...Monday, Monday...

Back to work after ten days, and it basically sucked.  Not horrible, work-wise, but I'm still carrying a cough and sound like someone else due to the upper respiratory crap I developed over last week.  I'm feeling better except for the abdominal muscles I've pulled coughing my lungs up.  And my incisions from 5 months ago hurt.

And I had to go for my every 6 month follow-up mammogram of my right side.  So I've been squished today, too.

/end whinging.

Work has actually gone smoothly, albeit busy.  I had to rush and get an order in by Dec. 1st (I thought the deadline was Dec. 15th).  And I had a few things I didn't do right before I left go haywire (nothing major).  I have an audio conference on Wednesday about UNANNOUNCED inspections for the lab in the future (can't you hear my excitement of this announcement coming through your computer?), and while I don't think this will be a huge deal (it better not be), I need to listen to this audio conference to make sure.  Basically, I think what it'll mean to me, is that anywhere from 6 months before my anniversary date here at the lab (March 12th, 2007) until said anniversary date, the inspectors can walk in unannounced and do my inspection that occurs every 2 years.  This means that 6 months prior to that date (approx. Sept 12th, 2006) I'll have to have all my i's dotted and t's crossed in case they walk in, instead of by the date of the inspection.  It also means my paperwork that has to be in prior to inspection (and it's a LOT of paperwork) will have to be in earlier.  Oh Joy..  In all honesty, I can't see them coming in any closer than 3 months prior, but that's just me.  I get 10 blackout dates, which I need to find out if 1 blackout date is one date or can be a block of dates (ie: I'll be out of the lab Nov 17-25th -- is that one date or 7?)

While I've felt they should be doing unannounced inspections for a while, it does suck to see them implement them.  I'll get over it.

In fandom news, I've not written a lick, thanks to the URI I've had.  I've now accepted to small challenges, and must get to work on them.  One is a small drabble for hpgw_otp and one is a birthday pressie for bringandfly .  We'll see if I get a chance to write tonight; hubby has band, and it's just the kids and I hanging out after homework.

The eldest announced to my husband as he was getting on the bus this morning, not to forget that he and his two other school-aged brothers have their first chess club meeting tonight after school.  Of course, it's not hubby that has to pick them up.  It's me.  Hubby did email me and asked if I knew about this (of course, I didn't).  My mom later calls and tells me that my eldest called her about it, so that she knew not to meet the schoolbus today, and whether or not she could pick them up.  She called me, and we squared it away.

Life is back to normal at our house. Insanely busy.

We are (mostly) all decorated for the holidays -- we tend to do it the weekend after Christmas, just so it's done and out of the way -- it's hard for us to do it throughout the week, and the weekends get so busy so fast during the holidays.  Hubby and I are both home the four days at Thanksgiving, the house is usually not in horrible shape after hosting Thanksgiving, so we just go ahead and get it done.  The one tree is a monster -- it's a 9 foot artificial that has to be put together branch by branch and not prelit.  That one takes us a while to get up and going.  We hope to buy a pre-lit one soon, but we want one that is multi-colored lights and we haven't found one locally that is reasonably priced.  So we suffer with putting this one together.  We bought it the day after Christmas in 1996, and it still looks good.  I'll take pictures when I get my act together.

I have our large nativity to get out yet, and we have the outside lights to get up.  Then we will be done.  Of course we still have to shop...

And one other tidbit -- I took the older two to see GoF on Tuesday evening (they loved it as much as their mum), and I took all four of them to see Chicken Little on Wednesday.  On Thursday, the youngest (he's 4 1/2) dons the HP glasses from Halloween.  I look at him and say, "Oh, are you my little Harry Potter?"  His response?  "No, mom, I Chicken Little".  Of course it helps that he has a totally innocent face and blonde hair.  Totally believable.

*snort*