So, this afternoon around 2:30pm we got a new to us vehicle. The truck, which I have to say I still love, became too expensive to continue with and quite frankly, I lost faith in it. So, we got an automatic (which Van can now drive) - 2003 Pontiac Grand Am - Blue (but not a true blue. I'll have to get a pic).
So, hopefully we'll have better luck with this vehicle and better gas milage. it was $60 bucks a week and I go basically no where! It might be good for Van too once he has is eye surgery for coming home at midnight on his own and not by bus or cab!
We're going to try PEI next weekend. Spending filthy amounts of money just to go to PEI, but it's our "re-do honeymoon" so hopefully I won't get deathly ill this time around! :)
Anyhoos, it's been a big day for a day off!! I have a wedding tomorrow afternoon @ 5:30pm at a catholic church here in town. Not really a big fan of the set up at this church for the organist, but it'll hopefully work without incident!
Have a great weekend folks!
Friday, August 25, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
any ideas on how to motivate?
Any ideas out there on how I can be more motivated to get things done? I still haven't done my taxes for this year, still haven't finished the paperwork that I need to get ready and then get to the lawyer for the lawsuit (at the rate I'm going, I'm never going to get a settlement) and motivated to lose weight? Ideas? Anyone? I'm all out.
Work has just exploded - yet again. Van called at 9:30pm tonight saying we were at 937 and counting. Eassily going break 1000 calls in today and there were around 150 voicemails waiting to be called back. that's nearly double what our busiest day previously was (and that was just last week).
I am really looking forward to no choir and no church in a month's time.
More over, I'm REALLY looking forward to getting a couple of days off at the end of the month! If things go the way they are headed, I may try to take a couple more days at the beginning of Sept. to get the paperwork tidied up (started, maybe?)
Anyhoos, that's about the only thing going at this point in time. Just thought I'd put it out there.
Hope all is well for everyone else!
Work has just exploded - yet again. Van called at 9:30pm tonight saying we were at 937 and counting. Eassily going break 1000 calls in today and there were around 150 voicemails waiting to be called back. that's nearly double what our busiest day previously was (and that was just last week).
I am really looking forward to no choir and no church in a month's time.
More over, I'm REALLY looking forward to getting a couple of days off at the end of the month! If things go the way they are headed, I may try to take a couple more days at the beginning of Sept. to get the paperwork tidied up (started, maybe?)
Anyhoos, that's about the only thing going at this point in time. Just thought I'd put it out there.
Hope all is well for everyone else!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Life changes and announcements
So, after about 6 to 8 months of relative stagnancy, my life has picked up and is headed on a new path rather quickly.
The office is now busting at the seams. Literally. On June 1st we had 6 employees as of August 1st we have 26.
The office simply needs me full time - more than full time really. I'm averaging 50 hours per week and the way it's going (another new project won today that starts in October) it's going to be this way until the new year at least.
With that though, I can't continue to keep the pace of what I have been - 3 jobs (office, church, teaching) and the 4th unpaid job of Festival executive secretary. Something had to go.
In July I decided to cut back on students and instead of teaching 2 - 3 nights per week and have 12 students that I would cut back to 1 night a week and choose the 5 students that I wanted to keep, so I called around and did that.
Then, things have changed drastically at the church and the "team" has been slowly dismantled. First, Bruce my right hand around there) left and then at the end of May the minister asked for a transfer. his last sunday is this coming sunday.
The only reason I have been keeping the church is so that if the office had downtime like it did tha past couple of years (we went 6 - 10 weeks without any work a few times) then it took the financial burden off and I was also getting medical coverage there. Well, with the office is making many changes in the past month, one of them is getting a benefits package. So, with that coverage, and with the steady work lined up into a farhter future than any of us ever expected, I could finally make the decision.
At 8:30pm tonight, I hand-delivered my resignation to the chair of the ministry & personnel committee. He wasn't surprised and didn't seem too disappointed either.
So, effective September 30th, I will no longer be a full time organist & choir director. I won't have the committment of every weekend, every major holiday spent at the church. I will be able to sleep in and maybe even go out and DO something on a satuday night (shock of all shocks!)
I lasted there longer than either myself or my mother exected, so I feel like I accomished quite a feat. They are a notoriously difficult congregation to deal with, so I'm rather proud. but, I'm also rather tired.
So, we'll see how I make out budgeting on one income and not 2!!!
I'll keep you posted!
The office is now busting at the seams. Literally. On June 1st we had 6 employees as of August 1st we have 26.
The office simply needs me full time - more than full time really. I'm averaging 50 hours per week and the way it's going (another new project won today that starts in October) it's going to be this way until the new year at least.
