Random Ramblings

I've moved!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 23:52:00 +0000

I've packed up the Bloggy U-Haul and moved.

Click here to go to my new blog. :)

See you there!

So excited I could burst!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:26:00 +0000

I'm going to unveil my new blog tonight. I am so excited I could burst!

Come back later for all the info.

WHOO HOO!

Thursday Thirteen: Edition 5

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:12:00 +0000

Thirteen Things I Found While Cleaning My Desk at Work Today

1. Encouraging Post-it note from a coworker. (Thanks, Jeri!)
2. Overtime approval form from the end of October.
3. Two Christmas cards from coworkers. Both had been opened and read.
4. A potential article with the topic of “rejection.” The note from my boss was to “reject” it. Ironic.
5. Two e-mails from Oct. 8. (This shows how long it’s been since I’ve given my desk a really thorough cleaning. I had taken care of the query contained in the e-mails.)
6. My long-lost staple remover. (How I’d missed it!)
7. An envelope that had been returned to sender (me). A note inside said the recipient hadn’t worked for the company since 1985. (It’s been awhile since I’ve cleaned my desk, but it hasn’t been THAT long.)
8. A note pad that’s been buried since just before Christmas.
9. Multiple copies of various items I refer to often. Apparently, I needed to refer to one of them, couldn’t find it, and printed a new one.
10. Labels that were to be put on boxes when our office moved – in September.
11. A million now-unnecessary Post-it notes.
12. My calculator.
13. The surface of my desk. It’s walnut-colored. I hadn’t remembered.

Sadly, I have multiple surfaces still to clean off. Today’s effort was the area where my keyboard, monitor, etc., live.
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Wordless Wednesday: What My Husband Bought Me During His Vacation in NYC (I was working, after all.) Isn't it purty?

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 10:37:00 +0000

Happy birthday, Leslie! And a story.

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 00:20:00 +0000

Happy birthday to my dear friend Leslie.

She and I have been friends since 1994. We knew each other (kind of) our freshman year of college, but became best buddies during summer school in 1994 (the summer after our freshman year).

She also met her future husband that summer. I met Bryan before she did, but can't take any credit for their getting together. I can, however, claim -- with most of the other people at summer school that year -- knowing he liked her. She was oblivious.

Eleven summers later, I took Ed with me to visit them at the camp they attend for 10 days each year. They loved Ed. As we left, Leslie hugged me and whispered, "I'm so happy for you!" Sarah, their youngest child at the time, lovingly stroked Ed's beard. We'd been dating for four weeks.

We didn't make anything "official" for a couple of months, but I, at least, was pretty sure we'd be getting married after our visit with Leslie and her family at camp.

The following summer, 10 months after Ed and I started dating, Leslie was matron of honor at our wedding. (Leslie also spent the night before the wedding with me, another wonderful gift.

Their three children (along with my nephew) were Children of Honor. Bryan said an absolutely amazing prayer. What a blessing it is to have friends you love SO MUCH that you simply must include each family member in your ceremony of marriage!

Another fun aside... When Ed and I got out of the car at the rehearsal (the day before the wedding), Sarah ran to Ed and wrapped her 2 1/2-year-old arms around his legs in a big hug. They hadn't seen each other since camp almost a year earlier.

Leslie refered to her crew as our non-family family in this year's Christmas card. We're not related by blood, but we're family.

I love you, Leslie, and I miss you. Happy birthday.

Chocolate

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 13:27:00 +0000

It's 8:27 a.m. I've already started eating chocolate.

It seems like I've been here FOREVER, but it's been less than two hours.

The day is going o.k., but chocolate helps everything be better.

Except for my waistline.

(Oh well...)

Rebecca's fairly terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 01:58:00 +0000

Well, today started off o.k. Got up fairly easily, went to work. It was so NICE not to have to do "getting ready for meeting" stuff and just be able to WORK.

