Meme in Haiku

This meme appeared
on dear Monkey Mama's blog.
Here are my answers:

1. Prefer hot or cold?
When skies are sunny
and the temper'tures rising,
I dream of blizzards.

2. # of jobs you have had?
Secretary, gas
station clerk, reporter and
photographer, mom.

3. If you could do anything for work, what would you do?
I wish for a job
where I can read to my heart's
content and help kids.

4. If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Salty air, gulls cry
on a dancing breeze. Waves crash
at the lighthouse base.

6. Would you like to have a tattoo?
There is a reason
God made us all without ink
drawn on our bodies.

7. Dream vacation?
I should like to traipse
upon foreign shores, to see
the Emerald Isle.

8. Morning person or night person?
When the rooster crows
I find myself wanting to
throw something at him.

9. Favorite fruit?
Size of a softball -
juicy red interior,
sweet yet sour taste.

10. Country music or rock music?
It matters not if
music twangs, rattles or rolls,
but it must be good.

11. Pool or ocean?
I admit a pool
may be more sanitary,
but I love the sea.

12. Name of 1st pet?
Laughing red haired dog,
sweet Irish Setter "Chivas"
was my darling pet.

13. City person or country person?
I can't claim to be
either one or the other
so I will say "both".

14. Type of vehicle you drive?
Little black hatchback,
Rachel calls her "cockroach", but
I say she is cute.

15. Natural Hair color?
My tresses remain
as God intended: black, brown,
red, and now some gray.

16. How far do you live from where you grew up?
I live where I grow,
as one does not stop "growing"
at a certain age.

17, Favorite pizza topping?
Broccoli, chicken,
mushrooms, green olives, bacon,
and extra cheese, please!

18. Favorite ice cream?
Yes, I must confess
that if it is frozen and
creamy, I'll eat it.

19, Sugar or artificial sweetener?
I have always loved
sugar, but did not want to
gain weight, so Splenda.

20. Sunrise or sunset?
Clouds ripple, colors
soften and blend. I love
mauve and gold sunsets.

21. Favorite movie?
Jareth and Sarah,
The Bog of Eternal Stench.
Have you seen Labyrinth?

22. 1st name of your best grade school friend?
Inseparable
were Jenny and Jessica
that was in third grade.

>23. Are you still in touch with #22?
Different paths taken,
once best friends are now strangers.
No contact in years.

24. Conservative or Liberal?
The older I grow
the more I find my leanings
now lie in between.

25. Books or magazines?
If it is made of
paper, and words are on the
page, I will read it.

--------------------------------

Typically you find
in memes such as this that
someone must get tagged.

If you've read this blog
and have great love for haiku
then I'm tagging you.

Haiku For You

It's all Everett's fault;
the past three days have found me
writing in haiku.

Stinkbumps was fevered
with a headache and sore throat.
Turns out he had strep.

Rachel stayed home with
Jamie on Monday so I
could still go to work.

Stayed home on Tuesday -
Jamie still sick; boss got mad,
said I could lose job.

Wednesday back at work,
worried about sick boy but
want to keep my job.

Raining like buckets,
flooding streets and water ways;
guess I need a boat.

Now it's time for me
to finish all my homework.
School is almost done.

Quick Update

Okay, I haven't posted in about a week, so I figured I'd better post on here so I don't look like a big ol' hypocrite whining about other people not updating their blogs.

Jamie has gotten to go to Boy Scout camp this week courtesy of the YMCA. I still take him over to the YMCA in the morning, then they bus him over to Boy Scouts Camp, then bus him back to the YMCA in time for me to pick him up. He's having a blast! He was all atwitter over getting to shoot bows 'n arrows, a BB gun (a big deal, as I've NEVER let him shoot anything other than a water gun), go swimming and make all sorts of cool crafts. He's already made me a multi-colored beaded key chain, and made himself a leather bracelet and a leather and beaded necklace. He also will be taking a swimming test today to see if he's allowed to swim "on the big boys' side of the pool." They won't let you over there if all you know how to do is doggy paddle, it seems. I'm glad he's having fun and getting plenty of "boy time".

