This is going to be an incredibly busy and rewarding month:

June 4: BIRTHDAYS!!
June 5: Blinds finally installed.
June 7-8: Max and Adina in town!
June 12: Starved Rock
June 18: Massage
June 19: Dim sum and Gaming League
June 20: Father's Day
June 22-24: Jon in town (TBC)
June 25-28: Jill, Kelsi, and Sally in town!
June 29: LOWELL'S BIRTHDAY OMG

WHEW. Methinks I will need all of July to recover. XD

Today has been very...odd, I guess. I spent most of my morning being irritable and then sad. Now that the work issues have been more or less resolved, I am more or less resigned to the rest of the day. I have to go shopping with my boss around 3:00 PM for wine, fruit, and possibly dessert for the mini-party-thing he is throwing for the professional choir. I believe we are ording a Thai curry thing, as well, but I am waiting for a confirm from him on that. After I am all set up with that, I get to babysit for about two and a half hours. I will then bolt out of the building and head to the Metra, as that is the mode of transportation I've opted for to get home. I will have a cheap but delicious martini at the bar in the train station, take the train to Morton Grove, then take a nice evening walk home. Booyah.

I will need to go get another small coffee when Ricardo heads over for a meeting at 2:00 PM. I'm assuredly drowsy right now. This mid-late afternoon sleepiness thing is killing me.

Well, not foiled really. Lazy. Did not do jack yesterday, and knowing me, probably will not today. I do have rehearsal this evening, which I must go to, but otherwise...who knows. I know I'll probably cave and do the dishes, which is stupid, but they're driving me crazy. This is something that needs to get sorted out. Lowell helps sort laundry on occasion, but that's about the extent that he does. Yet I do the dishes, when I swore I wouldn't. That's not going to work. I'm going to get resentful and mean, and it's unnecessary. Yet I know I will do it. So we need to sort this out in some other way.

I'm vaguely remembering that I had similar sleeping problems (waking every hour, tossing and turning, etc.) this time last year. I'm wondering if it's just a winter thing. Or just a thing. I go through these phases periodically. I resorted to Ny-Quil last night, but it didn't do a ton of good. I fell asleep faster, to be sure, but did not stay asleep. Falling asleep faster is good, though, because I get annoyed when I don't fall asleep quickly, and thus keep myself awake longer. I am a ball of irritated contradictions, it seems.

My stomach is rebelling again. I am now nervous about drinking my usual macchiato, lest it upset it further. But it's sitting there, looking at me, asking to be imbibed...blargh. I think Christian forgot to put the vanilla in it, though, 'cause it definitely tastes more like a regular latte than anything else. Oh, well.

My hair still has a bunch of red in it. I am taking small steps to get back to the natural, though. I could color zap it, like I did with the dark brown/black, but the last time I did that, it only sufficiently zapped the color on top of my head; the rest didn't really fade too much. This definitely gave me bad hair for a few months as I got back into the dark red game and got regular haircuts. The best solution is to go to a salon and get it taken care of, but as of right now, I know I don't have the money to do that. Guess we'll have to wait until after Easter for that. Le sigh.

The combination of shampoo, conditioner, and product that I'm using is making my hair super soft, though. Definitely loving it.

I will get to phone calls today. This I guarantee. I've steeled myself to it, and it will get done.

I thought I had the right copy of my marriage certificate so as to go get my name changed. I was not correct. After cursing other Social Security office patrons for stealing parking spots I had wanted for about fifteen minutes (the Mt. Prospect office parking lot fails), I finally parked elsewhere, signed in, and thought myself ready to go. Alas, after an hour of waiting, I was told I needed the certificate with the seal before I can get a new card. So I guess I'll be back next Friday, if they are open.

I did get a nice drive home out of the deal, though. And on a lovely day like today, that's a great thing.

I'm working on getting some work done around the house today rather than just sit around. Crazy, I know. What's my deal?

What I've done so far:

--cleaned kitchen
--started laundry
--organised list of RSVP cards in order I will write thank yous
--cleaned off desk
--moved wedding photos from FB to computer; will start burning to CDs this weekend

It's not much, but it's a start. I feel good.

But also very tired. Time to make more coffee.

Would that I could call in sick today. You could not get a more glorious spring morning than we have right now. It looks like it can only get more awesome from here. Well, at least I can drive to work with the windows down, and wear a skirt, and find many an excuse to get out of the office and out in the weather. Who cares if it'll be at least five degrees cooler downtown? Certainly not me! Today will be lovely, even if the boss finds something to panic about, which he inevitably will.

Despite disliking the baristas and the atmosphere at the Starbucks across from the gym, I got one of the best iced macchiatos I've had in a while from there this morning. Would that I had sat on the enclosed porch and enjoyed it rather than at my computer. Oh, well. Tomorrow will mark one of the last Starbucks I have for about a fortnight, since tomorrow's paycheck is already spoken for. Booyah. ><

I keep putting off meeting with the florist, which is probably a bad idea. But unless I'm going to head down to have lunch with my mother and sister for the latter's birthday, I'd much rather not drive around like a madwoman tomorrow if I can avoid it. There's plenty to be done around the house, and I think I'd rather spend tomorrow doing that, if I can. If I can't, then that's that.

