Can I actually be caught up on work stuff? Noooo... But, there's nothing clamoring for my attention and everything I needed to clear off my plate is now on someone else's plate.

What a refreshing feeling. I'd forgotten what this was like.

One of the many services I provide.

I'm having fun with colliding projects. Or rather, two projects which can be knocked out with one design document because they cropped up at the same time. Now I just need everyone to get on the same page so that the two projects can be neatly meshed, not smashed together at speed.

Semikindasorta related, it's heartening in a misery-loves-company sort of way that my management chain is nearly as confused as me and they're not going to ground my bones into bread because I don't have all the answers. On the other hand, it'd be nice if those with clue would lend a hand.

My delegation skills are getting better. Eventually, I'll learn to shake off the guilt of asking other folks to take on projects that I can't squeeze in.

I've got my mango margarita, a stack of paperwork, and a conference call happening in my left ear, and one of the guys in Sydney sounds just like Jemaine from "Flight of the Conchords".

I found an mp3 of the Discovery Channel's "Boom de yada" commercial last night. It's joined the eclectic music collection on my ipod. Hee.

I should listen to it lots so that I don't set my coworker on fire.

Simply by finding an mp3 of Sarah Silverman's "I'm [bleeping] Matt Damon". Muahahahaha! That, along with The Gourd's cover of Snoop Dogg's "Gin & Juice" and a bluegrass version of AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long" should make Hubbyfink squirm during the ride up to Pennsic land grab next weekend.

Muahahaha.

Margie is still doing fine and the braid she ate on Friday has yet to make an appearance. After the first six hours or so after the incident, I quit fretting.

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On Saturday, Hubbyfink and I were up and on the road fairly bright and early to assist with setting up the vigil reception area for jljonsn and Caemfind at Storvik Novice Tourney. The 'fink and I spent much of day wilting in the heat with our friends at the reception or over at thatpotteryguy's shop. I did sneak in a bit of shopping at herveus' and spikywheel's for silk thread and hose, respectively. I was delighted to see murieldechimay & tashadandelion and make the acquaintance of Muriel's apprentice.

Both Geoff and Caemfind's elevation ceremonies were lovely (and thank heavens Geoff's hood fit; I nearly fretted myself sick). I was most excited by reabhecc and Hubbyfink's inductions into the Order of the Pearl. Yay, bivalves! Hubbyfink liked the Pearl medallion I'd gotten for him (I had to point out the fingerlooped braid in his colors that I'd made while sitting next to him Friday evening). We were both blown away by the Pearl charger thatpotteryguy made for his apprentice.

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Work has been very stressful today. I was sick yesterday and had no less than five these-must-be-worked-on-NOW emails from my senior manager when I got in this morning. I don't know how to answer these questions and I have no management backup (he's on vacation until next week). I'm faking being cool in email but I'm flailing pretty spectacularly in real life. Ah well.

Since I'm done sewing for the time being, I thought I'd braid up some strings for points and pursestrings and laces. I'd gotten into a rhythm and zoned out and didn't notice that Margie had scarfed down a short lace until I heard a wet smacking sound. My attempts to wrest the lace from Margie's throat earned me scratches and bites; I just missed hooking my finger on it it.

The emergency vet said to watch her carefully tonight and bring her to them or our regular vet in the morning if she displays any of his list of symptoms.

So far, she's fine. In fact, she wolfed down kibble while I was on the phone and is now sprawled next to me on the sofa. Here's hoping she stays fine.

I have been sewing every night this week, including Tuesday after choir practice. And you know, this handsewing business while in front of the TV? Not so bad. The funny thing is that neither of the garments I've been sewing are for me. The really happy-making thing is that I don't have to sew tonight because everything's done. Done, done, done! Whoo hoo!

My sewing speed really does vary by movie:
Resident Evil: Apocalypse == speedy
Independance Day == slowish
Sophie's Choice == agonizingly slow
All About Eve == fairly fast

Next week, I'll be sewing a garment for yet another person. We'll see if my Norse ensemble gets made before Pennsic; if not, no sweat.

I dropped an f-bomb under my breath during today's staff meeting and everyone applauded and laughed after they recovered from being stunned that I curse.

