Current Obsessions

This Lady Gaga song:




These ice cream cones:



This book:



This TV show:



These kitties:

My Lame Excuses

I'm not going to lie: this is going to be one heck of a week. And the fact that I can't keep this thing going during the best of times doesn't bode well for timely updates during most of this next month. Stupid SAP.. *shaking fist in Germany's general direction*

Anyway, my calculations show me putting in at least 65 hours in this next week with nary a day of rest. This includes two overnights, which I can already tell you I'm going to dislike immensely. But that's how it is, so that's how it goes. Poor Adam will have to put up with my crabby ass. Send him lots of patience and understanding...

For now, some kitty pictures to tide you over until my job magically becomes 100 times easier because our ERP system is shiny and new and will solve all our problems. And clean our houses. And give us winning lottery numbers.

Sorry, got distracted for a minute in dream-land there... Optimism, Martha. Optimism.

*sigh*

Ok. Back to the kitties.

Ooh, a sink. Oh wait, there's a kitty in it already... (with Batman ears!)



Connor, all curled up on the love seat



Ted tussling with my shirt



Ted and Connor in cuddle mode on the mouse



See you on the other side of the SAP GoLive experience. If I survive. If I'm not back by September, send a search party.

Deep Thoughts...

On Movies:
Lost momentum a little on the Oscar list. Recent viewings include Everybody's Fine (not as good as I expected given the cast list), The Last Station (James McAvoy is a cutie, but good lord, was Helen Mirren's character an annoying whiner!), and It's Complicated (Alec Baldwin is a schmuck, not enough Steve Martin, Meryl Streep was a little grating...) I'm 9 away from completing the list for this year. We haven't seen any recent releases in a long time, but we plan to try and get to the drive-in this coming weekend. Currently showing Despicable Me and Grownups.

On Brilliant Decisions:
I don't know what made me think getting contacts was a good idea right before final ramp up for our August 1 SAP Go-Live date. This past week was one of long days staring at a computer screen or projected images in end-user training. Did wonders for my eyes. So far I seem to be having success with the contact thing. They get dry, but not too bad and not to any severe level that I feel I need to abandon them. Now if I could just figure out a naked forehead fix...

On Technology:
I went to the library on Saturday to return one batch of books and pick out another. Then I went home and looked how much it would cost me to get a Kindle (or some such gadget.) Almost $200 for the gizmo itself plus another $5-$10 for most book titles. I think I'll drive downtown every four weeks and wait to read new releases for a while. Yikes. If only you could "check out" eBooks...

On Career Choices:
Come August 1 my job will drastically change. Well, everyone's will, really. The point of SAP is to have most repetitive, mindless processes automated so we accountants can direct our brain functions to more analytical tasks. I'm trying to keep an open (and optimistic) mind. That said, every once in a while I dream of quitting and getting a job in a deli department, making the pasta salads and other prepared foods in the back. *sigh*

On Sports:
I went to my very first Timber Rattlers game last Friday. We got there ridiculously early since Adam was worried we'd have a problem getting a good parking spot. We grilled out dinner, I got a little sunburned in the parking lot, and we talked with the two other IMA members who decided to join in this chapter activity. The game itself was alright. I think baseball is boring, but man, do they try and make it interesting. Stupid games in between each half of each inning, incessant advertisements disguised as entertainment. It was Fang (the mascot)'s birthday, so we had a whole parade of his "friends" (other mascots) in attendance. There was a pre-game kickball match. They sang happy birthday. They danced. It was cute, but also kind of nuts. Adam decided we were leaving after the 7th inning stretch. Fine by me. Those bleacher seats are very uncomfortable. I don't know that I'd be against going again, but it's not something I'd necessarily seek out.

On Technology (II):
I got a new computer yet again when Adam got tired of my laptop shutting itself down when it overheated while he was streaming music. This new one is a desktop again, can apparently handle Windows 7 better or something. Also came with an insanely huge HD screen. But I had to move everything over and re-do all my settings. Again. But he reformatted my laptop so now I can use it for IMA if we need it.

Things that are growing on me

1. Adam Lambert:



I haven't watched "American Idol" since Carrie Underwood's season and didn't really buy into the "he's gay!" hype. But man, the last couple songs this guy has released have been majorly catchy!

