Fridays are FUN!!!!

Happy Friday to one and all!!!

I'm writing this blog entry from a different office than usual, as it is Friday, and that's my 'remote meeting' day. I'm part of the Communication Committee here at work, and every Friday we meet at 10am in one of the other buildings (where all the big wigs are).
Since I have back to back meetings from 9 to 10 and then 10 to 11, it makes more sense for me to start my day in the 'other' building and head to my normal office after the 10 o'clock meeting.

Now that you know that completely USELESS piece of information, I'll move on.

Thanks again for all your positive and insightful comments about my job situation. It's nice to hear from people who have 'been there' and yes, I'll say it - are a bit more 'seasoned' than myself, so they clearly know what they're talking about. It's a little sad to see that my company is heading in the typical, awful, un-loving, direction that so many others are - but I'm not at all surprised.

Anyway - enough work talk!!!

I'm looking forward to my Orlando trip next week, but I'm still a lil' sad that Jim isn't coming with me. It's going to be really weird traveling alone (I never have) so I'm planning on reading a lot and keeping myself entertained. I just hope the person next to me on the plane doesn't mind me gripping their leg in terror during take-off. Jim never does. :-)
Once Thursday night rolls around, and my friends start arriving, I'm sure I'll be fine, but all the logistical crap (getting to the hotel, checking in, blah, blah, blah...) will be weird for me to be doing alone.
I'm sure most of you can't even remotely relate, but I've never travelled for work, so the entire concept is very foreign to me.
So, back off. ;-)

In other travelling news, Jim surprised me last night with an early birthday present!!! He informed me that we're heading to Ft. Myers for a week in March!!!
We're going to be staying with my parents while we're there and will be seeing two Red Sox Spring Training games. My dad works for the Red Sox at City of Palms Park, so I'm hoping we get some 'special treatment' while we're there. We've been there to visit before, but it was at Thanksgiving a couple of years ago, so even though we got a tour of the park, we never got to see a game. I'm VERY excited to go.....I'm sure we'll have a great time.
The fact that we're staying with my parents is great, because we not only get to visit with them, but save a TON of money!!!
VERY exciting.

OK peeps...I'm getting back to work now. I hope you all have a super Friday, and a great weekend!!!!

xoxo

Something's a little 'off'....

Things around the workplace these days are feeling a little 'off' and it's no fun at all.

It's not an uneasy, "There are layoffs coming!" feeling (although there probably are, but not until March or closer to the end of the 1st quarter) it's just a general unhappiness and 'over it' feeling that everyone seems to share.

In the past couple of months, all of us in the office survived a round of layoffs (the first week in December) and then a couple of weeks after that, we were informed that as of 12/27 we would be required to work more hours each week, without any sort of pay increase to make up for it.

So, as you can imagine, the morale around here is pretty darn low.

To add to the misery, all the 'powers that be' seem to have the attitude that "If you don't like it - find another job!" - yeah....good luck with that.

Most of my co-workers have been with the company for a long time, and have been recently reminiscing about the 'good old days' when the upper management was nice and cared about the team. There were after-work gatherings and lots of fun to be had....and yes, all the work still got done! Recent changes in management (around the time I officially joined the company) have put an end to all that, implemented lots of changes, and due to all of that, the overall feeling is not a positive one.

At first (keeping in mind that I was still new) I thought it was that people were just having trouble getting used to all the changes being made - but over time I've come to realize that it's way more than that.

The people who are now running the show are not the type of people I want to work with, for, or around....and the work I'm doing (or will be doing) is not the kind of work I want to be doing.

Part of me is pissed, because I truly believe their goal is to get rid of as many people as possible -those who don't want to follow along and play the way they want to play, so I feel like in a way, I'm letting them win. However, a bigger part of me (watch it!!!) is coming to realize that life is way too short for me to be waking up each day and going to a job that makes me completely miserable.

It's time to get the ball rolling....

Falling for the New Year....

Hello My Friends!!!

I hope you all had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve!

Jim and I had a great time with friends, going out to dinner in Providence, followed by seeing the national tour of Mamma Mia! at the Providence Performing Arts Center.
As I mentioned previously, our friend Mary is in the show, (playing one of the three leads) and as expected, she did a GREAT job. She was meant to play that role, and she certainly didn’t disappoint.

The rest of the show was fun and entertaining, but it really isn’t the best piece of theatre you’ll ever see. Of course, I don’t think it ever claimed to be. It promises to be a fun night out, and it definitely lives up to that. It’s very fun, especially if you like ABBA music; so if you see it’s coming your way, I would recommend seeing it. Fun, fun, fun!

This is a picture of Mary and I on the set….it’s kind of a dimly lit shot, but you get the idea.

After the show, Jim and I visited with Mary for a bit, and then headed home. Thankfully, we made it home in time to ring in the New Year on the couch with Scooter, Ryan Seacrest, and Dick Clark (no comment). After that, we stayed up for just a little while longer, watching Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper. They were so funny together….I loved watching them.

On New Year’s Day, Jim and I relaxed and watched a bunch of episodes of Dexter – our latest obsession. We’re in the middle of Season 3 right now, and I’m already sad that we only have 1 ½ more seasons to watch…..I may have to look into getting Showtime for a little when the new season starts up.
At one point on New Year’s Day, I decided to head out front and change the light bulb in the light on the front of our house. The other night I noticed it was out, but it was snowy and cold, so I didn’t feel like doing it.

Since it was still light out, I figure I'd head out front and change the bulb without incident.
Boy, was I wrong!!!

I grabbed the step ladder, a screwdriver, a new lightbulb, and then headed to the front door. I climbed up on the step ladder, (it’s a small one that we keep in the kitchen for those ‘hard to reach’ items) unscrewed the top of the light fixture and started to remove the bulb. The next thing I know, I’m flying ass over tea kettle (thanks Dad) and slammed onto the cement step in front of our door.

Apparently, I didn’t quite have the step ladder placed entirely on the step, and it slid out from under me, sending me flying backwards. Thankfully, I didn’t hit my head, but landed on my left side/back. Jim heard the commotion and came to the front window asking me if I was ok – and then came outside to double check. I was ok, but a little shaken, and a lot sore and wet.

The thing that pissed me off the most is that when I was in the process of falling, I managed to knock the front light fixture off it’s base, so now it’s barely attached to the house and it looks TERRIBLE!

My left leg is pretty sore and still swollen, but isn’t bruised quite yet….I’m sure it will be though. My left shoulder is a little sore as well, but I’m glad that I didn’t do any ‘real’ damage and avoided whacking my head on the cement. THAT would have sucked.
Anyway – I picked myself up, dusted myself off, and headed back into the house, where I pretty much remained on the couch for the rest of the night.

On Sunday, I was quite sore (as expected) but we got up, showered, returned a couple of wayward Christmas gifts (one duplicate, and one ill-fitting pair of slippers), did the grocery shopping and began ‘de-Christmasing’ the house. We got all the outside lights taken down, and will be tackling the inside of the house for the remainder of the week. I’m still sore, so sitting still at my desk is a bit of a challenge, but I’m pretty sure I’ll survive. Pretty sure. ;-)

I hope you all have a great week, and aren't too traumatized by having to return to work!!!

xoxo