Domestic Geek

I just got this photo from one of my co-workers that he took a couple of weeks ago. Aren't you jealous of my work environment?

I'm all for any software that allows you to free yourself from the evil giant, Microsoft. Another co-worker pointed me to Flip4Mac WMV, a component that allows .wmv files to be played through Quicktime.

I don't know why I can never stick with one thing until I master it. I used to be so into web design. I wanted to be a web designer more than anything. I had a thirst for all things web-related. Now...I can't even change the look of my own site on a regular basis. My co-worker has a new MySpace account and is trying to figure out how to modify the look. The old me woudl've dug right in and would've loved to have figured it out. Now, I'm mildly curious and will dig into it if I have nothing else to do. I had thought that once I had some free time, the love of web would come back. It hasn't. I'm sure part of that is that I sit in front of a computer for 8 hours a day. The last thing I want to do when I get home is sit there for more (unless I'm playing The Sims 2 or something).

I always do this, though. Music, gardening, scrapbooking, computers, cooking—you name it. I know a little about a lot, yet master none. I need to change that. I know part of it has to do with my perfectionist Virgo nature. If I can't be perfect at something, don't do it. I also love to learn. I get easily bored and easily distracted, though.

I really want to master this graphic design thing, especially using Photoshop and Illustrator. I know I'll never be a GURU, but I still have so much to learn. I'm getting pretty darned good in Illustrator and I'm developing more confidence in my Photoshop abilities, but I want to get good enough to start earning some "real" money at this. Not just a minimum entry-level salary, but big bucks. I want to get to the point that I don't have to look for a tutorial or ask another designer's advice when I want to achieve some effect.

I just finished reading The Chronicles of Narnia. Pretty good set of books. I guess I never had read them before. I would've remembered that story. Oh, well. Now I'll have to watch the movie when it comes out on DVD.

I had a really freaky dream last night. Our new moible home park owner (whom I've yet to actually meet) had decided to consolidate the homes left in the park down into a smaller space and sell off the extra land. He took it upon himself to have all our homes moved to one end of the park, packed in tight like sardines with hardly any room between them and then proceeded to bill all of residents for the cost of moving them and updating the lots to code. There was a notice on our door stating that we had to pay the whole amount ($10,000) immediately or be evicted. I was sooooo angry when I woke up. I really hate dreams that make me angry.

Well, better get my butt moving. Lots of stuff I should be doing other than this.

As usual, time spent away from work moves four times faster than time at work. My day off is almost over and I didn't get near the amount of things accomplished that I had planned. *sigh* Oh, well. It was still good to have time for myself.

I had managed to lose last month's bank statement. I've spent most of the day looking for it. Turns out I filed it (without reconciling it) in the folder with my pay stubs. I haven't filed squat lately, so I can't even begin to imagine how that happened. Oh, well. Soon I can figure out how little money I have.

My paperwork really is a mess. I haven't really filed anything since before we moved back to Aurora. That was over three years ago! This weekend I'm really going to have to tackle that mess because I'm tired of stacks of papers everywhere and I can't find a damned thing! I did throw out a bunch of stuff today that I was hanging on to in case I ever decided I wanted to teach music again. It's been over 13 years since I was in a classroom—I don't think I'll use it. I'm still in my de-cluttering my life mode. I was just too depressed to do it while underemployed and had no time while overemployed. Time to get back to sifting through all the junk.

I got to see my first ads in print yesterday. It was way more thrilling than seeing my stuff on a t-shirt. I don't know why. Well, except the Team [Housewares] shirts that I had made for Marcus and Mike, but the thrill of seeing them printed was tainted by losing my job.

Well, better get going—I've got reconciling to do...

Saw a great bumper sticker on a car today that read:

Give Snape a Chance

Made me smile.

So begins the perks of the new job:

I'm off today. For the whole day. WITH PAY!!! This doesn't even count as a sick day. How cool is that? My boss doesn't want his designers to burn out, so once every eight week cycle we're to take a day or two off to relieve the stress of getting the magazines to press. Each of us four designers is taking a different day this week. Mine was today. It's a good thing, too, after what happened yesterday.

When I let Skippy in from pottying when I got home from work yesterday, he proceeded to bleed all over my house. I panicked because I didn't know why he was bleeding. He wouldn't stop running because of the pain and I was freaking out thinking he was going to die from blood loss. I called Marcus to calm myself down because I was getting hysterical. I felt bad because I knew there was nothing he could do from work. I tried calling Dad as well, but he wasn't home. I finally cornered him back in the laundry room and held a towel around the foot I figured out was bleeding. I wasn't sure at first because all four paws were drenched in blood from running through it. I guess he lost a toenail, but I don't know where because I couldn't find it outside. Weird. At least he hadn't sliced it open. I was afraid we'd have to take him to the vet for stitches or something. After the bleeding let up, I went to the store to get Neosporin and bandages, but then he wouldn't let me wrap his foot. Dork. I spend an hour steam cleaning blood out of the carpets while Marcus mopped up what was on the linoleum.

Today I get to finish that task. I'm sure in the daylight I'll see blood that I missed, plus now my carpets have clean spots. I'd better get them all cleaned while the weather is mild.

First, though, I'm going to grab some breakfast and go read a couple of chapters in The Chronicles of Narnia. One and a half books left of the series left.