Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

Yes, I read 381 pages in two days.  I enjoyed VIOLETS ARE BLUE, but I don't think I'll be reading anymore James Patterson anytime soon.  It's just not my style of book.  Meanwhile, I read most of yesterday and today at work.  Think I’m earning my keep?  I don’t think so!  I notice people see me reading every time they pass my desk – and my boss has been in all week – he just doesn’t give me much to do!

Today I got a call from a guy in our Milwaukee office who needed help with a big mailing of letter to clients.  I told him I’d do whatever he needed and he said he’d get back to me.  Never happened!  When I was about to leave I finally got an email from him, saying he’d send me what I need tomorrow afternoon.  So, I guess I have something to look forward to!

After I finished my book I really didn’t have anything else to do, so I read every single article on YAHOO NEWS, and watched a lot of news videos.  One good thing about my computer crashing is that the guy gave me sound (which I never had before), so now I can actually watch stuff and hear what the people are saying!

There’s a woman in the office who lives almost an hour away from Del Mar.  She has a small farm with chickens and goats.  She was selling ½ dozen eggs in the office for $2 and they were pulled from under the chicken’s behinds this very morning!  I bought six and decided to make an omelette for dinner.  I sautéed spinach, mushrooms, and red onion and then added the eggs and cheddar cheese.  It was SO delicious.  The yolks of the eggs were SO yellow.  Really fresh.

I guess the best way to taste it would have been to just scramble, or poach, or soft boil it, but I wanted to use up some leftover veggies, since I’ll be buying all fresh stuff on Saturday or Sunday.  I love a 3-minute egg and I just may have one tomorrow!  Can you soft boil an egg in the microwave?  If I could, I’d bring it to work.  Four of them are light brown, and I used two that were a pale green.  Isn’t that amazing?  No white eggs in this bunch!

She actually sent around an email with a picture of chicks that just hatched.  She’s so lucky.  I told her I’d LOVE to have a pet chick, but I don’t think they’d like me having a chicken in my apartment complex!

My boss will be in for half the day tomorrow and then he’s flying somewhere to go to a wedding.  The only book I have right now is some STEPHEN KING short stories, but Eric said they’re not that good.  I guess it will give me something to read, which is better than nothing!

Eric was reading a book called THE RUINS, which they’re making into a movie, but he quit after about 100 pages and said it was horrible.  He said the author goes into too much detail and went on for 15 pages about one thing.  I thought about trying that one, but it’s not my kind of book anyway, so I’ll take his word for it!

I’m definitely going to the library on Saturday.  I need to get a library card and start taking books out, instead of buying them.  I’m just reading too much lately and it’s not economical!

This week really flew by.  I can’t believe tomorrow is Friday already, and I also can’t believe today is May 1st.  Mother’s Day is coming, along with lots of birthdays this month.  I have to hit the card store on Saturday, too!

I went to sleep early last night, because I was SO tired, but the guys downstairs were noisy at 4:30am (don’t ask me why), and I couldn’t really fall back to sleep after that.  So, I started the day a little out-of-it.  Eric says that when he’s lying on the floor, watching TV, he can hear their whole conversations.  I guess they can hear ours, too!

I finally had a busy day at work and it was great!  I was doing a big project for this guy in Milwaukee.  He emailed 30 letters and reports.  I had to print them all out, make up labels and get them all collated and mailed.  It was easy, time-consuming and fun!  As I was typing up the labels by looking at the addresses on each letter, I noticed 4 or 5 mistakes on different letters.

I emailed the guy and let him know and he REALLY appreciated it.  Someone else might just have typed it as they saw it, but I could tell something wasn't right on these addresses and I wanted everything to be perfect. 

After that was done, I had a few other little projects, and I had time to read three short stories in a STEPHEN KING book I borrowed from Eric.  They were pretty good.  I like short stories, because you can finish it in one sitting!

My boss left at 3:00pm, because he had to catch a plane to attend a wedding this weekend.  I wrote the woman I ride in with and told her I could leave early, if she could.  We snuck out at 4:30pm!

When I got home the first thing I did was 2 loads of laundry.  I had a lot of good clothes, which I won’t let Eric wash, because he’s not as careful as I am.   I wanted to get to the machines before all the “weekend washers” hit the machines.  It was a great idea, because all the machines were available.

After the laundry I made the last of the tamales and I also had a soft-boiled egg.  I haven’t had a soft-boiled egg in a long time, but these fresh eggs were calling to me!

I finally received my BC/BS medical cards, and Eric got a new card, too, so we’re official!  We had the benefits already, but now we’re card carrying again!

I watched GHOST WHISPERER and caught up on some of my recorded shows.  Tomorrow I have to go to the card store and food shopping, but I’m looking forward to sleeping late.  The boys downstairs better be quiet!

MY SERVER WAS DOWN AGAIN LAST NIGHT, WHICH IS WHY THIS IS LATE!

So, guess where the library is?  It’s right down the block – next to the CITIBANK across the street.  I mean it’s about 1,000 feet from my apartment!  I never drive down that block, so I never noticed it before, but we’ve been here 7 months and we’ve both been buying books and we could have been going to the library the whole time!

So, I woke up at 8:30am, because the boys downstairs woke me, but I went to bed pretty early, so it really was enough sleep.  I worked on the computer, paid some bills, and then watched some TV.

I had a lot of errands to run, including going to the library.  Eric asked me to get a book out for him, too – something by Stephen King.  I got my library card (whee!), got him a STEPHEN KING book and also a CLIVE BARKER book (his other favorite author).  I got a DICK FRANCIS mystery.  I haven’t read DICK FRANCIS in over 10 years, but I’ve read at least 10 of his books (he’s written over 30 mysteries) and I love his work.

I also went to the dry cleaners to get my black slacks cleaned, got my eyebrows waxed, went to the card store, STARBUCKS, TJ MAXX (just to look), BIG LOTS (for a present for Eric – a toaster oven – more on that later), and got a pedicure at HAPPY NAILS.  That was a lot of errands in one day!  I was going to go food shopping, too, but decided I could leave that for tomorrow.  I was exhausted when I got home!

The reason I got the toaster oven is that we always had one in Whitestone and here we were using the microwave or oven for most everything, but we couldn’t make toast!  It’s a total waste to turn on the oven just to toast a slice of bread and Eric does love to toast bread for sandwiches.  First, I was going to buy a regular toaster, but then I realized the toaster oven was a better idea, because that way we could heat things up without turning on the regular oven, which heats up the whole apartment!

I gave Eric his book and he was happy with my choice.  He started it already and said it was pretty good so far.  It’s called FROM A BUICK 8 and the story kind of sounded like CHRISTINE, which is one of Eric’s favorites, so I knew he’d like it.

My book is called COME TO GRIEF.  In case you’re not familiar with him, Dick Francis was a super-star jockey in England, retired (in the late ‘50s) after many injuries, started writing about horse-racing and eventually started to write mysteries, each if which involved horses and horse racing.
I first read one of his books in 1986.  I never would have read any of his mysteries, since I never had an interest in horse-racing until I met my friend, Elizabeth in 2002.  The only reason I read it is that a friend at work (Price Waterhouse, at the time), recommended it and insisted that I try it.  I was hooked and read one after another for a long time.  His works are beautifully written, and he can make you laugh out loud.  I can’t wait!

Tomorrow I’m going to a CRAFT MAFIA craft show at the same coffee house I went to 2 months ago.  They asked me if I wanted to sell at this show, but it’s a very small show and I gave most of my stuff to GILI ANNA, so I decided to just go and support them, instead of actually selling.  It’s a lot of work, and the last time I went there weren’t many customers, so it hardly seemed worth it.

There was absolutely nothing on TV tonight, even SNL is a repeat.  Very disappointing!  Don’t you think Saturday is the worst day of TV – all day and all night?  SNL is usually the only thing to look forward to, and even that’s not new!  I wanted to save my book for the work week, but maybe I’ll just have to start it tonight!

Today there was a small craft show sponsored by the NORTH PARK CRAFT MAFIA at FILTER a new coffee shop in North Park.  There were about a dozen vendors, both inside and outside the large corner coffee shop.  The coffee shop was called THE OTHER SIDE when I visited there two months ago (for another small craft show), but they recently changed owners and now it’s called FILTER. 

I started my day by going food shopping.  When I was done and got all the packages put away, I went back to the card store, because I got lots of cards for birthdays and anniversaries, but left without a Mother’s Day card!  I picked out a beauty (my Mom deserves it!).

I got to the craft show at around 3:00pm.  I was so glad that I didn’t decide to sell there today (I had considered it).  I spoke to a few of the girls and they told me they weren’t selling anything.  One girl said they didn’t really advertise it very much and, although there was a constant flow of customers in and out of the shop, they weren’t much interested in buying crafts.

It was very disappointing because, after all, Mother’s Day is next week and I figure that would help sales, but it really didn’t.  The highlight of my trip was seeing Bambi again, the gorgeous, sweet, delicate, loving, and beautiful Chihuahua that belongs to one of the vendors.  I just adore her!

After that I just came home and watched some episodes of AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL.  Every cycle there are episodes I’ve never seen, so I always get to catch a new one here or there and, if I’ve seen it before, I fast-forward to the photo shoots, which is my favorite part.  I love seeing their “best shots” at the judging and seeing who will go home each week.

Eric watched a lot of basketball today, which made him very happy, and also read some of his new book.  He said he’s enjoying it, so I guess I made a good choice!

I made Eric an easy dinner – low salt turkey and Alpine Lace low salt swiss with some avocado on toast with some no-salt potato chips.  I know he’d rather have low salt, but I’m really trying to reduce his cholesterol and his blood pressure, so I’m trying to reduce bad fats and salt.  It’s amazing how much salt is in certain products.  There’s even salt in ice cream!

Eric said he’s going to start taking his vitamins again, which is a good thing, and he also used to take fish oil and red rice yeast, which are both good for reducing cholesterol.  The next time he gets tested I’m sure he’s going to have much better readings!

We watched an episode of MONK that I hadn’t seen for a long time and Eric had never seen.  It was about a Playboy (like Hugh Hefner – with the mansion and all the girls) who murders the man who wants to stop the publication of his magazine, because it’s losing money.  It was so funny, because Monk is so inhibited and couldn’t bear to look at all the near-naked women!  Gary Cole, who played the father in the BRADY BUNCH movies, was the playboy.  He recently became a regular character on DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.  He's a great actor!

I’m going back to work tomorrow, but each week I think it might be my last (and this really could be it!).  It’s not like they have to give me two weeks notice, like with a regular job, so they could just tell me on Friday night to come back the next week.  I won’t be heartbroken when it’s over, because I don’t love it very much, but it is the easiest job and commute I’ve ever had, and you can’t be happy to see THAT end!

I read 180 pages of my book today.  It’s like having a reunion with a great friend whose company you always enjoyed, but whom you haven’t seen in a long time.  I was hooked on page 1.  Dick’s writing is always so friendly, like you’re sitting across from him and he’s just telling you what happened to him.

I thoroughly enjoy every single page.  It’s so reassuring to know that even though I might finish this book tomorrow, there are at least 30 more in his repertoire!  He’s a very prolific (and successful) writer and there are a lot more where this came from.  I might not even realize I’ve already read one of his books until a specific incident reminds me, at which point I may want to read it all over again, just to see what happens (just like a MONK episode I know I’ve already seen, but can’t really remember).

So, do I even need to say I wasn’t busy at work today?  My boss was in all day, but didn’t ask me to anything.  I answered the phone occasionally and did an expense report for another man I work for (who usually works in New Jersey and only comes here about once a month).  The expense report was actually the highlight of my day.  The firm has a great expense report system, which is used by many big firms.  It’s called CONCUR and it’s so easy to use.  When an employee uses his American Express credit card for a business expense, it automatically gets uploaded to the CONCUR system.

You create an expense report for the executive, click on CHARGES and compare the expenses listed on the system with the receipts he has given you, which include airfare, restaurants, hotels, taxis, and other miscellaneous expenses.  You click on the expense, give a few details as to where, when and with whom the expense occurred, and that’s it!  You hand in the hard copy receipts and electronically submit the online report.

They do all the math, so you don’t have to worry about a thing!  Easy, fun and efficient!  What could be better?   If I could just get a job inputting expense reports all day, I’d be in heaven!  I love when you itemize a hotel bill, with the taxes, meals, internet fees and room charges and it equals the exact amount of the credit card charge.  It’s just so satisfying when everything all adds up!

When I got home Eric was already watching basketball.  He told me he went for a short ride on his bicycle today, and he’s planning to go out more, because he really wants to get back into shape.  I think he realizes that laying around and watching TV is not doing him any good.  He’s starting to take his vitamins and seems more enthusiastic about things than he’s been for a while.  I’m so happy he’s feeling better!

Tonight for dinner I made swordfish and asparagus.  All fresh, healthy and delicious!  To me, there’s nothing like a piece of fish – especially sushi!  Eric and I really enjoyed it.

My nephew, Eddie, is turning 21 on Saturday.  He was actually born on Mother’s Day in 1987.  It seems impossible to me that he could possibly be 21, but I did the math and it’s true!  Time DOES fly, doesn’t it?  It’s inconceivable to me that my sister has a 21 and 23 year old!  It seems like only yesterday that they were babies and we were having so much fun playing with them and now they’re in college, or working!

My nieces and nephews on Eric’s side are as old as 33 and as young as 14.  I can’t believe they’re all grown up, too, and now the only babies in the family are great-nieces and great-nephews (we have one of each!).  It makes me feel really old sometimes, but I can just imagine how my sister feels, having children so grown up!

My niece, Melissa, called me last night.  She is so sweet.  She calls periodically, to see how we’re doing.  She fills me in on everything happening at work, at home with her husband, David and their boxer, Shelby, and with the whole family.  It’s always good to talk to her.

Today, I got an email from another niece, April.  She’s good about keeping in touch, too.  Most of my nieces call or email, or send cards.  It’s always nice to hear from them.  Girls are so much better about communicating.  I’d fall off my chair if my nephews ever called or wrote, because they’re just like that, but Eric’s the same way, so I understand.  Eric never calls his sisters.  It’s always me who says, “Why don’t you call your sister?”  I don’t know why that is, but I’m pretty good about keeping in touch and he’s just not.

Eric doesn’t use the computer, so I’m always the one who sends the emails, but I’m also the only one who ever sends a card, or makes a phone call.  I know my Mom has always been the one to send the cards and letters, and make the phone calls.  She’s also the one who sends the emails (my Dad, also, doesn’t go near the computer).  So, I tend to think it’s just the way it is in most relationships – there’s always one who is “the communicator” and one who lets the other do the communicating.  I doubt if there’s a couple on earth who share those responsibilities 50/50, but I could be wrong!

It was raining when I left the house this morning.  That’s unusual for San Diego – very unusual.  I had a bad hair day because of it.  That’s also unusual.  My hair’s never looked so good as it has since I moved here.  The usual lack of humidity works wonders, but today was different!

There’s a saying for May/June weather in San Diego – Gray May and Gloom June, because a lot of that period is very overcast.  It’s something about the fog rolling off the ocean or the bay, or something like that.  Anyway, it’s still pleasant, it’s just overcast and not as warm.  People in San Diego actually complain, but they just don’t know good weather when they see it!  Here, it may be overcast, but it’s still in the 60s or 70s every day.  In NY, it might be overcast and in the 50s in the beginning of May.  I’ll take this anyday!

I had another day of very little to do and finished my book.  One of the guys I work for, who usually works out of his home in New Jersey and only comes to SD about once a month is from England.  He saw that I was reading Dick Francis (who is also English) and we talked about his books for a while.  He said he owns every single book he's written.

Late in the afternoon, when it was obvious I was going to finish this one, I called Eric.  He was down by the water, riding his bike.  I didn’t know what time the library closed, so I asked him to please go to the library and get me another Dick Francis mystery, because my boss is going to be away for the rest of the week and I’ll have absolutely nothing to do.  The thought of sitting at my desk without something to read is actually frightening.  I've seen how time can stand still when I have nothing to occupy my mind.

When I got home, Eric wasn’t home, so I called him and he was at the library, getting his card and getting my book.  I decided to walk over there and waited for him while he finished filling out the form and got his library card.  I got my book (the librarian picked one out for him, because I asked him to get one of his later books), he got his library card, and we walked back to the apartment together.

He had a basketball game on at 5:00pm, so he already missed the first half hour.  He started to watch the game, while he worked on his bicycle, and I watched DR. PHIL and then a DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES episode I had missed the other day.

Then, I watched MEDIUM – one of my favorite shows.  Mel Ferrer was a guest star and it was such a great episode!

I made us leftover swordfish and big salads for dinner and then we had watermelon for dessert.  When Eric’s game was over we watched AMERICAN IDOL (I’m in love with David Archuleta) and then HELL’S KITCHEN (which we both really enjoy).

