Happy Halloween!

I think the scariest thing I could do today is actually blog.  I start blogs on a regular basis then I get distracted (ooo a butterfly) and I never go back. Today though, I'm committed. I'm going to finish this blog. 

Presently I'm sitting in a lounge in bldg 121 at Hotel Californiasoft waiting for a meeting to start.  This lounge has some interesting things going on with it. For starters the room is lined with chairs and couches. A couple of round tables are placed here and there. But the best part is in the middle of the floor (the middle of the lounge) is where the plug in is. So right now it kinda looks like a big spider with about 6 plugs coming out of it. Appropriate I think.

Since we last spoke, I've done a few things...at least I think I have. Last Saturday, for example, Sparky and I headed north to Bellingham for my friend P's Harvest Dinner. He has them every year and every year I seem to be doing something else. Finally I put it on the calendar and the fates got me there. Boy am I glad I did too.

Meet Mr. Prime Rib.

P drives all the way to Twisp (at least a 5 hour trip for him one way) to get the meat for this meal. And let me tell you, probably the best prime rib I've every had. Sooo good.

I met a ton of his "friends" and found them all amusing and entertaining. I'm going to have to make this an annual pilgrimage to this dinner.

Let's see what else...oh yah, the Pumpkin Carving Sunday Dinner.

Oddly enough most of us did the traditional pumpkin face this year. In years past we've had a little bit of everything. This year I think we were all too tired.

The Landlords brought their two little puppies and so the kitties wanted to play and/or eat them - I'm still not sure. Linus was all shades of interested in them and what they were. In fact, if you look close you can read his mind. He's asking, "can we keep them mom?".

So that's about it for me. I'll do my very best to be more updated on this blog. It's just that I don't seem to have the motivation I used to. I need to find it again. I miss you guys.

Working from Home

When I first started working I used to think traveling for work would be awesome.  Then I realized when you travel for work you don't really get to see the places you travel to.  It's usually fly in and fly out.

As I got older, and technology got to be what it is, working from home became all the rage.  Back in the day when I was at CM I used to wish I could work from home.  The days I did get to work from home, I found I got quite a bit done.  I would work longer duration of hours, but still get in my 8 hours - and get laundry done and what not.

Now I have a dream job and I get to work from home.  I'm discovering it isn't nearly as glamorous as I once thought. Oh yes, it's definitely fun and cool to roll out of bed and basically start working with minimal effort - simply brushing my teeth, brushing my hair and washing my face.  Not the entire effort to "get ready" for work and then commute.

Here's what I've discovered about working from home that never crossed my mind before.

1. My heating bill is higher.  I used to set my thermostat at 65 and let it stay there all day. The heat would turn up by the time I was home. Now I turn the heat up upon getting up in the morning. The heating bill with therefore be higher.

2. No laundry. I never really have to wear my work clothing - a couple time a week and that's it.  I change my clothes every morning into work out clothing - assuming I'm going to go work out - some days I do, most days I don't. So while I still have to do laundry, it's not nearly as much.

3. No socializing.  Turns out the cats won't actually talk back to me.  I miss having drive by conversations with work peeps. I find I'm eating more lunches out in order to have some type of adult conversations that don't include the phrase, "Don't eat the rug."

4. Sleeping in.  Back to the not having to get ready or commute thought, I also get to sleep in for those very reasons.  If I want to start work at 7:30, I merely have to get up at 7:15, not the 6:30 time I previously was waking. More sleep means I'm not as cranky.

5. Procrastination. Oh man, when you are working from home and things get slow, it seems it's easier to procrastinate during the day. I figure, sometimes, I can work later in the evening if I need to run an errand during the day. Putting off temporarily the work I need to get done. The work still gets done there's no doubt about that.  It just may not get done during the normal working hours.

6. Gas. Working from home means I don't commute much, as I've said. Which means I'm saving $$ by not filling Sparky up as often. Though one could argue that going to lunch more isn't saving $$ or gas. 

7. Not feeling well. The other great advantage of working from home is when you don't feel well. I've been fighting a cold this week and it's been nice to not have to go into work and potentially share my germs.

So at the end of the day, I am enjoying working from home.  It definitely has it's advantages and disadvantages, but at the end of the day, I'm loving my job and the circumstances around it.

Finally Friday

Wow. hi. Remember me? Again, I come to the blog begging for forgiveness for not writing as much as I'd like.  Its funny really because I have a list of blog topics that I'd love to write about, yet every time I sit to write about them my mind goes blank.  I do a lot of thinking/writing as I'm falling asleep at night and by morning I forget.  Me thinks I should get a recorder to have by my bed so I can chat into it my thoughts.  I already have a journal, but that's proved useless.

Anywhoo....

Let's see, what has happened since the 3day...not much but enough to chat about.  Stealing a page from The Patron Saint's blog...you get a list.

1. One of the most exciting things I've done is "hired" an interior designer.  She's a young gal eager to use her skills and is quite inexpensive.  I've always had this inner dream of having someone come in and decorate my place. I can scrapbook and match colors with the best of them, but doing it in my home I just can't do.

She and I met, we discussed what I'd like to accomplish and off she went. We'll be meeting again on Monday to chat about her suggestions for my living room. I can't wait.

2.  Working from home has it's ups and downs. The up is, well working from home. The down is I miss all the social interaction with working in an office. The way to fix that is to go to lunch with friends.  I seem to now be going to lunch several times a week.  I find it somewhat amusing that by working from home -where fixing lunch would be easy - I am instead going out to lunch. Whereas when I was in the office, I ate at my desk more often with food from home. 

3. I spent a day wondering around Ballard and the Seattle Public Library with my friend Meg-A-Roonie.  She and I met for lunch at this BBQ joint in Ballard called Bitterroot BBQ.  Decent food but one helluva spicy bloody Mary.  I think my lips are still burning.

It was raining that day, and was one of the last days for the Ballard Farmer's Market. So we strolled the market and finally decided it was too wet.  Off we went to the Seattle Public Library. For like the first time ever I won't post photos of the event, but please do go check them out. 

4. This months dinner club selection was mine to make.  I'm a big fan of the restaurant Purple here and found the owners opened a new restaurant near by called The Commons.  Figured it would have the same quality food as Purple.  I would not be disappointed.  While the service was questionable the food was delicious.  I highly recommend checking it out.

5. Crab hats are going to be on the prowl this weekend. We're heading to the Mt. Rainer Scenic Railroad for our next adventure. I'll keep you posted.

So there you have it. A list.  I'll try to get to blogging more, but I can't be responsible for myself apparently.

Happy Friday.

PS - actually posting this on Monday since the interweb was giving me fits on Friday.