Not MIA, just IA...

Maybe that post title isn't very self-explanatory, so here you go...

Not Missing in Action, just in Action...

Meaning that things have just been topsy-turvy around here.  Lots has been going on - let me enlighten you.

WORK-RELATED:
My company has been laying people off for the past year or so, and while I've never really been nervous about my job, now I am.  And not so much about getting laid off, but more about not being able to do my new job...

I've always been a part of a department that sort of flew under the radar for the most part.  We brought in $20 million so I'm sure if we DIDN'T bring it in, we'd have been noticed, but for the most part, since we consistently made our numbers we sort of never drew attention to ourselves.  The irony is we were always ticked off that we were being treated as the "red-headed step-children," as my colleague would say. 

NOW, however, my job description has changed and I've been told I have to toot my own horn and the horn of my new department, that NOW we WANT attention brought to our division and I have to contribute to that.

My job has changed.  I'm now going to be specializing a particular subject category, focusing not on all the accounts in my geographical territory, but on a handful (25 or 30) key accounts that are supposed to be the focus of my attention and the attention of the company.  I have to grow their business, proactively expand our volume of sales with these customers, and make sure everyone knows what I'm doing, how I'm doing it and how successful I'm being.

HEALTH-RELATED:
I think I've mentioned the chronic bursitis in my hips.  I also have two knees (!), both with a torn meniscus and arthritis.  I have seen my GP, an orthopedist, an acupuncturist, a rheumatoid arthritis specialist, and most recently an orthopedic surgeon, the one who did hubby's shoulder surgery.

Regarding my hips - they hurt.  They hurt all the time.  I really don't want to be taking anti-inflammatories every day, and I really don't want to start with cortisone shots at age 52 (who knows how much shot-related deterioration I'll have in the next 30 years...).  But I'm not sure what else to do.  I've gone for therapy, taken yoga, done some stretching at the gym, and nothing has relieved the pain.  I seriously walk about 20 feet or so before I'm walking relatively normally, after I've been seated for a while and my hips have stiffened up.  I just called a radio doctor this weekend and he's recommended some alternative treatment.  I'm in enough pain to follow up on his website...

Regarding my knees - the surgeon said he'd recommend surgery on my left knee.  It's funny, I first had trouble with my right knee last December.  I'd gone shopping for the day and my knee hurt so much that I really thought, at the time, that I would have to call J to come and get me, that I wouldn't be able to drive home.  So I started seeing doctors about my right knee.  NOW it's my left one that's worse, and while the pain isn't as severe as the one day in December, it's constant.  I feel stiffness and pain, like a tight muscle or tendon, on the back of my knee, and it's constant.  Again, when I'm sitting, it takes me a long time to get up and walk.

So I made an appointment with another orthopedic surgeon, the one who just operated on our friend K.  K has had 20 years worth of trouble with his knees, and he was up and around within a week, actually up and around the next day, but functioning almost normally within a week, with painkillers only one day, and Advil for a few days.  I go on November 6.

FAMILY-RELATED:
Just worrying about a sister who's not as happy as she should be...  and hoping all my family stays healthy and safe...

We're waiting for a new great-nephew to be born.  October 18th was his due date, but apparently he's real comfy and in no hurry to be born, so if he doesn't decide to make an appearance on his own, R has to be in the hospital at 1:30am Friday morning and they'll induce.  I'm leaving for New Orleans Saturday morning so that's not great timing as far as I'm concerned.  On my last business trip I missed a family funeral.  It looks like I'm going to miss a baby this time around...

And my holiday resolution, which has to start being implemented NOW -- I HAVE to clean this house.  Thank goodness I have a lot of days off left to take this year so I'll do it and get the house ready for the holidays.  There won't be too much of that staying home and watching TV and eating bon-bons I'm so used to...

And just for fun, here are a few photos I've taken that you might enjoy...

This is Dobby who was originally named Stitch (from Lilo and Stitch) except that when my daughter called her, the dog would sit instead of come, thinking she was saying "Sit."

Took this photo at the lake this past weekend, with nothing but my iPhone.  Even I'm impressed with this picture...

This is the rocking horse hubby made for the nephew-to-be.  He made a cradle for our great niece and planned to make another but the kids freaked out and said the cradle was an heirloom and they were going to pass it along to each other as needed.  So J decided to make a rocking horse this time, even before we knew they were having a boy.

This is my new kitchen at the lake house - I don't have a photo (yet) of the backsplash up and grouted, but here's a shot of the new cabinets and counters and appliances, even though the counters are messy with tools and grout...

And another iPhone photo I love, the view from my office window, unfiltered.

We were at Sam's Club a few weekends ago, and we were walking to our car when we saw this, 2 dogs in the back of the SUV, no owner, no one in the car (and I checked)...  They were just hanging there, waiting for their people...

Miami, Part 1

I got to Miami Sunday night, to the hotel at about 9:35. Asked the front desk dude if there was a restaurant open at that hour and he assured me that, yes, there was. Would I like him to make a reservation for me for, say, twenty minutes from now?  For some tapas and a glass of wine, perhaps?

Sure, I responded, as long as I could wear my pajamas to the restaurant.

Okay, so that wasn't the best picture to put in his head 'cause he VERY quickly suggested room service.

I called room service and they said it was a hour wait, but since I had no plans to go anywhere or do anything other than plop in front of the TV, that was fine. 

I ordered my chicken enchiladas and a large coke. Proof positive I didn't really read the menu very carefully?  It was delivered in 20 minutes (I picked the right thing!) and I took a huge bite.

It was FULL of jalapeños!  Thought I'd be a Tums customer for sure that night but it didn't bother me at all!  Of course the "large" coke was one of those new small bottles, the ones you can drink 10 of if you're not in NYC (Mr. Bloomberg is not my friend!).  I was still thirsty when I was finished but at least I wasn't hungry anymore!

