The Stress Returns

We had a pretty good weekend--well for the most part.

I went to my secretary's son's funeral on Saturday morning. The church was packed. Lots of young kids were there. The service was really nice. My heart just goes out to A and her family. She is having a very difficult time, understandably so. I talked with her a little last night. The police have no leads and lots of leads all at the same time. Some kids are talking but nothing that would lead to an arrest.

The rest of Saturday, I did a little shopping. Sunday was golf. I didn't play to good and neither did Cowboy. It was new course and pretty tough for the first time playing. But the weather was beautiful.

I was starting to feel the stress ebb just a little and then bam--back to work today. It just reminds me of all the work that I have to do on the next 3 weeks. I am just fried! Watch out, October--vacation time for me.

Cowboy did great this evening. When I got home, the yard looked like something out of better homes and garden, just beautiful. Dinner was ready. He had a great jambalaya...so yummy.

He just brought me a brownie with ice cream....gotta love that man.

Oh yeah!

I forgot something from this week. I fired one of my staff on Monday. She so needed to go and continued to lie about the reason that she that she go fired. Apparently, her being fired will provide her with the ammunition to stop my "anti-social" personality from treating people so horribly.

As if I needed more drama in my life........

Week in ReView

So here is my week in review

*Sunday the tragic new of my secretaries son. A very sad situation that keeps me wondering how someone survives losing their child.

* Monday I worked from 8:30a to 9:30p and was so tired. Going from one place to the next and one important thing to the next, making lots of decisions that make my head spin and the lists gets longer an longer.

*Tuesday--repeat Monday but get home at 6:30p--hip hip horray for Taco Tuesday

*Wednesday--repeat Monday and Tuesday--except with one long meeting from noon to 4p and home somewhat early at 5:30p

*Thursday-repeat Monday but home at 8:30p--so so tired and the stress is just one huge know in my neck and jaws.

Friday- repeat every other day of the week but with plans of leaving work early--5:15p--so much for leaving early.

Tomorrow is the funeral and then I have to spend my day writing two proposals.

Sunday--Golf with my hubby!

Can I have more weekend time, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssseeeeee!!!

Good Food

So if nothing else is going good in my life (read to mean work still sucks big time) my wonderful husband makes sure that I am eating well. After an early morning workout, I was surprised by a yummy breakfast of eggs scrambled with ham and onions in them, toast with blackberry jam and fresh tomato.

Then after a long day of work, dinner consisted of grilled pork chops, baked beans and mac and cheese. I am so lucky to have a great husband that can cook!




Just a side note about work--the freak has been exceptionally nice and I got to fire my crazy counselor. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm tired

I have been having a hard time sleeping at night. I am so tired and just want to sleep but I wake up around 2a and can't go back to sleep. I would pay for a good night sleep.

Shocking News

I got a call today about 8a from my secretary. Weird a call on Sunday morning. She was crying hysterical. I never would have imagined what she would say next. She called to tell me that she didn't know when she would be back at work. Her son was murdered last night. He about 15 years old. Someone walked up to the house, specifically his bedroom window and shot him in the head while he was in bed about 11p on Saturday night and he died at 4a on Sunday morning.

What shocking new! I feel so bad for her. She is a single mom trying to raise 3 teenage children on her own. My heart goes out to her and her family.

So So Date/Great Golf

The past couple of weeks we have been playing golf with the son and daughter-in-law. The DIL is pretty new at golfing. We have been riding in the golf carts together. I tend to be a little more patient then her husband and can give her a little better instruction without getting frustrated. However, it tends to throw my golf game off a little because I get more focused on trying to help her than play my own game. I really don't mind a whole lot because I remember being there.

Today was a different story. We played at a brand new course for all of us. I was originally going to ride with my hubby but it didn't end that way. So the DIL and I rode together. Much to my delight, I played really well. I was relaxed and focused on my game the whole day (well, except for four holes). The holes that I struggled on, I still did pretty well. I was very pleasantly surprised with a 93 for the day. Cowboy shot a 89 so I wasn't to far behind him.

