Halloween Treats and a Chocolate Lava Cake

Totally forgot...I went baking crazy this past Halloween. I actually ended up making about 12 dozen cupcakes. I had make 8 dozen pre-Hurricane/Superstorm Snady to take in for a Halloween dessert potluck, but then the office was shut down for a week so I sent thought to work with my Hubby and whipped up some more once my work resumed.

 

There were Vampire Bites, Goblin Eyes, Salted Caramel Chocolate Monsters and more!

Of course, the vamp bites were filled with yummy blood, and the goblin eyes were filled with tasty slime. It was Halloween after all :)

I also recently made my Hubby some chocolate lava cake because he's so awesome.

Yep, my husband's the best :)

Now, I just have to figure out what kind of dessert I'll make for Turkey Day...

Two Voodoo Dolls and a Black Friday

My sisters gave my Hubby and I these two little stress reducer voodoo dolls, along with a kick-ass card, for our 1 year wedding anniversary. They are too wonderful :) I can't believe that my darling Hubby and I have been married for over a year! Time truly does fly. I love him so much, I seriously doesn't feel like it's been a year!

It was too cute opening the package from my sisters and seeing two carefully wrapped packages that contained these two beauties. Hubby and I quickly chose the one we each wanted. Claw hand for him (he likes the cap) and pure stealth ninja (with a its awesome tiny sword) for me. With my job, I knew that anything saying "control your frustrations with idiots" was for me :)

Last week was horrible...another co-worker opted not to come back after over 6 years working here. It's crazy. I need my stress relief ninja more than ever. I actually burst out laughing in my boss' face on Thursday; and  I mean tears streaming down my face, bent over in my chair, extra loud laughing for about 3 full minutes. I couldn't help it - I mean I literally couldn't hold the laughter in. While explaining that the previously mentioned co-worker would "not be returning", Big Head #2 had the gall to say that everything would be okay because he would pitch in and help out with the workload as he has done before. I'm not even sure if he finished his sentence as the laughter just exploded out of me and everyone turned to watch me try to get control of myself. The thought of Big Head #2 actually doing work was just too funny. Help out, my ass.

The laughter felt great though.

I can't believe it's almost Turkey Day already! I know that I will be contributing delicious baked mac and cheese to the family meals and both my parents and Hubby's parents. We are going to eat so much and fill our tupperware containers with tons-o-leftovers to take home. Thanksgiving is good :).

Then the day after...Black Friday madness. I don't take the whole thing as seriously as some people. No early morning waiting for  me. I don't remember if I went out last year, but I usually head out at a normal shopping time and pick up a few things here and there. I prefer Cyber Monday shopping for bigger things - shipped right to my door is the kind of convenience I'm talking about. I was making a list of things to bring with me when going out on Black Friday yesterday (bottle of water, hand sanitizer, lists, etc.), and after skimming it, Hubby asked if I was making a Zombie Apocalypse preparedness kit (yes, "Walking Dead" was on yesterday). It really got me thinking about how similar the two lists would be.

So, (1) are you taking part in Black Friday madness this year? and more importantly (2) what would be in your zombie apocalypse preparedness kit?

Have an awesome day everyone!

:)

The other day Big Head #2 told P that he sometimes waits just inside his office door until he sees a shadow, so that he can pop out and scare the person waking by. Wow. Just, wow.

Tonight's homemade desserts for me and my honey...



Vanilla Cream and Rum Glaze filled Rum Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting and mini Walnut Rum Cakes.

 

 

 

Yes, I took a bite before remembering to take a pics :)

 

Enjoy the rest of the weekend everyone!

Mozzarella Beer Bread!

Savory and delicious :)

Honey Beer Bread :)

Sweet and tasty!

Today's a day

So, I was promoted at work. Well, they call it a "promotion", and I guess it is technically. It was initially presented to me as a 'we think you are so wonderful, please accept this great honor', and then the situation kind of degraded (at least to me) to a 'you will be doing this work, so you can either accept the new title and extra 2 cent [practically] raise or not...and still do the work' clustercuss. I accepted. Obviously. The problem I have is that Big Head #1 is going out on maternity leave next Friday. She calls it a working maternity leave ('yes, please go ahead and patch me into that important conference call while I'm nursing'), but the fact is she'll be out of the office for two months. Big Head #2 knows nothing. NOTHING. Not only does he not know anything about his job, the paperwork we have to deal with everyday, the system we use...anything, he makes no true attempt to even try. The problem is that all the higher up bosses opted to leave, so who knows who's even overseeing the Big Heads right now. No one's left to watch out for the worker bees in this situation - at least not that I can see.

