An Overdue Update

Hi all,

Another belated post... You'd think I'd keep better records on my pathetic life. ::snickers:: I've been busy with work, friends, webcomics I am addicted to, and trying to stay cool in the horrid heat wave we had.

Yep, big MASSIVE early summer storm rolls through. Reported tornadoes, huge number of people without power, blah, blah, blah. Er... I get home to a dark house... my laptop dead... my cat freaking out... and the food in my refrigerator slowly going bad. Joy. One hot stuffy night of poor sleep finds... a dark morning without power... Luckily my water is gas heated so I did have a hot shower in the dim morning light that was creeping into the bathroom. Managed to get to work on time too. Thankfully, the power came back on before I got home. My laptop wasn't damaged but I lost everything in the refrigerator. Oh, the freezer stuff made it!

Basically, since then I've been twitching at every storm that passes through.

Oh, short post. Gotta set up lunch.

Iron Man, Roses and Mondays at the office

Saw Iron Man on Satruday, paid my part of the $100 million it raked in on it's opening weekend. Wahoo! Robert Downey Jr. did a great job! Sell it baby! Sell it! I'm buyin'.

Went up to visit the sister-type person, we went together to see it, she loved the rose from my garden.

Sunday was fun, slept late, clipped a half a dozen red roses off the bush, clipped a single lovely yellow rose off that bush, and went to hang out with Maria and Keith at their place. Maria loves roses and really wants to grow her own. I'm hoping that Keith will see how lovely and productive healthy bushes can be and will relent on his 'no roses' policy.

One day later (this morning) another 4 red roses were ready to clip and another yellow one. Actually more are ready but I wanted to leave some on the bushes. Mind you, I casually counted another 10 buds preparing to open on the red and 7 on the yellow. I love my roses!!!!

I'm glad that I had a nice weekend because today is promising to be a hectic day. I walk in after stopping at the store to buy sodas to go with the company-sponsored lunch today. Oye! Five cases. I got in, made coffee, made tea, emptied the dishwasher, and settled down to get to work. Co-worker "Big Jim" walks up and reminds me that we have another 'in-house' group tonight. Lovely, there goes my day. Morning... prepare for company lunch. Before noon... run to the local place catering lunch and pick up the order and then set it all up in the conference room. Early afternoon... clean up after lunch and start the room preparations. Late afternoon... print any necessary forms for the group. Write up names tags for participants. Prepare clipboards for participants. Evening... set up food and drinks for group. Set up the other food and drink for the 'clients' sponsoring the group.

Tomorrow? I get to clean up after all of this. ::faints:: Oh, and Mom has a doctor's appointment today. She went last week to do the pee in the cup stuff and they called her back shortly thereafter and told her to come in today. Naturally, we are worried. I'm hoping for news that's not too frightening. Just a medication dose change or something. I'm hoping.

Pizza Monday!

Pizza Monday is here! Woohoo! All but one or two people in the office were very happy with having hot pizza for lunch and dessert from the bakery section of a local grocery store. Go me!

I had two veggie style pizzas for my small click of veggi-only people. I had a pepperoni only and two cheese only pizzas for my boring peeps. And two of two different types of 'everything' pizzas for the rest of the gang. Mini-brownies with cream cheese icing, chocolate chip cookies and mini strawberry shortcakes for dessert. Everyone seems happily fed, settling back into their seats after the meeting and I've gotten lots of good feedback.

"That was nice." "That was different." "Hot food! Yeah!" Etc. The only one to give me grief was the Office Manager and he was mostly teasing, I think. He ate too, so...

So tonight I'll be late leaving so I an set up for tomorrow. What's special about tomorrow? I won't be here! ::happy dance::

That's right, I'm taking a day off to hang out with two of my girlfriends who also have tomorrow off. Girls' Day Out. Shopping, lunch, chatting, maybe a movie. Woohoo!

So... tonight I have to label the coffee pot with a reminder of how to use it, label the dishwasher with a 'please empty me, I'm clean' note, make tea before I leave so they don't run out tomorrow, load all of the printers to the top with paper, and... ask someone to lock the doors at the proper time tomorrow. Oye. I should get started. Teehee!

Small Victories

Well, yesterday a friendly conversation with one of our nicer VPs was overheard by the Office Manger/VP of New Sales (read: my real direct supervisor). We were chatting about the office coffee, which I have noticed has been declining in popularity. I haven't changed brands since I got here except for the occasional flavored coffee day when I was feeling 'crazy'. Well, the nice VP was saying she had shifted to decaf since she's expecting. (YEAH!!!) So I was chatting her up about her preferred coffees so I could get some in the office for her in decaf. Well, Mr. Boss heard and approved my 'upgrading' the coffee and... (drum roll please)... our Monday company lunches.

