Who is with me on this one?

Let me start out by saying that I LOVE to shop.

Love. It.

I like most people I believe, love a great bargain.

However, despite my love of shopping and a great bargain I can not begin to understand why people will line up in the cold, stand for hours well before the ass crack of dawn to both shop and get a great bargain.

Furthermore I don't understand why retailers do this to their customers and their employees.

Does something magical happen in the store between the hours of 5-10 AM on the day after Thanksgiving? Something that allows the store to make the same or a larger profit than they would make if they offered the same deals at their regular opening time?

That is the only thing that I can figure would justify this level of ridiculous.

To me that is what this get up at ludicrous o'clock and stand in line, then maybe...possibly...or even LIKELY not get the bargain I am hoping for is.... Completely ridiculous.

Now please understand that I am not passing judgement on those who choose to do the above. If that is what you want or in some cases I am sure enjoy doing be my guest. I am sure that there are extreme things I have done that others would consider ridiculous.

I just get pissy because I feel that it is manipulative. If there is anything in this world I despise it is being manipulated.

I know that I am manipulated many times over during the rest of the year by retailers in some shape or form the rest of the year.

I refuse to be manipulated in this one case however.

So there.

Big retailers I challenge YOU. Give me a huge and ridiculous bargain at 12:30 PM. Reward me for sleeping in and being lazy. I in turn will shop at your establishment at a reasonable hour when everyone else is out having lunch. I won't be hungry yet because I slept in and had a late breakfast.

C'mon. Manipulate me on my terms.

Eh. So Much for my "Plan"

Hmm...

Not so much back to that regular blogging I was promising in my last post that was dated ohhhhhh...sometime a little over a week ago.


I could give you the usual excuses, but that is boring and I am pretty sure you all know them by now anyway.


I realized a few days ago that my uhhh (excuse me I had to leave and go check my archives to make sure I am correct. I do my best to keep my reporting factual here at Babble On.) 4 year blogiversary passed sometime in early mid to late October.

Dang.

4 years is a long time to stay committed to something like this.

My readership is small. Very small. Minute. Teeny. I get about an average of 7 page views per day. Total visits since I started keeping track, which was some time well after I started the blog show that I have had around 9,000 visits to my page.

Seedling status compared to many of the blogs I frequent.

I am pretty sure that a good portion of the hits I get are from a picture that is the #1 Google Image Serach if you type Wizard Hat Cupcakes.

That is my biggest claim to fame with this thing. Which always gives me a little giggle.

Not that I was ever looking for fame and fortune from this venture. But it is nice to be recognized for something I suppose. Everyone should be #1 in some area right?

I guess me and my famous Wizard Hat Cupcake picture will keep it going for now.

Why stop after this long? As long as people keep commenting, I suppose I will keep Babbling On.

Ciao.

Instead of Session Notes

I thought I would blog instead. I have left all 5 of you in my blog posse hanging on long enough.

So I have survived the transition. I got the office moved, unpacked, and organized. I have seen many clients, and have a schedule that is staying full and have been getting referrals here and there. Looking forward to my first Medicaid reimbursement check. It will be nice to have some coming in, to help replace the scary amounts that have been going out.

I am a routine kind of gal and this having to develop new work routines after having a routine set for the past 4 or so years is kind of getting to me. My "commute" is longer too, which is one of the few downsides of this venture. (Not that I should complain. My "commute" has gone from about 5-10 minutes depending on the time of day to around 15-20 depending on the time of day) I know that soon I will settle in to a routine, I just want it to hurry up and get here.

Right now I am working a LOT. Trying to build up the coffers. I hope that in the coming months I can tweak things and have a schedule more like I envisioned when I first started working on this adventure. I am mourning the loss this year of my typical 3 days off at Thanksgiving and week or more off at Christmas. It is just too soon to take that much time off. Next year maybe. We'll see.

So here's hoping things continue to settle down. I think this is all starting to catch up with me. I am falling asleep about 2 seconds after my head hits the pillow these days and in the morning I swear the night was only 5 minutes long and I have no recollection of dreaming. That is some hardcore sleeping for me.

Hope you all have been well and my plan is to get back to regular posting soon.

