Catching up

Caps Game - March 11
Friday, March 11 was our last Caps game in our 5 pack.  Dan picked me up and we got to Verizon Center a little early.  Looked around in the store and got in line.  Within a few minutes, they started to let people in.  I went into my purse and only pulled out 1 (one) ticket - OH NO!!!!!  I always feared this would happen!

I figured it MUST be in the car where I switched purses.  So Hubby headed back to the car (3 blocks away).  I got a text from him - "Did you get in your purse when you were waiting for me?"  I couldn't remember.  Next thing you know, he's walking in with the ticket and said that he found it on the ground - where he dropped me off.  Whoopsies!

The Jeep is back in action
Saturday morning (like 9:30 am), I called the dealership to see if the Jeep was ready.  Nope - what the????!!!!  Supposedly the part didn't get in until late Friday.  Whatever - probably just because they didn't make any money on it.  By 1 pm, they call and say that it's ready.  We picked it up when Dan was heading out to work then I went to AC Moore.  Dan followed me and of course I had to test the Jeep - he said when I stepped on the gas, all he saw was a puff a smoke behind me.  LOL!  Anyway, we are back in action.  No issues.

Out of the Office
Tuesday, I got to go up to our offices in Wheaton to visit my co-workers there - and to do some work. : )  I picked the right day, because I was able to see 2 former co-workers who were meeting others for lunch.

Birthday Weekend Celebration
Friday, the oldest nephew came down from NY.  Can't believe he'll be 25 this year, but it's also cool because he can drive down anytime and go out with us whenever.  This is the 2nd year in a row he's come for my birthday weekend.  There always seems to be a concert that I want to go to around my birthday!  He got to the house around 6 pm so we went out to dinner and then came back to the house to watch hockey.  Our neighbor DS came down and hung out with us - finished watching the 3rd period of the game and then we all went outside to sit around the firepit and eat smores.  I finally went to bed about 12:30 while the guys waited for Dan to get home.

Saturday, we went to Red Robin for a late lunch/early dinner and I got my free birthday burger.  We also got a free appetizer since I just signed up for the frequent customer card.  About 7:30 pm we headed up to Baltimore to Rams Head Live to see Charm City Devils and Halestorm.  We got to see a little bit of Madame Adam (they sounded pretty good).  It was nice to see CCD since it's been awhile.  John threw a CD single out into the crowd.  Next thing I know, it's at my feet!  So I grabbed it!  WOOHOO!  What is it with seeing them play live and getting a free CD?  John gave me the demo when I saw them as Forty Acres way back when.

Halestorm was AWESOME!  Lzzy has as strong a voice in concert as she does on the CD.  They played the whole CD along with 2 covers and 1 new song.

Sunday was Chipotle for lunch and by the time we got back VJ needed to head out. : (  Then DH and I went to Home Depot to get yard stuff and spend the rest of the day in the yard.  The neighbors/Esa's best friend came over for about 30 minutes.  The pups hadn't played together all winter.  The rest of the evening was TV time.

Today I walked into the kitchen to presents!!!!!  WOOHOO!  Dan got me Season 4 of The 4400 and a replacement neck wrap.  He said that another present is on it's way.....

Coming up this week is Janet Jackson on Thursday with my friend, NW.  Then Junkfood posted that they will be in Herndon at Ned Devine's on Saturday.  The celebration keeps going!

Catching up - What happened in January & so far in February

I can’t believe it’s been since the first of the year since I blogged! It has been busy – now time to catch up. Most recent first…..

Esa’s 4th birthday – February 14Wow, I can’t believe our baby girl has been in our lives almost 4 years! Our lives have changed since she came into it. I got my “Betty Crocker” on and baked some doggie treats for her bday. Full of peanut butter and both pups love them. Dan and I both tasted the frosting (peanut butter and honey) – yummy – and the cake batter (flour, peanut butter, honey, egg, oil, carrots) was ok.

Scrapbooking (AGAIN!) – February 13
So, SIL DD and I planned another scrapbooking day when we got together on the 29th. SIL came over to our house, while hubby went geocaching. We are going to try to get together monthly for either scrapbooking or just to get together.

