When did this happen????

I've been noticing certain aspects of my personality lately that have become less than desirable. For instance, I've become extremely anal about certain things. One thing is toilet paper. It HAS to be facing the right way ~ waterfall. I understand that this is anal and usually just flip it if it's on the wrong way ~ no biggie. I will also not change it at friend's houses. I'll leave it be...but work and home I hold no quams about doing it.

The other one that is driving me nuts is I am anal about being on time for things. Tonight Rick and I have an appointment at 5:30. He informed me that a project he had to do this morning got pushed back to 4:00 this afternoon. I am totally flipping out because it takes about 35 min. to get from his work to our meeting location. Therefore, if his project runs a little late we will be extremely late for our appointment. Times like these I wish we had 2 cars!

When did I become so anal? Or maybe I was just always this way and I'm just noticing it now. At least I recognize it, therefore giving me a slight chance of changing...right?

Chicago part II

So are second day in Chicago last week was the funeral for Rick's Great Grandma. I was able to get around 5-6 hours of sleep that night, Rick only got 4 if he was lucky! Just thinking about the cleanliness and what happens in those beds is enough to make you crazy. I could only imagine getting crabs or something! So we get ready, check out, and head out for breakfast. After a quick breakfast at BK we were off to the cemetery.

Once there we called his Mom who said they (her and her fiance, Shawn) was there, looking at the deer. Deer in a cemetery in Chicago o_O? She drove around and met us so we could follow them over to where the deer were. As we were pulling up I was so surprised...a big heard of deer were just sitting in the middle of the cemetery. I dug my camera out of my purse and started snapping some shots. (I will post them at a later date...I haven't gotten around to pulling them off my camera yet) That was pretty neat and totally unexpected. Then we found out that the others were arriving shortly, so we made our way over to the reception area.

I finally got to meet Rick's biological Grandma. She seems nice. It was hot out that day, so we headed inside. Inside was neat. There was a big waterfall/plant section in the middle, a kitchen to the back, and a service area to the right. As we were standing around talking in the kitchen I noticed an empty bird cage, then low and behold, a parrot in the plans! I was surprised they actually let the bird stay out while people were there.

She seemed interested in all the people, she hopped out of the plant area and stood in the walk way for a min. Long enough to poop right on the floor! That was kinda gross! Then he proceeded to his cage to eat. What a mess!! Then she must have gotten bored or threatened by Rick's uncle because she climbed down walked over to him and grabbed his pant leg with her beak until he backed up. Then she went back to eating. A little while later she did the same thing, but was more aggressive. This time the funeral worker was around and she put the bird back in it's cage. That didn't last long. While the worker went to find twist ties the bird opened the cage door. We held it shut with a big stick until the lady got the twisties on the cage.

Then the viewing started, first they started calling all the family in one by one. I thought that was odd...why not call all family in together? Eventually we all were in and everyone talked for a while. They had some pictures of the family up. Some of these pictures had Rick in when he was a little baby, probably about 1 year old. I can honestly say he was the cutest damn baby ever!!! If we ever have a baby I certainly hope that it is that cute!

The rest of the day went on as usual. There were many conversations going on and some were more interesting than others. One that Rick and I really liked was about real Italian food. One of his extended family members started talking about a dish called Polenta. He told us good stories about making it and all the different things you could put into it. It sounds very good and we are all going to be invited down to have this member of the family make it for us! The pastor got on a lot of the family's nerves. He would just blurt Amen out in the middle of sentences and as Rick's Mom said he sounded like he was trying to sell church to everyone. After the burial we were kind of rushed back to the reception area as the workers were standing right there waiting for everyone to clear out so they could bury the casket. That was kinda tasteless I thought. And during the service out there they were standing there talking to each other. Not cool!

