Here and there, to and fro...

Holy cow, has it really been over a week since my last post? How time flies! Nothing of substance here, but I'll post a few thoughts from this past week:

• I still haven't turned on my outside Christmas lights, and most likely won't do it this year. I plugged the extension cord into my outlet socket adapter, and it is too heavy and keeps falling out. Unfortunately, my townhouse doesn't have any normal outlets on the exterior, so that's the only way I can get electricity outside. I have too many other things going on right now to bother with it any more.
• Working in an office where a lot of staff work closely with outside vendors, we get a lot of "goody baskets" from those vendors at this time of year. It's hell on my weight loss plan. I've started doing one of those DVD Workouts at home, which helps a little bit...it's easier than going to the gym.
• Tucson sucks. I have to take a trip to our Tucson office on a monthly basis, and I never look forward to it. People move a lot slower, and they need to learn how to drive. I just can't stand the place, OK? :)
• Normally this time of year, the freeways are normally very light on the drive to and from work, so it takes me only about 30 minutes to get to the office. For some reason, this year is different...heavy traffic mornings and afternoons. It's probably due to all the snow birds that show up in Phoenix this time of year.
• Been very busy at work lately. Corporate determined a ratio of approximately 90 users per 1 IT staff is our standard IT support staffing plan. I support approx 300 people between all of my offices, but they dont' want to hire additional staff to help me out. So between my existing duties, and my newer duties, I keep very busy!

That's all for now. I'll try to post more later. If I don't get back before the weekend, have a merry Christmas, or whatever other holiday you might celebrate.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

...December in Phoenix. More so than previous years, it's been tough for me to get into the Christmas spirit this year. Normally, by the day after Thanksgiving, I've got my Christmas lights and tree put up, and I have the seasonal tunes cranked up during the waking hours. This year is a little different, however. I've got my lights hung up outside, but for two weeks, I haven't had the extension cord run to them, so they don't light up.

Part of that is due to the weather...it's been gloomy and rainy off and on for the past week or so. The other part is just a lack of motivation on my part. It's hard to get into the mood when it's 70+ degrees outside. I miss the possibility of a white Christmas. I miss the change of season. I think I'm getting burned out on being here in Phoenix.

Sorry for the downer post. Hope you're enjoying your holiday season!

Puttin' up the tree HNT

Although I love Christmas, putting up the decorations is one of my least favorite things to do. I love the end result, but it's always such a pain! I'm not much of a planner. Every year, I pull the boxes of decorations out from under the stairs, and I just put them up wherever I feel like it. Martha Stewart would be horrified.

This year, a creative bug crawled up "you know where", and I decided to play around with the tree lights and a 15 second exposure. Here are the results:

First attempt...a light flurry:

Second attempt...A barrage of lights:
Third attempt...all hell breaks loose:
Fourth attempt...things are spinning:
THE FINAL PRODUCT:

You'll have to enlarge to get a glimpse of the HNT part of this last picture...but it's probably not worth it. No naughty bits, sorry folks! Happy HNT everyone

The most wonderful time of the year!

Christmas is my favorite time of year. The smells, the music, the decorations. The presents! I know that Christmas isn't all about presents, but you have to admit that it just wouldn't be the same without old Saint Nick!

My son is 8, but he still tells me that he believes in Santa Claus. I can't recall how, or at what age I found out the truth about Santa, but my wife and I have decided, at least for this year, to wait until he brings it up before telling him. I'm not sure if he tells me he believes because he thinks that he won't get anything if he doesn't. If only he knew how much I enjoy playing the part! I suppose I'm like my dad in that aspect. He's 50+, and Santa still visits his house every year.


On another note, my son brought home a couple of pine cones that he found at school the other day. He's really into "Conifer Trees" right now...they grow up so quickly! Anyway, he wanted to make some ornaments from the pine cones, so I found some craft paints upstairs, and we went to town. They didn't turn out as well as we had hoped, but he had a good time painting them, so it was worth it!

Money stresses

We came to the conclusion about a month ago, after some large house projects, that we had to curb our spending. We had maxed out a couple of credit cards and spent most of our savings trying to get our house ready to sell in the event that I get a job back in Nebraska. We've been eating out way too much. My wife shops too much. Etc, etc, etc. Now, we're trying to overcome our financial issues and get back on our feet. I've turned into a bargain grocery shopper, with my pocketful of coupons, and a knack for keeping an eye open for low prices!

I don't usually get stressed out, but these are definitely trying times. I'm looking for some great stress relief suggestions...what are some things that YOU do to relieve your stress?