PotD: Midnight, Shmidnight

It doesn't look like Milo is going to make it another 2 1/2 hours.  You know what? Neither will I.  Oh well.  Happy New Year to everyone!

2010 in Non-Sequitor

It's my favorite post of the year!

Take the first sentence of the first post of every month this year on your blog and put them all together.

If you love the Muppets as much as I do, I bet you'll enjoy spending time on the website for Disney's new volunteer-and-we'll-give-you-a-park-ticket campaign.  I'm pretty bad at peer pressure. I was going for a clever play on 'Pride and Prejudice' but I think I failed.

Once again, I find myself the victim(?) of peer pressure in the form of NaBloPoMo.  I made sticky buns for breakfast.  Rationally, I understand that boycotting BP doesn't hurt BP as much as it hurts local station owners and workers and that's it's a pretty ineffective emotional response. 

After dinner Thursday, Scott and I stopped in to Bath & Body Works because I needed some pretty-smelling hand sanitizer for my work desk. The problem with blog posts that write themselves is that they don't publish themselves. I woke up this morning an hour early to bake a loaf of banana bread to take to work. 

I read today on Twitter that October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present you with my new computer desktop image.  Scott pulled out the Christmas tree this afternoon and put it up. 

Happy New Year everyone.  Best wishes for health and wisdom in 2011!

PotD: Love from Greenpop

I had some other contenders for Photo of the Day, but none as sweet as this!

Thanks, Greenpop :)
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

PotD: What's a Motto With You?

Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®

Nesting

Alternate misleading post title:

What to Expect When You're Expecting (Baby Eagles)

Do you see it in the picture up above? It's pretty well camouflaged. How about in the picture below?


I could barely see the birds in the nest with my naked eye. And not at all in the camera viewfinder. I lucked out with my timing - one bird had just flown back to the nest with a new stick, and they (I assume) were tucking it in where it needed to go.


So while I don't have any clue if or when we'll actually have a whole big eagle family, I know that for the immediate future I'll have plenty of photo opportunities.

Cotton Balls Dipped in Pea Soup

I took this picture at about 7:20 this morning at the entrance to my development. Even if you can't tell from the photo, let me assure you that the visibility was crap. And believe it or not, aside from a few clear patches, the visibility was this bad or worse for my entire drive in to work.

It was panic-inducing bad. Like driving through cotton candy... or cotton balls... or pea soup... or cotton balls dipped in pea soup.

It reminded me of a news story my mom once told me about a bridge that was destroyed by a boat in heavy fog (a Google search leads me to believe it might have been the Sunshine Skyway?) and cars kept driving right off the road into the water because they couldn't see that the road in front of them had disappeared. All my life, I wondered how a person could be so stupid as to not know the road was gone.

At one point this morning, when the fog was at its thickest, I was convinced the road in front of me was going to disappear. Now I understand.

On the bright side, driving slowly and concentrating on the white line painted on the side of the road made me notice all of the frost on the grass. I wish I could've stopped to take a picture of some feathery marsh grass that was thick white and sparkly. It was pretty awesome.

And speaking of taking pictures, I'm going to try to take and post a photo a day in 2011. Whether terrible camera phone pictures (dear Blackberry, yours is the worst camera phone I've ever had. love, Jamie) or planned outings with the camera, I think it'll be a fun and easy way to document the year.

Paranoia Justified

Preface: This story starts with a simple Christmas gift: a thermal cup for work that's got a built-in straw. The cup is important because it's established Jamie Fact that when I have a cup with a straw I drink more. Lots more.

At 11:30 this morning, I was on my third work pee of the day. I had washed my hands and was reaching for the paper towel dispenser when I noticed a small roach-ish (oval-shaped brown crunchy body, about 1" long) bug on the top edge of the trash can below. So I went to the far end of the bathroom and used the other towel dispenser and left the bathroom.

I called Scott and whined that I wasn't going to be able to pee for the rest of the day because of the bug. Of course, with all that free-flowing water, there was no way I'd make it another 5 hours without a pit stop or six.

On my fourth pee of the day, I was sitting on the toilet when I realized I hadn't done a full inspection of the stall first. Instantly, I started imagining the tickle of bug feet on my butt and thighs.

On pee #5, I abandoned my regular stall (too close to the last known location of the intruder), but still lifted up the seat and peeked around a little to make sure I was alone before closing the door. I felt silly, but I figured better safe than sorry.