More Miami excitement to come in the next installment!

Not much of anything...

So I have to decide whether to take all of tomorrow off, or only 1/2 of tomorrow.  I WANT to take all of tomorrow, and I'm hoping my baby sister will take a couple of hours to join Mom and me for breakfast and a quick trip to Trader Joe's...  If she can't take the time, I'm not sure...  I might still do it...  Hmm, let's call Mom and ask her what SHE thinks - just hang out for a second...

[One minute later...] No answer at Mom's house.  She's either (a) "washing her hair," or (b) at a doctor's appointment she didn't mention she had this morning...  Guess I'll ask her later...

We're going to the lake tomorrow - for the weekend.  The whole weekend.  Including Monday, when we have off.  For Presidents' Day.  YAY!  We haven't been to the lake for the weekend since Christmas, what with the holidays, me getting sick, Jack getting sick, snow, bad weather, more snow, Mom coming home, more bad weather, a funeral...  just to mention a few of the things that got in the way...  We did take a few day trips up there just to check on the house and so that Jack could do a bit of work on my closet in the basement...  But a relaxing weekend with nothing to do but read and scrap and shop?  Not in wwwaaayyy too long!!!

Which reminds me, we have sort of decided to change the design of the summer kitchen and the pantry down there.  Instead of putting open shelves in the corner near the pump at the bottom of the stairs, I think we're going to go with a full-length pantry from Ikea (yay for Ikea!).  It's better for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that it will be closed in so when he's working in the main room and making a mess, the sawdust or sheetrock dust will, for the most part, stay off whatever is in the pantry.  (Mama didn't birth no fool - I KNOW there will still be some dust inside the pantry, but it will be a heck of a lot less than on open shelves!)  The opposite corner will be some coat hooks for our every day jackets, against the wall of the new coat closet he built me in the family room.  Someday, when I can use one of those floor plan sites, I'll include a floor plan of the house and show you what we've already modified...  maybe that will be my assignment this weekend...  hmmm...

[21 minutes later] Mom called - she's all for TJ's tomorrow, and yes, she was at the doctor's office.  Now we have to convince my sister, who said that Fridays are her worst day - she might do TJ, but possibly/probably not breakfast...  I'm going to try to convince her...

This was a very productive week at work - I got loads done, including a 2 hour meeting in the middle of Wednesday, an hour of yoga immediately following, and some brief visits to my blogroll and Facebook whenever I needed a break.  I would love to stay on this roll for the next few weeks, catch up on everything that is on my desk, including what's been there for months but not handled (!), and leave on vacation and go to sales conference (end of April/beginning of May) with a clean desk, with only current work sitting there, waiting for my return.

A woman can dream, can't she?!?

Anyway, this was my break for this morning...  More "not much of anything" later!

Philly Next Week

So I'm attending a conference in Philly next week. It was supposed to be a one day visit, on Wednesday, down in the morning, back home at night. We (my manager and I) planned to meet at the office and leave from there, and he'd drop me either at home or J would meet us somewhere close to the Turnpike so W wouldn't have to go too far out of his way later at night...

But he suggested we take my buyer out to dinner. I already suggested not, since my customer is dropping 2/3 of our titles from their website due to a revamp. But he suggested it again. And again. So I got the feeling I should probably offer dinner to my buyer. (Not TOO dense, am I?!?)

And she took me up on our offer, and now we're taking her out to dinner, with her marketing guy and her 22-year-old daughter who's coming to conference with her.

And now we're staying over and leaving early on Thursday.

So what are the odds that I can be conferenced and dinnered by 9pm so I can be in my hotel room watching Criminal Minds by 9pm???

My new window seats

So my sister has encouraged me to post a picture of my window-seats-to-be. Unfortunately I don't have a good picture of them; the photo will look much better in my bright sunny sitting room this weekend; I'll post new pictures next week! But here's one:

That's two benches, lined up one next to the other, currently in our library, but soon to be relocated to the sitting room at the lake. I am SO very proud of how well I lined up the dragonflies on the fabric - check out the front of the 2 cushions! Of course, when we take these to Hopatcong, and put them in place in the sitting room and measure for the 3rd unit that goes inbetween these two, you KNOW I'll never get the fabric to line up so well... I bought a little extra, just in case, and I hope I can make it work. The middle unit will be closed, with a lift-up lid for closed storage. And yes, I did manage to find more of the same baskets to fill those 3 empty spaces... Another story that I should share...

Okay, here goes... We found these closed fabric storage boxes in WalMart. I suggested we buy the four we needed because, you know, they won't be there when I need them in two weeks. "No," Jack said, "don't waste your money, they're new, we'll get them later. What if you find baskets you like better somewhere else?"

I KNEW he was wrong. I KNEW I should have bought them that day. But I didn't. And he built the window seats to fit those baskets.

And then I went online to order three more to be delivered to the local WalMart and there were none available online to order! I checked around and the only store that had any in stock was North Bergen, so we went there last night, on a mission. We walked in, went right to homegoods, and searched high and low until we found them. There were five left, one unpackaged. I bought four. I have one extra that I can actually store inside the closed seat, in case I need one. Thank goodness I got them!!!

Sad news on the work front: today is the last day my friend E will be working here at our unnamed publishing house. She's moving on to bigger and better (hopefully!) things at another company which will be referred to by its initials: WG. They offered her $20K more than she was making here, a "life-changing number," in E's words. Heck, yea, it's life-changing! That's MORE THAN $1000 MORE A MONTH!!! What I couldn't do with that kind of raise!!! Anyway, we'll miss you, E!!!