Stressed out over school, as usual. I have a big 10 page term paper coming up that I haven't even started yet. Plus I have a ton of reading and assignments to do. I'm frustrated and burned out, and can't wait until I get a couple of weeks off school before the Fall semester starts again. I'm tired, very cranky, totally discouraged and feel like my brain is going to start leaking out of my ears.

Work is, well, work. I've taken on even more responsibility overseeing some of the projects directly, and the stress of that on top of my other duties have fervently wishing my boss would hire me some help. [sigh] I don't see it happening any time soon.

Okay, well, now that I'm done whining, I'll get back to work. Goodness knows there's plenty of it to be done around here.

I've Been Slacking on my Blog

Okay, so here's a quick long-overdue update to my blog. Finished one summer class (got an A, woo hoo!), continuing another longer summer class and picked up another one. I'm very busy.

Couple of weeks ago, I hit a ginormous pothole which damaged both rims on the driver's side of the car and knocked my car completely out of alignment. More than $400.00 later and it's fixed, but I found out the city of San Antonio won't reimburse me anything for the damages because of something called the Texas Tort Claims Act which basically says that if it wasn't caused by a city employee driving a city vehicle it wasn't their fault. I'm looking into this, though.

Jamie's ankle sprain cleared up enough for him to begin playing relatively normally - just in time for him to come down with a stomach virus that has kept him out of daycare (and me out of work) for the past two days. If it ain't one thing, it's another.

Took Jamie to Six Flags Fiesta Texas for 4th of July. He rode his first big rollercoaster, at which time he discovered he LOVES rollercoasters. I discovered I do not. It had been 12 years since the last time I had gotten on a rollercoaster. I work for a company that investigates all the different ways metal can (and does) fail to provide the structural stability for which it is designed. As the person who types the reports and creates the photoillustrations, I've seen pictures of what happens to property (and sometimes people) when metal fails. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. While Jamie was laughing and whooping it up during the rollercoaster ride, I was revisiting my lamaze breathing techniques and praying. I was also trying very hard the block the images in my head of the bolts wiggling out of their holes, the metal suddenly popping apart and the lot of us plunging to our deaths. After that, the only ride Jamie could get me on was the Bugs Bunny log flume water ride. I'll take my chances on water and reinforced fiberglass and plastic. At least if I fall out of that one, I know how to swim well enough to get me and Jamie to safety. No amount of flapping your arms will make you fly if you fall out of a rollercoaster on a loop-de-loop.

Transformers ROCK!

I LOVED this movie. You MUST see it!

Transformers...Robots in Disguise

Picked up advanced tix the other day to take Jamie to see Transformers on July 5. My boss, in his infinite kindness, gave me the day after the July 4 holiday off to make up for all the long hours I've been working. I'll be going to take a computer test at San Antonio College (so that I won't have to take the durn computer class required for graduation), then I'll pick Jamie up from the YMCA daycare and we'll go see Transformers. Woooooooooooohhhhhooooooooooooooooo! This is the summer of awesome movies!

Speaking of movies, I took Jamie Friday night to see Ratatouille. YOU. MUST. SEE. THIS. FILM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, enough of a break now. I've got to stop pracrastinating and finish my weekly homework.

HP5 Tickets - at the IMAX!

Woo hoo! My boss and his wife rock! Today, as a belated administrative assistant's day present, I was given 2 advanced tickets for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: The IMAX Experience. The last 30 minutes of the IMAX version are in 3D! Woo hoo! Now that's a cool present! So now I get to count down the days until July 13 (the night I chose to take Jamie to the movies). Since the IMAX lines are so long, we're going to head over there as soon as I get off work and walk Ziggy. Sure, we'll be sitting in line for about 1.5 hours, but it will be worth it to get good seats. Plus, the theatre sells pizzas and junk food, so we'll just eat a pizza for supper while we're waiting in line. But we definitely want to get there early enough to get good seats. When we saw Spiderman 3 at the IMAX, we got crummy seats way up front and you couldn't really tell what was going on because the screen was just too huge to take it all in at once. I'm totally stoked about seeing HP5!

This will be the summer of Harry, as the new book will be out the following week! Yippee!