In addition to that P's counterparts N and O are out of here too. N was on medical leave for like 6 months and then she opted to leave the organization altogether. It's mighty coincidental that while she was on medical leave she managed to not only finish school and her internship and graduate, but also start a new job/business and a life coach. A LIFE COACH! O took a gamble trying to squeeze more money out of the organization and they called her bluff quickly and completely...not only is she leaving, they actually cut that position. So, P will be left alone to handle three people's work until they hire a second person, who she will likely have to train and support during the inevitable learning curve; just like they told me that I would have to assist in the ongoing training process of my counterparts. How do you assist someone who is so far past clueless that I can't, in good faith, use the word clue in any part of any statement related to him? Either way, I am happy to be recognized for my hard work; so the small smile is there :)

Anyway, enough crap. On to non-work topics.

Hubby and I saw Premium Rush the other day. The movie itself was decent, but Joseph Gordon-Levitt? Fantastic and oh-so sexy-adorable (sadorable?), as always. B- movie, A+ JGL. It made me want to watch Inception a few more times. yea, blue ray. I sat through Christian Bale's Batman voice and Tom Hardy's "Of Course!" Bane voice three times - time's 2.5 to 3 were overkill - and cannot wait to see Looper. He's s'wonderful. Hubby understands :)

In food related yummy news, I made the most wonderful Honey Beer and Mozzarella Beer Breads the other day (man, I do a lot on those 'other days'). I'll post pics later. Hubby is my resident taste-tester, and he loved them, as did the people at work. To me, the honey version was tasty, but the mozzarella version was divine. I love cheesy goodness and will definitely be making it again soon. I can already taste the cinnamon and pumpkin ale version I want to make for Turkey Day. Yummy!

Hubby and I are going paintballing (is that a term?) next month. My friend K is freaking me out a bit telling me that the pain outweighs the fun, but it's my first time playing so I'm still excited. Nervous fear, I guess. When I imagine myself playing, I picture Tom Hardy in This Means War. His paintball scene was easily the best scene in the movie. In reality, I'll probably be more like the kids his character is decimating, but I still aim to have fun. I'll just have to stock up on Advil, heating pads and stuff beforehand :) Any experienced paintball people out there? How much pain are Hubby and I in for, really?

Enjoy the rest of the day everyone!

Le sigh.

Thanks again someecards!

People...today is a version of a good morning. It's a crappy, messed up morning that I'm sure will mean extra work for me later on, but at least I had a hearty morning laugh.

Big Head #2 actually came down to my office a few minutes ago (looking to be on the brink of frustrated stress tears), closed the door, and said 'Something bad happened to me on Friday.' Now, I had already heard the office gossip while he was on a sick day or vacation day or whatever yesterday, so I already knew what he was going to say. As he closed my door and sat down, I had to struggle to keep my composure. He then proceeded to tell me that (like a moron) he had brought some files home with him in his backpack that day, and they were stolen when his car was broken into. Yes, everyone is okay - credit cards were cancelled, and all that jazz. The point is that he thought that it would be a good idea to bring the files (that I worked on for months) which were chock full of information, home with him, and now that information could be anywhere.

He's going to have a hell of a time re-creating those files, especially due to:

1) the original signature pages that he'll have to request again (what reasoning he'll give? Who knows.);

2) the info that was sent via email - attachments now archived;

3) the info that was sent via file sharing sites - now expired;

4) the info that may have already been filed away in storage...

The list goes on and on.

I feel semi-bad for him, but honestly, I think that may actually be me feeling bad for future me who will have to help clean up this latest mess. For now though, I do feel bad for him but I have to laugh at least a little bit.

Have a great day everyone!

Mr. Rogers would have hated this neighborhood.

Yesterday was a bad day.

