Meow

It dawned on me that I haven't taken any pictures since my Peru trip. So how could I resist documenting this cute moment?

Brace yourself

I saw the most amazing thing driving home from work just now---- an albino squirrel!! At first I thought it was a weird looking cat, but then I realized that it was indeed a squirrel. It wasn't just light grey, it was freaking snow white!

My life feels just a little bit more complete now.

I has skillz

So after the rest of you bailed on Musical Bingo, Aaron and I went anyway. After sitting through an 8 hour conference on Social Security benefits I needed a drink. Bingo wasn't quite cutting it last night so we ended up playing Scrabble. I won albeit it was a VERY close game and we ended up pretty much combining our efforts at the tail end. My retribution was served, however, when it later came out that I have no drawing skills whatsoever. I love to paint, but I'm limited to abstract. I cannot recreate objects or figures for the life of me. I can draw a great triangle, a pretty good square, and an adequate hexagon but I seem to lose it when I advance to the octagon.
Stars? Forget it.

I found a great tool online: (thanks to akidsheart.com)


It's pretty hard to read, but if you look closely you can see rows of very amusing dotted-lined shapes that you trace. Once you feel comfortable enough, you can move on to drawing them free-form.
It's pretty intense.

I think I'm going to print it off and spend some time practicing with my box of crayons. If I do well enough on this worksheet, maybe I'll get to advance to rhombuses and trapezoids.

"Sick Time" Addendum

I spoke to my client today. The hospital told her she had gas cramps.

So I guess she wanted her sick time

Today started off on the wrong foot. I arrived at work way early (7:00!) because I had a ton of stuff to do before my 8:30 meeting with a new client only to realize that I left my new security code on my desk and had no way of getting into my new office until someone else showed up.

Later in the day I was paged because another one of my clients was in the nurse's office complaining of chest pains. Now I know, chest pains are a potentially serious issue and I respect anyone who feels that they may be having a heart attack; however, this woman has an extensive history of attention-seeking behavior and, generally, one must take everything she says or does with a grain of salt. The nurse checked her vitals and everything was FINE. She went to take off her sweater and a boat-load of candy fell out of her pockets and spilled all over the floor. The nurse and I started to question the candy and her story started to change. Over the course of our ten minute consultation, my client's story changed in whatever way was necessary to deem her "officially sick" and allow her to leave early. I told her that she didn't have enough accrued sick time to use if she left early, but I couldn't prevent her from going home; she would just have to take unpaid time off if she was feeling sick.

My client left the nurse's office to call home for a ride because she wanted to leave. Ten minutes later I got paged because my client had called 911 instead of calling her guardian. An ambulance was rounding the corner to pick her up. My client gathered up her belongings and practically skipped out to greet the paramedics. Her parents are going to be thrilled when they get the bill for her $4000 ride home.

One of these things is not like the other...

Guerrilla Reorganization Tactics

So I'm trying to use this new job of mine as a turning point in my living habits. Along with "Business Lesley" comes "Reorganization Lesley". I recently helped out at a yard sale and loaded up on a bunch of items that I've been meaning to purchase for my living quarters for quite some time. Among other things I got a small table, some additional seating, and some cute storage thingies to put random crap in. I am also in the beginning stages of building some funky shelves in my bedroom using antique ammunition boxes that were given to me. Unfortunately, my body is still adapting to the dazed feeling I have returning home from work after 8 hours of listening to my clients discuss their paranoias or their bodily functions, mediating conflicts, and attending meetings. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I love my clients, but my body has to kick into overdrive in to return to a feeling of coherance at the end of the day.

Needless to say, my apartment is a total war zone right now and I feel a bit like I'm in a catch 22. I find it a bit redundant to clean when I know I'm going to be moving the shit around right away, but I have no place to do my arranging because my apartment is too cluttered. Once my guerilla reorganization tactics make my plans come to fruition, however, my apartment is going to be freaking sweet.