I forgot to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Oh well.

Anyway, I am very proud of myself because I actually cooked! I rarely cook (beyond grilling something on the foreman grill and steaming vegetables), but I had a hankering for stuffing (it being Thanksgiving and all). So I bought a chicken and stuffed it (a turkey would have been a bit much, don't you think?) And cooked it. And it came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. I didn't do potatoes, because that seemed like a lot of work and pretty silly just for me, but I bought some frozen turnips (I love turnips) and also made a little salad. Everything was surprisingly good, especially stuffing (that once in a year treat I hadn't really had in years). Lola even got in on it as I cut up some dark meat and mixed it in with her dinner (of course her nose was out of joint for the next meal when she discovered that fresh chicken was not going to be an ongoing accompaniment). So now it's nice to have some leftovers in my fridge that actually stand a chance of being eaten. Woo.

I Have a Question: I would really like to post links to some of the blogs I read regularly and enjoy, but mostly the authors of these blogs are more or less strangers to me. Is it good blog etiquette to post a link? Or should you gain approval from the blog owner first? Discuss...

So it's after midnight, I was just outside walking Lola and there are a bunch of obnoxious teenagers loudly whooping it up on the street so I go, "shuuuusssssh!" One of them goes. "shuuuush!" back to me and so I say, "you know, this is a residential neighborhood, you are walking among people's apartments, under the windows of people's homes, have a little respect". They don't answer until about a couple of minutes or later when they're all the way around the corner, then one of them yells, "slut!" I laughed out loud, and then reply, "oh yeah, I'm a slut, in baggy sweat pants and no make-up, picking up my dog's poop." If only my life was that interesting.

Okay, I am now is such a freaking bad mood. Today is the day before Thanksgiving and my Company released everyone to go home around 2:30, yet my entire department remains! So, it's not like I can really just go waltzing out of here (although I would, if my boss would just leave already!) Argh! this is so frustrating. So here I sit wasting time by reading blogs. I've even already done my ass-sucking-self-eval-year-end-review. UGH.

What is Bugging Me this Very Second: The girl who sits in the cubicle behind mine crunching (unbelievably loudly) on whatever the hell it is she's eating -- ARGH!!!!

it's driving me insane...

I enjoyed last nights Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. I felt a little sorry for the poor, deluded straight guy who was such a slave to his toupee. A toupee! I'm glad they were able to convince him to ditch it. (aside: I never knew that they glued these things to people's heads! Gaaaaah! Does not seem too healthy if you ask me). Anyway, one of the things that I think I really like about this show is that it has a heart. The Fab 5 really seem to care about the guys they make over (they also seem to really care about each other). They manage to make it funny and still be kind to the guy. The show could easily have gone in a nasty direction. Almost each episode seems to produce a straight guy who has true tears of graditude. Oh, and I must say, I really love what Thom did to that house -- it was gorgeous. Wish I could afford to have him come out to Queens and whip my little hovel into similar shape. So, for those of you who may have missed last nights episode, NBC is re-airing it tonight at 8 PM (EST).

As I sit here trying to remember what I was going to blog about, I notice that Lola is oddly absent. Damn! She's probably in the other room eating that napkin I left on the sofa. She can be sneaky, that one.

The project manager on my BIG project keeps changing the methodology and structure of the project. That means that the logic flow, applications and even the databases keep changing. Which means that I keep having to go back and change work that I've already completed. I wouldn't mind so much except that sometimes this means literally ripping the guts out of a program I spent weeks (or even months) building. Like what I've been going through all of last week and so far this week. So I completely broke my app last week. Nothing worked and I couldn't put it back together. It was like Humpty Dumpty. Imagine my panic (added to the stress of the layoffs). But I was finally able to fix it this morning. What a relief!

Speaking of layoffs. I had a nightmare on Sunday night. I dreamt that I was being laid off -- it was so real. You know how you can sometimes have a dream that seems very real, but then there is something weird about it that you can't quite put your finger on at first. Finally you have an 'aha', "oh, right. Tom Cruise is not my boss!" or something to that effect. Well, not so with this nightmare. Everything was like real life. My cubicle, the cast of characters, etc. I woke up and it took me a while to really shake the dream off. So I commuted to work with more than the usual Monday trepidation. Luckily I've had a relatively good week so far and have been able to banish the dream to the farther corners of my mind.