Went to the W Hotel here in town to celebrate her new job. I'm just old, folks, just plain old, and it has nothing to do with my chronological age. That hotel is dark, with dim lights, modern furnishings, and I just didn't like it. I did like the Mango-Pom drink I had, not too tart, not too sweet! I didn't see the rooms, of course, but I'm just not that into dark and dim and yuppie...

Well, gotta run and do some work before it's lunch time! Later!

Not too much is going on here in NJ...

Actually, it's kind of boring here in NJ...

Although hubby and I ARE going to a dance at the Elks club tomorrow night... Yea, you're as surprised as I was when he announced he'd bought tickets! Apparently J is feeling as though we don't "do anything" and I "deserve to go out once in a while."

And he chose a dance?!?!?

But seriously, we'll have a great time. We always do. No matter what we do, if we're together, we have fun! All the school folk are so excited that we're coming; they've been stopping me in the hallway to say they can't believe I got him to go! When I tell them it was HIS idea, they're floored! It's nothing formal, jeans or work clothes are okay, and it's all you can eat and all you can drink (wine, soda, beer, coffee, with a cash bar). I'm looking forward to it! I'll try to remember to take some pictures! It's a pretty wild crowd, from what I understand!

We're going to be at the lakehouse this weekend, installing two of my three window seats and measuring for the third. Oh, wait, I forgot to mention that J built me window seats to go under the three windows in the sitting room! We bought some fabric and made cushions - a real pretty maroon-ish color with gold dragonflies that match the gold accent wall behind the bookshelves. Once we decide what to do with the fireplace surround and then put some other furniture in that room, it will be DONE!

Then we can start on the kitchen and bathroom downstairs! And the new dock we need outside... But none of that can be done until we have our final inspection, which we'll do this spring. Then we'll start working on a plan for the kitchen/bath remodel and start getting the permits and supplies, etc., and it starts all over again!

My friend E leaves our company tomorrow for what she hopes will be bigger and better things. At the very least, her salary will be about 50% bigger and better! A "life-changing number" was how she described the increase! She'll be commuting from NJ to Brooklyn every day, which is enough to put me off the job, but I'm not her and she's not me and she's younger and commuted into the city for her entire college career at NYU, so she's okay with it. Me? Uh-uh, no way, Jose! Not even for that kind of salary bump!

So my job will be less one friend, which makes me sad, but in a way will force me to expand my friend horizons a bit, too. With a built-in best friend at work, it wasn't really necessary to be friends with anyone else; I was okay just being colleagues. Now I'll make some new friends...

Unless I win the MegaMillions at which point, internet-pals, I'll be traveling the country to meet you all in person!!!

All better!

Surprisingly I had no trouble with the tooth extraction and bone graft. No swelling. No pain. No bleeding. No misery. I like that kind of medical/dental procedure.

I went in for my 1 week follow-up visit yesterday and they asked me if I wanted to be the new poster child for tooth extractions! I said, "Sure, if I don't have to pay for the rest of this procedure." Stopped 'em dead in their tracks! They complimented me and said I was quick with a retort! Mmm-hmm, I am!

Well, we're less than two weeks away from DD's engagement party. Got some disappointing news today: some dear friends of ours won't be able to come from MA to join us (hi, Mrs. B!). The rest of the family, though, will be there. Except of course for my one sister, who has yet to RSVP. I asked her about it yesterday and her response was, "Er, I think we'll be there..." And your kids? My niece and nephew? "Oh, yeah, I sort of forgot about them!"

Now I know they've been giving my sister a hard time, but she just seems to me to want to forget she's a mom. Well, she can't. She brought them into this world, and like it or not, trouble and conflict or not, they are her kids. And I know one of these days I'm going to say something to her and she's not going to like it and we're going to be estranged while she's pissed as heck at me! But while the kids are 19 and 17 and hard to control, admittedly, I still think she's contributed to her own problems, and it doesn't help that she "forgets" about them. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that those two kids know she'd rather be with her boyfriend than with them. She's chosen more than once to do things for him and his kids, at the expense of her own family. She's chosen more than once to spend time doing for them, and not doing for her own kids. And I know they hold that against her sometimes. All the time in my nephew's case. And he's messed up enough with his feelings for his deadbeat dad (remind me to tell you about HIM sometime!).

Anyway, enough whining! Tomorrow is son-in-law-to-be's birthday and I bought him a Yankees doormat. We'll pick up a gift certificate to a local restaurant, too - they like to go out and this way they can have a little bit'o'fun on the ole' parental units...

Today I'm leaving work a bit early to go to a volunteer meeting at the primary school where my husband works. You may remember I read there during the school year, once a week, every other week. I've really missed it this summer! (Next summer I hope to do it with my little neighbor, when he's old enough to sit still and listen to a story!) The meeting is at 2:30; we're walking over there at around 2pm. The meeting will run until about 3:30 and we'll go upstairs with our assigned teachers to see their rooms and exchange phone/email information. I hope they kept me with the same teacher; she's moved from first grade to second this school year. (Yay! Just found out my former work neighbor has volunteered this year, too! We're going to walk over to the school together!)

My mom is recuperating. She's still bruised - really bruised - from her belly button down to the tops of her thighs, all around her entire body. I had no idea the stent surgery would be so traumatic to her body! But she came out with us last night and visited with my sister-in-law. It was the first time she was out, except for her one doctor's visit, since the surgery!

So J has been taking some pictures during After-School to hang in the gym. I'm sorry to say his pictures are better than the ones I take! It helps that he's taking photos of the kids in the schoolyard so there's great color and great lighting as they play on the swingset and the slide, etc. But J's shots all have an element of movement to them; he tilts the camera on an angle. I spend so much time lining things up and trying to make them centered and straight - I want to take a photography class! (Just thought I'd throw that in there for no good reason!)

