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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Could it be love??

I saw this on tv the other day...and after just trying to clean the couch with my old vacumm cleaner I'm thinking about an upgrade. Everyone seems to love it.

Bissell 3920 Pet Hair Eraser Dual-Cyclonic Upright Vacuum Cleaner



Let's see what the car repairs end up costing me, Martha is just tossing money around right now.

I know my dogs...

No, no not the men I date. I was able cinch a win last night for Team Donkey Punch - The Original by knowing the Top Ten most popular dog breeds according to the AKC.

1. Labrador Retriever
2. Yorkshire Terrier
3. German Shepherd Dog
4. Golden Retriever
5. Beagle
6. Boxer
7. Dachshund
8. Poodle
9. Shih Tzu
10. Bulldog

The only two I wasn't completly sure of was the Boxer and the Shih Tzu (okay so that is how you spell it). We were the only team to get them all right.

My beloved Basset Hounds were ranked 31st.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

A long weekend wrap-up

It was a long weekend...I took off a little early on Friday and it seemed non-stop until Tuesday.

Probably the most exciting thing to happen this weekend was snow in Atlanta. Yes, really snow, not a few flurries but maybe an inch or so. This did not prevent me from enjoying the great out doors. More about that in a bit.

Friday night I had a date, we met at the FlatIron and then headed over to Graveyard to celebrate their second anniversary with free food and beer. We bumped into several locals and buzzers, drank several free beer and shots, headed over to The Glennwood when the music got a little to loud for the old folks. There more shots and a few Monkeys were consumed...I think we then head to a house party...it started to get a little blurry. It was a fun night but not the 'laid back' evening that we had planned.

I did blow off my 10k on Saturday morning. I combo of being hungover (thanks guys), rain, cold and wind kept me snug in Scott's bed until 8 or so when I finally got up to go home and take care of the boys. Rain turned to snow and I figured what better thing to do than go hashing. I really didn't think a lot of folks would show up but the hash is full of surprises...about 20 people showed up and about 10 ran the trail. It was a good run, I was FBI (if you don't count BWanA) and I felt a little less guilty about skipping my race.

After the previous nights activity, I wasn't really in the mood to drink or party...I went home early, made some dinner and some chili for the next day and stayed on the couch for the rest of the evening.

Sunday morning was COLD, F-ing COLD....I had to meet my friend Wil at 9 am (temp 18 degrees, with a wind chill) to lay the Wheelhopper trail for the day. I was wondering if the work would be in vain, who in their right mind would come out to ride in this weather? Well take a look:

Again the hash surprises me...

Again the hash surprises me. Thanks to Scott for letting us end at his place and being such a great host.

Our host...finally relaxing!

Monday was a day of rest for me. I got a hair cut (much needed) and treated myself to lunch at Nick's.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Friday Weight-In

To make myself accountable every Friday I will post my current weight...the good, bad or the ugly.

This week I will go with good ... 136lbs...down 2 pounds from the frist of the year.

I'll be trying for another pound for next week.

Other News

I'm suppose to have a 'real date' with the boy this weekend...we will see what he comes up with.

I have good news on one of my goals for the new year, I'll keep you all posted.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

Celebrate with Shoes

That wasn't the orginal title of this post but it seems to work.

I had a meeting with HR today about the curret 'environment' here at work. No major problems...I just wanted her to know why I am looking for a new position. It went well and they are behind me if anything 'bad' goes down here at the office.

Since I was all the way 85 I decided to stop of at my new favorite store, REI, for a little shopping. I controled myself and walked out with only one pair of bike shoes. Check these babies out!!



On my way back to the office I received a phone call from the hiring manager, the client is very interested in my and they are setting up an appointment for next week. I was now able to convice myself that the shoes are just a little 'gift' for making the next step to a new job.

I also am celebrating my first run with the A Group/BigBoys last night a George's. I was hoping to run with my friend Paulie, but he was running late, stuck in a meeting. The ladies were having a hard time making a decision, I was ready to go. The boys invited me to run with them, I wasn't very confident but figured I would run a mile with them and then be on my own. Well I was able to stick with them until the last half mile or so (I think they picked up the pace, that may just be wishful thinking on my part). Anyway, the important thing is I held on for about 5 miles...I have a 10K next weekend, I'm as ready as I'm going to be. I will not be running tonight, I'm a little sore and I'm meeting the CDC H3 for happy hour at Tin Roof Cantina...I'm ready for that maragrita right now!!

