Snakes, Grapes and the Super Models

Working from home has certain advantages, a moment of privacy is very much welcome in the environment that I come into on a daily basis. As I have posted before I share my office with 3 other full time residence, and 3 or 4 other folks who float through. It's a great place but you do miss a quiet moment to think, and the room has been deemed "an ADD sensory overload cell" by some folks.

Today, besides my work, I found out he following things. First off, one of my workmates asked me if I was drinking cranberry juice. I said yes, and then asked if I was drinking real cranberry or the "ocean spray stuff" and I just assumed... it said "100% Juice - Cranberry". On the back it said "a cranberry cocktail with grape juice". Just what the doctor specifically DIDNT order. I was told low to no sugar... I checked: 31Grams for every 8 oz... *gads... it may be natural sugar, but it's as bad as a Coke!! My poor kidney. So I added real cranberry juice to my shopping list. (Thanks Susan)

Lise and Ryan came home from dropping Connor off at school, and since Ryan's had Connor needs it, as he is coming down with Ryan's cough. Ryan needs it because he has been evil and the devil fears rested children. :) After good naps, Connor painted some eggs Lise had for Easter-like emergencies and Ryan his helicopter and a truck he had made earlier. I must say... still very proud of his creation. It's good to see my old boy back and having some fun. There are some glimmers of his old self mixed with flashes of his rotten self, but good is winning over evil, so we count our blessings.

At the end of a good day, I needed to go pick up my cranberry juice and some other things, so I left after putting Connor to bed. Lise called me at the store, and asked me to come back asap because Ryan wouldn't let her leave his sight. He has been telling me there is a snake in his room, and so tonight it took me from 7:45-9PM to get him to feel confident enough to go to sleep. I know it has something to do with his mental development,as well as age and his recent behavior. I know that this will pass and something will fill the void, but I hope it passes quickly. Lise and I will be doing some fun activities in his room during the day to help him get past it, and I hope tonight I gave him some skills to handle being frightened in bed.

Glimpse of Summer

Today we went to the captain's. It was the first sign of spring for me... We were cold, but eat ate outside. I had a lobster roll and lobster bisque. I know my cousin Emily doesn't think much of getting a lobster, but it IS a BIG treat for me. It was fun eating outside again with my friends before I headed out for a meeting in Groton.

After the meeting I was heading out to home and hit a major traffic jam. It reminded me of when I lived in Fairfield county and drove to Stamford everyday. What was funny about it, was I waited all of 5 minutes and then things moved right along. I SOOOO don't miss the waiting in sweltering heat, traffic jams and unfriendly travels to the NY area.

The Artist formally known as Ryan

Ryan fancies himself as quite the artist. Pretty much every day, I come home to a new picture or painting. If I don't actually see one, I get a story about one that was made at school. Mr. Ryan informed me tonight that he would be "featured" in an art show at school soon. Of course, all the kids get "featured" in the art show... but I believe we're getting a bit of an artist's attitude. :) Next month

On another note, Lise and I broke open a new bottle of wine that my friend Joe acquired for me. It has been quite
beneficial working with Glenn and Joe in our little office. They not only help me to make light of difficult times but they also entice me into spending money on wine and gadgets. When Joe had realized that I needed to buy an SD card, he had about 30 deals in my inbox within the hour. :) It's been alot of fun and I'm lucky to have this kind of company on a daily basis, however; I occasionally have to restrain myself. I don't have the disposable income they do... but I'm looking forward to it. Until then, I'll drink the wine I get at bargain basement prices and squint my eyes to imagine how my house will look when it's all done.

The Yuck stands alone

So I worked from home today. When Connor's bus came I ended up watching Ryan while Lise collected him. I had to keep working and keep a 4-yr old occupied... So I gave him my camera. I am now the proud owner of about 37 shots of my front yard. :) What I did get was this cool, but unexpected shot of me working (and looking like a trash bag) at my desk. It's strangely out of focus, as Ryan cant actually stop moving (he might start to feeeel tired... then the world would end). What I especially found amusing was all the stuff he wanted to take pictures of usually involved taking pictures of himself. Ryan "G"... 10% water, 80% ham, 10% little boy.

