Pat Winnie, this one's for you!

I got an email this morning from Pat Winnie. For those of you who don't know Pat, she's a friend and former co-worker from Pleasanton. She said it has been 21 days, we need more blog! It made me literally laugh out loud, so here I am. I think part of it must be that you read about my mundane life and breathe a sigh of relief that yours isn't so dull. Again, I'm performing a service for you! And what thanks do I get??


I said I'd tell you about my trip back home back in July. I went home for Stacey's 40th birthday (my daughter-in-law). On Friday, Carlos dropped me off at the MAX train station ... I wanted to leave at 3:00, but he kept getting involved in one thing or another and it was closer to 3:30 by the time we left. It's an hour and a half to the airport and I was going to be cutting it close. Naturally when we got to the transfer station (blue line to the red line) the next train sat there for what seemed like an eternity but was more likely just 5 minutes. Finally made it to the airport and the line to go through security was LO-O-O-NG! Now I'm nervous. (Seriously, how nervous can someone be who's had the experience of flying with no money, ID or credit cards?) All for naught. I made it to the plane with time to spare. Trip home uneventful. And it took me an entire paragraph to tell you that! LOL


Stacey's party was really nice. Eric had blown up a lot of pictures of her from each decade (1 to 10; 10 to 20; 20 to 30 and 30 to 40) and had them strung and hung all over the house. A great day spent with family and friends. Lots of good food and even better company. The next morning I was on an early flight back 'home'. VERY short trip ... too short. Little Miss Ellie was very shy around me. I think it's as much the haircolor change as anything else.


Carol picked me up at the train station and we spent the next hour or so looking for a farm where we could pick our own fruit. It wasn't worth finding! The farmer spent at least 20 minutes talking about his loser son and another 20 sharing his political views. We finally picked some blueberries and raspberries (which weren't all that good) and left.


This past weekend I drove up to Washington. My sister, Lynne, lives in south Everett. Her daughter, Amber, got married the previous week (08/08/08) and they were having a reception on Puget Sound. It's about a 3.5 hour drive. Not bad! I used Maggie (Carol's nickname for the Magellan GPS) and chose "most use of freeways". Completely bypassed Seattle by way of Renton and who knows what all. I know for a fact that I could have just stayed on I-5 all the way but wanted to see where Maggie would take me. It was all good until we hit this 2 lane highway that is used by every trucker who drives through that state. Speaking of which, if you're ever driving in WA be sure to obey all speed limits. The WA highway patrol is out in full force all the time. I saw at least 3 people getting tickets.


Since I'd just completed my on-line traffic school (I told you about that, yes?) I was not looking for another ticket. I got one in CA last April about 2 weeks before moving up here. Signed up for traffic school and then forgot all about it. Had to request an exension and finally completed the darned thing. You have to print out the test, take it to a notary public, fill it out in front of them, have it notarized and then mail it back to the traffic school. If you pass, they send you a certificate which then has to be mailed to the courthouse. I sent it express mail just to be safe. Do NOT want to go through that again. That was my first ticket in 30 years so I figured I was well overdue. :0 )


Anyway, back to WA. I took Friday off and drove up. Got there around 2:30 - 3:00. I took Lynne and David to dinner. Ate at a really nice Italian place that Lynne said has excellent food and you never have to wait for a table. Yeah, right! There must have been 3 soccer teams having their team party! She left her name and phone number and we walked down the street to Starbucks while we waited! The food WAS good (garlic, artichoke, spinach and parmesan calzone-YUM). On our way home, Lynne turned to me and said "so, WHEN are you going home?" Huh -I had thought I was going to Amber's reception ... but ...


We laughed. She was thinking that she hoped I'd be there long enough to help her with her computer, but that's NOT the way it sounded. I warned her that it was going into my blog. I now have witnesses for how she mistreats me.


Of course we won't talk about how David and I laughed ourselves silly when Lynne was retelling the story of how Joan and I played a dirty trick on her. Lynne had showed us a house a block or two from hers that she admired and she really wanted to meet the lady who lived there so she could see the inside. We told her that we'd gone right up to the front door and told her how much our sister loved her house and she invited us to bring her over the next day for tea. WELL! She was so excited she could hardly stand it. Yes, I know it was mean. Unfortunately, at the time we thought it was hysterical. We finally broke down and told her because we couldn't hold in the laughter, and to be honest, I couldn't stand to see her so excited about a lie! She was heartbroken. She got the last laugh because she DID meet the lady, and she did get to go in and see how she'd decorated. Guess she showed us!

Going to Amber's reception was a bit of a challenge. David and Lynne have a TomTom GPS. It said we had reached our destination when we were on a gravel road facing a stand of trees with a driveway on our right and a highway on our left. No park in sight. I said TomTom is pretty dumbdumb; David said several things I can't repeat. He started calling it the "bitch in a box". Then Lynne told him we're trying to get to Kayak Point. Turns out David knew right where it is and TomTom had taken us way out of the way. Thus his epithet.

The reception was really nice. We were at Kayak Point park, right on the water and the weather was BEAUTIFUL. It had been so flippin' hot the day before (much cooler in WA than OR, though) and while I was basking in the shade and sea breezes it got up to 103 in Hillsboro! I know this because when I got home, Cal had IM'd me that it was 103 in Hillsboro and he would be Oregone! LOL Lynne took a picture of me holding a book with the sea behind me (yes, I was reading whenever the opportunity presented itself) just so people could see I was really there and I'm crazy about reading. Or maybe just crazy.

As for work ... I finally got access to the T drive (which is the telecom drive where all our files are stored) and Carlos told me to look at the on-call schedule. I'M ON IT!!!! I wrote Peggy and told her to picture my knees knocking, my hands shaking, my heart pounding and my eyes tearing up. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do. I know that we can get alerts (via our cell phones) that we have to "clear" and sometimes we have to call the vendor to fix things. She assured me that Donna is flying out that week to train me and for me not to worry. (Sure!)


I'm scheduled for 9/11 to 9/18 .. so every one of you had better say prayers for me that week. Being on call is a 24hr proposition and I think we're covering all 3 sites. Thank goodness it's just once every 8 weeks. I'm getting stuck with New Year's day but Peggy's got Christmas day.


Oh, I also need to let you know that even though I originally planned to come home Labor Day week, I've rescheduled. Eric is perhaps going to have elective surgery on September 24, so I'm going to come home that week instead. He has Chiara malformation (something for those of you who are intrepid, to look up) also known as Arnold-Chiara malformation. He's meeting with his neurosurgeon on the 19th and then he'll decide if he is going ahead with the surgery.

In one of life's odd twists (or as I like to say .. God's little coincidences) one of the girls I work with has the same condition and she had the surgery 3 years ago!! She gave me all her contact information so Eric could get in touch with her to ask whatever. He's emailed her a couple times. I'm sure being able to talk to someone who's successfully been through the surgery was helpful.

Calvin has to have eye surgery and he's talking about maybe scheduling it for the same week so I'll be home. Hopefully not on the same day! You can see that will be one busy week for me but I hope I'll be able to touch base with some of you. I plan to drive down the 20th and I'll have to drive back up the 27th.

I'm actually supposed to be working on some files for work and here it is 9:30! I've got to scoot, so behave yourselves and stay tuned!

FTD? Not!

Where does the time go? I don't feel all that busy, but when I log in to blog, it shows that it has been way too long since I've talked to you. It's that whole time speeding up as we age thing, isn't it!


