Mess on my desk

"Welcome back! Please do the holds on demand order first." from the boss. Trouble is, I can't find the demand order ANYwhere!

We added about 580 items last month.

The pages had time (??) last week to scour the shelves for missing/lost/etc etc etc. items and found about 30 (out of maybe 300). They are stacked up here.

I must box up and send back the D&B and the S&P Directories. They are on the floor by my desk.

These *#$)&^ telecourse videos are still (#*&$ing sitting by my desk. Damndamndamn.

I don't know where to start. I'm at the Reference Desk for 5 hours today; why should I start, actually?

4/1

• I am cratered; asleep till 8:30! Beast's still in bed an hour later! I take Sparky to daycare and then head to Sam's Club.
  
  
• Home, unload and l-o-n-g bath.
  
  
• Pick up Sparky and head to dentist where I get a grade of A+ and he gets a grade of B- (needs to brush more, just like mom says....hmmm). I hate the ultrasonic cleaner.
  
  
• Home, clean guinea pig cages. Daddy g.p. briefly in cage with mommy; he decides she's ready for more babies...GET THEM APART! Chaos ensues. Cages are eventually cleaned, after about 45 minutes.
  
  
• Leftovers from last night for dinner. And I've been blogging ever since.
  
  
• Tomorrow I have to go to work. Boo. But I've already checked my email and there's only one 'real' message there. I shudder to think what my work area looks like. Luckily, there is chocolate coming (I shipped to work so it wouldn't sit on our porch and melt).

VACATION RATING (1-10): 8

3/31

• Wake up, shower and pack. Everything fits. Somehow.
  
  
• IF ANNOYING MAN ASKS ME AGAIN IF I WANT COFFEE, I MAY HAVE TO KILL HIM!!! [he's the reason I don't drink coffee...]
  
  
• We stop by Mom's before going on to the airport
  
  
• Sparky buys ham sandwich: I buy bumper sticker
  
  
• Another bumpy flight. Like riding a bull. Only, thank God, we didn't fall off. And my breakfast stayed down. I resolve to fly to Denver and DRIVE OVER THE MOUNTAINS the next time we visit!
  
  [We miss the notice that it's Idiot Day in Denver...]
  
  
• We have 40 minutes between flights. We try to buy gum and souvenirs (for Sparky's friends) but the computer is dead. Time continues to tick past. We give up and I do the unthinkable: put everything in my hand (gum, keychains, etc.) into the stuffed animal bin and leave the store.
  
  
• It's lunchtime; no food will be served on the plane, so we must stop at food court. As we set things down to put straws in the drinks, some Gigantic Backpack Lady decides NOW is the time to spin in circles. She wipes out Beast's Coke. We're out of time and run to the gate.
  
  
• We pass another store that sells drinks. Since it's right by the gate, Beast has time to grab one after all. We board, first seating (love those frequent flyer perks Beast gets).
  
  
• We are NOT, despite promises, in Economy Plus; we are in Economy (minus). Squish. The flight is ready to leave; the attendants are coming down the aisle closing the overhead bins. The door to the bin in which are bags are sitting suddently comes crashing down on Beast's head. Now we have to have the Union Mechanic repair it. The Head Flight Attendant tells everyone what's going on. The guy flight attendant who broke the door moves our bags to other bins. The Co-Pilot tells everyone we're waiting for the Mechanic. The Mech. finally arrives with Mechanic's Friend: Duct Tape. He takes the door back down (yes, it was put back ABOVE BEAST'S HEAD for awhile, just resting there), then puts it back up, and duct tapes it in place. We can leave the City of Idiots. Finally.
  
  
• Totally uneventful flight. No bumps at all.
  
  
• Dinner at J!mmy's Ch@rh0use on the way home.
  
  
• We drive home; normally I sleep. Both Sparky and I are still wide awake upon arrival. I call Colorado and tell everyone we made it safely.
  
  
• I'm asleep by 9:30 (and yes, it is good sleep, with just the usual lower backache when I wake up).

This took the piss outta me today. I've never been so glad to be home! What is this summer's trip going to be like??

3/30

• Laundry day. Woo hoo. [hah]
  
  
• We avoid Annoying Man whenever and however we can, all day.
  
