Sad Dog Week

My dog is sick once again with diarrhea, and I was up virtually all last night taking her out--I swear we went out like 10 times. It was awful. And the night before she got me up 3 times in the middle of the night. I'm exhausted. We went to the vet today for meds and another $125 vet bill to basically tell me she ate some crap on the ground. Duh! The problem is, once she starts going, she doesn't stop without spending $100+ at the vet. Sigh.

The other sad doggie news is my dogsitter's dog Leo, a standard poodle who was only 3 years old, had to be put down last night. He had a very rapidly spreading cancer and he was in pretty bad shape apparently. Poor boy. He was such a good dog.

I'm Back . . .

Well, I'm finally back and blogging again. It was definitely a long week. I think I'm going to head to the pool this afternoon for a little R&R. I spent the morning doing some much-needed cleaning. So I survived my conference. It actually wasn't as bad as I'd thought. I'd been warned many times about how psycho my boss and this other lady would be, and there were some psycho moments, but not nearly as bad as I thought. Here are some highlights of my week:

1. Stayed at the Nashville Airport Marriott. Despite its proximity to the airport and $20 cab ride to downtown Nashville, this was a very nice facility with awesome chocolate cake on the menu and a bed to die for. You can even order the bed for a mere $1,100. I have the brochure somewhere, and I may seriously think about it.

2. Inadvertently challenged the CEO to do a shot of Patron tequila during our staff dinner the first night at the Stock-Yard Restaurant. Let me tell you, that is one awesome tequila.

3. Visited the Ryman Auditorium, home of the Grand Ole Opry for many years. Unfortunately, neither place had any live music while I was there. I also took a tour of the Country Music Hall of Fame, which was awesome. The woman I went with liked it, and she doesn't like country music. I recommended it to someone else, and he said it was better than the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The featured special exhibit was Ray Charles. I thought the coolest things were Elvis's diamond and gold car, the gold and platinum albums on the wall, and of course the hall of fame itself.

4. Ate at B.B. King's Blues Club. My only free night, the company paid for shuttle buses to take everyone downtown. Since we were at the airport, downtown was a $20 cab ride, so I didn't want to go too often. It turns out my coworker and his friend went, so I had some people to hang out with. I had the pulled pork BBQ and it was quite tasty. There was live music, but it wasn't blues as you'd expect. Just some regular rock-n-roll band. The highlight of the restaurant was the restroom attendant who had almost died and was really thankful for her life. I had no dollar bills to tip her, so she said she'd settle for a hug.

5. Spoke in front of 400 people and didn't choke or pass out. I guess my Toastmasters experience paid off, as I was able to survive this very traumatic thing. The chair of the board of directors and many others said I did a good job, so that made me feel great. I feel even better than the whole thing is over.

Off Til Friday, Ya'll

I'm headed to Nashville tomorrow morning for our annual conference. I'll be there until Friday, so no postings this week. Have a great one, I'm sure yours will be better than mine. I've heard this conference is hell. If I didn't already want to quit, I'm sure this trip would make me.

New Sugarland Release

Mark your calendar for November 7, when the new Sugarland CD, Enjoy the Ride, is coming out. I'd include a photo but blogger has decided not to cooperate.

Promotion?

There's some crazy stuff going on at work . . . rumors of my boss and the big boss not getting along and things coming to a showdown of sorts. Rumors that the rumors about moving out to Herndon are really true. Rumors that when we move to Herndon we're downsizing staff and everyone in my department but me is getting the ax. Rumors that I am getting my boss's job. Rumors that we're all getting raises if we move to compensate for the horrific gas prices, rumors that we will get casual dress and either reduced hours or telecommuting. If all these rumors are true, this could potentially be great. I'm really excited, but if it happens I'll be really scared to be running the show. But after all, that's what I keep saying I want, right?

Tonight was drum class and they're trying to get me to do this complicated little solo thing. I couldn't get it very well and was getting really frustrated. They need to keep in mind I'm just a beginner too.

Tomorrow night is part 2 of my sleep study where I get to wear the mask and see if I can tolerate it, and if it will help me. Things are too busy. I need to go to sleep.

Jon on Larry

Jon Bon Jovi was on Larry King Live tonight. Pretty cool interview. Can you believe he's 44? What a great life he's had.

Squirrel Overboard

I witnessed the weirdest thing tonight. I was walking the dogs and there was a loud ruckus overhead in the trees and all of a sudden something fell to the ground with a loud plop. I looked over and it looked like a rat lying on the ground. An adult squirrel raced down the tree to get to it, but stopped and retreated when it saw the dogs. What I thought was a rat turned out to be a baby squirrel, so small that its tail had no fur and that made it look like a rat. It started crying and it was so pitiful. I had to walk away because I wanted to give the mama squirrel a chance to get the baby, but I did go back later that night to see what happened, and by then there was a small crowd gathered and one man put it in a shoe box to take to the shelter/wildlife rescue. Wow, the drama. I hope the squirrel will be ok.

