While Spring Break certainly does not mean what it used to, back in the good ol' days of undergrad, I am still extremely happy to report that I don't have to go to class for nine whole days. Woo!
If I were really dedicated, I would use this time to try to get ahead (or, er, caught up) on some school work so as to save myself some stress when class starts up again. But let's just say I'm not feeling really dedicated. *chuckle*
Rather, I am celebrating NOT having class on Monday by going out for sushi with some friends from work. Sushi is better than homework.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Des Moines restaurant recommendation
I usually go to Des Moines once a year for business. I like Des Moines, really...it's a nice, small Midwestern city, and over the past few years it has really shaped up after what I imagine has been a dedicated rehabilitation effort. There are still some areas that look a bit run down and sad, but the downtown area has some really nice hotels and GREAT restaurants. I have never had a bad meal in Des Moines. But I had the best meal ever on this latest trip at a restaurant called Azalea.
It's pricey, I'll give you that. But I liked that a lot of the items on the menu seemed to combine unusual flavors in an unexpectedly fabulous way (the bacon-wrapped sea scallops and pumpkin polenta appetizer was awesome), and the vodka tonic I had was huge. I had the wild salmon for my entree and it rocked. But the very, very best thing ever was my dessert: bleu cheese cheesecake with candied figs. I know it sounds completely weird, but it was seriously the best cheesecake I have ever had in my life. Of course, my favorite food in the world is cheese, and my favorite cheese is bleu cheese, so the fact that some brilliant chef decided to put bleu cheese in a dessert form is like a dream come true.
One of the few good things about business travel is that when you're wining and dining people, you get to try out some restaurants you probably wouldn't go to very often in your normal, everyday life. I think Azalea has become a "must-visit" place for me from now on when I travel to Des Moines.
It's pricey, I'll give you that. But I liked that a lot of the items on the menu seemed to combine unusual flavors in an unexpectedly fabulous way (the bacon-wrapped sea scallops and pumpkin polenta appetizer was awesome), and the vodka tonic I had was huge. I had the wild salmon for my entree and it rocked. But the very, very best thing ever was my dessert: bleu cheese cheesecake with candied figs. I know it sounds completely weird, but it was seriously the best cheesecake I have ever had in my life. Of course, my favorite food in the world is cheese, and my favorite cheese is bleu cheese, so the fact that some brilliant chef decided to put bleu cheese in a dessert form is like a dream come true.
One of the few good things about business travel is that when you're wining and dining people, you get to try out some restaurants you probably wouldn't go to very often in your normal, everyday life. I think Azalea has become a "must-visit" place for me from now on when I travel to Des Moines.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Having a Monday
This morning, after dropping Hannah off at day care, I hit myself in the face with my car door.
Yep, that's what happened.
Looking back on it, I still haven't figured out the logistics of how I managed to do this so spectacularly. I was in a hurry, and I wrenched open the door, and the next thing I knew was awful pain, disorientation and stars (you really do see stars when you get clocked in the face - who knew?). I didn't break my nose, and in the grand scheme of things I shouldn't really complain, but man - it HURT!
So I went back home, emailed people at work that I had to wait for the bleeding to stop before I could come in, cried a little and felt sorry for myself that a) my nose had a painful, bloody gash and b) I had to wear a Band-Aid on my nose like an 8-year-old.
I got over feeling sorry for myself but did spend the rest of the day feeling stupid. The good news is that the gash, under the powers of Neosporin and Band-Aids, seems to already look a bit better than it did this morning. It's still achy and is probably going to be bruised tomorrow. And I have a big presentation to do on Thursday that I imagine is going to be a bit awkward with a bandage on my nose. But whatever.
Then, when I got on my way to work, I decided I'd earned a Starbucks run. So I ordered my current favorite, a grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte (thanks, Vic - I used the gift card you sent me for Christmas!) and a blueberry muffin.
They were out of muffins. Whatever.
The whole day reminded me of the first bad day I ever remember having. I was in first grade. I was leaving school after what I imagine was a long and tedious day of learning my left from my right. It was raining, and I didn't have an umbrella. I dropped my yellow Cabbage Patch Kids lunchbox down the steps outside school, and it broke. When I got home, Mom asked me how my day was. And I said (I remember this vividly): "It's raining, and I didn't have my umbrella, and my lunchbox broke...and I have a headache!"
Yep, that's what happened.
Looking back on it, I still haven't figured out the logistics of how I managed to do this so spectacularly. I was in a hurry, and I wrenched open the door, and the next thing I knew was awful pain, disorientation and stars (you really do see stars when you get clocked in the face - who knew?). I didn't break my nose, and in the grand scheme of things I shouldn't really complain, but man - it HURT!
