An unexpected day off

So I received a phone call this morning from one of my co-workers. As this was completely unexpected, I assumed it was one of those "my name is usually first on the phone so it gets called when the phone is bumped" calls. It wasn't. It was one of those "one of the gang members I work with threatened a co-worker and so we aren't supposed to come to work today" calls. So here I am, with an unexpected day off. Well, sort of. Except that with my job, I can't work from home. It's mostly hands on with the kids or preparing stuff for the kids, or, like yesterday, calling CPS on one of the parents of the kids.

On the positive side, now I get to spend the whole day sewing. Yah!!! It's kinds like the universe is looking after me... I got free tickets to Shakespeare Santa Cruz tonight. But the show starts at 7:30p. And I don't usually get off work until 8pm. So I was going to have to leave around 5:30 to make it on time. But now... It makes my life a lot easier. Really. Now I can spend the day looking up info for work, and still make it to the show on time. Glorious. By the way, I got these free tickets by agreeing to go as a walking billboard for the Nor Cal renn faire. So, I'm going in costume. How fun. Shakespeare dressed in Shakespearian clothing. And we are getting a special box.

In other news, I have started seeing a very positive side of hot house yoga and my gym routine. I am losing weight... Finally. I am down almost ten pounds and, hopefully, still losing. What a good week... Besides the whole gang threat thing.

I have promised my housemate a ride to work. So I need to be off.

Tah.

I wanna be a German

Ok, so I have pushed Chris into the German guild at faire. I would say I am ashamed at forcing someone into faire, but... I'm not. I think he is going to have an excellent time. Plus, big hats.

Adding onto this, I have decided, if I want to walk around with him, I had better get my German on too. (Really cool hats) This means doing a little historical research into propper Frau attire. So, for your viewing pleasure...Lucas Cranach the Elder.




They are just so pretty. I hope mine turns out as well. Speaking of making things... Chris now has a propper shirt and I made my first attempt at a "Starfish" hat. It's pretty cute. We shall see how the next one comes along.

Anyway...
"A'rovin, a'rovin, cause rovin been my ruin.
I'll no more go a'rovin, with you stong lad."

Tah.

1997 Geo

I came home last Thursday is a very good mood. I had just given some pretty cool socks to my best bud, and my man is going to be the cutest German is all the world, but waiting for me on my desk was a little piece of paper that broke my happy bubble. It was a certified letter from the SCPD. My heart did a little flip and I started freaking out (just ask anyone who talked to me or saw me for those few days). There was nothing I could do about it until Friday morning. So, I spent a sleepless night thinking I was being called into court or sued for something. It was awful. (sometimes working with juvenile delinquents is rough on the sleeping.) The next morning I went to the post office. With the letter hot in hand I walked outside to discover... My little 1997 geo was about to be towed and I had ten days to do something about it. Ack!!! I cooled off a little, because, what do I care if they tow a car I don't own anymore? But then, after talking to another friend of mine, I discovered they would charge me for the towing of the car. And I was right back to flipping out.

I called into work and told them I was going to be late, and went right over to the DMV. As I sat and thought about why I should no longer trust people who I have just met, I also figured out something... I hate car salesmen!!! So I walked up to the lady at the DMV (After an astonishingly short amount of time, only half an hour)and informed her I had made a mistake and needed help. They lady asked if I had filled out a transfer of liability form. I said: No, what's that? She gave me a little half sheet of paper to fill out that would absolve me of all payments. Ya! Unfortunately the form needed the address of the guy I sold it to. SO I drove to work feeling a bit better. Once at work I looked him up. He didn't have a listed address. (and I wouldn't either if I was a car salesman.) So I took my sleuthing skills onto the private lookup sites. And for a mere 13 dollars, I now know everything about him, from his criminal history to the last several places he has lived. Ha!

Then I email the bastard. And told him I was displeased and that I was faxing him the letter. Did I mention I did this all to his work since I didn't get his home stuff? And we all know how many people see a fax when it comes through the office... Anyway he called me a little later that day and said: Oh, I'm so mad at my daughter for not changing the title... I said: Really, I don't care. I switched the title myself today. It's your problem now.

One interesting thing he did tell me though... he said his daughter crashed the car two weeks after getting it... I wonder if the air bags deployed. I give it about a 75/25 chance of not going off. The world will never know.