I’m very excited to start another book tomorrow.  This one is called DRIVING FORCE.  They’re all great, so I know I’ll enjoy it!  I know I'm really spoiled, because I've been reading and relaxing for over 12 weeks with very little stress and not much to do.  I wouldn't mind really working hard, if they were able to keep me busy, and I actually enjoyed the days when there was a lot of work, because the day went by much faster, but I'm not complaining about this job.  No, I'm not complaining.  It will be over before I know it and who knows WHAT I'll be doing next!

It has been very cool lately – like in the high 50s/low 60s – and overcast.  Gray May. It rained a few days in a row, which is very unusual.  It makes it that much harder to get out of bed, because there’s a chill in the air and we stopped turning the heat on at night.  It’s not cold during the night – it’s still pretty warm – but it’s chilly in the morning.

My boss was traveling today on business, and I knew there wouldn’t be much for me to do, but that’s an understatement.  I brought my second book by Dick Francis – DRIVING FORCE and read about 70 pages today (not much compared to other days and other books).  This book is good, but it didn’t grab me from page 1 like COME TO GRIEF did.  So, I read, I sent emails, I “window shopped” on ebay, and I read YAHOO NEWS.

I really would have liked to have something to do – anything really – but it just wasn’t happening!

At lunchtime I had my salad and read for a while (big change from the morning!).  Then, in the afternoon, I did more of the same.  BOR-ING!

When I got home, Eric was working out.  He had run some errands, washed the car and was lifting some weights he had brought with him in the RV.  He’s taking his vitamins, riding more, and working out – I’d say he’s feeling better, wouldn’t you?  I’m so glad.  I think he had an epiphany and realized that he has to make the best of the situation here and keep in shape so that we can get out of here – wherever we go (we have no idea right now!).

Eric keeps talking about going back to NY.  Right now, I’d pretty much say or do anything to make him happy, so I have been telling him we’ll talk about it and I’d consider it.  Obviously, it’s not really what I want to do.  The reason why I left NY hasn’t changed – I can’t take the cold.  But the truth is, if we were in NY, I’d only be unhappy 4 or 5 months of the year, but Eric’s unhappy every single day here.  It just doesn’t seem fair for him.

Charlotte would be a true compromise, because it doesn’t get very cold, and there’s great mountain biking, but he has his heart set on NY.  We’ll see what happens.  I don’t want to get anyone excited, because we have no idea what will happen, or when, but I did want to tell you what we’ve been talking about.

Obviously, there are a lot of reasons why I’d love to be back in NY – family, friends, and Manhattan are my top three!  But the cold scares me.  It scares the hell out of me.  I told Eric I would definitely not go back to work in Manhattan.  Commuting in the winter is not an option.  I told him I’d be willing to temp, like I am here, and then I could stop for the winter, work on my crafts and just “hibernate.”  He said if he wasn’t working and I was he’d drive me to work every single day and then pick me up.  That sounds like a good deal, but what if he IS working?

There’s so much to think about, and it’s so confusing, and scary, and I really don’t even like to think about it.  Sooner or later we will have to, I know, but right now…

I made us salads and NUTRISYSTEM pizzas for dinner – baked in our new toaster oven.  It works great, but I burned my finger!  Don’t worry – it’s nothing serious!  We had a fresh mango for dessert.  I really love mango and (as George Costanza found out on SEINFELD) it's an aphrodisiac!

After dinner I watched AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL while Eric watched the basketball game, and then I watched AMERICAN IDOL (whee!  Syesha made it to the top three and Jason went home!) and Eric watched WORLD EXTREME CAGE FIGHTING (don’t ask).

I’m dreading tomorrow, because I know it’s probably going to be more of the same.  I think I’m going to walk around the office and beg work – anything.  I’ll wash people’s mugs after they’re done with their coffee!

At least I have something to look forward to after work.  Eric is taking me to SOUTH PARK to BIG KITCHEN for their Mother’s Day Lasagna Dinner.  It’s $15 (including tax) for Spinach Lasagna, salad, garlic bread, a drink and a brownie for dessert.  I love BIG KITCHEN, but I’ve only been there for breakfast, so this should be fun.  You had to make a reservation (it’s a really small restaurant) and moms eat free with a reservation of 4 or more.  I think that’s a cute idea.  I know I’m not a Mom, but I DO love Spinach Lasagna!

I haven’t had lasagna in a loooooong time.  It’s not the thing I would choose in an Italian restaurant, and a lot of time it has meat in it, so I have to pass at a buffet, so it’s really been a while.  I really do like it though.  I mean, what's not to like?

My day started off well.  It was pretty nice out, and I had a pretty good day at work.  I actually had a PowerPoint presentation to work on, which kept me busy for over an hour (whee!).  Besides that, I read a lot, and talked on my cell phone to a few friends.

When I got home, Eric was dressed and ready for our trip to South Park.  It was an absolutely gorgeous evening – the first really nice day in a few days, since it’s been rainy and overcast.  There were a lot of people at the restaurant, but not the crowd you usually see on a weekend for their breakfast.  You sometimes have to wait an hour to sit down!

They don’t take reservations for breakfast and lunch and they’re rarely open for dinner, so this was a special night!  There were some mothers, celebrating Mother’s Day early with their families, and there were others, like me and Eric, who were just there for a great meal at a great price.

We each had an unsweetened iced tea and got a big plate with salad, bread, and a huge slab of spinach lasagna.  I ended up giving Eric most of my bread, but I ate every drop of my lasagna and salad.  When we were done (and we both finished our plates) they brought us a delicious homemade brownie with nuts.  It was yummy.

We left there stuffed.  It is a lot more than either of us usually eats, but it was a special night.  We have not been going out to eat even once a week lately, so this was great.

When we got home, Eric immediately started watching a basketball game (what else is new?) and working on one of his bicycles.  I watched DR. PHIL, then watched UGLY BETTY and CSI.  CSI and Two-and-a-Half Men did an interesting experiment.  On Monday, they aired an episode of Two-and-a-Half Men that was written by the CSI writers, and tonight they aired a CSI episode that was written by the Two-and-a-Half Men writers.  I actually thought the CSI writers did a better job writing comedy than the comedy writers did writing CSI.  They made CSI funny – with lots of jokes, but it didn’t work for me because CSI is not usually funny!  I guess each show is trying to increase their audience and I did appreciate seeing something different.

I can’t believe tomorrow’s Friday already.  This week really flew by.  We have no big plans for the weekend, which is fine.  I have a lot of cleaning I want to do in the apartment, and I want to set up my ETSY page.

ETSY is like EBAY, but it’s only for vendors selling homemade crafts.  I found out about ETSY from the CRAFT MAFIA.  Most of them have an ETSY page.  I figure I can put some of my crafts for sale there and see how it goes.  It’s not an auction sight – you just click and buy, but you don’t need to set up credit cards, or anything like that.  They can pay through PAYPAL, or with a check or money order, if you like.

I don’t think it will be a big money-maker, but I can have a link from my website to my ETSY page, so if people DO want to buy something, or commission a special piece, they can do so easily.  It’s very inexpensive to use, so you’re not making a big investment.  I’ll let you know how it goes!

As I’m typing this, I hear Eric watching the movie TOMMY.  Haven’t seen that in a while!  I’m actually excited about another movie musical – Mama Mia!  Today I wrote Jimmy and asked him if it was still in theaters and he informed me that it didn’t open yet.  Where have I been?  I saw the musical twice on Broadway and really loved it, so I’m sure I’ll love the movie, too.  I love all three of the stars, and think the casting was excellent.  I haven’t seen Meryl Streep sing since POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE and haven’t seen Julie Walters dance since STEPPING OUT!  I also adore Christine Baranski!

I’ve always been a big fan of movie musicals.  I love HAIR (I listen to the soundtrack from the movie quite often), LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS, and every old-time movie musical ever made (yes, every single one!).  More recently, I enjoyed CHICAGO, RENT (even though it didn’t get great reviews) and really loved DREAMGIRLS and HAIRSPRAY.  Hooray for movie musicals!  I think they’re back in a big way.  Don’t you?

It was really hard to get out of bed this morning.  I didn’t go to bed that late, Jay was just starting his monologue and Eric was already asleep when I turned off the TV.  I guess it’s a combination of the fact that it’s Friday (whee!) and Eric got up a few times during the night.  He drinks so much water during the day that he can’t make it through the night without making a “trip.”  TMI?  It’s just that I’m such a light sleeper that I always wake up and usually ask him where he’s going.  Where ELSE could he be going?  I have no idea, but I guess I’m half asleep and think maybe he’s going to make himself a sandwich or something.

Anyway, I had an outfit planned and my lunch ready, so I knew I could snooze an extra time, which gets me out of bed by 6:17am.  I’m still dressed, with my full face, by a little after 7:00am anyway!  Then, I usually play around on the computer until I get my phone call that my ride is outside.  It’s a pretty sweet deal!

I didn’t do one work-related thing today, except read a few emails and answer the phone 2-3 times.  That’s IT.  EIGHT HOURS.  I finished by book by 2:00pm – 318 pages in two days.  It was really good.  Then, I watched an episode of DANCING WITH THE STARS that I missed.  It was great to watch it online at work, because the computer works so great and at home it freezes every few seconds and is VERY annoying to watch.  Like I don’t watch enough TV at home, now I’m watching it at WORK!

So, I got paid to read, talk on the phone, watch TV, send and read emails, and read all of YAHOO news and watch YAHOO videos of news stories (which I really enjoy).  Did you hear the story by any chance of the BABY SEAL in San Diego who had blue nylon fishing net caught around his neck, but the authorities didn’t want to do anything, because it was against the law to interact with the seals?  Two people took it upon themselves, in cloak of darkness, to go out there and – in five minutes – they cut the netting loose and the seal went back into the water.  He or she may die anyway, because the injuries from the netting may have been severe, and it was trapped that way for days, but at least now he or she will have a chance!  Now, the authorities are considering whether or not to press charges.  Stupid laws!

My ride and I cut out a little early, so I was home just a little after 5:00pm.  Eric was busy working out, after his bicycle ride.  That’s my boy!  We had talked about going to COSTCO, but he had a game coming on at 6:00pm, and you know how he feels about his basketball games!!!

I told him not to worry about it.  I can go over the weekend, or he can go with me at some point (only because my tennis elbow makes lifting anything heavy so hard, and I do want to get drinks!).  He’s going to go mountain biking tomorrow and I told him he could have the car, because I have a lot to do around the apartment.  The only thing I have to do is go food shopping and do one load of laundry (Eric did two loads today!).

I made Eric chicken cutlets and fresh broccoli with a sauce made of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, wasabi mayonnaise, mustard, fresh minced garlic, regular mayonnaise and some leftover Tuscan bruschetta, which is a mixture of fresh tomatoes, garlic and basil.  I poured it over the broccoli and cutlets and then added a little bread crumbs on top.  Eric loves his bread crumbs!
I just had a NUTRISYSTEM entrée (two cheese raviolis) for dinner with some of the broccoli.  I watched GHOST WHISPERER and then a special about TV’S ALL TIME FUNNIEST – funniest father, mother, kids, neighbors, bosses, friends.  It was really – funny!

Eric fell asleep around 10:30pm and I felt really tired, too, so I finished my blog, but the server was down (AGAIN), so I just went to sleep.  I’ve got a lot to do tomorrow, so I need a good night’s sleep!

Eric was up bright and early this morning, because he wanted to take the car, drive someplace and go mountain biking.  He lost his MOUNTAIN BIKING SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA book, so he had no idea where he was going, but off he went.  He woke me at 10:00am, just as he was leaving.  I haven’t slept that late in months, and it felt great!

I got up, had NUTRISYSTEM oatmeal and watched some TV.  Then, I started working around the apartment.  First, I cleaned out the bottom of my closet, putting aside a few pair of shoes that I love but, unfortunately, can’t wear anymore.  My right foot hurts most of the time, but certain shoes are just super-painful from the first step, so they’re certainly not worth wearing.  Although my foot has improved a lot since I had the acupuncture treatments (it actually started to feel much better after I stopped the treatments, but I believe it's because the treatments were finally starting to help), it still hurts and the shoe I wear is absolutely the most important component.  Certain shoes make it worse; others don’t.

My niece, Jessica, wears the same size as me, so I figured I’d send her the shoes I can’t wear and she can see if she likes them.  I am mourning the shoes I can’t wear anymore, because I love my shoes – every single pair – but if I can’t wear them comfortably, I can’t wear them.  I'm willing to suffer for beauty -- I always have -- but only to a certain extent!

After I finished the bottom of the closet, I rearranged all the NUTRISYSTEM food we have left in the cabinets.  I organized them by dinner, lunch, breakfast, and snacks, so it’s easy to find.

I was just getting ready to go down to the laundry when Eric came home.  It was only 2:00pm – four hours since he left – so I knew right away that he didn’t have a great ride.  Usually, he’d be gone at least 5-6 hours.  I didn’t even ask him how his ride was, because I didn’t want to hear anything negative, so instead I just told him I was happy he was home and asked him if he wanted anything to eat or drink.  When he said no, I just told him I wanted to do laundry and he offered to carry the bag down to the laundry room for me.

As we walked, he complained the he had a headache and he figured it was from the sun, since he had to ride in total sunshine the whole time, since there’s no shade on the rides, since there are no trees – only shrubs.  This is the same complaint he’s had for the last 7 months and, I have to admit, I’m tired of it.  So, I didn’t comment at all.  I just kind of pretended I didn’t hear him.

After I got the laundry in, I took my finished DICK FRANCIS book and walked to the library.  Unfortunately, by this time it was after 2:45pm and the library closed at 2:30pm.  I was so frustrated, because I really wanted to have a new book for Monday at work.  Who knew the library would close so early on a Saturday?   Isn’t that the day that everyone has time to go to the library?  Of course, they’re closed on Sundays, so I was out of luck.

I came back to the apartment and told Eric I was going to drive into Pacific Beach and go to PENNYWISE, the used book store.  I had a bunch of books to bring in, and figured I’d just buy one Dick Francis, if he had any.

First, I waited for the laundry to be done and then went back to the laundry room and got the stuff to hang on the line and put the rest in one of the dryers.  Eric was kind enough to hang it all up and I left for Pacific Beach.

I was lucky enough to get a spot right across from the bookstore, but when I got there, I saw a sign in the window that said, “CLOSED FOR EMERGENCY VACATION.”  What the hell does that mean?  Is there such a thing?  I was so frustrated.  Were it not for the fact that STARBUCKS is right down the block, I would have been really mad.  But my frustration was eased by a venti mocha light frappuccino.

I headed back home and stopped at the shoe repair.  I had a pair of shoes that I needed to get fixed, so I brought them to the shop right next to KEILS.  I thought about going food shopping, but had left my list and coupons at home, so I figured I’d just go tomorrow.

I went home, told Eric that I had failed again at getting a new book to read, and he convinced me to try a CLIVE BARKER book he read, which he said I’d love.  I guess I have no other choice, do I?  The thought of going to work without a book is truly scary, because there could be hours with nothing to do and I need to keep busy – even if it’s just my eyes working!

I have talked with some of the girls in the office about decoupage and they seemed really interested.  I told them I used to teach and offered to teach a class.  They were very enthusiastic!  Since I know my days there are numbered, I figured I could teach a ½ hour class of just the basics of cutting, while telling them the history of decoupage.  We set it up for Thursday from 12:30pm – 1:00pm and I reserved a conference room.  I know my boss will be out to lunch at that time, so he won’t need me.

I have a prepared speech that I used to give at women’s clubs sometimes and I figured I’d teach them to cut, get them set up with pictures and scissors and then explain the history while they worked.  Cutting is very important and there are a lot of interesting techniques that you wouldn’t know if someone didn’t show them to you.

The messy part is the gluing, which would not be practical at work, but I figure if they’re interested to learn more I would be happy to have them over to the apartment one Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  They really are a lovely bunch of girls and I really like them.  I invited 5 girls, but two said they’re not crafty and weren't interested.  There are three that are very interested in the class, which is perfect.

So, this afternoon I looked through lots of pages I’ve ripped out of magazines and catalogs, but haven’t cut yet, and made a nice selection.  I found four small scissors and also put aside one of my “travel themed” decoupaged mirrors and my decoupaged “clock” vase, so I can show them the results of my labors.

After that project, I tried to get onto my ETSY page, so I could upload my logo, add my photo, and write my bio.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t get in!  I had no problem at work, but was unable to here, so I emailed support and hope to get a response soon.  I doubt if they’ll be reading it over the weekend, so I guess I won’t be putting anything up for sale for a few days.  Very disappointing.

I decided to make soup, so I opened a box of organic vegetable broth, added a can of “no salt added” black beans, a can of petite cut diced tomatoes with spicy jalapenos, some frozen cauliflower, frozen shelled edamame, fresh baby carrots, fresh mushrooms, and minced garlic.  I left it simmering on the stove for a while and then had a bowl for dinner.  Eric didn't want any, so I made him a small salad and he made himself some leftover chicken and broccoli (which I had made the day before) in a wrap.  I offered to make it, but he has a technique for cooking the wrap and likes it a certain way, so he said he’d do it himself.  More power to him!

