A Winter Day At Work

Today was a beautiful winter day. This post on the Enjoy Illinois Blog caught my attention early in the day and got me investigating cross-country skiing (you know, because regular skiing isn’t exhausting enough for me ). So, that put me in a winter mood. I decided to take a long lunch break to run an errand out in McHenry, IL (about a half hour from my office or home). While I am working today (and tomorrow!), there’s so few people here that I can really work at my own schedule, which I LOVE. I got spoiled to having my own schedule for the 5 years or so I worked prior to this most recent job, and having a manager who believes in having you in the office from 8am to 6pm and knowing exactly where you are when you aren’t is really grating on me. I mean, seriously, this is the most monitoring I’ve ever had, and this is the most senior I’ve been…how ironic is that? At any rate, having a return to my previous self-management has been a welcome change.

From 1pm to 3pm, I went out and got to enjoy a surprisingly warm day (I should note…warm in this context = 29 degrees, which means that I don’t really have to put on a coat to run from office to car or car to shopping). There was a light dusting of snow in progress. It wasn’t floaty, fluffy snow…more like a smattering of frozen raindrops that are too light to be hail. Still, it was nice. Driving to McHenry was lovely, because most of what is between here and there is farmland (horse farms, corn farms, etc.). I drove past a large lake that had lots of ice-fishing huts. You know, I want to walk out on a frozen lake at some point. I’ve never done that..and the ones that are thick enough for trucks and fishing huts are my best bet for safety.

After my errand was done (returns/exchanges at what is now my closest available Lane Bryant…I swear, I love their bras and pants, but between the outrageous prices, arbitrary coupons/sales, and the fact that they’re at least 30 minutes away from me, I’ve taken most of my business to online shops…the only reason LB gets any business from me now is because they do at least have in-store returns for online purchases), I grabbed lunch from Steak & Shake during their 2-4pm happy hour promotion…1/2 price shakes and beverages! I had a peppermint chocolate chip shake that I could only finish half of, but it was delicious.

As for now, I’m still at work, but I’m headed out soon. I’m hoping the car wash will still be open, as Victory needs some attention.

End of Decade Lists

None of these lists are in any particular order. I limited myself to ten items in each category. Sometimes there are less, because I didn’t have more than I’d mentioned.

Best TV shows of the decade:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer – It was an amazing show. The last season suffered, in my opinion, but the show itself was just so enjoyable in almost every episode.
• Rome – I’ve never mourned the limited run of a show as much I mourned this one. It was compelling and entertaining, with a complex cast and great historic context.
• Survivor – It shocks me that this isn’t on more lists. Survivor defined the past decade of television, like it or not. It introduced the reality genre as being viable for prime-time network viewing.
• West Wing – It helped us survive the Dubya years. Honestly, I think Obama could thank Sorkin for his presidency, as this show set up a tight base of people who believed strongly that Washington could change things for the better.
• Lost – This is another game-changer, like Survivor. We’re awash with compelling sci-fi on network TV, and we have Lost to thank for it.
• The Daily Show – Another one that helped us survive the Dubya years. It remains my primary source of news.
• Freaks and Geeks – It was short-lived, and that may have saved it. It might have sucked given time. It was a rich re-telling of growing up as an outsider that resonated on a basic level, and, thanks to it, we have Jason Segel. I saw this on DVD, and I mourned the end of the series, much as I did with Rome.
• Arrested Development – Another short-lived but awesome show that had so many fast-paced and off-kilter jokes that you could barely keep up without a DVR to pause and replay.
• Mad Men – It’s simply stunning visually, and I truly care about each character. Even the “bad guys” are lovable in some odd way.
• The Amazing Race – It’s travel porn. My “I want to go to there” list gets longer every time I watch.

Best Movies of the Decade:

• Gladiator
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Kill Bill
• Wall-E
• Up
• O Brother Where Art Thou?
• Lord of the Rings
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Brokeback Mountain

Favorite products:

• Kindle
• Diet Coke with Lime
• Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds
• Kapoosh Knife Holder, Woodgrain Finish
• KitchenArt Pro Series Salt/Pepper Dispenser/Shaker, Champagne Satin Finish
• Copco Cold Beverage Mug
• Nautica Bed Gear Sets

Awesome things that have happened to me in the past decade:

• Graduated from Tulane (thanks, Mommylady, for the reminder!)
• Paid off my student loans well ahead of schedule
• Moved to IL, got my first apartment
• Started this blog
• Mourned for the loss of several people, but most notably amanojaku, and both my grandpas
• Met and married my dear husband
• Met and became friends with B*, the Moos, and the Twos and a host of others after moving to IL
• Started working for my current employer and celebrated ten years of doing so
• Became a gamer
• Bought my first car, and bought my second without any financing
• Love(d) and was/am loved by two cats
• Donated often to charities and causes I believe in

Anything I missed?

Still not hungry

In the past 36 hours, I have eaten:
* 3 marshmallow peeps (chocolate reindeer)
* 1 southern chicken sandwich from McDonald’s
* 4 holiday cookies

And that’s it. Work has been so hectic that I’ve barely had time to pee, much less eat…and then I had to run to class last night (hence managing to grab a sandwich from McD’s, which did make me a little late to class), which meant that by the time I got home, it was really too late to eat. This morning, I skipped breakfast because of a presentation that needed polishing ASAP…and spent the whole damn day working on that same presentation at the expense of everything else that needed to get done.

Oh, by the way, I still have work to do. I’m just taking a break while some things I need are being assembled. And I’ve ordered a pizza.

In other news, for those who don’t watch the twitter feed, my dear husband did it again. I guess we’re going to the Dominican Republic in Feb. Here’s where we’re staying: http://foxyurl.com/N3J

Snow! For the blowing!

This past weekend, in anticipation of the zOMGWTFSNOWYQ!!!!FIRST WINTER STORMIZATION!!!!, we bought a Craftsman 250cc 28″ Two-stage Snowblower. Today was my first chance to use it, on the 2-4 inches of wet slimy snow that had accumulated on the driveway and walk, plus the six inches at the foot of our driveway (snowplow leavings).

So, filling the snowblower up with gas, reading the manual for how to turn it on, making sure I knew how to work the controls, and then clearing the driveway, end of the driveway, walkway, and plow accumulation area in front of our mailbox took me about thirty minutes. For comparison, doing that would normally take me and DH, working together, around 1-2 hours, depending on how good of a job we wanted to do…and the snowblower did a MUCH better job than we did. It was also fun to zoom around behind the snowblower (it’s powered, so it drives itself), though turning it is kind of a PITA and requires some muscling. Despite the snowblower, I still got very warm inside my long down coat and ended up shedding my hat and gloves to keep from sweating too much and thus getting colder.

So, I’m buzzing up and down the driveway at midnight, all happily snowblowing. I even took some time to do detail work here and there, but stopped short of really detailing the end of the driveway. I only had one “Ack! Jane, stop this crazy thing!!! Oh yeah, I just let go to stop,” moment, and no damage was done.

I drove it back up into the garage and went to park it…at which point I realized I had no idea how to turn it off. So then I had to fumble for the manual (which I’d put away while the engine was warming up) while it sat there humming away to find out how to turn it off properly. I mean, I could just yank the safety key, but I suspected that there was supposed to be some other things done first. I was right, too…you’re supposed to turn down the choke before you yank the key.

Overall, snowblowing was a fun experience. Normally, on snowy days, DH manages the snowplow end of the driveway, while I manage the light accumulation on the driveway and the walk, and apply salt as needed. I think I’m going to make him change jobs with me.

Oh!! And I’ve decided the snowblower needs a name. Any fun ideas?