No, I didn't go shopping in the afternoon, as originally planned. I went in to work to help Marilyn, who was suddenly swamped with work to do. Jessica was in the hospital. I have no idea why, as she didn't tell anyone. Hopefully she'll feel better soon. In the meantime, all is well. Sue really jumped in and tackled things -- as did Marilyn! They are amazing to watch, I have to say. Adeena and I helped Marilyn to assist Allison with the Junior Parade script. We were both really impressed with how Allison did today. She was under a ton of pressure, but really held it together. Marilyn bought her a plant to show her how happy she was with her. Marilyn is great at script writing, of course. And I think Adeena is a really good script writer, too. I think we really ripped out the items that needed to be done -- then Allison quickly put everything together. It was a real team effort! Sue and Adeena worked on the Walk -- that seemed to go really well, too. I got my website work done. And Rich and I did our mid-week Press Release/News item. We'll do another one for the weekend, too. Tomorrow is the Junior Parade. Suzanne is very excited about it. I hope it goes well. I had a bad moment during the day that shocked and angered me. Actually, there were two moments that seemed to show a lack of respect. I'm sure I'll be over it by tomorrow. That's all I want to say about that. Carla came in and joined us for the GFP PA Meeting in the late afternoon. It went amazingly well!!! One of the best ever, Marilyn and I both thought! Marilyn was great (as always), Carla did an excellent job, as did Sue. And I helped out here and there. (These people are wonderful volunteers and I enjoy interacting with them!) So, Jeff and Marilyn talked and he stepped in to help dump a really exhausting project (with logos) that Marilyn and I do every year. What a break. He's saved us hours of work! And I don't think it was something that was ever reaching all that many people to begin with. I guess it was originally a sponsor obligation. I like this trend to change things that aren't the best use of time -- especially of Marilyn's time!!! Marilyn and I stopped and shopped on the way home from work. Then we got McDonald's for dinner. And we had our raspberries for dessert. I guess we were eating around 9:30-ish... Yes, another long day. Marilyn is asleep downstairs while I blog. I never heard how many steps she had for today. I got 7,400+, which wasn't bad at all. My dear friend Charold brought in cake today! I missed her visit, but sent her an email. I think it's so sweet she does that every year! And talk about delicious cake! Yummy. We have a lot to get done tomorrow. We usually can do exactly that, as much of the staff is out for the Junior parade, giving us quiet in the office to tackle tasks. Jeff told me some sad news today. I'd share, but I think I'm one of the only people who knows, so I probably shouldn't say. Later... But I feel bad. Angel's monitor is going out again. It might be the monitor, but maybe it's his graphics card. Donn will need to check it when he's in next. Rob contacted me to tell me he was giving away his Chalet pass. He wanted to find out if he could use his Credentials that I gave him to view the parade on Saturday -- and the answer was no, not without a ticket! So I had to ask for another Chalet pass... Thankfully Carol gave me one. I helped Marilyn clean out her GFP file box tonight. We'll need to put all that stuff in for 2017 tomorrow! She has her big meeting first thing in the morning (I never go it -- I think I've only ever been maybe twice -- years ago). We're both VERY RELAXED about things. Yes, there's the possibility of bad weather (rain) on Saturday. But we've had rain before. Everything will be fine. I can't believe how CALM we are. That's very nice. We're really busy, there's no doubt. But we know things will work out. Marilyn and I watched an episode of "Diagnosis Murder" tonight. I like that show. Mainly, I like the characters... Time for bed! Sweet dreams, friends.  - Feeling:accomplished
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Another work day -- crazy/busy for Marilyn, for sure! I was HOME -- Marilyn isn't taking any chances with me getting sick during this week. Hahaha. I did website stuff and other work from here in my home office. Tonight was "From One Rose" at the Hollywood Theatre. Adeena joined us here after Marilyn got home from work and we three drove over together. We ended up sitting with Caitlin, Kate and Christine (from the office), who were also attending. I was glad they did a different ending, not showing the epilogue (which I don't care for). That made the film nearly perfect. This is our Centennial year film -- Marilyn was the Executive Producer. Ira was there at the end to answer questions. The movie started at 7:30 -- and started with a short film from 1977 about the festival (smile). I can't believe it wasn't over until 10:30. I had a fried egg this morning with toast. And some crackers with cheese later in the day. And popcorn during the movie. I think I'll go eat something now... Hopefully Adeena will have time tomorrow to take me shopping (fingers crossed). The Grand Floral Parade script went to print today. The PA Meeting is tomorrow. I'm not sure if Marilyn wants me to attend or not. I heard from Larry via text today. He said his phone has been broken. And his mom's phone (sister Sue) has no charger -- and they can't find one because the phone is so old! I mentioned I had wanted to give him tickets to take Tammy to CountryFest -- he said she'd like to go. But I had to mention that concert was LAST NIGHT. As I told him, I'd been trying to reach him since Friday... Well, more tomorrow! Sweet dreams.  - Feeling:good
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I'm still really suffering with leg cramps. I started doing even more research. Get this: I probably need additional SALT in my diet to aid with these horrible cramps. Are you kidding me? Well, I thought about it today, but my feet already seem somewhat swollen, so I just couldn't get myself to do it today. But it's clearly a balancing act. I need to reason it through. Marilyn left me home and told me to rest. She was at work for hours, but finally had to come home as she'd been sick all day with her IBS, poor thing. And the office was full of people, so it wasn't easy to use the bathroom -- not good. We both decided to SLEEP after she got home. I ended up with both cats sleeping with me! Colin even crawled under the covers at one point. We got up and both showered and washed our hair, then headed to the office around 8:00 p.m. Today was a crazy day in Portland, with major protests going on downtown. Such a mess. We're in the middle of the festival, and they're advising people not to come downtown!!! We had one of our big concerts going on in the RoZone. Happily the police kept the trouble AWAY from Waterfront park where CityFair was going on. I was sure glad Marilyn came home safely!!! I was glad to see her out of downtown during the violence and potential danger... Marilyn was reviewing and adding to the Grand Floral Parade script, which Kim has been working on. It needs to go to print shortly for the PA meeting on Tuesday. I did some minor website stuff. I did walk into the park with Andre to get something to eat. I had the mac and cheese with pulled pork. I like Zandre so much! He's a great guy! Marilyn and I left round 11:30-ish, getting home just past midnight. I just barely managed to get my 4,000 (4,116) steps today. Marilyn got 5,855. Jeff's cell phone refuses to charge, so it's totally dead now! He promised to get it fixed in the morning. Yikes! Not good! Can't think what I'm forgetting... Probably not important. Time for bed! I did manage to do a couple of days of my pills, anyway, and take them. And I need to give Henry his pill, of course. He's so good about taking it. Happy days, friends, and sweet dreams.  - Feeling:busy
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I just woke up from a NAP after dinner with LEG CRAMPS. Yes, again. Constantly, really. So, I'm trying the spoonful of mustard thing. Specifically, I'm trying Jack Daniels jalapeno mustard -- what amazing flavor! I was going to say that the jury's out on whether or not it works, but I do believe it works. Not perfectly -- but nothing I've tried does that! Hahaha. And Marilyn finds the idea of getting yourself to take it with a spoon pretty disgusting. But I'd do just about anything to stop all the pain. And they might just have the very BEST mustard I've ever tasted. Although, I have to admit I still like classic French's mustard with my Heinz Tomato Ketchup. And Heinz??? I really HATE those commercials where the Heinz boy breaks up with the French's mustard!!! Not in my house, thanks very much! Hahaha. We do NOT use Heinz mustard around here! But we do sometimes like the Heinz Jalapeno Ketchup!!! (smile) I'm not kidding. As much as I love the Heinz commercials where the whole 'family' of their products has wiener dogs in buns running toward them, for the most part the Heinz boy dumping the French's girl just annoys me to death! Be true, Heinz! Please! I'll never get over that, I swear. Yeah, yeah. If you ever even saw it you're thinking it didn't stick with you, right? I guess I love some commercials, what can I say? My sister Sue phoned TWICE today. More about that... Adeena and I had our BIG DAY of running errands for Marilyn! First we were off to Seaside, Oregon. But before we could leave I had work issues popping up like mad! I had to tell Rich I'd contact him in the afternoon about our weekend Press Release/News item for the website. I couldn't reach Kate before departing, so planned to call her from the car. I promised Christine I'd get back to her later. And I forget what else. Hahaha. I'm so valuable. Right. We finally left and drove highway 30 to Cornelius Pass -- you go through St. Johns (where we stopped at the Lombard drive-through Starbucks for drinks and goodies) and across the St. Johns bridge, heading past the Sauvie Island bridge. This connects with the 'quick way' to head to Seaside (as opposed to the Astoria direction). At one point I'm chatting on the phone with Kate and we have to actually pull over so I can hear her better. Then she emails me CODE from the eNewsletter that was going out -- so I can write additional code to 'fix' her issue for her. I just couldn't explain it without seeing it. And it was faster to write the code myself, so I did. Using my phone for a hotspot and my iPad to do the actual code. Hahaha. I love this stuff, I honestly really do! Before we took off Marilyn had called about me checking the Starlight Parade script one last time, which I did -- after Marilyn sent me the Word version that I could edit, as opposed to the PDF I had from Jessica. I did find some mistakes. And I rearranged the order of some Copy. This has a bumping order. PA announcers will start by reading the first paragraph. Or, the first line of the first paragraph. It depends on how much time they have! So if essential information is in the second paragraph or (heaven forbid) the third one, I put that into the first. If that makes sense! For example, the band director's name(s) always goes in the first paragraph... And I found a couple of spelling errors (easy fix). Plus suddenly I notice an eclipse event that says it's on August 17 instead of August 21! Oops! How did I miss THAT the first time around??? Hahaha. So I emailed that back to myself and Remotely moved it into the proper folder at the office... It was overcast driving down. But the sun really came out while we were there, which was nice! We went directly to the liquor