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

It's Only Wednesday????

Okay so this is the first full week of work I have done in ages and it is taking its toll on me this week. I laid in bed last night, contemplating what I was going to do this weekend, when I realized it was still days away. The fact that I HATE my job, more and more everyday is not helping. I sat in a meeting today, where my boss taught us SAS 101. I've been a SAS programmer for more than seven years...this was very frustrating and a complete waste of my time. Like most of what I do here, it seemed useless.

On that note...I have been speaking with HR and a recruiter within my company. My current boss knows I'm looking for something else and the recruiter wasn't surprised to hear that someone on my project was looking for another job. I applied for another data management position, with the Global Tobacco Control Program. This job seems more along the lines of 'real' public health and it involves international travel. I will need to make arrangements for the boys and the hash will have to learn to get along without me from time to time but there really isn't anything keeping me here. I was told the hiring manager is keen to speak with me and I'm awaiting his call.

I'll keep you all up to date when I hear something. Keep your fingers crossed.

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

I lost a dealership...

So today I was scheduled to take the car in to the Ford dealership for some much needed repairs. Yesterday afternoon I went on line and set up an appointment to meet with a 'service advisor'. I got up early today, packed my biking clothes (I was planning on droping the car off and biking the 3 miles to the office) and drove up to Scott Blvd to do what needed to be done. When I got there the entire dealership was gone!!! No cars, no people, nothing...at first I was stunned, I drove by twice just to make sure I wasn't seeing things...now I'm a little pissy. I took time off, drove out of my way and then got stuck in unnecessary traffic because someone was too lazy to up date a web site?? It isn't like they just changed the hours of operation ... the place is GONE.

I tried calling and I've sent emails to both the dealership and Ford, I don't expect to get a response. So now I need to find a new mechanic. If you know of a good one in the Emory area or the East Atlanta area or anywhere in between please pass along the information to me. Thanks.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Off to a good start

So I did make it to the gym last night, I spent an hour on the elipical machine. As of this morning I was down 1.5 pounds. I think some of this 'excess holiday' weight will come of pretty quick, as always it will be those last 5 pounds that get me.

By the time I went to the gym and the store it was well after 7 when I got home. I sort of like it that way, less time at the house, less time alone, less time sitting on the couch eating. The only bad thing is the boys are there for 11 hours, with no break. Maybe I should start to consider a doggie door in the near future.

A pretty low key weekend is in the works. I'm going to head over to my friend Stacy's for a little wine this evening and most likely meet up with the boy afterwards. Saturday is a hashing day and a party in Cabbage Town that night. I'm thinking about skipping hashing on Sunday, maybe take the bike out for a spin, maybe see if the boy will let me cook for him. I need a little more time away from the hash, it is really hard to cut back on your drinking when you hang around drunks all the time.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope everyone had a good and safe time on Monday night. It was pretty uneventful over here at Martha's House. I met up with my friend Nancy early in the evening for a few beers at The FlatIron, then met up with Scott for a few more before he was off to his concert and I was off to a party at Beans house.

I stuck around Bean's until the Karaoke and Old Man Soup in the hot tub got to be too much, I took one last spin around the village and went home. I was comfortably asleep on the couch by 2 AM. It was nice waking up Tuesday with no hangover.

So I guess it is time to list my 'resolutions', though that is not what I'm calling them.

1) Don't take things so personally, if someone is acting like an ass it isn't my fault, they are just an ass
2) Lose 13 pounds (I had to up this after all the 'holiday cheer' I inhaled the last few weeks)
3) Find a new job that I enjoy
4) Run at least 2 half marathons this year
5) Keep up with the house cleaning
6) Pay off my last credit card
7) Finish one project around the house

Okay some of those aren't too specific, others hard to measure but hey what do you expect. I'll keep you posted on my progress, maybe I should add 'blog more often' to that list.