2. Russell Brand:



When he hosted the MTV awards a few years back I was like "who?" He was a complete unknown on this side of the pond. Then he was in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and I could not stand him. I know, I know, that's a character he was playing, but he was totally obnoxious. Then recently he co-hosted E News or the Daily 10 or something (don't judge - I don't usually watch those shows) and you know what? He's hilarious. And witty. And smart. Reconsidering my jump to hatred.

Photographic Memory: Coupe du Monde

With all the hullabaloo about the World Cup lately, I thought I'd take a moment to remember my own brush with the event back in 1998.



I was in France for the month of June, when the Coupe du Monde began. We were actually on the airplane from Amsterdam with part of the Scottish team, and they quickly became my favorite. They were eliminated pretty much right away, but that didn't stop them from living it up, Paris-style.

The first day we were there we ran into them at Notre Dame, having a "street brawl" with the Brazilians:







A few days later, we got mooned by one while on the Bateaux Mouches on the Seine and serenaded by another in the metro (who was double-fisting the beer, I might add. These dudes were always trashed. But very fun to be around.)





I liked them so much I bought a Scotland t-shirt at the official store.



We were lucky to not be around the major riots in places like Marseilles. It got pretty out of hand. I must say the French and English teams were the least friendly people I saw. The Scots and Brazilians were always out and about, having a good time. You rarely saw the French or English players. Kind of reflective of their cultural differences, isn't it?

Anyway, the presence of all kinds of players and fans really added to my first French experience.

Happy (Belated) House-iversary!

Like the forgetful person I am, I once again neglected to commemorate the anniversary of the closing on the house. Here we are, almost a month past the 31st. Bad Martha.

This year was not as expensive as last year was - a furnace and water heater add up really quickly – but we did continue our slow and steady renovation pace. We replaced our gutters and downspouts earlier this spring with seamless versions to try and outsmart the ash tree out front that is bound and determined to clog things up. Not cheap, but hopefully they eliminate some of the maintenance issues. We also had a tree removed in the backyard last fall. It was dead and a potential playground for the ash bore that was all the rage. We had to replace our grill when someone stole it off our deck. We had the carpets cleaned throughout the house. (Not that you’d even notice now. Cats are dirty, dirty creatures.)

Those were the big hitters. We also replaced the fluorescent light fixture in the kitchen (it died), the range hood (it died), and the vent in Adam’s bathroom (yep, it died too. Seems to be a trend around here.) We also bought a Keurig coffee maker for no good reason at all except that we thought it was cool. We got a new entertainment center/TV mount system when Adam won a flat screen TV from work. We had to get carbon monoxide alarms because of some new law that went into effect. We replaced the utility sink downstairs and swapped out the faucet so it was easier to clean out litter boxes during the winter. We replaced our front door deadbolt with a version that locks on both sides for extra security after some “this neighborhood isn’t as safe as it looks” incidents (see grill-stealing comment above.)

Things are already in full swing with home improvement projects for year number four. Adam has put in a half bath down in the basement and is currently in the process of getting the drywall up. I’m not sure that anything else is planned, per se, but things always seem to crop up. Our major siding/deck project will probably have to wait another year or two.

Feline Shenanigans

You are getting sleepy...



Very sleepy...



The foot just kills me...



Bookends:



So typical...



JC literally watching ice melt:



And, in the interest of equality, here's Carly, plotting the demise of the remote:

Having a Blue Chip Attitude

Back in April I attended the Leadership Training Session (LTS) hosted by the regional IMA council (MAC = Mid-America Council). One of the speakers was James Schneider, a motivational speaker whose presentation revolves around a "Blue Chip Attitude."



He's a very energetic speaker. In addition to the bright red jacket he also wears a large white hat. His presentation involves jumping off chairs, throwing things, and a lot of manic yelling.

The first thing out of his mouth is that he finds the fact that he's labeled a "motivation speaker" to be laughable. No one can motivate anyone to do anything. The only person who can motivate you is you. All he can do is project a positive aura that might rub off on the people he comes in contact with.

The blue chip is a tangible object that is to be used to remind you of the steps toward the "Blue Chip Attitude."



The steps include:

Smile
Talk "Positive"
Use Music
Surround Yourself With Winners
Get a Hero
Dare to Win
Have Fun

His presentation was one of the best of the day and had a lot of food for thought.

Within the "talk 'positive'" step was the use of a Victory List. So often we beat ourselves up over our failures. All we see are the negative things in our lives. We neglect to give ourselves credit for all the things we've accomplished. The point of a Victory List is to take a time out from the negative, "my life sucks" thoughts, and consciously make a list of the things you've done that you're proud of: accomplishments, awards, times you helped others out or were appreciated. Everyone's got something they are proud of.

This was the one part of his entire presentation when he became very serious - almost to the point of tears. He said that too many people these days were losing perspective of the positive. He shared that too many young people he knew had just given up. The point of the Victory List is to pull you out of the "poor me" funk and back into a place where you can better contribute to your own life and the lives of others.

A powerful message. It's definitely hard to have a perpetually "positive" attitude. I know I've failed pretty miserably with this in the last few months. I guess every once in a while you've just got to take a step back to gain new perspective.

Oscar Update

Few more under my belt recently:

Sherlock Holmes: I was bored. They talked too fast. I was unimpressed by the special effects. And what the heck - there was no ending. I hate movies like that. (I'm looking at you, Woody Allen...)

The Lovely Bones: It was also hard to get into this one. I'd read the book a few years ago and was looking forward to this adaptation. But really, Peter Jackson should stick with hobbits. I get the "heaven" effect he was going for, but it was overblown and too drawn out. Stanley Tucci was wonderfully creepy though!

Avatar: I gave this one a B+. It could have been an A if it wasn't 2 1/2 hours long. 2:35 according to our DVD player. That's ridiculous. That said, it went by pretty quickly. I was distracted by the superfluous legs on all the animals (which reminded me of the creepy huge bugs in King Kong. *shudder*), the weird Pocahontas and Ferngully flashbacks I was having, and the complete unoriginality of it all. Yes, it was ground-breaking technology of some sort, but as good as the end result was, I don't know that it was all that everyone seemed to make it out to be. But still not terrible.

Brotherly Love

While You Were Out, or, Ramifications of a Week-Long Vacation

Here's what I was met with when I got to the office this morning:

Voicemails: surprisingly, none. Then again, this is the first time I actually remembered to change my voicemail greeting to tell people I was out of the office...

Emails: 152. Not too bad, all things considered (although I do admit I was semi-working on Monday and Tuesday while I was monitoring my email for IMA so there were a few more that I had already taken care of and deleted.) Unfortunately there weren't many that I could delete without addressing. Boo.

Inbox: Overflowing. All three of them. And two stacks on my desk. Paperless society be damned. I saw that and the three post-its on my computer screen and said I was going back home. Ha.

Other notable decisions that were made during my absence:

** The entire accounting department is relocating. Upstairs. In two weeks. Nice...

** Legacy Alcan employees are integrating with Milprint Corporate (hence the move) and with SAP complications it was decided that I'd take back some New London stuff temporarily (my previous position prior to jumping to Milprint North back in 2006.) Unfortunately it appears that the person I'll be taking this back from was not informed about the whole thing as she seemed quite surprised when I asked her about it. Aah, communication!

** A summer intern was hired and apparently I'll be responsible for keeping her busy (again - let's hope this one is more detail-oriented than the one last year!) She started this morning. (Suprise!) But the IT guy is so swamped with SAP and Alcan that he won't be able to get her set up with computer access until later this week. Really, what can one do in an accounting department without a computer these days? Shred and file, that's what. Hello, learning experience!

Oh, and Citrix crashed for four hours this morning, leaving the entire company without access to any financial, reporting, or production systems. Yay! Welcome back!

I'd say I'm about 1/3 of the way caught up with things. Inventory day is Friday, with the Memorial Day holiday royally screwing up my count in both timing and manpower. At least I now have an extra person in the new intern. (Her name is Jennifer. Doesn't quite have the same ring as "Mike the Intern" from last year, but it will do.)

Having a few days off was nice, but it always takes about as long as I was gone to catch things back up to normal. Things are looking to get pretty crazy this summer with SAP training, mocks, and go-live on August 1. Final EUT is mid-July, but it looks like I might be pulled in to some of the inventory dry runs. Woo. Now if only they'd give me access to SAP...

See it LIVE!

Rest of the photos from the trip are here.

Life

Adam's paternal grandmother passed away early this morning. While it was not really unexpected, it's still not something you want to get a call about. I suppose we all consider it somewhat of a blessing that it happened this week instead of next, when both Adam and I and his parents would have been out of town.

Confessions

This last month or so has been rough. Work-induced stress. Dental discomfort. An ill-timed cold. It all can make a girl pretty crabby.



Most times I'm wiped out by the end of the day.



Just want to sit and stare into space.



Or vent.



Ok. I feel better now.

Hence, the lack of posting here. I've been trying to keep up with my cooking blog, but there were a few weeks that the cooking here was minimal so even that was pretty sad.

Things are winding up for the season in most areas. The bells played for the last time this morning. Tomorrow we'll meet to clean the bells and put everything away for the summer. And then we'll go to Culver's for some post-season ice cream.

The last IMA meeting of the season is next Tuesday. I'll be in New York for Catherine's graduation so I've gotten a Martha substitute. I'll still be taking care of reservations and venue set-up so I'm hoping NYC has good wi-fi. :) I haven't heard anything about summer board meetings yet, but I'm sure that will come up sooner than I expect.

North's SAP go-live is still on for August 1. It's a mixed bag and I've still kind of got a mixed reaction to it. Hopefully it goes well.

So many other topics I might have written about have come and gone, lost with the passage of time. Who cares what I thought about the Project Runway finale since that was weeks ago? I don't know that I've even mentioned The Celebrity Apprentice at all this season. I've been reading through three different series of books but I haven't had time (or motivation) to talk about them here much.

It's difficult. Most days I don't want to come and sit here in front of a computer after I get home from work. Weekends are full of the things I can't get done during the week or shopping or spending time with Adam or taking a nap. It's times like these that I can't even imagine how people who have actual lives deal with it. I mean, I hardly do anything and I still find myself worn out at the end of the day.

That said, props to all the moms out there today, (and, of course especially my own mother).




I don't know how they do it.

Great "Time"-ing...

Well, this is awesome:

Police found a suspected car bomb in a parked sport utility vehicle Saturday evening in New York City’s Times Square, then evacuated buildings and cleared streets of thousands of tourists in the landmark known as the “Crossroads of the World.”

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to our NYC trip in two weeks! Request to terrorists: please take the days of May 17-19th off, ok? Thanks.

Oscar Update

I've finally updated my sidebar there. It's been a rough few weeks for movies. We had the Transformers movie on the end table for like two weeks. We just couldn't bring ourselves to watch it so we finally just returned it. Recent views include The Young Victoria (good), Paris 36 (great - like a combination of Mrs. Henderson Presents and a really toned down Moulin Rouge), Up in the Air (ok, never really been a Clooney fan, but I liked Anna Kendrick), and Precious (eh, ok, but not what I expected with all the Oprah-endorsed hullabaloo it generated.)

A lot of the movies on the list recently came out on DVD so I'm hoping to knock through them going forward.

Dentist Days

I had my first dental appoinment in about ten years on April 13th. At 7am. Yay for mornings. It was also my first time having X-rays taken, so that was an experience. I have a pretty small mouth and a terrible gag reflex, so it took awhile and totally sucked.

Things in dentistry have definitely changed since the last time I made a visit. They have this computer technology that allows them to look at the X-rays and see if any areas look sketchy. They can then use some analytical tool to see if the program thinks it might be a cavity or something. They pretty much map out what they think they'll see before I even open my mouth.

The exam itself wasn't too bad. I'm not a fan of being poked in the gums, but I'm tough. I learned that although I'd been away from professional care for ten years, I was looking ok. I had a few minor cavities, some plaque, and I need to floss. Not too bad.

I scheduled a deep cleaning appointment for the next day and went to work. And had a terrible headache all afternoon.

The deep cleaning was similar to what I remember from the last time I was at the dentist. They have this ultrasonic thing that blasts crap off your teeth. What was definitely new was the suction thing. No rinsing and spitting anymore. They suck the water out of your mouth with a hose. That took some getting used to.

I had my first of two filling appointments (one for each side of my mouth) last Tuesday. At 7 am. Once again, not too bad. My small mouth is a definite issue and most of the discomfort came from the streching and pinching rather than the drilling and filling. And Novocaine or whatever they shoot in my mouth to numb it? Weird. I'd never had that before either. Burns when you swallow though, so don't do that.

I took some tylenol as I went back to work and was ok for most of the day. Toward the end of the evening (I had an IMA meeting that night) I was starting to feel phantom vibrations from the drill and that was kind of painful, but by the next day it was pretty much gone.

I had the second appointment scheduled for Thursday but I took Wednesday off because I was sick and I still was sneezing and coughing too much on Thursday for me to be comfortable with someone sticking a drill in my face. So that's rescheduled for May 21st since I have vacation that whole week of Catherine's graduation anyway. Final step is a final cleaning in June.

Ok, that was a lie. Final step for the dentist is a cleaning in June.

I kind of omitted the whole oral surgeon part.

I knew going into this that the dentist was going to take one look at my mouth (or in this case, the X-rays) and say "out with the wisdom teeth!" (a la the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland.) The first thing out of his mouth when he looked at my full mouth X-ray was "you still have your wisdom teeth? How old are you?" Great. So, yeah, he referred me to an oral surgeon for a second opinion, but it's pretty much guaranteed that they'll want to take them all out. They're all in some state of decay and one or two are pretty close to nerves so it should be a good time. I have a consultation with the oral surgeon on Monday. Boo.

Jewelry Organization

A few weeks back I decided that I needed a new jewelry box. I had two - one for just earrings and another for necklaces, rings, everything else. My main problem was the box for necklaces opened on both sides, but I could only really use one because the other side opened into the wall. So I was left with three hooks for all my chains, which was annoying me.

I wasn't finding anything in the stores and Adam caught wind of my search. He went online, found some plans for a wood rack, consulted with his Dad, and a week later this is what he brought me:



The bottom has brass hooks for me to hang all my necklaces on:



The rest of the shelf is evenly spaced notches that are perfect to slip earrings into:





It's worked wonderfully and the cats don't seem to have gotten into it yet. The two issues have been that small studs get lost in the notches and hoops don't work with the notch system either so I've had to keep them in a separate container. Overall, though, a wonderful solution!

5ive

2005 was a big year for me. I (officially) graduated from college. I started my “real” job. I bought a new car. And then, five years ago today I posted a blog entry that inspired a phone call that resulted in a decision. We sure dragged our feet on this one, but April 13, 2005 was the day Adam and I decided that we were, indeed, dating. Each other, that is.



We sure got down to business after that though. By September we had taken a week long road trip to New York without killing each other and moved in together shortly thereafter. As in the night we got back. That totally sucked. But let’s not relive the bad times, eh?





Anyway, Adam has introduced a lot of things into my life. Camping (though we’ve never had much luck.) Mexican Food. Chopsticks (which I like to think I might have started to get the hang of after our last visit to Katsu Ya.)



We’re very different people. Adam’s impulsive. I like to sit on things for awhile before I act. (Or, in other words, I procrastinate. A lot.) Adam likes to watch men in spandex throw each other around. I like to watch E! Adam thinks crab legs are the cat’s pajamas (good lord, SATC flashback!) I prefer eating a pound of potatoes. With lots of black pepper.



Not that it was even a competition, considering the previous record for a relationship in my life was three whole months, but I’d have to say that all in all this record-breaking relationship has been a good five years. It’s amazing how time just flies by.



(We still miss you terribly, Fr Mike!)

Rarely in Real Life

No real reason for this post other than to show everyone this:



On Easter we were up at Adam's uncle's house playing the Wii with his cousins. He apparently got bitten by the Wii bug and promptly went out and bought one. We created our Miis and this is my first attempt at Wii bowling. I think I did pretty well.

Reminds me of that one time I beat Adam in actual bowling...



And yes, this kind of thing happens so rarely I do take pictures every time. So I can bring them out every once in a while to remind Adam that I do sometimes have game.

Also, is anyone else a little creeped out by how much Adam's Mii looks like him?

Cruelty

So this was April 4th. Yay for spring and bunnies!



Then this was April 8th...



"Spring?" said Mother Nature. "You must be crazy. This is Wisconsin! Bwahahahahahahaha!"



Well played, Mother Nature. Well played...