I nearly fainted. I've been twisting the arm of the CFO to try and improve the quality of our Monday company-bought lunch without success. Mr. Boss has enough authority to 'bully' the CFO to opening the purse-strings. Woo-hoo!

Small victories. Now I just have to FIND something better without being insane.

Tuesday - April Fool's Day

Well, thankfully no one has made a fool out of me today... not I anyone else.

Today has been running smoothly. Except for my efforts to fall asleep at my desk this morning. ::blushes:: I can't help it, I hit a monotonous streak of activities and I start nodding off despite my best efforts. I stood up, walked around, took a few of the incoming calls... Snac- huh? ::blinks in confusion:: 'Was I just snoring?'

Anyway... still have an expense report to do because he gave me nothing to work with for information. I sent a pdf of his receipts... each receipt numbered... asking which of these was billable to a client... his reply... he thinks that the $29.00 MAY BE billable to X Client Corp. Joy. Lovely. Why'd I bother asking?

Anyway, now I'm ordering food for two different groups of people from two different delivery places and they are both making me be the money holder, which means the waitress when the food gets here. Joy. Where's my f*cking uniform and you'd best not be a cheap tipper!

The Four Day Wrap-Up

Hiya!

Well, as you noticed, I didn't post Friday. Too busy. Can't recall all of it but there was much 'workage' happening. Friday I finally finished entering the receipts for the VP, it came to just under a grand in cash back to him.... No wonder he was after me about this. Got another tiny batch to do that he gave me after the monster batch so I'll be doing that today (hopefully). Heard back from the girls in Accounting today, I entered his stuff right... the first time! Go me!

My Saturday was mostly internal battery charging. I slept late. I played a little online, Puzzle Pirates. Then checked on the Mother-figure... still sleeping. Hey, she works nights. Then I went back to my computer and played Sid Meyer's Pirates... Fun but a bit monotonous after a while. Batteries weren't totally charged so I catnapped with my cat eagerly hopping up to join me. I could almost hear the "yes, that's good. Nap time. See? It's only taken me forever to teach you this trick."

After a bit, the Mom-person awakes and demands food. FOOD. So I stall her a bit. And take her out for an early dinner, rather than a late lunch. What's the difference? About $12 bucks and better main course and appetizers. I was being a 'good' daughter and surprised her with a plate of raw oysters on the half shell that I picked out myself from the hill of them. That's about 7 raw oysters and 3 or 4 lemon wedges. Don't 'ew' me. I don't eat them. She does, I just like hunting for the best ones for her. :-D We get home after a small shopping trip for the necessities and she goes back to bed. Me? I get to put stuff away and entertain myself. Oh, no! Whatever will I do? Er... read a book, watch a series of the boob-tube, watch a movie, play a game... pet the cat... feed the cat... throw cat-treats for the cat... try to trim her claws... find and use the bandages. See Mom off to work. Stay up late watching... er... Animal Rescue Heroes. I think... I was sleepy, I might have been watching my eyelids more.

Sunday rolls around, I sleep in late. (See a pattern here?) Shower, dress and race out the door to pick up junk for the gaming table (veggie tray, chips, chocolate, etc.) I see that the doughnuts are on sale. So I add a dozen doughnuts to the order. Expensive trip. Fruit for Mom's snacking at the office, all the gaming junk, my treat (olives off the olive bar & a marinaded artichoke), and few drinks for the home and the office totaled around $46 and change. I give $5 to whichever charity the store is sponsoring. I give another $5 to a woman begging as I'm loading the car. Felt like a total bitch, here I am cramming crap in the car and she's literally a walking post. I'm seen her around, there's a homeless shelter a few miles down the road and she stays there sometimes. So I gave her $5. I mean, it's not like I do that frequently.

Got to gaming before anyone else. Killed a little time trying to play Oblivion again. Woohoo. I remembered how to slash. Oblivion ended quickly when the others showed up. Gaming is a bit boring at times. Then another player & I had words. Ended with me taking my freezing self upstairs and curling up on the sofa under a blanket for a half an hour. I got summoned back down to gaming after everyone was done screaming. I wasn't going to have any of that. Gaming ended fine. No one's feelings apparently hurt. Yeah! Then I stayed up too late playing on the computer.

Work has been fun, lots to do and no energy to do it. But that'll teach me. (No, it won't but I figured that I should say it before someone else did.)

Got lunch ordered. Last minute again. These people don't understand how hard it is to feed a group this size on short notice. ::sigh:: Anyway, one meal got forgotten but three people weren't here who I had orders from so the 'owner' of the lost meal got to pick from the three options. He seemed happy enough with his choices.

Just finished cleaning up after the animals and sorted the mail... now to scan it some receipts and do the next batch of the VP's expense reports. Joy. ::stifles yawn as she shambles off to the scanning room::