Back at Work...

I'm back here at work. Completely and utterly exhausted, but here. One co-worker leaves today between 12 and 1, and the other leaves at 3, so I'm solo from 3 'til 5.

The wake was very long. There was a family service at 2pm, and I was there. It was also open casket, which I have a very hard time with. People started trickling in, and by 3, when the wake officially started, there were already a ton of folks there. Mom and Dad got to the funeral home at about 3:30p, because they drove in from Iowa. I was REALLY glad to see them.

Lots of people from Beloit showed up, which was very, very cool. Jenn Newland, Mark, Sandy and Joe, Anna, Kate.

After the wake, we took Marty to the bar, and got him loaded. It was absoutely vital. I drove us all back to Marty's, which was an experience, I must say! And it was a very late night; we left the bar at 1am, got home at 2am and I got to bed at 3am. Got up at 7am to make sure we got to the funeral home on time. Got there at 9:15am. Had the family prayer service, then loaded everyone into the cars for the short trip to the church.

Josh Day, Jenny, Hannah, Mike Williamson and Susan were already at the church. I processed in with the family, which felt odd, but that was where they wanted me, so that's where I was. I sat with the family too, with Ginny. It was very hard. I read a general intercession.

The committal was graveside, but was supposed to be in the chapel. It worked out okay. After was the luncheon. We all got together and remembered Judy. It was very cool.

So I'm back. I'm exhausted. I wish I was still there. I wish I was in bed.

FYI...

I figure everyone knows, but just in case, I'm leaving tonight, for Chicago. I can just about guarantee I won't have 'net access while I'm gone. I get back into Denver late on Wednesday. So, I probably won't post anything here 'til I get back to work on Thursday.

If you don't see anything, don't panic. If you need to get a hold of me, I'll have my cell with me.

Thank you to everyone for all the love and support.

You guys are awesome, and I'm lucky to know all of you.

Funeral

The wake is Tuesday, from 3 - 9p. The funeral is Wednesday, at 10a.

I'm flying to Chicago today, after work. I can take the time off, but won't be paid for it. But I need to go. Can I afford it? Not really. But sometimes, you just have to go. I have to go.

Mom and Dad are going to drive over tomorrow, so they'll be with me. I told Marty they'd be there, and he was very appreciative.

This weekend was a weird mix of up and down.

Friday morning, I found out Judy was in the hospital. Work was fine, but there was an undercurrent of worry and fear for Judy. Talked to Marty after work, and it was scary, but seemed okay. He was scared, but seemed to feel she was okay/would be okay. Went to dinner with Kassie, and talked to Charly, and it was a lot of fun. I had a blast, and Charly and I said we'd get together on Tuesday. Damion called to see if I wanted to meet them at a bar. Went out with them, was having a good time, and Marty called to say Judy was bad enough for life support, and they weren't putting her on it, because she didn't want it. Instant crash.

We went home, and I lay in bed waiting for Marty to call, because at that point, it was inevitable.

Marty called at 1:00am to tell me Judy was gone. I called my folks, and cried on the phone for 20 minutes with them. Slept really poorly that night.

Saturday, I called the people I knew probably hadn't heard. Made flight arrangements. Went to Matt's for gaming, because I desperately needed to not be in the house, thinking about it. Had a great time, goofing off, rolling dice, being someone else. Slept badly when I got home, woke up at 8:30a. Yeah, 8:30a. I hate waking up that early!

Met my grandparents at the bakery. Then followed my grandparents home, to set up Grandma's email, and to have lunch with them. Then I hit Wal-Mart to get a new headlight, since I was driving with only one. Went to Fiesta Jalisco.

