disarray
my apartment is a disaster. furniture
is haphazard, presents are half-wrapped, decorations not fully hung.
this is what happens when i decide that stringing lights and garland
around the entire one hundred foot perimeter of my living room and
kitchen is a great idea at one thirty in the morning. and did i mention
i'm having people over tonight for a little holiday party? eek.
my life is a disaster as well. but in a good way. the local university
has been on winter break since thanksgiving, and classes resume the
first week of january. i am in no way affiliated with the school, but
somehow this insane six week break has affected my schedule. the
holiday season is upon us and has increased my general busyness, while
at the same time almost everyone i spend time with has had nothing to
do for the past three weeks. this means more random social events
[poker on monday until midnight? sure! get together for a jam session?
no problem!] and less free time for this introvert.
not that i should complain. a year ago i was grieving the loss of my old church and of dear friends moving away; as a result, i had exactly one person in this town that i could truly call "friend". there are plenty more details, but just know that things were rough. it was the worst period of my life by far.
so, as rachel so obviously pointed out to me in conversation: this busyness is not a bad problem to have.
not that i should complain. a year ago i was grieving the loss of my old church and of dear friends moving away; as a result, i had exactly one person in this town that i could truly call "friend". there are plenty more details, but just know that things were rough. it was the worst period of my life by far.
so, as rachel so obviously pointed out to me in conversation: this busyness is not a bad problem to have.
mdog
11 Comments
scandalous
go on up to the mountain of mercy
to the crimson perpetual tide
kneel down on the shore
be thirsty no more
go under and be purified
at the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
on that beautiful scandalous night you and me
we're atoned by His blood
and forever washed white
on that beautiful scandalous night
steve hindalong and derri daugherty, copyright 1992 never say never songs/new spring publishing, inc/ascap
[some samples].
yesterday i received my merry-christmas-to-me package of several cds. i know i'm a little late on the "city on a hill" craze, but this song is my new obsession. as a matter of fact, this song is the sole reason for this particular album purchase. i suppose i'll get to the other songs eventually.
i am humbled and overwhelmed at this song's content and imagery. i know i'm in the wrong holiday here; but then again, christmas and easter are nothing without the other. we are in a season of advent -- a time of waiting; a time of anticipation; a time of arrival. but why the celebration? to the world, some illegitimate kid was born in a middle-of-nowhere stable. to God, the world had received His Son. to believers, it meant then as it does now: Emmanuel, God with us... our Savior has come. but we celebrate now with the added knowledge of the resurrection: we know the beautiful scandalous end of the story. we are indeed atoned; we are purified; our guilt extinguished.
rejoice.
to the crimson perpetual tide
kneel down on the shore
be thirsty no more
go under and be purified
at the wonderful tragic mysterious tree
on that beautiful scandalous night you and me
we're atoned by His blood
and forever washed white
on that beautiful scandalous night
steve hindalong and derri daugherty, copyright 1992 never say never songs/new spring publishing, inc/ascap
[some samples].
yesterday i received my merry-christmas-to-me package of several cds. i know i'm a little late on the "city on a hill" craze, but this song is my new obsession. as a matter of fact, this song is the sole reason for this particular album purchase. i suppose i'll get to the other songs eventually.
i am humbled and overwhelmed at this song's content and imagery. i know i'm in the wrong holiday here; but then again, christmas and easter are nothing without the other. we are in a season of advent -- a time of waiting; a time of anticipation; a time of arrival. but why the celebration? to the world, some illegitimate kid was born in a middle-of-nowhere stable. to God, the world had received His Son. to believers, it meant then as it does now: Emmanuel, God with us... our Savior has come. but we celebrate now with the added knowledge of the resurrection: we know the beautiful scandalous end of the story. we are indeed atoned; we are purified; our guilt extinguished.
rejoice.
lacking
hopefully i will have a decent entry up around here soon. i am appalled by my own weblog.
what the shig?
email one:
Could you email [B] an invoice for $250 speaker's fee plus 438 in mileage (they probably do whatever the tax allowance is now $38.5?)
