Breaking Bread

Wednesdays are wacky. Why is that?

Trainer Rob found out that he has to pull out of the Half Iron Man at Disney this weekend per doctor's orders. He has been told to scale back on his training for now to prevent chronic injury later. This man has trained like a demon (we're talking hours a day!) for this event and now he can't enter the race thanks to injuries sustained from last Thursday's mishap with the SUV. Bummer.

I had scheduled myself for lunch alone since I was feeling introspective. Lisa came to sit at my desk to eat lunch. She talked the whole time while I made appropriate responses. Sigh. So much for introspection.

The afternoon was spent in a staff meeting and a conference call. Eh. They were okay. I wanted to drink Margaritas. We know where my mindset was don't we?

I was able to escape early as I had a Greek dinner date with Kathy and Tawny. Dinner with the girlies was fun and our food was super duper tasty. Took most of my entree home for lunch tomorrow and the leftover babaganoush (eggplant pate). Now only if I had remembered to ask for some more pita bread to take home. We pigged out on appetizers and saved room for dessert and coffee. This was funny: Tawny spent a few minutes telling me all the hellos from the other building that needed to be conveyed. It was nice to be missed by some of the AGOL entourage...
.

Breaking Bread

Behaving Badly

How bad can your day be when you log into work and one of your very best friends (Tawny) asks you via IM when you can leave for happy hour? Not really bad in the sense of being horrible, but in the naughty sense when you should be getting work done.

Had a two hour meeting with a vendor before lunch that occupied me and kept me good. I am lying. It is rare for me to see men in suits in the age of casual fare let alone a shirt with French cuffs. I have a weakness for French cuffs; this man's cuff links were winking at me from across the conference table every time he moved his hands. Dammit. It didn't help that a different sexy man (not the one from Sunday) was sending me teasing pics on my cell during the meeting.

A lunch run downstairs should have been innocuous. Not with Bridget. We were piling on our salads from the salad bar when Bridget started to get a little mental. Stifling our laughter while trying to scoop vegetables was a challenge. We were the recipients of some curious looks. Like we cared...

Your AGOL became the heroine who rescued coffee enjoyment in the break room. My facilities contact from the other building was generous enough to bring and leave me the flavored coffee I had requested the day before (Almond Amaretto, Pecan Praline and Chocolate Raspberry) on my desk. This location never had those choices. Pity. Bridget and I bemoaned the lack out loud our first day. We're so rude. One guy came around the AGOL's Luau Lounge (read as tacky Hawaiian decorated cubicle) and thanked me personally for making it happen. The flavors will now be a part of the regular order placed for this facility. Yeah, baby!

At 5pm, Bridget and I bolted for the Blue Martini to meet a few of our friends. It was great to see Tawny and Jeff. Working in the new building has us missing them and a few others. The martinis went straight to our heads. We ordered some food to counteract the alcohol. Bridget became a little outrageous by screaming and gesturing as well as dancing with total strangers near our tables. Everyone loved the spectacle; she was having a great time. I had Tawny and Susan from our table double-check on Bridget when she hadn't come back from the restroom in a reasonable amount of time. She was busy talking to two very handsome men. It was a well-deserved night out for Bridget. The atmosphere allowed her to be surrounded by more professional men or higher caliber of men. Her own relationship was teetering lately.

Just a few peeps of my peeps.


Headed home around 8-ish and WITH a trip to Starbucks to get caffeine for the ride home. I called Angie to keep me company on the highway for several minutes...Lisa called when I came home. It's been a while since I have really spoken with her and now that I am in the other building, we will have to make a concerted effort in the future.

Gosh. I'm tired -- it takes a great amount of energy to behave badly. Who knew?
.

Behaving Badly

Sexy Vanilla Lime

Met Kristey for breakfast closer to her side of the universe. She's always good about e-mailing me at my work address, but it is not always easy for me to write back with too many distractions. Too bad she cannot do instant messaging at work; nevertheless, we always have a great time talking for a couple of hours. Lucky duck will be celebrating her 20th Wedding Anniversary in Hawaii and flying first class next month.

