Procrastination
...I'm really good at it. How about you? I've had a busy but fun weekend so far and it's just over half over. Friday was packed full of errands - dentist appointment, post office, car inspection, grocery shopping (I was out of toilet paper), among other activities. I couldn't get motivated to do much around my extremely cluttered house because it was 84 degrees or so inside. Yuck. But, I still had things to unpack from Stampin' Down the Shore, Memorial Day weekend, and then last week. Whew. I'm still not through it all, but I'm making progress.

Dad came and installed my AC today. It feels WONDERFUL in here. I don't want to leave. The only complaint I have is that I can't hear myself think when the silly things are running. They're quiet, but the fan is noisy. Have I told you that my priorities for house projects have changed? Yup. I've moved central AC up the list in front of siding and windows. I just can't bring myself to have dad screw window AC units into brand new windows! So, instead of drilling holes in my new windows, I'm gonna get central AC this year. At least that's the plan. Let's see if I spend too much - you know I will.

So, anyway, dad also fixed a bunch of plumbing problems. BOTH outside faucets leaked into my basement. One of them ruined a bunch of stuff last month. The other one was just drippy when turned on. They're both fixed. But, more importantly, for the first time in about five months I have cold water in my bathroom!!!! Well, my bathroom sink. I finally broke down and bought a new faucet - it's totally my style - chrome. However, it's too bad the rest of my bathroom isn't my style! Someday it'll match. But, I can brush my teeth with cold water again!!!!!

After helping dad, I met up with Julie to go to the Strawberry Festival at Dutch Neck Village. I had told Julie about my toilet paper issues, but I really only thought she was joking when she said she'd bring me toilet paper. Here's the story, my life has been so busy for the past three weeks I haven't had time to go to the store to buy toilet paper. Well, I ran out three weeks ago on a Sunday night after the stores had closed and before heading back to NY. I believe it was Mother's Day weekend. Well, luckily I remembered (while in NY) that I was going home to a house without toilet paper. So, I packed the extra roll that the hotel provides. Here's the even sadder part - that roll has lasted me until tonight. That's how much I've been in my house since May 13th! I haven't even used a whole roll!!! Anyway, when I told Julie my predicament, she said she'd bring me toilet paper. And the wonderful friend she is, she gave it to me at Dutch Neck - and I think she really was going to make me carry the bag around to all of the vendors... We had a fun time but were both disappointed. We did spend about $25 in total - on food and parking and we were only there an hour!!!!!!

So, here I sit, in a cool house, surrounded by my mess, trying to get motivated. Because one of the window AC units is in my bedroom, I had to dig a path to the window today for dad. And, since one of the window AC units is in my bedroom and it helps to cool that end of the house, I need to keep my door open. If you've been to my house in the past 8 months or so, you've never seen that door open. Why? Well, because it was buried under a ton of crap. So, I just finished going through my dresser and cleaning out the clothes that are out of season or don't fit. What's left? Socks. How sad is that? I haven't gotten to that dresser in so long that I've outgrown pretty much everything in it!!! Heck, even some of the pantyhose don't fit. The even sadder part? Three of the articles of clothing had price tags still attached! You're gonna love my yard sale - Talbots clothing, price tags, and cheap!!! Now I finally have a place to put all of the clean laundry that has lived in my living room chair or on my craft table or other places around the house because I couldn't get into my bedroom. Pathetic, huh?

Okay...back to work. I know I'm gonna keep shaking my head. Oh, I didn't mention the Nieman Marcus items that are still boxed up and brand new. What was I thinking?!?!?!

My Workspace
So, I ran around this morning taking pictures of my "unique" work space here at the college so that you can get a better idea of the strange working environment.

These first two pictures illustrate the dark theater I need to cross in order to get to my office. Yes, it's usually this dark. It's scary. I also realized that I feel like a character in Harry Potter as I navigate the halls of the building.



So, after I walk through the door at the back of the theater, I walk into our work area - which is much brighter, thank goodness. If it wasn't I'd already be a vampire!!! Here's a picture of our fireplace and maybe how the bat entered the building. Santa should have no trouble squeezing into this fireplace. If I'm still here at Christmas, I can't wait to hang stockings! (Bill yelled at me for not moving the recycle bin, but that's what it normally looks like.)


