Right now it is a wind-chill of 2 degrees outside

2 degrees!!!!!

Just thought I’d share.

Weekend-o-work

Well, this is how it all started: I was hanging around at work waiting for one group of people to finish their part of a process before I could start mine (which had to be done that day). Well, come six o’clock, I was informed it would only be about thirty more minutes. So I suggest that I’ll just head home, log-in from there and then run the process once they are ready.

When I get home my super-chef husband has a delicious soup on the stove. He checks with me if I want to eat first, or work first. I said that this work stuff should be ready to go soon, so I’ll do it, and then we’ll eat dinner together. Sounds nice enough, right? I mean the soup did still need like twenty more minutes or so.

Next thing ya know it’s eight o’clock and they are finally done! So glad that I didn’t wait it out at work! I start doing my little process and low and behold I get an error message-WHAT!?! (Side note: For those of you who have no idea what I do all day long, I work with an accounting consolidations software. A lot of what I do has to be done when no one else is in the software application.) Well SOMEONE was in the system. So I send a friendly reminder to the three (poor saps) super dedicated employees who are still at the office gently reminder them that they need to be out, and that I am getting an error message which is holding up the process. To which I get a snappy reply, CC-ing everyone, from my favorite (please note the intense sarcasm) co-worker stating that they know I am trying to do XYZ so of course they aren’t going to be in the system. Well guess what-I know how to check the user who was holding up the process for a FULL 90 MINUTES and it was Mr. mouthy-email dude. So I was forced to reply (all) to his little email simply informing him that he was still in the system. His idiocy was implied, no need to point it out. Low and behold as soon as he got his little ethnic butt out of the system I was able to get my work done. Too bad I didn’t finish until 10:30.

Stas was a trooper through the whole thing and patiently waited until I was done working. We then together ate his most delicious soup-creation for dinner. At 10:30pm.

Oh and the internet was slow. Like, insanely slow. My dear husband after overhearing my frustrations on the slow internet interceded with “oh honey dearest were you doing stuff online? Because I am downloading something which could be slowing you down.” Let’s just say that now we have a strict “no downloading while Julie is working from home” policy.

Despite it all, I still love my husband. And still love (or am at least incredibly grateful for) my job.

Saturday morning I also did about 3.5-4 hours of work. Hoorah!

The rest of the weekend was spent
-Walking Buster
-Preparing my YW lesson
-Reading my new book
-Watching the season three finale of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Dr. Mike & Sully's wedding!!
-Finally watching August Rush, which did anyone else find Robin William’s character, Wizard, really creepy and terrifying?

Subway, Metro, Underground, U-Bahn . . .

During my lunch today I found this interesting little photo-article about the World's Most Impressive Subways. Of course, Moscow was represented as numero dos, or should I say "dva?"

For those of you who haven't had the privilege of traveling to the Motherland, I can vouch for both Moscow and St. Petersburg as having overwhelmingly beautiful metros. And I am an expert of metros (okay not really). But I have ridden on the following systems: Madrid, Barcelona, London, Moscow, St. Petersburg, and NYC (in that order)!

What I love about the stations is that each one has a theme and is decorated accordingly. If the stationed in named for a famous writer there will be sculptures of the writer, his prose will be in mosaic on the walls, floors, or ceilings. There might even be paintings depicting scenes from his stories. Another theme is sport; these stations are near stadiums and are a tribute to athleticism and ancient Greece. Regardless of the theme, I've got to agree that "praising the common man" really suits me when I'm cruising around town enjoying the luxury metro stations! They also use escalators (that are insanely steep) so it helps when your are a little worn out at the end of the day or if you want to chat it up with your traveling companion.

Thank you Wikipedia for the following photos of Moscow's stations:

And here are a few from good 'ole St. Pete:

I don't know about you guys, but after seeing these NYC's stations kind of make me want to barf!

Hubby Tag

Okay, so I pretty much never do tags, but Tiff tagged me what seems like a hundred years ago, and I think I might be ready to give one a shot.

1.How long have you been together?
Two years, one month, 2 weeks, and 6 days according to this tracker thingy on my blog.

2.How long did we date?
You do the math.
Met/Started dating – Feb 19
Engaged – July 29
Married – Nov 18

3. How old is he?
26, but don’t remind him

4. Who eats more?
Sometimes it’s close, but typically he will eat a little more

5. Who said, "I love you," first?
I did. I’m such a sucker; I couldn’t hold out.

6. Who is taller?
He is, thank goodness!

7. Who does the laundry?
That’s me.

8. Who does the dishes?
I’m the Dishes Master. But Stas is the chef, so it works out nicely.

9. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
It varies. Currently I am, but one of us doesn’t like consistency in sleeping situation, so whenever he wants to switch, I just go with it.

10. Who pays the bills?
I do

11. Who mows the lawn?
What lawn? We have a lawn—SWEET!!

12. Who cooks dinner?
My Master Chef Husband!!

13. Who is more stubborn?
Depends on who you ask and when you are referring to

14. Who kissed who first?
Stas kissed me first.

15. Who asked who out?
Stas

16. Who proposed?
He did! Biggest and best surprise of my life!

17. Who is more sensitive?
Generally me, but we each have our moments

18. Who has more siblings?
I win this one!

19. What were you doing ten years ago?
Marching band, planting acorns, riding around in the back of Megan’s Camero or Ashley’s Ranger, going to Sonic, loving stake dances, having way too many crushes on silly boys, and being an excellent student, and the perfect daughter—right Mom & Dad?

