Tales from cubicle land

I'm starting to think that there's nothing else I can do to make this day go any faster. So while I don't feel like I have ANYTHING to write about here, I'm going to write anyways. Be forewarned. What you are about to read will most likely be incredibly dull and pointless.

So my big news yesterday came from the very crabby, unbelievably tiny, man-she who handles all of our office logistics, (or so I've been told, I had never met her before yesterday). She stopped by my office to inform me that my cube area (known as the "pit" by it's present and former inhabitants) will be under renovation beginning the week of February 21st. There were two pieces of good news. My orange carpet, mustard-fabric-covered cube walls, faux desk (picture two of those rectangular cafeteria tables arranged in the shape of an L and adorned with laminate stickers that are supposed to give the illusion of wood grains) and hodge-podge of old file cabinets will be put out with the trash and replaced with brand spanking new grey carpet, grey-fabric-covered cube walls, a grey L-desk (not crafted from cafeteria tables!) and matching grey file cabinets. Now, to an outsider, it all may sound a little too..... well, grey, but it sounds like heaven to me, compared to what I have had to work with for the past year and a half.

The second piece of good news is that during the renovation of my new workspace, I will be residing in my very own 4-walled office! I will tell you that I have been eyeing this office for some time now, during which it has been completely empty. I cannot tell you how excited I am to be in my very own office, with tons of privacy, for one whole month!

But I can't help but think about the possible bout of depression I may go into after my month in a real office is over. At that time, I will be forced to pack up my things (again) and trudge back into the cubicle-dwellers' world of unintentional but unavoidable eavesdropping, knowing (or more specifically, smelling) exactly what everyone around you is eating for lunch, and dealing with, on a daily basis, the fact that you have no door, no privacy, and anyone can just pop in without any warning at any given time.

Sorry, that's definitely enough whining! I need to get over my cubicle hatred. I'm still a newbie, still just at entry level, and there's really no telling how much longer I will be residing in cubicle land! So I'm going to take what I can get and be grateful. Maybe I'll buy a funky wall tapestry or plant or something to liven up the grayness of my new cube! I was very excited for the change, and I can't let the dream of a real office take away that excitement!

***Wow. After reading this entry, I realized that I have a serious problem with comma over-use and run-on sentences. I'll have to work on that so that you all don't get brain aneurysms trying to keep up with my writing, which is quite obviously not at all previously thought out.

Well-rested and confident

Yes, I know, it's been another week. I'm a slacker. Moving on.

Last night, for the first time, I slept in the most comfortable cozy yummy bed EVER, and it's MINE! I'm so excited. Dan and I finally bought a new mattress/box-spring set, since for the past year we've been sleeping on an old set we got from his parents that is probably 20+ years old, and leaves you feeling like you've slept on cement all night. This new bed is amazing, pillow top on both sides, amazingly soft, super high (the kind of bed you have to jump up to get on), just absolutely perfect. I was in heaven.

So this last weekend I went out drinking for the first time in forever, and I had such a good time. It was so nice to be out with the girls again, and I drank just the right amount so that I was in a perfect stated of buzzed drunkenness at the end of the night. I hadn't consumed hard alcohol since Halloween, so I was a little hesitant, but the Appletinis and Cranberry Vodkas were calling my name. Thankfully I can say there were no vomiting incidents or unintentional ass-exposures. (Not a good idea to drink to the point of passing out when you're wearing a short skirt, or in my case, flapper costume. I've been told by a couple people that they saw way more of me that fateful night than they would have liked.)

Anyways, the only sort of ridiculous thing I did (besides talking mile-a-minute nonsense to two very sober husbands in the car on the way home) involved the cement steps coming up from my garage, my impaired vision and uneven balance, 3:00AM induced exhaustion, and one very black and blue knee. I suppose it did provide a little comic relief for my husband who stayed out much later than he had expected to, obviously not taking into account the presence of my very good friend Betsy, the most hard-core bar-closer I have ever met! I think he was just relieved I didn't make him hit up the open-all-night grease-fest with Betsy and her boyfriend!

I had a serious case of "the Mondays" at the beginning of the week, so serious that I took a half-day for no reason whatsoever. I'll be honest with you, I was wearing a really thick wool sweater which was not only making me so hot I thought I was going to pass out, but it was itching the hell out of my arms and neck. By 10:30 I just couldn't take it anymore. I felt fat, I felt crappy, I felt sweaty, and I felt itchy. All I could think about was escaping to the outdoors, and out of my stifling cube! So it turned out to be a very nice day, because I went out to lunch with my mom, brother, and husband, and hit up the mall with one of my favorite shopping partners, my brother. (He has this way about him where I never ever feel rushed, it's wonderful!)

