Adventures of Eeeee

Allergic Reaction

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Thu, 19 Jul 2012 14:12:00 +0000

I probably need to preface this with the fact that I try to avoid zyrtec and any other allergy medication. Even though I have food allergies, I have found that it is best to practice avoidance rather than taking medications everyday. I don't like the way they make me feel or the physical reactions my body has after taking them.

Nevertheless, sometimes they are needed as a means to an end so I do always have allergy pills (usually zyrtec and benedryl) in stock.

Last night, I made a great dinner of rice, beans, salsa, and fake cheese... aka my version of Hoppin John. And then I had an allergic reaction. 40ish sneezes (each becoming more painful and louder), two zyrtec and lots of water later, I was finally in bed trying to breathe through a stuffy nose.

Even now I am confused as to what set off the allergic reaction. I can have rice and beans.  I had checked the salsa before purchasing it and the fake cheese is the same fake cheese I always buy (and I checked the label just in case the formula changed).

The only thing I can think of is that instead of buying white rice I bought organic whole grain brown rice.  It still contained the germ of the rice.  The only other thing that it could be is the type of beans. It was plain ole pinto beans. I can't think of why pinto beans would be an allergy. I like (and eat!) all kinds of beans (except lima... not a huge fan).

And unfortunately the only way to find out is to have a small portion of these items again (this time separately). But that will have to be in a week or two.

In the mean time, I will need to deal with the zyrtec and allergic reaction aftermath. Antsy legs, super chill emotions (okay that's a bonus), somewhat foggy brain, puffy painful face, loss of focus and staring randomly off for several minutes at a time, and sllooowwww movements. But on the upside, since I took the zyrtec I won't get an upper respiratory infection, which is where it would lead without it.

I really need a nap.

foggeeeee

Hair!

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Sun, 15 Jul 2012 03:05:00 +0000

Let's be honest. We are all thinking it. (Well, in my brain EVERYONE is thinking it).

I am losing my hair.

I can't figure out a way to put what is happening any other way. My hair is falling out by the HANDFUL. I am RUNNING OUT OF HANDFULS to be falling out.

Now if people are thinking that I am losing my hair they are being polite and not telling me. It helps that in a normally lit environment, it looks pretty normal. But put me in the sun and you can easily see my scalp. Have it rain and a wet, and a hairless cat looks better than me. By my estimates, I have about a quarter of the hair I once had.

So why am I losing it? No idea really. I have the doctors stumped... as usual.

Most likely, I am paying the price for years and years of eating food that I shouldn't eat (ie - all that stuff I am allergic to). Poor eating habits combined with my overly sensitive to everything body and you get what I have.

All I want is my old hair back. The kind that people used to envy. Alas, sigh, that isn't going to happen.

And I am tired of it.

So today, I cut it off.

I have no idea why I am not smiling in the first picture. Maybe I am practicing for my next passport photo ;-)

Side note: this is how straight my hair is. It dried naturally.

Well, I cut most of it off. And I gave myself a bit of a perm to try to add some body to what is on top of my head. I like it. It makes me feel all artsy and pixie-like, which in turn makes me giggle since I am neither of those things.

And no it isn't pulled back, it's really that short =)

hairless smells like a perm eeeee

Front Bathroom preview

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 03:28:00 +0000

I finished the first coat of the front bathroom today.

I also repainted the final piece of hardware in the bathroom... the light fixture. It was shiny silver and now it is brushed satin nickel.

Revealing moment(s)

I've had the paint for the bathroom for years so I just went to Home Depot and had them shake it.

The color when wet was baby boy blue and I was nearly on the verge of marching myself back to Home Depot and buying any other color. I did not and as it is drying, it is darkening a little. Still, a wee bit unsure. And it is difficult to capture the color in a picture.

I cut-in (painted the trim) first. I don't think I have ever done it that way and I felt faster somehow.

I paint barefoot. Is this just me? I think it might be. I don't know why, I think it's just easier to climb all over everything with bare feet. Probably if I was a proper person and had a ladder, I would wear shoes.

