Please don't put my head in there again...

Finally a picture from Andrew's baptism last weekend. I just love the horrified look on his face that just says: DON'T PUT ME IN THERE! That and the fact that his foot is in the baptismal font.

Everything about the day was beautiful (well, except for the torrential rains that started just before we left for brunch). How could it not be?

No longer in charge

Well, the two months of my temporary promotion are over and I am back in my office, trying to do my own work again and I'm feeling really disoriented. I mean, I can't even remember where shit is in my own desk. I'm trying to figure out what work I have to catch up on, what came in while I was gone that now I'm in the middle of, and where the hell my F-ing paperclips are.

I'm all sorts of grumpy today. After being gone for the last 2 months, I am truly afraid that I'm going to be really bored doing my own job. I was already starting to need more before I left (which is one of the reasons why I left), and now that I've seen all of the stuff that's out there, I look at my own work and think, "Huh, well... that's quaint."

There's some reorganization that's going to happen soon, which will most definitely shake things up. But as it stands, it doesn't look like I will be very affected by the reorganization, so I'm somewhat disappointed. *sigh*

Things I have learned over the past couple of months:

1. I like being an engineer more than a chemist
2. Lasers are really cool
3. Working on cosmetic devices makes me feel cheap somehow
4. I really like my work at home days
5. I like having a window office
6. The air is thinner on the third floor
7. Maybe stability isn't all it's cracked up to be

We'll see how things go. Maybe I need to take some reviewer details to see what else is out there. But I'm quickly learning that I'm not likely to get very far where I am, since there are so many other people who have been here so much longer than I have, and they are already the "go-to" people. It would take a lot for me to get to that point around here. There are more decisions ahead of me... much sooner than I had originally thought.

All A-twitter

I just don't know if I'm ready to commit to another online community... but at the same time, I don't want to be left out...

*pout*

Oh, what to do...

I seriously tried on about 100 pairs of shorts this weekend

I have this issue with shorts. I haven't owned a pair of shorts that wasn't the athletic kind (a la, I look like a soccer mom - thanks Magenta) for many years. I've been doing the crop pant, capri or skirt thing in lieu of shorts for quite a few years. But, it's been about 1000 degrees these past few days, and everything I have has been far too warm, so I felt it was time to deal with the situation.

I made it my mission this weekend to find at least 1 pair of shorts that I liked, which looked somewhat good, and didn't make me feel like I had a huge ass or mile wide hips or thunder thighs. Let me tell you, this was really tough. I'm hyper critical of my legs, for various reasons, not the least of which was my Mom telling me when I was, oh about 13 years old, that my thighs were really big - bigger than hers, in fact (my Mom was also 5' 2" and less than 100 pounds before she had kids). Just the kind of thing to say to a girl at the beginning of puberty who has self esteem issues, right?

Anyways, I went to a whole bunch of stores, and tried on something like 100 pairs of shorts. At a certain point I was going to give up, because trying on 100 pairs of shorts, of various different styles, colors and lengths, most of which DID make me feel like my ass or my hips or my thighs were huge is very, VERY bad for my self-image. But after much pain and many, many hours searching and trying, I actually found 3 pairs I liked. And even though Magenta warned me a couple of months ago that they would be a huge step (considering I don't own shorts), one of the pairs are knee length "walking" or "dress" shorts. Heck, the pair fit so well and were soooo comfortable, and I actually liked the way they looked, I figured I'd give it a try.

I'm going to wear the "dress shorts" to work tomorrow - mainly because they turn the AC off in the building over the weekend, and it's going to be a sauna there tomorrow, but also because I want to see how they go over. This may be the beginning of a new stage of fashion for me. Or, perhaps, I'll just be comfortable this summer.

More evidence of getting old

Everyone hits a certain age where they feel like things start to go, literally and figuratively, south. And recently, there have been many things which make one feel "Older than the Crypt Keeper." You know, small poochies and wrinkles where there were none before. I offer into evidence (and these are not flattering pictures at all, but they are candid) my discovery that I am beginning to get old-lady knees:


















Blegh.

Babies!!

Look at them grow!

