Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

At last!  It took me so long to get started, but I finished the vase over 2 days and Eric varnished it for a few days, and I’m finally ready to bring it to work tomorrow and give to my friend.  I hope she loves it.  Just between us, it’s not my best work, because when you make something custom for someone you have to do what they want and it might be something you wouldn’t necessarily do.

She wanted these vines on the vase, and I didn’t like how they looked and probably shouldn’t have used them and just told her, but I was afraid to disappoint her, so I used them and I don’t like how it came out.  It’s not horrible but, like I said, it’s not my best work.

Anyway, it’s a good thing it’s a gift, because if she was paying for it I’d be riddled with guilt!!  I worry so much about how someone will like something I’ve made, which I guess happens with every artist.  You always wonder how your audience will react, whether it’s a song, a photograph, a painting, or a vase.

Work today was fine.  My boss was back, but she got engaged over her vacation, so she was completely overjoyed and very distracted.  We had a 10-minute meeting and discussed the future, but when I left I really wasn’t sure where she stood.  I think she’s trying to get my job opened for a full-time on staff employee, and she knows I’m not interested, but I think she wants me to stay longer, until she hires someone.  I’m hoping I can leave by October, the latest, because two women in HR will be on sabbatical in October and I know they’ll need me full-time by then.

My friend Robyn sent me an email which had all my co-workers in hysterics today.  It’s called HOW TO STAY SANE AT WORK and it lists funny things to do at work, which would amuse you and make your co-workers thing you’re totally out of your mind.  The girls I work with in KRM were hysterical, and then the HR girls were screaming, too.  So, I’ve decided to include it, in its entirety, right here:

ONE-POINT OFFICE DARES:
• Run one lap around the office at top speed.
• Ignore the first five people who say 'good morning' to you.
• Phone someone in the office you barely know, leave your name and say, 'Just called to say I can't talk right now. Bye.'
• To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
• Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say, 'Sorry, I really prefer it this way.'
• Walk sideways to the photocopier.
• While riding in an elevator, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.

THREE-POINT DARES
• Say to your boss, 'I like your style' and shoot him with double-barreled fingers.
• Babble incoherently at a fellow employee, and then ask, 'Did you get all that, I don't want to have to repeat it.'
• Page yourself over the intercom (do not disguise your voice).
• Kneel in front of the water cooler and drink directly from the nozzle (there must be a 'non-player' within sight).
• Shout random numbers while someone is counting.

FIVE POINT DARES
• At the end of a meeting, suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem (5 extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
• Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing irritation, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
• For an hour, refer to everyone you speak to as 'Bob.'
• Announce to everyone in a meeting that you 'really have to go do a number two.'
• After every sentence, say 'Mon' in a really bad Jamaican accent. As in, 'The report's on your desk, Mon.' Keep this up for 1 hour.
• While an office mate is out, move their chair into the elevator.
• In a meeting or crowded situation, slap your forehead repeatedly and mutter, 'Shut up, all of you just shut up!'
• At lunchtime, get down on your knees and announce, 'As God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again.'
• In a colleague's DAY PLANNER, write in the 10am slot: 'See how I look in tights.' (5 extra points if it is a male, 5 more if he is your boss)
• Carry your keyboard over to your colleague and ask, 'You wanna trade?'
• Repeat the following conversation 10 times to the same person: 'Do you hear that?', 'What?', 'Never mind, it's gone now.'
• Come to work in army fatigues and when asked why, say, 'I can't talk about it.'
• Posing as a maitre d', call a colleague and tell him he's won a lunch for four at a local restaurant. Let him go.
• Speak with an accent (French, German, Porky Pig, etc) during a very important conference call.
• Find the vacuum and start vacuuming around your desk.
• Hang a 2′ long piece of toilet roll from the back of your pants and act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.
• Present meeting attendees with a cup of coffee and biscuits, smashing each biscuit with your fist.
• During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.
• Arrange toy figures on the table to represent each meeting attendee, move them according to the movements of their real-life counterparts.

Thanks, Robyn!

So, I was wearing my black platform wedge espadrille mules today, but I always keep a pair of black kitten-heel mules under my desk in HR, in case I want to change shoes during the afternoon.  I had my shoes off and when I slid my feet into my shoes, I ended up with one of each.  I decided to add my own twist on the dares by walking around like that.

So, I walked over to one of the girls in HR.  Since one shoe was a platform and the other was not, I was uneven and it looked funny every time I took a step.  She looked at me and started laughing and, instead of laughing with her, I just stood there and said, “What?” like I had no idea what she was laughing about.  Then, I turned around and walked back to my cubicle.  I made sure every single girl in HR got a look at me before I went back to work.  They dared me to go up to the sixth floor like that, but of course I wouldn’t do it.  And THAT’S how I amuse myself at work!

Eric picked me up at 4:45pm and we went to the therapist.  She is really great (even Eric likes her!) and we both feel she is very helpful.  I’m so glad that Eric has agreed to go, because she helps us talk to each other without it becoming an argument.  It sounds like a cliché, but she’ll say something like, “Peppy, I hear Eric saying that he doesn’t like it in San Diego.”

When she says something, it just has more meaning and sounds better than when either of us say it!  I know it’s been very hard on Eric, because he’s so unhappy here, but it’s hard on me, too, even though I love it here, because – first of all – he’s unhappy, and – second of all – I know I’m going to have to leave here.   The longer I stay, obviously, the more I love it and the more attached to it I get.  I’m still willing to leave, but it’s not going to be easy.

After our session we went back to the STUDIO DINER for dinner.  I had a cheese quesadilla and Eric had macaroni and cheese.  It was a very cheesy dinner!  Then we came home and I started working on the computer right away, downloading my pictures of the vase and resizing them.  I had taken a lot, but it’s very hard to photograph because the varnish makes a reflection that ruins a lot of the shots.  I found a few I like and then started blogging.

We have the 2-night finale of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE on tonight, and I’d really like to get to bed early, so I’m going to close, but I’ll “talk” to you tomorrow!