Cali Boy is Awesome...true story :)

I never shared the story last week about Cali Boy's cube. He has his nameplate, right? So it says: Cali Boy and then directly under that he has a sign that say is awesome and under that is true story. So, it looks a little like this:

Cali Boy

is Awesome

...true story

A little full of himself, ya think? He's so funny about it, though. For some reason, the cocky attitude is really part of his charm for sure.

So, the house sitting/dog sitting is finally done! I am so very glad. I've been stretched way too thin this week what with all the overtime and then going back and forth between Preschool Queen's house and here. I'm looking forward to watching movies and cleaning here tomorrow. And not having to go anywhere else.

In the category of 'you can't make up stories like this' here goes. They have decided that our offices need new carpeting. We have the carpet squares (like linoleum squares only carpet, so they aren't overly hard to replace.) The contractor who was hired to do the work was supposed to start probably 3 weeks ago now. The important thing to remember about this story is the fact that we are the Federal Government. We are a LAW ENFORCEMENT office. So anyway, now that we have those two very important facts out of the way, I can get back to my story. So the contractor sends his carpet installer over. The FPS (Federal Protective Service) officer thought his license plate looked strange. So, he ran a record check on the plate. Sure enough it didn't belong to the vehicle it was on. (Wait, it gets better) Then he ran the driver's license of the individual. Are you ready for this one...he had an active warrant out for his arrest. The guy fled the scene and FPS finally found him at home and arrested him there. How funny is that. I mean, don't you think the contractor should be checking this first? So now, the building is all in disarray and there is no one to install the carpet. Too funny. You just can't make these things up!

Week Wrap-up

Ahh, let's see, Week in Review, yes?
My interview was Thursday afternoon, and I think it went really well. It's so hard to tell with these things. Interviewers are so non-committal, aren't they? One of the biggest things for me was Will wishing me success. It meant a ton, far more than I think he knew. And he gave me really good advice as well, it's okay to be nervous, just don't let them see it. I think I was successful there. So, now it's the waiting. They have made their recommendations and because I work for the government, it's not as easy as just hiring at that point. The list has to go to several different offices to be approved before they can announce who has been hired, so that will take about 4-6 weeks. Like I said, now's the waiting...

Friday I worked during the day as a mentor. When we hire, the class is 5 weeks long and then there are two weeks where the new people work on the floor but are monitored by an experienced employee before working independently. Yesterday that's what I did. It's a small class, only 4 people, but I truly had my hands full. My honest opinion, there is at least one who just isn't going to cut it. But they have potential. The day was a lot of fun, and Cali Boy was there for overtime, which was a pleasant surprise. He sits right in the middle of the mentoring area so he and I had 5 hours to chat. How very cool is that? And he started asking me some work related questions as well. I so enjoy passing on the knowledge I've gained over the last 4 1/2 years. And he was truly invested in the conversation. It was a really good day, for sure.

Anyway, I'm off in just a bit to house sit for Preschool Queen and Homer. They are on their way for a week of camping on the coast of Maine (better them than me!) but they couldn't take the crazy dog, so that's my job! Wish me luck!

Things are Good

So, here's what I realized last night at work. Things are good. Things are really good, actually.

I had a really great time this weekend, even though I was there alone. I was finally comfortable in my aloneness again. Preschool Queen keeps telling me that I should really enjoy this time in my life because before I know it, it will be gone.

My friendship with Will seems to be back on track. I hadn't really realized how much chaos it had been throwing into other parts of my life until now. It feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I've really missed him, and am so very glad that things are continuing to improve.

I've got a lot of confidence going into this interview. I have people around me who truly believe that I'll get it. (I don't know what to believe, but certainly don't want to get my hopes up too much.) The more I go over potential questions, the more comfortable I'll feel on Thursday afternoon. Lead Momma has been an incredible help with this. Will was surprised that I really want this position, and rightly guessed that the whole process has gotten my competitive hackles up; but beyond that, I really actually want the job. (Am I crazy?)

