Ok, ok, I'll blog, sheesh.
Now Playing: Are You Happy Now - Michelle Branch
Here I am, in all my (ahem) radiant glory. Well, not exactly. I'm here, but I'm far from radiant, unless you count in my oily skin. Forgot to wash my face before I came to work. Oh well. It's back to the night shift for me. And what a night it's going to be. We have some serious storms rolling through, and the lightning is flashing quite often. It's very muggy in here, so I've got the big fans going. I think they're actually the air conditioner, but I'm not sure. (eyes crossing in perplexion)

Still haven't heard back about the house we applied for. Jim's dad is getting pretty annoyed with us, he wanted to be moved out about 2 weeks ago. Jim's been watching the paper like a hawk, and has called on every house that is reasonably priced, but we're not getting any responses. Frustrating.

Other than that, I don't have much news. Everything is as it has been. Work, sleep, eat, repeat in no particular order. Have lost over 25 pounds of the 50 I gained from taking stinking Effexor. Am hopeful that the other 25 will continue to diminish before I walk down the aisle. Sarah says I already look skinny. Skinni-er, maybe, but not skinny enough for me.

It's raining, it's pouring
Mood:  lyrical
Rain, rain on my face
It hasn’t stopped raining for days
My world is a flood
Slowly I become one with the mud

Chorus:

But if I can’t swim after forty days
And my mind is crushed by the thrashing waves
Lift me up so high that I cannot fall
Lift me up
Lift me up - when I’m falling
Lift me up - I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - keep me from drowning again

Downpour on my soul
Splashing in the ocean, I’m losing control
Dark sky all around
I can’t feel my feet touching the ground

[chorus]

Calm the storms that drench my eyes
Dry the streams still flowing
Cast down all the waves of sin
And guilt that overthrow me

[bridge]

[chorus]

Lift me up - when I’m falling
Lift me up - I’m weak and I’m dying
Lift me up - I need you to hold me
Lift me up - keep me from drowning again

Just realized that there is a pretty good explanation for my sour stomach, and it has nothing to do with the Slim-Fast bar.

I made a pot of coffee about midnight. Well, thinking that I should make it stronger than usual to keep me awake, I put in an extra scoop. I didn't realize until it was too late that the grounds were Columbian, and pretty strong already. So the coffee is pretty damn strong. And, to make it worse, it sat warming for two hours before I finally had a chance to pour myself a cup. I'd be willing to bet that it's the coffee merrily eating away at the lining of my stomach that's giving me a bad taste in my mouth.

Only an hour and a half left of my shift. Then I have to decide whether to go to bed, or stay up for a while. Have some shopping to do, and I'll probably end up working 8-12 Fri morning, so I should stay up. BUT.....I'm so tired I doubt I'll make it past 10am before giving in and going to bed. Only time will tell, eh?.....We shall see.

Jagged Little Pills
Just ate a Slim-Fast Chewy Granola Chocolate Chip meal bar. Just have one word for the taste left in my mouth - EW. Didn't satisfy me at all. In fact my stomach is MORE upset after eating it than it was before, when I was just hungry. Will not be purchasing that one by the box. Definitely glad I tried it first. Stupid Hy-Vee stopped carrying the ones I like in boxes, and it's too expensive to buy the singles. So, I'm trying new flavors. Have a feeling that I'll just end up buying the ones I like somewhere else. I know Walmart carries them. Well, I know they did a couple of months ago. Anyway, enough about food.

Learned an unpleasant lesson last night. Was tired of fighting the battle against the sandman while working, so I sent Jim to the store for No-Doz. What he came back with was not No-Doz. It was the generic equivalent of Vivarin. Unfortunately, the tablets weren't coated, and when I took one, it didn't go down the hatch right away. I guess it decided it enjoyed the tropical climate in my mouth, because it latched onto my tongue. I managed to get it loose, and tried to guzzle it down with some soda. Well, I guess that didn't convince it, because it got stuck in the back of my throat, and wouldn't go any further. I gagged, hacked, etc for a couple of minutes, and finally got it to go down. Tears were streaming down my face, you know how it is. For the rest of the night, I was a chronic swallower. You'd think I would have learned my lesson the first time, but NOOOO, I had to give a repeat performance four hours later, when I took another dose. I was better prepared the second time, and had the lid off of my water bottle. In fact, the bottle was halfway to my lips when I popped the pill in the second time. No matter, it still got stuck in my throat. Over 25 hours later, my throat still hurts from those damn little pills. Never again. And get this. To add insult to injury, later on I was reading the box, and realized that the pills I had taken contained nothing more than 200mg of caffeine. I could have achieved the same effect without the pain if I had just made a pot of coffee. Talk about aggravating. Why does this stuff happen to me?