I watched some AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL and some TOP CHEF episodes I had recorded, just killing time until the new SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE came on at 11:30pm.  There hasn’t been a new one in a few weeks, so I was really excited.  Also, Shia LaBeouf is the host and I’ve seen him before.  He’s very funny and absolutely adorable, so I was looking forward to it.

Shia was in one my favorite more recent skits on SNL, from last year.  It’s the one with the family who does a TV commercial for SOFA KING.  They already own MATTRESS KING, but now they’re pitching SOFA KING and everything is SOFA KING great; SOFA KING cheap; SOFA KING comfortable.  I didn’t even get the skit at first, until Eric pointed it out to me.  If you’re not getting it either, just say SOFA KING a few times!

Eric came in to lie down with me at 8:30, because he still had a headache (and a stiff neck), but he told me to wake him at 11:30pm for SNL.  This headache/neckache thing is chronic, and I don’t know what causes it, but I still believe its stress.  I think he was unhappy with the mountain biking, and that makes him stressed and the stress gives him the headache/neckache.  Now, I’m not a doctor, so that’s just my humble opinion.  If I could get him to go to a doctor, maybe he’d get a more qualified diagnosis, but since he won’t mine will have to do! 

I watched a little of SOME LIKE IT HOT, part of which was filmed at HOTEL DEL CORONADO in San Diego, which I visited with my nieces when they visited in January.  It’s so fabulous, and so historical—for that reason alone—but there are a lot of other wonderful things that have happened at this hotel, which has been around for almost 100 years.

I also watched a little of TRAPEZE, which I recorded when it was on this afternoon.  It is one of my all-time favorite movies – coincidentally also starring Tony Curtis!  The reason I love it is Burt Lancaster, one of my all-time favorite actors (yummy).  It also stars Gina Lollobrigida who had about a 20 inch waist.  She’s magnificent!

I remember when my sisters and I used to watch that on THE MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE.  Do you all remember THE MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE – on Channel 9?  The theme song was the theme from GONE WITH THE WIND.  Sing along with me -- Da, da, da da.  Da, da, da da.  Da da da da da, da da da da.

They’d play the movie over and over – all week long – so if you really liked it you could conceivably see it at least 5 times.  There were no VCRs in those days, so we’d take advantage and watch a film over and over and over.  I’m not sure when it all started, but this was in the 60s when we were kids and we’d be in the basement.

Those were the days!  Now, a million dollar movie is a tiny indie film that’s backed by a few guys from your old neighborhood!  Nowadays, in order to impress at all, it would at LEAST have to be called the $100 MILLION DOLLAR MOVIE, or no one would even bother to watch.  Am I right? 

Anyway, they are two of my favorite movies – one, because of the memories that watching it invokes; the other because it stars my favorite icon of all time – Marilyn.  I just adore her.  My favorite of all her films is THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH, which isn’t even one of her great musicals, but I think it’s just Marilyn at her best.  My second favorite is definitely GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES, but if Marilyn’s on the screen – I’m definitely interested!

To every mother out there, friend, family, whomever reads this blog – if you are a mother – I salute you!  I have the greatest respect for motherhood, because it is a challenge I was always afraid to meet.  I never had maternal instincts, and knew it was the hardest job in the world, so I always believed if I couldn’t be the best, I shouldn’t do it at all.  Since Eric felt the same way about fatherhood, we were set!

Nevertheless, watching my sister raise my niece and nephew, my friends raise their babies, and knowing how hard it was for my mother to raise three girls (and do a fabulous job), I knew what great motherhood was and is.

My friend Laurie called today to find out how we’re doing.  I thought it was amazing that SHE was calling ME on Mother’s Day, considering she has a baby, Luke, who will be three.  She is a fabulous mother, but also has two careers to which she is devoted.  She’s lucky to have a wonderful husband.  They make a fantastic team, which is so important.

So, what did I do on Mother’s Day?  Well, Eric took the car this morning to go on another ride.  He was driving about ½ hour to a place where you go 7 miles uphill in order to have a great downhill ride.  He’s done it a few times before, but usually he gets a ride up the hill and just rides his bike downhill.  Today, there was no one to give him a ride, so he rode and mostly walked (because he said it was so steep he couldn’t ride) up the 7 miles in the sun and said he had a headache by the time he finished (it took him an hour-and-a-half).

I thought he was crazy to even attempt it, because I don’t think he has EVER walked 7 miles, let alone uphill in the sun, when he’s not in the best shape, but – hey – he took the challenge and he did it.

Unfortunately, it only takes about a half hour to go down the hill, so the fun part was over pretty fast.  He was home a little after 1:00pm.  I had just been doing stuff around the apartment – paying bills, cleaning my desk, ironing clothes for the week (yuck!) and watching TV.

I went food shopping in the afternoon and it was a slow, complicated process.  Eric is trying to lower his cholesterol and also has to watch his sugar and salt (because he’s also watching his blood pressure).  Do you know it’s almost impossible to watch your fat and salt at the same time?  It seems if they cut the fat they add salt or sugar.  If they cut the salt and sugar, they add fat.  It’s VERY hard.  I read every label, each ingredient, and managed to find healthy alternatives.

I walk over there and then Eric picks me up and carries the heavier bundles, so I don’t have to use my right arm (which still really hurts).  After I put all the packages away, I went into the bedroom to watch more TV, but I fell asleep!

I woke up at 6:00pm and Eric was working out.  After he was done, I made soup for myself and Eric made another chicken wrap with broccoli.  I poured a pint container of soup to have for lunch tomorrow at work.  I’ll also have a tiny cup of low-fat cottage cheese.  I’m sorry to admit I’ve gained back a few pounds, so I really have to get back in the game.

I’m super-frustrated right now, because my left elbow is hurting so much, so yoga is out of the question.  I don’t know how riding the bicycle would be (driving even hurts, so I’ve been trying to drive with only my right arm).  I am so frustrated, because I know I need aerobic exercise in order to lose weight, and I just can’t seem to find something that’s not going to hurt!  I know beauty is pain, but is exercise pain, too?

Since I couldn’t get a new DICK FRANCIS out of the library, or the bookstore, I will be taking a CLIVE BARKER book called THE THIEF OF ALWAYS.  I hope it’s good.  My boss will be back from his business trip, but I don’t anticipate being very busy.  Maybe he’ll surprise me!

Either someone’s got it in for us, or we’re having REALLY bad luck lately!  A few weeks ago our car was vandalized at night – someone broke the passenger side window.  Nothing else was done, and nothing was stolen, but it was still $150 and a big pain.

This morning I was at work and Eric called a little after 8:00am.  I was just about to dig into my NUTRISYSTEM cereal with soy milk.  Eric told me the car was vandalized again.  This time, someone threw some kind of gooey, gluey, smelly stuff all over the car, and then wrote nasty things in it.  The first time, I really believe someone was trying to steal the car and failed, because we had the club on.

This time, they were just being evil.  Eric is paranoid and believes it’s someone we know.  I know we don’t have any friends here, but we don’t have any enemies either, so why would they?  The only people who know our car might be a few of our neighbors, and we haven’t done anything to antagonize them, so why would they do that?

I think maybe the people who wanted to steal our car came back and saw the car again (it DOES stand out, because how many lavender PT Cruisers do you see?) and decided to just do something again.  Anyway, Eric washed the car, it all came off, and he went about his business.
I was upset the whole morning and didn’t even eat my cereal, because HE was so upset that I then got upset and completely lost my appetite (which hardly EVER happens), but then he called me afterwards and said it all cleaned up and he wasn’t going to let it upset him.

THAT’S a new Eric!  A few weeks ago, he would have talked about this incessantly, but I guess he saw that no permanent damage was done and he’s just going to hope it doesn’t happen again.  My theory is – 1x and it’s a fluke; 2x and it’s a coincidence; 3x and we’ve definitely made an enemy.  So, we’ll see what happens.  I’ll keep you informed!

My boss was in today, but gave me virtually nothing to do, except asking me to buy something for him on ebay this afternoon!  He saw that I was shopping on ebay (looking for a gift – nothing for myself!) and he told me he was having trouble with his account.  He believes someone has accessed his information and is using it to sell stuff.  Until he resolves it, he can’t log in and so I went on and bought a book for him.  I was happy to do it, and he gave me a check right away.

I read 90 pages of the CLIVE BARKER book Eric gave me to read.  It’s not thrilling, but it’s definitely holding my interest.  Eric went to the library today and got me another DICK FRANCIS, so as soon as this is finished (tomorrow?), I’ll start another DF!

Eric also went to COSTCO this afternoon and got a lot of great stuff we needed, like tall kitchen garbage bags, Listerine, edamame (they have a box with 12 individually packed servings!), FUZE drinks for me, bottled water for him, soy milk, avocados, and healthy cereal.  I really think you save a LOT of money at these kind of stores (we went to BJs in NY), even though you pay a membership fee.  I think you save the $50 in 2-3 visits and the rest of the year you’re just ahead of the game!

He bought a package of pre-made sushi and we had it for dinner.  Delicious!  I also made Eric a salad (and made my salad for lunch tomorrow) and I made a piece of salmon for myself (some of which I put in my salad for tomorrow!).  I had a WEIGHT WATCHERS frozen dessert and Eric had a HEALTHY CHOICE frozen dessert while we watched DANCING WITH THE STARS.

I’ve been having all kinds of problems with my DVR in the bedroom, so TIME WARNER CABLE is coming tomorrow to give me a new box.  It’s been a big pain, and I’ve been losing shows I recorded, and you know how I love my TV!!  I told Eric I’m going to sue them for pain and suffering!

I went online after DANCING WITH THE STARS and voted for MARISSA JARET WINOKUR five times.  She is the most improved and is really adorable and I think she needs the votes the most.  I really hope she makes it to the finals.  I’d like to see the two girls go head to head, but I’m pretty sure it will be Kristi Yamaguchi and Jason Taylor.

Before I say goodnight (and go watch the season finale of MEDIUM), I want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SUSAN!  I hope it was fabulous!

I forgot to mention yesterday that I finally had the “sit-down” with the boss and he told me that they hired someone (even though I already knew, because I just happen to drive in every day with a woman in HR).  He apologized that they hired internally (as if he thought I was disappointed) and I explained to him that I really wasn’t interested in the job (but I said it very nicely) and also that we weren’t staying in San Diego, so I was perfectly happy to keep temping.

He told me he’d be happy to give me a glowing reference (which is fabulous, because I know I can get about 3 or 4 from this job, which is great since my other references are six years old!).  He told me that the new person is going to have to transition from her present job to her new job, because that group lost an employee recently, and another is on sabbatical (more on that later), so she can’t just leave.  Goody for me!

Then, he told me that she’d be starting with 2 hours a day at the new job, just training, and would eventually go to full time.  I asked if that meant he would only need me for 6 hours a day, but he said that when she’s training she wouldn’t be working, so they would continue with me full time.  Goody, goody for me!

Then, I told him that my deepest wish was that I could keep temping at this firm, because I really love it there and I was hoping that by the time this job ends, there will be another opening.  He said that seemed like a great idea, but who knows (honest answer).  So, I’ll just keep my fingers crossed, but I told the woman from HR of my conversation as we were driving home and she said I would definitely be there for the rest of May.  Hallelujah!  I think I’ve been really lucky to find a full-time temp job for over 4 months!

I’ve also had a chance to refresh my skills and learn new things.  I have old versions of MICROSOFT OFFICE on my laptop at home, so learning the newest versions of PowerPoint, Word, and Excel was a real benefit.  I also got to use Outlook for the first time.

Although I have plenty of experience with emailing, Outlook has a lot of new options, including scheduling, which is really cool.  I got to use it for 4 months, so although I’m not an expert, I can definitely say I’m “proficient.”  This job has also given me the confidence that I can do well back in the corporate world.  It’s not a place I was dying to go back to, but – hey – you do what ya gotta do.  Right now, it is the best thing for us, and it’s the same as always – I manage to make it fun every day.

Now, about the sabbatical – this firm is fabulous.  If you work for 7 years you get 6 weeks paid sabbatical, along with your regular vacation.  I think that’s amazing!  You can take it all at once, or 3 weeks at a time, or 2 weeks, etc.  No wonder the turnover at this firm is minimal!

So, I managed to keep pretty busy today.  I finished a PowerPoint presentation, which was signed off on by my boss and two other people who are participating.  I then had it copied and bound, and put together folders for all participants in a client meeting tomorrow morning at 8:30am.  I had it all done by 2:00pm, and just read my book (which I finished at 2:30pm).

At 4:45pm, one of the other execs called my boss and told him there was a page out of order.  First of all, it wasn’t my fault – that’s how they told me to do it.  Second of all, they both signed off on it, so I guess they both didn’t notice before I had it copied and bound.  Third of all, the “Fulfillment Department” closes after 4:00pm, so there was no way I could get it fixed tonight.

I printed out the two pages that need to be replaced (since the page numbers changed) and have it ready to race to the Fulfillment Department first thing tomorrow morning to have them take the presentations apart, remove the two wrong pages, insert the two right pages and re-bind.  I’m assuming they’ll get it done before the 8:30am meeting!

It kind of annoyed me, and freaked me out a little, because they had all afternoon to notice and of course everything happens at the last minute, which I hate.  I purposely get everything done ASAP, so that there’s room for emergencies (which always arise), but never expect them to happen right before I leave for the day!  I would have been happy to stay late (and I’m sure my ride could have stayed, too), but there was no one there to rebind it anyway.

The cable guy came to the apartment this afternoon (right on schedule) and replaced my DVR box in the bedroom.  I’m hoping I’ll have no more problems.  Now, I just have to be sure to go through the schedule and set all my programs to record!  So far, so good.  I recorded DR. PHIL, AMERICAN IDOL, HELL'S KITCHEN and DANCING WITH THE STARS.

I had every intention of making dinner for us, but after watching TV for a while, I didn’t feel well and fell asleep around 7:00pm.  I don’t know what it was, but I felt much better after Eric woke me up after 8:00pm.  Since I said I wasn’t feeling great, he made dinner!  It was so delicious.  He made us NUTRISYSTEM pizzas with broccoli, and he also steamed broccoli and melted low-fat cheese on top, which was great, too.  To top it all off, he made my salad for tomorrow’s lunch.  Is he great, or what?

It was so nice to sit and relax (I watched DANCING WITH THE STARS) while he cooked.  Then, we ate dinner together and watched AMERICAN IDOL.  After that, he cleaned up and washed the dishes (it just gets better and better) while I blogged.

After that, we had dessert (low fat frozen yogurt) and watched HELL’S KITCHEN.  I do feel better, but when I was falling asleep I was hoping I wasn’t getting sick.  I HAVE to go to work tomorrow, because I have a very important job to do first thing in the morning, so I’m hoping I’m not coming down with something.  That would stink!  I do have something great to look forward to – my boss will be in a meeting for three hours and I have a new Dick Francis mystery!

I got the problem with the PowerPoint presentation resolved first thing this morning and then my boss was in a meeting from 8:30am – 11:30am.  I didn’t have a thing to do, so I started my newest Dick Francis mystery – COMEBACK – and I’m enjoying it very much!

When my boss returned from his meeting he asked me to do a few small things and then he asked me to come into his office.  He showed me two beautiful frame black-and-white photos (taken in Hong Kong) that he wanted to hang and asked my advice.  I told him where and how I’d hang them, and he agreed.  He called facilities and arranged for someone to hang them.

Then, we started talking about picture framing and how expensive it is.  His son-in-law has a framing shop, so he gets things done really cheap.  I told him that when I had my shop in NY I was next door to a picture framer and he would get so much business from me.  Many times, people would buy a print, poster, or painting and hate the frame.  I’d tell them to just go next door, tell Joe that “Peppy sent you” and he’d give you a great price.  I must have sent him 100 customers over 5 years and he was very appreciative.  He always framed things for me at cost and would repair things free all the time.  It was a great relationship which benefited us both.

Then, my boss started telling me about his collection of panoramic photos and photos of men in uniform, which he has framed in the same black wood frame and hung in an arrangement.  I told him it sounded fabulous!   We went from one subject to another and then someone came to see him, so I left.

When the person was done talking to him, he asked me to come back in, and I brought my little notebook, thinking he had something for me to do.  Nope!  He just wanted to continue our conversation!  I thought it was really cute and realize that, although he sometimes has a very abrupt, and testy manner, he really is a very nice guy. 

It’s flattering that he enjoys talking to me, and we DO have a lot in common, because he just moved to San Diego from NYC a few years ago.  He lived in NYC and on Long Island for many years, so we can talk about so much.  He’s also a big theatre buff and we enjoy the same types of music.  It took me a long time to get to know him, but now I really like him.  I still wouldn’t necessarily want to work for him permanently, but I do like him!

