Officially Technological

1. Watched the new Pride and Prejudice with my friend, Janelle. Still trying to figure out if I liked it or not. I think it went to fast (but the new Mr. Darcy was really good).
2. Met up with my dad's side of the family for Thanksgiving feast including 9 pies for 28 people (5 of which are under the age of ten).
3. Got my engagement to my best friend, Brian Knudstrup, announced at church (we're planning a July '06 wedding).
4. Met the in-laws (who weren't as scary as they tend to be in movies - at least they didn't whip out a polygraph test or anything).
5. Went Day-After-Thanksgiving shopping at the mall with my fam (it was less busy than I thought it would be. After all the sales at 3:00AM people must have been tired and went home).
6. Played about 15 hours of Yahtzee on my dad's little hand-held Yahtzee game.
7. Got about twenty hours of sleep and could finally eat something other than Boston Market Mac and Cheese (that's all I could eat for days worrying about what he was going to say) after I got the chance to talk to Brian about my transfer/job.

All in all it was the single most busy and single most exciting Thanksgiving weekend I have ever had. I hope all of you too experienced some Thanksgiving cheer.

This is how the meeting went. It was the shortest meeting I have ever been to. It lasted four minutes. My supervisor (De) and her supervisor (Rose) were both in the meeting and it started with Rose saying:

Rose: I think we all know how we decided to place you guys. We asked you for a list of places that you'd be willing to transfer to, and we tried to match those lists with places that had openings. We then filled the openings with you guys and took the opening off the market and then asked the field management group and the headquarters management group if they would be willing to hold these positions for you. We had better luck with some of you than others.

De: So, for those of you that will be relocating, there's an office at DLA (our mother agency) that handles Permanent Change of Stations (PCS) and the cost. They have a customer care center and their number is..... Now for the list: Sarah, you're assigned to DRMS-P, Battle Creek. Dan, DRMS-P, Battle Creek. Aaron, DRMS-P, Battle Creek, Lawrence, DRMS-BCE, Battle Creek, John, DRMS-Central, Ft. Sill, OK. Casey, DRMS-Central, Wright Patterson AFB, OH. Julie, Camp Pendleton, CA. If you have any questions or concerns, let us know.

Us: OK.

Meeting adjourned. Everyone, literally everyone, got exactly what they wanted. So, we all walk out in a daze, and get the heck out of dodge in case someone, anyone changed their mind.

So, here's a little about Camp Pendleton. It's in Northern San Diego, on the ocean. The nearest city is Oceanside. Camp Pendleton hosts over 60,000 military and civilian personnel every day, of which, it is reasonable to expect that I will be one.

You're swing isn't adjusted to the curve ball and it busts your knuckles?

You wake up way, way too early and way, way too tired and you're so wired already you won't sleep for days?

You have so many balls up in the air you lose track of one and it comes down and bonks you in the head?

You have meetings until Thanksgiving which could all potentially change your life in different ways and none of the ideas match?

I know I hate that. :) But such is the life of a 20-something.

Being one of the youngest people in a very large family, I have encountered much physical suffering and even death in my 24 years. I am not a stranger to saying good-bye. I know what it feels like to lose people that you're very close to. But for not being a stranger to this emotion, it is always strange. So, with that thought, I would like to dedicate this post to my uncle, Forrest Black, who died in October of Lung Cancer. I think he would have really liked what I'm about to relate, because he always enjoyed (with the utmost pleasure) the foibles of other people, especially those of his much beloved in-law family (of which I am a part) who is a very diverse family filled with people on every level of the socio-economic scale and every level of behavior. This account is from an actual conversation held at a grungy little hotel in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania between many of my uncles and aunts. So, before I begin: Good-bye Uncle Forrest, I miss you for now, but will see you again some day where I can tell you these stories myself so that you may laugh at them.

These and more are the conversations that ensued last weekend (the weekend of Forrest's memorial service).

John's Garden:
The protection of John's garden requires lots of skill and even more traps to protect his garden from "varmint" of every kind.
The Have-A-Heart Trap: Which probably should be called the Have-A-Mafia trap, since instead of letting the animal go in the wild he walks them down to the river where he "whacks them".
The Con-A-Bear 110: For small animals such as chipmucks.
The Con-A-Bear 220: For medium sized animals such as skunks.
The Con-A-Bear 330: No one has actually seen a Con-A-Bear 330, but by all accounts this trap isn't for sissies, and would probably require a vice to set.
The Have-A-Heart Netting: Which my uncle Jim suggested to use in lieu of a muskrat trap to keep robins off of strawberry patches.

