Sometimes getting older is great

"It's important to understand that time is fluid. I think that women go through a crisis at 30, or whenever, when they feel their youth is over. But you know what? Your youth may be over in terms of chronology, but you might just be about to become free of all the silly high school things that were holding you back from being experimental and innovative and creative. There are times in your future when you will be more beautiful than you are today; you need to get old enough to be that beautiful."

-Lt. General Claudia Kennedy U.S. Army

One crazy day

Today got a little hairy.

I had decided last night to cancel my physical therapy appointment today. After all, I was JUST there yesterday afternoon. At 8 this morning I called and cancelled my appointment.

Around 9, Julie figured out that she didn't have one of the manuals that she needed to put in with the project she was working on. And it was a manual for one of my products. And the manual didn't exist. OK, scratch everything I was going to do today. We need to get this done. Right now someone is withholding a HUGE (read: upper 6 digits) payment from our company on the basis of their not having a manual.

So, on with the process. We figure out that this product uses a part we've never heard of before. We go in search of a picture of said part. We find the picture, but can't manipulate it the way we need to because of our recent conversion to a newer system used to house/generate the images.

I make a couple of phone calls. Some wonderful person makes the process happen for us.

Around 12:30 I finally get the image I need. I proceed to spend the next 2-3 hours deleting things from it. I know, it sounds crazy. But trust me, it really does take that long. And, yes, I do love my job.

By the end of the day, the manual is almost completely done. This is thanks in large part to some work we did a while ago to produce a template.

Maybe tomorrow I can get my normally scheduled work done.

Or maybe tomorrow will throw something entirely new at me.

I didn't just see this, right?

I was just watching TV with my daughter and saw an ad for a new Barbie. You can play that you're paper training the puppies. Great idea, but the ad left a little to be desired.

Voice over of a little girl to the puppies: Do you have to pee?

Please tell me this is not really something you asked a child actor to say. Am I off base on this one?

Normalcy

I got to thinking about the word "normal" the other day. What does normal really mean? Dictionary.com defines it as:

1.conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.
2.serving to establish a standard.

OK, so that helps, but here's the part that really got me going:

3. Psychology.
a. approximately average in any psychological trait, as intelligence, personality, or emotional adjustment.
b. free from any mental disorder; sane.

HA! Do any of you feel like you fit into that category? I don't. You know me, the girl who doesn't eat blue foods that don't occur that color in nature! (Really, is that natural?)

I think I got started on the normal kick because the student I hired went to the same high school as I did. I asked her if she had any pre-conceived ideas about me from knowing me in high school. She doesn't. (Whew! That's good!)

But I spent the bulk of my years in high school and middle school just praying to be normal. I was short. I was geeky. I wore glasses. I had braces. I wasn't popular. I didn't wear the right clothes. My hobbies were different. And I could go on.

I'm turning 30 soon. And I've come to figure out that my lack of normalcy is what makes me who I am. I feel like I'm really starting to come into my own.

Yeah, I'm short. Guess what? I get to shop in the petite section. I was geeky, and still am. It got me the job I have that I love. And I work with a bunch of other "so-called" geeks. I wore glasses, and I still do. I get to see all the beautiful things in this world. I had braces and now I have a million dollar smile that I don't hesitate to flash. I wasn't popular, but now I have a lot of really great friends that I know I can count on. And I didn't meet most of them until I was out of high school. I didn't wear the right clothes, but now I know what looks good on me. My hobbies were different, but now I use those hobbies to create some really great stuff.

So I guess what I'm saying here is that you really should embrace that about you that isn't normal. Who wants to be normal if you have to sacrifice what you really are. Normal is not for me. I like being a few degrees off cool. I think I live a more interesting life because of it!

To two friends

There are two of you out there right now that need this.

To the one whose secret I'm keeping:

Congrats and I'm counting the weeks.

To the one who keeps getting hit when she's down:

I'm here for you if there's anything I can do, let me know. Another friend tells me that it will all be OK in the end. And if it's not OK, it's not the end. You're in my thoughts.

And should these two statements apply to more than the two friends I have in mind, just remember, I love all of you. And I'm here whenever you need anything. No matter what anything is.

New student

I haven't had the opportunity to post about my new student yet. Her name is Keely and she's wonderful. Not only do I have great faith that she'll turn out to be an EXCELLENT technical writer, but she fits with Julie and I extremely well.

She's funny without being inappropriate.

She shows proper reverence for the American Heritage Dictionary. (I've caught her drooling more than once and the day she first saw mine, she took it off the shelf and fondled it. She actually fondled it.)

She understands that the yucky work she's doing right now has a purpose.

She jumps right into tasks with gusto.

Basically, she's perfect for us. The hubby asked me if I planned to divorce him and marry her. It's not quite that serious, but I really do like having her around. I think I'll keep her.

TENS

At physical therapy a little over a week ago, I got a TENS unit. TENS stands for Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulator. Basically it's a little machine, slightly larger than a deck of cards, with leads that attach to electrodes. The electrodes attach to my upper back and neck and deliver continual electrical signals through my skin. It kind of feels like a little massage. I can wear it as much as I want. I've worn it to work once. It was pretty cool. I do like it.