Valentine’s Dinner – February 12
Hubby & I went to OTani’s Japanese Steakhouse to celebrate Valentine’s Day. We don’t go there too often, but really enjoy it when we do! YUMMY!

Capitals vs. Sharks – February 8
Oh Caps, come on and get back in the groove. Neuvy did great – over 30 saves. We still had fun. There was a lot of good people watching. There was a toddler with her parents and she was enjoying herself (until Momma left and she started crying) – it was cute. Then in the 3rd period, a lady sat down next to the guys in front of us. She was definitely drunk and SSSOO talkative. It was funny. Finally she got up and her significant other had come to get her. Not sure if she just didn’t know where her seats were or what.

Happy birthday to our favorite 1 year old – February 6
Our neighbor’s son, Jax, turned one on February 5 and they had his birthday party on the 6th. Jax’ parents are starting him right and getting him into hockey. He’s already been to 2 hockey games and his party was a hockey theme (with the Capitals game playing on the TV). I can’t wait to get him skating and when he really understands the game.

Zed, Zed, Zed – February 3
Oh our boy, Zed. You are getting to be an expensive little dog, Z! He had another trip to the emergency vet. He woke up and wasn’t able to put any weight on his left front paw. We are still not sure what happened, but he is a lot better now.

At first, he was on pain meds with a “cast”. When we took the bandage off on Sunday, it was still swollen and he still didn’t like us touching it. Getting the bandage off was another story! They had put tape directly on his fur and it was NOT coming off. I ended up putting him in the tub and soaking it for about 10 minutes before the tape came off without too much pulling, but there was a lot of fur on it!

Our vet came over on the following Tuesday and put him on anti-inflammatory meds. That has really helped and as of today, will be going to every other day with the meds for another week and then off of it if everything goes well.

Zed with his poopy bag winnings & sporting his cast.

Scrapbooking – January 29

WOOHOO! A whole day to scrapbook! My Creative Memories consultant had a scrapbooking fundraiser, so it was great to get some work done and hang out with my friend, MW, and my SIL, DD! The event was in Old Town Manassas, which I never really have been too. Need to go back and just walk around – definitely a lot of history that is so close by.

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow – January 26
DC knew that the snow was coming. The government let out 2 hours early. Unfortunately, it was almost the same time as the bad weather started. I wasn’t really worried about the snow, the Jeep does well & I know how to drive in it. So I headed out around 4:30/5 pm. It took a while to get the car cleaned off, but no issues, except I was soaked (no hat) and I couldn’t get off the airport grounds! The traffic was backed up at both ways off of the airport and was NOT moving. So, after about 30 minutes of trying to get off the airport grounds, I called the office and said “don’t bother leaving, you can’t get off the airport.” By the time I got back to the employee parking (about 1 mile or so away), it was basically a whiteout. All of the signs were so covered that you couldn’t see them.

We ended up walking the concourses, checking on everyone and then having dinner. While I was walking around, I stopped by InMotion, who last year had a Travelocity gnome and I mentioned to the manager that I wanted it. He said that I could have it, but I never got it. Well, this year, they are having the same promo and I mentioned again, I would like the gnome. He was like “I have one in the back”, so I got my gnome! Everyone was looking at me while I carried it down the concourse and then to the office. Someone actually said to me, “I like your gnome”. LOL! My plan is to take pictures of it all over Dulles. Just something fun to do.

By the time we got back to the office it was about 8 pm. My boss, Chris, left about 8:15 and I went out about 8:30. Well, I went out again, cleaned the car again, and backed out, figured there wasn’t enough room, pulled back in, backed out again while turning the wheel and started to slide towards the truck next to me. NNNNNOOOO!!!!! The snow plow truck was working on the employee parking so I asked the driver to just direct the truck/make sure I’m not sliding into the next one. Within a minute, I was out of there. This was 9 pm. I took my time getting home, but it still only took 30 minutes. What really surprised me, I beat everyone home. Chris didn’t get home until 11 pm and Susan, our admin, didn’t get home until after 11 pm. CRAZY! Dan ended up staying at work and working a double, which was probably the best thing because it took some people anywhere from 6 to 12 hours to get home depending on how far they had to drive.

