Showing posts with label Colorado. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Colorado. Show all posts

Monday, November 16, 2009

Such a busy time!

Alright everyone, it's been quite a busy little time for me.
Well, busy and yet not.

Lets go in order shall we?

Sunday night:
Had dream I was laid off. This was not me panicking. This was me happy, and deciding how best my day was going to proceed. I had decided in the dream that I was going to walk to the library every day, which is up quite a good sized hill. This urge to walk it every day, meant that I was skinny (less jiggly) by the time 1)I moved to England next year, and 2) the wedding.
It was a good dream.

Monday morning:
Come into work to find that 5 people had been laid off.
Go have a chat with the bossman.
He tells me that 3-4 more people needed to be laid off by the end of this week (err last week by the time I'm writing this)
Casually discuss with bossman that I've got contingency plans in place if I were to be laid off. Saw his eyes light up at that. Assured him that I was not volunteering to be laid off.
Go home, double check my contingency plans just to make sure.
Have some important discussions with family.

Tuesday morning:
Have discussion with bossman again about the whole layoff situation. Can't go into details, but I just level with him more about my personal situation.

Wednesday:
Day off of work. Spent the day cleaning. Seriously cleaned my bedroom.

Thursday:
Work a 10 hour day with no lunch.
Was informed by bossman that I was in fact being laid off. Don't worry, this is a good thing. I've got it all planned out, I've got contingencies, and I'm also leaving the country in 33 weeks. It just means that Pan (my kittah) will have to wait 6 months (That is of course if the vet tells me that he's healthy enough for the process).
Drove home with a sense of calm. Which is odd after a 10 hour shift with no lunch. Wasn't cranky. Didn't want to cry.

Friday:
Good day at work. Another 10 hour day. Pack my desk up. Drop off my badge at the end of the day. Said goodbye to my favorite security guard.

I'm one of the few people who got to know ahead of time that I was getting laid off. Mostly, it was because I had given so much to my job, and been such a loyal worker for so many years. Not to mention all the s*** I had put up with.

It was a good Friday the 13th in my opinion.

Saturday:
YAY. It's my birthday.
4:30am attempt to email from my phone- doesn't work. Drag my butt out of bed and turn on the laptop. Quickly email Guy to call me.
5am he finally calls, when I'm supposed to be getting out of bed and getting dressed. So I talk to him for a moment.
6am we leave the house. Drove up to the Boulder Tea House (with a stop at Walmart first to pick up a few needed items for the house as it's snowing and things like toilet paper are things you do not want to run out of in a snow storm)
I order a pot of my Russian Caravan. Nom. Love that tea. If anyone is ever curious what you can get me... Russian Caravan from the Boulder Tea house (yes, they are online) is a good bet. Lapsang Souchang is also another one. (There are a few that peaked my interest after I had ordered, but I wasn't going to try it on that day. Mayhaps next month)

Katte and Mimi show up shortly thereafter. It was supposed to be a huge surprise that Mimi was in town. It was great to see her. I did know she was in town, which I"m glad I knew... if only because it allowed me to make my bedroom livable while she is here.

Mark, Darla, and Aidan joined us.

We had a grand old time, and breakfast was quite nummy. And I have the coolest friend. Crystal (of the Vampire Halloween Swap rescue package fame), sent me the coolest birthday pressie. A necklace of Wicked. I loved it.

Mother of Mine then dragged all of us to a yarn shop in Boulder. Which... to be honest... I wasn't impressed with. I mean, it was alright... but... meh. I knew exactly who one of her suppliers was, as she didn't even bother changing the name.

Then we scooted down to Denver so that Mum could be entered into the Wicked Lottery.
Mum gave up her ticket to Mimi so that she could join us for the show.
Unfortunately Mom didn't win one of the spare seats. (You show up 2 hours before the show, and you get the chance to win a seat to purchase.)

We walked over to the Tattered Cover, and looked at books etc.
Then Mimi and I had to head over to the theater again.

Don't worry, Mum had her own adventure with friends so it all worked out. And next year Mum and I will go see Wicked in London, so it will be fine.

The show...

