lifeinflux

Ode to my cat who chews cords

Mimir goes by many names - Meer, Meemsy, Pooh Bear, Tiger Cat.   And then there is my personal favorite - Mimir Damnit - which is probably the name the cat is called more than any of the others.    Granted, in the past, calling the cat "Damnit" has gotten me in trouble.   Who can ever forget their first call by their child's teacher asking that you come in for a meeting.  And who can forget the ensuing discussion of your child's family tree whereupon you find a picture of an orange blob with the...

Living in sin…

As many of you know,  Jason and I have lived together, post-divorce, since November of 2006.  Drue and I moved from the Research Triangle Park are of North Carolina to the Fairfax area near Washington DC.  Why we moved is a post in and unto itself, so we'll leave it for another time.    Suffice it to say that we moved and he moved and somehow, thanks to the financial reality of NoVA aka being ridiculously overpriced in everything, we ended up living together.    And living together is not someth...

Decisions, decisions

2010 has started off with a bang.  When I look back six months ago and the level of unhappiness in my life verses today and the level of satisfaction and happiness I feel, I know that I am one lucky girl.   When I wrote my list of 101 things in 1001 days, I had no idea that my little company would explode, bringing in enough income to support myself and another developer along with the occasional freelancer.   Wow!   I am not complaining but I do find myself split between doing what I want work-...

The real meaning of love (and tolerance)

I don't think any other image sums up Drue's and Mimir's relationship as well as this one. Do I need to say more?

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...

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...

My life of late… better know as insanity

I'm a chronic volunteer.   I cannot stand a need not getting done.  I'm Type-A, except when I'm not.  And then I'm so Type C you wonder where all that OCD, anal-retentive, I alphabetize my DVDs and color-coordinate my outfits to my underoos, dominant - and occasionally domineering - life is a project and I must manage it, personality goes.   Well, I'm here to give you the answer.  My Type-A personality goes to Madagascar.   Why Madagascar?   I don't know.  I just like saying "Madagascar".   But ...

Count your many blessings…

I know what you're doing right now... you're counting down from week one to two to three to um... six?    Yes, I know how to count and no, I did not bump my head and go into a coma for two weeks.  Nor did I contract swine flu and spend the last two weeks in bed (although lord-a-mercy the thought of two weeks in bed just sounds so good right now).    Weeks 4 and 5 are coming!   They are, in fact, being written right now, at this very minute, while you sit here reading about this week, week 6.  So...