Random Thoughts on a Tuesday*

1. Do not scan an inkjet print of a photo and expect me to reproduce it in a magazine with any amount of quality.

2. No matter how hot it is outside, please do not think that it is acceptable to appear anywhere in public without a shirt. This includes driving in your car.

3. If you are a member of the brain trust, please do not compliment my new super cute shoes. I will begin to question my style in shoes.

4. For God’s sake, please put sunscreen on your child before spending the entire day at the pool.

5. There are CDs that I used to live and die by that I’m just not interested in listening to anymore.

6. My husband is AWESOME! He helped me hand paint a sign I volunteered to create for a friend’s wedding.

7. Please do not wear a long dangly charm bracelet and bang it on your desk all day—it might annoy the person who has the misfortune to sit in the next cube over from you.

8. Please do not outbid me literally at the last possible second on Ebay. It’s just not nice and I had my heart set on that rockin’ piece of glass.

10. Please do not forward an e-mail to me that is embedded in 10 e-mails especially if it is a “funny” photo of a man’s naked ass and you are sending it to my work e-mail address. Nasty!

11. How effed-up do you obviously have to be to manage this and then try to get away on a bus?

12. Adobe Software: You have officially designed your Web site to be completely useless to me.

13. If someone is nice enough to send you a baby gift from across the country it is common courtesy to send a thank you note.

14. Please take a walk with me on a beautiful day to get a cookie.

15. I'm listening to this today. Check it out if you have time.

* In no particular order.

Sure Happy It's Thursday

First, I really need to try to come up with better titles for posts.

Second, To follow up on my last post, I hypothetically encouraged the hypothetical source to talk to the hypothetical director and hypothetically she did. We hypothetically decided not to talk to our hypothetical direct boss as the information would have just been hurtful. Hypothetically we think the director sees right through the brain trust. We'll see if anything hypothetically comes of it all. That's eight (now nine) hypotheticals.

Third, for lack of something better to write about, I give you a really interesting Web site.

Photo is from the Web site and is possibly copyrighted by someone, but I'll take the risk.

Hypothetical*

So, let's say, hypothetically of course, I found out about a pretty bad act of insubordination against my hypothetical boss. Bad enough that I may have lost hypothetical sleep over it. Let's say the information came from a third party who asked that I not say anything. Let's say hypothetically it involves the Brain Trust. The boss returns hypothetically to the office from Florida on Wednesday. What should I do? Hypothetically of course.

*Google search for "hypothetical" and "insubordinate" related images yielded nothing so you get a completely unrelated photo of the necklace I'm wearing today.

Miscellaneous Monday

1. Did anyone see "Grey's Anatomy" last night? Holy crap! Anyone want to take a guess at who will survive through to next season? All I have to say is that Bushie better make his little immigration speech short and quick so that it doesn't run past nine into the second part 2-hour "Grey's Anatomy" finale tonight. (yes, shallow I know...) I'm thinking if he goes past nine his ratings will drop even further from the "Grey's Anatomy" viewers as well as those that watch "24".

2. I'm leaving for Orlando tomorrow morning. We have a conference at Disney starting Thursday and I have to fly down for some mandatory "staff event" on Wednesday. Normally, I do not get to go to our conference, but since it is at Disney the boss has decided to fly all of us down pre-conference. Yeah, a team building thing. (read dripping with sarcasm). So I don't actually get to stay for the conference (I fly home Thursday), but I do get to stay in a nice hotel for two nights and a co-worker (one who shares my disdain with the brain trust) and I are headed to the House of Blues Wednesday night, so hopefully it won't be so bad. The goal is to avoid the intolerable co-workers as much as possible and enjoy some time to myself, which I rarely get anymore.

3. My Mother's Day was great! My boys both made me beautiful keepsakes and brought me flowers. This was the first year that my oldest was into Mother's Day and all by himself, he asked his daddy to take him to the grocery store so that he could get some flowers to hold behind his back and surprise me with them. How cute is that? We had a nice breakfast of French Toast and later they took me out for dinner. Very nice.

4. I spent some time last night downloading the pilot episode of "Lost" since I've never seen it. My intention was to have it on the iPod for the trip to Florida. Later last night I decided it might not be such a good idea to watch the pilot while I'm actually on an airplane. Yeah, maybe not. Oh and by the way, it took two hours to download one episode. I have Verizon Fios, which is supposed to be super fast. At that rate I might only have time to download the second part of the pilot tonight. I need to download the first five episodes since it took me a few weeks to get sucked into the show last year.

5. I really do have more of a life than TV. I strung a new necklace last night, but did not remember to bring it in today to scan.

