Thursday, February 26, 2009
Ch.. ch... changes!
So, my heart pounding and palms sweating, I call her back. The conversation starts with:
CFO: “So we had a meeting about roles and responsibilities… and obviously your name came up since a lot of stuff has been filtered away from you. We’re not sure that your plate is really full anymore (which is crap because sometimes I have WAY too much work to do, while others I have nothing) so……(my heart drops into my stomach and I feel dizzy)…… we’re transitioning you to an inside sales position if you’re interested.”
Me: “Wow… definitely.” (As I grab the emergency defib machine to jumpstart my heart)
CFO: “Great! I was talking with B (SvP Global Sales) about someone to fill this role and your name came up. He was excited that you may be a prospect because A, you in the office with D to pass of the role and get crossed trained and B he has worked with you before on some special projects in the past.”
With the combination of this and the “Outstanding Contributor Q4 2008” bonus that I got (only $500 but still!) I’m feeling better about my job, its prospects and my security here. I’m really excited about this opportunity. For the time being I am going to keep some of my previous duties (I’m hoping they’ll give them to someone else when I get comfortable with the sales thing) but to get moved into Inside Sales in the software field is huge. It’s not something I ever thought I’d do, but it’s got great potential… even if it’s not with this company. Hopefully the change will get under way soon and hopefully it’s as good of a change as I’m thinking it is.
Change # 2: I started working out at a new gym this morning since my YMCA membership was done yesterday and I wanted to switch to month to month anyway. I needed a bigger pool which I definitely got, but with bigger comes busier. Oh well… I push myself harder when it’s busier. I was exhausted after just a couple laps this morning. I lost my indoor track though, so for now it looks like I’ll be running on the treadmill until the weather is nice. The change rooms SUCK! My old gym had stalls so you could actually shower. The new gym has like 5 showers, all together that you have to constantly press the button because the water only runs for 15 seconds. They also only have the “male” and “female” and “family” change room, which means that when the city swim team finishes practice at 7:30, they come dripping in to the change room. At my old gym there was a “girls’ and a “women’s” and I will definitely miss that. What I will miss the most is the sauna. I would dry off in the sauna every morning after my shower…. that will def be an adjustment. But this one is cheaper, bigger, cleaner and closer… so I have to give up some things right? Plus I get an array of class options, 2 ice rinks etc etc. We’ll see how it goes!
Monday, February 23, 2009
I'm a Weakling
I was SO determined to quit and I am very disappointed in myself, but I couldn’t think about anything else all day and I felt like I had lost a friend or something. Finally, when I went home, I just grabbed my pack of the fridge, walked back out to the front porch and had a smoke. It was probably one of the best cigarettes of my life.
I don’t know when I will quit (I know that I still want to.. although maybe not as much), but I just can’t imagine my day to day life without cigarettes. I know it sounds weird, but unless you are (or were) a smoker, you may not understand. It’s a huge part of my day and life. I know it’s really bad, I know what it does to my body (and wallet) but at this point, I’m apparently not strong enough to let them go.
I took the weekend off from swimming and running because my arms were screaming at me from moving some furniture. I was back at the track this morning doing my C25K (w1d2) and I’ll be back in the pool tomorrow morning. I’m looking forward to it; because MAN can I tell when I haven’t exercised in 3 days.
This weekend was pretty good! Friday night we were both exhausted so we cleaned the house, ordered East Side Mario’s delivery and watched all our PVR’d shows from the week (Grey’s was AWESOME!). Saturday we got a slow start but we went to see BIL’s new house, went grocery shopping and then stopped at Future Shop. I bought a USB adapter so that I can play all my downloaded music in the car (the part cost me $10 and the install was free- thank god for DH’s staff purchase) and I also bought myself a Nintendo DS. Yes- I’m a little kid. I’ve wanted one for so long so I can play the Mario Brothers game and I got that bonus from work, so I decided to buy the DS and a game and then pay the rest (200-300) onto my credit cards along with my income tax. Saturday night we went to a buddies 30th b-day “rager” (my god… it was a s**t show party complete with way too many hammered people, too loud music and flying birthday cakes in the house- very fun). Sunday I was up and at it at 8am. I put a roast in the slow cooker, tidied up and we went to The Body Show. It cost $10/ea to get it and it sucked, we left after like 10-15 minutes. We went to Lowes because we are going to “reface” our kitchen cabinets. We picked the style and color and I’m so excited about it! It will be the first “major” thing we’ve done to the house. Then we went home, I napped with the dog on the couch while DH watched the third pirates, we ate dinner (I LOVE slow-cooked roast beef w/ mashed potatoes) and then watched Iron Man. It was just a fun/laid back weekend.