Thanks.
[my CEO]
email two:
Hi [B],
I can fax you an invoice shortly if you like. What name and address should I use, and what is your mileage reimbursement rate? Thanks!
[Maria]
email three:
Thanks for your note Maria.
Our fax number is 216-368-5542
I am forwarding this on to [S] who handles invoicing.
[B]
email four [thirteen days later, after no response]:
Hi [B] and [S],
Shall I assume you would like an invoice faxed to you? Should it be addressed to [your department], or to [the university]? Thanks in advance.
Maria
email five:
Yes you can fax the invoice to me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx]. [Your CEO] should put her name, address, phone number and social security number on the top of the invoice and address it to [our department]. Thanks.
[S]
email six:
Maria: I received the invoice. Thank you. However, it needs a little revision before I submit for payment. You cannot list consulting and honorarium as 2 separate categories. It should be listed as an honorarium because [your CEO] is not contracted by [our department] as a consultant. So if the honorarium is $250.00 then the other charges must be for travel. I need receipts for gas, etc. and I also need the mileage (we pay 0.34 cents per mile). Thank you.
[S]
email seven:
[S],
This was the information I was trying to find last week [mileage reimbursement rate, etc.]. Since no one got back with me, I assumed that there were no particular guidelines. I will create a new invoice. You can throw the old one out.
The only paperwork I have is a mileage voucher for 438 miles driven. I will fax this along with with the new invoice. Thanks.
Maria
email eight:
Sorry about getting back to you so late but I was out from Wednesday on last week and did not open your e-mail until yesterday. All you have to do is state the mileage at 34.5 cents per mile (I think I gave you the wrong rate). If there are no gas or hotel charges then I do not need any receipts. Thanks for your help.
[S]
email nine:
Maria: I received your latest invoice - I am sorry but it needs to be revised again. You have 2 charges for honorariums $250.00 and $151.11. What is the $151.11 for? If it is part of the honorarium, you have to charge 1 fee not 2. In other words, the charge for the honorarium totals either $250.00 or $401.00. Let me know.
[S]
email ten:
[S],
Our accounting program groups "Honorariums and/or Travel Reimbursements" under one charge code. The $250.00 is for [my CEO's] speaker fee, and the $151.11 is for her mileage [438 miles @ $34.5 per mile]. You can classify these any way you prefer. The total invoice is $401.11. Call me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx] if we need to work this out further.
Maria
***
i mean... come on. i try to get information and no one responds. i send an invoice and go figure -- it's not up to par with their mysterious guidelines. give me all the information i need and give it to me all at once!!! what is your problem???
Could you email [B] an invoice for $250 speaker's fee plus 438 in mileage (they probably do whatever the tax allowance is now $38.5?)
Thanks.
[my CEO]
email two:
Hi [B],
I can fax you an invoice shortly if you like. What name and address should I use, and what is your mileage reimbursement rate? Thanks!
[Maria]
email three:
Thanks for your note Maria.
Our fax number is 216-368-5542
I am forwarding this on to [S] who handles invoicing.
[B]
email four [thirteen days later, after no response]:
Hi [B] and [S],
Shall I assume you would like an invoice faxed to you? Should it be addressed to [your department], or to [the university]? Thanks in advance.
Maria
email five:
Yes you can fax the invoice to me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx]. [Your CEO] should put her name, address, phone number and social security number on the top of the invoice and address it to [our department]. Thanks.
[S]
email six:
Maria: I received the invoice. Thank you. However, it needs a little revision before I submit for payment. You cannot list consulting and honorarium as 2 separate categories. It should be listed as an honorarium because [your CEO] is not contracted by [our department] as a consultant. So if the honorarium is $250.00 then the other charges must be for travel. I need receipts for gas, etc. and I also need the mileage (we pay 0.34 cents per mile). Thank you.