store where Kevin was holding a case for Marilyn and me (I'd arranged that via phone). He wasn't in, but the two women were ready with our order! Taco Time is CLOSED on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, I'm sorry to report! So no crispy meat burritos for us! Hahaha. From there we went to Riteaid near Safeway to get other items we needed. Adeena was dashing to the bathroom (long trip with Starbucks to drink!). I was on the phone with sister Sue. She was crying and unhappy -- she wanted Candy to take her back home. I now need the bathroom, so I have Adeena take the phone... We got more IBgard pills (amazing product!!!). And I found darling sunglasses! I wasn't specifically looking for these, but they were there so I got a pair. I haven't bought new ones in years! We also got coffee creamer, which we needed at home. And some minor items (I forget right now what). Then we need to go drive to see the ocean! I'm wearing my new sunglasses by now. (smile) We jumped out and got photos, by the way. And I'd seen the Antique Mall that's on Broadway, so we drove back and parked and went in. I had it in my head to look for something that would work as a fur stole for my dress on Friday night -- the Old Hollywood theme. Adeena has a full length, beautiful dress she's wearing! I can't wait to see the real deal (I saw photos). She's very excited about it! We go in and find a leopard-spotted table runner I'm thinking I could buy. Yes, they do carry vintage clothing. And then we find a MINK STOLE. Adeena gasped when I put it on. Needless to say, it was perfect!!! So I call Marilyn and she says 'get it,' and the rest is history! Then we're back on the road heading quickly home, as we both have work to do! Adeena dropped me off and headed to work in the office. I threw on my 'new' stole and went over to show it to June and Jim. June asks if it has pockets -- I later read that this is the sign of a more superior stole, by the way. It's in beautiful condition. No 'bald' spots or bad lining. Yes, yes, I know. It's so PC to avoid wearing fur these days. I still don't really understand it, if I'm being honest. Minks were raised for their fur. Most people still wear leather without feeling guilt. Anyway, I can't wait to wear it! I sold Mom's fur right after she died. And though it was in bad shape, I've frequently regretted it. I think she's smiling down from heaven today -- as she would have loved this stole! It's going to make my outfit, paired with my 'Marilyn Monroe' style dress. I guess I fail at being PC... But this is so beautiful. I've got it hanging where you can't miss it in my bedroom! (smile) Then I get right to work with Rich on the Press Release/News item, which I put up the second we finished it. Next I get all the info for the Fleet page at the website and carefully fix it so I can add it. It was a ton of work. Christine checks it over and chats with me and I fix it all accordingly... Candy came by to get her Seether tickets for Friday night. She bought one so she, Sharla and Dave can all three go. Marilyn and I will go there after the party and hopefully see her! Candy also took Sir Mix tickets for Saturday night, even though she has a conflict. I hope she gets to come. I love his concerts! Marilyn and I will be there... Marilyn was actually HOME by 7:00 tonight! HUGE SHOCK!!! She really wanted to avoid another long, long day... She ate chicken (from last night) and I ate rice (from yesterday). And we were supposed to have more raspberries and cookies (molasses from Franz -- our faves!!!). But we were both so tired we went to sleep... I had PERFECT blood sugar this morning: 95. Wow. Even after both raspberries and cookies before bed last night!!! Wow. But these leg cramps are murder!!! Marilyn has Court judging tomorrow -- I need to come in to work with Adeena. Marilyn gets her hair done in the evening and will come back to get me after that... I have my all-important PA Meeting in the afternoon! I need to head to bed now... We were watching "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" again tonight. Such fun! Say! I'm pretty proud I can lift a box of SIX BIG BOTTLES of Margarita Watermelon (pre-mixed)! I carried it to the car in Seaside and into the house here in Portland -- and it's damn heavy!!! Yes, Sue called again when I was home. She was VERY CONFUSED about her doctor appointment, which she told me was quite bad -- and Marilyn told me was NOT. Marilyn still gets the reports by email. (sigh) And now it's 2:00 a.m. and I'm facing a very busy day! Just saying! Sweetest of all dreams, my friends. - Feeling:accomplished
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Larry was picking up sister Sue at Candy's (well, Sue's house!) to go back to his house (where she's been staying). Sue spent the weekend with Candy. Anyway, they dropped in and stayed for more than an hour to visit! Very nice! We had a lovely chat. Larry is working hard to lose weight. And Sue's weight is down, too. Larry is going to take Sue to the parade. And Candy is going with friends. Our neighbors and close friends June and Jim are also going -- and will be sitting with Donn and Denise. Jan and Bob (Shari's brother and sister-in-law) are going with friends. And Shari got six tickets so she and some people from her home can attend. Finally, cousin Linda is going (I don't know who is going with her -- she got two tickets). We haven't had so many family and friends attending in years! Very nice! It's always special to have loved ones there, considering the amount of work we put into the parade... Marilyn had another very long day. She got home around 10:00 p.m. She said Adeena stayed with her the entire time, which meant a lot to her -- and to me, too! I'm proud of Adeena. She did a good job writing the script. And as I said before, I really enjoy doing the editing. I finished it up today -- and hadn't expected to do so until tomorrow. Normally our PA Meeting for Starlight would be happening tomorrow (it's always been the Tuesday before the parade, which is on Saturday). But we couldn't get the meeting venue. So this year we're having the meeting on Thursday. I think it's actually going to be a positive change. I'm sitting here sipping a Coke Zero. Now that it's festival time, I've been drinking a little bit more soda than I've drank in months. Usually I drink coffee and lots and lots of water -- and I had lots of both today. Normally on Memorial Day Marilyn and I go to Float Maneuverability at the float warehouse. But I was at home and Marilyn was just swamped. So we didn't make it. I guess they were pretty disappointed... I usually take them team pins and souvenir programs. And they feed us hotdogs. Anyway, when Marilyn brought it up on the phone, I decided to surprise her with hotdogs here at home. So I baked a batch, and later put on pans full of cabbage. That with some tomatoes and black olives was our dinner (past 10:00 p.m.). At least I had a cheese sandwich for lunch (rye bread and some cheddar cheese). And Marilyn and Adeena got corn dogs at some point. Marilyn said they weren't very good, though... Marilyn just works and works and works. And she must be tired out after the Half Marathon yesterday! I was mostly focused on the Starlight script again today, plus some website stuff. It was a chilly day, for the most part. But because of the sun on the windows in the living room and office, it got terribly hot upstairs! I was sweating like mad. But I tried not to run the AC too much. I didn't want the family room to get too cold. I can't think what else to share... I've been hung up on watching Diagnosis Murder -- and METV switched to Remington Steele today during that time period! (Yes, I've always loved Remington Steele, but still...) But I decided to search for my show. And found it's playing at the same time on a different channel! I also watched a little bit of Monk today. I don't really end up watching any show all the way through, because I'm busy working and spend a lot of time on the phone. But that's fine. I tried on dresses today. In case I want to wear one for Friday night. I actually have five (!!!) dressy dresses. One was for the Centennial Ball (back in 2007). Another was for From One Rose (also back in 2007). Another was for when I got a 'lifetime achievement award' (when I'd been at the festival for 30 years, or so). I honestly don't know where the other two black dresses came from, or when I wore them! I'd have to guess for some festival event, like the Auction. But I don't recall. I don't wear dresses very often. And I also have two tuxedo jackets I could wear. The theme is 'old Hollywood.' I think the one black dress -- cut in a Marilyn Monroe style -- is probably best for that theme. I need to figure out my under garments for that dress. (smile) I was trying it on in the buff for Marilyn to see... I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. I want to phone Mary tomorrow about my toothache. It's still bothering me, but actually seems better today. But I still want her to look at it. Finally, I'm enjoying reading my current book. Something to do when I wake up from leg cramps in the middle of the night. Hahaha. And I'm off to bed! - Feeling:accomplished
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Marilyn and Jeff actually walked the entire Half Marathon this morning!!! No, I'm not kidding. I don't know how they did it -- especially Marilyn (who is probably around twenty years older than Jeff). Without training! In fact, while putting in grueling long hours for ages (especially Marilyn). Which shows how strong some people can be!!! I wish I'd been at the finish line to cheer for them and congratulate them! Marilyn came home with only a couple of blisters -- but so thirsty she was going crazy! Shades of her last half marathon! Hahaha. And after that -- and only a soak in the tub and a very short nap, she and I went out shopping tonight. All told, she got 35,000 (!!!) steps today! Amazing! That was three different badges at Fitbit. I somehow managed to get 5,000 steps myself -- maybe not such a good thing, considering I'm having such terrible leg cramps every night now. These wake me over and over. Last night I was afraid I'd wake Marilyn I was making so much noise. And I'm even having cramps in my hands... (sigh) My accomplishment for today? I got almost the entire Starlight Parade script edited -- with the exception of some things I'll need to check out tomorrow. It should be done tomorrow, but I might be held up by the holiday. So perhaps not until Tuesday. I guess we'll see. Marilyn is sound asleep. I'm just pushing myself to blog. I'm so damn tired I can barely sit here. I think I'm even more tired than I was Friday night. I tried to call sister Sue today, but didn't reach her. I think she'd have been excited to hear about Marilyn and the Half Marathon. You know what? I love editing. It's actually enjoyable for me! Of course, I love writing, period. But I think I'm a pretty damn good editor. Just sayin'. Adeena did a good job with her writing of the script. She's really a fine writer -- and I'm picky as hell. Marilyn bought three wonderful dresses at Ross tonight! She's going to wear one of those for the party on Friday night. No, I have NO CLUE what I'm going to wear... (sigh) I'll figure it out, I supposed. I need to turn in more ticket orders for GFP -- Marilyn wanted them LAST WEEK! Yikes. I'd better get that done tomorrow. I have a toothache. I can't figure out how serious it is. I'll have to try and reach Mary and see if she can work me in. That's no small order right now! Why another issue to deal with? I'm trying not to complain, but I do have a lot of health issues all the time... Time for bed. Sweet dreams, friends! - Feeling:accomplished
