Yippee

I'm leaving today for Indy at 2pm, and I am very excited. Although I am a bit sad to be leaving my chair. Haha... no... really.

I am quite the traveller these days. I have not been in NY on a weekend in forever, so no serious exploring except what I am able to do after work. Next friday I am leaving for Portland - also so excited. I am looking forward to meeting all the people at the Portland office, and getting to work with them for a week. I can pretend that I am permanently there (working on it).

I am really working on some fun stuff here at work. I am creating a style guide for the people here to use as a standard when developing software (and ultimately products). I love it becacause I am imparting my knowledge of psychology and interface design on them. I am writing a document that describes the way people's minds process information and how they interact with technology via visual, auditory, and tactile stimulus. Then I discuss the implications of that on software design, and how to implement them to create good software. Right up my alley!

Yeah - school, Indiana, and living in a tiny house on top of Jim for 2 years really was worth it! And it is pretty cool that companies are still calling me about jobs too. I guess I get one a week. Thanks to you too Heather for emailing me that one.
I'm always looking for a good opportunity.

Happy New Year!!!

I'm such a geek sometimes

This is my new setup at work. I think I have won the geek of the week award. 2 computers and 3 monitors. I think I need another monitor!

Wow

The top of the side table comes off to act as a tray. I totally did not know that, and I guess I would not have unless the cute delivery guy had not showed me. Someday I would have discovered it and thought I had broken it!

The little wheelie table

The side table

Its "Mahogany".

Another view of the side table

The ottoman

I've never had one before... will the novelty EVER wear off?

My comfy chair!

Thank goodness I have cable, a tea kettle, and a down comforter

Bring on winter!!!!

The chair and ottoman

The little table

I am a wee bit unhappy about the arrangement on this wall.

From the dining room

Another view

My new living room

Jim, I TRIED to arrange it with you in mind, but I did a pitiful job. It was hard to resist shoving everthing in a corner.

I still might!

It is microfibre

But not too sueded!

It is actually an army green... this picture makes it look blue-ish.

Yeehaw!

I am getting rid of my makeshift couch, and I am ready to stop living like a college kid! It is time to grow up! Haha!

Good Thursday!

Well some nice delivery guys paid a visit to me and brought me my furniture! I am stoked!!! I came home at lunch and let them in. They were in the area early, so I popped in to help them out. Apparently the table that I bought was really a pair. It came with a shorter version that had wheels. It is cute.

I am lounging on my new chair as I write this!!! Ahhhhhhh!

I have made a very difficult decision... I am going back to Indiana for New Year's. I know, I know... that is LOTS of driving, and I was JUST there, but my Jim needs me. Haha. I just feel like I need to spend New Year's eve with Jim and the babies. I have left him alone for the previous 3 years, and I thought we should be together.

It is really cool - when it rains and there is snow on the ground, it produces a VERY instense mist. I is so eerie looking.

It is close, but no cigar

I went to the outlet mall in Waterloo via Auburn and Montezuma, and I found this drycleaners. How weird!

Wowee

I have my first insurance card since 1996! I have been on Jim's since then, and this one is through my work.

Hump Day

Well it is not quite a hump when it is only a 4 day week. I went rambling around today after work. I found the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge - very cool. I want to go back when there is more light and more warmth! It is on a big lake, and there is a lock at the edge of the property. There is also a winery in the town and lots of cool houses. I went near, but not to the Women's Rights National Historic Park, but I'll go back. It just gets dark too early.

Speaking of locks... one of the guys at work told me that in the summer you can rent a barge and go up and down the canal. You can go from Buffalo to NY City. They give you a piloting course, and they give you bikes and everything you need for the trip. Of course you don't have to go the whole way. It sounds cool.

Silly Jim

He was in the process of wagging his finger at me. I think he was more embarrased than I was. As per usual.

Talk into the microphone!

Horsing around at coffee with my best buddy Jim.

Too much sugar = hyperactive squeeling and public humiliation.

We realized much later that there was a security camera pointed our direction.

So happy!

He is so happy, you can see him smiling. There is nothing like a good stuffed plum and a sassy bow! He wore that bow for a long time.

Mati is too smart, she threw it off in 2 seconds, and Muldoone freaked out and tried to chew himself out of it. Sherman just lumbered around in it. He'll take anything.

We neglected to get some reindeer antlers for him!

The best present ever!

Jim's mom got me some warm and soft pajamas and some wonderful socks for christmas, and of course sherman loved the bow! This picture is a bit fuzzy, but isn't he cute?

Boy Toys

The boys were quiet for awhile, chewing and licking. Look at Muldoone gripping the toy with his paws.

Visions of sugar plums dancing in his head

I brought sherman a big ol' velvet plum from NY. He loved it! Muldoone had enough to occupy himself, so he left the plum alone for a couple of days.

Mantle Clock

Jim's dad made this pretty clock. It sounds so nice in the house!

