Unpredictable Days...

Today was a very unpredictable sort of day. It was the type of day where I have the intention to get projects done and nothing can quite be finished. For example, I had to fill out a PDF form for one of our software products. It was actually my bosses' job to fill it out but he's learned I'm efficient at projects like that so he tosses them my way. I don't mind; it's something to do.

The only problem was is that the PDF form was in a format that couldn't be saved once it had been filled out. It could only be saved as a blank form.

Which mean that I had to keep it open on my computer until my boss approved it.

He never approved it. This means, tomorrow, I have to fill the form out all over again. Exciting stuff. I don't mind projects the first time but I tend to get impatient when I have to start over. It's kind of like when you leave your house on a trip and you get that excited feeling that you're going somewhere and you realize you forgot something at home so you have to go all the way back. You feel almost like you're treading water for a time instead of going somewhere.

Aside from that, there were a ton of other little projects I had to do that never quite got done because of something out of my control. Thus, I got very little accomplished but I was busy all day.

I also ended going out for lunch which was also spontaneous. One of favourite coworkers/friends is leaving our company on Thursday so we took her out to lunch as a farewell. We went to Skyline Chili which is a Cincinnati institution. I've lived in the Cincinnati area for almost 2 years and have never tried it. I've tried their competitor's chili- Gold Star- but that was nasty. It tasted like someone dropped a pot of cinnamon in the chili by accident. Skyline, on the other hand, was rather tasty. Cincinnati chili is different to other chilis. It's very smooth. It's ground beans and spices with no big chunks. It's not something I'd want everyday but for something new, it was definitely worth tasting. It actually reminded me of my grandmother's 'mincemeat'- a dish she'd make us as a child. She used tomato puree and curry to season ground beef (or "mince" as we say in England). While I don't think Skyline has any curry in it, the hominess of the dish was familiar.

After lunch, I had to make my usual stop to let the puppies out for a bit. Poor Sookie is having tummy troubles again and I came home to find a very soiled crate and two unhappy puppies. Sookie was feeling very sorry for herself. I had just enough time to clean up the crate, clean up the pups, cuddle Sookie Sue and go back to work. I spent the afternoon stressing about whether she's ok. I'm sure she just ate something. She seems to have a very sensitive tummy whereas Rory, eater of everything, is a bit like a goat. She'll try everything once with no ill effects whatsoever.

The afternoon also turned out to be a washout at work. I continued to make no progress on several projects, had a bit of a useless meeting and then spent the afternoon being distracted by my coworker who didn't feel like working. Sometimes that's nice. Sometimes it's a pain. She can be very chatty.

By the time I got home, I was feeling a bit muddled as one is wont to do after a day of not getting much done. Fortunately, Sookie seemed to be better. She's still a little clingy but she's no longer moping around. That's always good. I didn't take her for her usual walk though; it was hot outside and it seemed like a bad idea. By the end of the evening, she's back to chasing Odie, The Interloper around the living room so she must be feeling better.

That was pretty much it for the unpredictable nature of my day but, I suppose, when you're a creature of habit like I am, unpredictability tends to show up in unexpected places and in small doses. I didn't really do anything unpredictable this evening unless you count giving the rather stinky puppies a bath but I'd planned that so it didn't really count. I did, however, bath Odie, The Interloper and I hadn't planned on that so...maybe that counts?

Tomorrow, I'm hoping for less tummy troubles with the puppies, and more accomplishment at work. So far, my day, at least in my head, is going to be pretty predictable.

But that's what I said about today.

Ah well, as Scarlett O'Hara says, " After all, tomorrow is another day."

Happy Wednesday!

Spontaneous Weekends...

This has been a nice weekend. It was one of those weekends where I didn't have anything planned but I managed to fill my time with a mix of relaxation and productivity.

I spent Friday night out with a friend from work. We had a nice time talking and just talking about things other than work. Normally when I go out with coworkers for a social occasion, we end up discussing the office and everything to do with the office. This time, we didn't let ourselves and it was nice to talk to my coworker as a friend rather than just as a coworker. That's always a nice surprise. Of course, when I got home, even though it wasn't late, I had two rather unhappy puppies and a cranky old chihuahua to deal with.