See, Charly had my phone number, but I didn't have his. So I couldn't just call him and tell him I wouldn't be here Tuesday, when we'd planned to get together. So I went in, ordered Flan and a Coke. And spent 3 hours there. I talked to Charly, a lot. Talked to Rachel, who's the hostess. Talked to Roger's father, who's visiting from Mexico. He speaks about as much English as I speak Spanish, but we had a good time. He came over to talk to me, because I looked sad. It was very sweet. Ricardo came by several times to talk. Roger came by. At one point, Charly was sitting across from me, and Roger came over and said, "I want to sit here too!" So Charly slid over and Roger sat down, grinning the whole time. Adam, one of the other waiters, came over and said, "I want to sit down too!" So I slid over, and for a few minutes, all four of us sat in the booth, laughing, and having a great time. When Charly had to go back to work, I left, having spent 3 hours there, over 2 Cokes and a small flan. Charly gave me his number, and told me to call him when I get back into Denver. I left in a great mood.

Then I got home, and knew I needed to pack. And I was back down again.

Today is Monday. I work today, and fly out tonight. Tonight I'll be in Chicago. I bought pocket packs of Kleenex to take with me. I know they'll be needed.

Thanks to everyone who's been so supportive. I really, really appreciate it. You guys rock.

In Loving Memorium - Judy Gleason

At about 1:00 am, Central Time, Judy Gleason surrendered the fight, and went home.

For several years now, Judy fought with cancer, winning a battle here, losing ground there. She always pulled through. This time, the cancer hurt her too much, affected too many pieces of her, and she didn't win the war.

Throughout her years with cancers, and the blessed years in between, Judy welcomed all she met with an open and loving heart. Never with a harsh word, always with a smile and a hug, Judy accepted those of us who met her in her home. Many of us who went to school with Marty visited for holidays, when we couldn't go home. She was my second mom, my mother-in-love. Judy and Pat were always glad to see me, and would scold me gently (very gently!) when I fell out of touch.

15 months ago, Judy lost her soulmate and husband, when Pat died. Even in the face of her cancer being active again, and losing Pat, still she was gentle and loving. Her stength the weekend of Pat's funeral will always serve as an inspiration. My time with her that weekend, helping her, being there for her, was, by turns, one of the hardest and most rewarding times of my life. I was able to return some of her love and support.

Judy used to call me her angel. Now she's become mine. I know she's with Pat, and I know she's no longer in pain, and for this, I rejoice, and am deeply grateful. I also miss her a great deal already. I feel incredibly blessed and honored to have been a part of her life, to have known such an amazingly caring woman.

Marty and Tony, my heart bleeds for you, as I share your sorrow. Please know you'll only have to ask, and I'll do anything I can.

Je t'aime, Judy. Adieu, go with God.

Friday

Checked Marty's blog this morning; his mom is back in the hospital. She's having problems forming sentences. Her CAT scan shows no damage, but they're waiting to hear on the MRI. Marty's going nuts. I'm sure Tony is too.

It's scary as hell. Pat died a little over a year ago, and that was plenty hard. Thinking of Judy having problems like that has me on the verge of tears. It's Friday, it's been a hellish week, I should be happy it's the last working day of the week. Instead, I'm worried sick about Judy. Checking plane ticket prices in case I need to fly out there.

I know life in terribly impermenant. Trust me, as a preacher's kid, that's very obvious. Being diagnosed with lupus drove that home pretty well, too. But it's so damn hard when it's someone you know and love. And when you're so far away, and can't help.

I called my folks, and asked them to put Judy and Marty and Tony on the prayer list. I cried when I told my mom. I hate this feeling of helplessness. I checked plane tickets, to see how much it would cost to go out there. Trying to cover all my bases. I hope to God I don't need to go out there, but I want to be prepared in case I need to be there.

Never Been So Happy for Thursday!

I believe the title says it all! The last three days of work have been a particularly brutal type of Hell. Yes, that's a capitolized H on Hell. However, it's now Thursday, and it's MUCH better today! Not only do I have only today and tomorrow before my weekend, but things will be MUCH slower today. This makes me very happy. There's a tremendous sense of relief that all the sales calls will stop today. The sales supervisor won't be down every hour to see "if we need anything". (Yes, go the F**K away, and let us work!)

So, all in all, I'm looking forward to a quiet day at work.

