LolaGeek

Blog edition!

Reasons To Be Happy That You Don’t Have Kids: I have nothing to do with this blog, but you’d think I wrote it myself. I actually just found it the other day and agree with everything they say (I even wrote in with some more article suggestions).

Not Hired: Someone suggested this site to me when I was looking for resources when I did that career workshop thing. This would be examples of what not to say on your resume or in an interview…

Cake Wrecks: I can’t believe I haven’t linked to this before! Hilariously decorated cakes made by professionals. If you haven’t seen this yet, start out with some classics like the “Under Neat That” cake and the naked mohawk-baby carrot jockeys.

Lovely Listing: Also can’t believe I haven’t posted this link yet. Photos from actual real estate listings that make you wonder what they were thinking when they decided this would help sell their house.

I got to have a short visit with Jess and her baby today! He was so cute (and I made him a baby hat and he looked adorable in it!), but I think if anything it really cemented my plan not to have kids. Just in the hour or so I was there, he spent 30 minutes nursing, had a poopy diaper that involved being run under the kitchen sink to wash him off (as well as changing his socks and Jess’ pants), and threw up pretty much non-stop. I did get to hold him during a brief non-vomiting period so Jess could open his presents. Even she said it was questionable whether he’d ever get a sibling. Rob is already back at work today (his company doesn’t offer any paternity leave), but between me and a couple other friends who came over and her mom coming later, there’s no way she could be lonely at home. I’ll probably go back in a couple weeks when everyone has forgotten about her…

Her poor cats were pretty starved for attention. I did spend some time with them, so they didn’t feel so neglected. I will say, I thought I was going to be stepping into a disaster zone and be able to help her clean up or pop a load of laundry in or something, but her house was remarkably clean and organized. That’s because her mom’s been coming over and helping out a lot. So again, maybe in a few weeks she’ll be able to use some help :o)

Boy, am I prolific today or what?

I got these Merona Zaire sandals at Target a couple weeks ago, because they looked like great replacements for the very similar Payless ones I’ve had for several years. (You can tell I like the quality shoes.) The Payless sandals are actually great and very comfy, but the foot bed is covered with black fabric and it’s caked with foot scum of some sort – I don’t know what it is, but I can’t wash it off. So they’re a little gross to wear anymore. Anyway, I tried these on in the store and they seemed to fit, so I took them. Yesterday I wore them to work, and oh my gosh, the straps are tight across my feet! The length is good, and I don’t think I have especially fat feet, so they’re probably just made tight. By the end of the day I had red grooves across the tops of my feet, and this morning I still had big red marks where the knot in the center of the strap was. It’s a shame, because they really are cute and otherwise well-made.

In other Target sandal news, what do you think of the Edda Stretch Wedge sandal? I tried them on and they’re really comfy, but are they a little fugly?

One final Target shoe update, since I don’t think I mentioned it: I wore the Elani wedges to Easter brunch, and they were very comfy and I got tons of compliments! One of the reviews says, and I agree, that they’re in line with the gladiator sandal trend of the moment, but they’re not so trendy that you couldn’t wear them when it’s over. (The pewter color is great too – a little fancy without being too shiny.) My one complaint is that some of the holes for the buckle on the strap weren’t really punched all the way, and some of them were off-center on the skinny strap. They were fine, though.

Procrastination pays off! Last week my boss sent me a bunch of updates to make on our web site that would have involved a lot of work (I’d have to update the editable files in Visio, then version them in our electronic repository; then save new JPG and PDF versions of each file, and update the pages on our web site where they appear; then upload all the updated JPG, PDF and HTML files to our intranet site, after zipping them all together). I was putting it off until this week, when I had a bunch of other stuff to do anyway. Today she called and asked if I’d made those updates yet, and I was like, “No, I haven’t started it yet,” and she was like, “Good, don’t, I’m making the process owners [individuals who are each responsible for the content of one or more of these files] do it themselves.” So… I’ll still have to do it eventually, but no rush now, and hopefully the updates will come in bits and pieces, rather than all at once from my boss.

I’ve been thinking of updating my WordPress template. I’ve had this one for a few years, which is longer than I’ve kept any other web appearance. I had a link bookmarked from a while ago with free, basic WP templates that could be customized, but the site seems to have disappeared. I’ll start looking around for something simple I can customize…

By the way, I think my swine flu is clearing up.