My puppies are a little spoiled. When I go out in the evenings after work, I usually come home, let them run around after being in their crate all afternoon and then I give them a rather nice chew treat to chomp on while I'm gone. Since I don't want to put them back in their crate, I trust them in the living room without being properly confined. They do well with it. At the moment, since The Odious One is staying, he has the family room to roam in and I gate it off so he's not chomped on by the pups.

You'd think this wouldn't be bad of an arrangement. After all, I was only gone two hours. Nevertheless, the puppies greet me as though I've been gone for months. Then they proceed to give me the cold shoulder until I've fussed over them enough that they forgive me for leaving them.

It's actually quite entertaining to see their initial reaction as excitement to see me, to realize that I am coming home and that they haven't been abandoned. Then after their 'kisses' and puppy hugs have stopped being so enthusiastic, they subcutaneously give me a hurt look as if to say, "How COULD you leave us like that," and they they run off outside and won't come near me until I've petted them to their satisfaction.

With the Odious One, he just seems pleased to have someone around. He tends to be pleased when I come home but he's not terribly enthusiastic, that one. On the plus side, he seems to be doing well. I have to confess, he's a very old chihuahua, The Odious One. When my parents left him with me, I had a disclaimer that if he, you know, keeled over or anything while they were gone, it was NOT my fault, I did not kill him.

I think Odie has some life in him yet. He gets around pretty well considering he only seems to have use of three legs. He's a bit lopsided. He also walks around panting at me all the time. Still, he seems quite able to take care of himself. He acts helpless when the puppies try to greet him with their usual enthusiasm but if I'm handing out treats, he's right there, shoulder to shoulder with them as if he's always been their very best friend.

The rest of the weekend was rather nice although I spontaneously decided to go see that new movie, "The Last Exorcism." I decided that since I'm writing a book about demons, even if it is a comedy, it never hurts to see what's going on in the fictional world of Hollywood demons. After all, I did get the idea for The Reluctant Demon from watching that "Paranormal Activity" film.

Well, let me tell you, "The Last Exorcism," was rather daft. It couldn't decide if it wanted to be a 'documentary,' like the "Blair Witch Project" or it wanted to be a horror movie like, say, "The Exorcist." As a result, we got a documentary/movie. Except it didn't make much sense. Also, it was not scary which was a disappointment. In the end, I was left wondering exactly what happened which I think was the point but it wasn't even slightly thought-provoking. Instead, I was left wondering why I paid $7 to see such a silly film. I think I'll stick with "The Exorcist," thank you.

After the movie, I did my usual Saturday errands (grocery shopping and the like) and then I came home to spend the rest of the day with the dogs.

On Sunday, I got up after having let the puppies play outside while I attempted to get a little extra sleep. I discovered that now the tool shed is off limits as far as burrowing goes, they've decided to burrow under the large propane tank I have in the back yard. This meant an impromptu trip to Lowes for some paving stones. I'm now familiar with the paving stones at Lowes. They make an excellent barricade against digging.

Of course, once I'd blocked up the burrow that the puppies have made, they were, naturally, not happy with me. I ignored them. They forgave me. It's pretty simple psychology, really.

All in all, we had a pretty nice weekend. There's just something nice about weekends where you don't plan on doing anything but you end up doing something anyway. Next weekend is a three day one. The puppies and I are escorting "Uncle Odie" home and we'll stay at my parents for the weekend. I'm planning on having a mini writing retreat so I can do some work on my novel. It should be nice. Hopefully it won't rain.

And, if it does, we'll deal with that as it comes.

Happy Monday!

Odious Mondays...

Today has not been a bad Monday. It's still very much been a Monday but it managed to go quite quickly and productively which, compared to some Mondays, is a lovely thing indeed.

Also, today was just an ordinary Monday for me whereas, around these Midwestern parts, today was the common back-to-school day for both local universities and school systems. As I drove in to work this morning, I passed by the group of neighbourhood kids waiting for the school bus. They were all dressed in what looked like new clothes, standing unhappily together but not really interacting. As the school year goes on, they'll become more familiar with each other and the dynamic will change but this is a new year and thus, a new thing for some of them.

