Happy Leap Day…

When my grandmother was pregnant with my mom, she was actually due on February 29. She was born on March 13, however, so either the estimate was wrong or she was pretty late.

I think it would suck to have a February 29 birthday. I don’t know how those with February 29 birthdays feel about that, though.

No end in sight.

So, my job has officially split into two jobs. Which would be great, except that I’m supposed to be doing both of them in a 40-hour work week, and each one is its own 40-hour a week job.

As my grandmother says, “At least you have a job!”

Don’t get me wrong – I’m enjoying my job more now than I have in a long time. Also, I’d rather be really busy than not. Still, it would be nice to get a breath in every now and again.

Between now and early May, I’m involved in preparation for a major site visit (where one of the research groups is being evaluated for a large grant), Candidates’ Day (where we try to woo potential grad students), multiple demo days for middle and high schoolers, the web site redesign (60% of my job right now…), preparation for Commencement, and Maze Day (where we bring in blind and visually impaired kids so they can play computer games created just for them). I also have to fit in a Spring newsletter, now 12 pages long – used to be eight. Not to mention that I’m still the department photographer, the lone graphic designer, the “let’s ask Kelli what she thinks about how this looks” girl, the publicity person, and so on and so forth.

My office door is closed a lot these days. Speaking of which, I have some more work to do tonight.

Wow.

One of our graduate students and his wife and baby lost the second story of their home in a fire last week. Fortunately, they weren’t home at the time, so they are all okay. Also fortunately, they didn’t lose everything, and they had insurance. Unfortunately, they had to experience losing their stuff in a fire. It sucks.

Hack hack, cough cough. Sniff.

I’ve been sick the past few days. Fortunately, I don’t think I have the flu. Rather, I know I don’t have the flu, as I’m sure I would know it if I did. Unfortunately, the flu is running rampant in NC, as well as elsewhere in the country, and apparently this season’s flu vaccine was a bust. Some of the local hospitals are turning away visitors, to try to stop the spread of the virus.

Anyway, I’m finally starting to feel human again, thanks probably in large part to sleeping most of the day/evening yesterday.  I’ve been using Vicks VapoRub and Vicks VapoSteam in my vaporizer, some dissolving vapor tablets in the shower, and ibuprofen.

Doesn’t change the fact that I was out of commission  the latter part of this week. I couldn’t/can’t afford to miss work with my deadlines coming up. I’m giving the faculty an update on the new web site this Friday…and I need to accomplish some important stuff before then, few of which are finished! To top it off, we also have a couple of big events coming up, and one of my coworkers is out maternity leave. While most of our job responsibilities don’t overlap, I’m expected to help out more with events because she’s out. Which is nearly impossible, as I’m not supposed to spend more than 40% of my week on non-web projects. Yeah, right.

Ah well, it could be worse…

Mehreow, mehreow…brohw, brohw.

He is just what I needed in a cat. Just what I need, I should say. Even though his name still doesn’t really suit him…

I’ve had to take Neville for three vet visits since I brought him home. Problems – overgrooming, fur loss, scratching, sneezing. Diagnosis – probably allergies. Doc thought it was either that or anxiety. She gave him a steroid shot a couple of weeks ago, and his scratching, fur pulling and licking have subsided for the most part. He did lose a good bit of hair, though, so he’s got some bald spots on both of his sides. I’m hoping the fur will grow back pretty quickly.

He’s all of 12 lbs. Actually has lost weight since he was neutered, and lost a little between his second and third vet visits, despite the steroid shot. I free feed him, and he seems to eat a good bit, but he’s not begging for food so much anymore. He must feel more secure about the certainty of having food.

I still miss my Pip, Piper, Bella, Xander and Felix so much I don’t know what to do. I think of them every single day, and each time it causes my heart to ache. I can’t even talk about them without tearing up. I’m still so angry I want to scream. I still wish there was a chance they survived, that I occasionally look at the found cats section of the local animal shelter web site to see if their pictures are there. I know it’s crazy to wish they were alive – I know they didn’t survive. But I would give almost anything to change that. It hurts more than I ever could have imagined.

But Neville – my sweet sweet boy with the funky chirpy “mehreow” – he’s so completely cuddly and has a fantastic personality, and he loves me. He will lay on my lap and stare into my face as if I’m the center of his universe. (If only I could find a man who looked at me that way!) He is as excited as my Puddin’ and Penny are when I come home. He’s just a wonderful cat, and I do hope we have many many happy years together.

Pud and Pen are doing pretty well. I try to pamper them more and be more patient with them when they frustrate me, because I know all too well how close I was to losing them. Unfortunately, I can’t stop time. My girls are showing their age more and more, especially Penny. Puddin’ just turned nine, and Penny is about 10. Pen is grumpier and more sensitive to cold than she used to be – I think she may have some arthritis. Both of the girls tolerate the cat, and he respects the boundaries pretty well. Truly, I think Penny likes him more than she would want me to know – when I’ve brought Neville home from the vet, Pen has met him with her tail wagging, sticking half her body in the carrier before he has a chance to get out. She likes that old stinky cat, even though she’d never admit it.

So much to do, so little time.

I need to clean my apartment. It’s not too terribly messy (I don’t own all that much, after all…) but I need to wash a few dishes and, especially, vacuum and sweep the floor. I really need to mop too. It won’t take that long to get the cleaning done, but I’m having a hard time getting motivated.

I also have a couple of crochet projects I need to be making headway on, but I haven’t been able to stay awake long enough when I’m sitting down to make any progress. I have several other craft things I’m working on or wanting to work on – gifts for friends – but I feel guilty working on that when I have so many other things I need to be doing, like, um, cleaning.

Then there’s work. There is just too damn much to do and not enough time. I needed to spend more time on the web this week than I did, and I have my weekly web project meeting tomorrow morning, and not much to report. But there are 10,000 other things I need to take care of as well. Events coming up, pictures to take, displays to work on, logos to design, and so on. At least I have a job, right?

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s hoping you have the most exhilarating, romantic, wild, sweet, loving, snuggly, affectionate, breath-taking, sexy, delightful, delicious, arousing, kissable, luscious, fascinating, electrifying, chocolate-filled Valentine’s Day EV-AR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(ignore the retching sounds in the background…)

To sleep, perchance to dream.

‘Ya know…just once in a while, I’d like to go to bed at a reasonable hour and actually fall asleep soon thereafter, sleep about 8-9 hours, and wake up feeling like I’d had a good night’s sleep.

I’m not saying every night. Just once in a while. I wouldn’t want to ask for too much, after all.

I finally got to sleep around 5 a.m. this morning. Called into work at 8, after hitting the snooze for an hour, and told my boss lady that I needed a few more hours sleep before I would be able to function, so I’m working a half day today.

I know some folks can function on little to no sleep. I, however, am not one of those people. At least not at this point in my life.