I can (barely) sew!

I decided that I needed to sew a princess skirt for Mack to wear at my niece’s Princess + Pirate Birthday party. I don’t know why I felt such a strong desire to do this… I can’t sew. I don’t have a sewing machine – and if I did, I wouldn’t even know how to use it. For some reason, those obstacles didn’t stop me! (obviously, I’m nuts)

I bought some green tulle, some aqua netting, and some silver embellished ribbon… I measured the girl (sort of) and made this poufy-wrap-skirt thing that my little princess loved! I paired it with a tye-dyed tank that we’ve had for a while – it had the crowne on it & then tied a huge bow around the bun of her hair. Voila! A princess!

I hand-sewed the entire thing while watching Project Runway. (there are even pleats in it!)

Imagine what I could accomplish if I actually knew what I was doing?!

(you have no idea how many times I say that each and every day)

Where have you been?

There is a light at the end of my boring-non-internet-accessing life. The new hardware arrived yesterday and I should be back in the 21st century by tonight! Hallelujah!

On the flip side… I have been getting a lot of extra sleep.

Work has been difficult – the employee that was in the hospital passed away over the weekend. We’re holding a memorial service for her at the hotel today & expect about 150+ people to share it with us. Tomorrow is her funeral – about 2 1/2 hours away & there may not be enough room in the church for everyone. (and we don’t mind one bit)

Even though I’ve been in HR for over 11 years, this is the first time I’ve lost an employee. Not only are we (me & my assistant) grieving over the loss of a dear friend and co-worker, we’re also looked upon to help others through it. It’s tough – but it helps to get out of the wallowing-in-self-pity funk knowing that there are other people feeling exactly the same way & they need you.

A long weekend could not come at a better time. The extra day will most definitely be needed & enjoyed with the family and the INTERNET! (after some serious house-cleaning & toilet-scrubbing) I’ll be soooo happy to be connected again! I’ve missed my blog friends! And my gossip sites! And my message boards! And my Webkinz! (I hope they’re okay! Probably starving… poor little imaginary-computer-generated pets.)

Finally!

Happy Weekend Everybody!

It’s why I sleep with a pillow on my head.

Even though when I go to sleep at night I have to listen to the dog stirring in his crate, the TV (someone can’t fall asleep without it on), and some sort of insect that sounds like there are 1 million maracas being shaken outside my bedroom window… I’d rather be there right this moment then dealing with my day at work. In fact, I’d really like to stay there until, oh, 2009.

-An employee was caught sleeping at work. How was this person caught? Well – a guest woke her up because he was trying to check out & when no one answered him at the front desk, he went behind the desk to the back office and found this person snoring a la Rip VanWinkle.

-A former employee passed away last night of a heart attack. He was 49.

-The most beloved employee at this hotel is in ICU right now in critical condition. She had an aneurysm last night and will be having surgery tomorrow. Employees have been brought to tears upon hearing this news.

-Another associate relations issue was brought to our attention by a guest… not even going to mention it here.

My bed (and subsequent noise) sounds absolutely heavenly compared to all of this!

My friend who lost her dog… she’s doing okay. Thank you for thinking of her! She was able to see her dog and say her good-byes. So she got some closure to what happened.

Okay… I can’t be all Debbie Downer, right?

This is what I found a few weeks ago when I went into the kids’ bathroom. No – we don’t keep a stock of these in the house. I swear.

I have no explanation for it. (and yes, I did clean the sink after I took the photo)

And here is what Marti got for me as a present:

She got these for each of us – so now when we play Pounce, there is no question about whose cards are whose. How cool are they?

Today is definitely one of those days to count your blessings… and to tell people that you love them! (and to question my kids about where they’re getting rubber gloves from)

Keep her in your thoughts, please.

One of my very dear friends, a fellow HR Director, lost all of her belongings along with her beloved beagle, Emily.

Any thoughts or prayers are greatly appreciated.

Things you never thought you’d have to say.

At work today I had to say this:

“Can you please make sure that applicant has all his teeth?”

Seriously.

He didn’t, by the way.

Unexpected Disconnect

I knew I was taking a vacation from work – I was super-excited about that!

Here’s what the dog did this week while on vacation: (I don’t know what cracks me up the most about this photo… the size of my girl’s feet, the dog konked out in her lap, or the meerkats in the far left that my son is holding.)

I did not, however, anticipate taking a vacation from the internet. I could not have imagined that it would only work intermittently. I was not prepared… no emergency kit…I was lost…what could I do? Where should I go? (you mean, like, leave my house?) What should I do with my time?

I went through all the stages of grief:

• Denial: “This couldn’t possibly be happening to me! Not now! Not when I’m on vacation! Vacation!! For crying out loud!”
• Anger: “How dare you leave me during such an important time in my life! I needed some quality time with Perez Hilton and my scrap blogs!”
• Bargaining: “Okay… if I could just have an hour or two online, I promise I won’t take you for granted again… come on… I need you! Please!”
• Depression: “Whatever. Who needs the internet anyway. All I need is an encyclopedia and  a subscription to the Enquirer… that’s all I need in my life. Stupid internet.”
• Acceptance: “It’s all right. I’ll be okay. Maybe I don’t need the internet every day. Maybe I can step away from it once and a while.”

I’m still without an internet connection at home… and my internet provider (coughBELLSOUTHcough), can’t seem to figure out what’s wrong. The earliest a tech can come to the house (for the SECOND time) is Saturday. SAT-UR-DAY. Grrrrr.

Thank goodness I have work and the Olympics to keep me occupied. I. LOVE. THE OLYMPICS.

Oh – and since I couldn’t get online, I did discover some TV that I had missed out on… anyone else seen Mad Men on AMC? Wowza. Good stuff. I am now caught up with the entire first season & the first three episodes of the second season. Thank goodness I found something productive to do while I was out!

Here are some other things that happened this week:

We celebrated a birthday! My sweet niece turned 5! (are these kids related or what?)

Did I do any scrapbooking? Not until last night at 7:00pm. That’s when I finally got in the mood to head down to the guest scrap room. That figures.

So… my vacation is over, I’m back to work and the kids have started school. I still have no internet, barely scrapped a thing & now I’m addicted to a new TV show.

Not too shabby…

At least I stopped talking about my hair.

We’re on vacation this week! And we are SO EXCITED!

See! Our tail is wagging so fast you can barely see it!

The kids and I have the last week of summer together before school begins. To start this fantastic week of vacation…we’ve…well, we… just got back from taking the dog to the vet.

Yep.

Pretty crazy stuff, huh?

What can I say… I start slow. I wanted to start off with a do-nothing day.

We’ve also watched more than our fair share of Hannah Montana. Seriously, people. I don’t know if I can take much more of her. I woke up with her songs in my head. I’ve had no less than two shows put on for me to her music. (which were totally cute, but come on!) Just this morning the girl discovered her favorite Hannah Montana episodes are ON DEMAND.  

Buddy doesn’t seem to like it much either.

Can’t you see that he’s about to lose it?! He’s hanging by a thread!

Okay, not really… but how cute is this face?

Happy Last Week of Summer!