Dinner with Friends – January 22
We finally got together with our friends (and veterinarian) for dinner on probably the coldest night of the year. We went to Johnny Rocket’s in Ashburn. I had never been to this location and hubby had never been at all. I was shocked at how SMALL this place was – and busy! I was also shocked that it is owned by Mr. Redskin himself, Dan Snyder. Come on, Snyder, take a chance and get a FULL size restaurant! We had a great time none the less.

Work Travel - January 13 & 14
I had a work meeting in Baltimore and got to spend the night there. The time was full of events, but was wonderful. Our theme was “Back to the Future” – yes, tied to the movies and we even got to see some snip-its from the movies. The best part of the meeting is that our office got an award – and I’ll say it – all because of me and my hard work at getting participation in our customer service program!

My immediate idea was to pass the award around to the tenants since they were the reason we won the award (highest average secret shop score). Well, I got some kudos for that idea! The head of our division LOVED the idea and said it on the division call. WOOHOO!

Work update
Speaking of work, we have been extended for 5 months (until June) with a 30 day kickout clause. So, basically, we are a month-to-month. Everyone doubts we will be gone before June.

Good news on work, besides the “Tour of the Cup” idea, I have been doing some changes with our cart program and getting kudos for it also! We have a brand new concept coming in (used Apple products) and I got a deal done with a current inline who never had a cart location with us before.

Coupons
I’m starting to get back into Hot Coupon World. I forgot how much I like it. I joined a coupon train and have done a couple of trades already. I will say, I’m getting coupon obsessed when walking the neighborhood. So many neighbors complain about the free papers we get (on Sunday & Thursday), but the Sunday papers have coupons! So what have I been doing? Picking up the Sunday papers that have been sitting there for a couple of days! Obviously, the people don’t want them if they have been sitting there a couple of days. Needless to say, I have a lot of coupons to cut (I bought a paper cutter just for it), but that will lead to trades!

The weekend so far

Friday night, we were “required” to go to the Northern Virginia Urban League dinner. We had to go last year also. I was not looking forward to it. I definitely would rather just go home especially on a Friday night!
I check in and what table are we sitting at – Table 9.

It wasn’t as bad as expected. The Master of Ceremonies was Leon Harris from Channel 7. Funny guy! Definitely looks different in person than on TV.

The keynote speaker was Dr. Steve Perry. What a great motivational speaker for education. It felt like he was just preaching away at the podium. The other award recipient was Eric Aldolphe. What a story of accomplishment.

At the end, I hightailed it out of there and got home about 10 pm.

Since I didn’t really have a Friday night, Saturday morning was getting ready for my Creative Memories get-together. I cleaned some and ran to the store for snacks. Then it was time for lunch at Roy Rogers and then visit Frank at the shelter.

The visit went well. Dan fell for him. We did get to see his anxiety at the shelter – it seems to be set off by all of the other dogs barking. We took him outside and he was calm. Today we will bring Esa up to meet Frank. We know that it will all be up to Frank since Esa loves everyone.

The Creative Memories get-together went well! I was excited to have 7 people show and I got enough in sales to get the special price on the host package - which is what I wanted to scrapbooking until about 9:30 p.m.

Last night, I didn’t sleep too well. In the evening, it hit me – what are we thinking getting another dog! That’s what woke me up during the night too. I didn’t even sleep in this morning. I win at Wintergreen (the scrapbooking retreat I went to)! After the show, it was 3 of us was up at 6:30. I know I’m just anxious about it, but I know that if the meeting works out and Frank comes home with us, he will be a good dog. He’s smart and picks up the training fast. He’s just anxious at the shelter, but who wouldn’t be after being there for over 2 months?

Catching up on the week

Yikes, the days have been going by too fast lately!
Last Saturday was Home Depot day. $400 dollars later, we had a new grill and lawn stuff. Saturday afternoon was spend in the yard and Dan putting together the new grill.
Sunday was Caps day - the last game of the season and a loss.  Lots of fun though – didn’t win anything, but got a Capitals umbrella and coupons for a free appetizer at Glory Days.

The game was early, so Dan headed out to Lowe’s and got a new lawnmower. The lawnmower we have is over 10 years old. It was Aunt Helen’s and before that it was her friend, Ruth’s. Dan wasn’t sure how I would feel about getting a new lawnmower since it was Aunt Helen’s. I was fine with it and told Dan, “I think Aunt Helen would be fine with it too – we got her money’s worth out of it.” Helen brought it from Ruth for $25.