Finally, here's a picture of my desk. You can see all of the important items:
- Tissues
- Gertrude Hawk chocolates from the outlets this past weekend
- An empty cup of Tim Horton's Mint Chocolate Iced Cappucino Supreme
- My Stampin' Up planner.

It's really not a bad work area - it's a lot more room than I usually get at a client site!

On a Mission
I'm on a mission today at lunch. I'm venturing out to the rubber stamp store. According to mapquest, it's less than 10 miles away - totally do-able on a lunch break. Maybe I'll swing by Ventosa Vineyards for lunch - not wine - lunch (even though I love their Rosa).

Last night I tried a new restaurant. New restaurants are few and far between in this area. The Crow's Nest was tasty and is apparently for sale! I believe it was recently remodeled since it burned down awhile back. It has just opened during the week now that Memorial Day is over. It was a pleasant night to eat on the deck along the waterfront. Food was interesting. One dish was a fish coated in corn flakes. Another dish was coated in Ritz crackers. I chose the burger. Parking was a bit of a challenge and I actually bottomed-out the Highlander. Ooops. It still seems to be running fine. Oh well. As long as it gets me back to the airport tomorrow, I'm happy.

Bats and Ice Cream
That pretty much sums up my lunch break. By bats I mean, the black, winged, flying type that attack you and turn you into a vampire. Yup.

Let me back up a moment. I work in this building. My office is on the second floor, on the left side of the building, kind of hidden by that tree. To get to my office, you walk up an old, large, wooden staircase which is almost two stories tall. At the top of the stairs is the President's office. After climbing the stairs (and catching my breath), I have to walk across the back of an old auditorium and then past a couple of offices. The auditorium is pretty eerie. It's dark and cold and "Phantom of the Opera"-like. Just outside my office is an old fireplace. So, now I've set the scene. Anyway, I did the normal walk through the auditorium, hoping the overhead lights wouldn't fall on my head, and out into the area outside the President's office. Just as I stepped foot on the stairs, I was buzzed by a bat. Of course I screamed. The bat was somewhere below me. I was about half way down the stairs (where it makes a turn of 180 degrees) and a woman appeared at the top of the stairs - I'm sure she thought I was nuts. She works in the Provost's office. As I started to explain, the bat buzzed me again. She took off screaming and I ran down the stairs and out the front door of the building, shaking.

I took a nice, long lunch break. I drove to Canadaigua - still not sure if I'm spelling that right - and had French Onion soup at Panera bread. On the way back, I stopped by Mr Twisties for an ice cream cone. It was as I entered the door of the building that I remembered the bat. I slowly entered the building and scanned the hallway. No bat. I slowly and quietly ascended the stairs. No bat. I did, however, notice that EVERYONE had their doors closed, including the one going to the theater. I could see through the window that the door on the opposite side of the theater was closed. I thought, "Oh crap, they've locked that beast in the theater and I have to walk through to get back to the office." I quickly ran across the theater. No bat. Everyone's office doors were closed on the other side. My wonderful clients failed to close mine. I was scared the bat was hiding in the large fireplace outside my office. I quickly entered and closed the door. No bat.

Unfortunately, now, I have to pee. I have two options to relieve myself in this building. I can climb up to the third floor - however access to the third floor is through a staircase at the back of the theater. Or, can descend the scary, old, wooden steps where I was buzzed then continue down to the basement. Regardless, I have to leave the safety of my office and enter the theater. Help!!!!!

Update
Okay - they've locked the thing in the theater as I had feared. Apparently this is a common occurance. The worst month is August. I'm bringing my mosquito net from Australia to wear when I enter and leave the building.

National Paper Clip Day
I've just learned that today is National Paper Clip day. Go out and celebrate! You may be wondering what's gotten into me that I'm blogging so much today. Well, my needs aren't being met. What needs you may ask? Well, if you've ever studied management and people, you've probably learned about Maslow and his Hierarchy of Needs. Today, I'm at the bottom of the pyramid. My safety needs are not being met because of the silly bat. If you're wondering, I did wander out and used the bathroom. No sign of the bat.