2 h 45 m...

is not enough sleep. That's how long (well, short) I slept last night. What was just an inability to turn my head too far from side to side due to extremely tight, tense muscles turned into a full-blown stiffness and muscle pain over my whole body into the wee hours of the morning. Due to this, and the quaking and shaking of my muscles due to said extreme tightness/tenseness, I didn't sleep very much at all last night. I finally passed out around 4:00 a.m. then had to get up to get ready for work at 6:45 a.m. An almost-scalding hot shower helped some of the stiffness this morning, but I still cannot move my head from side to side or up/down, nor can I stretch any of my muscles out like I normally can. If this keeps up, I'll go see the doctor about it. It's just weird. It started Friday as a very slight tightening of my neck muscles - I could still move normally, but I got a bit of a twinge when I turned my head from side to side. Saturday, I had less movement, but still not too bad. Sunday morning, I couldn't move my head hardly at all, and by Sunday night my whole body was so tight I felt like a rubber band about to snap. Took some ibuprofen to no avail. Got desperate and took some old Rx pain medication/muscle relaxant combo from an old, unrelated injury. Prescription was several years old though, so I guess it had expired. No relief whatsoever. So now I sit here at work, very sleepy, unable to move my head hardly at all, and wishing I were at home in bed. I'm sure I'll get over it though. Just had to whine about it for a while, that's all. :-)

I Got New Toys!

Things have been FUN at work here lately. I've been designing the company website! Whee! Right now, we just have something up I threw together to give people contact info and notify them that the website is under construction. This is major for around here, because apparently they've had a registered domain name and a website for FIVE YEARS and never put anything up until I started pushing about it two years ago! Finally, the boss' wife told me to go ahead and just do it, then my boss could see it later. She got tired of him waiting around on giving the go ahead on it, too. It doesn't look nearly like what I want it to yet, but you can look at it here to see where I work and what I did to it so far.

Also, I got new toys today! I got a digitizer, stylus and wireless mouse to help with all the photoillustrations I have to do here. The boss' wife told me to go ahead and order whatever I need because she watched me waste 45 minutes one day trying to use my mouse to draw the line I needed on a scanned photomicrograph.

I LOVE NEW TOYS! Wooooo Hooooooooooooooo!

And for those of you wondering about Jamie, he's doing better. He's wearing an ace bandage until we can see the orthopaedist next Wednesday. I'll keep you all informed of what's going on.

The Ankle that Will Not Heal

UPDATE (6:55 PM): Jamie has been referred to an orthopaedist and ordered to wrap his ankle for additional support. His is not to play in the tournament next month. He is not to engage in physical activity involving running, standing for long periods, excessive movement, etc. until he sees the orthopaedist. He could very well be laid up for the most of the rest of the summer if he wants his ankle to heal enough for him to play soccer in the fall. I'll be calling the orthopaedist tomorrow for an appointment. Once we visit him/her, I'll post an update on his condition. Jamie is very upset about the tournament and the prospect of a whole summer without riding his bike or skateboard and no active play. He's very bummed, but understands the necessity of it. I'll keep you all posted. Thank you all for your concern on Jamie's behalf.


Jamie's ankle, despite him (mostly) staying off of it as he was told by the doctor, refuses to stop swelling and continues to be very painful. This worries me greatly. The doctor originally said it should be fine in a week he can go back to his active self. Well, he can't go back to his active self if he can't move it in certain directions without crying. So, I called the doctor's office this morning to see what they had to say about it. As soon as they heard it was still swelling and very painful, they told me to bring him in. They wanted me to bring him in first thing, but I couldn't because no one else would be at work to open up shop at 8:30. So, I made an appointment for this afternoon. I will be leaving shortly to go pick him up and take him to the doctor. Probably we'll have to go another round of x-rays. I don't care, I just want them to figure out what's going on and fix it. I'll keep y'all updated.

Crazy Week...and it's Only Tuesday!

Whew! This week has already been insane. First, I didn't get to indulge in my normal phone conversation Sunday night (which I always look forward to) because I had tons of homework to do and Rachel's wisdom teeth were coming in and causing her major pain, to the point I almost had to run her to the hospital.

Yesterday, I got a phone call that Jamie had hurt himself at daycare and may need to go to the doctor. So, I go pick him up and his ankle is the size of a tennis ball and his knee was starting to look like a cantaloupe. So, I call the doctor's office and they can't see him until 2:45, so Jamie got to go back to work with me (with an icepack and lots of movies to watch on my laptop computer) until it was time for the appointment. We get there, and since Jamie is so active in sports, the doctor wanted to be sure nothing was seriously injured. Jamie and I head off to the ER for x-rays, and wait around there forever. Oh, did I mention Jamie can barely hobble at this point so I'm carrying him everywhere?

