Thursday, January 29, 2004

It feels like Friday...maybe because I'm taking tomorrow off! We have dinner plans tonight with our friend Kim, and then I think she and I will hang out tomorrow and see a movie or something. I'm meeting with an advisor from CU tomorrow afternoon about my current classes and whether or not they will transfer to CU next year, and what other classes I need to take between now and then. I'm very excited about school and continuing on with my education. I'm really enjoying both of my classes right now, it hardly feels like an effort, even though it makes for a pretty long week.

I think I aced my Unix test last night, plus I was able to start using mailx before he even started explaining it. That's one of the benefits of a class like this - I can pretty much move as quickly as I'm able, and then I just check in with the people that sit near me to see if we're all getting it.

Because I plan to take tomorrow off, I have a whole pile of work on my desk, so I'm going to get to it. I need to have a clear conscience so I can enjoy my days off and the Super Bowl party on Sunday (go Pats!). Next Sunday, we have a fundraiser for the Boulder County Cares project (one of the charities I work with) - live music & dancing at one of my favorite Boulder bars. Should be great, and raise enough money to keep BCC operating through the spring.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

The Academy Award nominations came out yesterday, and there are a few really cool things to note - Alec Baldwin has been nominated for the first time, for "The Cooler", and Charlize Theron has a pretty good shot at winning for "Monster" - go, Charlize! The Oscars are the only award show that I can get into, and I'm considering an Oscar party at my house. It's a perfect excuse to buy a bigger TV. Plus, Ruby hasn't had a play date with Louie in far too long.

I have a test tonight in my Unix class, and I'm concerned because the test covers the first four chapters of our text. The only problem is that the teacher has yet to teach from the text. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying his class and his methods, and I feel that I'm learning a lot - but how can you test us on stuff we don't go over in class?? It's a bit to complex to simply read and absorb. Anyway, the teacher seems like a fair guy, I'm sure it won't be anything I can't handle.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

You have to love the sunny winter days in Colorado. It just couldn't be more beautiful. Yes, it's cold, but not a biting cold, and the sky is blue and as wide as can be. Makes me want to go for a long walk at lunch - maybe I'll take the tunnel behind my office building, which goes under the highway, and lets me out at Old Chicago! Pizza for lunch!

Good news from CA - turns out that in the end, my mother got to have dinner with her family last night. I know that she was very happy to have had everything work out. She told me they went to some great Italian place in the marina, and that the maitre d' was flirty with her, complimented her hair and kissed her hand. So it was a good birthday after all.

Ugg. Back to work. Drama in my department (as usual). I have one person in my group who is so high maintenance, I can never do anything right as far as he is concerned. This person is just small and petty, but it gets to me every once in a while. It's like this person would find a way to blame me if it rained on a day he wanted to play golf. I'm just waiting for the karmic wheel to run him over.

Monday, January 26, 2004

Unix class is going swimmingly. With the exception of needing to use binary in order to complete the lab work, I'm doing fine. Part of it sounds like Greek to me, but mostly I'm able to keep up and then some. Hopefully my Spanish quiz tomorrow will go so well.

For all those who read here, please join me in wishing my mother a happy 55th birthday. Unfortunately, she won't have any family around her tonight, but she's in the loving care of good friends, and that means a lot, too. I wish I were there to help her celebrate.

Thursday, January 22, 2004

This feels like a really long week already - and after only two nights of school! Turns out that after Tuesday night, I had to drop my Spanish class because the credits wouldn't have transferred to a four-year school (now they tell me!), but I picked up a different, more intense Spanish class that will transfer. I had my first Unix class last night, and felt semi-lost for the first hour, but then toward the end I had a good grasp - in fact, I was helping the guy sitting next to me find his way through the practice labs.

We dropped the price a bit on my mother's house in LA so that we can get it sold soon - I found a perfect little house for her in north Boulder, within 4 blocks of my house. It's more than enough room for her, the dogs, and any assorted family members who come along. It's also far less expensive than a lot of the other houses I've been looking at, and is ready to move in as-is - too good a deal to pass up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she gets an offer on the LA house right away so that we can pursue the one here, get her moved and settled by springtime.