Picture Preview

bare feeeeet painter

Everything moves

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 15:45:00 +0000

When I was a kid, living in texas, my dad used to take me with him to show houses. Kids and houses usually don't mix well, but I was strictly instructed not to make noises or much movement. I remember hours of watching people look at homes and learning to be quiet and not complain about being bored. (the trick, btw is breath, daydreams, and facial expression control)

I have since used this skill of being able to sit for hours with very little interaction and lots of patience in a variety of ways. When I was in school, I used the skill to make it through a bunch of classes that didn't interest me. When in corporate america, to listen "intently" to long, boring meetings.

What I didn't realize was that although I have mastered (mostly) the art of a non-reaction or looking like I am intently listening or just sitting still and appearing extremely calm, the energy still comes out. I am never still.

Case in point. One day I was working with my feet propped up, laptop propped in my lap, working intently on a document. My coworker came over after a few minutes and said to me, "Elizabeth, what second language do you speak?" Confused I replied, "I don't speak a second language". He responded back, "no, your toes are talking, your feet and toes never stop moving and there is a rhythm to their movement".

Now, if it weren't for the fact that I was wearing sandals and had my feet propped, I would be a little weirded out.

Instead, I smiled and realized I was busted. I never sit still even when the majority of me seems still to most people... there are things always in movement. Sometimes my hands, sometimes my feet, sometimes I flex random muscles.

eeeee

Dinner and Broccoli

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 23:59:00 +0000

Today's lesson is make dinner a few days ahead of time, because when I am hungry it takes WAY more willpower to eat at home.

Thankfully, that willpower found its way into my mindset today.

When thinking about dinner, I thought I would make a variation of Hoppin John (which I am still pretty sure is a racist name, but I don't know what else to call it). I had beans and salsa and just needed rice and fake cheese. Easy stop at the store and I was on my way.

Until I got home and realized that the beans were going to take a LONG time to cook (bought dry not canned). And I was super HUNGRY and on the verge of a crying meltdown. I try to avoid crying panicky meltdowns.

I decided instead to steam the broccoli I had and make a grilled cheese sandwich with my newly purchased fake cheese.

Only one issue. I've never steamed broccoli. I only started liking broccoli recently.

But I did it. They were super yummy with just a little salt and pepper and finished with a little safflower oil.

Here's proof.

broccoleeeee (see what I did there? yeah, I'm awesome with a full tummy)

So many corners

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 14:57:00 +0000

It's been a bit of a crazy month. Not crazy so much in too many things going on, but crazy emotionally. A good deal of the month has been spent being irritated and pissy that I am limited in both time and resources. I started with a plan, revamped the plan, and then finally threw out the plan. I already feel like a different person than who I was a month ago, one who is beginning to enjoy navigating through life without a plan and trusting in God for His plan. See that is a better place emotionally :) Not saying that I am good at accepting the plan AT ALL. I still get pretty pissy about stuff. Very slowly (like turtle slow) I am learning that my plans in the past have been a way to distract myself from the things I needed to work on or to face. So yeah... good times.

How does all this affect the house redeaux? In short (ish - no promises), it means that I can only do what I can do with very limited financial resources in the near future. And that the big ticket items are going to have to come behind the other big ticket items that are a need. For instance, I have been "patching" my air conditioning unit for the last five years. The replacement of the unit and fixing the leak in the condenser coil will happen before I buy new floors and furniture. In fact, it will happen before I even replace some items that other people would see as necessary (i.e. dryer).

Now here is what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that I won't be making progress on the house. When you let a house go for ten years, there is a lot to do. And in the last month, I wasn't feeling comfortable enough to even start on the smaller (and less fun) tasks that need to happen... e.g. organizing and cleaning. But last night, I started those tasks. I have lots of corners to go through and figure out where I want things to be in the future. And after I finally finish that part, I get to think about the painting walls, but even that is a few months away.

I'm learning, each day do something and eventually the overwhelming, daunting task will get done.

