So while I was doing some book research the other day for titles that I thought we should sell at my store, or put on tables etc, I came across three books that I am very excited about. They are no huge works of literature but they are fun summer reads from two of my favorite crazy authors and one book from one of my favorite blogs....
On April 29, 2008 Augusten Burroughs new book A Wolf at the Table comes out, you all know Augusten from Running with Scissors and Dry and also his uproariously funny stories in Magical Thinking and Possible Side Effects. I love all of his books and I am looking forward to another fun trip with this one.
Another favorite, David Sedaris, has his new book coming out on June 3, the title has changed a couple of times in Bn.com and amazon.com but it is currently listed as Indefinite Leave to Remain. His last collection of stories, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim was hilarious and help me deal with my move back to Boston by providing me with a fun escape.
A blogging favorite, the Waiter from Waiterrant.com has his new book coming out on July 29. I hope his book is incredibly successful, I know I look forward to reading this one and hand selling it in my store.
Also, out now, for those of you who are huge fans of Zafon's Shadow of the Wind, a new book by C.J Sansom, Winter in Madrid is supposed to be excellent. I still haven't read it but it is on my list simply because a number of reviewers have compared it to Shadow of the Wind.
Brunch with the Governor
So today we showed up to brunch at Stella, one of our usual Sunday brunch spots, and as we walked in we were told that we picked a good day to stop in for brunch because Governor Deval Patrick and Senator Kerry were holding a fundraiser at the restaurant. It was kinda cool to not only share brunch with friends but with the leading lawmakers in our state.
Okay, well not exactly with them but in the same restaurant.
Okay, well not exactly with them but in the same restaurant.
Heartless?
Three weeks ago I was waiting for the train at Downtown Crossing in Boston, when a woman comes onto the platform and starts telling all of the passengers about how she cant buy a bus ticket because a man who was much larger than her had stolen her backpack and she had a diabetic child at home in New Hampshire and all she needed was 30 dollars. She was stranded and she wanted the nice people of Boston to help her get home. She had gone to the police and Amtrak (clearly a bus company) and nobody offered to replace her ticket. She was wearing pajamas and had makeup running down her face. She plead and plead and a number of other passengers offered her some of the spare change that they had in their pockets. I however, did not make eye contact, I felt bad and this was a sad story but for some reason something just didn't seem right. I had heard the story before and felt bad for them, but had living in the city for 9 years made me heartless? Was it possible that I just didn't care about the people around me. I kept thinking about this poor woman and wondering what had become of her... until yesterday!
Yesterday I was running late for work and the red line was running so insanely slow I was getting frustrated. I was standing on the platform trying to read Blood Meridian which is a gut wrenching book and ignore the people around me. I get to a point where the violence in the chapter is peaking and because the book is so well written my adrenaline is rising as well... all of a sudden I hear an all too familiar voice, "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I NEED YOUR HELP!"
You have got to be fucking kidding me, same station three weeks apart, must have gotten stranded again, damn this bitch has bad luck! Unless it was the same big black man that had stolen her backpack. But this time she was the one that was diabetic all she had was her insulin and she was 3 months pregnant now (but no child). Well first of all if she is three months pregnant she needs to lay off the meth, and second its amazing that the diabetes transferred to her and her child with diabetes has yet to have been born. She begs and pleads, but this time I feel nothing, I just don't care. I keep my head down and keep reading my book as people fork over their hard earned money to this scam artist. When I look up she is right in from of me, and she looks at me and asks if I could spare some cash to get her home.
I look her straight in the eye and say, "Three weeks ago you almost got me to feel bad, but now that you are stranded in Boston again you are either an idiot or a scam artist," and I walk away. A few people start giggling, she doesn't know what to say, and one bold woman asks for her five dollars back!
Now, am I heartless or is it just living in the city?
Yesterday I was running late for work and the red line was running so insanely slow I was getting frustrated. I was standing on the platform trying to read Blood Meridian which is a gut wrenching book and ignore the people around me. I get to a point where the violence in the chapter is peaking and because the book is so well written my adrenaline is rising as well... all of a sudden I hear an all too familiar voice, "LADIES AND GENTLEMAN, I NEED YOUR HELP!"