Well, I think it's time I do a little work, before we leave for school! More soon!

Okay, I lied (again!).

Yes, I took Mom's laptop to New Orleans.

I did not stay in touch.

I didn't even catch up once I returned.

But here I am, safe and sound, and ready to blog again.

So let's play catch up now...

Getting to New Orleans? Piece of cake.

Getting home from New Orleans? Can you spell w-i-n-d c-o-n-d-i-t-i-o-n-s in less than 4 hours? 'Cause that's how long our delay was 'cause there was wind in Newark.

Unfortunately I didn't get to play tourist - I walked a few blocks on Canal Street, and a few blocks on Decatur, and I did get to the very non-New-Orleans-ish Riverwalk Mall, but I didn't make it to Bourbon Street or the French Market and I didn't get to ride a streetcar.

Although I did get a picture of one and I did meet some Louisiana natives who came right up to me on the streetcar stop and asked me if I was a cancer survivor. Not quite the opening line I thought I'd hear when they approached me, but apparently they noticed the pink breast cancer pin I wear on my jacket... Once I explained I walk for others, they thanked me, chatted with me, told me about his leukemia (he's in remission) and her schedule for the day (if they don't take a cab they won't have time to do what they want to do in New Orleans before they go home (which is 40 miles away, but they come in to "the city" every Sunday 'cause there's nothing to do at home).

I ate at Nola (one of Emeril's restaurants). I had shrimp and grits with a tomato glaze and crimini mushrooms and minced bacon. Mmm-good! We had an awesome appetizer of stuffed chicken wings with homemade hoison dipping sauce. Yum!!! We shared a slice of banana cream cake for dessert.

I ate at Cafe Giovanni's. I had Voodoo Shrimp and loved my meal. My eating companions weren't quite as thrilled with their entrees, but we all LOVED the Tuscan Asparagus appetizer: 3 stalks of tender-crisp asparagus, rolled in prosciutto, stuffed with mozzarella, and deep fried.
O.M.G.

I had some beignets and fresh squeezed orange juice at Cafe Du Monde's Coffee Stand at the Riverwalk Mall. Now I know why people have Cafe Du Monde's beignets for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dessert when in New Orleans. I was seriously trying to figure out how many times I could go buy 3-for-$1.82 and not gain 20 pounds in a 2-1/2 day trip!!

My hubby missed me. He got out of school, went home to wait until my delayed flight arrived; we were scheduled to land at 8:30pm. I called the minute we landed (at 8:00pm) and he was en route. I got my luggage and started to walk outside to the spot where we were to meet. I called him again, and he was "at the first traffic light." Well, I was at the second traffic light! I walked to the curb, he pulled over, I put my luggage in the car, and hopped right in! We couldn't have timed it better if we tried! He brought a bouquet of flowers to the airport for me.

You know, we're not newlyweds - we'll be celebrating our 10-year anniversary this July - but I mean it with all my heart when I say that we'd really prefer to be together all.the.time. I love to travel, but I really don't like being away from him. And it's not like we do all these exciting things when we're together: we hang out at home, eat at Costco, watch some TV during the evenings, visit his sister on Mondays - nothing earth-shattering. But we really like to do nothing together.

I'd like to visit New Orleans again, this time on vacation. With Jack. I'd like to walk around the French Quarter, visit the French Market, the cathedral, have dinner at one of Emeril's restaurants with Jack (we're both fans!), ride on the streetcars, take some tours around the city... Perhaps we can try convincing the Board that our next seminar should be in New Orleans...

I came home, haven't even caught up on laundry yet and it's been a week! (Guess what I'm doing tonight!?) Work has been a real chore - lots of things to do, and not enough hours in the day!

Our daughter moved in with her boyfriend this past weekend. I hope this works for her. She seems very happy and much more open about this relationship. (Remember the last BF? She only told us the good/neutral stuff, not any of the things that would have sent up big red warning flags.) And S seems like a nice guy. He's friendly, he talks, and he doesn't treat her as if he owns her. She says he's not controlling or manipulative, that she's excited (not sick to her stomach!) when he says "See you at home!" (A sure warning sign that she didn't share with us last time around!)

She's coming to Easter dinner (which is also Jack's b'day) and then S will be joining us for dessert at my sister-in-law's house. My sister, niece, nephew and mom will be coming, too. I have to go buy my ham, some broccoli, some potatoes, some cabbage, and all the rest of my food, AND dye my eggs...

Okay - gotta run. You know that comment I made about "not enough hours in the day"????

Traveling to New Orleans

I'm borrowing Mom's laptop so I can stay in touch while I'm gone. I leave tomorrow, at noon, to go to New Orleans for a conference. Don't know how much, if any, touristy crap I'll get to do, but I do know I'm eating at Nola and at Cafe Giovanni, with my company cohorts. Looking forward to that, for sure! We're doing what we can to keep our T&E down so I'm staying only two nights, not the usual 3 or 4. Which is awesome 'cause that means I can come home that much sooner!

Went to the eye doctor today. I can't see. Not that I'm blind or anything, but without contacts or glasses I can't see. So it was time for new glasses. The guy that fitted me didn't do such a hot job so I had them done again. And these aren't right, either. The doctor there today said to try them out over the weekend, that even though my subscription has changed, the frames we put the new lenses in are larger than my current pair and it may just be my eyes getting adjusted to the greater distance they have to travel in these new progressive lenses. Because yes, I've discovered after 48 years, that I am vain. To a degree. I don't want bifocals that look like bifocals. So I spend extra and get progressives so you don't know that I'm as old as I am and as blind as I am...