Obviously it wasn't as under my breath as I'd hoped. But it did break the tension.

I was pretty morose this weekend. It was a combination of ending vacation, leaving my family, and monthly irritability. I did NOT want to come back to work on Monday, but Hubbyfink and I have a comfortable lifestyle and we'd like to keep it that way so back to the office I did go.

And you know what? Monday was one of my best workdays I've had in years. I was busier than a one-armed paper hanger, true, but I was answering questions and assisting coworkers and clearing items out of queues and inboxes in record time. I was mentally exhausted when I left for the day, but happy. I went home and knocked out a sewing project.

Yesterday wasn't quite so busy, but it was just as good. And it was followed up by a fun choir practice and then finishing up another sewing project while Hubbyfink and I MST3K'd "Resident Evil: Extinction". I've found I handsew faster with zombie movies in the background. Need more zombie movies, but not "Flight of the Living Dead: Outbreak on a Plane" (I can hear it now: I'm tired of these motherf*ckin' zombies on this motherf*ckin' plane!).

Looks like I'm coasting for the rest of the day. I need assistance with some customer inquiries and the guy who can help me has gone home early for illness. Poor guy. This means I can clear out the deprovisioning queue and perhaps read the fifty page design document I never got around to reading in the pool last week. But that's not what has made me happy. Oh no.

What makes me happy is that I was tooling about my timesheets and discovered that I have four and a half unscheduled vacation days. How'd that happen?? Usually I plug every single vacation and personal day I can into the timesheet database as soon as possible. I've already scheduled my week and a half of Pennsic. I've also scheduled the week of Christmas. I could take a week at Thanksgiving... or take the last week of December. The possibilities are... well, they aren't endless but they're all attractive. Must ponder my options.

My brainmeats are tired. Only four more hours until I can stop thinking for a little while.

The museum at Jorvik has what can best be described as mummified Viking droppings. Huh.

The drive home took fourteen and a half hours thanks to the hightened police presence on the highways for the holiday weekend and a search for a Sonic (for one last cherry limeade) which then turned into a thirty minute tour of rural east Tennessee.

Basil and Kit were happy that we were home; Margie didn't forgive me until 4am when she began head-butting me awake for scritches and pettings.

This morning I dreamed that I was living in a dorm and my room was changed while I was on vacation. I had to get to Residents' Life before they closed to get a new key. My wedding pictures were on my bookshelf, but I was in a girls' dorm; I'm still confused by that. I woke up disoriented and couldn't remember my social security number.

I have seen the penultimate and final episodes of this season's Doctor Who. Wow.

I really do not want to go to work tomorrow. We're talking serious dread.

Still gorgeous in the River City. Today's been the first day with temps in the 90s, but there's still a northerly breeze which is making being outside (and not in the pool) tolerable. Being in the pool is every so much more than just "tolerable".

Despite liberal applications of SPF 50 sunscreen, freckles are in full bloom on my arms and chest. My arms also feel kind of hot, like they're burned, but they're not showing any redness. Maybe this corner of the playroom is a little too warm.

The neighbors have a four-month-old blond Scottish terrier named Sunshine and she's absolutely adorable. I want one.

Saw "The Happening" with zipmeister and Mom yesterday. Hubbyfink saw "Kung Fu Panda" instead. He chose wisely; we did not.

The whole family is gathering at a park this evening for a portrait. "Whole family" includes Mom's shelties and Mimi's border collie. We'll probably head to mid-town afterwards to see Mimi & Chris' house.

Mom and I got pedicures yesterday. That's our summer visit "thing". We both have pink toes; hers are bubblegum and mine are cotton candy.

We still haven't played Wii. It's sitting forlornly next to the TV in the family room. Maybe tonight? Or on the 4th? We'll have a house full of people again on the 4th.

Gotta go. Time to slather on more sunscreen and run errands with the 'fink before photos.

Hubbyfink woke me just after 6am; I begged him to let me sleep a little longer as I hadn't been able to fall asleep until 3am for the second night in a row. He woke me again 45 minutes later and I unhappily traipsed off to shower. We said goodbye to the kitties, loaded the last of the gear into the car and prepared for take-off. I then ran back inside to grab the condo association payment which needed dropping off before we left town.