So, in keeping with my long tradition of celebrating my birthday for most of the month of July, after calling Eric and Stacey to see if they sent the lilies, they sort of let it slip that they did send SOMETHING but it would be arriving on Saturday, my actual birthday. On Sunday I called them to let them know that nope, it didn't arrive! On Monday I let them know that nope, it still hadn't arrived.

Now Stacey is ticked. She had me go to the FTD web site so I could see what I wasn't getting .. a really cute bonzai tree kit. Not only is she ticked because I didn't get it, but she had paid EXTRA to have it delivered on Saturday! Between them, she and Eric had made 4 or 5 calls to customer service and got different answers each time. They offered to knock $20 off the delivery price. Yeah, I don't think so. Totally fed up by now, she told them to cancel the order and she wanted a refund. They said they'd send a confirmation ... no confirmation. They hadn't responded to her emails. She was venting on Instant Messenger and I said what she needed to do is write to the president of the company! I found his name on the 'net and she found the email address. So we BOTH wrote to him.

Here's what I wrote: "Dear Mr. Soenen:
You don't know me, but I am ... or was ... a potential customer. Along with the 20 or 30 friends, and friends of friends, who will be hearing negative comments about your company.

My son and daughter-in-law ordered a plant from your web site to celebrate my birthday. This was especially important because I've recently moved 500 miles away, leaving all my family behind. Stacey tells me she paid extra money to have the gift delivered on Saturday, July 19, because that's the date of my actual birthday. An especially loving touch, don't you think?

Unfortunately, I have not received the gift. It was not delivered on Saturday. Today is Monday, and I've still not received the plant that was ordered from FTD. Now, seriously, Mr. Soenen, if you had ordered a plant or flowers to be delivered to your mother or another family member by a certain date, and you had paid extra to have that happen, wouldn't you be upset if the delivery was delayed?

Mr. Soenen, I happen to work in a customer service industry and I know how important it is to provide stellar customer service. I would have to say from personal experience that your company falls far short of that goal. It so happens that I did receive a beautiful set of lilies on Friday from ProFlowers. They arrived in bud form and I've enjoyed watching them bloom day by day. I can assure you that my friends will hear from me that if they want to get timely delivery of beautiful flowers or plants, they should go to ProFlowers.com.

As if this situation weren't bad enough, I understand Stacey has been getting the runaround from your customer service representatives. No one seems to actually care that there is a problem and they do not appear to be stepping up to the plate to take care of it. I did read on the internet that FTD.com flourished under your leadership. Well, if the customer service stays at this level, it will begin wilting before too long!

Not only was I disappointed that their surprise was ruined by your company but I'm disappointed that a company as well known as FTD is so lacking in courtesy and service. There are other companies competing for my dollars, and rigt now ... they're winning!"

Stacey got a call right away from their customer service manager (at least that's what she said her title is) with an apology and assurances of a refund. She also called me and apologized on behalf of all the employees at FTD for spoiling my birthday. Uh huh. Too little, too late. No real effort was made to do the right thing until we wrote our letters. They should have offered a refund to Stacey right off the bat, or at least offered to resend the plant with no extra charge for the Saturday delivery that never happened! Personally, I doubt that I'll be using their services anytime soon.

I should write them again, but this time with a thank you! Because of their screwup, Eric and Stacey sent me a different gift ... I just got it today and I LOVE it!!! I got a digital frame. Never saw a use for them until I saw someone at work with one ... it scrolls through dozens of pictures while taking up the space of one. COOL! And the best part of all, Stacey had it preloaded with pictures! I have it set up in the kitchen right now, but I can hardly wait to take it in to work.

We just got home from dinner with Heather and Tami. I'd told them that the Farmhouse is apparently known for it's prime rib. I knew that they both like prime rib. SO, Tami said Friday night is prime rib at the Farmhouse...did Carol and I want to go?? Heck, yeah. Okay ... here's the fun part. I hadn't actually tried the prime rib, because I don't particularly care for it! Carol, Heather and Tami had prime rib and I had Yankee pot roast (it was really good!)

Tami's going to kill me for this, but I like living on the edge. The 3 of them were having adult beverages and after drinking 3/4 of her Mai Tai, Tami noticed she had a bug in her drink!! Not one, not two, but THREE! She said she saw them fall into the glass when the bartender was making the drink but figured it was something from the garnish and she didn't want to be troublesome. Nope. Turns out they were fruit flies and there were 4 more in the bottle (the bottle was mostly empty) I know this shouldn't seem funny, but it was hilarious. We got more jokes out of this one incident than any 4 people have a right to.

Well, it's time for bed and I have much to do before this head will hit the pillow. I must close for now, but I still have to talk about my trip home last weekend for Stacey's birthday. Why is it I feel like I have nothing to say and once I start typing I can't seem to stop? Alright ... I heard all of those snide comments out there!

Stay tuned ...

Birthday Bash - sort of

Lots to catch up on. On Thursday night we had our first Bunco gathering! What fun!! Gathered together 12 crazy ladies and spent the night getting to know one another and playing Bunco. Tami actually started the stupid thing (I did NOT say 'stupid') and she brought in 3 ladies who work with her. The rest are Farmers transplants so this gives us a chance to get together outside of work and reinforce the CA Support Group. :0 )

We decided instead of buying prizes, we would just play for $$. Money fits all sizes, right? In spite of 6 different categories for prizes, including most LOSSES, for heaven's sake, I still did not win anything.

Audrey was whining at first when I was going over the rules of play because she said it sounded too hard. If you've ever played Bunco, you know it's harder to explain than to play. Once we got started, she was all into it! We'll be playing once a month and rotating houses so everyone gets a chance to play hostess. It really was a lot of fun and everyone got along famously. We have a couple of sub's (Tami's daughter, Heaven, and Sandy Benson's daughter, Chelsea) already and had to make use of them the first night.

I took a vacation day on Friday because I wasn't feeling well. Let's just say I was "indisposed". I may have had a bug though because I kept falling asleep and I'd wake up all hot and sweaty, then I'd fall asleep again and wake up cold. Also woke up several times because the friggin' phone kept ringing. The security guards at work called at least 4 times. They were having phone issues and for some reason they have MY number so they called me. I finally told them I'm not in the office so please call Carlos. They felt bad, but I assured them it was no problem, I'm on duty 24/7.

I slept in Saturday ... what better way to start off celebrating getting older! I read in bed for several hours (pure indulgence) and then walked across the street to the mall to get my white roots touched up. I told her "LIGHT brown with caramel highlights". She did a really good job with the highlights but the brown is NOT light. I know it will fade after several washings but it startles me when I look at it. It's better than the red it had gone back to though. There are still red highlights when I'm in the sun, but I had those naturally (in the old days) so that doesn't bother me.

After my hair was done .. I really liked how she did my bangs, but why is it one can never duplicate what the hairdresser does???, Tami called and asked if I wanted to go with her to see The Dark Knight. Heck, yeah! There was a long line (who knew?) so we had to sit on the far right and sort of close to the screen but it was a good movie. NOT the Batman I grew up with in the comics, but the acting was great.

She wanted to take me to Rose's for a piece of cake afterward, but they were closed. Then we went looking for a Starbucks, but the one we found was also closed so we opted for Shari's. When we walked in they had the place all decorated with balloons and streamers so Tami said she'd called ahead and asked them to decorate for my birthday! LOL We shared that with our waitress and she said "oh, it's your birthday? Well, you get a free piece of pie then". GREAT! I had my favorite .. lemon meringue .. and we were all good. Tami and I joked that in future we'll go in on our birthdays and ask them to box up our piece of pie. Ok .. WE think we're funny!