Tomorrow is my decoupage class at work.  I’m going to just explain the techniques of cutting – which papers work and which don’t, how size matters, and where to find inspiration.  I am bringing three examples of my work and also have a 2-page speech about the history of decoupage, which I will explain while they’re busy cutting.  I'm bringing lots of pages from magazines and catalogs, to give them something to cut, and ideas on what works.  I’m really looking forward to it.  The girls are very enthusiastic and are looking forward to it as much as me!

There’s a group at work that are very interested in AMERICAN IDOL (as am I!).  We discuss it every week and pick who we think will go home and who will win.  I think it’s a pretty easy guess this year (I’ve never been so sure in all the seasons)!

When I got home, Eric and I had a snack of edamame (which he made for me).  Then, at 7:30pm I made a salad for Eric, which he had with a NUTRISYSTEM entrée, and I had the rest of my vegetable soup (which is really filling).

I was finally able to put something up for sale on ETSY.COM.  I had a problem and was emailing back and forth with their support group, but they weren’t able to help me.  Finally, I wrote to our friend, Andrew, who is a computer genius.  He wrote back with very simple instructions and, in five minutes, I was in!  Unbelievable!  The support people couldn’t help me, but he could.

I told him he should be in the computer support and set-up business, because he’s so sweet, so friendly, and so smart.  I think he could really help people, and give them the confidence to work on the computer, even if they’re not computer-savvy.  He’s helped me so many times over the past few years, when I got new software, or when my computer crashed, or any time I had a particular problem.  Andrew always comes through!

I watched the season finale of AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL and, I am happy to report, for the first time in 10 seasons a full-figure girl won!  Yahoozie!  I loved Whitney from the very beginning and really wanted her to win.  She was nice, she was gorgeous, and she represented more of America than the twigs that usually walk the runway.  A very satisfying finale – I must say!

Next, I watched AMERICAN IDOL to see who the top two would be in the finale next week.  No big surprise – Syesha goes home; David and David battle it out to the end!  My prediction: Syesha will be on Broadway before fall; David Archuleta will win American Idol; David Cook will be a huge success!

DANCING WITH THE STARS will also be over soon.  What will I do when three of my favorite reality shows are done?  I guess there’s always another new show right behind it, right?

Tomorrow, May 15th, is an anniversary for me and Eric.  It’s 26 years since our first date (1982) and 25 years since we got engaged (1983).  The 15th is almost more important than our wedding anniversary, because it represents TWO wonderful days in our lives.  We were only dating for 6 weeks when we spoke about getting married, but Eric waited until October to ask my parents for my hand in marriage.  Then, we decided to wait until our one-year anniversary to officially get engaged, and then we waited another year to get married (on June 16th, 1984).

I meant to get a card for him, but I forgot.  Imagine my surprise when he gave ME one tonight!  It was sweet and beautiful.  He said he knows it hasn’t been much fun for us, because he has been so unhappy here, but he feels like things will get much better – and more fun!  It was just what I needed to hear.  I know he is feeling much better, and that he sees the light at the end of the tunnel.  He knows we are going to leave here, as soon as we can.  Now, we just have to figure out where to go!

MY SERVER WAS DOWN AGAIN LAST NIGHT, SO I COULDN’T POST THIS BLOG ENTRY UNTIL THIS MORNING (FRIDAY).  I FINALLY EMAILED SUPPORT TO COMPLAIN LAST NIGHT.  I HOPE THEY CAN DO SOMETHING TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING AGAIN!

Today was quiet and I read a lot of my book – COMEBACK – by Dick Francis.  I started it yesterday and I’ll finish it tomorrow morning.  I sent Eric to the library this afternoon to get me another one, because I know this one will be done before 10:00am!

My boss was in, but gave me virtually nothing to do all day.  This woman I work with asked me to make 20 copies of a 39 page document first thing this morning, and it was a super-rush.  I always find her mildly annoying, and have felt -- from the first day -- that she doesn't like me.  She gets the best "view" of me doing nothing, since she has a glass wall in her office and I sit right outside, so she sees me playing on the computer, reading, and refreshing my lipstick.  If I filed my nails, she'd probably hit the ceiling.

Anyway, you can only make 20 copies of a 39 page document as quickly as the copy machine can spit them out, so you'd think she would have understood, but she grabbed them out of my hand as if I had taken two hours instead of 10 minutes. Well, at least it provided a few moments of excitement, but that was pretty much it.

At 12:30pm I went to a small conference room and set up for my class.  I brought in a tray, a vase and a small mirror to show examples of my decoupage work.  I also brought in small scissors for each girl and lots of pages torn from magazines, to show them what types of things I like to cut out.  I explained to them about size (the smaller the better), thickness (no greeting cards or photos, unless you want to make color copies of them first), and content (I’m drawn to whimsical pictures, anything Asian, leopard prints, etc. – but they can cut out and use whatever appeals to THEM!)

One of the girls called in sick today, but the other two were excellent students and really took to it right away.  I got them set up cutting and read them my little 2-page speech about the history of decoupage.  One of the girls is Chinese, so she really appreciated hearing that the Chinese first developed cutting, gluing and lacquering pieces in the 12th century!

We had a lot of fun and it was over before we knew it.  They want to do it again really soon, and I told them the gluing was much too messy to do at work, so they’d have to come over.  They are really anxious to learn more!

Oh, here’s something I learned today: Do you know where the word “trivia” came from?  It was actually in my book!  It’s Latin for “three (tri) roads (via)” and the story goes that anyplace where three roads met in Italy it would be a gathering place and people would gossip, inform, and tell people what was going on where they had come, and find out what was going on where they were headed.  Since most of it wasn’t really based on fact, and it wasn’t necessarily important information, these gathering places came to be known for their “trivial” discussions – thus the word “trivia!”  Very interesting, eh?

We received a little “goodie package” in the mail from our friends, Geri and Larry, with packages of chili-spiced mango (our favorite healthy treat), a SPORTS ILLUSTRATED magazine for Eric (with lots of articles on basketball), a beautiful bookmark from a museum for me (because I’ve been reading so much lately), and a gorgeous Mary Engelbreit card.  It really made our day, and since it arrived on our “special anniversary” it was all the more special!  Thanks, guys!

After NUTRISYSTEM entrees, Eric watched a game tonight (what else is new?) while I watched UGLY BETTY.  It is such a great show.  It’s funny, campy, and touching, too.

It’s supposed to be over 100 degrees tomorrow.  It’s already very hot out and the apartment is stuffy already.  I can only imagine what tomorrow night will be like.  Eric said he saw a box of two fans at COSTCO, so he’s going back tomorrow to buy them.  We definitely need something if it’s going to get that hot.  At least they will help keep the air moving!  Eric said we would put one in the bedroom and another one in the living room.  We already have a ceiling fan in the dining room, so that should create some kind of breeze.  “We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave!”

You know your day is boring when the highlight is getting your hair cut and colored!

My day was pretty boring, except when the “new girl” came to have a meeting with me and the boss.  He’s going to be out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so I’m going to start training her.  She is cute and sweet and I think we’re going to have a little fun, too!

He has a long list of things he wants me to teach her, but would only give us a few subjects, because he said he doesn’t want to “overwhelm her,” which I thought was very nice of him.  She is transitioning slowly, and she will be training someone to replace her, so I guess he figures she can only teach and learn so much at the same time.

So, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, she’ll be joining me for three hours – from 12-3pm.  I’m excited, because I’ll have something to do – for sure – and I know I’m a good teacher, so I’ve no qualms about instructing her on the procedures and processes of the job.

The boss cut out at 1:00pm today.  I finished COMEBACK (which was really great) and started on BOLT, another Dick Francis, of course!

I was lucky enough to cut out at 4:30pm, so I was home a little before 5:00pm.  I only stayed about a half hour, because I had to go to HAIRSPRAY in HILLCREST for my cut and color.

John was his usual adorable, talkative self.  He really is very sweet, and he does such a great job on my hair!  I think my haircut last time was one of the best I’ve ever had.  It just seemed like every hair fell into place perfectly.  When I told him so, he said it was just because I’m now getting a haircut every month, which I never did before.  I used to get a trim every 3 or 4 colorings, and I realize that when my hair gets bushy it gets out of control.  I much prefer keeping it shorter, trimmed and in control, but I still think it’s the quality of the haircuts, not just the frequency of the haircuts, and I told him so!

Eric went to COSTCO again today, mainly to get two fans (they came two to a package).  He set one up in the living room – pointing right at him – and one in the bedroom on his night table, which moves the air around the bedroom beautifully.  Combined with the ceiling fan in the dining room, there’s a nice breeze pretty much everywhere and we really need it – because it’s HOT out!!!!  I can't believe it, but we're having another heat wave in San Diego!

He also bought a lot of great food at COSTCO, including this year’s first batch of cherries, some hummus and pita bread, mango salsa, and gum!

He also rode his bicycle to pick up my paycheck.  It was hot out, so I was pretty surprised that he rode anywhere, but it’s only 3 miles each way and there aren’t any hills, so it was a really easy ride.

When I got back from my cut and color we had a snack-style dinner of hummus, salsa and some toasted pita bread, along with some cherries.  It was all so fresh and delicious.  I started watching TV at about 7:30pm and fell into a dead sleep.  Eric woke me a little after 8:00pm, but I fell right back to sleep and woke up again at 9:30pm.  If I had work tomorrow I’d be in big trouble, because there’s no way I’m falling back to sleep at a decent hour, but since it’s Friday and I can sleep in tomorrow – no harm done!

I came out to the living room and worked on the computer for a while, while Eric was watching ULTIMATE FIGHTING (which I hate – so violent, with lots of blood).  After a while I went back into the bedroom and watched GHOST WHISPERER.

We have no plans for the weekend.  It’s supposed to stay hot, hot, hot, so staying in the apartment is not a great idea.  It just gets hot and stuffy in here.  Maybe I’ll convince Eric to go for a drive somewhere, or take in an air-conditioned movie!  It's too darn hot.  Too darn hot!

It was hot already when we were awakened this morning at 8:15am.  There’s a little boy whose apartment is right behind our bedroom window.  He loves to play the drums.  Usually he plays in the afternoons, but sometimes in the morning on the weekends.  It always bothered us, but when the weather was cooler the bedroom windows were always closed, so it wasn't too bad.

Now, with the heat, we have the windows open and there’s just about 20 feet between their front door and our bedroom window.  They have their doors and windows open, and the drumming was a rude awakening this morning!  I called the building manager, because it was only 8:15am, and it just seemed like an extreme thing to be doing so early.

He said we were definitely right and he would speak to her.  He knew exactly who I meant, and said she was “very reasonable” and he was sure there would be no more early-morning drumming.  We’ll just see, won’t we!

It took some doing, but I finally convinced Eric that getting out of the house was the best idea.  When I suggested the aquarium he got more enthusiastic and off we went.  BIRCH AQUARIUM is in La Jolla – just about 10 minutes away.

As soon as we got out of the car, I realized I forgot my camera.  I was so mad, but I was lucky to find pictures of our favorite attraction on the internet!  Enjoy!

We went through the the CORAL DISPLAYS, the HALL OF FISHES, and the TIDEPOOL DISPLAYS, amongst others, but our absolute favorite was the ART OF DECEPTION (Do You Sea What I Sea?).  There were many tanks hiding various fish and other sea life amongst the rocks and plant life.  They use their amazing camouflage to hide themselves.  You could stare into a tank for 5 minutes and finally notice a fish right before your eyes.  They were fabulous!

Our absolute favorites were the leafy sea dragons, whose elegant leaf-like appendages float right next to the leaves of real plants that look remarkably similar.  They have tiny fan-like fins by their ears and on their backs that move super-fast and help them float effortlessly through the water.  You can hardly see these fins when they're moving, because they are so thin that they are transparent, and they move so quickly.  Their “leaves” just float elegantly around them, moving in the water as a real plant would.

See the transparent fin?  

After touring all the exhibits we drove to HILLCREST and went to ORTEGA’S – A Mexican Bistro – for a late lunch.  We shared a Portobello Mushroom Quesadilla.  Eric had ½ roasted chicken and I had the baja shrimp tacos.  It was all really good and we were really hungry, but I ended up taking home one of my two shrimp tacos!

We headed back to the apartment, and headed right to the bedroom, which is the coolest room in the apartment (thankfully!).  Eric started watching TV and I fell right to sleep and had a wonderful nap.

When I got up we watched an episode of MONK that I had seen, but Eric hadn’t.   As usual, it was really great.   We both love MONK.  It’s just such a high quality show with great writing, and wonderful actors!

For the rest of the evening we just watched TV together, and I occasionally worked on the computer.  We’re just trying to stay cool with all the fans going and the windows open.  It does get considerably cooler as soon as the sun goes down, and it’s definitely more comfortable.

I heard the opposite is happening in NY and that it’s unusually cold for this time of year, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.  I do take the heat much better than the cold, but I think it bothers Eric a lot, so of course that bothers me.

Tomorrow is supposed to be more of the same.  I heard from one of the crafty divas of the CRAFT MAFIA.  There is an art fair tomorrow and they will have a booth.  One of the divas creates beautiful pieces of jewelry and the last time I saw her (at the SPRING LINE-UP where we each had a booth) I gave her some vintage beads I found.  Since I don’t use that many beads in my creations, I thought she could put them to good use and she was very grateful.  She emailed and told me that she has lots of broken jewelry that she can’t use in her pieces, and she’d like to give them to me.  So, I’ll drop by the FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS tomorrow, which is in NORTH PARK on UNIVERSITY AVENUE.

I asked Eric to go with me, but tomorrow he has two basketball games, so there’s no way he’s going out again.  I was lucky there were no games on today, or I probably wouldn’t have gotten him out to the aquarium!

It was a fun day and we haven’t done anything like that in a long time.  I really feel we should take advantage of the tourist attractions here, because we will be leaving eventually.  I want to know that, when we leave, I’ll have seen the best San Diego has to offer!

So, this morning at 8:03am the noise started.  It was the kid whose apartment is right across from our bedroom.  He wasn’t drumming.  I’m not sure what he was doing, because I didn’t get out of bed to look, but it sounded like he was throwing a ball or something against a door.  I kept hearing his mother tell him to stop, and finally she slammed the front door, because I guess she realized he was making a lot of noise and figured with the door closed it wouldn’t be as bad.  She was right.  I fell back to sleep around 8:30am.  I woke up again a little after 9:00am, because he was making more noise, but I actually fell back to sleep again and didn’t wake up until 11:00am!

Eric was already up, but I think he just woke up a little bit before me.  I can’t believe we slept that late, but I really didn’t sleep the whole time.  I woke up twice and had to fall back to sleep.  It was hot out, which makes you feel extra lazy and sleepy, so I guess that added to my drowsiness.

We had breakfast and watched SNL, which we recorded but didn’t watch last night.  I love Steve Carell, but it really wasn’t that funny.  Oh, well.

I decided that I would go to the festival first, and then go food shopping and do laundry when I got back.  I left the house at around 1:00pm and went straight to North Park.  I got a great spot, and there was a Starbucks right there, so I got myself an iced venti decaf skinny mocha, which made walking in the sun a little easier.  I had slathered myself with sunscreen, but it was hot out and I was sweating – a lot!

There were lots of interesting booths, but also a lot of boring ones – politicians, newspapers trying to get you to buy a subscription, double-paned windows, stucco painting, religious paraphernalia, dieting, chiropractic, etc., etc.

I found my friends’ booth very quickly.  There were about 5 divas sharing one booth and selling all their wares simultaneously.  Sarah was there, who had emailed me about the jewelry.  She gave me a small shopping bag filled with lots of great beads, stones, and other decorative pieces I can use in my work.  The best was a big bunch of little beads with all the letters of the alphabet on them, which you would use to make personalized bracelets or necklaces.  I can use them to personalize a piece I make, which will be really fun, or I can write phrases on something.  I know I can put them to good use!

I walked around for about 2 hours, listening to the bands (there were a lot at different points on University Avenue), watching the entertainment (they had dancers from a local dancing school and acrobats from another school), and checking out all the booths.

I left when I had seen everything and went directly to KEILS.  I did a fast food shopping, because Eric had gotten lots of great stuff at COSTCO last week, so there really wasn’t that much to buy.
He came down to the car to carry up the bundles and I changed my clothes and went directly to the laundry room.  I did two loads and then went through all the jewelry Sarah had given me in the shopping bag.

I made us Ahi tuna and a big salad for dinner (and made my salad for work tomorrow, too).  I watched EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION.  Over the past 2 years they did a renovation in every single state and today was the 50th renovation – in New Orleans.  Not only did they build a new house, but they also built a new church for a pastor whose church had been destroyed by Katrina and whose congregation now had no place to worship.  It was a great 2-hour season finale and, of course, I cried!

