He Makes Me Smile

Upon arriving to work in the mornings I have my own list of priority websites to check: The Buffalo News, Drudge Report, People (dot) com and my bank account.  Boyfriend’s list is considerably different than mine.  But, thanks to the Instant Message option in Lotus (it’s only redeeming feature) he tries to educate me, via links, in the ways of all things Republican, newsworthy, and anything sports related (other than the Yankees, of course) – not covered by my personal hit-list.  

I don’t care about politics.  At all.  I have my opinions.  I would consider myself a liberal-conservative.  I don’t care about the NFL. (Although I have a feeling I’m supposed to cheer for the Dolphins as I have no prior allegiance to a team?)  So even though boyfriend sends me all these important links – I generally only read the headline, maybe the first two sentences.  If those are not two of the most captivating sentences written by man – well I tried.  I thought I was being tricky – just read enough to know what it’s about when it almost certainly comes up later in conversation.

Tuesday we went to Toronto for the Yankee vs. Blue Jay game.  Good game.  Yanks won. (!!!) Clinched a play-off spot and CC got his 21^st win.  The celebration on the field was non-existent.  But it was such a fun game to go to.

Wednesday morning boyfriend tracks down the game summary and per usual, sends me the link.  He almost instantly copied and pasted the four or five points out of the article he wanted to discuss.  We chatted for a few minutes. And then I asked:

“How’d you know I wasn’t reading the article myself?”

“I know you.”

“Oh. Right.”

Guess I’m not as clever as I’d originally thought.  :)

You Threw Off My Groove

I am a creature of habit.  I’m talking I’ll probably forget to shampoo my hair in the shower if I rearrange my normal shower procedures and I cannot function as a normal human being if I do not brush my teeth immediately following a shower. (No it does not matter if I’ve already brushed my teeth a couple of times that day.)  Anything that messes with the program could potentially make shambles of my day.

I also have an undying love for all things Disney.  I can apply most everything in life to something Disney related.  I have learned to keep such references to myself as most people do not seem to understand.  This morning is a perfect example.  And rather than keeping it to myself as I probably should, I'm sharing it with you.

Last night boyfriend decided he needed to go to work “early” today. (This is, what most of us would consider, on time.)  And actually, his boss decided he needed to be showing up to work "early" he had nothing to do with it.   His determination to be on time required us to reorder the shower schedule.  This morning he got up and showered before me, forcing me to iron my work clothes before showering, he was standing in front of the sink when it was teeth brushing time and when I got to the sink I had to be careful not to get hairspray in my mouth.  He threw off my groove.

I did remember to use soap and shampoo this morning.  But I’m still upset.  After all isn’t it all about…me?

Why? Why are you Yelling at Me?

   

               Over the past, say, six months or so, I’ve discovered that lots of people insist on informing me of everything going on in their life.  Well I guess it’s not just me.  It’s anyone within, what most would consider, an unreasonable hearing distance or perhaps stuck in their unfortunate MBA class from 6pm till whenever enough people stand up and walk out.

                I can assure you all, I probably don’t care what kind of chicken wings you ate over the weekend and if you prefer them crispy, or that your dog went to the vet.  I certainly do not want to watch home videos of your children you sent plunging head first off of a bridge somewhere in Africa with only a frayed bungee cord and the extra $50 insurance you purchased to keep him from bashing his head in.  Or discuss what year your kids were born, had the chicken pox, got married, got their last tetanus shot or stopped by for dinner.  And let’s just say, after the first time announced, your trips to Vietnam are old news.

                I find it disconcerting that anyone could make the assumption that the whole world is concerned and happy to be following along on any day to day activities.  And what’s worse, force a classroom full of working adults to suffer through extra hours of mundane story telling.

                That being said, I’m skipping class tomorrow and going to see the Yankees in Toronto. 

Mickey (Mouse)

Approximately one year ago, my darling and very pregnant sister knocked on my door in the middle of the night to alert me that her water had broken and we needed to be getting to the hospital.  This resulted in uncontrollable giggling as this is our coping mechanism in uncertain situations.  The reason for the uncertainty is this:

“Should we go to one of those baby delivery classes?”

“Uhh…you're the one delivering.  Will it make you more comfortable?”

“Ehhh?  We probably wouldn’t want to go anyway and we’d skip a whole bunch.  Wanna wing it?”

“You sure?”