On pee #6 (yes six!), I returned to my regular stall. I grabbed a wad of toilet paper, wiped the seat, and used the same wad to lift up the seat. And there it was. The roach. Under the very seat where I imagined it hiding all along. I tossed the TP into the toilet and went 3 stalls away. And then I went back to my office chanting, "heebie jeebie, heebie jeebie, HEEBIE JEEBIE!!!"

I hope it's gone completely by tomorrow. I love my new cup, and would hate to have to abandon it just because I have to go to another building just to use the bathroom!

Appreciation

Allow me to preface this blog post by stating unequivocally that I do not feel taken for granted at home. If anything, I don't do enough to tell Scott how much I appreciate him. But this post is all about work.

As you know if you're caught up on my Twitter or Facebook accounts, I made sticky buns for the 3rd shift safety meeting. This was a three-day process that caused me to bail on a friend's holiday party Wednesday (though as it turns out, Scott's day got all haywire and we wouldn't have been able to make it anyway) and not sing in a previously scheduled show of Candlelight on Thursday. But I promised them a month ago.

It turns out one of my 3rd shift managers had a family emergency and had to go out of town (which, by the way, sucks any time but double-sucks right before Christmas), and one of our attractions had some big issue that took another manager away. So this morning was a small crew. I begged them to eat, begged them to take some back for people not in the area, and still had 1/3 of their batch left.

(their batch - an entire 9x13 Pyrex dish - spent 45 minutes in a warm oven and was transported in a thermal carrier so that they would be warm and gooey. you're right mom, I do spoil them!)

I also had packed a separate container for my core group that I work with every day. So I spent much of this morning trying to give away sticky buns to everyone who walked in (or past) my office*. Everyone who took one pretty much gave me some version of "wow, that's really tasty," but my crowning achievement came just a little while before I left.

One of our electricians took a sticky bun to be polite. Really, when I offered it the first time he said "I'll come back after I eat my sandwich," and I didn't think he's come back. He did come back, took a small bun, and left. About 45 seconds later he came back, plate clean, mouth full, and exclaimed, "oh my God Jamie that was the best thing I ever ate. I need another one!" He grabbed a second one out of the container and left. And I almost melted in a big puddle of happy-to-be-appreciated goo!

To be fair, I'd never brought anything more culinarily complex than an apple pie to The Restaurant. But it's tough to "wow" people who generally eat scraps of 5-diamond food for dinner every night. There, I often felt invisible or, in the case of pot-luck dinners, out-matched. Now, every day I'm thanked for something. And the only thing I've brought in that didn't end up completely eaten was the cranberry sauce I brought in for Thanksgiving.

I know that a time will probably come when I no longer LOVE my job and LOVE my co-workers and LOVE the people I support and LOVE my office-mate. But right now, I really do love them, at least in part because they love me.

*I was SHOCKED by how many people had never heard the term "sticky bun" before. I weep for those people and their hollow, empty lives!

Cruise Food

Well, I promised "something" about the cruise, this weekend, so here are some food pictures. Who doesn't love food pictures?

These first two pictures are of dessert from our first night. Really, I only took them because we were amused by the tiny strawberry pieces. Scott's dessert is the one on the left - some sort of chocolate cake thing - and mine was cranberry-orange cheesecake.

And now for some pictures from Palo. I had monkfish with mascarpone risotto and red pepper sauce, and Scott had lamb chops. We also got to try the lobster ravioli.

Palo has a "famous" chocolate soufflé that they recommend, but to me a soufflé isn't really any more special than a warm piece of cake. We had it once, just because everyone says "did you have the soufflé?" Now I can say yes, "but next time you should try the pineapple ravioli...it's amazing." And Scott loves their panna cotta so much he'll probably never order something else.

And thus concludes the gratuitous food pics from the cruise. I'm sorry I didn't get pictures of the amazing eggs benedict or Scott eating caviar at the Palo brunch. I did, however, get a picture of Scott's traditional start-of-cruise shrimp feast. Enjoy!

Nothing Under the Tree

Scott pulled out the Christmas tree this afternoon and put it up. We'll be decorating it tomorrow, adding ornaments picked up during our stay-cation in Tampa (Dali Museum melting clock, of course) and our way-far-away-cation in the Caribbean. I love Christmas, and I love our tree, even though it's too small for the angel we got last year. But this year, there won't be any gifts under the tree.

