OMFG it's too damn early for this bullshit

AT&T Universal Credit Card = biggest pain in my ass EVER. Don't ever do business with them or Citi Bank if you can help it.
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I am not a financially minded person, so this morning's 401K enrollment meeting gave me a headache. Talk of stocks & bonds makes me all stop-the-room-I'd-like-to-get-off feeling.
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I need to move to a different cubicle or something, because my existence is forgotten on a regular basis. Today, I was added to a meeting agenda and not told about it. Yesterday, my marketing documents were edited without my knowing about it. HELLOOOO I'M STILL HERE PEOPLE...
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I do NOT want to hear anything more about politics. Period. I hate all the name-calling and back-stabbing and nasty bullshit associated with the presidential race. Just because you've made your decision about who you're voting for (a) doesn't mean you have to try to force me to change my mind, (b) doesn't give you the right to call me and people who believe the same as me nasty names, and (c) also doesn't make you right. So just effing drop it, ok? (Becky, I'm not directing this at you, just liberals in general who seem to think campaigning = destroying all Republicans.)
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Home schedule = chaos. Multiple to-do's on my list that just can't seem to get done... there are still boxes in my dining room from our yard sale TWO WEEKS AGO that need to be donated to charity, the upstairs bedroom (aka B's "man loft") still needs a lot of work, our landlord is coming by with a carpet shampooer this weekend so we can do the basement and upstairs hallway, B's dad is coming by with furniture and stuff tonight, B is totally overwhelmed by school, my car is still not completely fixed, B has to go back to Michigan for Army BS this weekend, the back door trim hasn't been started, the backyard is full of moles and my gardens are being neglected, the garage is not my area but even B admits it's a mess. I think that covers it. So we have to prioritize and schedule and then find time to breathe and relax and keep my head from imploding too.

Inspirations

I've mentioned these two writers before, but I need to mention them again today because they've both just written blog entries that were really touching to me.

On All & Sundry, Linda wrote this yesterday. Several of the things on her list totally hit home for me, especially because (a) I'm horribly impatient and (b) I'm a horrible procrastinator. So to get smacked in the face with "Transforming your body and mind takes time. If you try to rush the process, you’re doing it wrong." and "There is no such thing as not having enough time to exercise. If you can’t find the time, MAKE the time. This is entirely within your control, and telling yourself otherwise is simply an excuse. " ... Pretty much exactly what I need to hear (and be told over and over and over).
I have a gym membership. Do I use it? Not so much. I've convinced myself that every time I go to the gym, I get sick afterwards. And it's partly true. Last winter when I started my trial membership, I went two or three times before I got nailed by the flu. I lost my motivation and didn't go back, and my trial membership expired. This summer, I took advantage of a special they were having and signed a 2 year contract. I went to a spinning class and it totally killed me deader than a doornail. I went once after that & wound up with a summer cold for 2 weeks after that... so my excuse is somewhat viable. Still lame though, and now I'm stuck in a contract that I can't cancel and can't find anyone to transfer it to. So I've got to use it, or feel guilty for two years. And if I lose my extra chins and my muffin top while I'm at it, all the better!

Amy, aka Amalah, wrote this today at AlphaMom/Advice Smackdown. Now, I'm a Republican. Just a bit right of center, really. But I am pro-life, and have been for a long time. I was a bit of a Bible-thumper when I was in high school, and one thing that has remained of that is the belief that a child's soul is imparted at conception, and therefore abortion = infanticide regardless of how you look at it, and abortion = cop-out for irresponsible people who either are plain stupid or who just don't think about the consequences of their actions.
I still believe both of these are true, however Amy's writing today was so well-thought-out, kind, and touching that my concrete stance is crumbling a bit. I guess I never thought about the people who actually wanted a child, but for one reason or another could not actually have a child. There is a difference between those who fucked up and don't want a child for stupid selfish reasons, and those who are at odds between preserving themselves and protecting the child. How anyone could possibly make that kind of choice is beyond me, but at the same time there is no wrong choice in situations like those. I just hope and pray I never have to do it.

