Four and One-Half Day Weekend

Happy New Year... a few days early! It has become a bit of tradition to release employees early on the workday preceding a holiday. Today, KHRC employees were sent home at 1PM to begin their New Years' celebrations. Obviously everyone has the first off, but they announced today that the office would be closed on the second as well. It seems that we will be observing a day of mourning for the loss of our dear former President, Gerald Ford. If anyone needs me Tuesday, I will be at home, very sad I'm sure, remembering the good old days under President Ford's leadership. (I love being a state employee!)

Thursday

I have a theory gaining popularity at work. It always seems that when I come back to the office after being on the road, I am completely worthless for a period of time. It's not that I intend not to accomplish anything, it just inevitably happens. I have started tracking my uselessness and there seems to be a direct correlation between number of days on the road and number of "screw around" days at the office. Since I was in Wichita and Harper on business Monday and Tuesday, I automatically get to screw around Wednesday and Thursday, hence why I am blogging instead of working. I have shared my findings with other Compliance Officers and though they may not agree on the 1:1 ratio, they definitely have the same results after being out on the road. Interesting... I wonder if this phenomenon affects all businesses or just state employees.

Sudoku

Is this the new craze or am I just now catching on? That's how it always was growing up. Something would be very "in" and finally we would convince Mom to let us join the bandwagon, only to find out that it had just gone "out" which was especially uncool!

Well, when John and I were visiting Krista over the July 4th weekend, she offered me a puzzle. Hmmm... Intriguing. I had seen others play this numbers game, but really, what was the fascination? Now, after having conquered half a dozen puzzles, I'm hooked!

My good friend and cube-buddy, Tim, prefers the USA Today Sudoku. It gets progressively more difficult during the week. Yesterday we raced. He finished in 16 minutes to my 31 minutes. Today I shaved off 6 minutes, but he still came in ahead at 11. Considering I have done probably hundreds fewer puzzles than he, I think I'm doing alright!

One controversial tidbit is that you are allowed to take "notes" in the boxes to help you along. However, some people consider this cheating, so we refrain from note-taking.

I have heard that I have other friends who are becoming masters at Sudoku. When you are ready for a challenge, give me a call!!!

Natalie's First

Can you believe it??? Natalie's first birthday is this Tuesday!!! I am in shock! Where did the last 12 months go? John and I are amazed every day by how much our little girl is growing and changing. She is so close to walking! She pulls up on everything and when she gets distracted by the object she is holding, she will let go and stand on her own for 10 - 20 seconds at a time! She is also quite the climber! Now that she has mastered the stairs she is scaling everything! There is a Rubbermaid tub against the wall in Natalie's bedroom. It is covered with a blanket and on top is a CD player so Natalie can listen to her lullaby music when she goes to bed. Yesterday I was sitting on the floor next to the tub. Natalie proceeded to climb up on the tub using my leg as a step. She hung on to the CD player as she worked her way around the top of the tub. If only I had the camera with me! I can just imagine the future and walking into the next room where she had been playing on the floor and finding her on top of the entertainment center or hanging from the ceiling fan!!! People keep reminding us that when she starts walking, we will be chasing her all over. I have a feeling that we had better get some rest, because she's gonna wear us out!!!