So know this... if you come over to my house to eat, you will eat picnic / moroccan style (sitting on the floor) because I don't have a table or chairs or a couch or a television. And I don't want your old stuff. In fact, I like how little furniture I have. It makes me hopeful that one day if I get this house fixed, I could sell it and travel. That scenario is more appealing every day.

elizabeth

"Fixed"

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:50:00 +0000

The air conditioner has been "fixed" for another year. Thank goodness for technicians. Unfortunately for me, because of the age of the unit and the leak (that I have known about for a while and wouldn't admit to) the cost is going to be substantial.

I'm sorry air conditioner ... You are at least third on the list of things to pay. Third.

Translation = little to no a/c this summer for me.

Fortunately for me, I like the heat and will be managing it for the remainder of the summer. When it gets super bad, I will turn the a/c on. Otherwise, I will just consider my house a sweat shop :-)

Sweat shop eeeee with fans :-)

Is it Saturday?

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 02:15:00 +0000

You would think that with the number of small tasks and errands that I got done today that it was Saturday. But no, it's Monday.

Since I am feeling pretty snazzy about accomplishing so much today... here's a list.

took Keaton to the vet for blood work
went to work (I put this one on here just to establish that I did indeed work today)
talked to Wells Fargo
rescheduled my eye appointment
called place about my a/c (it's that time of year... hopefully they can boost it up for another year... or I will be become very accustomed to super heat).
troubleshot printer network issue and got it back online
PRINTED (I hardly ever print so the fact that I took the time to print something means something)
went to the store (OKAY... technically I went to the store parking lot. I decided IN the parking lot that I didn't really need anything I was going to buy and so I drove a loop around the parking lot. Unfortunately, I am still craving what I originally wanted.)
packaged an Amazon.com Marketplace order. (it took me ages to find something to send this book in)
shipped package at USPS ... internationally (okay, there isn't really ANY difference when you ship internationally but it sounds cool so stick with me!)
drove to CTECH for a meeting today (unexpectedly)... as a BONUS... wore a skirt and not jeans to work today and so was in dress code for the CTECH building as well. Nearly in dress code... sandals are non-compliant.
OH! How did I forget this one... read my devotion this morning.
Did not buy my breakfast (I am a SLACKER in this area)

I think that is it. I would put loaded the dishwasher on here, but that would mean I expect to do something with the sink full of dishes other than stare at them and wonder why they don't grow legs and pop themselves into the dishwasher. I mean, c'mon, we all have to do our part.

tasked out eeeee

Wingin IT!

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:33:00 +0000

Once upon a time, I had a plan. A broad, overreaching sketch of a plan... the kind that gives some wiggle room but with definite goals. And about a month ago, I threw that out and revamped the plan. And I thought that was tough. It was definitely irritating.

Nonetheless, I have thrown away the plan completely.

Now there are goals that I would like to do, but if I don't... no biggie.

Welcome to winging it. A place where control doesn't really exist and going with the flow is an amazing place to be.

beginner winger eeeee

PEN hunt

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 03:28:00 +0000

It should be noted that I usually have pens handy. So when I found myself without one on a day that was already grating on my nerves at 9:30am, I wanted to punch something.

I had finally gone to my bank. An inconvenient drive across town. All I wanted to do was make a deposit. I arrived at my bank and realized that they do not keep Saturday hours. But there is an outside ATM and all that is standing in the way of me and my deposit is a pen.

I fumble through every possibility in my car; the trunk, the middle thingy, the glove box, the back seat, every bag in the car, everything pushed around and looked under and still no pen!

I get in my car and drive to the nearest gas station. It was a super sketch and super smelly gas station and no matter how hard I tried I could not bring myself to pay $4 for a pen that probably wouldn't work.

Back on the road, I decide to drive all the way back to Kroger (about 10 mins) and buy some pens.

And that is what I did. I tried not to be super annoyed at myself, but I was ... SUPER ANNOYED.

Once I got the pens from Kroger, I filled out my deposit slip and then put both pens in my glove box for future use (or for them to explode all over... whichever comes first).

