Lots of Firsts

Friday Meagan finally bought a laptop. She ended up getting it at Costco, because the lenovo website didn't have anywhere you could ask questions or call anyone. I think she likes her computer. She found out she needs to burn some recovery dvd's before she's supposed to connect to the internet. You'd think they'd include the formatting cd's/dvd's with the computer. Oh well.

I finally downloaded Windows 7 yesterday. That took forever, then I had to put new security software on the computer. At least Qwest lets you download anti-spyware and security software for free, so that's cool. I'm not sure if I like Windows 7 better than Vista or not. I haven't used it enough yet to know.

Yesterday, before I got a chance to put the security software on the computer, Cameron got on the internet. I guess I forgot to tell him not to get on the internet yet and he kind of freaked out at me freaking out at him.

I'm not sure how he shut down the computer, but when I tried to re-start it, it wouldn't start up. I was afraid I was going to have to install Windows 7 again. Ack! Fortunately I didn't have to. Somehow the computer resolved it on its own.

Yesterday - you're not going to believe this - we finally let Thor outside. It was a rather emotional experience for the entire family. We all had to say "Goodbye" to him in case he didn't return.

We actually had to put him outside, he wouldn't go out on his own. Once he got outside, he had to sniff everything in the driveway. He must have been in shock, not believing he actually got to go outside and we weren't going to chase him outside and drag him back in the house. Eventually, he wandered under the trailer and we shut the door because we couldn't see him anymore.

He came back about a half hour later. We were surprised. He was in and out the rest of the day.

Today we let him out again and he lost his collar. Goofball. Less than two days and he's already lost his collar!

Yesterday Jason came to hang out with Meagan for her birthday. He lives about an hour and a half drive from us, so I don't think Meagan will be seeing him every day. Jason seems nice. Meagan has actually found a boy that both she and her father like. Shocking!

Jason ate dinner with us after he and Meagan went bowling with some friends. David made his specialty - Chicken Curry Salad. Jason, a self-proclaimed picky eater, liked it. Even Jarom ate some of the chicken.

Well, I'd better go. Jarom's got to work on his temperate zone project that is due tomorrow.

Black Friday

Meagan and I went Black Friday shopping today. I don't think we'll try it again - at least not at more than one store in a day!

A couple of the things we had on our list were in stock by the time we got to the stores, but most were not. Of course, we were not crazy enough to leave the house at 3 or 4 am like some people. And we did go see Jarom's last Christmas Parade with the Jr. High band, so it was all good.

AND... Meagan finally got her laptop, so she was very, very happy!

Conversation at Dinner Tonight

David to Amber: "What was President Eisenhower before he was President?"
Amber pauses, so Jarom answers: "I don't care who you are, before you become President you're a human."
Me: "Does that mean you're no longer human after you become President?"
Jarom: "No, after you become President, you're a gopher."
Me: "A gopher?"
Jarom: "Well, actually I think you become whatever your party's mascot is."
Me: "Like a donkey or an elephant?"
Jarom: "Yeah, or a leaf."

Yay! It's Friday!

And that's all I've got to say, 'cuz I'm too tired to say anything else...

OK, you know I couldn't really stop at that.

We got our car back from the shop today. It has 4 new tires on it, so now we should be able to get through the snow better. I'm soooo happy about that!

The kids didn't have school today, but I had work. Glad it's over.

Not Happy with Mr. Stripey

So, this morning I go into the bedroom to get some clean clothes out of the laundry basket and the clothes smelled weird. And they were wet. Apparently Mr. Stripey got back at me for having Cameron bring him back in the house after his escaped. Dumb cat!

Maybe I will like him better tomorrow if he doesn't do it again. In the mean time, I'm locking him in his cage tonight and not letting him in the bedroom. I was about ready to throw the cat outside. Of course, that's exactly what he wanted.

Who Needs Sleep?

Here's what we've been up to lately:

David - is still writing his book. He's on his sixth notepad. He's read me some of it. It's interesting. Some parts are quite silly.

David, Cameron, Jarom and I did baptisms at the temple last night. The Stake had a dinner for adults and youth. It was nice, except the Stake didn't expect so many youth and didn't schedule the baptistry. A couple of scheduled groups were there already, so it was crowded. The dinner started at 6:00, then we went to the baptistry and didn't leave until 10:15. At least the temple is a good place to hang out.

Meagan worked last night. Holly was nice enough to let Amber hang out at their house. Amber loves spending time with Katelyn. Thanks Holly!

Meagan - finally recovered from her wisdom tooth ordeal. She can eat normal food now. She's ecstatic about that. She's also trying to buy a laptop with windows 7 on it. She found the one she wanted, but they're not selling it with windows 7 from what we can tell on the website. Maybe she'll have one by next semester?

Meagan loves Halloween more than anyone I know - other than Becky. Meagan dressed up for Halloween 5 or 6 times and was way excited about each time.

Meagan also loves Michael Jackson - maybe even more than Becky - which is almost impossible. Meagan, Becky and I saw "This Is It" Thursday night. The movie started at 9:40. Well, 10:05, after all the commercials and previews. We got home about 12:30. All these late nights are getting to me.

We got to the theater at 7:30 and had to wait until the next movie. David had a good point. With 25 minutes of previews, etc, we probably could have made it to the "7:00" showing right as it started. We waited, though. Meagan got 3 point cards, so we went on all 5 rides. Then we went on the bumper cars and the roller coaster again. And again. Then we sat in the lobby. Then we watched some of the very boring hockey game. Then we sat in the theater for a half hour. We were afraid the theater would be packed. We shouldn't have. By the time the movie actually started, there were only a dozen people.

