The nonsense at work continues. It appears the other secretary is job hunting. I'm kinda hoping she sticks it out til the end of June when I'm back after my surgery. Either that or things change over soon so we can get someone new up to speed. There's no sense fretting over it. It will be what it will be. In the meantime, my desk is superbusy which makes the days pass quickly.

Poohbare had a long talk with the mechanic and ended up scrapping his car. We got a rental for the weekend and drove him back. My daughter was glad to get away for the weekend even if it meant spending most of the time on the road. She had lots of fun flirting with boys in other cars and making me laugh.

Life keeps puttering along as it will do. It's easy to get stuck in a negative frame of mind, so I make sure I count my blessings daily. I look for things that bring me joy, like the leaf buds opening or the flowers starting to pop thru the soil. There is so much beauty that surrounds us if we only look.

We decided to go out for breakfast this morning. There large group at the table behind us. In that group was a boy of about 10 who simply couldn't sit still. He was running all around, talking loudly across the room, racing his little car along tabletops - some of which were tables at which other patrons were eating their meals.

I understand kids have energy. I understand some have more than others. I also understand it's a parent's responsibility to, at the very least, attempt to settle the child and have him or behave appropriately in public. I also understand that it's not always possible to get kids to behave.

So... this kid runs into the back of my chair repeatedly. I don't say anything. We're about to get up and leave and my chair was blocking Lil Zippy from dodging thru again. He says "excuse me" and I say we're leaving and comment that he'd run into my chair at least a dozen times. He says "Sorry" and I thank him. In a very gentle voice I remind him that there are lots of other people in the place and we all need to be considerate.

The mom jumps up and loudly tells me not to speak to her son in that tone of voice. Huh? Ma'am, I spoke to him very gently. She took a step forward and started to get in my face. I'm sure my slight grin didn't help her mood.

There were many things I could have said to her. I didn't.

So.... just a typical Saturday morning of going out for breakfast and almost getting in a fist fight. I'm still giggling.

Poohbare brought me lunch again today. It's been really nice having him home all week. Unfortunately, when I returned to work, I was very concerned that my crotch smelled like fish. No! No! No! Not what you think. Some of the tuna salad from my sandwich fell out and landed in my lap. Damn pervs.

Poohbare figured the car would be fixed this morning and he'd be on the road by this afternoon. We woke slowly, snuggling and whispering to each other. It was quite bittersweet. I'm selfish and greedy and hate hate hate letting him leave.

The repair shop finally called late morning. Turns out it wasn't the coil pack that went bad. When they tested it, they found problems, but when they replaced it the car still wouldn't start. Guess there was a problem with their testing equipment.

Now they think he needs a new timing chain. Apparently the part isn't pricy, but the labor is. The car has over 180,000 miles on it. So.... now we have to decide if it's even worth fixing.
Decisions decisions. It's his call either way.

In the meantime, I get to keep him at least one more night, so I'm one happy camper.

Darn! Rats! Bummer! (<<<sarcasm font)

Poohbare got home Friday and, when we ran an errand that evening, his car started acting up. Saturday morning it kept stalling. Sunday it wouldn't start at all. Something about a coil pack thingymabob.

He's gotta stick around til it's out of the shop.

I'm absolutely giddy!

I screwed up. I told the kids that Poohbare asked for no decorations for his birthday. Naturally, they considered it a challenge placed before them. They went shopping without supervision. While Pooh and I ran out to pick up what he wanted for dinner, the kids decorated. They went on a Toy Story binge. lol Streamers, hanging stuff, tablecloth, candles... the whole nine yards.

They had no idea what to get him as gifts so stayed with the Toy Story theme. My daughter got him a little pull-and-go dump truck and my son gave him a Buzz Lightyear action figure with "mega karate action!" They jointly gave him an oversized kite. Silly kids.

It was definitely a fun evening...just as it was supposed to be.

Things are in a state of transition at work, or so it seems. It's not bad...just odd. The other secretary is assigned to the two main partners. I work with the other partner and two associates. Things in my part of the office are going really smoothly, we all get along and the work flow is great. Not so much at the other side of the office. Lately, I've been doing work for all five of them and helping out the main paralegal when I have downtime. One of the senior partners said she gives stuff to me so she can be sure it will be done and get out. hmmm.

Despite a partner having a closed-door talk with the other secretary, there seems to be no change. I'm busting ass and loving every moment of being busy - the days just fly by. She's surfing the 'net, playing online games, and ordering important thing like Bingo supplies while the work piles up on her desk. We have a major trial starting in two weeks and she's supposed to be handling the prep for it. I'm doing the prep work along with my day-to-day responsibilities.

I'm not sure what will unfold in the next few weeks, and am in wait-and-see mode. I know I could handle the work for all of them - I've been doing this a long time and am confident in my skills and abilities. I'm just not sure I WANT to, you know? Oh well. Only time will tell.

Tomorrow is Poohbare's birthday, but we have to postpone the celebratin' til Friday. I can't say what surprises are in store for him, cuz he peeks at my blogs. We're thinking about playing the slot machines Saturday cuz he likes that sorta stuff and we always have fun - win or lose. We have some appointments set for Sunday, so it'll be a busy weekend.

I love you, Poohbare. Happy birthday!!!

We've been very blessed for quite a number of months now where Poohbare has been able to spend 3 nights a week at home. Not this week. He had to be at early this morning so took off right after dinner last night. Blech.

In other news, we've been talking about getting a kitten. We're not sure how our 12 year old cat will react, but I think he'd enjoy having a pet. It's still in the discussion and speculation stage... which means we're going to be getting a kitten. YAY!

I realize it's a good thing I had kids. They have taught me patience. The fact that they lived past the age of 3, in and of itself, is a minor miracle.

Little did I know it was merely a preview of what it would be like to deal with my mom in her later years. ARGH! The "terrible twos" weren't this aggravating.