Drove across town and was slightly delayed by the pre-Gasparilla parade activities, a Tampa tradition celebrating a pirate invasion. Arrived at the shoe store and I looked around first to see what choices were available for me before I grabbed several boxes and began trying on shoes. I called Lisa to see how far she was away and she reminded me that I was supposed to call her and let her know that I was on my way. Whoops. She came later which gave me an hour to pick shoes out. Lisa paid for part of it as part of birthday present. Now I have new walking shoes to compliment my future running shoes.

I drove us across the road to the mall and lunched at Asian Bistro before walking around the mall a bit. We stopped at Yankee Candle where I got to smell new fragrances. The one that stood out the most was Vanilla Lime.

Oh....my...God...!!

It reminded me of pre-Sex for some reason and told Lisa as much. One whiff and she agreed. Now that we were both jonesing on this friggin scent, I quickly bought it in a car freshener and was opened immediately after getting inside my car. Lisa waved the plastic wrapper in front of the A/C vents while I found a spot for the actual freshener. She was meeting a guy she met online for drinks so I dropped her back at her car, but not before I took the plastic wrapper from her. I told her she didn't need it. With an incredulous look she asked, What? Am I not to have your good luck sex vibes? Nope. In retrospect, I should have let her have the plastic wrapper that held the strong pre-Sex scent. Her date turned out to be a drip. Ugh.

I stopped at Play It Again Sports to see if they had a used spin bike. They had one but it was $500! Might as well buy a new one. Sheesh. Not giving up. I will have to scour the classifieds and craigslist. On my way to my car, I noticed a screw lodged on my front right tire and immediately drove to my tire shop to have it removed and let them repair the tire if need be. Mind you the car was permeated with this pre-Sex scent. The guys checked it out and found that the screw was only about 1/2 inch if that. When it came for them to tell me about this screw, it took two guys to tell me. One had a smile. When the first guy got in the car, he would've had a whiff of the intoxicating scent...

Caught up in my blog and later mentioned to someone of the male persuasion that he reminded me of Vanilla Lime. He thought that was cute. Yeah, it will be cute alright. I don't think he fully understood what this AGOL was trying to tell him. Well...um...maybe he does since he is now thinking wicked bad thoughts....as he should.
.

Sexy Vanilla Lime

New Year's Day

Greeted the New Year under a tequila haze. Answered a call from Trish from San Francisco about 15 past midnight. She and Dave were waiting outside for a cab to arrive to take them to their New Year's Eve destination (a member's house from the Karaoke Mafia? -- I can't explain it either.) Trish made a mental note never to call me under a tequila influence...something about being extra chatty and giggly. Heh.

My dog decided to wake me up 30 minutes before I had set the alarm this morning. We went outside in the cool dark fog and he didn't even do anything. He just wanted some attention and God forbid his mistress was trying to get some friggin' sleep! Grrr... I couldn't get back to sleep at all. Mentally began to get myself ready for my annual New Year's pilgrimage to the bookstore.

Today's agenda would be slightly different. I set aside my routine and accepted a text message invite from Lisa (and her adorable daughter Anna) to take me out to lunch. Her husband had taken their son to a major college football game in town for the day...

I chose a family restaurant next to my bookstore for convenience's sake. My parking worries at both locations were for naught. As I approached the restaurant from parking at the bookstore, something made me look down and saw a penny. When I stooped down to pick it up for luck, there wasn't just one or two or three...six pennies* total! Lucky AGOL on New Year's Day. I thought the wait to be seated would be long, but it was only 10 minutes and a booth, too. Took out some note cards that had to be written while I waited for Lisa and Anna Banana.

Anna being silly while I tried to take her picture.


I loved this mother and daughter shot.


Gonna get you, girl!


Full from lunch, we made our way to Border's so we could all get something. I picked two hardcover books and a small magazine right away while Anna spent about 20 minutes picking out a Disney book until her mom put a stop to her vacillation from one thing to the next. The store wasn't too crowded, but busy enough. Soon the girlies left me to my normal New Year's Day agenda.

