My babies

For the past week or so I've been enjoying my babies... my chickadee babies that is. A pair of chickadees nested in one of the boxes in our backyard, and I've loved hearing their little 'peep peep peep peep's when the parents are in the nearby trees chirp chirp chirping away. The nest is huge, and I discovered tonight that there are four babies in the nest.



We almost had a tragedy tonight, though, when I went to take these pictures. I lifted the door to snap a photo, and one of the little babies must have been leaning against it, and he fell about 6 feet to the ground. I gently picked him up and put him back in the nest - but I was scared to death that the parents would smell me on him and abandon the nest. I guess that's all an old wives tale, though, because shortly thereafter (and after I got the pics) we saw the two parents flitting in and out of the house again.



Phew.

These little guys have had it rough - between the black cat who sits on the fence above the house (and who I have thrown my shoe at twice to get him to back off!) to my infrequent intrusions to see their progress. I'm just glad they seem to be such resilient little guys.

Best. Internet Meme. Evar!

So I've posted this internet meme before, unknowingly, when I posted this pic of a cat strokin' his harbl. I've just discovered that there is a whole community of these pictures, called LOLcats (as defined here in its own Wikipedia article).

This website is apparently the home of the original lolcat and there are other galleries here and here. Best of all, Fark.com had a "Caturday" link on Saturday... where people made new and exciting lolcats!

Some of my favorites are:





Enjoy the lolcatz!

Well, that sucked

I've been looking forward to the season finale of "Heroes" ever since I started watching late last fall. The attention to detail, the storytelling, the characters, all were very, very strong. Tonights episode was supposed to be the big culmination of everything.

And it fizzled like stale Pop Rocks. I'm so disappointed.

I don't want to give too much away for those who haven't seen the series and whatnot, but man - they should have ended the season with "Five Years Gone."

Boo.

Hippie chick, part deux; why ignorance is bliss

So, I took George the Saturn in to the shop today to get checked out.. and he received an estimate of about $800 worth of work that should be done in order to get him to pass the emissions inspection he failed. Which I am totally stressing out about. I mean, it was okay when I felt like I had the time to wait around for my perfect dream car to appear, but now I feel like I need to get my car either a) fixed so it can pass inspection AND pay the late fee I owe for not having it inspected on time or b) sell it ASAP as is for whatever I can get for it and find another car right quick.

I wasn't prepared to have to make a decision RIGHT NOW (I know that I don't have to make my decision RIGHT NOW, I just feel like I have to).

Of course, I should never have taken the car in, but there were some weird things going on that were better to have checked out. Frick! Ignorance was delightful bliss.

Hippie chick!

So, my reliable (car) friend George is getting on in age. He's 182k miles old, 12 years old, and, well, he's starting to make me nervous. We don't drive him on long trips, there's lots of lost oil and check engine lights and failed emissions inspections... and it just might be time for a new (to me) car.

For years... ever since they started making them again, I have coveted the new Beetle. I love them, I desperately want the convertible (really not practical for this climate) and it's a passion that hasn't gone away, despite my having said "if George can just last one more year, then I'll get a new car."

I know exactly what I want: Sunflower Yellow with the Black ragtop. Or I'll take the Salsa Red, black ragtop. I prefer the Sunflower Yellow, but both of those colors came out in 2005 I think... so getting one off a 3 year lease means I'll have to wait a little longer.

So, I'll probably wait a little bit longer. Maybe if my car can make it one more year...

Operation Kitten Calendar

So DH and I discovered "Operation Kitten Calendar" on Acceptable TV - a show on VH1 where they show 2 minute clips of shows and viewers vote on whether they should be brought back the following week.

It's definitely a must-see show... check out the episodes here:

Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3 - the best one!
Episode 4
Episode 5 - The Reunion Special

Sadly, I don't think that they are making any more episodes, which is really a shame. But check out the ones they did make... they're only 2-3 minutes each!

DH's new ring tone is the hilarious "Kiss my A$$" at the beginning of episode 4. Don't forget to visit www.kittencalendar.tv


P.S. This series is made by the same crew that did "Yacht Rock," which is another hilariously funny bunch of webshorts that predate YouTube, I think.

What did I do this weekend?

As you can see... not much

Damning with loud praise

Okay, this is going to sound weird, but I am having a problem with getting too much praise at work.

Perhaps I should put this into context...

I am currently on rotation in my dream office. For the first few weeks, I was pretty bored, partly because there wasn't really anything for my to sink my teeth into, partly because I hadn't built up credibility and trust in the group for them to hand me work, and partly because there was a great deal of uncertainty with how best to use me. I took on a project that I have worked on in my previous life in my home office - one that is vitally important to the credibility of the organization in the planning and budgeting process that no one else wants to do, but really, at the end of the day, doesn't represent what the office does primarily and what I want to do.

In any case, just to have something to do.. I took this project to it's logical end, with respectable results. They've never had anyone do this kind of work/analysis at this level, so it borders on the second coming of God from there perspective or something. At least, that's how they praise me.

As nice as it is, and as much good as it is doing for my reputation within several very important areas, I think it actually might be hurting me in the long run. I've not gotten too much of an opportunity to explore other projects in the office, both because I've been completely buried in the work that I have been doing, and because people know I'm doing this project, and are likely not to think of me in handing over additional work. I'm getting praise for skills that frankly I know are my strengths, and I'm not learning what types of skills they are looking for when they have an open FTE slot, and I'm not really getting the chance to develop those skills. I'm not learning about what weaknesses or deficiencies I have with respect to the needs that they have.