Sugar Coma

On Thursday evening I drove to Indianapolis and got in about 2am Friday. Jim and the dogs got back into town Friday around lunch, and I made poor Jim hit the ground running. We ran around all weekend and got in a lot of coffee time, aka - quality time. We planned, schemed, and generally plotted as per usual. Jim and I hit all the Walgreens and CVS’s we could stand, which made me sad for my poor mom. I missed going out christmas eve and getting in the way during the last mad rush of shopping. Standing around with our arms sticking out, hovering over the prime sales tables, and generally causing an annoyance. Sunday we had our Christmas feast at IHOP and put ourselves in a sugar coma that lasted the rest of the day. Actually I think I was in a sugar coma all weekend. I also got to spend a lot of cuddle time with the babies. A great time was had by all. My trip back yesterday was fine. The traffic was steady but moving along nicely.

:)

I scheduled my flight, car, and hotel for my Portland trip. I even wrangled Heather into joining me part of the time! I am going from Friday the 6th to Friday the 13th (ack!), and Heather will be there Friday through Tuesday. I am so excited to see her and run around Portland together!!!

Christmas Apology

Its funny, I woke up this morning and my sinuses were all haywire. I had a killer headache and lots of pressure in my head – normal for any winter morning for me. But I leaped out of bed when my alarm went off, and I was excited to go to work. I smiled all the way to the office, and it dawned on me – I am really happy doing what I am doing. I have had some horrible jobs in my life. Driving past the buildings several times before talking myself into going in, wincing at my paychecks, getting yelled at, talked down to, and asked to make coffee for nasty old men. I really feel like surviving through all that, and 14 long years in and out of school - it was totally worth it for how I felt this morning.

By the way, I am sure many of you have noticed there is no card or sweet holiday tidings from me this year... well I've been a little busy and selfish. So please accept my apology, and know I am still thinking of you guys. I love you all, and I wish you a happy holiday!!

Happy Holidays!!!!

Little Jim is on his way to Jaxon as I write this. The car is getting all doggified. I am heading out to Indiana tomorrow after work. I probably will stop off for the night in Ohio. I really want to at least get through PA. I still might beat Jim home.

Work was fun today. We took a projector and watched "A Christmas Story" on the wall. We could all see it from our desks, and the guys kept butchering christmas songs.

Monday night I bought some furniture for my apartment. I am tired of living in my bedroom, and I would like to not spend all of my time lying on my bed. I got a solid dark green comfy chair and an ottoman. Tonight I went back and got an endtable I was eying. They won't be delivered until next thursday. They would have done it tomorrow, but I wanted to get on the road. The scary thing is they had a chair covered in the same material as our old couch and loveseat, but it was a different style. They actually had a couch in the same material too! It was weird to see all new and clean in a furniture store. It was also weird to see how expensive it was!

Crystal Growth Gone Wrong

At the knoxville airport they had a wierd display of all this Oak Ridge stuff. This one was crystal growth gone wrong.

My ever-inquisitive dad

Mom and dad took me to the airport and waited with me. I got an "InStyle" magazine, and dad had a good time flipping through it. His only comment was that it was lacking in actual reading material.

Bootiful!

Judy go this for mom... I don't know if you can appreciate it from the photo, but it is HUGE. It is so pretty!!!

What a happy boy!

Pretty!

Here is the newest member of our family. Jim just loves it, and I am so happy! He deserves something wonderful after how wonderful he has been.

I'm eating my words

I always said I didn't want a navigation system, but I absolutely love it!

Babies!

Here is the new subaru next to the old one. Earl Duff Subaru Rocks! The Outback is so much taller than the old wagon.

So there is alot of snow here

This is the road to my apartment complex as I was coming home.

On my way home

By the time I left work, it was 35 and sunny.The roads were completely clear. Crazy.

This morning

This is what it looked like when I got to work. It was a trick getting there, but I made it. That subaru is sounding better and better to me!

Woowee

My dishwasher is fixed! The people that run my apartment complex are so nice. They always remember me and take care of everything. I guess I have never lived in a nice apartment complex before. Huntiington Place was a glorified project.

Jim - I am sad to say, I think I have gotten weak. I am spoiled by not having to pay for utilities... I keep my apartment really warm. When I leave for work I turn it way up so I'll be all cozy and warm as soon as I walk in the door after work. I do turn it down to sleep. I read that the perfect sleeping temperature for your body is 66.

Well the freezing rain sure does hurt. It was pelting down as I came home tonight. Once inside though, it is nice to hear it tinkle-tinkle on the window.

They are having the christmas lunch at work tomorrow. Supposedly they send us all home when it is over. That's good, because I'll have extra time to get to the airport.

I really need to get a potholder.

Work this morning

There was frost all over the trees when I got to work this morning. It was even more dramatic because the mist off of the creek behind the building added a layer of ice on the trees.

I have a clean baby!

It is weird to go through a car wash when it is 10 degrees outside.

Yes it is true...

I was wondering if my car thermometer did negative numbers, and this morning I found it does indeed. It was -2 at my apt, and -9 by the time I got to work.