Going back a day, I've been working pretty long hours and decided that we needed to have a date night. I left work at 4:30 with plans on hitting a favorite Chinese food place and then going to the movie. I called Cowboy on my way home and left a message for him to call me.

When I get home, no Cowboy. Sadie still in her kennel. Around 5:30, Cowboy calls. "I'm still at an auction with Stevie or maybe I'm on the golf course." "Well, I would say you are on the golf course since your clubs and shoes are gone". I was a little upset but made a decision to remain calm. He knew how important this was to me. He hurried home and we went to dinner and made it to our movie. All was good.

We were talking about it tonight because Stevie told him that I would be pissed and he would be in the dog house. Cowboy commented that he was thankful that I wasn't angry because he thought I knew he was sorry and that he would never do that again. Funny thing about it, I knew that he knew he was wrong. I also believe in my heart that he won't do that again. He wasn't late intentionally. He really did have enough time to play golf but the round was slow.

He won't do it again. And I'll still love him if he does. Although I will be pissed as hell next time.

Camera

Tonight was a night that I needed to have my camera with me. I work in mid-town, not a particually great area of town. I was working late tonight so on my way home I saw the most intriguing thing.

There was a black gentleman probably around 60 years old walking down the street with a graduation cap and gown on.

I needed my camera.

People are very interesting.

HOA

We have lived in our neighborhood for 21 months. For 12 of those months, I have been the vice-president of the home owners association. (Really, I'm not sure how I get myself into these situations) and it looks like I will be the next president. The current president I am quite certain has never been the president of anything. Which bring me to the reason that I'm writing about this.

Two weeks ago, she put out a notice of the next meeting. She didn't follow any of the bi-laws and it upset the "old timers" of the neighborhood. So we "the newcomers" were summonsed to a meeting with the "old timers". Oh what fun.

The outgoing president was pretty defensive. I, being the good social worker that I am, got to play the very diplomatic voice of the group. Times are a changin' my dear "old timers". Times are a changin'.

I'm going to have a fun year.

Sadie Update

So I posted a picture of the nasty spot on Sadie's toe. Oh the woes that go with that. She was put on antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory on that Saturday. Then about Tuesday in the middle of the night, I woke up to her puking. Big pile of puke on the bedroom floor at 1:30a, so I got up to clean it up. Then on Wednesday, she wasn't eating right. Not eating her breakfast and turning up her nose at dinner. She also puked three more times that day much to Cowboy's dismay. So on Thursday, I took her off all the medication. Her foot was looking better but still not healed. I called the vet and he gave me a different medication. I started her on the pills on Saturday. She did fine for a couple of days but then went back to not eating and seeming to have an upset stomach. Her foot is still not healed all the way but I have decided to take her off the pills again.

The one area that I feel like a total failure with my Sadie is when she not feeling well. I wish she could tell me what was wrong and I wish that I could fix it for her. I really hate it when it when my baby girl is sick.

Poor Sadie.

I'm tired

After one day of work, I'm tired. It could be because I didn't sleep well last night. Although I should have, our weekend ended up being a little more busy than we planned.

Saturday was playing golf. I didn't shoot very well but it was fun. We went grocery shopping afterwards and then just hung out. Around 10 o'clock I get a call from my big sis asking if my nephew and his family could crash at our house. No problem for me. I went to tell Cowboy and it threw him off his square. He is a planner and doesn't like surprises. It took him about 5 minutes to gather his wits and then he was great.

So we had a whirlwind overnight stay of my nephew, and his family. Cowboy got up and made a great breakfast for all of us. Then it was off to the Wizards professional soccer game for a fundraiser. I don't like soccer and our seats were by the die-hard's section where they pounded on a drum for a solid 90 minutes. Yuck! Don't think I'll be going back anytime soon.

Last night, Sadie and I got caught walking in thunder/rain storm. We were soaking wet when we got home. So I was a tired puppy.

I think I thought about work all night when I was sleeping so I didn't really get any rest. Cowboy and I were up and at the gym by 5:30a so hopefully I'll sleep tonight!

A long week.

I don't want to complain about work on here all the time. I'm sick of being overwhelmed by it so until it calms down I'm not going to complain about it again.

