Insomnimusing: Allons-y!

Sometime back in October or so, I started getting emails from Accuweather warning me that this was going to be a winter to make history. The gist of it: brutal cold and snow measured in feet. Usually, the warnings say one or the other - brutal cold and not much snow, or tons of snow but not as cold. Anyway, I never look forward to winter, but this ominous forecast I was definitely not wishing to see come true. Then at the tail-end of October, we got a sudden burst of snow. We knew it wouldn't stick around, but it hinted at an early beginning. Then ... nothing. Well, nothing as far as "winter" was concerned. We had rain and wind some days; we had sun and warmth some days. In fact, it was quite as "autumnal" as weather could get for the midwest. And it kept going, and going, and going. Christmas came and went with the background of a dead and brown landscape. The temperature hovered around 40 degrees most days, and the rain continued a couple of times a week. Then...

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine.   For several weeks, every time I'm in my car, I've been hearing radio commercials from various pharmacies saying, "We still take Express Scripts." I've wondered what this was all about. Now I know.   It seems that Walgreens' contract with Express Scripts expired at the end of last year, and Walgreens and Express Script  attempted to negotiate a new contract, but the negotiations were unsuccessful. As of Dec. 31, the contract expired, and, therefore, Walgreens is now excluded from Express Scripts' provider network. All Walgreens pharmacies and Duane Reade pharmacies in the New York City area are affected.   Having read Walgreens side of the story, I've seen that they negotiated in good faith with a genuine effort and desire to help their customers be able to have the lowest  health care...

I'm a big fan of loyalty and points programs. I don't go out of my way to earn big numbers most of the time, knowing that my points will just keep adding up until I can use them for something. My latest favorite is the Delicious Rewards program from Lean Cuisine. This is not a promoted or paid post. I don't even get referrals. I'm just loving it and want to share! I just discovered Lean Cuisine last year. Of course, I'd heard of it, but I never really thought it could be any good, because... well, you know how those frozen meals in a box are. And this was "diet food." How good could it be? Boy, was I surprised! This food's actually good! I mean REALLY GOOD. What started out as a what-the-heck-I'll-give-it-a-shot-it's-on-sale purchase has turned into my every-single-day-at-work-lunch-time-staple. So, since I was eating all these meals, I decided to start collecting those codes on the boxes. And then I got my boyfriend started eating them. (He...

I've reached the end of my vacation week, although I still have a weekend ahead. I imagine I'll be able to return to work at least marginally recharged, having spent a considerable portion of my break sleeping. I also managed to get many, many loads of laundry done, in addition to some other things that needed doing. I don't really look forward to returning to work, but at least the nightmare end-of-the-year scramble is over. I won't have to spend my work days doing my own work while trying to do the jobs of two or three other people at the same time. Honestly, after the previous eight weeks, I deserved this time off. I was also able to watch a midweek Manchester United match, which was a loss, but still, it's rare that I get to see a match in the middle of the week because I'm always working. I was also able to go to one of my daughter's basketball games (she's a cheerleader), which I don't ever get to do during the week because they start too early...

After eight weeks of severe overwork and abuse in office, I'm doing something this week that I've never done before in the last 12 years - I'm taking the whole week off. It's not costing me much vacation time, as I have almost two days of comp time built up from the past two months and yesterday was a paid holiday. It seemed the perfect opportunity. Yesterday didn't really count much. I stopped in to the empty office for two hours to gather my material for my entries into the annual AP contest. This is the first year I've bothered to enter. I'm not much into seeking awards for my work, so I've never bothered before. Today, I turned off the alarm after the girls left for school and turned off the ringer on my phone so I could sleep undisturbed until I woke up on my own. That was an especially nice treat. I slept until noon. I'll be filling the day catching up on some household work until this afternoon, when Munch and I will go into Sidney to see Gin...

I made my munchkin some candy sushi for her Christmas party at school. I kept it a secret until she watched me make them. Sushi (real sushi) is her favorite food, so when she saw these, she was ECSTATIC!