Wet Wednesday

It snowed/rained all day yesterday. Rained at work, snowed at home. I picked my grandmother up at the airport, after her trip to Springfield, MO last night, and drove her home in the wet. When I got home, to my house, there were 4 inches of snow on the deck. Luckily for me, the roads are warm enough that nothing was sticking to them.

Monday, it was in the 70s. Yesterday, it was cold enough to snow. So, low 30s? This morning, it was 28.9 degrees outside. Welcome to Fall, on this first, official day of Fall. Yesterday, date of our first snow of the season? Happy last day of Summer.

So, for all of you who love snow, this fall's for you!

P.S. I'm not talking about work, because I'm finally in a good mood.

I'm Dreaming of a White Tuesday...

So I get home last night. Damion's dancing around, telling me he's feelin' like snow. I think it's a bit odd, but with roommates, you must occasionally smile and nod. Which I do.

Then he tells me it's going to be really cold tomorrow (today, now).
I ask, "How cold?"
He says, "Well, they might even get snow in Denver."

So I get up this morning, at the usual time. It's still so dark, that I think it must be somewhere in the neighborhood of 4:30 in the morning. I look at the alarm. It's 6:15, my alarm will blare its claxon of Doom in one minute. I stand up, and realize the ground is alarmingly white.

Yes, it snowed last night. Was, in fact, still snowing when I left, 'though it's been warm enough the last few days it's not sticking to the roads. It rained/sleeted all the way down to work, turning from sleet to rain as I hit lower elevations.

So it's dark and wet outside, and it's both the end of month and the end of quarter. Which means Sales is down here, or on the phone, about every 15 minutes. Yah. I wish I was home in bed, sleeping, under all my covers.

The Weird SH*T You Receive Via Spam

So I pop up my work email, after being gone on Friday, and the crap I get over the weekend. And there's a lovely email telling me that for $69.99, I can own a small piece of land in the Scottish Highlands, and will then be able to legally refer to myself as either Laird or Lady. But only if I send them $69.99, and then properly register the land in my name. Now, I'm a little skeptical for a few reasons.

1.) First off, there were/are a number of responsibility the laird or lady had to the folks who lived on their land, and were sworn to them. Now, I'm guessing these are tiny little plots, barely big enough to stand on, for $69.99, so I doubt anyone much lived on them, but still!

2.) The company that sent me this email is named Scotish Highland Titles. Unless things have changed drastically without my knowing, Scottish has two "t"s.

3.) The company sending me this "unique chance to own a piece of Scottish history" is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kind of a long way from Scotland, if you ask me!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chicago was amazing. The weather was great, the hotel was okay, the wedding was great fun. It truly was a Beloit College reunion of the grandest kind! There were somewhere between 15 and 20 Beloiters there, and so many of them I hadn't seen since graduation in 1998. But we all picked up right where we'd left off. It was phenomenal. Obviously I got to see Will and Sara, as well as Marty. I saw Dave, Brian and Debz, and Molly, and Andy, and Taylor, Sarah Goldfarb, and Sharon. There were a bunch of the newer Beloiters that I met at Marty's St. Patrick's Day party. In fact, Zee will be in Denver in the next couple of weeks, and is going to give me a call.

Told lots of people to visit, they all said they'd try. Got Dave's email addy, since I lost track of him when I graduated, and haven't talked to him since. He's now in Rochester, MN, which is stunningly ironic! So, I have tons of people who said they'd visit... I can't wait!

Friday!

Yah! It's Friday! That means it's travel day, get to fly in a plane day, will be in Chicago this evening-day, get to see Dan and Kim day. Also Marty, maybe. Not sure.

I have almost everything packed. I'm in the midst of printing the background info from Mark to work on the game stuff. I'm bringing a notebook, and a pen, and will be writing it out the old fashioned way.

Need to go make my card for Will and Saraq's guestbook. Think I'm going to collect some nice aspen leaves from outside, and gluestick them liberally to the paper. Haven't decided what I'll do beyond that.

Hope everyone has a good Friday, and a fabulous weekend!

