Friday, July 31, 2009

Someone is watching out for me

Someone has my back today. I put off getting my car inspected until the last minute. This means a long wait at the DMV to get the plates but I have no one to blame but myself. But today, some one was looking out for me.

In order to get the car inspected and still go into the office, took a tad bit of coordination. Skaterboy uses my car for his driving Mr. Daisy gig in the morning. In his defense, I agree that his 80+ yr old charge might have a bit of trouble getting in and out of SB's car. A friend offered to pick me up so I picked the repair shop close to his house. Luckily, it is also one block from Mr. Daisy's abode so I made a deal with SB.
  • SB drives Mr. Daisy to the donut shop in my car and then takes him home.
  • Instead of coming back to the house, I drive SB's car to the repair shop and leave it in the parking lot.
  • SB drops my car and keys off at the repair shop and drives his car home or wherever he wants to go.
  • My friend picks me up at the repair shop and then drops me back off on his way home.
The plan worked out perfectly. The car passed with flying colors (it better have - it is fairly new) and I got to squeeze in an oil change to boot. I remembered to bring all the necessary paperwork with me so I could just run by the DMV on my way home.

I walk into the DMV and there are people everywhere. I take my number and find a seat. I'm 044 - not bad right? Oh, they are calling 987 - this is going to take longer than I thought. Again, I can't complain because this is my fault for procrastinating. Figuring that I have a long wait ahead of me, I pull out my phone to play a game or something. I see a woman walking up and down the aisles asking people questions. She approaches me and asks if I have a high number. I'm not sure if I classify 044 as high, but I show her my number. Apparently she took a number for the wrong line and she offered me her old number - 005! Sweet - this is making my day much better!

Due to the kindness of a stranger, I was on my way home from the DMV exactly one hour after I walked out the door from work. On the last day of the month. Late in the afternoon. I think I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket because I am having an excellent day!

Note: I paid it forward by offering my line ticket to a lady who came in and sat down next to me. It wasn't as dramatic of a jump for her, but she had to wait for 12 less people because of the new ticket!

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Yipee!

After a few failed attempts to connect, I finally got to talk to the Orthopedic surgeon's office this afternoon. The MRI shows no broken bones. It also confirmed that there are no torn ligaments in Skaterboy's wrist (yeah, no surgery!!). They did see that he strained the ligaments and he has some fluid build up but that is to be expected with this type of injury. Woohoo!

I'm not sure SB is convinced that the results are right but I know I feel much better!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

The fine art of Procrastination

Ask anyone who knows me well. I am notorious for putting things off until the last minute. I get them done and everything is good, but I am really bad about stalling. I swear I'm going to change. I promise never to do it again. And yet, I find myself scrambling at the last minute to get something done.

The plates on my car expire on Friday. When I got the notice 2 months ago, I made a mental note to get right on the inspection and get it over with. Everytime I paid a bill or walked into my office, I told myself to make the appointment at the dealer near work. I put the coupons for that dealer in my purse weeks ago. I laid the coupons next to my phone at work for days. So when did I get my car inspected? I didn't. But it will be inspected on Friday. And the plates expire on Friday. And I am working all day on Friday. Hmmm, me thinks me might have a small problem....

Somehow I will try to get the car back from the shop, run over to the DMV, stand in line for hours and still make the deadline. If not, I guess I will be paying a late fee and running around on Saturday morning. Wish me luck!!

Update: I just figured out why I was putting this off for so long. Our great state decided to change the design of the plates. I absolutely despise the new design and think it is hideous. So deep down, psychologically, I am rebelling against some one's horrible idea of a great graphic design.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Woo Hoo!

The good news from the Orthopedic Surgeon today - no sign of any broken bones in Skaterboy's hand! Whew, that is good news for sure. Skaterboy has a lot of pain in his wrist so the Doctor sent him for an MRI to check for ligament or tissue damage.

The bad news? Skaterboy hated the MRI with a passion. For someone who is probably borderline ADHD, laying completely still in a giant tube for 50 minutes is pure torture. He said his back really hurt after his ordeal and it was obvious that he was ready to go home.

Keep your fingers crossed for more good news. We should get the results of the MRI later this week.

Monday, July 27, 2009

A Tale of Two Bones

Sometimes bones hurt. Sometimes bones are a treat. It all depends on who you ask in my house whether or not they consider bones a good story or bad.

First, the bad bones. Friday as Mr. Monkeygirl and I were getting ready to go out for the night, the phone rang. I could tell by the look on Mr. M's face that something was going on that wasn't good. Skaterboy called to ask us to meet him at the ER. This is never good, so Mr. M. took off to meet him. We have been through this drill before so we figured it was probably a sprain but better safe than sorry right? Well, this time they really do think he broke the bone in his left hand. Of course, with the swelling and the growth plates, they couldn't be sure so they put him in a half cast and told us to consult an Orthopedic Surgeon. We will know more tomorrow. I hope for his sake it isn't broken and he doesn't need a full cast. Summer in the midwest can be brutal when your arm is wrapped in fiberglass!

