What HAVE I forgotten?

Mom and Dad are picking me up between 3 and 3:15.  Dad is taking us to the airport, where we will board a 5:30 flight to Detroit, where we change planes for Amsterdam, where we change planes for Bordeaux.  Mom and I are going on a 7-night Smithsonian cruise from Bordeaux to Britain!

I have packed:

2 skirts
4 pairs of pants
1 pair of capris
4 collared shirts
1 jacket
1 cardigan
9 pairs underwear
8 pairs socks
3 bras
2 pairs tennis shoes
1 pair sandals
shampoo
conditioner
body butter
perfume
makeup
3 inhalers
1 bottle vitamins
3 ponytail holders
4 bottles medication
toothbrush
toothpaste
mouthwash
camera
netbook
sunscreen
cash

and I still feel as if I'm forgetting something!  :headdesk:

Ya'll be good while I'm gone, and no raucous parties!

Leftovers from the trip and a great reason to be home

My flight home was unremarkable except for the couple of hours I got to spend at the airport with Captain Crossword and the princesses.

I see that I forgot to post this picture of a calm, cool and collected Jack Russell terrier being a service dog:

He and his person were seeing the sights as I was waiting for John and Jen at the Leaky Cauldron.

Universal Studios Day Three: Saturday, March 19

On Saturday, we all went to the park.  Mom had us all organized and eating breakfast at 8 and on the shuttle by 8:30, even Scary Bear.  We got off the bus, hiked the mile to security and got held up because NONE of us remembered that Dad carries a Swiss Army knife.  It's just a normal part of his pocket detritus, and he's had it for 40 or so years and didn't want to lose it.  Eventually, he checked the knife with security and we were free to go on our way.

We went on the Shrek ride, which was really a 3D movie in a theater with moving seats.  The movie was so clever and funny and of course there's a happy ending.  My favorite bit was the shout-out to the Blues Brothers.  After the show, we walked over to Diagon Alley, and the girls decided they wanted to ride the Gringott's ride again, and this time Mom and I went with them.  We didn't need a locker because we had Scary Bear and Captain Crossword!

There's a "gold" statue of the founding goblin outside Gringott's, a beautiful main gallery and lots of animatronic goblins hard at work with quills, parchment and scales.  The ride was as good as the Hogwarts ride, and I see why the girls wanted to do it again.

Universal Studios Day Two: Friday, March 18

I woke up at 6:30 and was out of the room and looking for coffee by 6:40.  Unfortunately the food court/diner didn't open until 7:00 and there was a line, so I went to Starbucks and paid $3 for a non-refillable cup of mediocre coffee and drank it outside.  I then wandered back to the room and saw that Mom was awake, but she told me she was going to go back to sleep if she could, so read quietly for a while.  Eventually, I got my sunscreen and makeup on, pulled my hair into a ponytail and grabbed my phone and my camera.  I sent a quick text to my brother, and found out that he and the girls were headed down for breakfast, so I met them there.

Both girls had chocolate chip pancakes, since they'd had waffles for breakfast every day since Sunday.  I had scrambled eggs, potatoes and sausage gravy, and Captain Crossword had an omelet.  After breakfast we walked to the end of the parking lot and caught the shuttle to the park.  The ride was about 5 minutes, and then we walked about a mile to get to security.  After that we had to walk through the City Center section of the park, which does not require admission and is probably about another half mile long.

Finally we were in the park!  I loved the Minion recruiting posters:

And then the Minions ride, which started at Gru's house:

Many more pictures after the jump!

Universal Studios Day One: Thursday, March 17

Last Wednesday, I came home from work, threw the dog in the car and took her to the kennel.  Then I went to bed early so I could get up at 5:30 Thursday morning, drink my coffee, get dressed, and get to the airport in time for a 9:30 flight.  At this point, my caloric intake for the day consisted of two cups of coffee with milk & sweetener.

The flight to Philly was on time leaving and on time landing, but I still had fewer than 30 minutes to get from the terminal in which I arrived to the one from which my plane was departing.  I made it and boarded, only to run out of battery life on my netbook.  So I tried to nap until we landed in Orlando.

