Friday Photos

Some pics of things I love and that handsome (not) multi-volume set of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare.

Just thoughts

Thank you to my friends who reached out to me yesterday. It was much appreciated. I'm doing better today, still a tinge of sadness, but much much better.

A is a peach. He knew I was sad, though like I suspected had not realized why. Anyway, I got home from work around 9:15 - and there on the kitchen counter was a vase filled with a dozen roses. With the flowers was a card - a beautiful card saying how much he loved me. I'm sitting here welling up with tears again just thinking about it. Boy did I luck out in the husband department. He's not perfect, none of us are, but he's perfect for me.

I'm trying to work on some self-enrichment this year - learning new things, exploring culture, etc. I thought that one of the things I should do is read all of Shakespeare's sonnets. After all, I have the Complete Works of William Shakespeare in a handsome (not) multi-volume set. Okay - maybe I'm missing something - but these sonnets just don't do it for me. I loved the Shakespeare classes I took in high school and college, but I don't know why I ever bought The Complete Works of William Shakespeare in that handsome (not) multi-volume set - other than to impress visitors to my home? After I manage to slog my way through all of the sonnets, I think the handsome (not) multi-volume set of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare will have to find a new home. I'm thinking Robert Frost may be more to my liking. I have his complete works too. It's just one book though.

Tonight, another budget meeting - but such fun we will have. Tonight, we get to worship at the altar of LPB, librarian of the best library in the state, no - the country, no - make that the world - wait, really, it's the galaxy. I kid you not. My boss says it's a cult. I think he's right. Should be fun.

No happy post today

Today is a day with sad memories for me. The worst thing is that I feel alone in my sadness. I don't think anyone else realizes what today is - not even my husband. If our baby had been born and then died, everyone would remember, but because he never made it to being born, no one remembers today but me. It's not just the day I lost my baby either, it's the day I lost my dreams of being a mother, having a family of more than just me & A - the dream of a lifetime. So, I'm sure there will be moments today that I smile and maybe laugh, but it's just not a happiness day.

More snow?

It has snowed a lot this winter. It's driven me nuts - always snowing after hours and sometimes on holidays. It's killed our snow budget. So I figured that I would have a discussion of snow on my blog - educational even. You know how people say "it's too cold to snow"? Not true. It's never to cold to snow. As long as there is some moisture and a way to lift the cold air, you can have snow. And the bit when it rains about "well at least it's not snow" on the theory that 1 inch of water equals 10 inches of snow? Again, not true. Ten inches of snow can have as little as .1 inch of water and as much as 4 inches of water. National Weather Service records say that Rochester, not Buffalo, is the snowiest large city in the US, with 94 inches annually. 94 freakin' inches! I shouldn't complain about what we're getting in downstate NY. The most Phoenix has ever had is 1 inch. I think I may move there. In this part of the world, we get Nor'easters in the winter - kind of like a winter hurricane. They are dreadful. Blizzards have winds of over 35 mph, visibility less than 1/4 mile all for more than 3 hours. And did you know that there are different types of snow plows? There's the big V plow for really serious snow. They aren't used that often. Then there are straight blade plows. There are plows that are angled that are used to direct the snow a specific way, they may even have a curve on the top. So - now you know all about snow. You're ready for the next storm, which is coming in tonight.

It's the little things...

...that can really get to me. Like my employee who hums kind of mindlessly and not well. The tunes are usually semi-recognizable but awful. And it's just plain annoying - not made better by the fact that she's overpaid for what she does, has an ego bigger than Lake Superior without the goods to back it up and I just wish she would freakin' retire already. Then there's the fact that my husband likes to take his jacket off when he comes home and put it on MY chair at the dining room table. Why not his chair or one of the chairs that we never use? Why MY chair? Add to it that sometimes he sits in MY chair? Does he not realize I am a creature of habit and need certain things a certain way? Actually he does realize this in general, I just don't think he's figured out that the chair thing is part of it. Next on the list - people who are not ready for green lights and people who stop the stop line. Re: the green lights - I don't expect you to bolt when it turns green, as that can be dangerous (people do run red lights) but be prepared to proceed within a short time frame. Re: the stop line people - what's your problem people? Do you not realize that you are now creating a bad situation, making it harder for people to turn into that street or requiring that they veer into the other lane to pass you?