With that though, I can't continue to keep the pace of what I have been - 3 jobs (office, church, teaching) and the 4th unpaid job of Festival executive secretary. Something had to go.
In July I decided to cut back on students and instead of teaching 2 - 3 nights per week and have 12 students that I would cut back to 1 night a week and choose the 5 students that I wanted to keep, so I called around and did that.
Then, things have changed drastically at the church and the "team" has been slowly dismantled. First, Bruce my right hand around there) left and then at the end of May the minister asked for a transfer. his last sunday is this coming sunday.
The only reason I have been keeping the church is so that if the office had downtime like it did tha past couple of years (we went 6 - 10 weeks without any work a few times) then it took the financial burden off and I was also getting medical coverage there. Well, with the office is making many changes in the past month, one of them is getting a benefits package. So, with that coverage, and with the steady work lined up into a farhter future than any of us ever expected, I could finally make the decision.
At 8:30pm tonight, I hand-delivered my resignation to the chair of the ministry & personnel committee. He wasn't surprised and didn't seem too disappointed either.
So, effective September 30th, I will no longer be a full time organist & choir director. I won't have the committment of every weekend, every major holiday spent at the church. I will be able to sleep in and maybe even go out and DO something on a satuday night (shock of all shocks!)
I lasted there longer than either myself or my mother exected, so I feel like I accomished quite a feat. They are a notoriously difficult congregation to deal with, so I'm rather proud. but, I'm also rather tired.
So, we'll see how I make out budgeting on one income and not 2!!!
I'll keep you posted!
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Chaz is too funny
My cousins are heading to the New Orleans area for a wedding at the end of the month. They asked for som suggestions of things to do and see while they are there. One thing that leapt to mind was the vampire and ghost walking tour that we took with Chaz and Boone and Randy. Chaz makes an impact. That and when we were on the tour, he explained a bit of his history in life and he is a musician, used to be a music teacher, etc, and he just always stuck with me (and I think Sarah still has the scars on her back from the scratches he gave her with his real nails! heheh) So, tonight, I went searching online and found out that Chaz split with the company he was working with when we were there and went out on his own. There is a website for him: http://www.lordchaz.com and discussion boards.
He has a journal on one of the boards. I couldn't help myself. I went on to see. A subject line struck me and I had to read. I nearly wet myself with laughter especially at the last few lines. I had to copy and paste it here (I've bolded what killed me):
Lord Chaz
Consul Imperium
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 566
Location: New Orleans
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:34 am Post subject: CrÜefest Chicago - Day One
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, where does one begin when telling the story of the past week. I have a feeling that it may take several journal entry sessions to get the whole story out, there are simply too many vignettes, too many magical moments, and far too many felonies, misdemeanors and crimes against nature to press into a single post.
So, shall we start at the beginning?
Lord Micah and I decided to get to the airport quite early. We felt that early arrival was vital considering my experience with airport security when I flew to Atlanta a year ago. Also of great concern was the uncertainty as to how security would react should they discover a two foot tall, bat winged, critter with a foot long bifurcated tongue hidden within my luggage. I was quite certain that bringing Daemon along on this trip would prove to be calamitous, but neither was I comfortable with leaving him for a week at the manor, unattended.
In an effort to ease our transition through security, I dressed in a manner rather inconsistent with my usual attire. It just seemed to me that a sport coat, dress jeans, and a dark blue casual shirt would cause me to seem a bit more innocuous. This plan worked flawlessly with one minor exception. When checking in, my bag proved to be seven pounds too heavy. Since Micah’s bag was light, the attendants suggested that we transfer something from my bag to his. I knew that pulling Daemon out of his secret compartment and transferring him to Micah’s bag would result in too many questions being asked, so I pulled my knee high platform boots out instead. The moment my boots became visible there were several gasps and an “Oh my god” and one of the ladies inquired, “Ya’ll must be performers huh?”. The only witty response that I could think of was, “Uh, yeah”. Other than this moment, our New Orleans departure was uneventful.
Arrival at O’Hare Airport in Chicago was slightly more exciting. It seemed that our pilot thought that an acrobatic landing would welcome the New Orleans lords to Chicago in grand style. After swooping and yawing the airplane from side to side on approach, he completed our landing by first plopping the plane forcefully onto only its right wing gear, riding only that one gear for a moment, then slamming the other two gears hard onto the runway. This uneven landing caused the plane to swerve noticeably on the runway but fortunately he quickly brought it under control. Not exactly a three point landing.