My Aunt Johanna's Name
My Aunt Johanna has been suffering for 70 odd years from nicknames that would never leave. Although she is one of 7 daughters, and isn't even the oldest, all her siblings refer to her as "Sister" or "Sis". Even her nieces and nephews refer to her as Sis and if that's not strange enough, we even call her "Aunt Sis". I was probably 20 years old before I thought that maybe she had a real name. She related to us that since her move to Phoenix (40 years ago), people no longer refer to her as "Sis" but they have called her (for 40 years) "Joann" and she has been too nice to correct them. Finally, much to her relief, in the 2005 Phoenix church directory she is registered by her actual name "Johanna" and people are starting to take the hint. So, my Aunt Sis (for she will always be my "Aunt Sis") is finally after 70 years being called by her birth name.

My Aunt Betty's Frugality
My Aunt Betty (incidentally, her name is Mary, but we all call her Betty), is known to be a very frugal woman. She let's nothing go to waste, including old hoses from washing machines. Which came in handy for her son, Jon, when his car broke down this weekend and his wife and mother fixed it with their bare hands, the old hose, and duct tape.

Yes, these are a few of the stories of my family this weekend at my Uncle's memorial service. As if in his honor, they were in their rarest form. I wish I could remember everything.

Cause: I forgot my favorite fall-asleep-easy CD
Effect: I will get minimal sleep on our 12 hour trip to Philly this weekend.

Cause: I paid my water club bill this week (the water club is the group at work who shares the same water cooler.
Effect: I haven't had a Coke in days because I keep forgetting to get cash and the building's ATM is on the fritz.

Cause: I was in bed and asleep at 9:00PM last night.
Effect: I got up on time this morning.

Cause: My loaf of bread has some weird condensation on the inside of the bag.
Effect: My bread is soggy. Gross.

Cause: Pride and Prejudice is coming out this weekend.
Effect: I'm seriously bummed because I'm going to Philly and won't get a chance to see it.

Cause: I will get my Official Notification of Transfer on Tuesday
Effect: California?.......

After a particularly heart-warming and spectacular performance of "O Holy Night" last night in my car (on my way back from swimming), I realized that Michael Crawford and I were meant to sing together.

Other News Items:

1. There has been more email traffic about our Thanksgiving lunch potluck than there has been about actual work. When the traffic slowed down, I threw another log on the fire and suggested that a sign up sheet be created so that we don't all bring sweet potatoes. Another email storm ensued.
2. My hair is weird for an entire day after swimming class (all dry and even though I wash it, it still smells faintly of chlorine).
3. My new swimming instructor made me get goggles for the first time in my career. I hate goggles, but I am now the proud owner of a pair of pink Nike goggles (I was severely limited by the time of year - pink was my only option).
4. I get to go to Ft. Lewis (Seattle, WA) for a week in December (for work). I'm really excited about that because I hear that Seattle is a really cool city, and I have no excuse to go there other than business.
5. I had more trouble than usual getting up this morning - I mean, I always have trouble getting up, but this morning it was about an hour and fifteen minutes instead of my usual hour.

That's all I have to say right now. I just want you all to know that when Michael and I start touring together, you are all cordially invited.

Here's my monthly cop-out post for the month of November. Enjoy!

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word golf entered into the English language.

In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400

The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs - Alexander the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and CharlesThomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey

Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month . which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "WET YOUR WHISTLE" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Have a good weekend!

1. The end of Day-Light Savings time. (Call me crazy but I don't like it to be pitch black at 5:30PM - I like it to be pitch black at 5:30AM. I told my roommate last night that I'm going to start picketing at the state capital - which, incidentally, I only live about 5 miles from - to put an end to the end of Day-Light Savings. My sign will read "SAVE THE DAY LIGHT" - an idea from my friend, Beth.)
2. The first week that I officially allow myself to pop in a Christmas CD when I so desire is forecasted to have highs near 70 (nothing says Christmas less than Indian Summer).
3. My gas-light came on in Battle Creek (where gas is $2.35) instead of Lansing (where gas is $2.26).
4. The "new guy" in the office (he's not new, he's just new to our office) plays weird new-age music that sounds like the stuff you'd hear at a message place.
5. The first day in 3 weeks that I'm running on time, Battle Creek was sponsoring "Bozo Driver Day" on Emmett St. (which is the longest street in the county).
6. I got to my doctor's appointment one day and one hour early (yeah, that was pretty much embarrassing).
7. I have to stay at this joint until 5:30 tonight. >: (

Yes, life is full of little disappointments, but in the meantime, at least it will be a 65 degree, sunny day when we have to empty 2000 people out of the HDI Federal Center (do you realize how long it takes to get 2000 people out of a 13-story building? forever) for our security drill. So, that's better than last year when we spent 45 minutes in 43 degree drizzle.... that's me - always lookin' on the bright side..... :)