There's a German on my couch.

I am a tolerant woman, really. But people are pushing me and I’m about to push back. It’s not pretty when I get pushed to my limit and get angry. Not pretty at all.

Why am I so pissed? A couple of things. First off, work. Yes, I am a contractor, not a ‘real’ employee, and yes, I was out for a few days last week because of my back and trips to the doc. But I came back yesterday to find all my stuff moved to another desk. A desk that I didn’t want. The boss said the new girl would sit there, and I could keep my spot. Well, he lied. They moved my computer and all my stuff and placed it in no particular order at my new workstation. Thanks for that. And some things are missing, I just noticed that today. Oh, but they didn’t move my phone or my printer, so I had to install a new printer and put in a request to the Help Desk to move my phone. Are you fucking kidding? No, you can’t just move it yourself, it has to be moved by a particular department. Not liking the new girl and not inclined to assist her. The printer she took from me doesn’t seem to work on her system. Not my problem. And when MY phone rings at HER desk, she won’t answer it! Jesus, you’re fucking sitting RIGHT THERE, how hard is it to pick up the phone instead of me having to stop what I’m doing and scramble over there before the call goes to voicemail? Don’t like her. Not at all.

Oh, and they spelled my name wrong on my desk nameplate. Dammit. Is it so much to ask?

Next, the roommate. He definitely needs to be smacked upside the head. Again. We (Evan and I) came home kinda late last nite, after taking the kids to their dad’s and having a nice, quiet dinner alone for the first time in I don’t know how long. That truly was the hilite of my day. Anywho…When we get home, the roomie’s girlfriend is there hanging out, and there’s a strange woman on my computer. Roomie’s girlfriend informs me, “This is Patrick’s friend Haika from Germany and she’s going to be staying here for a couple of weeks.” By ‘here’ I thought she meant in town. Nope. Turns out she will be staying at our house. Thanks for telling us that we would have company for two weeks, douchebag. And to top it off, she was sleeping on MY COUCH this morning. We know how I feel about people sleeping on my couch. Can you say LAST STRAW? I feel bad for the chick, she seems nice enough, and she had no idea that no one else in the house was expecting her arrival. Not her fault, and I’m not mad at her. I just like to be informed when we’re having guests, especially of the 2-week variety. I left him quite the nasty message, but seeing as how he’s the biggest puss on earth, I’m sure he won’t respond. I fucking hate him.

I will not kill him. I will not kill him. I…might kill him.

Happy Weekend

Happy Memorial Day peeps. What's shaking?

I had a happy moment yesterday. Not that I don't have them all the time, but lately they've been a little sparse. Got a call asking me to do a show in a couple of weeks. Yay me! I'm the feature act, and it actually pays! It's been 3 months since I've been on a stage. I hope I'm still funny. June 7th, Big Daddy's in Cleburne, 9 PM. Be there if you can.

We had a fun weekend with the kids. Went to see "Over the Hedge". Very funny, I highly recommend it, even if you don't have kids. Well written, well acted, just an all around good movie. William Shatner as the possum - genius. I love it when he makes fun of his own over acting. And Steve Carell stole the show with his hyper-active squirrel.

Then last nite we went to Main Event - bowling, lazer tag, video games, etc. I stand undefeated in air hockey. No man has ever beaten me. I'm not gloating, I'm just saying. Ok, yeah, I'm gloating a bit. It's the only game I'm good at, let me have my glory dammit!

Back to work tomorrow. But today, we will laze around and cook things on the grill in honor of this day. Why do we consume large amounts of food on every holiday? Because it's the American way, gosh darnit. I'm off to the store.

Update

Howdy. And ouch.

Went to get checked out on Monday. Many x-rays and hours later, I was diagnosed with cervical and lumbar strain - basically torn ligaments. Not too serious, they said it should heal up in a few weeks. They gave me some pills and sent me home. The x-ray guy was a hoot. He was like the Ansel Adams of x-rays. "Now, I need you to put your arm above your head...good!Now, turn your head slightly and lift your chin....very nice! Hold still! That was beautiful." I do believe he was a photographer in another life.

But then last nite, the hospital called. It was after 10 PM, so I figured it wasn't good news. Apparently, after further review of my x-rays, they found some additional damage and I have to go back in today for a CT scan. Something about soft tissue damage. Not sure what the results will be. It may just be them covering their asses after sending me home without a complete review of the x-rays. At least I hope that's all it is. It was a crazy nite at the hospital. We arrived just after several hispanic youths were brought in from car accidents. They were racing, apparently, and the prognosis did not sound good. There were four of them; 3 of them were taken via helicopter to Parkland. The fourth was able to leave that nite. Scary stuff. The waiting room was full of people, mostly family and friends of the accident victims.

I haven't been to work this week. Thankfully my boss has been very cool about it. I just can't sit for long periods of time, but I can't take the pain pills at work. Dillemma.