Bought a mocha coffee to sip while I sat in the cafe. As if by magic, a table next to a window (and electrical outlet) became available when I was ready. (Could this be the New Year's miracle?) I happily set up my laptop and newly purchased treasures. Spent time cleaning up the drafts of my blog entries before publishing, surfed the 'net and read bits of my new books. By 5pm, I was properly relaxed and felt really great. Left for home and a blessedly quiet evening. Hooray!


*Researched this six penny thing which later made me think of the term sixpence and the group named for the same thing Sixpence None the Richer. Saw this and laughed....and laughed...and laughed. Okay...laughed inwardly because that would've attracted attention at the bookstore.
.

New Year's Day

NYE Thoughts

Today was my first day back at work since last Monday. It was blissfully quiet until Dan broke the spell by coming over to tease me that he and Ant were coming over at 6pm. He had said the same story to Tawny earlier to which she replied that she would be attending his funeral the next day. She knows me too well in these things...The spell broken gave way to Bridget and I catching up on each other. Her foot was finally healing nicely.

I logged into Messenger and half-assed (sorry, Tawny!) asked Tawny to go to lunch. Truth be told I didn’t even know if she was physically at work. My desperate attempt to fly under anyone’s radar prevented me from investigating her side of the floor. I ended up buying my lunch downstairs and on the way back saw Lisa. She was on her way out to get stamps – saved her the trip by giving her one to use instead. Lisa bought her lunch and sat with me side by side in my cube chatting and looking at the pics and videos I took over Christmas. We were like two peas in a pod.

I shared with Lisa the conversations with my two family members. Lisa understands that I am fragile during this time of year. We both spoke of many things, mostly of how we missed our mothers and that no matter how many years pass, the pain is fresh of their passing. I hadn’t had a chance to really process not having my mother at another Christmas until this weekend when all the psychotic running around with my cousins was over. I had a vision of my mother earlier this morning where she was dressed in ethereal white, almost fairy-like with her face (my face in pure Filipino form) unmistakable. She gave me a light blue box with matching ribbon. Inside was a bright red glittering heart. It was lit as if it were alive. I cried.

People tend to forget that I need time to myself and I can’t just be there whenever needed. I just can’t. If it weren’t for my cousin’s trip from Los Angeles or having to explain to my cousins' kids why their Sarah is being weird, I would remove myself from all Christmas festivities…Lisa didn’t have a good time of it growing up either so we were able to discuss and empathize with how each other were feeling. It is also her first Christmas alone with the kids since she left her husband last month.

We were sprung from jail…er, work at 3pm. Stopped at the airport to drop mail off before I headed out to get the pair of black shoes I saw on sale last week. I was in luck! It's the small things that make me happy...

Cleaned up a storm in my apartment -- something akin to a spring cleaning. I was in a mad craze to enter the New Year in better feng shui. You can't imagine how I've been living in funk shui with my holiday trauma. I feel much better now.

I received thoughtful text messages from Tawny and Kathy for New Year’s wishes. Talked to Lisa for a bit until her daughter became successful in claiming her attention. Crazy kid… Dick Clark's Rockin' Eve is on right now and I can hear fireworks outside. My Pretty Boy Dog is not handling the popping sounds very well. He is almost in my lap. Looking forward to a whole lot of tequila. It was almost a cocktail mix of muscle relaxant and tequila. Sshhh...Don't tell. People freak out easily. We all have our own ways of coping. On rare occasion, mine is with Rum. Tonight it was with Rum's harlot best friend named Tequila. She dressed up as her favorite character, Margarita!
.

NYE Thoughts

Holiday Nails? Not!

Depression and the AGOL don't go well together. For some unexplained reason, I was a little under the emotional weather. Must be the Season getting to me...

Had my nails done to cheer me up and in case I do get my Atlanta plane ticket this week. My nail lady asked me about getting "holiday nails". Um...How do I explain to her that in IT, they wouldn't like that especially since I am interviewing. Maybe after? It's bad enough they will be meeting with someone unlike the women in their group, a glam girl. They might think that I would choose hardware based on Cuteness Rating and Ooh, it comes with accessories that you can add on! You know... I need to be taken seriously. I can't help I am a secret geekess underneath all the lip gloss.