I’m back at work… bored already and watching the clock for lunchtime so I can leave to pay our property taxes at city hall. You know your job is boring when you WANT to go pay your property taxes.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Uh Oh world, look out. As of 9:30 last night... I'm a non-smoker!
-I'm healthier already
-I'm saving $$
-I don' t have to stand out in the cold
-I won't smell like an ashtray
-My teeth will be whiter (although all the tea I drink doesn't help)
Here goes nothing! I'm kinda scared!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
I saw that one coming.....
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Way over the limit!
Friday night: we had dinner @ MIL’s with MIL and DH’s Aunt. It was really quiet because BIL has FINALLY moved out (he’s over 30) and SIL was at her new boyfriends for the weekend (she’s 29). We ate WAY too much food and played Clue and then headed home.
Saturday: DH and I got up and took the dog out to Copeland forest for a long walk. It was super sunny and therefore a perfect day for a walk. Lola had a blast but was totally pooped by the time we got back to the car. We stopped at the grocery story and then headed home after that.
We had decided to stay in this year for v-day, and so we made this amazing dinner and dessert together, ate it and then plopped our butts on the couch to watch some of our fav shows that were collecting on the PVR. That was the extent of our v-day.
Dinner: DH made chicken breast stuffed with spinach, light ricotta cheese and garlic with roasted garlic and rosemary potatoes and steamed asparagus and snow peas.
Dessert: I made a chocolate chip cookie tart. See this link… I got the recipe from the Nest. YOU MUST TRY THIS DESSERT if you have a sweet tooth or are a chocolate lover. It’s AMAZING.
http://www.thenest.com/Recipes/Chocolate_Cookies_Dessert_Pie_31325/detailview.aspx?id=31325&type=7&recipe_type=Dessert&pageindex=1
Sunday: Breakfast in bed and then we took the rest of the dessert from the night before around to different members of the family (we didn’t want the leftover’s in the house as a temptation) and went shopping for new bedding for our bedroom. We were all over town for most of the day and found nothing. We did go out for lunch, which I couldn’t afford $$ wise or calorie wise after Friday and Saturday nights.
Monday: I alternated between reading, sleeping and lounging in the tub until almost 1pm. Met my mum, step-dad, sister and nephew for a late lunch (again- the calories count for the day was blown out of the water) and then went home to have FIL and his fiancé over for dinner (they brought dinner) and watch Express (which is a really great movie). Yes- I ate 2 meals in less than 3 hours and yes- I felt disgusting.
So this week I have to concentrate on detoxing and staying within my daily calorie limit. I went for a swim this morning but I’m meeting my BFF for dinner tonight (again, can’t afford to eat out, drive up there to meet her, or consume the extra calories, but I’m doing it anyway) so it’s not going to be easy. Hopefully there will be some healthy options on the menu.
OH! and I had to bitch about this for a minute. I went for my swim this morning, go out to the pool deck (I swim in a small three lane pool) and the fast and medium lanes are occupied. In the medium lane it a woman doing the slowest side stroke I've ever seen in the middle of the lane, which means, I'm not getting around her. In the fast lane was the HUGE woman, basically doing the doggy paddle... again, in the middle of the lane. So, I (who used to be a competative swimmer) have to jump into the slow lane. This is fine, except the friggin handicapped stairs are in this lane and therefore in my way from doing my lengths properly. It pissed me off because it was just inconsiderate. Why would you get in the fast lane? It's not like you wouldn't know.... there are signs, and your now watching me do 2.5-3 lengths to your 1, and stuggling with the friggin stairs. Obviously there is something wrong here and you should not be in the fast lane. Not only that, but if someone else comes out and gets in the slow lane... I can't pass them, because it's the slow lane. Meanwhile, you take up the entire fast and medium lanes so I can't share those with you either. It's okay to swim in the slow lane... you're a slow swimmer and it's where you should be. Now my workout suffers because your too embarassed. Leave the fast lane for the fast swimmers or atleast make room for us and be prepared to constantly be passed. I hope it's better tomorrow.