As the day progressed, I started feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of STUFF I have to do. I could work 50+ hour weeks for the next several weeks, and I'm still not sure I'd be caught up. It just. never. stops. And yes, I've put in for overtime for the next month. (Others in my area have similar workloads, so I feel bad complaining. But my feelings are my feelings, and it is my blog, so I guess it's o.k. to express them.)

Some days are just like this, and there's nothing you can do but hope for better things the next day. (It's days like today I wish we played -- and won -- the lottery, if you get my drift.)

I came home to my beloved husband, which was lovely. (Poor thing had to listen to my Tale of Woe when he made the mistake of calling me when I was still about five miles from home.) Right after dinner something funny happened with the dogs, which we took pictures of. Then I realized that the upgrade I did of my budget software must have a bug in it -- or I did something REALLY stupid in my data entry. Either way, my budget is now all screwed up, and I've lost the will to post the Funny Dog Story. Maybe tomorrow.

And I'm sad (perhaps I should have started with this), because Tristan, another T-18 baby, died yesterday. He was born on Dec. 3, 2007 and had been doing so well, relatively speaking. I thank God for the 56 incredible days he had with his family... so many T-18 babies live for just a few hours, if they're born alive. Since Poppy Joy was born on Dec. 1, there are two additional Trisomy-18 babies our little corner of the Internet has been following via their parents' blogs. Mary Grace lived for 7 hours. Maddox lived for just a few seconds.

Each of these babies is such a gift, and their parents are grateful for every second they had with their precious sons or daughters. But think about it. We've talked about "how long" Tristan lived. He would have been eight weeks old today. Their son's "long" life didn't get him to his two-month birthday.

Makes my crappy day at work (and the uncertainty of what tomorrow -- or any other day will bring) seem rather unimportant, doesn't it?

Return of the cats?

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:36:00 +0000

In September, I wrote about our cats and the bed. Poor kitties: they never get to sleep in the bed with us.

Well, while Ed and I (and the dogs) were gone this week, the cats had the run of the place. I'm sure many hours were spent curled up on our bed.

Apparently, they've remembered how lovely it is to sleep in the bed with a human, especially on cold nights.

So... Thursday night (before the dogs returned) the cats slept in the bed with us. Ed, so surprised at the sight, said, "Is that a cat?" Friday night, Asbury slept with us for a little while, until Fox ran her off.

Last night, Fox ran Asbury off, but they both came BACK! Maybe Fox knew they were there. Maybe he didn't. But the cats were in the bed with us off and on all night.

Truthfully, 2 humans and 2 dogs in one bed is a bit crowded.

But I'm still rooting for the cats.

Photo Hunt: Old-Fashioned

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 15:03:00 +0000

I took this photo at the main branch of the New York Public Library while I was on my business trip. This old library is full of old-fashioned things. An unabridged dictionary on a wooden stand with a reading lamp is one of them. (Pay no attention to the "new-fashioned" light bulbs in the reading lamp. :) )

What's your take on old-fashioned? Join the PhotoHunt.

photohunt

First family photo!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 14:51:00 +0000

Tricia and Gwyneth meet!

Hooray!

Now this is depressing...

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:24:00 +0000

My husband and I are watching a show called "Life After People" that talks about what would happen to Earth if all of the people went away all at once -- as in "poof," no more people.

Everything was o.k. until they started talking about what would happen to the animals. They started with the dogs. Waaaaaaah!

Home

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 03:09:00 +0000

We're home. And exhausted.

Goodnight, all!

Rebecca

Homeward bound...

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 20:17:00 +0000

We're at the airport. It was a good trip, but I missed covering one thing because I didn't learn the pertinant details until I was on the way to the airport. This disappointed me. I'll try to track it down when I get back to the office Monday. I'll probably feel alot better once I've had some sleep. I may travel for work again this year, but most likely not on this scale until next January. Stay tuned.