Jamie gets x-rayed, and luckily nothing is broken. He's sprained his ankle and wrenched his knee, so he's in pain, but thankfully nothing is broken. But he can't go to daycare today (Tuesday) because everyone is going on a field trip to ride horses and hike. Doctor has left strict orders that Jamie is to stay off his ankle and knee for a solid week. So, Jamie comes back to work with me today to sit in an unused office with his leg propped up, a large stack of movies to watch, pages to color and paper airplanes to fly. Also, Jamie's kind of upset about all this because he was looking forward to the field trip and was supposed to go to soccer camp next week, but the doctor says no physical activity for a while, ergo no soccer camp.

Luckily, Jamie can go to day care for the rest of the week, he just isn't allowed to run around with the other kids. He'll be stuck on the sidelines while everyone else gets to play.

I Survived

So, I survived a week without Jamie that was full of work-related stress. Now I have him back home and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Well, except for the part where I have to practically hog-tie him to keep him in bed at night.

Jamie started daycare at the YMCA today. He was very excited (and relieved!) to find several friends from past YMCA sports and day camp there. Tomorrow, they get to go on a field trip to a place called Enchanted Springs Ranch. I'm sooo jealous. Do you think I could pass for an elementary schooler and go too?

Things are busy enough at work that not only is my boss' wife there to help out, but he's brought in his daughter part-time, too. I've been kept busy with more time consuming and detail oriented projects and thanks to Barbara and Michal, some of the more routine duties are off my shoulders so I can concentrate on these more exacting projects.

School started back officially today, but since the professors activated the web portal in Blackboard this past weekend, I was able to get an early start on my assignments. I'm taking three classes (nine hours) over the summer; two 5-week courses and one 10-week course. It's arranged so that I'm actually only actively participating in two classes at a time.

Speaking of school, better get off the blogs and on the books.

Big hugs to you all.

The House is Minus One Boy this Week

He's visiting Papaw for this shortened holiday week, and the house is too empty without him. Even with Destiny here, his presence is sorely missed. Luckily, work is insane busy, so I have plenty of extended work hours to keep me occupied. *Oh, goody!*

So, by the time I get off work and get home, I don't even want to think about computers, much less sit and type on one. Add to that the fact that school starts next week, and you'll see why I say not to be too surprised if I'm a bit scarce on the blogs this week.

Love you all, but I'm taking a hiatus for a bit. I'm sure I'll go into blogger withdrawal eventually and just *have* to stop by the blogs to leave a comment or two, but for now, Adios!

Soul Searching and Prayer

Lest you all think my life is wrapped up in the frivolous, such as movies, music, chick-lit, etc., I'll reveal something I've been pondering for a while, and - more recently - fervently praying over: What direction will/should my life take after I get my undergrad in a year?

This is something I've idly touched upon before, but having to file my graduation plan at Texas Woman's University here recently made it hit home more, I guess. For so long, I've been focused on just wrapping up my undergrad degree, get it done, then you can focus on the rest of your life. But seeing all the credits I've already taken, plus what I'm planning to take this summer, fall and next spring to complete all the requirements for my degree written down on paper has really made me think. And I'm thinking: "Okay, now what?!?" I'll have my bachelor's degree. Great! I'll be the first person in my immediate family to get a bachelor's degree! But what do I do with it? Where am I supposed to go from here?

I've been praying a lot, asking for enlightenment, asking to at least have an inkling of the direction I'm supposed to take, where I'm needed, how best I can put my skills to use for the Lord and to help others. Am I supposed to stay in Texas? Can I (please!) move again? What's best for Jamie? Should I enter grad school right away, or take a break for a year or two?

And speaking of grad school, I'm no longer at all certain what Master's Degree to pursue, or when to pursue it. Library science still appeals to me, but I'm thinking of trying for a double masters in Education and Library Science, then getting certified and becoming a school librarian. Or, I've also done really well in my pre-law classes for the Government component of my undergrad. Perhaps I could do a combo in law and library science, and work as a librarian in a law library. I don't know.

