail at work on Monday but I've had a couple really busy days and she's three hours ahead of me and goes to bed early on school nights so I had to remember early enough to call. She wanted to discuss our Spring Break plans. We'll be staying for a week with my parents at their new house in Indiana helping to unpack and organize. We'll have time to do some exploring of the town and college as well. I found a few possibilities in Fort Wayne for museums and the like if we want to do a day in the city.

I made a mistake this morning doing payroll quickly before a meeting. I was able to fix it but it made me realize I hadn't taken any notes when I was being trained in the new system so I had nothing to refer to. Of course I thought I'd remember everything but when you do something only once a month it's easy to forget.

mardo

This afternoon I went over to the print shop to check a couple sheets off the press for color and alignment, etc. It was nice to see and talk with the people I normally just communicate with by phone or email. I wish we had more money to spend on their professional prepress photo editing. We are often stuck using poor quality photos which could definitely use some professional help to make them look their best.

We spent a lot more time there than I was expecting so I didn't get to Sallie's until almost 7. I was really hungry and tired so we decided to have a relaxing dinner at the Hometown Buffet. Sallie had a coupon for half off of an adult dinner with the purchase of a full-priced dinner. We hadn't been to this buffet before and discovered they have Italian night on Tuesdays. I wasn't much interested in the chicken parm, however, when I saw they had steak and mac & cheese. I also tried a taco which was delicious. For dessert I nabbed a few crispy treat squares which went immediately (and illegally) into my bag for later. Yum! Happy Fat Tuesday!

lundo

Days of the Weeks language this week: Esperanto

Speaking of the moon... I read another great book by David Weber this weekend. Sallie reminded me she had loaned it to me at Christmas so once I finished the Honor Harrington books I had from the library I dug into Empire from the Ashes, an omnibus of a trilogy he published in the early 1990s. It was so good I couldn't put it down, not even for Facebook! There is much in the third book that foreshadows his Safehold series which made me ache for the next one that's coming out later this year. Anyway.... about the moon, in Empire one of the first things we discover is that our moon is no longer a moon but a spaceship (a really big one!). Another interesting discovery is that humans on Earth were a result of a mutiny aboard said spaceship about fifty thousand years ago. And the moon spaceship's computer has been hanging around all that time and gradually became nearly sentient. So cool.

I got the proof of the magazine from the printers today. There were a couple things to fix: a typo and a graphic wasn't printing properly. I'll be headed over there to do a press check with the editor tomorrow afternoon. Then I'm stopping at Sallie's to pick up the newest Kitty book which she got at her store. After that I need to drop off my library books and do some grocery shopping. I may have to blog from home tomorrow. We'll see.

perşembe

The magazine is uploading to our printers' website as I write this. I hate this part -- when I give it away and just know there are mistakes and things I would change if I had just seen them. I'm pretty happy with this issue. We had a few last minute photo searches again but at least we had the cover shot decided upon early on.

We're off tomorrow for a furlough day. I may do some laundry. I also need to finish up a couple books that are due at the library. Mostly I'm going to try to relax after a long couple weeks of magazine production. Maybe I'll watch the episode of 24 that's been sitting on my DVR since Monday. Oh, I'll also catch the next stage of the Tour of California. Looks like it'll be the individual time trial in Solvang. Go Lance!

çarşamba

¡Ay, carumba!

Why, when there are only two women left in the office this time of night, is the restroom occupied just when I rush down the hall to use it?

The specials at the Indian place weren't to my liking today so I expensively ordered from the menu: Butter Chicken. It was so delicioso! Paul usually asks them to substitute chicken tikka masala for the special but he took a different tack today and just asked for some tikka masala sauce on the side. They charged him $4 and the tandoori chicken he got with his special was disappointing. The service was very slow as well. I'd go back but I think it will take a bit of persuading to get Paul to accompany me.