You have got to be fucking kidding me, same station three weeks apart, must have gotten stranded again, damn this bitch has bad luck! Unless it was the same big black man that had stolen her backpack. But this time she was the one that was diabetic all she had was her insulin and she was 3 months pregnant now (but no child). Well first of all if she is three months pregnant she needs to lay off the meth, and second its amazing that the diabetes transferred to her and her child with diabetes has yet to have been born. She begs and pleads, but this time I feel nothing, I just don't care. I keep my head down and keep reading my book as people fork over their hard earned money to this scam artist. When I look up she is right in from of me, and she looks at me and asks if I could spare some cash to get her home.
I look her straight in the eye and say, "Three weeks ago you almost got me to feel bad, but now that you are stranded in Boston again you are either an idiot or a scam artist," and I walk away. A few people start giggling, she doesn't know what to say, and one bold woman asks for her five dollars back!
Now, am I heartless or is it just living in the city?
My Big Fat Gay Weekend Part 2
Well this weekend was so big fat and gay that I had to write about it in two separate posts! So I left off mentioning that Raf throws another party at ESTATE on Sundays. Usually, I don't go out on Sunday because as a responsible young manager, it would not make sense to be out until 2:00am when you have to work at 9:00am. But this Sunday was different. At 10:30 I drove to go pick up DJ.R at his house and then swung by to pick up SC. JCH was going to meet us at the club because he was taking the train in.
We got to ESTATE at 11:00 walked in to a pretty crowded night that just got more crowded, apparently they were at capacity a little after midnight and you could tell because you could barely move from one spot to the next, this is always good for Raf, but it sucks for me because I am short and get pushed out of the way. Now in Raf true style the party has to be the best in the city and he always does this with lights, music and shows, and for some additional fun this weekend he made sure that Kira was working the snow machine, so it was "snowing" inside for two hours, a very cool effect with the lights. We hung out had a few beers danced and talked to people. I even met the bartender from Saturday night who was really nice to me and we talked for a bit. Of course we were there until 2:00 in the morning, and had to wait outside in the bitter cold for SC to come out of the club. I was cursing because it was so f-ing cold!
Because it was a holiday weekend, and nobody had school or work on Monday there was no parking on the street, so we had to park at the Radisson hotel, usually its not that big of a deal to get out of there but Sunday night it was a nightmare. We finally got back to the car around 2:20 and it took a while to even be able to back out of my spot on the first floor because the traffic coming out of the garage was bumper to bumper and two cars wide. Once we got out of the spot and were in the queue to pay and leave all hell broke loose as two cars tried to cut people off in a very limited space. I didn't have much room to move out of the way so I just kept moving forward, but this much bigger Lexus kept getting closer to my car until I let him move forward so that I wouldn't get hit. As I did this a large man gets out of the passenger side door, clearly intoxicated and begins hitting the cars around him with his fist. At this point I decide to back off a bit and let him move forward but the traffic is not allowing me to do this. He starts giving people the finger bouncing around and cursing at people. I have not patience and I want to run the ass over but I figure that would not look good on my driving record. My passengers are pissed too and JCH even call to report them as aggressive drivers, and I take a picture of their plate with my camera phone. This turns out to be a good idea because about five minutes later they get to the front of the line right in front of me the passenger jumps in the car and they run through the bar at the booth without paying for parking. I provide the parking attendant with the plate number and tell him that JCH is on the phone reporting them as we speak. We pay and escape the drama and I am off to drop the boys off and then go home to sleep.
Monday is usually a back to work day, and I am normally up by 8:00 and at work by 9:00. However, with the Holiday I didn't have to work but I couldn't sleep in, I agreed to pick up the doctor at the airport in the morning since he was coming back from sunny Florida. Usually when I pick up the doctor from the airport he is late and I have to circle the airport a few times until he lands. This drives me nuts so I decided to cut it close and get there right before he landed, but of course I hit every red light, traffic, and his flight landed early. Once I got there and picked him up I accidentally took the wrong tunnel back into the city! I suck with directions and I do things like this very often! So instead of taking him home we decided that since we were closer to the Trader Joe's in Cambridge we would go wine shopping since he was out of red wine in his apartment. (The doctor and I get together on Tuesdays and watch all sorts of fun reality television and share a bottle of red wine). We bought a case of wine which should last us a good time and headed back to the doctors house. I helped unpack the car and then went to grab some food because I was starving and I had other errands to run before I finally made it to the gym at 5:00 that evening.
