Just a post to catch up a bit.  I did in fact find my badge (thank you St Anthony), but not before I requested they kill the old one and create me a new one at work.  The snow had melted off just enough on Thursday afternoon that it resurfaced in my driveway.

I headed out to Texas in order to attend my dear nephew Matthew's wedding on Sunday.  The bonus there was I flew out of Pittsburgh, so I was able to spend a night before my flight with my Favorite Egg.

It was a beautiful ceremony and reception. The weather tried to put a damper on things, but it stayed to a mere sprinkle.  The rest of the weekend was way warmer than at home and quite pleasant.  It's been a long time since I've visited Texas.  I do still enjoy the area - and the food!  Rehearsal dinner featured bbq and the main event was chips, salsa, fajitas, and two delightful cakes (kudos to the boy child for his selection of red velvet for the groom's cake).

Amanda, his new wife, is a lovely and sweet gal.  I'm honored to finally meet her.  I also have gotten quite acquainted with their dog, Maci, who took to sleeping with me whilest she also stayed at my sister's house.  She doesn't quite know how to cuddle properly (a la Saffy) but no one is like that girl.  It is also good to see Izzy and Scooper again - Scooper has taken back to me more than my Favorite Egg's cats have.  Then of course there is the family.  I haven't seen Matt in quite some time, nor their father Bob.  It is always good to see Jackie and Dani.  Then there is Bob's brother and his wife, and I got to meet Jackie's other half sibling on the other side and his wife for the first time.

Did I mention more food?  We went to BJ's where I had an amazing salad and fried artichokes...  Breakfast at the little diner w/ Bob... lunch w/ Jackie and Janet for more bbq brisket... and a ton of left over wedding cake.  The scale isn't going to like me.  I did run several days while here, but I know my calorie intake is way up.

I've also been able to work remotely part time, saving some of my precious vacation hours.

Oh Saint Anthony? What did I do with it? I hate how easy it is to misplace something when you're in such a habit of having the item and taking it off when you get home. Please don't be lost under the ice at home.

I'm trying to not be sour, but for sure, Tuesdays after a long weekend try hard to make up for missing Monday.  Ugh.  It was raining, on top of the snow and slush, so I had a nice thick coat of ice to clear off the car.  I got to work and parked, and that's when I realized I forgot my badge, so I had to walk around to the front of the building to get in and get a temp one.  Allow me to note that so far this winter the place that maintains our walkways has put down so much ice melt that it crunched hard and nearly twisted your ankles to walk.  Not today!  Today there is nothing... but a sheet of ice, the whole way around the building.  By the time I got inside I was soaked through, my winter coat stuck to my arms and my hair drenched.  Stellar.

I almost stayed home this morning and worked from there because of the ice, but decided against it because I needed to be somewhere over lunch (not that I really have time for that this week).  Don't forget, I have a temp badge so I have to go in and out the front way - adding another 5 minutes to each direction there too.  Maybe some coffee will help improve my outlook.  If not, I'd suggest 20-30 foot clearance today.

Awesome is watching the Walking Dead... and not needing to go to work the morning after.  Yay!

I had a lovely massage last evening, which you'd think would have had me not wanting to work out again - but I did it!  I also got laundry out of the way and started ripping a whole bunch of CDs.  It's time to revamp the tunes on my phone.

Today, even though it's a week early (due to upcoming schedule conflicts) I bottled the limoncello and filtered the limecello into the sugar solution.  I'm not loving the idea of going out in the extreme cold, but I am going to get a couple of groceries to get me through, so I figured I'll go treat myself to Rey's for a late lunch.  How is it past 2 already?  I'm starving.

It just isn't happening tonight.  I don't have it in me to work out.  This - THIS is the problem with needing to work out every day (or darn near every day) as I attempted to commit to.  Invariably I need to do/go/attend other things after work and there is only so few hours in an evening.  I'm exhausted.  Thank goodness Monday is "off", of course, I need to get a couple of hours in.  Meh.

I admit it, I'm one of those people who recently bought a best of David Bowie CD. I mean, I really do like a lot of his work, I always have. He's been around my whole musically aware life. I have distinct memories of watching Mtv and the video of him and Mick Jagger for Dancing in the Street. I loved Labyrinth. So seriously, why on earth didn't I already own something!?

Good morning, here's some bad news. Thanks inbox. I guess there is never a great time to send some things out. I worry so much for this place and the people. It really does create a pit feeling in my stomach. Must takes steps forward.

As always I guess the first armed robbery wasn't enough... PA wants more.  I am getting a refund from federal, but I expected as such w/ my deductions.  Thanks to the prep fees going up a bit (and a little more since my employer wasn't on their discount list this year - sigh) and the fact that my rental didn't sit empty as long this past year as it did in 2014 I am getting a little less of MY MONEY back this year than I did last.  Can I have the rest, please?  Thanks.

I neglected to mention that we shared our would-be Valentine's dinner at the Boulevard on Saturday with the Schmou family.  It's been so long, it was great to see them.  Today isn't just Monday - it's also TAX DAY!  Fingers crossed that my extra umph towards donations last year will be profitable.  I have a slush fund to build.