ON the upside, he's feeling worlds better and even is starting to look the part. Tonight he stuffed down some Chinese food and then laid down on the couch to ward off any motion sickness that may darken his door. He felt better after only 10 minutes, but we went to bed early and hopefully he'll be 100% tomorrow. What good would a Saturday without a visit to the flamingo place. Tomorrow we pick up the drum sander at the crack of dawn and then I grind the mastic off the floors. It will be a crazy day. If I do things right, I should have the bathroom stripped and ready for tile on Sunday. I expect to have a toilet in there by Monday, and then we install the fixtures. I will also be taking down an old mirror, so I figure I have a 50/50 chance of doing a little drywall and a bit of electrical. The light fixture is hung on the drywall with nothing behind it, which is a disaster waiting to happen... hmmm make that a 90% chance of doing some drywall.

Yuck 2.0 (this time they mean business)

Yes, it's back and this time our contestant is a four and half year old with little to no vomit coping skills. This means we have a high maintenance puker on our hands. Will wonders ever cease?!? It's been a crazy two days and Ryan's illness seems to be the topper to my little cake of non-stop running about. He had a heck of a time going to bed tonight... every 2 minutes he sat up and said "I just know I'm goin' to puke THIS time!!" Grabbed a bucket and did nothing (not even a little heave) and laid back down and told me he was lucky... Lise and I think this is going to be a LONG night. ick.

Yesterday after work, I picked up the horrifyingly heavy playscape we bought two weeks ago. It fit nicely in the car, but I have to admit that I was nervous because I didn't have any bungees and had to tie the back door closed. The whole ride home I had these nightmare visions of lumber spilling on the highway causing cars and insurance rates to soar. I made it home without incident, but it took me a bit to get over my paranoia. Getting it out of the car took my mind right off my worries about accidents, and had me thinking more about the permanent hump back I could get if I lifted this sucker wrong...

This morning I was back in my old car, and off to the races with meetings until noon and then out to meet with my friend Paul, who I haven't seen in over a year. He seemed to be doing well, and our old company seems to have remained the same since I left there. In fact, from the sounds of it.... it's EXACTLY the same, and while I miss a few folks, it made me happy I had made the right decision to leave. We had salads and coffee, which does break from our old eating habits when I worked there, and although it had been a while, it was good to see Paul.

After that I headed back to work, (after chasing down an AWOL employee... I'll leave that for another time) where, out my window I saw a seal on the rocks below my office building. He was very happy staying right where he was and flapped his sealy tail off the rock after a good 2 or so hours of fish digestion. After work, I drove through the Fort Trumbull neighborhood next to my office. It has inspired me to bring my whole camera kit down there and take some pictures... It's not inviting, but it has this kinda ghost town feel to it... and I like it. A few snaps before they blow it up and use it to become a super-high-rise-condo-hotel-uber-complex that caters to people that don't live in New London. I am envisioning Reston town center or Tyson corners in Va. but I expect it will be more like a bad hotel and sundry shop, in the end... poor new London.

Listening in.

I felt under the weather today so I worked from home. I wasn't crazy sick, but I felt like it could go bad on me. I like working from my home office. It has some distinct advantages. I am still in my seat and it's just about 6PM, and I got alot done today. The office is sometimes the worst place for me. Anyways, where else could I be and hear screaming of children, and the occasional conversation that goes something like this:

Ryan: "Shh Connor, I don't want Dad to hear us"

(giggling)

(shrieking)

(giggling)

Ryan: "CON-NOR"

Connor: "Shh, Daddy"

Ryan "Help, I climbed the stairs my self and I cant get down. I need a power ranger to save me!!!"

(Prolonged Silence)

Ryan: "Coooonnnnn-noooorrr.... Come and save me..."

(inaudible)

Ryan: "I'm not being loud."

