Do you know how lucky I am that I love my job? I really enjoy every single day there. It’s amazing to me. I’ve had jobs before that I liked, or didn’t mind, but the only job I loved more than this was running Peppy’s Dream for five years. That was 5 years of heaven.
It’s so rare that you work at a job where you not only enjoy the work, but also enjoy the people you work with. Usually, it’s one or the other. You may hate your job, but love your boss or co-workers, or you may love your job but hate your boss and co-workers. My very first job – many years ago – was a Gal Friday at Reader’s Digest. For those of you who don’t know what a Gal Friday is, it’s more of an assistant than a secretary – someone who would do whatever needed to be done for one boss, or a whole department.
From 1977 to 1979 I worked as a Gal Friday at Reader’s Digest in their General Books Division on Third Avenue and 46th Street. THAT was a great job, too. I LOVED my boss, who eventually became “Uncle Bob” to me. We were like a family. He was the father – a man in his 60s who ran the photo department. His secretary was our “mother” – a very nurturing woman – also in her 60s – who never had children of her own.
There was a young assistant who became my “sister.” She gave me most of my work, trained me and took me under her wing. The other person in the department was like an older “brother.” I had a great two years there and every day was fun and enjoyable.
Just to give you an idea of what a family environment it was, my boss had a toaster oven in his office and sometimes in the afternoon we'd toast English muffins and butter them and we'd all have tea and English muffins! They also had a kitchen in the office and sometimes I'd make two boxes of macaroni and cheese and the 5 of us would have it for lunch! My boss used to put tobasco sauce on his!
Now, so many years later (30!) I’m in the same kind of family-type environment. Everyone is SO sweet, nurturing, caring, considerate and appreciative of everything I do. I don’t mind any task, especially because I want to do my best for these girls since they are so good to me.
Nothing exciting happened today, and I’ve no great tale to regale you with, but suffice to say it flew by and – before I knew it – it was time to go home.
I stopped at TARGET, because I wanted to get more of those $1 magnifying eyeglasses. The last pair I got was 2.50 magnification, but they didn’t have anymore, so I got two pairs of 2.00 magnification and it actually seems to be a better fit. The 2.50 may be a little too strong.
I also got some stockings, because stocking weather is coming. I usually start wearing stockings in September and here it is the end of October and I’m still going bare-legged to work!
When I got home I ate a salad for dinner and worked on the computer. Then, I watched TRADING SPACES from Saturday night. I still enjoy that show after all these years. Then, I watched DANCING WITH THE STARS. Some of the couples tonight did the jitterbug, which is my best dance, so I really enjoyed watching them. My friend, Artie, and I were expert jitterbuggers and used to do it ALL the time – professionally – in contests – and for fun. We had such a great routine and Artie and I danced so well together. If only I could do all that again, I’d lose 10 pounds in no time!
I wanted to do some cutting tonight, for a decoupage project I’m working on, but I can’t find my decoupage scissors. I have at LEAST 10 pairs of decoupage scissors and they’re in a silver tin, but I can’t remember where I put the tin! I have 4 or 5 pairs of regular scissors, but they’re too big to do small work, and I am so frustrated because I have no idea where that tin is and I looked around a lot of places but I’m not ready to tear the whole place apart looking for them. So, for now, I’m not cutting. Boo hoo!
Tomorrow morning at 7:00am I have a guy coming to pick up a large picture that was damaged in our move. It’s an original lithograph of Marilyn Monroe that used to hang in our living room.
Yes, it’s almost a year ago, but I’m just getting around to getting it fixed. The glass was cracked and the corner of the frame was broken. If it wasn’t such an expensive frame I probably would have just gotten a new one, but about 15 years ago that frame cost $300, so I know it’s worth it to get it fixed. It’s costing almost $200 (new glass and repairs to the frame), but I couldn’t get nearly as nice a frame for that price, and I love the frame. It’s silver and black wood and it’s very dramatic and really shows off the art beautifully.
I can’t wait to get it back. I’m going to hang it over the sleeper sofa. I’ve really missed looking at it, since I haven’t had it on a wall since we took it down last August before the move! It was given to me by a man I worked with at PricewaterhouseCoopers and is signed – to me – by the artist. It says, “Happy Birthday to Peppy – also a legend!” I adore Marilyn Monroe and this piece means a lot to me. I was heartbroken when we discovered it was broken, but felt lucky that the artwork wasn’t damaged at all.
Anyway, I have to be dressed and ready at 7:00am, so I’ve got to get up extra early tomorrow. I better get to bed. Nighty night!