They're not savages...They're poor

This is what I heard walking into the office yesterday. Humm, not exactly what one might consider to be appropriate... But extremely funny. It set everyone off and we ended up making fun of each other and laughing all day. A very good thing.

Last night I followed the office manager to a yoga class. Not just any yoga... yoga in a room heated to 120 degrees! I have never sweated so much in my whole life! I couldn't even do half of the stuff because I was lightheaded. And it's not as if the poses were really hard... It was the poses plus the heat. And today my vacuum cleaning muscles were all sore. I think I will attempt this again next week and if I can see any improvement, I might continue for a while. You never know. Maybe I can do hot house yoga.

This morning my financial planner came over. In thirty two years, when I can touch my retirement plan, I will, apparently, be rich. At least that is what I think she is telling me. Well good. I'd like to be rich at some point in my life even if it's closer to the end than the beginning. She says that I'm smart for planning for my financial future now. Interesting. I was actually feeling like I should have started this a long time ago. I was thinking I was behind. Who knew?

The little clock on the bottom of this computer says it's time to go to work. So I will talk to everyone later.

Tah.

41 backpacks later

This weekend was the first of workshops. It was great. I got to see all kinds of people I haven't seen in a year and Chris is going to be a German! (big hats) And if I don't have anything to do during their parades, I get to be one for a little while too. (really big hat) I'm so excited. (really, really, big hat) Also, and just as importantly, Erin is going to be there too!!! (really, really, really big hat) I am going to have the best year ever!!!!! Did I mention the hats?

I also stopped in SJ on the way home and gave a little speech at a church and in return received 41 backpacks and supplies. (kinda like a parting gift or something) They were really nice people. And they were totally sweet to donate them to us, I know the kids who receive the stuff will be all happy and excited. Yah!!! The speech went really well. Fitting that many backpacks into my car with four people already in it made it a little harder. What I find funny is that people can believe that I work for a non-prof but they can't conceive of me going to church. Wired.

Anyway, it's late and I'm grumpy.

Tah.

A little distracted

Sorry. It's been a little hard to find time to write recently. I don't know why... Perhaps it's the Aug doldrums.

Yesterday I went to pick up all the backpacks for my work. There were 500 of them and each one filled to the brim with goodies for our kids. It was a lot of hard work, but because of it all of our kids will look sharp this up coming school year. I was looking at all the bags and realizing that I would have lots of trouble figuring out which one to get if I were going back to school. There are so many cool bags now.
Ones with built in earphones and all kinds of cell phone pockets and gadgets. I really liked the polka-dot one. It might just live in my office until someone is in real need of it. *sigh*
See how cool these are? Why didn't we get fun things like this when we were kids. By the way the black on is the one in my office.

I need to get some work done right now... Even if I don't feel like it. Oh well, that's why it's called work, right?

Thursday again

This morning I went to the Honda dealership to get another oil change. It took almost an hour, but they reset the oil gage and apparently, made the air bag sensor on the passenger side work. Who knew? Happily I now have 5,000 more miles to go before I have to do it again... You know, next month.

Not a whole lot more going on. Today I went to the Mecca which is Wal-Mart. Now don't get up in arms, I went to buy stuff for the shelter. It's very hard to keep your focus in that store. I kept wandering off down isles without thinking about it. They have so much stuff!!!

A huge positive note, the reading program at work is awesome!!! There are so many reading stars up on the walls that it is actually getting hard for the kids to find new places for them. I'm so proud! The party next week is going to rock!!!

Anything else? No, not really.

Just remember, Hurricane Chris is attacking the Southern coast. *sigh* Chris, get it?

Tah.

Tuesday at the Museum

Today was an adventure in keeping twenty kids all together at the children's museum. On the positive side, everyone had a blast. On the negative side all but two cars got lost coming home and were delayed about half an hour lost in downtown San Jose.

But playing with the water and the bubbles and making a corn husk doll was totally cool. (my doll is currently living in my car) All of the kids and councilors were having fun playing with the exhibits. I love the discovery museum. Watching the kids get all excited over learning makes my day. Plus there was pizza.

Anything else going on? Well, sort of. Chris and I are looking for a house. We have finally decided it's time to be adults and Chris has found a totally cool resource for first time home buyers. We are totally excited, and if we are accepted into the program will be looking for a house in the next few months. So cool!

