Wow, this has been a long week, of at least it's felt that way...

I'm more than ready to head home tomorrow, but I do have a couple of things to finish at work before I can head east. I've developed a new orientation program to orient new nurses to the quality structures at the hospital, and I roll that out at 1:00 tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully it will go well and be received with the enthusiasm in which it was created! I DO get excited about stuff like this, so yes, I guess I am a big "quality geek". I just rolled back through my presentation slides, and I think it looks great, even if I do say so myself!

When I talked to Jack earlier, he said he's gearing up for a visit from his big regional boss tomorrow, so he's worked hard at getting things into tip-top shape today. It sounds like he's had a long week too!

Dudley seems to be ready to hit the dusty trail as well. When he saw that I was getting my things together and starting to pack, he got excited and has been dancing around ever since. He's ALL fired up -- he's had to make a couple of extra potty-trips outside, though he seems most interested in going and standing by the car. He knows what's coming - he wants to head home NOW.

We'll both just have to wait for tomorrow!

Nothing Monumental (to speak of)

Jack is supposed to be playing tennis tonight, but I just checked the radar, and it appears that McVille may be, at long last, getting some rain!! I heard rumbles of thunder when Dudley and I were taking a walk a little while ago, so I checked on-line, and there's a little line of showers in the area - it's patchy, so I can't tell if it actually rained at the tennis courts or not. His tennis time was about an hour and a half ago, so I guess I'll be hearing the full report soon --

Dudley and I walked over to the Battle of Nashville Monument park this afternoon to piddle around for a little while. It's close to the apartment - an easy walk. The park is tiny, and there isn't much to it other than the monument and some concrete benches facing it. I've never seen any activities there, but of course not being here on the weekends, I probably wouldn't.

Posing for pictures isn't something Dudley does easily. I get much better shots of him when I can catch him doing something cute candidly. Of course I love to try to take posed pictures of him, but those rarely have the desired results. He's easier to pose and photograph than Jimmy, but that isn't saying much...

Of course, interesting things happen with his ears when police cars go screeching by... or when he spots another dog.

Speaking of which, Dudley finally met a dog he didn't like today, and I almost can't understand why. On our way up the street for afternoon duty, we encountered a couple looking at a house that's for sale. They had their four month-old female collie puppy with them. She was cute as can be and very friendly, but Dudley took an IMMEDIATE and SERIOUS offense when she ran up and began licking him. Maybe he was afraid he was going to get stomped - He bristled up and growled and snarled and snapped at her. He was still pissed off after I picked him up and tried to go after her again when we returned up the street.

The woman was dressed to impress with an exposed lower-back tattoo, which appeared to read "The Spice Rack" or "Ted's Spice Rack", so Lord only knows what kind of vibe Dudley was picking up off the dog.

I just talked to Jack - tennis was indoors due to rain in McVille, but unfortunately none fell at home. The radar shows some sprinkles MAYBE moving in, but nothing significant again today.

This time tomorrow, we're over the hump!

It's back to the city for Dudley and me, and all is quiet on Monday evening...

Sis-in-Law visited us earlier - SkaterNephew is spending a couple of weeks with his dad, so she had some time to kill and dropped by to see the apartment. She's down-in-the-dumps because her dog disappeared over the weekend. She took Miss Alpha to the greenway on Saturday, and the dog disappeared somewhere in the woods and underbrush. She looked everywhere that she could for about 5 hours then went back to look again yesterday without any success. Poor pup - there's little likelihood of her being found now...

Today was good day at work - still no sign of our visiting inspectors, and all bets are off as far as predicting when they're going to show up. We've all had our premonitions and "feelings", but they've all been wrong to the point that we're on our second round of guesses! Some things are without rhyme or reason, I guess.

We got nice rain here in the city today, which has made for a steamy evening. Jack says that they got nothing at home -- maybe later in the week. I think there's a chance of rain for all of the midstate area this week.

I think I'm calling it an early night - Dudley and I are both exhausted!

Today was Mom's piano recital, and it was wonderful! All of the kids performed beautifully in front of a large audience. They had obviously practiced very hard, not only their musical performances, but their recital etiquette as well. As you can see from the picture, everyone looked wonderful, too -- boys handsome (but, as reported by Drew T., HOT) in ties, girls pretty in summer dresses.