Exhaustion Continues

Well, this weekend was quite a whirlwind of wedding and cleaning. Yes, quite the range of activities. Jeffro and I had a wedding to go to in Charlottesville, and since we didn't have the resources to stay overnight, we made it a day trip. The wedding was quite lovely, at the UVA chapel, and reception following at a beautiful country club. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. How a gorgeous, low-humidy weekend happened in mid-August is beyond me. We had a decent enough time at the wedding, but left around 9 to get back to DC and drop of Jeffro's friend who went with us. Sunday we spent the day cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. I cancelled the one fun thing I was supposed to do at night cause I was on a roll and wanted to get things done. We even made a trip to Goodwill. Now the week starts again and I am just exhausted. I leave for Nashville next week, and it will be a week out of the office, which is good, but a week with the office folks, including my boss, which is not good. I have to give a big speech next Weds, so after that, I'm just golden.

Week. End.

What a long week, even though I only worked 4 days. Why? I called in sick for the first time in 8 months. That's pretty impressive for someone who averaged once a month at their old job. I pulled my back on Monday night trying to move some stuff and it was quite painful. I had to go in Tuesday to supervise the intern, but I decided Weds not to go in. I've been feeling really run down this week too, plus I had to kick Jeffro's butt to get the rest of his stuff out of his old apartment. So he played hooky too and we got the apartment cleared out.

Other exciting news this week, I had my third drum group class. This time the singer didn't show up, so I got to play singer for the night and it was quite fun. I was even able to keep drumming while doing it. I think I'll be the next Karen Carpenter. They said that in class--I had forgotten that she had played the drums. It was really exciting to sing, I think maybe this is something I have to do more often.

So it's finally Friday, I had tea at the Ritz today with my boss to celebrate my 6-month anniversary two months and two cancellations (on her part) ago. It was actually a really nice affair for a mere $34 per person, which included a pot of tea, tiny little sandwiches and pastries, and a scone. It wasn't as stressful as I thought, and I didn't tell her how psycho she really is cause I do need to keep my job after all.

This weekend Jeffro and I head off to Charlottesville for yet another wedding and Sunday night I might go to a book club with some friends.

Weekend in Jersey

Jeffro and I attended a very ritzy wedding this past weekend in Northern Jersey. It actually was a great weekend, aside from having to attend a full mass, too much driving and late nights. It was nice to get out of town and the stress here. We drove up Friday night to stay with his mom, and the wedding was Saturday. The reception was at this great place in Mountain Lakes. We arrived at the reception to champagne with raspberries served as you walked in the foyer. We then proceeded to the appetizer "around the world" room, where there were 5 different food stations, each representing different food--Chinese (complete with cute take-out containers), Italian, seafood, antipasto, and one that had grilled tuna and lamb. You could have eaten enough there for dinner, and I think most people did. For dinner I had the sea bass, and Jeffro had filet mignon. Even the wedding cake was awesome and if that wasn't enough, they passed plates of cookies and had cookies available with little take-home bags in the foyer as you left. It was most impressive and I have to say I ate a ton. The 8-piece band was amazing too, with three strong singers. All in all, I had a great time getting to know Jeffro's friends. One couple we hung out with is getting married in October and we're going to their wedding, so I'm excited to see them again.

Miserable Week

This week has been the absolute pits. Shall I share my whole list why or just the top 10?

1. Extreme heat conditions
2. Extreme heat conditions causing metro delays
3. Extreme heat conditions when walking uncooperative dogs
4. Extreme heat conditions causing my exhaustion
4. Very stressed at work with psycho boss micromanaging my life and too many projects
5. Very stressed at work with meeting coming up where I have to speak in front of 400 people
5. Very stressed at home with Jeffro's stuff everywhere and no hope of ever unpacking cause we're both too busy to deal with it.
6. Trip this weekend to a wedding in NJ. Leaving tonight to drive 3 hours to Jeffro's mom. Drive 3 more hours tomorrow to get to wedding. Drive 3 hours after wedding back to his mom. Drive 3 more hours back home on Sunday. Does this sound fun?
7. Trip this weekend and next both involving weddings. Always the bridesmaid never the bride makes for a crabby wedding attendee.
8. Trip next weekend means also no unpacking.
9. Weekend following next I leave for my meeting in Nashville
10. Very stressed with some neighborhood stuff going on and also my next overnight for the sleep apnea study.

Ok, I'll end on a good note. I did have a good moment today--my boss called in sick so I got to miss what was my rescheduled 6-month review. We'll now have to reschedule again. I didn't want to have it cause I can't tell her I hate it there but it will be hard to bite my tongue!