Last night, Cowboy and I hopped on the motorcycle (side note: we're watching Rudy as I write this and even though I seen it 100x, I'm still crying) and went out for Mexican food. We meet up with the son and DIL. Good food. Then off to the pet store to look at the puppies. They had a baby boxer that was adorable. I kept telling Cowboy we either needed a puppy or a baby. He would just smile and shake his head.

I told the son that we could call him "uncle" instead of having a little brother (32 years apart).

Today is off to play golf. Tomorrow is a soccer game-not that I know anything about soccer but it's a fundraiser for a wonderful program, Amethyst Place. It is a transitional living program for women and their children as they work on their recovery.

Relaxing the rest of the time.

He's the Man.

I went to work at 7a yesterday and got home at 7p last night. Today, it was work at 8a and home at 8p. Cowboy asked why I was working so late since I was the boss. He thinks that I should delegate to others. I wish it were that simple.

However, when I got home he had mowed the yard, cleaned the house, taken care of my sick dog, had grilled chicken and squash ready on the stove. And then, he made brownies, melt in your mouth brownies.

He's the MAN!

bye-bye miata

Our beloved Miata found a new home last Saturday. Cowboy and I discussed it for a long time and finally decided that we needed to sell the car. We didn't really need three vehicles and I was driving it less and less. We now have the motorcycle so that will be our fun mode of transportation. I was a little sad but felt pretty okay when I saw the cash go into the bank and think about getting new counter tops for the kitchen.

The car went to a cute 83 year old man who brought his girlfriend of 15 years with him to look at the car. He had just given up riding motorcycles and still wanted to have some fun. He emailed Cowboy yesterday and reported that he had a problem with the car. His problem was that all his kids and grand kids were showing up at his house to drive and ride in the car and he wasn't able to drive it himself. Isn't that cute.

A Super Long Weekend

So I decided to take a few days off. I've been working very long hours and had plans to have my niece and nephew come to the big city and stay with us.

Friday night, Sadie was licking her paw and when I investigated, I found this disgusting sore on her foot. I'm not sure where she got it and when she got it but her toe was swollen and the sore was just nasty. So early, Saturday morning I called the vet and off we went for a drop in appointment. They were going to work her in between appointments but when we got there our very nice vet went ahead and saw her. $85 dollars later with antibiotics and an anti-inflammatory we were on our way. Not sure what caused it but we are watching it.

Then it was off to the farm. We stopped by Mom and Dad's for a visit. I helped Mom set up her new digital camera and uploaded her pictures from her vacation so she could have the prints sent to her home. Then it was off to the big birthday party for my nephew. BooMan turned 14 on August 2nd but was traveling from NC to KS so today was the big party.

Part of our birthday present to him was to bring him back to the city for some golf. Sunday we played with our friend Steve. It was Steve and I against BooMan and Cowboy. We lost by 4 stokes compliments of me. My short game was bad. BooMan got a new hybrid and played well.

Monday morning, I had to go to work to take care of time cards and give a corrective action to an employee. Cowboy took BooMan to golf. They played 36 holes and just had a blast. I ended up working until 11ish and then met my mom and sister for lunch and the pass off of Lil' Miss. It was the girls day to do a little shopping. So off we went. I haven't shopped for 11 year olds for a long time so it was fun. Check out one of her favorite outfits.

Sunday night was dinner and then out for frozen custard. BooMan beat me at golf on the Wii and then off to bed. Today was family day. My brother and his wife brought up my oldest niece on their way to pick up their kids. My sister and her husband and three grand kids also came to the big city. We all packed up and headed to the water park. What a perfect family day. I would have been better if Cowboy had been able to join us--the dentist had other plans for him.

It was good to have a break from work but I know I will pay for it for the next week or so. I'm starting to get stressed just thinking about it.

The Freak

I work with a Freak. He is absolutely crazy and is making me nuts at my work and adding stress where there is already more than is needed.

Just a bit of history, the Freak has no boundaries and used to come in my office to talk for hours. Then he sent me a very passive aggressive email about something that I had nothing to do with, it was pretty out of line. So I back off from having any conversations with him that didn't relate to work. He then had a break down at work and started crying and playing a victim. At that point, I was done.