I think I’m coming down with the swine flu. I felt totally fine until a couple hours ago, now I have a tickle in my throat and a sort of burning sensation, and I feel kind of lightheaded. I know, I’m probably fine… but all the panic in the news doesn’t help. It’s pretty much all Heather and I talked about yesterday. I was reading an article yesterday morning that was from the weekend and said there were 10 cases in the US. Then Heather read a newer article (from Monday) that said there were 20 cases. Now today, Tuesday, I heard on the radio that there’s 40 cases. I think we can see where this is going – it’s doubling every day! I wash my hands and don’t hang around with pigs or Mexicans, so I think I’ll probably be okay… (Though we did have Mexican food last night… oh no!)

GG and I were up late last night folding and assembling programs for my concert this weekend. He was such a big help! I don’t know how late I would’ve been up if I had to do it all myself! (Especially considering I was falling asleep while working…) I spent an hour and a half at our treasurer’s office yesterday printing them, and I still have one more page that needs to be done, so I’m going back today! It’s a half-sheet in the middle of each program, which means today after I print, I get to slice them all in half, then stick them inside the programs we already put together. But I should have all or at least most of them done by Wednesday, ahead of schedule! (I wanted to have a bunch assembled by our dress rehearsal, Friday, to give to the band.) I hope they appreciate the work that’s gone into these! Definitely the most labor-intensive programs I’ve done (both design and printing/assembling).

Last night GG and I ordered Chinese food for dinner from the place down the street. It was nice out, so we walked down together to pick it up. On our way back, I saw two guys walking on the opposite side of the road. At first I thought they were just a couple of young guys on their way home from work, walking home from wherever public transportation had dropped them off. They both had slacks, button-down shirts, ties, and backpacks. Then I realized… they’re wearing nametags… they’re Mormon missionaries!

I was so excited, I pointed them out to GG. “How can you tell?” he asked. “They’re wearing their nametags.” “They wear nametags?!”

I don’t know if they already tried our house or they’re going to be in the area for a while or what, but I’ll be so excited if they knock on the door while I’m home. They visited my brother a few weeks ago at his house at school. Apparently they woke him up (at the crack of noon), and he told them he’d been up late doing drugs and worshipping Satan, or something. I have some good ideas of my own…

Jess had her baby around 10:15 last night, and it’s a boy! We saw some pictures today, she looks so happy! (Rob looks happy too!) Now comes the part where I babysit all the time because I’m probably the friend who lives closest to her :o) As long as he’s a good kid, I probably won’t mind.

Julia‘s sister also delivered her baby last night. Between the two of them, my Twitter and Facebook feeds were lit up with baby news!

Next up: Jen, who is due in four weeks, but said today that if she makes it through next week, this will be her longest pregnancy (this is her third).

GG and I are meeting with our financial planner tonight. He’s so great. I think GG is mad at him because the last time we were there, he was really impressed with GG’s murals and called his wife to get her to tell her friends about him, and nothing ever came of that. But he shouldn’t be mad because 1) this guy is not a mural agent, he’s a financial planner, and he’s helping us for free, and 2) GG has a bunch of mural stuff lined up right now on his own. Anyway, I have all my documents together and my list of questions I want to ask.

I need to get an oil change. I realized when I was on my way out to school this weekend that I was about 100 miles overdue, so now I’m more than that, but I think it’s okay for a little while? I probably won’t be able to go until Thursday after work, but the nice thing is that I can take it to Sears and walk around the mall while they’re working on it. (It costs a little more, but I think it’s worth it to not have to sit in the horrible waiting room at NTB for two hours.)

If Jess doesn’t have her baby today, she’s getting induced tomorrow! For her sake, I kind of hope she makes it happen on her own. From what I’ve heard, getting induced is no fun. (Think about it – it can’t be good to go from zero to sixty that quick!) It would be cool if its birthday was Earth Day, though. So hopefully we’ll get to meet her peanut soon! I’m very excited about this baby, but I think that’s just because they never found out if it’s a boy or girl, and I’m super curious about things, so I really need to know. And also we can find out the mystery name they’ve chosen!

Work is so quiet today! A lot of people took last week off because it was spring break for some schools, but I think even more people are out this week. And as busy as last week was, this week’s slowness makes up for it. We’re minutes away from having our department’s April birthday party, though, so at least I’ll get to see some people and eat a bagel.

