Christmas was good. Kadie woke up entirely too early, but she didn't start tearing into packages until we were all downstairs (which still happened faster than I had planned). After ripping into a package, she would inspect the goods and then hand them to me to open while she very tidily picked up all the paper scraps and put them in the garbage … don't know where that came from, but it was nice to not have to declare my living room a disaster zone. After everything was opened, we sat down for...

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We've been busy, busy, busy here. I'm getting over a very nasty cold that, thankfully, did not turn into much else. Also, very thankfully, it hasn't spread to Jeff or Kadie. Both Jeff and I are racing against deadlines at work but I got good news yesterday...my company is allowing us to have the 24th off as a paid holiday! Yea! I'm looking forward to a couple of days off (besides the 24th, 25th and 1st, I'm taking the 31st off as well) and a week or so of quieter days in the office (with most...

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I had my first meeting with the headhunter / recruiter yesterday. We went over my resume and what I was looking for (and what I was trying to avoid). While my limited formal education and my complete lack of desire to do computer-related work is going to make things a tad more difficult, there are still some possibilities open.Tuesday, I passed my tolerance limit for my current job - it has more to do with the team lead's personality and managing style now, but I still don't care for the work...

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I know, I know. It's only August, but I've got to plan these things out. Any ideas (current sizes and interests, etc) would be helpful. Again, I'll suggest Amazon.com and their wish lists (good for kids, parents and families). And, while I'm on the subject of Amazon, they're holding a really good toy sale right now (up to 70 percent off a lot of things and free shipping) - that's what got me in the"mood" so to speak. Not that it takes much to get me in the mood for Christmas.

Does anyone else think Amazon is as wonderful as I do? It's like an online WalMart - you can find most anything you want (from groceries to books to furniture to trees) and they're cheaper than most other places. Maybe it's not as big for you guys since the family is concentrated over there, but I find myself using it quite a bit - especially around Christmas and birthday time (and for all those computer books that Jeff gets - those are usually at least 20 bucks cheaper than at Borders...

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Bah, humbug alert! I'm thinking"out loud" and it's late, and I'm tired and it's gonna show...Though we had a nice Christmas (interspersed with cat vomiting episodes), it still just didn't seem"right" - you know? Something was off, but I can't really put my finger on it. I'd hate to think that the holiday that I once loved and treasured above all others has lost it's shine due to the pessimism of age and"wisdom." I just remember it being so much more...well, more. It was fun to watch Kadie...

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I haven't been able to read the posts for a couple of days so I had some catching up to do. As it's 0630 on Friday morning and I have a looooooong day ahead of me, it's good to start it off with a smile.Tonight is deployment night. Hopefully, if all goes well, we'll be out of here by 12 or 1 am. We've been known to stay until 5 or 6 before, but we're trying out something new that will, hopefully, save us some time. I elected to come in early (versus starting my day at 4 pm) so that I could make...

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Just wanted to say that our 70-degree weather has officially left us behind. It was a chilly 22 degrees out this morning and we saw snow in our headlights (though none of it was staying on the ground).I've been in a lot of pain the last couple of days and not sleeping well because of it so it's been brought to my attention that I've been very grumpy. It all has to do with my braces. After last month's adjustment, I didn't feel the least bit sore, but (for whatever reason) I was practically in...

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Ain't having kids fun? We're down with pink eye again. (There wasn't a smiley with the right color, but I'm sure you get my drift.) Thankfully, this time 'round, it's the bacterial form so she's good to go back to daycare after 24 hours on the drops. It started out on Monday morning in her left eye with it just being kinda pink and teary and I was praying that it was just her cold that was causing problems, but by yesterday evening, it had progressed to her right eye and started swelling and...

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We're here. I know, I know. But flogging is against the law, so there.Actually, my unclass machine at work went belly-up on me about 3 weeks ago (if you look at the blogs, you'll find it an interesting timing coincidence). You see, unlike my husband, I cannot stand the sight of a computer once I get home. After 8 hours of dealing with them at work, I'd sooner throw my personal one out the window than spend more time in front of it. I used to get to work and, amidst checking out news headlines...

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I've been off the air for a while, though I've tried to at least keep up with reading the posts. I've been focusing my attention on several different things lately and"a little here" and"a little there" add up to way past my bedtime. First off, I took my first database administration class last week. I put it off for several days and it finally dawned on me why: I was, subconsciously, thinking that, once I took the class, I couldn't feign stupidity any more. Once I had taken the course, I...

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