International Smarty,
I’m in my office, counting down ‘til 5pm. Ok, maybe closer to 4pm. This new job is great… they all like to leave early and the weekend is celebrated as it should be. Which is fine for me because I eat in for lunch often and always make my hours. Yay for not committing fraud. At the old job I was typically working longer than I should have been because there was just too much to do in one day. Plus, getting to the new office an hour earlier than I’m used to is starting to get easier. I think I like this job change. But I still have that nagging urge to travel more. I still think I need to focus on my next career path involving more travel… I don’t see vacations being enough to hold me over anymore. Now I just need to start looking for those opportunities…
Don’t worry… you’re not to blame for my job antsiness (I’m making a new word) at the moment. This job was a good move for me and I plan to make the most of it, but I knew it would likely be a short-term fix to lighten my stress and workload in order to give me some time to think… and look. You were right, I needed to get out of that old environment. It was suffocating me.
LOL… I don’t think I’ve ever eaten red meat on a regular basis, other than the jerk patties in high school and maybe a taco here and there. I’m just not a fan. I’ve tried steaks, roasts, hamburgers, you name it… I’ve tried it. But I didn’t like any of it. I just have an aversion to red meat for some weird reason. In addition to this, since I eat it so rarely, when I do eat red meat (in meal-sized portion) it hurts my stomach. Guess it’s not so easy to digest without practice. LOL But I get by just fine on chicken, fish, pork, lamb, etc…. no worries. :D And can I get a hellz-YA for feta cheese!! Mmmmmm!
So, I guess since I’m so late to the music download game I’m going to have to pay for my downloads, huh. Bummer. I feel wrong about being a pirate… yet at the same time it’s oh so right (and free) that way… ARG! I’ll figure it out. Maybe I’ll ask for iTunes gift cards for Christmas this year. LOL
Send me a list of your favorite jamz. I need some fast tempo music for my workout mix… I’m thinking you might have some since you’re a fan of Guetta. : ) Where the heck did I put that iPod anyway? Hmmm…
OMG! Could you imagine a tropical Christmas and NYE in NYC?! My brain might explode. Wonder if BF will have his new job by then and be able to get some time off for the holidays. I can’t imagine they’d be doing much work-travel around that time… but if he gets hired/rented out for non-company stuff that might be a logistical problem. Wish they’d hurry up and get him on with the partner company position already! …for several reasons…
Agreed. I can’t get wastey-face around my co-workers and/or boss either. Never have, and hopefully never will. In fact my office-mate and I were just talking about that not 5 minutes ago. We have some music on and are having a Friday Dance Party in here (ok, it’s just chair-dancing) and he goes “Just wait for the Christmas Party. You’re gonna rock out.” To which my reaction was to rub my temples and quietly repeat “Don’t drink too much at the Christmas Party. Don’t drink too much at the Christmas Party. Don’t drink…” [office-mate chuckles]
Holy crap! Wildlife!! I love seeing wildlife in its natural habitat. I got excited on my trip up north when I saw a chipmunk. Stopped what I was doing to watch it run around for 5 minutes. :P Not as exciting as giraffes no doubt, but I would have “SQUEE’d” like a little kid if I’d seen those beauties in real life. Not the same here… it’s more like an “EEEK’s” when I see wildlife locally. Alligators, possums, “Palmetto” bugs (aka: giant ass roaches), etc… though I have seen dolphins, manatees, and some really pretty butterflies, dragonflies, and moths up close here… I know you wouldn’t think moths are pretty but there is this one giant green one… I think it’s in the Lunesta commercials that is ginormous and so pretty in real life. Wonder if I can find a picture… ::pause for web search:: Ok, found it. Here’s the one in the ad, and what it looks like in real life.
Details from my trip? Well ok, you asked for it. Are you prepared for my whine-fest. I love my dad, I do, but we’re so insanely different I have a hard time believing we share DNA sometimes. Here are the highlights:
- he volunteered to my aunt that I would stop at her place (on the way to my hometown) for a visit, then in trying to locate me to tell me he’d volunteered me, he called mom’s house and asked her if there was another way to reach me (I don’t have the details on this conversation yet, should get them tonight)
- at dinner the first night, I was over the bitching about their crappy former neighbor one minute after the story started, but they both went on about for over an hour… and dad got so heated about it he started to reenact his heated conversation with the neighbor to me, as if I were the neighbor… in a restaurant. I had to politely ask him to lower his voice and stop talking to me like I was the neighbor because he was drawing so much attention and I didn’t need to feel his anger for someone else.
- I invited dad to be my “date” to the wedding, and gave him several days notice… but the morning of, he was unaware that it meant “dressing up”. He thought his very-“Members Only”-looking jacket would be suitable. I had to explain it would be appreciated if he could find a tie and suit jacket.
- dad had another one of my aunts that works at a flower shop make a corsage for me to wear to the wedding. I have no idea why, and felt awkward about it, but he and my aunt were really excited about it… so I was polite and appreciative-sounding, and wore a wrist corsage to the wedding reception. I know it’s a sweet thought, but the only time I’ve ever even heard of anyone wearing a corsage was to prom. Am I wrong?
- it was sweet that dad wanted to dance with me at the reception, but I’m sorta glad it didn’t happen (just too busy with pictures, talking, etc)… he’s too emotional for me and I would have hated a cryfest scene in the middle of everyone. I might regret missing the dance later, but it’s just so awkward between us and I know he would make me cry and get all emotional in front of everyone… and it wasn’t my wedding, so I didn’t want that.
- at breakfast the next morning he was wearing more camo than anyone I’d ever seen (shirt, vest, hat, etc) and he wasn’t even planning to hunt that day. It’s his regular wardrobe. Including the camo “Git R Done” hat… with the lettering in bright yellow.
