TAKE THAT!

Well, it seems like insect problems are running in the family this week. Katie is battling the ants (again!). I got up this morning, flipped on the bathroom light and then went to turn the shower on. Something caught my eye (it was right at eye level, after all) and I thought it was fuzz flying through the air. Nope - it was a spider, dangling from the bathroom ceiling and poised to get me. I folded him into a Kleenex, gave it a squish and tossed it into the toilet. Then I jumped into the shower as usual. Halfway through my shower, I noticed the spider's brother creeping along the bathroom ceiling right above me. I kept a wary eye on him, since I didn't want a repeat performance. Once I was out of the shower, I noticed that the spider I had tossed into the toilet was miraculous un-squished and swimming around trying to get out. I don't think he survived the flush... Just don't mess with me before I've had my coffee in the morning!

Hmmm...

Well, I worked last night at the Community Center. It was the very last night of women's volleyball, which will certainly free up some time and gym space. I noted right away that the soccer league was not scheduled for the night, although I knew that that basically meant nothing, as the players show up anyway. Sure enough, I had the gym all swept before volleyball began. The soccer players filtered in, and I told them that they were not scheduled. Javier (the group's coordinator) was not there, which meant (to me anyway) that they were not planning on playing last night.
Of course, they wanted to play. I told them that I would allow them to play on the open half of the gym, but also I told them that I felt that they were being disrespectful to me, the Center and the process by which we operate, being that they keep showing up and expecting us to accommodate them. They agreed and it appeared as though they would try harder next time.

Well - they were happily playing soccer with their skeleton crew. Volleyball finished up on their side of the gym, so I swept that up. Five minutes after I sat down, one of the soccer players came to ask me to raise the dividing curtain so they could play full court. I told him he should be happy with half the gym, since they were not on the schedule at all. I also pointed out that I had already cleaned that side of the gym. He left, and ten minutes later, another player came to ask me to raise the curtain. I told him I thought they could get along fine with their half, since they had a smaller crew than normal. He assured me that the group was much bigger than when I was in the gym, so I agreed. When I went into the gym, it was obvious that they didn't have many players, and I turned and told him that. He assured me that they would stop playing at 9:45, put away all their gear and sweep the gym themselves, since it had already been done and they were the source of the undoing. I thought was a good deal, so I agreed.

Fast forward to about 9:30. I am making a sweep of the building, starting my closing the building routine. I notice it is quiet in the gym. I walk in there, and they have all gone home. The soccer goals and ball are sitting by the storage room doors, and nobody has swept the floor. It was like they vaporized. I realize that somehow the storage room door got shut (and thus locked), but they could have easily found me to ask me to open it up for them. You know darn well they would have found me if they needed something from me. My faith in mankind has been shaken!

Spring has arrived...boo!

Spring has arrived in N071. No, not in the form of robins, bunnies, baby chicks, but....ANTS!!!! Yes, America, ants are coming out of the cracks, literally. Last night we put out bait to keep them in one area, hence the nutri-grain bar on the bathroom floor. I threw that away today and vacuumed them up. But, low and behold, when I got back from returning the vacuum cleaner, about 15 already were brave enough to resurface. The worst part is that they come into our room. We put in a work order, but if you remember the heat situation, nothing will be done to quickly. When I thought about living in the dorm, I thought about the crappy situations it would bring. I never had no heat, cold showers, noisy laundry room, and ants cross my mind. I guess you can never say never.

P.S. I guess are bathroom was so dirty (because our suite mates don't clean it) that one ant committed suicide in the toilet water.

Don't count your chickens

I am pretty sure with my luck that the dog will be there when I get back. They probably let him shit in the house and have not let him out. When I get home you will here him barking, which will get Skippy barking, which will get Straka's dogs howling, which will get Tucker barking...but he has a silent bark, which will hopefully end the circle of barking.

Missing?

This is the bane of Katie's existence. The dog pictured here lives (lived?) across the street from us. I am sure he/she is a good dog. However, the poor dog was blessed with craptastic owners. These owners lived in a small apartment. I think I saw the dog walked twice in the past year. Otherwise, it was chained in the front yard with little stimulation and even less to do. The dog barked all the time - at all hours of the day and night. Apparently the young people who lived in the apartment had a hearing problem, because no one came to let the dog into the apartment in a timely manner. So - this dog was waking Katie up very early in the morning, which did not make her happy at all. Well, I noticed today (since I opted to walk to work) that the new snow from Wednesday has not been disturbed at all in front of their apartment. Could it be? Could the dog be gone? Hey - I haven't heard it bark lately, I don't think. Of course, there are so many dogs in the neighborhood, I could be wrong about that. I will keep my eyes open this weekend to see what's up!

HA!

Many people don't remember the show ALF, but maybe you can relate. I brought a stuffed ALF doll to school and he sleeps on my bed with me. He sits perfectly in the corner. This morning when I woke up I became kind of freaked out. ALF was about 2 inches from my face glaring at me. He must have thought I was a cat. HA!

Spring has been cancelled...

Apparently I never got the memo. The sun is shining so nicely, but man, is it cold. And I hear it will be sub-zero tomorrow. Yay!

On another note - I certainly look bright eyed and bushy tailed in my new photo, don't I? Hmmm... no need for plastic surgery - I will just keep my eyes wide open and see how many small children and dogs I can scare...

What Price Fashion?

I am wearing some of my new clothes today. I have had good compliments on my sweater set, but none on my new black pants. Of course, I realize that black pants are black pants and who can tell the difference, anyway? I am also wearing my new black ankle boots with the very pointy toes. According to Clinton and Stacey, they are elongating the look of my legs and making me look taller and slimmer. According to me, they are cutting the circulation off of my feet and I am absolutely dying! How do people wear these damn things every day? I took them off to put on sensible walking shoes (Good lord, do I sound like a 73 year old woman now?) to go home for lunch, but I dutifully put the pointy torture boots on when I got back to the bank. Because I am nothing if not fashionable. Of course, by the end of this day, I will be walking funny and then I will noticed for something totally other than fashion

Today is Weepy Tuesday Eve

Katie was home this weekend. Her dad and I drove up to the Twin Cities on Thursday afternoon, risking life and limb on a horrible commute through a snow storm to get her. That's how much we love her, I guess, because for anything else, I would have holed up at home and said the hell with it. Things went OK - I only panicked a Little bit when we came across a fatal accident about 50 miles into the trip, and then a few miles later, came across another multi car crash that was so recent, there was no rescue personnel on scene yet. I would not want to do that again. Thankfully, by the time we were headed home, things were considerably better and we had a pretty good, although quiet weekend. Big bro is taking her back this afternoon and I am gearing up for Weepy Tuesday. We all expect Weepy Tuesday to come after a weekend at home, so I don't know why we are all so surprised when it happens. I only hope that Katie realizes that Weepy Tuesday is inevitable, and once a person actually expects it to happen, it takes the bite right out of it! I am counting down the weeks to the end of the semester!