I'm tired after a full day on the computer, and more tired because I feel like I'm fighting off a cold, but I wanted to take a moment to wish y'all a Happy Thanksgiving.
This is easily my favorite holiday of the year - totally centered around food, and no gift-giving involved - and it wouldn't be a proper Thanksgiving without my mom's traditional menu. Of course, being my mother, the traditional menu includes a couple non-traditional items and our traditional Thanksgiving meal is eaten on either Friday or Saturday of the holiday weekend rather than the actual holiday itself. I can't even remember when that started, but it seems so normal to me now I don't even realize it sounds odd when I tell other people. This year, our Thanksgiving will be on Friday, which means Chris & I get most of Thursday at home to relax (sans workload for me, at least) and do a few chores that have been waiting to get done before heading to my mom's on Friday morning. I'm looking forward to that extra day of rest for many reasons, not least of which that the big BootsnAll holiday party is the following weekend and I'm quite certain I'm going to be bloody exhausted after that.
Also on the schedule this holiday weekend is something unusual even for my kooky family - a football game. Yes, some people always plop down in front of the TV on Thanksgiving to watch whatever football game is on, but this year the annual "civil war" between Oregon State and the University of Oregon is being played in Corvallis (not far from where my mom lives) and one of her coworkers (whose husband works at OSU) managed to get us all tickets to one of the "luxury" boxes for the game. I'm not a fan of American football, but the whole gang is going. And, as my mother points out, on the luxury level there's food and a full bar. So at least I'll be well-fed and kept slightly buzzed. And in a weird twist of fate, it turns out the game is actually a big deal this year, as it could determine whether the Beavers go to a bowl game. (Don't ask me more than that, because I don't know and also don't care about further details.) I'll be wearing my warmest holiday coat and my favorite scarf, which just happen to be black and orange respectively, so I'll look the part of an OSU fan even if I don't have a clue what's going on.
At any rate, I do hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend wherever you are!
25 November 2008
02 November 2008
Backing Away from the Edge
I'm sorry, I know I've been a little quiet lately; there are a couple reasons for that. First, the whole thing with my friend's sister, who died on Monday, October 13th, brought up all kinds of memories of my dad's death. It's amazing to me how one encounter with mortality blends so seamlessly into another, so that one death makes you think of every other death you've experienced. And then, of course, it's a compounding emotion, with each sadness building upon the last one; I can only hope that at some point one gets to a zen-like state about it - otherwise, every death will eventually bring me to my knees.
Another reason for my absence has been that for a few weeks recently I was sort of pulling double-duty at work. One of my colleagues was traveling in Europe for just over five weeks, and although he was in touch fairly regularly, he was also extremely busy doing research and his internet connections turned out to be spottier than he'd anticipated. So, I was trying to not only keep up with my own normal workload but also many of his day-to-day responsibilities as well. Needless to say, I was working a lot. I worked late just about every night, and worked just about every weekend for a month or so. I knew it was temporary, so I just kept doing it, and didn't bother to say anything to my bosses - which was a mistake. I finally mentioned it last week, and they were more than sympathetic. My colleague is back from his trip now, and has re-claimed his old duties, and another project that had been queued up for me has been assigned to another colleague - so I'm feeling much more sane about my workload now.
In other words, I think I've reclaimed my life from the stress I felt last month, and I couldn't be more pleased about that.
While I was under that stress, however, somehow it turned into November. I can not believe it's November already. I don't know how that happened. There are, what, three weeks until Thanksgiving now? And then another month until Christmas? Seriously, I don't know where this year has gone, and time is showing no signs of slowing down...
In other news, I got my second portrait tattoo yesterday. It's a portrait of my mom, to go with the one I got of my dad in August. It's still healing, and is still red and puffy at the moment, but Chris tells me it looks great. I'll post pictures eventually when it's less pained looking. And although I'm going to have to wait until my bank account is a little more replenished after these last two tattoos, I'm already plotting for where the next ink will go. Here's a hint - if you prefer my arms as they are, you'll want to get a photograph of them before I next go under the needle.
Finally, I can't be typing a blog post on November 2nd of an election year without saying this:
Vote for hope, vote for change, vote to re-establish America's reputation in the world, vote for a new direction, vote for sound judgment, vote for inclusion, vote for anything's possible, vote for the dream of a new generation. In other words, VOTE FOR OBAMA.
Another reason for my absence has been that for a few weeks recently I was sort of pulling double-duty at work. One of my colleagues was traveling in Europe for just over five weeks, and although he was in touch fairly regularly, he was also extremely busy doing research and his internet connections turned out to be spottier than he'd anticipated. So, I was trying to not only keep up with my own normal workload but also many of his day-to-day responsibilities as well. Needless to say, I was working a lot. I worked late just about every night, and worked just about every weekend for a month or so. I knew it was temporary, so I just kept doing it, and didn't bother to say anything to my bosses - which was a mistake. I finally mentioned it last week, and they were more than sympathetic. My colleague is back from his trip now, and has re-claimed his old duties, and another project that had been queued up for me has been assigned to another colleague - so I'm feeling much more sane about my workload now.
In other words, I think I've reclaimed my life from the stress I felt last month, and I couldn't be more pleased about that.
While I was under that stress, however, somehow it turned into November. I can not believe it's November already. I don't know how that happened. There are, what, three weeks until Thanksgiving now? And then another month until Christmas? Seriously, I don't know where this year has gone, and time is showing no signs of slowing down...
In other news, I got my second portrait tattoo yesterday. It's a portrait of my mom, to go with the one I got of my dad in August. It's still healing, and is still red and puffy at the moment, but Chris tells me it looks great. I'll post pictures eventually when it's less pained looking. And although I'm going to have to wait until my bank account is a little more replenished after these last two tattoos, I'm already plotting for where the next ink will go. Here's a hint - if you prefer my arms as they are, you'll want to get a photograph of them before I next go under the needle.
Finally, I can't be typing a blog post on November 2nd of an election year without saying this:
VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE VOTE
Vote for hope, vote for change, vote to re-establish America's reputation in the world, vote for a new direction, vote for sound judgment, vote for inclusion, vote for anything's possible, vote for the dream of a new generation. In other words, VOTE FOR OBAMA.
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