Today (Sunday) Tami, Heather, Carol and I took the Max train to the airport. I wanted to see how long it takes (about 1.5 hr) and exactly where it drops one off. Practically at the front door! It really is a slick way to get to the airport. I'm going to fly home next weekend, just for the weekend .. coming in Friday night, leaving Sunday morning .. so taking the train in will be ideal. You can't beat the price .. it will be $1.75 to ride up to the airport, and $1.75 to ride back. This is a picture of Tami and Heather having fun on the train. :0)

We bought all day tickets for all lines, which includes bus travel and trolley too, I believe, and it was only $4.75. On the way home we stopped at the Sunday market which is pretty much a huge craft fair. Then we stopped at the "Sand in the City" display where they had sand carvings related to an organization called Kids on the Block that does free puppet shows for schools all around the area. These are 3 of my favorites. The back view shows it's the Moletel, the front view is the Whack a Mole game with a huge mallet and some moles popped up, and the 3rd one shows a mole diving into the ground with his butt in the air. Cute! That line running across him is just the shadow of the rope to keep people off the sand. I'll post some more pictures one of these days.

We found an indoor mall with a food court so we had something to eat and then rode the train back home. A really fun day!

OH! I found out the lilies were from Calvin. He just neglected to put his name on the order. I didn't suspect him at all because in 40 years he's given me flowers once or twice.

See? aren't they pretty? When they arrived they were mostly buds and you can see there are still 3 or 4 buds that haven't opened. If you're thinking the flowers are big, you're right. They're HUGE. Very fragrant and colorful. A nice surprise.

I had a lot of birthday wishes and I want to thank all of you for making my day so special! Even far away I felt loved. Thank you SO much. Getting older isn't so bad when you have friends and family to share it with.

It's way past my bedtime now so I've GOT to scoot. Hang tight and I'll write more next week, I'm sure.

Who dun it?

When I got home from work, there was a box from ProFlowers waiting for me! Inside was a vase with 4 stems of lilies. SEVERAL buds on each stem. Some deep purple and some white. The only problem is, there was no name! I don't know who sent them. I'm assuming they're for my birthday, but I don't know who to thank.

I called Eric and Stacey because that's something they'd do. They said they sent something but this isn't it.

So ... whoever you are THANK YOU! They're beautiful.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the fun we had playing Bunco.

Sizzlin' Summer Days

It's hard to find the time to blog so I'm using my lunch break to start this one. If you're getting an RSS feed does it tell you each tiime I make changes to the blog or just when I've posted one? Hmmm

I really want to complain about the heat because it's so muggy, but since the vast majority of you have been sweltering under the hot CA sun, I haven't got the nerve. Just remember, I'm on the THIRD floor!

This past weekend Carol and I drove up to Multnomah Falls. It's about an hour away from us and a nice drive. Since we were stupid enough to do it on the same day that we were attending an afternoon picnic, we didn't have time to stop along the way to check out other things that look interesting. We did pick up some brochures about river cruises and we will probably look into that.

The falls were beautiful. My co-worker, Peggy (from Austin), went there when she was here for her "tour of duty". She came to help us get our act together, so to speak. Anyway, she and her daughter drove to falls and she showed me pictures on her camcorder from the TOP of the falls to the parking lot below. WOW She said it took her about 2 hours to complete the climb to the top and her legs were really sore the next day. Peggy said it amazed her how many people were doing the climb to the top with strollers and carrying babies. Even older people. You know, people in their 60's! Hmph

When Carol and I got there, we took some photos and I suggested we climb up to the bridge because Peggy had said it wasn't too hard to get there. The path is paved all the way and it's a series of switchbacks. Lots of switchbacks. The incline isn't too bad and we were walking at a leisurely pace. When we got to the bridge there were a LOT of people standing on it and this nice gentleman, who was speaking a foreign language to his children (German, I think), looked at me and said "how many people do you think it will hold before it collapses?" Laughing, I said thanks for pointing THAT out!! He laughed and said "don't worry. I'll go first!" I told him I'd wait until he got off the bridge before I ventured on. The bridge is very solid, by the way.

We went a little bit further up than the bridge but neither of us wanted to attempt the climb to the top. The sign said it's only a mile up, but with all the switchbacks, that has to add some distance, right? We've agreed that our goal for next year will be to climb all the way up! By this time next year you will all have forgotten we said that.

Heather and Tami had organized a "We're Not in CA Anymore" potluck picnic for all the CA transplants up here. So when we got home from the falls, Carol had to go shopping for a chair--I ended up getting one too because it has a sunshade!! and we had to prepare our food for the picnic. She made my pistachio pudding salad .. nothing too difficult there! .. and I made a taco salad. We had to take our dining room table (my 5' folding table), Tami and Heather's chairs (remember, they were my living room furniture for the month of May) and I took my broken chair (it's just one of the pads on the bottom that broke...it's still usable) in case someone would need it. It's just about 4:00 and even hotter than it was earlier in the day!! We got in her car and it was 115 degrees! Sheesh.

By the time we got to the park (Noble Woods park by Heather's house), they had tables all set up and food ready. Wow. Sandy Benson and her hubby and 2 kids were there, as well as Heather and Tami, Audrey Guest and her son Brett and Steve Dix came later. We had a really good time and agreed we need to do this again. We did laugh because some people were trying to get us to have a sign-up sheet for the food. I sent an email to everyone saying that the idea of a potluck is just that -- potLUCK so no sign-up's were necessary. Turns out we had only one duplicate dish (potato salad) and that was a good thing because one was WITH onions and the other was WITHOUT!! YES! (I hate onions) All in all a very nice weekend.

I did spoil myself this week. On Monday I strolled over to the Streets of Tanasbourne and wandered into the Brighton shop. I purposely left my $$ at home so I wouldn't be tempted to buy anything. Didn't matter. They have several items that are being "retired" so they were on sale for 30% off. I really splurged. I had them hold a wallet for me and they (naturally) showed me the purse that goes with it. I laughingly said if the purse is still there when I go back then I was meant to have it.

I also wandered over to a beauty supply to see if they had nail polish remover and if they could tell me where a good hair salon is. Huh. They have one right there on the premises. So I made an appointment for Saturday afternoon to touch up my white roots!

Still here

I've not forgotten you and I've not given up on blogging. I've been working 12-14 hour days and just have no time! Lots to catch up on and I'll get to you as soon as I can .. hang in there ...

Short but sweet .. well, short -- or maybe not

After reading my last entry Tami spoke to me with passion and intensity (she doesn't yell) and reminded me about the sticker related to our trip to Astoria. HOW could I have forgotten?? It really was funny.

When we got to the street fair in Astoria, we naturally had to find a place to park. As with most street fairs, there were a lot of people there and because it's in the middle of the downtown area parking is at a premium. We happened upon a fairly empty parking lot about 3 blocks from the fair. We didn't see any sign prohibiting parking so Tami pulled in and parked next to a building. There was a sign on the building that said no parking, but we assumed (you know what they say when you assume) it was for during the work week and this was a Sunday. So on our merry way we went with Tami's comment "if I get a ticket, you're all paying a share" ringing in our ears.

On our return we see a *huge* neon orange sticker pasted to the driver's side window. It says, for all the world to see: PARKING VIOLATION and mentions that the license plate has been recorded. Which means, of course, neener neener -- even if you remove this sticker, we got you!