I've always fervently believed that praise is nice, but constructive criticism is better. It takes more time to deliver, more thought to form, and does more for me in the long run. I feel like a comet that only passes by Earth once every 100 million years - I saw this rotation as the opportunity of a lifetime, and I worry that it might become a glancing blow as I then am stuck in a different trajectory.

I know... oh woe is me, to have such petty problems. But when you get so close to something that you've been aiming for for 2 years, putting up with immense amounts of BS for just the opportunity to make an entree, knowing that you might not be getting what you need out of it is frustrating.

Frick.

Why I hate being alone in the house...

This morning I had the scare of my life...

As you may recall, DH and I had our house broken into (through the basement) earlier this year. This led to us activating the house alarm system, among other things, and probably made me more wary of every unfamiliar noise in the house.

I was in the kitchen making my morning coffee this morning when I thought I heard steps on the basement stairs (they're wooden and creaky). Since DH's father (who stays with us during the week) had already left for work, I totally freaked out... watching the doorknob to see if someone tried to turn it, thinking that someone had broken into the basement again and was trying to get upstairs. Then I realized that the alarm was on, and there are motion sensors in the basement that set it off. Since the alarm didn't go off, I tried to reason with myself that it must have been the cat on the stairs (Eliza - the cat - ran upstairs as soon as I came down, and she usually makes a tremendous amount of noise when she goes up/down the stairs.) But I was still freaking out... so I got all the stuff that I needed for work together very noisely and ran into the garage and drove away.

My heart was totally racing, I was so scared. There was no way in heck I was going to open the basement door to check it out... no way.

I did see Eliza on a dining room chair right before I left, so it was very likely her... but jeebus was I scared to death. I had to yoga breath on the train ride to get my heart rate down from heart attack speed.

Update! I got home first this evening, and the first thing that I did was go out into the backyard to see if any windows had been broken (they hadn't). Then I checked around the living room to see if any obvious stuff (the Wii) had been moved/stolen (nothing was), then I went to the basement to look around (all was the same as I left it). So I was afraid of a whole lotta nothing. Which is fine.

Name change and other things

So, I've decided to reinvent myself once again. When I started this blog, I had just finished re-reading "The Sun Also Rises" and fell back in love with the character of Lady Brett Ashley. I fancied my life as mirroring hers in some ways, which if you've read the book and know about my past, you could understand (I'm married now, so if you don't know me or know what I'm talking about I'm not going to go into it).

I've not been like Lady Brett for many, many years now (I'd say about just about 9 years), so maybe it's time to drop that alter ego in favor of something more reflective of who I am now. I'm just a girl working for NOAA, so I'm now "NOAAgirl." Nothing too radical, too allegorical, just me. And what I do.

Of course, I realize that being defined by who I work for is a little scary, but I actually really believe in most of the work that the agency is doing, and I'm quite proud to work here. There are problems, there is bureaucracy and ridiculous pet projects and all the ills that exist in the federal government, but at the end of the day, I can still feel pretty good about what I've done.

Plus, NOAA actually encompasses all of the things that I geek out about... nautical charts, fish, coral reefs, weather and hurricanes, severe storms and tornados, deep ocean research, etc. When I worked at NASA, it was cool and all, I mean, but I couldn't really love it. I mean, I was never going to visit the moon or Mars in my lifetime (probably not, anyway). But I love boating (nautical charts) and snorkling and diving and fishing (coral reefs and fish), and I totally geek out over hurricanes and love seeing footage of tornadoes (true fact: one of my dream vacations is two weeks storm chasing!). It's a good fit.

So, with that long winded explanation for absolutely no reason completed, I've changed alter egos. Not that it makes one whit of difference in the world, but whatever.

Finally, a new post!

Well, I certainly wish that there was a double meaning to the title of this post, but alas, not yet. I've been on rotation to my dream office for almost 2 1/2 months now, and despite a few cracks in the veneer (which there would inevitably be) I'm super busy and fairly happy. I wish I was getting involved a little bit more in the work of the office, but I think that I am proving that I have invaluable skills separate and distinct from what they already have, plus the background that would fit into the office needs well. Keep those fingers crossed!

DH is down in Atlanta this week at a leadership conference. We had to buy him a new suit at the last moment because the pants to the single suit he owns didn't fit anymore. Since I've known him, he's had that suit (nearly 10 years now) and he's worn it no more than 6 times - I think - in the 10 years we've been together. Two funerals, two weddings, a night at the opera and my Georgetown graduation ceremony. Hmmm maybe three weddings. He might have worn it to his brothers wedding, but since there were practically no pictures of family taken at the wedding, I wouldn't be able to remember.

Anyway, thank goodness that the suit we chose needed no extensive alterations... other than a waist adjustment and hemming, it fit like a glove. And he looks pretty damn sharp in it, if I do say so myself. In the next ten years, he'll likely wear it only another 6 times (probably three funerals, maybe a wedding or two, and his graduation from his leadership program in June). Wow, that's kind of morbid. I should watch that.

Not much else going on really. The weather has finally turned, and I'm getting ready to buy our tickets for our July vacation. Frickin' airfare. I gotta figure what we're going to do.