Don't forget to watch the Pats stomp Carolina next weekend - GO PATS!

Tuesday, January 20, 2004

I'm getting settled in the new office - such a wonder to have some privacy! I'm in a quiet corner of the building, so no one really comes near my cube unless they're looking for me or my boss.

I start my Spanish classes tonight, and my Unix classes start tomorrow. I have one more knitting class, this Saturday, and then I'd like to sign up for another, maybe hats or mittens. I'm comfortable now with casting on, knit, purl, increase and decrease - am making a beautiful lavender scarf right now.

Mom says there's definite doggy love going on in LA - Daisy and Thor are a match made in heaven. Daisy even wants to sleep beside him now....and we worried that she'd be jealous. It gives me hope that one day, Ruby can have her very own brother, too.

Wednesday, January 14, 2004

Today is the last day in the old office. There was an idea floating around that it was best to "pack drunk" - so most of us went to lunch at Old Chicago to commune with Elvis (at work, alcohol is always referred to as Elvis). I've become such a lousy drinker, I get the hiccups every time (*hic*).

I will have two extra days off this week, and I'm trying to decide what to do with my free time - must clean out and organize my truck, there's barely room for passengers anymore. I'd also like to see a movie, any movie, and would like to go over and spend time with Joni and the boys. They're getting so big and animated lately, I feel like I'm missing out when I can't make it over to see them.

School starts next week - classes four nights each week, for 6 weeks, and then just two nights a week until May. Between work, school, volunteering and spending any time with friends, I won't have much time for me. Alex is very understanding about that stuff, he has classes two nights a week himself. Still, I'll be pretty tired for the next few weeks....

Tuesday, January 13, 2004

My company is moving to new offices this week, starting Wednesday evening. There is good and bad here - good because it means I have Thursday and Friday off work, bad because it means my Monday through Wednesday this week is a nightmare of packing and prepping and still trying to get work done. I've spent most of today at the new building, having volunteered to help our IT department with some of the last minute work.

My mother has adopted Rick's dog Thor - they fly home to LA together tomorrow. He's such a sweet dog, I just hope that he and Daisy (Mom's yellow lab) get along. Daisy doesn't share particularly well.

I made it over to the Stitchin' Den last night, where the lady in the store was nice enough to sit with me and walk me through everything I missed in Saturday's class. I was so motivated that I went home and started a new scarf - a beautiful soft lavender color that I think will look lovely on my grandmother. My friend Tara wants to start a crochet group, we have several friends who would be interested in getting together once a month. I need to learn how to crochet little hats for the heads of all the little people in my life.

Monday, January 12, 2004

I went to FL on Thursday morning. Rick passed away around dinnertime Wednesday, and we had a memorial service for him on Friday afternoon. One of his dogs, Thor, will be coming to Boulder to live with us (either my mother or me), once we figure out the best way to get him here. One bit of good news of late is that the LA real estate market seems to have recovered from the holiday slump, so it looks likely that my mother's house will sell soon, and she can make her way east to Boulder.

Since Alex and I had a lot of people over for Thanksgiving, there were almost no leftovers - we both love Thanksgiving leftovers, so we made another turkey last night, and he fixed his mother's gravy - it was divine. We fed Ruby so much turkey that she couldn't move, didn't even stir when I pulled her toes.

My knitting class started Saturday, but I was in Florida, so I'm on my way over to the store so that they can give me my materials and show me what I missed. I have visions of funky, chunky hats and scarves for all of my friends next Christmas.

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

I wish I had something better to write about today, but this is all that's in my mind. My mother is on the way to Florida to be with her parents and hopefully see her younger brother, who is dying of cancer. His doctor's aren't certain that he'll make it through the night, so we're hoping that she'll arrive in time. If nothing else, she can be with my grandparents and they can all take comfort in one another. Godspeed, Rick.