After returning to the hall everyone started to clear out. As everyone was preparing to leave I got to talk to Rick's Grandma alone. She informed me that she wanted a "real" Great Grandchild. She told me that she will have Shawn's daughter's baby as a "foster" (I think she meant step) Great Grand baby, but she wanted a real one that came from Ricky. I told her we'd see about that. Then she told me what I need to do:

1. Have lots of sex
2. Enjoy the sex
3. Don't worry about it because she had a conversation with the Lord and told him to give us a baby because she wants a real great grandchild

I got a kick out of that conversation!

By this point my feet were killing me. This was the first time I was wearing these shoes, and they were heels. Much taller heels than I am used to. So I headed to the car to change into my tennies! As we were saying our goodbyes we got to talking with Rick's aunt Tina. She's so sweet! She told Rick she was so glad he met me and that I was so nice and how she couldn't wait for us to get married and have babies! Kinda felt a little pressure that day! Then we all said our goodbyes and went on the long journey home. We sat in stop and go traffic for about 3 hours until we got to WI. Once we hit the last toll the sky got really dark and it started pouring really hard but we made it. Then had a nice dinner at Olive Garden with Rick's Mom and Shawn. All in all it was a good day ~ nice people, nice conversation, and no work!

The great housework debate

It appears as though you must point out the obvious when it comes to housework and men. A while back Rick and I had an argument/discussion about dishes. I would always get pissed off because I'd end up taking care of the dishes while he sat there watching TV/playing games/on the computer. His response was that I have to ask him to do things or he does not know that they need to be done.

I thought this was just him. Apparently it's not. My co-worker said her and her bf had a similar discussion and his response was the same. I tend to agree with her....we would like you to do it on your own. If there's a pile of clean dishes on the counter just put them away without our asking. It was comforting to know that this was a discussion other couples (or at least one) have had. :)

Chicago part I

So, this is a little late, but better late than never right? On Wed. we headed down to Chicago for Rick's Great Grandma's funeral. We were told it would be at 9 am on Thursday and decided to head down the day before so we didn't have to deal with Chicago rush hour. Since we decided this on Tuesday while Rick was on his way to class and we didn't know anything about where it would be ect. it was an unorganized chaotic mess on Wed.

First of all, I was stuck in a meeting all day, so I couldn't do much of the planning. When I was finally able to find out what was going on I found out that Rick's Mom (Dorothy) and Shaune (her fiance) were coming with us and we had to find 2 rooms. Then we went back and forth, they were coming they weren't they were they weren't. ARGH!! It ended up being they didn't go. We tried to find a hotel briefly before going. This did not work so well, so we decided to take care of it when we got there. We knew of a few hotels in the area, one that would not take reservations, and would go from there. Finally we were off to grab some dinner and get on the road. It would take about 2 hours to get there, and I was already exhausted!

On the way there we hit construction in Kenosha and in two spots after crossing the border. I have developed some strange anxiety to riding in the car. I panic big time, and basically become a basket case. Especially through construction and heavy traffic and when crazy ass taxi drivers just decide to come over into the lane you are in. But we made it in one piece and I was glad that part was over.

The next task at hand was finding a place to stay. We knew where a few of the hotels were located and found one of them pretty quickly. This ended up being the one we called that said they do not take reservations. That should have been a big warning flag right there! Looking around we could tell that this was not the best neighborhood, but thought it would do since it was close to the cemetery and we were ready to settle down for the night. So we went in. There was one guy who walked in right before us. As he was renting his room I took a look at the signs. One was a city ordinance that prostitution was illegal in the parking lot and another read NO FOUR HOUR BLOCKS. Hmmm....things were now starting to click. The hotel person then asked the guy in front of us how long he'd like his room for....8 hours.

Next it was our turn. Two white kids carrying dress clothes and a suitcase.....nah we're not out of place here. We get our room and told the lady we'd like it for the night and we were off to our room....a jacuzzi suite at that! As we turn around we notice another couple coming in. The girl was most definitely a prostitute! Yup that confirms that we were in over our heads. As Rick put it he'd never seen a real life prostitute....only the ones on Pretty Woman. From my marriage to a black man with family on the not so good North Side of Milwaukee I have had the pleasure of seeing prostitutes before.