Friday, February 13, 2009
When it rains, it pours.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Great... a (costly) streak of bad luck
Last night we get home at about 10:45, go up to go to bed and low and behold, one of the windows in our bedroom leaks! AWESOME! The paint is bubbled and theirs water in behind it.
Then today, I get in the car on my lunch to run over to the grocery store and the ABS, TRAC and SERV CAR SOON lights came on. GREAT!!! I have no idea what that means, but Bub told me to take it in because we don't want to mess around with the breaks. Even if it's just the ABS, it's not good to go without ABS in this kind of weather. So, now I'm leaving work early to take my bloody car in because if I don't do it today, I won't be able to do it until Tuesday (it's a long weekend).
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Almost 6 bags of potatoes... gone!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Dude... where's my car???
We left our car at the hotel and took C’s car. When we arrived at the restaurant after making a quick stop at the liquor store for a bottle of wine, and it was packed. But it’s DH and FIL’s fav restaurant so we parked at the back of the dirt lot (there goes my super cute black ballet flats in the muck) and hiked in. Surprisingly we didn’t have to wait more than 5 minutes for a table and the food came really quickly. Within an hour to an hour and a half tops we were finished our excellent dinner and were walking out the door.
C had been chatting with us all day about buying a new car in the next 6 months and as we were walking back through the muck to her current vehicle we see this old (early 90’s) white van with a black door parked beside her car. She jokingly says to me “hey Ash… I want THAT van”. I laughed and then said “look... the lights are on… oh and it’s running, but there’s no one in it”. Now you have to know that this van was NOT the type to have an auto starter. It was a total piece of crap and definitely on its last legs. It was strange that it was WAY out in the parking lot running. It’s not like someone would have popped outside to start it- and there really wasn’t any need for that because it was ridiculously mild on Saturday (+8 C when it was -13 the day before…it felt like summer!). So, thinking it was nothing more than a little strange, we continue to walk past the van. Almost simultaneously, all 4 of us stop dead and look backwards up the line of vehicles and then back to the empty spot where C’s car had been parked. All I could say was “um….”. We all turned, without saying anything and walked back up the line of cars just in case we had passed it. No such luck, it was gone. Finally C says “uh… where’s my car?” . We all stood flabbergasted and silent for several seconds and then finally C decided to walk back up to the restaurant and call the police (she didn’t want to call 911 from one of our cells because it wasn’t really an emergency). She informed them about the van left running and unattended beside where her car had been parked.
3 cruisers (yep THREE … for a stolen car) arrived at the restaurant. The first girl took out her kit, asked us if we had touched the van at all and then went to work. Sure enough, the van had been hot wired so we figure whoever stole it, dumped it in the parking lot and then stole C’s car. It was probably as random as there was an empty spot beside her car where they could park/dump the van and block the view to the restaurant while they stole hers. It was total CSI. The cop was taking pictures and finger prints and everything. I couldn’t believe it because when they found my Mom’s car abandoned in a parking lot after it had been stolen out of her driveway, they didn’t do anything except tow it to the garage of her choice stating that “cars get stolen all the time… it’s not even really worth investigating because they never get caught”. I was fascinated because I went to school for policing (obviously decided to go another route) and it made me remember how much I LOVE all that stuff. I kept saying (quietly ) to Bub “I wanna play!”. The second cop just pulled in, asked us how long it had been gone and then took off again with his lights on. I think he may have been going to look for it. The third officer was the one in charge of taking our statements. When it was all said and done, the owner of the restaurant called and paid for a cab to take us to the liquor store (to replace the wine that had been in the car) and then back to the hotel. He also gave R and C a free drink (DH and I were outside).
It was so funny to see the things that C was worried about. She would burst out with the most random stuff.
Funniest Examples:
1. “OH MY GOD.. my licenses plates, they’re linked to my name, what if they do something bad in my car?” I had to reassure her that now that she had reported it stolen, she wouldn’t be linked to any criminal activity the car was involved in.
2. “CRAP… R, that was an unopened bottle of wine in the backseat!” Again, I assured her that we could go buy another… it was only a $12 bottle.
3. When we got back to the hotel she slams her hand down on the dresser and says “S**T.. I had a full pack of cigarettes in the glove compartment”. She was really upset about it.
