Yes, it is Monday, why do you ask?

Today is Monday...every last freakin second of it is. Monday. It started out like a Monday, and it's rolling along smacking me in the back of the head just like a Monday. As I share this little tale with you and I whine about things, like I am wont to do, keep in mind that just about everything that I whine about is totally controllable by me, myself, and I. I know this, I really do, but sometimes you just gotta let it out.

Getting up this morning was ok. Got some lunch ready, packed up a naner and a really good apple fresh from Michigan. Except for my better half still being a bit ill, just a cough as she would say, I was cruisin. Get her to work and remember that I still have this lovely little wire attachment hanging from the back of my vehicle hitting the road whenever I hit a bump. Ok, get out at her work and take everything out of the trunk. What? You mean I didn't tell you about my cool little SUV feature with the full-sized spare? The spare tire, full-sized as it is, is hidden under the back of my car. There is a small slot just above the rear bumper that you insert a tool in (keep your jokes to yourself) and you turn the tool and the spare tire just lowers itself to the ground. Very Cool! Well, as I was changing tires this weekend I put the old tire in my trunk and forgot to raise the cable back up so there it was all weekend. Anyway, I got that back up and took off. Get to the parking garage, get my stuff and head toward the office. Just a reminder, I have a 15 minute walk to my building. I get up the elevator and to the door (which is locked and guarded by a badge reader, and you guessed it, I left my badge in the car. I usually get to work fairly early and the only guy I know of that gets there earlier is out on PTO today so I push the down button on the elevator and head back to my car. Now by the time I get BACK to my office, I am not so early any more. Ok, so now I am at my desk, sweating because I hurried back up the hill to the office, and I logon to get some work done. BAM, our weekly computer backups are down because of a hardware failure. Woo hoo, we are having some fun now. I am talking this little development over with a co-worker (remember, I am no longer early so everyone is here now), and the conversation morphs into a bitch session about our boss. More on that little topic later. As the morning trudges on, the Ex calls. Of course she does, it's MONDAY! Helloooo, if I were paying attention I would have seen that one coming. One consolation to the conversation, at least she is not bitching AT me ABOUT me, she is just bitching AT me about one of the kids. His grades were going fairly well until last week. Now they have tanked and she is fed up. From what I have seen lately these two individuals are like oil and water. Now, I know he is a teenager, and I know how she is, but still...she is asking for this the way she is trying so damned hard to be thier best friend instead of thier mother. Then when she has to put her foot down there is no respect there at all. He actually told me this weekend that he understands why I divorced her and that he would do the same thing if he could. I had to really try not to laugh at that one. Anyway, she is going on and on about his grades and his attitude. I listen, like I was gonna get a word in edgewise anyway, and hang up. So now I start explaining my morning to my dearest and she, like always, listens patiently and offers advice at the right times. I continue complaining about my morning, work, traffic, the boss, work, the ex, work, and work. Totally forgetting that she is sitting at her desk sick. So now, not only am I whining about silly crap, I am totally taking for granted my soon-to-be spouse just because I was forgetful and married the wrong woman several years ago. I apologize, profusely. I still don't feel any better but she wouldn't let me feel bad about that, she is that type of person. Hence the "BETTER" half title she wears.

Other wonderful things like, spilling coffee on my shoes, having our bathroom become the exit to the 7th floor roof for our HVAC installers, getting an email about an overdue library book that I forgot about, etc...all happen on days just like today...Monday.

snicker snicker snicker

It's Friday and the reason I am posting this late is that my soon to be wife just got picked up by here sister and is on her way to a surprise shower! It's hard keeping a secret like that from someone when all of that planning is going on around you. I know she will have a blast tonight and I am very excited for her.

I was the lucky recipient of a hit and run accident this morning. The idiot turned right at a light but for some reason did not quite understand the whole stay in your lane thing so he hit me in the left rear side of my car and just kept on driving. What a wonderful experience that is. Either un-insured or drunk or has warrants out on him. Either way he is long gone and I am left to deal with the insurance. Thank goodness we weren't hurt. Other than that, its been a quiet Friday and whole week for that matter. Nothing much to report on on any front. Diet is stable. You know, you would think that something as important as my diet, knowing my cholesterol is high, would be a bit more important to me on a daily basis, not just when I feel like I am failing at the change in my lifestyle. I need to get my shit together and motivate myself. Something has got to change...mentally.

Geekdom

Sometimes being a geek isn't all the glory you think it is. Yesterday, I was all primed and ready to update this here blog and our internet connection was down. Then in the afternoon, I couldn't get the blog to come up past the login page. Geesh. It was geek hell. Problems all around and I couldn't fix any of them. I hate it when machines win. That must be why I am a computer geek.

I really don't have too much to complain about today. The hurricanes are gone, for now. The fallout continues. Media is searching for something to report on. In my little world, things are going really well. Less than a month to the big day! And counting down every day! The only thing left for the wedding are the final tux fittings, getting some haircuts, and the actual drive down there that day. All other arrangements are done, or are being handled by the best little organizationist in the world. Is that even a word? Oh well.

The kids are back in school and going full tilt. My oldest is surprising the heck out of me. His grades are up from last year, he is on the student council, AND he is participating in an after school writing program. My youngest is gonna be on the honor roll if he keeps his current pace up.