I got so angry at work that I actually saw red. I could feel my blood pressure rushing and hear the dull roar of the blood rushing through my body.

I was pissed.

It all started with the compressed workweek schedule. We are allowed to work longer hours 4 days a week, in order to have the 5th day off. We can do this 2 times a month, but I only do it once. Once.

Sooooo, C came around saying that Management (let's call them the 'Big Heads' for this post) told co-worker M that they decided that only one person can be out on any given day because we are so short staffed. M in turn told C who took it upon herself to relay the message in a childish game of telephone. I stated that I have no problem changing my days as needed, but I wanted to first hear the reasoning directly from Big Head #2 (who is two offices away) instead of from M to C to XYZ, blah, blah, blah. Not an unreasonable request, I think.

This sparked M, T and C coming down to my office about 30 seconds later. Their posse rolled up to my door, sneers and all, like that bs was supposed to intimidate me, and looked a bit surprised/flustered/scared? when I proceeded to very loudly state that I did not have time for this sh*t as I (gesturing to my paperwork avalanche of a desk) have too much sh*t to deal with that is actually part of my job. M again asked questions (can you believe this?!), and I started to get pissed. When I get so angry that I start to tear up, it's not going to end well, so I took the high road and not so politely told them to get the hell out of leave my office and not let the door hit 'em where the good Lord split 'em close the door behind them. They then proceeded to go to my colleague, K, next door and, while I only heard muffled words, she became upset and left for the day immediately after.

Taking deep breaths wasn't working for me so I called my husband, who talked me down - because I was ready to go off about all the bull that I've had to deal with over the past 5 years - and when I was finally able to form coherent sentences again without rampant profanity I went down to talk to the Big Heads (because they had, of course, email summoned me down to chat about the incident even though it was seconds away from the day's quitting time.

50 minutes later, I left Big Head 1's office having accomplished nothing because some people hear only what they want to hear. Sad. So, so, sad. Thank God my husband recognized the tone of my voice and plea to come cheer me up, and was waiting for me in my office. Just seeing him brought a smile to my face even after all that.

The drama continues today with HR, phone calls, meetings, and other crap; but we all know that some things will never change. Hopefully though, something will be done about my work load, because if not...well, something has to give.

Oh, that was a downer of a post :(

Anywho, my husband is meeting me after work again today so we can go home together :) so I'm just ignoring all the work bs and focusing on that :) I'm trying to anyway.

Let's end this with something happy :) The Magic Mike trailers and TV spots brings a smile to my face :D

Like this one!

Yep. I am seeing that. Anyone else?

Have an excellent day everyone!

Congratulations Class of 2012!

Congratulations (again) to Sis 2!!! She graduated college on Sunday :) I'm so proud of her.

It was a lovely ceremony - the speech to the class from the honorary degree candidate ran quite long, but it was full of good messages for the graduates. But seriously...it was like an epic poem.

It was lovely having the day off yesterday - I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day as well - and having today off is like the icing on an amazingly delicious cake. If only I would win Mega Millions tonight and not have to go back to that viper's nest at all. I called in to check on things, of course, and P let me know that she'd already heard the assistant's telling a few callers that I was out today. Can't wait to check those annoying messages tomorrow :( And why is it that the rest of the work week always seems longer when you have Monday and/or Tuesday off?

Well, whatever, I've still got hours of my day off to enjoy. If only I had an air-conditioner, because this fan isn't doing the trick. If it's this hot already, this summer is going to suck!

Stay cool everyone, and have a wonderful rest of the day!

I love you 4.5 day weekend.

1pm can't come fast enough today.

Thank God for 1) half days at work, and 2) 4 day holiday weekends (yes, I did take off an extra day :), because this place has me so stressed and frustrated that I'm about to scream. A part of me wants to scream just to see what would happen. Most likely, my manager would speed race down to my office, as he too-often does (use email or IM for goodness sakes) and, after pretending that he didn't just break the sound barrier to get there, ask 'what's up?' in his 'I'm pretending to be laid back to distract you from how stressed and overwhelmed I am/trying too hard to be cool/high school guidance counselor' way. I mean the man actually asked one of my co-workers how to 'do cursive' today so he could sign a document, and then proceeded to misspell what he wrote.

