It's been a couple of up and down weeks lately. The call center has been busy. It's that time of year. Bad weather, and people staying home more conspire to call us at all hours. We've been hiring like crazy to get people in and trained to take calls, but there still aren't enough people to handle the call volume. So there has been overtime available. Good thing since the holidays are right around the corner. Plus, got the check for my unused sick time from last year, 2 weeks early.

The down side is that my cat of 13 years, Rascal, passed away last weekend. He had been a truly awesome companion. Used to catch dragon flies and field mice and leave them by my car door, lined up neatly in a straight line. Played with all three of my nephews. Knew how to open doors. We didn't pet him. He didn't like it for some reason; he petted us instead. Used to sit behind us on the chair or sofa and pat our heads. It's so strange not having him meet me at the door when I come home in the morning; or wait for me at the kitchen entry in the afternoon to get his treat for the day.

People have been inundating me with offers of kittens Most don't understand when I say no, politely. Surprisingly, it's the 10 and under crowd who understand the most when i tell them: 'if your Aunt/Uncle/Cousin/Sibling died, would you go out and get another one right away'? I'm going to wait at least a couple of years before I think of getting another cat. Wouldn't be fair to the new guy to constantly be compared to it's absent sib.

I'm just going to keep telling myself that Rascal is off catching dragon flies and field mice. And having a wonderful time.

Dishes, dusting, and vacuuming were accomplished w/in a few hours on Friday. Then, it was time for fun. It's been fairly warm in this area (over 75F degrees). I don't do too well going out for extended time in the sun. I tend to turn bright red with white polka dots. I've alway said I was genetically engineered for cool, damp weather. Mom is from Yorkshire, England. My dad's parents came from Holland. So, I do my best to avoid direct sun and heat. Sun poisoning is not fun at all.

I work 4-10 hour shifs, and get to have 3 days off in a row. So, most of Friday and Saturday were spent watching dvd's and movies. I re-watched most of Season 5 NCIS, and my favorites from past seasons. Driven and Bloodbath still rank amongst my favorites. I also went back and re-watched 'Dead Man Talking' because of a forum discussion. It is as good as I remembered. I would never, ever want to face Gibbs when he's holding a gun. VERY scary.

And since I finally found a dvd copy, I watched 'Crocodile Dundee'. Yes, I know, it's a cheesy movie. But it's a FUN cheesy movie even after 22 years. Scary to think that I saw it in the theatres 22 years ago. I am SO old. ( and yes, that was my guilty viewing pleasure)

I also went and saw Hellboy II with some friends. It is the best movie I've seen this year. Iron Man was excellent, but Hellboy II beats it hands down. It's even better than the first. I know I sound like some sort of fanboy....but still!

The powers that be have helped me stick to the 6 hours a week of television. They saw fit to cancel 2 of the new shows that I liked: New Amsterdam and Moonlight. It's a pity, they were pretty well done, and the cast were pleasant to look at. Oh well, life goes on. Only a day and a half til the season finale of NCIS! I want to see it, but then that means that I'll have to wait 4 to 5 months for the new season.

It also occurred to me that CBS has been on a roll lately with wielding the axe both literally and metaphorically on their forensics shows. They killed Warrick on CSI (of course, after the actor being busted for possesion of distribution quantities of narcotics..), Alexx on CSI-Baywatch (oops, I mean Miami), and now the pending demise on NCIS. Hmmmm, I wonder if that is a cost saving measure...

Gibbozzo tagged me for 5 random things about myself, so here goes:

1. Embarrassing things: I happen to love the cheesiness that is Meatloafs' music. I got a new MP3 player and spent a good lump of time loading my favorite songs. (see....Rod Stewart is NOTHING compared to the fun that is Meatloaf Aday)

2. I am a pretty good cook. I can make anything from 7 cheese ravioli from scratch to pot roast in beer gravy. I've also been known to sacrifice dozens of eggs and pounds butter and cream to make the perfect cake. Only problem: I'm a good representation of 'Once past the lips, forever on the hips'...

3. I collect comic books. My nephews brag about it to all their friends. My hobby even got me a part time job in a comic book shop. Worked there for almost 10 years. It was a blast. And despite that, I still can't stand the Iron Man comics. Which makes my love of the current movie very inexplicable; although I have to confess Robert Downey Jr. delivered a great performance, and looked pretty good doing it too.

4. My favorite romantic movie of all time is 'The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, 1947'. Gene Tierney and Rex Harrison were superb. The runner up has to be 'Anna and the King', with Jodie Foster and Chow Yun Fat.

5. I have a large library, a good portion of which are books on the paranormal. I've been fascinated by ESP, hauntings, and other unusual occurence since I was a child. My parents may never have understood why I was reading what I did, but they never told me I couldn't read it. Which is probably why I have the ability to read a book or more a day. I once passed the local bookoutlet in the mall without going in. When I walked by later in the day, the clerks were standing at the entrance, and they asked me if they had offended me in any way or if there was anything wrong. You know you spend too much time in a store when a clerk helping another customer, asks you if they have a particular book in stock.

Any one else want to have a go? Have fun.

This has been the week from hell. First, it's the cold that will NOT die. By all rights I should not be able to breathe, having coughed up at least 3 lungs. Which makes work difficult considering I work in a call center.

And now, well into spring, Mother Nature decides she is going to dump SNOW on me AGAIN. Snow should NOT be falling on the 20th of April in the Puget Sound. It really shouldn't.

Think I'll put in my NCIS dvd's and ignore the icky white stuff. Maybe it will go away. On the plus side, my 9 year old nephew seems to enjoy watching NCIS with me. Being a horror fan from the age of 2 (his parents never seemed to edit what he was allowed to watch-an argument for another day), he isn't freaked out by the autopsy scenes. His favorite is Abby. He thinks she dresses 'weird', but she can do cool stuff. There is hope for his part of the family yet.

Finally fought off the flu bug. Just in time for the attack of the killer cold. There is no justice. The only thing that makes the week worth it so far is the new episode of NCIS. The writing was good, the acting was better. Not to mention the characters all looked VERY good. The costuming department should dress Gibbs in that sweatshirt & jacket combination more often. He looked good enough to eat with a spoon......

I'm going to take some cold medicine and collapse. And hopefully have some nice NCIS dreams while I'm at it.