Let's Go To Wally World

(And no, I do not mean Wal-Mart.)

Anyway, today my boss told me that I need to write down what days I want to take vacation in 2010.  Obviously she is not aware that it is still 2009 (barely), and I really haven't planned this weekend much less the whole rest of next year.  Stress.  Basically I pretty much told her that I have absolutely no clue what days I may want off in the coming year...she looked at me strangely and said to just give her an estimate.  Um, ok lady.

I sat and scribbled out a few dates.  I didn't lump them all together, but decided one or two here and there would be better for me.  Call me crazy, but I would freak out if I were away from work for more than a couple of days at a time.  I am insanely unorganized and scattered in my personal life....but I am the polar opposite at work.  It would kill me to even think about what might happen in my absence...holy crap, I am crazy.

So, I took my little list and handed it to her.  As I was walking away she was like, "Where are the rest of the days?".  I was confused.  I wrote down five days.  I've been here a year, I get 40 hrs of vacation time.  That's five days.  Well, apparently the vacation fairies are smiling on me because I was informed that I get 80 hrs of vacation time.  Now, if I could only stop being completely neurotic I could probably take a trip somewhere.

Two Long Weekends In A Row?

I'm back from outer space my long weekend.  Honestly I didn't get a whole lot accomplished over the weekend...but then again I didn't really intend to.  It was nice to have a weekend with no plans, no projects, no obligations, and to have the house completely to myself.  I hung out in my pajamas a lot, watched several movies, read a little, got sucked into a marathon of L.A. Ink, made some really good beef stew, drank beer before noon, stayed up talking to a girl until 4am (PHB, you rock).  All in all a pretty damn good weekend if you ask me. 

Oh, and I finished my Day Zero Project list.  Well, technically not finished I guess...I only have 91 things on my list.  But that was intentional, I wanted to leave myself 10 blank spaces because I'm sure within the next 1001 days I will think of something I want to add to my list.   I don't want to lock all of my goals in right at the beginning.  And besides, I may take suggestions or something like that for a few of them.  I haven't quite decided yet.  Now I really need to figure out a good way to keep all of this organized so I can track my progress.  Wish me luck with that one...organization is not necessarily my strong suit.  Or you may have picked up on that with the whole label issue I'm having.

I have another long weekend to look forward to this week.  I'm pretty sure the powers that be at my job realized it was better to give us the day off than to have us drag our hungover asses in here Friday morning.  Good thinking ladies and gentlemen.

I Have A Plan

Instead of milk and cookies this year I'm leaving out some beer and cookies with a note that says:

Dear Santa,
I can explain...

I wonder if that will work?

And if Santa stops by your house looking like this, then he must've hit my house first.  It'll be my fault if Santa kisses anyone's mommy, or daddy, this year ;) 

But at least he looks happy...maybe Santa is a generous drunk like me.  You can thank me for that later.

I hope you all have a very safe and happy holiday season! I'm taking a break from the good ol' internet for a couple of days...see you all on Monday.

A Couple Of Things That Made Me Happy Today

I got the sweetest text message ever today.  It said, "Thx ~ u have always been the sister i didnt have ~ i so wish we were closer (geographically) xoxoxo".  That made me happier than I've been in a really long time...I'm still smiling.  It's nice to know that some people love and care about you...even if you are a screw up at times ;)   

Someone brought the best ever breakfast tacos to work this morning.  I don't know who brought them, or where they came from...but I loved them.  Food makes me happy...that's probably why I'm a skinny fatass.

I just ordered a copy of The Lovely Bones so I can join in on Tammie's Book Discussion.  I've already read this book once...but it was quite awhile ago.  And I'm pretty sure the brain cells that were storing most of the information on this book were drowned in alcohol a long long time ago.  I'm really looking forward to the book discussion.  I'm always amazed hearing other people's interpretation of books.  I find it so interesting to hear what other people took away from a story.  It fascinates me how you could ask 10 different people about something, and you would likely get 10 unique answers.  And I always find myself thinking, "hmm I never thought of that".  I may not agree with every single observation and opinion, but it's still nice to hear thoughts other than the ones rattling around my brain.

I ordered a few more books while I was at it.  Thank you Half.com for having some pretty kickass books for less than a dollar.  I'm going to ignore the fact that I spent around five dollars on books, and around fifteen on shipping.  It was cheaper than me driving an hour to go to the bookstore and purchase them there.  And, I needed some new books for the upcoming Day Zero Project anyway.  Yeah, yeah I could've went to the library...but this way after I'm finished reading I can pass them along to someone else...and that makes me happy.  And really, what's more important than my happiness?

