That Hobbit Lady

There needs to be an extra day in each week, and it should come right after Friday, and it should be called Footballday. And then after Footballday, we would have our usual Saturday and Sunday.

Today, Alabama handily put away Mississippi State, and Mark Ingram increased his chances for the Heisman. I got a few things done, but my day was nowhere near as productive as the Crimson Tide’s.

We put the extra leaves in the dining table, in anticipation of Thanksgiving, in a couple of weeks. I also bought cranberry sauce. Next weekend, I have some bathrooms to clean. Ugh.

In the “Happy to Report” column, Squee is sneezing very much less. I think he is definitely on the mend.

As for me, however, I’m tired, got a slight sinus headache, and my throat feels like it might be getting a little sore. A little reading, then I’m off to bed.

I’ve been looking through some old photos and I found this. At some point Mary and I made a trip to Tampa — yes, that’s Mary with the short red hair! And me looking a bit thinner. I don’t remember how long ago this was, or if there was an occassion, but I’d have to guess this was shortly before the twins were born! So maybe…about four years ago? Or would that be five years? Jeez! Time is passing way too fast.

Looking at pics like this makes me miss being able to get together with everyone. I never regret moving to Alabama, because Russ is pretty much the best thing that’s ever happened to me, but I still miss everyone.

But…I look forward to seeing both my kids this Christmas, and God willing, Russ and I will be making a trip to Florida in the Spring. So, save a place at the table for us!

We have this program at work that serves as our database, where people are registered for our seminars and payments are recorded. It is my job to register and record the payments. Sometimes the program does not work correctly. Sometimes I think maybe it’s me, maybe I’ve made a mistake. With this in mind, I have started running daily reports, to make sure that everything I did that day was recorded correctly. And it has been.

Until today, when my supervisor ran a report and we discovered that about 190 invoices which were supposed to be closed and paid, no balance due, are now suddenly open. And not only are they open, but they are showing exorbitant amounts of money due. A purchase of $36.50 which was completed many weeks ago now shows that $776.50 is due. What the—??? We have NOTHING at the price of $776.50.

I have copies of the reports that I ran on those days, showing that everything was fine, the invoices were properly closed with no balance due. So something has happened AFTER THE FACT to mess it all up.

Point being: it wasn’t me.

But it makes it very frustrating for me to have to deal with this program day in and day out, never knowing when something screwy is going to happen.

In other news, my cat Squee has the sniffles. I’m not sure what to do for him. If he’s not better by Saturday, we may make a trip to the vet.

Well, I’m back. And just a little bit to say.

Today I got to take a bus ride/walk over to the other side of campus, to deliver the deposit to Finance. I always enjoy this, as it gets me out of the office, and I like the people-watching as well. Question for today: why do really really fat girls like to wear horizontal stripes? In pink and neon orange, no less? It goes against all common sense. But maybe they just know there’s nothing they could possibly wear that would *fool* anyone into thinking they aren’t really, really fat. Maybe they’ve just given up and are going with the flow. Hey, I’m fat! Deal with it!

This morning I had a little “health screening” at my building, where they did blood pressure, triglycerides, blood sugar, etc. Most of my numbers were relatively normal, maybe just a little on the side of beginning to be “not good,” but still, nothing to worry about at the moment. But it kind of lit a fire under my butt to start paying better attention to these things.

It’s Wednesday night, and for once I’m actually ready to watch Glee on TV! I love this show, but I’m not much in the habit of watching broadcast TV, so I usually end up lookiing at it on Hulu. But tonight…I’m settling down in front of the giant boob tube and I’m going to enjoy my show!

See you later! 🙂

It’s been so long since I’ve posted here that I’m almost surprised LJ hasn’t shut down my account. But here I am, and I’ll tell you why: lately I feel like life is just passing by way too fast! I mean…what happened to the month of October? How did it go by so fast? It was September…and now it’s November, in fact it’s 1/3 of the way through November, and I’m thinking…WHOA! Slow down! Where is it all going so fast!?

So I’ve made a decision, and I hope to stick to it, to come to this journal every day and write at least a little something about what that day was like. So I can anchor it, and not have it blow away like dandelion fluff. Maybe if I *say* something about each day, the “anchoring” will slow everything down, even just a little. That would be nice.

So here’s what today was like:

It rained. The edges of Ida. Just a nasty day, all day. But I stayed in the building at lunch, and read my book. I’m reading The Invisible Man, by H.G. Wells. I’ve been trying to make an effort to read some of the classics. This one is okay, but I liked Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde much better. This Invisible Man character is not a likeable person at all. At least Dr. Jekyll agonized about turning into Hyde, and tried to prevent it from happening, to prevent Hyde from hurting other people. The Invisible Man is just mean and nasty. No sympathy for him. Maybe he’ll change before it’s all over. If not, thankfully, it’s a short book, so I won’t have to put up with him for too much longer.

Yesterday I got my hair cut. It’s fairly short, a classic “bob” and I like it! I’ve also colored it a kind of rich reddish brown. Feeling good about my hair.

Russ has been working on his “analysis” for Marvel. I’m so proud of him! He’s been hired as a freelance writer for the Official Index to the Marvel Universe. It comes out once a month, and every month he’ll be reviewing several comics. The pay is minimal, but as he says…”Hey! I’m getting paid to read comics!” So the “Wow!” factor here is not the number on the amount line on the check, but the return address. He’s going to get paychecks from Marvel Comics! How cool is that?