I imagine I'll be incommunicado until later tomorrow night, after dinner - my flight leaves NJ at noon, I get in after 2pm local time, and have to make my way to the hotel and shower and get ready for dinner and then find my own way there (we're all in different hotels). I'll probably check in when I get back from dinner and am sitting down in front of the TV to decompress.

Just for the record, too, I'm traveling to New Orleans with NJ winter clothes - the lightest and thinnest I have, granted, but we were still at 22-29 degrees in the morning earlier this week - I'm by no means ready to pull out my spring/summer wardrobe! I think I'll be okay, though - lighter pants with 2 thin tops and a cardigan for the 2 dinners, and a pair of pants and a couple of light-ish sweater tops for the convention center. Wearing yoga pants down (so I can also work out in the gym if they have one in the hotel) and bringing a pair of jeans "just in case." Keep your fingers crossed - although having to go shopping wouldn't be the worst thing that's ever happened to me...

Okay, so I lied...

I'm back. For now. For a few minutes.

Nope, nothing important is going on. I just felt like I had to write something! Miss Hope emailed me and said she'd have worried had I not noted I'd be MIA for a while... Aw, that Miss Hope! She's a nice lady!

Work is work. There's a bit of an internal power struggle between our department and another in our same division. They're trying to take over accounts I've been working with, and accounts my colleagues have been working on, too. A comment flew by me today that the VP in our department likes this wrangling; he thinks some internal competition is healthy. Well, I don't. I'm a firm believer in respecting each other's territory, in working as a team, one for all and all for one, as it were. This infighting just leads to bad blood and bad morale, as well.

My sister's beau had some surgery last week. 41 staples later, they've removed the primary tumor, some smaller ones, too, and the spot that's left will be treated with radiation. The doctors are giving him a good prognosis and expect that chemo will not be necessary. I've had everything crossed that could safely be crossed: eyes, fingers, toes, etc. And I've been praying, Lord knows I've been praying! My sister is really happy with this guy and she deserves some happiness in her life (her ex, well, let's just say L.O.S.E.R. with a capital L!). He's having some pain and some trouble with recovery; apparently he's not a sit-down-and-just-heal kind of guy. He's a get-up-and-go-and-do-and-never-sit-still kind of guy so he's a bit nuts. (And it's only been one week! Imagine what he'll be like for the next 7 weeks...)

So, anyway, Jack went to the doctor for a pain in his back. He was getting up in the morning and feeling, well, crippled! He was sore and bent over and since he's very fit it was a bit worrisome for him. The diagnosis? Arthritis of the spine. No idea yet, though, whether that's one of those diagnoses that the doctors put on paper so insurance will pay, or whether, indeed, he has arthritis of the spine. The reason I tend to believe he doesn't is that he was fine. Until he wasn't. Until he laid down on the gym floor with the little kiddy-poos, then got up with a giant OUCH! No little twinges, no aches and pains - an all of a sudden, one-time, OMG! I think I hurt myself! kind of pain...

BUT, that said, his cholesterol is a bit high and there were some white blood cells in his urine and his white blood count was a bit low. I Googled that and it appears it could be as insignificant as a urinary tract infection or a kidney infection. Or it could be worse. He has an appointment for a full physical on Monday, March 9. So I suppose all of this will be addressed then. I am not my sister-in-law so instead of panicking and worrying until the 9th, I called the doctor this morning. IF there was anything to worry about the doctor would have had the nurse call Jack in sooner. The physical on the 9th is "just fine." So, see? No reason to worry. (Except that now I feel all guilty and want to quit my job so I can stay home and cook healthier food for him!)

So, here I am, asking you to keep us on your prayer list, even those of you who don't know us! (I figure it can't hurt to have some extra praying going on for us, right?!??!) I want my hubby to be just fine, to have a little infection that actually will be gone by the 9th 'cause his ear/nose/throat doctor just put him on an antibiotic for a sinus infection...

Tonight I'm going to Scrapping Bingo! I won some cool prizes last time and I have a cool prize to donate this time. I'm also going to pick up the really cool stuff I bought from my SU rep. And remember, if Jack runs into you and asks about the "stuff" I brought home: I.WON.IT.AT.BINGO. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!!

Mom's Home!!!

So I left work at about 3:35, headed to Penn Station/Newark. Parked the car and went inside.

15 minutes later, Mom was home!!!

I'm so glad she's here! I know she had a great time at P's house, and I know she likes to go there, but it's really hard on my husband when mom is away. I admit it. I'm a big baby! In fact, J met us at the Tick Tock for dinner. He came in, gave Mom a hug and a kiss and said, "Thanks for coming home, Mom! Now I'll have a happy home again!"

BUT with the advent of a webcam setup, I can deal with it in a much more adult manner!  When I finally return Mom's laptop to her, I'll go out and buy myself a webcam. (It's a cheaper alternative to a laptop I really can't justify at this time!)

On the way home, it was snowing. (Actually, it was snowing all day.) I've never had the experience of not being able to stop my car on ice; I know, I've been lucky. Yesterday, though, I was sending many thank yous up to Jesus for ABS brakes! Boy howdy, were the roads slippery! A couple of times I was sweating thinking I was going to hit the man and woman crossing the street in front of me. I was afraid, in a way, to beep the horn or flash my headlights 'cause I thought they'd think I was telling them to go ahead and cross in front of me when in fact I couldn't stop my truck!!! [Jack pointed out I should have just LAID on the horn, long and strident, so they'd know something was wrong.]

I'm having some trouble here at work. I know I need to let it go, but I'm having a hard time not obsessing over it. What do you think?

