Busy, Busy

I know I have been a little slackerish about blogging lately. It seems to be "crunch time" at work. It's been hectic. I have my formal evaluation this year (blah) and preparing for that took much too much time. Most people (apparently) completely blow this evaluation thing off. I would except I plan to be on the job market in a year or few and need good documentation of everything for the 'hunt'. It is a good exercise in that respect. If I were not thinking about leaving then I would have also blown it off in gool ol' small-college-in-the-middle-of-nowhere fashion. I mean, really, how could they fire me? They can't recruit instructors to save their butts. The pay is crap (even by CC standards), the board is a bunch of uneducated old arses, and the area is backwater. It does give me peace of mind to know that I have a job here for as long as I want it.

I've also been out of town since my last blog. I only went 1.5 hours away but that meant that I lost a day to possible blogging time. It wasn't that exciting. I won't bother with the details.

I will, however, mention that I got completely snockered this past Monday. OMG! I don't know what I was thinking. Oh wait. Yes I do. I live in a little hamlet of hell, was only giving exams (low key time in class for me), and hadn't made an ass out of myself in some time. Well, did I make up for that! I was fine at bar #1. I had a tall beer and then a pint. It was decided at this point that we should go on a pub "crawl". Not so much of a crawl because they are so far apart that it takes many minutes to drive from one to the next but oh well. At the second one I stuck with just a pint. Still good. A t the third one I maintained my norm by having another pint. Still fine. It was at the fourth and last that it all when to the dogs. They didn't have beer on tap (what kind of bar is this anyway!) and the bottles were all trash. Just the standard Bud and Miller and, oh yeah, the light versions too. Woohoo. Hold me back! Ah yeah, so I am a little bit of a beer snob. I was not drinking that piss even with four and half beers behind me. I switched to 7&7's since the seagrams in the first thing I laid eyes on. I know that this isn't really a step up but I don't drink much liquor so I am less of a snob about it. I would have been fine... except... the bartender made it strong. Actually, that wasn't my true problem. The problem was the drunkass guys who decided to treat my friend and I to two more rounds! Aaaaah. I was not okay by the end. And the next morning... ugh. I did have quite a bit of fun though. I kind of dig on flirting outrageously with men who I have no intention of seeing again. I forgot it is a small fucking town.

Went to Walmart on Wednesday to pick up a few things for Thanksgiving. Guess who I run into! DAMMIT! The drunkasses. At least they didn't seem to remember me. Whew.

Thanksgiving was good. Not a big affair for me. Stayed in town because the idea of driving 10 hours home and then back again in three days made me want to cry. The idea was doubly bad since I get about four weeks off for Christmas and make the drive then. The holiday vacation is one huge perk of the job that I love and it helps ease the pain of the paycheck.

I decided to get the x-mas decor going this weekend. My leaving town means that if I get it up now, I will have at least two weeks+ to enjoy the tree before I jet. Here are some pictures:

You can't really tell in the picture but I got completely carried away with the mini-lights on the tree. I used NINE strings. That just ain't right. It is an eight foot blue spruce but still... a little on the overdone side of things. Sadly, I love it! The village is much cooler than the picture can show. My mom painted them and she has great skill for details. Oh, and when you read this entry mom - I need more trees! More trees! More trees! I want to have a whole little forest. I hope she is planning to give me a tote of buildings, people and trees this year. I think that is the plan. Every year to get a tote until the village is really that - a village. Right now it is more like a main street terrorized by Godzilla. Major space between shops. But it looked funny when I set it up on only half the bookcase top. The buildings all light up too. Very sparkly!

Mmm, well, I can't think of much else. The house painting is at a standstill. I've been too busy, it's been too rainy, or too cold for paint. The mudding is coming along at a snail's pace. I didn't work on it for about five weeks. Plus, now that I am skimming all the walls (to get rid of the nasty texture thing on the walls) it has added exponentially to the amount of time I need to dedicate to the project. And, frankly, some days I just rather read a book. The initally mudding job is done and two walls have the first coat of skim plus first sanding done. Coming along s.l.o.w.l.y.

Hope everyone had a terrific turkey day. I promise to post again before Christmas!

St. Louis Trip

I spent too much money. That could be the only sentence for this blog entry and it would sum up the entire trip.

First, I went with some friends but the person who drove decided that we would be much more comfortable in her Expedition. Damn. My share of the gas was almost as much as if I had driven alone in my own 4 cylinder.

I bought 2 (!!!) new pairs of gym shoes. One pair of running shoes and one pair of cross trainers. I had been having problems with my ankles rolling when I was doing the leg press. I need more stability in the shoe than you get in a running shoe. And my running shoes were on month 4 and starting to not cushion like they should. After using the new ones for a week I can say with certainty that they are faboo!

I bought a new watch. My old one disappeared some time ago. I hate not having a watch. The only problem is that whenever I get cheap watches, the battery always dies within a few weeks of purchase. This bad-luck phenomenon requires I spend more money than is reasonable for what is really just an (unneeded) accessory given all the clocks in my life. I only look at the watch when I am golfing.

I bought some professional clothes. I muddled through last winter wearing sweaters that were way too thick for this area. It doesn't really get cold here. Now I have clothes that are more lightweight.

I bought a new golf glove and some tees. My old one has a hole in the palm area and I was down to five tees. I also got some new balls. Those I didn't really need. But they are way cool! My set also came with purple and white.

I bought some toys for the cats. I am excited about one of them in particular. The boy cat isn't much for interactive play. Well, I think I figured out the problem. He likes noise! The feather wands and boas are quiet. I got a boa thing with a bell - well - there is no stopping him!

We also ate out every meal. More money. Oh, and went to a comedy club. That was fantastic. I really enjoyed myself.

Not much else to report. It's been a busy week and I know when the credit card bill shows up I will have a minor coronary but for now the shoes are way comfy and supportive, the watch is being used more (now that I have adjusted to having one again), the cats are exercised well, I look good on the job, and the golf balls (particularly pink) are really easy to track. All is fairly good in chemgoddess world. Until I write again...

From An Email

A friend sent an email that had a bunch of pictures that were taken at "just the right moment". They aren't mine. I don't know who deserves the credit but I am posting them anyway because a few of them are just too cool. I picked my four favorite from about 12.