So far, the other driver's insurance has been paying for everything, and I'm hopeful that they'll continue. I've been given no indication that they won't.

Back on the hook

It's official. I can once again crochet! You can't imagine how happy I am. I've been working on finishing my log cabin afghan. This is the one that was so close to being finished that I could smell it. It was making me crazy that I wasn't able to work on it. Right now I'm finishing the last section. Then, all I have left is a couple of rows of single crochet all the way around it and an edging. I think I might duplicate what I did on my pineapple afghan.

I find myself eating (snacking) less and relaxing more. My muscles feel the work the next day, but between my thera cane, the TENS unit, and physical therapy, I manage.

Stitch and bitch is at my house Tuesday night, so I'm anxious to show the girls what I've done. There's one girl in the group that absolutely loves the afghan. I'm tempted to give it to her, but it was intended for charity. I'll probably end up giving it to charity. But it sure is nice to know that someone loves my work so much!

Valentine's Day

I'm a little behind posting about this, but I wanted to tell you all how sweet my husband is. Around 11 a.m. on Valentine's Day my work phone rang. It was an outside call, and I got annoyed because the hubby isn't supposed to be calling me at work very much. Just goes to show that you really ought to think before you get annoyed.

He asked me what I was doing. I told him I was working and asked what he was doing. He told me he was sitting out back of the building where I work, and could I come out for a little bit.

When I got out to his car and opened the passenger door, there were three Hershey's kisses sitting on the center console. I got all excited because I thought that it was incredibly sweet that he would bring me kisses for Valentine's Day. Turns out that two were hugs and two were kisses.

I sat down in the passenger's seat and he proceeded to tell me, "This one is for this year, this one is for last year, and this one," at this point he touched the plain kiss, "is for the year before that because we didn't meet until May." (We met May 8th, 2005)

This alone would have reduced me to a blubbering mess. But when I picked up the kisses he told me that he had one other thing for me. He opened up the center console and pulled out a box from our local jewelry store. Inside was a beautiful opal ring that I had on my wish list there. He's so good to me.

Ladies, I want to tell you, this guy knows what he's doing. Had I gotten only the kisses I would have been thrilled. But instead, I got romance. And romance is worth so much more than any other present.

New toy?

Well, it certainly helps with some of the pain, but I wouldn't exactly call it a toy. *Insert your own dirty joke here.*

Picked this up at physical therapy today. I think that this could really help. I've already been using it. I like it.

Breaking down

Last night I had to have a little crying jag.

I had to tell the hubby how horrible/depressed I felt that I couldn't:

Take care of my family.
Put my child to bed comfortably.
Clean the house.
Work without discomfort.
Take part in activities that usually relax me.

And that I always hurt, so I'm taking pain medication. That medication makes me nauseated so I'm taking anti-nausea medication on top of it. I'm miserable. I'm not looking for all of you to feel sorry for me. I'm just telling it like it is.

WILL

I was lucky enough to attend the Women In Learning and Leadership (WILL) luncheon Wednesday. The topic was "Not Your Grandmother's Time Management Techniques". We had a wonderful speaker and a wonderful lunch. I could wax poetic on how I feel that I took away some ideas that will make my life much better. While I did get some good tips, what I want to share with you is a bit unconventional.

As I was listening to the speaker, I began to hear music. First I thought I recognized the tune as the ringer on someone's cell phone. But very quickly I realized that there was no real "tune" at all. The more I listened, the more intrigued I became. This music was being created by 100 forks and knives on plates, one hundred glasses full of ice clinking and jangling.

Yep, I was hearing the music of 100 women eating.

And the effect was surprisingly beautiful.

I'm not sure that I'll ever hear this music again. After all, how often will I have the opportunity to sit in a room, silent except for one woman's voice, and hear that clatter and clink.

I took the time to stop and pay attention to it. And I've been trying to do the very same thing for the rest of the week. I heard music in the sound of my daughter laughing, my husband breathing in a deep sleep, and the silence in the moments before the alarm goes off in the morning.

Stop and listen. There's music everywhere.

Angry

I got rear-ended by someone and I'm pissed off at the disruption it's causing in my life.

I feel stupid being angry about this, but I am. I can't play with my daughter the way I want to. I can't crochet. Reading is almost out of the question because it's hard to prop my neck up the way I need to. I can hardly work.

I know that I should be grateful that I'm not permanently injured. But I just have a hard time not being able to do the things I want to do. The things that relax me.

And not that this relaxes me, but I can't even clean. It's kind of like bed rest. Everyone thinks that bed rest sounds so great until you have to try it. Never before have I wanted so badly to vacuum my living room carpet. Seriously. I know it sounds crazy, but I really can't stand the way my house looks right now.

And it's making me crazy that there's nothing I can do about it.

Wordsmith

I went over to my mom and dad's last night with the munchkin. We were invited over for dinner. Mashed potatoes and hamburger gravy. YUM. My parents surprised me with this. It cracks me up every time I see it.