Minor Annoyances for Today (so far):

- People who bring small children on a commuter train.
- When you buy your whatever at Dunkin' Donuts and you're waiting for the bag, step aside so the person behind you doesn't have to reach over you to pay for their order.
- When you're getting on an elevator and there are people behind you also waiting to get on, do you think you can maybe step further into the elevator so the rest of us can get on???
- If you called and spoke to me last Thursday and confirmed my appointment with the dentist. AND called and left me a voice mail this morning to confirm again. Do not require me to call back to re-confirm! Gaaah! I'm busy enough today! (nobody is in here)

Added to the List (1:51 PM):
- HORRIBLE smell of (the chick's who sits behind me) lunch. I'm gagging bleargh.

Added to the List (7:32 PM):
- Duane Reade lost my prescription.
- My train home was late arriving to Penn Station, pulling in about 2 minutes before it was due to leave and thus causing a stampede rush for the available seats.
- The running shoes I bought this Summer are really not working out. I don't know if I just happened to get a bum pair (kind of like getting a lemon car) or that they've changed the model so drasically from last year. Either way, I am not pleased.

I took a nice, 3-mile walk with Lola this afternoon because the weather is so beautiful here and I never really get to see much of the daylight during the week this time of year. Queens is a completely different world to Manhattan, it really is. In the course of our 3-mile walk we saw 2 dogs. Literally. In Manhattan (in the neighborhood I used to live) you wouldn't be able to walk 2 feet without seeing at least a couple of dogs. And people's reaction to dogs around here blow my mind. You get everything from complete indifference, to suspicion to absolute horror and terror. At a pug. Imagine if I was walking a rottweiler or a bull mastiff or something. People are strange.

I have to say, I'm a little upset by the apparent demise of Dr. Romano on ER tonight. He was obviously not a favorite, but I think he added humor and sarcasm and a conflicted, multi-faceted villain to the show that they will be hard-pressed to replicate in his absence, I think. Certainly an edge that Carrie Weaver will not be able to provide as she come across as pure bitchiness with no humor at all (in my opinion).

I talked to my good friend Sandra earlier today. Sandra moved back to Ireland a few years ago and I miss her so much! One of these days I'll get my act together and make a trip over there to visit. Of course she was none too pleased with me to hear that I was in London in August. Said she would have flown over to meet me. Oops.

I believe that I had my singlemost worst (so far) LIRR experience this morning. Announcements of delays of 20 minutes, they then extended that to 30 minutes (while we're all standing there in the rain). Train that finally arrives was so packed, there was only room for maybe 2 more people to squeeze on (and that was by with practically standing on the toes of the people already standing there). I managed to just barely get on, but squeezed in so tight, I could actually feel and smell the hot, bad breath of the guy standing behind me (unbelievably gross). Train had to of course then stop at Forest Hills AND Woodside. There was a woman a couple of people away from me, who had dandruff (GROSS!). I felt sorry for the girl in the black sweater standing behind her, who kept having to brush off the flakes that came her way. ICK! It was such an uncomfortable ride and I was so frustrated that I literally felt myself on the edge of tears. I hate commuting!

I. Am. So. Tired. I think I'm actually getting sick. Got all those warning signs, headache, sore throat, that heavy-achy feeling. Too bad cuz I was really on a roll. It's been about a year since I had any kind of serious cold.

Gaaaah! I must have the most uncomfortable chair ON EARTH! I'm not kidding.

I'm having a relatively good day today. Especially considering how this week started out. I've been busy and productive and was able to figure out something that had me tearing my hair out on Monday & Tuesday. I love when that happens. I all of a sudden feel "smart" again.

oooooo, someone nearby is eating soup or something and it smells really good. Now I'm hungry.

Enjoyed tonight's Queer Eye. Of course I am pretty much always a fan of getting rid of the facial hair, in my opinion a beard or moustache is rarely a good look. Unless you're maybe trying to cover up a deformity or something. And I don't know what goes on in other parts of the country, but here in NYC we were treated to a cheesy, low-budget commercial for a Gay porn website (mygaydar dot com, or similar). At least I think it was for Gay porn, I can't imagine it was an ad for a hip line of clothing. Somehow I don't think this ad would be so welcome over on NBC. But I could be wrong, Gay seems to be the Black these days...

YAY! a new Queer Eye for the Straight Guy airs tonight at 10 PM (EST) on Bravo. Looking forward to it. (Yes, this is how exciting my life actually is)

Rant of the Day: The president (and owner) of the company I work for who made a point of being out of the country when the layoffs were happening yesterday. Nobody liked what happened, but be a man, step up and at least be present when your staff is being let go. Especially since many of these people worked for you for over 20 YEARS! Pisses me off.

This morning's tear-jerker Today segment featured Matt Lauer's admiration of Hospice Care Workers. A subject close to the emotions of most people who have stood over a loved one with a terminal illness. Why does NBC seem to plot these things for the exact time I'm trying to put my make-up on??? As if it wasn't already hard enough to get out the door in one piece in the morning. Sheesh.