The musical selections ran the gamut from classical to patriotic to Disney ("The Little Mermaid" is a particular favorite for Sis and me...) to praise hymns. There was even some boogie-woogie! It was obvious that all of Mom's students had committed to doing their best -- any glitches along the way were due to nerves. I know I wasn't expecting such a large turn-out, and as one who has been at the front of that church "performing" with my flute on many occasions, I have no problem admitting that I get butterflies when I'm up there.

One beautiful young lady was in tears as she left the piano. Yes, she messed up, but everybody does. I don't know this child, but from seeing her performance, her poise and mannerism and the way she reacted to less-than-perfect, my guess is that she has nothing to worry about. She struck me as a straight-A student who does everything right 99% of the time. (It actually reminded me of the tears I shed as a seventh grader when I brought home an A- on my report card in Tennessee History. I was so distraught - I believe the teacher may have even called Dad to make sure there weren't any "issues at home".)

The reception following the recital was a fun time... Performance, nice snacks and good conversation with old and new friends can't be beat as Sunday afternoon activities. Mom, I don't know where you got those cream cheese-frosted cake brownies, but those were tasty.

Jack missed the festivities, spending the afternoon continuing to deal with the yard at McVille Manor. He reports having constructed an impressive pile of brush for the public works department to pick up - free, for the month! He stopped at the grocery on his way home to pick up pork chops and veggies for grilling.

Well, this is it for now... I still have to launder our work clothes and get ready for another week in the city --

My wireless card is packed in a secure place already, so I'll be "on" this week --

Night'all --

Pamela.

It's a Wrap!!

Miss Monday Morning left home without her wireless card this week, so she’s been without internet - as such, the week’s activities are included in a big “catcher-upper” –

Monday

It’s nice to be back in the apartment this week. House-sitting was nice, but I’ve grown accustomed to this place and started to feel settled when I’m here. Adding pictures and plants and some of my own stuff has helped with the transition.

I had this bright idea to HANG a couple of pictures and got a set of those magic hooks that are supposed to work really well. Long story short, they don’t work on these solid, plastered walls – they have to be used with either drywall or paneling. Oh well, I’ll shop for alternative picture-hanging tools this weekend. Sometimes you just can’t beat an old-fashioned hammer and nail.

Jack has the day off tomorrow and is looking forward to the little break even though he’s going to have to do a lot of yard work at McVille House.

Tuesday

More New Friends

Dudley made two new friends today on his afternoon walks. First is George, a little old Chihuahua that’s much smaller than Dudley and acts a bit jumpy. His daddy is a nurse and seems to be a nice person. Later on we met another guy with his dog Erma, who is almost Jimmy’s size. Dudley was able to play with her better – she seemed to enjoy rather than be intimidated by Dudley’s energy level and friendliness.

Once I figured out that there was nothing palatable on television this evening, I loaded Dudley into the car and headed for the park. We took a nice two-mile walk as the sun was beginning to set a bit, which was a nice time to go. There are lots of people around, and it’s a friendly, relaxed atmosphere. I have noticed that some people won’t smile at you to save your skin, but other folks are very friendly. Tonight we met a lady and her grand-daughter. I had to explain that Dudley is quite afraid of little children and that I’m not sure what his experiences were before he was placed in rescue at 7 weeks. Knowing how some kids treat small puppies, I can only imagine. The grandmother was understanding, and Dudley finally chilled enough while sitting between my ankles to let the little girl stroke his back a couple of times, but he then began to shudder so hard that the little girl said, “He IS afraid, grandma” and apologized for scaring my puppy. She was cute as a button and seemed like a nice little girl, but Dudley’s issues with kids are going to take awhile to resolve.


Perhaps if Dudley had an opportunity to just sniff down a kid that was sitting still and not trying to touch him or squealing or anything…


Jack reported that he was able to make some further progress in the town-yard today. By the time we left on Sunday, it already looked much better. He played tennis with our old “regular group” this evening and was victorious in his mixed doubles match, playing with a friend of ours – 6-3, 6-1, I believe was the game count! Great job Jack!! It’s back to work for him tomorrow, but at least it’s ‘hump day’, and we’ll be on the downhill slide toward Friday – YAY!!