There are 6 of us in our territory. We all answer to W. Here's the breakdown of our territories: I have 12 states, R has 10, E has 9, D has 14, and K has 2 plus author sales. S has the US for corporate bulk sales but for the most part, he just sits and waits for orders to hit his desk; it's not a very proactive job...

A couple of weeks ago, R and E were out at the same time. For a week. And I covered for them. By myself. We don't have an assistant anymore, and we don't know when/if we'll get one. K has already stated, in no uncertain terms, that she's too overworked with her 2 states and author sales to help cover our territories when we're out. (This was in response to my joking with her that I was going to put her name down as a contact when I went on vacation - she said I could, but that she wouldn't be doing any of the work. Now, keep in mind that she refers all existing author accounts to customer service and is away from her desk for 3 hours a day, running, visiting her mom who works in our company, and doing whatever else it is she does when she's not at her desk...)

Anyway, I covered for R and E. Then I called out sick last Friday.

THEY.DID.NOT.PROCESS.ONE.SINGLE.ORDER.FOR.ME.

And E found it necessary to send me an email to tell me that she overheard R telling my accounts that I'd be back in the office on Monday and that they could contact me then. Okay, I was pissed. But then I walked over and saw that E didn't do anything for me either.

3 orders came in on Friday, over the fax. One at 8:45am, one at noon-ish, and one at 3-something pm. Plenty of time to process them before they went home. And no one did a single thing for me.

I'm SO hot under the collar that I can't stand myself, let alone these people.

I love my job. It's easy and I'm certainly not going anywhere. But I'm done doing unto others. They did squat for me.

My pals seem to think I should talk to my boss about it. I feel as though I could be perceived as ratting them out. I don't want to be a rat fink, but I'm feeling distinctly taken advantage of and obviously they don't care about my customers as much as I cared about them.

I think I'm just going to keep my distance and tell them not to put me down to cover them the next time they ask if they can. Or if they don't even ask, just refer their customers back to them when they return. Or to customer service. Why should I go the extra mile when they won't help me out at all???

What do you think?

Sales Conference

No, I'm not dead.

I'm starting Sales Conference.

I will be in meetings from 9am to 4:30pm, today, tomorrow and Thursday.

Tonight I have dinner at Anthony David's in Hoboken.

Tomorrow I have dinner at Court Street in Hoboken (yummm!!!).

Thursday I have a manicure appointment at 6:30pm.

Friday Jack and I have dinner at Frank's Waterside in North Bergen.

I have sporadic access to voice mail and email, and unless I stay up really late and fall asleep during the meetings, virtually no access to the Internet and this blog.

Until the weekend. When it turns C.O.L.D. When double digits would feel like summer (or at least spring). When I have a three day weekend. When I take Mom's laptop to the lake and hack into my neighbor's wireless.

OH. BIG NEWS! You all know how much I miss my mom (she's in AZ visiting my sister P - who, by the way, I also miss, bigtime!).

I GOT TO SEE MY MOM THE OTHER NIGHT!!! P got herself a webcam and with Mom's laptop we were able to video chat. Okay, I can handle Mom visiting P if we can do this once in a while. Just for the record. (Although I'd still like her home, she can stay by you for a while longer, P!)

This has pretty much decided it for me. It's time for me to get either a webcam for my desktop, which will most likely be the route we go, or a laptop (which I'm resisting simply 'cause I hate their keyboards and the darn non-mouse-pad). And Mom, you'll just HAVE to leave your house once a week or so to come over to mine and you can video chat with P, a NICE change from "just" a daily phone call (or three!).

Vote Wiley!

To those of you who want to support my employer, in a rather indirect way... Go to http://www.gawker.com/, scroll down and vote for one of our Wiley guys as "Hottest Man in Book Publishing 2008."

Go ahead, support our guys!

My neighbors came to visit us at the lake yesterday, all five boys and their parents. We had SUCH a great time! S brough bagels and tuna fish and egg salad and cream cheese and marble cake and chocolate chip cookies. (They keep kosher so I couldn't feed them all that easily.) I had drinks and snacks for them. Poor A got a little carsick on the way up, so he ate a bit, then went to lay down for 10 minutes or so. J took the 4 boys to the Sanctuary and showed them the beaver dam, and they met Marley (our neighborhood dog). It was raining, that's the only bad part of the day. J really wanted to take them out on the rowboat and show them around a little bit. Maybe next time!

I have a great picture of the five boys but I won't post it 'cause I don't have permission from their mom. But trust me when I say you've NEVER seen cheeks like the baby has - he even beats my niece who had chipmunk cheeks when she was born! We called her Dizzy, after Mr. Gilespie! G has her beat BIG time!!!

On the way home (we all left at the same time), the boys called us on my cell to shout, "Thanks, J and Krys, for letting us visit you at the lake!" Let me tell you, 5 boys! 5 boys so well brought up that they were less trouble than either my nephew or my niece, and certainly less trouble than the two of them together!!! These boys are so well brought up - my neighbors should be proud of themselves!!!

I'm stressed with the reorg we just went through here at work: I have double the territory, and I have to cover it in the same amount of hours for the same salary. Now of course, once the targets are set, if I make my numbers, my incentive payment goes up accordingly. But the work!!! OMG!!! I have two cold sores that have broken out on my lower lip; yes, a pretty picture! Today I emailed my friend CT, and he wrote me such a nice note of encouragement:

"Deep breath.
Now, remember that whatever you do will be an improvement over your predecessor. Also, remember that the sun will come up tomorrow, no matter what you do. And finally, at the end of the day, you can go home and shut the door on the trials and tribulations of your job. Might not be easy, but it can be done.
Love,
C
P.S. – Not sure if this is appropriate, but I just re-read Illusions (http://www.barefootworlds.net/illusions.html) and it always improves my outlook on life.