(like this... but without the confederate flag)
- also at breakfast, he asked when I was getting married and expressed an interest in having grandchildren soon. Seriously. He said it out loud just like that. He didn’t make any comment when his GF asked what BF looked like and I hesitated before saying he’s interracial and that dad wouldn’t be a fan… it’s a good thing BF is half Irish apparently, that “saved” him somewhat. It’s the only thing dad said about it. Thank goodness he’s not black ‘cause I don’t know if dad would have been able to fake happy in that case. (Note: dad claims he’s not racist, but based on past events and conversations I believe he’s very “opinionated” on this stuff, and thus I have never felt the need to send him any pictures of any of my former BFs, no matter their race.)
- dad wants to take BF fishing (which consist of driving at least an hour to some remote bush river, sitting on a two-man boat for hours – very quietly, getting bit by mosquitoes and black flies, baiting killing and cleaning your own catch, and finally heading home 6 hours later)… when I told dad that BF would most likely not be interested in said fishing trip he ignored me and my knowledge of these fishing days (and BF’s personality) and said “I bet he would. We’ll see.” He never listens to me.
- he volunteered that I would stop back at my aunt’s place on the way back out of town also, and upon my arrival there, I came to learn that dad and his GF told my aunt that I would be back to visit again soon. No idea why they would think this… I said nothing of returning anytime soon… I was vague, talked of traveling the globe (elsewhere) for the next two years at least, and described how expensive and difficult it was to get up there this time. It’s just like him not to listen and assume I’m going to do what HE wants. Arg! So I had to explain to my aunt that no, I would not be returning within the next couple years… sorry.
Good thing I was only there 2 days. Whew!
The thing that really bugs me is that I barely heard from dad for several years after I left when I was 14 (all of high school mostly), I made the effort to reconnect with him about 6-7 years ago, and have only ever gotten a call/card at Christmas and birthdays intermittently since I was 14. He hasn’t contributed anything to my adult life, and will never come here to visit me. And… I haven’t seen or heard a peep out of any of my aunts or uncles on his side since I was about 12/13… so why is it such a “reunion” now? Why do they act like we’re sooooo damn close. I barely know these people and don’t expect to hear from them ever again… except maybe getting a Christmas card. I can’t stand the level of one-sided expectation they put on me. ::hmph!::
Seeing the bride was great, watching her get married and meeting her new hubby was awesome, but I didn’t really have a whole bunch of time with her. And her parents and big brother didn’t recognize who I was until about an hour into the reception. They faked it well through the wedding and first part of the reception, but it was good to see how happy they were when they found out who I was. LOL I also only knew 2 people that weren’t in her immediate family… so conversation was fairly limited in terms of “old friends”.
The drive back to the city wasn’t awful because I remembered to buy a couple CDs (zero radio for at least 6 hours except for one country station and one Christian station (with fuzz)). The full drive was about 8 hrs when I hit the city limits, so I was wiped out when I got back to Toronto. Sun hadn’t quite set yet… so it was about 8:15 when I reached the 401, then the GPS (thanks God for that!!) sent me on a slight detour to get downtown. I thought it wouldn’t be too bad, but at that hour, with the sun setting… my vision is not the greatest… and one way streets… I got a little turned around. Wouldn’t have been so bad if there wasn’t traffic. Eventually I made it back on the right path (GPS voice: “recalculating”). However, when I got back to the car rental place, I had to locate the correct underground parking garage (fail – entered the wrong one), and the correct entrance (on Front, not Bay), while avoiding one way streets (epic fail!).
A little after 9pm I was getting really confused and frustrated and called my aunt to let her know I was running late due to oncoming panic attack and would most likely be at least another 30 mins before I was headed toward the Finch line. I think she could hear the panic in my voice because she said she’d pick me up downtown and would be right there. LOL I found the right entrance to the right parking garage about 20 mins later… and it was then that I realized in all the chaos of navigating downtown, I completely forgot to fill up the gas tank. By the time the Avis guy was checking in the car I was just ready to either cry my eyes out or rip his jugular out, so I just took the extra fee. The half a tank of gas cost me about as much as the entire weekend rental. Eff! But I’d had it. I was exhausted and couldn’t function anymore. My aunt was great, but we had a minor miscommunication when she got downtown… apparently she isn’t used to one way streets either. I ended up crossing the road twice with all my luggage before we got it right. LOL
We got back to her place around 10pm. I let BF know I made it back safe… and he let me cry my eyes out due to frustration and exhaustion… and only chuckled at me slightly. I lost a contact. There’s still some debate about whether or not it’s lodged behind my eye currently. And I passed the eff out.
Made it to the airport ok, no issues… but accidently packed a gift for mother from another aunt (hand soap or something) in my carry-on that ended up getting confiscated. Oops. Took the next day off to just rest instead of going to work.
Ok, that’s enough reminiscing… I’m getting depressed. LOL But I’m sure you had a laugh, a sniffle, and possibly understand my crazy mind a little better now. Lucky you! Ha!
In weekend news, I’ll be doing "the bonding" with mother this evening… drinking and art galleries can be a fun people-watching adventure. Especially since mother has a habit of not looking where she’s walking, and the streets downtown are a cobblestone, brick, and stone plate nightmare for a woman easily distracted. Saturday I have a work#2 event (that appears as though it will be quite profitable so far. Yay!) and a birthday dinner at a sushi place that night. I’m hoping Sunday is nice and quiet. Oh crap... I need to do a little birthday shopping tomorrow morning for Sat's bday dinner too... haven't done that yet. Zoinks!
Travel safe my friend. And send pictures dammit!!!! :P
It's after noon... can I have a drink now? ::sipps-sip::
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