Remember Me?

May is half over and this is my first post. What is happening? Ugh.

Sorry for being M.I.A. Nothing too exciting has been happening and there is really no reason for my absence. School is over - I did end up with an A even though my group members didn't deserve the massive amount of work I did on our projects. Someday I'll find a group where everyone contributes equally and can actually produce a good piece of work. I don't really want to rant about this anymore. I'll leave it at the fact my teacher said he'd change others grades if he saw fit and our final project received 100% for me. I'm hoping the other members didn't get that. Especially since it wasn't a 100% deserving paper.

In family life, all is good. Mom's walking around and back at work. I think she likes being out of the house again. Grandpa is getting stronger and instead of talking about hospice, he now is practicing walking back and forth across the living room and practicing getting in and out of the car. Dad likes this. I do too.

Work is, well, work. That might be part of the reason I've been missing. My stress level fluctuates at work quite a bit. I need a vacation and I have one approaching quickly. I decided to take the first full week of June off and if I can actually get someone to cover the Friday and Saturday night, I might get to. My team is on the path back to #1, but we're struggling in a couple of areas. There's just a lot of work to do each day. This is good because it keeps me busy, but the days of being able to sit back and watch all the efforts pay off are a ways away.

We had an off-site meeting last week. Actually, all the supervisors/managers went to a Twins baseball game. I took a few pictures that I liked.

I liked this one because you can see the ball.


This is outside the stadium.


This one was cool because the guy leading the wave (one of my peers) is the only object in focus.


In the office, I've been dealing with a leave of absence, two terminations, and numerous warnings. And that's only 1/4 of the team. The other 3/4 are performing great. That's where the struggle lies. We actually have a great team, but there are a couple of people who end up taking up all my time. It gets stressful. I still love what I do and I love my team. This is just normal frustration.

In response to a few comments from the last post. I know I wrote it a few weeks ago. Some readers feel sorry for the girl I went to high school with and I guess I can't blame you. What I left out was a time I was at Perkins with my former roommate. She was there with a flamboyant guy (to which I have no problems. I was there with a flamboyant guy myself.) As they were leaving, another table made a comment about her behind. Her friend came over and accused me of making fun of her. If she was so willing to blame me for a rude remark, I have no sympathy for her now. She knows we were never friends. I never did anything to her and I just want nothing to do with her now. And each time I run into her, she hugs me. I don't understand the leap between 'we were never friends' to 'buddy-buddy.' She's living in a different reality than I.

I recently purchased an upgraded version of Photoshop Elements. One of the things I've been doing with it is creating scrapbook layouts/plans. It's a way to 'not think.' Below is an example of what I've been doing. I have over 30 of them in the computer and at least 15 more drawn out on paper. Makes me think I really should develop pictures soon so I can scrapbook them.



Karaoke has been enjoyable. DM is back and that is nice. I missed her. It has also been nice that Craig is in another country. The Sunday that DM was gone was an interesting one. Amy, Sara, and Shannon were there. Char showed up later too. There were also prostitutes that were thrown out the bar for soliciting this table of Eastern European men. It's a neighborhood bar in a varied neighborhood. Some of the adventures we've had from karaoke make the bar sound like this terrible place, but it really isn't. Just weird, random things occasionally happen there.

I keep thinking about my vacation. I have some tentative plans for the time off. I'm going to be house sitting for my mom while she and Scott go camping the weekend before the time off. I figure I can plan a few day trips around Minnesota for photographic opportunities (and play with my newest toy - a Sony digital SLR). I have three places in the state in mind and also found something cool to do in Minneapolis. The last weekend of the time off will be good for scrapbooking and hanging out with DM, Keem, and Sarah.

Again, my apologies for not being around. I know there are over 90 posts to read. This is what happens when you get behind. To think, I used to read and post daily. To get there again. It shall happen.

Oh, and I now know my final classes schedule. I have another class at the end of June, one in the late summer, and then three in 2008. My last day of school will be June 9, 2008. Just in time for my 11 year anniversary with the company that pays for my tuition.