After a difficult experience picking up my brother and nieces at the airport, Mom and Dad asked me to find my own way from the airport to the hotel.  Unlike Disney World, Universal Studios does not have a shuttle from the airport to their hotels, but I went with the one they recommended and had a decent ride for less than the cost of a taxi.  We were staying at the Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal.

When I got to the hotel at 3ish, they told me that since Mom and I forgot to change my initial reservation from starting on 3/16 to starting on 3/17, they rented the room to someone else.  Then, they wouldn't let me stay in one of the remaining rooms unless I paid off the balance on both rooms for 3 nights.  So I called Mom and had a meltdown on the phone, then went to the restaurant and had an overpriced and misspelled lunch.  Ceasar salad, anyone? :-p

By the time the family pulled into the hotel parking lot, overheated and exhausted, I was more or less over my fit of pique, and after we'd all checked in and hauled luggage to our rooms (I shared with Mom & Dad), Dad took a nap and Mom and I went to the pool with Captain Crossword and the princesses.  The hotel pools were both very fancy, and the girls had a few rides on the slide before they decided they'd rather play Hop on Pop and try to drown my brother. :-D

After we were all cooled off and calmed down, we went and had dinner at the "diner" in the hotel.  It's much too big to be a diner, but it had the decor, there were hamburgers available at the food court, and the four giant TV screens on the walls showed a loop of NBC and Universal logos and TV commercials from the 1950s and 1960s.  Mom and I split a Margherita pizza and then my niece and I both had the lemon tart for dessert.  Princess STEM loves lemon and lemon flavored things as much as I do (or maybe even more).  I had a quick shower and plugged in the netbook and my phone for charging and was out like a light by 10.

Downs and ups

Wednesday was Call Day, which is the one day of the month when I play bailiff, and although I've gotten much better at it in the last year, it's still a little stressful.  Then I had a co-worker have a hissy fit at me (I think as a stand-in for the rest of the world) and give me work that she didn't feel she could do impartially.  So I fell off the non-smoking wagon. :-(

Thursday was an appointment with my regular doc to see if she'd be willing to take over prescribing my Lexapro.  My neurologist was responsible for it, but it costs $500 to see him, and even if I only pay $60 of it, add in driving time, cost of gas, cost of parking and it adds up quickly.  In addition, the county is self-insured and I'd like not to be the straw that broke the county's back.  Dr. J was willing to prescribe Lexapro for me, but when I asked about an increase, she said I'm at the maximum safe dosage.  So she put me on 5 milligrams of Wellbutrin, and asked me to come back in 6 weeks.

I went in to work, did the Orders from Call Day, which the judge has to sign, and came home and slept.  I'm not proud of that bout of self-pity, but it happened and now it's over and I'm moving on.  Moving on was helped immeasurably by a phone call from my friend Doc, who has been my friend since second grade--she's getting married, and she graciously acceded to my demand to be the clerk who signs her marriage license.

Three of us had drinks after work Friday night and had fun.  I'm still looking forward to Universal with Captain Crossword and the Princesses, and meeting Jen and John from Cakewrecks, and yes, my friend Donna backed up the wagon so I can climb back on.  So life is far from awful, and I have many, many, lots of things to which I look forward.

Leftovers and unremembered dreams

Mom and Dad are leaving tomorrow for Florida, so yesterday when I was at their house, Mom gave me a bunch of perishables.  Since the sour cream absolutely had to be used up first, I started with a batch of picnic potatoes, or as Sherri named them, Potatoes of Doom:

The ham adds the protein these needed, and because I am a lazy Jammies, or perhaps because I got all the laundry done, the sheets changed and made a quick trip to the grocery store before I ran out of spoons, I didn't have a veggie.  I drank 4 oz. of grapefruit juice and called it a complete meal.

Dessert will be something I've fallen hard for:

Lemon Peeps!  This was a total surprise.  I blame their purchase on The Impulsive Buy, but they're my new addiction because they're very good.  Ordinary Peeps are far too sweet, but the lemon perfectly balances the sweetness.

I did of course take a nap today, because it's Sunday.  I woke up with a frustrating awareness of having had VERY odd dreams but not being able to recall them.  It may be because I am always unsettled when my mom is out of town.  I miss her a great deal.

Well, it's time to set up the coffee for tomorrow morning, start the dishwasher and settle in for the finale/Christmas special of Downton Abbey.