(inaudible)

Ryan: "I'M NOT BEING LOUD!!!!"

:)

On a side note, where I sit at work is right by a helicopter pad, and I see one about 4 times a week. This is pretty neat, but I noted while sitting at my desk today that in the neighborhood of 5 or six flew over my house today and they create an awful racket. The scourge of the suburbs.

More Birds

Today I got home from work and we took the boys out for dinner... they had been cooped up all day in the house and needed some freedom. We took them for dinner and ice cream at friendly’s, and we all had a great time.
Afterwards, Lise needed to run a few errands and sent me home with the men to check out a noise in the van, and to get the bosses ready for bed. We arrived home without incident, yet as I opened the door, two birds (finches) few into the house and took refuge in Ryan's room. As I captured each bird and sent him on his merry way, it reminded me of only 24 hours earlier, when outside my window at work.... a bunch of idiots set up bird blind by the helocopter pad and began blasting Canadian Geese. I honestly don’t have anything against hunting per se, but this was about 100 yards from my office building, they were bad shots, and I was pretty sure they were illegally using the little island as a hunting blind.

After reviewing my experiances with Lise, she suggested I had the bird connection I accused her of. (referring to my earlier entry when I suggested she might have an addiction to little birds) I can't as yet say if I do or don't, but I can say that if birds are good omens like I read on the internet, I have no clue what my encounters allude to... Only that it must be a sign that change is on the way, someone may throw a bag over me to put me outside, or a hunting acccident is eminant. None of this sounds too appealing this very second.(Don't worry Mom, I'll stay away from windows for a week or so)

Foggy night

I looked out my front door this evening and I thought that ET had landed across the street. :) It's one of those foggy nights here. I mentioned the weather before this month, so I wont go into the details and tell you how it's unseasonably warm here. Let's just say it's warm enough to get some fog going, and it's spooky out.

The kids are in bed and trying to sleep. Ryan had a great first day of "lunch Bunch" at Preschool, and he's all proud of himself, even though he forgot to eat his sandwich and instead had a lunch of cheeze-its. It was a long day for everyone and I'm ready to hang my hat and call it a night myself. Connor was very sweet this evening and told me every time I went to put him in bed, that he loved me and then wanted a hug. It melts your heart, even though you know he's trying to stay up later, anyway possible. :)

Other than that, it's been a quiet night. I had a decent day and I need to make up for lost sleep last night. I did bump into something funny this evening. My officemate found a list of blogs related to photo and in the first one, I found this link. It reminded me of something my friend Jim would do, and made me miss him. He was one of my closest friends when he lived on this coast and I miss his friendship and constant sarcasm. :) I'll be happy when he makes his millions and can live bi-coastal, so I can guilt him into coming around.

Other than the link my day way kinda usual. I found a missing bluetooth dongle, handed in a deliverable for work and now, it's time for me to hang up my Blogging persona and go to bed. I'll just park it here with the other costumes. I wonder if I'll grab the right one tomorrow night... there are so many to chose from in the costume box.

Fair Weather State

There is an old saying; if you don’t like the weather in New England, just wait a minute. Today was one of those days and depending on where you were, you got some sleet, rain, snow or just an overcast sky. Although the day was a precipitous one, the morning was beautiful and I couldn't help but jump out and get a few snaps of the sunrise. The sky was a pastel painting as I snuck outside in my sweats and a tee shirt in the warming morning breeze to try to capture it. The impending rain was heavy in the air and I have to admit it felt like I was stealing these pictures as they hung in a museum. Apparently, I like to steal.

It was great that I got the pictures when I did... An hour later, it was beginning to rain as I got in my car and drove to the office. While at work today I watched the rain catch up to me, and wash down my window as a submarine went by and the sky flashed shades of grey. When I left, it was still drab, but I was thinking about the abducted morning sky, sheltered on my camera at home and how beautiful it is.

