What's in a number

We start counting to 10 with fingers and toes.

We grow and hit the double digits with big fanfare. Being 10 was awesome.

We ascribe perfection to 10.

And of course there is the Jack Bauer 10-minute rule (i.e., Jack Bauer can get anywhere in LA in 10 minutes regardless of the time of day or how far he needs to travel).

But today 10 is how long my Jack Bauer and I have been married.

Happy Anniversary, my love.

Another Active Duty First

So yesterday I had my first experience with military medicine.

Actually it wasn't bad at all. No forms to fill out even though I was seeing a new doctor. Just had to show my ID. That is pretty nice.

Polite receptionist, funny nurse, very interested doctor. And I was in and out very quickly. Not bad at all.

SNOW!!!

Just a couple weeks ago, I posted on Facebook how much I was missing the snow that they were getting back in Middleville. And today it is snowing at my house in Cav Canyon. And actual decent flakes and it is sticking to the ground. Sounds like last year, they closed the post when they got an inch of snow. That is one single inch. Interesting to see if they do that again.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes yesterday. The first day of work went well. It was very nice that they had an assignment for me to work on. I love editing and learning new style guides so it made the afternoon fly by. The group I am training with right now is a great group of seven women editors. Fantastic!

Off to work

After an amazing experience with Tastefully Simple this weekend, I am off to work at a full-time day job this morning. Having been unemployed for 7 months, I am looking forward to this structure in my time and some added cash in my wallet.

Wish me luck as I will be tackling an entirely new subject matter. And I am not used to getting up this early.

Catch you later.

Just the short of it

While I was busy making plans for my last two weeks before starting my job, the universe had other plans. I start next Monday. So in my last week of domestic-ness I got to get movin'. And I will be out of town Friday through Sunday. Maybe a list is in order.

• Make list (Monday).
• Finish painting bedroom (Monday & Tuesday; couldn't get it all done today). There is glue on the ceiling, btw. Itsdone!Itsdone!Itsdone!
• Get clothes ready for first week of work, including ironing.
• Download, print, and complete all the paperwork I need to take on Day 1.
• Vacuum and clean floors.
  
• Clean bathrooms.
• Clean out and organize living room "organizational system" (i.e., the storage ottoman).
• Straighten up second office.
• Take care of Moo after her "procedure" to remove the owie on her lip (Tuesday). She seems to be recovering nicely. Suture line looks good. We'll get pathology results in a few days. No chewing on bones for two weeks (this will be a tough one for the champion chewer). Poor girl, had to have half her face shaved, whiskers and all.
  
• Pack for trip (Thursday).
  
• Go to Tastefully Simple on Tour in San Diego (Friday through Sunday).
• Make menu for next week so Jack Bauer can go to the commissary on Sunday before I get home.
  

That seems like enough to keep me busy for a few minutes.

Good News from Iraq: 2 Feb 2009

From WSJ, Iraqi Election Officials Begin Vote Tally. Check out the slideshow here.

BAGHDAD -- Election officials here turned to the daunting task of counting millions of ballots after Iraqis voted Saturday in provincial elections that saw little violence but less-than-expected turnout.

While the election itself went fairly smoothly, observers say it's critical that the polling--and now, the counting of ballots--be perceived as free and fair. A successful election would provide a shot of confidence for the Iraqi government as U.S. forces begin to pull back combat troops from cities at the end of June.

That pullback is based on a timetable set out by a security pact agreed between Washington and Baghdad last year that would see a complete withdrawal from the country by the end of 2011. The Obama administration is seeking ways to speed that up. A relatively corruption- and violence-free election could provide more ammunition for both U.S. and Iraqi officials to accelerate the drawdown.

Iraqi security forces had braced for widespread violence, but no major incidents were reported. Elections officials said there were no serious technical problems during voting on Saturday, which was the first time Iraqis administered elections on their own in the post-Saddam Hussein era. The last local elections in January 2005 were largely run by the international community.

"These elections mark a significant milestone for the people of Iraq, and are a major step forward in Iraq's democratic development," U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and U.S. General Ray Odierno, the top military commander in Iraq, said in a joint statement on Saturday.

But authorities are still concerned that those who lost the elections may not peacefully accept the elections results. Some 14,000 candidates ran for 440 provincial council seats.

Unofficial results should be known by the end of this week, but it will take two to three weeks for official results to be announced. Elections officials asked Iraqis to be patient as they went through the complicated counting process.

Read the rest here.