Camper

The Office: A Reality Show

Some co-workers and I have joked for months - no years - that we work at Dunder-Mifflin. We've said that we could make our millions and get famous by having a reality version of The Office filmed at our workplace.  Here is a snippet of what makes such statements so true . . .

Our office has been battling gnats for the last few months. The problem is our department secretary waters her plants and the plants in the common areas two or three times a week. So they're too wet - hence the growing gnat population.  After forcing all of our plants to dry out for a weekend on the patio the gnats were gone but have since returned.  So, we all have until August 15th to get all of our potted plants out of the building.

The offending secretary has removed all of her plants and they have been replaced by ceramic bears and cats and birds.  You know - beautiful pieces of art like this:

A few minutes ago I was in the bathroom and overheard the following conversation:

Secretary: "I named the bird on on my cat after you."
Coworker: "Really? Why?"
Secretary: "Because it is red like your hair."
Coworker: "Oh well that's better than if it were getting eaten and you wished I would meet a similar fate."
Secretary: "Well, maybe that's part of it.  Any ideas for what to name the black bear on my flower table?"

Yeah, this is where I work. Stay tuned for the first episode of "The Office: A Reality Show" on NBC this fall.

Talk about a bad day at work . . .

We've all been there - had those days when nothing goes right.  Or you have something go wrong at work and you are sure you're gonna get fired and you feel like an idiot for a week. Well, bookmark this video and watch it the next time you have one of those days.  I'm willing to bet your "Oops" wasn't this bad! Can you imagine being the guy in charge of this demo project?! Yikes!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

A Charitable Undertaking (or Two)

I was raised to be thankful for all that I have to give to those less fortunate.  Since becoming a Mommy instilling that same moral code into Campbell's make-up has been a priority of mine.  As such I have made a point to get her charitable gifts at Christmas and make donations to St. Jude as a way of being thankful for her health.  These are all efforts that go unnoticed thus far but that create a pattern - a lifestyle to which I can point back to when teaching her later.  In that vein I am undertaking two new charitable projects . . .

The first is one that I have long wanted to do, several of my friends have done but that I have failed on in multiple attempts in the past - that being to grow my hair out for Locks of Love.  My hair grows unbelievably slow!  And not being the most patient person on earth I have given up about halfway to that seemingly unattainable 10 inches before.  So, I'm thinking if I announce my goal here then I can't back out again. 

The second undertaking is my participation in the upcoming March for Babies.  The March for Babies is an annual fundraiser for the March of Dimes.  Like my now annual donation to St. Jude, my desire to help out the March of Dimes is a direct result of how overwhelmingly lucky I feel to have a perfectly beautiful and healthy little girl. Unfortunately not everyone is so lucky and it seems to me only fair that I do all I can to help those who are not as fortunate.  (And I have to admit that the superstitious side of me is also calmed somewhat by the hope that this helps even the scales and buys me some more good fortune when it comes to Campbell's safety and well-being.)

The Danville March for Babies is May 9.  Shana and I have started a team, if you are in the area and would like to join our team let me know.  If you can't come walk but want to help me raise money in honor of Campbell's health and our good fortune you can donate to my walk fund by clicking the link below. If you want to find a walk in your area and raise money on your own you can do so by visiting Marchforbabies.org.

Doing Our Little Piece to Help the Economy

Approximately six weeks ago when the start of the NFL season loomed and my hopes for once again winning a chunk of money from fantasy football had not yet been torn to shreds with Tom Brady's knee ligaments, Adam finally wore me down and I agreed to the purchase of a wide screen HD television.  And of course, with this new toy a new cable set-up became "necessary" so that we could get the HD NFL  Sunday Ticket package. So, Ad called our local cable outfit and told them we wanted to switch from Dish Network to DirectTV because the latter holds a very free market-type monopoly on the NFL packaging.  Our lovable cable guru guy told him no problem, they can switch out all the equipment and switch our service and take care of everything.  Everything.

So, by "everything" and "switch your service" we apparently were crazy to think that meant they would actually switch our service and do everything there in. A couple days ago we recieved a bill for two months worth of service from Dish Network. Yeah, that equipment has been sitting in our office for the past 7 weeks as we waited for the boxes that our lovable cable guru guy told us Dish Network would be sending us because we'd switched services.

I just got off the phone with our lovable cable guru guy's phone girl and she informed me that by "everything" and "switch your service" they didn't mean that they would actually cancel the Dish Network service. They came and took the equipment down, got the new service going and told us we were "all set" but failed to tell us that we were responsible for canceling the service we no longer needed because we had switched service and they had taken care of "everything."

So, thanks to the failed communication skills of our lovable cable guru guy (and no, repeating that phrase is NOT making me love him one bit right now), we owe for a month of service we couldn't have used if we'd wanted to because the equipment has been sitting in a corner in our office. So, basically we're paying $92 for the extra remote Campbell has been carrying around the house.