Weekend List

The Good:

~  I got to talk to my favoritest cousin this weekend (don't tell my other cousins I said that)
~  finally raked the yard!  (well the front yard...I refuse to rake the back)
~  every article of clothing I own is washed, dried, and folded/hung
~  the dips/snacks I made were very well received by everyone (I'm so glad my food didn't kill anyone)
~  Russell did not win Survivor.  That arrogant ass doesn't deserve to win anything in my humble opinion.
~  I finished reading Dear John
~  I had a great time seeing a few friends that I haven't hung out with in way too long


The Bad:

~  The Lady Vols are no longer undefeated...Stanford beat them :(
~  Adam is being very argumentative with everyone lately.  I want my precious Adam back.
~  There are still a lot of clothes in my hamper that I need to put away (but they are at least folded)
~  I did not get my Christmas cards sent out.  *sigh*  I don't know what's wrong with my brain, I can't figure out why in the hell I keep putting these things off.
~  I didn't finish my list for the Day Zero Project (I did add to it, just not quite completely finished)
~  I drank way too much Friday night and felt pretty blah most of the day Saturday (but I had fun)
~  Russell did however win the people's choice prize thingy.  WTF is wrong America?  I find it absolutely appalling that his horrid behavior was rewarded with $100.000

The Ugly:

~  Brittany Murphy died!?!  Good gravy, she's the same age as I am...kinda makes you stop and think about things.  My sincere sympathy goes out to her family and friends.  This has really not been a good year for celebrities has it?

Dude, Where's My Camera?

Where did this week go?  Have I seriously only posted one entry this week?  For shame.  I have just been crazy busy.  Luckily things at work are picking up...that breeze you just felt was my massive sigh of relief.  I did take a personal day from work yesterday though to take care of some errands, housework, and what-not.  I even cooked the gay hubs a meatloaf, some peas, mashed potatoes, and gravy.  I know, you're shocked...I'll give you a moment to pick yourself up off the floor....

...better now?  Ok good.

I still haven't raked the yard, but since the sun has finally come back out around here I might get that done this weekend.  I did sweep the driveway and sidewalk yesterday though.  Mostly because when I got home from work Tuesday night I almost broke my ankle when I stepped off the edge of the sidewalk because I couldn't tell where it was...yeah there are that many leaves.  I also completely organized my dresser.  I know that doesn't sound like a huge accomplishment, but it makes me feel better that now I know exactly where whatever article of clothing I happen to be searching for is.  It's the little things that make me happy.  The downstairs was completely dusted, swept, and mopped and looked quite beautiful....until a certain someone came home and walked across it with icky shoes.  I made a few dips and other "party food" type things that could be refrigerated, because we're having people over this evening.  I know, something else domestic...I must have a fever.  Seriously though I'm trying to kind of ease myself into doing this crap (and I say that lovingly) so I'll have an easier time accomplishing my Day Zero Project goals.

I haven't yet completed my list of 101 goals...but I still have time.  I sat down last night armed with a pen and notepad and have every intention of finishing that list...but I don't think I was in the right frame of mind to do it.  I think I still need to add like 50 (I'm guessing) items to my list, and I got a little overwhelmed and thought I should just walk away.  I'm gonna work on that this weekend, and hopefully I will have my full list done and entered by Monday or Tuesday.  But I'm working on it during the weekend, the probability of me having a drink in my hand is very high...should make things interesting. 

Also, I found my camera!!!  It was in my car...and yes it is one of my Day Zero Project goals to avoid having my car get so cluttered with junk.  There have been times that my car pretty much looked like I lived out of it.  Right now though there aren't that many pairs of shoes and almost no clothes in there and absolutely no food or random water bottles.  Now what will I do if I get stranded?!?

PROOOOOJECT!

Yep, I just squealed that like a really nelly gay man...and there may have been some jazz hands.


I decided that this year instead of making resolutions I'm going to participate in the Day Zero Project.  Here's a bit of info from the website....

The Challenge:

Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on your part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple challenges such as New Year's resolutions or a 'Bucket List'. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips, study semesters, or outdoor activities.
 
 
My Official Start Date: January 01, 2010
My Finish Date: September 28, 2012 (which is weird because that's my 35th birthday)


I'm pretty excited about this.  I think this is a much more realistic way for me to set, and hopefully acheive, some goals for the next couple of years.  I created a profile and started building my list today.  You can find me in the directory as "ducky"  R.H. Ducky from Texas.  I'm not a huge fan of the website setup and I hope they make some changes/improvements...but I'm loving the general idea of this project.  I'll probably mostly use this blog to update and keep track of everything...I'll just have to see which works better for me. 