Thursday is My Friday...

So, today is Thursday. It's my Friday this week, as tomorrow, I fly to Chicago for Will and Sara's wedding. I'm really looking forward to it. More time on a plane, seeing friends. It's all good!

It's definitely Fall. As in Autumn. As in warm-ish days and darn chilly nights. As in the aspen trees form gorgeous pockets of yellow and orange in the dense covering of deep green that the evergreens contribute to the color landscape. Autumn, as in the air begins to smell of leaves that have abandoned their branches for the ground. Fall, as in hunting season, as in seeing pickup trucks packed to the gills, with men in ball caps and camo buying cases and cases of beer.

It's definitely getting chilly. Yesterday, I don't think it ever got warmer than 60, and that only felt warm when I sat in the sun. And by 5:30, it was already down to 52 outside, which was damn cold!

However, I've got an opportunity to do some game supplement development with the game I'm in. Looks like it'll be fun. They're hoping to take the game, and expand it to a multi-player online experience, that can be coordinated with tabletop games using the same system/universe. To do that, Mark, the GM/ST, is hoping to get a lot of "organizational" websites up, representing the various ingame groups. He's asked me to help with it, which sounds like tons of fun. I sent him a proposal yesterday, and he was very enthusiastic about what I've come up with. So, we'll see. I'll try and keep you posted.

Job Interview's Over

Okay, so job interview is done. Went well, for the length of time. I waited about 45 minutes for a 5 minute interview. They're supposed to call back between 3 and 5, if they want me for a second interview. Not sure how I feel about the job; instead of being marketing, as the job listing on Monster said, it's really outside sales. So, I guess we'll see.

And I am going to take the rest of the day off; I'm just not sure I can handle going in today. So, for all of those who wrote I should do so, I'm taking your advice, and taking a day off.

Thanks for the encouragement.

Big Day!

Alright, so after much encouragement from various people, I did, in fact, call in sick today. I'm going to the interview. So, after calling in, I got up, put my suit on (yes, you read that right, my suit), and discovered I was ready really, really early! I still need to stop and get panty hose, bane of my existance, and something to cover my tattoo.

But I have the directions, I have copies of my resume. I have a notebook, and pen. I have Damion's approval. That wasn't necessary, but was a much-appreciated boost to my confidence.

So, I have an interview at 10am. I'll probably go into work after the interview, with a stop at home for lunch, and a change of clothes and removal of makeup. Let you know later how it goes.

Dang It!

Well, my big event for tomorrow is off. I'll have to reschedule. One of my coworkers has the day off, so there's no way they'll let me call in sick. Damn! Not sure what I'm going to do now, but I'll keep you posted. Biggest thing will be calling tonight after work, to see when I can reschedule for.

Other than that, nothing of earth-shattering importance to report. Today's creeping along. Slowly.

Damn, that just totally blows my day.

Sinking into the Depths of Oblivion

So, it's Monday. Again. Darn day just keeps coming back for more. I'm sitting at my desk, frantically trying to stay afloat atop the roiling sea of paper inundating my desk. Blah. I need a paperwork life preserver, or maybe a rubber raft. Yeah, rubber raft! Then I could paddle away from the disaster area that is my desk.

This will be a short week, and I'm very happy about that. See previous post for Reason #1 for the short week. Reason #2 is Will and Saraq's wedding. I can't wait. I get to see Dan and Kim, Dan for the second time since I moved (saw him for 5 minutes in the MSP airport when I flew to Chicago the last time) and Kim for the first time since I moved. I'm terribly excited. And I get to see Marty, and Will and Sara, and hopefully Judy Gleason. I've got my fingers crossed that we're going out for Indian food Friday night.

So as I get excited about seeing everyone, I also run smack up against the wall of inevitability. As much as I don't feel like I'm getting older, as much as I have a hard time picturing everyone outside of college. It's a little easier with Marty, and Will and Saraq, because I've seen them quite a bit since college. But I certainly don't feel old enough to get married, so neither should any of my friends be old enough. I know, I know, real stupid, and totally unrealistic. But that's how I feel. It doesn't help that weddings seem to happen in waves, and I'm riding the crest of a big wedding wave. Still. Enough! No more!