Welcome to the world Colby Brant

The other night Grannydots, Campbell and I went to meet my friend Carrie's new baby boy, Colby.  He is adorable with a thick head of hair (and we thought Campbell had a lot of hair when she was born!).  Campbell got a little jealous when I held Colby - she cried and fussed and Grannydots had to pick her up.  Just confirmation to my decision not to have more kids. But she did love the "baaabeee" and giggled while gently patting him.

I think much more than the baby though she enjoyed playing with Colby's big sister, Mary Daniel. Doc - as Adam calls her - is such a sweetie! She is obsessed with shoes and did a little footwear fashion show while we were there.  We saw bunny slippers and princess shoes (I called them slippers and was quickly corrected) and crocs . . . She also enjoyed playing dress-up with Campbell.

We all decided Campbell could do a good Elton John for Halloween.

Proud to be a Colonel!

Forbes just released it's top college rankings and I'm thrilled to report that my alma mater is ranked #13 in the country! Go Centre! While still falling behind the giants like Harvard and Yale, we do come in ahead of MIT, Smith and Stanford. Not too shabby!

 

And this news comes on the day after touring the new Pearl Hall dorm that will open this year. Mom took me, Adam and Campbell on the grand tour and that place is ridiculously nice. I'm so jealous.  I thought I had it easy living in Hillside and Bingham for three of my four years but this place is The Ritz compared to those dorms. 

Campbell's little eyes were aglow with visions of hosting study sessions in her suite's living room in another 18 years or so . . . What a wonderful mental picture! (And I'm sure she was envisioning study sessions, not parties. Yes, definitely study sessions!)

Look at that doggie in the window . . .

Woof! Woof!

Okay, I admit I stole this from Adam's site but I had to post it here, too . . . because this is what life at our house feels like sometimes with the Fitzy Man around.

Tiny Dog Has Been Barking Nonstop For 6 Years

Good thing Westies are so darn cute!

Mom, Dad . . . I Need Gas Money

I'm in shock. Gas prices JUMPED over night in good ol' Central Kentucky.  On the way home yesterday when I was in too big a hurry to stop and fill up the tank, gas was $4 a gallon.  This morning when I had to stop to get gas so that I wouldn't have to walk the 55 miles to work - gas is $4.15 a gallon! Yup. It took $40 - 40 BUCKS - to fill up my little bitty 9 gallon Prius.

All I know is if these kind of prices don't curb America's preference for gas-guzzling two-ton pick-ups and SUVs then our gluttony is incurable. There is no way I would (or even could if I wanted to) drive a big old SUV that gets 10 mpg and costs $60 or $70 or more to fill up.  The $40 this morning hurt bad enough and that tank cost half what the guy next to me spent for his Dually and it will last me two or three times as far.

Adam and I were pondering what these prices must be doing to high school joy riders across the country. I can remember paying 89 cents a gallon when I started driving.  With those prices $5 could last me all week including several trips back and forth to school, track practice and friends houses PLUS going out on Friday night.  Today $5 barely gets a kid a gallon of gas that might get them to school and straight back for a day or two.  Times they are a changing . . .

We're headed to the movies tonight for Ad's birthday (big 33) we'll have to see if there is much summertime cruising going on.

Sleeping on the Job - It's a Good Thing

Is two days before my annual review a bad time to send this Newsweek article to my boss? It appears that taking short naps - 20 minutes is the recommended length - increases productivity while reducing some health risks.  Hmmmmm . . . Sounds good to me especially today - the combination of a teething baby and stress over the future of a beloved pet have left me sleepless the last two nights. 

I wonder if anyone would notice if I crawled under my desk . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Full Monty

PARENTAL ADVISORY WARNING: Some of the images below may not be suitable for young eyes.

Well, our vacation is coming to an end and I am very sad to say so. It has been a wonderful week. With the exception of some rain this morning it has been picture perfect beach weather. Speaking of the beach . . . we took our last trip to the beach this afternoon and got some great shots of Campbell playing in the sand and took a video of her swimming (that will be posted when we get home as we (insert Adam) forgot the computer cord).  It was a memorable trip to the beach - to put it mildly.

To give a little context we are staying at Kiawah Island off the coast of Charleston, SC.  For those not familiar with Kiawah it is a private community where my family has been coming for vacation for years.  One of our favorite past times while here is riding bikes or walking the beaches to marvel at the ENORMOUS homes all over the island.  Each vacation is a visit to Ritzville and a chance to see how the other half - or to be more accurate the other two percent - lives. All of that to say that the beach at Kiawah is not where you expect to get flashed and yet . . .

There we were taking pictures of our sweet baby girl in her sweet little pink daisy swimsuit when Adam gasps and says "I was not expecting that!"  I turn to get an eye full of boobs and, yes, the full monty (thankfully not on the same body).

 

I am just hoping Campbell is looking at the stick beside her and not the crew in the upper left of the screen.

That is Adam's shot of my reaction to the unexpected vajayjay.

So, now that I have dispensed with the shock value segment of this post we will commense with the aw value . . . A few more shots of Little Miss.

Gotta love those thighs! I keep telling her to enjoy it now because this is the only time in her life when thighs that fat are so darn cute!