The show was FANTABULOUS!
The girl playing Elphie was just... amazing. Honestly.
The girl playing Glinda.... was a bit nasaly. Which bugged me to be honest. But she was still good.
The boy playing Fiyero was good. Much better than the previous performance I've seen. (Though towards the end he played it... lets just say "a little less than straight". Which frankly I prefer to the previous Fiyero who played it "ghetto prince")

Everyone else was quite good.
Went and picked my Mum up at another LYS (which was not the original plan, but as I said.. she had her own adventure)
Drove home in the snow storm. (Started snowing in the middle of the performance)
Stopped at Petsmart for kitty food.
Stopped at Whole Foods for the dinner fixings. Homemade pizza with Chocolate Chip Angel food cake with homemade ganache for dessert.

Quite a splendid day all in all.

Sunday:
Was spent in jammies and a Firefly marathon, as Mimi had never seen it.

Which brings us to today:
This morning, I went to look at my phone to get out of bed, and dropped my cellphone on my face, busting my lip. Joy.
I was highly afraid it would set the tone for the day, but in fact it didn't.
Started the unemployment process.

It was amusing, I didn’t get the phone call over the weekend, so I panicked, and I called my employers (not the bossmen, but the people who actually handle the contracts) as I had a few questions in regards to the form I had to fill out for the unemployment benefits…and I got a hold of her before she checked her email. And the convo went like this:
Me: Hi, I was laid off on Friday, but as I didn’t get the phone call, I was just checking in to make sure everything is copacetic.
Her:My computer is still booting up, it’s rather slow.
we chat about other things
Her:Just got the email from (Bossman). And it says ”I’m emailing you to inform you that I had to lay off Erin G*****. Please call her in the morning to inform her of this.” So, Erin… I have to tell you (trying not to giggle as it was amusing) you’ve been laid off.
Me: Phew. And yes my desk is already cleared out, and my badge was already turned into (bossman).

The reason for the amusement of the convo was 1)I’ve been aware that I was being laid off since pretty much last Tuesday. (Can’t talk about the details of how or why I knew. But lets just say the entire decision was not only bossmans) 2)It was now Monday morning, and I was laid off on Friday. 3)I was the calling her instead of the other way around.
But yup, she confirmed that I was now in laid off status, and that I am in the “Rehireable” status, and that all I needed to do was send her an updated resume. (which counts towards my UI weekly requirement.)
So I was able to finish applying for UI this morning, already made 2 out of 5 of my requirements for the week.

After that we decided to head to Garden of the Gods as the snow was finally starting to melt and the Sun was out.
Stopped at Colorado Mills to look at fabric. I finally found my wedding fabric. Of course, I've got taste. So it shall be highly expensive. Must see if I can find it online. But... I've decided on White Crushed Silk. As I will be able to dye it after the wedding, and thus my wedding dress will no longer look like a wedding dress, but instead a fabulous silk dress.

Then we get to Garden of the Gods, even stopped at the Nature Center. Which was neat.
Went through the hike on the path, it was quite a beautiful day.

Apparently they were filming The Biggest Loser in the park there. And I managed to slip on the one bit of ice right in front of about 10 of the contestants. But I spectacularly caught myself and didn't actually fall. They applauded.

Came home, been watching Inspector Lynley. Just been enjoying the rest of the day.

I can now officially do the ”I’m Free at last” dance (Which I was doing a lot this morning while I was taking the hike through Garden of the Gods)

The weight is already off my shoulders. :-)

Tomorrow I have to drive Mimi to the airport in Denver.

Don't worry, there shall be lots of photos of the Garden of the Gods, and the Birthday enjoyment, uploaded here and onto my FB.

Have gotten lots knitted.
Current book: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynn Jones

Bugs and Hisses everyone!

Friday, May 15, 2009

The Things One Sees in the Graveyard....

This morning I woke up with time on my mind.

Specifically the passage of time.

All week long I've been complaining each day how I wanted the week to be over.
Then last night, I realized "tomorrow is Friday? wow."

I was once again reminded how The Day it's self goes slow, but the weeks go by quickly.
I mean, it's already the 15th of May.
I find this time warp situation most interesting. Am I the only one who experiences it?

This has been on my mind because I've been doing a lot of math.
Not my favorite subject.
But I realized I have less than 2400 work hours left in this country.
It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't broken up into 8 hour groups with 48 hours of nothingingness in between.