Then, I watched the 2-hour season finale of DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES.  It cooled off a lot, as soon as the sun went down, but it is supposed to be just as hot tomorrow.  It’s fine for me, because it’s nice and cool in the office, but I feel bad for Eric.  It’s too hot to ride, and it’s really hot in the apartment, so he really can’t do much at all.  He’s been working out, but it’s too hot to do that, too, so he’s kind of just hanging around, with the fan pointed at him, blowing around the hot air in the living room.

I feel so bad for him.  I wish it would get cool again, because he seems so much more motivated when the weather is better.  The heat really gets to him.  We were lucky, because we had air conditioning in NY, so it never got too hot in the house.  Here, we’re at the mercy of the heat, and the fans just do so much and not much at all.

My boss is out Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and I start to train my replacement tomorrow.  I’m really looking forward to it, as it will be something to do for 2 hours.  It may be quiet in the morning, but I know my afternoons will be interesting!

It was already really hot when I left the apartment at 7:30am.  It’s just such a difference from normal SD weather, and you really notice it – especially at such an early hour.

I had a few things to take care of at work this morning, and then read my book until it was time to train the girl who will be replacing me.  She’s a doll, and very smart, so it was fun and easy.

The first thing I did was teach her our expense report system.  I really enjoy doing that particular job.   It’s a great system (and she agreed) and it’s actually fun!  It does all the math for you, there’s minimal data input, and you just pull all the charges from AM EX and match it up to the receipts you get.

Since expense reports are due tomorrow, I figured this was a good start to her training.  First, I showed her how to do it all, she took good notes, and I made a bunch of entries.  Then, I let her sit at the wheel and she finished it herself.  We didn't get to submit it, because there are a few charges that still didn't come through, so we figured we'd wait and see if they're listed tomorrow.

Next, I explained to her about all the PowerPoint presentations I have to do.  She is less experienced in PowerPoint that I was (and I was very inexperienced), but I told her that you never have to create slides.  You just receive them via email from different people in the firm and incorporate them into a template document.  The only complicated thing is that everything has to be updated every quarter, so you can’t go back and use the same document from last quarter, even if everything is exactly the same.  You constantly have to create new documents to keep everything up-to-date.

There are certain people in the firm whose entire job is updating all the documents quarterly.  It seems like they just finish updating the last document (there are lots and lots) and it’s time to start all over again.  I think if I had that job I’d find it endlessly frustrating, because you’re never really done!

I showed her where on the network you find the documents and tomorrow I’ll show her how to update one of them with new slides, and then let her do it, too.  The most complicated part is that, because of some problems with the newest version of PowerPoint, when you import slides from one document to another a lot of the formatting gets messed up.  Fonts change, colors change, layout can even change.  So, you have to go through each slide and make sure it looks like the document you took it from.

I told her that I’ve been very lucky, because there’s always someone in the group to ask for help.  That’s one thing about this firm – they’re all very supportive and helpful.

After that, I took her into my boss’ office and gave her the “low down” on him.  I said that basically after 4 months I figured out that he’s a really nice guy, but doesn’t always have the best “bedside manner.”  He can be rather brusque, condescending and critical, but – on the other hand – he’s very easy-going, likes to gab, and backs down easily when confronted (as I found out lately).

She really appreciated that input.  I think she must have heard things about him, because she seemed to already know about his flaws.  I know he has a reputation in the office as being difficult, because things were said to me when I first interviewed four months ago, and people in the department have said things to me over the past few months, leading me to believe that he’s not a “firm favorite.”

I told her that she just has to take everything he says with a grain of salt, and not get offended.  She has to know that it’s him and not her.  She told me she’s not really sensitive, which will serve her well.  Basically, working for him is easy, because he’s very laid back (which he told her himself).  He usually knows about projects weeks in advance, so there’s very little last-minute, rush-rush work.  There aren't a lot of fires to put out (as Jimmy likes to say!).

She’s supposed to train with me every day from 12-3, but today I had to leave at 2:00pm, because HR had set up an appointment with me in another department to interview for another long-term temp job.  One of the girls in the department is leaving the firm, and another is going on vacation for 3 weeks (both starting the second week in June), so they need someone to replace them BOTH for 3 weeks, and then stay when the one girl returns, until they replace the second girl.  It could be another few months – at least through July.

I’m happy about it, because it means I’ll get to stay with the firm longer.  The girl I’m training is officially starting July 1st, but she’ll be devoting more and more time to the new job, and I’ll definitely be done training her in a few weeks, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to start this new job the first week in June (while the 2 girls are still there) and then I’ll be on my own starting the second week in June.  Shadowing them for a week will make it much easier for me when I'm on my own.

The party’s pretty much over, because this new job is much more complicated than the one I have now.  I know I’ve been bored, and the days drag on and on, but I’ve kind of gotten spoiled and I DO have a lot more Dick Francis mysteries to read!

This job is less about supporting an executive working with clients, and more about supporting a group that works behind the scenes – tech guys, consultants on special in-house projects, and all the support staff of the firm.  It entails taking hand-written minutes at meetings (something I’ve never done before), maintaining spreadsheets, and updating data.  There’s also a lot of stuff I AM used to doing – like expense reports (whee!), scheduling meetings, ordering food, and completing timesheets.

The good news is, I’ll have them to train me, but that means I’ll get trained in the morning, and train the new girl in the afternoon, which means it’s going to get pretty hectic.  I always get really nervous when I start something new, until I get going and realize it’s not so hard.  Know what I mean?  It’s always daunting until you’ve done it a few times.

Both girls I’m replacing told me they’re making a manual of their jobs and will have step-by-step instructions for each function of the job, which really gave me more confidence.  Between their training and the manuals I’ll have, there should be no problem.  There’s also another girl in the office who had the same job for years, so she’s a good resource if I have any questions.  In all, it should be fine, but I always get nervous about change.  Who doesn’t?

Today I just met with the two girls I’m replacing, and they gave me the thumbs up.  So, tomorrow I have to meet with one of the bosses.  They told me it’s just a formality, because they definitely want me to take the job.  I actually think they’re pretty lucky I’m around, because otherwise they’d have to hire a temp who doesn’t know anything about the firm, and I think that definitely gives me a leg up on anyone else they might have hired.  I already know a lot of the systems, I know where everything is and who most of the key people are, and that makes it much easier for me to transition than it would be for a new temp.

When I got home, I was exhausted.  I went to bed late last night, and had a pretty busy day (considering), so I immediately took a nap.  I was going to watch Dr. Phil, but there was an explosion at a hotel they’re building downtown, so Dr. Phil wasn’t on – it was an hour of news about the explosion.

I woke up a little before 8:00pm.  Eric heated up NUTRISYSTEM entrées for us both and we watched DANCING WITH THE STARS.  It’s getting very exciting.  I’m pretty positive Kristi Yamaguchi is going to win (I’m voting for her online), but they all put on a great show tonight.  With DWTS over tomorrow, and AMERICAN IDOL over this week, I’m really losing reality shows every week.  I know there’s always a new show right behind it, but I kind of feel let down when a show ends.  I know, I’m weird.

There wasn’t anything I wanted to watch after DWTS, so I came out and worked on the computer, paying bills and blogging.

I won’t start my training with the new group until Wednesday, so tomorrow I’ll just have my meeting in the morning and then train my replacement from 12-3.  She’s sweet and fun, so I don’t mind it at all.  I just hope I enjoy being trained as much as I’m enjoying doing the training!

I want to start this entry off by saying Happy Birthday to my sister, Lenae!  I wanted to call her to wish her a wonderful birthday, but I fell asleep as soon as I got home and woke up at 8:00pm, which is 11:00pm in NY, so I missed my chance!

I had a busy day at work today.  It was MUCH cooler this morning – about 20 degrees cooler than over the weekend.  It felt so much better.  My boss was traveling today, but I heard from him by mid-morning and he gave me a few projects to work on.  I figured I would wait until my “trainee” came, so I could show her how I edit the PowerPoint document and collect the various documents he needed me to email to a client.

I had another interview this morning at 9:30am, with the man I’ll be working for.  Yesterday I just interviewed with the two girls I’ll be actually filling in for, so today I met with the guy to whom I’ll be reporting.  There’s another man, too, but I haven’t met him yet.  One girl is just going away for 3 weeks on vacation – I didn’t meet her boss yet.  The other girl is leaving the firm – I met her boss.  He was really nice, fun and friendly.  I liked him immediately.

He said he was really happy to have me there, because he doesn’t want to rush into hiring somebody and now he can take his time, as I’ll be there to fill in and train the person when he does.  He asked me to tell him a little about myself, and I just said that I’m not really the corporate type, but I’m good at what I do and always do my best, give it 100% and try to make everyone’s life easier, and their day better.

I said I like to laugh and try to have fun every day, and enjoy working in an environment where people like to laugh, too.  He told me that they’re very relaxed there and he likes to have fun and enjoy the day as much as possible.  About three times during the interview he said, “We’re going to get along great!” in response to something I said.  I really think he’s right.  He was so nice and laid back and I’m sure I’ll do well there.

When I told a few people in the office where I was going next, they all said that they’re a great group and that my new boss is really nice and friendly.  He has a great reputation in the firm, which is really wonderful.

This group is called Systems Infrastructure, which sounds complicated but really means that they handle all the behind-the-scenes operations – phones, computers, and everything that goes along with them.  There are a lot of consultants that work for the firm through different agencies – a lot of them are not on staff.  They are hired for particular projects and when the projects are finished, their job is done.  Part of my job will be tracking their projects, submitting all their timesheets, and coordinating their work.

When I returned to my desk, I read my book until it was time to train.  I really showed her a LOT today – we worked a little more on expense reports, then on putting together the entire package I have to email tomorrow.  Then I showed her how to make color copies of certain documents.  It’s more complicated than it sounds, because some of the pages in the document are one-sided and others are 2-sided and you have to print them separately and then collate them.

I also took her up to the Travel department to introduce her to the 2 women that work there.  They handle all the car service, rental car, hotel, and travel reservations for my boss, and he travels a LOT.

Finally, I showed her all the documents in just one of the file drawers, which are updated every quarter.  They all look alike to me, and I showed her how some of them look exactly the same, except one chart will be “net” and one will be “gross” and she has to be sure to be VERY careful not to give the boss the wrong one (I’ve done it!).

Tomorrow, I start training downstairs at the new job.  I’ll be there for a few hours in the morning, then will train for three hours every afternoon.  That should keep me busy for a while!  I guess I won’t be reading too much in the next couple of weeks!

As I mentioned before, when I got home I watched DR. PHIL and then fell asleep until 8:00pm.  Eric had made a huge salad for dinner (which was so sweet), so I worked on the computer and had a bowl and we watched TV together.

I was very excited about TV tonight, because it’s the season finale of DANCING WITH THE STARS and they announced the winner.  Unfortunately they dragged it out to a two-hour show, so we first watched AMERICAN IDOL, then the first hour of DWTS and then HELL’S KITCHEN, which was really dramatic tonight.

AMERICAN IDOL was great.  Each of the two finalists (David vs. David) sang three songs – one chosen by Clive Davis, one original song submitted by songwriters around the country, and the last the singer’s choice.  I think they both did a fabulous job, but I am a HUGE Archuleta fan, and I believe he will win.  I know my friend Sergio thinks Cook will win, so we’ll just see tomorrow, Sergio – won’t we?

I want to see who won on DWTS but I may have to go to sleep before I can watch the last hour and they announce the winner.  If I do, I’ll find out tomorrow on YAHOO NEWS!  If I can stay up late enough, I’ll see who wins the big mirrored ball trophy tonight.  They already eliminated Christian, so it’s between Kristi and Jason.  Kristi’s definitely the more talented dancer, but Jason’s a hunk and he’s got a lot of fans out there – so there’s no sure winner.  I'll tell you one thing -- tonight was an exciting night of reality TV!

I woke up feeling very nervous and anxious this morning.  I have no problem training someone, but I’m nervous about being trained, because I’m always afraid I’ll have a problem learning something, or I’ll do something wrong.  I’m pretty lucky because I’m going to have a couple of weeks to train before I’m on my own, which is a very unusual situation.  Most of the time, temps are just thrown into a job, because someone got sick, or at the most you might have a week to train before a person leaves their job.

I started temping way back in 1977 – yes, over 30 years ago!  My father worked for DICTAPHONE CORPORATION at the time and they had their own temp agency – DOT (Dictaphone Office Temporaries).  Since I studied typing in high school and really took to it, my father brought me to his office in Rye, NY a couple of times and got me trained on the Dictaphone.  I don’t think anyone uses them anymore, but 30 years ago whey were all the rage!

The boss would dictate a letter, memo, etc., into the recorder and then you would transcribe it.  I actually enjoyed doing that, and it became my “claim to fame” at PwC.  There wasn’t anyone more efficient or faster at transcription than Peppy!

Anyway, I had been in Queens College for 2 years as a theatre major and I was determined to pursue a career in the theatre.  Most everyone in the theatre makes their living waiting tables, as it usually leaves your schedule pretty flexible and your days open.  I never did that.  When I left Queens College in 1977 to pursue my career, I started temping.  It gave me the flexibility to go to an audition, or a class.

One of my first jobs was at Reader’s Digest on 3rd Avenue and 46th Street.  It was their General Books Division.  Do you remember Reader’s Digest Books?  They had condensed books, but they also had other books filled with information and pictures.  They were entertaining encyclopedias on different subjects like “Into the Unknown,” “Great American West,” or “Stories Behind Everyday Things.”

I worked for the Photo Editor in the Photo Department.  It was a small group and we quickly became a family.  Bob, the Photo Editor was the father.  Adelaide, his secretary was the mother.  Dick, who worked under Bob was the older brother.  Priscilla, who managed and cataloged all the incoming photos, was the older daughter and I (the gal Friday) was the younger daughter.  I’m not kidding.  We fell into those roles and it made the job both wonderful and sometimes very trying.  Adelaide really was a second mother and worried about all of us.  She would make sure you were eating right, dressing appropriately, and had to know what was going on in your life at all times!

The positive was that it was a fun, easy job that I really enjoyed and they were completely flexible about my time off and supportive of my career (they all came to every show I did).  I worked there for two years!  Unfortunately, in all that time, I never got a paid vacation, or sick day, but that’s the life of a temp!  I did get a free Reader’s Digest magazine on my desk every month and a copy of any book I desired (I got them all!).

Anyway, I got to work this morning and worked on a few things for my boss (who was in LA today) until 9:00am.  Then, I went downtstairs to Systems Infrastructure to start my training.  The first thing they wanted me to do was attend their daily meeting, from 9:00am – 9:30am, where they review all the projects and discuss status and what needs to be done.  I felt like I was in a room with 10 people speaking another language.  Everything was so technical, and the jargon and acronyms were words I’d never heard before – and they were talking fast!

I sat next to my “trainer” and she had in front of her the agenda for the day before.  What she did was edit it and occasionally write something down as they spoke.  I couldn’t understand why she wrote certain things down, and ignored other things.

When we left, I told her that I didn’t understand how I could possibly do what she did in there, because I didn’t understand a WORD anyone was saying, and didn’t have any idea what they were talking about!

She said she’d only been in that job for 5 months and that I would get it very quickly.  The truth is, she edits the minutes after the meeting and emails it to the guy in charge and he checks it for accuracy.  If there are any mistakes, he corrects it and sends it back to her for finalization.  So, I guess at first I would be making a LOT of mistakes, and he would be making a LOT of corrections.  It really stressed me out, but I can only do the best that I can do, and nothing more.

The other stuff required for this job is relatively easy, because it’s running reports, and the girl who is training me is creating a manual that has every step clearly written.  I will start by watching her run the reports, and then I’ll run them while she watches, so I will get experience doing it on my own.

It’s a lot to learn, especially for just a month or two, and the most intimidating part is that then I’ll have to train the new person (although there are 2 other people who know the job, so it won’t really be just me).  Anyway, I got back to my desk at 11:00am, which just gave me enough time to work on a few projects and read a few pages of my book (I only have about 30 pages left) before it was time to train.

One of the groups I work with was going out for a teambuilding event today.  I knew about it, and thought it sounded like fun, but of course I wasn’t invited, because I’m just a temp.  They were going to lunch and then to indoor go kart races.  At the last minute, they had two cancellations, so they asked the woman I’m training and me to go!  She was really excited, so I thought I’d go, too.  I wasn’t dressed for the occasion – skirt and strappy sandals – but I went anyway.

We had lunch at the YELLOW COYOTE TORTILLA FACTORY, which was really great.  One of the guys at lunch said the coyote looked like he had the measles.  I thought that was pretty funny!  I had a 3-cheese quesadilla, but I could only eat about half of it, and had to leave the rest since we would be out all afternoon.  Boo hoo!

Next, we went to K1 SPEED indoor go kart racing.  I had never done this before, but was excited to try it.  We discussed our driving techniques over lunch, and I told the group that I DO like to drive fast, but I’m not reckless at all, and not very competitive either.