I then drove BACK to the bank and made my deposit.

I continued being super annoyed for the rest of the day, but at least I persevered and made my deposit.

pen eeeee

Pit found, cannot find the exit

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Sun, 17 Jun 2012 02:31:00 +0000

I have been falling deeper and deeper into the funk / depression pit this last week. Unfortunately, I see no light at the end of the tunnel right now. Nowhere near the upswing of this thing.

I dislike weeks like this where the hole in my soul feels bigger than usual, where all I can do is be mopey and fake happiness. Cry and sleep are the only things on the agenda.

The really super bad thing is that it seems like I am in this one for a long haul.

Don't expect anything more than keeping my head above water.

That's is as real as it gets.

e

Whew!

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 19:09:00 +0000

I needed a wee bit of a mental break from what I am working on and so came here, to write.

It has been a somewhat busy work week for me. Busy is a relative term.

Today, I toured "the lab". That was great fun. Found out what a headend was... that was crazy. I am learning more and more about this whole "cable television" world and as usual I am amazed that anything actually works together.

Technology rocks my face off.

SharePoint does not rock my face. Their editor is SUPER BUGGY. It's like using Word from 1995... remember that? Not fun. Having to format things four times because it is being stupid.

Still doing 100 days of eeeee, I need to post about yesterday, but I am going to have to edit some screen shots (to protect the innocent). Tonight I am going to have a self spa evening. It's been a while since I had one of these and I am looking forward to it. Not sure what a spa evening is? It is basically my time to be TOTALLY girly, pampering my face, hands, feet, and whole body.

Before I get to that though I have to go to Petsmart and buy the world of food for the cats. And then I need to go somewhere and buy food for myself too.

I was down at Summit today (the old HP building, now Crawford) and totally forgot to go by the bank that is super near there. So now I will have to make a special trip tomorrow morning. I gotta get better about that kinda stuff. I would use the machine that is in my building but it is rigged to be out of order everytime I need it =)

I feel like I should get back to work so that I can get this stuff done and ready to be reviewed and sent Monday.

Later peeps ... busy-ish eeeee

Forrest Gumping it

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Thu, 14 Jun 2012 16:03:00 +0000

I decided to write on a more pleasing topic than the super stressed grrrr feeling I have at the moment. It will calm me down and put me in a better less "must do everything" place.

Last night, I intended to walk only a short distance since it was getting late and I was losing sun. It was nearly 9pm before I even started out on my walk.  I had excess energy to burn and cherrish sleep.

Normally, I walk up to Will's Park and tour around the park paths. But I have bored of that so I struck out in with downtown alpharetta in mind. I ended up walking to downtown alpharetta, then walking down academy. Fun fact #1: I always thought Academy turned into Webb Bridge AFTER GA 400. Nope, it turns into webb bridge just before the overpass. From my house through downtown then down academy is more than two miles. It was really getting dark by this point. But I REALLY REALLY felt the need to go the path of Westside. Fun fact #2: The new part of westside is open to car traffic now and I often take it to windward. And it's a fun drive. A few twisty turns along the way :)

So I turned onto westside (walking) and was met with amazing views of the lightning storm a few miles away. Did I fail to mention that it was ending one storm and had the potential for another when I left? Ooops. Well, it was stormish weather.  I was privy to some great cloud-to-cloud, cloud-to-ground lightning.  Fun fact #3: I usually know when I have made a really poor decision and am in some trouble.  I knew I was in no danger, only a feeling of peace. I tried to get a few pictures, the timing just doesn't work well with the way my phone takes pictures.  For the length of westside (about a mile), the lightning continued.

Then as if the night sky wasn't being awesome enough... PLANES! Yep, as the storm disapated, more and more planes began appearing overhead, meaning that once again we were in a flight pattern.  I quickly realized that we were not in a landing pattern, but in a take off pattern. Which makes my heart happy because I always think of the possibilities of travel and the freedom it brings and the new sights and then I think of where the people are going and what their lives are like... what is their 'world'? These are things I wonder.

