A Little This, A Little That

A little slice of life today. A few things going on that I wanted to share. Nothing of significance, just some rambling. So, here's the "News".

In You Have No Money News, I had a lovely meeting with my bank branch manager yesterday afternoon and the bank will, indeed, make sure that any checks I had out will clear. Of course, any overdraft fees will be mounting as their investigation into the theft of my identity goes on. But, hey, given all the folks out there that wish they were me, I'm amazed I've lucked out this long.

Once the bank has determined that I didn't have breakfast at the Sanborn Cafe' in Tijuana yesterday, they'll put everything back as it should be. At least that's the story they're telling me right now.

I'd used my debit card to pick up a prescription and a few groceries at our neighbhorhood grocery on Monday night. Because [Kid 3] needed some money for school yesterday, I ran the transaction as a debit, so that I could get some cash back. Not sure if this is where the problem originated or not.

I'll keep you guys posted on this saga, though.

In Work Bites News, while talking to Highlander on the phone this morning, our bookkeeper came rushing back to my cubicle to ask if I could take Lexus to the emergency room. Cutting short my conversation, I grabbed my coat and hurried to her cubicle. One of the architects was helping her on with her coat and I was handed her purse to carry. She had, apparently, dislocated her shoulder.

Before we got to the car, though, it popped back into place and the trip was, as they say, narrowly averted. Had this been the extent of my interactions with Lexus today, I'd have been fine. But, no.

She's been on a roll for the last week or so about how everyone in the office is trying to get her fired. The latest assassin is our newest intern, Ashley. Ashley's talent and work ethic could run rings around Lexus', with one X-acto knife behind her back. Of course, Lexus doesn't see it that way. She has seniority and is outraged that Ashley is trying to tell her how to do things. So, I had to spend a half an hour listening to that bullshit.

I kept telling her to do the best job she could do and try not to get caught up in the peripheral crap. If she was doing a good job, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on if they tried to get rid of her. But she never listens. She is insecure and paranoid and so very young (and unwise).

Every one of the architects in this office has mentioned egregious mistakes she's made on drawings or in carrying out their instructions. With Ashley, they tell her one time and she does it right. Plus, if she sees something she believes should be changed, she'll bring it to their attention. Which is a big plus to them. So, advising her to focus on her work was the best advice I could offer. Though, I'm not sure how much good it will do.

Once again, I can't fix everyone else's problems.

In Me Blowing Off Steam News, my ex dropped by at 8:55PM last night to drop off a belt and a sweater he'd forgotten to return with the kids last Saturday. He had mentioned (the day before), that he'd be dropping them off yesterday, but had indicated it would be in connection with picking [Kid 3] up for her religion classes. I mentioned, during that very phone conversation, that my records showed that there was no class scheduled for last night. He indicated he'd check his stuff and call me back.

He never did. As yesterday wore on, I decided that I wasn't going to rush around and get her ready, as my schedule showed no session. He never called. Never emailed. So we had never really set up a time for him to drop off the weekly forgotten items. Apparently, he assumed any time was fine.

Knowing [Kid 3]'s bedtime is 9PM, he shows up 5 minutes prior. She's had her bath and is in slow down mode and he ramps it up by popping in just before she climbs under the covers. It was incredibly inconsiderate of him. Once again, taking for granted that he can just show up whenever it suits him and making it clear that he doesn't have to consult me to check what works for OUR household. Had I known he was planning to be that late, I'd have either postponed it, or asked him to drop off the items in a bag on the front porch.

I made it abundantly clear that I didn't appreciate such a late "drop in" and asked him to please call before stopping over in the future. His response was that he'd told me he was going to be dropping the items off that day. I guess that means he could have come at 11:30PM and he'd have still been in his rights. Of course, I was still expecting he'd call me back to confirm things and thought we'd address the return items when he did. Obviously, he thought he had a free pass.

I don't treat him with such disrespect. I really wish he'd stop doing it to me.

Ahhhh, life's little aggravations.

In Happy Busy News, I've got my Martha on with respect to my upcoming nuptuals. Wedding attire is coming together nicely. Still need to finalize what my attendants will be wearing, but have my dress picked out and the groom and groomsmen are all done, too. At least we have a color scheme! Hooray!!

Highlander and I have a cake-tasting scheduled for a couple weeks from now, but short of the cake tasting terrible (which I absolutely do not expect), we should have that done pretty soon.

We've gotten the rehearsal dinner done. The location is reserved and food selected. And the reception location has been selected and reservations secured.

I've gotten the photographer scheduled and some of the music (what will be playing as I walk down the aisle...don't expect traditional...and a special number that we should be able to pull off) behind me, but need to persuade someone to start burning some cd's of selected songs for the reception.

Invitations should be going out in the next couple weeks. We've come up with the wording we want, the graphics we want and have picked up some blank invitations, which we'll print ourselves.

We've come up with some very beautiful heartfelt vows that we want to exchange and decided on the menu for the reception (most of which will be prepared by yours truly...a daunting task to be sure), but haven't even started looking at rings, yet.

Working on getting an officiant lined up and then it will be on to bouquets (which I'm doing myself, long before the wedding date) and decorations for the reception (see previous note, except that I'll likely be putting these together while Highlander is attending his bachelor party).

Though we haven't picked them up yet, Highlander has decided on gifts for his groomsmen. I've decided on a wedding gift for Highlander, too. But, I'm not telling on either count. We've also set aside some time to go get our marriage license.

At this point, I wanted to share an anecdote (and it's not even Flashback Friday!). The whole time I'm working on wedding plans, I keep remembering a conversation Highlander and I had, via email, early in 2004. I was helping him with a project to get his novels to various publishers and had sent him a note outlining what I'd done, what I had left to do, and some suggestions on the topic. He sent me back a note that, had I more time, I'd likely share here in it's entirety.

The crux of it, however, was that while he didn't ever expect to need the services (because he was never going to be married...heh), if he ever did he wanted me to organize his Big Fat Greek Wedding. Basically, he was complimenting me on my organizational skills and trying to show me some appreciation (which was sweet), but I'm sure neither of us thought we'd ever be in this position.

There is a definite humor in the situation, as I work to pull together a wedding between a divorced woman who was never going to get married again, and a single man who didn't believe in marriage, but had, long ago, referred me for the wedding planner position. Okay, maybe it's just funny to me. But I do get a kick out of it daily. And that's very nice.

In Entertainment News, and on a much, much less significant note, I'd like to express my gratitude for the new episodes of "Heroes" that started this week. Let me say, "HOORAY!" With the new season of "The Shield" not due until April...::groan::...and "Deadwood" over (and no promised movies in sight), I've been dying during the dryspell! Nice to have a show back on that I look forward to seeing.

Speaking of Shows To Look Forward To, let me note that a good friend and former gaming buddy of Highlander's, Alli, will be on Jeopardy tomorrow night. How cool is that?? I have no idea how she did, but tune in if you get a chance!!

All right, I'm heading back into the grind. Speaking of which, Highlander is having a pretty rough week (that's lasted about 21 days at this point) at work these days. Business is booming (in the non-fun explosive way, if you know what I mean). If you get a minute, show him the love. Drop him a note and just tell him that you're rooting for him. I know he'll appreciate it.

Of course, me driving him nuts with wedding nonsense probably doesn't help. But, I hope he always knows how very much I love him. 'Cause I do. And it's a lot. In fact, it's just a liiiiittle bit more than he loves me...;) But, Hey, that's not "news", is it?