Jack has to work Saturday, but he’s off again on Sunday, and we’ll have some time to spend together. Our last weekend was great, although we dealt with the same scheduling restrictions… We’re learning to adapt to our arrangement, and it’s turned Jack into the envy of all his married male co-workers. “Jack’s wife is gone during the week – he can eat what he wants, he can sit around his underwear and drink beer, leave dishes in the sink and the toilet seat up. Jack’s the MAN!!!” or something like that… It’s hilarious.


Bedtime is upon me now – my daily blow-by format for the week seems to be working OK. Word is a wonderful thing!

Thursday


Anybody that reads the blog here with any regularity knows that Thursday is my favorite night of the week here in the city, because I’ll be home tomorrow.


Today was a good day – busy, productive, fast. I’m into the “groove” of my position now, and my boss tells me every day how pleased she is with my work. Getting positive feedback on a regular basis is so crucial in job satisfaction, or at least as far as I’m concerned it is. In my last couple of jobs, the only time I’d get specific feedback was when things were bad.


I remember asking The Fat Man once if he was pleased with my work. He rattled off a story about his wife’s constant need for validation that she’s pretty and that he likes her hair and that she’s a wonderful wife and how much it wears him out before telling me that as long as he isn’t talking to me about my work, he’s pleased with it. His comment DID register as a red flag with me, but having met his wife, I let it slide.


When I went into Home Hell-th as the director of an office, I didn’t realize I’d get phone calls from my boss on a daily basis asking why we’re losing money on this patient and why we aren’t working on this problem or that because those are reimbursed at a higher level. Talk about baptism by fire!!


After those two experiences, this current job is a dream come true. When interviewing for positions last fall, I had to prepare myself for the stock question, “What is your ideal workplace?”


If going completely off-the-cuff, my response could have easily been, “One that’s clean and doesn’t have mold growing on the walls, working for and with people who are ethical, mentally stable and who don’t bring their IV drug-addicted, juvenile delinquent children to work with them ‘because he just finished 90 days of rehab and the judge says he can’t be out of my sight’.”


And yes, the drug addict story is true… I wasn’t comfortable with it at all, but before I could call my boss at the time to let her know the situation, SHE called ME to let me know that my understanding and compassion for this employee and her family was expected and that she had given her permission for this kid to ride with his mom on visits to patients’ houses, but staying in the car. Oh yeah, knowing he was in the car made me feel a WHOLE lot better…


Oh well… enough of that memory lane, though thinking back, some of the worst of it is quite comical.


I think I’m going to take Dudley to the park in a little while. He seems to enjoy the trip over and the traffic-free walk, and I can grab a salad to-go on our way back to the apartment. After that it’s time to pack/stack/sack in preparation for the trip home tomorrow.


If you’ve read this far, thanks for sticking with it!

Pam.

A Father's Day Post

Jack and I have had a wonderful weekend, even though he had to work yesterday...

I got several things done here at the house, catching up on laundry and doing some general organizing. Things do look better, especially our big bathroom, which hadn't had "the big clean" in awhile and needed it badly. I even splurged on a new shower curtain to commemorate the occasion!

Today we had to do a bunch of yard work at Jack's family home - the place looks much better now. Lord, it was SO hot outside though, and everything is dry and brown for lack of rain. We're supposed to get showers on Tuesday (if we're lucky), and hopefully that'll pan out...

On our way home from the yard work project, we stopped to visit with Dad for just a few minutes on the 7SR. It wasn't the Father's Day visit we'd intended to do, but with everything we needed to get accomplished today and Dad & Mom leaving for a trip tomorrow and having their own "to do" list to work through, we're going to finish celebrating Dad on Friday night with dinner at the good little place on the square that we all love so much. Our fingers are already crossed that they won't be out of the tasty house dressing this time!

Mom took Kookie for her summer haircut earlier this week, and she appears so much more comfortable now with all the hot, furry stuff shaved. She is like a different dog with the short 'do -- even Mom's piano students said she looked like a 'new dog', and she does! She's in great shape for her age and is a real sweetie.

Rosa the Cat made an appearance and posed for a couple of pictures, so she is making her official debut on 2busyandersons today.