By this time, I am back to walking on Old Milton. By the time I pass the Publix I feel like I am nearly at my house (even though I still have about a mile to go).  The walk is super familiar at this point and it is just a matter of time before I reach home.

Final path?  My house to Roswell St to Academy to Westside to Old Milton to Roswell St to Maxwell to my house.
Final distance? 4.75 miles.

Fun Fact #4 - no rain on me. I could see rain in the distance. But none on me.

still love stormy weather eeeee (and having adventures, duh!)

Not fully baked

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:07:00 +0000

I have revamped the plan and it is not fully baked (I haven't written anything down) but it is a start. I can tell I am still waaayy out of my comfort zone. I am still angry that I don't have unlimited resources, money and time to enact what I want to happen. But such is life, is it not? A series of weighing your options and prioritizing which one gets done first.

On a lighter note, I picked out the eventual colors of my new bedroom. I have like 75,000 things to get done before I ever get to paint, but the colors are there and I am pleased with my selection. I think it will turn out nicely. Everytime I pass by the color cards taped to the wall, I smile.

I have so much to do tonight. It's kinda ridiculous. I was thinking of cooking tonight, but I am in the process of just trying to eat as much food without having to buy anything as possible... you know eating down the pantry. I am getting really close to the bare bones in there so I don't think cooking is necessarily an option. Although, as I typed that... I had an idea. But we shall see. I may put it off until tomorrow just for the fact that if I get distracted by cooking I won't have time to do the rest of my much-less-fun list. And I should probably do the much-less-fun list now so that I can get to the fun stuff later and not feel stressed.

Whoa, I think this procrastinator just had a break-through.

Shoot, I just forgot what I was going to do for 100 days of eeeee. Wait! Come back thought!!! (taps nose impatiently) Oh yes... I remember now. Tonight I am trying club soda in the steam cleaner to remove stains.

I had a relatively productive day at work today (aren't your excited to know that little piece of information?). And if I don't leave in the next few minutes I might get poured on.

I'm off then eeeee

Cozy Cocooning

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 22:17:00 +0000

It's day 3 of 100 days of eeeee and it is already hard. Errr, I mean difficult.

I haven't done anything "new" or "uncomfortable" or "faced a fear" yet today. And so I started wondering, "universe, what's the deal?". What?!?! You don't talk to the universe?

So I started thinking. I had some of my friends send me lists of creative things to do with myself during these 100 days. And I thought about some of the things they had suggested, but none sounded super appealing. Mostly because, I know it is Friday and all, but I really just want to chill and do laundry and dishes (which incidentally as I write this I am listening to the sound of my dishwasher). Maybe stream a movie later... I don't know. The point is that most of my friend's ideas involved GOING to do something, not cocooning in my home.

So I started thinking again.

I thought about calling my HOA which would face a fear and make me be nice and not pissy with my HOA. I tried to call... voicemail. Dang, that would've been an easy win.

I could eat something weird. No... I eat weird all the time. Although, I am still considering smothering a rice cake in peanut butter and honey / chocolate sauce and then topping it with cornpop cereal. And maybe throw in a pineapple or two. That sounds pretty yummy actually. But wouldn't count for Day 3.

I could do a cartwheel in my living room. Now we are getting somewhere. I haven't done a cartwheel in YEARS. But it still wouldn't take me out of my comfort zone since it is in my living room. Publicly, maybe. But not today. Again, cocooning.

I could paint a butterfly. Bingo. I draw / paint trees. Trees are my go-to object. Have been for years. I drew a tree on Mrs. Owens' whiteboard in 8th grade. It stayed there most of the year (wow, what a random memory). Butterflies... out of my comfort zone.

So I am off to find my painting supplies. And soon I'll post my butterfly painting. Hopefully, it won't suck.

eeeee on day 3

UPDATE on the cartwheel. I did attempt it anyway. BIG FAIL. Made it halfway before crashing to the ground. Also, made a mental note to start taking video of these ridiculous attempts. I am still giggling at what I must have looked like :D

Feeling the pull of Sope Creek today

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 19:20:00 +0000

It's about time for a really good hike so since I had a meeting near the perimeter, I believe Sope Creek is where I will be heading. Now, how early can I disappear?