Preschool Queen and I were shopping for a new outfit for the interview, and we really did find just the perfect thing. Anyway, we were at Macy's and we were walking past the jewelry counter, but really, who can actually walk PAST the counter without stopping? Anyway, there was this beautiful set of freshwater pearls. It was seven strands together, and the sales guy heard me talking about them and told me I had to try them on. So, of course I did. He was complimenting me etc, but like I said, he's a sales guy, so I wasn't listening. Preschool Queen said he was flirting, not trying to sell the necklace. (like I said, didn't notice.)

I did however notice the very cute new security guard at work flirting with me when I walked in tonight. Such an ego boost for sure!

But as I was saying, things really seem pretty good. I really don't think about the PCOS much. It wouldn't really do much good anyway. And my aloneness (did I just create a new word, how do I contact Webster's to find out? would I get credit for it?) is okay. I really do have the freedom to do anything I want right now. Does that mean I'm not interested in a relationship at this point? No, of course not. I think I'd happily date the right man at this point. I'd like nothing more than to have someone to snuggle on the couch with and watch a movie. Alone has it's benefits for sure, but a significant drawback would of course be the loneliness. And I do feel that way sometimes.

They say that human beings need to be touched. We thrive on it. The touch of another person does wonders for our moods and our well being. When you live alone, and aren't in a relationship, the human touches are few and far between. That's hard. It's really something that people in relationships take for granted. One of the things I miss the most is feeling someones hands in my hair or on the back of my neck.

The Party Yesterday

Yesterday was the vow renewal for Preschool Queen and Homer. I had a really awesome dress for the day, and really felt and looked great (if I do say so myself...) Honestly, I know this because I had many people walk up to me and tell me so. Can I tell you what an ego boost it was? The ex's on again off again currently on again girlfriend didn't impress me. Now, I could be catty and nasty and go into detail, but I won't. I just wish him happiness, and I really don't think this is it.

And the party was wonderful. Lots of good food and champagne and lots of laughs. And it was such a wonderful thing to celebrate. 10 years of a happy marriage. It's a true feat. I truly hope that someday I'm able to find what the two of them have found. They bring out the best in each other. When he looks at her, you can see the love in his eyes. She's the only woman in the room when he looks at her. Being able to find that person who loves you just as you are is a precious thing. They have that. Someday I hope to find it.

I also learned this morning that I created a teachable moment for Captain Contrary. I only live a little over a mile from Preschool Queen and Homer. I did drink a lot of champagne at this party. I left my keys and my car at their house and walked home. When he woke up in the morning, he saw my car in the driveway still and couldn't understand why I didn't take it home. He asked Preschool Queen about it, and she responded with a question of her own. She asked him if he remembered talking about not driving after drinking. He said he did and she said that I knew that too, and so walked home and would be back later in the morning to get my car. It's nice to be a good example.

An Interview

So, in my last post, I mentioned in passing that something really cool happened at work. And it's a good thing, so I didn't want to include it in the post about my friend who hasn't been lately. But now it's time to share the big excitement.

Last month I applied for a supervisor position at work. Tuesday night I found out that I'm getting an interview!!! I am so totally excited about this. I really want this job. I think I'd be really good at it. So, next Thursday I have this interview. Now it's time to prepare. Need to think about a bunch of questions that I know will be asked. After I set up the time for the interview, I sat down with a woman who was just hired about 6 months ago as a supervisor and asked her for some advice. She was very helpful. And so now I'm giving a lot of thought to the typical interview questions. I want to nail this. I want this job!

So, that's my big news. There is quite a bit of competition for this, but hopefully this will work out for me!

Friends

Friends...its a funny word. Just a few short letters and yet they stand for so very much. I guess I'm really true to my zodiac sign on this one. (I'm a Scorpio. We're known for being fiercely loyal, but also known to have a sting when crossed.) Friends are supposed to be loyal. It's what I expect. They are supposed to be there for you when things are great and when things are not so great. When you're worried about something, they should listen and be supportive. Not cold and unfeeling and uncaring. That's not friendship. Quite frankly, that's bullshit. And I'm not sure why I keep putting up with it everyday. Everyday there are small rejections, and I don't even realize them at the time, but it's what it is. I said I was nervous about the grad school application. Nothing not even a response about it. It's like I'm speaking to a brick wall.