I was at the gym from 5:00- 6:45 and then had a friends birthday party to go to at 7:00. I went over to D's house for the party, stayed until 9:30 and then I had to go home because it was time to get ready to rejoin the real world on Tuesday!
Every once in a while it is good to have a crazy weekend and blow off some steam, but man was I exhausted from this weekend. I think I am going to need a vacation to recover!
We got to ESTATE at 11:00 walked in to a pretty crowded night that just got more crowded, apparently they were at capacity a little after midnight and you could tell because you could barely move from one spot to the next, this is always good for Raf, but it sucks for me because I am short and get pushed out of the way. Now in Raf true style the party has to be the best in the city and he always does this with lights, music and shows, and for some additional fun this weekend he made sure that Kira was working the snow machine, so it was "snowing" inside for two hours, a very cool effect with the lights. We hung out had a few beers danced and talked to people. I even met the bartender from Saturday night who was really nice to me and we talked for a bit. Of course we were there until 2:00 in the morning, and had to wait outside in the bitter cold for SC to come out of the club. I was cursing because it was so f-ing cold!
Because it was a holiday weekend, and nobody had school or work on Monday there was no parking on the street, so we had to park at the Radisson hotel, usually its not that big of a deal to get out of there but Sunday night it was a nightmare. We finally got back to the car around 2:20 and it took a while to even be able to back out of my spot on the first floor because the traffic coming out of the garage was bumper to bumper and two cars wide. Once we got out of the spot and were in the queue to pay and leave all hell broke loose as two cars tried to cut people off in a very limited space. I didn't have much room to move out of the way so I just kept moving forward, but this much bigger Lexus kept getting closer to my car until I let him move forward so that I wouldn't get hit. As I did this a large man gets out of the passenger side door, clearly intoxicated and begins hitting the cars around him with his fist. At this point I decide to back off a bit and let him move forward but the traffic is not allowing me to do this. He starts giving people the finger bouncing around and cursing at people. I have not patience and I want to run the ass over but I figure that would not look good on my driving record. My passengers are pissed too and JCH even call to report them as aggressive drivers, and I take a picture of their plate with my camera phone. This turns out to be a good idea because about five minutes later they get to the front of the line right in front of me the passenger jumps in the car and they run through the bar at the booth without paying for parking. I provide the parking attendant with the plate number and tell him that JCH is on the phone reporting them as we speak. We pay and escape the drama and I am off to drop the boys off and then go home to sleep.
Monday is usually a back to work day, and I am normally up by 8:00 and at work by 9:00. However, with the Holiday I didn't have to work but I couldn't sleep in, I agreed to pick up the doctor at the airport in the morning since he was coming back from sunny Florida. Usually when I pick up the doctor from the airport he is late and I have to circle the airport a few times until he lands. This drives me nuts so I decided to cut it close and get there right before he landed, but of course I hit every red light, traffic, and his flight landed early. Once I got there and picked him up I accidentally took the wrong tunnel back into the city! I suck with directions and I do things like this very often! So instead of taking him home we decided that since we were closer to the Trader Joe's in Cambridge we would go wine shopping since he was out of red wine in his apartment. (The doctor and I get together on Tuesdays and watch all sorts of fun reality television and share a bottle of red wine). We bought a case of wine which should last us a good time and headed back to the doctors house. I helped unpack the car and then went to grab some food because I was starving and I had other errands to run before I finally made it to the gym at 5:00 that evening.
I was at the gym from 5:00- 6:45 and then had a friends birthday party to go to at 7:00. I went over to D's house for the party, stayed until 9:30 and then I had to go home because it was time to get ready to rejoin the real world on Tuesday!
Every once in a while it is good to have a crazy weekend and blow off some steam, but man was I exhausted from this weekend. I think I am going to need a vacation to recover!