Beautiful day vs being productive conundrum eeeee

Look up and check out the tabs!!

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 03:11:00 +0000

So there are new pages (check out the tabs on top) and lots of additional content for this blog! And if you are viewing this on a phone, I haven't forgotten about you (well not me, the people at Google haven't forgotten you). Look for the cool little drop down to switch between pages.

I know you are excited to be privy to more depths of my brain... try to contain your excitement =)

I am especially excited about 100 Days of eeeee and House Redeaux. The Vacations page is like my version of scrapbooking. Well, let's hope it's not like my version exactly of scrapbooking (starts but never finishes anything because I can't decide on anything).

Anyway world, look out ... you may actually feel like you really know me by the end of this ... eyeroll... doubtful... but keep trying ;-)

3 new pages eeeee

Not the office move I was expecting

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Tue, 05 Jun 2012 14:47:00 +0000

This morning my office moved ... all the way ... across the street. Not the move I was expecting and the official move to CTECH has been postponed until October/November.

So I guess you won't be able to find me at Sope Creek in the late afternoons this summer. But look for me there on the weekends. For now, I will have to stick with my usual hiking haunts, Roswell Mill/ Vickery Creek, Big Creek on old alabama and (it's not really hiking) Wills Park/exploring the streets of downtown Alpharetta =)

Not too shabby of a view either. Of course it's all rainy today but you get the drift.

eeeee

Night hiking at The Rock

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 15:03:00 +0000

If you ever get the chance to go night hiking at Stone Mountain, take it. Highly recommended.

What is not recommended is drinking five sweet tea's (the server made me by continuously refilling my glass!) during dinner before going over to stone mountain. Why is this particular beverage dangerous? Because when you combine it with water (you are climbing a mountain!), it means you will have to pee. So unless you are skilled in peeing in the woods at night (which I am on both accounts), I wouldn't recommend it. Number of times I had to use my skills? Twice :-)

As a side note, amber either has a bladder of steel or the fact that she had four less glasses of sweet tea at dinner had an impact.

Anyway, back to the night hiking. Amber and I set a plan to do the hike at night so that we could watch the laser show from the top. We had met way earlier in the day, did some shopping and people watching at Ikea and then went over to stone mountain to hang out. During the afternoon we explores the banks of the lake ... Wading around, talking and getting sun By the time we headed outside the park for dinner it was 8 pm. We went to get dinner, took waaayy too long there and by the time we had got back to the base of the mountain the laser show was nearly over. Never thwarted, we hiked it anyway. It takes is waaaayyy too long to reach the top of the mountain. Between the talking and giggling and stopping to pee and stopping to sit quietly and freak out other people ... It was a while.

We finally made it to the top and the view of the night skyline of the city is gorgeous.

We stayed up top for a while and then made our way back down again. Of course, giggling the entire way.

If you decide to do this hike in the future, bring a hoodie even if it is summer. (of course we did! Duh.)

When you gotta go you gotta go eeeee

At least I looked cute...

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 16:03:00 +0000

Yesterday, I had a meeting at the BRAND NEW BUILDING for work. And it was on the floor where I will be sitting (eventually).  So, of course, me and my teammates scoped out our new digs after the meeting.

First things first though... the parking garage. I have never been in a parking garage with so many nooks and cranies.  It is very confusing and most of the elevators do not work yet (not that working elevators would help in the navigation). But I managed to find my way into the building for the meeting.

Walked to the entrance. Super secure.  Imagine walking through a transit stall with the doors at a transit station. Except your badge is your ticket / card. That was just to get onto the elevators.

Up the elevators to the ninth floor. My breath actually caught a little bit with the modern architecture and open floor plan. Unfortunately, it is one of those places where it is a little difficult to orient yourself. I will need some sort of visual cue in the future, otherwise I am going to have to make walking the entire floor look really cool.

