So, a friend of mine died last week. His funeral was today...and it's left me in a strange sort of mood. I must be upset, because I've been incredibly hungry all day.

It's strange. I don't think that it has all settled in yet. Ray was a remarkable man. He was truly an inspiration. He was a vital, 46 year old man in a wheelchair...who let nothing hold him back. He could do anything - I honestly believe that. He was the first person who I had ever met who was confined to a wheelchair and, instead of becoming weaker, became stronger. After an accident that changed his entire life, he only changed for the better. He was always a gentleman, always respectable, 100% genuine, and always was trying to help someone - not to mention extremely independent. :O) He was the first person who I had met in this office that actually gave a damn about what happened to people when they left this building. Hell, he was the first person here that I actually liked. And, every Thursday, like clockwork, he would deliver the new edition of the Chico News & Review to my desk...and we would talk about the cover story and get all political and then laugh. I'm going to miss that.

Anyways, last Wednesday, he was jazzed. He was going to go home from work and pick up his new electric wheelchair. He was so excited, he just couldn't contain it. He truly glowed all day. That evening, he took his wheelchair out for a spin down a trail that leads to some ponds and, apparently, got too close to the edge of an embankment. His body was found the following evening.

It is so tragic that this happened to such a vibrant human being. He had so much life left in him. It just makes it a little bit easier to think that he was happy right up until the moment that he died. And, God willing, everything happened so fast that he didn't have time to realize what was going on. Like his daughter said on the cover of his Funeral Program - he's probably in heaven playing poker with God right now. It's just so hard to see such a good man go...

It's going to be a long time before things are normal around this office. He affected so many lives...even clients cried. I guess it just makes you aware of how short life really is.

vette

Some days I realize just how amazing it is that I haven't killed anyone yet.

-vette

Here is some truly sad news.... I took the "What Looney Tunes Character Are You?" Quiz and this was my result

You are Pepe Le Pew!

You are a suave skunk who lives for l'amour. You may not always get the girl (or guy), but there are always many more fish in the sea, no? Take the What Looney Tunes Character are You? Quiz by contessina_2000@yahoo.com!

I never have time to write anymore....I guess it can be attributed to that whole growing older thing....You know, I just keep finding more and more things to do. I'm working full time (4 days a week, 10 hours a day), doing this whole lingerie party thing (had 3 this weekend) and still being a mommy and a girlfriend. I've been spending my days off at Fairytale Town and my parents house (Nevin sure loves his grandparents). I'm starting to think that I may have stretched myself a bit thin. Then again, I really thrive on stress, so maybe this will improve some part of my life that I haven't been paying attention to. Or, maybe it will cure the boredom, and all of the insane longings to go out and get crazy. :O) I do miss the beach, lots. I am going to have to go back soon. I am also going to have to lose another 20 pounds. :OD

Everything at this end of the state is extremely hot. I hate it here. Yesterday it was 97 and I thought that it was a nice day. Isn't that sad?? My air conditioner runs at least 6 hours a day, 12-18 on the weekends, and I long to own a swimming pool. Then again, I long to be thin enough to wear a bathing suit so, what are you gonna do?? :O)

Nevin's 2nd birthday is approaching quickly. Jeff and I are going to take him to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to do some celebrating. We're going to spend a whole day at the San Francisco Bay Aquarium and the Exploratorium. He may go into sensory overload...that would be awful. Whenever that happens, his mind goes blank and he just cries and cries and cries. It's like he reverts to being 2 months old. It's the strangest thing.... Anyways, we are doing this the weekend before his birthday so that we can have a birthday party the weekend after. :O)

In other news, Nevin is starting his new preschool on Thursday. I know, Thursday is the strangest day of the week to start a new school (especially since he doesn't go on Wednesday or Friday), but Thursday is the 1st and I didn't feel like doing the whole prorated payment thing, you know?? He is so excited...he loves it there. Every time we have gone over there, he has cried because we were leaving. It's good to know that he won't be missing me while I am at work.

Speaking of work, I suppose that I should actually do some this morning, so I should go. Have a super monday. :O)

vette

Yowsa...I am in some bad shape. I had no idea that I could be so incredibly unhealthy by age 24...but, those of you that know my past, probably know that I have been unhealthier before. Anyways, last Thursday, I was totally on the verge of passing out at work. I mean, we're talking blurred vision, ringing ears, dizziness, couldn't hold my head up...it was brutal. So, they kicked me out of work and sent me to Prompt Care. It's like an emergency room for people who aren't bleeding to death. Anyways, they did a whole bunch of blood work on me and concluded that I was low on potassium. I had no idea just how vital that little mineral was...and, apparently, if it had gotten any lower, I would have been at risk for a heart attack. Instead, mine just got low enough that it used up all of my stored energy over the course of the last few weeks, and then my body was incapable of producing more. Needless to say, I have been out of commission for a while...you know, while I got my body functioning again.

I've been such a slacker when it comes to blogging. Partly because I have just been so busy, and partly because I am just a slacker. :O) I think I am going to start writing more again...it's kind of therapeutic.

always,
vette

Life is good. The best part is that, even as things get better, they continue to stay interesting. ;O) This makes me very happy.

