Ramshackle Wonderland

Short Week!

I think the thought that this is only a three-day week is the only thing keeping me moving this morning.

K. and I puppy-sat for his brother's woefully neglected 5-month old English bull dog this weekend, which was fun. It was a nice, quiet weekend with lots of lounging around and talking when not entirely focused on the puppy.

Raking leaves, which I hadn't done in over 20 years, was actually fun. Maybe that's because I didn't rake, just scooped and bagged. Maybe it's because I find it impossible not to be deliriously happy when K. smiles at me.

Ugh! I know I sound like some crazy, love-struck school girl, but this feels very different. It's calm and peaceful and way better than I ever thought possible.

Everything is Relative

Walking home from a stop at Walgreen's on my way home from The Vic Saturday night, I lost $19. I was a bit annoyed, but told myself it wasn't life changing money for me. Then the thought occurred to me that in a neighborhood where there's not a shortage of homeless people it just might be for the person who found it. I hope so.

Does Not Compute!

How does this happen? I've been weighing in at something in the 141 - 143 range consistently for weeks. In fact, for the last week I've been on the low end of that range. The day before yesterday, I was 142. Yesterday and today, 147. And my scale says my body composition percentage of water hasn't really changed. How is this possible?

I'm supposed to lose weight when I'm happy, not gain it in huge chunks.

Daily Grind

I've reached that stage at work where it's a struggle to get out of the house in the morning. What's the point when I know that all my efforts are futile? It really does seem my company is self-destructing.

I haven't bored you with all the details of what's been going on. How to get you caught up quickly? Hmm... Let's just say that my client, which represents more than 50% of the activity in my line of business, will cancel as of 12/31. There have also been several critical situations, including the loss of our primary payment system for a few days and the continuing threat it could go down again at any time. We're also experiencing a talent drain with a few of our best people abandoning the sinking ship. It's all still manageable. We could recover, but I'm beginning to think we won't.

In a recent town hall meeting our CEO said he saw that most of our troubles were due to lack of investment in infrastructure, but that he didn't think he could have done anything differently to prevent them. That scared me. Mistakes? Sure. We all make them. The key is understanding how to avoid similar situations in the future and I don't think he does.

So, off I go to bang my head against a brick wall for eight hours. At least it's not 10 or 12 anymore...

And, yes, I'm working to join the exodus. There's only so much futility I can take.

Costa Rica

Well, we're definitely going to Costa Rica from December 7th through the 15th. After taking the LSAT on the 6th, I should be exhausted and ready to relax for a week. Has anyone been to Costa Rica? And by "anyone," I mean anyone reading this. I'm finding the whole experience of planning this trip a bit daunting. Going to Paris or London or Mexico City you know there's much to do and that you'll be able to move easily on public transportation. Costa Rica? It's hard to know where to even begin. We've settled on a hotel in a little town near San Jose for the first 2 nights. I think it will be our only reserved hotel. The rest we'll figure out once we're there and have a chance to ask the locals for travel recommendations. I'd have no qualms about this in Mexico where everything seems more familiar. For some reason this approach seems risky to me in Costa Rica. The funny thing is that it was my suggestion.

Any thoughts?

Moving Along

Things continue to be amazingly... well... amazing with my new boyfriend, K. Dinner with his family was uneventful. Thanks to Uncle Keith for reminding me not to scratch.

We're talking about Costa Rica for our trip in early December, but that may change. We're also planning a December trip to Austin to see my mother and sister. That's a lot of travel, but I think we'll be able to handle it.

I've also signed up for the LSAT for December 6th.

What else? I had an interview Friday. The job would be perfect for me, but the hiring manager had his heart set on an internal candidate before I met with him, so it seems like a long shot.

I must go to bed now. Just wanted to write something as I try to make this neglected blog part of my routine again...

More Smitten-ness

It just keeps getting better with my new fantastic man. Of course, that means it's scarier, too.

At lunch with some coworkers yesterday, everyone was talking about that new relationship feeling and how great it is to be so excited about someone. I was the lone dissenting voice who didn't think that was the best part of dating. Don't get me wrong. I am enjoying it, but I find it unnerving, too. I look forward to having more time together behind us -- the kind of time that lends a feeling of stability.

Tomorrow should be interesting. I'll be meeting his family for the first time after we spend the day planning a trip to somewhere in Central America for early December. A whole week together in some under-developed country. How's that for a bold relationship experiment?

On the work front, the interview with the recruiter went well. Now I'm waiting to hear when they want me to come in for the real interview with the hiring manager next week. There's been talk of Friday. Things seem to be moving right along.

Everyone at work keeps commenting on how happy I look. I can't get over how happy I am.

And it Just Keeps Getting Better...

I received a call from a recruiter today about a job that is actually of interest. The pay is in line with what I've been promised at my current place, but it's in the 'burbs meaning I'd have to buy a car. Anticipated net result: less disposable income, greater level of happiness and sanity. Plus the car would be nice -- not that I don't so heart I-Go.

Anyway, I have a brief interview with the recruiter tomorrow. He mentioned wanting to set up an interview at the company next week.

The job would be managing a team of 4 people who do the same type of job I do now. Better said, who do the type of job I would do now if I didn't have to run around doing all sorts of crazy projects just to try to keep my work world from crumbling around my ears. It's the job I wanted at my company that wasn't available.

It's not as though I have an offer or would definitely accept it if I did. It's just nice that the phone rang. It's nice to have the reminder that the couple of possibilities I'm contemplating within my crazy company are not the only possibilities. There's a whole big world out there...

They say good things come in threes. Could it be possible that I get the boyfriend, the President and the job that I wanted all within a couple of months?

Smitten

The rally was intoxicating. Or was that my date? After all of the trauma of 2000 and disappointment of 2004, I'd had serious doubts that we were capable of making the right choice as a nation. There's a dating metaphor here, but I'm too tired to flesh it out. I will say that I'd had a similar doubt about my personal ability to find the right guy. I wasn't sure what I wanted even existed. Now there's hope everywhere I look. We have chosen well as a nation and I'm so very hopeful that this is the starting point for building a whole new world. And on a personal level, I'm feeling like I just won the lottery. I've met someone who seems to be everything I'd possibly hoped to find -- kind, gentle, funny, smart, generous, affectionate. And did I mention he's beautiful? Inside and out! Most importantly, I think he gets me. Admittedly, it's early in the whole getting-to-know-you process, but it's been so remarkably comfortable and easy since we both figured out that our interest was mutual. I'm officially smitten. It's been so long since I felt this way I had started to think it didn't exist. It does.

Now I must sleep. And maybe when I'm not giddy as a school girl I can start to think about improving the quality of my blog entries. For now, hooray for quantity!

GObama!

Normally I'd do most anything to avoid a big crowd, but you couldn't keep me away from the Obama rally tonight if you tried. I have my ticket, my guest (more about him in a later post; he certainly merits mention) and my warm clothes, though the weather doesn't seem to be a problem.

Now I must go cast my ballot -- the first one in 12 years that might actually count for something.

And if all my Obama dreams die tonight, I'll be moving to Canada once I'm done rioting in the streets.