So I went back home, emailed people at work that I had to wait for the bleeding to stop before I could come in, cried a little and felt sorry for myself that a) my nose had a painful, bloody gash and b) I had to wear a Band-Aid on my nose like an 8-year-old.
I got over feeling sorry for myself but did spend the rest of the day feeling stupid. The good news is that the gash, under the powers of Neosporin and Band-Aids, seems to already look a bit better than it did this morning. It's still achy and is probably going to be bruised tomorrow. And I have a big presentation to do on Thursday that I imagine is going to be a bit awkward with a bandage on my nose. But whatever.
Then, when I got on my way to work, I decided I'd earned a Starbucks run. So I ordered my current favorite, a grande Cinnamon Dolce Latte (thanks, Vic - I used the gift card you sent me for Christmas!) and a blueberry muffin.
They were out of muffins. Whatever.
The whole day reminded me of the first bad day I ever remember having. I was in first grade. I was leaving school after what I imagine was a long and tedious day of learning my left from my right. It was raining, and I didn't have an umbrella. I dropped my yellow Cabbage Patch Kids lunchbox down the steps outside school, and it broke. When I got home, Mom asked me how my day was. And I said (I remember this vividly): "It's raining, and I didn't have my umbrella, and my lunchbox broke...and I have a headache!"
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Give me a snowblower or give me death!
Okay, not that drastic, but still. We got another 5 dodecajillion inches of snow last night, which inspired twice the usual shoveling fun - once last night around 9:30 and again this morning around 5:30. It was good to do it in two parts, though, because waiting for the whole amount of snow to fall would have meant a MUCH longer shoveling experience. (Although this appears to be what all the neighbors with snowblowers are doing...hmph.) The good news is that apparently we're about done with this snowfall...and what we have is now just going to blow around all day. (I guess only the first half of that sentence was the good news.)
This is the snowiest winter we've had in a long time - our total for the season now is around 50 inches. I find that if I think about that too long, it makes me sad. I know it's worse in other places, but that doesn't mean we're not still buried in snow here!
Also, despite my last post about snow, no entrepreneurial 12-year-olds showed up with an offer to shovel our driveway. Which leads me to two conclusions: 1) no entrepreneurial 12-year-olds read this blog; and 2) there is a 12-year-old somewhere who could have been more financially secure this morning, and he or she doesn't even know it.
Okay...time to go get ready for work.
This is the snowiest winter we've had in a long time - our total for the season now is around 50 inches. I find that if I think about that too long, it makes me sad. I know it's worse in other places, but that doesn't mean we're not still buried in snow here!
Also, despite my last post about snow, no entrepreneurial 12-year-olds showed up with an offer to shovel our driveway. Which leads me to two conclusions: 1) no entrepreneurial 12-year-olds read this blog; and 2) there is a 12-year-old somewhere who could have been more financially secure this morning, and he or she doesn't even know it.
Okay...time to go get ready for work.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Oscars, schmoscars
On this, the occasion of the 80th Academy Awards, I want to share something that indicates how far my life has come since I had a baby:
I have only seen one movie that is nominated for any award in any category. Just one, and that was Pirates 3, and it was just nominated for makeup and visual effects. Which means I never see movies anymore. When I was in college, the Oscars were a major event for me and my roommate. We were movie-going fiends, and we'd usually seen most of the movies and had strong opinions about who should win. I remember one year, she had a 7:30 class the day after the awards and had to go to bed before it was over, and she made me write down who won the awards she missed and leave the list on the kitchen counter so she could see it in the morning (clearly, this was before we'd all come to rely so heavily on the internet).
And now, I've only seen one movie out of all the movies that have been nominated.
Maybe I'll luck out next year and the Veggie Tales movie will get nominated for something, and I'll feel included. :)
I have only seen one movie that is nominated for any award in any category. Just one, and that was Pirates 3, and it was just nominated for makeup and visual effects. Which means I never see movies anymore. When I was in college, the Oscars were a major event for me and my roommate. We were movie-going fiends, and we'd usually seen most of the movies and had strong opinions about who should win. I remember one year, she had a 7:30 class the day after the awards and had to go to bed before it was over, and she made me write down who won the awards she missed and leave the list on the kitchen counter so she could see it in the morning (clearly, this was before we'd all come to rely so heavily on the internet).
And now, I've only seen one movie out of all the movies that have been nominated.
