I love my puppy!

Since losing my job a couple of weeks ago, I naturally spend a lot of time at home. I'm in a sort of waiting state where I go between worrying for my career future and enjoying my, if forced, vacation. I do leave the house, of course, to go work out or have lunch with my girlfriends or run errands or teach my class (yes, I got the gig and now am teaching Turbo Kick twice a week and LOVING it!). But, I'm definitely hanging out at home A LOT! I'm working on getting the next job lined up and pecking at my backlog of things to do. I finally fixed our home desktop computer! It was so ill, I had to kill it brutally and unequivocally and then bring it back to this world "shiny and new" as Madonna would put it. My DH is quite happy about it (I don't even use the desktop, as I have my laptop). He was finally able to install some World War II Game that the aching comp was refusing to let in previously. Great, I say, bring on the shooting noises! Speaking of games, though, with all this free time I even got to play some of my Harry Potter and Chamber of Secrets PS game that my in laws gave me at least two years ago! Yay for forced vacations! And yes, I know, I'm incredibly lame for playing video games on a lowly Play Station I. Last time I checked it was X-box's time, and I don't even know what new and pimping technological advance is the coveted dream of boys and girls nowadays.
I also spend time studying ASP.NET. The book I'm using is a tutorial that has the reader build a real website as they go along. I really like this sort of learning, and when I'm done with the book I am planning on programming a menu building application that would hold my recipes, generate grocery lists, etc.
By now, I'm sure everybody's going, "so what does all this have to do with the puppy?". Well, I did digress a little, I guess. What I was trying to tell you is that now that I'm home so much, I spend a lot of time with Hazel. And for the hundredth time I marvel at what a sweet, kind, soft, playful and totally adorable dog she is! Look for yourself! Isn't she gorgeous? During the day she's sleeping next to me while I'm studying or jumps up on my lap because she wants to cuddle. Yesterday, we played hide-and-seek. The game goes like this: I leave her with the door closed in one of the rooms and hide her toy somewhere in the house. Then I let her out and with the most urgency and wonder I can muster, I'm inquiring out loud "Where is the toy? Do you know? 'Cause I don't know. Where is it? WHERE IS IT?". And she launches out of the bedroom on her hunt. She's sniffing around and looking for the toy. Once she finds it, (which happens quite quickly), she knows she's supposed to get a treat, so without even picking it up (granted, I do go "Yay" to encourage her) she starts running towards me for her reward. Yet, I play the stern judge and tell her to go pick it up. And she DOES! And that, ladies and gentlemen, was never even taught to her! I tell you, she's the smartest dog around!
It's probably silly, but that wonderful fur ball has a miraculous ability to make everything better. Just petting her or kissing the top of her head calms me down and gives a brighter outlook. Having that wonderful dog in our lives has definitely been great. All of you, pet owners out there know what I'm talking about. And the ones who don't have a pet. Get one! You won't regret it!

Chat later,
H

Things are looking up

My DH is BACK from his business trip to Japan! And that definitely means that things are looking up. He had a great trip. He bonded with his boss, which is always good for one's career, dontcha think? He also really liked the country and we will definitely visit Japan together one day. For right now, I'm just extremely happy that he's back. I missed him tons!
I'm also over my cold, which lasted about 6 days. That's the benefit of working out regularly - all the colds and flus I got in the last few years didn't last for very long.
This week I did the three trial TK classes at the local Fitzone for Women gym. It was quite an experience! The first class I had just 4 people, two of whom were my friends I kinda forced to come. They just love me and, more importantly, they love TK, so they happily obliged. At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it! The second class, I had about 10 people already! And today the number of participants stayed the same - and that was without any "planted" students ;) . Now, this is a small gym that doesn't have that many members to begin with. So 10 people is actually quite a high number for a group fitness class there. And all this week, the ladies kept coming up to me after the class saying how much they enjoyed it. I told them to give those praising comments to the manager, as she's the one who's going to decide whether to keep Turbo Kick as a permanent class there. One lady today even said that her membership is expiring and she'd only sign a new contract contingent on my class being picked up! How cool is that? And another lady, who is leaving on a trip tonight, left her packing undone just to come to my class! It's amazingly rewarding to hear these things and to know that what you are doing is helping someone and is needed and appreciated. I was all aglow when I got back home today. So, even though, I didn't get a chance to speak to the manager after the class tonight, I am pretty sure she wants to keep me. I'll be calling her tomorrow to see what kind of schedule we can work out. I'm VERY EXCITED about this! Who would have thought that little ol' me would be teaching a group fitness class? And a class that just in three sessions already has a group of followers? It's simply WONDERFUL!
So that's the news here. Tomorrow, DH and I are having a reconnect day. We're going to spend the whole day together just hanging out - maybe go to a park or a cool downtown and walk around and do some window shopping and then have a nice dinner together. I'm really looking forward to that!