I'm a Who-phile, a Whovian, or just another Who down in Whoville who cries boohoohoo during the far-too-long breaks of this most excellent and engaging series! Check out this work of brilliance! (I've even forgiven the typo of "Shelock Holmes") And just click on the graphic to see the original if your screen is too narrow to view it in its entirety. Via: CableTV.com

Every day seems to grow more frustrating, with more being piled on me just as I've reached - and passed - my limit. Mondays are supposed to be the day for catching up at the office, because we don't publish a paper on Tuesdays. It never seems to turn out that way. I only had one item on my schedule, so I thought I would be able to get some of the assignments done that I have coming up and then leave a bit early to try to get rid of some of those "vacation hours" I have remaining. No such luck. I came in to find an assignment to attend a meeting at 8:30 tomorrow morning. But my boss didn't know where the thing was supposed to be. Well, more precisely, he thought he knew, but he was wrong, and I knew he was wrong. I also had no contact information. So I called the location where the meeting was held six months ago - the latest agenda we had. They didn't know a thing. So I called the local police chief, who would certainly be attending the meeting. Got his voicem...

Throughout her school career, every parent-teacher conference I've had for Munch, my 10-year-old daughter, has been the same. She's obviously smart. She undeniably happy. She's incredibly creative. She can't focus. Every assignment takes forever. She's constantly distracted. This year, the school assigned an intervention team. We've met to try to resolve her issues, which are taking a terrible toll on her grades. The ability is there. The intelligence is there, but she's starting to miss out on important basic skills because she can't pay enough attention to learn them. Her evaluation - not a medical diagnosis, I'm reminded - points to ADD. I can't say I'm at all surprised. Considering she has no personality issues and no hyperactivity - and frankly, even if those were issues too - I don't want to medicate her with the typical pharmaceuticals. We've all seen the stories, and we know the side effects can be and often are very, very bad...

The busy season is in full swing for me. It's not the holidays, per se; it's the end-of-the-year-scramble-to-get-vacation-time-used-up-before-the-company-takes-it-away season. And I get slammed on it. I start out in November the same as everyone else - with piles of unused vacation time that has to be used up before the end of the year. It's a "use it or lose it" policy. The problem is that there's no time for everyone to take their time. So the calendar fills up with a week here and two weeks there for everyone else in the office, while I'm left scrambling to take an hour here and there just to use it up. That's how it is every year. Everyone else gets weeks of vacation - I get an hour at a time. Why? Because I'm the one who knows how to do everyone else's job. I've spent two weeks picking up extra work for one reporter on vacation for two weeks, then I get the next week picking up the work for the other reporter on vacation. The news edit...

It was election night last night, so I was at the office until 1 a.m. I always require "wind-down" time when I get home, so I didn't get to bed right away. Exhaustion breeds weird dreams. In mine, I went downstairs to look at my aquarium for a while, as I often do, and I discovered that my son had put a six-inch shark in it, which was quickly making a meal of all of my fish. When he walked downstairs, he told me that he didn't understand why I was getting so mad, as it was only temporary, and he'd be taking it out of my tank as soon as he got his new tank set up. Then I was torn between screaming at him about killing my fish and pointing out to him that he couldn't just set up an aquarium and throw a fish in it and expect it to live. I need to get more sleep. I did mention to my son today that, by the way, it would NOT be acceptable if he should put a shark in my fish tank. He said, "That wouldn't happen. I'm terrified of sharks. I wouldn't w...

I've shared this story before, but something brings it out of me every year, so forgive me for repeating myself... I was in NYC on business three weeks after the towers fell. I still remember how different the city was from the last time I'd been there. Everything seemed so much quieter, everyone so much more polite and subdued. They weren't back to "normal" and no one really seemed to know what "normal" was anymore. I skipped the last day of the convention and took a cab down to lower Manhattan. I felt an overwhelming need to be there, to see it, to feel it. When I told my cab driver where I wanted to go, he told me that he'd worked in the towers. He would have been there that day, but he'd taken the morning off work to take his son to the doctor. I'll never forget the smell in the air as I opened the door of the cab and stepped out. The rubble was still smouldering at that time and that smell filled the air. The merchants in lower Man...

I went to see Manchester United in Chicago with my bf. Fair week was the usual hectic nightmare, but with extra pages. Went to a friend's wedding with the girls. Saw the new Harry Potter movie with bf. Not in 3D though. Went to the state fair with my mother and the kids. Started in the aquarium hobby and developed an obsession already. First batch of fry (baby fishies) now 2 1/2 days old. Constantly frustrated with work. Working on building a special section this week while coworker is on vacation, so extra pages on top of extra pages = looooooong days. The girls are dogsitting at the moment. Watched the Community Shield online and cheered the 3-2 win by my boys. Waiting for the EPL season to begin.