DH told me privately later that it was really hard to keep from laughing when she was more worried about the bottle of wine and cigarettes, rather than the car. I just told her that whoever stole her car was having the time of their lives with her camera, a bottle of wine and a pack of cigarettes! She probably made some kids night. She finally laughed.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Blissfully Dull
Plan for tonight (here comes the mind-blowing Friday night plans of a 20 something): Clean the house, grocery shopping, walk the dog and make dinner. I’m reading a great book that I would love to dive into more tonight. Exciting huh? I’m so boring lately. I want to get everything done tonight so we can sleep in tomorrow and then head to Niagara on our own time. It’s only a 2.5 hour drive, so it’s not bad.
Things are settling down at work, for the time being at least. Although I’m always on edge for the next crisis/ unpleasant confrontation, it’s been pleasantly dull this week. I’m bored out of my mind (which makes the days VERY long) but I suppose it’s much better than being on the verge of tears or a raging outburst every second of every day. I wish there was just a happy medium I could find. Is it too much to ask that I am busy and challenged, yet not completely stressed out and overwhelmed? It’s one extreme or the other. I’m thinking my job is safe for the next little while too, which is a relief.
OH! We’ve made a rather big decision too. We had originally planned to start TTC at some point this year, but we talked about it after giving it a lot of thought separately, and we’re going to wait until early next year. That gives us a year to get the credit cards paid off and for Bub to look for a better job. It also gives me one more summer to be just me. I can do my white water rafting, and hopefully get another skydive in… not to mention a group camping trip and cottaging on weekends. I always said I’d like to start around 25 and I’ll only be 24 this may so it’s about what we planned anyway. I think the house just put me into fast-forward for a little while, but I’ve realized now that as much as I am dying to start a family, we’re in no rush and we’re not done being “carefree” quite yet. The in-laws may be a little disappointed, but they’ll live.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
In the spirit of positive thinking....
Each quarter our company has what they call "Cause for Applause" nominations. That's where you can nominate your fellow co-workers (companywide) for their outstanding performance over the quarter, and they receive a plaque and $500 bonus (it used to be $1000, but the state of the economy tends to change things like that). 3 winners, one from each office location, are chosen quarterly. We have a monthly company-wide conference call and in that call they announce the winners and present the plaques.
The winners for Oct-Dec have been chosen and we to be announced tomorrow, but the call was post-poned until next Friday. Generally, HR in couriers the winners plaque to me so that I can present it during the call. Well, the plaques arrived this morning in a sealed box and they were addressed to a director in our office and the co-founder of the original company, with instructions for him to present it in the meeting. At first I was offended... thinking "why the change? was I not presenting with enough zazazu?" But then I thought... maybe I won???? They wouldn't send me the plaque to present to myself if that was the case.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Spoiled (Exhausted) Brat
I love my Dad to pieces and I really wish he didn't have to go, but at the same time, I am sooooo looking forward to going home tonight and crashing. I'm exhausted from constantly going going going since last Tuesday when he arrived. That and my house is a mess (it's needs a major tidy and a good cleaning) because we usually clean on the weekend, but were too busy + we had a constant stream of people in and out for a week. My little house needs some attention! Even my dog is tired. She's used to quiet nights of just the "3" of us making dinner, going for a walk and reading or watching TV. This last week she's had to deal with a constant stream of people, 0 cuddle time, lots of playing etc. She had fun but she's ready for a break too. Last night, after everyone left, I got in the tub and DH came in with the dog to talk to me, and within seconds she had curled up in my towel on the floor and was snoring away! Poor baby. It was funny.
Tonight- I'm going to ignore the mess the best I can and just have dinner, walk the dog and veg. Hopefully I can go to bed early too.
My Dad is soooo crazy. He spoils me more now than he did when I was a little kid. In this trip he:
-bought the supplies and painted our office/library
-bought us a new computer desk
-bought us a 26 inch flat screen TV for the bedroom (our x-mas present- it's soooo much better than our 13 inch!)
-bought the supplies and fixed the closet door and bathroom door
-offered to buy me another winter coat when I couldn't decide between two that I really liked... I wouldn't let him (I paid for the first one)
-took us out for 7 meals and paid for the groceries for the food that we had a my house (I told him he was crazy, but he insisted that his vists shouldn't cost us money, he's so dumb)... he also paid for countless coffees while we were out and about, 2 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of rye