Seriously, the weekend needs to start now.

Sis 2 is graduating from college on Sunday, so it's going to be a wonderful graduation/Memorial Day weekend! I'm so proud of her :)

Anyone else have any fun weekend plans?

Have an amazing day/weekend everyone! My boss just walked by...again. He's going to wear a hole in the office carpeting soon. I may actually scream before the half-day is over :)

Holy crap, I've been in my office for 5 years!

Today marks the 5 year anniversary of my being at my job! 

Image found here

5 years!

It's actually a pretty huge thing for me to comprehend - I seriously cannot believe it. The workdays have been a steady decline of happiness (or a steady increase of suck - whatever) for the last 3 or so years. I seriously cannot believe I'm still chugging along. Having seen a virtual revolving door of people come and go, I have to say, I'm kind of happy and proud.

A new colleague, J, started today. As she was being led around and introduced to everyone, I actually saw the same spark that I had in my eye 5 years ago reflected in hers. She is so super-psyched to be here, and has that whole 'can't wait for life's great adventure to kick in' vibe. She's jumping at the phone calls, zooming down the halls, chipper and positive...I used to be like that. it starts to kick in around month 6, but it's just a tingle in the back of your mind. By the time it's a full grown realization, you can't help but kick yourself for not delving more into that back of the mind though you had oh-so-many-months ago. She left promptly at 5:30pm though. That will become a thing of the past soon enough.

Hopefully, she comes back tomorrow :)

Have an excellent week everyone!

Customer Disservice

Love Savage Chicken. Check out the site here.

Wow, I've have some bad customer service experiences in my day...quite a few actually (more on that in a second); but I've never had some unprofessional asshat decide to post my real name and address on Twitter for all to see.

That happened to Gina, thanks to management from an establishment called Flavor 180. My friend A, who knows all too well about my customer service horrors, posted the link to Gina's blog, Gina's Rantspot, on my fb page, and I also saw it posted on author Jen Lancaster's page. Follow the link above to visit her post about the incident. Crazy.

Side-note: Jen Lancaster is freaking hilarious. Seriously, if you haven't already read her book Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly, Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who are These Idiots and Why Do The All Live Next Door to Me?, you should. If you have read it, then read it again and again. Too hilarious.

Regarding my customer service issues, a lot (but not all) of them stem from bad food service. Not all of these ended poorly, but I won't say that the service was up to par, by a long shot.

There was the time I bit into my pizza slice only to find a large screw. They offered me another slice of pizza from the same pie. No thanks.

There was the fingernail in the Dunkin Donut. Offered another donut. No thank you. I was off donuts for a while. Thank goodness I broke the donut apart and saw it. After the experiences I've had, I've learned to tear my food apart and examine it first. Believe me, you'd do the same.

There was the metal in my Subway sandwich. Customer service was decent, but come on, it's a piece of metal.

I'm dredging up too may buried gross memories, so just one more. The most disgusting, I think - so you've been warned. There was the TGI Friday's experience where I (thank God) again decided to closely examine my food before eating it, and found a pile of chew-up steak in the middle of my mashed potatoes. Yes. CHEWED UP STEAK. I don't even want to know who that happens and slips by a line of employees. In-house customer service was a joke and I ended up taking that one on the letter-writing/phone-calling road to higher ups.

The most recent non-food related occurrence happened when P and I left the office to get some lunch. We passed a man giving out fliers for a local business. When I passed, I said 'no thank you', he nodded and turned to P. Well, my 'No' must have been one too many, because when she said the same 'no thank you' he flipped out. I mean he freaked the heck out and started yelling 'Why?! WHY NOT?!". No, P can be quick to lose her temper, but that day she actually stayed calm and said 'I just don't want it'. We were stuck at a light, surrounded by tourists, waiting to cross the street, so what followed was pretty awkward. The man proceeded to follow us, screaming 'F*** you! F*** your mother! F*** you!' over and over again before giving us the evil eye, and telling P to go to hell. The tourists looked so scared. Some of them were probably scared off of NYC for life :) The light finally changed and he just kept right on screaming at us until we couldn't hear him anymore. P grew increasingly upset, and called the manager for the place when we got back to work. She left a lot of what actually happened out though, so I called and let the manager know everything. Turns out we must not have been the only ones complaining as he had already pulled him off the street, and had him in his office. He asked the guy if he actually screamed and cursed at us, and he admitted to it. It wasn't the first time this had happened. I was on the phone when he fired the guy. It was awkward. Awkward turtle. And it really put a damper on the rest of the day. You can't act that way - especially, if you're the face of a business - but I still hope that guy landed on his feet and ended up okay.