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Tomorrow is the big day! The first day of the festival for 2017. Wow. Another year. Hard to believe... Accordingly, it was a hugely busy day (of course). I got to start my day with news that the Exchange was down. (sigh) So I had to phone Kris who had to dash in to fix it. This is NOT the time of year we can stand to be without email for even a short time! Thankfully he fixed it right away... I was at my home computer in my home office early, where I would spend nearly the entire day. Actually, I just woke from a short nap -- it's now past 1:00 a.m. and I need to finish up the garbage and recycling (!!!) and get it all out to the curb. Then quickly wash and dry my hair and get to bed for the night. We have to be up early!!! Marilyn is sound asleep on the sofa. As we were sitting side by side, she kept falling asleep and nearly dropping her iPad on the floor. She's worn out, poor thing. She had an exhausting day that ended with her attending a judging dinner for the Court. Sound like fun? It's not... She ate a little more when she got home. She told me it was supposed to be a fasting day for her. But she's so hungry right now! I think she needs to keep fueling up and getting through each day. I spent ages on website again today. Yes, yes. There were MANY MORE pages to take care of!!! It's hard to believe. Usually by now I'm barely touching the website, as I don't have much time to be sitting in front of a computer for that. Adeena gave me the first draft of the Starlight script. I hope it's pretty well done, because I'm not in the habit of getting another version after this point! Perhaps a paragraph or two to plug in -- but not the entire script again! My plan is to start working on it tomorrow a little bit, then finish it up this weekend. I spoke to June today. She's never heard of Dwayne Johnson, by the way. She had a lot to tell me. She got both a manicure and pedicure and took her recently purchased purse back to the store. I told her we're going to try and get her and Jim tickets near Donn and Denise for the parade. I also was in touch with my niece Candy, her daughter Nicole and my nephew Larry regarding wristbands (and tickets). Both Nicole and Candy (and her best friend Sharla) came over to get these. It was fun seeing them. Colin was excited to see Nicole. He loves her and always has. Candy took me to pick up my many prescriptions -- including my insulin. So that's out of the way! Speaking of my insulin: I phoned it in today. While doing that, I mentioned the dose on the box is now wrong. I said I was taking 30 units once a day -- not 10 to 20 units (which is how it's always read since last September -- and I've always taken over 20 for months). Leslie changed me to 30 when I last saw her. The woman asks if this change was prescribed, and I say yes. She checks, and she has an entirely NEW prescription for my insulin, so she tells me she's going to change me to that. Change? It's the exact same medication in the same size vial. And would she never have found it if I hadn't mentioned this??? I barely ate again today. I have a really limited appetite right now, which is for the best. I texted back and forth with Mark for ages. I might see him tomorrow. It's been ages. Well, off to do what needs doing. The sooner that's done, the sooner I can get to sleep! I'm very tired. We're expecting good weather this weekend! Whatever I'm forgetting is just because my days are so packed with things now. It's hard to keep the days separate! Oh! When I was out working on the recycling, Estelle our neighbor told me she was inviting Marilyn and me to a party on June 11. I laughed, because timing is everything (that's the end of the festival!). Well, the invite is kind, even if we can't go. Sweet dreams. - Feeling:accomplished
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Marilyn and I made it home from work by 10:45 tonight. Not bad, huh? Marilyn worked the concert (again), spending hours on her feet in the 100' (!!!) heat. Yes, Portland made 100' today. Good grief. The long-range forecast? Get this: It's supposed to RAIN next Saturday! Grand Floral Parade day, to be clear. Seriously, Lord? Can we have a talk? First you kill us this weekend with the ridiculously HOT weather. Now you're going to RAIN on our parade, huh? I'm sorry if I sound a little bitter, but we work ALL YEAR for the festival that takes place during these weeks. And it's a shame the weather seems to frequently effect our efforts in a negative way. TV news is showing a special on the parade right now, featuring Kendra (from SCi3.2 -- our official float builder). We've been trying to get volunteers to help decorate the floats recently -- and to carry banners in the parade. (One of my recent News items at the website focused on this.) Marilyn and I managed to break away from work today to go to Nicole's high school graduation over at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum at 3:00 p.m. We were pretty surprised when it ran TWO HOURS (!!!) and wasn't over at that point. As soon as they announced Nicole and we got to cheer for her, we left to head back to work. (Her last name starts with O -- so you can imagine there were quite a few more students to get diplomas at that point.) As we were leaving, the NEXT school that was graduating at the venue was waiting in their caps and gowns outside -- with family and friends -- in the TERRIBLE HEAT!!! I have to say, I felt very, very sorry for them! All because Roosevelt (Nicole's school -- and Dad's, Sue's, Marilyn's and my alma mater) couldn't get their act together and finish their graduation ON TIME. As people who work in the world of special events, I have to say this is WHY people need professionals to plan their events. And graduation is just another special event, after all. It was SHOCKING how many students and teachers (and other adults) were all allowed to speak, for one thing. (When we were in high school and graduating, they only allowed two students and two adults to speak!) They also had TWO long performances (???) by the jazz band. One teacher spoke for nearly 20 minutes! She started out very strong, but by the time she finished people were pretty sick of her. You know, at the festival we deal with speeches ALL THE TIME. At events, on radio and TV and on and on. You stay on point, speak clearly and briefly. When I won my award in 2012 and spoke in front of the audience on stage at the convention, I was given THREE MINUTES to respond to the honor -- and I did it in less than that. Because that makes sense! Rambling on and on does not make sense. Anyway, we were VERY PROUD of Nicole, and happy to be there to see her graduate. She's part of an amazing graduating class that did some pretty special things, I admit. So we headed back to work and the terrible heat. Marilyn was very clear that she didn't want me to be outside working the concert -- but she certainly did that! (Not the best use of her time, by any means.) But tons of our staff was there working the event -- and others were there working in the park. And people were cheerful and funny and supporting one another! Very impressive! I got the Starlight Awards up at the website -- and sent out an email about the information that had NOT been included in the Press Release. Normally Rich vets this stuff with me before sending, and I was sorry he hadn't done that this time. Oh well. Marilyn and I did manage to eat Yakisoba noodles at CityFair for dinner. After Marilyn finally stopped working the concert, she went back to the office and worked on the Coronation Script -- the one I helped her with by doing the first draft. She was pleased by what I'd done, so that made me feel good. (grin) She was working on the GFP indoor script, too. (There are actually three versions of the script: TV, PA and indoor for the coliseum.) I know I'm forgetting things I should be mentioning, but it's late and I'm tired. Fitbit Update: I got 10,000+ steps today. I don't know what Marilyn got. My feet seemed better this morning -- not sure why! And my left ankle was more like normal. But sitting at the graduation nearly killed me. My left foot was in terrible pain, as was my right knee. I basically had to ignore the pain after that, because we had a lot of walking to do (clearly). Oh well. It is what it is. We're trying HARD to stay hydrated in this heat. Everybody was drinking loads of water (plus other beverages). Marilyn and I tried out coconut water (which is supposedly good at hydration) -- we're not sure what we think. Hahaha. Well, off to bed -- we've got another BIG WEEK in front of us! The weather should start cooling tomorrow. But RAIN for next Saturday??? Noooooooooooooo!!! Keep us in your thoughts and/or prayers, please. Edited to Add: I can't BELIEVE I forgot to mention my NEW WATCH!!! Marilyn was kind enough to take me to Target and buy me a new Casio watch!!! I'm so happy! I've been wearing Casio watches since the late-1970's and still love them today. While at Target we found these cute hats that reminded us of our hats from the US Open Tennis Championships last year -- except that they had bright red bands around them. So we each got one and wore them today! Everybody loved them. They were only $5. - Feeling:happy
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Marilyn and I actually got home by 12:30 a.m. tonight! (woo hoo) It's currently close to 2:00 a.m. Today started at 9:00 at the office, heading to the park for Special Needs Day. We've been doing this for several years now. From 9:00 to 11:00 in the morning on one day, CityFair is only open to special needs children and their families. The park is QUIET -- no music is playing and there are no other loud noises. Nothing that might be upsetting to a special needs child. They can visit Walk on the Wild Side and see the animals, go to the Kids Zone and do activities and play bingo -- and just stroll around and see the sights. I really enjoyed interacting with the kids and their families. I had some children so engaged that they were following me around. Hahaha. And one little girl just adopted me! She kept having me pick her up and carry her. She was ADORABLE. And she would take me by the hand and lead me around to see things with her. Two other children (both boys) were also showing me things. So cute! Then I went to the Kids Zone to the Reading Corner and read "Green Eggs and Ham" out loud for a group of children and parents. Very fun! After that we went back to the office, then to get Starbucks. Then back to work again. I was dealing with an IT issue (surprise) that I just couldn't resolve. I wanted to give Carol access to be able to send email as Info@ -- but it wouldn't work! I set this sort of thing up every so often, so I was quite surprised that it denied me access. I still don't know WHY. Around 1:30-2:00 in the afternoon Marilyn and I took off. We did end up home eventually, and had a half hour 'nap' before going back down to the office again. Marilyn was working away on the Grand Floral Parade script much of the day and night!!! She did a TON of work on it. We went down to the park and got shaved ice -- it was miserably HOT outside (in the high 90's). We checked things out and finally went back to the office. We spend Starlight Parade in the office. We actually watch the parade on TV (and I follow along reading the script). Marilyn remains available in case of an incident that requires police action -- she's the one who would talk to them on behalf of the festival. She also helps communicate with TV if necessary (the formation area is quite a distance from television). There was a special show on the festival that aired at 8:30 p.m. Then the parade came on at 9:00. The way it works is that the parade starts at 8:30 (right after the Starlight Run), but it takes half and hour for it to reach television -- and by that time it's dark so you can see the illumination elements! Sheila and Tanya were in and out and came in Marilyn's office several times to see bits of the parade. Then at one point Jodi (who is a clown and used to work for the festival) was there, and joined us. Other people were in and out all night long, too... All the time Marilyn was working away on the script. She was able to send it off to the woman who does the television version of the script before we went to the After-Party tonight, amazingly enough! (It's only missing a few things...) Eventually the parade ended (right at 11:00), then we headed over to the Starlight After-Party and were there for some time. Finally we headed home. Fitbit Update: Because of my swollen feet (ankles and legs), I've been avoiding walking whenever possible. So I haven't been getting many steps recently. But I got 12,500+ steps today! I was surprised to see that. Marilyn had some 9,000 steps (not sure of the exact amount). Not sure how I got more steps than her, another surprise to me. Marilyn thinks my feet are another version of my joint flareups. Maybe so. If I had any Naproxen, I'd take it for sure to see if it helped. Aside from helping with pain, it's an anti-inflammatory as well... She's probably right. She usually is!!! Time for bed. It was a long day! And a very hot day! We are so blessed (and thankful, believe me) to have air conditioning in this terrible heat. - Feeling:good
