Wednesday, June 30, 2004

The Boy's Birthday Celebration at 6 Flags New England!!

Yesterday was The Boy's birthday, so 8 of us celebrated by taking a day trip up to the 6 Flags. I got a great deal on passes from AAA. We got tickets for almost half price!!

We spent the day riding rollercoasters and eating fried food. The highlight of the day was a ride on Blizzard River, which is a "white-water rapids" ride. We all got drenched, but the birthday boy got it the worst, getting doused by the waterfall. It was starting to get a little hot running from ride to ride, so we were all refreshed. Aside like feeling like we all peed ourselves, we felt great! We stayed for about 7 hours, finally leaving after the boys went on the Cyclone, an old wooden rollercoaster. They said that they felt like they came within an inch of their lives, and that their experience on the "emotional" rollercoaster was the icing on the cake for a perfect day.

I highly recommend having an amusement park adventure on a random Tuesday. There were hardly any lines to speak of. Maybe that's why I feel like I've had the crap beaten out of me. Since there we no lines, we rode way more rides than we would have on a normal day. Couple that with strong greenhouse effect sunshine, and you feel like you've been binge drinking for about 3 days.

I wouldn't have changed a thing, though. :)

Thursday, June 24, 2004

The Boy

So, if you've been reading this Blog for any period of time, you've heard my mention of “The Boy." He is my boyfriend Dave, the most wonderful person I've ever met in my life. The funny thing? I've known him for close to 10 years and known of him since 8th grade. He grew up in the same town as me, but we went to different schools. He was a bit of a badass as a kid, so I knew him through his notoriety. It wasn't until I met him during college, when I applied for a job at Costco in Milford. He flirted with me and I was amazed that someone with such a tough reputation could be so nice and personable.

Flash forward a few years. I lived in California for a time, and he found himself in Chicago and Colorado. We both ended up back in Milford and became friendly again. APPARENTLY, Dave had a crush on me for about three years before I caught on. I know, clueless Chrysanthemum does it again. But, fate could not be fooled and we finally got together last year, right after my 30th birthday. We've been pretty much inseparable ever since.

I'm gonna marry that man!! :) Come on, he cooks AND knows rockstars! How could I not?

I know you're dying to see what he looks like. I don't have anything online small enough, but I promise that I'll hop to it! Trust me, he's a handsome devil.

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

A New Gig in Paradise!

Just when I thought it couldn't happen, I got offered a new job within my company. I will be transferring to our Shelton office, where I will be working as a... drumroll, please... CONSTRUCTION SCHEDULER!! I know, I know... What the hell is that? Well, I'll have to get back to you on specifics, but the most important thing is that I'm out of the hellhole where I am now! From what I understand, I will be managing the project plans for UI's construction jobs. I'll be working with my good friend Elaine, so I'm psyched. Also, for the first time in 2.5 years, I have an official job title and a "home."

From everything that I've heard, working in Shelton is like working at an entirely different company, which is really appealing to me. That's where all of the engineers take up residence. Anyone who has worked with a engineer or software developer understands it when I say that they're unique personalities. I love their freakish quirks and tend to get along with them famously. I'm really looking forward to getting in there and taking the place by storm.

The great thing about the job? I'll get out at 3. The not-so-great thing? I'll go in at 6:30. Anyone who knows me knows how interesting that will be. My new bosses seem really cool, and I already know I like the person that I'll be working with day to day. Plus, this sets me up nicely for taking classes. The way my schedule will work out, I'll be done with work and school by 6!

More details as they come in...

Matriculation

Okay... I've been negligent in posting, but I have a good excuse. Grad school!!

So, it's official.... I'm a bona fide Graduate student at Southern Connecticut State University. I got my official acceptance letter yesterday. Now I can do all sorts of cool things like get my student ID and my graduate parking pass. My summer online class is wrapping up (only two more assignments to go!) and I have to get myself geared up for my fulltime semester of classes. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. It's been a long time since I've been in proper school.

Mostly I'm just looking forward to finishing and getting myself into a teaching position so that I can have 15 weeks off a year. Let's behonest here. ;)

Saturday, June 19, 2004

100 Demons Tears Up Vermont

Last night the Boy and I went up to Brattleboro, VT to see his friends' band 100 Demons play a show. They're a rocking metal/hard core band straight out of the 'Bury (that's Waterbury, in case you didn't know). They've got the highest combined weight in the business! They played with about a million other bands at this little place in the middle of downtown. In case you've never been there, Brattleboro is a little town in Southern Vermont that pretty much exists on the tourists who come up there during ski season and the hippies who make their home there. It's very cute and quaint.... a very bizarre place for a band like 100 Demons to play. The venue was a little hippie bistro of sorts with handmade Make Love Not War signs all over the place.