6. Have a good week.

While You Were Out Today

To: The Boss
From: Blue Dog Art

RE: A Day in the Life of the Brain Trust

9:30 Bother to show up for "work".
9:30-10:45 B.S. With each other
10:45 Make nail appointment for 11:15
10:50 Leave for nail appt.
12:15-1:00 Return from nail appt. (I went to lunch and she was back when I returned at 1.)
1:00-1:10 Return personal phone call.
1:10-1:20 Disappear somewhere in office.
1:20-2:45 Go to lunch
2:45-3:00 B.S. some more
3:00-3:05 Call someone to explain fuck-up that will cost us money to fix.
3:05 I get sick of the B.S. and put on noise cancelling headphones because I am to pissed to think about it anymore.
4:30 I'm going home.

I SO wish I was kidding, but I'm not. This was her actual fucking day today. I actually took notes today. I wish I could give this list to my boss, but at this point I just make myself look bad for bitching about it so much.

My Dear Friend

A very close friend is pregnant with twins. She is only 22 weeks along and is in pre-term labor. I just finished talking to her and she's so scared. She had several contractions today and the medication to stop the contractions is not working so well. She was put on bed rest in the hospital as of Friday and is to remain in the hospital for the duration. She did well over the weekend, but hasn't had so good of a day. She has a two year-old at home. Please keep her and the babies and her husband and young son in your thoughts and prayers. I know you, my readers are all good folks. Thank you.

Five Years Ago Today…

…a beautiful, healthy 8 lb. 4 oz., 20" long, baby boy was born at 3:58 a.m.

Happy Birthday to my first Blue Dog Pup!

Something Fun and Cool

I recently received a gift certificate from a vendor to use at this really cool online t-shirt seller. They have a ton of cool designs and you can also submit your own designs to be printed.

If you click the link below you can view and order something cool for yourself and if you order through my link I get points toward a free shirt. AND if you sign up you too can tell your friends and get points for yourself.

http://www.threadless.com/?streetteam=Blue_Dog_Art

I ordered "A Room With A View", "Canada Owes Me", and "Lulu".

Enjoy!

P.S. They are having a sale until Monday. T-shirts are on sale for $10. Wahoo!

What I did Friday

I took Friday off to volunteer for the 2006 Avon Walk for Breast Cancer here in DC.

In 2000 I participated as a walker in what was then known as the Avon Breast Cancer 3-Day. Back then, I had been hearing the radio ads for the walk and was thinking about doing the walk. Then I found out that one of my childhood friends had just been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 32. I signed up to do the walk immediately. I trained for three months. My biggest fear in doing the walk was the fund-raising that was required to participate. I had to raise $1800 in order to walk. I figured that the walking would be the easy part. I was wrong. My fund-raising totalled $32 just shy of $5000. I joined 3000 other walkers in Frederick, Maryland and over the course of a 3-day weekend walked 60 miles from Frederick to the Mall in downtown Washington, DC. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. My friend is now a six-year survivor.

Every year since 2000 when I walked, I have volunteered with the walk. Last year's volunteering was poignant as my mother was just finishing up her treatment for breast cancer. I'm pleased to say that she is doing very well. Friday was my sixth year for volunteering. For the past few years I have volunteered in the walker check-in area. The walkers and crew members come through and we check them in on computers, verify their medical info is on file, update any additional fund-raising, and pass out registration packets, etc. I have worked this area enough that repeat walkers even recognize me as they check in.

This Friday was a little different. Two people stuck with me this year like no others. First, I checked in a woman who was participating as a crew member. (The crew supports the walkers along the way in multiple ways including, rest stops, traffic control, meals, you name it, the crew does it in an amazing way.) She sat down in front of my computer and was bubbling with excitement. As I began to check her in she told me that today was her 20-year anniversary for beating her breast cancer. I congratulated her and she started passing out stickers that said "Special Person". As a crew member there is not a fund-raising requirement, it is optional. As I continued to check her in I came to the fund-raising screen and thought there was an error in the screen. There was not a typo. This dear woman who had beat cancer 20 years ago had raised over $24,000 for the cause. Amazing! We all got up and applauded her accomplishment.

The second person that stuck with me was a young woman who was a first time walker. She seemed a bit stressed when she sat down. She asked about stickers that were available to write a name on and wear in honor or memory of someone. I told her where to find what she was looking for and asked who she was walking for and she said her mom and began to cry. I asked how her mom was doing and she replied that her mom had died in February. I almost lost it right there. I stood up and reached over the table to hug her. I told her as I hugged her that her mom was proud of her for doing the walk. I felt pretty bad that she cried, but knowing the walk and the experience, I'm sure then wasn't going to be the only time.

That's what this walk is about. The amazing stories that go along with it. It is hard not to cry when you hear the stories and meet all the amazing people. Walkers, survivors, supporters, mothers, fathers, daughters, and sons. All walking because so many people are affected by breast cancer.