Jim called and checked on the progress of our potential house today. They still haven't made a decision about who they'll rent it to, but I guess we're on the "good list" because we were so friendly. All I'm going to say is it's easy to be friendly when you're as worked up about something as I was about that house. It is just plain awesome. Sure, it's not new, and hasn't been for almost 100 years. And sure, it's not really a convenient distance from work. But if I had my choice between a little cookie cutter house in town and that old house with the homey feel, the old house wins hands down. The fact that it's only $300 a month is icing on the cake. The only downside that I see (other than the 45 min drive time) is that I may actually have to start cleaning regularly. It's way too much house for us, but I think we could use the room. And we'll grow into it! Robert can have his own room for when he visits. And, if he ends up living with us on a more permanent basis, that's even better! Stevie and Mr. Jingles can have their own rooms. The house is approximately 10 rooms on two floors, with a multi-room basement. That's not counting the closets. Oh, and the rent includes the use of two outbuildings - a hay barn, and a long, low building (chicken house?) that we'll use for storage, and maybe park my car in. Unfortunately, the beams are too low to park the truck in there. But, the storage shed/garage is about 30x150 ft with a cement floor. Plenty of space to store all of our extra stuff, and probably some other people's too. I know Mom has some things in a storage shed we rent in Columbus. It would be nice to have free storage space, and so much of it to boot.

Not sure what if anything is going on for Mother's Day. Sarah's supposed to get back to me. She says Mom's been invited to a square dance that night! I'll most likely be working day shift, so I probably won't even get to see them. Hopefully some time in the next week, Jim and I can take Mom shopping for her present. We decided to finance her garden, since she doesn't really have the money to do it herself. Not sure what exactly she's going to plant, but tomatoes, okra, and kohlrabi are almost guaranteed to be on the list.

Anyway, that's about all I have to say for now, and it's quite a bit more than usual. How much do you want to bet that Scooter checked twice to make sure she had the right blog? :)

Jumping on the Bandwagon
Mood:  lyrical
Stay With Me - Into The Woods - Stephen Sondheim

WITCH
What did I clearly say?
Children must listen.

RAPUNZEL
No, no, please!

WITCH
What were you not to do?
Children must see-

RAPUNZEL
No!

WITCH
And learn.

Why could you not obey?
Children should listen.
What have I been to you?
What would you have me be?
Handsome like a Prince?

Ah, but I am old.
I am ugly.
I embarass you.

RAPUNZEL
No!

WITCH
You are ashamed of me.

RAPUNZEL
No!

WITCH
You are ashamed.
You don't understand.

RAPUNZEL
It was lonely atop that tower.

WITCH
I was not company enough?

RAPUNZEL
I am no longer a child. I wish to see the world.

WITCH
Don't you know what's out there in the world?
Someone has to shield you from the world.
Stay with me.

Princes wait there in the world, it's true.
Princes, yes, but wolves and humans, too.
Stay at home.
I am home.

Who out there could love you more than I?
What out there that I cannot supply?
Stay with me.

Stay with me,
The world is dark and wild.
Stay a child while you can be a child.
With me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mother Mother - Tracy Bonham

Mother mother, how's the family?
I'm just calling to say hello.
How's the weather, how's my father?
Am I lonely? Heavens no...
Mother mother, are you listening?
Just a phone call to ease your mind.
Life is perfect, never better,
Distance making the heart grow blind.

When you sent me off to see the world,
Were you scared that I might give birth?
Would I try a little tobacco?
Would I keep on hiking up my skirt?

I'm hungry, I'm dirty, I'm losing my mind,
Everything's fine.
I'm freezing, I'm starving, I'm bleeding to death,
Everything's fine.

Yeah, I'm working, making money
I'm just starting to build a name.
I can feel it around the corner,
I could make it any day.
Mother mother can you hear me,
Sure I'm sober, sure I'm sane.
Life is perfect never better
Still your daughter, still the same.

If I tell you what you want to hear
Will it help you to sleep well at night?
Are you sure that I'm your perfect dear?
Now just cuddle up and sleep tight.

I'm hungry, I'm dirty, I'm losing my mind,
Everything's fine.
I'm freezing, I'm starving, I'm bleeding to death,
Everything's fine.

I miss you.
I love you.

Much Ado about Nothing
Now Playing: His Eye is on the Sparrow
At some point in the next month, I would like to wake up feeling refreshed, and not feel like I need a nap 2 hours later. That doesn't seem to happen very often. I get out of bed in the early evening, have supper, mess around for a couple hours, and take a nap until about 10. Then I drag my butt out of bed, and go to work. Maybe I'm sleeping too much. But if I don't need the sleep, why am I always tired? I'm probably vitamin deficient, but I can't find the bottle of vitamins I bought a month ago. I guess I should just go get another one. I'm out of the practice of taking pills on a schedule, not that I ever really got the hang of it.