I could have done without one of Michael's dance moves (if you've seen him dance, you know which one I'm talking about). That aside, he was an incredible dancer, singer and songwriter. He was in incredible shape for a 50 year old. Professional dancers half his age struggled with the moves and he barely broke a sweat - and he was singing and directing while he was dancing. Amazing.

Too bad he had such a severe anxiety disorder. That's all I can figure. Why else would he need anesthesia to get any sleep? Anxiety is no fun. Unfortunately, I know from experience.

Cameron - told me the other day that being a physicist might be an interesting career. I almost fell on the floor. Cameron? My writer? Cameron did like his physics class last year - which shocked me. He did really well on the ASVAB - especially in science. Overall he got a 98. Meagan says the military is gonna be hounding him now. That's probably true. Meagan got a 68 on the ASVAB and recruiters were calling her all the time. Until David answered the phone and told a recruiter to stop calling because "Meagan thinks the military sucks." They stopped calling.

Jarom - we finally paid off his braces. Not sure when he gets them off, but we're done paying on them now. Yay! Jarom also finished reading "A Tale of Two Cities." He let me read the 12 page synopsis his teacher gave him. The synopsis was way more interesting than the actual book. That book has an interesting plot, if you can find it through all the wordiness.

Amber - finished her social studies project exactly 15 minutes before 7:00 on Halloween. I told her if she wasn't done by 7:00 she couldn't go trick-or-treating. I was glad when she finally got done. She did a book about 10 ancient Greek gods/goddesses. I really liked her picture of Artemis. She drew a cute deer and two adorable hunting dogs with little tiny fangs. I want her to draw me a picture like that.

Cameron and Jarom were nice enough to take Amber trick-or-treating. I guess Amber didn't line up any friends to go with because she wasn't sure she was going. I was glad it snowed Tuesday instead of Halloween. The weather on Halloween was warmer than I thought it would be. We got about 130 trick-or-treaters. About 100 people came between 6:30 and 7:30, then it died out.

Me - I got my first assignment for ICL done and mailed in. I also entered a story in their Fantasy/Folktale contest. We'll see what comes of it. I'm starting to work on the second assignment now. It's amazing everything I didn't know about writing. The good thing is, I'm writing again. Considering I hadn't really written for a year and a half, that's amazing.

Wednesday wasn't my greatest day. I locked myself out of the office and Joe didn't have his cell phone, so there was no way to reach him. When I went home for lunch I tripped on the back step and banged up my knee. (My knee is ok, I only got a bruise, thank goodness!) Joe didn't get my message on his phone until 6:00. He told me later that he kept calling the office from patients' homes. When I didn't answer after repeated calls, he thought, "Oh, no, Heidi's quit!" I didn't quit and luckily he wasn't mad at me. I went in Thursday morning and finished up what I didn't get to Wednesday. It all worked out...

My work had a dinner Thursday night, so I got to meet Melissa and Steph for the first time. I met Donna when I worked at MSC, but I only vaguely remembered her. Of course, I already knew Joe. What a fun group of people! It was nice to be able to talk to all of them.

Well, I think I'm going to bed!

Curiouser and Curiouser

I wrote this a week ago, it's taken me that long to post it. I've probably told most of you about it by now, but I thought it would make an interesting post anyway:

Yesterday I got a phone call at home from Gary Graves. Right out of the blue. I thought it was really weird he was calling me. When I left MSC, he basically shooed me out door, never told me "Thank you for the 3 years you worked here." Nothing.

Then he tries to make small talk and pretend he cares what I'm up to, like he's my friend or something: "So, is there anything new happening in your life?"
"No."
From there he was all business. "I was wondering if you would like to come back and work for me a few hours a week."
Silence on my part.
"I'd pay you $15 an hour."
Really, I think. Funny how you wouldn't give me a raise above $10 an hour for 2 1/2 years. He wouldn't even give Georgia or Lisa a raise the entire time I worked there. Or even after I left.
"I'm not sure. I'd have to think about it."
"OK. I'd really appreciate it if you would."
Yeah, whatever.
So I thought about it over night and talked to David about it. He said, "You should tell him you'll go back Stratton never works there again."
I thought that was a good plan until I realized I'd still have to deal with Gary and Sue. Ack! What was I thinking? Why did I even say I'd think about it? Because $15 an hour is a lot of money to me right now. But enough to get me to go back? Nope.

Today I called Gary to tell him my answer. I got his voicemail. I left a nice little message. "Thanks for thinking of me, but 25 hours a week is all I want to work right now and I already have that."
And I think that's the end of it. Whew! I don't have to talk to Gary again after all.

Then Gary calls me back.
"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear. Your answer may still be the same, but let me clarify what I wanted. I don't want you to work for me on a permanent basis. Just for 2 or 3 days until I can hire someone else. It would really help me out if you could answer the phones while I did interviews and then passed along some of your knowledge when I do hire someone."
I thought about it for a few seconds, then told him, "The answer is still the same."
"Oh. Okay. Good-bye," and he hangs up. No "thanks for getting back to me" or anything. But, what did I expect? This IS Gary Graves we're talking about.
"Jerk!" I say after I hang up the phone.

If he's worked himself into a corner by mistreating all of his employees, then let him deal with it! I'm so glad I don't ever have to go back there again! Good Riddance!