Merissa's house tour

Merissa's house tour

Merissa's house tour

Merissa's house tour

Moving into Merissa's new place

Brownies Merissa style

See the water ring around the edge? Merissa forgot it and mixed it in
in the pan afterward. It was a mess.

Evening at the stream

Evening at the stream

This is not the twelve days of ICE mail

I received in the mail: one request from a lawyer demanding his client be released after a lengthy detention and repeated requests; and four finger print cards for recent detainees. The horrible part about these both is the neither is the fault of ICE. The lawyer for the first guy has been sending mail to the wrong locations for the last 4 months at the least. Clearly Office of Acquisition Management would not be the correct location for either of these things. I forwarded them both post-haste to a program office more likely to know how to deal with them. It just makes me so sad someone has been waiting around for their lawyer to know enough about immigration law to not send it to wrong address.

Why is life always good news and bad news?

Good news: I am continuing to lose weight. I an really happy with my
progress and I definitely feel more comfortable in my skin.

Bad news: since I weigh less, I need less calories overall. So the
number of calories I would be allowed just to maintain my current
weight has gone down. While this make logical sense, my stomach
doesn't agree.

I know, my life is completely rough.

Sent from my iPhone

2088+ socks: so ridiculous I couldn't make this stuff up

I have decided to write a completely anonymous blog with just the random (excuse the word) crap that actually happens everyday working for the government. Par example: Today, 1044 pairs of socks (2088 individual socks or possibly 1044 pairs of socks per carton with 5 cartons delivered total; we aren't sure) were delivered to my office this afternoon. They were intended for a detention center in El Paso. I guess I am glad it's mid-May and likely fairly warm in Texas this time of year. And I am going to hope that this wasn't a last minute extreme need purchase. Because the vendor made a mistake. And knowing the government and government vendors, its going to be a while before these socks make it to their intended owners. And these boxes will be cluttering my cube walkway for a while.

Blackberries

As I got off the bus, I felt a plop straight on my hairline; the
forcasted storm materializing despite a cloudless sky less than a half
hour earlier. I love the rain, here and in Seattle. It cleans, the
air, the streets, my whirling thoughts. Might like the rainy periods
best here in DC, even over Seattle: the rain beats down on you here,
reaffirming that it takes some work to wash out all the dirt. I have
seen showerheads drop less water than the sky at certain points.

Much more likely to be sunny and raining here, a brilliant oxymoron.
The thunderstorms aren't quiet, gentle. They strike directly, bolts of
lightening slashing even an afternoon sky. Whatever you like or
dislike about DC metro, at least its difficulties aren't too hidden
most of the time. It's right up front. The people seem like the
weather: under the preppy dress suits and popped collars of
Georgetown, there is a sense of drama, even in the most reserved. If
you didn't like drama, you wouldn't like gossip and politics, and DC
loves both.

It's compellingly humid before the storm, which is why I smelled the
berry smell as I came off the bus and walked home. It smelled like
ripe blackberries. It's much too early in the season and they are
really difficult to find wild around here. Honestly can't think of any
I have seen. But the smell reminded me of days spent picking berries
at Kingston beach, five gallon bucket in hand, taking the ferry.
Always with aunt Janet, Bradley, Annarose, Merissa and Mom. Sometimes
Dad. Us kids rarely spent extended periods helping actually picking.
And picking was substantially impaired by our ability to eat as we
picked.

Brad and Merissa would dig deep holes in the sand. I would help.
Sometimes we would bury Brad or Meris and then was the inevitable
threat to leave them trapped, encased in sand as the tide came up. I
don't remember ever sitting still long enough, or digging my own hole
deep enough to get buried. In hindsight, it actually shows pretty good
sense.

I just happened to be remembering. I seem to be wondering and
remembering a lot lately. Still trying to piece together my own puzzle.

Interspecies Baby Love

http://www.peoplepets.com/photos/cute/interspecies-baby-love-animal-surrogates/1

These were sweet pictures for Mother's day.

For today, metro is magic

Some days I leave the office overwhelmed with the thought of using
public transit, headache approaching, ears throbbing, irritation high.
Today, I am so thankful to be beneath the troubled snarl of streets.
The muggy rain has made drivers short and accidents many. I didn't see
a single car move the entire way from my office to the metro station
(not exactly a long way, but still) except an ambulance which crawled
along. Oy vay.

Me an' Clyde

Have I mentioned how irritating AT&T is

So I literally have had no service on my phone at home for the last two days. I have been struggling with service "Searching" everywhere, but apparently my home (the middle of DC!!) has such bad service my phone can't even figure out its supposed to be on AT&T!

I love my iPhone. I live off it sometimes. And I have no land line phone at all. The whole story is tragic. Really. Tragic, like on the level of endangered species being wiped out completely or baby seals dying (if you can't hear the heavy sarcasm tone aimed at myself and my petty problems).

That moment when you realize you grew up

Somewhere along the way, apparently I grew up just a little. Funny that it has taken until 27 and I am still not where I planned to be. However, by and large, I am happier and more emotionally healthy than I have ever been. I had to give presentations at work and they went really well. I got a lot of good feedback and I will be doing more of the same type over the next couple of weeks. Just remembering my fears of unknown situations, unknown people, and public speaking I am amazed. I still instinctively shy away from unknown situations, parties where I won't know more than one person or where I will be too much on display. Let's face it, very few people are truly comfortable or blossom in those situations (more power to you extroverts!). But I have survived several uncomfortable encounters lately with no scars or major traumas.

People who haven't know me long actually laugh at me when I say I am shy. Mostly because my shorter term acquaintances are work-related. In the workplace I have a purpose and am confident; I am a value-add (don't you love the irritating business language use?). I am under-employed at work and I am fully aware of that fact.

I am back to being uncertain about my long term work outlook. The government has decided to in-source to positions currently being filled by my contracting company. I am not sure yet what I will do, whether I will try for a government position and a pay cut, or hold out for another contracting position which may only last for a few months. A Democratic Administration is not the time to be relying on a plethora of contracting jobs popping up. I am hopeful that something will come along suited to my personality, long-term goals, and talents. Or rather, I remain hopeful. I have been waiting for a while. :)