My words turned out to be completely true.  Although I didn’t win any of the races, I did go fast, but was careful enough to never crash or spin-out, which almost everyone else did!

When we first arrived, they made us fill out information online and sign a release saying that we won’t sue if we are maimed, killed, etc.  Then, they make sure you’re all dressed for the occasion, and – since I wasn’t – they gave me a pair of black/white keds in my size and a big t-shirt to put over my lap (since your legs are kind of spread, since the gas is on the right with your right foot, and the brake is on the left with your left foot.  I wasn’t uncomfortable at all, and the sneakers fit great, but everyone was laughing, because they had never seen me in flats before.  Someone took a picture of me, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get to see it (and I don’t know if I want to!).

The first race, there were eight of us.  We did 12 laps and I came in dead last.  You have to wear these “head socks” that are yellow cotton and go over your face so that just your eyes and nose are exposed.  I guess they protect your head from the smelly helmets, since you really sweat in these things.  Let’s just say it’s not my best look.

In between races you take off the head sock, drop it in a basket, return the helmet and get a print-out of your scores and race results.  The second race you get a new head sock and use the same helmet.  This race was also 12 laps, and there were only 6 drivers.  One of the girls crashed in the first race and didn’t want to drive anymore, and another guy had to get back to work (he’s a young partner!).

In the second race, I was in third place – out of 6.  I was pretty proud of that!  I found it really funny and was driving and laughing at the same time.  It just struck me as really funny that, not only was I doing this crazy thing I had never done before, but I was racing with people I hardly knew.  I just had the best time.  Whenever someone would pass me, it would make me laugh even harder, and I tried to keep up, but I was too nervous to pass anyone.

The last race was 16 laps and was a true race, instead of being judged on time, it would actually show the first 3 to pass the finish line.  Another guy dropped out, because he was exhausted, so there were just five of us, and I came in fifth.  Boo hoo!  The first, second and third place winners got a trophy, which was really cute.  Then we went back to the office, arriving a little after 4:00pm.

All of us were complaining that our arms were killing us, because it is really hard to control the karts, so you are using your arm muscles a lot.  I also feel it in my pecs.  I’m sure it’s going to hurt even more tomorrow.  My neck feels stiff, too.  I see some Advils in my future!

It was well worth it, because the new girl got to bond with everyone and, as I told them, I got to have my "last hurrah" before leaving the department.  We all had a lot of fun and it was a wonderful afternoon.  BTW – I was – by about 10 years – the oldest person there!

When I got back to the office I called my boss (who was driving back from LA).  He seemed pleased that I got to go out with everyone and just wanted to check in with me.  He’ll be in tomorrow, so it should be pretty busy.  I’m not going to training tomorrow morning, since he’ll only be in tomorrow and out again Friday, but I will be training the girl from 12-3.  I can’t wait to hear if her neck and arms were hurting her like mine are tonight!

When I got home, Eric informed me that his cable TV was out completely and they are coming at 7:30am on Saturday.  He told me that he had a game on from 6-9, so I took a nap while he watched basketball in the bedroom.  When I woke up, we had more salad (that Eric had made yesterday), and then I worked on the computer until his game was over.  When it ended I watched the AMERICAN IDOL season finale.

First of all, I have to say to Sergio – YOU WERE RIGHT!  He swore that David Cook would win, and I would have bet $1,000 that David Archuleta would win.  I can’t believe I was so wrong.  David Cook won by over 12 million votes.  There were over 97 million votes all together – 56% for David Cook; 44% for David Archuleta.  So, it wasn’t even close!

It doesn’t really matter who won, because they both have big futures ahead of them, but I really thought that David Archuleta would be better molded by the American Idol machine than David Cook, but I’m sure he’ll be a huge success.  Cook’s adorable, he’s a great singer, and he seems like a really nice guy.

The show really was star-studded – Seal, Donna Summers, ZZ Top, the Jonas Brothers, Bryan Adams, Carrie Underwood, and George Michael, among others – along with the top 12.  I enjoyed the whole 2 hours.  Unfortunately, the show ran long and my DVR didn’t record the whole thing.  In fact, I was nervous that it would end before they announced the winner.  It ended up that Ryan Seacrest said, “David Cook!” and just as David had a shocked look on his face, the recording was over!  So, I missed the whole “reaction thing” and his final song.  I guess I’ll be able to see it online, or on the news.  Anyway, I have to be careful about that – when it’s a show like that, that could run long, you have to add some time to the end!

Tomorrow should be a little less hectic, because I will only be training my replacement in the afternoon, but I won’t go for training in the morning, so I’ll get to finish my book!  Eric already got me another out of the library today – FIELD OF THIRTEEN, which is 13 short stories by Dick Francis.  I want to read everything he’s ever written, so the short stories will be a nice change.  The good thing is, sometimes I can read an entire story in one sitting!

I took two Advil last night, before I went to sleep, because I was achy from driving that Go Kart.  When I woke up this morning, my neck felt a little stiff and my pecs were killing me.  Even washing my hands hurt!  Also, when I press on my upper chest in a particular spot on either side it REALLY hurts!  I guess I used muscles I haven’t used in years!  Everyone complained of stiffness either in their neck or arms, but I was the only one with pec problems!

Here’s a picture of the group.  Unfortunately, you can’t see my very attractive borrowed sneakers, but I’m still holding the big t-shirt they gave me to use as a “blanket” over my lap, so no one got a free show.  I actually made the group laugh, because when the girl saw I was in a skirt and suggested the t-shirt I said, “Really?  I actually was hoping my skirt would fly up over my head!”  That got a good laugh!

So, you can’t see my sneakers, but you can see that I’m a midget.  Enjoy!

My ride was off today, so I drove in by myself.  It’s only about 15 minutes from door to door and it’s a pleasant ride on I-5, with no traffic, so I really don’t mind at all.

I found out that my boss had second thoughts about me going to a new job.  He feels that since the girl replacing me isn’t starting full-time until July 1, and I was supposed to start this new job the second week in June, he would be without sufficient support for a few weeks and he didn’t like that idea.  Two women in HR had spoken to him and he seemed okay with it.  I spoke to him and assured him he would get the support he needed.  Yet, he told them he didn’t want me to move over until July 1, when the other girl comes up full time.

Now, we ALL know that there’s nothing really to be done, and he doesn’t need much support, but my theory is – if he wants me, he should have me!  I was actually kind of relieved, because this new job was really complicated and I totally felt in over my head, since I have no idea what they’re all doing in Systems Infrastructure and Operations, so knowing I’m not going to have to deal with all that was good news.

On the other hand, I don’t want to be out of a job on July 1, but my boss took care of that.  He said that he really thinks I’m great and he doesn’t want me to lose a job because he needs me to stay, so he told them to find me someplace else to go.  The woman in HR said they’re really busy in HR, so they’ll probably put me there.  I was thrilled!  HR is so interesting – and I worked for the Director of HR at PwC for a year, so I definitely know that environment.

I was so flattered that my boss stuck his neck out for me and told them to keep me around, even if there really wasn’t a position for me.  We spent a lot of time talking today – about aging parents, ebay, and home theatre systems, but he never said a word about this whole thing.  I guess he figures HR explained it to me so why go there, but it would have been nice for him to explain it himself.

He did ask me to come in after my training session this afternoon to get an update on how it’s going.  I told her this girl is really top-notch.  She’s super-smart with a degree in economics, worked in trading for 6 years, has been with the firm for 10, knows everyone, is really interested in learning, and picks things up super-quickly.  She’s also a lot of fun and very interesting.  The only thing I warned him about – she’s a talker!  Sometimes I have to steer her back to training, because she is telling me about her date last night, or her family.  She’s a doll, and I really like her, but I really want to make sure she’s learning everything she needs to know.

So, I didn’t go to training this morning.  I just worked on some projects for the boss, and then trained the new girl from 12-3.  From 3-5 I just read my new book – short stories by Dick Francis – and watched as many videos from last night’s AMERICAN IDOL as I could find.  I managed to see his reaction and “acceptance speech” and even saw his performance after he won.  I thought he was SO great, because he kept motioning for everyone, especially Archie, to join him, and he was so humble, and touched, and happy and it was just really wonderful.

At 5:00pm I was sitting at my desk waiting for an email or phone call from my ride, to meet in the lobby, and I finally realized that I drove in myself.  I’m getting old, I tell ya!

I hit a LOT of traffic on the way home.  It was drizzling – I’m telling you – DRIZZLING – and traffic was practically at a standstill.  They just have NO idea here.

When I got home Eric was watching basketball on the TV in the bedroom, since his cable is out in the living room and not getting fixed until 7:30am on Saturday.  I made myself a snack (since I didn’t really have lunch today and I was starving) and I read my COSMO magazine in the dining room.  Then, I took a nap in bed while Eric watched basketball.

He woke me at 8:00pm, made me an entrée and I watched UGLY BETTY, which was trés interesting, if you know what I mean!  If you are into Betty, I ask you Gio or Henry?  I’d definitely be going to Italy for a month with Gio!

I know Jimmy is going to be way disappointed in me, because he thinks I watch too much reality TV, but two new shows started tonight – SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and LAST COMIC STANDING, both of which I have watched in the past.  It’s never ending, I tell you!

Tomorrow is a half-day at work (wheee!) and we have Monday off (double wheee!), so I’ll be having a nice, long weekend.  No training tomorrow either, because no one will be there in the afternoon.  So, I just have 4 hours with the boss, and then I’ll be a free woman until Tuesday morning!

It was pretty easy getting out of bed this morning.  I knew I only had to work 4 hours today, and I knew that I wouldn’t have to get up with the alarm for three days in a row.  Sweet!

When I got to work at 8:00am, my boss was already there!  First time in 4 months he beat me to work!  He was already on what he said would be a long conference call (must be a NY call to start so early in SD!).  Since he was busy on the phone, he didn’t give me much to do all morning.

At 10:30am they had a tutorial on the new copy machines we got in the office.  They just replaced every single machine -- b/w and color -- with a new machine.  Pretty luxurious!  These new machines are so fabulous, they do everything but shine your shoes!

I stood there with 4-5 other girls while a cute young guy taught us all the ins and outs and showed us all the bells and whistles (which are plentiful).  I told the guy I was having a problem with this copier and the color copier on our floor.  Whenever I sent a document to be printed 2-sided, if it had an uneven number of pages, it would print the first page of the next copy on the last page of the document before.

So, for example, page 1 would print on the back of page 7, which would mess up every document after that.  There were many times I’d forget and have to recycle all the pages, and do it all over again, sending each document to print separately – one at a time.

So, after the tutorial was over, he asked me to show him.  I took him to my desk, found a 3-page document, sent it to print and we walked back to the b/w copier.  Of course it did it perfectly.  So, I said, “Okay, maybe it’s okay on the black/white printer, but I KNOW it messes it up on the color printer.”  We went back to my desk and I sent the 3-page document to the color printer.  AGAIN – perfect!  Now, I don’t know if he thinks I’m crazy, or just trying to spend more time with him.  Anyway, I’ll never know why it happened – but I actually had witnesses, because I would show the documents to people to ask them if they knew why it was happening and what I could do to stop it.  They said they'd never seen that before!

Isn’t it typical that the problem you have never shows itself when the person who can help is around?

I was supposed to work until 12:30pm and was looking at some magazines at my desk (a lot of people at work bring their magazines to work and leave them in the kitchen when they’re done, so others can enjoy them) when my boss gave me something to type at 11:30am.

It’s a quarterly letter that is updated each quarter with new numbers.  It shows results for the quarter and then 1 year, 3 year, and 5 year results (all in percentages).  All he wanted me to do today was find the letter and then on Tuesday I could start implementing all the changes.

I searched everywhere and could only find the fourth quarter 2007 letter, even though we had already worked on the first quarter 2008 letter.  The last time it was edited was on April 18th and I think I thought it was finalized and deleted it because the woman I kept sending it to for review sent me back an email saying to be sure to only keep the latest version.  I think I accidentally deleted the wrong thing.

So, since I had hard copy of the first quarter 2008 letter, I told my boss I would take the fourth quarter 2007 letter I had in WORD and update THAT to reflect the 1st quarter numbers.  It was a complicated job, because there are about 8 charts with numbers and each number changes completely – sometimes from a positive to a negative and vice versa.

I asked him if he needed me to stay today to do it and he said I could do it first thing Tuesday morning.  I was relieved, but then asked him if I could email it to myself at home and work on it over the weekend.  I thought it would be easier to do at leisure over the weekend and I wouldn’t worry about it, which I would do if I knew it was hanging over my head all weekend and I had to do it the first thing on Tuesday after a holiday weekend!

I opened the document at home and it looks fine, but I have a much older version of WORD, so I don’t know if there will be any problems saving it here, emailing it back and opening it again at work on Tuesday.  If so, I’ll have to do it all over again anyway, but I think it will be okay.  This is the first time I’ve lost a document, or messed up in any major way, and I feel horrible.

I try never have that “I’m just a temp” mentality and I always want to do a perfect job.  I also could have said, “I have no idea where the document went,” but I do have an idea (although I’m not sure) and I admitted that it was my fault.  I think he respected that!

Anyway, I got to leave at 12:30pm and it was nasty and raining out.  That’s typical for Memorial Day weekends in NY, but you really wouldn’t expect it in San Diego!  Eric told me they said it hasn’t rained Memorial Day weekend for 25 years.  Just our luck it’s supposed to rain all weekend!

When I got home, Eric and I went back out to go to the library, pick up my check, and deposit it at CITIBANK.  Eric said the library was closed, because the library around the corner closes at 12:30pm on Friday and Eric was already there.  I told him we should go to the other one (which is about 2 miles down Clairemont Drive), because I thought that one would have extended hours.  The one around the corner is smaller, and their hours are reduced.  I was right.  The one down Clairemont Drive was open until 2:30pm today.

I got two more DICK FRANCIS mysteries.  Each one continues a character already introduced in another book, which is like seeing a good friend again!

Eric got another DEAN KOONTZ book – COLD FIRE.  He just finished THE HUSBAND and really enjoyed it.  I might try it, since I always liked DEAN KOONTZ a lot, too.

When we got back from running our errands, it stopped raining, but it was damp, cold and nasty – only about 58 degrees!  We came into the apartment and got into bed.  Eric took a nap while I watched DR. PHIL and some TOP CHEF episodes.  Then, at 6:00pm when his basketball game came on, I took a nap and he woke me up at 8:00pm.

We had snacked when I came home, and I still felt full, so I didn’t really have a proper lunch or dinner – just a big afternoon snack of some salad and hummus and chips and then a WEIGHT WATCHER’S dessert at 9:00pm.

Eric said he’ll take me out tomorrow and Sunday, so I have to go online and find something interesting for us to do.  I just hope the weather’s nice, because it’s no fun running around in the rain.  If it is raining, I’ll go see INDIANA JONES or IRON MAN, which I think we’ll both enjoy.  If it’s nice out, I’ll try to find some kind of fair or festival to go to.

I also want to do some major organizing this weekend, because I’m usually too tired during the week and the long weekend is the perfect opportunity.  I have ALL my crafting stuff in the dining room and I have plenty of storage space to put it all away.  Eric is so patient, because he never mentions it, but I think it would be good to put it all away and then just take stuff out as I need it.  I really haven’t crafted since the SPRING LINE UP on March 30th.  I worked so hard for the month before that, so I would have lots of merchandise, and I still have eight pieces at GILI ANNA’S in La Jolla, so it’s not like I need to do something.

I’d like to do some decoupage, just because I so enjoy the work, but I think it’s more important to organize the room and make it look nice again.  Right now, it looks more like a craft corner than a dining room!

I hope everyone has a fabulous MEMORIAL DAY weekend – filled with fun, family and maybe some barbecues.  ENJOY!

The cable guy came at 7:40am this morning – right on schedule.  Eric let him in and I stayed in bed and slept.  He gave Eric a new cable box, and when he left Eric came back to bed.

At 9:30am our little drummer boy across the way started practicing.  The funny thing about him is he only plays for 5 minutes – never much more than that.  So, it’s enough to wake you, but if you’re determined to go back to sleep (as we were this morning) you can.

I slept on and off until about 11:00am.  We got up and Eric made us a fabulous breakfast of egg whites (in a container) with mushrooms and cheese, a slice of whole wheat bread, and some cubed mango and honeydew.  It was fantastic -- a great way to start the day.

It rained all night last night, and I didn’t expect it to be a very nice day, but it turned out to be lovely – about 65 degrees with the sun shining and a nice breeze.  I wanted to go out and do something, but Eric really wasn’t very enthusiastic.  He had a basketball game starting at 5:30pm and wanted to be home for that.  I compromised by saying we’d go to the movies and see INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL and then we’d be home on time, I’d make him dinner, and we’d have at least done SOMETHING.