I have worked hard at having civil working relationship. Then about three weeks ago, he yelled at two of my co-workers and then started a round of emails that were nuts. I responded to the emails and then next 8 emails were very defensive and blaming. He's f***ing nuts. I finally stopped responding.

Tuesday, he called me and left some jumbled message. I called him back and he told me to just "deal" with it. Well, okay. I had no idea what he was talking about. Come to find out, my co-worker told him that she knew about the problem and was going to deal with it. So he then blames me and tells me to "deal with it".

He then wanted me to fill out a spreadsheet about door locks. I told him I didn't have time to do that and his response was that he was going to call our CFO and he hung up. I'm so done with it by this time.

I talked with the CFO about how crazy he was and about how done I was with him. The Freak then sent me an email doing what I wanted in the first place. Then today, the Freak called me and we were having a civil conversation when I told him that he needs to look at his part in all this shit. He said he did and this was all about me. He is crazy. I hung up on him.

The Freak then talked with a co-worker and told him that I was a "control-freak" and there was a conspiracy to plot against him. First of all, what the F*** and secondly, I don't have that kind of time. The co-worker also revealed to me that he is attributing some things to me that I don't have anything to do with.

I'm so done with the Freak. He needs to go check into the nut house and leave me alone.

Just ranting.....

Taco Tuesday

It's be a long stressful day so I called Cowboy and reminded him that it was Taco Tuesday and I would treat. We both got home after a long day and hopped on the motorcycle and headed out for taco's. Yummy. We to our favorite cheese dip, and two tacos each all for under $10. Love Taco Tuesday.

I'm very stressed about work and am working long hours. Sometimes it gets better and other days it's not so good. Lots of changes and lots of anxiety.

Have I told you

So Cowboy and I do this thing. I'll say, "Have I told you that I love our house?" and he'll reply with something about it being a couple of weeks or not lately or something along those lines and then when I say "well, I do love our house." He say something like "it's okay" or "it's pretty nice."

Tonight on the way home from work, he turned the tables on me and said "Have I told you told you lately that I love you and I love our house?"

"No"

"Well, I love you and I love our house"

Aaaahhhhh....that's the first time he said he loved our house.

I Scream for Ice Cream

We go through phases of eating ice cream before bed time. I now have a favorite flavor....peach ice cream. Yum-Yum. We went out to dinner with the neighbors and we brought home some peach cobbler and add the peach ice cream. I'm going to be in heaven.

A little Relaxation

Last night I got to meet up with three of my good friends. I love these women and feel bad about not seeing them more often. We met for dinner at 6:30p and left at 10:30p. The conversation was good. It was so good catching up and I was reminded how blessed I am to have such good women friends. It was the perfect ending to such a stressful week.

This morning Cowboy and I got up and took a walk to the Farmer's Market. It is about a three mile walk and was very nice out. Sadie loved it and acted like a puppy bouncing all over the area. We bought some fresh peaches, jalapenos and two amazing homemade cinnamon rolls from the Amish ladies. The cinnamon rolls are enough to motivate me to walk back there every weekend. It was a nice morning with one exception--you guessed it, Cowboy.

On the way back, I just wanted to kick his ass, if I could have caught up with him. He took off like he was race walking. I had to run to catch up with him and then fell behind again. I yelled at him asking him to wait for me since I thought it would be nice to have this morning walk together. But, no, he wanted to keep his "heart rate up". It wasn't like I was slow poking along, but I did have a dog and the precious cinnamon rolls. The trail was busy and I would have to slow down for the bikes, kids, walkers and for her to nose around. UUGGHH....MEN

Finally, he sort of got the hint that he was pissing me off and slowed down and walked the last 1/2 mile with me.

We played golf with the son and DIL. I was hot on the course today. I beat Cowboy on the front 9 by one stroke and only lost to him by 4 strokes. I was very happy with my play.

I needed to go to work today but I didn't make it. So tomorrow morning, I need to go into work for about 4 hours and then we'll have the rest of the day for play. I hate giving up my weekends but really have no other choice.