Blustery Day

It is blustery and cold and it snowed last night. All very exciting for a temperate marine climate like ours. We've had more snow events this year than in the last ten that I've lived here. Two years ago there was one big snow event. The kids loved it. It hit the day after they returned from Christmas break and kept them out of school the entire rest of the week. I think we had 8" of snow or something. Hampton Roads was paralized. It just wasn't ready for it. They've gotten much better about the whole thing now.

In any event, today is a holiday for me, this was supposed to be a snow-make-up-day but school is closed because of the snow and dangerous roads. The irony is almost too perfect to contemplate. I'm sure the administration is steaming mad. I wouldn't give two cents for it at all if I didn't have 75% of my immediate family dependent on whether the schools were open or not. Two teenagers, and Kent teaches high school.

The alarm went clicked on at 5:30 this morning. Bomp Bomp Bomp, went Blue Man Group, and my first two thoughts were:
1. Gotta change that CD, it's been out wake-up music for six months.
2. Gee, wonder if NPS finally posted a "school closed" notice.

Didn't change the cd. NPS did post. Kent asks: Do you really want to get up now? I answer: sure, why not. I make a pot of coffee. I can get ahead in my homework. It's all Access2002 anyway, it's a no-brainer. If I don't get an A in this class I will realy have been lazy. More than lazy. But it's quiet, I can listen to streaming WRHV, one of the local NPR stations, and do homework.

Problem with a new computer....

...Is all the software you have to RELOAD. And all the software you realize, Oh, Shit, I didn't actually PAY for that...d'oh! Like WinZip. $29. Easy. So off I go with my little blue and silver check card in hand from site to site making sure that I'm a REAL, LEGAL software owner.

Yes, I'm a reformed, recovering leech. Mostly. Ok, pirate. Whatever. I don't have a parrot on my shoulder and you'd be surprised at just how many average middle class Americans have "pirated" their friend's copy of, oh, Adobe Photoshop for instance.

I reformed when I realized that I was getting bitchy about MY creative property but didn't give two snaps for Adobe or Microsofts software. This was about....oh....two years ago. But I'm not perfect. I speed. I tell white lies occasionally if it will get me that extra 10% discount (Why yes, I'm a senior citizen - NOT!)

Let's face it, though, the really dedicated pirates do it because
(a) they can
(b) they can proove that they can
(c) they can't stand Microsoft, Adobe, Macromedia, Sierra, Sony, and whomever else for actually, gasp, charging what the market will bare for a piece of very good programming effort.

Hello? Did it ever occur to anyone that programming is HARD WORK?

Actually, it's a piece of cake. What isn't easy is debugging that slick code you thought you wrote. Been there. It's like a little detective journey which some people (me) like and which others (K) steer clear of at all costs.

To My Valentines

Happy Valentines Day
to my friends,
my family,
my kids,
and,
especially,
Kent.

Wow, Vaio, Wow

I bought a Vaio this week. Wow. This has got to be the best laptop I've ever used. The best computer I've ever used. I'm a walking talking advertisement for Sony Vaio. Go. Run and get one. Now. You won't be sorry. It's a GRX670, which is a recently discontinued model but who cares, it's still faster than the P3 that the boys have completely taken over. Funny, it's a lot like a MAC. Or wait, is that the XP Operating System? Hm.....

Actually, XP is much nicer than it has any right to be, and I'm surprised I like it so much. Microsoft finally got plug-n-play right and mostly handles it in the background.

The sound and video cards on this machine are to die for. Beautiful sound on my headphones which aren't the greatest. SonicStage is a neat little piece of software. Not enough visualizations.

Moving right along. Starbucks recently opened a store located on the route I take to work. Hee hee. 8:30 every morning finds me getting my venti Breakfast Blend with extra room for cream. Nya Nya Nya.