Suppose I should suck it up and get ready for work...BOO.

It is already "one of these days", as the saying goes. Traffic was horrid. I left my umbrella at home. I left my shoes at home. My coffee order was made wrong. Luckily, there are plus sides to all of these. Yes, traffic was horrid, but I was able to vent a bit via twitter (hopefully not annoying people in the process). No umbrella means I get to experience nature or some nonsense. I will be comfy all day in my flip flops, and since pretty much no one is at work today, it doesn't really matter that I look like a big pile of blah. The coffee order was iced instead of hot, but otherwise was fine, hence my not pitching a fit (so long as they make it with skim milk so I don't die, I'm generally happy). And there's not much to worry about in the office thus far. A few minor tasks, a few tedious phone calls, some more work on the calendar for next season and such nonsense...not too bad.

I am already breaking my "week at the gym" resolution. This is my own fault. Instead of putting my gym clothes in the laundry basket, I left them on the floor of the bathroom, where they have been summarily stepped upon and littered, as it were. So instead, I will spend the evening doing laundry in two places. I will start my home laundry, then take our comforter to the laundrymat to take care of that; it's too big to fit in our washer and dryer, and the boy cat threw up on it this morning. He's been eating the fabric off the curtains that the cats have summarily destroyed, so it's no wonder he did.

A few purchases will have to be made this weekend, come hell or high water:

--wedding invitations
--vertical blinds
--one (1) new shirt

These are necessary this weekend for the following reasons:

1) We have to get the invitations to our sponsors in the Philippines ASAP, so they can get the approval to come to the wedding.
2) The curtains look like ass, thus making our house look incredibly shabby both to people inside and passersby.
3) The one (1) new shirt I bought 'cause it was on sale for 6 USD at Target was perfect, 'cept I already tore the front of it. Guess I will have to cough up 8 USD for a similar one.

The next two weeks will be tight, money wise, but not much can be done about that. 'tis the way of the world, indeed.

I am convinced that my boss is on mood-altering medication, or bi-polar, or something to that effect. He has been on such a good mood kick this week, it's almost scary. I told him several things he didn't want to hear yesterday, and he was still in an excellent mood and handled the information extraordinarily well. It's his day off, but I believe he's coming in either right before the 12:10 mass or right after to do some work, so we'll see how he is then. I am not complaining about this. It's a little off-putting, but right now, I am not complaining.

Today is as follows:

--call brides
--mail cantors
--work on calendar
--fix SCC sign-in sheets
--copy music
--laundry at home
--laundry at laundrymat
--clean kitchen
--clean bedroom
--clean living room (futon mattress away!)
--check auctions on WoW

My Horde alt FINALLY hit 30 yesterday! With the changed level requirements for the riding skill, that means she was able to get her kodo mount! WHOO! Kodo, kodo!

Lord knows I will not be the least bit productive for these last ninety minutes. I spent the majority of today putting together packets for the Women's Schola, and my brain is just off from doing that. I did it right, which is something. I was waiting for my boss to tell me I put the wrong GA in the Good Friday packet or something.

We are going to have four (four?!) masses offered during the 9:30 and 11:00 AM slots on Easter Sunday. FOUR! Methinks Fr. Matt is being a little overzealous, but then again, this is Fr. Matt. He takes his liturgy very seriously. Last year, we needed to have three masses during those time slots on Easter Sunday, with the third added literally that day. I don't think we turned anyone away, but I may be wrong. Either way, FOUR?! We had just barely gotten square with three masses. Oh, well.

I am just now starting my first coffee of the day. I tried to brew a pot this morning, and got it all started before hopping in the shower. When I got out, I found the brewer thingy overflowing, and not thinking, I grabbed near the brewer thingy to move it to clean. The space between my left forefinger and thumb (Balderdash taught me this word...what is it?) still hurts a bit from the burn I got from the stupid coffee maker. Instead of brewing another pot of coffee, I got frustrated and opted for beer instead. I am a good Irishwoman. When I found myself falling asleep at work, however, I pulled out my trusty Starbucks card (thank God for Nana) and went on me merry way.

...I broke me hip and lost my job. Hee hee. That just popped into my head now.

The internet connection in this office has been a bit wronky. Here's hoping I'll be able to post this entry before it goes sour again.

It's so nice out today! What I wouldn't have given to have sat out on the hill at DePaul for the vast majority of it...le sigh.

The baby boy did not come to the office last night, but a baby girl did. The cantor couple I occasionally babysit for did a baby swap between rehearsals in my office, so I got to see both girls, baby and otherwise. I am babysitting for them proper on Sunday evening, so I have to remember to fill my bag with about twelve stuffed animals. There's a goal for the weekend; run all the plushies through the wash, as many of them have been boxed since October. Gotta have goals.

Speaking of, my goal for today is to use the phone. There's a few calls I need to make, some professional, some personal, and I want to make sure I get all of them done. I hate the phone, so this is going to bite. Oh, well.