I'll keep you posted. Everyone else is doing fine. A lawsuit is definitely in that asshole's future.

Crash

We were involved in quite a hairy car accident Friday nite. Everyone's ok. Well, none of us were rushed to the hospital. My back hurts and I have some minor cuts on my hands from all the glass. Have you ever woken up with glass in your hair? Not fun. I have a hunch that we'll all be feeling it a lot more in the next few days. Mike is the only one who went to a doctor so far. He has neck sprain and a minor concussion. I figure we all have similar ailments.

The cause? Drunk driver. We were in Mike's car, having gone out for Dave's birthday. Dave was up front and Evan and I in the backseat. Mike stopped at a tollbooth to throw in some change, and this dumbass just slammed right into the back of us at full force. He must have been doing at least 40, maybe more. Didn't see us, never slowed down. Idiot. Mike's car was totalled. The police came and arrested the guy driving and his girlfriend, but not before they tried to get away from the scene. Luckily, the combination of a very angry Evan and Dave, as well as a helpful tollbooth employee kept the guy from fleeing. Not sure why they arrested his passenger, besides maybe PI. Probably just let her sleep it off in the drunk tank til the next day. His car didn't have near the damage that Mike's did. We couldn't even open the doors to get out, the guys crawled out of windows and they ended up prying my door open with a crow bar. We made it home via friends, thankfully. Scared the living shit right out of me. I've never been in a car accident, as a driver or a passenger. I cried a lot. Partly from the crash, partly from being intoxicated myself. But I wasn't driving.

I'm in a lot of pain today. Guess we should get a lawyer and all get to a doctor soon. Dammit. I hate people.

Ok, Tom. Here ya go.

I don't really have anything to write about. I have a migraine today. Yesterday was Dave's birthday, so roomie that we hate made dinner - and left the entire mess all over the kitchen. I will no doubt have to clean it up and I'm pissed about that. We're taking Dave to Benihana on Friday nite to celebrate his b-day. Still like my job. Still love my boyfriend. My kids for the most part are doing great. Well, except for The Teenager, we're having a little tiff right now and everyone in the house is mad at her. Again. School is out next week and we're making plans for the summer. Still hate the other roomie, although I've started to be nicer to his little girlfriend. She has Vicodin, but the kindness could kill me.

When I think of something more interesting, I will post it, I promise. I suppose I could put up a few pages of the story I'm working on, would that suffice?

Mother's Day bounty

Happy Monday, all. I hope all you moms out there had a wonderful Mother’s Day! Mine was very nice indeed. Evan made breakfast and took us out for dinner, so I didn’t have to cook. The children made cards for me, but also purchased lovely gifts (thanks to Evan for taking them shopping) – from Emily, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Season 4; from Christopher, a very nice sterling “Mom” necklace; from The Teenager, new make-up that I so desperately needed! Yay! Even Dave got me a gift! A bubbling foot spa. Are you kidding me? Awesome! And Evan replaced the bathroom faucet and also got me my very own copy of World of Warcraft, so now we all have separate accounts. So, my Sunday went like this: I put my feet in the spa and gave myself a pedicure, watched several episodes of Aqua Teen, had some breakfast and some Starbuck’s, and leveled up my character on WoW. And I didn’t have to do anyone’s laundry. A wonderful day for me!

My kids, my boyfriend and our roomie are the absolute best! Thanks, guys. You made my day very special and I appreciate it more than you know. I love you all!

I have a joke about my ex-boyfriend not doing anything for me on Mother's Day, but it's actually true. He wouldn't even call me. When I asked him why, he said, "Because you're not my mother." And even though that's true, it wouldn't have killed him to do something nice for me.

So, an extra special thanks to Evan; because I'm not his mother, and he's not the father of my children, but he made sure I had a nice Mother's Day, and he makes a huge effort to be a part of my kids' lives. I love you madly. :)

Birthday boy, job update, and being happy.

A few things of note....

Today is my son Christopher’s birthday. He’s 12. Wow. When people say, “They grow up so fast”, it really is true. It seems like the years have just flown by. He was born the Wednesday after Mother’s Day in 1994. He was my ‘no pain’ baby. Epidural. Gotta love it. Not being able to feel your legs is a little odd, and my right leg kept falling off the bed and I couldn’t move it, so my mom had to keep putting it back on the bed. That was pretty amusing. Unfortunately, the medication caused my blood pressure to drop drastically, and labor was prolonged for several hours. We arrived at the hospital around 10 that morning, and he was born shortly after 5:30 PM. But I was more relaxed and alert this time around. I had a wonderful doctor who had a very calm and soothing bedside manner. When he was delivering Christopher, he would tell me exactly what he was going to do next. Not that I could feel a thing. But all went well, including my tubal ligation surgery immediately following the birth, and I was back home the next day by the afternoon. Love those HMO’s.

Twelve years. Certainly doesn’t seem that long.
Happy Birthday little man!!!!

