Hit the Ground Yawning

Didn't realize it had been so long since my last posting. Lots happening.

1) My dad bought a place in Viola so he can build his house. Now he has to sell the Troy house so he can afford to build it. He got an offer, but it's contingent on the selling of a house and this isn't the best season to sell. If everything works correctly, then it’ll close after Christmas.

2) I received the e-mail below which pissed me off. It’s from the woman with whom I have had so many issues with the renovation and demanding this or that.

Once I felt like we were friends, then you became [bossman's] administrative assistant and our friendship took a turn for the worse. I feel very bad about what has happened because of that, and know a lot of what happened was beyond your control. …Unfortunately our friendship will never be the same and for that I am truly saddened. I would do anything to make it right between us. [My husband] and I have built a very strong bond with the Moscow community and people want to help our family during this time of grief. My e-mails to [her husband’s department] have been forwarded and forwarded to the point where I am hearing from people throughout the country, yet I discovered that people like [faculty member] hadn’t even heard about [my husband’s] condition, and as a colleague he felt horrible. In the future I hope that you would forward these messages to the group e-mail list as [my husband] is colleagues with so many people in [our department], and most of the people in the department care about me too and would like to help. I have learned some life’s lessons I never cared to learn in the past few years. One is that politics can get in the way of friendships. It should be the other way around……

So, I was bossman’s stooge and did his bidding, she had no part in anything, it was all his fault, and I didn’t broadcast her e-mails about her dying husband to the entire world and am therefore a bad person. Hmmm. Firstly, fuck you Looney Toon. Secondly, there are privacy laws and forwarding the e-mails without your express direction could have landed me in a lot of trouble and those who knew him definitely knew that he’d been dying for the last 11 years. And clogging everyone’s inboxes when they don’t know her isn’t something that I wanted to do. I did forward the messages to a former co-worker who likes the stupid woman so I was the bigger person. Third, I see that I am a ladder climber who was only bossman’s stooge to further my career. I cleaned up my response a bit before sending it. I was very diplomatic. Then I got a “I didn’t even think of that.” In reference to the privacy issues and a, “P.S. Still hoping we can be friends.” Yes! Of course!

3) Other stupid co-worker (back-stabber, not mental patient) asked if I’d be on her list of people to call if something happened to her kids at school. I don’t care for her anymore, but I still do like her kids so I was a softy and said yes. I’m third on the list so I doubt it’ll come to that anyway.

4) My dad has been here so often working on houses that I’m getting so sick of eating out and we’ve gone through the fast food eateries about four times each. Every weekday is McDonalds. I tried to hint that we could have cereal at least on day. A week from tomorrow, we head to California for a week so eating habits will only get worse.

5) I went out to spend the night at Stacey’s last Sunday because she had to drive a puppy to Spokane to catch a plane to its new home and her husband was out hunting. She had to be up there at 4:00 Monday morning so she went Sunday night. She showed me how to feed the 5 dogs and then she left. Before I let them out to potty, I went out to check the gate (once bloodhounds are out they follow a sent and won’t come back) and promptly locked myself out of the house. I let myself out of the kennel, re-clasped the gate, couldn’t find the spare key in the dark; started to panic a bit since sleeping kid and 5 unsupervised loose dogs were in the house and I wasn’t, and told myself that the kitchen window would be unlocked. It was. I dove through the tiny window, went back downstairs, let the dogs out and went to double check the gate. Promptly locking myself out again! You’ve got to be kidding me!! Moved everything off of the windowsill, dove through the window and left the things off because I wasn’t about to have to move them again. Went down stairs and called Stacey to tell her what an idiot I am. Let the dogs in, gave them a cookie and put them in their crates and went to bed. Had a nightmare that I hadn’t fed the dogs dinner and Stacey came back for something at 9:30 and was going to leave again so I waited for her to leave so I could feed the dogs and she’d never know. Kid starts to screaming because her room is so hot. Stacey comes back when she heard the screaming (gotta feed the dogs before Stacey finds out). “I checked her thermostat before going to bed, Stacey!” Stacey trying to find something so she could leave, me trying all three diapers I can find and none fitting the kid (gotta feed the dogs). Then I wake up and realize “Holy shit! I didn’t feed the dogs dinner!” It’s 3:55 so I pull on clothes that can get slobbery, run downstairs, let the dogs out so they can be called in one by one, per Stacey’s instructions. Grab the first bowl of dog food, put some water on it and it was then that I realize that I let the nightmare get the better of me. Stacey fed them before she left. I am to feed them breakfast at 6:00. I bring the dogs in, apologize for waking them by giving them a cookie while I put them back in crates and change my clothes and go to bed. Get up to disable the smoke alarm that’s chirping for a battery and sleep fitfully until 5:50 when I get up to feed the dogs their breakfast. I told her that I definitely need a checklist if I’m going to do that again so I’ll know that I can go to bed without nightmares or at least not have them get the better of me. By the way, the feeding of the dogs and getting the kid up and dressed worked like clockwork.

6) Clem is off at college and may be a little home-sick. She’s been IM-ing everyday. She changed her major form Politcal Science-Public Law to English Lit. I knew she always wanted to be like me. :)

7) Girl's weekend is in Salt Lake City this year. I have one full weekend after California before going. Then everything should calm down a bit. Well, then work gets hectic.

8) The interim chair was made term chair until June 2009. He's not full time chair until late Ocotber so I'm still not sure how he'll be...except that he never answers e-mails.