This has been a fabulous week. I have caught up on sleep, on home projects, on reading, on wedding research, and on my exercise program. I did my taxes, baked tons of cookies, read a bunch of (seriously boring) human resources material, and cleaned out the shed. I love this week. And it isn’t over, I have five more days until I rejoin the rat race, and even then it will be a much more fun race than it has been of late. 🙂
A couple of entries ago I gave you all a little teaser about what was going on in my busy life, and I haven’t forgotten. Here, in brief, are descriptions of what I mentioned:
1. Joe’s Funeral: Yes indeed, Joe’s funeral was a lot of fun. Joe planned his own services. There were lots of funny stories, including one about how he placed a huge bet in a poker game against the one remaining player, then pulled out of his pocket a sign that said “I’m Bluffing” and stared the guy down (the guy folded). There were lots of testimonials, lots of projected pictures, and yes, there was karaoke. There were not a lot of tears, surprisingly. It was a good sendoff.
2. My New Job: I have a new job. I will be HR Manager of a brand new textile plant about forty minutes from my house. So I’m not excited about the long commute – but I am excited to be in a company that has lots of money, lots of class, and the brightest engineering minds in the world behind it. I went to a Super Bowl party at my new boss’s house, and he and the Professor and I were the only Americans – there were engineers from France, Ireland, Israel, Russia, and South Africa, all brought abroad for their expertise to build the best plant possible. Nobody got why I wore black and yellow, but everybody had neat accents.
3. Bella the Pain in the Rear – I mean, Cat: She meows at the crack of dawn, she gnaws my plants like a heroin addict looking for a fix, she gets stuck up trees (see my sister’s blog for that funny story). I love her and want to throw her most of the time – I figure she’s preparing me for motherhood.
4. Sour Grapes: This has diminished somewhat due to the wedding plans and the new job situation, but I do still suffer from the evil greens. Someone I knew in college is a rising star, and her new HBO tv series is about to debut in March. She will be famous, go to wild parties, dress fabulously, have lots of money, act for a living, and have websites devoted to her (there already are a couple). I will keep personnel files and payroll reports, wear Payless shoes and Wal Mart slacks, work in an office instead of onstage, and have a husband devoted to me. The husband tempers the jealousy a bit. But I’m not mature enough yet to be happy for her. We’ll work on this.
5. New Addiction: This is the return of an addiction, a “resurfaced” addiction I should call it. I have started running again – after work, for just about half an hour. It feels good. In about two weeks my pants will fit again.
6. New Inspiration: I have no idea what I was talking about. I think it might have been the Motorcycle Diaries – watching that movie made me feel guilty about being jealous of my famous friend. My priorities are soooo in the wrong place. Anyway, watch the movie, you’ll love it. If you watch Hotel Rwanda right before it though, like I did, you miiiight just want to jump off a bridge or join the Peace Corps when you’re done.
7. Finally, The Pinata Incident: For once, us oldey fogeys got out to an awesome party, in celebration of Tet (the Vietnamese New Year). The decorations were astounding (and probably still up, if I know anything about Grad Student Boys). Included in this Asian themed party was a pinata – shaped like a dragon. Having no trees or convenient protruding limb-type things to hold it up, the guys first tied it to a broom handle and held it out to the blindfolded person with the stick. There is not a broom handle in the world long enough to make me enthusiastic about that job. When this proved unsafe, one of the guys went up to the second floor and held the broom handle out the window, and the pinata dangled several feet below. The dental floss that was holding it soon broke, however, so in the end they fast pitched the thing until someone broke it apart. What was inside? Individual packets of Chinese mustard, and fortune cookies. Well, splattered mustard, empty packets, and fortune cookie crumbs, but I think that was the idea.
COUNTDOWN: 1 Year, 23 Days until projected wedding date. Although the date may change, discussions are continuing in earnest.
PLANS SO FAR: Nothing firm. Still trying to get an idea of budget from the old parents. I did find a photographer I love, though, and I’m going dress shopping by myself today.
FIGHTS SO FAR: The Professor and I came perilously close last night. I think it had more to do with him being restless because I was controlling the computer mouse than anything. We deflected the bad feelings onto another unhappy situation by cleverly changing the subject. Score still Professor 0 RG 1.
Greetings from Shanghai.
The pinata incident sounds like so much fun. Congratulations on the new job. The commute does stink, but it will be so worth it. If you enjoy the job and the people you work with, it won\’t seem all that long.
Joe obviously brought so much joy to so many that he wanted to make sure to continue that even after he was gone. What an amazing man.
Running is a great addiction to have. I enjoy it…but only when it\’s warm outside. So I am really looking forward to spring and getting back outdoors.
I hope you enjoyed dress shopping.