Swine

Hey, guess what?? It's 1PM on a sunny, beautiful Friday afternoon and I AM HOME EARLY!! I was supposed to be off a few days this week and kissed that goodbye when 'one meeting wedged in on a morning I was supposed to be off' turned into 'and add an afternoon meeting so now I'll be working that day' turned into 'ah, heck....just work'. So many reports due this time of year....so little time. But I did manage to wedge in getting out of my office around noon for a 'half day non-work day'. GO, ME!!

Our office dressed as Swine Flu today - bright pink (Bubblegum) t-shirts with the word 'flu' prominently on the front - black paint used to spray paint and a stencil to keep the letters pink - with pig hats, surgeons masks, booties for our feet, disposable stethoscopes, etc. And fake coughing wherever we went to visit.

Our admin building were 'Survivor DOA DOA (District Office Admin) - but Dead on Arrival was OK with them, too. They even built a 'shelter' in their office and had tiki torches everywhere and lizards on skewers over the fire pit. They had scratches and wounds all over - bandages with 'blood' showing and lip liners used to create very realistic scratches on their arms and legs. They custom-made t-shirts with our town's name and their tribe name....it was really well done.

The Student Services building were all clowns and they were great! We had a fun morning of breakfast together...and still managed to be productive! And we all watched the school kids parade in their costumes - that is always a treat!

B. called from work to say 'hey, I got a raise!' - 30 cents an hour more. He has no idea how or why but he's happy! He wants to go to dinner to celebrate....so I asked if he was buying. Just kidding! Since I'm home early and he'll be home just after 3, we might be able to swing a dinner out -

We have a zillion things to do this weekend. We are having the carpets and tiles cleaned this week so we're going to be working on moving non-big items out to the garage or wherever we can find room for them that's not carpeted or tile - which doesn't leave a lot of space other than bathrooms (linoleum). I need to clean my closet big time - time for the 'year end give away' for Goodwill. And the yards are a mess - our new neighbors have topped 6-8 feet off every tree in the backyard! They needed it - but a lot of leaves (even more than the usual zillion) are now in OUR yard and we need to clean those up before the winter rains start and we end up having leaf and mud soup!

It was 67 degrees in the house last night and H. came downstairs DRESSED IN SHORTS AND A SHORT SLEEVED T-SHIRT and said 'we need to turn the heat on! It's freezing in this house'. I refused and said 'go put on some clothes appropriate for cooler weather. When you're walking around the house in long pants, long sleeve shirt, shoes and socks and a sweatshirt and you're STILL freezing, THEN AND ONLY THEN will we turn on the heater'. I'm a penny-pinching shrew - but I'm on a mission to have another month of only a $300 electric bill (vs. the $700 and $600 bills we've had in the two prior months, respectively). Bwaa-ha-ha.....

Maybe I should wear a witch hat and a cape and answer the door holding a broom tomorrow night. Naaah....swine flu is much more fun. Especially when I start coughing. People really freak out at my cough.....