Smoke Gets In Your Eyes....

I had a very fun dream last night.  It involved Jim, myself, our friends K, B, and {b}, as well as a host of Broadway 'fancies' including (but not limited to): Audra McDonald, Will Swenson, Seth Rudetsky, and Carolee Carmello, to name a few.  Crazy, right?  I wont go into the specifics of the dream because it was just odd.  We were all gathered at a shopping mall for an event of some sort and even though we were surrounded by Broadway stars, we were all hanging around together like we were pals.

Anyway, the really strange part of the dream was that I was smoking in it.  Say what?!?!? Yup, I was standing around with everyone and casually smoking, like it was nothing. 
Mind you, I haven't had one, single, puff of a cigarette since I quit on June 4th 2006.  I do remember in the dream that I was hiding it from {b} because I didn't want him to see me smoking (he's only 4).  I was afraid he'd see me and then I'd have to explain it to him.  I also remember that after I was finished, I was worried about where I'd put the cigarette out.  In my dream, I got to the end of the cigarette and then it was suddenly gone, so I was a bit concerned as to where it actually went.  :-)
Isn't that all just bizarre?  It was SO real in the dream too....very weird. 
I'll have to do a little searching and see if I can find out what it all means....

Well my friends, it's Wednesday and I've got a ton of testing to accomplish before the big 'sign off' on Friday.
Have a happy hump day!!
xoxo

My dear, dear friends Will, Audra, Seth, and James

And don't forget Carolee 

Another weekend come and gone...

Happy Monday!!

Thanks to all for your comments on Friday's post.  Believe me, I thought of it this morning when I woke up to go to work this morning and didn't feel like moving, never mind getting up and driving into work.
Maybe working from home one day a week WOULD be a good thing. 
:-)

We had a very nice, relaxing weekend.

Friday night, Jim made dinner and then we went out and did a little shopping from Jim's mother's birthday followed by an ice cream on the way home (YAY!) then a little 'couch time' until we went to bed.

On Saturday, we got up, took Scooter for a walk and then headed down to the Cape to see Jim's parents and celebrate his mother's birthday.  We gave her the gifts we brought down for her (a new board game and some FANTASTIC chocolates from a place near us) then we played the new game (of course) and we went out to lunch - which was quite good.  After lunch - we visited for a bit at the cottage, walked down to the beach, and eventually headed home.  Since Scooter had spent the afternoon at home alone, Jim took him out into the yard and played with him for a while in an attempt to tire him out, since we were going out that night as well.  After about an hour or so...Scooter came in the house, exhausted, ate his dinner, and collapsed into his crate....mission accomplished!
We went to my sister Donna's house for dinner which was AMAZING.  She made her homemade sauce and meatballs, as well as a homemade apple crisp.  Needless to say, we left there full and happy.  :-)

On Sunday morning, we went to church, went grocery shopping, and then came home to eat lunch.  While Jim was mowing the lawn, I took Scooter for a walk.  When we got back, Jim was just finishing up the yard, so he showered, and then the three of us went over to his sister's house so that Scooter and cousin Lulu (Jim's sister's dog) could have a 'play date'.  We were there for about an hour or so, and the two of them had a great time running around the yard playing with the kids.  While they were playing, Jim and I had a chance to catch up with his sister.  Eventually our brother-in-law and nephew came home (they were at the Patriots game - GO PATS!!!) and Jim and I headed home ourselves.
I continued with the laundry while Jim made homemade won ton soup for dinner....which, naturally, came out delish.  After dinner, I finished up the laundry and spent some time winding down on the couch with Jim and Scooter - who were both very sleepy. 

Now it's Monday morning, and I've got a busy week ahead of me.
Have no fear, I'm sure I'll find time for a blog entry or two....but I don't anticipate anything earth shattering.
Let's hope it stays that way!!!
xoxo

My sister Donna brought Jim and I these little coffee cups from their recent trip to Tuscany - I LOVE them!!!

When Scooter is tired, he lets me dress him up:

Post-play date

Work At Home

Our department recently 'kicked off' the new work from home program.  Since it's a new initiative, they're only allowing people to work from home one day a week for now.   After they test that out, and do some analysis (I assume) they'll consider expanding the number of days you're allowed to work from home.

Apparently, I'm the only one on my entire team (which is made up of 7 people, including my boss) that didn't take part in the program. 

As many of you know, I currently work a 'Compressed Work Week' which allows me to have every other Monday off.  I basically have to be in the office for 9 hours a day, working 8 of those hours, with one required 15 minute break, and one required 45 minute lunch.  Working through your lunch in order to leave an hour early is unacceptable.  If you look it up in our department guidelines, that's how the policy is written out, but naturally, that's not necessarily the reality.  Thankfully, my boss is super cool and doesn't watch my every move with a stop watch in hand.  He totally trusts me and knows that I'm going to get my job done without having to babysit me - which is SO great.

Anyway - if I were to take part in the work at home program, my work at home day would automatically be Monday, which means that I'd never physically be in the office on a Monday.  Some Mondays I'd be at home working and other Mondays I'd have completely off.  Some people here think that I'm crazy for not doing it, but I'm still very much on the fence about it. 
I hear endless stories of people who work from home saying that they get SO much more done at home, because they aren't distracted, no ones bothering them, there's no noise, blah, blah, blah.  However, I feel exactly the opposite way.  When I'm at work, I'm here to work.  Sure, there's the occasional distraction (loud co-workers, people stopping by to chat, etc...) but I could list about 100 things that would distract me at home if I were trying to work.

First of all, if I were on my own PC at home, Id have access to each and every website I could ever want to visit during the day (get your minds out of the gutter, I'm talking about Facebook, YouTube, and the like)

Second, I'd have to constantly fight the urge to watch daytime TV (Ellen, The Food Network, etc...)

Third, I'd have to lock the cabinets and refrigerator in order to keep myself from 'grazing' all day long,

And most of all:

photo by Barrie :-)

I know for a fact that he would be ALL OVER ME if I were at home.  Even on my days off when I'm at home he never leaves my side and always wants to be on my lap.  Sure, I could ignore him, which would make me feel badly, or I could switch his daycare days so that when I'm home he's not - but to be honest, the idea of working from home just doesn't appeal to me.

Maybe I'll change my mind once the winter rolls around and all my co-workers are still at home, warm and working in the pajamas, but until then - I plan on keeping work AT work and not bringing it into my home.   

What do y'all think?  Do you think I'm crazy?  Or do you see where I'm coming from????

Have a GREAT weekend, and happy Friday to you!!!!

xoxo

Happy New Year!!!

To all my Jewish readers, I say:   Ketiva ve-chatima tovah!!!!

According to Wikipedia, that means  "May You Be Written and Sealed for a Good Year." which I think sounds like an excellent idea!!!

Enjoy!!!!

A question...

I have a question for all the 'runners' out there...when you run, either outside or at the gym and listen to music (assuming you do) 
What type of head phones do you use?

I have a GREAT pair of Bose headphones, but I'm very hesitant to use them at the gym since I don't want to ruin them by sweating all over them.  I'm currently using a cheap pair of ear buds which I DESPISE because they never stay in my damn ears (clearly, my ears weren't built to hold them) and I spend more time trying to keep them in than I do running.
In the past, I've used the kind that hook onto your ear, and I guess they were OK, but they didn't last long.....the same goes for the Walkman sport ones that go over your head and fit directly in your ears....they worked well for a while, but weren't long lasting.

These are the fabulous Bose ones, that I'm afraid I'll ruin:

These are the types I've tried - and worked well, but weren't long lasting:

These I don't like.....at all

What to do, what to do???

September Morn

Hello, my readers!!!