BearingPoint Employee in Iraq
We've just been informed that a BearingPoint employee was taken from one of our worksites in Iraq this morning. We've been given no more information at this time. Please keep the employee and their family in your thoughts and prayers. We have many employees in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Several years ago one of our employees was killed in Iraq. I'm praying for a happier ending this time around.

Happy Memorial Day
Did you all have a good weekend? I did. It was fun and relaxing. I've been stressed recently and this weekend was what I needed.

On Friday, I slept in and then headed out to check out some wineries. That's what normal people do, right? Wake up then go wine tasting!?!?! Okay, well, maybe that's not entirely true. My first stop was the castle. And, here's a picture of the beautiful Seneca Lake from the castle. Kelly and I had both fallen in love with the Belhurst Traditions Merlot 2003. I had already purchased a bottle. But since my parents were taking some of items (like wine) that I can't carry on planes, I planned to stock up on some more. Unfortunately, they were all sold out and I don't like the 2004 vintage. AAAGGGHH!! I tried not to be too upset and bought a bottle of red stuff that I'd never tasted. Maybe I'll crack it open one day soon.

Another tradition I've started up here is to visit Tim Horton's every morning. What is a Tim Horton's? Well, it's like a Dunkin' Donuts, but it's Canadian. I'm not a fan of their donuts or their muffins, but I've absolutely fallen in love with their "Mint Chocolate Iced Cappucino Supreme" with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top. Wow - it's only 290 calories and 6 grams of fat. That's surprisngly low considering how tasty it is. Anyway...after my morning sugar and caffeine rush (and freezing my taste buds), I headed to my second winery - Ventosa. After I let my taste buds defrost so I could taste the wine properly, I selected four wines:
- 2006 Rosa which is a "dry rose is blended from Sangiovese and Pinot Noir grown here at Ventosa Vineyards. A light, flavorful and versatile wine with floral aromas."
- 03/05 Pinot Noir which is a "blend of 2003/05 estate Pinot Noir, this well rounded lighter style dry red wine expresses a bouquet and flavors of raspberry, cherry, currant and spice."
- 2002 Merlot a "New York State Merlot (that) expresses well ripened fruit from an excellent vintage. Flavors of blackberry & licorice pair well with goat cheese, chevre, tenderloin & chocolate soufflé."
- 2004 Merlot "this Merlot was aged for 20 months in primarily French oak resulting in characteristics of cherry, plum and licorice. This full-bodied dry wine pairs well with Gouda cheese, red meat and dark chocolate."

I bought two bottles of each of the Rosa and Pinot Noir. Both were very smooth. The Rosa may replace the white merlot I fell in love with in Arizona.

I was already feeling the wine and decided it would be smart to stop tasting. So, I took off for Ithaca. I couldn't believe it. I was a few miles down the road when I passed a rubber stamp store called "Pretty in Ink". Unfortunately they were closed in preparation for the Memorial Day holiday. But, I'm hoping to stop by some day at lunch to check it out. I hope it's not too far away.

A few more miles down the road, I saw signs about "falls". So, I decided to swing by and see what all of the fuss was about. Boy, am I glad I did!!! I had stumbled across Taughannock Falls State Park. But I was trying to get to Ithaca for lunch and shopping. I wanted to hit a shop called The Goat Boy to view their collection of Vera Bradley handbags. Well, turns out Ithaca has LOTS of one-way roads and construction. I finally found a parking space - the second time I had to park the Toyota Highlander last week (not fun). I had passed a few promising-looking places for lunch. There was pizza, sushi, chinese, pasta, and Mexican. What do you think I chose? Mexican, of course! It was tasty, but there were no free chips :-( I need free chips. After the parking and one-way streets, I gave up on shopping - besides, Elaine would only yell at me for buying another Vera bag.

The rest of the weekend was wonderful. Mom, Dad, and I spent a relaxing weekend at the lake. We hit yard sales (yes, me too), our favorite stores in Dickson City, and spent some quality time together. At the end of the weekend, I found myself wanting to go home, not back to my hotel in Geneva. What does that tell you? It was sending me a pretty clear message. I want to be home.

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well. I only have to work 3 days and then I get to be home! See you soon.