My Big Fat Gay Weekend
Every once in a while you have a weekend that is out of the ordinary. It may contain things you do every weekend. It may include those regular tasks that need to be completed but there are just so many other things. This weekend was one of those big fat gay weekends in the life of a 27 year old gay man.
Friday night is usually a low key night, lots of the boys go to Machine here in Boston, but I am not a big fan so Friday gives me the opportunity to lay low and relax. This Friday I actually don't remember so much. I didn't do anything that nuts I am pretty sure i went to the gym and then had dinner at D's house, probably watched TV and then came home.
Saturday is always a fun day, generally what you do on Saturday is get ready to go out on Saturday night! That involves the gym, getting your haircut, tanning blah blah all those things that gay men do. So on Saturday I woke up and ran some errands and did some things around the house. I have some work that is going to be started in my house this week so I had to empty my bedroom. I moved all of my furniture and bed out of the way of the contractors and I will be living in my spare rooms and living room for the next ten days. After that I was off to the gym. At the gym I ran for 45 minutes to burn some fat, lifted arms and chest, just so they looked better in the tight t-shirt I was planning on wearing. After the gym I went to have dinner and with a friend and then I was home to nap, shower, and shave. After getting ready I was off to pick up friends (I almost always drive) and I was off to EPIC Saturdays.
EPIC Saturdays take place at the Roxy and my friend Raf is the promoter. EPIC is one big dance party with a new DJ every week and where most of the gays go on Saturday night. I am there most Saturday nights with the boys supporting my friend and having a good time. This weekend wasn't any different, I was there with the boys and we danced and had a great time. Usually after EPIC we all head home for the night and crash. This weekend was not a normal weekend, I am not sure why, maybe it was because the Doctor wasn't around (the sane friend) or because we all wanted to dance some more but as we were walking out the door of EPIC we were handed a pass to go to Rise, we looked at it and decided, well why the hell not.
RISE is an after hours club that is opened until 6:30am. They don't serve alcohol but a lot of people go there to dance after the club is closed. A lot of the people there are using some sort of illegal substance but even for those of us like me and the friends who just drank you can still have a great time. JCH had never been to RISE before so he was very shy and standing up against the wall but SC, DJ R, C1, and myself all went to the middle of the floor with a red bull in one hand, our shirts in the other, and danced our butts off. Because it was a holiday weekend RISE was even packed but it was a great time! We danced until 5am and then I dropped off all the boys and went home. I got home and sat on my couch and was sleeping by 5:30am. I got a few hours of sleep and was up on Sunday morning at 10:30 for gay brunch.
Gay brunch is one of the most important parts of any Big Gay Weekend, it is when you get together with the boys, nurse a hangover, and talk about the night before. It is the bitchiest you will be all weekend as you spill the dirt from Saturday. This week a few of the boys slept through brunch, and since the Doctor was away (and he usually cooks) we went to Stella for brunch. After brunch I went to D's house, ran some errands with him, then came home and napped and watched TV including the Pats game and the Giants game (yeah some gays like football). After that D took some pictures for me. Then it was off to get ready for another one of Raf's nights.
Sunday night Raf hosts the party at ESTATE... this is going to be the end of part one of my big gay weekend because I am far too tired to write the rest of this post! That is one of the side effects of being out all night!
Friday night is usually a low key night, lots of the boys go to Machine here in Boston, but I am not a big fan so Friday gives me the opportunity to lay low and relax. This Friday I actually don't remember so much. I didn't do anything that nuts I am pretty sure i went to the gym and then had dinner at D's house, probably watched TV and then came home.
Saturday is always a fun day, generally what you do on Saturday is get ready to go out on Saturday night! That involves the gym, getting your haircut, tanning blah blah all those things that gay men do. So on Saturday I woke up and ran some errands and did some things around the house. I have some work that is going to be started in my house this week so I had to empty my bedroom. I moved all of my furniture and bed out of the way of the contractors and I will be living in my spare rooms and living room for the next ten days. After that I was off to the gym. At the gym I ran for 45 minutes to burn some fat, lifted arms and chest, just so they looked better in the tight t-shirt I was planning on wearing. After the gym I went to have dinner and with a friend and then I was home to nap, shower, and shave. After getting ready I was off to pick up friends (I almost always drive) and I was off to EPIC Saturdays.