Like we did in 2008, we have decided to forgo gifts for friends, family, and co-workers and instead donate to charity. This year, we'll be giving to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. In '08, we had a lot of fun shopping for Toys for Tots, and it's something I'd love to do with my future hypothetical children. But this year I felt really strongly that our money should go to a more practical fund. Second Harvest actually provides food to other nonprofits - everything from homeless shelters to breakfast programs for school kids - and I would rather make sure that there's no one hungry on Christmas morning (and for the rest of the year) than give away toys.

But before anyone accuses me of Scrooge-ing underprivileged kids, please read on...

In 2008, we had plenty of gifts under the tree for ourselves, and this year we're buying nothing but stocking stuffers. That's because we decided to make an unexpected donation to the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central Florida. "Unexpected? How can that be?" Well you see...

As Disney Cruise Line prepares to bring its newest ship – Disney Dream – online, a special two-night and invitation only preview cruise will take place [...] in support of Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida. As part of this one-of-a-kind sailing, 100 percent of the cruise fare will be donated directly to the organization, while select Boys & Girls Clubs children and their families from Brevard, Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties will have a unique opportunity to sail onboard.

(from the Disney Parks Blog)

Merry Christmas to us!

The money we spent on the cruise really wasn't that much more than we would have spent on actual gifts, and we justified the extra expenditure by telling eachother that the money was going to charity. I'm not even pretending that we booked the cruise strictly as a charitable donation. Scott and I have been gobbling up every story about this ship since they started hinting about the awesomeness aboard, and dreaming about the day - more than likely over a year from now - when we'd be able to get a booking cheap enough for us to afford. This also gives my inner journalist the chance to "scoop" ALL of our friends. And did I mention that the inaugural cruise is after our cruise? We're going on before all those Disney nuts who booked 2 years ago!

Plus, we'll be able to give all of you the "gift" of another vicarious vacation. Sure, I've been remiss in blogging at all about our last cruise, but aside from the ports of call (and Cozumel doesn't even count because we never even got off the ship. don't judge - it was raining AND Mexico!), it really was quite similar to the Disney Magic cruise we took in 2007. I'll put something up this weekend, I promise. But this will be a NEW ship with NEW restaurants and NEW shows!

You're welcome!

...and I hope you have some money in your budget to donate to your favorite charity. All kidding (and cruising) aside, I'm grateful that we're in a position to do so. And I know that our gift to the food bank will go to better use than a gift card or knick knack would, and that the memories we make on our mini vacation - and the ones the kids make at the local B&GC's - will last longer than a video game or jewelery would have.

It's Been A While...

...since I shared any backyard wildlife photos. And truth be told, these pictures weren't taken in the backyard. They were taken by the dumpster at the end of the street.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sure it's pretty, but will there be horcruxes? Scott and I are going nontraditional after work - Harry Potter 7.1 and then modified Thanksgiving dinner of chicken breasts, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and probably a vegetable. I made cranberry-orange cookies for us to take to work, but no dessert for tonight.

Anyway, have a great turkey day and don't forget to stop for a moment and remember what you are thankful for: ME! ;-)

Making Things

Whenever I make anything, there's this moment in the process where it goes from an abstract to an actual thing. For me, that's a bigger accomplishment than seeing the completed product. When making cookies, it's adding the flour that turns the slimy sugar-butter-egg goo into cookie dough. With soft pretzels, it never seems real until the dough has risen.

Today, I made a vest for Scott. I cut out most of the pieces yesterday, before realizing that we couldn't find the iron (umm...this also means I haven't ironed in over a year...is it wrong that I'm proud of that?). I quit for the night, and then finished cutting this morning after a run to Target for a $7 iron and an eggnog latte.

So really, 80% of this process happened today. After the cutting, I attached the front and back at the shoulders. Then came the long and tedious process of pinning and then ironing interfacing to the lining. (still not quite sure what the heck the point of that was) Then I attached the back and front of the lining at the shoulders. Then I spent an hour pinning the whole outside to the whole liner. Then it was finally time to sew more than 6" at a time.

Much like making a pillow, you sew the vest together with the "good" sides facing each other, leave a hole, and then flip it right-side-out through the hole. It wasn't until I did that flip that I looked down at the work table and thought, "holy shit - this might actually work!"

It's done now, except for the buttons. I'm waiting to have Scott try it on while I pin the buttons in the right spot. I'm so proud of myself. I haven't sewn anything since 9th grade sewing class and half expected to have a temper tantrum and never finish. Quite the contrary, I considered the extra fabric that I bought, and seriously thought about making a vest for myself. But then I realized how small our office is, and how I haven't had anything to eat since 8 am, and I thought perhaps I'll just take it easy for the rest of the day.