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The first day of June, 2016. Wow, time flies when you're having fun... It's currently around 2:30 a.m. and I had a very HARD TIME waking up to take my nighttime medicine and blog tonight. I was nodding off in Marilyn's office today at one point. And it's not like I didn't actually sleep pretty well last night. I started today with a lovely soak in Marilyn's bathtub in epsom salts. She had taken a bath and saved me her water, to which I added more hot water and more salts. It was lovely, but made me far too warm for preparing for work! I was pouring sweat after. Neither Marilyn nor I like bathing or showering in the morning -- we prefer to do that at night. Speaking of being too warm, when I got up just now the house was really warm. Too warm. It was hot and muggy all day long (a 'white' day -- very overcast). So I turned on the air to give us a blast of cool air. I just looked outside and it's POURING DOWN RAIN. Nooooooooooo!!! That's such a pain in the ass. Going back to YESTERDAY, I can't believe I didn't discuss one of the main IT tasks I had to face! (I may need to go back and EDIT that day to add this!) I get a call from Christine that folders are missing. Then she tells me they aren't really missing -- but they've been moved from one spot to another (actually from one YEAR to another YEAR). I tell her not to touch ANYTHING, but to wait for me to move them back where they belong. Then I get a call from Calisa about the same thing a few minutes later, and I give her the same message. (I was at home as Marilyn had judging -- waiting for her to finish up and come and get me. She'd planned to stay home for a bit and relax, but had to change her plans so I could get right in there to resolve this issue...) I'm sure this sounds much EASIER to fix than it is. Just move things back, right? W R O N G. First, the folders never want to move after they've been switched around! Not everything gets switched. Sometimes only PART of the contents of a folder will get shifted -- and the other portion will still be where it was. So you'll have a folder with a bunch of files in one spot that you need to NOT OVERWRITE with the SAME named folder someplace else with DIFFERENT files. It's a big mess! You don't want to lose anything during moving... And the folder PERMISSIONS change, too -- and you can't always get them to move. And I want to do some renaming and add the YEAR to the folder name. But that wouldn't work, either. Awful. I had to go from desk to desk to get people OUT OF THOSE FOLDERS, because as long as they were being 'touched' I couldn't fully access them. That didn't work, so I finally had to get each person to do a restart (reboot) in order to make it 'clean' for me to access what I needed to. Such a big mess. I finally got everything back where it belonged, with all the contents there (I think!!!). But it took ages to do. And, no, this is NOT the first time this has happened -- but it hasn't happened in a few years, thankfully. I really hate it when it does. The main thing: This is about User error, not equipment error, or software (application) error. Somebody clicked and dragged this stuff. That's why we have a NO CLICK AND DRAG policy in our office, by the way (which should be true for ALL offices, in my book). People really should NEVER click and drag. I always say RIGHT-CLICK IS YOUR FRIEND (for all the good it does me). Do you know how difficult it is to change the way people move things on a computer? Do you know how ridiculously STUBBORN people are about even trying to change? Unfortunately, I do!!!!!!! And then there are the people who clearly state during training (or other times) that they REFUSE to follow the policies we have in place (such as our no-click-and-drag one -- and others). You can only imagine how I love having someone tell me they just aren't going to do what they've been asked to do. Period. End of story. In the meantime, there are lots of people who weren't trained by ME and don't even know what the policies ARE. You can't follow rules you don't even know about, after all. As for today, we went for Starbucks in the morning (my treat), and Marilyn joined us late. This was Emma's trip there (even though it's far from her first day), as today was her official day to be trained (finally). We went directly into her training when we got back. She was only in today for that purpose, then was supposed to have the rest of the day off, as the park was dark today (meaning CityFair was closed today). I told her we'd do a quick (down and dirty) version of training, and re-train after parade day. She probably won't be on her computer all that much, really, until after Grand Floral Parade. She'll mostly be working onsite. And we did get her set up for email on her phone... Marilyn wasn't feeling well today and realized she had a kidney infection (it's happened before). So she phoned and got a doctor's appointment and managed to drop everything at one point to go in TODAY. She was tested and given medication, so she went to pick that up -- plus Henry's drops -- on her way back to work. She took one pill earlier, but I don't know about her second pill (damn it!!!). It was due at midnight. She's on two pills a day for three days -- and I know they can turn infections around very quickly, thank God! She's suffering (backache and just really under the weather) -- and needs to be better fast. Eventually Marilyn and I went for lunch to the Turkey Place. I got some of their AMAZING chicken soup for lunch and just loved it! It was very thick. They offered to make it thinner, but I love thick soup, so I was good. We actually ate it there and didn't take it back to work to eat. He's nice to get away and have a calm lunch whenever possible. I did a bunch of WEBSITE work today. Far more than I normally do after festival has actually started! And I fixed Tanya's phone for email, too. Tonight Katie gave me the equestrian entries for GFP so I can work on those tomorrow. I'll be staying HOME and concentrating on the Grand Floral script, in other words. Marilyn has the final Living History performance (with Adeena and Angel, Mayor Harry and Queen Thelma -- meaning David and Candee). Then they're having some kind of special lunch at Angel's house after that. She also has more judging... I think she's only in the office early in the morning, then out the rest of the day. The park (CityFair) opens again tomorrow. Rain is a pain. Rich and I worked today on the Press Release/News Item for this weekend, covering Thursday through Sunday. There's a TON going on! Plus we're expecting HEAT for Saturday that could go up to 100' (no!!!!!), so it's all about heat abatement (how to stay cool at CityFair, how to stay cool for the Starlight Run and the Starlight Parade). Terrible heat hurts us almost as back as rain does -- people just won't come out. (sigh) We got home around 7:00-ish and got Arby's again on the way home for dinner. (Lovely not to need to cook!) We're both 'in love' with the crispy chicken sandwich right now. We watched some TV, then it was 'nap' time. We had been watching the news on KPTV channel 12, because they were supposed to be doing a story with Barry (our longtime radio guy). But it never aired! We don't know why... There was a lot of texting going on with our niece Candy and nephew Larry about tickets for upcoming concerts. I'll have to make sure they both know exactly what I've got tomorrow, so Candy can come and pick up tickets. (Free tickets are one of our Staff benefits -- either to use ourselves or give away.) Well, it's now 3:00 a.m., so I'm heading back to bed. Sleep is pretty important right now! Can't think what I'm forgetting (like yesterday!!!). There's so much packed into every single day right now. Emma was a delight to train, no surprise. She's such a special girl (our 2014 Queen) and so very smart! Steven is loving working with her! She's just a dear girl. She sits right beside Adeena. I always enjoy days when Adeena is there! She and I love to chat -- and we went out and had Starbucks (again for me!) in the afternoon. She bought (she's always SO GENEROUS), by the way. Quitting now! Sleep well, everyone.  - Feeling:tired
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I had sworn I'd felt Henry sleeping on top of me, but when I mentioned it to Marilyn first thing this morning, she told me she hadn't noticed. Hahaha. Not so! Later in the day she kept asking me if I'd looked in the Photo Stream on my iPad -- which I'd been way too busy to do. I look and get very excited, as there are tons of photos of baby geese being herded along DIRECTLY OUTSIDE HER WINDOWS at the office! I was jealous, as I love seeing them every year (!!!). But she'd wanted me to see two photos she took of me sleeping with Henry on top of me! Awww!!! Hahaha. I got up before she took off this morning and started in almost immediately on the work I needed to do. Rather than start on the Starlight Parade script editing, I worked on the eNewsletter for early next week. I had it done before 10:00. But then I was given tweaks (yet again). I can't seem to get it across that I don't want to make changes after the fact! Is it really impossible to give FINAL COPY to me from the beginning? I was really burned, because I had uploaded it to a folder on our new website. For whatever reason, the new website is very odd to FTP to. So I keep trying, but can't seem to overwrite the file! Even though I've deleted the original, it apparently caches it and WON'T LET GO. So I finally have to RENAME the new version to get it to work. That's a huge pain. And it takes me ages (well over an hour) to even figure that out for sure. Then after I've done that and sent the new URL, she wants yet more changes!!! You're freaking KIDDING ME, right? I was so pissed off (there's no nice way to put it), that I just threw up my hands and gave up on eNewsletter entirely. So I started the script editing. Meanwhile, I never get to work on any project without a ton of interruptions. That's certainly NOT just me, mind you! You should SEE how that goes for Marilyn on any given day of the entire year -- but especially right now! They never, ever leave her alone. I'm telling you, it makes it very hard to get projects done. Total Aside: I got up to pee several times in the night last night -- which is NORMAL for me!!! And so my feet (especially the left foot) were better when I got up today! (woo hoo) That would have been a 'good news' thing, except I spent so much time sitting in front of the computer today that right now my feet are again swollen and killing me (so painful). Oh well... I work away (with interruptions) on the script. And at exactly 1:00 p.m. we have a really, really short power outage (basically just off and on again) -- and it knocks out EVERYTHING in the house! That includes my computer, where I'm working. Word should have had my Saves of the document -- and also auto saves regularly. But for whatever reason it TRASHED my entire version of the script. I go in to try and use the Recovery copy and it fails. WTF. You're kidding me, right? All that work -- hours of work -- are shot. This used to happen all the time in the old days. Marilyn and I went back and forth via email about it. We used to lose the script once or twice in the old days as a matter of course. So I start over again, because what else can you do? And the changes are all fresh in my mind, so what the hell. AMUSING NOTES: You can't say 'From ITEM to ITEM to ITEM to ITEM.' Why don't people get that? If you want to say FROM, then it must be between TWO items! 