In order to see out the window, Tami had to remove the sticker. Nope. That sucker is NOT coming off! It had super adhesive. I need some of that stuff for my scrapbooking! You know the type of adhesive ... when you buy something new and try to remove the label and it comes off in tiny strips and pieces because it's clinging for all it's worth to the surface it's adhered to. THAT adhesive! She managed to get a small corner removed so she could at least see if a car might be heading directly for her door but every time she turned to look out that window she was reminded that she made a very poor choice in parking. Not our fault, of course. We were merely passengers. She didn't have to listen to us shouting, park here! park here!

Now we'll all have to wait and see if she gets a ticket in the mail!

I stayed up too late last night and you're partly to blame. It takes some time to write these things. By the time I got Ellie's blanket all cut out it was almost midnight. My poor hand is so sore. Right at the base of the thumb. I was using shears that have never cut a piece of fabric in their pathetic existence. Those of you who've done any sewing know exactly what I mean. Once you use a pair of scissors for paper, it can never be used for material. Never. At least I got the blanket all cut out and tonight I just had to tie it. I finished tieing it and then promptly fell asleep. I just woke up a little bit ago (11:00 pm) and now I have to pack.

Packing for a trip home will be interesting because all I have is my small suitcase and these two blankets will take up that entire space. I may have to use these as my underseat storage. Will I have room for my purse? Doesn't matter ... I know I can still get on the plane. Besides, Heather printed out my boarding pass. Something about not trusting me to do it on my own ... just kidding.

It's a good thing she volunteered to do that because I don't have a printer set up yet. My personal printer is at work and we're still trying to get a cable for it. I keep saying I'll just run to Best Buy and get one and Carlos insists he has one, he just hasn't found it yet. It's in one of his boxes, he's sure of it. In the meantime, no printer.

So now I must leave you because I have packing to do and I really should sweep the kitchen floor and give it a quick onceover with the mop. Carol will be here Saturday and I don't get back until Sunday afternoon. Oh shoot. I still have some stuff in her room I need to move into this one. Okay, then. Later!

Still going, like the Ever Ready bunny

Shoot, I haven't posted since the 15th and only one person has berated me for not keeping you updated. That makes me think the rest of you have already stopped reading. Well, fine. I'll keep on anyway because it's becoming my personal journal. Well, not 'becoming' because that's really what it was all along. I've just let you nosy folks read it.

Tami yelled at me (yes, yelled!) for not reading my comments on the blogs, so I just did that. Omigosh! they are great! I laughed and smiled and miss all of you so much. The comments make me want to keep going, so you're stuck with me. Woe is you. And Tami? I don't remember the sticker associated with the trip to Astoria ...

It has been nearly two weeks since my last posting and I don't remember everything I've been doing. Heather can vouch for me that I've lost at least one day each week. I keep thinking it's Wednesday and she'll say NO, it's Thursday. Which can be a good thing!

Two weeks ago I got sick. I mean, hanging my head over the bowl sick. It was so bad I was lying on the bathroom floor. After about an hour I dragged myself to bed and was fine the next day. I'm sure it's something I ate. If only I knew what it was!! It made me think of Lynda LaMagra. I still remember when she got sick on chicken enchiladas and wouldn't eat them again. At the time I thought that was so weird. Turns out she's not the only one with that affliction. That's never been an issue for me. Ok, this is waaay too much talk about this subject!

Work has been slow .. for me. I did spend last week creating a floor plan (most of you know how much I love my Visio floor plans!) with all the phone numbers that are out on the floor. The other half of the building was being 'built' last week .. putting up all the work stations. This week Avaya is putting out the phones on that side. I'm supposed to be getting a seating chart from the Tigard office so I can match people with their new phone numbers. We were supposed to have it last Friday. Still waiting.

Carlos is very busy and he's very good about showing me what he's doing and explaining everything in detail so I'll have an understanding of the process. I'm still trying to get the terminology, because what I think of as pilot number they call a VDN, and what I called a routing table they call a vector. We both use the term hunt group but it doesn't have the same meaning. I'll get it ... eventually.

My niece, Amber, came by on Saturday. She and her fiance, Steve, are my first official visitors! It was supposed to rain all weekend but we had beautiful weather that day. Blue skies, sun shining and a nice balmy 74 degrees. They did a quick tour of the apartment ... quick because it's not that big! and I pointed out the 30 steps. My sister, Joan, commented that she's been doing 3rd floor for years .. but keep in mind that she's not 70 lbs overweight!!

Steve noticed the restaurant that's on the corner across from us ... Buffalo Wild Wings ... mentioned he loves buffalo wings. I told him that I ate there last week with Heather, Tami, Dave and Heaven and Heaven LOVES hot sauce. In fact, the hotter the better. She ordered her wings with their hottest sauce (called Blazin') and she actually broke out in a sweat. Well, he got excited about that so we went there for lunch. He had 6 wings with Blazin' sauce and 6 with Asian BBQ. He claims the Blazin' was somewhat diluted and he wished he'd asked for some on the side. So we now know he's a little tetched in the head. Heck, I can hardly handle the mild!

They didn't stay long because they are on a 2 week vacation and have sights to see and people to visit and fun to be had. After they left I realized I'd not taken any pictures (Stacey where are you when I need you??) and still had a ton of stuff to ask them and get caught up on. Amber said they come this way pretty often so I hope she'll stop in again.

I spent Sunday mostly in bed listening to a book on CD, crocheting, and napping. Pure heaven! I love being a couch potato!

On Monday, Heaven met me at JoAnn's fabrics and I bought some polar fleece to make blankets for Colin and Ellie. They're easy to make but they do require some time and effort. I got Colin's done, thanks in large part to Heaven's assistance, and tonight I'm pinning and marking Ellie's. I hope to get all the ends cut so tomorrow all I have to do is tie it and I'll be done. I don'tknow how I'm going to fit them in my suitcase because they're pretty big but OH SO WARM. Yes, I realize it's summer...but it won't be summer forever. And these will be like having hugs from Nana.

I did take some time last week to check out a few stores in the area. There are stores EVERYWHERE. I went to Michaels, where I happened to come across some yarn ... be quiet Brendan. I also bought some baskets for my bathroom to store all my stuff under the sink. Then I drove to a store called Craft Mart and they have some pretty cool things there, but I didn't buy anything. I am really impressed with the JoAnn's here because the one in Dublin is kind of trashy. This one is HUGE and they have a lot of selection in so many different crafts. All I bought is the blanket fleece though. yay me

I haven't quite emptied out Carol's room and I'm running out of time. I'll probably have to just dump the stuff in my room or I'll never get Ellie's blanket done. There really isn't that much, it's just hard trying to decide where to put it because there is NO STORAGE here.

Oh! Before I forget I want to tell you guys about a cool web site that Heaven shared with me. This is for all you book readers. It's www.paperbackswap.com and that's what it's about. Swapping books! Right now it's free although they tell you they may have to charge $10 to $20 yr sometime in the future. You post the books that you're able to swap ... they must be in very good condition ... and when you've posted 10 books you get two credits, which means you can 'order' two books. When someone requests one of the books you've posted, you have so many days to ship it to them (you pay shipping) and when they receive it, you get another credit. When you order a book from someone, they pay to ship it to you. And so it goes. They even have printable book wrap (prints on 2 pages) that apparently includes the requestor's mailing address. Average shipping costs are a little over $2 for a paperback that's under 13 oz. If you sign up, be sure to say you were referred by crochetin@yahoo.com. :0 )

It's getting late and I need to go work on Miss Ellie's blanket some more. My hand was getting sore from the scissors but I think it's okay now. You all behave yourselves and I'll be seeing a good lot of you this Friday.

Until next time ....

Settling in

So -- have you missed me? I've been busy over the past several days. Mostly running errands. Which I hate, by the way.