EPIC Saturdays take place at the Roxy and my friend Raf is the promoter. EPIC is one big dance party with a new DJ every week and where most of the gays go on Saturday night. I am there most Saturday nights with the boys supporting my friend and having a good time. This weekend wasn't any different, I was there with the boys and we danced and had a great time. Usually after EPIC we all head home for the night and crash. This weekend was not a normal weekend, I am not sure why, maybe it was because the Doctor wasn't around (the sane friend) or because we all wanted to dance some more but as we were walking out the door of EPIC we were handed a pass to go to Rise, we looked at it and decided, well why the hell not.
RISE is an after hours club that is opened until 6:30am. They don't serve alcohol but a lot of people go there to dance after the club is closed. A lot of the people there are using some sort of illegal substance but even for those of us like me and the friends who just drank you can still have a great time. JCH had never been to RISE before so he was very shy and standing up against the wall but SC, DJ R, C1, and myself all went to the middle of the floor with a red bull in one hand, our shirts in the other, and danced our butts off. Because it was a holiday weekend RISE was even packed but it was a great time! We danced until 5am and then I dropped off all the boys and went home. I got home and sat on my couch and was sleeping by 5:30am. I got a few hours of sleep and was up on Sunday morning at 10:30 for gay brunch.
Gay brunch is one of the most important parts of any Big Gay Weekend, it is when you get together with the boys, nurse a hangover, and talk about the night before. It is the bitchiest you will be all weekend as you spill the dirt from Saturday. This week a few of the boys slept through brunch, and since the Doctor was away (and he usually cooks) we went to Stella for brunch. After brunch I went to D's house, ran some errands with him, then came home and napped and watched TV including the Pats game and the Giants game (yeah some gays like football). After that D took some pictures for me. Then it was off to get ready for another one of Raf's nights.
Sunday night Raf hosts the party at ESTATE... this is going to be the end of part one of my big gay weekend because I am far too tired to write the rest of this post! That is one of the side effects of being out all night!
I Think My Cat Has A Problem
I think that my cat has a problem. She keeps trying to drink my wine.
It is different if she is curious and tries to stick her nose in it once, but she keeps coming back to the glass and trying to lap it up like it is milk. I think I may have to enroll her in ACA (Alcoholic Cats Anonymous).
Bad Tipsy (err wait I guess her name is appropriate again)!
It is different if she is curious and tries to stick her nose in it once, but she keeps coming back to the glass and trying to lap it up like it is milk. I think I may have to enroll her in ACA (Alcoholic Cats Anonymous).
Bad Tipsy (err wait I guess her name is appropriate again)!
Monsoon
I woke up extra early this morning because we had to do a system upgrade at the store, which means I had to run the store open before I dialed into a conference call at 8:25 (yes 8:25 I have no idea why not 8:30). So, I woke up hopped in a shower, and ironed my clothing while watching the news. The weather on the news kept calling for heavy downpours this morning as a front moved in. Once I finished ironing I went to my bedroom window, opened the blinds and looked out. The pavement was wet but it wasn't more than drizzling out at the moment. I finished getting dressed, brushing my teeth, feeding the cats and then gathered my stuff to leave. I made sure I had an umbrella and a plastic bag to put it in after it was used. I zipped up my jacket stepped outside my door, looked up at the skylight when a bolt of lightening streaks across the sky, and immediately following the clouds upon up releasing a torrential downpour.
I walk down the stairs to the front of the building and try to figure out how I am going to make the ten minute walk to the train, and even though I woke up early I am still feeling the time crunch. First thing I do is transfer all of the contents in my pockets into my bag and place the plastic bag over all of my stuff in my bag, I press the release button on my umbrella and it pops open, I step out into the driving rain and begin walking in the direction of the train. Nobody is on the road or sidewalk, I am the lone fool out in this mess. My feet are getting soaked and the wind is blowing the umbrella in every direction. I am so glad that my mother bought me a waterproof winter jacket this Christmas but unfortunately it did not come with waterproof work pants and shoes.