“Let’s wing it.”

“OK.  I’ll read the internet or something”

Upon arriving to the hospital when the nurse asked how many babies both of us had had to date and learning the combined total to be zero she seemed thrilled.  

                “That baby hasn’t seen a birth plan yet you know.  She’ll do what she wants anyway.”

            

    Well not so many hours later…this little hairball arrived....

            She was the most precious baby I'd ever seen in my life.  Even the nurses couldn't get enough of her. And the following day her mother left the hospital with this...

        It didn't take long for any of us to determine which parent had provided the dominant personality genes.

 

           Well a couple of months later her Mama decided she needed to move closer to the grandparents (free childcare).  Which may have been the saddest day ever.  Our younger sister can confirm this as she helped Mom and Baby move and watch us cry our eyes out like we would never see one another again.  Come to find out that is not the case. However, when they moved 10 months ago my niece looked like this:

        She grew up a lot in ten months:

 

 

             And I miss them both sooooo much.  But a very Happy Birthday to the most beautiful niece an Aunt could ask for.  And a much bigger CONGRATULATIONS to her mother for surviving one year. 

Happy 1st Birthday Mickey!

Socks vs. Slippers

Here in Western New York it’s gone from HOTTTTT to FREEZING in what seems like a matter of hours.  I hate coldness.  Seriously.  Why do I live in Buffalo then?  There are many theories and no good way to answer that so I won’t bother.  Instead I’d like to discuss a few management techniques that get me through winter and back to summer when the world is right again.  And yes, I realize it is not even the first day of fall.  But as soon as I get chilled for the first time, it’s all over for me.  This has already happened.

Mornings:

I find slippers to be a better idea conceptually than they turn out to be in real life.  They are not comfortable for me to lounge around in.  And when I get up to move somewhere I forget to put them on.  Therefore, I don’t own slippers, and anyway, sleep in socks.  Even so, getting out of bed is unbearable.   The only choice is to race to the bathroom and click on the portable heater so it can turn my bathroom into a sauna immediately, making getting out of the shower much more comfortable than getting out of bed.   Needless to say, I pretty much stay in the bathroom as long as I can before venturing out to finish getting ready for work in the mornings.

At Work:

I freeze.  I’m talking close to hypothermia kind of freezing.   Layers do not help.  Heat walls keep all their heat to themselves. Hot drinks turn lukewarm instantly.  There is no solution.

Evenings at Home:

Generally I manage the decrease in temperature by carrying around the aforementioned portable heater and sitting on the floor directly in front of it.  I lay a blanket over me and the heater and create a toasty little tent for myself.  This is not practical – and also, probably not all that safe. 

Sleeping:

Electric Blanket.  That’s the only right answer.  It does, however, perpetuate the horribleness that is, getting out of bed in the morning.  Unfortunately, my old faithful on from high school called it quits at the end of the last cold season.  So I’m on a hunt to replace her.  And per the weather report, I need to sooner rather than later. 

If all else fails slash the preferred method:

HIBERNATE until SPRING.

Here's to a pleasant fall and a short winter.

Introduction Slash Disclaimer

An obligatory explanation for why I chose to blog:

For quite some time now my boss, an avid blogger herself, (check her out she’s super amusing at The Shanner of Attention) has been suggesting I write a blog. Well maybe not “for quite some time now” but definitely more than twice. Saying things like “if you ever wrote one you could….” Well she finally sold me on it today with “You can write it here you know.” She’s clever that one. We discuss blogs in general quite often. I creep more than a handful, finding myself thoroughly engrossed in people’s lives that I never have and probably never will meet.

I acknowledge that this is strange.

I’ve pondered writing one myself for a while now. I mean, what better a forum for a passive personality with lots of opinions compounded by my desire to, almost exclusively, communicate with the world electronically? So after confirming with a few friends that my cynicism might be found entertaining, I proceeded with decorating and naming a blog page.

Disclaimer:

           I’m boring. I have an accounting degree. I don’t travel. I work, go to the gym, go to an MBA class or two, and hang out with the boyfriend (who is, in fact, more boring than me). So if you’re hoping for a blog that tells a marvelous story – proceed with the blog searching. But if you find yourself amused by mindless rants – I do hope you enjoy. I also hope I enjoy this process – remains to be seen. In the mean time I’ll just cross my fingers and hope something brilliant comes to me.