I Want A Wii Too!

Ok, I have to admit I don't care about video games, never thought I would need to jump on the bandwagon and buy an xbox or playstation or wii... until now. Went over to my sisters house last Saturday night (kind of to be set up with this guy) and they just purchased one for themselves for Christmas and I have to admit, they are totally fun! And had cute new guy not been there I would have been all over those games! I didn't want to try the tennis or boxing or the "shoot the giant spiders" game in case I looked stupid, I did however bowl and it was not only really fun to do but it was good exercise. And now that I know all the different kinds of games they have - well heck, I want in on this! So in one night I went from "I don't care about the wii" to "I need to figure out how to get a wii" lol! Nicholas is going to be so happy when I come home with one someday!

You Will Learn How To Use This Computer Or Else!

So the company I work for merged with a larger company late last year and as of January 1st we have many, many changes to adapt to. New paperwork, new policies and procedures, new benefits, new payroll, etc. Change is always hard but usually good for us. I manage a very nice apartment complex and have 3 employees under me and I swear to God, my maintenance guy just about pushed me to my limit today! He's 54 and completely computer illiterate. Our new payroll system has each employee logging their own hours into a website and submitting them that way. It took me a couple of minutes the first time I did it, no big deal. Now maintenance guy, I'll just call him "Tim," took over 2 hours this morning and I thought I was going to lose my mind. What's sad is this is the second time we have done this so it shouldn't be so foreign this time around but it was a complete disaster. He is physically incapable of using the mouse. He couldn't click on a damn thing! He hit the wrong buttons, he was completely baffled by having to use the backspace key, he looked at me like I was crazy when I told him to push the shift key plus whatever letter he wanted to capitalize....ugh. I sat with him and did a lot with him and he complained about this every single minute of those two hours... "I could do this with a pen in just a matter of minutes" grumbles "Tim." I come back with "This is really easy stuff, you're just not used to using the computer. It will get easier every time you do it" and he kept right on complaining about it. While he was complaining about this it would slow him down even more and he kept getting logged out because his time had expired! I started out seated next to him, somewhat calm. Over the course of two hours I was pacing the room, rubbing my neck because it was killing me (Tim's fault!), rubbing my head because it was killing me (Tim's fault!), running my hands thru my hair, thus messing it up (Tim's fault) and basically just jumping out of my skin! I'm ok with teaching people new things but when they have a lousy attitude and just bitch about it I get really ticked off! Finally after he was timed out for the 5th time and I had lost precious time at my desk I snapped! He brought up yet again how he doesn't understand why we can't just do it on paper like before and I said "Ok, that's enough. You are just going to have to accept that this is how it's going to be from now on. You are accomplishing absolutely nothing just sitting here bitching about it and this is wasting both of our time. You may as well resign yourself to the fact that this company is going to see to it that you know how to use a computer. And no, I'm not going to do this for you, this is your responsibility. Now stop complaining and finish putting in your hours or you are simply not going to get paid." OMG, was that harsh or what? But it worked! He shut up and put the rest of his hours in and then I had him get the hell out of dodge! I just downed 3 Ibuprofen for my aches and pains and so far no relief but I can at the very least say that "Tim Maintenance Guy" is going to get paid!

Our New "Pets"

Well Christmas has come and gone - always amazing how fast it all goes. On one hand I hate taking everything down but on the other, I'm ready for my apartment to get back to normal! Christmas was lots of fun - on Christmas Eve Nicholas left out a plate for Santa and I'm sorry to say he chose 6 cookies, a candy bar and two Hershey's kisses to leave for him. I ate one of the cookies completely, took a bite out of another and managed the two Hershey's kisses - the rest went into the trash. Santa was feeling a bit sickly after that! Anyhow, Nicholas got tons of stuff and was very happy with his gifts but there are two new ones I need to mention specifically. Thanks to my sister Becky we now have a fish again. I will admit that she did ask my permission at first and I begrudgingly said yes but I added a "When this fish dies Larry better be coming to town to dispose of the body for me". Anyhow, Nicholas got a very cool Pirate aquarium and a very pretty red, blue and purple beta fish he named GI Joe. That name lasted exactly one day - on Friday his name was switched to Jedi. Nicholas is on a bit of a Star Wars kick, more on that in a minute. Anyhow, we got the tank set up and Jedi now lives in Nick's room. I'm a little panicked that on the days Nicholas is at his father's house I will forget all about Jedi but so far I'm aware he is there and feeding him accordingly! When I came home yesterday I let our dog Peanut out of his cage and did the whole "Mommy's home!" dance with him. I sat on the couch and a few minutes later started feeling kinda bad so I went to Nick's room and walked up to the fish tank. I bent down eye level to Jedi and said "I'm home! Mommy's home, did you miss me?" and sure enough, that fish didn't give a damn. Didn't even know I was ever gone lol! Having a fish again is going to be an experience! All that hard work and no love in return!!! Anyhow, as I said earlier, Nicholas is all about Star Wars! And I think it's really cool because I was when I was little too. He was a Storm Trooper this year for Halloween and I realized that many, many light years ago, when I was a 6 year old I went as Princess Leia! How cool is that? Well his big gift from me was this voice controlled R2-D2 that I ordered online and it is the coolest thing ever! It's about two feet tall and when you turn him on he does all kinds of things! He is programmed to do a bunch of stuff (although Nicholas asked him what 10+10 was and of course, that is not something he is programmed to do!) This little guy was expensive but I'm already very sure he was worth the money as I have been playing with him even though Nicholas is gone this week! It's really fun to see Peanut react to him - it freaks him out! R2 can even dance and play light tag and when he "found me" during a game and sang a happy little song I blurted out "Good boy, you found me!" before I could even stop myself! Uh yeah, that's why I am considering him a pet too, he is capable of making grown adults treat him as if he were real! So Michelle and Nicholas Craven are now the proud owners of Peanut the dog, Jedi the beta fish, and R2-D2 the robot! It's pretty crazy around our house but it's lots of fun!!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