The lightening is flashing around me and the thunder booms and the only two things I can think of as I try to stay remotely dry is that 1) I am going to be stuck by lightening and the upgrade won't be completed and my boss will be pissed and 2) It's January right, in the year I have been working at my new store I have never faced a thunderstorm either on my to or from the train station and now in January this is happening. I have now made it three quarters of the way to the station and I look down and notice that not only are my feet soaked, but my pants are dripping water from my knee downward. I decide to cut my losses and run the rest of the way in my dress shoes and sopping wet wool pants as I am being buffeted by the wind and my umbrella is trying to take flight. I realize that if there was anybody else on the street they would point and laugh at me. However, all the sane, non-retail working people are indoors and protected from this weather.
I finally make it to the T stop and luckily the train is right there. I am soaked and have hair product dripping into my eyes. The few people on the train all look like drowned rats, and we are all cursing this damn New England weather, I am sure it is going to snow tomorrow!
I walk down the stairs to the front of the building and try to figure out how I am going to make the ten minute walk to the train, and even though I woke up early I am still feeling the time crunch. First thing I do is transfer all of the contents in my pockets into my bag and place the plastic bag over all of my stuff in my bag, I press the release button on my umbrella and it pops open, I step out into the driving rain and begin walking in the direction of the train. Nobody is on the road or sidewalk, I am the lone fool out in this mess. My feet are getting soaked and the wind is blowing the umbrella in every direction. I am so glad that my mother bought me a waterproof winter jacket this Christmas but unfortunately it did not come with waterproof work pants and shoes.
The lightening is flashing around me and the thunder booms and the only two things I can think of as I try to stay remotely dry is that 1) I am going to be stuck by lightening and the upgrade won't be completed and my boss will be pissed and 2) It's January right, in the year I have been working at my new store I have never faced a thunderstorm either on my to or from the train station and now in January this is happening. I have now made it three quarters of the way to the station and I look down and notice that not only are my feet soaked, but my pants are dripping water from my knee downward. I decide to cut my losses and run the rest of the way in my dress shoes and sopping wet wool pants as I am being buffeted by the wind and my umbrella is trying to take flight. I realize that if there was anybody else on the street they would point and laugh at me. However, all the sane, non-retail working people are indoors and protected from this weather.
I finally make it to the T stop and luckily the train is right there. I am soaked and have hair product dripping into my eyes. The few people on the train all look like drowned rats, and we are all cursing this damn New England weather, I am sure it is going to snow tomorrow!
Where Have I Been
Once again, I went MIA for a couple weeks. The way the Holidays fell this year was very odd for the retail minded folk like myself and the weeks came and went and before I knew it I was writing week ending 1/05/08 on a sales email today. Which triggered the "Holy Crap its actually 2008!
Considering how snowy the Holiday season was this year we ended up making out OK in the sales department, no not great, but it really could have been worse. I also had Christmas Eve off this year for the first time in close to six years. So, my last Friday of work I awoke early and wrangled the cats into their carriers and brought them to work with me. Everybody always loves when there are animals (or small children) in a place of employment because that is pretty much a guarantee that the owner of these animals will let you goof off with them longer then normal. This was the case as each and every one of my employees wanted to come in and bother my cats. Bob loved it because he is an attention whore, Tipsy hid most of the day in my filing cabinet. Unfortunately I could not get her to sit appropriately in the C folder or the T folder!
While home for the Holidays we baked cookies got together for numerous dinners exchanged gifts, some played guitar hero (I did not) and had a great time. I even got to go to the bar with a few friends who live in NY. It was good to be home with the family, and I was disappointed that my trip had to be so short. As a matter of fact, I ended up leaving on Christmas day around 9 at night so that I could be back to open the store on the 26. This began my utter confusion on what day was what and where I was supposed to be.
I worked the 26- 29, I was off on the 30, worked on the 31 until 4, off on the 1st, worked on the 2- 4 and off on the 5, but on the 3rd I had a water pipe break in the basement so I ended up not coming in until 1:00pm. It was a very confusing schedule especially since half the managers were off on some of these days and the employees were in and out.