Myrna called me to meet her for an early dinner at our usual place. She cheered me up so much; she had me laughing so hard, I was in tears at the table. Afterwards, I bought some stuff from the country store for Lisa including an ornament with a section big enough to write on with permanent marker. I scripted "Beginnings 2007" on it for her and her kiddies. We ended up calling her to check on a used futon from the yard sale the other day for Myrna and me about the nice 7-ft Christmas tree the lady had out. Lisa began to get excited about me putting a tree up for Christmas and I had to squelch her enthusiasm. Still no tree plans in AGOL Land this year. Maybe for next year...when my mood is better.

Called Kathy later who was busy squeezing a whole bunch of oranges she bought from a road side vendor. She loves that kind of stuff. On a different note, received a late text from Tawny that both her in-laws fell while they were all at the botanical gardens admiring the Christmas lights. I won't go into it, but it didn't sound good. Poor Tawny. There is always something unusual going on in her world. The woman could use a break -- not like this though. Tomorrow is another day.
.

Holiday Nails? Not!

Helping Out

Text message from Tawny said something like Crap! Alarm never went off. We'll be there soon. A call from Lisa right after says that her moving truck rental was secured at the location on other side of a main road instead of the one near her new place. Okay, we're all late getting started this morning. When I arrived at Lisa's, I parked and walked back up the street to investigate a yard sale to keep myself busy. Found a nice shower curtain with matching hooks that would go well in her kids new bathroom and some vintage cookbooks for me.

I hailed Lisa over after she parked her moving truck rental. She ended up buying an iron, some dishes, an entertainment center and a used handheld electronic game set for cheap. I also got her a toaster after I found out she didn't have one. When you're starting life over, gently used items always have a good price...Found out right after that she forgot her garage door opener in her SUV so we had to retrieve that and let Tawny know we were going to be a bit later getting started. Eek!

There was a bit of a to do with her garage door after we got inside her home, but Jeff and Jeffrey figured it out. The men moved furniture and larger items while Tawny, Lisa and I moved smaller items or softer stuff. Most of the kids toys were left at the house with her soon-to-be ex-husband. He wasn't present; he wasn't taking her moving well.

Lisa's new town home is incredibly spacious, light and airy! It was gorgeous. The kids were dropped off by one of her best friends who had been watching them. I wasted no time trying to get the pizzas heated up in the oven for lunch. Tawny helped me with setting up lunch and getting the items I bought for Lisa in the appropriate cupboard or bathroom.

All in all, the move went incredibly well. She didn't have as many things as I do even with her two kiddies. The cable/phone/Internet guy came, too. Tawny and her crew left about an hour and a half before I did. I stayed to watch Lisa's kids while she returned her moving truck rental. The first thing she remarked upon coming back in was how good her house smelled thanks to the air freshener plug-in I bought.

Lisa was very vocal about how appreciative she was all day to all of us and demanded that we tell her if she could ever repay us or help us out in the future. When I was leaving her, she expressed to me that I helped make her move really smooth by taking care of the little things. One day someone who will be in a similar situation will need your help. Remember and help them, I told her. (The theme of paying it forward has been prominent in the last couple of days.) Texted her tonight to see how she was doing and at 9:12pm, she was putting up her Christmas tree. Tears pinpricked my eyes. Lisa was going to start her new life well and God knows she deserves it!
.

Helping Out

Lunch with Lisa

Fluttered around the apartment early to get out and about. Broke down and washed the front door before decorating it with a Christmas wreath. That's as far as Christmas decorations have made it around my apartment.

Small AGOL confession: Yesterday's entry was harsh on Christmas so I will share this: I was able to feel the Christmas spirit for a few moments while spending Thanksgiving at Tawny's home. When I made it back to my own place, I remembered myself.

Visited Kathy's house to take care of kitties. Rio was so lovable, but I itched a little after playing with her. Cesar was more sociable, but wouldn't let me hold him. Texted Kathy that they missed her before making my way to the grocery store. On the way, I received a call from Lisa telling me that she wasn't sure what time she would be at my place because her soon-to-be ex-husband was being difficult and not giving her an exact time when he would be home from the park with their son. She needed him to be home to take care of their daughter, too.