Now the good bones. In an effort to make life easier at home, we have been attending obedience classes with Coal. It is as much for us as it is for him. I have to admit, it is really working. As the instructor kindly put it, Coal is "goofy". He is full of energy and is a friendly dog. Sometimes he is just too friendly. The first week of class, we could barely contain him and he barked so long and so loud, I thought we were going to get kicked out of class. Now, he is calm, cool and collected. Well, sort of.

A few months ago, we couldn't have anyone come over because he was so out of control. Jumping, knocking people over, who knows what else he would do. Now - he still gets excited (stay out of range of his tail - it can be lethal) and is wiggly but he isn't jumping on people. He has changed so much that we have even taken him into public. He loves going to parties in the park and is very well behaved. He loves it when people want to pet him and I'm not fearful that he will jump all over them anymore. Tonight, he was spectacular in class. We do "recalls" where we go to the opposite side of the room and call our dogs to us. Coal is easily distracted but tonight, despite the 6 other dogs in our class sitting around and 5 new puppies to distract him, the instructor could hardly keep him from running to us immediately! I think he deserves a great big bone for being such a good boy.

Monday, July 20, 2009

I Still Have NV Envy

It's hard to believe that it as officially been one year to the day that I started to blog. I wanted to so be like my MEF NV. Her blog was so cool. So I took the plunge and started a blog of my own.

It has been an interesting year. When I started this I never thought that running out of vodka would be so funny. I never thought my Mom would become a blogger. I never thought anyone would ever read this. But I guess I was wrong.

I guess the best way to sum up the last year is to bring back the Wordle. Funny, not one mention of Vodka anywhere in this one!


Sunday, July 19, 2009

Too Pooped to Party

It was a busy week followed by a busy weekend, so I am completely exhausted. Relaxed, but exhausted. This past week consisted of:
  • 4 days of work where things are crazier than ever
  • One night of doggie school where Mr. M had a flat tire that had to be repaired before he could head home
  • One night of M&M duty which consists of a mad dash from work to the babysitters, run through a drive-through to pick up dinner and a toy, dash home to eat, let the dog out and change clothes before running off to gymnastics.
  • The M&M duty was followed by a quick shopping trip for the princesses 4th birthday.
  • Another mad dash home to pick up a few final gifts, a super delicious ice cream cake in pink and then a positively pink princess party. Of course, the one thing the princess wanted more than anything else was to swim on her birthday, so after dinner,cake and gifts at Grandma's we headed back to the house to swim. It was twilight and it was freezing!
  • As soon as the M&M's left, it was off to my home office to do production check out. That is a fancy way of explaining software system testing. Just my luck, there was some kind of issue and we didn't finish until early the following morning.
  • Less than 24 hours before the next party was supposed to start, I still hadn't cleaned the house, cut the grass or cleaned the pool. Unfortunately, it started to pour so the outside stuff would have to wait. Cleaning until the wee hours of the morning ensued.
  • Now it is finally Friday - I still had bathrooms to clean and floors to mop. Cakes needed to be baked and grass needed to be mowed. So what did I do? Went shopping, got a mani and pedi - oh, wait wasn't I supposed to be cleaning or something? We managed to get everything done before the first guests arrived, whew!
  • The Friday party was a complete success and everyone had a great time! The kids managed to convince some adults to go swimming with them (it was unseasonably cool for July). It was a late night - again.
  • Saturday was race day at Gateway. This is a 13+ hour party that includes enough food to feed an army, plenty of cold beverages on hand, some not so exciting racing, and an after race concert where some friends where the headliner! Again, it was a great day, but it was very late - or early when we finally got home.
  • Sunday is supposed to be the day of rest right? Well, not so much. We still had to unpack the truck and clean everything up and put it away. We had to go retrieve the dog from his weekend "spa" getaway. We had another family function to attend. And all we wanted to do was take a long nap.
After all of this activity, I can use a serious nap. Hopefully, this week will be a little calmer. I doubt it, but a girl can dream right?

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

All-Star Madness

Everywhere you turn you see something about the All-Star game. I have seen more Cardinals jerseys running around town than normal. I stopped in a gift shop tonight and they had the game on. Everyone is talking about the tickets that they have or complaining about the cost of the tickets they can't afford.

I don't have any tickets. I figure I have better things to spend $200-$1000 on. I'm not a big fan of traffic or crowds, so I'm not going to hang out outside the stadium downtown. I wasn't home tonight (M&M duty) so I missed watching the game on TV. My only connection to the All-Star game occurred on the way home from work tonight.

As I was driving home, I noticed a helicopter hovering on the horizon. Panic started to rise as I was on a deadline and that generally means some horrible traffic thing was brewing. I immediately started to lay out alternate routes in case traffic was at a complete stand still, when something else caught my eye. A distinctively painted airplane came into view. I quickly realized the police cars on the side of the road and the helicopter hovering meant one thing - President Obama was landing in AirForce One.

My route home happens to take me directly underneath the main runway and it was crystal clear so I got a very good look at the plane making it's final descent into Lambert. It was really an amazing thing to watch. Unfortunately, I was able to think or react fast enough to snap a picture or video. I can add this to one of the cool things I have seen in my life time. Maybe, someday I can snag a ride on that bad boy!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Cleaning and Preening

When you live in the hot, humid midwest and you are lucky enough to have a pool in your yard, you ineveitably become the central party spot for family and friends. this weekend will be no exception.

