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Archive for the 'Mini Red' Category

Nov

Baby It’s Cold Outside

By Red 3 Comments

Categories: Mini Red, movie and music
Tags: Mini Red, music

Mini Red and I caught some of the movie Elf last night after a particularly kick butt round of wrestling. It was the first time she was able to get out of Mommy Leg Jail but I had to release her or fall off the bed on my head.

She has become quite a worthy opponent even though I explained that she needs to, realistically, let me win a little because I’m old. Thus if I feel I can win, a little, I would be more willing to engage in the wrestling arena with her since I would still feel that I have somewhat of an upper edge and a chance to win. Seriously, who would engage in such wrestling if you know you would lose. Well, I guess Mini Red does but at least she has the knowledge that as she grows she also gains an upper hand and ultimately can overtake Mom.

Brotha-Man and I would wrestle with Dad. I’ll never forget the day we won and became “KINGS OF THE HILL” because we were finally strong enough to beat Dad. We never wrestled again.

Anyhow… So we stopped mid wrestle to see my favorite part of Elf where Zooey Deschanel sings “Baby It’s Cold Outside”. This woman has an amazing voice.

Sep

I feel sorry for the kids today

By Red 3 Comments

Categories: Mini Red
Tags: school

I am so lovin technology!

Minie Red might not be feeling the same way… All the time. Especially when I can check her grades online.

Whenever one of her teachers updates her grades I get notified. So a few weeks ago I noticed some pretty crappy work on her part and I came down on her. I even took her cell phone away. The main purpose of the cell phone is for the weekends with her Dad so it wasn’t a big deal for me. It was, however, a big deal for her.

Since that time she has stepped up her game. Last week she was studying for an upcoming test in History class. She even made flash cards and we had fun working on it together. Well here we are almost a week later and I find that she kicked ass on that test.

Last night, after I got home from my fantastic date*, she and I were laying on my bed watching TV and I turned to her and said, “I’m so proud of you!“

She looked really confused.

I said, “Does it feel good to hear that?”

“YES!”

“You kicked butt on that History test! I know you studied hard for that test and it paid off. Plus it was fun studying with you. Doesn’t this make you want to keep up the good work?”

“Yeah this is a good feeling.”

This morning I got an email that more grades have been updated. One of the classes she is taking is Health. The grade in Health dropped a bit after the last test she had. I’m not worried about it though but her last test in Health was a bit thought provoking. She got a C and the test was on Mental Health. I would say that means she is about average a/k/a normal. Thank Gawd!

*See, I mentioned you!

Sep

Certifiable!

By Red 1 Comment

Categories: Mini Red and work

Last week I was in a class for three days doing some serious studying so I could pass my ITIL Foundations Certification.

When I first started with this company back in December that was one of the first things I heard about. “The ITIL Way” was new to me back then. So I took the course early on and I had two things working against me then. I was brand, spanking, new to this HUGE company and I was horribly sick for my first two months here. This was when I first tried to learn ITIL. so I’m sure you can guess how that all went. Evidently, I wasn’t the first to take the course and not pass. I was devastated none-the-less.

Work has been extremely busy since then and I was finally able to sign up to take the course again… Last week. I definitely understand all the concepts of “The ITIL Way” but taking tests is not my fortay plus this exam comes from the UK and their word choices aren’t exactly like ours.

The first day of classes was a bit frustrating and nerve wracking but the instructor assured us it would all come together by the second day. Both nights I studied and worked on memorization but the second night Minnie Red had gotten herself into a heap of trouble. I had already taken the TV from her room because I really don’t see the purpose plus its a distraction. Last Wednesday I took her computer and her cell phone. The purpose for the phone is when she visits her Dad and I had been warning her that she could lose it if she doesn’t shape up.

Losing the cell phone left her wailing like a banshee. I maintained my cool for a while but my breaking point hit especially because she was keeping me from studying. My redhead temper came out… Oye! Unfortunately, it didn’t scare her because in the apartment I won’t yell like I might in the car and believe me I can yell.

Minnie Red is just being a typical teenager and I’m not going to continue with some of the silliness she is bringing. Mom is taking her down a notch or at least trying because she is one STUBBORN girl.

So come Thursday morning I was tired and hadn’t done my practice test. I figured I was doomed to fail. I got to the classroom and promptly took the practice exam cold. Passed! Not by a lot but it was passing. class started for the day and by noon we took a second exam… Passed! Still not by a lot but slightly better than the first exam. By one thirty the proctor arrive to administer the exam and by two we were working it out. I didn’t take the full hour for the 40 question exam and nervously turned it in.

I couldn’t help but worry what would happen if I didn’t pass this time. I hadn’t heard of anyone going back for a third time.

Today the email came with my results:

PASSED!

Thank goodness!

I can’t tell you what a relief that is and I did better than I had done on either of the practice exams. So I am now ITIL Certified but I like to just say I’m Certifiable.

Sep

The best reporting I’ve seen on Hanna so far…

By Red 4 Comments

Categories: Mini Red and weather

Aug

Chaos and Mahem

By Red 2 Comments

Categories: Beach, Mini Red and friends

Well that’s how my life feels lately.