You should head over and check it out though.  Let me know what you think.

Also...

...I removed all the labels from all of my posts.  So if you're looking for something specific and can't find it, I'm sorry.  But in reality the labels probably weren't much of a help anyway...they were not well thought out at all.  I'm going to work on that, and will have labels back soon at some point.  I might be making a few other tweaks and changes here and there as well.

Is Everyone Really Working For The Weekend?

I know I am.

It's been a rough couple of days...mostly stupid work crap.  I have avoided really writing anything lately because of my resolution to not be bitchy and whiny.  But to sum things up, I feel like my office has turned into Crazytown and I've just been elected Mayor.  Actually no, not the Mayor, more like the Sanitation Department...because I feel as though I've been left to clean up everyone's mistakes.  But at least it's Friday, right?  Bring on the weekend.  Bring on the drinks.  Bring on the 70° highs that are rumored for Sunday.  My Adam has had a pretty craptastic week too, so I'm gonna surprise him this weekend with a few of his favorite meals/snacks.  I'm a good wifey on occasion. 

Here's a list of some of the things that I would like to accomplish this weekend:

 ~ Wash car (I'm totally going to cheat and do the drive-thru thing because it's too effin' cold for me to hand wash the damn thing)

~ Go to Hobby Lobby

~ Go to Merle Norman (I've been wearing the same brand of make-up since I was in high school...I might need to rethink this, it's a bit expensive)

~ Go to the grocery store

~ Go to Lowe's/Home Depot and try to not get overwhelmed by the all the paint colors (I really need to paint my bedroom)

~ Ignore leaves in the yard (because I damn sure am not raking the bastards up)

~ Go to the Post Office and mail Tammie's package

~ Finish Dear John so I can send it to a friend who wants to read it (we saw the preview for the movie when we went to ogle Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner see New Moon and then I happened to run across a copy of the book for $3...we figured it was fate, or somethin')

~ Clean and organize my bedroom (good gravy I am really dreading this one, that's probably a whole weekend project by itself)

~ Laundry (I will never understand how I go through so many clothes in one week.  Seriously, I have got to stick to one outfit per day)

~ Figure out a way to make Adam smile (he's too pretty to be sad)

I'm sure there are about a bazillion other things I need to do, but those things are getting top priority...mostly because they are the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  I just wonder how much of it is going to get accomplished?

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

*cheers* 

And Now....The Runaways

Rules:  Choose a band and answer the questions by using song titles from only that band.



Pick an Artist: The Runaways (because I haven't said anything creepy or stalkerish lately and Kristen Stewart probably feels neglected...and Joan Jett is a complete badass)

1.) Are you a male or female?
Little Sister

2.) Describe yourself:
Take It Or Leave It

3.) How do you feel about yourself?
Mama Weer All Crazee Now

4.) Describe your ex boyfriend / girlfriend:
I Love Playing With Fire

5.) Describe how you feel at the moment:
Wasted

6.) Describe what you are doing now:
Waitin' For The Night

7.) Describe where you want to be:
Strawberry Fields

8.) Your best friend/friends is/are:
Queens of Noise

9.) Your favorite color is:
Black Leather

10.) You know:
I'm A Star

11.) What’s the weather like?
Here Comes The Sun

12.) If your life was a television show, what would it be called?
Neon Angels On The Road To Ruin

13.) What is life to you?
Dead End Justice

14.) What is the best advice you have to give?
Let's Party Tonight

15.) If you could change your name, what would you change it to?
Cherry Bomb

Fashionably Late

My drive to work is looooong.  And thanks to my commute, I get to listen to an abundance of morning radio which provides me with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom.

This morning, for example, I learned a new phrase:  late in life lesbian...no really, I'm not making that up.  Actresses such as Kelly McGillis and Meredith Baxter have recently come out of the proverbial closet and apparently someone has coined yet another new term.  (therapists everywhere rejoice)  Also I just learned about author Susan Gabriel who wrote and self-published a novel, Seeking Sara Summers, which is based loosely on her own experiences with coming out late in life.  I'm pretty sure that one is going on my "to-read" shelf over at Goodreads.  I think it would be fascinating to sit down with some of these women and just chat about this whole late in life lesbian thing.  Then again I pretty much find anyone's "coming out story" fascinating, no matter at what age it happened.  Hmm, actually I think I just like hearing any stories about people's lives....whether they know it or not, people in general are pretty damned interesting.
 