Try to contain yourselves!

Telling it like it is

I got two kids at home sick with the flu.

I have 1 week left at work before I start the new practice.

Between caring for sick children, praying, chanting, rattling bones, and other assorted rituals to ward off germs for myself, annnndd...oh YEAH, starting my own business...blogging is falling off the radar for a week or two.

Try not to fuss too much.

Or at least don't fuss around me.

My current patience level :
"I will tear your head off and throw it over the fence if you annoy me in the slightest."

Don't say I didn't give you fair warning.

It's an I got a lotta crap done kind of tired

Hoo Boy.

I am surprised I have the strength and energy to type.

Things are hopping in Babble Land, and today was a doozy.

But...I now have a fresh and lovely painted office space. I am so pleased with how it turned out! I also have a bookcase, and we have intenet, phone/fax lines, and some furniture and toys in the lobby area. It begins to look a lot like a functioning office in there!

Next week I get a loveseat, find a chair, put together my desk, and start to arrange things in my office space.

So preparations for the new office are clipping along at a good pace.

Progress on the Journey to Better Health...not quite as clipping.

As is always the case at Chez Babble, fall brings on extreme busy times. I should take a picture of our calendar and post it here. Just for a good giggle. Because I promise you every time I look at it I giggle hysterically at the idea that we are going to cram all that in. Some how we do.

Anyway The Journey.

I have two pounds left.

Two pounds that seem to have separation anxiety. Cuz they ain't movin'. They are clinging to me like a toddler to it's mother when there are adults in huge scary costumes near by.

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been enabling this separation anxiety somewhat due to my lack of vigilance in counting my calories. Due to things like catching a cold, and ridiculously early sporting events my exercise has been somewhat less consistent, but overall not too bad.

I know what I need to do, now I just need to do it, lose these last two measly pounds and move on to the next phase of the journey. The phase I have dreamed, fantasized, and drooled over.

Maintenance.

Now that it is so close, the view is not quite as shiny as it was some 6 months ago. In fact it kind of looms a little scary. Because now I realize that these changes I have made don't stop. Ever.

That is kind of daunting.

I am pondering how to go about maintenance and I hope that next time we discuss The Journey I will be telling you all about the new maintenance plan I am carrying out.

On to good stuff about The Journey.

Since I now wear clothes that fit on a regular basis instead of clothes that are 2-3 sizes too big people have really noticed how much I have lost. That is kind of fun.

Someone the other day told me that I looked like I could afford to eat a brownie I turned down the other day. I don't believe that I am in the too thin category, but it was kind of nice to hear.

Unexpected stuff from The Journey. (warning that this could fall in to the TMI category for some of you.)

Boob loss. Wow. My rack is not what it once was. To the tune of about 4 inches less boobage. That may not sound like a lot, but the reality is quite noticeable to me. BH is not complaining however so that is good. Mixed feelings about this loss, and am frankly surprised that I care at all.

Cold. Good SWEET LORD AND BABY JEEBUS the COLD!!!!

I have always been one who tends to get cold easily. But since the weather has turned colder I am REALLT noticing it with more intensity. Last year we kept our house at 68 while we were home all winter long. We wanted to work on saving energy and felt that we could really just put on an extra layer or two. I was fine all winter with that temperature and tolerated it well with the extra layer or two of clothing. We are not even in REAL winter yet, in fact have only had the heat on for maybe two days and I am not sure if I am going to be able to handle it. I was lamenting to BH about how I was doubting and remarked that I remembered it being fine last year. He lovingly reminded me that I have lost almost 30 pounds of insulation since last winter. Never even thought of this outcome. Pretty sure I don't care for it, but will learn to live with it. May just have to add a layer or 3 this winter instead. Because I really like the way that temp shrinks our heating bill. In half people. It has cut it in half.

Non-Journey related public service statement:

Get a programmable furnace and set it to 68 when you are home, 62 when you are gone during the day and at night. Get out those layers , and extra blankets out then watch that bill and your carbon footprint shrink baby shrink.

Until next time...

Coming Out

I have been teasing about some upcoming changes for a while now.


Finally I can come out about what is going on, although I bet some of you have guessed already, or you are friends with me on Facebook and know through there.