So life is pretty good. Now if I could just win the lottery. Of course, you gotta PLAY to win, but I won't let a little thing like that stop me from whining about it.

The diet is stable. Which means I am not losing or gaining. But one thing has disturbed me. I donated blood again recently (something I like to do as often as possible) and I got a bad report about my cholesterol again. Its even higher than before. I do have a doctor's appt coming up so I am going to have to have some more blood work done. Although I am not sure what else I can do, diet wise. We have changed the way we eat pretty radically. I am guessing more exercise will be the recommendation. We are trying to do more of that too.

Oh well, I guess that is enough for today. Later for you....

sniff sniff sniff

Stupid sinus infection/cold/virus whatever the hell it is. I hate being sick during warm weather. One is supposed to be sick in the winter when going to bed and covering up feels better. These days going to bed and covering up while you hear people outside, kids playing downright sucks. But oh well, I will get over it and forget it ever happened, I hope. Not much to say today, its Friday, and yes, I am glad. Got quite a lot planned for this weekend so this little cold thingy is not going to stop me...slow me down a little maybe but not stop me. Next week is training. That is cool. I love a company that is willing to spend some money on it's staff. Increased knowledge is always a good thing. The whole "if I make them better then they will leave" argument is bunk. Its a wonderful way to reward and keep employees. Empowerment.

Oh, and by the way, only 37 days left!!!!!!! We got the license Wednesday!!!!!! Can't tell I'm excited, can you?

Getting there...one candy bar at a time

Good good Monday. There is actually no sarcasm in that statement at all. It is a pretty good monday. The weekend was good, fast, but good. The days are counting down to 10/23. Even work is going ok. The diet is stagnant, but then eating a pan of brownies does NOT help in the reduction of one's waistline. Ok, not a whole pan, but a good portion of it this weekend.

Still reeling over the images of the Gulf States. Also still feeling very proud to be a part of a nation that can come together like we have. I am not sure how it is outside my little corner of the midwestern world but the outpouring of support for the victims of Katrina is awesome. One little boy, I think he is 5, and his family, have raised $5000.00, yes that's 5 THOUSAND dollars, simply by selling lemonade in front of his house. Amazing. And that is just what I see here around my area. NBA players doing a charity game. That's huge. LeBron James going into his local Sam's Club and throwing down 200 large to fill up some semis and head down. Huge. I am proud to be an american. And some of the best news of all is that the death toll is way lower than the estimates. Over 10,000 is what I had heard and now they are counting in the hundreds. I know any loss of life is tragic but hearing those numbers climb and then seeing them fall so much is good news. Bush is down there today. With all of the flak from Iraq and then the FEMA mess just after Katrina hit land, and with two Supreme Court appointments, he better be able to come out of most of that looking good to the public. What little the gas prices have dropped recently is not going to be enough for the GOP to withstand at the next election. I am not pounding either political stump but the dems can really capitalize on this last year or so unless he starts to shine. But then, hey, I am only one little vote.

Day after tomorrow we go and get the marriage license. That's kind of like being pregnant and hearing the heartbeat for the first time. It kind of makes it feel more real. More real than all of the money we have spent on it so far!!!

Dwindling

The days, that is. They are counting down quicker and quicker. Only 47 days left until our big day. Tuxedos are fitted, at least the first fitting. Gifts have been bought. Dresses picked out and ready for alterations. RSVPs are being returned, slowly. We are planning the day that we spend going to the courthouse to get the license. It is all coming together quite nicely. Of course, I don't handle too much of the planning so of course it's going smoothly. If grooms or groomsmen were in charge of the actually ceremony, no matter how big or small, it would be a disaster. The best man does his best just to plan getting drunk one night and possibly going out to see half naked, or if the best man is single, fully naked women. Coordinating food, entertainment, flowers, people, wardrobes, seating, etc etc etc etc would drive us bonkers. Its not that we aren't that smart, we can organize full Fantasy sports leagues with drafts, team assignments, salaries, trades and a full season of being commissioner as well as owner of a team. But a wedding is about the bride. It's her day. She is the one spending thousands on a dress, not $100 for a rented tux. It's her parents that are footing the bill for this little shindig. Granted, once you are on your second, third, fourth, or 71st wedding, the roles tend to blend a bit and the event tends to scale itself down. But still, everyone is there to see a beautiful woman in a beatiful dress walk slowly down the isle toward some guy in a $100 rented tux.

Geez

I have been a whole week without posting. And I wasn't even on vacation or anything. Actually not much to report this week anyway. SSDW, for those of you who get SSDD. There are a few things to touch on....Katrina being one. Gas prices another. Being around on this wonderful rock for some 36 years I have seen a few disasters. Natural, accidental, terroristic. Tsunamis. The world trade centers, both times. Now this hurricane. Plane accidents. You name it, I have seen it. Even two wars, although not on the scale of WWI or II. I won't dwell on the sadness, that is all too evident. I will mention that I have my faith in mankind, at least some of it anyway, tested and fortified every time a disaster happens. To see the people gather and support each other is something I never tire of. Of course, I also wonder at the people who take advantage of these situations. Snipers at a hospital stopping the evacuation. WTF????? Looters. You know what I am talking about. I won't go into gas prices except to say that there has got to be something that is illegal here. It makes no logical sense how gas can be over 3 dollars a gallon. None, at least to me. W is gonna pay for this by giving up the White House AND the senate. Mark my words on that one.