So it has seen 149 and -9.

I have decided that -9 feels pretty much the same as 30. Just butt-cold.

I'm excited

I am going to Knoxville this weekend, and that is making the week really long. I get to see my old room (haha), my Arial, and my mommy and daddy (both of which I miss a whole lot). I am also looking forward to some sunshine and maybe a glimse of grass! I am also excited about seeing my buddy!

Oh... and I guess I am pretty excited about picking up the new car. I know Jim sure is. It is like as soon as the old subaru found out we were really retiring it, it decided to fall apart. Jim picked up a steak knife in his tire today = new tire (which doesn't really match the others). A tail light went out = trip to autozone. I'm sure I am forgetting some things. Damn ungrateful car. We just have to be able to drive it (or I guess push it) on the lot. They are so nice at Earl Duff Subaru (in sunny Harriman TN). They'll take it off of our hands no matter what (and at this point that's all we need). How do you think we got rid of that sad Corsica. Poor Corsica - I still get all gooshy when I see one limping down the road.

I will just be happy when we have two nice cars. That almost makes me feel like more of an adult than buying our first washer and dryer. I guess I finally don't feel like a college student anymore. Now all we need is a big old house - Jim - you better get on it. You are my handyman and grunt labor. Plus you have a nice "plumber's face"! Hahaha.

I think I get to go to Portland, OR at the beginning of January - for a week. I am going to meet with the guys there and see what I can do for them. They are really excited about working with me, and they want me to help them get everyone there on board with my grand plan. Maybe they'll fall in love with me and beg me to move to Portland. I'll hint around about it while I'm there Mom!

I'm thinking I should start a cult... "The House of the Marvelous Jill". That has a nice ring, but I am always open to suggestions.

You asked for it....

No more blonde and probably the shortest its ever been. I had just gotten out of the shower, so it is a bit darker than it normally is.

This is more my speed

A bike snow plow!!!

The website even shows you how to make it. Those crazy alternative transportation folks!

Jim they even make John Deere snow blowers

But I guess you already knew that!

Serious snow plow

Norris - this one is for you. Its a train snow plow from Wentworth North Dakota. How cool is that?

Can I have one?

... but Jim its a John Deere!!!

The wonders of nature

I got up early this morning to do laundry. Just incase I thought of something fun to do today, I wouldn't have it hanging over me. When I came back to my apartment, there was a pretty big fawn about 20 feet from my door. EEEGADS! It was not afraid of me, but thank goodness it didn't charge me either.

The first thing that ran through my head was a story Heather's sister told me once about slashing hooves. She had a close encounter with a deer in which it came after her and the guy she was with. It reared up and came after them with "slashing hooves". She even had a hand motion for it. The phrase that ran through my mind as I walked to my door was "slahing hooves, slashing hooves, slasjing hooves". I was afraid to do the hand motions in case it took it as a challenge.

:)

By the way, if you want to see any of these pictures bigger, just click on them. And to see them even bigger, once you have clicked on them, just click on "all sizes" from the grey choices above the picture.

The light at the end of the tunnel

This is as I am coming out of a drift and I can see dry pavement. It was so weird. Note the trees protecting the road.

Yes this is a road.

If you look you can see the headlights of an oncoming car. This is the reason I turned back before reaching canada. Except worse. Up further the winds were so strong that the roads were drifted with snow wherever there weren't trees, which as you get closer to the lake is pretty much everywhere. And the drifts were several inches. The winds could make the car slide slightly sideways.

So this is NOT the bad area.This is on the way to hendersonville harbor. It was really a peice of cake to drive in, especially compared with up north. The drifts were spaced by dry road, and there were lots of plows out. Funny though, I could not tell that they had scraped it covered over so quickly. These drifts were nothing to drive through, they just looked bad. The snow was just an inch at most and very dry. You can't tell in this photo, but it was just gusting around. The winds were much calmer down here.

Dry docked sailboats at Hendersonville harbor

Hendersonville Harbor

This was my consolation journey for not being able to get to the canadian border. I got pretty far up towards canada, but then I came back down to Hendersonville harbor. It was pretty big, and mostly frozen.

Lake Ontario

This is the east side of lake ontario. I went exploring on this peninsula out in the lake. It was weird- I guess coming from east tennessee where everyone covets lake front property, I would expect the shores of lake ontario to be littered with huge houses. But there are trailers and cabins instead. Some don't even capitalize on the gorgeous views.

Icicles!

So people put icicle lights on their houses, but up here they don't need to. I never really thought this happened, but everyhouse up here has these insanely large icicles hanging from the eaves. Jim says he remebers seeing them on his grandfather's house in Mishiwaka Indiana. I guess I am just a southern gal.

It is so cool.

Hahaha.

The road today

Two feet of snow? Yes.

Any on the road? No.

Well... not for awhile. This was up near Watertown, but the roads around Syracuse have remained clear like this too.

Mom and dad - you really need to come up here. This is the perfect time to come because it is gorgeous, but you can still get around with no trouble.