Starting Over

This week I was back to work for the first time in almost 5 months, and while I am so excited to be working again, I forgot how completely exhausting it was to commute almost an hour each way on public transportation and work 8 hours! I have been mentally and physically drained.  Yes, I realize that this is normal, and nothing to complain about,but this isn't a complaint at all, more of a reminder of how truly relaxing it was to operate under my own schedule. 

That said, here is a recap of the good and bad things I learned this week at work.

GOOD
*  We can wear jeans to the office. This is amazingly awesome to me.  As much as I am happy to wear business attire, nothing compares to a jeans day once in awhile.
*  We get done at 3pm on Fridays during the summer. Truthfully, I don't ever do much on Friday evenings, but it seemed like I should be excited about this, so I am.
*  I have one whole week next month off - paid - and it doesn't count against my vacation time.  It is just a freebie for everyone to regroup and relax at the end of summer.
* My co-workers seem really fun and funny. People are laughing all the time.
* My organization is currently working on a number of really exciting projects, so I think there will be a lot going on to keep me occupied and engaged.
*  There is a Pret directly accross the street. If you do not know what Pret A Manger is, Google it. Best ever!

BAD
*  I kind of forgot how hard the learning curve can hit at a new job.  I am back to the point of feeling dumb because I don't know what is going on, and feeling like I am not contributing.  I am looking forward to being able to do some "actual" work, and prove to my team that I can hack it.
* I think my eyes almost started bleeding from all of the reading I did last week.  It was good in terms of helping inform me of what was going on, but by day 4, I was starting to get a migraine and my vision was blurring.
*  I feel like a new kid in high school, sitting alone at the lunch table.  I know it takes time to make friends, but I am hoping that I do.

Anyway, I wish this update were more entertaining, but I wanted to put it out there for those of you that I know IRL that have been asking to know about the job! I promise I will try to be better about posting more frequently once I get settled in.

Au Revoir for now!

Oh Yeah, Forgot to Mention.....

I went out to brunch with a friend yesterday, and as we were talking, she kindly reminded me that I had never posted a blog update about the three-month-long job saga. SO, here I am with that update.

Last Monday, I got a call from the Executive Director of the organization, officially offering me the position!  I was honestly quite impressed that the ED called me himself to welcome me to the organization. That small gesture alone speaks highly to what I believe will be a good level of job satisfaction. I start tomorrow, and am really excited to get to know people, and to get to work.

That said, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous.  With every new work experience there is a learning curve, where you don't really know what you are doing, haven't formed relationships yet, and are praying that they don't at some point look at you like you are a doofus and question their hiring decision. I know I have mentioned this before, but I am an introvert that has grown adept at the "fake-it-till-you-make-it" mentality.  This doesn't mean that I don't get terrified as hell walking into a new environment, however. I am hoping that tomorrow will go well, and I can make it through the first day relatively unscathed. Thanks to all of you that have offered encouragment during this process. I really appreciate it!

This Says it All

There are moments in life when a song captures emotions perfectly.  Right now, this is mine. 

Book Reviews!

What? Book reviews? Yeah, not my standard MO, but lately, my life has been about as exciting as

I have been reading a lot, in part to meet my goodreads goal of 50 books this year (over halfway there!), but also because I am a big fan of escapist literature.  You know, the kind that is not even close to my real life, so I can pretend for a few hours that I really am not super lame, sitting in my sweats, eating Chinese food, having conversations with my dog.

I have a Kindle Fire that is closer to me than some family members. We spend time together every day, and I feel that we have a loving relationship. I wouldn't say that it is replacing my husband........but kind of. I have this thing that sets the bar for good books with me, its

 

This past weekend, this feeling came around again, when I was crazy enough to read 3 books in 3 days.  Thoughtless, Effortless, and Collision Course - all by S.C. Stephens. I will preface this by saying that I have had a lot of free time, since I am not back to work yet, so perhaps the absence of feeling like my time is valuable and limited may have influenced my decision to stay up till 4am for three days in a row. That said, I really enjoyed all 3 books, and my decision to read them was based far more on the reviews than the publisher's descriptions, which I actually thought sounded kind of lame.

SO, for those interested in some sexy, romantic, engaging fiction, here are my reviews.

Thoughtless

Kiera is a college student with a hot Aussie boyfriend that she is in love with. When her boyfriend gets his dream job accross the country, she decides to go with him and finish up college in a new city where she can be with Denny. Although this kind of breaks the first rule of female independance, I get it - first love and all. The romance is deep, the sex is hot, and the accent can't hurt.

Anyways, they end up moving in with Kellen, an edgy, sexy musician and long time friend of Denny's. Kellen gives gives Keira a lady-boner from day 1, but she just considers it window shopping since she still gets her rocks off on Denny. After not too long, Denny has to take a long term assignment out of state, and leaves Kiera alone in a city where she knows almost no one except aforementioned sexy, edgy musician. And this my friends, is stupid boyfriend mistake #1.

Lines start to get a little blurry between Kiera and Kellen. He tries to befriend her, and help her cope with Denny being away, but secretly he kind of makes her tingly, and it is really hard (tee hee) to ignore the chemistry between them.

Dumb boyfriend mistake #2 happens when Denny decides (without talking to Kiera) to take a permanent position out of state. Obviously when he tells her this, shit hits the fan, and she tells him he can take a walk.  Several comforting tequila shots later, the plot thickens.....

No further spoilers, but as someone who has been tangled up in an intense (though imaginary) love triangle between Tom Hardy and Channing Tatum, I can fully relate to the pain that comes from having to choose between two equally appealing pieces of man-candy.