Hey Scooter! Since I never remember to ask you when we're talking, did you ever send those cds? If not, I wonder if you could add a song. You posted the lyrics to "In a very unusual way" in your blog. I heard a snippet of it on a tape for my music appreciation class, and I think I like it.

And now, the bad news. At this point, I have serious doubts that we will be able to go to OK for the Tony's party in June. The owner of the company has decreed that there has to be a supervisor here during first and third shifts, no exceptions. We can get away with not having a supervisor here during second because we don't typically get that many calls then. That's not a whole lot different than the way it has been, but here's the problem. We were going to promote a girl to supervisor. However, she put in her notice yesterday that she'll be leaving the 27th, she's moving to Cleveland. So, now we have to find and train another supervisor. I guess we just hired a few more people, and a couple of them have potential, but I'm not holding my breath. A miracle could happen, but the way it looks, we won't be able to go. That really sucks. (pouting)

Well, I guess that's it for now. I might post again later, depending on how bored I get. Gonna read The DaVinci Code between calls.

p.s. Thanks for the pink mammoth, I swear I won't drink sake ever again. :)

Christos Anesti! Christ is Risen!
Christ is risen from the dead,
Trampling down death by death,
And upon those in the tombs bestowing life.

Christos Anesti! Alethos Anesti!
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!

Kai to Kronos!

The Return of the Blog
Mood:  celebratory
Got the internet back tonight. Not sure if everything's fixed, but at least I can do something other than sit and stare at my screen. Not that it's keeping me any more awake. Just clocked back in from "lunch" (aka naptime). Dozed on and off for about an hour. Guess my flunkies think that gives them the right to sleep too, cause he's snoring, and she's hunched down with her feet up. Don't they understand the difference? I was OFF THE CLOCK!! Oh well, at least they aren't dropping calls. Yet. If they do, there'll be hell to pay.
From what I hear, we have some new people starting soon. Hope they work out better than our last crop. The turnover rate here is astonishing. Could be the nature of the job, but I think it has more to do with the hiring "skills" of our illustrious leader. Or, more accurately, the lack thereof. But enough about work.
Jim and I both managed to get Saturday night off for Pascha (Easter), so I'll get to go to church for the first time in a couple of months. And as an added bonus, my friend from high school is having a "pampering party" on Saturday, which gives us the opportunity to go to Lincoln. So, we'll be going to my old church, and I'll get to see my Greek Godmother, and the other folks who knew me when I first joined the Orthodox church. Should be refreshing. It was hard going to a church where I didn't know anybody. Then again, that's the way it was in Lincoln at first. The difference is, I can't go to the other services that I would like to. I miss Vespers on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Those were the services I attended most often when I was learning about the church. They're the most musical, which appealed to me. I miss how simple my life was.
But, all things happen for a reason. I'm convinced of that. And I have proof. I asked Jim if I had been living in Lincoln when we met online, would he have pursued me the same way he did when I was in Columbus. He told me that he wouldn't have, because he'd driven down to Lincoln and Omaha to meet several other women, and didn't like what he found. I guess they all told him that they weren't really into the clubbing scene, but it turns out that when the weekend came, off to the clubs they'd go. So, he just stopped responding to ads from Lincoln and Omaha. Fortunately, I left Lincoln, and we met when I lived in Columbus, which is much closer to Norfolk. So, here we are, happy and free....well, getting there anyway.
For those of you who are confused about what I'm talking about, I met Jim on Yahoo Personals. We emailed back and forth for about 4-6 weeks, then decided to meet. We were cautious at first, both having come out of bad relationships. Then one night we were chatting on Messenger, and I got impetuous. I asked if he'd like to meet for coffee. Mind you, this was at 10pm. I offered to drive to Norfolk and meet him. My mother thought I was nuts. She was right. She just about flipped when for our first "date" we took my car and drove to Valentine. Jim wanted to get some photos of elk. My mother wasn't convinced he wasn't planning to kill me and leave me in the bushes. Obviously, he didn't, or I wouldn't be typing this. :) He DID pull a .22 pistol out, but he wasn't aiming at me. He was after a rattlesnake on the side of the road. Those of you who know me well can probably imagine how I felt about that scenario. Suffice it to say, I was pretty quiet for a while after that. He got back in the car, saw the look on my face, and said something like "I just ruined any chance I had with you, didn't I?" I told him that while I was far from comfortable with him carrying a gun on a date, or a dead rattlesnake in my trunk, that I would attempt to get over it for the sake of our potential relationship. That was a year and a half ago. Not sure if I'm over it yet, but I'm still here. He's a good man, Charlie Brown. (Yes, I know you're reading this. Just try not to let it go to your head, ya mook.) I'm grateful for the time we spend together, and I'm afraid I don't show it enough. It's easy to say "I love you." How do I show you exactly how I feel? It's so much more than words can express. Through good times and bad, I'll always be here for you, with you through the storm. Squishy and Bubbles, together forever.

Unplanned Moratorium
I posted, really I did. At least I tried to. Well, I guess I'll have to try again, cause my darn computer froze up and crashed before I could finalize the post last time. Here's take two...

Maybe you know this, maybe you don't, but I do most of my blogging at work. I haven't been able to post lately because two of the four servers, and several of the other computers that keep us in business are infected with viruses/spyware/other nasty stuff. So, until further notice, the internet is off limits. That's not a good thing, because sometimes playing on the 'net is the only thing that keeps me and my coworkers from dozing off. Third shift can really be the pits. So, I'll post as often as I can. There's no telling when we'll get the internet back.

In other news, unless the owner goes into a fit of nonsensical logic (wouldn't be the first time), I will most likely be promoted to "Assistant Operations Manager" sometime in the next week or so. This may or may not involve a pay raise, depending on what the manager works out with the owner. I'll probably still be on third shift. The previous asst mgr walked out after throwing a temper tantrum about having to cover third on my night off. Wah freakin' wah. She only had to work third once a week, if that. I work third FIVE OR SIX days a week, EVERY week. And I'm expected to cover FIRST shift when it's necessary. You don't see me bitching and moaning about it all the time. It doesn't do my sleep schedule (yeah, right, like I have one of those) any favors, either. The woman is pretty close to 40, and she's acting like a petulant teenager. Well, good riddance, I guess. Trouble is, it leaves us even more short-staffed than we were before she left. And the owner is being difficult, as usual. He chews the poor manager out if any of us have overtime. I guess he doesn't understand that we don't have the manpower to cover the shifts as well as we'd like to right now. He flew off the handle and told the manager that any overtime from now on is coming out of her paycheck. So, no more overtime. Trouble is, that will leave us with not enough people to cover the calls that are scheduled. He throws a fit if we drop any calls. He just doesn't get it. Until we get more people hired and trained, we're either going to have overtime, or drops. That's one thing I'm dreading. If I get this promotion, sooner or later I'll be on the receiving end of one of his tirades. The manager told me that the first three times he cussed her out, she balled afterwards. The dumb jerk had the nerve to ask what we could do to improve morale. Well, for starters, he could stop riding our asses, and stop flying off the handle about every minor thing that doesn't go exactly as planned. Second, he can realize that we're doing the best we can with limited resources, and faulty data. Third, he can start giving praise where it's due, and stop focusing on only the negative things. Fourth, he can provide us with the things we need to function on a day-to-day basis. I could go on, but I have better things to do in what little freetime I get. Like.......laundry....yay. :)

Anyway, I'll post again as soon as I can. Until then, hope everyone is having a good week.

I think my nose is broken...
Mood:  quizzical
Don't panic, I don't require surgery, and I'm not bleeding. All I meant by that is that I'm smelling things that I don't think are real. I'm hallucinating smells. Or maybe I'm just misinterpreting them. Here's the rundown. Wafting through the halls is the odd combination of mac n cheese and nag champa incense. The bathroom is a mix of steamed broccoli and swamp gas, always a favorite. And here in the office, we have the pleasant aroma of burning plastic, fresh flowers, and incense (seeping in under the door from the hall). If any of that sounds "normal" to you, please tell me so I can quit trying to figure out what's wrong with my sniffer. Another major problem tonight is my internal jukebox seems to be on the fritz. It's not so bad now, but earlier I had a mind-bending medley of various tunes, including selections from West Side Story, Young Frankenstein, Into the Woods, James Taylor's "Fire and Rain", and other assorted snippets. So at one point, the mayhem in my head sounded something like this: "Pleeeease release meeeee, let me gooooooo...(slurred)puuuudin on the riiiii...MAMBO!...you can tend the garden it's yours...all the world is only you and me...but I always thought that I'd see you again...AGONYYYYY...oooooh my love at last I've found youuuuu." If that's not enough to drive a person mad, I don't know what is. Props to Amanda for understanding exactly what I mean. And more props (award forthcoming) to Amanda for ACING MY QUIZ!!! (applauding vigorously) AMAN-DA! AMAN-DA! AMAN-DA! Perhaps I'll see you this weekend and present your trophy in person? Or maybe I'll wait until the Tony's....hmmmm, tough call.

That's it for now. I'm off, like a herd of turtles... Or am I just off? Tune in next week to find out... (duh duh duuuuuhhhhh)