I really didn't think things would change this much. I'm astounded. I've lost one of my closest friends in the world. Something absolutely amazing happened at work last night. And I didn't even mention it because I knew in my heart that it wouldn't matter. That the friend wouldn't care. I was told this was all in my head. That I'm being overly sensitive. I shared that with Preschool Queen. She laughed. Hard. She said that I can be a lot of things, but overly sensitive would never be one of them. Perceptive, yes. Overly sensitive, nope. So, I don't know. Why do I keep trying to keep this friendship? When am I going to just let go?

7 Things

I've been tagged by Marsh...
I'm supposed to create a list of 7 random facts about myself...Here goes!

1. I HATE being hot. Yes, it's hot in here right now. Kind of makes you wonder why I want to move south so badly, doesn't it?

2. Thunderstorms terrify me. It's not the lightening that can kill ya, it the noise of the thunder that scares me. Can't stand it. They make me want to curl up and hide wherever I am. And yes, I have to fight the urge to hide under my desk at work when there's a storm.

3. My favorite book ever, of all time, is The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare. So, how many of you are shocked that this isn't a Harry Potter book? When I was younger I read my copy so many times that it literally fell apart. I still have those pieces, though.

4. I love 80's music. I can't help it, the hair bands of the late 80's were just too much fun! Even now if I hear it on XM, I'll crank it up and sing along. Oh yeah, I sing just about everywhere and rarely realize I'm doing it, in the car, in the shower, in the store, at work...you get the picture.

5. Speaking of Harry Potter (see 4), I can't fall asleep without listening to at least l CD from one of the HP audio books. It's relaxing, Jim Dale has such a fantastic reading voice. I even have one of the books on my mp3 player so I can listen when I'm away from home.

6. I was painfully shy as a child. (okay, stop laughing all of you who know me...) Seriously, I was the little girl who was hiding (and probably crying) with my face buried in my mother's skirts. My parents were worried that I would always be that way...I guess they don't have to worry anymore.

7. I sincerely hope to travel to the Middle East some day, maybe when it's safer than now. I want to see the birthplace of civilization, the ruins in Jordan, the ruins of Ancient Egypt, Jerusalem...

Okay, so there's my 7, Lead Momma it's all you...tag, your turn!

So, in completely unrelated to anything statements, the town I live in won the baseball State championships today. So just a little while ago, the bus bringing them home was escorted through town by not one but two of the fire trucks with all their sirens wailing. This is one of the things I love about small towns. The sense of community, and pride in the high school team. So, congratulations, boys!!

Philly Day Four

So, I'm home safe and sound.
Yesterday was day four. In the morning mom and I went our separate ways, she wanted to go to the Mint and Betsey Ross' house. I didn't, and I wanted to work on my school application.
We met at lunch time at the Reading Terminal Market. The place is simply amazing. I so wish that there was a market like this at home. Separate stalls of vegetables, meats, fish, and everything else you could possibly think of. It was just fantastic. The Amish come to town on Wednesday as well, bringing all of their specialties. We had lunch there, Mom had a Philly Cheese steak and I had a pulled pork sandwich with sides. It was out of this world. And it satisfied my craving until I head to NC...
While I was sitting and eating, I started chatting with the woman who was sitting next to me. She was putting together a basket for her cat sitter and was telling me about this out of this world chocolate shop not to far away called the Naked Chocolate Cafe. So, Mom and I set out to find this place. Wow. Let me tell ya, it was totally worth the walk. The chocolates were beautiful and they had chocolate beverages as well, I had a frozen chocolate. It was served in like a goblet, I'll post photos later...It was simply sinful! And the good news? They ship their chocolate! Not in the summer, but any other time of year, go to their website and you can order it up!
And so, now I'm home; and quite frankly rather glad to be here. And no work until tomorrow night, how awesome is that?