20. Five things on my to-do list:
1. Work, work , work
2. Exercise
3. Study Russian
4. Take Buster on a long walk
5. Follow up on insurance claims (I hate this type of grown-up stuff!!)

21. Things I would do if I was suddenly made a billionaire.
Pay off law school loans and all future tuition
And if there is any leftover after that then
-buy a house with a garage and two bathrooms
-a new car for me that is reliable and doesn’t keep breaking
-a new car for Stas just because I love him!
-go visit my family in Texas just in time for my sister’s new baby
-visit my in-laws, I miss them!!
-send my parents on a vacation to New Zealand
-buy my brother Jeff an airplane
-invest some
-charity

22. Three of my bad habits:
1. Sometimes, seldomly, on a rare occasion I might bite a fingernail
2. Not knowing what to do, so not doing anything
3. Not flossing

23. Five places I have lived:
1. Texas
2. Utah
3. Spain
4. PA
5. Connecticut & Wisconsin (but I don’t really remember them)

24. Five jobs I have had:
1. Acorn Planter
2. Sonic Car-hop
3. Accounting Clerk
4. Whatever you want to call what I did at Atlas/Nuvont
5. Financial Analyst

25. Things people don't know about me:
I think most people know something about me, and then if you combine all of me then that covers most things. But I’ll throw out a few, just for fun.
-I ran a marathon.
-I am married to an alien.
-I hated and therefore never wore sweatpants from when I was about 8 until I was 22. My roommates had to convince me that it was alright, and that they are absolutely comfortable.
-I only cook about twice a month, but I am a great sous-chef a couple times a week. And am an excellent dish washer.

I tag: Whoever so desires!

The West Shore ain't safe no more

Monday evening Stas and I were enjoying a calm evening-he studying, me-working, Buster-chill-laxing, when we heard some sirens get really loud and really close. We went out on our balcony to see what was going on, only to find police cars and fire trucks whizzing down our street!!! I was thinking "Hmmm, that's odd. Hope everyone is alright." Then we went back inside to resume our activities.

A couple minutes later we hear some noises, Stas peeks out the window and informs me that there is a helicopter outside. What!?!?! So we head back out to the balcony to check things out. In fact there was a helicopter exceptionally low, flying literally right by our place! We could feel the wind from the propellers! Then we watched it land in the street not a quarter mile from our place!!!!!!! I was thinking that maybe someone fell or a kid got hurt, and was just grateful that we have a good response time from our township's emergency team!

Come Tuesday morning when I was driving to work. I like to listen to a radio morning talk show; they give a news report every half hour. No biggie. Except when they start talking about and armed robbery in MY township! What!?! yes, there was "police activity" in MY township, my supposedly peaceful and safe neighborhood!! Oh and there is no coincidence, the "police activity" was happening just down the street from our building, in our same neighborhood, where regularly go running and walk Buster!!!! I share a gym and a pool with these people!! AHHH, where is my pepper spray!?!?!

So, for those of you just so curious to know what happened, if you can stomach it, here are links to the news article and they even had a video!!! Holy moly, they show the actual house; totally walked Buster right by it-twice-earlier Monday evening!!

One Hurt, Three at Large After Home Invasion

Man Robbed

Buster

Introducing Buster G.,
the cutest pup around.

After several months of discouraging pet searching we came across Buster and his four brothers at a breeder in Lancaster County. They were advertised online and we quickly called to make sure that they were still available. Here is his photo from the ad:
Tonight we went to visit and see if they look as good in person as they do online. They did! It was hard deciding between his brothers, but we went with Buster (originally they had named him Mason, but we wanted a more dog-ish type name; and I love Buster Bluthe). The family he lived with was so nice and helpful; I'm really grateful to them.

Buster has already had quite a social life! After we picked him up we visited our friends Fitz and Eric (there were another reason to cruise down to Lancaster). Then we stopped of at Mai's house to pick up a crate and meet her pups, Dubs & Bella. After a quick trip to Wal-mart for a few necessary supplies, Buster finally made it to his new home. Here is a current family photo:


Buster Facts:

Birth date: November 1, 2008
Mom: Pure bred Shih Tzu, all white
Dad: Pure bred Yorkshire Terrier
Current Weight: 4 lbs
Favorite Hobbies: Being rubbed behind the ears & talked to, burrowing, and chewing on Julie's toes


We went on our fist walk tonight and learned a few things. His little legs make stairs nearly impossible. Also, after a serious face-plant coming off a curb, he has become very resistant to any sort of elevation change.

Wish us luck on our new adventure!!

I'm the man.

After quickly resolving a complex financial problem (okay, so the problem turned out to not technically be financial, but I'm the one who figured out how to fix it!), my boss's boss came by to tell me, "Julie, you're the man and fast, too!!" So yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about my job security. At least for the rest of the day! Or until he learns that I just posted at work. ;)