Anyway! My big news is.........


I am leaving my job.


I have been at this job longer than any other. Almost 4 years. That is a real record for me. If you feel so inclined, you can go back in the blog archives and read about my job jumping history. Try February 2006. That is the best I can do, as I am lazy blogger who doesn't categorize and tag things.

So what am I going to be doing after I leave my job?

Why going into private practice that's what!

Yup, I have pondered, thought, mulled, fretted, crunched numbers and decided that this is the way for me to go. If all goes as planned I hope to be able to work a little less eventually and make as much money or perhaps a bit more than I do currently.

I am also ready to call the shots now. I say how big my caseload will be, when and how late I work. I WILL CONTROL MY OWN SCHEDULE!!!! ( I am way excited about this. I swear to Baby Jesus it takes an act of congress to make a change to my schedule where I am now.)

So I guess I am not so much changing jobs as I am changing where and how I do my work.

I will be in an office space with 3 other therapists, so it will be nice to have others to talk to and consult with when necessary. The office space we have leased is lovely and in a great location. Getting the space ready has been fun, and exciting too. We paint my office and the lobby area this weekend.

So big stuff going on. It is getting pretty intense now that I am slightly less than a month away from starting this gig. The transition is going to be a lot of work, and I might get cranky so be warned, because you know you will be among the first to reap the uh...."benefits" of my mood state.

So that is it. My BIG NEWS.

Stay tuned for updates as they happen.

Things that make my heart break

My precious old lady kitty Kalypso died Sunday evening.

BH and I got her about 6 months after we got married and about 1 month after we moved ourselves alllll the way out to California where we knew not a soul so that I could go to graduate school.

I always say that we did not pick out Kalypso, but rather she picked US out for herself. We got her from the SPCA shelter in Oakland. It was not very well lit, and I was peering in the cages at the kitties when I felt a little paw on my back. I turned around to see a tiny and very fuzzy long-haired tortoise shell kitten. We asked to have a look at her. We took her in to the visiting room and she immediately curled up in my lap and started purring and seemed as happy as could be. I told BH that we had just found our kitty. He wanted to reserve opinion until he saw how she did with him. So I very reluctantly handed her over. She curled right up in his lap and kept on purring.

So home with us she went. She really was a welcome friend in a town where we had none. You would have thought that cat was our child, the way we treated her. She went on many plane trips home with us, because we hated to leave her behind. If we were sitting or lying down she was in our lap, curled up on our backs, sitting on our heads, never far from our side. She would play for hours and was extremely entertaining.

As happens with all pets when kids enter the picture, she did not get quite the attention she had when she was an only child, but she was ever patient with the girls and they loved her dearly. Nothing made them happier then to sit in the hallway every morning so that Kalypso would come sit in their laps to get her morning pets. When they started helping to feed her they were thrilled when she would sleep in their beds at night. When she got to old and frail to jump up to their beds, they both made special spots on the floor with pillows and t-shirts so that she would have a place to rest near them. The nicknamed her Pippy and loved her as much as we did.

Kalypso turned 14 this year and got very ill last spring. Her kidneys were failing and she was having seizures. We had made the decision to end her suffering, but before we made the call the she rallied around and recovered somewhat.

A couple of weeks ago, she started having seizures again. She was eating only the tiniest amounts no matter what treats we gave her to try and coax her appetite. We knew that she was winding down.

Sunday afternoon she had a seizure and seemed to have a lot of trouble coming out of it. We did not think she was going to make it to the next day, and decided that if she did the time had come. She was obviously suffering now, and we could not let her go on like that.

We told the girls at dinner, and everyone cried. We checked on her periodically. Finally shortly before the girls bedtime BH called me in and said that he thought Kalypso was at the end. Her breathing was erratic and very very shallow. We gave the girls the chance to come in and say goodbye, and then BH and I sat there petting her until she was gone.

It has been very sad around here these past few days. We are grateful to have been with her as she took her final breaths, and grateful even more that she suffers no more.

I still expect to see her sitting in her favorite spots, or to have her come in after I have showered to lick drops of water off my legs. I miss seeing her watch over the other two cats like the matriarch she was.

I miss my friend.