After the meeting, my team went on a hunt for our cubes. Like I said before, window seat. And the view is not of the building next door, but rather of The Home Depot and the Arby's Corporate HQ building and of the skyline of Sandy Springs / Dunwoody. I seriously, have WAAAYYYY too perfect a view of The Home Depot. I can already see that my first month or two I am going to have to leave all forms of payment at home. Between driving past the REI to get to work and staring at The Home Depot all day... it may be too much for my wallet.

Time to go back to the office. Back to the parking garage. I walked out with two of my coworkers and we were talking about how confusing the parking garage was. The quote that makes me giggle still, "All I know is that I started seeing signs for a carwash".

I thought I knew how to get back to my car but I quickly found myself lost in the garage. I made my way back to where I had started and saw two different coworkers wandering. They were across the garage. I made a mental note that if I found my car before they did then I would pick them up. That is exactly what happened. I found my car (I had really only made one wrong turn ... not too shabby for me), and was driving out when I spotted them. I picked them up. After touring the garage for another 5 minutes, we decided to exit and then re-enter the garage from the entrance they had used. Success! So it took exiting Central Parkway then turning onto Peachtree-Dunwoody, then re-entering the garage to find their car. In the process of this one of my coworkers realized that I was driving a stick shift.

So final stats: I looked cute cause I wore a cute dress and flats, I heart the view from my cube, but need to leave money at home, I rescued some fellow teammates from wandering the parking garage, and I got extra respect brownie points for driving a stick shift.

Looking cute being lost eeeee

PS - On the downside of all of a this adventure. I have been informed that we are going to move as a department and not by building. Which means I don't get to move offices this summer. Dang. Well, I guess hiking at Sope Creek will have to be reserved for the weekends for now. But at least it gives me more time to think about my outfits and shop =) ETA: unknown.

mmmmm ... Trucks

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:26:00 +0000

I think this is happening because now I drive a tiny vehicle. Don't get me wrong, I love my tiny car. I love it's sunroof (which I open nearly all the time!) and it's stick-shift (5-speed vroom) and I especially love that I only fill up on gas every 2-3 weeks!

But lately beautiful trucks set my heart racing! (have I mentioned I am a driver and therefore LOVE all things vehicle related).

In my neighborhood there is this ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS Toyota Tundra that has been customized. It's simply amazing and tempted me so much that I was a total stalker and took pictures of it. The trucks pristine beauty makes me want to befriend whoever owns such a truck (and lives in my hood!). But then I think about what my opening line would be and if it sounds awkward in my head then it is sure to sound awkward out loud.

Sigh. I guess I will just admire it from afar.

Truck lovin eeeee

Bringing back the TAGLINE eeeee

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:42:00 +0000

I'm kinda known for my unique taglines (well in my own head anyway). Not here, of course, but in email correspondence, I am a bit of a tagline goddess. Hehe... another exaggeration, but who cares...

In my last blog though (a very pissy blog... my mom HATES the word pissy btdubs), I whipped out a tagline in my very frustrated state. So I guess that means that I am ready to start using them again.

The return of the tagline eeeee

Hot to trot right now!

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Wed, 23 May 2012 20:14:00 +0000

Seriously, seriously pissed right now!!!! And over what you ask? Twizzlers! %&#$ing Twizzlers!!!

Because with all of my food allergies I have never bothered to look at the package of Twizzlers and Twizzlers are MY FAVORITE CANDY!!! I get them almost everytime I go to the movie theater! That's right I am so IN LOVE with Twizzlers that I pay $4.50 for a small package of them at the movie theater.

But today after demolishing a pack of twizzlers (and justifying it in my head that I will work out like a BEAST later)... I read the bleeping back of the package.

Even though the package lists NO ALLERGEN WARNINGS here are the ingredients...

corn syrup; enriched wheat flour (which just means flour so processed that they had to ADD vitamins back to it... that's what all those things in parenthesis mean!); sugar; cornstarch; and less than 2% of a bunch of crap one of which is soy lecithin.

dammit to hell. Another food down the tube (hehe.. get it ... if you don't GO BUY SOME TWIZZLERS!).