By the numbers

Attorneys I've dealt with this week:

Passive-aggressive, 2
Patronizing, 1
Argumentative, 3
Determined to re-write a previous discussion, 1
Funny, 2
Charming, 2
Irritating poser, 1
Failure who tried to go over my head, 1
Lying sack of weasel shit, 1
Irritating because they're filing stuff at 3:59, 2

Members of the public I've dealt with this week:

Sweet and sad, 1
Slightly odd, 1
Loud but adorable, 2
Loud and argumentative, 1
Prone to empty promises, 1
Bat-shit crazy, 2
Just did not understand, 1

But thankfully, unlike last week, no one screamed at our chief magistrate so loudly that 4 people pushed their panic buttons.

That was fun, I should have done it sooner and I will do it again

Last night I did something I don't ordinarily do, and made a phone call at 10:00.  When I got my aunt's answering machine, I apologized for calling so late, but I just had to talk about Downton Abbey.  Thankfully, she picked up and I hadn't scared her, and we had a wonderful conversation about the show.  Next week, I promised to call her on Monday, but last night I couldn't wait BECAUSE PUPPY!

Speaking of puppies, my next dog is going to be either a lab or a lab/shepherd mix.  Of course, with any luck, it will be a good long while before I get to the next dog.  Little Miss Piggie Pie is still going strong, although she has packed on some poundage (just like her owner) and I've been calling her Fat Squirrel.

I enjoyed my 3-day weekend, but didn't get as much done as I wanted to.  The laundry is done, the sheets changed and 4 of 6 storage cubes are put together.  Work tomorrow should be, erm, interesting (objection hearings).

A lovely ordinary day

I woke up at 5:50, absolutely convinced that it was Monday.  As the dog was eating and the coffee was dripping, I realized that it's Sunday!

Then I got my grocery shopping done and realized my rewards card was up to 10¢ off per gallon of gas, which was presently $1.409, so I filled my tank for $1.3309 per gallon!

Then I got the laundry done by 5 p.m. and found a $10 bill in the process!

Yeah, James pretty well summed it up for me:

This is your brain on migraine

So I missed work yesterday because of the first migraine in 5 or 6 months.  I spent the day sleeping, got up and assessed, had a hot bath and some more meds and then moar sleeping.

I woke up with a bit of a headache but also with my typical post-migraine thing where I'm jittery and so sensitive that it feels like my nerves start four inches outside of my skin.  I managed to get dressed and drive to work, and get through 3 hours (including auditing one fiduciary account and one guardian account) before the headache started to grow and my sense of smell tripled.  The latter is my biggest pre-migraine warning, and I heeded it and gtfo of work.

When I got home, I let the dog out, explained to her that it wasn't 4:20 so no, not dinnnertime, took off my coat and went to turn up the heat.  Oh, shit, the thermostat screen is blank and none of the buttons make it be not-blank.

Schlep down to the basement and check the breaker, which is in its proper position.  Flip it off and then back on again on General Principles (salutes).  Come back upstairs and call 1-800-DADHELP.

Unfortunately, Dad is still sick with flu or norovirus, whichever one he got last week.  He listens to me try to word and tells me to call Hudson Heating.  I do, and speak with a nice young woman who tells me they can have someone at my house between 1 and 4.  There goes my nap, but okay, maybe I can color while I wait.  Two minutes after we hang up, a different young woman calls and asks if I checked the batteries in the thermostat.

Headdesk.  No, I did not.  Guess what it turned out to be?  I called everyone back, with lavish praise for the young woman at HH who saved me the cost and embarrassment of a service call.

I forgive both Dad and myself for missing something so obvious because WE R SEECK and I have heat and a marginally clearer head after meds and a three hour rest.

The Cupcake of Doom

aka my day.

Today being the first day of the month, we had objection hearings.  The magistrate doing them was ready, the hearing room was set up, and we had a LOT more people show up than we were planning for.  Two of the cases wound up being re-directed to another magistrate, and as I was running back and forth with files and making sure everyone was checked in, a co-worker snapped at me about how poorly organized the hearings were and how a third co-worker (who hadn't said a thing to me) was being importuned by people asking her questions.