[S]
email seven:
[S],
This was the information I was trying to find last week [mileage reimbursement rate, etc.]. Since no one got back with me, I assumed that there were no particular guidelines. I will create a new invoice. You can throw the old one out.
The only paperwork I have is a mileage voucher for 438 miles driven. I will fax this along with with the new invoice. Thanks.
Maria
email eight:
Sorry about getting back to you so late but I was out from Wednesday on last week and did not open your e-mail until yesterday. All you have to do is state the mileage at 34.5 cents per mile (I think I gave you the wrong rate). If there are no gas or hotel charges then I do not need any receipts. Thanks for your help.
[S]
email nine:
Maria: I received your latest invoice - I am sorry but it needs to be revised again. You have 2 charges for honorariums $250.00 and $151.11. What is the $151.11 for? If it is part of the honorarium, you have to charge 1 fee not 2. In other words, the charge for the honorarium totals either $250.00 or $401.00. Let me know.
[S]
email ten:
[S],
Our accounting program groups "Honorariums and/or Travel Reimbursements" under one charge code. The $250.00 is for [my CEO's] speaker fee, and the $151.11 is for her mileage [438 miles @ $34.5 per mile]. You can classify these any way you prefer. The total invoice is $401.11. Call me at [xxx-xxx-xxxx] if we need to work this out further.
Maria
***
i mean... come on. i try to get information and no one responds. i send an invoice and go figure -- it's not up to par with their mysterious guidelines. give me all the information i need and give it to me all at once!!! what is your problem???
advent
"today marks december 1, the first official day of anticipation and
longing. the church celebrates this as its own season, leading up to
the holidays and reminding us daily that the Reason we celebrate is not
because we get presents, and It is definitely not a simple one-day
affair. the entire month is spent in lavish preparation, lighting
candles and bringing out special colors and singing songs about this
God who was once a baby who pooped."
- courtesy rachel
- courtesy rachel
psalm help
so i looked up a phrase on biblegateway and received this message:
"We didn't quite understand the passage you were trying to view. Here is a list of the books of the Bible."
below the phrase was a list of every book of the bible, with a link for
every chapter, under every book. gee, thanks, guys. my search has come
to an end!
anyone know any moderately common and/or easy songs based off of a
psalm? i've already got 121, 84, and 36 covered, thanks. :)
rough life
"you always make me do all the work!"
- chase, age 4
my nephew, after a request from my mother to retrieve the cordless phone from the kitchen table.
coffee for the road
i need to go make some.
i'm off to The Land of No Internet [also known as my parents' house]
for the long weekend.
have a truly thankful holiday, dear readers; mdog
will return next week.
who needs sleep?
a friend from my current church moved
to missouri a few months ago, and has returned to town for a visit. so,
the last two nights have been spent with peers, friends, family; darts,
pool, cards. i suspect tomorrow night will be more of the same. sleep
is overrated, no?
it is now almost 2am eastern standard time. i am not tired. this is probably bad news, and will come back to haunt me in a few short hours. but sometimes the lack of sleep just doesn't matter... can i get an amen? had i spent these last several hours zoning in front of the television, or browsing on ebay, or reading the best of craigslist, that would be terribly irresponsible and basically a huge waste of time. but staying up until two in the morning to build and reconnect friendships? losing two or three hours of sleep is just a drop in the bucket... time well spent.
that being said... it's definitely bedtime for mdog. good night.
it is now almost 2am eastern standard time. i am not tired. this is probably bad news, and will come back to haunt me in a few short hours. but sometimes the lack of sleep just doesn't matter... can i get an amen? had i spent these last several hours zoning in front of the television, or browsing on ebay, or reading the best of craigslist, that would be terribly irresponsible and basically a huge waste of time. but staying up until two in the morning to build and reconnect friendships? losing two or three hours of sleep is just a drop in the bucket... time well spent.
that being said... it's definitely bedtime for mdog. good night.
update
neighbor [SDJ] is still an idiot.
