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Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Do Not Call Me

I handle IT responsibilities for my company. Every other month, I hear from sales reps from C-Beyond Communications either on the phone or in person. I have asked them at least 20 times to stop calling me. I don't need their services and I don't anticipate needing their services in the foreseeable future. Please just leave me alone.

I always get a sincere apology. Then they tell me that their reps switch territories quite often so they can't promise that it won't happen again. They are a tech company yet have no way of tracking their contacts in a database? Given that level of incompetence, I would not use them even if I had a need.

It's too bad there isn't a business no-call list. I'd be the first to sign up.

Monday, February 26, 2007

Head and Colders

I've got one of those nasty Spring head colds. I say "Spring head cold" because I really want Spring to be here. It's my little silver lining in all of this. It looks gorgeous outside....nice and sunny. It is the type of day that makes me want to be outside. Of course, I'd be miserable in under a minute because of my cold.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Bowling for Pizza Not Soup

Last night, Randy and I attended an auction fundraiser for Holly's school. It was a lot of fun and there were some very cool items to bid on. In the live auction, they had two trips to Montreal to watch the Canadiens play hockey. This was no ordinary trip. You would get to ride with the Canadiens' owner on his private jet. We didn't bid but each trip raised $5000. Not too shabby.



The item we did bid on and win was equally impressive. Holly will get to go bowling and have pizza with her teachers. We had to pony up $150 for this privilege. Other items we bought were two $50 gift certificates for bowling. We figured we would give them to the teachers to use.



Our final purchase was Holly's Dung Beetle.




This priceless treasure put us back $15. What a great idea to have all the kids create works of art and auction them off. Holly's class also created a garden bench that the kids painted. It sold in the live auction for $600. We were not the winners.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Wrong Place at the Wrong Time

Randy and I made plans to attend the auction/party fundraiser for Holly's school. Our plan was to have me pick Holly up from school on Friday and drop her off at one of her classmate's house for a sleepover while the adults attended the festivities.

This morning, I was discussing the logistics with the other mom, Susan. She seemed perplexed that I would be picking Holly up from school on a Saturday. For the past three weeks I have had it in my head that this event was on Friday. We verified with the front desk that the fundraiser was on Saturday. We had a pretty good chuckle over that.

We went on to discuss what time we should drop Holly off. Susan commented that the event location was ten minutes from her house. Now I know where Susan lives as it is right across the street from my office. Also, I am positive about the location of the event and it is at least 25 to 30 minutes from her house. I commented that she must drive like a bat out of hell to get there in ten minutes. Apparently she thought the event was at a different location. Once again, we approached the front desk to verify the location.

We figured that we made quite the team. If left alone, we would have shown up at the wrong place on the wrong date.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

RIP Tiny Tim Tebow


Last month for Holly's birthday, we adopted a new cat. He was named Blackjack at the shelter. He was an eight-month-old but was the size of a two-month-old. When he was found (back in July of '06) he was emaciated and in need of surgery. They removed 18 inches of his intestines. He really needed a good home and they didn't know how long he would live.

He had that good home for the last month of his short life. We renamed him Tebow after the University of Florida's up-and-coming quarterback. I
thought that maybe naming him after a tall, 225 lb. young man would will him to put on weight. He was given a lot of food and TLC. Every time you would pick him up, he would purr and fall asleep in your arms. He was loved.

Monday night, I knew he wasn't going to make it past Tuesday. I snuggled with him for most of the night. Randy took him in to the vet to see if there was anything we could do for him. Before the vet came into the room, Tebow's breathing became shallow and then he was gone.

RIP Tebow. While your time with us was short, the love you gave was long-lasting.

Monday, February 19, 2007

I Hate Losing

The Gators lost to Vanderbilt in Men's Basketball Saturday. I was unable to watch the game broadcast live as I had a previously arranged hair appointment. Upon my return home, I inadvertently came across the final score....we had lost. At that point, I had no desire to watch the game.

This is where the rationalization begins. This loss will do the team good. While it snapped the team's winning streak, it should better prepare them for the SEC and NCAA tournament. When you are the defending national champs and ranked number 1 in the country, you get everyone's best game. How did that sound? Are you buying it?

There's just no way around it....losing is no fun. I hope the Gators bring their A game the rest of the season.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Not Exactly a Heartwarming Story

Randy volunteered at Holly's class yesterday for their annual Valentines Day Party. I signed him up for an activity that involved construction paper, clear vinyl sheets, yarn and candy hearts. I selected this craft because it was one of the few that didn't involve a glue gun. Given that Randy nor I are very craft-handy, I felt it would be advantageous to keep him away from hot glue.

The event and the craft were huge successes. Randy said his table became known as "the sewing table". While it may not have been very manly, he did just fine and the kids loved it.

While Randy was there, one of the teachers relayed the following Holly story:

Right before the winter break, Holly's class went to a local nursing home to sing holiday songs for the residents. The teachers had the kids create a bunch of cards to be distributed after their performance. The teachers went through the cards to check what the kids had drawn or written. On one of Holly's cards it said "I hope you had a nice life."

While I'm sure her heart was in the right place, the card was filtered out of the group taken to the nursing home.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Fashion Sense

I've decided that my daughter has inherited my fashion sense. Case in point: This morning Holly announced that she would be wearing pink pants with a red shirt for Valentines Day. The only red shirt that currently fits is a no-sleeve number which wouldn't really be appropriate given today's high temperature of 19 degrees.

The other example still has me laughing. When I picked Holly up from Kids' Club at school Monday, she was a sight to behold. Imagine if you will my child in a purple sweater, purple shorts (not the same color purple), white knee socks and black faux-fur-lined snow boots. Apparently she got mud all over her pants so she changed into her spare outfit. I guess I hadn't updated the spare pants since the start of school last August. Oops!

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

My Self-Imposed Sabbatical

As if you hadn't noticed, I've been ignoring my blog. What has happened during my hiatus:
1. We are all moved in.
2. We suffered through seven snow storms in seven weeks
3. Christmas
4. The start of 2007
5. The Gators won the National Championship in football
6. My daughter's sixth birthday
7. My daughter's sixth birthday party

It's been a busy three and one half months.

The move was a monumental task. Luckily, the moving trucks were done three days before the first of the aforementioned snow storms hit. It gave us a lot of dedicated time to unpack and try the furniture in various locations around the room.

I love the new house but it is lacking several things that demand time and money. These items include window coverings, miscellaneous furniture and landscaping. Our current landscaping consists of snow and mud. It is not a pretty sight.

It is all about priorities right now. The first one being the blinds. I'm not much of a exhibitionist for all the voyeurs out there. It has been so long since I ordered window blinds that I had forgotten how pricey they are. I ordered the critical ones a couple of weeks ago. They are hung and look fabulous. It is an interesting task to try and hang motorized blinds using instructions written by a person who has no knowledge of English. I'll have to scan and post the instructions. They are quite comical.

There's so much more to post but I'll save that material for later.