Then there's my personal life, or lack of one, in this case. Is this all there is to be for me? I want to be a partner, a help-mate, to work together according to God's plan for us. I want more children some day. I want Jamie to know a father's love, as well as The Father's love.

The LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him."
Gen. 2:18

Does it then follow that woman is not meant to be alone, either? Or is it too late for me? Am I meant to be married, or have I already completely wrecked the plan God had for me?

These are some of the things I've been praying over and thinking about a lot here lately. In fact, now that I'm thirty, I guess you could call this my mini-midlife crisis. Comments, suggestions and prayers on this subject are welcomed and appreciated.

THREE DAYS!!!!!!!!!

In only three days, Jamie and I are going to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Woo hoo! We're taking his friend Remo with us (pronounced Ray-mo, not like Nemo). Then, Remo is spending the night with us and I'll take him home sometime Saturday. We're going to pick up the advanced tickets tonight. We're using the free passes given to us by the movie theater when they goofed up on Spiderman 3.

I cannot WAIT to see this movie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huh? Wha'?

Okay, so I understand the underlying message Greenpeace is trying to send by building a giant replica of Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat. I really do.

BUT...

Does anybody else see the irony here?

"Like, I'm sooo bummed that global warming isn't, like, a high enough priority with governments around the world and junk. So, like, I'm going to cut down all these trees, and build a big wooden boat, so like, maybe, these gnarly countries will do something about global warming, and ozone, and smog and junk. Yeah, like, that's how to fight global warming. Cut DOWN a bunch of TREES!"

Mememememeeeeeee ABC's

Thanks for the tag, Animal. Well, without further ado, here's my opportunity to give you all TMI about me...

A- Available or Single: Available... (Makes me sound like a car rental or something. Yes, reservations may be made up to one year in advance by logging on to...)

B- Best Friend: I don't have any. All I have are friends whom I've adopted (or have adopted me) Now I think of them as family. Much MUCH better!

C- Cake or Pie: Cake. Cheese cake, to be exact.

D- Drink of Choice: Margarita, extra salt.

E- Essential Items: Glasses (so I have depth perception), an interesting book to read, a matchbox car or two in the bottom of my purse to keep any kidlings entertained, and some pencils/pens and I'm good to go.

F- Favorite Color: any shade or derivative of blue.

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Brachs Gummi Bears (with real fruit juice!)

H- Hometown: Ummm... well, my first memories are of a tiny little town in Oklahoma that sounds like there's No Water there, and my longest running memories are of a small but growing town in Kentucky which shares the first part of its name with the first name of our first president.

I- Indulgence: Books. I've been known to spend my last $10 on a book I want.

J- January or February: January, 'cause that's the month my brother, my son and my favorite uncle on my mom's side were all born in.

K- Kids: One and three-quarters. Jamie's mine, I guess Ziggy counts as half a kid, and I consider Destiny maybe a quarter of my kid (after counting her mom, her dad, and her grandparents, I figure that should leave me about a quarter to claim)

L- Life is incomplete without: People to love and who love you in return

M- Marriage Date: Sometime in the future? (At least, I'd like to think so...)

N- Number of Siblings: biological: 3 (1 living - Joel. He doesn't blog and lives in Brooklyn, NY). "Adopted": A few, all of whom are very very very special people whom I love dearly

O- Oranges or Apples: I like both, although I generally buy apples because 1) they're cheaper; and 2) they're less messy and it doesn't take as long to get them ready to eat

P- Phobias/Fears: The dark (because I'm practically night-blind) and confined spaces (I can't stand not having the ability to move freely).

Q- Favorite Quote:
Will: "How did he escape the island?"
Pirate: "He made a raft out of sea turtles"
Will: "What did he tie them together with?"
Captain Jack Sparrow: "Human hair... from my back"

R- Reasons to smile: Jamie

S- Season: Fall, in any location where the leaves actually turn color

T- Tag Three: Becca, Julez, Tara

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I talk so much about myself, I doubt there's much about me you guys DON'T know... Ummm...Okay... Oh, wait, I think I've already told you guys that I have every line and song from "Labyrinth" memorized. Oh, I remember almost every line of every role I've ever played (and that's a lot, plus I haven't acted since Jamie was a baby)

V– Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animals: I'm an equal opportunity oppressor of flora and fauna

W- Worst Habits: Finishing peoples' sentences when they're talking really slow, correcting others' grammar and spelling, being very sarcastic at almost all times

X– X-rays or Ultrasounds: In what context? I mean, if you're talking superhero powers, then X-ray vision is much cooler than ultrasound vision. I mean, what kind of superhero symbol would a person with Ultrasound vision have? Considering what an ultrasound is typically used for, I can only imagine what symbol would best portray THAT superpower. Other than that, I'd rather have neither, thank you.