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A lonely glove

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 17:49:00 +0000

At Javits Center, NYC

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Feet!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 00:22:00 +0000

Each year, I forget how bad my feet hurt after the fourth (or so) day of my business trip.

But I swear they didn't hurt this much last year. They were almost numb a few times today.

EEK!

It will be over soon. HooRAH!

Thursday Thirteen Edition 4

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:46:00 +0000

Thirteen Things I've Seen on my Business Trip to New York (most of it from a cab)


1. The Ed Sullivan Theater, where "The Late Show with David Letterman" is taped.

2. The Hello Deli around the corner from "Letterman." David does a lot of comedy "bits" with the owner of the deli.

3. About a million yellow taxis. When I was with Ed, he asked if each one was the Cash Cab.

4. Chelsea Piers.

5. The neighborhood of TriBeCa. (I had a business dinner in this neighborhood.)

6. The Statue of Liberty when we were flying into New York.

7. The New York Public Library. (We actually went in here.)

8. Times Square. (We actually went here>0

9. The studio where "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" is taped. (There was a huge billboard on the building that said, more or less, "If you're looking for Larry Flint's gentleman's club, go down one block and turn right." The sign cracked me up.)

10. The Empire State Building.

12. The Chrysler Building.

13. My wonderful husband at the end of each workday. This was the best thing I saw in New York.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others' comments. It’s easy, and fun! Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Wordless Wednesday: Seen at M&M's World in Times Square

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 12:06:00 +0000

POOP!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 01:05:00 +0000

Gwyneth, the baby I've mentioned in previous posts, has finally pooped.

Now, we all know that poop happens, but this baby, born at 24 weeks 5 days (if memory serves), hadn't pooped since she was born two weeks ago. Until this morning.

We've all been praying for poop, because "poop" means that her digestive tract is working. This is good news. It also means they can really start feeding her now.

She's not had any major complications, which is quite amazing for a baby born as early as she was.

Head over to Gwyneth's daddy's blog for more information. Also check out his wife Tricia's incredible progress.

And keep praying.

Please.

The streets of New York

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:36:00 +0000

Last night after work (which went just fine, by the way), Ed, two friends and I went and explored. We walked around Times Square for a bit, went to dinner, and were leaving a store on our way back to the hotel when we were approached my a middle-aged, well-dressed African American woman. She chatted with us for awhile, asked where we were from, what we were doing in town, the usual.

Then she told us she was homeless. She said she was going through a divorce and had been homeless for three months. After a few more moments of talk, she asked if we’d buy her a piece of pizza. The fact that she asked if we wanted to go with her to buy the pizza made us believe she actually was GOING to buy pizza with the money. We needed to continue with our walk, so Ed gave her $5 and she went on her way.

I was a little shaken up by the situation, but not for the reason you might think. I thought it was slightly “odd” that a native New Yorker was being so friendly (old stereotypes die hard), but I NEVER would have suspected she was homeless.

She didn’t appear to be drunk, on drugs, or suffering from any of the other ailments people often associate with the homeless. As I said earlier, she was dressed like most of the others walking the streets on this cold night.

But homeless she is.

I truly believe that she is someone who has just fallen into some bad luck. I don’t know that she’ll still be homeless in a year.

But it IS possible, through a similar stroke of back luck, that any of those reading this blog might be homeless in a year. You just never know.

So the evening didn’t end quite the way I thought it might, but maybe that’s what New York had to teach me this year.

Monday!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 12:15:00 +0000

It's Monday morning. I've been up about 30 minutes (or awake anyway), and I need a nap. :)

My friend Sarah sent me this Mutts comic strip this morning, and it pretty much sums up the way I feel about things at the moment. Hopefully, I'll be able to come home and get to bed EARLY tonight. Well, that's kind of hibernating, right?!

