Saturday, June 24, 2006

The Ladies of the Lake

Is it true that all good things must come to an end?

Susan and I went out last night in search of The Boys in an attempt to consummate our annual unofficial gathering. Somehow, we missed them. We were in the right place. They had been there earlier, but they'd already gone. We circled the lake a few times, stopping in at various watering holes to try to find them, but it was no use.

We ended up having dinner, coming home and declaring that maybe the time had come to retire Ladies Day. The end of an era. The fact that we were both excited that it meant that we could get to bed by 10:00 probably means that the time had come.

So, it's time for a new phase in life. It should also be noted that today is the one year anniversary of the day Rich purposefully came into my life. Yes, time for a new phase.


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Tuesday, June 20, 2006

A Blog By Any Other Name

You can call it a blog, a web log, but it's a journal.

And just like my real-life hard copy journals, I've noticed that the happier and more content I am, the less I pour into my journal. For me, writing is therapeutic. When something is bothering me, I write it down and work it out. So in hard times, lots of notes and scribbles. In happier days, not so much.

The decline of entries in this blog is a good thing. It means I'm happy and focused on other things. Oh, I'm not leaving you - this isn't one of those "my blog has run its course/outlived its usefulness/my cover's been blown" postings.

I'm just saying.

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Sunday, June 18, 2006

Flashback

In honor of Father's Day, here's a flashback to last July.

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Thursday, June 15, 2006

Bubblegum Pop

Poor Britney Spears. She just wants to be treated like a human being. With respect.

Here's a hint, Brit - you get respect by giving respect. Next time you do an interview, spit out your bubblegum first, hum?

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Tuesday, June 13, 2006

An Invitation

It was an interesting mix at work today. Busier than all get out in the morning, setting up meetings. We have Outlook, and everyone uses it as their calendar, but ... when setting up meetings with top execs, apparently the preferred method is to call the assistant, have her check the calendar while you hold, and then go from there. So I did that for five different meetings. And before I knew it, it was noon.

A little slow in the afternoon, but then things picked up speed and I ended up being one of the last ones out of the office. I am making friends and influencing people all over the place. Great emphasis is placed on referring to everyone as an "associate." I got a lunch invitation from a fellow associate today. At first I thought, "why would I want to go to lunch with this person, she's 'only' an assistant, and I'm a senior assistant?" and then I pulled my nose out of the air. Uh, hello - maybe because she's worked here longer than you? And she could tell you things and help you get ahead? I can't go into this job with an attitude.

So, to make up for it, I did what any good senior assistant would do. I swallowed my pride and stopped in the bakery on my way home to order a pie for a fellow associate's birthday on Thursday. After all, that's my job.

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Vanity Plates

I've seen a bunch of them lately ... let's see what I can rememeber:

VANGOE

Appropriately enough, on a van.

TWAZNTME

I shot the sheriff, but I did not shoot the deputy.

CALLCHAD

On a red Mercedes convertible. And parked right behind that -

ITSLISA

On a blue BMW.

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Monday, June 12, 2006

Reflections

Since I can't post On Company Time I need to make use of the computer On My Time. The sink full of dirty dishes will just have to wait.

I had couple of conversations earlier this evening that have made me reflective ... does anyone remember Phil? I had many things to say about him two years ago, and lately - not so much. It's hard to believe that two years ago I thought of him as the love of my life (seriously, did I really say that? I guess I did.)

Phil called me with news this evening. Not only did he officially move in with the girlfriend, they went and bought a house together. When I immediately called and told Susan, she laughed out loud, as I knew she would. We agreed that it was a stupid thing for him to do, and then Susan asked if I was over him. Oh yes, I'm over him.

It's just really incredible the places I've been these last two years. Not geographically, but emotionally. I spent quite a bit of time mooning over Phil. Then I moved some of it to my other blog. Then Phil became my housemate. Then he started dating this other woman. Then, not so much about Phil. It was just an infatuation. A long, drawn-out infatuation, but an infatuation nonetheless.

I'd like to think that I've gotten my shit together, straightened up my act, that I'm on the straight and narrow - that I know what the hell I'm doing with my life - but even though I'm in a MUCH better place than I was two years ago, I still don't know where I'm headed.

The big difference? I'm okay with that. Life's too short - I'm just going to take it one day at a time and enjoy it. It doesn't get much better than that.


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Friday, June 09, 2006

Rain, Rain - Go Away!

The morning weatherman just said that it has rained 24 out of the last 30 days. Ugh.

I had brownies for dinner last night.

That is all for now.

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Thursday, June 01, 2006

Catching Up

I may have to change the name of this blog.

Going forward, I will not be blogging On Company Time. I won't even be checking my email on company time. All external mail sites are blocked. All email sent via the company system will be monitored.

That takes the fun out of everything.

But it makes for an incredibly productive worker. Think about how much Company Time I wasted previously. Hell, that's probably part of the reason my contract wasn't renewed - I was a slacker. But ultimately, it was a good thing. I didn't want to work there in the first place, so I'm glad they let me go.

The new job? I can't tell you how happy I am. It shows - I ran into my friend Amy when I was getting lunch, and she immediately said "I can see how much happier you are; this new job is a good thing for you." Oh yes, it's a good thing.

So, if I'm not blogging On Company Time, what on earth will I write about? I'll probably be able to share some tidbits with you, but I'm afraid I'll have to keep the really juicy stuff to myself. Because I signed all sorts of confidentiality agreements, and financial disclosures and etc and so on. I could tell you. But then I'd have to kill you.

Of course, I can always mock myself. It only took me five hours to figure out that the reason my fax wasn't going through to the compliance office was because I needed to dial a "1" before the area code. Duh.

But I did manage to clean up the management report and I put the chart in a table so that it was evenly spaced and easier to read. So I got that going for me. Tomorrow it's back to my roots - stuffing a 700 piece mailing by hand because the personalized letter absolutely, positively needs to match up with the mailing label. I'm ready!

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