I feel overwhelmed at work and in school right now. Work has me on the merger technology transition team. I'm taking on more responsibility than I'm used to and it's kinda scary. I talked to my boss about it and of course he is more than willing to mentor me along. That's good, too, because I need it. My challenge is that I'm barely keeping up with both the transition activities, my regular stuff (like one-on-ones with my directs, taking care of escalations, managing processes), and the application I support and maintain and program and tweak.

Luv My House

This may sound dorky but I love my house. I really do. I love how the sun slants in through the east windows and makes the gold walls glow. I love the big sturdy columns that demarc the living room from the foyer and the dining room from the living room. I love the coolness of the sage walls in the foyer and how different that is from the red in the dining room. I love the french doors in the dining room and the massive baseboards holding everything solidly in place. I love that I don't have to squeeze between table and wall to get from one room to another. I love having nine feet of dining table at which to work, play, and dine. Last summer it was the test lab for Kent's networking class.

I especially like this time of year when I begin to think of putting up the holiday decorations, the greens and reds of the garlands between the columns, the twinkly lights sparkling above the chestnut floors, listening to Christmas jazz waft through the rooms from the 1970's hifi monstrosity that was left here by the previous owners.

Oh, ya, sure, I like the second and third floors, too, I spent loads of time there. But the first floor is my favorite place to be. I wish the rest of the house looked like it.

I could take this house and drop it anywhere in the world. We didn't move here because of the neighborhood although it's a good neighborhood. We moved here because we fell in love with the house. Two years later we still love the house. It's our haven away from the world, despite the work yet to be done.

The kitchen desparately needs to be remodeled. The carpeting upstairs should be pulled up and all floors, first and second, need to be refinished. Some windows could be replaced. A door needs repainting and another door replaced. The horribly ugly fireplace circa 1950's needs to be ripped out and replaced or closed up. I'd like to finish the basement but that's at the very bottom of my list. Repaint the front porch, this wonderful 32' expanse of Fall and Spring outdoor living. Repoint the front stairs, rebuild the back porch. And a bunch of other little things. Refinish the thirteen columns on the front.

And maybe, just maybe, I should write all this stuff down and prioritize it. Maybe I should go and get that belt sander today and work on the columns. I'll bet I could make a big dent in the work while Kent is working his magic with a pork loin for an afternoon dinner. Maybe I should get serious about the bathroom decor and give it a little oomph instead of leaving it so sterile.

Chewy Chewy Scroll Buttons

We found this great website called Homestarrunner.com. There is this guy called Strong Bad who reminds me of a grungier Space Ghost in attitude. He responds to email in a on-the-edge kind of way we all with we could. Check it out.

In other news...

Cappucine, at almost 14 years old (98 in dog years), is getting slow and beginning to show signs of physical decline. She's had canine old-age stuff going on for a couple of years, but this week its getting more difficult for her to manage the stairs. She won't even contemplate going down the 20 steps from the 2nd level deck to the ground. She just looks at it and says "no way, Jose." She's been leaning against the railing as she gets down stairs indoors, but this morning she lost her footing. Nick says she actually slid down five steps. Poor girl. She got right back up like nothing happened. Her time is coming, I think, and our intention, since she doesn't have any major disease other than arthritis, is to let her go quietly on her on time and terms. I hope it isn't this year. It was really difficult losing Bart to bone cancer last spring.

I have always had such mixed feelings about Cappucine. In my mind she has always been Kent's dog just a little more than she's been "our" dog. I'm not sure why. She's been physically so difficult over the years, what with her flea allergies and thyroid problems. We stopped all her meds about two years ago because neither of us really thought she was getting much benefit from them. She's no worse off now that she was so I still don't think it was necessarily a bad idea. She had a seizure a few months ago that lasted about 2 minutes. It was a really long two minutes, scared the crap out of all of us, and she was really out of it for another couple of hours. She hasn't had another one that we've seen. But, we don't see her from about 830 in the morning until 3 in the afternoon. (Update from 2005: She's still hanging in there!)