'From DANCING to EATING.' It just can't go on and on. You can't say 'I rose a lot of money.' Hey, we're all about the roses (grin), but you have to raise money, not rose it. It's not 'mean focus,' it's 'main focus.' Those are a few things that made me chuckle as I did my edits. (Of a script that had already been read over by another person before coming to me, mind you. Supposedly, anyway...) Remember, the first writer is allowed a lot of leeway, because you can easily screw up when writing a script. And you're working from the crazy crap given to you in script forms. But the second person should catch most of this stuff, I'd think. I get that I'm here to clean up the writing, but really obvious stuff should have been changed before I see the script... Also, GOOD JUDGEMENT about what to include and what not to should be clear, too. We wouldn't allow a non-Native American to write in ways that might be negative about Indians, clearly. And we wouldn't allow a non-Person of Color to make references to People of Color in their script (which happened this year). It's just common sense... I knew I'd have the script done today, and I did -- even with issues. One of those issues was trying to contact our Alarm company. We originally had Brinks, which was bought out years and years ago by ADT. But all our equipment and documentation is still under Brinks (you don't rip out the system because of the change). And could I recall the name ADT? Oh hell no. So I'm thinking they must have bought the Brinks phone number and forwarded it to them. Well, no, they didn't. You get on an endless call that tries to sell you phone services and on and on -- but you can't tell it's NOT the Alarm company! So after I give up on that (15 minutes later), I call Marilyn and she helps me track down the ADT phone number. Then it's another ten minutes to reach a human. I ask if there isn't a faster way to actually talk to someone, but he basically could have said, "Oh hell no!" Hahaha. He was polite, but I'd been SHOUTING at the phone (again) by the time I reach him. I just wanted to be SURE we hadn't had a false alarm -- as has happended in the past with power outages. We can end up with the POLICE turning up, and getting fines when that happens. It's never a good thing to be shouting at the top of your lungs at your phone, by the way. It tends to put you in ill humor. Cousin Linda called today about wristbands (which she needed today so she could give them to people). I had them here at home, so I had to beg some from poor Marilyn, who then had to put them at the front desk for Linda. She didn't have the full amount Linda wanted, but I was stupid and brought mine all here... (sigh) I still need to give some to Sandy for her son Jessie. Good grief. These are a lot of trouble!!! I did have eggs (protein) for breakfast. But didn't eat 'lunch' until around 5:00. Don't even ask. I also cleaned myself up for the arrival of Nicole to get MORE WRISTBANDS for the family (and friends). Sister Sue had told me in the morning she'd be coming after school. I waited and waited for her to come, then finally phoned Sue back. She had gone to her boyfriend's house and fallen asleep. So I wait some more, because Sue says she's now on her way. Sure she is. She did finally show up, in a bad mood because she was tired (gee, tell me about it). I gave her the wristbands, some pins (each worth $10 if you bought them) and a souvenir program (mine) for Sue, and she quickly took off. Okay then. Later I tried to phone Sue and ask her if she liked the pins and souvenir program, but couldn't reach her. Oh well. Marilyn was home around 9:00, I guess. (Time flies when you're having fun.) She had a dinner to attend tonight. She's had to wear her dress uniform a ton this week. Adeena and I talked for AGES before that (around 6:00 to 7:00 -- longer), before I finally had to get back to the script. We'd both had a bad day and we both tend to cheer each other up. (smile) It's a good thing! Later we talked again, too... I remember I did the garbage and recycling -- except the cat boxes -- at some point during the day (it's garbage night). And when I got up at 2:30 a.m. I finished up and put everything down on the curb. Then I came here to blog. Gosh, my feet hurt right now. Well, I'm tired, so I'm heading back to bed. I did get a nap in there after Marilyn got home. She'd had dinner and I wasn't hungry, so... Henry Update: He didn't seem that good today. He howled and howled and howled at one point. I even gave him pain medication again, because I wasn't sure he wasn't hurting, poor guy. He did a Lassie thing and guided me from the upstairs office down to Marilyn's bed. He go a few steps, then turn to be sure I was following him. It's very cute. It's a long way there. He wanted me to lie down on the bed and let him get on me, which I did for a few minutes. But I needed to get back to the script, so... GUESS WHO JUST CAME IN THE OFFICE LOOKING FOR ME??? Aww. So cute! He was squinting with that bad eye part of the day. And he's been fighting all medicine for days, so I have to wrap him in a towel to give him his pill and drops. Well, we have a VERY EARLY MORNING tomorrow, so I need to get back to bed (it's now nearly 3:30 a.m.). I can't be LATE, as Marilyn has Coronation Judging in the morning and has to go by the office first (to take me in). She can't be late! All this and I didn't even touch on the craziness that was IT (!!!) today, or all the website stuff, either. Today was a rough day, there's no way around it. The total opposite of yesterday! Tomorrow is a very, very, very intense and LONG day. Early hours until quite late (ending with fireworks and so on, as it's Opening Day of the festival). Don't worry. I'll still blog tomorrow. Hahaha. I need to TRAIN a new person tomorrow morning. (Never done before on the first day, so please keep your fingers crossed for me.) Marilyn normally doesn't have judging on the first day, either, so keep her in your prayers, please and thanks! We have FOUR very busy days in front of us (our first weekend goes through Memorial Day). Wish us well, please. And PRAY for good weather (there's a chance of RAIN!!!). Thanks! Love you guys! - Feeling:tired
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The feeling in the office today? It was as if it was the first day of festival. Considering that will be Friday, it's a bit too soon for that level of sensation... Marilyn sent me over with our new staff person Tashae (Ta-Shay), Rich, Adeena (and I asked Donn along) to get Starbucks, saying she would come later -- then she and Steven came in as we were ordering, too. (The tradition is always to take new people to Starbucks before beginning training.) There's no way to tell HOW BUSY I was all day long. But everybody was! While I began training with Tashae, Marilyn and Adeena went to City Hall. I talked to Jeff early in the day. And Donn was there to finish up his Profiles -- plus I had him doing yet ANOTHER Profile for another new Staff person (who I'll be training on Friday morning). I was wrapped up with both IT and training until past 1:00 p.m. (when I finally sent Tashae off to get lunch). Marilyn had gone to the Elmer's event, where the Court meets, greets and serves the public (she had a Rose Meal for her lunch). When she got back she and Adeena walked with me to get McDonald's. I got my FREE Staff shirt -- everybody on Staff got a FREE shirt this year (which as far as I can remember has never happened before). And we all got FREE jackets (black this year). Plus both Marilyn and I got the red pullover (which Adeena had on today). It's very smart. I spent AGES on the 'waterfront assistant' generic Profile! Tashae watched me as I repeatedly tried to reset the password! I finally had to give up and delete and re-create that Profile to get it to work! Emma will use that Profile, just as Tashae is using 'staff accountant.' I had to set up extensions and fix phones and work on the Server and on and on. I got the Starlight Parade script for editing late in the afternoon and will start it first thing in the morning. And I have the Copy for the next eNewsletter for the Grand Floral Walk, too. Rich and I finally got to meet late afternoon to work on the News item/Press Release that goes out tomorrow and covers this weekend (Friday through Monday!). We have a very busy four days coming up. We left the office by 5:30 to head to the International Youth Silent Film Festival event at the Hollywood Theatre, which was slated to start at 7:00. Adeena paid for dinner for the three of us, pizza and drinks at Atomic Pizza (which is next door to the venue). Then we got popcorn at the event and sat with Christine and her son Zander (I was between Zander and Adeena). Marilyn and I LOVE going to events with Christine and Zander and Adeena! Very nice!!! The IYSFF event didn't actually start until 7:30!!! WTF? If they say they're starting at 7:00, they should start at 7:00. The films they showed were amazing. And the top three winners for this region were announced tonight and were amazing!!! But we enjoyed all the films! We were home by 10:00 p.m. and dead tired. Marilyn and I both fell asleep briefly during the show, we were so tired. It was a long and so busy day, after all. We had a message from sister Sue that she needed four more wristbands (for a total of 34 -- that's a lot, in case I haven't been clear about that). She asked me to call her, so I did (even though it was very late). Somehow she's going to try and get them from me tomorrow... Kris was in today and I had a long meeting with him (I hadn't seen him in some time). Hopefully he can help me with my current IT issue. (sigh) I'll keep nagging him about it, anyway. I'm more than ready for bed now! So even though this is a sketchy outline of my day, it will have to be good enough! Almost forgot to mention: The Souvenir Program came today! It's amazing! And we have it up at our website this year for the very first time ever!!!!!!!!!!!! Wow. Good night!  - Feeling:tired
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Typed on my iPhone, if you can believe that!