I didn't do anything major for New Years (mainly because I hate the holiday) and also because I was home in Boston and worked on New Years Eve. I ended up hanging out at G&S's house with some other friends and drinking wine and champagne until all hours of the morning until it began to snow. It was actually a nice relaxed and low key New Years and no surprising news the day after like last year (H told me she was pregnant as I was driving back from RI).
It was back to work on Wednesday for three days and then off this weekend. I was planning on blogging this weekend but on Saturday night after the gym I got really sick. I think I ate something that disagreed with my stomach because it all came and went very fast, but I was laid up incapacitated for several hours that night.
And now it is Monday evening, I am trying to get back into a normal schedule. My goal is to get to the gym five days a week, so far I have been successful with that at least at the end of last week. I also want to be in bed and sleeping by 12:30 at least three nights a week. I know that sounds late to people but I am rarely in bed before 2am and it has been getting later and it has been affecting my performance. I have not however, been successful at changing my sleep pattern, at least not yet.
Other things:
1) Finished The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
2) Spent three hours with the contractor designing my new closet
3) Another long brunch on Sunday
4) Changed some things on the blog
5) Survived Buyback
6) Rush is right around the corner
7) Survived the cold days last week- although my eyeballs froze
8) Didn't kill all the amateurs at the gym on cell phones
8) Have returned to blogging
Hope everybody has a safe and happy 2008, and many more!
Considering how snowy the Holiday season was this year we ended up making out OK in the sales department, no not great, but it really could have been worse. I also had Christmas Eve off this year for the first time in close to six years. So, my last Friday of work I awoke early and wrangled the cats into their carriers and brought them to work with me. Everybody always loves when there are animals (or small children) in a place of employment because that is pretty much a guarantee that the owner of these animals will let you goof off with them longer then normal. This was the case as each and every one of my employees wanted to come in and bother my cats. Bob loved it because he is an attention whore, Tipsy hid most of the day in my filing cabinet. Unfortunately I could not get her to sit appropriately in the C folder or the T folder!
While home for the Holidays we baked cookies got together for numerous dinners exchanged gifts, some played guitar hero (I did not) and had a great time. I even got to go to the bar with a few friends who live in NY. It was good to be home with the family, and I was disappointed that my trip had to be so short. As a matter of fact, I ended up leaving on Christmas day around 9 at night so that I could be back to open the store on the 26. This began my utter confusion on what day was what and where I was supposed to be.
I worked the 26- 29, I was off on the 30, worked on the 31 until 4, off on the 1st, worked on the 2- 4 and off on the 5, but on the 3rd I had a water pipe break in the basement so I ended up not coming in until 1:00pm. It was a very confusing schedule especially since half the managers were off on some of these days and the employees were in and out.
I didn't do anything major for New Years (mainly because I hate the holiday) and also because I was home in Boston and worked on New Years Eve. I ended up hanging out at G&S's house with some other friends and drinking wine and champagne until all hours of the morning until it began to snow. It was actually a nice relaxed and low key New Years and no surprising news the day after like last year (H told me she was pregnant as I was driving back from RI).
It was back to work on Wednesday for three days and then off this weekend. I was planning on blogging this weekend but on Saturday night after the gym I got really sick. I think I ate something that disagreed with my stomach because it all came and went very fast, but I was laid up incapacitated for several hours that night.
And now it is Monday evening, I am trying to get back into a normal schedule. My goal is to get to the gym five days a week, so far I have been successful with that at least at the end of last week. I also want to be in bed and sleeping by 12:30 at least three nights a week. I know that sounds late to people but I am rarely in bed before 2am and it has been getting later and it has been affecting my performance. I have not however, been successful at changing my sleep pattern, at least not yet.
Other things:
1) Finished The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
2) Spent three hours with the contractor designing my new closet
3) Another long brunch on Sunday
4) Changed some things on the blog
5) Survived Buyback
6) Rush is right around the corner
7) Survived the cold days last week- although my eyeballs froze
8) Didn't kill all the amateurs at the gym on cell phones
8) Have returned to blogging
Hope everybody has a safe and happy 2008, and many more!
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