HIGHLIGHT: Naughtiest club move ever in this book.

Effortless

I wish I could say more about this book, but because it is a sequel to Thoughtless, I can't say too much without spoilers.

I will say that Kiera eventually makes a decision, but since Thoughtless was basically a Pong match between the sexy Aussie and the edgy musician, this relationship is about as trustworthy as a used car salesman.....so I guess that makes the title misleading, but believe me, it all makes sense as the book goes on.

HIGHLIGHT: Involves a party, and a bathroom.

Collision Course

This book is also super emotional and complex, but in a different way than the other two.

Lucas was a popular kid in high school, finishing up his junior year. He played football, was in love with his girlfriend. Pretty much all of the stereotypes that high school dramas are made of.

But then, at the end of junior year, he is the driver in a fatal car accident that kills his girlfriend and his 2 best friends. Suddenly, he is blamed for their deaths, he stops playing football, he struggles to cope, deals with severe survivor's guilt, and is basically a justifiable disaster.

He meets Sawyer (a girl), who is kind of a social outcast, but doesn't give two shits what people think, and becomes pretty much the only person that will still talk to Lucas.

I can't even attempt to make this review funny, because I seriously ugly cried Farrah-from-Teen-Mom-Style at points while reading this book. The last time this happened was when I was reading Marley and Me, and I had to explain to my husband that my uncontrollable sobbing was caused by the death of a Labrador I had never met.

The lack of judgement exhibited in the amount of hours spent reading these three books in a three day window, also carried over to me emailing the author in the midst of my book-induced insomnia to tell her how much I liked them.  I really did like them all - a lot....but I think I could have saved the melodrama.

In any case - the books have been linked, the reviews have been written, and you, my friends,  have been given the gift of new reading material.

Thick Skin

I have a confession:  I am easily frustrated by people that are overly sensitive or have a thin skin. I am not talking about people that are hurt when people are cruel or are unmoved by the struggles of others. For the record, I was a very sensitive and emotional child.  I am still a very compassionate person.  I cry at the ASPCA commercials. I give money to pretty much every homeless person I see. I like babies and flowers and glitter.

BUT, I have also not had everything handed to me in life. I have not been coddled.  I have had to listen to hard truth at times.  And I have one big and important message that I wish everyone could understand:

LIFE IS NOT FAIR. 

Sometimes I hate that life isn't fair, but the fact that I hate it won't change it.  So there are 2 choices: whine about how unfair life is, or suck it up and just keep on living...and maybe learn something in the process.

Sometimes people will tell you things that you don't want to hear.
Sometimes an idiot will be your boss.
Sometimes you won't get the pay, or promotion or opportunities that you feel you deserve.
Someone will always be prettier, nicer, funnier, richer, thinner,or  more talented than you are.
Not everyone will want to be your friend.
Other people will cheat or lie to get ahead and at some point, you will likely get thrown under the bus.

Don't take yourself to seriously. 
Don't let anyone else determine your opinion of yourself.
Be good to others, but don't forget to be good to yourself in the process.
Integrity should be placed in high regard.....it's who you are when no one is looking.

I will be the first to admit that I throw semi-regular pity parties for myself.  They usually last no more than 24 hours and include some sort of cake. But you can be damn sure that after 24 hours, I still emerge with my head held high. And this is my wish for everyone.

Now, in an effort to not allow you to think that I am standing up on my ivory tower, here is proof that I am actually in my living room, wearing a gas mask. (Or was just having too much fun with my webcam.)

Celebrating America's Independance

Here we are in one of the most amazing cities in the world, and our lack of friends and knowledge of area attractions has seriously wounded our ability to celebrate holidays appropriately. Back home, July 4th consisted of parades, BBQ's in the park, outdoor games, sparklers, family, and watching the fireworks display over the city of  St.Paul.

This July 4th consisted of sleeping in, doing laundry, watching the classic Civil War film, Glory, and naturally, dining at a German restaurant. :) But don't you worry, the night was capped off with several competitive games of Angry Birds between DH  and I, and a nice televised viewing of the Macy's Fireworks display in NYC.....just 9 short miles from our home. The lameness has reached a whole new level!! 

In other news, this Tuesday I had a meeting with the organization I have been in the interview process with.  I don't remember if I shared, but last week they told me that they thought I was overqualified for the position I originally applied for, but told me they thought I would be a great fit with the organization, and gave me two other job descriptions to look over, and basically told me to pick one!  I spent the weekend thinking it over, and brought some questions with me on Tuesday. I was able to settle on a position that I am really excited about!  Now I am just waiting to hear final details!  As I have shared, the whole interview process has been interesting....from the Zombie apocalypse interview question, to the light sabers in the conference room, to one of the staff showing up with a dodge ball.....well on Tuesday the interesting event was that there was a gas leak in the building about 10 minutes after I got there, so we had to be evacuated.  There I was in my business suit and heels, hiking down ten stories while fire fighters hurried to clear the building.  Needless to say, the meeting was cut somewhat short......which leads me to this: 

Mint Lemonade.

What, you may ask, does mint lemonade have to do with anything?? I will tell you:  It is the most refreshing summer beverage EVER, and after hiking down ten stories in highly uncomfortable wedge heels, I was in need of something thirst quenching, and this is what I settled on. SO.FREAKING.GOOD.  I now have an offical summer go-to beverage. And that makes me happy. 

My Week in Pictures

I am so sorry for the long delay in posting. There is an explanation, which follows, in My Week in Pictures. Enjoy!!!

BUT, in an effort to see the silver lining in everything........a recap of my Saturday night:

You're Welcome. :)