So, it's nearly 3:00 p.m. And I'm at the Memorial Coliseum, trying to keep my feet up. I'll be on them enough tomorrow, after all!
It's HOT outside. But blessedly COOL here! Thank God. No air conditioning, but a natural breeze from having both doors open at either end.
Crazy day. We've had nothing to eat today and no time to eat, anyway.
Marilyn let ME do the Coliseum script today (!!!). I just punched it out. Then I typed three lists up: Monitors, Radio Folks and PA Locations. All go on the Monitor clipboards, that we still need to do!
The PA list is essential, as the motorcycle cops get copies in order to deliver parade award results to each tower location. Plus the name of the newly crowned Queen! - Feeling:busy
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So Marilyn and I were talking over whether or not I should remain HOME again today. She was extremely pleased I'd cleaned downstairs yesterday, which made me feel good. I didn't do a ton, but it does make us both feel good when things are more clean and tidy during this busy time.
The deciding factor was that Jillian is almost ready to turn the Grand Floral Parade script over to me for editing. And that's just MUCH EASIER to do here at home. (I did both edits of the Starlight Parade script here at home.) I read aloud while working on it, which is pretty essential when script writing, I think. You want to make sure that the people who will be using the script will appreciate the flow.
(It's also garbage day -- the real deal -- so it's nice to be home to get that done at a reasonable time, rather than in the middle of the night!)
I'd forgotten to tell Marilyn that Barron phoned yesterday to tell me about cousin Linda. When he and I spoke last week he promised to keep me updated on her. She's being admitted at Cascadia, and Marilyn said she was there before (which I didn't know). On the Home page is this quote: "Working for a nonprofit mental health and addictions provider is not for the faint of heart. Our employees take on life’s most difficult issues — joblessness, homelessness, social isolation, severe symptoms of psychosis, depression, addictions, gambling... I am fiercely proud of Cascadia’s staff and my gratitude for their work carries me through every single day." — Derald Walker, Cascadia President/CEO
Hopefully Linda will get some help there. She was bad when I last talked to her, but I can usually get her to calm down and even laugh during our discussions. I just wish she'd call ME more frequently! Anyway, Barron said she was pretty bad when he spoke to her, saying she had nothing to live for and that nobody cared about her or loved her. He (of course) told her it wasn't true, but he was having trouble getting through to her. She told me they've diagnosed her as bipolar, which is a bit of a catch-all thing. It's described as: "Bipolar disorder is characterized by transitions between depression and mania. Obviously various things can trigger that...
All we can do is pray for her (send positive thoughts her way), and be here when she reaches out for us. We try to do that no matter how busy or tired we are, because we love Linda (no matter what).
Sister Sue and I are going to go to lunch today!!! I'm looking forward to that. We haven't done it in just ages.
My blood count has been hovering right around 100 recently -- either below or just above. This morning it was 99. (Tuesday it was in the 70's.) I expected it to be good today, after having quinoa for dinner last night.
The amusing thing? We do eat somewhat 'bad' this time of year! For example, there always seems to be CAKE around the office, for one reason or another. Jillian baked a lovely chocolate cake this week and both Marilyn and I had a small piece. And there was cake brought in last Friday and we had a lot of that. But usually it all balances out because of the high level of exercise everybody is getting! Thankfully Marilyn and I are also making an effort to take in healthy foods regularly -- much more so than in other years.
Well, I'm thinking I'll get another hour of sleep before I start my day... - Feeling:good
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Well, when I saw my sister Sue earlier this week, she pointed out just how awful my hair looked, and how much I needed to color it. I was stunned when I looked in the mirror today and saw all the DAMN pure white hair framing my face! Interestingly enough, the roots weren't that grown out or bad. But right around my face was HORRIBLE.
So I colored my hair. I had a couple of choices, but I made a BAD choice. Because of the white hair, color just doesn't take the way it used to when it wasn't so very white. So the frame of my face was bright orange. Just awful. Guess what I'm doing right this minute? Yeah, coloring my hair again. Hoping this new color is dark enough to cover the awful orange. I have my fingers crossed...
And what just happened right before I needed to color again? I had yet another LOW BLOOD SUGAR incident. I'm still shaking and feeling crappy from that. It made it very difficult to put the damn hair color on. And it's not that simple in the first place. Seriously, if it hadn't been really nasty, I'd have just lived with the color.
I'm TIRED from a long, intense, busy, busy, busy day. I actually took an hour and a half nap today, too, but clearly that didn't help all that much.
I did a TON of website work today. I did my SECOND full review of the Starlight Parade script. I talked to people at work about numerous subjects.
I started my day dealing with an IT emergency. We had phones, but no internet and NO EMAIL. We simply aren't functional without email, any time of the year. But now??? Impossible!!! (I'd gotten up at 7:00, after being up until past 3:00 a.m. last night.) Kris was very helpful, thankfully.
Later I spent some time working on getting our Dell SonicWALL maintenance contract renewed.
I talked to Dean from Atmosera (formerly EasyStreet) and arranged for his wristbands.
At some point I did finish up the garbage and recycling (including cleaning the cat boxes). And spoke to neighbors Estelle and Tom (whom I'd missed talking to yesterday).
And in the middle of the day, cousin Linda called. She's in lockdown again. They told her she's bipolar, which pretty much seems like a catch-all term for many mental illnesses now. Anyway, I think after two separate phone calls (the first was around an hour, the second was much shorter) that I calmed her down a bit. She seemed better during the second call, anyway. Poor Linda. She never misses Opening Day or the Grand Floral Parade. But they might decide to keep her in lockdown for as much as six months...
COOL!!!!!!!!!! Saw Marilyn on the TV news!!! Just did a WONDERFUL job, and looked great! I'm so glad I didn't miss it!
I have more to share, but I need to take the color out, eat my dinner and go to bed (after drying my hair, of course). Long day tomorrow. Hugely busy day tomorrow.
I have website stuff that needs to be done right now. But it's going to keep... - Feeling:tired
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Backdated. Sorry. First I was working, then I was watching the last David Letterman show.
It was a busy, busy day. Emails to answer. Website stuff to do. Plenty of festival work, naturally.
But I also cleaned up the kitchen, did a load of dishes and really cleaned out the sink. I hunted down the nasty smell that was bothering Marilyn yesterday. Probably sour dishes in the sink (ugh). Or needing to treat the garbage disposal. Or the loaf of bread that had gone moldy. Just not sure... Anyway, it all smells better tonight.
She was also bugged by the smell in the family room. Probably the laundry room sink, which I also treated with vinegar (it gets sour a few times a year). Plus the smell in her bathroom can probably be traced to the ant traps I had in there...
Oh. I did do some more ant stuff. But need to do even more. We don't have a ton of ants right now, but we still have them. Very annoying!!!
I got the Starlight script just past 4:00 today. I started in on it, then ended up talking to neighbors Janet and Rose across the street for some time. Marilyn actually came home while I was out there from her very long day (that included evening Court judging).
Marilyn and I watched part of the new game show 500 Questions. But we had to go down to the office after that (around 9:00). I needed to take some things in and she needed to check on something.
We ended up watching THESE IYSFF films so we could judge them for the award the festival gives (best story this year). So we got home around 10:00.
We ate a bite or two (nothing much) for dinner. Then I went right back to editing the Starlight Parade script, which I got done just past midnight. Not bad! Marissa did a lovely job on the script and it was very clean, which made my job much easier.
Then I went down and watched the LAST David Letterman show. So many emotions...
I got to thinking about what it must have been like for Mom and Dad to see Steve Allen, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson depart late night TV. (Not that I don't remember when Johnny Carson moved on! Though I honestly do not remember Steve Allen or Jack Paar...)
I found it sad to see Jay Leno depart. And now David Letterman. I realize it's only natural, but it's still poignant. And a little sad. It was moving to listen to him, I have to say...
I guess I'll stay HOME again tomorrow. There's no reason I can't get my work done from here, really. That's why I took things down I needed to have be there TOMORROW for people. Anyway...
Good chat today with Dean from Atmosera (formerly EasyStreet). Ironic that his name is Dean, as last year I was dealing with a DIFFERENT Dean (a Vice President) who is no longer with them. Anyway, Dean is our new account rep, and seems like a nice guy. He's even talking about volunteering for the festival. I'm going to hook him up with wristbands for Friday and tickets, too...
Aside from the kitchen, I also picked up the living room, took out some garbage and recycling, and did some organizing in our home office. (I really cleaned up the corner by Marilyn's computer station a ton.) Considering all the work I do in the office, I really needed to get it in better shape for the next several weeks...
Sister Sue and I went for Starbucks at Freddies and had a nice chat. Plus I picked up a couple of things I needed.
I'm wondering if she'd be up for going to lunch tomorrow? I'd love to take wristbands to our friends at the Mexican restaurant. Of course, we rarely ever eat there anymore. So maybe not...
The souvenir program came early today!!! We weren't expecting them until Thursday (tomorrow). They turned out really nice. There's a feature for Marilyn which is very nice. And both Marilyn and I got photo credits in this one...