I FINALLY got a toaster! I used a gift card (thanks Christine) to buy it and since there will be 3 of us, I really splurged and bought a 4 slot toaster. Woo hoo! Toasters are handy things to have, you know. As are kitchen utensils like spatulas, stirring spoons, whisks, etc. I find a small ceramic vase with about 10 utensils for $7 or $8. Granted, the utensils are almost doll-sized but I can still use them (and have!)

I also bought a step stool so I could plug in the other light on my armoire. Every time I put something in my cart I think "how hard/easy will this be to get up the stairs?" That's a very important criteria, let me tell you. (30 steps to the top floor)

I used my egift card for Target (thanks Eric and Stacey) to buy a 3 drawer chest. Now that will be a real challenge. It's being delivered between the 20th and the 22nd and you know the darned thing will be heavy. Since I won't be home, they'll leave it at the leasing office. Not only do I have to figure out how to get it up the stairs, but how the heck will I get it from the leasing office to my apartment? I'm sure we'll figure something out.

I've already pretty much decided that for the chest, I'll open the box downstairs and haul the pieces up and put it together up there. When I leave, I'll have movers move it.

Tonight I want to go to Target and buy the matching nightstand. They had it in the store and the clerk said they'll load it on a flatbed for me. It shouldn't be as heavy as the chest so I think I can manage it on my own. My poor cardboard box nightstand is starting to sag in the middle. Time for an upgrade.

Yesterday was Carlos' birthday so I made some lemon squares. He'd never had them before. He really liked them and I had to burst the bubble and confess it was a box mix. Just add water and eggs. Whatever. With limited resources one does what one can.

I've been bringing my lunch the past few days even though we're not supposed to have food in the building (don't tell on me) -- the construction guys are eating in here all the time. I keep everything in my drawer just in case someone should come in.

I decided to run to the library at lunch today and was pleasantly surprised to find that it's very close to work! How cool is that! I had put in a request for a book online and they let me know that it was ready. I picked it up and have already started reading it. I know what you're thinking. With all the books I brought, why would I get a book from the library? Well, this particular author has written a series of books and I didn't have #3 in the series. I don't want to read #4 until I've read #3 .. see?

Thank goodness it's payday. Now I can pay my Comcast bill and get my nightstand. I may not be able to eat next week, but hey! that can't hurt!! (just kidding-I bought a large pack of chicken so I'll be fine)

Tomorrow Carlos and I have to go to Tigard for a conference call and then we're having a meet 'n greet because Adrian wants us to meet the department heads that we'll be working with. Gotta shine my shoes and spruce up my hair. I'm glad it wasn't today because I'm definitely having a BHD (bad hair day)

It's really warm today and I miss the clouds. There's no air conditioning in the building so we're really feeling it. What a whiney baby, huh.

I have more errands to run after work and the days are just dragging because there's not a lot for us to do just yet. It will all pick up next week, or so they tell me. In the meantime I'm falling asleep here.

I need to find the post office. I found one that is really close to our place but the darned thing is just a distribution center and they don't take mail over the counter or sell supplies. Shoot! So the hunt is on. Oh, I know you think all I have to do is look it up. Everything I look up just gives me phone numbers or they're businesses that do postal services. Whatever.

Wish me luck and hang in there until next time.

Happy Mother's Day!

So many things to tell you and so little time.

1) I think I mentioned that I have a weather blip on my desktop for Dublin, CA and one for Hillsboro, OR. It's kind of fun because it updates the forecast throughout the day and when it's nighttime, it shows a dark gray background with a moon. At 8:30pm Dublin was already mooning (LOL) and Hillsboro was still showing a sun! It stays light longer up here.

2) You know how when you travel or move anything the locals do that's different from the way it's done at "home" is wierd? Let me tell you about a few of my "only in Oregon" experiences. First of all, in the Portland airport restroom: this is just plain WIERD. There are instructions for flushing the toilet. Pull the handle up for liquids, down for solids.

Yesterday I took the entire day off as a day of rest. Sure, I had errands to run, but the couch potato in me was crying to get out!! It has been at least a month since I've been able to lapse into my vegetative state so I was well overdue. I turned on an audio book in the kitchen (using my Bose iPod speaker ... thanks E & S!) and tidied up, did dishes and organized. Sounds like work but when you're listening to a book, it doesn't feel like work.

I went upstairs and downloaded an audio book from the public library (new author and I really like the book) and listened to it while I unpacked another box and tried to get my room a little more organized. Again, with a book, it doesn't seem like work.

Then I went downstairs, revised my list for the 5 different stores I need to visit and turned on TV to watch marathon movies on Lifetime. A GREAT day.

Tami called and asked if I wanted to go to the farmers market with them tomorrow (which was today). Since I'd already blown Saturday I really needed to do some shopping Sunday so I asked if we'd be long ... I really can't go much longer without a blow dryer. She said I should know that Heather is not a Looky Lou so it will be a look quickly and go situation. No problem!

Fair warning. Should they ever invite you on an excursion, get complete and thorough details before you commit.

I got to their house about 9:30 and we headed out. I want it known we were still in Hillsboro when I mentioned that Hillsboro is a lot bigger than Dublin. Besides, the miles here are much longer, as I've already stated. We had been driving for about 45 minutes (maybe less) when I asked just where this farmers market is located. I thought it was in Hillsboro (wore a light jacket) but oh no! It's in ASTORIA, for cryin' out loud.

On the way there, we saw a sign that said "drinking water - rt 1/4 mi" That's wierd says I. Tami got all excited and said, oh let's stop! Sure enough there at the side of the road is what looks like a drinking fountain. It's actually a natural spring and people stop there and fill up bottles of varying sizes and types. Tami even dumped out her bottle of spring water (only in Oregon) and filled it up with -- spring water! Granted, this water is ice cold, but it didn't taste any different to me, although Tami insists it's the BEST water in the world. Maybe it's the thrill of filling it up yourself.

Entering the town of Seaside (we're near the OR coast) there's another sign that says "entering tsunami hazard zone" Now that's something you don't see every day! I'll tell you, I sure breathed a sigh of relief when about 2 miles later we came across the sign that said "leaving tsunami hazard zone". Again, only in Oregon.

There was another roadside sign that I found amusing. It said something to the effect that the hills block the view. We're driving in mountainous terrain. Of course, the hills block your view. I'm guessing the sign is for the Oregonians who might not realize the reason they can't see beyond the hills is because the hills are blocking their view! Alright, I know there must be a valid reason for the sign, but I was so busy laughing about it I couldn't see what it might be.

On the way I got a phone call from Eric wishing me a happy mother's day. Did a quick hello with the grandkids. Colin, sounding all grown up, wished me a happy mother's day and said he was giving his mom a good day too. Then Ellie got on and said "hi, Nana! Whatcha' doin?" I told her we were going to the farmers market to buy some vegetables. "OH! ok, bye". A minute later she wanted to talk to me again, and repeated the same script word for word. We did this 3 or 4 times. I think she'd fit right in up here. LOL

When we go to the "farmers market" it wasn't really a farmers market at all. It was a street fair. Only one or two booths out of the 50 or so had vegetables. We cruised all the booths and called ahead to the Camp 18 restaurant (I think that's the right name) and made reservations for 4:00.

We had some time to kill so we went to the aquarium. Tami fed fish to the sea lions and Dave (her son) figured out how to make one of them roll over. Cute! There were 35 (or so the sign said) fish tanks but really ... this was nothing like the aquarium in Maui. And they charge $7 per person! We got the family rate so it was more like $4.25 each. We still had some time to spare so we stopped at an outlet mall (they had a bookstore --- but I didn't buy any books!) for a bit.