Pet Parenting 101

Things I have learned during my time as a fur-baby's momma:

• Cat health and carpet quality relies heavily upon clean kitty litter. If necessary, set an alarm on your cellphone/computer/both to remind you to clean the catboxes on a more regular basis.
• Dogs like squeaky toys because they imitate the sound of a dying animal. (Maybe it was a bad idea to get Jake that "Naughty Kitty" stuffed toy and encourage him to "get the kitty!")
• Dogs do not care what other things may be in the water they drink. Like toilet paper that didn't make it all the way down on the last flush, or B's "compost tea" mixture of rotting plant bits and rainwater in a tub on the patio that smells like methane.
• Cats, however, require pure, fresh drinking water, straight from the tap, in a fine little trickle. Sink or bathtub, either is fine, as long as it is turned on at their demand.
• Cats see things.
• Dogs are just neurotic.
• Both dogs and cats, when peeing/pooping/vomiting/harcking up hairballs in a place they shouldn't, will always choose a carpeted area to do so, rather than a tiled/hardwood area that would be ten times easier to clean after the fact.
• Cats are allowed to beg at the table (short of jumping up on the table) because it's cute when they meow/purr/butz your legs with their heads.
• Dogs are not allowed to beg at the table, because they stare/drool/whine/are annoying as hell.

I'm sure I will continue to add to this list as time goes on.

I WIN!!

I finally returned the crappy non-functioning Lexmark printer to the hell from whence it came (aka Walmart), and went to BestBuy and got an HP model instead. Fifteen minutes. That's all it took to set the thing up and get it working... wirelessly! HALLELUIA!! So now I can work upstairs and print downstairs, and B can work in the dining room and print in the living room. Plus scan AND copy.

God, why am I so excited about a damn printer?

B comes home tomorrow, thank god. Not because I missed him or anything (ok, I did, a LOT, and yes it was only a week but STILL) but because the damn dog had been completely neurotic the whole time. Every damn day I'd come home from work and there'd be something. A dish out of the sink, the entire jar of cat treats annihilated, my new box of pantyhose chewed, the corner of my scrapbook gnawed... and today, the climax: a nice steaming pile of shit in the basement. I was gone for THREE HOURS DOG, FUCK.

IsthatdaddyscarIthoughtIhearddaddyscarwheresdaddyImissdaddyIsthatdaddyscar?!?!@!*&$#!!!

*Sigh*
So hopefully tomorrow night he'll be back to normal, which means only destroying one item of Tupperware a month instead of one a day.

PS: my new haircut is perfect! Very Natalie Portman/Katie Holmes but without the bangs and the weirdness. I'll have to take a good pic & add it later.

I should make a habit of this.

I haven't been writing much, which is stupid. Not because anybody cares & wants to hear what's going on in my head, but because it's such a great outlet for me and it's not like I don't have the time. I don't really have any major projects at work right now, so it's a little slow & boring around here. On the other hand, I have a lot to do at home that I've been procrastinating on. I'm not very motivated at work, so I get home at night and I'm still not motivated... it's a nasty cycle of slumpiness!

So, what's been going on, that I haven't been writing about?

The whole money makeover thing is moving kind of slow. Every part of the bank switching process is slow... changing my direct deposit took 3 weeks to go through, changing our automatic payments for utilities takes 4-6 weeks, waiting for my landlord to deposit our last rent check is taking a couple of weeks, and since the bank we're switching doesn't have branches (it's a military bank, so everything is done online which is nice but makes some things take a little longer) we have to scan & email in any paper checks that we get.

The scan & email thing wouldn't be so bad IF we had a functioning scanner right now. We just bought a wireless printer/scanner/copier, and all the reviews I read said set-up was a breeze. Har de har har! I've tried everything I could think of, I got some ideas from the office IT guys, and nothing worked. So last night I got online & used the printer company's "chat assistance" program and the guy set up a remote link to my system so he could mess with it, and even he couldn't figure out what was wrong. He worked on it until closing time last night, and then gave up & said he would pass it on to a supervisor today to see if they had any other ideas. I am not hanging my hopes on this, and will probably return this particular model & look for a different brand this weekend. Wireless printing will totally be worth it, but this is getting a little ridiculous!

We had a yard sale last weekend. Or at least, half the weekend, it rained Sunday morning so we skipped that day. We made a little over $100 which was cool, but we really didn't sell much! If I had readers, I'd try to hock some stuff on here. It's all in the middle of my living room right now.

B is off doing Army stuff this week, so it's been me & the critters hangin out, watching TV and putting off chores. Which is bad, because me putting off the catbox cleaning has caused them to seek recepticles elsewhere, namely my pretty-if-cheap living room rug. Crap. (Not literally, just pee so far, but pee is worse because the smell lingers. I'd rather they crapped on it.)

Tomorrow, running some errands & chopping off my hair!