Well, I'm tired, so I should head to bed. I need to really get things done tomorrow!
Friday will be a very long, killer day!!! But it's also an exciting day, as Opening Day always is!
Marilyn did two interviews today, by the way. I'm excited to see the one that's supposed to play on Monday. Janet said she'd heard Marilyn on the radio and seen her billboard. The neighbors are all excited for her!
I should mention that my winter pansies are still doing GREAT! Even though it's very late for them, and the weather has been way too warm for them. I'm really babying them along, I'm telling you.
Good night! - Feeling:accomplished
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What a day. Wow, both Marilyn and I are so beat. We're supposed to be washing our hair tonight, but we're both just too damn tired. She plans to wash her bangs in the morning. I wish I could get myself to wash my hair. Just not sure I can... (sigh)
We were on our feet a TON again today -- and back and forth to CityFair. That walking might not sound like much, but it's exhausting. And so much time on our feet. Wow.
The Tribute Tree looks pretty cool! Wish I had a photo, but I don't. I'll try and share one at some point. I got my own tributes up for Dad, Uncle Albert and Uncle Bob today. (woo hoo)
A bad situation came up last night with Mark (our video dude) last night. I've been so close to Mark and so protective of him. I feel awful that this happened. Anyway, Mark's in a lot of trouble. I can't go into it much right now (maybe later). Men should use judgment where women are concerned -- and Mark frequently does not. (I've given him a hard time about this several times in the past, actually).
We grew up around men who just had no judgment about women. Uncle Bob, Don (Dad's dear friend) and many more. They picked the wrong women and then did stupid things because of these women. Trying to impress women can really make some men into idiots, I'm telling you...
So Mark was texting me around midnight last night, back and forth. (sigh)
Anyway, the weather was improved today, happily! We had a lot of sunshine -- and big crowds down at the Park. (woo hoo) I guess our numbers are really good so far this year -- a very good thing for the festival.
I had a bite of the deep fried rose petals today -- really yummy! And I ate a deep fried lasagna! I had half of a spinach and mushroom one (and had several people take bites to try it). It's so much better than it sounds. Hahaha. Ashley gave me a slice of her watermelon, which really tasted like summer!
The Memorial Day thing in the RoZone? Um... Really didn't go well at all today. One of our speakers verbally attacked another speaker! The one guy was hooked up with the VA hospital -- and the other guy was a vet who had been involved with issues with the VA hospital, and wanted people to know how shameful that situation is. I feel for him, but there are appropriate places for this -- and today on stage wasn't one of them! Jeff had to deal with the fallout after the ceremony, which was pretty miserable. Thankfully we had a really light crowd and no media, because it wasn't how we would pick to portray this important day...
I handed out a bunch of Memorial Day pins -- and beat the bushes (so to speak) to get people to go over for our FREE picnic lunch (hot dogs and potato salad).
Anyway, the weather was lovely!
Worked on the Starlight script in the morning. I think I'm DONE with the project (it goes to print in the morning!!!). One script down, one to go. My PA meeting to review the script with the readers is tomorrow afternoon. Hard to believe it's that time again!
Rich was kind today about the situation with another volunteer who has behaved in a questionable fashion. I've been trying to reason out WHY this guy (whom we call 'Stalker his-first-name') has been hanging around our OFFICE lately (!!!). It turns out that Rich okayed that, not aware of the guy's interaction with some of us (mainly ME). Anyway, he contacted the guy and made it clear that it's NOT okay to hang out at the office, as we're all pretty busy.
Here's the thing: This guy means well. He's kind of a sweet guy, really. And he has a tremendous skill that could be useful. I was hugging him yesterday, because he's kind of a teddy bear. But still! He wants to be like Mark and be around there all the time. And that's just not going to happen. It's far too disruptive. We have a VERY SMALL office and a lot of people crammed into that small space. And we have a TON OF WORK to get done. So...
Rich seemed much more engaged today. He's been pretty distracted recently...
We have a large news item to get done tomorrow -- the weekend piece. Rich and I worked that up together last week, so we'll do that tomorrow morning (hopefully). We'd planned to start it today, but it was just to busy to sit and write...
We ended our work day by going to the Float Barn for the annual gig. The floats weren't very far along, so there wasn't much to see this year. We took them souvenir programs, team pins and some postcards (these have the poster image on them) -- and they were pleased. They gave us hot dogs.
Marilyn and I were both yawning as we headed home. I went to bed almost immediately. I really needed a big nap. And my hip (my right hip) is really acting up -- plus my legs and feet are so sore. Little wonder, I guess, but we'll be doing more of the same for the next two weeks, so...
I'm literally forcing myself to blog tonight...
I did talk briefly with sister Sue today, at least. It's hard to keep in touch with anyone we don't work with right now.
If I'm forgetting anything, I can't think what it might be. Oh! I downloaded "From Russia With Love" (the James Bond book) recently (for my Kindle) and have been reading it. This was the fifth novel in Ian Fleming's James Bond series. It got good critical reviews back when it was released. I recall reading it as a kid and enjoying it (and again as a teen). It's been years since I picked up this book. Ian Fleming was really an amazing and detailed writer! Reading him would be good for any writer, I think.
Well, bed time! Good night, all. - Feeling:good
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Well, it rained like crazy this evening, during our concert down at the RoZone (in CityFair). I kept saying all day that it wasn't going to rain, but I was wrong. People were getting quite wet. COULD IT PLEASE NOT RAIN TOMORROW (OR FOR THE REST OF THE FESTIVAL RUN)??? PLEASE???
But Marilyn and I only got sprinkled on, because we'd done our stuff in the Park earlier, and were both at the office working on scripts.
GOOD NEWS!!! Marilyn got the first draft of the Coronation script done. Danielle got the first draft of the GFP script done. And I did my first Edit of the Starlight script! I made a hard copy (printed it out) and brought it him to review tonight (I see some red pens, so I'm good to go!), but I don't really expect to see much. I'm just really excited to be almost done with the first of the two scripts I edit each year...
We did got this morning and get our manicures done. But we didn't bother with pedicures (no TIME). We were so grown out! We really needed them done. So now we're ready to face this busy week -- plus to look good for the VIP Party. (We still need to go and buy something to wear, though. Not sure when, but one night this week... The them is Yellow Brick Road -- which people can use any way they want...) I don't know when I last mentioned it, but when your nails get really grown out, it's very hard to do things...
We had Yakisoba noodles today -- plus we got frozen goodies from an ice cream vendor. It's not really a festival until you've had festival food! Hahaha.
Marilyn and I set up the dehumidifier this morning before we left the house. We just opened it up now to see how it was doing and found a huge quantity of water inside! I swear we poured out a bucket full! Wow. We were stunned when we saw it! Good to know it's doing the job we got it for! (woo hoo) Glad we got it and got a good one. We obviously needed it.
Well, off to work on the script and put my feet up -- and have some cold soda to drink. Tomorrow is a very big day (Memorial Day), so hopefully we'll get to sleep at a decent hour tonight...
For those Americans here, have a good Memorial Day tomorrow. We have a wonderful Tribute Tree at CityFair, where people can write on yellow paper tributes to individuals or groups who have served in our military -- and then these are hung from the tree. It's very cool! I haven't done my own, yet. Marilyn did one for Dad, but I want to do my own. And do one for Dad's brother, too... And for Uncle Bob, who was in the Merchant Marines.
Sweet dreams! - Feeling:happy
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It's hard to believe it's only day two of the festival! Yesterday was such a long day. I think (???) Marilyn and I got home around midnight, but to be honest I'm not sure.
We did take time to go and get lunch and bring it back to eat it on Friday. (Just thinking about it is crazy, because it seems as if this all happened DAYS ago.) It was thing on top of thing all day long.
The boil order for our water was a significant situation. I don't know how clear I made it. Everyone food vendor in the Park was required to use soapy water -- bottled water -- to clean their hands. Washing utensils and dishes required THREE tubs: One of soapy water, one of clean rinse water and finally using an antiseptic rinse. So this wasn't just about serving water for drinking (which is always bottled water anyway). It was about food preparation and cleanup. We had a lot of bottled water on hand, but the entire city was selling out of bottled water in every single store. There was talk of getting a water buffalo -- these are used by the military and transport water to places where it's needed and can't be supplied by other means. (Marilyn brought it up, of course -- and had suggested using the USO people as potential contacts for finding one.) It didn't come to that, because Portland lifted the boil order today, thankfully.
Yesterday was weird, though! Personally, I'm a MAJOR hand-washer. I wash my hands frequently. I didn't even realize how much until I suddenly couldn't do it! We were using antiseptic gel for our hands (ugh). The ice was dumped from our fridge and signs were up NOT to drink the tap water. No problem for me: I never drink tap water. Marilyn and I promised our dad years and years ago to only drink bottled water, and we've pretty much stuck by that (as a rule). There was bagged ice from some 'safe' source (I don't know where, but obviously outside Portland) that we were all using. We never have enough cold beverages this time of year, so we also use a lot of ice... I kept forgetting about washing my hands after using the bathroom, so I'd have to go and apply piles of the gel and then dry my hands like crazy. Disgusting.
The media was all over this. Timing is everything! This happens on our first day of the festival, so we're already front and center. And they needed some way to report effectively about the situation, so we became that way. I didn't ever see any of the news reports on TV, or hear the radio reports, but I heard from others who said Rich did a great job when asked about it. I made sure to mention this to Jeff, who actually commended Rich via email...