We’re having Thanksgiving at our house this year, which is great motivation to finish up those last little household projects. Our garage is almost completely clean at this point!

Alabama is 9-0 and headed for the SEC Championship Game against Florida. Woo hoo!!

I moved into a new purse today, and I think it’s going to work out. I bought it on E-Bay, and it was exactly as described! Quite happy so far.

Got the music from New Moon and I’m really enjoying it.

Well, that’s enough to say for one day. I feel somewhat more “anchored” now. Hope I’ll be back here again tomorrow.

I know the first official day of Autumn was about a week ago, but I’m recording it here and now that TODAY was the first REAL day of Autumn. We’ve had a lot of rain lately, but that’s all cleared out, and today the temps were cooler, with a slight breeze, and the sky was brilliant blue. I’m going to have to start thinking about boots and sweaters.

I love Autumn.

This morning I was not yet awake three hours when I stumbled upon three situations which struck me as being ironic.

1. As Russ and I talked over our shopping list, I mentioned that I needed bread, but wasn’t sure what brand I wanted, because the last time I bought Sara Lee bread, and I didn’t like it. Of course I immediately thought of the jingle…”Everybody doesn’t like something…But nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee…” Well, guess what? I don’t like Sara Lee’s bread. Which makes the jingle somewhat…ironic. Don’t you think?

2. A few moments later, we drove past the Waffle House and noted there were not many cars in the parking lot. However, any evening the Waffle House will be packed—in fact, the later into the evening it gets, the more packed the Waffle House. Of course we all know why: because Waffle House is where drunks typically go to sober up with coffee and carbs after a long night of partying. Still, it struck me as ironic that a restaurant which is named after and specializes in a breakfast food has very few customers at breakfast time, yet lots of customers at night.

3. At work, our customers may choose seminar materials on flash drive, or in printed format. Today, someone signed up for the seminar “Integrating Technology into your Law Practice,” and chose seminar materials in printed format. I wonder if this person is really ready to integrte technology into their practice? Well, maybe after taking our seminar they will be.

Just some observations about life. Things that make you go…hmmmm….

My mother-in-law Marianne told me that hummingbirds will come into your yard if you leave them the right kind of food. I don’t believe I have ever seen a real live hummingbird, so I was intrigued by the possibility of having them in my yard. I bought the food and the feeder and set it up and waited…and waited…and waited…

And a week ago…hummingbirds!

I have seen up to three at one time. Mostly they just like to sit on the pole, but occassionally they come down to eat. They’re very pretty little things, and they do move very fast. I’m just getting such a kick out of having them in my very own backyard.

One of my life’s chief joys is finding “new music.” And I’ve found some good stuff lately. Which brings up today’s topic: gaspers.

Several years ago I discovered the band Better Than Ezra, and of course they still remain on the top of my all-time favorites list. One of the things I really enjoy about their songs might sound a bit odd. The lead singer, Kevin Griffin, does not have a polished professional voice. He’s just some guy who sings the songs he writes. His voice is not necessarily GOOD, but it’s full of emotion and definitely REAL. And one of the things that makes it real is that when he sings, he often tends to catch a giant breath at the end of the phrase. Maybe not on every line, but enough that if you’re listening for it, it’s really obvious.

I like that. As I said, it’s real. And now I’ve discovered the band Muse. And their lead singer, Matthew Bellamy, does the same thing. Gaspingly…Real.

I know there must be other bands, other singers who tend to do this. And if there are, I want to know who they are. But in the meantime, these are two bands I really enjoy, maybe not specifically because of the gasping of their lead singers, but that bit of stylization is so much a part of their sound, a sound that I love.

Oddly, these bands are, if not exactly “diametrically opposite,” they are at least far enough apart in their particular sound that you would never mistake one for the other. But in both cases, I find that the gasping voice of their lead singers, rather than detracting from the song, only works to make it better. I think if you had the same songs without the gasping, they just wouldn’t be as good.

As I said, you may find this odd, you may call me crazy (Gasp!), but for whatever it’s worth, I’m being real.

Just like my favorite singers.

I feel like it’s been a long time since I’ve been here. Just been too busy and stressed at work to want to do too much of anything when I get home, but think I’m starting to get a grip on it now. I have lots of topics to write about, but this one jumped out at me today:

Forced Rhymes

What is a forced rhyme? Is it when you say something in a way you wouldn’t usually say it, just to make a rhyme? It kind of sounds unnatural. I thought of it because I was listening to the song Betty Davis Eyes, and this is what I heard, that didn’t sound natural at all:

Doesn’t that just sound…not right?

The problem here for me is that I think it’s not SUPPOSED to sound unnatural. But the emphasis is on all the wrong words. If you were talking, you wouldn’t say this sentence this way.  Therefore, this just doesn’t work for me.

Now, in comparison, there is this great line in the song I Hear the Bells by Mike Dougherty where he MAKES UP a word, just to get a rhyme:

I love that! Sure it’s forced. But it’s so obviously forced it’s almost comical. No, wait. It IS comical. And that’s what makes it so great.

Well, if I keep going like this, I’m going to start talking about Al Yankovic, and that’s another journal entry altogether!

Oh, and one thing, btw:  the countdown is now at 10 days till the first Alabama game.  Woo hoo! 🙂