We'll all be sad, there's no doubt, but Nick and Kent are going to be the most affected when she passes away. She used to spend every night on Nick's bed when he was younger. He won't let her up now, though, because she farts so badly and regularly. And when her flea dermatitis is at its worst, she just plain stinks. It's really difficult to put any kind of anti-itch spray or steroid lotion on her to reduce the itching because she's so passionately against it.

I'm into my second week of school and damn is it hard! Networking isn't my forte and writing the two papers and the post for the discussion board this last week was the hardest I've worked in a really long time. I will say I've turned into a decent writer (not that THIS is any indication!) and I've learned better how to learn. Sometimes it pays to wait until you're almost 40 to return to school, but I'm not sure I recommend it for everyone.

Over and out, time to get ready for work.

Isn't that a song?

Been a long time. Been a long, long time, been a long... Isn't that a song?

Ya, well, I dropped off the face of the earth, it seems like - at least in terms of this blog and my not-in-Virginia family. I had my first class at AIU-Online (got an A), a hurricane (Isabel), and a Toastmasters Competition in Baltimore (made it to the regional semi-final, didn't place for the finals). And that pretty much took up the bulk of my world from July through Now.

I'm not feeling very motivated or creative at the moment, either, mostly because I have two sprained ribs (probably, will see doctor on Monday) and they hurt like hell and make moving about somewhat uncomfortable, and sleeping is really awful. The doubly awful thing is K. Ok, I'm in pain and yet I'm STILL running around doing errands. Every try to drive with sprained ribs? It's no treat. So I'm pissed off after going to get cash and smokes, I come in the door and he offers to make breakfast for me. Dammit, there's the problem. I'm ready to get all mad and he goes and does nice stuff. Offers up his desk so I can use my laptop while he is out doing yardwork. I hate it when that happens.

I'd meant to sit here and do work - real work, work on the sharepoint portal server, work on the project tracking thing, but I've been up and around for four hours and I'm tired. My body is tired from compensating for these two or three ribs that are out-of-order. So I'm ready for a little nap. I feel like such a scuzzy lame-o. I hate hate hate being in pain.

Oh To Be Inspired

I am too serious a baker, I realize that now. I just take the entire prospect of baking to a level of seriousness that takes the fun and inspiration out of baking. I bake to impress. I've never baked just for the fun and enjoyment of the final product. Not usually, anyway. Strawberry shortcake, that is for fun and enjoyment. Chocolate fudge cake with dried cranberries...that is to impress, despite the fact that it's a seriously great cake done well. I want to regain the fun in baking.

I enjoy making pasta dishes. That is fun, and I love the result. I love the preperation of the ingredients, using my favorite knife to chop up or slice or dice or chifonade the veggies, add the garlic at just the right time to avoid it burning. Using my favorite pans. I feel like I know what I'm doing! And I have fun.

Here are the things I like to bake: Pumpkin Bread, Overnight Sticky Buns, Lemon Poppyseed Shortbread, the shortcakes for strawberry shortcake, biscuits, Cherry, Apple, Blueberry Pie, Boston Cream Pie, Cheesecake. Cheesecake is a challenge that I swear I'm going to master, without the crack down the center. Someday. Still looking for the perfect "tip" on that. I've tried cheesecake a thousand different ways. I have a chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache that is outa this world. But still. Too serious.

K made a Bisquick coffee cake today. It was perfect. Moist, extra struesel topping. I'm jealous. He just does it, doesn't think about it or impressing anyone, he's making it because that is what he is craving right now. It's fabulous. He added a tablespoon of oil to the batter. How did he know to do that? What am I missing in this equation?

I'm really not an inspired cook or baker. I follow the recipe exactly. To the letter. I don't know how not to. It's alot like coloring inside the lines. I don't know how to go outside the lines. I don't know how to veer away from The Recipe and do something REALLY EXCITING. He's very good at "winging it." I'm not. On the other hand, I'm really good at other things, and am inspired other ways. I'll figure this thing out. Truly I'll figure this thing out.

And yes, as always, it IS all about me.