I MUST keep this brief, as I have mucho work to do, and the 'sign-off' date on my projects is rapidly approaching.  We're talking Friday, people...sweet.

Anyway...the weekend was great, Hurricane Earl was a bust, and poor Jim is suffering from allergies like nothing I've ever witnessed.  Poor thing.  :-(

Friday night Earl failed to do a dang thing other then bring us a timid breeze and some much-needed rain.  We had an awesome dinner (made by Jim) and sat around watching TV and enjoying some family time on the couch. 

On Saturday, we got up and took Scooter for a long walk, brought all the pool furniture back outside, and spent the day relaxing.  I grilled some burgers and hot dogs for lunch, then Jim took a nap, and eventually we got ourselves ready and met up with some friends for dinner and a trip to ye olde ice cream shoppe.  Delicious and FUN!

Sunday we went to church....I hadn't been since EASTER (oops!) so it was nice to see everyone again, and be back into the swing of things.  After church, we went grocery shopping and then had a fun day, just the two of us (and Scooter, of course) hanging around the house - trying to avoid the outside, since Jim was having a B-A-D day with his allergies.  He made a whole bunch of appetizers for lunch, and we watched 'The Road'.
Granted, it's not exactly a 'feel good' movie, but I had read the book and  loved it, so I'd been wanting to see the movie for a while.  I really liked it, in spite of it being totally depressing.  It was nice to see that although it wasn't as good as the book, it wasn't ruined when they made it into a film.  The rest of the afternoon/evening was spent on the couch enjoying the day - without suffering from allergies.  :-)

On Monday we woke up and after breakfast did a bit of cleaning.  Jim emptied out the giant closet in our bedroom, we sorted through everything, and we made a pile of stuff to drop off at the local Salvation Army store.  It was great to make some room, and not have to throw stuff away.  Once we completed that task, we spent the day relaxing and mentally preparing ourselves for the return to 'reality' today....which is where I am at this moment.
I watched a bunch of episodes of 'Hoarders' (I LOVE that show) including the season premiere, and Jim made yet another amazing meal.

Today starts our return to 'healty living'!!!!  We've been slacking as far as diet and exercise are concerned, but now is the time to get back on track.  I'm heading back to the gym this afternoon, and now that the fall is approaching, we'll have no more BBQ/cookout food to pack onto our waistlines for a while.

I hope you all had a great weekend, and were able to enjoy the gorgeous weather!!!

Thanks to B for the pictures....as always.  :-)

      

The calm before the storm...

Shhhhh.....be very, very, quiet......

Seriously - I feel like I'm working in a church this morning. 

It's not only the Friday before a long weekend, but it's also 'storm day' here in lovely Massachusetts.  So it is QUIET around here.  Yikes.  With our governor declaring a state of emergency last night, I'm sure there are those folks who follow the 'If it's a state of emergency, I'm not going to work!!' mentality - as ridiculous as that may be.  Of course, I'm being a bit silly in assuming that. I doubt that anyone would really behave that way - although, it wouldn't completely surprise me.  Some people I work with.....well, I'm sure many of you know how 'office life' can be.  :-) 

Jim and I had a lovely dinner at 'The Grille' last night and then came home to 'batten down the hatches' as they say.  As I mentioned before, we really didn't have all that much to do, and we're doing it just to be safe.  The last thing we need is some of our patio furniture blowing into the pool and tearing the lining.  THAT would be terrible.  
I'm guessing that Earl (that's the name of hurricane heading our way, if you're just joining us) won't be as big a deal as they're making it out to be - which is what usually happens.  Of course, you take the chance that they'll be right - an then your screwed if you find yourself ill-prepared.  So, we're being 'cautious'.  We have plenty of food and 'supplies' at home, just in case.  I'm pretty sure we'll be OK if we end up without power or something to that effect.

Well, my friends.....enjoy your long weekend - and have a very good day!!!

xoxo