No vest for me, but I am going to use some extra fabric to make myself a matching belt/sash thing and a headband. You're going to love these pictures, I'm sure!

More Water, Please

I'm having a glass of water for breakfast.

Yesterday, I had multi-grain Cheerios for breakfast, a tuna salad salad (tuna salad on a bed of romaine) for lunch, and dry honey nut Cheerios for dinner. Dinner, by the way was partly before Candlelight rehearsal and then as much as I could swallow before 7:00.

That's right, I have fasting blood work this morning. And yesterday's meal was a feeble attempt to skew the results. Some may call it cheating, but I think it's just good sense. Plus, I had those home-made ravioli the night before last, so it's not like I've been sensible for long.

I know from a non-fasting cholesterol test I had at work that Cheerios for breakfast significantly lowered my triglycerides. I have my fingers crossed that I'll be back in the normal range without pharmaceutical intervention. Wish me luck!

...and after the blood test? McDonald's for breakfast!

Imodium

I took two Imodium Wednesday night. I rarely take Imodium at all, and when I do I've been known to take 1/2 a pill. I don't know how it works, but I picture it as one of those novelty capsule-that-turns-into-a-sponge-animal things, but with concrete instead of a sponge.

Anyway, at the time two pills seemed like the best thing for me. Trust me - I was near tears and tweeting to God for mercy.

Fortunately, the pills worked.

Unfortunately, the pills are still working.

I may be putting prunes on the shopping list.

Sad Jamie is Sad

Wow, it's worse than 2004. Rubio and Webster will be representing me and my district. I don't think I'll be excitedly waiting up for results tonight.

Damn...

The 'Dream' is a Floating Reality

Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to present you with my new computer desktop image:


photo credit. there are 71 photos in the gallery, and it's definitely worth spending a few minutes there

The Disney Dream took a major step forward (while being tugged backwards) over the weekend when her Floating Out took place at the shipyard in Germany. The official Disney take on the event can be found here (along with some other cool pictures).


It's hard to gauge the size difference between this ship and the Magic/Wonder ships until you take a look at a picture of the stern. At least that was true for me. Not only is this ship 3 or 4 decks taller, it's also broader. I don't even think that there are verandas on the other ships that face that direction.



Anyway, it's pretty awesome. And apparently the first 450 crew members will be moving on board soon to get the inside sparkling and pretty. She'll be doing sea trials for the next two months, and then heading "home" to Port Canaveral for her inaugural cruise in January. I can't wait to see her in person!

Killing Myself for a Bargain

I had a coupon from Snapfish - buy one calendar get two free - and decided I couldn't pass it up. I didn't read that there was a specific size calendar included, so my first three hours of work (on three separate calendars) was pretty much wasted.

Round two of calendars took me a little less than two hours, and they actually came out better than round one. I guess I can't complain. Except about my aching click & drag fingers! My hands HURT!

Anyway, now Scott and I each have calendars for our offices, and I made one for home that's mostly pictures of us. It's my favorite!

My creativity has been sapped for the day, so please excuse me while I go dig into leftover Halloween candy and then head to bed.

Label Fail

This is an actual tab on an actual hanging file in my desk. I spent a few hours over the past week cleaning out the desk, mostly recycling a half-ton of various papers (hello? isn't that what computer archives are for?) and moving folders around.

Despite all of the unsentimental brush clearing I did, I couldn't bring myself to get rid of the "Scap Paper" file, because every time I see it I chuckle.

I have approximately 100 hanging files in three drawers in my desk, and personally use five. There are another ten with stuff I haven't yet decided it's ok to toss. And of course, 2" of scrap paper that's been memorialized in an otherwise unused drawer (note: the folder in front of the tab is full of half-used notebooks. WTF?).

I'll leave you with two other pictures, for S&G's. These are the other file drawers. The first is the one I actually use (the first five files, at least). The second has 62 files - two sets labeled 1-31. Obviously I didn't do that zig-zag with the tabs. It pings my OCD every time I see it!

Do You Know What Time It Is?

It's BEDTIME!

It's been a long day, but now it's the weekend, I finally got my contact lens prescription filled, and tomorrow is the Rally to Restore Sanity.

If you can make sense out of that last sentence, you're probably as tired as I am.

Good night!