I'm getting way too serious about this whole lingerie sales thing. I can see it turning into an actual business type deal, not just something that I do on the side when life is getting a little bit dull. It is an area of my life where I have no boundaries, you know? It's not like working for the County....where you have to sit and wait for years for someone to retire so that you can actually go somewhere. With Petra I actually have the flexibility to just go at it and take over the company as quickly or as slowly as I want to. I have to say that I appreciate that.

Speaking of things that are crappy about the County, our budget has gone straight to hell. On account of that, they have cut the vacation buy back program. This is where you save up hideous amounts of vacation and then the county will buy it back from you and pay you for it - the only requirement is that you keep at least 40 hours for yourself. Well, right when I was ready to turn in my paperwork (Had 120 hours saved up so far), the program got cut. So, yesterday, I put in requests for 80 hours of vacation time before the end of the year (I will be accruing another 77 hours of Vacation by January 3rd anyways). Woo Hoo!! I got all of the Holidays off... a 5 day weekend for Labor Day, a 5 day weekend for Veterans day, 9 days at Thanksgiving, 3 for Christmas and 6 at New Years (there's a one day break in between). And, if I was able to put in requests for next year, I would have started already. This means that all of you will be seeing me more often because, with all of this time off, I am simply going to have to do some traveling. I know you are all stoked right now. :O)

Read the Post Below First....This is the Continuation
So, since Office Depot closed at 6:00 and Jeff gets off work around 6:30 and the buses don't run that late on Sunday, I figured that I would just go to Office Depot and make my return at 5:45, go to Target and buy the pretty silver filing cabinet, and then have some Chicken Tenders at BK with Nevin until 6:30. At 6:35, I talk to Jeff who says that it is going to be another 15-20 minutes before he is going to be done at work. So, Nevin and I drove all over the countryside, thoroughly air conditioned, waiting for Jeff to be done. We picked him up at 6:55.
We drive home, unpack the filing cabinet, are setting it up, when Jeff says "Did you notice that this one doesn't have a lock?". Too bad. I guess we'll just have to install one.

AUGH!! - Vette

The Filing Cabinet Adventure
On Saturday, I had the fantastic idea that I should purchase a filing cabinet. Seeing as I am now selling Petra products on the side, I have a lot of random paperwork floating around the house. We figured that a filing cabinet would be more conducive to keeping the house clean. Hence, I called my best friend, Andrea, in Southern California and we proceeded on an Office Supply Adventure. (I require Andrea when I shop for Office Supplies - otherwise, I will buy droves of useless stuff, just so I can say that I have it.)
We went everywhere in search of the perfect filing cabinet. We started at Office Depot, then proceeded to Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Office Maxx, and Sierra Stationers. I saw this filing cabinet at Target that I was absolutely in love with. It had one large filing drawer at the bottom, with two smaller 9" deep drawers above it. And, of course, it was Metallic Silver, which meant that, even if it was absolutely useless, I would be in love with it. :O) However, after much discussion, Andrea and I decided that I was looking for a filing cabinet, not a cute set of drawers, and decided to opt for the black 2-drawer filing cabinet sitting next to it...assuming that it was of the same quality.
I took the filing cabinet home, got it out of the box, and discovered that I was wrong. It was a floppy wobbly piece of crap with cheap wire insets for hanging the files on. This was simply not working for me. I have a 2-year old which means that I require sturdy. So, I tossed the filing cabinet back in the box, ready to return it. Meanwhile, I started glancing through the Office Depot catalog, and found another filing cabinet that I liked. However, it was 7:15p.m. and Office Depot closes at 8:00p.m. So, I asked Jeff if he and Nevin would come with me really quick to buy this other filing cabinet and return the flimsy crap one. Quickly, we loaded up the car and were off.
We got to Office Depot at 7:40ish and looked around, finally purchasing a black 2-drawer filing cabinet that looked like it wouldn't collapse. :O) However, there was another filing cabinet there, much like the silver one, with the one large drawer and 2 small drawers. I showed Jeff and he said that it was really nice. So, I told him that, when we returned the first filing cabinet, I wanted him to have a look at the silver one.
We got to Target and returned the black filing cabinet. Then, we wandered over to the section where the silver filing cabinet was. When he saw it, he said: "That is exactly what you need. This is the one you should have bought!" Now, realizing that Office Depot was closed and I was too short on cash to buy the silver one (not to mention that putting two filing cabinets in my car was a bit of a tight squeeze - especially with Jeff, Nevin and I all in the car. :O) So, we left the Office Depot filing cabinet in the trunk and I figured I would just take care of the final exchange tomorrow (Sunday).
So, Sunday morning, we got up and got ready to leave. I was going to drop Jeff off at work and then Nevin and I were going to go to Office Depot and Target. Before we left the house, I gave Nevin his last dose of antibiotics (for his sinus infection). I was supposed to have given it to him on Saturday night but, I forgot (bad Mommy!!), so I went ahead and gave it to him on Sunday morning. Then, we left.
I dropped Jeff off at work, as planned, and proceeded to Office Depot. I pulled into the parking lot, turned off the car and got out. When I reached to open the back door to get Nevin, he began to projectile vomit all over the back seat of my car. Apparently, the antibiotics didn't sit well. So, I swooped him up to let him finish vomiting in the parking lot (and all over me) and then rushed us home for cleanup.