He agreed and we went to a 3:10pm showing at the nearby movie theatre on Clairemont Drive.  It’s just 3 miles away.  There are 14 stadium-style theatres, with really comfy seats.  There were a lot of people at the theatre today.  I guess it wasn’t really a beach day (too cool).  I really enjoyed the film.  Jimmy said if we liked the other 3 INDIANA JONES movies we’d like this one, too, and he was right.  It was just pure fun and adventure.  I love HARRISON FORD, he’s one of my favorite actors.  I also like SHIA LaBEOUF and it was great to see KAREN ALLEN again, too!

I can't remember the last movie Eric and I saw in a theatre.  We only go to the movies about once a year.  It's just not a favorite pasttime of ours!

After the movie I went to STARBUCKS and then we came home.  I immediately started 2 loads of laundry and did some organizing while Eric watched the game.  I cleaned up the dining room area, putting all my decorative tins (which are filled with craft items) back on the shelves in the bedroom, and made room in the lower cabinets in the kitchen for all the non-decorative craft stuff.  The room looks a lot better now, and since I’m not planning to do any big craft jobs in the near future, I don’t really need all that hanging around anyway!

I worked on my firm’s Quarterly Letter and finished editing it.  I’m hoping that it will be okay when I email it back to myself and open it in my updated version of WORD.  It looks a LOT different on the screen AND when I printed it out to proofread it.  It’s weird, but the printout was much smaller and off center, instead of filling the page like it did at work.  I don’t quite understand it all and I’m hoping I didn’t waste an hour this afternoon (before we went to the movies) making all the changes.  If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just have to do it all over again on Tuesday morning.

There was really nothing to interest me on TV tonight (Saturdays are notoriously boring TV nights), so I watched some stuff I had previously recorded (SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE and LAST COMIC STANDING) and did more stuff around the apartment.

Eric and I made a vegetarian dinner with three varieties of MORNINGSTAR veggie items and some fresh steamed broccoli.

I will probably go food shopping at some point tomorrow, but we have no other plans and Eric has another game on at 5:30pm tomorrow afternoon, too.  Just my luck!  He says if we go someplace and don’t get home in time I could record the game for him, but he never ends up watching games I record.  He really prefers to watch them live, and I hate to have him miss it, because I know they mean a lot to him.  So, we’ll either do something that gets us home by 5:30pm, or I’ll just do something on my own!

It was déjà vu this morning when, at 9:30am, the Little Drummer Boy started practicing.  Considering he’s under 5 (maybe 4 from the looks of him), he’s really not bad.  The other day Eric made me laugh because, as we were rudely awakened by his drumming, Eric said, “At least he’s improving!”  That struck me as so funny.

Anyway, we did both fall back to sleep, which causes us to sleep in later than ever.  Again, we woke up around 11:00am!  We had breakfast (cold cereal) and then Eric said I could figure out where to go this afternoon and he’d agree, even if it meant missing his game.  He asked me to record it, in case we weren’t back by 5:30pm.

I decided we'd go to the REUBEN H. FLEET SCIENCE CENTER, because it looked like something Eric would be interested in, and it looked like fun!  It’s in BALBOA PARK, which is really amazing.  There is so much to see and do there!   It is the nation’s largest urban cultural park.  There are 15 major museums, many different performing arts venues, beautiful gardens, and of course the Zoo!

The Science Center had lots of EXHIBITS on aging, sight and sound, and energy.  There was also an IMAX theatre, but we saw a movie yesterday (and I don’t like 3-D – it gives me a headache), so we passed on that.

This is not the science center.  It was just such a gorgeous building, I had to take a picture of it!

After we walked around all the exhibits at the Science Center, we walked through the park passing the Museum of Photographic Arts, the Museum of Natural History, and many other gorgeous buildings.  The architecture is very ornate and the park is immaculate, with beautifully manicured gardens, and lovely fountains.  There were big crowds today, with vendors selling food and drink, acrobats, mimes, artists, magicians, musicians and many other street entertainers.

There was a wedding going on (there is a beautiful reception hall there, too!) and we saw the bridal party taking pictures outside.  It was the perfect day for a wedding – sunny, breezy, cool and comfortable.

We walked to the ART CENTER and ran into my friend Gili (of GILI ANNA’S) in the first shop!  It is such a small world and we only know a few people in San Diego, so to run into someone we know is VERY unusual!

I thought the way they had painted the stones on the ground was so colorful, whimsical and fun.  I just loved this place and took lots of pictures, because it was just so lovely!

A fun way to get around Balboa Park.  You can rent these by the hour!

We went through all the shops selling hand-blown glass, oil paintings, watercolors, jewelry, hand-dyed clothing, lots of ceramics, pottery and many other crafts.

A piece of hand-painted silk really appealed to me, with its beautiful Asian designs.

When we got back in the car we were really hungry – it was almost 5:00pm, so we decided to go for dinner in HILLCREST, since we were very close by.  We settled on a Japanese restaurant called ONO SUSHI on University Avenue.  It is a super-trendy sushi bar and it was packed at 5:00pm!  We were lucky to get a great seat by the window, so we could watch the crowds on University Avenue.

We started with Garlic Edamame, which was unbelievable!  We love edamame, but this was drowning in a delicious garlic sauce.  We really enjoyed that!   Then, we tried Shrimp Spring Rolls, which were filled with shrimp and veggies.  Lovely!  Our next appetizer was called Seafood Dynamite and it was another hot dish with seafood, rice and a delicious sauce.

Finally, we shared two rolls – a Philadelphia Roll (one of our old favorites) and a Double Hillcrest Roll, which had avocado, eel, spicy tuna, and caviar.  Yummy!  We were so stuffed we didn’t have dessert, but on the way home we stopped at our favorite gelato place (Gelato Vero) and got a pint of Chocolate Hazelnut.

When we got home it was almost 7:00pm.  I started watching TV in the bedroom, and Eric watched in the living room, but he didn’t watch the game, because he figured he’d watch the whole thing tomorrow and was just hoping he didn’t hear on the news or the radio which team won!

I watched EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION and DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, neither of which I had previously seen.  The DH episode answered a few questions for me – things I had wondered about, since I came into the show after missing a lot of the last season (we were still traveling when the season started).

These gorgeous roses at the Art Center had such an intense color!

Tomorrow I am finally going food shopping (I’m pretty sure the supermarkets and grocery stores are open on Memorial Day!).  I feel great that Eric and I went out two days in a row.  He has been a bit of a “homebody” lately, and it was wonderful to spend the long weekend doing things together.  We had fun yesterday and today and I really enjoyed myself!

My friend Joe, in L.A. called today.  I missed his call, but he left a message and said, “Happy Memorial Day.”  Then he said, “That’s really not appropriate, because it’s not really a happy holiday, is it?”  It’s true.  All we ever think about (most of us, that is) is a three-day weekend a hope for great weather and lots of barbecues, but it’s really about remembering those who gave their lives in times of war.

It’s especially important to remember today, not only because of those soldiers in WWI, WWII, the Korean, or the Vietnam war, but especially because of our boys and girls (yes, they’re mostly just boys and girls) who have sacrificed their lives for a terrible, stupid war.  It makes me so mad that they’re still there, still dying every day, or coming home missing limbs, but this is what our current presidency is all about.  I’d vote for anyone who could stop this war and bring them home, but I don’t think any of them can or will.

Anyway, enough about war.  I’m happy to report – no drummer boy this morning.  It’s a Memorial Day Miracle!  I still got up at around 9:30am, but since I did it on my own and wasn’t woken up, I felt better about actually getting out of bed!  I worked on the computer, since I wasn’t able to get to my blog last night – the server was down again.  So, I did it this morning.

Then, I watched TV out in the living room and had a massage on the massage chair (ahhh!) since Eric was still sleeping.  When he woke up, he told me he had a bad headache, so he went back to sleep and I kept watching TV.

Finally, I had a breakfast bar, went in the shower, and left the apartment with my book.  I wanted to get out for a while, and thought I’d go to STARBUCKS, get myself a iced grande decaf skinny mocha and read my new DICK FRANCIS for a while, before going food shopping.  I sat there for about an hour, and then went to the supermarket.  I didn’t have to buy much, because Eric had gone to COSTCO, and we still had a lot of frozen, boxed and canned stuff left.  I just bought fresh fruit and veggies, and a dozen DIET LEMON SNAPPLES and came home.

I think I told you all that I’m “back on the Snapple.”  I was completely addicted in NY and went cold turkey when we left NY.  I didn’t have one for over 6 months, and really missed them.  I like them because they have zero calories and I realized that the other things I was drinking ALSO had the “dreaded splenda” so I figured I’d go back to my old friend, Snapple.  Ah, it’s good to be back.  Snapple, how I missed you!

When I got back, Eric still had a bad headache, but took 2 of his Excedrin Migraines and soon felt better.  Meanwhile, I watched DR. PHIL and then took a nap (big surprise).  When I woke up, I made us delicious salads and NUTRISYSTEM pizzas.  Eric was watching basketball and I watched SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE.  This show is great, because you get to watch dancers from all over the country.  They might be trained in ballroom, hip-hop, ballet or Broadway, or not trained at all.  That’s the most interesting thing about SYTYCD – each dancer brings his own talents to the table, but then has to go outside his comfort zone and learn things he’s never done before.

Another interesting thing about the show is that one of the judges – Mary Murphy – owns a great dance school right here in San Diego!  I’ve been wanting to go there and take a ballroom class for months, but of course – just like the yoga classes – it’s something I haven’t been able to do, because of my various injuries.  My elbow IS feeling much, much better, even though I had a minor setback from the go kart racing (but it was worth it!).  I'm hoping to take a yoga class soon, and the ballroom classes would be great, too!

This weekend I asked Eric if he wanted to go to the go kart track with me, because I thought he’d really like it (and knew he’d be really good at it), but he was completely unenthusiastic.  He’s completely unenthusiastic about most things these days.  I’m lucky I got him to go to the movies and Balboa Park this weekend.

We had a long talk about him going back to New York in the RV, trying to find work, and getting healthy again.  He honestly believes he can’t do it in SD and I really believe him.  I don’t want him to go without me – we’ve never been apart for more than a week in 26 years, but if this is what he needs to do in order to ride, work and be happy, then I’ll support him.  The most important thing is for him to get out of San Diego, because he really believes it is affecting him negatively and, if you believe something like that, it doesn’t really matter if it’s true or not.  I believe in the power of positive thinking, but I also believe in the power of negative thinking.

I know Eric has a lot of support in NY – his family and friends are all there, so I know he’ll have a lot of people to help him get settled.  I also know I’ll be fine here, because I’ve got a routine going and I’m pretty independent.  I’ll miss him, but I’ll survive.  I just want Eric to be happy.  I just want him to be healthy.  This is what he wants to do and I have to support him, even though I was hoping we could do it together.

In preparation for work tomorrow, I reviewed my “work document” again tonight, to be sure I made all the changes correctly.  I emailed it back to myself at work and I’m just hoping that it will all work out tomorrow.  I know it’s not the biggest deal in the world, but I always want everything to be perfect, and I hate when anything goes wrong, especially at work.

Oh, one more bit of good news.  I was working in WORD on my laptop yesterday and my computer screen just went completely blue.  I rebooted and everything was fine, but I immediately backed everything up, because I have a feeling this is “the beginning of the end.”  I bought this laptop in January 2002, so it’s six years old, which is an antique in the world of computers.  I had to get a new hard drive in the summer of ’06, but I had planned to buy a new laptop here in SD.  I never did make the investment since Eric wasn’t working.  Now, I may have to, but at least I’m prepared for the worst and will have everything I need to get the new one set up!

I don’t know why, but I couldn’t fall asleep last night.  We turned off the TV at midnight, but I was still awake at 1:00pm.  I did sleep well when I finally fell asleep, but the alarm came much too early this morning.  I snoozed three times, and then finally got up.

It was another beautiful morning.  I was nervous about the quarterly letter, but I am happy to report that all went well and I sent it off to be reviewed before noon.  I apologized again to my boss, because it really was my fault that it couldn’t be found anywhere and I had to retype a lot of it, but he was very nice about it.

A few of the people in my group are going to Switzerland next week for a firm meeting.  I’m getting a package together of all the materials needed for the meeting, and it’s being mailed tomorrow, so today I was busy making sure I had 20 copies of all the necessary documents.  My boss is not going, but he’s supposed to be on Jury Duty, so my trainee and I may have a few nice, quiet days to enjoy!

I was really busy today.  For the first time in weeks I didn’t read one page of my book!  I trained my replacement from 12-3pm today.  We have a lot of fun and sometimes I think we’re talking too much and I’m training too little, but she’s so smart and fast and knows so much already that it all takes very little time to teach.  She’s been with the firm for 10 years, and knows a lot more than I do about processes and procedures.  She’s also a college graduate with a degree in economics, so she’s not going to have any problem in this job.  In fact, I think she’s over-qualified, but I’m hoping that she’ll be able to advance before too long.

My boss was super-nasty to one of my co-workers today and I was horrified.  There’s a young guy who works editing all the documents that are updated quarterly.  There are probably hundreds of them, and many of them look exactly alike.  My boss came up to me this afternoon, showed me one page in a document and told me he needed me to email him a copy.  I searched and searched, but couldn’t find the exact page he wanted (although I found 2 or 3 that looked remarkably the same).  Finally, I went to ask this young man for help.

He immediately came over to my desk, and showed me where on the network the document was located.  He was describing the location as he used the mouse to click on each folder, as he went along.  My boss came out of his office and said, “I have a client waiting for that document, so can you just send it to me and explain to her where it is later!”  I was so embarrassed and felt so bad.  When the boss went back inside his office, I said, “I’m so sorry,” and he just shrugged.

Later, when I walked past his desk, the young man actually apologized to me and said he was sorry I had to deal with that.  I told him my days were numbered and he said, “There’s a light at the end of the tunnel?”  I told him indeed there was.  I told him I was sorry HE had to deal with that!  My boss is the main reason I wouldn’t want to join the staff, because the rest of the group is really, really nice, helpful, friendly and supportive.  Even though he’s nice to me most of the time, I just can’t stand someone being so mean to somebody that’s helping me.  It was just totally unnecessary.

I was glad when the day was over.  When I got home I opened the mail.  We got our gas & electric bill from SDG&E.  For the period April 23 through May 22 our usage added up to $29.17.  That’s less than a dollar a day!  Who gets a $30 gas & electric bill?  I told Eric he HAD to admit that was a positive.  In NY our lowest electric bill would still be over $100 a month – more than $3 a day.  Of course, we did have a house, and this is just a 2-bedroom apartment, but I still think it’s fabulous!  Hey, it doesn’t take much to make me happy!

Eric was, as usual, watching basketball, so I watched DR. PHIL and then worked on the computer.  I made us the same dinner as last night (it’s a good thing we’re both easy) – salads and NUTRISYSTEM pizzas.  It’s healthy, fast, easy, and delicious!

After dinner Eric watched the second half of THE ANDROMEDIA STRAIN, a new movie on A&E with Benjamin Bratt and Eric McCormack.  It started with 2 hours last night, and finished tonight with another 2 hours.  He really enjoyed it.

I watched HELL’S KITCHEN (very entertaining) and then an episode of BOSTON LEGAL from last season that I had never seen.  Eric brought me a dessert of ½ diet fudge pop in a bowl of fresh cubed mango.  What a delicious, refreshing combination!

I can’t believe it’s almost June.  June is a big month in my family.  My Dad will turn 80 on the 11th; Eric and I will be married 24 years on the 16th; my parents 57th wedding anniversary is the 17th; and Eric’s birthday is the 26th.  And there's Father’s Day. 

We also celebrate my sister and brother-in-law’s wedding anniversary (30 years!) on July 3rd and my brother-in-law’s birthday on July 2nd, so there are lots of toasts to be made when the family gets together this time of year.

Unfortunately, Eric and I will be missing out on the family get-together, which really saddens me.  My parents will be flying up to New Paltz in mid-June to be with my sisters, my brother-in-law, and my niece and nephew.  I wish we could be there to join in the celebration, but it’s just not possible right now.  We were lucky to get to see my parents in April, but I haven’t seen my sisters in almost a year.  Being away from my family is harder than I thought it would be.  I figured they’d be visiting here, and we’d be going back there, but it’s almost a year and no one has been able to make the trip yet.  I don’t know when we’ll all get together, but I know we’ll be in New York in November for our niece, Jessica’s wedding, so at least we’ll be back in 2008!

I have nothing thrilling to report today (not that I do every other day).  I went to work, completed some projects, read a little of my book (whee!), sent a package off to Geneva for the meeting next week, and trained for 3 hours this afternoon.

It is a good thing I’m not training for the other job in the morning and training someone in the afternoon, because I’m exhausted by the time she leaves at 3:00pm.  It’s not that what I’m doing is so hard, it’s just taxing to be talking and instructing, and concentrating for 3 hours without stopping.  When I’m NOT teaching, she’s telling me all about her new boyfriend.

She’s very sweet but, boy, she can talk.  I feel a little drained after 3 hours with her.  Now I know how some people feel after spending a few hours with ME!