Till we meet again,
Peace out homies!
H.

As the song goes, "Take this job and shove it!"

Well, peeps, I have an abundance of bad news to share. I must have done something recently to piss off whomever's in charge up there, as it definitely pours when it rains. On the evening of my DH departure for Japan, I felt my throat going sore. I jumped in with the Cold-Eeeze right away (they are these zinc loaded candies that are supposed to prevent a full blown cold or at least shorten its duration). But it was to no avail. The next morning my throat was throbbing and I felt generally crappy. I pulled myself together and went to work. But if I thought that getting a cold was the worst thing that could have happened to me, midday I realized how wrong I was. I was called into my boss's office where I saw him and the company's controller. I thought it had something to do with benefits or time off paperwork. But I was sadly mistaken. My boss informed me that my employment at the company was "at will" and that they no longer required my services... It's kind of a strange feeling - to get fired. I have never gotten fired before. So this was my first official "let go" experience, and frankly I didn't like this feeling. "Duh!" - All of you are saying now, I'm sure.
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't all that surprised. Let me back up a little and tell you about this job I lost.
I have graduated from University of Michigan almost 7 years ago with a degree in Computer Science. I have been programming in a variety of languages and systems for 17 years. I have always loved programming from the first day of my very first programming class. But what I always loved about it was the process of being presented with a problem, then designing an elegant, robust solution for that problem and then implementing it - writing actual programs to carry out that solution. While in college, I worked on complex projects from writing thread libraries to designing web sites to creating operating systems and designing and implementing databases. The projects were interesting and challenging, and I loved it! Now, enter professional life... I guess, it's naive to think that in every day work life you'll get to do exciting things on a daily basis. But over the last 7 years, my professional duties have reduced to doing support programming and ONLY support programming. For those unaware of what that is, support programming is all about maintaining a system. My projects ranged from setting up printers to doing data dumps to adding columns to data reports to applying patches to the standard programs in the system (read "cut and paste"). I've started growing weary of this type of work when I was still working at my previous job for a large automotive supplier. I switched to my last job in hopes of doing something new and exciting again. Something that will utilize my programming abilities and challenge my creative mind. What I ended up getting was more support programming. Only now it was in a new unfamiliar to me system that I absolutely ABHORRED! The system was sooooo poorly written, so clumsy, so overburdened with tons and tons of code that could have been avoided, that it was pure TORTURE to get around in. My job for the last 10 months consisted of digging through hundreds of poorly coded lines all day long just to find the right spot to add a field, change a label, switch a logical flag or assign a variable value! I HATED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! In fact, I was so miserable and bored that my DH told me repeatedly that if I hate it so much, I can just quit. Moreover, about a month ago, I already started looking for another job. I really was getting to the point of not being able to be there anymore, as I dreaded that office and that work. Also, about a month ago, my boss called me into his office to "talk". He said he was getting the vibe that I was unhappy and inquired if that was true. I guess, my severe dislike for the job was becoming obvious. I felt that I had nothing to lose and told him the truth. That I was bored and wanted to do more of actual programming than cutting and pasting code patches and adding fields to spool files. He assured me that they didn't want to lose me and that they will get more interesting work my way... A month later I was fired. That teaches you folks about telling the truth to your employers. All your employers want to hear is how much you love being there. If you're unhappy in any way and they find out, you can consider yourself a goner. So that's the story. I might be freaking out a bit about finding a new job (natural for anyone, I think), but in truth, they really did me a favor. I, of course, would have preferred to leave on my own terms (which I was going to do the minute I had found smth else) rather than be escorted out of the building without an opportunity to even get my personal info off of the computer. Plus, it's definitely embarrassing and I have no clue as to what the management told the coworkers either. Oh well, I'll get over it. In fact, on my way home I had a thought about how I NEVER EVER EVER have to work in that DREADFUL system again, and my soul was filled with JOY! So, I'll thank them for this opportunity to take my time and pursue a meaningful employment this time, while collecting the unemployment checks :)
And hey, I can finally catch up on SOME SLEEP!