Andrew at 3 months:


Carolina Grace at 3 weeks:

Introducing Kiwi

Yes, CawfeeGuy, I too have been assimilated. But for me this was a long time coming. I've been quietly considering getting the Nano since it came out. It was the first iPod design that I was attracted to (well, other than the U2 Special Edition that came fully loaded with their entire library, but that really had nothing to do with the iPod itself, per se). So, after grumbling to myself about how the mp3 player we had was not compatable with Vista (I'm not so sure I'm really compatible with Vista, but that's another entry), that I could not easily make playlists, etc... after convering with Magenta to decide on the color, I made the trip to Best Buy and bought one.

I introduce the 8 gb tiny wonder, Kiwi:

Seriously, I cannot possibly still be THIS tired.

I didn't do anything last night. And yet I'm still totally exhausted. I'm totally convinced it's because I've gotten so used to having a work at home day that my body is completely rebelling against the fact that I haven't taken one in nearly 3 months. I know. Weh! I'm sure no one feels sorry for that.

Whatever.

Mario Cart Wii + Skype = Awesomeness

Total awesomeness. It took a while to figure it all out, but once we did, it was so fun. Magenta, Turg, TTW and Fibji played all weekend. And watched each other play via webcam. Lots of teasing and trash talking, which makes the game oh so much more fun.

Every once in a while, I really love and am amazed by technology. So, who else wants to join the fun?

Separated at birth?

I saw this photo in a magazine this morning, with a tag line of "Soft, but unsually strong."


I get the feeling sometimes that the above photo is how Thor views himself, instead of like this:


I know it's how he acts sometimes...

We're not weird. We're just ... different.

One of the interesting things that I've had to deal with in my new temporary job is having to deal with a disgruntled employee (DE) who has been terminated, whose last day of work is tomorrow. Beginning with emails emploring me, if I have any influence at all, to give him another chance, to lashing out during group meeting at his mentor for doing things "behind his back." Frankly, this person was released from his job for lack of performance, and it's pretty obvious, even to me, who has known this person for all of a week.

The confrontation in group meeting began because I gave DE a document back because I did not understand how he came to his decision. If I'm going to put my signature on a document, I need to understand how the decision was made. I simply could not. The argument started with DE blaming is mentor for lack of mentoring and then escalated to him talking about how he was unfairly treated. I told him I would speak to him about the document, and only the document, after meeting.

During this after meeting conversation, DE continued to try to give me all the reasons why it was unfair that he had been fired and why I should give him another chance. I repeatedly told him that the decision was made, I had no influence over it, and I wanted to discuss the document. The conversation kept going around and around for 20 minutes. I should have closed the door, but I didn't think of it at the time. And the conversation was heated enough (read: kinda loud, but not yelling), that the Associate Director poked her head in to see if everything was okay.

After it was over, Lisa came by to see if everything was okay. In her words, "I don't think I've ever heard that tone of voice from you before." You know, that firm but serious tone. But why would she? Needless to say, I think I demonstrated that even though I am here temporarily, I'm not going to take crap.

Later on in the day, at the point where I was pretty much chilled out, another member of my branch (whom I had known only as the Guy Who Slapped His Dummy During CPR Class) pops in for this amusing commentary:

GWSHDDCC: I just wanted to let you know that we're not weird. We're just different.

Me: (as I'm laughing) Thank you. Did I ever mention that I thought you guys were weird.

GWSHDDCC: No. But not all our meetings are like that, and not all of us are like that.

Me: Oh, I know.

GWSHDDCC: But I wanted to let you know just in case. It's like a kid who steals milk and says he didn't do it before anyone accuses him, but he's standing there with a milk mustache.

Me: Oh, I see. Well thank you. And I'll take that into consideration.

Meet my Great-niece!

That's right. Great-niece. JP and Cyn gave birth to a beautiful baby girl on April 30. 8lbs 6oz. She's heavier than Andrew was!

Take a first peek at my beautiful great-neice - Carolina Grace

Obligatory picture of Mom and Baby sleeping:

"Daddy's little girl"

Speaking of superheroes

Conversation at lunch before going to see Iron Man:

Turg: It's the summer of superhero movies. I just wish that teaser they showed for the Batman-Superman movie in I AM LEGEND were in the works.

N'il: They can't even figure out who they want to play Wonder Woman, and that's been in the works for ages.

T: Who could play Wonder Woman? ........ M(agenta)? Yeah, that's it. I can't think of anyone else.

N: Yeah. I can't think of any strong, statuesque, brunette actresses.