It was really hot upstairs where the bands were, so we spent most of the time before the band went on hanging out drinking in the parking lot of the place. I actually got BUSTED by a cop drinking a beer. She made me pour it out. It's a little embarassing to have that happen when you're 31. When finally went upstairs to see 100 Demons go on, we couldn't believe our eyes. It was like a keg party gone bad. I guess kids were moshing in this much too small room. There were gaping holes in the walls and windows were broken. WAY too small a place for the type of show they had.

Of course, the band rocked. The Boy kept me safe from all the hardcore kids in the pit. I think if anyone whacked me, they'd be in a world of hurt. Between Dave, his friends, and the band.... I don't even want to think about it. Luckily, I'm kinda tuff myself and shoved a couple of 'em away. Hee hee... reminds me of high school. By the time the show was over, the place was in some rough shape. Poor hippie business owners and their kindness and ending up with a wrecked shop. We had fun, though. ;-)

Friday, June 11, 2004

Alone in the Crowd

Many companies frown upon the use of instant messenger in the workplace. Mine is no different. They even went as far as to block the applications in our firewall to keep people from connecting. Luckily for me, AOL allows you to connect to their instant messenger through the web, skirting all of those pesky rules. Personally, I find that I am more productive when I am able to IM while I'm doing my work. Well, that's to assume that I actually have work to do, which happens occasionally.

I'm the type of person who needs to keep their brain engaged, or else I start to go batty. If you've read my previous post Another Day in Paradise, you know that the old brain is not so engaged at my place of business on a day to day basis. I find that if I can manage to hold a relatively intellectual conversation while I'm doing my mindless work, I can hang in there through the day.

Kristin is my rock. She is there for me pretty much all day every day. It can be a little rough on us both, since she lives in Austin and is an hour behind. I also come into work at the ungodly hour of 7:30 (but I get to leave at 4, which is really all I have going for me at my job). Basically, she comes in 2.5 hours after I come in and I leave about 3 hours before she goes home. It's okay, though... we keep each other sane in the time in-between.

Sean is my "fun proxy." Sean is the master web searcher of the universe. He is the one I turn to when I'm looking for obscure things on the web. He rarely lets me down. Pretty much every day at bored:thirty, I look to him to entertain me in some way to get me through my afternoon. He'll search the internet far and wide to find things to give me a laugh. He's great at filling the lulls in my day.

Sometimes, all of my IM friends are busy with their work. Damn their employers for making them earn their keep! I actually find comfort in just being around everyone. It's like sitting in a room with someone working silently. You're not directly interacting, but you've got the comfort of someone else's company. I don't think I could get through my day if I lost that.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Dirt Under My Nails

Ths summer, I have the opportunity to do something that I haven't been able to in a few years, play softball. You see, I was a strange kid in high school. I hung out with the artists and dated the skaters (hell, the Boy would skate even now if he had a board). I was also a bit of an athlete. I played fast pitch softball and was even pretty good, managing to earn my league's MVP as a pitcher. It was a strange line to walk. My friends considered me to be a jock and my teammates considered me to be a freak. I kind of liked it that way... You know, to keep 'em guessing. Anyways, as time went on and I got busier (and the little detail of blowing out my knee) playing just kind of slipped to the wayside.

These days, I'm playing on a team in Branford, Donovan's Reef (it's some bar or something around there). It's about a half hour from my house, but it's not too bad. I'm on a coed team with my brother, since they needed another girl. My teammmates are cool, and the league is laid back and not overly competitive. I have a lot of fun. Since it's slow pitch and I'm a fast pitch pitcher (say that ten times fast), I play third base. I love it! It took the first game to get my sea legs, but I feel like I'm really starting to hit my stride. Last night, someone from the other team actually yelled out, "What is up the the third basemen's arm??" Gotta love that. The only thing better than that is when they move way in on you because you're a GIRL and you hit it over their heads. I did that twice this season and now I get the respect I deserve.

All in all, I'm really enjoying myself. The Boy loves to come and watch me act tough. He even told me that for as clumsy as I am off the field (and I am), I really have it together out on the field. I kick around dirt, talk trash, and hit things with a bat. Softball is good for the soul! At least mine. :)

Tuesday, June 08, 2004

Classtastic

An event years in the making.... I am FINALLY updating sasstastic.com. I've neglected my poor little site. It was too hard for me to even think about after Zero died. Then I just got lazy. Now, I'm inspired. I've been working behind the scenes coming up with a snazzy new design. People who I've shown it to have called it artsy, classy, and fancy. I like to think of it as Classtastic, of course! I'm actually really happy with how it came out. So many things have changed since I last updated the site, I can't wait for people to see the new things (and boy and dog) in my life.

Once the site is up and running, I'll be sure to broadcast it to everyone I've ever met to get them to check out my baby's new look. I hope to keep it a living, breathing site this time, so of course any (reasonable) input from the masses are welcome. I can almost hear the nagging now.... When's the hell are you launching the new site?

Eventually this very blog will be on the index page of the new site, so everything will be wrapped up in a neat little package.

