Week Wrap-Up

My brain is like one big fried egg. That's been in the pan too long. TGIF!!! I need a weekend! A REAL weekend with no surprises.

This week has been exhausting. On the work front AND the home front. And the rodent front.

I know you are all dying to hear about Ralph S. Mouse.



Anyway, we have not seen him or any signs of him since Monday when Toby shot at him (with a bb gun and Stella and I were not in harm's way - just for the record) and he ran up into the stove. (And then Toby tried to cook him on Tuesday...) We are thinking that he waited for all to settle down, and left the stove (before the broiling session) and escaped the house through his secret portal (we still don't know where that is exactly) and he went somewhere to die or is living life on the outside as a wounded rat soldier. Either way, I don't care as long as he does not come into my house and chew important tubing and wiring again.

We were seeing signs of his presense - loaves of bread being ripped into and eaten, droppings, and we could even HEAR him at night. Like Saturday night when it sounded like 3 WWF wrestlers were going to town in my kitchen. Since Monday? Nothing. So, I really do think he left.

Regardless, I took control again last night. I marched myself into my kitchen and declared myself President again. I cleaned it up, emptied all of the food from the fridge from the last week that went bad in our absense, washed all the dishes, and rearranged shelves. I still have more work to do this weekend...but atleast I am back in control.

I told Toby - I have this fear of this giant rat jumping out and attacking me. Well, that ain't going to happen! That cheesy saying of "he's more scared of you than you are of him" really is true.... even if he is in the kitchen, he's not coming out while I am there. The only reason we found him this time was because the dishwasher was leaking and we pulled it out and found his homestead.

Tonight might involve some new dishwasher shopping. I hope so anyway... I HATE to wash a dish by hand. But we sure can't afford this so soon after the giant deck.... Oh well, that's what Home Depot cards are for........ Yuck.

Someone please win the lottery and give me some of it.

On the work front, I am working my hiney off. I have been put on a Project Team of 9 people to accomplish a pretty big task in 60 days.

I am sorry to be vague; but if I tell ya, I gotta kill ya.

I am not in my usual office - we are sequestered in a different office building in the basement...where there are no windows...underneath the cafeteria, so it sounds like it's thundering all day every day. We're in a cluster of cubes and I can hear my co-workers long fingernails clicking on the keyboard as we speak.

It's not SO bad... And I am amazing at how much I have learned and developed in just ONE week - with seven more to go.... It's exciting on several levels.

This new office is in the Far West End - near the big mall and other great shopping and eating destinations. I'm really really trying not to gain 900 lbs and drain my bank account. Oh, that's right - it's already drained. But seriously, I went out today to run an errand really quick and NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO THAT. It took 1.5 hours to go down the street and back. The traffic out here at lunchtime is BRUTAL. Alteast that will curb my lunchtime adventures. There is a strip of restaurants across the street and that will likely be the ONLY place I venture to - to meet friends who work nearby every so often. Other than that, I am staying in.

Working out here has seriously taken a toll on my Jazzercise attendance. Like, there is NO attendance lately. I hate that...but I am much farther away and I am working a bit of overtime on the project and am unable to make it to the 5:45 class...and I am DAMN sure not attending a 7pm class. I am keeping my membership though... maybe I can squeeze in a Saturday class sometime (although that is my STELLA time and I do not like to take away from that) and I want to be ready immediately to return when this project is over and I am back to normal.

So, the plan for this weekend is to just get the house back in order. Toby wants to search the house over and concrete any holes where the rodent could have gotten in.... he's already concreted in a few holes (like the one behind the dishwasher) but I guess he'll do a thorough hole-searching-and-concreting session again... Then he is going to remove the pile of debris from the backyard that includes materials from the old deck and the old dishwasher... he wants to cut the grass and put a light in the shed....

I plan to finish the kitchen. We have a birthday party to attend on Sunday. I might have dinner plans with a friend if she gets back to me with her availability. Other than those things, I plan to get Stella in the POOL for the first time this year. (I'll post a zillion pictures of that, for sure.)

It sure is hot enough for some pool time!