Maybe I'll luck out next year and the Veggie Tales movie will get nominated for something, and I'll feel included. :)
Thursday, February 21, 2008
The Man is getting me down
Amendment to last post: IT department now won't install software to let me sync up my phone to my new laptop because they "can't support personal hardware devices." Apparently allowing you to plug said hardware into your computer is "support." (I have not determined what this might mean for my headphones or my jump drive. Frankly, I fear for their future.)
In all fairness, I do believe the person who was forced to give me this news felt it was ridiculous, too, but that doesn't mean they're going to cave.
If I weren't working on a computer at work that still has a floppy drive (this is no joke - if you have floppy disks from college and you're wondering how you can reclaim your masterpiece term papers from history class in this age of jump drives, just send them on over to me and I can get that taken care of for you), I would be sorely tempted to just forget about the laptop.
I realize I am violating my personal code about not blogging about work, but seriously. I'm like an IT person's dream! I don't install weird stuff, I'm quite computer literate, and I never ask them for anything! AND I even lock my computer every time I leave my desk for any length of time. NOBODY does that. Seems to me that following the rules is not all it's cracked up to be. Where, I ask you, is the love?
In all fairness, I do believe the person who was forced to give me this news felt it was ridiculous, too, but that doesn't mean they're going to cave.
If I weren't working on a computer at work that still has a floppy drive (this is no joke - if you have floppy disks from college and you're wondering how you can reclaim your masterpiece term papers from history class in this age of jump drives, just send them on over to me and I can get that taken care of for you), I would be sorely tempted to just forget about the laptop.
I realize I am violating my personal code about not blogging about work, but seriously. I'm like an IT person's dream! I don't install weird stuff, I'm quite computer literate, and I never ask them for anything! AND I even lock my computer every time I leave my desk for any length of time. NOBODY does that. Seems to me that following the rules is not all it's cracked up to be. Where, I ask you, is the love?
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
It's that time again...
...Time for schoolwork to be due! And that means it's time for me to procrastinate by blogging. I have a short paper (very short - 2 pages) due on Monday. It's for my ethics class, which means it will require a lot of Deep Thought in order to come up with the finished two pages, and I don't feel very capable of Deep Thought right now. I also have a pile of reading to do...which I may work on a bit after I finish this. I have started approaching reading totally the wrong way: I do it when I don't want to do the work I actually have to complete for class. So I still feel like I'm accomplishing something, but I don't have to really do anything. The problem there is that nobody is grading me on my reading. But I'll get it done, because I always get everything done.
My ethics class is kind of crazy. I really like it because it's philosophical and interesting and there are a lot of gray areas to debate. Also, it seems nobody thinks marketers have any ethics at all, so it's nice to examine issues as a framework for convincing people that ethical marketing is actually possible. But we spend like the first hour to 90 minutes of each class discussing ethics-related stuff we've seen in the news, which is also interesting but can kind of drag when you've already worked a full day and eaten dinner in your car so you wouldn't be late for class. And the bookstore ordered a newer version of the textbook than the professor had, so our book doesn't match her syllabus at all. (She said all the info is the same, it's just in a different order, but it's confusing.) We never talk about the book in class, so I'm not entirely sure why I'm reading it. My research class is with the same professor and the lectures are heavily based on the book...so I don't think she's like anti-textbook or something. I do really like the professor, so that's good. But I'm having a hard time wrenching my brain between Deep Thought ethics and Grounded in Reality research. It requires two completely different thought processes. Also, neither one is as practical or immediately relevant to my job as my classes last semester, so it's hard to get as excited about them.
The last couple of weeks have been wacky. Hannah's birthday party was a week and a half ago, which was way fun but meant that I was getting ready to party and host 20 people at my house rather than do any work for school. And I took a day off work to get the house cleaned, so that meant I wasn't getting all my work done, either. It was worth it because Hannah had the best time, but it meant that the week after that was pretty...cranky.
Brock has had to work a lot of late hours lately because of the project he's on, which has been a little frustrating for all of us. And work sort of exploded for me, but I couldn't stay late because I either had class or Brock was working - and his working late was dictated by client deadlines, which sort of trumped me just needing to get things off my to-do list. Also, our plumbing got screwed up and it took more than a week to get it fixed because a) we were both super-busy and b) the plumbers didn't do a thorough job the first time they came. (Short version of the story: Plumbers came. Didn't find a blockage and told us to call the Village to check out the main line. Called the Village. Village was very attentive, came out right away, couldn't find a problem but flushed the line anyway. We still had a problem. Village checked the main line again. Couldn't find anything. Plumbers came out again yesterday. Turns out they hadn't checked our ENTIRE sewer line the last time, and - aha! - the blockage was in the part they hadn't checked. This cost a few hundred bucks, a great deal of stress and disgust. Good news is that it's fixed now, and after one more night of mopping with bleach, our basement should be okay. And we can freely run water again, which is good because the laundry was really getting out of control.)