When I woke up this morning I was quite startled to realize that tomorrow is Christmas Eve! I love making to do lists, I'm a big fan of it and it works for me but I must have been slacking because I still had a lot to do! So I left early and finished my last minute shopping - a gift card for my Grandpa, stocking stuff, baking supplies, etc. I whipped up a batch of fudge! On my lunch hour today I finished wrapping everything except for Peanut's gifts (yes, our dog gets presents from us AND Santa!). Tonight I will make chocolate dipped pretzels and cookies and start cleaning my apartment since the family will be over eating tomorrow night after church. My mind isn't on work at all, I have a half hour left tonight and four hours tomorrow morning. So stupid to have to come in at all - people are NOT looking for apartments on Christmas Eve! Plus we have another snow storm coming in! Oh well, I'll just screw around on the computer and write Nicholas a letter from Santa. He is in Yakima with his father today and I have to go pick him up tomorrow night at 9:30. Not thrilled about that but I'll be able to put him to bed at my home and see him wake up to all the joys of Christmas morning and he's mine the whole day!!!! I tell you what, sharing your child sucks. I want him to myself. He's got quite a Christmas to look forward to and I cannot wait for him to open his presents! But mostly I can't wait to go to my parents house for the entire day and spend it with my family, eating, playing games, watching movies and just hanging out. And for the first time in years we will definitely have a white Christmas and it's absolutely beautiful! This hasn't been a great year for me and I've been struggling with it a lot the past few weeks but when I think about how much luckier I am then so many other people in this world I am extremely grateful for my family and friends, my health, my job and home and I wish everybody a very Merry Christmas!!!

Oh To Be A Kid Again!

December was always a huge, huge deal to me! My birthday is on the 20th and when you are a kid, to have your birthday AND Christmas in one week - well that was always the biggest week of the year! I am a Christmas freak - I want the dream Christmas they show in commercials - waking up on Christmas morning to find it had snowed, spending time with your family around the tree, waking up to a diamond necklace on your pillow (ok, that's kinda annoying, those jewelry commercials must really make life hell for men out there.) Every year I wish for a white Christmas and we rarely, rarely get it but this year it looks entirely possible! Even last week I was so excited for it to snow and then I got exactly what I asked for (which rarely happens.) So I set out Monday morning with Nicholas in the car and all of a sudden I turned into a big poopy adult. The car started slipping on the bypass highway and any joy I was taking in "the pretty snow!" went right away. Nicholas was chatting happily away about it in the backseat as I gripped the steering wheel, white-knuckled and told him "MOMMY CANNOT TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW, I HAVE TO CONCENTRATE!" He was disappointed I think but there is nothing more important than getting my precious cargo to daycare safetly, so for that, I do not feel guilty. But when I picked him up later in the day he was lollygagging thru a field, taking his sweet time and enjoying the snow in every way possible. I'm trying to avoid stepping in it while he makes sure he jumps in every snow pile there is. He scoops it up in his hands to eat it and I yell at him about dirty snow and wet gloves. And then I look at his smiling red face and realize that he is behaving exactly the way a 6 year old boy should and I am suddenly reminded how exciting snow was to me, even as little as a week ago. Kids are supposed to jump in the snow and eat it and get wet and talk nonstop about wanting to make snowmen and snowangels. I need to chill out! Let him enjoy it, I always did when I was little! So while I am not changing my driving habits (yes, that is me you passed going 15 miles per hour and glaring at you as you fly by me) I am now taking as much joy in how beautiful it makes it, how extra Christmassy everything looks, and I too cannot wait to go outside with my child and have fun. I forgot for a brief moment but I remember now, snow truly is magical this time of year. Let It Snow!!!!