After disembarking the plane, Lord Micah and I made our way to baggage claim where we found Madame Morticia and Lady Lightning waiting. A moment of levity ensued just then, as Lord Micah was several paces ahead of me and turned the corner first. He told me later that there seemed to be a look of confusion in their eyes as they saw him walking up alone. They must have assumed that something had gone wrong and that I had not made the trip, or perhaps more likely, had been detained by security. As they saw me come around the corner a few moments later, I saw a look in their eyes that I swear was a mixture of both relief AND disappointment. I truly believe that for a brief moment they thought that they would be sparred the burden of dealing with me for a whole week.
Upon leaving the airport, the ladies inquired if we were hungry and since we both certainly were, they took us to a wonderful little diner where it was obvious that they had been before since everyone seemed to know them. We had some fantastic food and met a few of the employees who seemed to gather around wanting to get a look at the strange men from New Orleans. One gentleman, Christo, joined us at the table and I listened in as he and Madame babbled on in Greek. Since I do not speak the language, I can only assume that he was asking her where she had found the strays and why she had brought them to his fine establishment. Her excuse must have been a good one as he gifted us with a large box of doughnuts to take with us as we left. His shift must have just ended as we then dropped him off at his home. As we left, he gifted me with a large plastic bottle filled with a clear liquid that he claimed was Ouzo. Now, I must confess I have never come across Ouzo that came in a PLASTIC bottle so I eyed the liquid with great suspicion upon returning to the car. A general consensus was reached between Lord Micah, Lady Lightning and myself that it would be wise to test the suspicious liquid on Madame before any of us attempted to imbibe the plastic contained and strange smelling fluid. Since I have only consumed Ouzo once in my life (the result of which has caused me to classify it in the same category as I do the Devil’s Urine, Chartreuse), there would be little chance that I would sample it even should Madame survive the test sample.
Chaz ROCKS!!! :) :) :)
He has a journal on one of the boards. I couldn't help myself. I went on to see. A subject line struck me and I had to read. I nearly wet myself with laughter especially at the last few lines. I had to copy and paste it here (I've bolded what killed me):
Lord Chaz
Consul Imperium
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 566
Location: New Orleans
Posted: Sat Apr 22, 2006 2:34 am Post subject: CrÜefest Chicago - Day One
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, where does one begin when telling the story of the past week. I have a feeling that it may take several journal entry sessions to get the whole story out, there are simply too many vignettes, too many magical moments, and far too many felonies, misdemeanors and crimes against nature to press into a single post.
So, shall we start at the beginning?
Lord Micah and I decided to get to the airport quite early. We felt that early arrival was vital considering my experience with airport security when I flew to Atlanta a year ago. Also of great concern was the uncertainty as to how security would react should they discover a two foot tall, bat winged, critter with a foot long bifurcated tongue hidden within my luggage. I was quite certain that bringing Daemon along on this trip would prove to be calamitous, but neither was I comfortable with leaving him for a week at the manor, unattended.
In an effort to ease our transition through security, I dressed in a manner rather inconsistent with my usual attire. It just seemed to me that a sport coat, dress jeans, and a dark blue casual shirt would cause me to seem a bit more innocuous. This plan worked flawlessly with one minor exception. When checking in, my bag proved to be seven pounds too heavy. Since Micah’s bag was light, the attendants suggested that we transfer something from my bag to his. I knew that pulling Daemon out of his secret compartment and transferring him to Micah’s bag would result in too many questions being asked, so I pulled my knee high platform boots out instead. The moment my boots became visible there were several gasps and an “Oh my god” and one of the ladies inquired, “Ya’ll must be performers huh?”. The only witty response that I could think of was, “Uh, yeah”. Other than this moment, our New Orleans departure was uneventful.
Arrival at O’Hare Airport in Chicago was slightly more exciting. It seemed that our pilot thought that an acrobatic landing would welcome the New Orleans lords to Chicago in grand style. After swooping and yawing the airplane from side to side on approach, he completed our landing by first plopping the plane forcefully onto only its right wing gear, riding only that one gear for a moment, then slamming the other two gears hard onto the runway. This uneven landing caused the plane to swerve noticeably on the runway but fortunately he quickly brought it under control. Not exactly a three point landing.
After disembarking the plane, Lord Micah and I made our way to baggage claim where we found Madame Morticia and Lady Lightning waiting. A moment of levity ensued just then, as Lord Micah was several paces ahead of me and turned the corner first. He told me later that there seemed to be a look of confusion in their eyes as they saw him walking up alone. They must have assumed that something had gone wrong and that I had not made the trip, or perhaps more likely, had been detained by security. As they saw me come around the corner a few moments later, I saw a look in their eyes that I swear was a mixture of both relief AND disappointment. I truly believe that for a brief moment they thought that they would be sparred the burden of dealing with me for a whole week.