I sent an inquiry the other day to Safari West to see about any openings for a tour the Monday Anne is going to be here. Their online form requires a credit card so I wasn't completely surprised when I saw they had charged my card but I was at least hoping for a confirmation email before they went ahead with it. I guess the only only way to find out if they've got spots is to call. Geez. I hope Anne and Sallie still want to go!

salı

I'm not sure how today's Tuesday in Turkish is pronounced but it looks like "Sallie" so here's a bit more about her. She's had some turnover in her store which was looking good with the arrival of an especially competent co-worker and then ended up not-so-good when said employee was reassigned soon after she arrived to a nearby store instead. Salllie's store is sans general manager and more of her best co-workers are being reassigned as well. Her hours have been cut too. I hope she can hang in there and that things will get better.

When I stopped by Sallie's on Friday I asked if she'd had the opportunity to test out her new vac. She had and reported it went well. I didn't lay down on the carpet but it looked nice and clean to me.

We ID'd our final missing photo today for the magazine and are in the proofing stages. I actually worked on a few things other than the mag today. I got the final January financial reports off to the budget managers, printed a few business cards, learned our commuter check maximum doubled (thanks, President Obama and Congress!), conferred with the author of the other DTP project I took on, and facilitated our monthly Admin meeting (and took and wrote up the notes).

Hey, look! It's before 9 and I'm going home! Woo hoo!

pazartesi

Days of the Week this week: Turkish

I stopped by Sallie's on Friday after work to return some books. I really should say "exchange" because I left with more than I brought. I was really hungry but she had already eaten so I stole a banana and stopped at Taco Bell on my way home.

I think the mouse is in my office so I'm going home. Maybe I'll write more there but don't count on it.

digwener

I decided to come into work after all. I slept in and puttered about at home a bit so didn't arrive until after noon. My goal was to finish a draft of the January financials. I had most everything entered except for payroll. I had to figure out how to change the system I've used for years to mesh with the info from my new payroll vendor. We also started HSAs in January so I had to create a new system for tracking employer and employee contributions and book payables for those who haven't set up their accounts yet. Luckily my system for booking 403b deductions was a good base to begin from.

I was almost done when my boss sent me a new budget to import into the reports. I found a few errors in the budget workbook so we had to correct those. I fixed the numbers manually in Peachtree instead of re-importing and ended up having to export the reports three times to integrate them into my big financial reports spreadsheet. I was just ready to head out when I got another request for some detail on specific accounts so while I was in Peachtree I exported a little report and sent that off. I think my bookkeeping plate will be mostly empty on Monday so I can concentrate on the magazine again.

Did anyone watch Survivor last night? I was worried that they wouldn't be near any water when Jeff said they were going to be in a desert with those high temps. It makes me thirsty! Luckily both camps have nearby water sources so I can move the Brita back to the kitchen.

diriaou

Should I come into work or not tomorrow? The office is closed for a furlough day but I really want to get my January books done. I just couldn't get to it today with all the magazine stuff and Monday looks to be no better. Plus I have to finalize the remittance envelope that goes with the mag. It'd be great to get that to the print shop tomorrow.

I almost missed my BART stop this morning. I was so caught up in the book I'm reading (Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs) I didn't notice I was even close. At least if I had my missed my stop and had to get off at the next one to catch a train going the opposite direction I'd have had something to read while I was waiting!

I just sent an inquiry to Safari West to see about a tour in their park for when Anne's here. Since we're going to Santa Rosa anyway I thought I'd check to see if they had any spots. We might combine it with a visit to the Petrified Forest. Mom and Dad and I really enjoyed our visit there.

merc'her

Just for fun I thought I'd see how much a first class ticket would be for my trip to Michigan. I was thinking it'd be maybe $800-900. Boy, was I way off. It was almost $1900! That's crazy.