For me, the newest thing in my life currently is the Interloper. He's managing just fine. For a somewhat disabled dog, he certainly can move when the puppies are in pursuit. I've taken to gently squirting the pups with water from my pink spray bottle when they try to use Odie as a chew toy. It's working…slowly. More than anything, they're simply fascinated by him. They watch to see what he's going to do. When he does ordinary things like eat and poop, they just..watch. Poor Odie seems to have no dignity. The minute the poor dog squats to do his business, Rory is there, about a foot away, watching with her head cocked. When he eats, both puppies sit side-by-side, watching. I've also discovered they're rather possessive of me. They make a point of making sure that they are sitting on my lap and the space is thus occupied. Odie doesn't mind though; he's not much of a lap dog anyway.

I like to call Odie the Odious One. I think it suits him. When I'm feeling Greek, I call him Odysseus. Don't ask me why I sometimes feel Greek. Sometimes, I feel Italian and I call him Odio but that doesn't sound as fun. No matter what I call him, he seems to know I'm calling him.

Though I have to say, I might tease and poke fun at him but he's not having such a bad stay with us so far. He's in his crate, just as the girls are in their crate. The Odious One is not used to this. He's used to being allowed to be free. Usually this translates as sitting in his 'den'- the bottom shelf of my parent's bookcase- for about 8 hours. His den here is a fairly good sized crate with a bed, food, water and snacks. And he gets to run free with the girls. He gets treats like they do and I'm making a conscious effort to make him feel welcome.

He's always going to be Odious the Interloper though.

Aside from the Odious One, this Monday has been fairly run of the mill. The most exciting thing was trying a new pizza place for lunch with some coworkers. It was pretty nice. My life is very exciting, I know. It's very, uh, food centric.

In some ways, I guess it's good that this Monday is pretty routine. It's good that the most exciting thing is a visiting dog and a new pizza place. Things could be far worse. I could be having a bad day at work. The most I really have to complain about is that I'm feeling a little stuck in a rut.

The problem is that I feel a bit trapped in my job. This happens fairly routinely as I've mentioned before in my job. In a non-bad economy, I job hunt. The problem is at the moment, I'm just not sure what I'd even hunt for. So many of my jobs have been supplements to help fulfill my dreams of being a writer. Now I suppose I can call myself a writer but…well, it's not what I really imagined. I want…more.

It's greedy. After all, I'm lucky enough to be able to write in the first place. It's hard for a lot of people to write novels. For me, that's the easy part. The hard part is accepting that reaching a dream sometimes takes a bit of reworking. I used to dream of getting a book published. Well, I took that bull by the horns and dealt with it. I got my book published. My current dream is for the right person to read it and see that I have potential.

That's a lot to ask. It's the type of thing that doesn't really happen in real life and, if it does, it doesn't happen to 'Middlings' like me. I can keep dreaming. There are a thousands of inspiring quotes about dreams out there. There are millions of success stories. There are posters proclaiming that dreams are vital.

So, I just need to believe it. After all, there's not harm in having a dream, is there? No one says it happens all at once. If I take a step back, it's been a succession of achieving a dream already. I used to dream of finding out what I do best. I think that is writing. I dreamed of doing something with it. I wrote nine novels. I dreamed of getting one published. So I did it. I dreamed of people liking my work. I've got fan emails to prove that people are enjoying it.

So, why am I so unsatisfied? Why, as humans, is it so hard to accept what we have and not at what we don't have? Is it just me who can't feel satisfied? Is it because the picture in our heads never actually becomes the reality of our lives?

I don't know. I just know that I need to figure out where to go next and how my dreams fit in with that.

In the meantime, I'll keep plodding along. At the very least, having The Odious One as a houseguest is keeping things from feeling completely routine which on a standard Monday is actually quite a good thing indeed. And, if all else fails, he'll be good writing fodder.

I just have to keep the dream alive.

Happy Tuesday!