  
• Sparky and I play a few rounds of Boggle.
  
  
• Sparky and Jan go swimming in Delta till noon.
  
  
• We're out of food, so off to Merc. to restock.
  
  
• The Beast and Sparky bag up the pine needles and take them to the street for garbage pickup tomorrow.
  
  
• The three of us go to Surf@ce Creek W!nery. We want some of his cherry wine shipped, and some chardonnay, but he can't find the shipping schedule/rates/whatever. Don't we sound like lushes?? Headed back to Ced@redge, we stop at the soda fountain where they make up cones, malt and sundaes to order. Yum. And don't take our money till we're done and walking out. Love small towns. We sit on stools facing the fountain, probably the same way people have done for 70 years; I know the cabinets are at least that old. Neat.
  
  
• We start packing. [sniff]
  
  
• Beast cooks brats for supper. Mom brings her own (leftover) food instead, and once again has to leave before sundown.
  
  
• Sparky, Beast, Marie and I play Boggle till the boy's bedtime. Beast and I tie.
  
  
• Marie, Beast & I talk for about 3 hours after supper. I find out that not only did Dad want Mom to have an abortion when they found out I was on the way (which I knew--and Mom has been telling everyone she meets all week, which, by the way, is a great way to stop conversation!!), but that he wanted nothing to do with me after I was born. Obviously, that changed somewhere along the line. Whew. Sometimes talking to older siblings is rough. Especially when they are SO much older than you.
  
  
• Best night's sleep. Don't think I woke up once. Still: sore back.

Another Great Day. Kind of repetitious, isn't it? Annoying Man IS VERY ANNOYING!!

3/29

• Sparky is once again up at dawn with his uncle; today he does the Ouray puzzle before I get up! Since today's the day we're going to M0ntr0se/Ouray; good timing.
  
  
• On the way south, we hit R^ssell St0ver. I go hogwild. We ship several pounds of chocolate back home (all our Easter candy, essentially).
  
  
• Once in Ouray, we wander from City Hall to the Beaumont, sadly closed for Spring Break. The bookstore isn't. Beast rolls his eyes; I buy things. What else can I do??
  
  
• We eat at one of the only two restaurants in town that are open. Some things don't change. Things never used to be open in the winter back when we used to visit.
  
  
• After lunch, Sparky & Jan go swimming at the hot springs, Beast takes off on a photo crusade, which eventually finds him hiking the Cascade Falls trail (puff puff) and we girls stop at the used bookstore, ably staffed by Big Bluff Guy and his three purebreds: a Newfie, an Alsatian, and a Chow. We have coffee (well, yeah, I have tea since I don't/never have/never will drink coffee), chat, let Mom rest, etc. Then we drive through town, essentially unchanged. Yeah, a few more houses, but not awful. There's no place to put them really. We do get a chuckle out of the $500,000+ pile being built...in a flood plain that is washed out every spring. Like clockwork.
  
  
• We go pick up Sparky & Jan at the pool, Beast and I drive out to take pictures of Our (former) House, and then we head back to M0ntr0se.
  
  
• Stop at H0ward & S0ndra Ch!lders for a visit. He was my first pastor. They are salt and saints of the earth. St. James was really blessed.
  
  
• Dinner at Pizza Hut in Delt@, with the Fruit@ high school girls' soccer team.
  
  
• Mom ready to drop so we take her home.
  
  
• Sparky asks me to read him to sleep.
  
  
• I FINALLY SLEEP! But still woke with a terrible backache.

Great day! Really wonderful. Mostly because I didn't spend much of it with Annoying Guy. Who is getting annoying.

3/28

• We go to church. In an attempt to jump-start everyone and remind us of the New Covenant, we sing songs this congregation doesn't know, and some we don't know either. The last one was yucky. The rest were ok, but Jan insists the modern ones are pablum. Whatever. I like them, especially the ones we use at home...
  
  
• After lunch, Marie drives Beast & me, with Mom around backroads. There is such a vast spread of wealth (or not) in this county. I hadn't realized there was a reservoir 10 minutes from Cedaredge called, prosaically (and not at all poetically) enough, Fru!tgr0wers Reserv0ir.
  