Tuesday and Wednesday was presentation skills training at our Wheaton, Maryland office. I did have an opportunity to stay at the hotel close there, but I figured I would try the traffic. Going there was not bad – maybe 45 minutes. Coming home Tuesday was BAD because of the rain – 1 ½ hours!!!!!!
The class itself was fine. I hate watching the video, but realized so does everyone else. I don’t think I would make it as a reality tv star. No one had major criticisms on by presentations except myself! I’m so hard on myself. I want the presentation to be perfect! That’s just not going to happen. This class helped though because I could see that everyone feels the same way – nervous, rushing, messing up, etc.
Thursday night, I went to the mobile adoption at Petco and volunteered. My buddy, Frank, is still there. He is so sweet. I keep telling them if the shelter runs out of room, let me know. I think he would get along with Esa ok (I know there wouldn’t be a problem the other way around).

Last day of work travel & visiting with friends

The last day of the division meeting went well.  I ended up basically giving the whole presentation for Dulles, but what do you expect when I created it!  I was really impressed that everything was on time this meeting.  Of course, before I left, I had to go to Charming Charlie's again!  This time I ended up buying a bunch of stuff (camis, 2 purses, and 3 necklaces).

Saturday was visiting the Williams family.  It was great to see Nancy and the family.

Westfield meeting - day 2 - full day

The day went by fast!  YEAH! 

The morning session was listening, the afternoon was learning the Westfield WOW program.  We had about 1 hour between the session and dinner, so I walked around the harbor.  I went into Artcraft and back to Charming Charlie, but ran out of time at Charming Charlies!  I think I have found my latest favorite store......

Dinner didn't go as planned for us.  We were supposed to get on The Dandy and do a boat cruise - we missed the boat (I think it left early or we had the time wrong).  We ended up standing around the harbor for about 30-45 minutes (until they figured out where we all could eat and then ended up back at the hotel at the Old Hickory Steakhouse.  GREAT TIME!  It took awhile to get our dinner around - understandable since they weren't planning on a big group, but it was worth it.

Westfield Conference - day 1 - half day

Today went well - a bunch of us went shopping this morning.  Went to Charming Charlie's and the Peeps Store and bought some stuff. 

Peeps Store was cool with the Peeps artwork on the wall.

Our meeting started at 12:30, sat in the meeting until 6:15 and then dinner at Rosa Mexicana.  The meeting went fast, dinner was good and a few of us went to Tiki & Me before dinner - got the pups some treats.  The store was mostly for little dogs.

Traveling - sort of....

Back in February, our division was supposed to have a division meeting, but because of the snowstorm, it was a no go.  It was rescheduled for this week and since I'm now overseeing marketing, I got to came a day early.  Why do I say, traveling - sort of?  Because the meeting is here in DC at the National Gaylord Convention Center - about an hour from home, but still, away from home.

Today was our meeting in our Wheaton office and then we all came to the hotel.  We all just hung out at the sports bar downstairs - I needed to get to a sports bar to what the Capitals game!  Which they lost. :(

Angela Jordan (my equal at National Airport) at our Marketing Meeting

Tomorrow the plan is to shop some in the morning.  Unless work gets in the way.....

Santa Monica trip - so far

Jun 26, 2008


Santa Monica trip - so far

It's Thursday - 7:30 PST - and time is going fast! I'll probably add more to this when I get more time!
******
Monday
Well – can't get away one day without work. I had to stop in and "download" a couple of things. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

The flight was good. I sat next to this guy, Frank, who was really nice and not annoying at all with this talking (like some people might be) – we had a good conversation.

Finally landed at 8:30 (5:30 PST) or so and got to the hotel at 9:30 (6:30 PST). I met up with Anna, from our Orlando office and we had dinner together at the hotel restaurant.

My hotel room is nice and has a balcony – not a great view though (check out the pictures)! LOL!

Tuesday
My morning didn't start well. I was trying to get my travel hairspray to work. It hasn't been used for a while, so I used my tweezers to poke the hole – and ended up pricking my index finger on my left hand. The weird thing – it's turned purple like the circulation has been cut off! YIKES! It actually feels a little better today, but still feels weird.