It did rain today. So strange. It rained only while we were in the car. Every time we got out to do something, it stopped raining. Very cooperative! I was wishing I'd thought to bring the rain hat Barb gave me, but I didn't need it. I am going to pack it in my purse though.

Lunch at the restaurant was good. Our waiter was a cute kid and very friendly. We asked what he was doing for his mom (she lives in AK) and he wished us all a happy mother's day. The restaurant is very rustic. All mismatched tables and chairs. Supposedly like a logging camp. I didn't read the history of the site but it may have been a logging camp at one time.

A long day but we still got back in time for me to run to Target and pick up a few more essentials. I needed a lidded skillet to fix dinner and I bought a step stool and a bathroom scale. It's too easy to get off track if I don't have something to remind me where I am and where I'm going.

I got a really cute ecard from Justin that had my picture all over it! Thanks Justin! I think I told you yesterday about the cards from Eric and Stacey and the kids. Yep, Brendan, now is the time for you to feel guilty.

My apologies to Brendan! He sent an email to my Comcast email saying Happy Mother's Day to the best mom he ever had. Lucky thing my sister Joan left a comment on one of my postings here to check my email. Just so you guys know, I hardly ever check my Comcast email addy. I'm on Yahoo all the time. So if you write me and I haven't answered, you may be using that email address. I'm not really ignoring you (or maybe I am!) Joan, I'll get that check out right away, thank you.

Well, it's 9:42 and I need to throw a load of clothes in the washer and start getting ready for bed. Enough rambling for today. You take care and start thinking about when you're going to come up for a visit. I'll need advance notice so I can arrange a day or two off work. My niece, Amber, is coming through on the 24th and I'm looking forward to seeing her.

Okay, that's it! No more rambling. I've got a book to listen to and chores to do. I'll talk to you later. Take care ...

A Day of Rest

A day of rest, and it's not even Sunday! This is the first day in weeks I've had a chance to just do nothing and I'm loving every minute of it.

I did empty 4 boxes this morning. I had cleaned the kitchen yesterday before Carlos came over for lunch but I still need to organize some things. I also need to run some errands which requires shopping and I'm not a shopaholic even though it may sound like it. I really don't like going to the store. One store a week and I'm good. I've done more shopping this week than I've done in the past 3 months. I think that's why I like shopping online so much. No need to venture out and wear out the feet. : )

I noticed this morning that we both started out with 54 degree temps ... I have both Dublin and Hillsboro weather on my desktop. Now at 1:30 Dublin is a sunny 73 degrees and Hillsboro is an overcast 59 degrees. BUT I've been here 7 days and it hasn't rained yet. Several days were bright and sunny and even on the overcast days there are periods of blue sky. It did start to sprinkle yesterday for about 10 seconds but that was it. If it has been raining it has been at night when I don't see or hear it.

I'm going to see if I can post some pictures. Tami took photos with her camera on Sunday, when I arrived. Let's see how this goes.




This is a picture of Heaven, Tami's daughter, and Heather outside my front door while they were waiting for me to arrive.


I was running about an hour behind when I'd told them I would arrive so they had to fill in their time. Part of that fill-in time was going to P.F. Chang's for dinner! without me!




I really wanted to show you a shot of my welcome banner. The story I got is they didn't have enough time to print it out or they forgot to print it out -- whatever. The end result is they wrote it out on Heaven's hand! She displayed it just as I was getting out of the car. Pretty clever, don't you think? Every time I post it the picture disappears. It shows up on my preview, but not the published post. I'll try to put it in tomorrow.





A shot of me crossing the threshold from the garage into the entrance hall. Yes, the picture is small but I'm not giving you anything closer. I have no hair, no makeup and I'm looking extremely worn out and exhausted. This gives you a general idea and that's all you need.



We're eating at Rosies cafe. I'm enjoying a French dip sandwich (one of my favorites) and the others are having dessert. Why? Oh, yes ... because they'd already eaten dinner. I told the girls that I'm feeling very proud of myself having lost 26 pounds .. when I get dressed my clothes are more loose and I can feel the difference in other ways. But when I see pictures like this! YIKES I still have a long way to go. A real balloon popper.


A shot of Heather and me. Why, yes, she does look rested! Huh.

Okay, that's it for this posting. I'm still unpacking and looking for connection cords. I do have some photos on my camera to share with you. I found my external hard drive and have that hooked up so I can upload all my photos to that. YAY Eventually I'll have Carlos help me with Photoshop so I can do things right.

I also found a cool program that came with my computer that's called Muvees (or something like that). Anyway it's a movie creation program put out by HP so I'll be playing with that in the future. Maybe I'll become a movie director like Eric and Stacey! (but not as good)

I guess I'll drag myself out to the stores and buy some more necessities, like a toaster and towels and such. It's a dirty job but someone's got to do it.

Take care until next time.

Oops

Well, I got a slap on the hand today. Carlos and I got to work about 8:00 and we had a call from Adrian shortly after (Adrian is our boss). Seems there's a problem with me making my cubicle my own. I'd put up my pictures and filled a drawer ... some of you know how I like to have lots of stuff on my workspace. Well! Farmers has not yet received "permission" to occupy the building, so even though we have legitimate business there we can't make it look like we've moved in. Adrian was really cool about it. He said he thinks it's trivial but if inspectors come through they'll call Farmers on the carpet for it and I do not want to be the one responsible for THAT.

Carlos told me about a cool web site. It's watch-movies.net. I'm watching 100 Million BC right now. Brendan or Justin had told me about another web site but I could never get it to work right. This one seems easier to me.

I just got a really nice Mother's Day gift from the Davis Contingent. They sent me an egift card for Target.com. Definitely more useful than flowers! Especially as I'm still limited in necessities. I keep making lists of things I need to get and then I sort them into HAVE to have right now and CAN WAIT until later. It seems like I'm constantly jotting things down.

I just called Carlos to see if his stuff had been delivered. They're just finishing up. I've invited him over for lunch. He mentioned this morning how hard it is to leave all his family behind and he has no one here. Audrey told me I'd have to be her family when she moves up here. I know the feeling, so the more we can support each other the easier it will be for all of us.

I've warned Carlos that I have only 2 chairs and no table. He has NO furniture at all so he can relate. At least I have food. Good thing I went shopping yesterday.

Today I need to find DMV. They have small renewal offices everywhere but I have to find the main office so I can get my car registered. I'll change my drivers license later, after I've studied the manual.

One thing I've noticed is that EVERYONE stops when a school bus has its lights flashing. If it's a 4-lane highway and a school bus has stopped with flashing lights, all 4 lanes stop where they are. We don't see too many school buses stopping on main streets at home, but here they seem to be everywhere. The trick is to leave for work before the buses start picking up the kids and to come home before or after they drop them off.

I don't remember if I told you what happened with my cable box. Paul, the cable guy, came back yesterday to swap out my box because it wouldn't turn on. He said the problem was that I didn't have the power switch on. BUT, says I, the TV works! Sure, he said, but that's because half of the outlet is always on .. for lamps. WHAT??!!! I've never heard of such a thing. Carlos said he's heard of it before. Maybe it's that way in the newer homes but not in any house I've ever lived in. If the switch is off, both halves of the outlet are off. Have you guys experienced this? Only in Oregon.

Well, I'm going to go prepare some lunch for my guest. Dinner and a movie tonight with Heather and Tami. I have such a social calendar, eh?

Take care until next time.

Settling in?