There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts."

Illusions is one of several books by Richard Bach that I've read and reread over the years. I collect quotes and Bach's books are chock-full of them! I've sent so many of them to C over the years, when we were single and writing letters to each other (back in the days before email!). It means a lot that he chose that book for me today! And I think I'll go home and pull it off the bookshelf, drop it in my bag, and when I finish the one I'm reading, I'll reread Illusions again. I'm sure there'll be a quote for me to send C when I'm done!

My mom is joining the ranks of the technologically advanced: she's switching to Dish TV, and she's going to have to learn that remote control all by herself. No emergency calls to me to come and fix what she broke. And she wants to buy a DVD recorder. I am a simple Cablevision customer, soon to switch to the Optimum Triple Play, I think... I have to have computer access at home, and cable is taking away channels and adding charges each month. (Sound familiar?!?) It's time to upgrade!

Well, I'm about to leave and walk cross-town to J's school, so we can leave on time. He wants to mow Mom's lawn (at least the front lawn) before we go to his sister's to celebrate her b'day. It's supposed to rain for the next three days or so, not pouring down storms, but showers on and off 'til Wednesday or Thursday (unless they've changed the forecast since this morning!). (An aside: I hate rain.)

Toodles!

SO.

Lot's is happening in my business life. Just found out they're adding 6 more states to my territory. I now cover, in no particular order:

• my original states - Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia
• my newly added states - Arkansas, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska

I'm sure you can guess which one appeals to me the most: Missouri! My bestest college friend lives in the St. Louis area, in St. Charles, to be exact. And his parents live in Kansas City. And if I have large enough accounts to warrant a trip to those particular locations, I could actually visit with them and see them and that would be phenomenal!!!

Iowa? Nebraska? I don't know yet how much business is in each state, and obviously my goal is to build up the territory so I'll be looking for more business in each state.

I also found out today that they're adding a whole new class of trade to my reseller responsibilities. Yesterday I sold to trade associations and catalog resellers. Today I'm also doing bulk sales. Mm-hm. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? I'll have to make it exciting, if it turns out to be dull and boring. I got those states from one of my colleagues, Kim. She sits right next to me in the office. She has one of those voices they use for voiceovers (if you call our IT department, you hear her say, "You have reached the IT department. Please listen as our menu choices have changed. For IT support, press 1. For AS400 support, press 2. If you'd like to leave a message,..." Forget it! You don't really care!). Her customers are in for an awakening: first thing in the morning you can't tell I'm not a guy. My voice is not very feminine, at least not in my opinion, at least not first thing in the morning. And I talk really fast when I'm talking to a stranger. Really fast. Almost faster than I can type...

I think I'm going to take a picture of my desk here at work tomorrow so you can see what 6 new states and a new class of trade looks like. It's a bit frightening since I really do pride myself on keeping my office neat and orderly (unlike my home!). I have paper all over, like a paper bomb exploded on top of my desk and all around my cubicle! If I was compulsively clean, I'd be shaking right about now...

Tonight we're moving my daughter back into her new apartment, which we moved her into and out of last week. The apartment complex has basically sterilized it: washed the rug four times, painted three times, stripped the cabinets to remove the smoke/nicotine, fumigated, pulled out the refrigerator and the oven and cleaned and painted behind them, bleached the tiles and the entire bathroom. Hmm, did they do anything else? I think that's it. In fact, the former tenant is all upset that they did all this 'cause she feels like it makes her look dirty. Hey, lady, if the shoe fits!!!

Okay, that's enough blogging for now - DH is on his way to pick me up so we can go home, change, chow down and go move DD.

Toodles!

Just found out I'm getting some more states added to my territory. I used to have Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia. Now I also have Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri and Nebraska!

Wow!

The good news is maybe at some point I can swing a business trip to the St. Louis or Kansas City area and see Chris and/or his parents.

The bad news is this is a LOT more work. A LOT more pressure. A LOT more stress.

I have to learn to delegate.

Delegate. Delegate. Delegate.

Funny thing is that my old boss - sorry, SLH - my previous boss used to tell me that I had to learn to delegate. Guess she was right.

Guess I have to learn.

Yay. A challenge.

Hello from an un-named city in the Southwest!

Just checking in with a quick and detail-less update 'cause I'm using a laptop that belongs to someone else, waiting for the Korean Spare Ribs to thaw so we can have some dinner... Wait! Too many details for this entry!!

Got to San Diego last Saturday, worried I'd brought too many winter/fall clothes 'cause when I got off the plane and into the cab, I started to glow. Ultimately it turned out I was garbed just fine 'cause it was chilly-ish in the mornings and warmed up in the afternoons and my jacket was okay for the evenings...

Conference was fine - details to come.

Sister arrived Sunday after minor road worries - details to come.

Some good meals, some good company, some good cocktails - details to come.

Visited Cabrillo National Monument and the San Diego Zoo - details (and pictures!) to come.

Got sick. Visited Immedicenter. On antibiotics. Details to come.

Traveled to that unnamed city in the SW - details (and pictures) to come.

Visited the place someone works, dinner with that person's friends, met with new blog-friend - many details and pictures to come!

Walking in Race for the Cure tomorrow, then traveling to NJ - details (and maybe some pictures) to come.

Talk with you soon.

Work.
Busy.
Loads to do.
Getting it done.
Slowly but surely.
Proud of myself.
Looking forward to the weekend.

Believe it or not, I'm not dead. My typing/blogging hands were not amputated. I haven't relocated to a part of the world that is computer-less. My computer hasn't even imploded.

I've been busy.

Busy traveling.

Yuk.

Here you go...