I got to spend most of my week sitting in a courtroom. At least it wasn't me, anyway. I had to work the Sunday night desk at the office, so I got Monday off. But starting Tuesday, I was assigned to cover a trial - I was to be there from start to finish. We don't get good criminal trials around here very often. Nearly every one is settled for a reduced charge. This one, though, the prosecutor wasn't letting go. And it was a doozy. Attempted murder, three counts of kidnapping and felonious assault. On Day 1 (Tuesday) I arrived in the court room at the scheduled start time of 9 a.m. only to find that jury selection was under way. Yep, apparently they do that at the last possible moment. One of the people from our IT department was there as a prospective juror. She dropped a bombshell to get out of it. Said our company was changing hands at midnight and she'd be spending all night all week switching servers, etc. and would be too exhausted to pay attention. Well, that's...

My congratulations go out to the Junk Loving Girl at My Junk Loving Journey , who won my first ever blog contest! I've contacted her by email and will be sending her prize out as soon as I hear back from her. I want to thank those who entered and hope to do this again soon!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of FRESCHETTA® for SocialSpark . All opinions are 100% mine. I'd been thinking of doing a giveaway on my blog for quite a while now, and the good folks at Freschetta have given me the perfect opportunity. They gave me a chance to try their FRESCHETTA® By the Slice  pizza and tell you all about, so you can have a chance to win a coupon to try it for yourself, as well as a six-piece locking round storage container set. The pizza: The By the Slice pizza is a single-slice serving of Freschetta pizza available in BBQ Recipe Chicken, Vegetable Medley, Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom and Six Cheese Medley flavors. It's microwavable with a crisping tray included - so it's an easy lunch for the office - but it can also be prepared in the oven. The box promises a perfect slice of pizza in six minutes. The verdict: I prepared my Six Cheese Medley FRESCHETTA By the Slice pizza in the office micro...

My first blog contest will be coming soon! I've wanted to do one for a long time, and now that life is back on track, the perfect opportunity has presented itself at the perfect time. Watch this space for the contest, which should be posted within a few hours. Enter and tell me what you think! Experienced blog contest people, let me know your suggestions for what I can do better next time. I hope to get into more of these contests, both sponsored and on my own! Any ideas?

As of yesterday, the clamp that had been placed on my tongue has officially been released! Now let me fill you in on all that happened. My ex-husband and I haven't the most cordial of relationships. For the past nine years, since I left him, he's constantly begged for me to come back to him. Let me tell you right now, there's no chance whatsoever that will EVER happen. He was physically and mentally abusive throughout our relationship, as well as constantly lying and completely neglectful of his family. Since we've been apart, he's contributed NOTHING to help take care of his daughters and continues to be completely useless - while still asking me to come back and swearing he's changed. Well, about 4 1/2 months ago, I started seeing someone. It was the first relationship of any kind that I'd had since my previously long-distance relationship that ended in May 2008. Apparently, the asshole ex-husband found this one more threatening. A couple of weeks after I...

It looks like my long forced silence will finally soon be coming to an end. I had a talk with my lawyer today, and if things turn out, I'll be settling rather than fighting any more. I've grown tired of this, and I'm ready for it to be over, even if justice is far from served in the process. When I can finally say all that I need to say, I think I might have to serialize it. After all, four months is a pretty long time, and quite a bit has happened. If anyone's still around, it might keep you interested for a little while. Not much interesting has happened to me since the days of P and the dark period after that end. Happy tales might be a welcome change, no?

I've just looked out on the lawn and seen that it is covered in snow. A week ago it was covered in much deeper snow, and piles of the stuff made filthy mountains everywhere you looked. Then last Sunday night, a thunderstorm rolled in. It rained buckets for more than four hours with spectacular thunder and lightning. When I woke up, all the snow was gone, but everything was underwater. It wasn't so bad around my house, but I knew I'd better take an alternate route to work. My usual scenic drive along the river was sure to be flooded. I wasn't wrong about that. This is my usual route to work. I took the afternoon off Wednesday and decided to check it out. Shortly after I arrived at work, we got word on the scanner of a guy trapped on top of his car in the flood waters. I stopped by that site in the afternoon as well. His car was still there. It stayed there for a couple of days before they were able to pull it out.