If I choose the times and dates I want, my ticket will be about $420. If I take a red-eye out, it's $280. Is arriving rested worth $140? I haven't taken a red-eye for a loooong time. I think I'd be better off getting sleep since I'll be dealing with moving and kids once I get there. I wonder if I can get Sallie to drive me to the airport. That should be one of the perks of having a relative close by, right?

So we're just waiting on a last-second article and a few photos and captions for the magazine. I'm supposed to get it off to proofers on Monday so I hope things get finalized soon so I can spend some time trying out design options. It's always at this point in the process when I hope for more time to make each page as good as it can be. And it's often at this point when I feel crunched for time. I keep thinking I have more time than I actually do since we're closed for furlough again on Friday.

dimuerzh

There have been some pretty pungent people on BART recently. Maybe it's all the rain.

I got approval from my boss for my vacation time in March/April. And I had a scheduling meeting with the fundraising team so I'm clear with them for the time as well. I'll have a few busy weeks before I leave but I'm going to be able to take almost 3 weeks, if I want. I told my mom I was hoping to overlap with Anne when she was going to be there helping out with the move. I keep forgetting I'll be seeing her just a couple weeks before!

American Idol is at the point I really like when we only hear pretty good singers and start to get to know them a bit better. I think I missed an episode of Top Chef last week. Good thing Bravo's all about repeats. Survivor starts up this week again. This time they're in Brazil. Sallie and I sure appreciate Survivor when we're playing the Traveler IQ Challenge. The Amazing Race hits the streets on Sunday. Best show ever.

dilun

Days of the Week this week: Breton

I may be coming down with something. I've had a bit of a headache the last few days and I'm sneezing and my sinuses hurt. Time for some self-medication. And perhaps a bit more sleep. And water.

Sallie, it turns out, was not interested in Inkheart. She read the books and is wary of seeing the movie adaptation. I think she's been prejudiced by a low-budget TV version of some of her favorite books. We ended up going to dinner yesterday instead of getting together on Saturday. She had to go into work at 7am yesterday so had the whole evening free. We ate at Black Angus which was mostly horrid and then went a few blocks down to Wal-Mart where she bought a new vacuum. We may have spent as much time finding me some body wash as we did her vac. There are too many varieties and none that smell very good to me. I wish St. Ives hadn't discontinued my favorite green wash.

I was very happy to see all the rain lately. I hope it keeps up until Anne gets here then clears up for a few days for our gallivanting around. We're going to go up to Napa again as Sallie has not yet been. I'd like to eat at one of Guy Fieri's restaurants in Santa Rosa: Tex Wasabi's or Johnny Garlic's. They both look very interesting and fun. Our other destination is the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Sallie's been wanting to go there for months.

Paraire

I wonder if Sallie will want to go see Inkheart tomorrow. I'm guessing she will since she does love Brendan Fraser. From what I can tell from Fandango.com and Google Movies, our local cinema only has three movies available for viewing tomorrow. I think their info is screwed up. Maybe I'll drive by there tonight once I get to San Leandro and check the signs. We'll be shopping for a vacuum for Sallie tomorrow as well. I wonder how many stores it will take to find something she likes and can afford. I know she'd like a Dyson Animal but doesn't want to spend that much money. Maybe I'll offer some subsidization as an early birthday present.

It's getting a little chilly here in the office. I might have to put on my jacket if I'm here much longer. I hope I'm not. I finally got my payroll syncing figured out and how to integrate it with my normal payroll adjustments which share out amounts across all our departments. I'm not sure how much time this new system is really going to save me. I wish it would be integrated so I could track each employee right in my accounting software instead of just downloading a simple general journal entry.

My Starbucks was somehow out of hot chocolate this morning so I had to get their Signature Hot Chocolate which kinda tastes like you're drinking a milk chocolate Dove bar. It's not to my liking. I prefer it a bit darker.