The offenders? enriched wheat flour and soy lecithin.

This is ridiculous. Seriously!

I feel a little better after this rant (not really) and now I have to go find a zyrtec to take, which I hate taking. And also, this will be the reason my tummy hurts tomorrow and is expanding now.

stupid food allergies. I can't eat anything FUN and I love to eat.

not winning at anything in foodlife eeeee

PS - I now have 3 extra packages of twizzlers that I can't eat. You can blame Target for this ... I went to buy one package and they had them on sale for 5/$5... go ahead ... eyeroll... I am.

Longer commute. Beautiful building.

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:10:00 +0000

Soon I will trade my ridiculously short commute (3.5 miles) for a longer commute (13.6 miles). Anyone that knows the ATL knows that 13.6 miles around here is easily 40 minutes in traffic. Five minutes to 40 minutes will be an adjustment, but with the longer commute I will have some serious benefits.

First things first, why the change? I am not changing jobs or companies (for once!) but my company has built us techies a new building, conveniently right next door to the parent company's headquarters. No pressure to look nice ;-) This is where I wonder if the powers that be know what a tech person looks like on a normal basis. Or if it is a massive conspiracy to help us dress a little better. It's not that we can't look good (cuz we are a good looking bunch of smart people) but when given a choice tech people tend towards grabbing randomly from the closet.

Next up... when? My original move date was late November, early December, maybe even 2013. You know how construction goes. As of last week, my group will move in late June into Building A and not building B as originally planned. Although, I have been told June, I am leaning more towards July. But who really knows?

So in about a month, I will join the ranks of GA 400 commuters. Sigh. I love me some GA 400... like on weekends and going against traffic. I will be going with traffic and that seems a little daunting. Only because soon I will have to make a choice... between sleeping late and suffering through a longer commute or getting my rear up at the butt-crack of dawn and shimmying my way to my new beautiful office. There is a third option that involves Transit, but I haven't tested that one out yet.

On the upsides of the new building, I will be on the 9th floor and according to the seating charts I have window seat! Now, there is a chance that my window seat affords me the opportunity to look at the building next door. Those that know me know how much looking at another building really does excite me. So for me, no matter what... win, win, win.

And the new building has a rockin gym (no rockwall though), small outdoor trail and a fantastic eatery (which I probably won't use since I am allergic to the WORLD of food... but it is there in case I want to).

And the THING that I am most excited about??? (besides shopping for new conspiracy clothes). The new building is a ten minute drive to a worthy hiking destination. And since I am moving in the summer, I will be using my handy-dandy parking pass nearly everyday!!!

So if you ever need to find me in the late afternoon this summer, look at Sope Creek, I will be hiking there most likely ... trying to avoid spending my afternoon stuck in GA 400 traffic.

eeeee

Things I thought about randomly today

noreply@blogger.com (eeeeee) — Tue, 22 May 2012 17:59:00 +0000

Well so far today =)

I love being in the part of the city with the landing pattern for planes. May seem strange to other people, but it is one of the things that I miss about living in Snellville. Snellville was nearly always in the airplane landing pattern for ATL and watching the planes get in the pattern and then line up fascinates me. In Alpharetta, we are not always in the landing pattern but the last few days we have been and its been nice watching the planes overhead.

I love most forms of transportation. Planes, trains, trucks, automobiles, boats, bikes, walking... doesn't matter. All provide some level of freedom and mean I can travel.

I want to travel. Badly. I am pretty sure I get this from both of my parents who tend towards the nomadic / gypsy side of the travel scale.

As I finished writing all of the above, I received a newsletter from my company about travel. Dang. Not making the ache any smaller universe... not making it any smaller.

Why has microsoft made archiving email such a complex process now? dislike =(

I am totally avoiding updating a project plan right now. OKAY... I at least have it open now.

Nothing about a lunch sounds appealing right now.

Totally stuck on this travelling thing.

it's 2pm and still not hungry. watching planes makes me happy.

eeeee