Somedays, the little things put me close to exploding - so I guess they are not so little.

Friday Photos

This has been one of the snowiest winters in a while - so what better subject for photos this week than the snow. And a picture of Boomer being cute, just because.

Happiness is....

....a new beginning. Yesterday's events were quite exciting. Many of us gathered around a TV at work. There was a lot of excitement in the room, a lot of hope and a lot of pride. People even stood when the national anthem was played on TV! The new President has a tough job ahead of him, but I think he can do it. He has inspired people. I think we have turned the corner as a nation and that makes me happy indeed.

Counting down the hours

I've waited 8 long years for this! I know, some people have waited a lifetime. For me, today is only partly about the excitement of an Obama presidency. A big part of it is being rid of the Shrub-in-Chief. Once again, we will have a president that we can look up to. He can speak English properly and in complete sentences. We'll have a president that is not a puppet for other forces. We'll have a president in whom we can be proud. God Bless America and God Bless Barack Obama.

Favorite Photos?

None today. Two reasons. One, I didn't take any new photos this week - too busy at work - so I was just going to post oldies. Two, how could any photo I post beat the ones we saw on TV yesterday and in the newspaper this morning of the plane that ditched in the Hudson River. Amazing. A was not on duty, but I'm sure we'll be hearing lots of stories from his co-workers who were and who responded. Not only is this the exact kind of thing they do, it occurred mere blocks from their firehouse. The pilot deserves some kind of award. What he did was tremendous. He saved those people. Just tremendous. And then the ferry boat captains - from what I heard last night, they have no obligation, other than a moral one, to respond to such an incident. But they were the first ones there, hauling people out of the water, warming them up, bringing them to dry land. There was some kind of divine intervention there yesterday. But there were also New Yorkers who saw people in crisis and acted. If you live around here, you know not to believe that stereotype of New Yorkers as cold and too busy to help others. You know.

Happiness is...

....getting the cash to balance. If you were an accountant, you would understand. Sometimes it's just two stupid little errors that you keep overlooking because you're looking for only one. I've got two for today....

Happiness will be.....
.....when a certain former board member moves away for good. He'll be gone for two months soon, but I want him to leave, leave, leave and never return. He's a power hungry mean old man and he's not making my life miserable, but he's doing it to another department head, who in turn gets grumpy with me. So go away! Find a new little hovel and leave us alone!

Mondays

I really don't like Mondays. Unless it's a holiday. Getting up after the weekend is so hard. It doesn't help when the dog gets me up 3 times during the night. Then - when the alarm clock goes off, he's still snoozing. It doesn't help when I'm in a semi-depression because the Giants lost to the Iggles. I'll be rooting for Arizona on Sunday!

It's been kind of amusing to watch Boomer try to navigate the snow this weekend. We had sleet after the snow, so there's a crust on it. It's not enough to hold his weight, so he breaks through and slides around a little. He does love the snow though. He had fun going out on Saturday during the storm. He would run around the yard - just prancing through the snow. He really likes it! He's doing pretty well with the cone. He hasn't tried to take it off and he's navigating rather well with it on. A thinks he's even learned to use it to nudge us. The kind of sad thing is he can't really play with it on. He has trouble picking up his toys with it on. I feel bad for the little guy. He's even being pretty good about letting us put the drops in his eyes.

