Busy, busy, busy!

I wanna know one thing. Just one thing today. Okay???

Who decided to make December the busiest month of the year? I mean, really, does everything have to happen all at the same time? And does it really need to coincide with icy roads and fog so thick you can't see your hand in front of your face? Come on. Can't we rethink this a bit and spread things out a little bit? Okay, so maybe that's more than one thing.

I'm only half kidding. Truly this is my busiest month of the year and today is only the third day and I'm already stressed out. I have to keep reminding myself to breathe and relax, which is no easy task when you have deadlines and places to be where you must arrive on time.

I'm fortunate to be able to work from home. However, sometimes that backfires on me a bit. For example, I accepted a transcription job this weekend that should have been okay. About three hours of tape from a medical conference, transcript due on Monday. What I wasn't informed of, and hadn't counted on, is that it's an international conference. There are accents from Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, and the UK. They talk fast. They use $50 medical words that I usually have no problem with in American, but with a heavy Italian or French accent at staccato rates of speed. . .well, let's just say it's not pretty. I seriously doubt I'm going to make the deadline on this one. One of the doctors talks in a rhythm that's like a seesaw, barely breathing it seems, and making it very difficult to tell where one sentence ends and the next begins. Top that off with a thick Italian accent punctuated with lots of 'ums' and 'uhs', throw in some medical terminology, and you've got stress with a capital S for this transcriber. I can only manage to work on it for about 20 minutes at a time before screaming in frustration.

I also deal casino games for a local place that provides a "Las Vegas Experience" at private parties and fundraising events. It's what I term my 'fun job'. December is our busiest month and this year it's off the hook. I worked two parties on Thursday, one Friday, one Saturday, and another tonight. Usually I deal blackjack, but occasionally I run the roulette table (like last night) or deal Three Card Poker or Let It Ride.

Needless to say, this cuts into my time for dealing with the aforementioned, heavily-accented medical conference transcript. ACK! Something tells me it's not all going to get done. Frantic email has been dispatched to the transcript folks and hopefully we'll figure out some alternatives.

On a brighter note, I've had contractors crawling around my house for the past week and yesterday they finished! My upstairs bathrooms both have beautiful tile floors now where once was wall-to-wall beige carpet. Yep, you read that right. Wall-to-wall, even around the toilets. UGH! It's something that I've been meaning to have done since I bought the house. It's only taken me six years to get around to it! In addition to the floors, I have brand new, low-flow toilets that are what they call 'comfort height,' which means they are the same height as a chair. It's strange at first, but I'm getting used to not plunking when I ascend the throne (so to speak).

The contractors also 'relocated' a starling that had gotten way too clever for its winged self. It had figured out how to lift the flap that hangs over the exterior opening of a vent on the side of my house and had made itself right at home in there. Every morning and every evening, I'd hear it scratching and squawking in the wall (fortunately confined by the metal pipe). My cat went crazy and I looked like a madwoman pounding on the wall and shouting such hospitable things as, "Get out you _____ing bird!" Which of course had little to no affect on the starling, except perhaps to cause it to squawk a little louder. So the other day, upon its return from a day of gliding on the wind and hunting for various grubs, it found the entrance to it's little haven blocked by some heavy-duty screening. Took the little bugger about two days to give up trying to get back in. I can only suppose that it's now found a new home in another vent on someone else's house! Ah, peace!

With all this going on, I did have one day that was kind of slow. Gee, it seems long ago now. I remember it fondly. Here is the result:



Three more wash cloths, these are designated for another friend who recently purchased, with her SO, their first house. Thus the houses, dual hearts, and first Christmas tree. She makes her own soaps, but I'll get a nice bar to go with these anyway. Or maybe some scented massage oil. Hmmmm. . .

Until the next flurry, my bloggy friends! Hope your December isn't as hectic as mine!