Upon leaving the airport, the ladies inquired if we were hungry and since we both certainly were, they took us to a wonderful little diner where it was obvious that they had been before since everyone seemed to know them. We had some fantastic food and met a few of the employees who seemed to gather around wanting to get a look at the strange men from New Orleans. One gentleman, Christo, joined us at the table and I listened in as he and Madame babbled on in Greek. Since I do not speak the language, I can only assume that he was asking her where she had found the strays and why she had brought them to his fine establishment. Her excuse must have been a good one as he gifted us with a large box of doughnuts to take with us as we left. His shift must have just ended as we then dropped him off at his home. As we left, he gifted me with a large plastic bottle filled with a clear liquid that he claimed was Ouzo. Now, I must confess I have never come across Ouzo that came in a PLASTIC bottle so I eyed the liquid with great suspicion upon returning to the car. A general consensus was reached between Lord Micah, Lady Lightning and myself that it would be wise to test the suspicious liquid on Madame before any of us attempted to imbibe the plastic contained and strange smelling fluid. Since I have only consumed Ouzo once in my life (the result of which has caused me to classify it in the same category as I do the Devil’s Urine, Chartreuse), there would be little chance that I would sample it even should Madame survive the test sample.
Chaz ROCKS!!! :) :) :)
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Imaginary friends or ghosts?
So, I have always had this stance on this subject - children do not have imaginary friends, they see ghosts. I beleive that they are so open and innocent, non-judgemental and receptive that there is no boundaries for them to not see those who are here bt are meant for the other side. Not really sure when or why I formed this as I don't remember having imaginar friends, but, it is something I truly believe.
Interesting conversation at work today witha girl, relatively new - 2 weeks in who has a daughter who just turned 2 recently. Her babysitter called and was completely freaking out thinking the kid at 2 was either losing her mind or outright lying to the babysitter as the kid was going around having a fairly indepth conversation ( I supposse as indepth as a 2 year old can have) with herself, as if there was another child there. When the babysitter asked (as the all have to do), the child was shocked that she didn't see the boy that she was talking to. She explained to the babysitter that it's the same boy who has been trupping her as she runs down the long hardwood floor hallway (which her mom then said that she had said this before when she fell that "he tripped me" and they had been thinking she meant it was the cat.
Anyway, the mom was a bit creeped, but on the other hand, said something very interesting that I want to explore a bit more - she said, I think that we have a ghost! I said, I completely agree. I then said that I strongly feel that children don't have "imaginary friends" but that they simple see people, spirits, ghosts, however you want to term them that we can't. And waht really got my interest was that the mom came back with - Oh I totally think so too. Children her age haven't been clouded yet and are open to seeing things. hmmmmm....my thoughts exactly. Then she went on and said - I don't think he's out to harm her or us, but I'm not really sure I want him around either.
So, I'm going to do a bit of research in my library and see if there is anything I can come up with. In the meantime, I'll take in a tiger eye and hematite to her and see if she's open to that to either put it in the girls' pocket or if the could wear them as a necklace, in the just in case thing.
If anyone knows of places on the net that address this topic, please let me know so I can see if there's anything else that can be done maybe to help, protect or even cleanse.
Interesting conversation at work today witha girl, relatively new - 2 weeks in who has a daughter who just turned 2 recently. Her babysitter called and was completely freaking out thinking the kid at 2 was either losing her mind or outright lying to the babysitter as the kid was going around having a fairly indepth conversation ( I supposse as indepth as a 2 year old can have) with herself, as if there was another child there. When the babysitter asked (as the all have to do), the child was shocked that she didn't see the boy that she was talking to. She explained to the babysitter that it's the same boy who has been trupping her as she runs down the long hardwood floor hallway (which her mom then said that she had said this before when she fell that "he tripped me" and they had been thinking she meant it was the cat.
Anyway, the mom was a bit creeped, but on the other hand, said something very interesting that I want to explore a bit more - she said, I think that we have a ghost! I said, I completely agree. I then said that I strongly feel that children don't have "imaginary friends" but that they simple see people, spirits, ghosts, however you want to term them that we can't. And waht really got my interest was that the mom came back with - Oh I totally think so too. Children her age haven't been clouded yet and are open to seeing things. hmmmmm....my thoughts exactly. Then she went on and said - I don't think he's out to harm her or us, but I'm not really sure I want him around either.
So, I'm going to do a bit of research in my library and see if there is anything I can come up with. In the meantime, I'll take in a tiger eye and hematite to her and see if she's open to that to either put it in the girls' pocket or if the could wear them as a necklace, in the just in case thing.
If anyone knows of places on the net that address this topic, please let me know so I can see if there's anything else that can be done maybe to help, protect or even cleanse.
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