Boomer has a boo boo & other stuff

Boomer has a scratched cornea. He has to wear a cone to keep him from scratching at it. Being a loving doggie mommy, I took pictures of him in his cone. He's very good at looking pathetic. He is kind of pathetic. He's gotten better maneuvering with it on, but it's difficult. I feel bad for my poor puppy dog. So - here are some pictures of the Boom Doggie and his boo boo.

On another note - I talked to my mother today. She knows about the e-mail argument I had with my sister. She read all the e-mails. Obviously my sister showed them to her. How that came about, I don't quite know, but I'm pretty pissed about it. My mother says she was crying, so I don't know if that led to her showing my mother the e-mails or if she just went to my mother with them. Either way - your 40 years old, don't run to Mommy when you have a fight with someone. Grow up.

My mother is not taking sides. She says we both said things we should not have. Well, I told her that I didn't regret saying what I did to my sister, that it was time she took responsibility for her actions, that she didn't get a pass because she's in a bad spot in her life. In fact, I told her that I thought one of my sister's problems was that we always ignored that kind of stuff and picked up her messes for her - and she never had to do it on her own. I also told her that, had my sister simply apologized for her inconsiderate actions, it would not have escalated as it had. That's when I got criticized for being nasty in my first e-mail. It was definitely sarcastic. I still don't see it as nasty though. So, I'm upset. I have to admit that I don't like being told by my mother that I was wrong in any way. I did not expect her to be taking my side, but I didn't expect to be told I had done anything wrong. Guess that's a little part of me that hasn't grown up! In the end though, my sister should not have shown my mother the e-mails. The incident was between the two of us. I'm really pissed that she brought my mother into it. I don't know where this goes from here. As far as I'm concerned, the argument is over. I doubt though that there will be much, if any, communication between us for a while. She is still acting like a teenager. I posted some Christmas pictures on facebook and tagged her in some. She removed the tags. Now how childish can we get! The bottom line is - she did something wrong, got called on it and couldn't handle that, so she tried to make it about someone else and I wouldn't accept that. I don't intend to turn back from this course. I don't think I do her or anyone else any favors if I do. You know - so often she wants things to be all about her - even my wedding was something she tried to make about her. Well - this time it really all about her - and she wants it to be anything but. And she just doesn't get it. I hope someday she does or she'll never get her act together.

Friday Photos

We stopped at Niagara Falls on our way back from Toronto. Here are some pictures.

Today I learned about...

...the Erie Canal. Okay - this is kind of part of my new year's resolution. I'm trying to learn new things - broaden my mind. So, last weekend we went to Toronto. I knew New York was a big state - but I really didn't have any measure of how big until we were driving from one end to the other. While on the way, we went through the Erie Canal area and I realized that I knew next to nothing about the Erie Canal. But that's changing. I thought it connected Lake Ontario to Lake Erie. Boy was I wrong. It starts at the Hudson River. It was known as Clinton's Folly - after the Governor of New York that proposed its construction. It was originally only 4 feet deep. It's now between 12 and 23 feet deep. It's over 360 miles long. It opened up the interior of the US for settlement. It cost over $7 million to build back in the early 1800s and the investment paid off in 10 years! Wow! I'll bet modern day infrastructure projects don't pay off that fast. The canal towpath was on the Underground Railroad! Lake Erie is 570 feet higher than the Hudson in Albany and today there are 57 locks on the canal. I would like to take a boat trip, starting down here near NYC, going up the Hudson, across the Erie Canal to Lake Erie someday.

Happiness is....

....a UCONN win in the International Bowl! We had a good time in Toronto - despite my nasty cold. The first half of the game was a little scary for UCONN fans, but they came through in the second half and won! UCONN! UCONN! UCONN!

Friday Photos

Some Christmas pictures...
There's Boomer and his "cousins", A & Boomer, my cousins with A in their kitchen, my mom & her sister and lastly me, with a couple of the other guests at my cousin's home for Christmas dinner. The silly hats are an Irish thing. We all had crackers with hats, toys and silly questions.