We left home at 7:30am EST and arrived at my folks house at 7:50pm CST. We saw Virginia state troopers hiding in nearly every "official use only" cut-through the entire trip through the state. We passed a truck full of "U.P.C. Racing Pigeons" just outside of Pigeon Forge, TN. The coincidence, it burns. We drove through the smoke of a raging median fire just east of Knoxville. Hubbyfink called 911 and was told that emergency response was en route. I-40 was closed for repair work in downtown Knoxville; I got to drive the ring road for the first time. We hit Nashville rush hour for the first time ever; I highly do not recommend that. We saw a double decker cattle trailer and a cow at the back of the trailer who had stuck its head out of a gap and looked for all the world like a very large dog sniffing the breeze.

zipmeister was waiting for us at Mom's house. Mom and Pete were excited about the Lake Anna Winery ice wine and Ocean City salt water taffy I brought as gifts, but the fudge was the biggest hit. Mom's been cleaning the house all day in preparation for Mimi's shower tomorrow afternoon. We have to get groceries and start cooking in the morning. I cannot WAIT to see my sister's pregnant belly. I hope she lets me touch it. BrownCat-who's-grey is being very lovely and makes me miss Basilmonster and Margiekitten. I know they're in good hands with dmn4nr and the Missus.

I am completely wiped out. It's nearly 1:30am at home. Definitely time for bed.

Yay! The conference call is over and I'm officially on vacation. WHOO HOO!

Dude! Where'd all my work go? Oh yeah, I've been working like gangbusters to get everything out the door before vacation starts. Did I mention I have a conference call at 10pm tonight? Good thing Hubbyfink is a morning person and can take the first driving shift tomorrow.

Aaaaaaanyway... Here are five things that I've done that I bet you haven't:

1. I have waterskiied on the Mississippi River.

2. I have eaten a lightbulb. (I was very, very young.)

3. I have played "I Never" with my parents and siblings. (I don't recommend this.)

4. I have been accused by FedEx pilots of being bad luck because nearly every time I jumpseated, something on the plane broke. Usually something important like, oh, the radar.

5. I have been stapled to a plywood board.

Yeah, okay. I work with teh intarwebs; that already qualifies nearly everything I do at work as geeky. However...

Manager wanted me to split up AsiaPac into three sub-regions for our fledgeling team to tackle. I put Australia and New Zealand together then split up Japan and the mainland into two other regions. I took the hardest sub-region because I'm comfortable with tackling the challenges in that area. I told our team that the other two engineers could thumb wrestle for Middle Earth.

I hope someone on the distro list gets it.

By this time tomorrow, I will have slurped down my first cherry limeade (or strawberry limeade) of the summer.

Okay. I unloaded my venom, deleted the entry, and now I begin anew. The day is already turning around. I can create a sacrificial budget so we can get what we really want and then go on with my actual work.

Thanks to the scavengers who pillaged cubes of our most recent escapees, I now have a working headset. My coworkers are the bestest.

Hubbyfink and I hosted the Ponte Alto Newcomers' Night on Friday and it was a smashing success! We welcomed seven adult and two child newcomers and hosted thirteen (plus baby) SCAdians. Thanks to all who came out and made the gathering such a fun and lively event.

Saturday morning, Hubbyfink headed over to snolan and sutragirl for the La Belle Compagnie meeting while I puttered about the house, cleaning and recovering from the previous evening's activity. I finally made my way over to the LBC gathering and visited with lots of my favorite people. We spent some time cooling off in the pool (and then warming back up in the hot tub) and then gabbing until dark. I drove home watching a fantastic lightning storm.

Hubbyfink and I found ourselves hosting another small gathering on Sunday for azpapillion and J, and thatpotteryguy, smiep and the boychild. AzP fit Smiep and me for Viking apron dresses and then we cooked a rib feast for lunch. Mmmm... spinach and strawberries and stinky cheese. Lunch was finished up with strawberries liberally applied to angel food cake. Good friends, good food, good chatter.

After cleaning up last night, Hubbyfink, Margie and I collapsed into an exhausted heap on the red sofa of AWESOMENESS. Margie's nearly recovered from all the attention she received this weekend.