Where the Sidewalk Begins ...

Work hard, play hard

Hello! I know I've been silent for a while, and that may continue through the holidays before I'm able to start back up again. I've been working hard on a project that was supposed to wrap on December 5, so I could start another project. However, project A is running very behind, so I'm still waiting to receive all the source documents. Needless to say, December 5 isn't really possible anymore.
I'm trying to work out a way to still take Project B, as I was really looking forward to it. We'll see. If I do secure Project B, no one will hear from me until after Christmas, as my schedule will be something like this -
Project A/ProjectB/Project A/ProjectB/Project A/ProjectB/Project A/ProjectB/Project A/ProjectB/Bake/Bake/Bake/Host Family Gathering 1/Project A/ProjectB/Project A/ProjectB/Bake Bake Bake/Host Family Gathering 2/Project A/Project A/Shop/Shop/Shop/Bake/Bake/Bake/Go to Grandma's for Christmas.

I know it's intense and I'll probably freak out once or twice. It's actually only two weeks, and I'm pretty certain I'll be able to do it. Don't accuse me of being a workaholic though. I play as hard as I work. For instance, a lot of this working is to help pay for all the things we bought in Chicago last weekend, including furniture, clothing and gifts. :-)
Work hard, play hard. :-) 
Plus, the first week of January, we're going on a cruise. For every streak of worky craziness, there's a wonderful trip at the end. That's how it's worked all year. Do you know we've traveled an average of once a month this year? How cool is that?
I hope everyone's T-giving was wonderful. Ours involved the perfect snow, carolers, a wonderful downtown department store, and the lighting of the Chicago tree. You can't get more perfect than that.

Starbucks

There was one point in my life where everything that was wrong in my little world was symbolized by Starbucks. To make matters worse, there was a Starbucks on every effin' corner of Washington, DC, and points surrounding it. I lived and worked in the outskirts. I hated Starbucks.

At some point, I got past that, because I now love Starbucks. I still dislike coffee, but I love Starbucks. First off, I love their Bearistas. Kevin brought home a Halloween Bearista and now I'm hooked. But mostly, I love their hot chocolate, which I get with skim milk and loads of whipped cream and sprinkles. And guess what they have now?
Peppermint Hot Chocolate with Red Sprinkles
Yummy!
Also, we now actually have a Starbuck's here in Northern Kentucky. It's been a long-time coming, but it's at the new mall, right by my gym. Yay!

I sooo needed this ...

Good work-related news after the jump.

Airing Out

This is maybe a complaint, a little bit of a rant, and definitely just me needing to work out some feelings. It will probably make no sense at all to anyone but me. But at least I'll get it out of my system. So before you go any further, realize that this is work/career-related and that I had a really bad morning.

Whistle While You Work ...

(Alright, so I still have Disney in my head. It's hard to shake after a week of immersion.)

But the post is all about work.

Claustrophobia Today

Claustrophobia is one of those things you hear about, even joke about, unless you experience it. It's hard to really imagine and its a very sudden thing.
When I was in high school, I had a friend, Kelsey, who was creative and outgoing. This was fostered by her family - also creative and outgoing. Kelsey was always sort of edgy and she was a year older than me. I had harboured a crush on her brother, Kierstan, since grade school. He was my age. I also had a killer crush on their cousin Brian, who I thought lived far away but occasionally visited. (Turns out he lived in Northern Ky, which was about 20 miles away, but what did I know?)
Kelsey's family took me spelunking once. The whole day is sort of blur, except for a couple of scenes. Kelsey and I were there with Brian, Kierstan, Brian's mom, and Kelsey's dad. We were wandering through gorgeous caves. Then there came a small round tunnel that you had to crawl through on your stomach. I'll never forget it. I got stuck halfway through, with Kelsey in front of me and Kierstan behind me. I think they had to drag me out. I know I cried. I had experienced this unbelievable sense of the world, everything, closing in on me, squishing me, and I couldn't breathe. I was sent above ground to hyperventilate in the peaceful open, non-squishing landscape. That's the day I learned I was claustrophobic. It's a hard thing to learn in front of two guys on whom you have a crush.
I feel it occasionally in overcrowded elevators. I usually avoid unorganized crowds because I feel it then. I felt it a bit when I had the Open MRI for my lower back. That wasn't too awful though, because my head was free and I had headphones. Music is very distracting and calming. However, I remember thinking that "open MRI" is a matter of perspective.
Today I had an MRI on my cervical spine, otherwise known as my neck. Remember how my left fingers are numb? That crazy needle/electrical test (EMG) I had in October deduced the numbness might be caused by a compressed nerve in my neck. Great.
When I chose where to have this MRI, I chose ProScan at Paul Brown Stadium. My theory? It's where the Bengals "live," therefore the MRIs are wider and more open. Gigantic football players have to fit in these machines. Well, my theory played out. The MRI center was right next to the field entrance under the stadium, so that injured players could immediately have an MRI. The professionals there assured me that these are, indeed, the largest, most open, Open MRIs in the city. In fact, the machine didn't even look that threatening.
Until they locked me into it,

Did I miss Thanksgiving?

I turned on the radio this morning to discover Christmas music. I love Christmas music; I do. I listen to it constantly. However, I don't even consider listening to it until Thanksgiving or the day after.
Disney was completely decorated for Christmas. They played holiday songs in Animal Kingdom.
I keep seeing Target and Penney's ads for Christmas gifts. Kroger was all decked out for Christmas.

Did I miss Thanksgiving? It's only November 6!

Disney Goodness

(Er - Or How I Spent My Autumn Vacation. I noticed  - later - that my writing quality isn't exactly of the highest caliber in this post!)

Disney was expensive and wonderful and fun. During the Wine & Food Festival, we got to experience several free tastings and seminars, as well as listen to a Master Sommelier/Master of Wine (one of 3 such individuals in the world). He was fairly young and really hip. You could tell he truly loved his career. He had us try Greek wines and they were surprisingly tasty.
We rode just about everything. If you go, I recommend Soarin' at Epcot. It was awesome. Kevin rode Mission: Space without me (I chose to wait elsewhere). We also spent some time at MGM and the Magic Kingdom (we dropped in for Peter Pan's flight and Space Mountain). We also spent a day in Animal Kingdom, which I loved. We rode the Safari ride twice and I got some incredible photos. A rhino crossed the road right in front of us. We also liked the Dinosaur ride and really enjoyed the animal walk-throughs. We even rode out to the petting zoo so I could hang out with some adorable goats.
I bought lots. I will most likely end up with a Disney Christmas tree this year, as I've been collecting Disney ornaments for so long. I added to them. I also acquired some not-needed but positively adorable stuffed animals. They have these fantastic squishy Donald Ducks and one came home with me. I was all about Donald on this trip.
I took around 1,000 photos. I'll go through them in the next two weeks and post them by park to make them easier for everyone to manage. (Thank gods for iPhoto.)
The conference was disappointing. For more details, refer to my Write-Tech blog.