This past weekend was one of my crankiest weekends in recent memory. I was just feeling overwhelmed and helpless to do anything about it. My funk lasted through about Monday afternoon...and was completely gone yesterday when the plumbing was officially fixed. I'm still feeling overwhelmed, but not as grumbly about it.
Oh...and here's another thing. I've been asking for a laptop at work for a couple of years, and they finally approved the request. So I get my new laptop next week, which is cool - but they won't let me have iTunes because it "isn't allowed because it's not work-related." (I have it on my computer now, but I think because my computer is so old, nobody realized I had the permissions to install anything myself.) I know I'm not an IT person and I couldn't possibly understand all the issues they face...but it's not like I'm asking for a stupid game or something. I just want to plug in my iPod and listen to music without running down my battery. I don't even want to put music on the computer! They did, at least, agree to install the software that lets me sync up my calendar with my phone, even though my phone isn't theirs. So I guess that's a small victory. Meh.
My ethics class is kind of crazy. I really like it because it's philosophical and interesting and there are a lot of gray areas to debate. Also, it seems nobody thinks marketers have any ethics at all, so it's nice to examine issues as a framework for convincing people that ethical marketing is actually possible. But we spend like the first hour to 90 minutes of each class discussing ethics-related stuff we've seen in the news, which is also interesting but can kind of drag when you've already worked a full day and eaten dinner in your car so you wouldn't be late for class. And the bookstore ordered a newer version of the textbook than the professor had, so our book doesn't match her syllabus at all. (She said all the info is the same, it's just in a different order, but it's confusing.) We never talk about the book in class, so I'm not entirely sure why I'm reading it. My research class is with the same professor and the lectures are heavily based on the book...so I don't think she's like anti-textbook or something. I do really like the professor, so that's good. But I'm having a hard time wrenching my brain between Deep Thought ethics and Grounded in Reality research. It requires two completely different thought processes. Also, neither one is as practical or immediately relevant to my job as my classes last semester, so it's hard to get as excited about them.
The last couple of weeks have been wacky. Hannah's birthday party was a week and a half ago, which was way fun but meant that I was getting ready to party and host 20 people at my house rather than do any work for school. And I took a day off work to get the house cleaned, so that meant I wasn't getting all my work done, either. It was worth it because Hannah had the best time, but it meant that the week after that was pretty...cranky.
Brock has had to work a lot of late hours lately because of the project he's on, which has been a little frustrating for all of us. And work sort of exploded for me, but I couldn't stay late because I either had class or Brock was working - and his working late was dictated by client deadlines, which sort of trumped me just needing to get things off my to-do list. Also, our plumbing got screwed up and it took more than a week to get it fixed because a) we were both super-busy and b) the plumbers didn't do a thorough job the first time they came. (Short version of the story: Plumbers came. Didn't find a blockage and told us to call the Village to check out the main line. Called the Village. Village was very attentive, came out right away, couldn't find a problem but flushed the line anyway. We still had a problem. Village checked the main line again. Couldn't find anything. Plumbers came out again yesterday. Turns out they hadn't checked our ENTIRE sewer line the last time, and - aha! - the blockage was in the part they hadn't checked. This cost a few hundred bucks, a great deal of stress and disgust. Good news is that it's fixed now, and after one more night of mopping with bleach, our basement should be okay. And we can freely run water again, which is good because the laundry was really getting out of control.)
This past weekend was one of my crankiest weekends in recent memory. I was just feeling overwhelmed and helpless to do anything about it. My funk lasted through about Monday afternoon...and was completely gone yesterday when the plumbing was officially fixed. I'm still feeling overwhelmed, but not as grumbly about it.
Oh...and here's another thing. I've been asking for a laptop at work for a couple of years, and they finally approved the request. So I get my new laptop next week, which is cool - but they won't let me have iTunes because it "isn't allowed because it's not work-related." (I have it on my computer now, but I think because my computer is so old, nobody realized I had the permissions to install anything myself.) I know I'm not an IT person and I couldn't possibly understand all the issues they face...but it's not like I'm asking for a stupid game or something. I just want to plug in my iPod and listen to music without running down my battery. I don't even want to put music on the computer! They did, at least, agree to install the software that lets me sync up my calendar with my phone, even though my phone isn't theirs. So I guess that's a small victory. Meh.
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