The job still going well. My boss called the temp agency to tell them how great I am and how much everyone loves me. That’s a good feeling. Yay me, I’m useful! Not that I require that type of validation. Oh hell, who am I kidding? Of course I do! But I really like it. The warehouse people are just the coolest, and apparently I’m much nicer than the girl who was here before. I’ve met her. She’s kinda snotty. I can see why they would like me. Having a sense of humor seems to be a good thing around here.

At home, things are fine. I'm so happy to have Evan there everyday. It's nice to come home to someone who's glad to see you. Still pissed at the roommate, but I probably should just let it go. I think I'm right, he thinks he is, and it's just become a real strain on everyone. Which brings me to my next tangent...

I wonder if my previous boss still reads this. We were friends, but after working together, our friendship got a little strained, to say the least. But there’s a question that she posed to me a long time ago, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. The question is: Do you want to be right, or do you want to be happy? If you think about it, there are very few, if any, situations in which you can be both. Being right doesn’t always make you happy, and being happy doesn’t always mean you’re right. Sure, there is some satisfaction gained from being right, but it’s only temporary.

I think I’d much rather be happy.

There are flaws and imperfections in everything and everyone, even the people we love, but pointing them out to prove something doesn’t make anyone happy. Although, if you’re one of those people who enjoys tearing people down and pointing out their flaws to make yourself seem like a better person, you should seriously consider what you’re doing to others. Words hurt, no matter what anyone says to the contrary. Being right at the expense of someone's feelings isn't right at all.

So go out there and be happy. You don’t have to be right all the time.

War machine? Dammit.

Ahh, Saturday. Having some coffee and putting off the cleaning I have to do. I'm sure it will take up most of the day.

I really like the new job. Finally, a place where I don't have to kiss ass and pander! It's such a different environment than what I'm used to, but I feel like I can just be myself. I don't have to dress up. I don't have to cater to top-level executives, making sure that they get an aisle seat instead of a window and a vegetarian meal instead of the regular. Not that I dislike doing that, but it's just nice to be able to BS and hang out with real people. No fakes, no phonies, just a bunch of hard-working people. Plus, I still get to use my awesome computer skills. I still don't have a computer at my desk, but they did come and install my phone. I spent most of the week following my 2 office mates around, watching what they do and taking notes. Their system is SAP based, and I'm catching on to it quickly. They let me do some of the actual work by myself yesterday, and surprisingly, I did it right. Thankfully, I take REALLY good and detailed notes. Lots to learn, and this is a 4 month assignment. I'm afraid it might take me that long just to figure out how everything works. My boss says it takes a year to learn it all. Maybe if I manage in less than that, I'll get hired on full time.

Yesterday I was watching one of the guys pack up a large piece of equipment for an aircraft. He was trying to explain to me what it does, but I think I tuned him out after 'laser'. He did let me get up close and look at it. I even touched it. Then he told me it was worth $1.3 million. I decided not to touch it anymore. The warehouse guys were teasing me, saying, "You know you're working for the Bush war machine now!" Yes, I'm aware. But my politics don't get in the way of my paycheck. Besides, I support our military. Doesn't mean I support Bush. They're following orders. Bush is a douche. And I get the feeling that the group I'm working with now feel the same way. Some Democrats in the mix? Perhaps. But I'll probably keep my views to myself nonetheless.

Need to do my house cleaning and spend some mommy time with the kids. Have a great weekend!

Don't step on my...steel-toed shoes?

I know you folks get all ancy when I don't write every day. Sorry about that.

Started the new temp assignment on Monday and I'm busy as hell. Same company, same location, way different department. The guy who brought me in called the temp service and asked for an 'over-the-top secretary who can do anything'. That's me! So I've been assigned as the assistant to the warehouse manager. I'm in an office off to the side, but I have to walk thru the warehouse at times, which requires the use of personal protective equipment - PPE's, for those in the biz. Ha. So what do I have to wear?

Steel-toed shoes.

That's what I said. Yeah. I feel like I'm wearing roller skates without the wheels. They are heavy. Like, for real. On the plus side, I can wear jeans every day, so I'm thrilled about that. Down side? I only own 2 pairs of jeans. I've always worked in dress-up type offices, so this is a switch. Time to go shopping!

Day 4 and I have yet to get a computer or a phone, so I'm running around using other people's stuff. So far I've been hugged, thanked and duded. It's been a fun week. They love me here too.

On the homefront - I hate my freaking roommate so bad that I'd like to bash him with something hard and blunt. Other than that, all is well.

Lots of funny stuff at work, but no time to write about it today. Hang in there 'til the weekend and I'll fill you in.

Still playing World of Warcraft. Up to level 14 now. It's actually a fun game. But I wouldn't have gotten near as far if Evan weren't helping me. He goes around killing things and I run behind him and pick up all the cool stuff. It's good to have a hobby.

Have a lovely day and I'll post again soon.