I think I'm ready to head back tomorrow for the most part - my laundry is done, most everything is packed, and the car is gassed up and ready to go... Dudley seems to be enjoying his weekend and may not be as fired-up about loading into the car in the morning, but he's come to understand the schedule and will be just fine.

We're doing late dinner tonight - our activities today have thrown our schedule off...

Good night and sweet dreams all!

A Chat with Sis about That and This

A title that deserves a "boo" and a "hiss" ---



STOP IT!!! (deep breath)



Sorry, I got a bit Dr. Seuss with that opening for some reason. Back to topic --



Sis and I had a long phone conversation tonight, which was great. We hadn't talked in a couple of weeks, so we had some catching-up to do... Her school year has finally ended, and she's glad to have a little break. She had her traithlon pictures developed this week and had a copy made for Jack and me. Expect to see that "up" in the next week or two with the full run-down on her experience. I think I may do an actual interview with her, like in a sports magazine - That would be sort of cool... She really did a lot of training in the months leading up to the event and passed along some tips for me, as I'm trying to get myself back in shape to be competitive on the tennis court again sometime before cold weather.



Having access to a free gym and not taking advantage of it any more routinely than I do is something that bears my reconsideration. There are lots of days that I could miss out on some rush hour if I stopped at the gym on my way to the apartment, and while the cardio area is generally packed at the end of the day, few use the track, which has a great view of the skyline and the big park, and the room with the weight machines catches very little traffic. I can get my cardio by walking outside, but I do need to add some weights back into my routine.



House-sitting is so-far-so-good. I slept like a log last night and made it to work in five minutes this morning - THAT'S how close this place is to the hospital. I'm enjoying my stay here, and Dudley's OK wherever our stuff is. He keeps his toys piled in his dog bed - he keeps his stuff together there even though he rarely uses it for sleeping.



Oh, and I got a new 'do today... Not nearly so short as last time. He trimmed the back and some of the shaggy stuff, leaving the bangs and top longer. YAY! I have "girl hair" again!!!! I took a picture of myself. Actually several but none of them passed muster, so you'll have to imagine for now.



I imagine it's about time for me to cut this one and let 'er go --



Snip.

Pam

The Housesitters

I'm house-sitting this week for Jack's sister in Nashville. She's doing a business trip/vacation this week with SkaterNephew, so I'm holding down the fort, feeding animals, bringing in the mail, making sure her memory-foam mattress doesn't lose it's EXTREME comfort in her absence.

The house is great. It's near the end of a shady little street and was remodeled just before she bought it, so everything looks fresh and pretty with nice wall colors and beautiful hardwood floors in everything except the bedrooms, which have pretty carpets. The master bedroom opens onto a large deck that looks out onto the backyard. It's spacious enough for her dog to have room to run without being too big to easily care for.

Dudley has already gotten the hang of the yard and loves it, but he hasn't "done" the dog door yet. I'm not going to encourage him, because I don't want him to get accustomed to going outside any time he wants - "outside" is something that will continue to require permission for his own good. The door might be a little high for him anyway, but I'm barricading it during the day anyway to make sure I stay in control of the matter. The fence is flush with the ground, but Dudley is small enough he could dig himself out if he got the notion.

Miss AlphaDog, the queen of the house, has accepted that Dudley is here and most of the time seems oblivious to him. Cat, on the other hand, has barely been spotted since Dudley tried to get friendly with him last night. He did show up to eat tonight, sitting on fence-rail for good half-hour before venturing into the house.

Work has been busy for both Jack and me this week so far. His big district people came through for an audit today - sounds like things went well. We're expecting our Joint Commission surveyors at the hospital just any week now, but we have been for a couple of months now. It's like playing "hurry up & wait", and we're all going nuts.

After leaving the hospital today, I came by the house here to pick up Dudley for a visit at the apartment. Over the months it has come to feel like a home away from home, but our visit had nothing to do with sentimentality and everything to do with toiletries. I always forget to bring my own stuff with me when I stay with SkaterNephew during sis-in-law's business trips and end up scrounging. With both of them gone and their shampoos, toothpaste and deoderant with them, I faced a bare cupboard this morning as I got ready for work in the most hygienic manner I could muster. I made it through the day but absolutely HAD to go pick up my things this afternoon. Dudley seemed happy to spend a few minutes in the apartment on his regular turf - he's cool with anything for the most part.