So, here I float in my sea of papers, suffering through the drudgery of the work week, pining for the fjords of my weekend... Please, week, hurry!

The Joys of Being Adult

Have you ever worked with someone who seemed to be stuck in kindergarten? I'm sure you have. I think everyone has. The kind of person I'm talking about does things such as making life miserable for everyone they work with, because they're self-absorbed twerps.

There's someone in my office, who is one of the liasons with our Sales Department, who acts like this. We all laugh when we have to call her voicemail, because she sounds so pleasant! This individual had been taking long lunches. And she'd still bring her lunch back to eat at her desk! Management finally told her she needed to start punching out at lunch, and punching back in when she returned. This apparently cramped her style so much, she's been having a continuous tantrum since.

She won't do her job, and gets her nose all out of joint if you suggest she should. None of us in my department will answer the phone when she calls. We've spoken to her supervisor, our supervisor, and come to the conclusion we hope she goes away soon.

It's unfortunate that adults feel the need to act like spoiled brats. I know, it happens all the time. But it makes an already frustrating job worse!

On the plus side, I have a job interview for next Wednesday, with a marketing firm. And they have training positions available! So I've got my fingers crossed!

I'll let you know more as I know more.

Blahday, Thursday...

Yeah, so it's Thursday. One day away from Friday. That thought would cheer me up more if it were later in the day.

I'm suffering from an amazing lack of motivation at work. Just don't care if I actually talk to my clients or not. Not a good attitude to have, but it's my attitude, and I'm stickin' to it!

I'm slogging through the day, supported by the thought Kassie and I are going to Fiesta Jalisco tomorrow night for dinner. It's payday, and I need more cute waiters in my life. So, we'll go to FJ, and see Roger, and I'll leave smiling. Always do! And no, I don't have any pictures of him.

John, the roommate I really don't like, has been home the last two nights, and he's irritating the crap out of me. *shrug* Not terribly rational on my part, as there's not really anything he's done to annoy me so much, but he is. I wish he'd crawl back under whatever rock he's been hiding under, and stay there. I'd like the house to myself, not eerily hearing phantom noises drifiting through the house, from the closed door of his room. He doesn't watch movies in the living room, but on his laptop, in his room. So randomly, I hear swords clanging, or odd music drifting through the house. Disconcerting.

So, hopefully today will go quickly, so I can go home. I'm taking my computer to my aunt's house, for my uncle to move my old hard drive to my new computer, so I can access my resume and cover letter, as well as Mom's old knit digests on my computer. Yah! This is increase my ability to apply for new jobs. I'm very excited!

TGI... Wednesday!

I'm rejoicing that it's Wednesday. Now, generally, I like Wednesday, because if I can make it through Wednesday, it means I'm halfway to my weekend. Today, I'm damn near ecstatic, because it's a short week. It's my second day at work, and it's already Wednesday. Weh-hew!

In addition to this short week frivolity, I also have a short week next week, on the occasion of Will and Sara's wedding, and my third trip to Chicago this year. YAH! Dan and Kim will be flying in as well, so I get to see all sorts of my favorite people. Saw some this last weekend, see some more next weekend. It's all good!

On another note, the seasons are in mid-flux. It's still warm enough during the day, down in Denver, to be summer, but it's chillier at my house. The leaves up here can go from summer green to autumn yellow in 2.3 days. Roughly. All I know is they were green when I picked Eero and Burt up at the airport, and by the time I drove home last night, scads had turned coats, and joined the Autumn Fashion Show. Leaves litter the ground of the parking lot at work like confetti left over from any good parade with an astronaut.

So my next major purchase will be good tires. The ones I have are great... As long as the road is dry. So I'm going to get good, all weather tires, so I don't die on the road this winter. The next major purchase after that will hopefully be plane tickets to fly out for New Year's with my family. It'll be New Year's, because, unless I find a different job in the interim, I'll be working a half a day on Christmas Eve. This is because the corporate office is insane and sadistic.