Man I can't wait to get out of here. but yes, I did the math. 2400 work hours. Less than that, as that was on a 60 week time line. Which, this week is nearly over and it is also including the holidays.

Nope, I'm not counting down at all... *innocent whistle*

But yes this morning when I woke up, this was on my mind. It's been on my mind a lot recently, but I'm sure it was compounded by having watched the season 3 finale of NCIS last night. Where, not to give things away for those who haven't seen it... Gibbs ponders everything that has taken place in the last 15 years of his life. Well, that is a way to sum it up, but not the full and correct way. But to say anything further on it would give things away.

This being fresh in my mind, it really made me look this morning at the last 10 years of my life. Well, not so much all those ten years, but what I was doing 10 years ago.

This time 10 years ago... I was finishing up my very first year at High School. Yup, 9th grade. 1998-1999 was my Freshman year.

We had just moved to Colorado right before the start of school..

Columbine Highschool, as of this day.. would have been only a few weeks ago.
You know whats funny about that day....
I remember it rather clearly. It was "Senior Ditch Day" and I remember this one senior.. who was one of the "smokers", he always wore this black leather trench coat. He was one of the many at my school who did. But this day, he didn't. Infact he was quite... normal looking. He was wearing a white tshirt and a pair of blue jeans. Now, this might be normal to you.. but for him, it was odd. He always wore dark pants, a dark shirt, and his trench. He didn't have his trench. We laughed about how odd it was. I don't remember his reason for not wearing it.
I remember being in the office talking with my friend Amy. I was sitting no more than 10 feet from the principles office. She knew I was there, it was a study period and I often had free license to roam the school. They knew I was responsible, and so I never got in trouble. Lets see, that particular semester... I was actually the assistant to the Swim Coach, and the pool area had been particularly muggy that day which is why I was hanging out in the office.
I remember watching everyone in the office go on alert.
They didn't say what was going on, but I remember Mrs Bailey come out of her office with her walkie talkie and listened to her as she gave the order to 'quietly' lock down the school.
The bell rang, and I went to my 7th period class. Which also was with my Swim Coach, as I was in Life Guard Training.
I was one of the few lower class men to be in the class.
I was sitting next to my other friend Amy, and we got the announcement.
We then of course put on the tv and watched the travesty unfold.
I remember sitting there and when they panned across the parking lot of the school.. I remember seeing a Yellow VW Bug. I remember giving a half hearted laugh and said "Yellow Bug" (as I don't know if you ever played that game, but there was a game involving the Bugs and if you spotted one.. I don't remember the rules)
I remember Amy looking at me and saying something about "how could I say that, with whats going on." Then she paused and realized "oh. you need to laugh" (mind you, I'm paraphrasing right now)
She understood why I needed to laugh about something so silly as seeing a yellow VW Bug.

It did help lighten the mood in the room. (there were only like 7 of us in there)

School was then over. I don't recall how I got home. Whether it was via a ride from my 1)Mom, 2)friend, or 3) the bus.. I honestly can't recall.

Mom had not yet been diagnosed with cancer.
I was still a very good student. Participating in school plays, and the swim team, and a few other things.
I think my best friends were Jen(Diz) and Nix (Jess??) and of course Gabe.

10 years ago, Mom and I were living in a town house in Denver. I most likely had a mountain of laundry (it was a common occurrence that I quite literally wore every single piece of clean clothing I had before doing laundry, simply because we had to pay to use the washer and dryer, and it was always such a hassle.)
I didn't know how to drive. I had absolutely no desire to learn. (Ironically, I wouldn't actually learn for at least 5 years)

I saw my very first Hockey game that year I believe. Watched it on the Telly of course. It might have been the year after. I mean my memory is slightly fuzzy.


Alright.. enough of a trek down memory lane.

Last night, I cast on a new project. A project I had been putting off, as I was missing 2 skeins of yarn (well, I had bought enough for the project, but I got 4 skeins of 1 color, instead of 2 of one and 2 of another.)
I have decided to say screw it, and use the yarn I have.
I will not post pictures yet, as it is for someone.
I've never started a project like this, and it's taking a bit to wrap my head about it. I'm sure I'll do fine, it's just... odd. I'm actually really liking the colors. I might have to make one for myself. I mean, I had saved the pattern for myself as well before I ever decided to make it for someone else.