Oooh... blogging out on the deck does NOT work!! I didn't realize that the display would attract gnats in just - BOOM! - a second or two, but typing in the dark is kind of cool...

It IS a nice night with a little breeze blowing. I can hear the rumble of the interstate in the distance and a train getting closer... I'll linger a moment longer, then it's lights off for me after my goodnight call to Jack.

Sleep well, loved ones everywhere.

Pam.

The Shrimp Weekend Diet

We decided to do more big shrimp this weekend, so before coming home, I took a side trip to the fancy grocery store for these...

Jack is preparing them using his regular recipe, though we weren't able to find all the good vegetables we wanted for our dinner. There's no good asparagus to be found anywhere it seems, and other "grill-ables" seemed to be in short supply. We'll still have a great dinner, though. Shrimp, pineapple and a baked potato? Nothing better!

The Cat Dragged In

He's alive. Covered with scabs, skinny, bleached-out fur, Lord only knows where he spent the better part of three days...



Poor Carlton looks rough, but I'm bound and determined not to feel sorry for him -- he had us, especially Jack, in a funk, thinking he had wandered off and died.

Since getting home yesterday afternoon, I've noticed that Carlton seems to be dealing with a greater than normal number of furballs, stopping to dry-hack every few minutes.

We have him under house-arrest - he hasn't been outside since returning home Wednesday night, and while he's dealing with it better now than in the past, he's still not a happy camper. Until he gets over the shock of this disappearance and picks up a little weight, we're going to limit his outdoor time, if possible. He'll eventually dart out...

I'm glad to be home - everything in the yard looks quite a bit better after receiving some rain yesterday, but we still didn't get but a drop-in-the-bucket in comparison to what we need to resolve our drought.

Ready for the Weekend

This time tomorrow evening, I'll be home and can't wait to get there!

Jack is off this weekend, so we'll have lots of quality time together. Once again we have no big plans - having two days to piddle about the house or play tennis or go out to eat or whatever happens to strike us is plans enough these days...

I can't wait to get my hands on KittyCarlton after his disappearing act - despite his devil-may-care attitude about a lot of things, he's the friendliest, most social cat we've ever had... He's the only cat that visitors to our house have ever seen - the others hide under the bed for two days and act violated if the UPS man shows up at the front door. Carlton, on the other hand, has signed for packages and given lost people directions when they've wandered through. He's a mess -

I just walked Dudley for the last time, and it feels like summer outside. There's not even a cool "edge" to the evening and no breeze whatsoever.

Things are coming together for my departure tomorrow - bags are almost packed!

Return of the Prodigal Cat

I don't normally post from work during the day, but I did want to do a quick update to report that Carlton-kitty has returned home.

When I spoke with Jack this morning before work, he said that Carlton appeared last evening at around 11:00 pm, just as he was getting ready to turn in for the night. "DangerKitty" is apparently looking skinny and like he's had a big shock but basically no worse for the wear. He'll be back to "normal"" in no time!

Jack and Jimmy Come to the City

Jack and Jimmy had a great visit in the city -- I talked to Jack a little while ago, and he reported that they had a good trip home, beating rush hour by a lot.

Jack and I had lunch together at the good hamburger joint near the hospital before he left, and we re-hashed the wonderful time we had during his visit over yummy-greasy burgers, fries and rings and a chocolate milkshake to share.

The only thing not completely wonderful about our time together was Jimmy's behavior. Sweet as that dog is in the house, he does NOT know how to behave in public. He pulls so hard at the leash that you really have to think about what you're doing, or you'll end up hurting afterward - the body mechanics of walking a dog are very important where he is concerned. He woke Jack up at 4:30 this morning insisting that he had something very important to do outside, but in fifteen minutes of walking around, all he'd done is pee a tiny bit and smell of a bunch of different stuff. Jimmy slept the whole way home and was ready to romp as soon as he got out of the car, according to Jack's report. He's a wild one...

Jack got a new haircut at my salon here in the neighborhood yesterday afternoon, and he looks so handsome. His hair has NEVER looked this good. Dude with the Scissors takes his time, paying lots of attention to detail and how things look as he goes. Jack is tickled with the cut, didn't mind the pricetag, and came in proudly bearing two new kinds of "product" to use for his look. (she smiles)

I intended to take pictures but completely forgot - oh well... The weekend's coming soon!