Nose Back to the Grindstone!

Eero and Burt are off. Dropped them off at the airport this morning before work. Had a blast, but now the weekend's over, and I have to go back to work.

Quick rundown of the weekend:

Thursday, I picked Eero and Burt up at the airport. Just hung out there after work, 'til they got there. Drove home.

Friday, I had to work. So, I went to work. Burt borrowed Damion's bike, and realized that 9000 feet above sea level is much higher than Minnesota! I got to leave work at 2:30, partly due to overtime, partly due to needing to deliver a payroll on my way home. Picked the guys up, and we headed down to Denver. Hit the natural foods grocery for Burt, and then on to sushi! It was really good, and we ordered WAY too much!

Saturday, we lazed around most of the morning, 'cuz I didn't want to get up! Then we all trooped down to my favoritest Mexican restuarant, Fiesta Jalisco. Mmmm.... Yummy! The boys ordered way too much food, but I got to see my favorite waiter, and the food was amazing. Then we had sopapillas, and the guys laughed, because I got terribly excited over the sopapillas! Double mmmmmm...

After lunch, we headed up to Georgetown, with the intent to ride the train. We missed the train, but wandered through downtown Georgetown, which is pretty, and has cool shops. Eero bought amazing fudge. I talked to almost everyone at Chad's going away to England party, as Cathy called me. That was really neat. Dinner was leftovers. Then we headed down to Evergreen Lake, for a walk, and pictures.

Sunday, we got up late (I know, you're shocked!). Headed down to the bakery to meet my aunt and grandparents. Ate yummy stuff, and got bread for dinner. Annette had nose surgery on Friday, so was sporting amazing black eyes, and a lovely nose cast. Yes, it was even plaster! We were going to head back up to Georgetown, but ended up hanging around the house, taking it easy, and waiting for Damion to bring the truck back. He didn't. So we took it easy, read, and then barbequed for dinner.

Yesterday, we got up, headed to Safeway for sandwiches and picnic stuff. Drove my car up to Mt Evans. Could only go to Summit Lake, which is about halfway up, since the top was close, due to snow. Hung out there for several hours, enjoying it. Burt and Eero took a ton of pictures. I burned my nose. Have lovely reverse 'coon eyes, from where my sunglasses blocked the brilliant, and very close, rays of the sun. But it was fun. Drove home, hung out for a couple of hours, and then back to Fiesta Jalisco for another delicious meal, and my favorite waiter! And more sopapillas! Yah!

It was a good weekend, but tonight, I'm going to enjoy passing out in my bed, early!

Thanks Eero and Burt for visiting! Thanks also to Eero for leaving Slayers for me to watch!

Kim, there are books incoming for you! Hope you enjoy!

Wearin' o' th' WTF shirt...

It's Friday. By all that's Holy, I've survived another week. Had some very serious doubts a number of times, but I've made it. I'm only 7 hours away from a glorious, three-day weekend. Ah, bliss!

Eero and Brt made it in last night. Good thing I wasn't meeting them at the gate, since I didn't have good flight info. But since I wasn't, I found them just fine. Got their luggage, and headed to car. The drive home was spent discussing all manner of things, but I think they both agree it's gorgeous up at my house.

Watched "Father of the Pride" last night, on Fox, and laughed! OMG! It was hilarious! I rolled. So did Eero.

Not sure what's on the agenda for the rest of the day, after work, anyway. I'm sure it'll be fun.

Anyone else doing anything fun for Labor Day?

Contemplating Existence

Okay, not really. Existence pretty much is. I sometimes wonder why, why anything is anything. But I usually try to avoid such neverending circles of confusion. Gives me a headache.

This morning at work, we discussed the surety that Sales is not only not human, but not even remotely connected to reality. Then we progressed to discussing the fact that football players look good on big screen TVs. Then we talked about favorite movies. This devolved into finding pictures of Jason Statham, to show one of my co-workers, since she wasn't sure who he was. Mmmm... Jason Statham...