Your free bird,
H

Do you know what it means, to miss New Orleans?..

Over the Labor Day weekend my DH and I made it out to the Detroit Jazz Festival. We actually tried to get there for two days straight, but had to turn around on Saturday night, as it was starting to rain harder and harder. A couple of years ago we went to New Orleans' Jazz Fest. That was an excellent trip with tons of wonderful memories. And so, remembering the great time we had, we decided to venture out to our local Jazz Fest. Detroit's Jazz Fest is by no means a new event. It's been held annually at the Hart Plaza since 1980 and welcomed world renown musicians from Miles Davis to Sarah Vaughan. The festival has been expanding over all these years, and this time around has added two additional stages and spread up to Woodward Ave.
We're not huge fans of Detroit and didn't plan on spending the entire day at the Fest. But we did have a very nice evening out there. We saw two performances, both of which somehow ended up being at the Boogie Bayou Stage (hence the New Orleans reminiscence). The first one was a Zydeco Group called Zydeco Cha Chas. We really enjoyed Zydeco music when were down in New Orleans and it was pouring out from every store in French Quarter. And so it was definitely a good old time for us to listen to and sway with the Cha Chas ;). The second performance was by Marcia Ball. All I can say is WOW! Her music is a combo of boogie, blues, swing, rock and soul. She's an incredible pianist and you can not watch her unfazed. Your whole body starts to move and tap and clap in unison with her "get up and dance" tunes. You forget all your worries and troubles and long lists to do and just fly away with the music. She was simply marvelous! :) To round off our night we headed to Greek Town's Pegasus Taverna for a great dinner, albeit very quick as they apparently believe in the principle of getting people in and out under half an hour! And, of course, one can't visit the Greek Town without stopping at the Astoria pastry shop. After a slice of triple chocolate cheesecake and a cup of hot tea (coffee for DH) the night was officially perfect. So, if you're a jazz fan, especially a local one, try and make it to the fest next year. I know, we will!

Teaching TK while missing Hubby... Such mixed emotions

Well, I might just have scored a chance to put my TK teaching aspirations into real live action!
After playing tag for a week with a manager of a local gym Fitzone for Women, I finally got a chance to offer my services as a Turbo Kick instructor. She has heard of Turbo Jam (the at home DVD version of TK) and was interested in talking to me. That is up until the moment she heard I've NEVER taught before! You should have seen her face! It went from "That sounds interesting" to "Ummm... How do I get rid of this girl?". But no fear! Sensing her slipping away, I immediately jumped in with the offer to have just a few trial classes to see if she and the gym members will like it. And if they do, I can stay. If not, I'll leave. No huge commitment for her. She perked right back up again and offered me THREE classes on Sept 11, 12 & 14 while one of her staff instructors is on vacation. I'm SOOO excited! And nervous! IMHO, anyone who's introduced to this workout properly, can't help but fall in love :) My only fear is that I won't do it justice. But, I'm gonna practice my buns of steel off to get it RIGHT! Wish me luck!
All that was on a happy note. Here comes the sad one... My DH is leaving on a business trip to Japan! He'll be convincing the head honchos at an unnamed Japanese automaker that they really do owe his company money ;) While, I'm excited for him, as it's such a great business opportunity, not to mention it's a trip to freakin Japan! But in the worst case scenario, he'll be gone for 10 days!! Now, I understand that may not be the worst case scenario for him, with all the sushi and geishas he can get, but surely puts me in the dumps. :( I have a great relationship with my hubby and I don't think we've ever been apart that long before. I'll miss him terribly!
And, if he does stay there for 10 days, he'll miss my first real teaching experience! He's been so supportive with my TK hobby, that it's not right if he isn't here to share...
Well, I guess this little precious and I will have a
chance to catch up on the latest chick flicks. Hey, gotta try and see the positive, eh? Anyhoo, that's our news. Later dudes and dudettes!