Review:
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
I did enjoy this one. Though, I have to say I am annoyed that it was a different actress that played Sonja. Yes, I realize the original actress was.. not an actress. She was Miss Turkey '03 if I remember correctly. (The country, not the bird..)
I can understand then why they didn't use her. I mean all she did was writhe while chained up. Not much acting involved.
But I remember Sonja in the #1 (and #2) as being blond. The actress they used for Rise of the Lycans, was very much not blond. And it kind of bugged me.
Michael Sheen of course was fabulous as Lucien.
Bill Nighey of course is brilliant as always. No one could ever play Viktor like him.
It was nice to see everything from the Lycans point of view.
I will of course own it.

Having just watched the trilogy, I have to say I'm very glad I did. I forgot how much I love the movies... and it brought an interesting perspective to my own writing. Mostly the "rules" of the Vamps.
These vamps are not "dead". They are immortal, and need blood to sustain them.
They can bear children, as they are not dead. They can in fact age... (look at Viktor)
I like the reasoning behind why they are what they are. It's a genetic defect, but they didn't go too much into the science. (Well, they did a bit, but not going so far as to claim "it's nano technology, and we are from Atlantis!" (ahem.. looking at you Lynsay Sands) )

If I continue, I'll start rambling.

Yesterday, I was reading the blog of one of my Boys..
Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea. Now you all know I am a huge fan. His most recent blog amused me. It was talking about his experience while filming the new Robin Hood movie.
Yup,Ridley Scott is directing... Russell Crowe is Robin... Cate Blanchette is Marion .. and a little musician from Nova Scotia is playing Allan A'Dayle. We know him better as Alan Doyle from GBS.
I'm very happy that he got a role in it.
But so he was musing on his recent adventures in regards to his horse Arthur. Arthur is a screen veteran, and has been in many many recent horse involved movies.

For those interested in reading the quite amusing musing, here is the link:

Alan From The Road

Today is Friday, and I shall be going to see Angels and Demons today. Woohoo. I can't wait.

In other knitting news... I have discovered the pattern I will use for my Avalanche Hockey sweater.
Oh yes, I had forgotten to mention that.
I cannot stand the team sweaters (jerseys) that are out there. They are made of material that.. I can't stand to have near my skin.
Not to mention, they are never flattering for the female form.
So, I'm going to knit myself one. A little reminder of home as it were.
Now, I'm a huge fan of the 3rd Jersey, when it comes to the Av's.

This one: And ignore the "Your name" part, it's from a website that will do custom jerseys.


I have found the pattern I'm going to use for the base sweater. The only thing I will have to change, will be the neck line, as I do in fact want it to lace up.

There is no good way to link to the pattern I'm gonna use, as most of my readers are not Ravelry peeps.
I will be buying my yarn from KnitPicks, as they have the right colors, and it's cotton. Woohoo for cotton!

I haven't decided if I'm going to put "Wicked" on the back, and my number, or if I'm going to put my last name. Which... with how long this sweater will take me... My last name by then will be Grandison, so I still haven't decided what I shall do. Either way, I'm not going to put a real player on the back, because.. that would be like picking your favorite children. I've just got too many.
I think, in a pinch.. I might pick Roy... but meh... I don't know.
I think I'll put up a vote when it comes time.

Still reading Death Du Jour by Kathy Reichs. It is quite enjoyable, and I'm zooming through it. Though, I think I understand why some people have problems reading the books. There are times I laugh because the description to me at least seems a bit.. Technical. I don't know if it's just me or not, but there was a scene, the only "romantic" scene in the entire book thus far (and i'm nearly finished the book), and it was very "His hands were here.. then they moved here counter clockwise" I don't know.. it just felt... a little like a text book lol.

But it's still enjoyable. I'm still so early in the series that I quasi try to put faces to characters. Like, I'm thinking that the Booth character in the show is the Detctive Ryan character in the books. So, for me.. I see Detective Ryan as David B. Not bad at all lol, but I don't know if that is supposed to be the closest book character to the tv character.

Does that make sense?


Alright, I guess I've yammered enough. I'll certainly let you know what I think about Angels and Demons.


Oh, and today's blog title, is not as profound as you might have suspected. I was just listening to the Repo Soundtrack before coming into work.