It's already been a blah kind of day. I missed the first train (surprise, surprise), and then as soon as I arrived at the second train, I found my train pass was missing. I then had to schlep back to the house, get the pass, then schlep back. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't raining, but what can you do? Luck was kind of on my side, though, as the trains were all running about ten minutes late. So instead of waiting twenty minutes for the next train, I waited two. Not too shabby. Still got to work half an hour late, though.

I think I'm going to have to finally bite the bullet and cut Starbucks down to Tuesday and Thursday evenings only. I should have done this a long time ago, but here we are. That'll save me a significant amount of money each month, to be sure. It will also prompt me to wake up early enough to brew a pot of coffee at home on Monday and Wednesday. I have some great coffee at home but am not drinking it simply because I'm too lazy and too addicted. Well, we'll see about that!

I feel like I'm forgetting something really important about today. That will annoy me all day.

Much like the crawdad song, which got stuck in my head last night after re-reading some old entries, AND IS STILL THERE. >:|

But I did work out, to a degree. I started a profile on Lowell's Wii Fit, and did that for about 20 minutes. Then I did dance stretches and danced for another fifteen minutes or so. I think this may have to be part of a workout routine. I know I have to get to the gym, as we've paid to use the facilities and truth be told I prefer the elliptical, but this is something in case I should not make it there. Definitely feeling good right now.

I'm also feeling good about the fact that I made an awesome pot of coffee today. Hopefully I can duplicate this tomorrow morning. I'm going to have to limit my Starbucks intake as well; just have to decide which days would be best to do this...hmm. Weekends definitely. Such a quandary.

Going to have lunch at home today, and then head in to work. I know I have to call two brides back to set up their appointments, and I have to print out these ads I hope to mail on Thursday. Other than that, it'll just be incidentals. Thank God Christmas season is over. Things have been pretty tame since then. Busy, but at least tame. Though now that I'm thinking about it, I feel like I'm forgetting something...oh, well. I'm sure I'll think of it when I get to work. I hope.

Time to be domestic, and then get my mind prepared for worky. Le sigh.

This whole week has been spent compiling addresses and then making labels from said addresses. The CAGO (Chicago branch of the American Guild of Organists) is hosting a concert for the most famous organist in the world (according to David), and the site they're using for the concert is the Cathedral. Ricardo is also the head of the CAGO, hence my having to do all this work for the concert. It's not a ton of work, to be fair, but on the hours I work, it can seem like much more than it is. I'm almost done making what I need to make, though. I can leave it for down time during work today and have it done by Monday. I'll be stuffing a lot of envelopes next week.

I was also told that I have "library" work to do sometime soon, so he doesn't really want me to be doing these labels the entire time I'm at work. Seeing as I'm not the librarian, other than to take a minute to print out the newest update to the library, I don't see what there is to do. Whatever.

As a true procrastinator, I will put off until tomorrow what I could do today. I'm going to enjoy this morning free of any extended productivity (the dishes need to be put away and I need to do a little laundry) and just be comfortable. Tomorrow, I will head to the gym, then apply for some jobs. If we want to afford this wedding, I'm going to have to suck it up and do it.

Coffee time!

I arrived home after driving to St. Lawrence O'Toole to hear Fr. Novick say mass (felt the need, and wanted to see how he was doing) to find not one Asian in my house, but two. Both Lowell and Aldwin were sitting on my living room floor, board game between, looking very happy. Our friend Will regaled them with stories of the joy that is Axis and Allies, so the boys (which included Will, who came later) have switched from Risk (at least for the time being) to that particular game. They played from approximately 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM.

...I enjoy parentheses, it seems.

At any rate, it's been bandied about that we should do a board gaming day/night ever since ST Days, and I think we're going to get it off the ground soon. Tentative is Sundays starting at 2:00 PM, running to about 9:00 PM. There's also the option of having some Wii gaming days, and perhaps we could do some LAN or online gaming should the mood suit; we get the internet this coming Saturday. Lowell and I need to discuss this a bit more so that we have all the logisitics worked out before we put out a proper invite. We also have to oh, I don't know, finish painting the rooms in our house. That might not be a bad idea, either. But I'm pretty excited, though I'm not the biggest board game person ever. Here's hoping that whatever second job I get (when I get my ass up and go look for one) doesn't get in the way of this. If it does, well...Lowell's a good host. :)

Got a fourth shot for free today. Booyah!

All of the out of towners are back in their respective home states/countries. My schedule and weather did not permit me to be as social as I would have liked to be, and I feel badly about it. Everyone came out for my birthday (YAY), though, and I had a bit of time with everyone while they were in. Wish it could have been more. Glad to have seen Maryam, Nikki, Joel, and Daniel...though glad doesn't really do it justice.

Goals for this week are to get the walls painted (so sick of painting...), go to the gym at least twice, organise/decorate the house a little more, and get the rest of my boxes/furniture out of the garage so we can both park there. Our house is right at a T intersection, and it's hard to park on the street when it snows and the plows come by. Normally this wouldn't be an issue, but we are having the damned snowiest winter in ages. Blargh.

Should probably get some work done now. I left my house at 8:15 and got to work at 9:35. Damn it.