It’s also throwing off my whole eating schedule, because I can’t eat lunch before she comes (11:30am is just too early for me), and I can’t start eating a full lunch at 3:00pm, when she leaves.  What I’ve ended up doing is having breakfast at 8:00am, as usual, then I’ll have some kind of snack (fruit, a NUTRISYSTEM bar or a bowl of cereal) right before she comes, and then another snack after she leaves (same type of stuff).

I have a snack when I get home, too.  Today I had some hummus, chips, and snap peas.  Unfortunately, DR. PHIL didn’t record today and I don’t know why.  I had a problem with the guide on DVR – there was nothing there, so I rebooted.  Nothing happened.  So, I rebooted again and it took over ½ hour for the TV to come back on.  I had to set my shows to record all over again.  This is ridiculous.

I was watching JUDGE JUDY when I fell asleep at 7:00pm and Eric woke me at 8:00pm and made me a NUTRISYSTEM entrée.  Then we each had a diet sorbet pop and I watched HELL’S KITCHEN with him, even though I already watched it last night.  I knew he wouldn’t watch it on his own, and he enjoys that show, so I watched it again.  Oh, the things we do for love!

My boss was supposed to have Jury Duty next week and I’m REALLY hoping he does.  First of all, it will be nice because he’s been in the office a lot the last few weeks, and also it will be easier to train when he’s not around.  I’m even thinking I may take my trainee out for an excursion to lunch!  A working lunch!

Three other people from my group will be in Geneva Thursday and Friday of next week, so it will be VERY quiet if he’s on Jury Duty and they’re away, too.  I think that means I’ll get to finish my two DICK FRANCIS mysteries!

I was SO tired this morning.  Really tired.  VERY tired.  I have to stop staying up for LENO with Eric.  I need to go to bed by 11:30pm the LATEST.

When I got to work my boss was already there, because he had a meeting upstairs at 8:30am.  So, he gave me a few things to do and disappeared.  The most fun I had all morning was tracking the package I sent to Geneva yesterday via UPS.  It was sent out yesterday afternoon and, by mid-morning, it had already been to Louisville, Kentucky, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  I tracked it again this afternoon and it was already in Cologne, Germany!  Wow!  I’m impressed.  At this rate, it should be in Geneva tomorrow.  And they told me it would take a week!

Of course, you know if we waited until Friday to send it, something awful would have happened and it wouldn’t make it there until after the conference.  So, better safe than sorry, I say.

I am very proud of myself, because there is usually some kind of food or candy around the office, but the last few days have been really tempting.  First, someone brought in a box of mini cupcakes – just a bite or two each.  There was also a box of bakery cookies and some kind of chocolate cake with a striped white and chocolate icing.

Today, I walked by the area where the sweets are displayed and there was a huge, gorgeous, moist, decadent chocolate cake.  I said, “What the hell is going on here!” and everybody who heard me laughed.  They knew right away what I was talking about, because there’s been so much to eat lately.  It turns out it was a birthday cake for one of the employees on the floor.

Meanwhile, I haven’t touched one thing.  I am kind of an all or nothing girl, so it has to be nothing.  If I started to taste one thing, I’d be tempted to try everything, and would want a little every day.  So, I resist.  It ain’t easy, but I do it.  I’m no saint, by any means, but at least I can resist the fattening sweets and candy at work.  There's a woman who has a big dish of peanut butter M&Ms in her office; another guy has a big bowl of regular M&Ms by his cube.  People walk by and just grab a handful as they go.  I have never had ONE!

My work training this afternoon went great.  We worked on two PowerPoint presentations that will be used at the end of June.  The boss thought it was a good idea for us to start working on them now, so my trainee can get used to the editing process, and learn what slides need to be used for each type of presentation.  She catches on to everything so fast.  She’s really a pleasure.  Today I told her that the boss was lucky to have her coming on board, and she just beamed.  It’s true!

When I got home I just relaxed for a while and Eric made me the most delicious dinner.  We had a Boca burger with low-fat swiss cheese, sautéed mushrooms, and some MORNINGSTAR veggie bites, which are really delicious.  Eric makes a sauce with low-salt ketchup and mayo that really is delicious on the burger and the veggie bites.  It was so nice to come home and have him cook for me.  He also did the dishes.  Wow!

After dinner I watched TV and Eric worked out.  I was surprised, because he hasn’t been feeling well lately and I haven’t noticed him working out (although I’m not home all day), but he did his weights tonight, which was great to see.  He also told me he went for a ride today.  I know it’s very frustrating for him when he rides, because he’s out of shape, and it’s no fun, so there’s really no motivation to go out and do it again, except that he knows he should.

I try to explain to him that it’s like people who go to the gym, or work out at home – it’s not like they love working out (I think most people hate it).  It’s just that they do it because they want to be in shape, or lose weight, or just be strong and healthy.  Meanwhile, I'm the last one who should talk or lecture, because I don't work out at all, but I don't complain about it.  He does.

I got to read a lot of my book today.  It’s really, really good and I’m enjoying it thoroughly.  I’m hoping to finish it tomorrow.  This training has really cut into my reading time.  Today my boss left right before 3:00pm (when my trainee was still with me).  She said, “What are you going to do after I leave at 3:00pm?”  I said, “I have to read my book!” and she said, “I know how important THAT is!”

She is SO looking forward to this job, because where she is right now she gets around 200 emails a DAY and is pretty much chained to her desk the whole day.  She is so happy that she’s going to have more of a work/life balance and will get to enjoy her day more, be less stressed, and even get to read her personal emails!  I told her I was afraid she might actually get bored after a while (like I did), but she said she’s looking forward to it!

I know they’re planning to give her a lot more responsibility than I currently have (and I think it’s a lot more than the woman in this spot before me had).  They’re actually combining an admin role with an associate role, so she’ll be assisting my boss, but also will have other responsibilities.  Even so, it’ll still be a breeze compared with what she now does.

Everyone keeps expressing dismay that I’m leaving this group, but then they’re happy when I tell them I’m pretty sure I’ll be staying with the firm a while longer.  I just hope it all works out.  I have no guarantees from them.  They don’t owe me anything.  I was lucky to work for 5 months straight at one job.  That’s just not common.  I just hope I can make it last – at least through the summer!

I went to bed earlier last night – 11:00pm.  Eric watched TV in the living room, because I was determined to get more sleep.  Ideally, I would go to bed at 10:00pm, because that would give me a nice 8 hours, but I just can’t manage it.

My boss was in and out of meetings all day.  I had scheduled a meeting for 1:00pm today and invited about 30 people.  We had a conference room that held 18 and I was all worried that we wouldn’t have enough room, but it turned out that only 7 or 8 people RSVP’d that they could actually attend.

We had 3 people from a company in Boston coming to give a presentation on some kind of year-end review.  All I was told to do was reserve the conference room, send the email invitation, make bound copies of the presentation to hand out, and follow up afterwards by sending email copies of the presentation to all those invited.

When I went up to reception to greet the visitors and take them to the conference room, I asked them if they would like some coffee (which is free and is available on every floor).  They said they’d just like some water.  Unfortunately, the only water we have is sold in a vending machine, or there’s tap water in tiny Styrofoam cups.  I realized I should have had bottled water in the room – it just makes sense, but I’m kind of “out of practice” on this sort of thing and don’t plan many meetings.  I’ve done breakfast meetings – and had food and drink, but it was a 1:00pm meeting and I just didn’t think of it and no one told me to make sure it was available.

I wandered the floor, looking for someone to ask, because I assumed there was a way to get bottled water, but I couldn’t find anyone, so I just brought three small syrofoam cups of tap water in there.  It was pitiful.  I didn’t have anything for the firm attendees, but a lot of them appeared with their coffee mugs, so they obviously know the drill (that nothing is offered).  I was so embarrassed and was happy I prefaced my introduction to the Boston group with the fact that I was a temp and didn’t even know where the conference room was!  At least my lack of hostess skills didn’t reflect badly on the firm!

Anyway, my trainee and I had a great afternoon.  We worked on a couple of PowerPoint presentations we’ll need for the end of June and then we sat in this guy’s office and gossiped with him.  We found out that a girl who just moved from one department to our department had quit after a week – saying she was taking “early retirement.”  She’s probably about 25 years old!  Turns out she got married last year and wants to complete her hours for her pilot’s license!  Pretty exciting, but we can’t figure out why she moved departments – packing up her desk and settling into a new job, training for weeks – only to quit the firm a week later!  Mysterious!

After my trainee left at 3:00pm I read my book and finished it.  This one was particularly exciting.  I really enjoyed it.  This is the second book I’ve read with this one particular character.  I am hoping there are more, because this guy is such a great character and I think the author could write story after story of cases he gets involved with and they’d all be just as great!

The way he writes is so funny and so conversational.  It’s like the guy is on the other side of a table telling you this great story and you just can’t believe all the stuff he’s been through!  Here’s one line from the book that I thought was so funny, and is typical of DICK FRANCIS’ writing.  The lead character has been taken hostage in his apartment by a madman with a gun and the guy takes him by gunpoint into the bathroom.  Remember – he’s English (and all the books take place in England), so their words for things are different than ours (flat = apartment, etc.):

“He turned on the light and the extractor fan began to whine.  I wished it could extract me from this situation.”

Now, I know it’s not side-slappingly funny, but when you’re reading, and he’s being held at gunpoint and then he comes out with something like that, it just relieves the tension and lets you know he’s going to be okay.  His writing is always like that.  Anyway, I still have my Dick Francis short stories (I started another short story after I finished the book – I know, I’m obsessed), and I have another novel to read, which I will start on Monday.  My boss has Jury Duty, but he has to start calling on Sunday night, so he may or may not be in on Monday.

The week flew by, because it was only four days, but I was still exhausted by the end of the week!My ride and I were able to sneak out a little early, so I was home by 5:15pm.  Eric was out on his bicycle, so I just changed my clothes, grabbed a fast snack and left to get a manicure/pedicure.  My nails were a mess and we’re seeing a friend this weekend, so I wanted to look great.

Our friend, Scott, who I worked with for years at PwC has business in Scottsdale, AZ on Tuesday.  He decided to fly to San Diego on Saturday, spend a few days visiting with us, and then fly to Scottsdale on Monday.

I’m so excited.  Scott is a great guy, and a lot of fun.  I’m picking him up at the airport at 12:30pm and we’re going to Coronado Island for lunch.  I’ll drive him around, showing him the sights, and then I’ll take him to his hotel to check in.

Eric and I will pick him up for dinner.  We’re taking him to HAIKU – our favorite sushi restaurant.  Scott and I used to go for sushi a lot in NYC when we worked together, and I know he’ll love their food.

Saturday night his friend is coming down from L.A.  We’ll probably leave him with her (because she’s not even getting to SD until after 10:00pm), and we’ll take them to the zoo on Sunday.  Eric said he’s not sure he wants to go to the zoo, because we were already there.  First of all, that was last November.  Second of all, who doesn’t love the zoo?  I can’t wait to go back!

When I got home from my mani/pedi, Eric was home – working out.  I told him about my experience at the nail salon.  I had two girls working on me as I sat in the fancy pedicure chair.  One girl did my pedicure, and the other did my manicure, going back and forth from one side to the other, doing one hand at a time.

The only thing that bothers me about this place is that they try to "upgrade" your manicure or pedicure by getting you to spend more money on deluxe treatments or special designs on your nails.  First, the pedicurist asked if I wanted to have my calluses treated.  I don't really have calluses on my feet, but I just told them that I'm on a budget and can only get a basic manicure/pedicure -- no specials.

So, she said, "It only five dollah!"  So, I apologized and said I just couldn't.  Then, she asked if I wanted a flower painted on my big toe.  I told her, no, I couldn't afford any extras.  So, she looks up at me and in the funniest way -- actually making fun of her own accent -- says "Five dollah!!!!"  I just burst out laughing and then she and the other woman started laughing and the rest of the time she kept saying every few minutes, in different intonations and with different inflections, "Five dollah!"  knowing that each time she said it I would burst out laughing.

When I charged the services (while still sitting in the chair), they looked at the tip (I had given each of them five dollars) and said, "Thank you!"  So, I said, "Five dollah!" and they burst out laughing!  It was really fun and they were adorable.

While Eric continued to work out, I made myself a NUTRISYSTEM entrée and watched TV.  I want to go to bed early tonight, because I’m hoping to have the energy to get up, go food shopping, return my book to the library, and then pick Scott up at 12:30pm.  Wish me luck!

I didn’t hear Little Drummer Boy this morning.  Instead, we woke up at 9:00am to Jim Morrison singing “Riders On The Storm,” because that’s Eric’s cell phone ringtone.  He keeps getting calls asking about some buffet.  “What time does the buffet open?”  “What street is the buffet on?”  We don’t even know where the buffet is, but considering Eric has a “718” area code, it’s probably in Queens and they’re calling San Diego!

I couldn’t fall back to sleep, because all I could think of was that I had a million errands to run before picking Scott up at the airport and I should probably get up.  I did, and got right into the shower, which is VERY unusual for me.  I left the house by 10:30am and went first to the dry cleaners and then to KEILS to do our food shopping.  Eric was going mountain biking with the RV and by the time I got back at 11:00am with all the packages, he was already gone.

I put everything away and then left the house again.  I wanted to go to the card store, because I have a lot of occasions coming up this month, including my Dad’s 80th Birthday (6/11), my parents’ 57th anniversary (6/17), our 24th anniversary (6/16), Father’s Day, Eric’s birthday, 6/26, and my nephew, Steven’s birthday (6/28).

After I bought all the cards at the card store, I headed to Starbucks and then straight to the airport.  I got there at about 12:20pm.  Scott’s flight was arriving at 12:30pm.  I drove around “the circle” a few times and then picked a spot to park (which I knew was illegal).  After around 10 minutes a woman chased me away, so I went to the other end and did the same thing.  I was expecting Scott’s cell phone call any second, but now it was almost 1:00pm and he hadn’t called yet.

The second time I got chased away I told the guy I was waiting for a friend and his flight must be delayed.  He said there was a “breach in security” and they had shut the terminal down.  No planes were coming or going.  Great!

I decided to leave, because I had forgotten Betty (our GPS system) and was planning to go back to the apartment with Scott after I picked him up, but I figured I’d save time.  The airport is really just 10 minutes away, and since I knew there was going to be a delay, I figured I had the time.

Scott called just as I was going up the stairs to the apartment.  I didn’t tell him where I was because I didn’t want him to feel bad that I had already been there and had gone home.  He told me he was at the gate, but they wouldn’t let them off for at least 45 minutes.  I was happy I had decided to come home!  I got Betty, looked up the address of Hotel Del Coronado on the computer (that’s where we were heading after I picked him up) and then had a little snack (I had breakfast at 9:30am and it was now after 1:00pm, so I was starving!)

I got back to the airport around 1:30pm and Scott still hadn’t called.  I went to a “cell phone parking lot” where you can wait for a call and then drive just 2 minutes to the terminals.  I brought my DICK FRANCIS novel with me (good thing) and waited.  I finally picked him up at around 2:30pm!

We went straight to Coronado Island.  First, we parked the car and had calzones at a little pizza place with a back yard café.  We were both starving and wanted something fast, so we could go to the hotel.  Scott wanted to treat me to lunch and offered to go to a restaurant in the hotel, but I know they’re just tourist traps and we’d pay 3x what the food was worth.  This was fast, delicious, and satisfying and didn’t break the bank!

We then drove to the hotel, parked the car, and walked on the beach.  It was a gorgeous day and the beach was busy with surfers, sunbathers, families having picnics, couples canoodling, and tourists (like us) taking photographs.

We went into the Hotel Del Coronado and I showed Scott around.  It’s really such a fabulous hotel – 120 years old – and he was very impressed with the architecture, character and history of the hotel.

After that we headed back to the mainland.  Scott was exhausted, because he was on NY time and he had been up for a long time.  I dropped him off at his hotel and I came back to the apartment.  Eric was already napping and I happily joined him.  We woke up at 7:00pm, took showers and went to pick Scott up at the hotel at a little after 8:00pm.

We took him to Pacific Beach to our favorite sushi restaurant – HAIKU.  They gave us their usual warm greeting and we had a delicious meal of edamame, shumai, and four different rolls.
We were absolutely stuffed, so we skipped dessert.  We told Scott we were taking him to Gelato Vero in Hillcrest, but first wanted to give him a chance to digest, so we drove down University Avenue and showed him some of the hot spots in Hillcrest.

Then we went to Gelato Vero and sat down to enjoy our gelato.  Eric and I usually take it to go, so it was the first time we had been upstairs to their seating area. 

By 11:00am Scott was exhausted – it was 2:00am his time – so we dropped him back off at the hotel and came home.  I am going to the zoo tomorrow, so I don’t want to get to bed too late.  I have some pictures from our day today, but I’m too tired to download them all, so please forgive me.  I’ll try to put them on the blog ASAP!