Later, when my boss said something to me, I told him the truth about how I felt, and essentially got told to get over it, that's just this co-worker's personality.  HellOOO that does not make it okay.  If I went around interrupting visibly busy people just to snipe at them and then said it was how I roll I don't think I'd keep my job very long.  Fortunately, the magistrate didn't think it was a big deal and the actual hearings went smoothly.

By the time all of that stuff was handled, it was lunchtime.  An hour away from my desk was really not long enough, but I went back like a good employee, only to spend the afternoon trying to audit inventories while taking phone calls from idiots.

After work, I went to Staples, intending to mail three simple packages.  Of course, instead I locked my purse, packages, phone and AAA card in the car.  A nice manager at Staples let me use their phone to call Mom and ask her to call AAA, which she did.  I waited for almost an hour, missing the UPS pickup while I did, but eventually a tow truck arrived.  The idiot inside said truck pulled up behind my car and sat in there until I approached him, then rolled down his window and asked for my card.  IT'S IN THE CAR, IDIOT!  is what I did not scream at him.

Once the car was unlocked, I got my stuff out and turned in and paid for, got back in the car and came home with a pounding headache.  At least the poor neglected hound was glad to see me, oh, and my hair still looks good.

Sea change

Today is Monday, so I'm rather surprised to find myself in a better mood than I was yesterday.  Granted, I did not have to do laundry all day, but I did have to deal with needy customers, entitled attorneys and slightly grumpy co-workers.

Still, I got awesome pens for everyone for 60¢ each, wore a kickass outfit, had a carrot cake cupcake for breakfast and didn't make any egregious errors.  Plus, I was reminded that my presence at Friday night's after-work drinks party was appreciated, and I reminded myself that on Saturday, I by-golly started and finished Mom's payroll taxes in 3.5 hours.

And then I came home and there was a sweetly supportive comment on a blog entry that made me A. smile and B. resolve to get someone's birthday pressie mailed ASAP.

Some days I wish I were a dog

Little Miss Piggie Pie is sleeping on the floor by my chair, blissfully ignorant of the nasty things called "consequences" which have plagued me all day.  It's not that they don't apply to her, just that she doesn't think that far ahead.

Ignore your laundry for two weeks, get a Horta on the basement floor (image courtesy of Mallie)
Smoke for 35 years, have lung issues.
Quit smoking, gain 11 pounds.
Sleep on an 18 year old mattress, have a sore back.

Nothing horrible, nothing earth-shaking, just irritating, especially because it's my own fricking fault.

Car stuff!

1958 Volvo PV544 with my dad in the driver's seat.

In Dad's own words:

In spring of 1963 this Little marvel of Swedish engineering agreed to take me across the plains and deserts of Rt. 66 to the Mojave Desert. It never failed me, although it sacrificed portions of its valves and piston rings to get me there. Long May it Run.

I have my oil change appointment tomorrow morning at 8:42 (yes, they're that precise).

In other car stuff, to the owner(s) of the nice house in the spottily-gentrified area of Akron I drive through on my way to and from work, your BEWARE of dog signs only work as long as people don't see your two little terriers in the yard being all adorbs.  Hyperbole aside, cuteness is not a killing weapon.

To the dude with the Star Trek personalized message on a Superman license plate, I am really impressed at your mingling of fandoms and a little bummed that you're probably married.

To the person with the plate 8U4DNR, why would you hate someone for choosing a Do Not Resuscitate order?  That's very selfish.

To the person with the plate N8FKIN, whose next of kin and why does it matter?

Bits and pieces

My adorable dog is hard on toys, so I buy inexpensive ones with no faces.  This is what she does to them:

So on Sunday night, I went in with the big trash can and cleaned up all the bits of stuffing and other debris while LMPP made pathetic noises which I translated as "I'm not done with that" and "That one's still good, really!"

When I got out of the shower, she was lying in the hall on top of two unshredded toys, nibbling on a third.  Nobody is going to get Smaugette's hoard now!

Work is interesting right now.  We've had a streak of people doing really dumb things, like forgetting to mail in paperwork, etc.  There is also lots of work going on as the front counter area gets renovated.  Most of the work is being done at night, but today maintenance was taking apart half of our file storage shelves and moving the other half.

Power tools on metal shelving made our court sound as if we should be answering the phones "Stormer's Tire and Lube, how may I help you?"