T: Maybe Catherine Zeta Jones. But I can't really see her as Wonder Woman.

N: No. I can see her as Diana Prince. Not as Wonder Woman.

T: Yeah... M(agenta). She's the only one I can think who can be Wonder Woman.

N: Yeah.

Seriously? Robert Downey, Jr.? Yeah, I'd hit that.

It's the beginning of the superhero movie summer. I'm terribly excited. Turg and I saw Iron Man today. Loved it. Totally loved it. Good story, engaging, funny, witty. I could go on. About half way through the movie, I was sitting there thinking to myself, "Wow. Robert Downey, Jr. is pretty hot in this. Who'd have thought?"




P.S. - If you go see it, stay through the credits (that means you, CawfeeGuy)

Feeling uncreative

I'm in sort of a creativity rut. This whole jewelry venture was so exciting when I started. I was so happy and excited and nervous about the possibilities. And when I sold a couple of pieces, so soon after I had placed them in the store, I was even more excited. But now, it's been so long since that one sale. And nothing else has been sold since then.

I brought new pieces for the store at the beginning of March. Things that I thought were really beautiful and fun (I have to post the photos when I remember). Better and possibly more creative than the first pieces I brought in. Nothing. Not. One. Peep.

And I'm all frustrated. I've been saying that I would go to a couple of other places to sell some things, but now I'm scared. Maybe it's not such a good idea. I'm not doing so well where I am. But then again, maybe I should expand, so that more people see my stuff. The store my jewelry is in right now is relatively new, and their business is only starting to grow. They don't sell that much jewelry to begin with. So maybe I should go somewhere else... but I'm still afraid.

And all of this has put me in a creative rut. I'm uninspired and afraid. I look at my beautiful gemstones and don't know what to do with them. *sigh*

I was requested to post something, since I haven't in a long time. But not about work. Sorry, I need to talk about work for a moment, so bear with me.

So this week was my first week on the job of my temporary promotion. What the hell does this mean. Well, for the next 2 months, I am officially a manager. Not like those times (for those of you who have Google Chat) where I state "I'm in charge." Those times were unofficially - taking on some duties on top of my own job. I was really no more than a conduit for documents in and documents out. Now, I am managing in a Division that is not my home Division, a group of people who I don't yet know, and am being officially recognized for it. I'm even on the revised Organizational Chart (Woohoo... whatever).

Anyways, I had a moment my very first day in my new job, where I was all: WHAT THE HELL DID I GET MYSELF INTO!?!?!?!?!?!!? I think I'm okay. Apparently my decision was received well, and I impressed people. *WHEW* Overall, it's been okay so far. But then again, I'm still trying to get names and faces matched. So we'll see.

The hard drive for my work laptop failed yesterday. Failed. As in, I cannot access anything. I cannot even boot up.

It happened at 5:30pm. On a Friday. Which means I cannot even report it until first thing Monday morning. All I keep thinking is "I haven't backed up in a really long time. All my work is essentially gone."

I want to throw up.

Nerdiness of the day

For anyone who doesn't know, I love quantum and particle physics. I don't pretend to completely understand what everyone is talking about, but I find the subject absolutely facinating. I was more than a little excited when Ang's Dad took me on a tour of the Rhic particle accelerator at Brookhaven National Labs a few years back.

The thing about these particle accelerators is that there is always some fear that a black hole will be formed from one of the experiments. So, the new particle accelerator/collider at Cern is about to go online, and these fears have again resurfaced. Will scientists, in their quest for knowledge, destroy the earch because they will form a black hole or release some dangerous relativistic particles? You gotta love the New York Times Science Times. Every once in a while, there is just a quote than pretty much encompasses it all:

"Besides, the random nature of quantum physics means that there is always a minuscule, but nonzero, chance of anything occurring, including that the new collider could spit out man-eating dragons."


I know. It's nerdy. But I find this absolutely hysterical.

Yeah, so what if I don't remember high school French

I admit it. I suck. I can't remember a lick of French right now. But we're in New Orleans. And I think that makes up for it.

PS: There is WAY too much food.

Caption this picture.

Turg and I were walking through the Smithsonian Natural History Museum after seeing U23D on Saturday when we came upon this display called "Taming a Goat." I think many more interesting caption opportunities for this picture:


Have fun.