What are some of your customer disservice stories?

Have a good Monday everyone! Here's to a better week than the last one :)

And so it begins...

The exodus has begun.

I always wondered who would be the first to leave 'Project X'.

For a while I thought it would be J. J has had a few issues in the past (not sure what they are, and it's really 1) not my business and 2) not relevant) that have caused him to be out of the office more than he's been in for the past year and a half. He had, in fact, only been in the office for about 1 - 1.5 months (non-consecutively) between January and March. The question of if he would actually be let go was becoming more 'will they won't they' than an episode of "Moonlighting"/"Friends"/"Law & Order: SVU" - when Stabler and Benson were still on it.

They finally did it though - they let him go. The spin they told us was that he'd decided not to return, but it seems the decision was less in his power, and more ball-in-their-court. Either way, he's not coming back. Not a surprise, but still sad.

The real surprise though, came a couple of days before they advised us that he would not be returning, when other J packed her bags and moseyed on too. A lot of us where blindsided by that one. But, I have to say it doesn't surprise me either. Workers can only be pushed so far and under appreciated so much before they decide to pursue other opportunities.

J and J, you will be missed. Especially you other J, as now I and 1 of my other co-workers have acquired your work load. What's 120 or so new projects to work on, right? That's 120 or so new projects EACH. I'm literally drowning in paperwork, emails and phone calls.

The stress is getting to me. The right side of my neck has hurt for a few days. In fact, it hurts so much that I can barely turn my head, and my husband actually had to help me sit up out of bed this morning as I couldn't lift my head at all.

And I'm not the only one. Lately at work, I've heard more slammed doors and phones, seen more people burst into tears, and witnessed more people taking sick days than ever before. Stress is a cruel b*tch.

But moving on to another topic, today is Thursday...so tomorrow is Friday. I just have to keep repeating that to myself :) Not only is tomorrow Friday, but it's The Hunger Games Friday. Everyone is raving about this movie already. I haven't read the books, but my sisters gave me a thorough rundown, and I must say, I'm excited to see how Hollywood pulls off some of the subject matter in a PG-13 film. No midnight showing for me, but opening night? Yes, please :)

Anyone else plan on seeing The Hunger Games tonight or this weekend?

Well, have a great Thursday everyone! Stay as stress-free as possible :)

Happy Leap Day or whatever...

Today started off so craptastically, that I swear I’m almost convinced that “leap day” translates into tool of the devil.

Someecards are the best :)

From the moment I got up and my morning routine was thrown out of wack, the day has been a twisted avalanche of suck.

Unfortunately, each day here at Project X (that's what I'm choosing to call the workplace today) is getting progressively more difficult to get through with a level head. The tension and animosity jumped up significantly yesterday, and I only see it degrading further from here.

I’ve got too many working years left before I reach this wall, to trap myself in such an ulcer-inducing environment.

The day needs to either get better (please), or hurry up and just get gone. I would prefer the former (and I think the leap year babies and leaplings of the world would agree. Personally, I love having good days, and for your leapers, why rush the day you all only get every four years? Happy Birthday to you all by the way :)

Hope everyone if having a good day. If not, and your morning also sucked, then join me in hoping that our days take a turn for the best this afternoon :)

Witches and Zombies and Cookies...

Yesterday, I overheard two of my co-workers talking about the new books they are reading. One is wading her way through some Ernest Hemingway ('because I've just never read it, and why not?'), and the other is drowning in Gregory Maguire's Wicked.