Y- Your Favorite Foods: chocolate, cheese cake, asparagus, tomatoes, spinach, pizza

Z- Zodiac: Libra, on the cusp of whatever the one is that comes after it. Don't pay much attention to that stuff anymore, other than to remember that I do have characteristics of both Libras and whatever that sign is after Libra.

Picture Page!

Jamie and I saw "Meet the Robinsons" in 3-D Friday night. The advert for the new Simpsons movie was lifesized. Jamie hopped up there so I could take a quick picture.



Jamie's end-of-season soccer party was at a place called Incredible's Pizza. It's about 10 times bigger (and better) than Gattitown. As you can see, it had indoor formula 1 race cars to ride. Destiny and I shared one in the next race.


Last but not least, here are some pictures of the kids I snapped in the backyard the other day. Destiny is showing off for the camera, of course.

Great Headline

Being the former newsperson that I am, I pay close attention to headlines. I groan at bad ones, wonder what the editor was thinking when I read confusing ones, and get tickled by the really creative ones. But the one I saw today takes the cake. It's great. But to understand why it's so great, you have to read the article.

The headline?

"Skywalkers in Korea Cross Han Solo"

3-3-1

That's Jamie's soccer team's record right now - three wins, three losses, one tie. His last game is this Saturday, an event he is looking forward to yet dreading at the same time. He's excited because it's a game to play; he's dreading it because it's the last of the season. I'm going to try to scrounge up the funds for him to attend three soccer camps this summer - one basic skills camp, one advanced skills and ballhandling camp, and one goalkeeper's camp. He's really excited at the prospect of attending these three camps. The kid eats, breathes and lives soccer. He's a phenomenal goalie - but his stamina when he's out actually running around on the field needs work. Hopefully, the camps will help in myriad ways.

In my school news, I took a final last night for sociology and got an A. That means my final grade for the semester in this class is also an A. I'm fairly certain I have an A in my criminal law class, as well. So far, I have an A in Earth Science, but I won't know my final grade until I take the final exam next week. I have a D in math right now (ugh!), only because my teacher dropped my abysmally low exam 2 grade (25/100!). I have to bust my butt trying to get at least an 80 on the final exam (please, Lord, help me figure this math out!) in order to get a final grade of C. If I do manage to squeak out a C, I'll be allowed to take the math class I need for my major. Have I mentioned lately how much I hate math?

As for Jamie's school, he's only got about 3 weeks left. Right now, he has A's and B's in everything except social studies. He has a D in that one. I told him I except (read: demand) that it be much higher when report cards come out! Other than that, things are going really well for him. He's not getting in trouble very often, is polite and attentive in class, and is slowly starting to learn to control his emotions when he gets upset with his peers at school. I'm very proud of my boy!

Now that the end of my collegiate career is within sight, I'm wondering how I can put a BGS degree to good use. I know I want to go to grad school, but when? Where? Where do I want to go from here? Where am I wanted/needed? Where does God want me to go and what does He want me to do? Where is best for Jamie to be? These are questions for which I do not have the answers.

At work, things are going okay. This is the last week for R.T. to be here, supposedly. I got tickled yesterday because we had a "going away" luncheon for him. He had the nerve to send out an email request to everyone telling us what he wanted as a going away present! Can you image the gall? Then at lunch, he said he almost bought us all presents to show how much he appreciated us, then decided he wasn't going to. My main boss piped up and said "That's okay, the fact that you're leaving is present enough!" I about choked on my lunch I was laughing so hard!

Guess I better get back to work now. I'm going to try to leave the office early today so I can go on an office supply run. It's been so long since I've had time to go that we're dreadfully low on many things!