Oh my goodness I scored another Bag of Crap! Interesting because it was about this time last year that I got my last one. I’m super duper excited but trying not to get my hopes up too much. Last time I was very disappointed when it came in the mail. I know that it is called a bag of crap but I really thought I might score something good! By the looks of it the crap will ship on Wednesday so it’s going to be a long wait.
Share on FacebookThis year we went to the pumpkin patch in Marysville to find the perfect pumpkins! Unfortunately I don’t think that it was a very good year for pumpkins and all we found was really bumpy ones and green ones. We walked around for a bit and then decided we would have better luck at a little stand down the street from our house.
Patrick and I had a great time carving pumpkins! We realized as we were carving that it was something that we’d never done together. I really like how they turned out!
For Halloween we dressed Hunter up as a hamburger. It was a hilarious costume! The best part was when he started to chew on it. We went over to my parents house in the afternoon to visit and show off his costume, my younger brother was also there so it was fun to visit and catch up.
All in all we had a great Halloween!
Share on FacebookThis afternoon Hunter and I went to the pool my parents belong to with my mom to do some swimming, it was super fun! Hunter had never been to the pool before unless you count our bathtub. Which really isn’t a pool. He has always liked water except for the time he face planted in the tub with Patrick and I both sitting there. Woops. Don’t know how that happened. Does that disqualify us as parents of the year?
Anyway the pool was so much fun! The second I started moving around with Hunter in the pool he started kicking like a frog it was awesome. I think that he really thought he was propelling himself even though I was doing all of the work. He splashed and kicked for quite awhile it was very fun!
I wish that I had a picture to post but I don’t because I’m lame and forgot the camera. I’m not really a take pictures person. That’s Patrick’s department and he was at work.
Another fun tidbit about my day is that after having the Food Network on all morning I thought I’d try and be fancy by creating my own salad thing for lunch with (gasp) no recipe. It didn’t work out too hot for me. I mixed orzo (rice shaped pasta), white beans, lemon zest, lemon juice, feta cheese, italian dressing, salt and pepper into a bowl. It wasn’t so good. It might have been better with some tomatoes or something. I really shouldn’t experiment. Recipes are created for people like me. I don’t have a picture of this either – if I did you might throw up a little bit in your mouth because not only did it not taste that good but it didn’t look all that good!
Share on FacebookSeptember morn we danced until the night became a brand new day… Anyone know that song? Ahhh a classic from your favorite and mine Neil Diamond. Well maybe not your favorite but definitely mine.
My inspiration for today came from Deborah the Great who suggested I write about September. So here it goes. Below you will find a list about my thoughts on the month of September.
1. September usually has lovely weather where I live.
2. I used to not like the month because it meant back to school. But really that was all an act (up until college) because I liked school.
3. Now I don’t even notice what month it is because I’m a contributing member of society. That’s right. I have a job.
4. September makes me think of apples and pencils. Must be that school thing.
5. Grandma’s birthday is in September.
6. If I were to associate a color with the month of September I would choose yellow. Don’t ask me why because I won’t tell. Actually I don’t know why.
7. September is the only month that starts with S. My name also starts with S so that is neat.
8. I’m not really sure what the birthstone for September is. Anyone?
9. Sept means seven which is strange because it’s actually the ninth month of the year. Apparently September is the seventh month of the Roman calendar. Thanks Wikipedia.
10. Ok I had to look it up. The birthstone is sapphire. That is my favorite non-diamond stone!
Share on FacebookWell the bag of crap came a week and a half ago and I’ve been too disappointed to post about it. And really busy. In retrospect I should have really prepared myself for a bag of crap instead of thinking I would get something amazing that would change my life. Forever.
Ok so here is what I got:
One harddrive thing that I’m guessing doesn’t work. I don’t even really know what it is, I should probably go ask Patrick but I’m too lazy.
Two Todd’s Dirt creole seasoning
One USB mouse
One fabric wine tote that hold 4 bottles. It’s like one of those reusable grocery store bags except for wine.
That’s it a 2.9 pound bag of crap. Maybe I will get it again and get something really amazing. Maybe not.
Share on FacebookWhen people ask me what I do I usually try to avoid the question. Sometimes I try to come up with a witty response but normally I just say “I don’t want to talk about work”. I avoid the question because: I feel like it’s hard to explain what I do, the company name isn’t well known, what I do is nerdy, its not the most exciting job in the world, and did I mention that what I do is nerdy?
So here it is. This is what I do.
I am a Quality Assurance Analyst for a small software company in Renton that creates 3D design sales tools for closet and storage design. Basically I try to represent the user and find defects in the program. I sit in front of a computer all day (actually multiple computers) in a cubicle looking for bugs in the software. I also spend time creating test plans and researching what new features are going in the version. It can be boring at times but I like the aspect of needing to be organized and detail oriented. Also its pretty exciting to find bugs – especially ones that crash the program, those are my favorite!