Philly Day Three

Woke up way crankier than I would have liked today. Probably had something to do with my inability to sleep at night anymore. I have become a third shift freak. When I do try to sleep at night, I tend to only be able to nap for a few hours and then wake up only to stare at the ceiling. Fun, no?
Anyway, other than that, I find we have surprisingly little to talk about. I keep my personal life just that, personal. We've never talked about that at all. We barely talk about anything like feelings. (probably comes from Dad, Mr. Career Navy) and so there have been a lot of quite times. Oh well. That's life.
Today was the day I was truly waiting for during this trip. We went to the Franklin Institute to see the traveling King Tut exhibit. It's on loan from Egypt and has been in Chicago, LA, and Ft Lauderdale prior to this; and this is the last US stop before heading to London this fall and then back to Egypt. The collection is over 130 artifacts from King Tut's tomb and several tombs of his relatives. The audio tour was done by Omar Shariff, which I thought was pretty funny, because he did the audio tour in the Egyptian section of the British Museum as well. They did have a sarcophagus on display, but it belonged to a relative of Tut's (a woman they believe was his great grandmother). It was simply beautiful. These artifacts were breath-taking. And it was simply mind boggling that they are over 3000 years old. Most of them look completely brand new. The gold still has incredible lustre; the carvings are still sharp and clean, the paint still vibrant. One of my favorite pieces was a fixed foot stool that Tut would have used in the afterlife. Not that it was particularly spectacular; it was carved wood with inlays and the heads of ducks for the legs. What I loved was the fact that one of the photos that Howard Carter took in 1922 was on the opposite wall, and you could clearly see the stool in the first chamber. There was also a wooden bust of Tutankhamen as well. It was amazing to be able to look the King in his eyes. The audio at that point was a commentary by Dr. Zahi Hawas (forgive me if I misspelled his name) saying that it was clearly life-sized. I was struck then, by how small the King was. Another favorite piece was a carved head of Nefertiti. It was carved out of stone, but was so life like it was hard to believe.
After that, I had wanted to go to the University of Pennsylvania because they had an archaeological exhibit on Amarna; but we didn't. So, instead we took one of the bus tours of the city. In fact, it was done by the same group who did the bus tour in London; The Big Bus Tours. It was good. Lots of things that we had already seen in the last two days, and then a lot of things that we hadn't seen. The stairs Rocky climbed...along with his larger than life statue; several other museums and of course, the Eastern State Penitentiary, which is now classified as a ruin, but was the first Penitentiary in the world. The Quakers felt that after committing a crime you needed to repent and be penitent; and so built the building for that purpose. I guess it was pretty harsh to say the least, solitary confinement, a Bible and a hole in the ceiling that let in light. Needless to say, many went insane instead of repenting. Supposedly a very haunted building as well.
We also saw the Seaport Museum; and if you're not into boats, I'd skip it; but they do have a WWII submarine to tour as well as the oldest steel ship in the country. I was simply astounded at how small quarters were on the sub. Someone my size would fit comfortably through the passages (I'm just 5 feet tall) anything else would have been difficult. And 67 men lived on this sub! It was just astounding!! I was pretty glad that there weren't very many tourists there when we were walking through because my claustrophobia would have been in overdrive.
So, tomorrow's plan is to go to the Reading Terminal Market (sound familiar if you've played Monopoly) there is a big marketplace there, and I guess on Wednesdays the Amish come with the food and crafts that they specialize in. So, a fitting way to end the trip--shopping!

