Domestic Geek

OK, I can understand someone's enthusiasm about the upcoming Christmas holiday, but seriously...who the hell puts their outdoor decorations up the day before Halloween? My neighbor, that's who. Snowmen, reindeer and fake trees is what greeted me when I turned off the main street into our park today. Not cool, people.

I did go to the U-Pick-Um pumpkin farm yesterday after work at Rock Creek Farm. It's up at Hwy 287 and the Northwest Parkway up in Brighton. It was quite the drive up there during rush hour, but I really enjoyed the drive to the field once on the property and roaming through the fields. I took Northwest Parkway/E-470 home, so it actually wasn't too bad on the trek home. There is another one close to that same spot that I'd like to check out next year called Pumpkins and More Farms. Marcus promised me that next year we could go through a corn maze or something. I've always wanted to do that. In addition to some pumpkins that I got to make Jack-o-lanterns out of, I got three small pie pumpkins to make fresh pies for Thanksgiving. They even threw in a spice pack and a recipe.

For future reference, there is a great site I came across called Pumpkin Patches and More! that listed pumpkin patches, corn mazes and other Halloween-related activities by state. There is also information about finding produce, Christmas trees and all sorts of stuff. That's a great resource (it's where I found the two places I mentioned above, plus a tutorial on making fresh pumpkin pies)! Wish I had thought if it.

OK, I'm off the make some pumpkin cookies to take to work tomorrow. I found the recipe online and if they come out yummy, I'll post a link to it. Otherwise, I'm going to forget they exist! I also am going to clean out my pumpkins so they'll be ready to carve after work tomorrow and get the seeds soaking so I can roast them. Roasted pumpkin seeds is my most favorite fall food. Mmmmm...yummy!

Even though Marcus and I are not "officially" married, we celebrate the anniversary of when we became a committed couple every 28th of October.

Today marked 15 years of togetherness.

I can honestly say I love him more today that I did 15 years ago. I'm the most blessed person in the entire world that I found him. I truly believe we are soul mates.

We celebrated this evening by consuming our traditional meal of Endless Shrimp at Red Lobster (the promotion always seems to be going on at the end of October). The cool thing about this year is we paid via gift cards that I got at work. I was just doing something that I felt was part of my job, but the CSR really appreciated my work and felt that I went above and beyond, so he requested to the powers that be that I was given this extra compensation. Yay!!! Works for me and the timing couldn't have been better.

There was a cute elderly couple sitting across the aisle from us. I was "enamored" with them (as Marcus called it). I so want to be like that couple when we're old. You could just tell that they enjoyed each other's company.

Anyway...

Hey Friends and Family!

I have a request for my birthday this year which, I just noticed today, happens to be in two weeks (gasp!).

I don't need things. Gosh knows I'm trying to purge my life and my house of unnecessary and unwanted stuff. What I would like, if you are so inclined, is iTunes gift certificates or donations to my Vegas fund. See, in addition to the price of the actual trip, there are things I need to get before I go, such as a new laptop battery, headphones for my iPod, a new camera, some nicer clothes. That is the kind of "stuff" I do need now.

Thanks!

So, last Friday was SysAdmin Appreciation Day and I tried really hard to drum up support for the holiday for Marcus. Unfortunately, I work with dolts.

First, I went to Marcus' immediate supervisor to get permission to decorate his door and to get her to drum up the day with the rest of the staff. Well, she didn't bother to tell me that she was going to be on vacation for most of last week. Hmph. Turns out she didn't bother to tell anybody before she left, either.

Then I talked to my supervisor and told him we should celebrate for Marcus and the prepress tech guy. It totally slipped his mind (so he says). Nevermind that I wrote it on the CALENDAR that he looks at every darned day.

So, Friday I stopped at 7-11 and bought him one of his favorite canned caffeinated coffee beverages and proceeded to decorate his door.

Apparently nobody I work with learned how to read. All day long, people wished Marcus "Happy Birthday." After a while, he got tired of telling people it wasn't his birthday. Others thought the mini CDs in between words in my HAPPY SYSADMIN DAY banner were letter Os. I thought they might have trouble with the banner, so I printed the sign at work that morning with the URL for the SysAdmin Day site. Clueless...the whole lot.

At least Marcus knows one person in the building truly appreciates him.

[more photos in the SysAdmin Day 2007 gallery]

Just wanted to make a quick note to remind myself and everybody else that July 27th is System Administrator Appreciation Day. Show some love to the guy (or gal) that keeps your computers and networks humming along. When they're doing their jobs right, it's usually a thankless job, so please do something nice for yours.

This year's event is the 8th annual one. Read more at SysAdminDay.com.