I like when I can work from home

I really love the days when I can work from home.  I am a total homebody, and I think that sometimes I'm actually much more productive working from home.  Of course, today I'm blogging, but I technically am taking today off as a vacation day, so the fact that I already spent an hour on work-related tasks means that I'm ahead of the curve. 

I'm one of two data analyst administrators of the SAP BPC system for my employer.  It's not particularly exciting, but it's a good job that I can often perform remotely.  In fact, my team-mate works 100% from home as he lives several hours away from the job site.  I, therefore, get stuck as the on-site person, which is kind of a bummer as I would love, I mean LOVE, to telecommute full time.  Of course, I do present trainings to system end-users and so must be in person occasionally, but I actually enjoy that.  But all of the documentation, creation of instructional material, website content composition, work with data, and system administration can be all be done remotely. 

Plus, I have a 40 minute highway commute back and forth to work every day and I hate driving when other people are on the road (which is most of the time).  At home, I have no children, no distractions and a gorgeous view. Oh, I suppose the husband and the dog do demand a small amount of attention, but it's negligible and they know to leave me alone when I'm working. ;-)

Ah well, that door hasn't quite opened up for me, yet, although I keep looking for a crack.  For now, I'll just savor these moments.

Here's my view of about 5 miles south of home.  Or condo is near that mountain.  It's a beautiful setting; I wish I could spend more time there.

I Really Like My New Shoes!

Last week I ordered a pair of Clarks Lexi Sycamore Slides in Brown, Size 7, from www.JCPenney.com.  They are totally awesome!  And kudos to Macy's where I tried them on, but they didn't have brown in stock and they didn't even have the model of shoe available online - so, hey, had to go to www.JCPenney.com.  So, sorry Macy's, but I did buy 4 new pairs of shoes from in-store as retail therapy for my pain and stress (see my Cat and Dog blog, if curious about that), so I don't feel too bad. :-)  Anyway, the shoes!

Photo from www.jcpenney.com

As you can see, they are cute.  Yeah, okay, so the picture only shows one shoe, but there are two in the pair.  Really.  And the other one's for the other foot, even!  So, even though the picture shows just one shoe, I actually got two shoes -- one for each foot.  But what a deal!  Two shoes for the price of one shoe!

What you can't see is that they are super lightweight.  They also fit my foot perfectly and I have a wider front of my foot with a high arch and a narrow heel.  Most regular width shoes are too narrow for the majority of my foot, but then when I get wide, my heel slips out of it all the time.  Shoes can be tough for me to find, but I love them anyway.

Plus, as you can see, they have a little bit of height on the bottom.  I'm only a bit over 5' tall.  And I have problems walking in heels.  As in, I wobble and will break my freakin' neck.  But these are almost wedgelike in their height-increasing-ness without looking clunky and like I'm trying too hard.  Not extreme like a wedge, but enough that I notice the lift (almost 2" on the heel and maybe 1" in front making the heel really only about a 1" heel?).  And since it's such a great feature, I'm going to mention again that they're lightweight -- which you can never get with a wedge, so this rocks.

Plus (yes!  another one!)  they're totally cushy.  As in, they're soft on the feet and cradle them, too.  I put my foot into it and it fits like a nice soft, supporting glove; I can wear them all day with no foot fatigue.  These shoes rock and I really like them.  A lot. :-)

I Like Homemade Tardises (Tardi??) with old-school video games inside! YESSSS!!!

I so wish that I could do stuff like this, but I do not have the shop skills (and I never liked shop class, either), nor do I have the electronic skills (although I'd really like to learn more about that), and I really don't have the time.  But this kind of stuff is so damn cool, and of course being a huge sci-fi geek, I love Dr. Who, and I've always had a crush on the Tardis - it's alive, you know...

From  http://www.asciimation.co.nz/tardis/   

I like my house.

Yup, I like my house.  I don't spend nearly enough time in it, but I like it. We bought a little 2 bedroom condo in January 2012.  After paint, new carpet, new window blinds and new kitchen countertop, it's definitely home!  I LOVE the paint color on the walls in the living room:  It's biscuit.  It looks a little tan or peachy in my computer monitor, but it's actually a mellow rich gold/deep ivory color, like French vanilla, that looks like inviting, comfortable, sunny and bright.  Paired with white crown moulding and 9 ft ceilings in swiss coffee and - it's home!  Hubster picked out the biscuit color (I picked out a cheesecake yellow for the bedroom and meh, I would have liked biscuit better!).  He is awesome and he makes it home, too. He can read my mind!  Seriously. This is the exact color I wanted!

I love being married and I love and adore my husband ♥

Happy second wedding anniversary, my Love! ♥  Two years (and a day - it took  me a bit to get to my blog) ago, I married the most wonderful man who complements me (and compliments me).  I am still incredibly happy and look forward to the years ahead with relish! (...And maybe some chocolate... but maybe not at the same time...)

We did it right and got married in Vegas, Baby!  Right here, at the Little White Wedding Chapel where Joan Collins and Michael Jordan were married.  Um... but maybe not to each other.  I think...

I Like My Cute Little Rescue Dog

Yup, I like my cute little rescue dog.  Well, mine and my husband's rescue dog I should say.  I'm not really a dog person, but this is a pretty cute and sweet little dog.  Hubster's the dog guy and he's working wonders with this damaged little critter.  Doggie is Chihuahua/Dachshund and we don't really know what we're calling him yet. The county pound we got him from called him Gandalf the Gray.  I started calling him GG because Gandalf was really a silly name for such a little cute cat-dog.

But, hubster's taken to calling him Peppy (he spells it Pepe), and that's probably going to be his name.  It's really a wishful thinking kind of name because he's a scared little dog.  Fortunately, he doesn't bark.  He doesn't chew on things.  He doesn't have accidents, even when excited (well, okay, he barfed a couple of times, but well, I have too when I'm nervous).  He doesn't jump, he doesn't lick, in fact, he's pretty much had the dog beaten right out of him and he's also clearly been a chew toy for a larger dog by the scars and healing sores all over him.  He's blind in one eye because it's scarred from a puncture, and we don't know how old he is because his teeth say he's young, but his body says old.  In fact, we only had to pay the senior adoption fee.

Hubster getting GG to actually trust and play a little,
holding the bully stick tight so he can chew on it.

But, after only a week of hubster working very carefully and lovingly with him (hubster is so totally a dog whisperer - I'm pretty much lost and keep doing the wrong thing, but I'm learning), he actually can come over to us almost like a real creature without slinking over.  He's actually playing just a little and wagging his tail.  He's even pranced around happily a few times.










Yup, he's a good little dog and I like him.  I'd love to go on about horrible people, but well, I don't like them so they have no place on my blog about stuff I like. So, GG, Pepe, or whatever your name is, welcome!

I Like Chocolate Chocolate Cookies for Dinner

The Double Fudge cookies from Mother's Cookies are some of my favorites. Mmmmm... Guess what I had for dinner tonight?  Yup.  About 8 Mother's(TM) Double Fudge Creme cookies followed by one rather meager homemade bean/cheese burrito.  Gotta have dessert first - life's too short, and there are no guarantees!

Photo credit:  Mother's Cookies, http://www.motherscookies.com/images/products/foodshot_17412.jpg