I started working at this company right out of college (6 years ago). I worked there for a couple of years and then decided I wanted to work for a larger company that had better benefits and the possibility to move up in the company. I ended up interviewing and getting a job in the IT department at Alaska Airlines. I worked on the Flight Operations team and worked on programs that helped dispatchers, plane weight and balance, delay coding and fun stuff like that. I loved working there and not just because I could fly for free! I loved everything about airplanes so working on software that supported the day to day operations was very exciting! In the year and a half I worked there I was asked about 3 times by my old company to come back and eventually the offer became good enough that I couldn’t refuse. Alaska counter-offered but my decision had been made.
It was a good move because I would have the ability to work a more flexible schedule as well as part time if we decided to have a family. So I went back. Going back was really good but really bad all at the same time. I was so sad to leave Alaska – I cried every day for weeks when I would drive by my old office. It was on the way to work. I wasn’t stalking them. I promise. I am glad to be back to my old company though. I have more responsibility and love the applications that I am working on. It also worked out because now that we have a baby I am only working 30 hours a week.
I didn’t know how it would be to work and have a baby. I didn’t know if I would want to stay home all time time. I dreaded going back to work after my 12 week maternity leave. I was scared and didn’t know how I would balance work, baby, home, and life. Typical Salli-style I had a major meltdown. Typical Patrick-style he calmly and lovingly supported me and suggested that I should go back and try it for a few months and if it wasn’t working I could be done. There is childcare in my building so that was super convenient – Hunter just came to and from work with me and I could visit/feed him at any time during the day! I decided to work three 9 hour days in the office and the other 3 hours at home. (Actually now that I think about it when I first went back things were a bit crazy. There was a huge project that needed more of my time so I worked 40 hours a week for the first month. It wasn’t too bad and that told me that I was going to be able to make this all work out.)
Anyway if you were to ask me 10 years ago where I thought I’d be this wouldn’t have been it. I never saw myself doing a nerdy job. I never saw myself working by choice after having a baby. I never saw myself as someone that companies would want as an employee. I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Maybe at some point I will decide that staying at home is the right thing for me but right now it isn’t. The 12 weeks I was home on maternity leave were extremely difficult. That’s a whole different story for a different post.
Funny how life works out sometimes.
Share on FacebookFor most of my life I have wanted to go on a game show. More specifically Wheel of Fortune. I have no idea why. I’m not really that good of the puzzle solver, I think really it’s about spinning the wheel and the chance of winning!
I noticed that the Wheelmobile was coming to the Emerald Queen Casino so this was my chance! Patrick and I went down there and let’s just say it didn’t go well. At all. We headed down there and got in line. While in line we filled out applications and soon went into their big concert room and put or applications in a big bin. There was a tiny Wheel puzzle on the stage which looked kind of cute but a little cheesy. There were tons of people there and not the classiest group to say the least. We waited for people to file in and take their seats. Then the show started. The host guy and Vanna wanna be seemed like they had consumed massive amounts of caffine and proceeded to bounce (literally) around the stage to get people pumped up. It was nuts. They called names out of the big bin of applications 5 at a time to play a mini game on stage and kind of do a quick interview to see if they might be a good contestant. The mini game they did was pretty much taking turns guessing letter (no spinning of anything) and seeing if they could solve the puzzle. The Vanna wanna be would write the letters to the puzzle on dry erase tiles. Classy. Probably about 30 people made it up total. I was not one of them and I was actually ok with it. I felt like the whole experience was pretty bad. It didn’t match what I’ve seen on tv for Wheel of Fortune. I don’t know if that’s because I was at a Casino in Tacoma or what. Needless to say we left really quickly. I was disappointed that the experience wasn’t better and it kind of made me not want to watch the show anymore.
Here are a few fun highlights of the people I saw there:
– drunk guy 2 rows in front of us who stood on his chair and tried to predict the prizes the contestants were going to win
– lady who befriended me in line who…
1. said that people named Salli bring her luck
2. was engaged but didn’t know if she was going to marry him
3. kept telling “jokes” and would proceed to hit me on the arm
4. said she wasn’t a gambler but said “oh where’s that slot machine with the pigs, I love that one”
5. said she had to go to the bathroom really bad and asked if I went pee all the time because I’ve had a baby
– lady who got called on stage who said she won the coat she was wearing and then when asked about it by the host couldn’t figure out where she won it, why she won it, and what the logo said
Share on FacebookOne of my favorite websites to check every day is woot.com. It is a site that sells one product a day at a pretty cheap price. Sometimes the items are refurbished and they tend to be more electronics (nerd) stuff. There is also kids.woot.com, wine.woot.com, and shirt.woot.com. You can buy 1, 2 or 3 of the items and no matter the price of the item or quantity it ships for $5. It is fun to see the different items each day and if you’re lucky it will be something you want!
One of the best parts of the site is the woot-off. A woot-off is where there isn’t just one product during the day but many that they cycle though. Once they sell out it is gone and they move on to a different item. There is a progress bar showing how much is left but you don’t know the quantity of items being sold until after they are sold out. Woot-offs usually last for 24 to as much as 72 hours.