Our Opening Ceremony went really well and got a lot of media attention. I personally escorted Mayor Harry there, when he showed up at the office rather than down at CityFair. I also stepped in and wrangled everyone for the photos taken before and during this event -- and to get people focused and smiling for the TV cameras. That's not as easy as it sounds! But people taking photos or getting film always like it when I'm there, because I just order people to do what's needed for the shots. Hahaha. I've been doing this since I stepped in and started it back in our Centennial year (2007), and I've just continued doing it since then. It's interesting how well it works. People actually WANT to be told what to do in these situations...
Saw cousin Linda briefly. She was telling me about her sexual situation with her former boyfriend, so I didn't talk to her for long. I was surrounded by dignitaries, Court members and so on, so this inappropriate topic wasn't working too well for me. (sigh) Besides, I'm always 'grabbed' quite a bit when around large groups of festival-related people, so this kept happening. As Marilyn said later when I mentioned it to her, we are NOT there to socialize with family and friends -- we're WORKING. (And working hard.) So...
My friends Rob and Jeff didn't show, which was disappointing. But they did phone today and even dropped by the office -- so Marilyn and I got to talk to them briefly. (We were just headed home at that point, around 6:00 p.m. today.)
We were on our feet and walking a TON yesterday, from morning until we finally headed home late. And things were intense all day long. We didn't spend much time sitting, so our legs and feet are still suffering today.
I ended up with the people from Spirit Mountain quite a bit (these are VERY IMPORTANT Sponsors for us, and looking after them is always a big deal). It's actually an honor to help take care of them when they're here...
Marilyn and I did our usual stint backstage with the Court and festival reps who were going on stage prior to the fireworks show. The girls are fun to be with.
We both finally got to have a drink during the fireworks (after our work was done). Before that I was sticking to soda and water. I also had some of the food (amazing BBQ!) that was in the chalet, but Marilyn never had anything.
When we got home I made us sandwiches. I barely remember getting ready for bed, I was so tired. Marilyn was soon sound asleep on the sofa...
This morning Marilyn woke me to tell me Sue and Dennis were on the way to the house (!!!) with our dehumidifier. This was around 9:00 a.m. I basically turned over and went back to sleep. Poor Marilyn! She threw herself together, I guess. I wish I'd forced myself to get up and pick up a bit. Right now we just throw things down when we come in late. The house wasn't horrible, but still...
They also brought a bunch of bottled water (!!!) for us and the cats. I like those big jugs for watering the cats, so that's cool. We didn't need regular bottled water (we have quite a bit right now), but it's not like we won't use it, sooner or later. Even though the boil water order was lifted this morning, it's still a good idea not to be drinking tap water, or using it to brush your teeth.
We had peanut butter toast for breakfast after I did get up. And not long after that I fixed us some bacon. I think I've mentioned that we get REALLY HUNGRY this time of year -- and it often seems like everybody on staff is constantly eating. But we work hard, so I guess we burn it up pretty fast...
We went to the office in the early afternoon. Then hiked down to the Park and to the Museum there, to check on the crown. It's on display Saturdays and Sundays (plus Memorial Day), from 2:00 to 4:00. We're very protective of it, of course. Normally it only come out ONE TIME all year long, when the Queen is crowned.
We also hauled pennies back to the office. Our Search for Queen Thelma is being voted on by pennies, put into these giant glass jars, which have to be constantly emptied. Wow, were those pennies HEAVY to carry! Hahaha.
Anyway, we went back and forth to CityFair many times. Poor Marilyn did a bunch of other physical things there, but I stayed in the office working on the Starlight script. I got a good start, but quit when we left the office. I probably should have worked on it here at home tonight, but oh well. I plan to turn it back to Ashley on Monday, so there's plenty of time.
We did go down to CityFair with Christine and got pronto pups to eat. And I bought a bottle of very cold soda to drink. Marilyn and I need to get more CASH, so we have it when needed there. We didn't have much with us today.
Here at home we changed into comfortable clothes and watched "Jeopardy" from yesterday. I could barely keep my eyes open to see Julia (Julia Collins) win again. So after that I went to lie down. I did read a little bit, went to sleep pretty fast.
Well, that's it for now. I'm glad I forced myself to get up and blog!
We have to go get manicures tomorrow morning. We had planned to go today, but we were just too damn tired this morning. Yesterday was a killer. I sure hope we don't let it go tomorrow, because our nails are really grown out -- and it makes it difficult to do things.
Never even had a chance to talk to sister Sue today! Maybe tomorrow. Time is so weird right now! It just flashes by!!!
Goodnight! Sweet dreams, all! - Feeling:busy
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Still dealing with the flooding here. This morning we had some odor, so I used our AMAZING anti-mold spray. I can't even tell you how incredible this product is. There's no smell when you spray it on (nothing is worse than trying to cover up an odor with a fragrance) -- seriously, it could be water from that standpoint. But you put this on and at immediately goes to work! In no time at all the odor disappears!
I must have been on my hands and knees with my nose pressed into the carpet dozens of times today (!!!), but there was never the slightest sign of any smell. We've used it before, but I'd forgotten how effective it is! Plus unlike bleach and ammonia products, it's not toxic in the least -- so it's safe for people and pets. (woo hoo) Today I checked out reviews of the product, and tons of people were saying the same thing. But many of them had worse situations than we do -- and it still worked! Just wonderful. We lucked into buying this product, but I'm sure glad we did.
I did have the heater and fans going for hours today, though. There's still a tiny sign of dampness in two small spots (indentations where the bed rested and pressed the carpet down). But even these are almost entirely dry now.
I was supposed to go for coffee to get a break away with sister Sue today, but it didn't happen. Oh well. I'm just glad she'll be able to take me to the vet tomorrow with Henry (and maybe pick up my pills, too).
Marilyn got help with the dehumidifier from Sue today. Sue and Dennis have an Amazon Prime account, so she could order the one we want and we'll get it for no additional shipping fee in 48 hours! How nice of Sue. Marilyn did a bunch of research before selecting one. She spent more than I'd originally thought we would, but she thinks it's best to get one that has good reviews, in spite of the extra $$$. Anyway, I'm feeling very positive about this now. I think we'll soon be able to quit worrying about it -- just in time for the start of the 2014 festival! (Well, it starts Friday -- and we might still be fussing with this over the weekend. But it's all good.)
I was slightly (but only slightly) stressed early on today, trying to reason out my schedule. At that point I had a bunch of News items to do for the website, I was facing starting the Editing of the Starlight script today (with a Friday afternoon deadline!), I was trying to set up Cooler Email (our eBlast service) for a GF Walk eNewsletter and so on. It's difficult to get much done, writing-wise, on Friday, which is Opening Day for us. (There are a bunch of things going on during the day -- including night time activities to attend.) So that was a tad worrisome. But during the day it was decided that we would NOT use Cooler for the eNewsletter -- which I think is very wise! I'm not surprised to hear that Marilyn was the one behind this change...
I'd tried to explain the whole Opt In process to people -- but I think Marilyn was the only one really following me. Yeah, we could set up a brand new List and send out an eNewsletter to that list, but unless people received the Opt In email and clicked the link, it would be like throwing this into a black hole! And having not been able to contact Oliver (I don't know what happened to him), we already are likely to have overage charges for Cooler this year, anyway. Marilyn suggested to the people in her meeting today what I had mentioned to her: Doing an email using HTML and sending it out to the list of people. If this is done with around two hundred people at a time, it should work quite well. And we don't need to do the fancy tracking that you can do with a service -- we just need to get the word out (as registrations are down this year). Yeah, I'd already gone to the trouble to create a List and import the data by the time I found out, but what the hell...
Then when noon came and went and I still hadn't heard about the script, I phoned Ashely. She'd found out that we can send the scripts to print on Tuesday morning, and still have them back in plenty of time for our Tuesday afternoon meeting! So I'll have the weekend to do my Editing, and won't have to sweat it until after Friday. What a break! (Good thing, because it's not ready for me at this point, anyway! Ashley is still working to get the final missing elements...)
But I did work long and hard on the News item that needed to be linked in tomorrow's eNewsletter (the normal one). And Rich and I worked through another News item in the afternoon (yeah, I had two of them today). The first one included several photos, but thankfully I didn't need any for the afternoon item, which was quite long (giving and overview of this coming weekend). We have yet another one for tomorrow, which I've barely started...
I almost forgot that Donn and I did a bunch of IT stuff over the phone today. Such a busy time for me!
This evening when I sat down to my dinner of bread and olives, Marissa called, needing help on the HTML template for the GF Walk eNewsletter. I didn't want to interrupt my meal, and she couldn't wait for 15 minutes, so we put it off for tomorrow morning. But I had her send me the link and the things she needed to change. And then spent around an hour messing with it to 'fix' the problems. I did a large re-write of the template -- and even had to take jpg images and turn them into transparent pngs (which is not all that easy, mind you!). You know what? I'm really pleased with the result (which also displays quite well on a cell phone). It's not perfect -- and I imagine they'll still want tweaks that I can't give them. (I tried some things that just wouldn't work. No, I've no clue why...) I'm always working with templates made by someone else. But at least this forces me to keep my hand in coding! I did manage some nifty re-coding (I guess I'm patting myself on the back!).
Just washed my hair and can't wait to go to bed. I'm tired (surprise).
Marilyn did bring home a TON of amazing food from the meal held for the Court at her house tonight (which is where Marilyn was -- at Court judging -- starting at 4:30). She got home by 9:00, which seemed almost like a holiday, somehow!
I had one hell of a time cleaning out room for all the food in the fridge. I sure hope sister Sue will take some of it home with her tomorrow, because we'll never be able to eat it all!
Yeah, I did other things today, too. Like work on the phone situation with Kris. And chat with Mark (who will drop by tomorrow). And on and on. But I'm too done to add more.
Stick a fork in me! Good night! - Feeling:busy
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