Have a good one, all. :)

Made it!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 22:33:00 +0000

I made it to New York. I also decided, at least for today, that paying $14.95/day for Internet access in my room is worth it. Makes the hotel room feel a little like "home," and this blog gives me the opportunity to "chill" and to spill some of my wacky thoughts into cyberspace. Somehow, "blogging" offline and uploading when I get home just isn't the same. Tomorrow, I may decide $14.95/per day for Internet access isn't worth it and blog offline. But today, not so much.

Anyway...

Some come to New York to see the sites, to see a show (or 6, if you're me), to people watch (sometimes also known as "seeing the sites," but that's another story). Me? At least this time, I came to work.

I woke up right as the plane was passing the Statue of Liberty. That was pretty exciting. The left side of the plane had a wonderful view of the city. I've been here a few times, but it's always exciting to me. In the taxi, I pointed out some landmarks (Madison Avenue, approximately 17 CVS Drugstores) to my coworker and taxi-mate, who has never been here. Tomorrow after work, we're going to walk over to Times Square and grab a bite for dinner. Besides that, we'll spend most of our time sleeping and working (but not in that order).

For a little while, back in the late 1990s, I wanted to move here. Now I'm a little older and wiser and know that New York IS a great place, but as the saying goes, I would not want to live here.

However, I must make it a point to visit more often... and next time I'll come when I don't have to work.

61 minutes and counting...

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 09:43:00 +0000

I think we'll make it.

If I get off the computer and take a shower.

Etc.

I don't know what form my blogging will take while I'm gone, but blog I will.

See youze guyze soon. Y'all.

"If we can maaaake it there..."

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 00:06:00 +0000

"...it will be a miracle."

This going to New York on my business trip isn't going so well. I feel like crap, so my husband's doing all the laundry, errand-running, etc. He's doing a fine job at all of that, so that's not the problem.

But it just seems like it's taking FOREVER to do anything, in large part because I have to lay on the couch every 15 minutes for 45 minutes.

During one of my 15-minute bursts of energy, I look for Ed's long underwear. I can't find it, so Ed goes out to get some. And discovers when he gets back that he's bought two pairs of long underwear PANTS, not a pair of pants and a shirt. So back he goes.

When he gets back from there, he needs to get gas for my car. There are approximately 0.02 gallons in the tank. I hope he makes it the 1.2 miles to the gas station.

So it's 7:10, we've barely started packing.

And I'm blogging. This isn't helping.

Oh, and the big irony? There's been bad weather here and up the eastern seaboard. This means we may sit at the airport for seven million hours because of weather backups. After all this rushing around. Or should I say "rushing around," at least on my part.

So if we get to New York, we'll consider ourselves blessed. Wish us luck.

I've created a monster

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 13:13:00 +0000

After rereading my post from last night, Ed can't stop playing clips of "Gilmore Girls" off YouTube.

This from a man who initially scoffed at my love of "Gilmore Girls." We now own the box set. :)

Oy with the poodles already!

ramblingsbyreba@ramblingsbyreba.com (Rebecca (Ramblings by Reba)) — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 02:32:00 +0000

The title of this post comes from an episode of "The Gilmore Girls." Basically it's turned into a phrase that can mean "Enough!" or "I can't believe this is happening" or "What a Day!" It's kind of like the Hebrew word "Shalom," or "Aloha" -- "Oy with the poodles already" (or OWTPA) is a multipurpose phrase.

Anyway, it's almost time for The Big Business Trip. Once I get to the airport, I'm fine, but the "getting there" about kills me. Every year. Today I had so many last-minute things to do that I almost couldn't do anything. Seriously, I was nearly paralyzed by all the details.

And my nose is still crusty from my sinus infection. And my head hurts. And I'm exhausted.

Tomorrow is a day of laundry, packing, and, yes, finishing up those last-minute things I didn't get done at work today.

STOP THIS CRAZY THING! And get me to the airport. I think "Oy with the poodles already!" pretty much sums it up. Don't you?