The training is going well. I have done the one "testing" before for your style patterns. I am an Analyzer/Stabilizer. The training is helping just because it is reminding me what/how I need to deal with the other personalities. One thing that was said was "you should always refer to this manual – at least weekly for 10 minutes a day" I think I will start doing that and maybe life at work will be easier.

Last night 5 of us went down to 3rd Street which is where all of the action is – it's basically an outside shopping center. Man – the diversity you see down there! We ended up going to Barney's which was a bar. Great food! I didn't want to stay out too late – and wanted to do some shopping, but ended up getting back here around 10 p.m. (late!) and no shopping done at all – I'm hoping to go down there tonight to get some shopping done. It'll probably be alone. I think everyone else wants to go to dinner/drinks.

One thing that is cool at 3rd Street is the greenery that is there – they are shaped like animals. There is also a lot of street musicians. I'm hoping to get some pics of the greenery.

Today the training was about dealing with the other styles and how they react to situations.

Thursday
So yesterday, Mycokerewards.com had double points on 12-pk. Of course, I didn't get to input the codes until 9 p.m. PST – so it was showing at 10 points! AAAGGGGHHHH!!!! I've e-mailed customer service and explained I'm on the west coast this week – so we will see!

We ended up going to 3rd street again last night, but I still didn't any shopping done. I definitely need to get some done today! I'm thinking of maybe going to the pier/beach. The van driver last night drove us down by there. He had picked me up the night before and we had a good conversation.

hockey, house inventory, another movie at the airport, tomatoes, Janet!, and LA

Jun 9, 2008


hockey, house inventory, another movie at the airport, tomatoes, Janet!, and LA
Hockey
This is a sin -

Stanley Cup OK after slight dent at eatery

DETROIT (AP) - The Stanley Cup is OK after taking a tumble during the Red Wings' celebrations in Detroit.

NHL spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur says Saturday the Cup got a slight dent Friday after some players took the trophy to Cheli's Chili Bar, a downtown restaurant owned by Red Wings defenseman Chris Chelios.
Mansur says dent was smoothed out, and the trophy was expected to keep making the rounds.
Thousands of Red Wings fans cheered Friday during a parade and rally in downtown Detroit where the Cup was shown off. The Red Wings clinched the Cup on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh.
Once again – It's about time, hopefully this time it's for good.
Red Wings' Hasek retires after Stanley Cup win
Updated: June 9, 2008, 10:31 AM EST

DETROIT (AP) - The Dominator is done.

Dominik Hasek announced his retirement during a news conference in Detroit on Monday, only days after the Red Wings won the Stanley Cup in six games over Pittsburgh.

Sixteen years is a long time in life that has unfortunately gone by too fast," Hasek said.

The six-time Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL's top goaltender and two-time Hart Trophy winner as the league's MVP leaves on a mixed note.

Hasek, the only goalie to win the NHL MVP award twice, lost his job during Detroit's run to the Cup. The 43-year-old from the Czech Republic was benched during the opening-round series in favor of Chris Osgood and never regained the starting job.

Hasek won 389 games with the Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Buffalo Sabres and Chicago Blackhawks, who drafted him in the 10th round in 1983 and had to wait until the 1990-91 season to get him on the ice. Chicago kept him just two seasons, then watched him become one of the game's greats in Buffalo.

Hasek ranks 10th on the career list in wins, 10th in goals against average, 18th in games and is tied for sixth in shutouts, according to STATS.

He won 65 playoff games - including 16 in 2002, when he won his first Stanley Cup with Detroit - and gave up an average of just two goals in the postseason.

House Inventory
So I was thinking about Buy By Brian's blog (http://www.buybybrianblog.com/). Why couldn't I do that for our house inventory? That might be easier than any software program that's out there. Take pictures of items as they are bought and post the info about them in the picture comment. If I need to, I can scan in the receipt and put in the "photo album". I can save all of this online and not have to worry about getting it out of the house in case of an emergency.

Let's see how I do.
Movie Production at the Airport
I heard last week from the Airports Authority Fire Marshal that there was a movie production going on at the Smithsonian down the road from the Airport, but found out today from him that it was Transformers 2! Anyway, I did a search regarding Transformers 2 and found a blog on the production of the movie. Here are two entries about the production at the Smithsonian:

http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2008/06/images-from-smithsonian-set.html

http://transformerslive.blogspot.com/2008/06/more-pictures-from-udvar-hazy.html

Like I would get to meet any of the actors anyway!