August has been jam packed and it isn’t over yet. The wedding in Chicago is this weekend and I haven’t even packed yet. At least I did grab Mrs. M’s and my bridesmaid dresses and mailed them. Gawd I hope nothing goes wrong with that… I paid enough so it shouldn’t.

I finally replaced my running shoes. I was having shin splints and finally realized the bottom of the shoe was almost worn through. When I went in the store yesterday I got the distinct feeling the girl wanted to slap me. I got the lecture on how I could have hurt myself and I have to look at the bottoms of the shoes once in a while. Not sure when I’ll be getting out there to run again but I should be bouncing down the road with these new shoes.

Minnie Red started 8th grade today. Jeeze! I remember when she was in 6th grade and pointing out the 8th graders at the bus stop. Now she’s one of them. I took her shopping last night for an outfit for the first day of school. She choose a mini skirt ensemble and I was happy to see she wore shorts underneath this morning. I drove her to the bus stop and she promptly shooed me away because she is an 8th grader now and too cool to have Mom hanging around.

With any luck I’ll finish the video I’m making, for the Bride and Groom, tonight. Then I’ll be able to plans some outfits and pack. Mrs. M is already packed because she is just that together.

I’ve gotten more photos from the Birthday weekend and… They will not be posted. Ok well… Maybe one:

More has been written about the weekend and can be read here and here including a photo of Wesley Snipes taken at Seacrets.

See you in September.

Feb

The big catch up ( I know… Unoriginal title)

By Red 5 Comments

Categories: Graphics, Mini Red and work

I guess I haven’t written much lately which is evident when people start contacting me to see if I’m ok.

Mid December I came down with a cold and the next day I started a new job. I was terrified about leaving my old, small, company and starting with The Borg. That first week of the new job I was also finishing up my Illustrator class and still had a lot to do to complete my final project. That final project was tough and took weeks to complete due to the details.

Our first project was easy and was all about just learning the Illustrator tools. The second project pushed us into drawing a writing tool. This one was tough but I learned a lot. The third project was much easier and we had to design the front and back of a CD case. I hated what I did but I met all the objectives. Then it was time for the final project and for this one we had to draw a transportation vehicle. It was hard to find a photo of what I wanted to draw but in the end I took a photo of a friend’s 69 Cougar.

The tough part about drawing this car is the reflections that include trees and buildings. My drawing needs clean lines. Plus you’ll notice the inside of the car is unfinished. I talked to my Professor to make sure but I would have to use some of my own artistic licensing to pull it together.

Just getting started was probably the toughest part. That last week I had started the new job, was sick and worked till after 1am every night but when I sat down to work on the car I have to admit I enjoyed it. Mini Red would be sleeping and the TV was on for background noise and there were no distractions… Just me and the Cougar. In the end I was pretty happy with the result.

Hopefully, it’s difficult to see all the little details it takes to pull this together. To give you an idea of the details I took the front tire, which took me most of a Saturday, and broke it down in the picture below.

I was so happy to turn this in. I tried to take it easy the next day at work and was feeling like the cold was going away. I got through the day and even met up with a friend that evening. The next day was Saturday and the goal was to finish up the Christmas shopping I had put on hold. Christmas was only a few days away and I needed to finish so I could wrap on Sunday because Monday I had to work and Christmas was Tuesday. But on Saturday I was feeling worse and it all went down hill from there. It took all day and I was everywhere but I did finish. This was the Saturday that I also ran into issues with FN.

By Monday I finished up working then more wrapping and had to lie down for just an hour before we had to head off to the big family Christmas Eve party. Thank goodness for Mini Red because she loaded the car so I could finish up and get ready. We were late but I dropped Mini Red off and headed over to The Folks to unload the car before I could get to the party. It was a long night and I didn’t get much sleep since I can never seem to sleep anywhere but in my own bed.

Christmas Day was crazy. 7:30am Mass, opening gifts, off to my Aunt and Uncle’s for brunch and dropped Mini Red at her Dad’s. I hadn’t stopped for weeks I was sick and just couldn’t do one more thing. When I got home I sat on the fat ass couch and fell asleep mid flip of the TV stations. I finally got some sleep and I was thrilled Christmas was over. Hopefully, I could feel better soon.

But the cold continued into this horrendous cough. I wasn’t sure what to do since I hadn’t gotten my insurance cards yet. Mom mentioned the Minute Clinic and they were able to give me a prescription. It helped a little but I was told I would probably still cough for a few more weeks. The cough finally started subsiding by the end of January just in time for Mini Red’s 13th birthday.

Mini Red’s big gift from me was to see Cirque Dreams at the Hippodrome in Baltimore. I took Mom too and she ended up buying us dinner at Maggie Moore’s. We had such a great time except Mini Red had been sick all weekend. I’d never seen her like that and all she did was sleep. She was feeling better in time for the show but couldn’t stop her nose from running. At one point she just stuffed tissues up her nose during the show.

Unfortunately, I came down with something else the next day which brought the cough back and worse than ever. At least I had my insurance cards now so I went in to see a doc. I was put on this inhaler and it’s helping but still having to use it. Hopefully, one more week will do it.

Lastly, I’ve decided not to take a class this semester. I need to finish getting better and make sure I’m doing well on this new job. Plus I’m hoping to have a little more of a social life. From what I hear this was the semester to take off. A friend that did decide to take the class HATES it.

So now you are caught up and I will try to post a bit more.