I'm feeling much better today though, and I think it's directly related to the fact that my hair looks good (for the first day this week it's not up in a wet messy bun) and I'm wearing an incredibly cute outfit (just-below-the-knee black skirt, knee-high black stiletto boots, and a white button-up under a black and pink argyle sweater vest)! The fact that having a good day is directly related to my outfit and hairstyle may seem ridiculous to some, but I think there are a lot of women out there that can relate. I just feel so much more confident and ready to tackle anything when I'm feeling good about how I'm presented, and today... I'm feeling good!

Back from the dead

I know it's been so long since I've written here that many of my readers may not even be checking back for updates, but I figured I should still try to get back into the blogging thing after my 2 week sabbatical.

There are many factors that contributed to my severe lack of motivation for blogging over the last few weeks, listed here for your reading pleasure:

1. Work has been crazy busy. This is definitely the number one reason for my absence. Between deadlines and training and year end commitments, I haven't even had time to read all my favorite blogs, let alone write on my own!
2. I have no desire to even be in the same room as a computer when I come home from work at the end of the day, especially during weeks like the last few. Argh.
3. My best friend Lisa was visiting from Costa Rica, and up until last Wednesday, when she left us again, my evenings were pretty much filled with getting in as much "Lisa-time" as possible.
4. I was away all of this last weekend at my friend's cabin lounging around reading Cosmo, Glamour, and People, catching up on the Brad & Jen split (so so so sad), and chowing down on Doritos and popcorn until I thought I was going to be sick, while my male counterpart tried not to kill himself messing around on 4-wheelers and snowmobiles in the -25 degree weather.
5. My life has just not been very exciting lately and I can't seem to find anything to write about! Does any one want to hear about my husband's and my guest bedroom mattress purchase? I didn't think so.

But February looks like it'll be a better month, so stay tuned for more exciting updates! Some friends and I are taking an Intro to Belly Dancing class, and I'm definitely looking forward to that, and Dan and I (he made fun of me for trying to keep him anonymous, because seriously, what is the point?) are going to Vegas for a few days at the beginning of February because he has work training there. (I can't wait to spend the whole day at the spa while he's working!)

So anyways, thanks for sticking around, it's always trying to come up with that first entry after a long absence that stresses me out and just prolongs my return! I was that way with diaries and journals too when I was younger, and I guess I'm the same way with working out. I get in a rut and I get stressed out just thinking about starting back up again. Stupid I know. But I promise I'm back.

Now I'm off to catch up on all my favorite blogs, specifically Dana, Sharoni, Laura, Pink Stiletto, Kristin, and Rebecca!

Make a Wish! (I wish it wasn't so cold outside.)

It's so cold these days it makes me want to curl up into the fetal position in my warm bed and cry. Last night D. and I went out to run a bunch of errands, and I immediately got in a bad mood when I felt the freezing wind swipe away at my already devastatingly dry face. Two days ago I ran out of moisturizer, and I've been slathering chapstick on my lips like it's going out of style. This. Sucks. I was reminiscing about summer and fall the other day and I got super depressed. And it's only January! Which means I need to snap back into reality because this isn't going away for at least a few months. Grrr...

Today I got a stupid-ass chain letter forward from my sister-in-law and it seriously made me so angry, almost to the point of coming up with some sort of violent retaliation scheme. I mean COME ON WOMAN! Who sends out those forwards any more (besides my obviously dumb-ass sister-in-law)? I just don't expect them anymore because I thought that everyone with any sort of common sense, except maybe the occasional middle-schooler or college freshman with too much time on their hands, realized how irritating they are to the recipient. So when some tricky devil like the above mentioned family member sends me one with, mind you, nothing in the subject line to warn me of the ridiculousness that I am about to be bombarded with, I get very irritated. This email had the audacity to claim that how quickly my wish will be granted depends entirely on how many people I forward it to. For my convenience, there was even a nice little chart:

I hope you made your wish! Now then, if you send to:
1 person --- your wish will be granted in 1 year
3 people --- 6 months
5 people --- 3 months
6 people --- 1 month
7 people --- 2 weeks
8 people --- 1 week
9 people --- 5 days
10 people --- 3 days
12 people --- 2 days
15 people --- 1 day
20 people --- 3 hours

And just a few hours later, another pleasant surprised popped up in my inbox! One of the girls that sister-in-law had originally sent the forward to decided that I might have ANOTHER wish I need granted, so she sent it to me again! Yeah! (I'm raging inside just thinking about it.) She chose to also send it to 4 other lucky souls, so according to the chart, she will have her wildest dreams come true in just 3 months. I'm so happy for her.