The day's events

I wanted to come up with some great title, but I think I'm beyond that point at this time. It was a semi-productive day at work today. Got a bit farther on my documentation/cleanup of some database stuff.

I left early to take Rick to his road test to get his license. That did not go well. The DMV guy was a prick. Had an issue with Rick from the get go. Rick said How's it going? and the guy was like this way please. Then going out the door the guy told him that he wouldn't be running into people coming in if he used the door on the right. Then when testing the lights and such on the vehicle Rick couldn't hear him and the guy started yelling at him telling him he SAID turn off the lights...do it now! At this point you already know how it's going to go. The guy marked Rick for every 5 point deduction he could get away with. The guy said he didn't check his blind spot. Now, I drive with Rick every day, the ONE thing he does EVERY TIME is check the blindspot. Therefore, I know that is a crock of shit. When Rick said he did that the guy said "Well, I must have fallen asleep then" in a really smug tone.

Those of you who know Rick know he has a temper. A horrible horrible temper that he cannot control. So on the way out he kicked the doors, making a scene. Almost hit a lady walking in the parking lot. Then insisted on driving HIS way all the way home. Speeding and pounding the steering wheel. Now, I agree that the guy was an ass and more than likely failed him on purpose. BUT I totally disagree with his actions because he was mad. As if any of that would help the situation.

Once home he slammed the door of the van shut and immediately went inside slamming the door and punching the walls and throwing things. I could hear it in the garage. I then decided to stay out of harms way and sat on the front stoop reading. Meanwhile, the guy came to fix our AC which was broken since Sunday. As he got out of his van Rick started pounding on the door (from the inside) the guy looked up, then asked if I was having AC problems. I confirmed that yes we were.

He needed to go inside to check the filters, I let him in and went back out. About 15 min. later the AC guy said everything looked fine. It's probably just the humidity, once all the humidity was out of the house it would cool off. 3 hours later, it's a whopping 3 degrees cooler than when he got here. I think that's a load of shit. And I will more than likely have another night of little to no sleep. It's still 79 degrees in here. I'm roasting. :| Remind me again why I pay almost $1,000 a month in rent for this? When paying $600 I had an AC that worked, a NEW dishwasher, MY over-sized washer and dryer, and an extra $400 per month. Sigh.

On the plus side, I will get extra work on my SQL studies in this week! Which is much needed since I found that my creep of a boss has a meeting tomorrow with the people who want to buy the company (minus me)....see previous post.

I'm off to my sleepless night....I must get out of bed and get to the gym tomorrow morning!

Trip to Southridge

I finally got the call I've been waiting for over the last week. My contacts are in. Yay! I hate glasses and have missed having my contacts for the last few years. So, Rick and I went to the mall to pick them up.

While showering this morning I decided I wanted to stop at Layne Bryant and see if they still had the buy 2 get 2 sale on bras. I desperately need new ones. So, after picking up my contacts Rick and I went separate ways. First I went as planned to Layne Bryant and found they weren't having the same sale. So, I went to a couple other places to no avail. I was able to try on a Wonder Bra at Kohl's. although it was just a tad too small I had to sit there for a minute staring at myself....Those are mine? Wow it was like instant boob job! However, I was concerned that it was just a tad too small around the chest.

Rick met me at Kohl's and had a peculiar package in his hand. He said it was from Radio Shack. I went along with it since he's always looking at buying something electronic. He then convinced me to go back to that "big ladies store" and look at the bras, as expensive as they might be. So I went and tried on a few while he went his separate way again.

Same effect as the Wonder Bra, yet fits me perfectly. I have boobies now!!! I had them before, but they were not all they could be. That shit happens when you gain a shitload of weight then lose it again. The boobies are never the same. Now as long as I'm wearing these bras I can feel more confidant about the "girls". I just have to wonder why the heck I'm just getting these now? It's awesome! I <3 my new boobies.