Taaite

I was a dummy and forgot to print out my Borders Rewards coupon before going over to the mall for lunch so when I bought Carrie Vaughn's new Kitty book upstairs at the Borders I paid full price instead of getting 30% off. I rarely buy books anymore what with Sallie's library and my local library (my Christmas Amazon splurge notwithstanding). There were so many other books I wanted to get though. I was a good girl and left with only one. I have plenty to read at home.

My New Account Specialist from CompuPay actually emailed me back today even though I had gotten an auto-reply message yesterday saying she was unavailable. She's helping me solve my sync situation. I hope we get it figured out soon. It's a bit hard to finish up the books without payroll! I wasn't able to get much bookkeeping done today because the magazine editor sent me several more articles to lay out and they wanted to see how everything would fit so I did that first. It's coming together nicely. We are well ahead of schedule.

We found out today that our furlough/office closure schedule which was meant to match the state's schedule was, instead, opposite it. We were closing second and fourth Fridays and the state is closing first and thirds. We agreed to change so those with spouses who work for the government can be off at the same time. It doesn't matter too much to me though now the Friday Anne is flying in is no longer a furlough day. Maybe I'll trade it for one that is.

Wenerei

My almost-teen nephew Zander had his first wrestling match last night. I emailed him to get his report and he said that even though he was pinned in 30 seconds his team won. That's the important part, I guess. And that he had fun. I'm hoping his dad was there to take some pictures. If there's anythng more amusing than those singlets, I don't know.

Have you seen the Miss "I Don't Have Any Enemies" Joyce email that's going around? I don't normally like the humor emails that people send but this one was hilarious. Let me know and I'll send it to you. So funny. Thanks, Anne.

Today I started layout for the spring magazine. It feels like my boss and the editor have things well in hand this time around. We even have the cover photo tied down already. Usually we're still digging around for something a few days before press. Monday's the deadline for getting me all the content and I have most of the articles already and some photos.

I spent half the day doing layout and the rest doing January bookkeeping. Unfortunately my payroll system isn't syncing to my accounting software and that's why I switched! And my New Account Specialist is gone until the 16th. Guess I'll have to talk to someone else. Or do it manually again.

My folks had a mover come do an estimate today for taking their stuff to Indiana. Mom reported they have three and a half tons to move. I just can't comprehend that.

Tuurei

I had some lovely wonton soup today at the Thai restaurant. The menu stated it came with bean sprouts, of which I am not fond, so I asked for cabbage instead. The wontons looked like little comets instead of pouches and there was nary a sprout to be found. It was just what my sensitive stomach needed today. Paul and I traded broken bone and emergency surgery stories. Fun!

My 1099-INT form from my credit union came in the mail over the weekend so I could file my taxes today. I owe the feds $32 and will be getting $99 from the state someday. I do it all online and save the forms electronically.

I need to head over to the library. The new Sharon Shinn book has arrived!

Mane

Days of the Week language this week: Maori

I have been confronted with the fact that I know very little about the location of Caribbean islands and South Pacific islands. The reason this has been revealed to me is that I am addicted to a game on Facebook called Traveler IQ Challenge. It's all about clicking on a world map where you think a place is located. Your score is based on how close you get and how fast you click. I'm pretty good at cities but not so good at famous places. I'm even worse at islands.

What's nice about the Traveler IQ Challenge is that you can select other challenges to test and increase your knowledge of specific areas of the world. So I've been boning up on "Oceania/Australia" and "North America" (which includes the Caribbean) to help me get better scores in my favorite challenge: "World Capitals". As you might think, it takes you around the world, area by area, and tests your knowledge of the locations of capitals.

Another cool thing about Traveler IQ is that you can create your own challenges and play ones others have created. I thought I'd make one with locations where my family has lived and places we've enjoyed on our travels in North America. I also included the towns where my cousins and aunts and uncles live now. Each Community Challenge can have 100 places of which 15 are randomly selected for each game. I have entered 71 places so far and hope to fill up all 100 slots. If you have any suggestions, let me know.