The perk of a woot-off is the infamous Random Crap or Bag of Crap (BOC). The is basically a grab bag of at least 3 items which could be lame or really good. Apparently some people have received flat screen tvs! You automatically have to buy 3 random craps at $1 each plus the $5 shipping is a grand total of $8 for your bag of crap. Sounds kind of fun right? Well it is except that they are very difficult to get. There are so many people try to get them at the same time that woot.com’s servers slow way down and they sell out in seconds. Part of the appeal is the game of trying to get the BOC before it sells out
If you know me at all you know I like games, winning stuff, and obtaining the last item of anything. For example, I will buy something at the store if it is the last one even if I don’t need it just to make sure I got the last one. It gives me some kind of rush to know that I got it. I am a master at claw machines. I have tons and tons of free apps on my iphone because I want to download them while they are free incase they start charging for them in the future (this strategy if you could call it that has definitely paid off). I get a panicky feeling where there is a long line for something even at a buffet where the food in unlimited. This is probably why I enjoy getting up at 4am to shop the day after Thanksgiving – for the sport of it all. Nothing beats buying a gas grill at 4am from Sears.
You probably can kind of see where this is going. I needed to get the BOC. I became obsessed with getting it. Luckily one of my coworkers also found the fun of trying to obtain the BOC and he read articles on how to do it and installed a tool on his computer to track items, show alerts, and automatically open the buy page when a BOC pops up during a woot-off. This definitely was better than my archaic method of refreshing the screen a million times when the item quantity was getting low to make sure I was on top of it when the item changed incase it was indeed a BOC. The refresh method isn’t all bad, one time I actually got to the payment screen and clicked the buy button and it had already sold out. That experience was super intense for me, my hand were shaking, heart racing all for nothing. After that I installed the tool and tried that. Unfortunately during the next few woot-offs there were not a BOC to be found.
Then it happened. On the second day of a woot-off this past week there was a BOC. I was ready for it. I was using the refresh method and the tool. I made it to the payment screen. Then to the yes I definitely want to buy this screen. Then I got a message saying they got my order but where trying to run my credit card and things were so slow it might not go through. I waited then my screen went white. Total panic. Did I just lose the coveted BOC? All of a sudden the screen refreshed and said it would ship in 5 days!! I had won! I got the confirmation email. Next I told everyone I knew (that would remotely care), ran over and told my coworker and did a small victory dance in my cube. Yes I was at work – we’ll call this the lunch break.
So what was in my BOC you may be wondering… it has yet to be delivered. Stay tuned for the contents of the BOC!
Share on FacebookEven thought it’s a bit after the fact I feel I must post my top ten list of comments said to me while pregnant. Stay tuned for my top ten comments said about my baby.
10.” You look really big.”
9. Conversation with person who shall remain nameless:
Noname: “Well you know… it could be twins”
Me: “No I had an ultrasound and there is definitely only one baby in there”
Noname: “Well you never know!”
Me (In my head): “Really???? I actually do know!!”
8. “Were you trying to get pregnant?”
7. “It is only going to get worse.”
6. Said to me when I was almost 7 months pregnant. “Are you pregnant?”
5. “Are you eating again?”
4. “Wow you are really big. Like your belly is really big.”
3. “You’re looking swell” (this was said to me 3 times, all by the same person)
2. Bumped into someone I knew at a restaurant here’s how the conversation went:
Someone I knew: “Salli what are you doing here?”
Me: “Going to eat some dinner”
Someone I knew: “Ohhh are you here eating for two?”
Me: “Nope, just eating dinner”
And my favorite from the entire nine months….
1. “Do you just feel like you’re an eating machine?”
Share on FacebookA little post about transportation related annoyances…
Planes – flying with the American public has to be one of the worst experiences ever. Here are some of mine:
– 6:30am flight to the Happiest Place on Earth (Disneyland) where girl behind us had stinky feet. She was wearing flip flops and would scoot her stinky toes in and out of her sandals causing the smell to move around. I almost vomited. Not the Happiest Flight on Earth.
– 6 hour flight to Kona HI where lady next to me ate massive amounts of Boston Baked Beans (the candy) and chips. She even did that thing where you lick your finger to dab up all the crumbs at the bottom of the bag. Yuck.
– Friday night flight to Vegas. 3 drunk hoochies. Almost denied boarding. Sitting right behind me. Enough said.
Trains – next time I’m getting a sleeper car
Seattle to Montana with Mom and Brother:
– person in front and behind snored all night. They didn’t even have the courtesy to do it in unison. They alternated so it was like one big constant snore.
– a mom traveling with millions (ok I think 3 or 4) really energetic/annoying boys who every time they smelled something funny would say really loud (and then each brother would repeat) “It smells like horse pucky”
– too many delays, we could have driven there and back in the same time it took to get there
Automobiles – apparently they don’t check to see if you have a brain before issuing a license
– people who drive 45 in the fast lane
– people who merge at 25
– people who don’t take a free right when they should
– currently my biggest annoyance is when the person in front doesn’t go when the light turns green. If you are in position #1 it is your job to have a rapid response off the line.
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