Some people wonder why I say I’m adopted….

So, for those of you who don’t know me well, or didn’t know me pre-Cheryl and Co., I don’t actually belong to them.  Erica and Carl are not my real sister and brother (although they may as well be).  They adopted me about 4 years ago. 

The reason I give you all this background is to illustrate a point.  Yesterday (Tuesday) I checked my aol mail.  I RARELY check my aol mail, I don’t use it anymore, but some e-bills I pay go to aol because I’m lazy and haven’t switched them yet.  I get this email from my real biological father telling me that my GRANDMOTHER HAD DIED ON MONDAY.  An email.  Telling me my grandmother was dead.  He titled this email “sad news”.  No phone call, no in person visit, just an email.  My grandmother was not a very nice person, for reasons I won’t go into here.  She’d developed pretty severe senility the last few years, and hadn’t recognized me for about a year.  I didn’t like her much, but I did love her because she was family.

An email?  There just aren’t any words, I don’t think.

As Promised

Pictures of the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world:

Obviously, the floppy hat is to help keep the paparazzi at bay.

As you can see, we’re relaxing poolside. Stylish, no?

For those of you who don’t know who this is, this is my neice, Rowen.

Quick Update

I’m in Pittsburgh right now (Green Tree, actually) on my first of a two day visit here. I have to say, I love Pittsburgh. Not only does Ben live here sometimes, but Jason’s awesome grandma lives close enough to visit. I got in yesterday evening, having come from the Philly airport expecting a TON of horrid security lines and checkpoint goofiness. It took me longer to check my bag than it did for me to go through security. No sweat. Saw grandma for a bit, took her out for dinner, went back and chatted until late, then drove up to the hotel. This morning I drove 7 miles (which, incidentally, took me 45 minutes) to UPMC to do my thing. Took my study coordinators out for lunch at Five Guys (thank god for Five Guys, I say!) and then left around 4:30 to go back to Grandma’s. Now I’m back in my hotel, awaiting yet another fun filled day at the medical center. Whoo! Pittsburgh is awesome.

Thanks all for your b-day wishes! This weekend was great. Jason got his car all fixed up (there was a slight chance his car wouldn’t be fixed in time for him to come up) so I got to see him which was lovely. Went to a family reunion on Saturday (my birthday) and on the way down, Raymond regaled Erica, Jason and I with a soaring rendition of Benny and the Jets. I have to say that Rowen happens to be the most beautiful girl in the whole wide world. It’s true. I’ll post some pictures I took of her at the reunion later; I left my camera at home.

In a few short weeks I get my basement back, new and improved. Yippee! Jason and I can finally watch two separate programs on the telly at the SAME TIME!

Just as a heads up, Jason has begun to migrate my blog onto wordpress. (I know, I know, he must love me…he’s making me a blog!) So I’ll let you know when I’m ready to make the jump from blogger to my new home on the web.

LegoWorld

Jason and I were in Tyson’s Corner last night, and stumbled upon the Lego Store. As soon as I saw the Star Wars section, I had to get pictures. I figured Snay would like these:

The fact that it needed to be said makes me very very sad.

I received this email from HR this morning:

Hello Everyone,

Along with the unusually warm weather, have come numerous violations of dress code. We have received concerns from co-workers across the country regarding some employee’s lack of adherence to the policy. Suggestions to address the concerns have ranged from elimination of certain styles of clothing to elimination of business casual and dress down days. In an effort to address the concerns, I have attached the current dress code policy along with some reminders/clarifications below.

As a show of good faith and again due to the recent sweltering heat, employees will be permitted to wear dress down attire for the remainder of this week, starting through Friday, August 11, 2006. The business casual dress code and dress down days are a benefit that is a result of employee suggestions. By complying with the policy we are assuring the continuation of the benefit.

Please refer to the guidelines below for the additions to the policy:

* No flip flops or beach sandals permitted on any day including dress down day. Open toe or sling back shoes/sandals of a professional nature are acceptable.
* On dress down days only - Bermuda length shorts (defined as knee length) are acceptable; shorts that are above the knees are not acceptable.
* Tank tops, halter or tube tops, or any variation there of, are not permitted.
* Appropriate under garments must be worn with all attire.
* Sun dress and/or spaghetti strap dresses and tops are not acceptable.
* Sleeveless dresses of an appropriate length (hem not shorter than the mid-thigh), and sleeveless blouses (not sleeveless t-shirts) are acceptable.

Please note that if you have a client or vendor visiting the office during this time frame, you will be required to wear business casual attire. It is important that employees dress appropriately as you represent the company, and we strive to demonstrate professionalism business workplace amongst our co-workers and clients.

So, did you happen to catch bullet number 4? The fact that that needed to be stated AT ALL makes me ashamed of some of the women with whom I work. I mean, come on. I work in an environment where the FDA could walk in without warning at ANY TIME. The whole email made me shake my head. First of all, who would really want to come to work not wearing a bra? (the chances of that bullet point being addressed towards guys is slim to none, as I’m not sure I’d be able to point out any man going commando.) And second of all, the fact that HR had to email the WHOLE FUCKING COMPANY because of some women not wearing BRAS TO WORK just boggles my mind.

Then, to top it all off, one of the flip flop monkeys (as Heather has taken to calling them) complained about this email after she read it. “Why do they care what we wear?” she wanted to know. I wanted to hit her. I realize that we happen to work in a really laid back office, compared to some of the other offices in my company. But really. Short shorts (daisy dukes, I’m talking about) and mini-skirts are NOT appropriate. Foam sandals are NOT appropriate. We’re not in college anymore. I think the particular girl that complained is confused about where she works. We happen to work in an office where the predominance of employees are under 30. However, that doesn’t mean it’s summer camp every day from May until September. At this point, my office has had three staff meetings in which the sole point was to address the fact that flip flops are not appropriate work attire. Oh my fucking god.

I do have to say that I’m glad that I travel, because if I didn’t, I think I might throw a stapler at someone.

Being an adult absolutely fucking sucks

So you all remember this. Well, now I’m in the midst of fixing it. A friend of mine said he’d install a drain in the floor of the bathroom in the basement, but it turns out that’s not going to be enough. I put in calls to three waterproofers in the area, and got three estimates for the work that needs to be done. The first guy wanted to install french drains around the perimeter of the basement, and intsall a sumppump. Sadly, this man wanted to tear up the drywall in the finished portion of the basement, and wouldn’t put the drywall back. What service! His estimate was $7000.

The second guy, well, he wanted to rip out the drywall and the fucking bathroom, which the first guy said didn’t need to be done. So, his estimate was going to be a bit higher. He wouldn’t even GIVE me a real estimate, until he “drew up some schematics”. Right. That would be AT LEAST $10,000 worth of work.

The third guy was going to do what the first guy wanted to do, only he would put the drywall back. His estimate was $5,000. I went with him.

Basically, they are going to jackhammer about 16 inches away from the wall all the way around the inside of my basement, pull the concrete out, install drainpipe, rocks, a mesh layer and reconcrete. Then, they’ll install a sump pump in the unfinished part of my basement.

And, to top it all off, Evelyn went in for kitty chemo on Monday. She’ll be home on Thursday. The vets say she’s doing well, she tolerated the procedure well, and now we’re just waiting for the radiation levels to decrease.

I went to my bank on Friday to get a home equity loan to cover it all. Talk about adult issues.

Can I go back to kindergarten now?