I can get sick from tomatoes?
I'm sure tomato haters are loving this! I'm not since that's about 1 of the 5 vegetables I'll eat! The weirdest thing about this – we went to Chipotle and they had already pulled their tomato salsa because of the Salmonella outbreak. Chipotle is part (or was part) of MickeyD's so why did it take so long for MickeyD's to pull the tomatoes?

McDonald's pulls tomatoes from U.S. sandwiches

By Lisa Baertlein 1 hour, 3 minutes ago

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp said on Monday it has temporarily stopped serving sliced tomatoes on its sandwiches in the United States as health officials work to pinpoint the source of a Salmonella outbreak.

"This is a precautionary measure only. McDonald's has not experienced any related issues to date," the company said in a statement.

The move from the world's largest restaurant chain came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned U.S. consumers on Saturday that the Salmonella outbreak was linked to the consumption of certain raw red plum, red Roma, and red round tomatoes, and products containing these tomatoes.

On Saturday, FDA said there had been 145 reported nationwide cases, including at least 23 hospitalizations, related to the outbreak. The infections were caused by Salmonella Saintpaul, an uncommon type of the bacteria.

Salmonella bacteria are frequently responsible for food-borne illnesses. Symptoms generally appear within 12 to 72 hours after eating infected food and include fever, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

Infants, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems are more likely than others to develop severe illness, which can be deadly unless treated with antibiotics.

The FDA has said that it is safe to eat cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes and tomatoes sold with the vine still attached, or tomatoes grown at home.

McDonald's said it will continue to serve grape tomatoes in our its premium salads.

Earlier on Monday, grocer Winn Dixie Stores Inc said it had stopped selling tomatoes that the FDA warned should not be consumed.

FDA has published a list of tomato producers whose product is not associated with the outbreak. It is available at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.htmlretailers.

(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; editing by John Wallace, Richard Chang)

JANET!
The biggest news of the day – Janet Jackson is coming – October 15! I am so there.

Travel
So I was looking at what was happening in LA when I'm there and found this http://www.sunsetstripmusicfestival.com/ ! WOOHOO! BONUS – the hotel is about 5 blocks from the ocean! DOUBLE WOOHOO!

I tried to get Dan to go out there with me – now the tickets are too much. - $659! His lose.

Entry for June 20, 2007.

Entry for June 20, 2007.

06/20/2007 11:22 am
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Back in the office - The seminar was basically just a rah-rah session regarding the mall division and about 10 minutes of talking about the airports. It was great to see everyone in the division though. I stayed at the Hyatt a few blocks from where the meeting was (at the Ritz-Carlton).

Monday night Dan asked me if I had gotten online to check my e-mail. I didn't even bother bringing my laptop, so yesterday when I got home, I checked my e-mail (since Dan asked me again). And there was the picture above.



We always do those silly little things for each other - which is cool.



Puppy obviously doesn't do well without me - She had an accident in the house on Monday - Dan thinks that he didn't get up fast enough to let her out. Then today, he called and said she had another accident - he didn't know when it happened. What the heck is going on? We'll see how she does tonight and the next couple of days.



When I got home, they were out on a walk. I went out to the porch and saw them down the street and started calling "ESA!" - she came running, pulling Dan behind her. SO CUTE!

Entry for June 18, 2007.

Entry for June 18, 2007.

06/18/2007 03:35 pm
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Interesting things happened yesterday.



Starting Friday, the power to our garage kept going out and we had to reset the breaker. Then Dan noticed the outside wiring from the house to the garage was uncovered. He went over and basically touched it and SPARK! I didn't see it, but heard it! The electrician came by today - $150 later - wires are just taped up. We'll still have to cover them up, but at least now the garage doors work and no electrical issues.



Then we had a bird that was just trying to walk around our backyard - you could tell something was wrong with it. Well - that's the third one in 3 days. Dan said that Esa scared one from our backyard to the neighbors and it ran into the neighbors garage and fell to the ground - dead. Dan also found another one dead under our grill. All crows - Dan's freaking out so we left a message at the animal shelter. No response yet.