Anyway, I am at work and should be acting like it.

Tah.

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Death march Friday

At work we are having a summer camp for the kids. Most of our kids have never done any summer activities, and so with the wonderful leadership of one of our teen volunteers... The first summer camp is going strong. During the first week the kids discovered that fun had rules. They painted water bottles, did magic, went to the park for games and generally exhausted themselves so the parents told us. (In phone calls asking why their child was so worn out they couldn't stay awake until after dinner). It was great!!! Then came the first field trip. A nice hike up in the hills fairly close to the shelter. But what is this...? The kids had never hiked before and became really worried when confronted with signs of snakes, ticks, and mountain lions. Hum. Well, at least they will stay on the path, right? Well, sort of. We walked for about a mile and then stopped to have lunch. This part was fine. The kids were hyper and excited and everything. The problem was after lunch when they were tired the mile of walking home suddenly became a death march. It was full of "I can't make it" , "We're never going to be done", and my personal favorite "You are going to have to carry me because I can't walk anymore". All this for two miles? It's not as if it were really hot either (only in the 80's). So funny! However they perked right up when we gave them lolly-pops right before we got in the car and the water balloon fight, I hear, was really fun. So apparently the dead can come back to life. All it takes is a water balloon fight.

This weekend was awesome too. We went to Clear Lake to visit Chris's dad. There was boating and swimming and mini-golf and swimming and food and did I mention swimming? I had so much fun. Even though we are all sunburned and tired... The weekend rocked!

So as monday rolls around and with is August...

Tah.

Realization

Yesterday I was driving home in that after work blah and I realized something...
The day was warm still and felt really nice, like a comfy blanket, the breeze was nicely flipping my hair around in the car and keeping me cooled off, the music on my radio was something I liked; All of this cam together and I realized... I'm happy.
Apart from all of the complaining and moaning I have been doing about little things (or not so little, stupid nail) I'm happy. Really happy. Things are working out right now, my life is good. Summer is a great season and I should be out in it more.
I just wanted to thank everyone in my life for making it so good. I'll try not to complain again for a while...

...even if the computers at work have gone off line again...

...and it's actually 100 degrees outside...

...and I don't get a vacation for a long time...

Life is good. Take a moment and bask in it's goodness.

Tah.

Huge friggin nail

Yes, that's right. I just got back from the tire place (and for your further knowledge huge friggin nails are not covered in the warrenty) and they pulled a nail as long as my middle finger out of my tire. Now as everyone knows I have an 07 car... there are no 07 tires in stock yet. So I have one mismatched tire. Better yet... how did the nail get there to begin with? It is very possible that the nail was placed next to my tire by a pissed off resident at work. (We are currently evicting lots of families) So I am going to take the big friggin nail to work with me and see what the rest of the kids at work think.

HUGE FRIGGIN NAIL!!!

RAWR!!!!

I'm pissed. Really mad. My tire went flat last night. I haven't owned this stinking car for two months and I am already having issues with it!!! I should look on the bright side... it happened only two blocks from home, so I could finish my drive and not be stranded on a road side somewhere: I had the pleasure of changing to my spare tire right in my driveway: My tires are still under warranty. The negatives... My stinking tire is flat!!!! And now I have to spend the morning getting it replaced because there is no way I can drive over the hill on my spare. Aarrgg!! I really am calm. Really. Calm.

On the other hand... what other hand, I'm still pissed.

Ok. So last night I stole a TV from the homeless. Well, not really. I took home a TV that has been at the shelter for weeks with a 'take me home' sticker on it. I need a TV, no one wanted the one there, it became mine. See the system works. Sort of.

And now my flat tire, TV stealing self is going to the tire store to see what can be done this morning. Suck.

Tah

SLO

I just had a really great weekend in SLO. (San Luis Obispo) We were told by a man wo is very important in the small faires racket that we were awsome and he would invite us to any of his faires as our own group!!! *CHEERS* It was fun. Really fun. And not too hot. There was lots of singing and lots of romping around and generally being annoying. Awsome.

I don't actually have time to write much now (I just didn't want anyone to think I had forgotten you). I have to go get an oil change this morning (my very first). It's very exciting, but could lead to problems... like mechanic butt in my car. Oh well. A running car is better than anything else in the world... well, not really. But it's still good.

