lifeinflux

2009 – A Year in Review

On December 31, 2008, I was sitting at Office of Personnel Management, sending out 45,312 emails to GoLearn users who were on the system but not paying for their usage.    I was also dealing with two new hires that I regretted hiring about a week after they were brought on board.  But they were my hires and I was stuck with them and all the good, bad and ugly of my soul-sucking job.  I hadn't yet lost all hope and accepted that the only good was the fat paycheck so with great naivete and hope, I...

Plan of attack

Last night I peeked at my progress on my 101 things in 1001 days list and, to be honest, it's not great. Sure, I managed to juggle building my company and landing those first few, all-important contracts while running the Drama Club program at Drue's school. And that is an accomplishment in and of itself. And I managed those long 60 plus hour work weeks without consuming a drop of soda. And I managed one Daring Cooks challenge back in late October but I did not have the time to really g...

Cookie List 2009

I enjoy baking. No, scratch that. I LOVE to bake. And I particularly love to bake cookies. Thanks to Memaw, Gram, Martha Stewart and other random folks, magazines and my love of experimenting with flavors in the kitchen, I now have over a thousand tried and true cookie recipes to pick from and use throughout the year. Of those recipes, 451 are Christmas cookies. This year's list will contain many tried and true recipes and bars; however, I've added a few newbies to the list as well. ...

Damn the man!

Sure, I was nice when I was on the phone with my bank's customer support today.  It's been a week since I reported fraudulent activity on my debit card and had the card canceled.  And yes, I realize they had to launch an investigation and then issue me a new card.  But I use my debit card all the time!   And, well, it's almost Crummas!   There are presents to be bought. Yes, I was nice and helpful and understanding on the phone.  This is the voice in my head that, without that lovely social ...

Driving the fifty…

When I was eight, I climbed into the hatchback of my aunt's and uncle's Civic and rode from Raleigh, North Carolina through Tennessee to Paragould, Arkansas.  We then headed north driving through countless states until arriving to spend a week at Yellowstone National Park.  From there we took off west, driving through Utah and Nevada.  We drove end to end through Cherry County, Nevada, 100 miles of nothing going 80 miles an hour.  I dipped my toes in rivers, streams, and creeks.   I learned to s...

Spock would be proud

I knew I was in trouble this morning the moment I opened my eyes.   Mimir, otherwise known as The Cat™, was sitting by my head frantically pushing at my face.  There are wonderful ways to be nudged from sleep.  There are great ways to be nudged from sleep.  Shoot, there are even "okay, I wanted to sleep but you woke me up" ways to be nudged from sleep.   Having a cat push her paw into your cheekbone is not any of them.    It is, however, effective.  Since I went to bed around 5:30 AM after pulli...

And now with one-stop shopping for Hot Bear Spray

There are a few times in my life where I've had to eat my words.  My mom would say there were many times I've had to eat a little crow.  And she'd then tell you about my Corporate America speech circa '92, or the "no fast or processed food in my child" speech of '99.    Just for kickers she might tell you about the four months I swore off all animal products and tried going vegan during the Mad Cow scare of '02.   My mom has a mind like a steel trap and the memory of an elephant.   Thank god she...

East meets West and kicks some bootie

So the verdict is in.  I have bronchitis.   And we're not talking nice viral bronchitis either.   This is the cough all night, choke up green globs of mucus, blow your nose so hard your head ends up in next week, bacterial bronchitis.   It started two weeks ago when I lost my voice.  I always lose my voice by mid-November so I did not think anything of it.   You tell 50 plus kids to proojeccct or to Beeee Quieeettt for eleven weeks and you would lose your voice too.    So while I've probably bee...

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