I thought I was the only one who hated that book! My sister powered through it (better her than me, really), and gave it a solid "C+/B-" rating, but I positively hated it. I think I had about 100 or so pages left when I gave up on it altogether. So, hearing co-worker #2 follow up "I'm reading Wicked on my nook right now" with "It is so dense. I can't take it!" brought a book-pain-misery-loves-company smile to my face. Sidenote: Nooks are awesome :)

Just as I was, co-worker #2 is fighting Maguire's constant rambling, and the repetitive 'let's drive your mind off the beaten path into the boring wilderness' nature of the book. It's just too...blah. She's about 300 pages in, and wants to toss the book aside (well, really gently place her nook in a safe spot) and never glance at the book again; but, like my sister, she's powering through. Again, better her than me.

I did recently finish Pride and Prejudice and Zombies though. They weren't kidding about the ultraviolent zombie mayhem. Gory and violent, but a fun read. Infinitely more fun than Ms. Austen's original - sorry Jane.


I hate zombies - they freak me out - but I do love a good book :) This one has A LOT of disturbing scenes, but one in particular made me actually put the book down for a while and try to wipe the images from my mind. Of course, I later dissolved into laughter when I read the passage to my sisters. It was just so crazy and gory, we had to laugh.

Thanks to that book, I'm definitely interested in reading another of Seth Grahame-Smith's books, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Why not? 1) It sounds twisted and interesting. Honest Abe, a rugged vampire hunter? I am intrigued. 2) I've heard good reviews from friends; and 3) with a cover like this, how could I not want to read it?


I am also hooked on The Hollows series, by Amanda Hocking. I blazed a post-apocalyptic zombie littered trail through the first book, Hollowland, and immediately downloaded book 2, Hollowmen.


However, while I do enjoy juggling a couple of books at a time, I'm pretty into what I'm reading right now (Angela Benson's Awakening Mercy) so beginning book 2 will have to wait :(


But yes, I am super excited to see where book 2 takes the main characters - even will (or maybe especially with) all the zombie creepiness. Man, I love diving into a good, well-written book :)

On another topic, some evil person put Girl Scout cookies out at work today.

I don't even like Girl Scout cookies all that much (stop the boos and hisses. They are okay, but not my favorites!), but any workday here creates a need for chocolate. Almost like the need for oxygen. Almost. I managed to escape unharmed with two Thin Mints. As I sat at my desk, I overheard a co-worker say that she had just been shoved out of the way so others could reach the box. Madness. Tasty madness.

Happy Hump Day everybody!

Happy Heart Day :)

Thanks for the image Google images :)

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

It's my first Valentine's Day as a married woman! Holy crap (or something more beautiful for Love Day) - Holy Rose Petals! My honey and I don't have anything planned. The fact that it's a Tuesday sucks, but the fact that we are oh-so broke sucks more. It's fine though :) We'll probably have a nice dinner at home, and try to do something over the weekend. It's strange that I don't feel that much different than I did the other 15 Valentine's Days we've had together. Well, that's not exactly true.

I feel more in love.

I simply feel happier than I ever have. Even when we are angry with each other, or frustrated with each other, or deliriously happy with each other, O makes me so wonderfully happy. I also have an amazing family, and sweet in-laws...yep, I'm lucky - I realize it and am thankful for it.

15 years ago we were in high school, teenagers in love, and now I am married to the man I love; the man I am in love with, and who loves and is in love with me.

Wow!

It's a pretty spectacular feeling, and being with him and spending time with him - even if we decide to just veg out and watch some TV - is the best Valentine's Day gift I could ask for.

Happy Love Day everyone!

Is it 5:30 yet?

My job is killing me. That's what it feels like.

The paperwork.

The in-fighting.

The high school style cliques and drama.

The fake smiles disguised as friendliness.

The nosiness disguised as concern.

The constant fear that the other shoe is going to drop.

It's. Too. Much. I'm not averse to hard work, but work should not be this hard - not in this sense.

I feel like I'm drowning sometimes. Too often I wake up in the morning, before my alarm goes off, (hubby leaves extra early in the am so he's already enjoying his work day by then :) and just stare at the clock silently enjoying my me time until I have to get up, get ready, make my two hour commute, work in the shark jaws of Hell's high school's sweatiest gym locker and make my two hour trek back home (and yes I had the whole 'Gotta get up. Gotta get going. Gonna see a friend of mine' Winnie the Pooh theme in my head as I wrote that). As much as my feet drag as I walk to work (shoulders hunched over, scowl firmly in place), they rush me home with the apparent speed of light at the end of the day. I am so consistently elated to leave the pit - to leave the City - at the end of the day I can hardly stand it.