  
• Dinner. We take Mom home again. See, she really isn't a vampire. She does love playing the martyr though...
  
  
• Sparky eventually corrals all of us for an unscored game of Balderdash. Pretty fun. He's nearly old enough to really understand adult games like this. He stumped all of us a few times with his "definitions."
  
  
• Better sleep, (exhaustion?) but now my back is so sore it can't recover over the course of the day. I'm longing for my own bed, a sure sign of middle age!

Generally, another terrific day. More great weather. A few cracks in our Annoyance Rejection Facade; he's wearing us down. [If you don't know what I mean, picture an 8-year-old in an adult's body, with some ADHD characteristics thrown in.]

3/27

• We spend the morning lounging around, then Marie drives us to the St0ney Mes@ winery. They have fab wine; we ship Gewurtztraminer again. The tasting person is ably assisted by Cassie-and-Jason: golden retriever and 3-year-old grandson. When J gets tired of us, he goes outside where we can see him stomping on ants. They don't have a chance. With the level of enthusiasm he shows, I suspect he gets paid by the pound.



• On the way back home, we do our Main St. shopping. Mind you, there are approximately 8-10 shops on Main Street, plus a bakery and the requisite bar. Outside the bar sits (apparently daily; we saw him later this week too) The Bar Guy, looking as if placed there by Central Casting for an old Hollywood western...except for the oxygen tank hooked up to his nose. Then as we cross the alley 20 feet from him, I get a wafting lungful of pot fumes. At which point begin snickering because of the lunacy of all this. We go into "my" pottery shop. Sad that I have to go over 1,000 miles to find good pottery. And, there is a potter in the store, checking out her stock. We chat; I suggest using extra scraps of clay as book weights similar to our "whappers" at work. We'll see.



• On the way back to Marie & Jan's house, we drive through town. There are quite a few more houses than the last time I was there. Still, it would be nice if people wouldn't build the same schlock there as they build here; some architectural styles just don't work in that area of the country!!



• When we left earlier, Sparky was on his way to find Surf@ce Creek. Upon our return, he 'shows me' how to find it, I take pictures of it, him, and the San Juans. They are visible from the end of Marie & Jan's driveway, framed nicely by Scotch pines and pinon bushes. There are no words; breathtaking and beautiful are the best I can do.



• Marie, The Beast & Sparky rake the pine needles into piles in preparation for bagging them. I supervise (not enough rakes. Really). "Why are we doing this, kid?" "It's a fire hazard." Such a good Colorado boy!



• Mom comes over for dinner again. After much coaxing ("don't want to be a bother" etc., etc.). Since we picked her up, she stays past dusk and we all talk.



• Again, not great sleep. Cold, Hot....see last night. Menopause sucks.

Perfect day: weather, the activities, everyone seems to be getting along....

3/26

• We all forgot sunglasses, so we hit the Sunglass Hut @ the airport. $85 later, the boy & I have clip-ons that would have cost less than $25 at Target. But the woman running the kiosk told us to 'have a blessed day.' Is that worth $60? I guess...



• Our flight is delayed; we are put on another one departing two hours later. Thank goodness for the Red Carpet Club!



• The MTJ leg was not fun. Let me just say that if the only reason to use the lav on an SMB-80 turbro-prop is for an emergency. Which it was. Small? Uh-YEAH, but made more spacious by the WINDOW (yeah right)--with a shade to pull down if you don't want to moon the birds flying past. If you should experience turbulence? Just brace yourself by pressing your head INto the ceiling while zipping.
  [I must add that generally I don't hate flying; this trip was the worst I've had in a couple of decades, pulling even with some of those Aeroflot flights.]



• First stop upon arrival: the Merc for Dr. P



• Amazingly GREEN fields, willows are leafing out, really nice weather (actually it was hot walking to the plane at DIA)
• Mom comes over for dinner, driving herself. We eat, and she has to leave right away because the sun was setting. She is NOT a vampire; she can't drive at night. So she says. :-)



• Hit the sheets and slept really badly (Cold, then Hot, then Blanketless, then Hot....multiply by 12 over the course of 9 hours in bed)

Not an auspicious start, except for the weather, and the company we're keeping.