My uncle recently celebrated a birthday. So did my sister-in-law. My niece is due for a big princess party this week. My aunt and uncle from the west coast are coming in for a mid-summer visit. My brother and his clan are coming in for the weekend from farm country. This calls for a party. And we have the prime location given that we have room - and a pool.

This means I need to clean. Even though I was told not to worry about making extra efforts, it is in some strange genetic twist that I feel the need to clean. Of course, I can't just focus on the normal dusting, vacuuming and mopping. Nooooooo! I feel the need to clean things like the top of the refrigerator and kitchen cabinets. I haven't looked in my bathroom cabinets lately, but I felt compelled to purge and clean those (note to my guests, yes you can peek!) Mr. M spent his day off power washing lawn furniture and anything else that didn't move. Things are starting to shine around here.

I haven't dusted or mopped yet and the Animal (my beloved Dyson - not the dog) is still tucked in the closet. I work better under pressure so I'm sure it will all get done before Friday night's festivities! Let's just hope it doesn't rain so that we can enjoy the outside and we don't have to be stuck inside!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Running out of things to say

Maybe it is exhaustion. Maybe it is sharing the brain with too many people. Maybe it is just too nice outside to be indoors. Who knows, but I feel like I have run out of things to say lately. Every other day or so I think of a brilliant idea to blog about and then by the time I get to a computer, I completely forget what I wanted to say.

I have been busy lately. Home stuff is crazy and work is even crazier. I guess I should be thankful that I can even keep my eyes open when I get home.

Well, I just wanted everyone (ok, the 4 people who read this blog) to know that I haven't forgotten about you and I will be back - some day!

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Just call me the Dog Whisperer

Is it a scent that only dogs can smell? Is there some invisible vibe that I give off to the canine set? I'm not sure what it is but it seems like dogs have taken a liking to me lately, specifically the large male black lab variety.

This past weekend, we joined some friends at the lake for a weekend away to drink, eat and unwind. The only way to beat the beastly heat and humidity was to soak in the lake. We were floating near the dock, when I spied something out of the corner of my eye. I love the water, but don't like things that share the water with me (fishies, turtles, snakes, eeek!) so I was a little wary. It was too big and furry for a snake and was moving pretty fast in our direction. As it got closer, I realized it was a dog. A big, black lab to be specific. He was worn out from his swim across the lake so we coaxed him into a raft to rest. We tried to get him to swim back from the direction he came from. No dice, he loved us and would just swim from one person to the next no matter how much we tried to convince him otherwise.

My friend D and I decided to swim him back across the lake to see if we could find his home. It took us awhile to figure out how to get him out of the water (who knew dogs could climb a ladder?) but we had to because he was getting very tired. Turns out, Jake belongs to a couple across the lake and he apparently loves to swim. We returned him to his owners and swam back to our side of the lake. About an hour or two later, guess who appeared again? Yup, Jake apparently got loose and decided we were fun so he came back to visit. This time Mr. M and I returned him to his owners. Swimming across the lake with a 80+ lb lab is a chore, but we couldn't just leave him. Jake's daddy swam over on Sunday to thank us for saving his dog - twice.

This afternoon, I got a call from Skaterboy. "Uhm, I went outside to check on Coal..." Uh-oh, this can't be good. "He was laying in the yard with a black lab. I was able to get Coal inside and in his kennel. But, the lab is just chillin' on the back porch and drinking our water. He won't leave and wants to go in the house." Great, apparently I am now the great Black Lab Whisperer. All black labs in distress must seek me out for help. I figured with Coal inside and Skaterboy leaving, he would wander back to his home. Wrong! I didn't see him when I got home so I let Coal outside. After a minute or two, I noticed Coal was super excited and there he was- Black Lab #2. They seemed happy to see each other and were playing together but without a collar, I'm not sure I trusted him completely. I tried to get Coal inside the house, which wasn't an easy task since the two dogs were generally rolling around each other. Every time I tried to move to the back door, both dogs tried impatiently to get in. I finally distracted BL2 and got Coal inside.

BL2 flopped down on the porch like he was at home and didn't appear to be in a big hurry to leave. Not sure what to do, I tried to call the local Animal Control. "Our hours are 8 am to 5 pm Monday through Friday. Please call back during those hours." Darn. I tried the County Animal Control. They are only open 9-5 but if this was an emergency, they provided another number to call. This didn't seem like an emergency so I waited for Mr. M to come home.

A quick thinking guy, he called the non-emergency police line and they contacted Animal Control. They were at our house within 10 minutes to pick up BL2. BL2 had no collar and didn't appear to have been roaming for long. He seemed to be a nice dog and at least knew how to sit. He let Mr. M slip a leash over his neck without a fight (note to Coal - see it doesn't hurt!) I hope that his family is looking for him and goes to the shelter soon. I felt kind of bad sending him to doggy jail, but I don't think I could handle two big, black balls of fur running through my house day and night.