The sun was out, but it was still pretty chilly.  Regardless, it was still a pretty nice weekend.  I was home for the afternoon on Friday, which gave me plenty of time to slow cooker our dinner (ribs and kielbasi) and make some red velvet cake balls, as well as work out and do a little more cleaning before my Favorite Egg arrived.  Dinner was good, but a little spicy.  It was either the spice (which I'd think would bother me more than him) or something was up w/ the kielbasi either way, it didn't totally agree with my Favorite Egg, so I felt pretty bad - especially since I was considering that his birthday dinner.

We were up early on Saturday to go to an auction, but ended up leaving before some of the items we went for came up for bid.  After a bit of inspection the items and consideration, they lost interest.  From there he was nice enough to help me load up the vehicle (and I do mean load up) and take a donation to St Vincent De Paul.  The dining room looks bigger with everything cleared out.  Good thing too, because the new light for the dining room arrived Saturday evening.  How happy was I to now get a snail mail letter from AT&T about my 'past due bill'.  Yeah, I was livid, but moving on.... We decided to watch a movie, Ted 2.  Meh.  I admit, I was falling asleep - it was an early morning!  The first movie was cute, so I know they were compelled to make a second one, but just meh.

Today we did our share of lazing about before making our Sunday pancakes, but because he's awesome, my Favorite Egg made sure we got my new light up, and a dimmer switch installed in the dining room.  One thing off of the list, you know?  Always sad to see him go.  It's going to be a long and busy week.

At the risk of making February sound like the month of complaints I'll make a note that earlier this week I was fighting with my computer, which decided to refuse to grab Windows updates.  I had long since turned off automatic updates what with the risk of MS shoving Windows 10 down my throat, so there were a few waiting for me since the last time I manually requested them.  I did actually follow instructions that were to permanently block their attempts, but call me paranoid, I'm sure they'll implement away around that.  I paid extra to get a laptop with Windows 7 instead of Windows 8 - I'd be extra ticked if I inadvertently got upgraded.  Either way, I was up way too late on Tuesday with my feeble attempts.  I found a few other items to try after work on Wednesday, which at least got the attempts to grab running again.  I left her running while I was at youth group and sure enough, I had updates when I got home.  *whew*

I went ahead and scheduled my appointment with H&R block to get on top of my taxes, but only after calling two places to see if I should be expecting/needing a 1099-R (I do not).  It will be good to cross that off of the list.  I've mentioned it before, but I'll say it again, I am very glad I have shifted to having someone else deal with all of that.  It is so much faster and less stressful.

I also want to note that I have been sticking to the routine I promised myself this week:  work out Mon/Tue/Thurs/Fri - Wed off for youth and weekends off if I'm with my Favorite Egg.  I was also still sore today from Tuesday's workout, so I am doing something right, right?

Another harassing automated call from AT&T today... even though earlier today the amount I forced through yesterday from my checking account was already showing as credited. I had to call them already twice this morning too - since the DirecTV payment was already showing as credited too - to try and get things combined (again). I was hung up on once, and when I called back the lady said she couldn't do anything because of the other person who was in my account, that I need to wait 24-48 hours and call back and we'll try again. Of course, the second lady only told me at after I was hung up on while hold (again) and she called me back.

GAH!

Anyone want to put money down that AT&T still auto-charges my credit card for another $100 tomorrow, and then they call me AGAIN? What a cluster.

If AT&T had nuts. Today I think I'd kick them. Again a harassing call after yet another hour wasted on the phone w/ them yesterday, repeated apologies and promises to escalate the issue because I should NOT be getting calls on this - their mistake.

To save my blood pressure I just went ahead and put in a manual payment on my checking account (since I cannot move the date they want to auto bill my credit card and that is 2 more days away w/ more calls I'm sure). Oh, and YES, DirecTV did issue another bill, so NO AT&T you're not right - you do not have things combined. I'm getting so completely irritated. Seriously if you're going to combine things, you might want to figure out how it needs to be done before raking your loyal customers through the coals. This only makes them wonder what other options are out there.

Today AT&T decided to call me to harass me for an overdue balance.  You mean the one that I've called you about several times in the past month?  The one that should have processed to my credit card last month because I've been enrolled in automatic payment, but YOU didn't charge the full amount to the card?  The one that your representatives assured me was NOT an issue that it would be fine and cleared up with the February charge?

Seriously, get your sh*t together.  Harass someone who hasn't bothered to pay their bill for a long ass time rather than someone with along track record with you and DOES pay their bills (without government assistance).

Last afternoon/evening I joined my local Aunt and Uncle for a nice chat and an even nicer home cooked meal with hand mixed margaritas!  There was leftover margarita that came home with me, but I cannot pull them out until I work out.  That's right, it's February 1.  I told myself I'd start working out again today. *sigh*  I guess I better go get on that right now while my dinner cooks.  At least I get to watch another episode of American Horror Story (if Netflix doesn't decide to fight with me).  Good news is I haven't gained any weight in January.  Now let's see if I can kick start and actually take some off.