Philly Day Two

Today we were up and out early. Much earlier than I would have liked. It reminded my why I enjoyed traveling in London alone. Nobody else to make happy.
We started back at the Independence Visitor's Center since Mom hadn't seen any of it; and got tickets for Independence Hall (yes I did this again). Different tour guide, entirely different set of information provided. Still quite interesting. This time the guide was impressing upon us the fact that there almost wasn't a United States of America. Because when the Articles of the Confederation were written, each state was given total sovereignty. So, 9 of the thirteen states had navies, all thirteen had their own currency. Basically it was chaos and other countries saw this and started preying on the small states. This was when it was decided that they had to form some sort of Union. And then the Founding Fathers spent an entire summer arguing over what this would look like and what form the National government would take.
We also saw the Liberty Bell today. Wow. We were able to get up close; close enough to touch it, but I think the two park rangers who were standing right there would have had issue with that. But I have pictures; I've been to the Liberty Bell. What an amazing symbol of our freedom.
We took a break for lunch and then went to the Constitution Museum. Yes, there is an entire museum dedicated to the Constitution, and it's huge. Tons of interactive things to do. It was really interesting and a further education on the government of this country. The more time I spend here, the more I'm amazed at how forward thinking the Founding Fathers were. The document they wrote over 200 years ago has only been amended 27 times since then. How truly impressive. It does give me hope for all of the new democracies in the world.
There was a separate exhibit at the museum called Eyewitness. It is on loan from the National Archives in DC. They are all eye witness accounts of historic moments. Letters from WWII when Dachau was first found by the Allies. A radio report from the destruction of the Hindenburg. President Carter's Diary entry from when Pope John Paul II first visited the States. Rose Kennedy's Diary entry from when she and Ambassador Kennedy were living in London prior to the start of WWII when they stayed at Windsor Castle and met the King and Queen. The German U-boat Captain's account of sinking the Lusitania. It was truly fascinating; and I'm quite glad I got to see it.
After that we went to Franklin Court. It's the land where Ben Franklin's house once stood. There's a museum there and a "ghost outline" of the space the house would have filled. Because there is no good historical information as to what his house looked like, they chose not to reconstruct it. It was okay, but if you're short on time here in the city, it's totally something that can be skipped.
Then we went to dinner at an Afghani restaurant, called Kabul. The food was AWESOME. As an appetizer I had pastries filled with pumpkin and spices served with yogurt, for dinner I had lamb with raisins, and pistachios, and carrots served over brown rice, and for dessert I had basically fried dough with pistachios and sugar and other spices. Oh, and Afghani Iced Tea (iced tea with cardamom and mint). The meal was just amazing, I really can't say enough about it. Other than it's probably a good thing that there aren't restaurants this good back home, I'd go broke eating out all the time.
Tomorrow...TUT!!!

Philly Day One

Here in Philly.
Arrived very early and as soon as I got off the plane, my phone was ringing. Mom's flight had been cancelled and so she was trying to get on another one, but didn't want me waiting at the airport for nothing. So, I got to the hotel, dropped off my bags, it was way too early to check in, and started exploring the city. Our hotel is located in the historic district of the city, and so many of the historic sites are within walking distance. So, I got directions, found a Starbuck's (can you believe there were NO STARBUCK'S in Philadelphia International Airport? What is up with that?) and then went walking. I found Independence Hall and the Visitor's Center and did the tour there. Our tour guide was great. Pretty funny and kept things really interesting. I'll post some pictures when I get home. I was struck though, by "how old" everyone kept saying these buildings were; when in reality, they are not. It goes back to what I was saying when I was in London, now that's history. We're just starting. And One thing that I thought was pretty important that she pointed out, was the fact that our fledgling democracy struggled. There was strife and tension between the colonies and among the people in the colonies. There were many people here who were sympathetic to the British, and the Patriots were rather harsh to them before and during the Revolution. I guess I'm trying to say that we didn't start out with the perfect system, we made mistakes and learned from them along the way. Maybe we should try to remember that when we become critical of other governments who are trying democracy for the first time.
After that, I went to the American Jewish Historical Museum. Unfortunately, most of their collection is being catalogued for the move to their new building; but the exhibit that I did see was just wonderful. It focused on food. One woman who was working there took the time to chat with me and explain some of the Jewish customs related to food, and explained the process of eating Kosher. I thought the exhibit was just great, because no matter what your background is, you can associate events with the food served. For example, corned beef and cabbage around St Patrick's Day; Turkey at Thanksgiving; The Feast of the Seven Fishes at Christmas. Everyone has memories surrounding family events and food. Good, bad or otherwise, there is always food.
After that, I found my way to a cute little restaurant called Gigi for a late brunch. I just love Cubanos and this one was exceptional. The pork instead of being sliced had been shredded, which gave the sandwich such an awesome texture.

Philly Bound

Off to Philly in the am!!
Hopefully Mom and I will get along!
More when I get home!