To make her wait worthwhile, I told her there was a Magarita drink with her name on it. I also let her know that we were having mini panini sandwiches, salad and pickles. For dessert, I was grilling slices of pound cake with a healthy smear of Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) in between to go with the vanilla ice cream made with Splenda.

As promised, I made Lisa a very tall Margarita as soon as she walked in which she enjoyed. She's moving to another place soon and told me I am helping her decorate when she gets settled in; Lisa saw my special ribbon adorned towels in the bathroom. We ate well and laughed even more. She was very appreciative of my hostess skills.

Dammit that brings me to another small AGOL confession: I enjoyed entertaining today and showing my care for a good friend. This doesn't mean my humbugging is gone so don't get comfortable.

Cabal and I made a quick 10-minute visit to Tawny tonight. He made a beeline for her nephew Jayson who was sitting in her living room. He rarely does that so I know Cabal liked him from the beginning. He loved the extra attention. Not like he starved for it from me and earlier from Lisa...Watched Will Smith's Hitch on DVD after dinner. It was cute enough for mind candy.
.

Lunch with Lisa

Looping Chaka Khan

Somehow got obsessional about listening to a song sung by Chaka Khan from the 70s. Had it looped to repeat endlessly while I got ready for work. Face it, she is quite amazing with that siren-like voice. Gotta get her new CD this week.

The universe sometimes uses music to help forewarn or remind me of things. This morning it was used to lift my morning. Music became a disco montage on the way to work thanks to me surfing up and down the FM channels. I resisted the urge to continue singing Rock the Boat inside my building, but I gave into it at lunch. Tawny picked up the rest of the lyrics much to her husband's horror so we hammed it up even more by singing the Chaka Khan song from this morning. I don't think he enjoys disco as much as we do. Ha!

At times I felt defeated before I had a chance to really sink my teeth into my work. I kept getting interrupted by little things (IE leftover sign-offs on software testing, e-mail wars with my Nemesis Vendor of September, etc).

Lisa informed me that she broke the news to her husband that she was leaving him. She has already secured a new place for her and her two small children. This exceedingly nice woman deserves a medal for effort. Love cannot live on lies nor can it work with only one person contributing to the well-being of the relationship. As I've told men in my previous relationships, "If you do not tend to your own garden, someone else will (or it will take care of itself)." Several of us are now waiting for the invite to help her move. Already told her that she could call me (literally) at 2am if she needed to talk. These decisions can be very lonely especially before the holidays.

Talked to Tawny on the way home who was packing her car with stuff to move at their new place. She called me again a couple of hours later. Dressed in my blue and white striped pajamas with a grey chenille cardigan hoodie over it and black & pink flip-flops, I drove two minutes across the complex to pick her up for a quick trip for a sweet treat. We ate our goodies in her living room that was shaping up nicely with their stuff. Watched a bit of Spinal Tap before heading home at 10pm.
.

Looping Chaka Khan

Halloween Extravaganza

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hello, my little ghouls and goblins! Tricks or Treats? I promised treats in yesterday's post and boy do I have them. Some of the tricks can be seen on the videos. It will be obvious that we didn't have a productive day today, but we sure had a blast. It was filled with breakfast treats and a costume contest sponsored by HR and lots of candy everywhere! Enjoy...

Lisa as a really cute Witch.



Bridget on skates & My Gang (Bridget, Boss & Temp)


>>>Please watch the volume on the videos.<<<

Bridget Rolling Down the Hall



Bridget Dancing...Gotta Luv Her!



Leann as a Happy Pumpkin in action is hysterical!



Here she is again...stationary.



Ooops, Officer Evie -- Here's what happened....


Christine having fun with Take Out.



Cruella stopped in, too!!



Are you tired from all the tricks and treats? Whew. Me, too, my Halloween Honeys. From the candy that Bridget brought in to being delivered some candy by other peeps and gobbling brownies made by Evie, I am Halloweened out.

Hope you and your kiddies had a safe one. And if you didn't participate in any way during this second most popular holiday in America (Christmas being first!) and have some childish fun, my message is in Bridget's belt buckle:


.

Halloween Extravaganza