I've survived to Thursday. If I can make it through today and tomorrow, I have a three day weekend, that I get to spend showing Burt and Eero my mountains. Yes, you read that right, MY mountains. Not quite like the "My Island" quote from Braveheart, but close. :) I love the mountains. I love the way the air smells, I love the sound of the wind in the trees. I love the critters that live there. I have fox, elk, deer, mountain lions, mice, rabbits and all manner of birds that make life colorful and interesting. On Monday, on my way to work, I had to stop on the main road in Evergreen, for the ever meandering herds of elk, who decided they needed to cross the road. *shrug* Happens pretty frequently. I've seen quite a lot of elk butt since moving here. :) That's usually what they present you with, as they wander across the road, or graze in the grass next to the road. Last night, standing on my aunt's deck, waiting for dinner to cook, I watched a doe wander across Annette's driveway. The doe's fawn was standing next to the road as I left, looking at me with some startlement. I've seen fox near Annette's, and also at my house. Haven't actually seen a mountain lion, and that's okay! Also had a bear near my house, 'though I didn't see it, because I was driving.

Ah, day please go quickly!

Blah, It's Wednesday

Thank God, I've made it to the weekly half-point. Wasn't sure.

The drive home yesterday was a nightmare. I left work at 5pm, and just after the spot I can turn off I-70 to take an alternate route, traffic stopped. Inching forward. Took me an hour to travel the distance it takes me 15 minutes to go on a good traffic day. Creep forward, and stop. Wait. Roll another few inches forward, stop. My clutch leg was getting tired, and I was cranky. Nothing on the radio, nothing on the Traffic Warning signs. Nada.

Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, there's a flatbed towtruck, parked across the left two lanes of traffic. I, of course, was in the far left lane. Still no word what in the name of all that's holy is going on. Merge over 2 lanes, and discover there's a cop, with an extendable light bar, blocking westbound I-70. Completely. Do you have any idea how eery it is, to see a 4-lane interstate highway, at rush hour, in a major metro area, with absolutely no vehicles on it? They routed everyone off to I-25. Most people stayed in the lanes to merge back onto I-70. Thankfully, I chose to take I-25 North, to I-76 West, which dumped me back onto I-70. There was still no one on I-70, only those of us who'd been on I-76. Very disturbing.

Stopped at Barnes and Noble, because by that point, I needed to be off the road for a little while. Kim, I got the Holly Lisle books, so no worries. As I was getting in the car, Mom called, to tell me the reason for the stoppage (I also found out more from the news later). There was a 30-year old woman, driving a Suburban. She had 4 small children in the car. By witness reports, she was driving erratically, weaving in and out of traffic, while speeding. She clipped a tow truck, and rolled the Suburban. An infant and two children were injured, as was she. A toddler was killed. That's why traffic was so bad, and that's why I-70 was closed.

I made it up to Evergreen finally. Stopped at Burger King for dinner, because I was starving. Wait was long. *shrug* It happens. Then hit Wal-mart to get buttons for the sweater for Kassie's baby, who's still a few months out. Also got a lightbulb for over my computer, and Mountain Dew for Eero, 'though I realized only after I was leaving the store, that I bought 18 mini 8-0z cans. That should be enough to last him the first day... :)

Headed for home, finally. It was about 7:30 at that point. Hit downtown Evergreen, and once again, traffic stopped. At that point, I would have willingly pulled the car to the side of the road and slept there. Turns out, the city of Evergreen, in their infinite wisdom, decided to paint the lines on the road at 7:30 at night. So we all stopped, and inched, and stopped, and inched. It was 8:04 when I pulled into the garage.

So here I am, back at work, hating my job. Eero and Brt will be here tomorrow evening. I have overtime, so hopefully I'll be able to leave a little early on Friday. Wish I could just take the day off, but it's not gonna happen. Ah well.

If I can survive today, only two more days to the weekend!