The best thing about living here is the way the sky changes so dramatically. I don’t know when it will be sunny, bright, grey or stormy; even when the weather man says we're in for some event... it never seems to come to fruition. When it comes to the weather in Connecticut, you need a "love the one you're with" state of mind. And if if you want to appreciate the sky for a span of more than 30 minutes, you better take a photo.

Company Dinner

Last night my company had it’s quarterly division meeting. It was typical in just about every way, but it did interrupt my ability to post last night. The usual food, slide show, and goals highlighted the gala event. Afterwards we spent some time at the water street cafe in Stonington. It's always fun to go out with colleagues. They typically let their guard down during these events and there is always an HR breach someplace. Luckily, I wasn’t witness to any, but based on the "conservation of personality rule", I'm certain it did. (I’ll explain the conservation of personality another time, but one of it’s tenets is that “there’s always one of those people in a crowd”. Fill in your “those people-types here”)

As for my late posting, I did state that it wasn’t possible for me to be 100% on a daily basis (for you purists) however I did take a photo to fill the void the day before... which meets my own type-B blogging satisfaction... so nah.

Tonight my parents arrive in preparations for Connor's birthday party. It will be late, and I don’t expect to post a shot of them arriving, but if they get there before I turn into a pumpkin, I'll be waiting at he door ready to reveal their exhausted faces :)

Howling

Ok... So it's been one of those high volume work weeks, where I seem to be checking off tasks but ending up far behind. Grr. I have plate full of easy stuff to get done.. but my pate runneth over. A perfect example was tonight, when I got home, I had to help Ryan out with a little project in his room, but I was missing a screw. (yes, a loose screw... go ahead.. comment away) I had some documents I needed to sign and send out, but the scanner/printer was off and moved away from Connor, the copy master, and my keyboard needed new batteries. They are all things that just took a little more time than I planned, and when added up, take away from when I can call it a day. I should create a huge Risk log and run my life by it. (end grumping)

Anyway... to feel better I took a chocolate (85% Coco) pill and a cup of decaf coffee and then took a break long enough to appreciate the moon. The lunar rays cleared my aching head and I donned my tinfoil hat and went back to work, signing, scanning, typing and checking lists. :) I know my mental howling really wasn't much of a brake, but knowing the moon is still there right now, peering over my shoulder as I type this out gives me the reminder to relax a bit and find the rhythm of my own pilgrimage to bed.

Work

One of the things I decided that I would not do on this Blog is spend any real time talking about work. While it's not the only reason not to, I have read several instances where people have lost their jobs, especially people who are foolish enough to criticize co-workers and stakeholders. It is also pretty boring to talk about what really goes on at work, and one always has to resist the urge to embellish the truth to entertain the reader. The problem then is that I spend about 10 hours or more away from home working. If it's such a big part of my life why not talk about it? Well... 'cause it's a good way to end up spending those 10 hours at home. :) I'll be brief.
It's the beginning of the year and this is a big time for my team. I am transitioning from my current role to a new one, and getting back to the job I was hired to do. That and taking care of things at home has been a real challenge. I also made a promise to myself that I'd do two things for myself every day. One picture with a blog entry and work out. I've been good, but not great at these and I'm doing my best to get this in before I pass out, so I can get back up at 5 and work out. I'm tired, but I am resolved to do this... Even if it kills you to read it. :)

Late night...

Hi. My Name is Mike and I am a Coffee-aholic. I started with the usual street carts and church receptions but soon I was importing my own high end Colombian blend at the young age of 18. Now I get it roasted and delivered in little white baggies that I hide in the freezer. I've tried a few times to quit, but never for more than a few months. I've stooped as low as having 5 cups of decaf to maintain my caffeine high. Tonight I have too much to do ... I have to get some work done for 8am, with some more due at noon. Time to buckle in and get to business. Coffee-driven cut and paste and graphical representations of project metrics.

Just a note about my impending weekend before I fade off. Lise noticed tonight that I will be off on Monday for MLK. SOOO she wants me to help her organize the office... and put hardwood floors in Connor's room. Work calling me.... See you in the AM.

-M