But anyway, all of this makes me happy.  Not necessarily because there a few more lesbians in the world, but because I wasn't late.  You see, I'm pretty much late to everything.  But not this time...nuh uh, I was an early(ish) in life lesbian.

Good, Bad, And Ugly

here's an update of my weekend in the form of lists...


The Good

 - Adam and Sam got all of the baseboards for downstairs installed (finally!  we've been putting this off since July)
 - The new tiles went down in the bathroom
 - The transition pieces were installed downstairs, so the places where the tiles meets the laminate flooring looks sooo much better
 - The downstairs is completely rearranged.  We have sooo much more space now...I LOVE IT
 - The Christmas tree is put up (and beautiful)


The Bad

 - I didn't get the yard completely raked (but in my defense the yard is pretty effin' big)
 - Sam didn't get the tiles grouted (but in his defense I begged him not to because that would mean I couldn't walk on the bathroom floor for 12 hrs.)
 - While rearranging the furniture downstairs we somehow broke the box thingy that goes to the satellite (the boys missed their Sunday night Fox shows, and I missed the Lady Vols game)
 - I don't have photographic evidence of any of our weekend accomplishments
 - I still can't find my camera


The Ugly

 - I managed to get my vehicle stuck in a ditch this weekend and had to shell out $65 for a tow truck to rescue me.  In related news, I have decided to buy a tow truck.  $65 for 5 minutes of work?!?  I'm all for that.

What Else Do You Have Up Your Sleeve?

Mother Nature and I have a long standing battle going.  You see, I am of the opinion that spring and summer should last waaaay longer than they currently do...and fall and winter should be virtually nonexistent.  Don't get me wrong, I think there should be a tiny bit of fall and winter, just in much reduced increments of time.  It's difficult to be all Thanksgiving-y and Christmas-y if it's 90° outside.  So I get it, really I do...we need some weather variation.
But here's the thing, a few years ago my gypsy spirit (and a hot girl) convinced me that I should move to Denver.  Shortly after this move there was a blizzard.  Not a little snow storm...an actual real live honest to goodness blizzard.  Having grown up in Texas I had never seen a blizzard.  Also I had never driven in a blizzard...let me tell ya, it was not fun.  I drive an SUV, and I honestly thought my vehicle would be good in the snow.  Holy freakin' hell was I wrong.  My car is not some monstrosity, it's on the small side for an SUV, it's fairly light and liked to slide all over the road.  Add to that the fact that it's rear wheel drive and only two wheel drive and you pretty much have a recipe for disaster in the snow.
Next on my list of major complaints...I moved back to Texas in October of last year.  The very same damn day that I got back Hurricane Ike hit.  Now take into consideration that I live very near the Gulf Coast, so needless to say my life was affected.  For about two weeks we lived in a brand new apartment with no electricity, very little food, and no furniture.  I was not amused.
Today Mother Nature decided to throw me yet another curve ball.  It's freaking snowing.  Are you fucking kidding me?  Of course everyone is flipping out, schools are closing, grocery stores are selling out of bread and water, and they are talking about closing our office for the day.  Come on people...it's not even sticking to the ground.  Again, I am not amused.  I don't want to be sent home early, frankly I kinda need the hours and the money.  Not to mention the fact that I drive roughly 100 miles a day to be here, so after we factor in gas and the wear and tear on my vehicle I pretty much should have just stayed in bed this morning. 

So, Mother Nature if you ever give yourself a break from wreaking havoc on my life and take time out to surf the web and read over a few blogs I really hope you happen across mine.  I want you to get this message loud and clear...YOU CAN SUCK IT!

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO!

In case you couldn't tell by this post's title, I'm in a really good mood today.  No, I didn't win the lottery...yet.  But when I got home from work yesterday evening I walked into a nice and toasty warm home.  THE HEATER IN THE HUT IS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY AGAIN!  I am most definitely a summer girl, and having a broken heater was absolutely killing me.  Adam is definitely my hero this week...as is the person he hired to fix it....I really had to fight the urge to give him a big fat hug and a kiss.  Really, I was that excited.
Since we've been grumbling about the hut non-stop for a couple of weeks or so now, we've decided that she's going to get a bit of a makeover this weekend.  Adam is going to go get some pretty new baseboards for downstairs.  Also, the new flooring is going down in the bathroom.  We're completely rearranging the furniture downstairs.  And we're going to rake up all the lovely pine needles that are covering the yard.  So basically the hut is getting a mani/pedi and getting her hair did.

In my mind I'm doing cartwheels right now.  But only in my mind, if I did an actual cartwheel I would most likely injure myself.

*ducky dance* 
(trust me it's so much cooler than the chicken dance)