Westfield has a seminar starting tonight so it's off the hotel. I'll be back online on Wednesday.

Entry for March 28, 2007

Entry for March 28, 2007

03/28/2007 02:19 pm
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Well, back to work after 2 days with everyone at the division meeting in Boston.



Sunday, up early and on the plane by 9 a.m. and into Boston by 11. We (Chris, Matt & I) saw some guy that looked like Mr. T in the airport. It wasn't him, but sure could have been! The meeting started at 2:30 so we had lunch with the manager from Miami and I laid down for a few. We walked the airport, had a presentation and then dinner at Summer Shack, followed by bowling at Kings. I didn't have seafood (YUCK) at Summer Shack, but had an AWESOME steak. That was the best steak I have had in a LONG time (better than the one I had at Outback). Pam even arranged for a birthday cake for the March birthdays (all within the week of the meeting - Ed from Newark; me, Arnie from St. Louis, and Darren from Orlando). The funny thing, we didn't eat it - it came out, they sang happy birthday, we blew out the candles and they wheeled the cake back into the kitchen. The next day, everyone was asking what happened to the cake?



Monday was an all day meeting and then out for dinner. Well, what an adventure. We were supposed to take a water taxi and walk, but it was raining out, so we got vans to drive us there. When we got there, they wouldn't let us in, and said it was down the street, walked down the street, and there wasn't enough room and no one could find Pam to see where we were supposed to be and what was going on. Then someone came up to us and said it's down this way. Come to find out, the original restaurant double booked and we were without a place! The restaurant called another restaurant and the took us in. LUCKILY, it was a Monday night and it's not busy!

Entry for March 24, 2007

Entry for March 24, 2007
03/24/2007 07:06 pm
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Getting ready for the trip to Boston tomorrow for work. I'll be there until Tuesday night. WONDERFUL! I miss 2 times I could see Zed on TV! I'm very unhappy.



Dan and I went to Outback for dinner today for my birthday.



I just set up my Amazon.com storefront and now it's time for the hockey game!

Entry for July 12, 2006 - Zed is Back!

Entry for July 12, 2006 - Zed is Back!

07/12/2006 08:19 pm
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MY DAY HAS BEEN MADE - RICHARD ZEDNIK IS COMING BACK TO WASHINGTON!

After a bad day (and week), this has totally made my day. This week has been tough - Sunday, Joanne called at 9 p.m. to say that Helen had a fever and is bedridden. Monday she was the same. Tuesday, I called the nurses station and the fever had broken, but Helen wasn't eating, drinking, or taking medicine.



Tuesday was also a LONG day at work. We had to be in Baltimore at 8 a.m. - we left Dulles at 6 a.m. because we weren't sure how long it would take to get there. I was lucky I actually made it to Dulles on time. I set my alarm for 4:30 PM and not AM! I woke up at 5 a.m. - how? I don't know. We finally got back to the office around 2:30 p.m. Do we get to leave a little early? No.



Today, I had a meeting at National, went into the office, left for national around 10 for a 11 am meeting. The meeting got over around 12:30, went to our office there, went to lunch with Christina & LaTonya and then got back to Dulles around 3 p.m. When I told Stephanie that it took a little bit longer than I expected because I went to lunch with C & L, she rolled her head and eyes back. This is what I put up with at work - I'm allowed a lunch, but lately it's been 15-30 minutes AND interupted at that. After today, I have decided that I am walking out for lunch. I'll have to start taking sandwiches or something that easy to eat on the go and you don't have to heat up.



I was supposed to go to the shelter tonight, but dropped that because I needed to run some errands - shipping of more items I sold on half.com, picking up a Rx, and tried to get a pedicure. The pedicure was to calm me down and de-stress a little. That didn't happen - they were booked, so Friday, I'll be getting that pedicure.



So, came home, got on the computer, called Dan, we were talking about hockey since the schedule was released today. We were talking about going to Montreal for my birthday celebration and maybe about doing some Caps Road Crew (www.capsroadcrew.com) trips. I went to the website and SCREAMED in Dan's ear - ZEDNIK IS BACK! At least Dan's happy about it too and doesn't feel threatened! LOL!