And the peculiar package? It was a really cute teddy bear from our Jeweler's. Back in December we had gotten one of their Christmas bears with a purchase made there. It was a cute polar bear with a baby bear. Well, when we picked our order up apparently the polars were gone and all that was left was a brown teddy bear that was cute, but just not the same. Rick said they didn't have the polar bear, but these ones were cute too. I still think it was very sweet of him and nice to know he thought about me!

"Everyone but your tech person"

Today at work was a rather interesting day at work. First we had an interview, lately the whole company, yes all 6 of us, have been sitting in on the interviews for developers. The position has now been offered to 2 candidates we interviewed and gave a thumbs up to. However, the first guy would have either had to move to the Milwaukee area or commute everyday from Madison. So he kindly declined, or rather just didn't return any offers we made to him. Second guy was awesome! We all liked him and he got along very well with all of us. He wanted around 8 grand more than we could offer. Now to today's candidate. A nice young lady from India. I wasn't too impressed, but went along with it because we've got some projects that need to be done by mid-August that haven't even been started yet and she was ok. She was about 10 min late off the bat.....not a good sign. Then in the interview she was impartial to working alone or in a team, couldn't tell me if she preferred a project that had all the specs laid out or one where she got to go with it with minimal info. Now come on, you have to have at least a slight preference! But no, she didn't. She passed this interview and if references check out will be offered the position next week.

Then we had a nice little cookout for lunch to celebrate the 4th.....more or less because the boss said "maybe that's what we need" one day last week. It was fun, good food, good conversation, and beautiful weather! I managed to get a nice sunburn on my face and arms! It will leave some interesting tan lines....I was wearing a shirt with 3/4 sleeves.

After our 2 hour lunch we got some news from a district that said they weren't happy. Well, not them so much as a very picky programmer who has far too much time on her hands! Just to give a clue as to what we're dealing with.....in the past she has changed the code for an update and sent it back to the developer......her changes were wrong, but she thinks she's always right and we're always broken. My co-worker gets a brunt of her right now. She likes to pick on grammar BIG TIME! It's horrible!

So, we wanted to see this "mean" and uncalled for e-mail our boss got. Since I have all the passwords from the corecomm mess I decided to check it out.....(yes, morally wrong, but that's a whole other blog there). That e-mail wasn't as bad as it was chalked up to be. While in there we noticed a peculiar titled e-mail. So we read it. Well, looks like my good ol boss is looking at selling the company. The potential buyer had some requests for information and also stated that all staff would remain in place.....EXCEPT FOR THE TECH PERSON. Tech person = ME! My mouth hit the floor.

As cocky as it sounds, I run the company. I know how 95% of everything works and what I don't know I can figure out. I have been there the longest, and in fact am the only one who knows certain aspects. Out of 5 employees last spring I am the only Full Time employee remaining. My wonderful co-workers said he misrepresented the company and himself....I am the one that runs the company and if they don't take me it'll go under. I <3 them, they're sweet. I got a good chuckle out of the e-mail that said my boss is the best asset. What a joke! Everytime we go in his office with a question he's playing with his clippers OR staring out the window!

He has a list of about 20 things to do before mid-August......2 of those things are almost done. The first one is because he's working on it.....but has a long ways to go and may end up killing performance once more than a handful of users use it. The second one is because he gave it to me to do. It's taking me longer than expected to finish it, mostly because I'm doing a thorough job of documenting what it does so we can finally tell our customers what is supposed to happen.

Nearly 3 years of being on call 24x7 365 days per year, working numerous over time hours, and even pulling a 26 hour shift just to get customers up and running and this is what I get? You've got to be freaking kidding me! I think it's best if I hold off on moving right now as I'm not positive I'll have a job in the near future. Sigh......if something is meant to be it will be.

On the home front. Things have calmed down around here. Rick and I aren't at each other's throats. He found out that I was indeed serious about moving. I told him why. He then said he didn't want me to move. I decided to give it another shot.

Tomorrow we're going to a friend's party that is expected to last all night long! W00t! Cannot wait to get my drink on and hang out with some really cool peeps.

Hope everyone has an awesome long weekend!