Monday, Nov. 5 - Wednesday, Nov. 7 - Hubby and I went to Atlantic City for "Strategic Planning Sessions." These sessions were supposed to keep him busy for part of the three days so that I could lose the $83.60 I'd saved to lose at the casino. The trip was sponsored (paid for) by the credit union; he's a director on the Board. Well, I did lose the $83.60. I won $100 while I was playing with the $83.60, then I put the $100 back in, and for good measure, I lost another $40, just to be sure I was on a real losing streak, not just fooled into thinking I was losing 'cause I was out the $83.60 and the $100... How's this for bending the truth a bit??? I'm only down $40. Here's how I figured this out: The $83.60 was change in a coffe cup that I'd been saving specifically to lose in A.C., so it wasn't taken out of my children's mouths, or from the rent money, so I don't count that as a loss, even though I didn't come home with it. And the $100 I won with that $83.60? It wasn't mine to begin with; it was the casino's money and if I chose to throw that back into the slot machine, well, it wasn't mine anyway! Now, the $40? I took that out of my wallet, so that's really money that was earmarked for lunch or shoes or the electric bill, so that's the amount I'm really down.

Can you spell J-U-S-T-I-F-I-C-A-T-I-O-N??? (Needless to say, it's a good thing I don't go to a casino very often - although I don't play the slots to win big. I just truly enjoy them for some unknown, unexplainable reason. If they had machines I could play with tokens, I'd be just as happy!!!)

Thursday, Nov. 8 - Friday, Nov. 9 - I worked. I had 100+ emails at work and 100+ emails on my personal account. That's too many darn emails! I deleted jokes, ads and stuff that didn't look all that important, so if you're waiting for a response and it doesn't come, you might want to send that email along again...

Saturday, Nov. 10 - Sunday, Nov. 11 - We painted. We painted the whole first floor of the lake house Cottage White, except for the dining room which we painted Melted Butter. I originally wanted Spiced Pumpkin for the dining room, but the nice man at the Home Depot told me that other customers who had used that color likened it to living inside or next to a school bus! He recommended Melted Butter, and we're very happy with the way it turned out! (Pictures next week, since I didn't bring my cable to download them today!) I also put up some lace curtains in the dining room; don't really like seeing the curtain rod when they're open so I'll be buying some floral garlands to loop along the rod.

Monday, Nov. 12 - Wednesday, Nov. 14 - I was traveling in Alexandria, VA, and Arlington, VA, with my boss, on business. We had 5 meetings over three days, not too much, probably not really enough, but I had reserved some time for another account I'd hoped to meet with and they bailed at the last minute. And another one had to cancel a dinner meeting...

Here's a great one... One of our editors was supposed to meet us at a meeting on Monday afternoon. He never showed up. After the meeting, I called his home office (in Alexandria!) and left a message saying we'd missed him, that I hoped he hadn't confused the Monday meeting with the Tuesday dinner (with the same account). On Tuesday, we had a morning meeting in Arlington, and an afternoon one in the same city. I was able to move the afternoon one up so that we didn't have to hang around town for 4 hours (thanks, Julie!). We went back to the hotel. My boss said he was going to check phone messages, then go to Starbucks to use the wireless internet and return some emails. I went to the hotel gym. (Get up off the floor - I really did!) While I was walking and sweating on the treadmill, my cell phone rang and I answered it. It was X, the editor, apologizing for missing the meeting. "We've had 14 years together, and they were great years," I heard. "She had seizures yesterday and I had to take her to the hospital, " I heard. "She's at a meeting now and we have an appointment with an oncologist at 4pm today; I don't think I'll be able to make dinner."

Of course I responded appropriately: "Don't even think of dinner. Just stay home, do what you have to do. You don't need to come out to some boring business dinner..." At dinner that night, they asked about X and I told them what had happened.

When I got back to the office on Thursday of last week, I dropped X and email, asking how the oncologist's meeting went. Here's his response: "Hi Krys, well, she's riddled with cancer and there's not much we can do about it. She had surgery to remove some tumors last year about this time and a few sessions of chemo, but she won't be able to handle that again. We'll have her for a little longer, trying to make her comfortable, making sure she's not in pain (tough to do with cats). Thanks so much for asking and again I'm really sorry to flake on the SHRM meetings this year. How'd it go anyway? Warm regards...mcds"

Stop laughing at me.

Baby Shower!!!

We had an office baby shower for our assistant, F, yesterday at lunch. We had a nice time. Good food, lots of laughter, happy wishes for the expectant mom! I would include other pictures but no one knows about my blog and I don't want pictures of people floating out there in cyberspace without their permission...

We picked up a couple dozen white roses to decorate the conference room, piled all the gifts in the corner, set up the food on the counter, and waited to surprise F. She was surprised! She's due November 20th. E and I got her a stroller/carseat combo. Here's a picture:

I liked the neutral color, not too boyish or too girlish, the darker color to show less dirt (although spit-up milk will show, and so will crumbs!), the cute little jungle animals on the print... It's a Graco, so it's good quality. I would have bought a Chicco but it was totally out of our price range (pay attention here, Cuz!!!). She also got some clothes, some bath stuff, a Diaper Genie II, a stuffed bear that makes sounds like a mother's womb, some onesies, a bib or two, and some money with a couple of board books. She wasn't registered anywhere (!?) so we had to wing it, not knowing what she already had or didn't have. E and I gave her the gift receipt, so if she wants to, she can exchange the stroller for whatever else she needs or wants...

Off the topic of babies... I'm in the mood to scrap and I can't do it - there is no room in my house and my stuff is just all jumbled up into a big mess, spread across two rooms and two houses... I think I'm going to sign up for a crop soon, perhaps the one we're looking to do in October... I'll have to work my butt off organizing some page kits and project kits, but it will be worth it...