Some ridiculous bullsh*t-label worthy nonsense was initiated at my job yesterday. When I say BS worthy, I almost want to have a solid gold trophy made up and handed to this person during the first annual BS parade. With the stuff that goes on here, we'd have a parade every other day. It was insanity that began late in the workday. Thinking that it would be a dead issue today, I actually came to work in a somewhat pleasant mood. I'd decorated P's office for her birthday (office luau) before I left, gone out for Chinese-Indian cuisine last night, had an insane amount of laughs, headed home to my sweetie, and even gotten a good night's sleep - and today is Friday! All was well...until I get here.

I was told to do something yesterday that I did not feel comfortable doing until I had facts in place for myself (instead of relying on information from others), and apparently that turned into a huge 'with me or against me' campaign. Just because I choose to handle things a different way, does not mean that I am 'with' or 'against' anyone. I'm sick of this workplace faction crap. When did it not become enough to just come to work to work? To be respectful and personable to people, regardless of whether you like them or not, because you're supposed to be a grownup in a professional environment. This is a job. It's not called happy, fun playtime because it's not recess, it's f'ing work.

I'm just so frustrated. It's silly and more than a little distressing that some people can't seem to grow up and not simply just grow older.

Seriously, is it 5:30, yet? I need a movie marathon weekend. I really want to see "Haywire", "The Grey", "Underworld: Awakening", and "The Artist", but I also want to see "Contraband", "Man on a Ledge", and "One for the Money" (even though the casting for that is 100% wrong. Katherine Heigl? Seriously?). I may have to construct a make-shift dart board and toss a few darts. Three back to back movies with my hubby should be enough to get me out of the funk of this week. Maybe. We'll see. Next week has to be better. Maybe I'll be the lucky Powerball winner tomorrow (oh how I wish upon wishes). That would be exactly what I need :)

Hope you all had a better week than I did. Feel free to vent or rave in a comment :) Either way, have a great weekend everyone.

Oh, and tomorrow's "Thank a Mailman (or woman) Day", so be sure you do that :)

What's with the shoes?

If anyone was looking to play an impromptu game of detective - Whose shoe is this? Edition - you could have had a field day at the corner of 46th and Madison yesterday afternoon. These two pairs of mens shoes were lined up in such a way that it looked like the previous owners stepped out of them and kept going, or disappeared altogether. For all I know, the mystery shoes are still there, patiently waiting. I commented to P that perhaps Marty McFly simply didn't right the wrongs in those two people's pasts quick enough, but she just gave me a quirky look and didn't respond.

How she could have held a response back, I have no clue. BTTF humor is too good to be ignored :) That movie series is so great. My husband and I even had a Back to the Future table at our wedding. (So you don't think it was some random DeLorean-esque table on the dance floor, each of our guest tables was actually named after and tailored toward one of our favorite movies. I'll include the full movie list at the end, if anyone's interested.) What with the DeLorean time machine (yes, I know it's no 'bigger on the inside, multi-room, yes, it even has a swimming pool' Tardis - and yes, I do love Doctor Who too), great story, and Michael J. Fox, this movie is a classic. And it even has a crazy old Doctor who, while not as adorable as any of Dr. Who's recent regenerations, definitely marches to the beat of his own drummer.

I got off topic a bit, I think. Shoes. Yes. What is with all the abandoned shoes I'm seeing in the city? I understand seeing one sad and broken or lost shoe, but when it's one, two or three pairs placed together, neatly on the edge of the sidewalk - is that some art thing?

Anyway, back to work. This paperwork pile isn't going to stare at itself.

Have an excellent Hump Day everyone; and it's February 1st - Happy National Freedom Day!

Oh, the list :) The tables at our wedding were Jerry MaGuire, Clue, With Honors, Stardust, Jurassic Park, The 10th Kingdom (yes, I know it's a mini-series and not a movie, but it is the BEST!), Top Gun, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, Bad Boys, and Back to the Future. It was amazing, and everyone got it and loved it. Simply amazing :)