April Hafla
Thalisha has classic silent film era looks.
You can always count on The Dragon Dancer to get things going.
Jodie. So flipping beautiful!
Sierra is so cute!
A whole lot of running around
Today was the first day of what will be a very busy weekend.
After I got off work at 2, I went by the church to pick up a key, stopped in at the Salvation Army store, and did my 5K training. The wind made it difficult but I got it done. Then, after a quick shower, I went down to open up the church for the Memorial Vigil for Jeff Broome. After the service, I went down to Minnie’s for the hafla. I took 500 photos! Quite ridiculous really. So you can expect to see some more belly dance photos soon.
Payday = spendday
I had a lot of difficulty sleeping last night. In part because my calves and feet were sore! Nevertheless, I walked another 4 miles today.
Very productive after-work period tonight. First, I went to the Honda dealership and had them put in a new battery for me ($108). Then I went to the mall and replaced the battery in my pocket watch ($6.50) and I had a strombolli at LA Italian ($5.95). After that, I went to the Goodwill Store and bought a blazer ($5.00). The main event of the evening was going to Brenden to see Atlas Shrugged pt 1 ($5.00) and while there, I bought a pair of Polish dogs ($4.00). Finally, I stopped by Save Mart to buy a few things ($15.00). All told, I spent $149.45.
Looking forward to tomorrow when I’ll spend even more money.
Getting strong now
Karen treated us all to lunch today in the office because it was Administrative Professionals Day. She brought in pizza, salad, chicken, and fries from BJ’s Brewhouse. It was pretty tasty. Thanks Karen!
At lunch, Sandy and I walked 3 miles, and Vee and I did another 2 during the afternoon wellness break. After work , I did my 5K training (Week 4, Day 1). It went like this: 5 minutes of warm up, 3 minutes of jogging, 90 seconds of walking, 5 minutes of jogging, 3 minutes of walking, 3 minutes of jogging, 90 seconds of walking, 5 minutes of jogging, and a 5 minute cool down. I also did a couple of extra laps before and after. So all told, I did 8.5 miles today. Yee haw! The best part is that even though I’d had a difficult time with my jogging on Sunday, today was a breeze! Nice! It was really very encouraging!
Another incidental item about today, I sported my bowler hat all day. Quite dashing if I do say so!
Photos from the Vigil
Outside during the Service of Light
Inside the candlelit church
Some of the catechumens
Tom and Jackson
Car woes
I was running really low on gas today, but I finally got my Visa gift card activated so this afternoon, I drove to the gas station to put the $30 into my tank. As I made to leave, my car wouldn’t start. After a moment or two, the engine did turn over and I was able to go about my evening. I hoped that the problem had been that I’d been so low on fuel that the pump needed to be re-primed.
After my next errand at the Community Center, I went to start the car and again, it wouldn’t turn over. This time, it REALLY didn’t work. I called Steve to see if he was still at work (which is nearby) and it turned out that he was actually at the church. I asked if he could come give me a jump-start. As I waited for him, a man pulled up to drop his son off for Boy Scouts. He asked if he could help. He didn’t have cables but he pulled his vehicle up to mine so that he could do the jump when the cables arrived. Moments later, Vangie arrived with the cables and we were able to get my car started. The gentleman advised me to drive around for a bit and then pull into a gas station where I could test the battery and charge it or buy a new one. I said that I would but that it would have to wait until Thursday when I got paid. He then insisted on giving me money to get a battery. He didn’t even want to give me his name so that I could pay him back.
My very own Good Samaritan.
Pants aflame!
It seems that without meaning to, I have lied about posting pics from the Vigil. I had the best of intentions but time has once again slipped away from me. I shall endeavor to rectify this tomorrow.
Today I got up rather early to go open the gates at Central Catholic for overflow parking. I then attended the 8:00 Mass. There were tons of people there today. Nice to have the church full at an English Mass for a change. Afterwards, I went by the downtown church to speak with the music group. I asked about joining them and it looks like I’ll start doing so next weekend.
The rest of the day was pretty much working on Haelindir, my hunter. I’m trying to level him up to the mid 50s range so I can use him for my Monday night sessions. I still have 20 levels to go. 🙁
Holy Saturday
I went to the Easter Vigil tonight. I’m hoping I’m just biased, but music just seems so mediocre at the church. But that’s better than being awful. One thing that was good about the music was the selection of songs. Of course, they’re essentially the same songs that I started the parish using two years ago. 🙂 I did one of the readings and took some photos. I’ll post a few of them tomorrow.
My feet are quite tired from all the standing I did.
Psych!
Ok, so yesterday I was told that I would soon be out of a job. I made a conscious decision to try to handle the whole situation with grace (in contrast to some of my colleagues). Then, this morning, Rosanne came to tell me that a mistake had been made and actually, I was safe. Crimeny!
I am glad of course, but as I told Rosanne, I wasn’t super bummed out yesterday, so I wasn’t going to be overjoyed today. It’s unfortunate that this all happened. I feel sorry for the person who will get bumped instead of me.
This bumping rights thing is evil.
Surprise!
Today I was informed that another employee at the district had decided that they deserved/needed my job more than I do. I am being bumped out of the position I’ve held for the past 7 years or so. I think these bumping rights are a pretty vile and evil thing. I told Rosanne, our union poobah, that I hadn’t heard a single good argument in support of this right to bump, but that I could think of numerous arguments against. I’ll enumerate them tomorrow. For now, it is late and I must go to bed. Suffice to say that come July 1, I will not have a job.