So the bad day (and week) has become better. Even better - the boss is out of the office tomorrow.

Entry for June 28, 2006

Entry for June 28, 2006

06/28/2006 05:58 pm
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I'M FINALLY HOME!



Training was really short today - I was home by 12:30 p.m. - just in time to have lunch with Dan before he went to work.



It finally has not rained (yet) today! The skies are starting to look dark - give it an hour or so.



My face is fine. Last night I took Benedryl and put hydrocortizone on my face, AND made sure I only used MY pillow. Looking much better today.



Babe is doing well. Not quite 100%, but almost.



Now, for a busy day at work tomorrow. I have to be in a little early - I have a 8:30 meeting. The boss has a meeting at National, so I probably won't see her. We had a good chat yesterday. Everything seemed to go OK while I was gone.

Entry for June 27, 2006

Entry for June 27, 2006

06/27/2006 09:33 pm
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Another day of training. It sucks. Almost everything for the airports wasn't set up, so we couldn't do about have of the step-by-step processes.



The big bad news - I've broken out in hives on my face. Who knows why. It could be the change in skin cleanser mixed with a different product line moisturizer. It could be the sheets on the bed. It's only on one side of the face so I'm thinking it might be the second. Luckily I have Benedryl and hydrocortizone. Next step will be the dry face.



Rain, rain, and more rain. It's been raining and flooding all over the place. The have a volunteer evacuation somewhere close to Baltimore. Supposedly, it's ok at home. Babe seems to be doing much better - eating and drinking more.



We have ants in the house - we think they are coming in the back door. This is the second time we've found quite a few - not a major line of ants, but enough. About 2 months ago, as I was going to the garage there was a ton of ants on the sidewalk. Last year, it was at the garage door - HUGE line of ants.

Entry for June 26, 2006

Entry for June 26, 2006

06/26/2006 08:54 pm
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The first day of training is over - thank goodness. It went pretty fast and not too boring.



I forgot to mention that when I was driving up to here, I saw a car that must have lost control, but somehow, the backend of it was up a tree! I've never seen that before and have no idea how that happened! Too bad I didn't have my camera. I also saw a cat in the median of 95!



We went to an italian restaurant for dinner in Towson - I didn't realize it was right down the street from a club Dan and I went to for New Years about 2 years ago! When we left, it was POURING! not just raining - POURING AND ROADS FLOODED! We all ended up being soaked. My clothes are still wet.

Entry for June 25, 2006

06/25/2006 06:39 pm
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So - here I am in another hotel. This time in Reistertown, MD - a little bit outside Baltimore. I'm just waiting for other Westfield people to get here. Dinner is supposed to be at 8 p.m. I'm not looking forw



Dan gets to be Babe's nurse while I'm away. Babe seems to be doing a little better. She slept on the bed with us last night and is drinking a little bit on her own along with eating a little bit.



It's been raining the last two days. It started like 2 p.m. yesterday. We've lost power twice so far for a second. Once when it wasn't even raining! I didn't understand that one.

Entry for June 24, 2006

Entry for June 24, 2006

06/24/2006 03:21 pm
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I got a call yesterday from the nursing home - Helen isn't drinking and they wanted to confirm that we didn't want to do an IV. I talked to Joanne today and she said Helen looks terrible.



I'm trying to hang in there, but yesterday I lost it. The stress at work - trying to get everything done - along with preparing for the training next week (Monday through Wednesday), Babe being sick, and worrying about Helen - oh yeah - and Babe peeing on our bed - I just starting crying. Then I walked on the treadmill for about 20 minutes and felt a little better.



I heard from Chrissie today and Babe's thyroid levels are high so that could be why she's still just laying around. Her medication has been upped to 1 full pill a day. Hopefully that will help. Good news - her liver & kidneys are doing fine. Babe seems a little bit better - she's walking around and eating very little. I have to treat the baby by cleaning her bottom - that's fun - and I'm also trying to keep liquid in her by using a suringe and squirting water in her mouth. That's much more successful that cleaning the bottom.



Tomorrow, heading to Baltimore for work - training on the new accounting system. This is what Sandy went to LA for and we switched spots because I figured it would be easier for me to go to NY from Baltimore (only about 1 hour away) compared to flying across the country.