Yesterday was Call Day, so that's over for the month and we have Monday off, so I'm getting an oil change.  For the first time since I bought Edgar, I am truly angry with Ford.  The coolant light was on, so I bought universal coolant and then couldn't get any in the car because the fill opening was under the rigid part of the hood.  I wound up using a kitchen funnel held at an extreme angle and my hand braced around it to catch any spills, all at 7 p.m. in my unheated garage.  But the light went off today, so victory for me!

This post brought to you by the letter W, for whining...

because all I can think of this a clip from Murphy Brown in which Candice Bergen, with the help of her castmates, sings the following song to a cigarette:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etObzeLEjDM&list=PL3067A5A3AAE31596&index=9

I have had one cigarette in the last week, and a very expensive boatload of nicotine gum and lozenges.  It has made me worry about how self-destructive I am, because even when I can feel that my lungs need me to quit, I still want to smoke.  I've gained seven pounds, and I know it's just a matter of keeping on, but damn, it's hard.  My boss and my mom are being super-supportive on a daily basis, and I know that my friends are there for me.  One pssstinking* day at a time.

*neologism courtesy of Smoke and Mirrors by Tanya Huff, a true 5-star book and one of my comfort reads.

Happy Hogswatch!

The Hogfather does not leave pork products in my stocking, but family and friends were awfully good to me this year!  I had a home-cooked brunch with family, and got the following:

5 pairs of socks (I am truly loved!)
1 pair of handmade mittens
3 gorgeous artisanal candles
A frog keychain
4 books
Christmas ornament earrings
4 Lush bath bars/bubble bombs
Purple fleece jammies
A box of awesome candy from a local chocolatier
A pretty tone-on-tone grey pashmina
A purse made from a man's suit
2 containers of my SIL's homemade cookies

Grr

I woke up at 6:20 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep, which made me cranky and made the dog very happy because BREAKFAST NOW PLEASE.  So I got up, got dressed, and went to do my shopping.  I hit two grocery stores and the drugstore, finding everything except wintergreen lozenges for my little brother, then got gas and stopped at the warehouse store for lightbulbs, and then went to Staples, where I hit a snag--they don't open until 11 on Sundays. :-(

So it was home again and unload the groceries, change the sheets, unload the dishwasher and put new lightbulbs and decorations on the outdoor lights by the front door.  All that by 10:30 and I am Out Of Spoons.

Since I just can't make myself go back to the mall area on the Sunday before Christmas, I have now officially missed the shipping window for Christmas delivery to Jay and Mallie.  I know that they won't hold it against me, but I do.  I think Imma go take a nap now.

Somewhere, somewhen, I did something right.

Yesterday was Call Day, which is smoother now, and on my review the judge noted "great improvement" since I took charge of it in January.  So I got through that and still managed to audit and docket filings for 15 or so cases, yay me!

Last night was the office Christmas party and gift exchange.  We met at a local bar music room for a yummy buffet and the budget covered everyone's first drink.  I had a wonderful, very very spicy Bloody Mary which came with an olive, a slice of lemon, a dill pickle spear and a piece of bacon.  It was a meal in a glass, basically.

When everyone had eaten, the judge stood by the stage and thanked us all for coming and then started the gift exchange.  This is our third year of doing a White Elephant/Steal the Present and it's a lot of fun.  My gift to the exchange was the cowboy boot-shaped shot glasses I got at the 2013 party, and a growler of my brother's Buttface Amber Ale.  My office-mate originally got it, but had it stolen from her by one of our investigators.  I originally opened a gift bag with a "bathroom book" 52 Things to Do While You Poo plus a travel-sized assortment of Poo-Pourri products.

Gifts ran the gamut from beer (mine and a mini-keg of Heineken) to light-up yard decorations (a dachshund in a Santa suit) to assorted Christmas decor both tacky and classy, and cookware and such.  Our chief magistrate was delighted with a set of decorate-your-own gingerbread men and our judicial attorney threatened repercussions if anyone stole her Christmas lights.  Luckily for me, I was not stuck with my poo-related present and was able to steal the gift that made my night and my year, hand-painted by one of our marriage license clerks.

I try to avoid names, but this particular co-worker is young, incredibly nice, an artist, a skilled baker and apparently, she also paints pottery!

Behold, a mug I will love for a long time: