Can't Think of a Clever Title

So, once again, there isn't all that much to report. This past week has been another busy and chaotic one, but fortunately we have a long weekend because of the Labor Day holiday. Unfortunately, though, last week was the last week of our summer hours where we get to leave the office early on Fridays. Even though next week will be a short week, Friday will probably feel like the longest Friday ever because we won't be able to leave the office at 1:00.

Because of Labor Day, I had grand intentions to take advantage of the long weekend. I've been wanting to go back to Boulder Falls to take more pictures. I just bought a tripod for my camera, so now I want to use it to play with different exposures and shutter speeds and stuff like that. I've also been wanting to get out and go on some hikes. I haven't done any of that yet. Instead I've been sleeping in, really late, and just lounging around the home doing nothing in particular. I suppose my body just wants to rest. But if I want to get out and do something fun and interesting, I still have tomorrow I guess.

Current mood: lazy
Current music: Tori Amos
Current drink: coffee

This and That, Weekend Edition

There isn't much to report, really. This past week at work has been pretty busy and hectic as I mentioned before. But I got three of my books to press, and I suppose that's all that matters. It was mostly just a tiring and exhausting week.

Right now I'm sitting in my apartment and listening to the rumble of thunder from a distant storm. Hopefully the storm comes closer and hopefully we get some rain. I'm all settled in my new place, and I'm really loving it. I still think that I need another bookcase or two, though, and maybe a few more prints to put on the walls.

I drove through the middle of Boulder this afternoon, and you can tell that school is about to start because it seems much busier. There are more people wandering around, and there are a lot more cars on the road. Although I sometimes like the busyness and the activity, it's nice to come home to a quieter area.

It sounds like the thunder is getting louder, so I'm going to hang out on my balcony for a little while.

Sports and Uniforms

Has anyone else noticed that when it comes to sports and uniforms the women's uniforms are getting smaller and tighter while the men's uniforms are getting bigger and baggier?

Just an observation...

Friday!

Work: All I have to say is that I'm really glad it's Friday! This has been an extremely busy and exhausting week. Work has been really busy lately, and to make things more fun and exciting, I've been working on some really messy and complicated projects. Unfortunately that is the one downside of being a team leader--you generally have to take on the tougher projects. Things got really crazy with two books that have to go to press next week, and I've been frantically trying to get them under control. Oh well. I might be tired and stressed out, I might be fighting off headaches and grinding my teeth both at night and during the day, but once these books are finished, the will be great reads. And while I try to wrap up these two projects up, some more complicated projects have just come in. To keep on top of everything, I had to bring some work home with me. We had "summer hours" today, so I've been enjoying my half-day off. But I know I'll have more work to do later this weekend. Sad!

Weather: For the past few weeks it has been really hot. It's not unusual for Colorado to be in the upper 90s or low 100s during the summer, and we've certainly had that kind of weather. But, apparently, a cold front is moving through. It is the middle of August and here I am wearing a sweatshirt. You never know what you're going to get in this state! It's supposed to snow in the high country this weekend!

Olympics - Opening Ceremonies

So, like a good Classics nerd, I've been eagerly awaiting the opening ceremonies to the Olympics all day. So far the ceremonies have been good. There was one glitch here in Colorado, though, because apparently rain was disrupting the signal and the station was without sound for about ten or fifteen minutes. That was really great when you're trying to figure out the symbolism behind what was going on. Eventually it was fixed.

For one, I think it's always great when the Olympics are held in an "old" country. With that you get a ceremony that is very rich with history and culture. When your civilization is 3000 or 5000 years old, you have a lot to share and a lot to tell. It's always just so much more exciting. I think that's what makes these opening ceremonies in China so cool. And, of course, the opening ceremonies to the Athens games in 2004 were extra special.

The parade of nations is always fun. I give a little cheer to the Greek team. Yay for the birthplace of the games! And I always eagerly await the Dutch team. Unfortunately, though, the Dutch team followed a few countries behind the United States. They showed the Dutch team for about 20 seconds, then cut back to shots of the U.S. team acting silly. Argh! And in spite of the other countries entering the stadium, they keep cutting back to the U.S. team. I kind of like to see and hear about the other countries and their athletes. I really don't care if Kobe Bryant is taking a picture with someone. Argh! Oh well. What do you expect. For the most part things have been beautiful and wonderful.

Still waiting for them to light the torch...

And, yes, I will be rooting for the Dutch throughout the games...

Customer Service

So the "several installments" that I mentioned in my previous post have been slow in coming. Sorry...

Now I will tell my story about customer service. Usually people have bad customer service stories, but I have a good one. A few weeks ago I called the phone company to cancel my service at my old apartment. What could easily have been a five minute phone call turned into a thirty minute conversation. I had to verify my address, and it turns out that the lady who was helping me used to live in Boulder in the 70s. She was telling me that she always remembered it being a beautiful and a fun town, and I told her that it's still beautiful and fun, but probably just busier than she remembers. She's now living and working in South Dakota, but she's also lived in San Francisco for a few years. She said that now that she's older and that all her kids are grown up, she wants to come back to Colorado. She said that she missed the mountains and the beauty of the state, and she has always wanted to go whitewater rafting. She loved skiing and would like to go again...

This lady and I pretty much exchanged life stories, and I almost felt guilty about canceling my phone service, but it was a fun conversation. I think that most people of the world approach customer service calls with a bad attitude. They are angry and demanding and they yell and scream. Therefore they have bad customer service experiences. But if you approach the call with a polite, pleasant, and respectful attitude, you get much different service. It's not that surprising. If you treat people nicely, you'll get the same treatment in return. At least that is what my Ma taught me.

The Danger of Sidewalks

I've been a bit quiet in the blogging world because I've been busy. Work has started to get busy again, and I've been doing a lot of stuff around my new apartment. So here is the first of several installments on what has been going on in my life...

To speak honestly, I've been hesitant about writing this post, mainly because I come off looking like a total dork. But, whatever, most of the people who read this already know I'm a dork, so what do I have to lose...

Last weekend I was happily going about my day, running errands and shopping for some new little things for my apartment. I was walking toward one store, and I'm not sure if I was distracted or what I was thinking or doing, but before I knew it a little (low) sidewalk jumped out of nowhere and surprised me. It hit me fast and I had no time to react, so down I went. I tripped and fell. I landed straight on my knees and my left hand. I bruised my left knee but apparently did the most damage to my right knee. I tore through my jeans and skinned my knee. ...and blood was pouring out of it like a waterfall... Actually it wasn't that bad, but I might as well make it more dramatic and less embarrassing than it really was. It was bleeding, but I only lost about a silver dollar-sized portion of my skin. I also managed to bruise my hand and wrist. I think that I was more upset about the fact that I ruined my favorite pair of jeans! Fortunately it was a quiet store and no one was around. If I had eaten the pavement in front of the Super Target, that would have been a little more ego bruising.

Apparently I'm becoming more like my mother and falling at random times for random reasons.

My knee still kind of hurts because it is trying to heal, but I'm sure I will be okay. No need for any one to worry, I'm fine... Although I won't turn down any offers to kiss my knee...

Current mood: bruised ego, still, a week later
Current music: Loreena McKennitt
Current drink: Fat Tire

Relaxing

I wanted to take a break from house stuff and decided to relax for the evening. For the past hour I've been sitting on the balcony and enjoying a glass of wine. Aside from the occasional plane that passes overhead and aside from my music playing inside, all I hear are the sounds of birds chirping or a owl hooting in the distance. Through the green leaves of the trees outside my apartment, I can see the mountains in the distance. With the sun setting, they look like a simple dark blue mass of peaks. There are a lot of clouds in the sky, and they are drifting slowly by, almost inching their way across the sky. It's been beautiful. It's calming and relaxing.

Now it's time to pour a second glass of wine and get back outside.

Current mood: relaxed
Current music: random shuffle of Dead Can Dance and Lisa Gerrard
Current drink: Swanson 2003 Merlot

Getting Settled

I've been in my new apartment for exactly one week, and so far it has been wonderful. I'm still in the process of unpacking a few things and putting everything where I want it. Then I have to figure out where I want to hang all of my artwork. Now that I have a bigger apartment and more walls, this might actually be difficult. Decisions, decisions, decisions... I also want to buy another bookcase (now that I have the room), but I might hold off on that for a while. After spending $200 on the movers, it might be a good idea to save some money.

Our entire complex is in the process of renovating certain things, and on Tuesday the maintenance crew came in to install new windows and a new sliding door to my balcony. These are double-pane windows, so that means they will be more energy efficient. So this will be much better when winter comes around.

All in all, everything has been great and it is all coming together. I've been doing well and settling quite nicely. I've also been sleeping well, so that's a welcome change!

More later...

Silver Lining

Rainbows
Originally uploaded by Tenth Muse

I was having a really rough day at work today. Things have just been busy and chaotic. I was feeling kind of down and apathetic, but then I came home to this...

This is a view from my new balcony.

New Home

Here I am in my new apartment! Yay! The move yesterday went really well. The movers showed up at about 8:30 in the morning, and it took them only about 30 minutes to load up their truck. Of course, since I moved most of my things myself, all they had to move was the furniture and only about four boxes. It took them longer to move things into my new place, but that is understandable considering I'm on the third floor. But, all totaled, the whole move took only two hours. That made me pretty happy.

Then came the task of unpacking everything and placing everything in its proper place. It's all starting to come together. I'm also in the process of getting used to everything. The dishwasher works perfectly fine. Since all of my dishes were wrapped in newspaper, I thought I'd give it a quick clean in the dishwasher to get all of the icky ink or dust off everything. Earlier in the week I turned on the stove to make sure it was working. It turned out that it wasn't, but the maintenance people came right over yesterday and fixed it. Now everything is fine. This morning I made hash browns and scrambled eggs for breakfast!

The place is wonderful. Last night was beautiful. It was really hot during the day, but things cooled off at night. I had a nice breeze coming through my windows in my bedroom, and I fell asleep right away. I felt pretty rested today, but my body is still a bit sore and tired. Other than a tired, old, and sore body, things are wonderful.

Packing Booze

I've been procrastinating for the longest time on packing my alcohol. But tonight I decided to finally do it. First I put each bottle in those plastic newspaper bags. I double bagged it, of course. Then I wrapped the bottle in newspaper. I then packed the bottles in some boxes and added some extra newspaper for some extra padding. All totaled, my alcohol filled only two small boxes. I'm not sure if I should be proud or ashamed...
+++++
Update: make that three small boxes. I found some more booze.

Moving...Yes, STILL...

I'm sure my loyal reader(s) will be happy once I move so that they won't have to read any more of these posts...

But, yes, I'm still in the process of moving, but I'm making better progress. I'm now forced to move quicker because of having the pressure of an actual "move-in date" when the movers will be here to take the big furniture. Most of my non-essential items and smaller things are already in my new place. I just need to make a few more trips with some of the bigger things. Then all I'll need to do is get things organized for the movers. Then on the day of the move, I'll probably use my bathroom as a storage room for things that I'll be using that morning and packing later--sheets and pillows on my bed, my teddy bear and doggie, the coffee maker, etc. I'm hoping it will be a smooth and quick move...and the smoother and quicker it is, the less it will cost!

And, now that I have a bigger place, I "had" to buy a few more pieces of new furniture. My current computer desk/workstation is really a dining table. Now that I have a dining room, I will be able to use the dining table for actual dining. But that meant that I needed a new computer desk/workstation, so I went out and bought one. It's nothing big and nothing fancy, but it will do the trick. It's all packed in a box and needs to be assembled, but fortunately that made it easier to carry it up the stairs. But, considering it's around 25-30 pounds, I'm pretty impressed that I was able to carry it all the way up by myself! Go me!

Now I just need to find time to assemble the desk. The cable and internet people will be at my apartment the day after I move to set everything up and to install everything. (No, I can't possibly go a day without internet access. I'm a pathetic internet addict, I know!) So the desk and computer have to be ready by Saturday afternoon. Just a little more pressure for me to get things done...

Moving...Yes, Still...

Needless to say, I've been busy. I'm still in the process of moving, but now I have an "official" move date. I've hired movers to take care of the big heavy stuff, and they will be moving my things next Friday on the 14th 18th. (I'm so confused!) I think that I'm going to be glad when that happens, because I just want to be in my new place. I'm getting a little tired of moving a little bit each day. My body is getting tired of it, too! My legs are getting sore, and my back is starting to hurt. Strangely, though, it's not my lower back that is hurting. My upper back right below my shoulder blades is hurting. And it is starting to hurt whenever I move any part of my upper body. I don't think I pulled or strained anything. I think I'm just sore. I suppose I'm lifting the boxes correctly by not straining my lower back, but by using different muscles, I'm sore in different places. Can't win, I suppose...

I need a back rub... :(

Moving...Still...

I was going to move some more stuff today, but when I woke up, I decided I wasn't in the mood to move anything. I was feeling too tired and a little sore. So instead I just packed some more things today, and I'll move it all tomorrow after work. I am making progress, though, so I suppose I can be happy about that. All I can say is that I'm going to be very happy when I'm officially moved in!

Current mood: tired
Current drink: Jack Daniels...straight up

Moving (cont.)...

I just got home after moving another carload of things into my new apartment. While I was at my new apartment, there was a sudden rainstorm, so that interrupted the move a bit. But it was a nice break. I was able to stand outside on my balcony and watch the rain fall, and I didn't get wet. There were a few times when a gust of wind would spray some of the rain into my face, but that actually felt nice after making several trips up and down the stairs. There were even a few rumbles of thunder. So I guess you can say that I experienced my first thunderstorm (although it wasn't a big one) in my new apartment!

Now I'm just taking a little break before I figure out what I need to/want to move next.

Current mood: getting tired
Current music: iTunes on shuffle - Kelly Clarkson "Sober"
Current drink: Barq's root beer

Long Weekend

I finally have a chance to write something today. Things have been busy this week. After a wonderful week off last week to spend time with my family, I was back to work this week. Whenever you take time off from work it always takes a few days to get resettled and to get things back in order. It was a rough week, though, and it was tough to be back after having so much fun the week before. On the first day, I immediately feel the stress and tension come back to my shoulders. Oh well, what are you going to do...

Fortunately, though, this is a short workweek because of the Fourth of July holiday. We got out of the office today at about 1:00 and we have the day off tomorrow. But this probably won't be a weekend for me to relax. I still have a lot of things I need to move into my new apartment. I'm still moving everything myself, and still moving a few carloads each day. In a few weeks, I'll be hiring movers to take care of all of the furniture and other heavy stuff. There is still a lot more I need to do, but I'm making reasonable progress. Since I have a three-day weekend, I'm hoping that I can get a lot accomplished. Hopefully my strength and endurance lasts all weekend!

That's all for now. I'll post more when I have more time...

Sunset and Camera Features

Sunset
Originally uploaded by Tenth Muse

I was taking some pictures of the sunset and thought I'd play around with some of my camera features. I also thought I'd try out Flickr's "Blog This" feature...

Reunion

Last night and this morning I said good-bye to the family that was here for our family reunion. Although we were really missing some members of the family who couldn't come, we still had a lot of fun. The best part was just getting together and talking about the "good old days" and all of the memories that we've made over the year. It was a great time.

I'll probably post more about the whole reunion later, but here is a short video clip. Yesterday was my Pa's 76th birthday, and we got the whole group together for a dinner at P. F. Chang's in Flatirons Mall. During the summer they have concerts every Thursday, and last night they had a really great band called Chase 'n the Dream. My Ma and sister got out on the floor and did a little dancing.

Family Reunion

I haven't posted that much recently because I have most of the family and extended family here in Colorado for a family reunion. Who knew there was so many of us?! Things are great and we're having a fun time! And I'll be taking the week off of work, so this will be my first time off since Christmas. Yay for me!

More to come later...