Last night we had dinner at this great little spot that's only a five minute drive from the apartment. The menu is extensive - they have a good selection of sushi and sashimi as well as regular cafe selections like burgers, salads, and fern-bar appetizers, vegan dishes and more high-end entrees. We ordered several different sushi rolls and a Thai peanut sauce from the appetizer menu. Everything was delicious with the exception of these deep-fried cubes of tofu that had the consistency of watery scrambled egg white inside. With the peanut sauce, it wasn't bad, but the foccacia bread was more our speed for sauce-dipping. Not only is the entire menu worthy of exploration, this place has a good list of reasonably-priced wines by the glass. We have already decided that we will go back for more as soon as Jack can schedule another trip.

After all the excitement of company, Dudley and I are hanging close tonight and will likely call it an early evening. Dudley acts like he's exhausted - I had to wake him up for his nightly constitutional when the time came for it, and he returned to his dog-dreams as soon as we got back inside. I know he's tired when he curls up on the couch instead of running to the "goody spot" for a treat after he's been a big boy. He's currently snoozing at his regular battle-station...

I will soon be in mine.

Let's Start the Week with a Hodgepodge

Monday flew by...

After work, I made a quick stop here at the apartment to walk and drop off Dudley before changing clothes and heading over to Court #5 for some doubles. I pulled my knee a little bit during all of my housecleaning activities over the weekend, so I had to take it easy but still managed to hold my serve several times, double-faulting only twice, and hitting several really nice winners. Overall I was pleased with how I played (and for those of you keeping track, I DID stretch well beforehand!), considering I my experiences on the court have been few and far between these last few months. I've got to cultivate some hitting-partners to just work out with during the week.

Jack was supposed to come visit tonight but is postponing his trip until morning, because Carlton-kitty hasn't showed up at the house since last night. Carlton is the worst we have about disappearing for a day or two, and it seems that when we have a deadline, he has a tendency to be out-of-pocket, like tonight. Before we take a long trip, we'll sometimes keep him in the house for more than a day, so he's absolutely crazy by the time we drop him off to be boarded. He paces and screams to get out, and we have to watch it, 'cause he's fast and can dart through the door in a split-second. When he's been gone for awhile, he'll often show up in the middle of the night - we're coming off a fully moon (according to my "moon cycle" toolbar, we're at 84% full with a Waning Gibbous, whatever that means).

Here in the city, we got a heavy but very brief rain this afternoon -- not enough to really do much except wet the streets down minutes before rush-hour. By tennis time, the court was dry.

Well, I suppose it's about time for me to wrap things in for the evening -- I talked to Jack just now. He's planning to wait for Carlton until morning then head this direction in time to pick me up for lunch...

Later everybody --
Pam.

Dudley Goes to the Farm

Dudley and I spent some time with Mom and Dad on the farm yesterday - it was Dudley's first trip to visit, and after some initial "Where in the world are we?" he settled down, made himself at home and had a really big time...

Mom and Dad are working on adjusting their fence to expand the front yard - it's going to look great once they're finished. They had it "big" once before in 1998 to accomodate the reception hoopla when Jack and I got married, and it was beautiful that way.

During our visit, Mom and I worked on the program for her piano recital, which is coming up shortly. It really didn't need any work - she already had it put together nicely and has bought some pretty paper to use. Mom did learn how to burn a music CD on her computer, so when she and Dad take their next road trip, they'll have some new music to listen to in the car, and that's always a good thing. I've never had a car with a CD player in it, so I don't have that pleasure...

While I was at the farm, I also got to drive Dad's new tractor, and I'm telling ya'll, it's a SWEET tractor and really easy to operate. We feel a lot better about Dad being out on the farm on something new and safe. His garden looked good yesterday, despite the drought.

We did have some storms last night bringing a small drink of water to our lawns and landscape, but it was barely enough to scratch the surface of need. Although the yard appears somewhat moist this morning, it won't last long. All you have to do is drag a toe across the surface of the ground to hit "dry".

The weather forecast this morning said that more rain is coming this afternoon - hopefully it'll be enough to honestly do some good...