What a day, what a day! Carlos and I got to work at 8:00 and the only ones there were the two Avaya installers who were still putting phones on the desks. No construction crew that I could see. We had a 9:00 conference call with the telephony team and that went well. 90% of what they were talking about flew right over my head. I asked Carlos what a few things meant and he didn't know either, so that made me feel better.

Carlos had to pick up his apartment key this morning and I had several errands to run so after our conference call, we left. We have no badges with key cards, nor door keys so without the constructions guys there we have no way to get back in. Adrian told us to check with the IT manager but she said she didn't have any extra keys. Adrian said he'd call her and get that taken care of.

In keeping with the little dark cloud that seems to be following me (at least it's a little one) my mattress has to be returned because it's leaking. I had hoped it was a one-shot thing and I just needed to pump it up some more but nope! I wake up 2 or 3 times during the night sinking into the mattress which causes my neck to bend at an uncomfortable angle because the pillows are now too high.

Since I had the morning free, I called Aero and they told me to return the bed to Costco, so I did. Naturally, the store doesn't carry the bed in stock so I would have to order it online. A delay of 7-10 days. Can I sleep on the floor that long without going crazy? I gassed up the car while I was at Costco and then ran home to get my grocery list and decided to order the bed while I was there. Costco online doesn't have the bed!! They only have the twin, single layer and I want the double layer so I don't feel like I'm falling on the floor when I get into bed.

I went down the street to Winco to buy groceries. Warehouse-type store (think Pak-n-Save) that's really big and unfamiliar. Took 3 times longer than it needed to but I have to start cooking dinner instead of eating out or eating just snack food, cereal and grapefruit. The shopping center where Winco is located also has a Joe's camping store. I went in there to look for a blow up bed and all they had was a Coleman that's a double-height. They don't come with a pump so I had to buy a pump too. When I got it home, it takes 10 hours to charge up the pump because it's a rechargeable battery!! That means at least one night on the floor. Darn it.

Decided to run to Target to get some kitchen utensils so I can make a real dinner tomorrow (tonight I heated up an orange chicken and rice dish that I bought at Winco). I got some measuring cups and spoons and some cutting mats, then decided to look in the camping section for a bed. They have the queen Aero mattress that's double-high but it's more expensive than the Costco one. I bought it anyway. Better to have a bed than to wait who knows how long for one to come in and then wait another week or more to have it delivered. Tomorrow I'll return the pump and Coleman bed to Joe's.

When I left Target I drove through the back of the shopping center and found a Michaels (!!), Best Buy, and Linen n' Things. Then coming up the street to go home I saw across the street a Barnes and Noble! Life is good. There is so much shopping in such a short area that I won't lack for anything. Except money.

I'm really worn out after lugging all those groceries and purchases into the house and up the stairs. I can't wait to crawl into my new bed ... once I get it made. I have a lot of reorganizing to do this weekend but tomorrow night I'm going to dinner and a movie with Heather and Tami. Then I HAVE to get the rest of my stuff unpacked, the clothes in my closet organized, and all the stuff that's sitting on top of my bathroom sink put away. If only I had somewhere to put it.

Heaven only knows how I'm going to organize my craft stuff. I'm already dreading the possibility of moving away from here and that won't come up for at least a year. LOL

I hope you're behaving yourselves and think of me often because I certainly think of each one of you every day.

Adios for now ...

First day on the job? with a rewind

Okay, I want to tell you about my first day on the job but let me do a quick recap of yesterday. Inquiring minds want to know. I forgot to mention that because I ran late the leasing office was closed (they close at 5:00 on Sundays) but one of the girls, Chai (pronounced Shay, not Chi) gave me her cell phone number so I could call when I got in and she brought me the keys. How sweet, huh!


By now you all realize that if there is going to be a mishap, I'm going to be in the middle of it. I blew up my Aero bed (Todd, it has a pump so I didn't hyperventilate) and got it all made up. Using one of the cardboard boxes upended for a nightstand. In the middle of the night I woke up and I was sinking in the bed. It seems to have a slow leak. Great! When I spoke to Carol later she said to put it in a tub of water to find the leak. It's a queen-size bed! There's no flippin' way I'm going to put that thing in the tub ... especially by myself. I have an 800 number to call. *sigh*


Johnnie (the mover) arrived about 8:30. He was by himself. He was unable to get anyone to help him. He gave me the checkoff sheets. There were 12 boxes packed by the other 2 guys and 24 items (not all boxes) packed by him. As he'd haul them up the stairs (30 stairs) he'd shout out the number of the item/box and I'd check it off. I think there are 4 or 5 boxes of books. Those suckers are heavy!! But not as heavy as the armoire.

He'd taken it apart, so the shelves were easy (of course!). The desk was a little heavy but he managed. The bottom cabinet is light and he just 'rolled' it end over end ... piece of cake. The cornice on the top cabinet was removable and he took it off. He said he'd been worried about that part because it angles out and has sharp corners. The top cabinet is a son-of-a-gun. He was panting and moaning, but he got it to the first landing. He couldn't get it around the corner though. Said he needed to lift it straight up and turn it a little. Then decided to remove the doors and that might give him the extra space he needed. He was removing the screws from the hinges but I showed him that these are self-releasing hinges (he was impressed!) so we took the doors off lickity-split. Still couldn't move the darned thing. It is HEAVY.

I suggested maybe he could find someone walking around outside that we could pay to help him. I'm in the kitchen area unpacking boxes while all this is going on. Then I hear him talking to someone and the next thing I know some guy is helping him bring it up the stairs and up to the next level! Cool! It made it through all that relatively unscathed. The bottom left-hand door has about a 3" scratch where the paint is off. I think I'll write to the guy who made it and ask what paint he used.

Johnnie was done by 11:30 and the cable guy had called to say he was running late so he'd be by about 12:00. He came and left in about an hour. Hooked up cable and internet. I brought the modem upstairs so I could set up my laptop in my room, using my Farmers conference room table as my computer desk. It's perfect! A few of you have said you want to see pictures. As soon as I find all my cables I'll post some pictures.

I spent most of the day making a mess. I had Johnnie put all my boxes in Carol's room so I could move around in mine. I did go to the store and get some basic supplies, and now that my boxes are here I have more. We have enough toilet paper stocked up to have company!! So come on up!

Carol and I have the same size closets, but hers has two sets of doors so she can access it better. Once the clothes hang in mine, I can't get to the far ends. In her bathroom (she has the master bedroom) she has a double sink which is no biggie, but she has double the cupboard space AND a drawer! I have no drawer. I have a 2 door cupboard and a washer/dryer. And a tub with shower. Not crazy about my bathroom. The things I do for scrapbooking.

I told Carol that I commandeered one of her bathroom cabinets to store the extra toilet paper and hand soap. There's very little storage upstairs. It's all in the kitchen!

So on to today. I got to the new Service Point about 7:15, signed in and asked the guard if he knew where the telecom dept is. Nope. Several construction type workers busily putting together work stations, or chairs or something. The two that I asked had no clue. I found a door with a big sign saying NO ADMITTANCE and warning the room had some kind of chemical safeguard or something. I didn't really read it. But I knew I'd found the server room. Walked around to the other side of the building (the place is HUGE) and asked someone else if he knew where the telecom group would be and he said to ask the electrician. Found him and asked him the same thing. He took me to the IBM room. *sigh* No sign of Carlos, my new coworker.

I called Peggy in Austin and she gave me Carlos's phone number. Also relayed a message from Adrian that we were both to go to Tigard and check in with Annette and also HR to make sure all our paperwork is done. I called Carlos and he was in Portland picking up his car. We agreed to meet in Tigard. Again .. thank goodness Magellan was over her mad and working!