Monday, June 07, 2004

Another Day in Paradise

For those of you who may not know, I have what could be argued as the lamest job on the face of the earth. I work for my friendly neighborhood electric utility. I’d rather not name names, but I’m sure if you google electric company new haven, ct and look at the second result, you may be able to figure it out.

Anyways… I’ve been here about two and a half years and it’s a DEAD END. I can honestly say that I’ve never been so held back professionally in my life. This place is your typical utility monopoly. There is a glass ceiling for us women and just forget it if you're young (and in my case, look way younger than your age). Most people here have been employed for at least 15 or 20 years. I went to a breakfast for someone who just reached her 35 year anniversary, and she’s nowhere near retiring! I’m pretty sure that she makes less than I do. I can’t even wrap my mind around that concept. That would mean she started at practically minimum wage. Was the law mandating minimum wage even in effect then?

Okay… Catching my breath. I came here to work on a cool technology project. We were installing SAP’s Customer Information System (CIS). Basically it’s the big database that houses all information for customers, meters, you name it, as well as the front end that allows the phone reps to pull your account information up when you call in to say your lights are out. What a bear of the project, and I learned a lot. The cool thing is that I was involved on the Project Management team and got to attend meetings at all levels and have the inside scoop on most things. The not-so-cool thing is that I was allowed to do that because I was there as their SCRIBE!! Luckily, I didn’t totally snap because I also managed the $25 million budget, which took a little doing.

Now I come from a background where I have run smaller projects and managed teams of my own. I’ve even been referred to as a really good leader. These people just plain refuse to see it. They look at me, assume I’m 21 and shoo me off to a meeting to take notes. I wonder if anyone ever makes the connection between my salary (or maybe even my resume??) and the work that they’re making me do.

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Puppy Dog Eyes

Today I spent the afternoon with my favorite cause, cute cuddly puppies. When I can, I volunteer with a dog rescue group, All Pets Rescue. Basically it's a series of foster homes up and down the east coast that save dogs in need and find them new homes. I've logged many hours and miles helping transport these pups and helping out with fundraising events. This afternoon's event was at the Petco in Manchester, CT. We had a table set up with brownies and balloon animals for the kiddies and a pen with 3 of the cutest puppies you've ever seen. Nothing like the hard sell, eh?

When I got home that night, Logan sniffed at me like I was at a brothel all day. Poor Moosey, he never gets to go anywhere because he's naughty. But you have to admit that he's too durned cute!

Wednesday, June 02, 2004

A Minor Miracle

Wow... Things don't usually work out so neatly for me. I was freaking out about not hearing about the Independent Study class, so I happened to casually look online at the class that I had originally wanted and SOMEBODY HAD DROPPED it. Quick like a bunny, I got myself registered. After the minor trauma of figuring out where exactly online classes actually take place (Southern has THREE separate logins!!), I am good to go. I bought the book and downloaded the fist assignment. Hoo boy! It's going to be a busy 4 weeks. It seems as if the professor doesn't change her cirriculum from the 15 week class to the 4 week class. Looks like my nights will be full for the next few weeks! Actually, anyone who knows me is aware of what a snorefest my job is and that I should be able to get a bunch done from there.

Tuesday, June 01, 2004

School Daze

Well, I've finally made the plunge. I've decided to go back to school to pursue my Master's degree. I think many of you would be shocked to find out that I will be pursuing a degree in Elementary Education. I know that some people are wondering what a geek like me will do in a kindergarten class.... Come on, think about it... really. Rest assured that I've thought long and hard in order to come to this decision. It's definitely a daunting prospect and I'm hoping that my jitters subside once I'm in the swing of the program.

I've decided to return to Southern, where I got my bachelor's degree. It's a great program, NCATE certified, and well respected. The only challenge will be getting through the administrative red tape and matriculate into the Graduate School in order to register for fall classes. I had to take my Praxis I, on which I performed much better than I expected. I had to interview with the Elementary Education department (both interviews took all of 20 minutes TOTAL), write an essay about why I want to become a teacher (which was pretty convincing, if I do say so myself), create a portfolio of all pertinent documents, and do all of the other sundry details to get me accepted into the department. Now, I'm just waiting for the two to communicate one another and get the 5,000 signatures required to actually formally get accepted. At this point, I'm in... I'm just waiting on them.

To get a head start, I decided to take a summer course. I had originally tried to get into the online course Child in the American Culture, but it was full. The department graciously offered to create an independent study course in Social Foundations, which fulfills the same requirement. To make this long story a little less long, I'm still waiting on that paperwork to be processed as well, so I can register and jump into the course. Here's the rub... The first summer session starts TODAY and I haven't heard a peep about anything, despite emails and messages. I'm hoping that this is because commencement was last week and the holidays, but it's just succeeding in making me even more neurotic than I really am. Those of you who know me realize how neurotic that really is.