I’ve cooked us dinner the past two nights, and plan to cook again tonight. I do enjoy cooking, but at dinner time I need that magical combination of motivation, a meal idea, and the right ingredients on hand. Sometimes I’ll plan several meals for the week when I go shopping on the weekend, but due to schedules or just being tired or whatever, I don’t end up cooking them all. So I’m doing pretty well so far this week. Tonight I’m going to attempt to re-create that ravioli with mushrooms with asparagus and parmesan broth. It won’t be exactly the same as the recipe I found, mainly because I’m using storebought cheese ravioli, but I think I figured out how the restaurant made its sauce different from the recipe’s broth – it might involve pulling out the blender!

A year ago I responded to a call for alumni from my fraternity to participate in some sort of career fair day. The event never happened last year, and this year when they revisited it I was still the only person who’d volunteered, so they decided to go in a different direction and wanted me to present some sort of career/resume workshop. Um… I am totally unqualified to do such a thing! But guess what – I went out today and did it and I think it was really good!

I first had everyone go around the room and give their major and their job goals, and for the most part I think they’re pretty realistic about the types of jobs they think they’ll be getting after college, so I didn’t really have to start out with what I was planning to say: “None of you are getting those jobs.” Besides that, I just imparted some wisdom, shared some personal knowledge and experience, and we talked a little about resumes and look at some that people had brought with them. Hopefully I told them some things they didn’t know (which I think I did, based on people taking notes!), which will be helpful as they graduate and start looking for a “real” job. One of my main points was that pretty much the number one way to find and get a job is through networking (and one of the worst was to find a job is through online and newspaper postings), and it was really cool to see them start to realize, “Oh yeah, I got that job last summer because my dad works there,” or “Yeah, when my mom started working at her new company she got two of her former coworkers jobs there too.” There ended up being only eight Brothers there, and they were all really nice. I think they liked me, too – I made them laugh a few times, so I think it went well :o)

Also, before the career thing I met my brother and we had lunch at this little Mexican restaurant in Lancaster, which I’d seen described as the best and most authentic Mexican food in Pennsylvania. It was really good, and I’d definitely go back with GG sometime if we’re in the area, but personally I prefer the Mexican place we go to out here. They definitely had lots of authentic stuff, including Mexican sodas and agua frescas (or whatever you call those flavored waters – my brother and I each had a tamarind one). You can order tacos and stuff individually, so you can end up getting a lot of things for pretty cheap. And the guacamole was delicious!

My brother got a hamster! Her name is Lemmy.

Yesterday was the most horrendous day, and I was all set to come blog about every little thing that went wrong, but my day didn’t actually end until about 11:30 and at that point all I wanted to do was hug GG and go to bed, so no blogging. Now that it’s the next day, I can look back and see how things have improved, so you’re getting a much more cheerful post.

• Yesterday: I’d felt a cold coming on for a couple days, and actually started really sneezing and blowing my nose and stuff. Today: I still feel a little bit like I’m getting sick, but actually much better than yesterday!
• Yesterday: It was raining. Today: It’s warm and sunny! And I’m working from home, so I get to sit here with the windows open.
• Yesterday: It was one of my twice-monthly super-busy days at work, and this one was a particularly busy day. I did as much work as I could ahead of time, on Thursday, Monday, and Tuesday, but there was still a lot that I had to do the day of. I was filling in for two other people, and the guy I needed to provide me some information was also the back-up of the back-up of the person who usually does that job. He ended up sending me the information I needed, but I needed to edit it a lot to get it into a format I could use, and even then there were some mistakes. But it was better than nothing in a pinch. Today: All that stuff is finished (until next month)! We’re still getting a few e-mails from confused people due to the errors in the info I was sent, but it’s easily explained and people seem okay with the explaination. Also, in the next version of our software (which should be released in a few weeks), we’re supposed to be able to pull this info ourselves, so we won’t have to rely on this other group to get it at the last minute.
• Yesterday: The dimensions of the newspaper ad for our band concert changed from past years, so I had to whip up a whole new graphic for the advertisement. But someone gave me the wrong dimensions, so I had to cut into my pre-band nap time to make another one. Today: Hopefully this is taken care of now. And the newspaper guy complimented me and said he liked the ad I designed!
• Yesterday: I’d been working for weeks on designing the program for the concert, and was almost finished. It’s been a little more effort than usual because we’re selling ads (we don’t usually) so as they came in I had to keep reformatting the program to fit everything. I had it pretty much ready to go, though. Last night was the deadline for ads, and suddenly tons of people were buying ad space or making donations (which also earns ad space). So I have to pretty much reformat everything. Today: Well, I haven’t dealt with this problem yet. But I will take care of it tonight. And at least I know that yesterday was the deadline and there won’t be any more ads coming in!