Carlos is really nice! We hit it off right away. He's originally from Guatemala, but grew up in Los Angeles so we shared horror stories of So. Cal. He said he was going to his apartment complex this afternoon to see the unit they have available for him. I told him we'd found a place right away. Turns out we're in the same complex!! How funny is that.

After we were released from Tigard, we went to lunch (at Panera's!!) and spent some time getting to know one another. He has a 10 yr old son, but is divorced. His youngest sister may come up and live with him. He's more than willing to train me and get me set up with some online classes. I think I'll enjoy working with him. The best part is he has to take care of some business on Thursday and Friday and without him, there's nothing for me to do. So I'll use those days to get my car registered and call about my mattress.

Oh! I forgot to mention that when I found the box with the TV (small 13" one of the boys won in high school, so it's OLD) I set it up and the darn power button broke off! I can't turn it on. I don't think the remote got packed or if it did, I haven't found it yet. Haven't found my dishes either. All the remaining boxes say books or crafts. I'm hoping the dishes are there somewhere.

Carlos and I were done about 2:30 so he went to the leasing office to take care of his apartment business and I went looking for the library. It's closer to my house than I thought (I drove all around the outskirts yesterday, looking) because when Tami and Heather took me there, we were coming from the other side of town. I'm not yet familiar enough with my surroundings to figure out where the heck I am.

Anyway, I found it and THEY WERE HAVING A BOOK SALE! Now is that fate, or what. I found a couple books to fill in some series that I'm reading. Woo hoo. I also got a library card. They do something really cool here. They buy passes for local attractions called Culture Passes, and you can check them out and get in free! You can get passes for the Children's Museum, the Chinese Classical Garden, Japanese Gardens, Pittock Mansion, Portland Art Museum and the Rice N Museum of Rocks and Minerals. Each pass is good for multiple people -- usually 2 adults and 1 or 2 children, but it varies with each place. I love this idea!

On the way home from the library, I found Costco. Also close to our place! YAY I bought a few things, always keeping in mind that I would have to unload the car by myself and cart the stuff into the house and up the stairs by myself. I did get some bottled water, but I left it downstairs in the hall closet and I'll bring it up as needed. This Costco is really big. It has several floor displays of furniture. At least 3 beds and two living room sets. No samples though. I also found a Winco Foods on the same street. I might go there tomorrow to pick up a few things that I didn't need a lot of.

So basically this first day was a good day. I got a lot of things done and I like the idea that Costco is close enough for me to buy my gas there.

I'm really tired right now so I'm going to close. I have another restless night ahead of me with a slowly deflating mattress. I have GOT to get that fixed!!

You take care and keep in touch. I really miss you guys, but I'm keeping busy and enjoying the peace and quiet. I just heard Carol laugh at that.

Toodles!

Hillsboro, at last!

I've been trying to find a way to fix the first part of this blog so someone who is new to it can just start reading at the bottom and work their way up. I'll figure it out but I don't really have the time to waste on it right now.

Again with the tips. I'm telling you ... I'm going to start charging! I should start a consulting business. "Sharon's Screwups -- let me screw up, so you don't have to!"

Tip #1 - when moving any distance, be sure to bring along a roll of toilet paper. If you're flying, pack it in your suitcase. If driving, throw it in the car. You may not have time to dig through boxes and if your boxes are on a moving van, who knows when you'll get it! Sure, you can run to the store .. but do you have time for that?? 'Nuf said.

Tip #2 - if your Magellan freezes up on you, turn it off. Push the ON button and hold it for 10 seconds. Not until it turns on -- for 10 full seconds. Count them. One, one thousand. Two, one thousand, etc. It will come on and turn off again. It's supposed to. You are just rebooting it. It's fine.

I woke up really early on Sunday, and promptly went back to sleep. Well, not PROMPTLY. I was hoping to get on the road by 5:00 or 5:30, but since I woke up at 5:00 that was pretty much thrown out the window. I did manage to get the rest of my stuff in the car (those last minute items that you can't pack until you walk out the door) and start the engine about 6:15, give or take. I put an audio book in the tape player (Eragon) and headed out. I was using the Magellan even though it was pretty much a straight shot up I-5. So when she said to take the exit for I-505 I was a little nervous! It was way before the turnoff for Davis and I knew I wasn't near I-5 yet ... but being the brave soul that I am, I took the exit.

My heart is skipping a little beat because there is NOTHING on this stretch of highway. Just a lot of farmland. I have no idea how long this will last. Praying I won't need gas before I see a gas station. Wonderiing if I should have invested in a Thomas Guide. Darn Magellan! What does she know? She doesn't live here! Turns out she knows more than I do. It hooks up with I-5 and I avoided that long drive across 80 to Sacramento. Whew.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. I stopped for gas twice in California, my strategy being to fill the tank when it reached the 1/2 level. Not taking any chances. I hit a couple of rest stops on the way to get out and stretch my legs and give my eyes a break from asphalt and car bumpers. Hit a McDonalds on my first gas stop and got a breakfast biscuit. Other than that, I ate snack size raisins the rest of the way. Oh, and a single serving bag of Lays Baked potato chips.

When I hit Creswell, OR I stopped to visit with Cal's two brothers and a sister-in-law. It has been several years since we've seen one another so it was nice to spend a little time together even though it wasn't very long. When I was leaviing Larry and Sandy's (you know how you always refer to the married in-laws as "John and Mary" never just "John" or "Mary") I turned on the Magellan and it wouldn't come on. At all. Everything was plugged in, but it had been sitting in the hot car, so I was assuming she was suffering from heat exhaustion. After a minute or so it came on (whew!) and I headed out.

Yes, I was tired. I also had no makeup on and I finger-combed my hair in the morning so I wasn't looking my best. When I left, those brats called Cal to say that I looked really tired. So of course, he called me right away to see if I was alright. That rest stop did a world of good though.

I also had regular calls from Tami/Heather. They were just checking on my progress. Making sure I was okay. At one point they called to say they were at the apartment waiting for me to help me unload! How sweet is that!

At my last gas stop, Magellan gave up the ghost. She wouldn't display the map any more. When I started the car, it went to the User Settings screen and I couldn't get past it. Couldn't back up and could only go forward one more screen. SHOOT! When I left the station to get back on the freeway, she was still talking to me but I didn't know if she'd keep that up. Just outside of Salem, Tami called again and I told her I had no idea where I'm going because Magellan wouldn't show me the map. She told me to take the 217 exit and call her, and they'd talk me through it. As I came up to the 217 exit, Magellan told me to take that exit! She was still talking to me!! YAY

She got me all the way to the apartment and Tami, Heather and Tami's daughter, Heaven helped me unload the car. They actually did 99.9% of it. (I must have looked REALLY tired) We walked across the street to the mall and I had dinner at Rosie's while they had dessert (they'd already eaten dinner an hour earlier while they were waiting for me). I don't know whose dumb idea it was to walk! We wound up taking the long way around because none of us knew for sure where the restaurant was in relation to my apartment. I thought I could use the exercise but I was more tired than I realized. It was fun though, and I so appreciated them showing up like that. I'd have been up until midnight moving things into the house.

Just so you know, there are 30 steps up to the 3rd floor. Eight steps up from the ground floor, then a landing and 6 more steps to the 2nd floor. Turn the corner and eight steps to the next landing and 8 more to the 3rd floor.

I know I'm a day behind, and tomorrow is the first day on the job, but I'll try to get caught up. There wasn't as much happening today but still have things to share.

Sleep tight, until next time!