Anyways, so I definitely didn't intend this post to be a rant about idiotic forwards and the people who send them. I apologize. I feel, though, that I am spent on the subject, so you can be sure that there won't be many more entries like this one.

Yum, strawberry shortcake!

I just returned from the cafeteria in my office where I picked up a very delectable array of food that I have put together to serve as my lunch: a cup of tomato bisque soup, two packages of saltine crackers, an orange, some strawberry shortcake, and some fat free chocolate skim milk. All so very tasty, yet admittedly random, choices. I'm going to start with the strawberry shortcake, which I believe has helped lighten a very dull, boring morning in my cube!

It's the little things...

New Years 2005: Drunken Frat-party?

I'm back after a very nice, long break from thinking. I'm not quite sure I'm up for it though, as this morning was one of the most difficult days to get up in a long long time, and I am still in a trance-like state 5 hours later. I'll try though!

Oh... and Happy New Year! (I know, I'm a little late with this.) Bringing in the 2005 New Year was interesting, to say the least, and the evening ended with me thinking the same thing I thought after my Halloween drunken debacle: aren't we too old for this? Fortunately, it was not my actions I was questioning this time around. The following three events of the evening contributed to my post-partydom woes:

1. It was not even 11:00 when I heard squeals and witnessed the scampering of girls into the room in which I was so peacefully enjoying a game of Celebrity Taboo. The reason for the squealing and scampering being that our friend Colin had politely chosen the only 5X8 foot portion of carpeted surface area in my brother in-law's home as his personal vomiting area. And there was A LOT of vomit. Two innocent bystanders (other than the cream-colored carpet) were affected by the vomiting incident: the Christmas tree and my friend Betsy's super-cute pink and black peacoat. Poor Colin hid in the dark corner of the office whispering "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry" (very Rainman) while a quarter of the party pretty much cleared out, and another quarter scrubbed furiously at the red-splattered carpet. The rest of us stared pretty dumb-struck, and ran around opening up doors and windows, and pouring out the remaining contents of whatever we were eating or drinking at the time. (At least I did, I didn't have much of an appetite and pretty much lost interest in drinking at that point.) At 11:49 a few of us realized that 2005 was almost here, and we ran around pouring champagne, because God help us, we weren't going to miss midnight! During the countdown, the sound of hurling could be heard (I believe they coincided with the even numbers) from the Taboo room, which was no longer my sanctuary for obvious reasons. At Midnight, Colin yelled into his bucket-o-vomit "Field Goal!", and then continued to hurl into the new year.
2. At around 1:00 I was in the kitchen and I heard some scuffling noises and manly groans coming from the living room. What I found when I entered said room is 3 grown men entangled on the floor, one with blood dripping from above his eyelid frantically looking for a towel so as not to stain with blood the already vomit-stained carpet. They were "wrestling". Well, as far as I'm concerned, 25 year old men should not be wrestling inside a very nicely decorated and looked after home. It was absolutely ridiculous. Further more, they were wrestling on the smelly carpet, still wet from the disinfectants used to scrub out the vomit. That's just gross.
3. At 1:30 the final event occurred, and felt a bit like a sign from God telling us to get out, and get out now. The same bloody wrestler from event number two, drunken and immature per usual, somehow got kicked and landed on his back on the living room coffee table, sending mixed nuts flying through the air, as he proceeded to continue a backwards somersault over the table landing on the wood floor in a fashion which I believe just barely skirted a spinal-cord injury.

So after leaving the crazy New Years party, I found myself wondering how long these kinds of parties will be able to go on, and when we get to start acting like grown-ups. Then I felt a little hypocritical looking back on our own Halloween party, and the drunken idiot the emerged from my seemingly put-together person. Oh well, I guess it's one of those infamous parties that will go down in history. I'm just glad I stopped at 2 beers and one small glass of champagne, and didn't do anything to render myself any of the infamy.

Hope you all had a more "mature" New Years!