You Are An Ash Tree

You are vivacious and impulsive, which makes you extremely attractive to many. Intelligent and demanding, you don't care much for criticism. You have a ton of ambition and talent, and sometimes money rules your heart. You like to play with fate, and you can be very egotistical and restless. Demanding of attention, you need love and a lot of emotional support.

What's Your Celtic Horoscope?

Tah.

Working

Right now I am working... or would be if the computer system hadn't failed. So no files, no emails, no phone calls, and most importantly... no emails from my boss telling me what I should accomplish today. I'm getting paid to do nothing. Sweet. The big question on everyone's mind is this: How are you posting to the blog if the computers are down? Am I right? Well, the computers in the tooters room are not connected to the same network as the rest of the office. So I can waste my time looking up internet porn and shopping. I love my job.

Tah.

The middle of the night

It's close to midnight and I can't sleep. My mind is racing at a mile a minute and I don't know why. I have already laid in bed and sang every long ballad song I know in my head and counted to five hundred. What else can I do? Write in my blog... see a good use for the computer.

Meanwhile, the raccoons (who have been making noises under and around the house for several days)are at it again. I have no idea what they are doing, just that it involves lots of crunching noises and cooing. (Go figure) Right now they are playing under the bath tub. Interesting.

Let's see, what else is going on. There is a lot of drama at work... staff members leaving without telling the boss and then having the office short staffed and more fun, the clients have gone insane. Literally. we sent several off to the hospital this week and I'm sure more will follow. There should be a soap opera... As the shelter turns... Right now we are making Jerry Springer look tame. But that's OK. Because I deal with the kids (who are taking this whole thing in stride) instead of their crazy parents (god help them all).

And now I am actually feeling tired. So it is with heavy eyelids I wish you a good night.

Tah.

Big old geek

That's me. And as a non-repenting geek, I bring you the unadulterated joy of the new Dr. Who. I will admit that I didn't really watch the old ones (mostly I thought they were hokey and silly) but I have just spent the weekend emersed in Dr. Who and let me tell you... I loved it. Every silly, the world as we know it time will expand to kill us all moment of it. As the British say: It was lovely. The new plots and new adventures all follow the same idea as the first one and the Doctor himself refers back to his previous times (in the 70's) when he saved the Earth. I love the way the Dr. always looks really happy when everything is about to go completely wrong. It's great. So if you want some advice from a geek... Dr. Who rocks!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me

Wonderful! Fantastic! Totally funny! I loved it! (look, I'm making my own reviews) Pirates was great. Biggest issue: (and here is where I start talking about plot, so if you still want a mystery and haven't seen the movie, don't read the rest of this paragraph)Stupid cliff hanger. I understand this movie is the middle one of the three... But really, do we need another Empire strikes back? Someone is dead, someone comes back from the dead, and one of the bad guys has the thing we spent the entire movie searching for. I mean really! I was also a little annoyed that they re-used jokes. I understand that they were trying to tie the movies together, but using the same funny lines from the first movie just makes them tired in the second. And what was with all of the fights on rolling things? Cages rolling, water wheels rolling ect... Don't get me wrong I loved this movie. I can't wait for the next one to come out. But I hope they came up with something new for us to see. By the way, I finally like the character of Elizabeth. She was useless before, but this time she is underhanded, sneaky, and actually worth air time. Sweet!!!!! Go and see this movie!

Moving on, wonderful news! I am back to forty hours a week!!! My boss called and told me that as of Monday my hours are back to normal!!! (I really wonder why, I'll let you know Monday after I ask what happened) So I have no more reason to complain constantly about my job! Yahoo!!!!!! That takes a huge load off my mind.

I want to gang training yesterday. It is really fun. (well, not so much fun when you are falling asleep, but that is what happens when you go to midnight movies the night before and only get three hours of sleep) I now have a map of Santa Clara county with all of the known gang areas listed and told who they belong to. We are apparently in the middle of one, but that's OK. We don't really have a gang problem.

I have nothing more to say and Sanditchka is on the phone so I will write more later.

Tah!

Looking up

Alright, I was in a bad mood earlier. But now things are looking up. I just got tickets to see the second pirate movie tonight!!! Yahoo!!!!!!! I'll be there at midnight. Ah, I just love pirates.

What do they know!?!

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?