Make It Happen

On the road again...

I'm off to meet our new overlords, errr, ah, heading to company HQ for the same week our company's acquisition just so happens to be occurring...

I still haven't finished unpacking from DragonCon.  Need to get that done today, unless, of course, I think our new owners would be impressed with my costumes  :/

If all goes well, I'll return on 9/13.  There's a distinct possibility, though, that it may extend another week.

Work grumpiness

I'd love to be able to get through a discussion with my boss without him raising his voice or sounding annoyed these days.

I understand he's inordinately stressed; I realize it's not personal because it happens regardless of who is in the meeting and the recipient of the "tone" varies each time.  But it still makes me dread any interactions - which is pretty counter-productive in a work environment.

I like what I do.  I produce ongoing effective results, which is more than most of my co-workers can claim.  But the angst this is causing really spoils my attempts at a positive attitude; and makes me think that if there's going to be grumpiness regardless - why bother to give my best?

Catching Up - kinda

Today marks the third day at home, after being gone for 12 of the prior 14 days.

First leg was up to NY (fun before work) and NJ (just work):  my boss, just prior to resigning, asked me to come up to discuss the state of the department and what more my team could contribute, since we're succeeding in our current agenda.  Of course, once he resigned, it quickly turned into a four day swamp of politics, positioning and posturing at its Dilbert-esque best...  The good part was heading up the Saturday before all the meetings began, so I had some time for fun & adventure.  I visited my milliner, so my two winter hats could be properly sized - and managed to order two spring/summer ones while I was at it!  A variety of shopping and a few lovely restaurants capped off the weekend quite nicely.

Home for a day - just long enough to rotate the business clothes out of the suitcase and replace them with casual day wear, before jaunting off to the second leg of the journey:

San Francisco with my older sister & nephew for six days.   My subscription to Zagat's  served us well, as we were able to explore several really good restaurants in between all the shopping and turista stuff we did.

We had a big time - more on that later - but by the time I came home Friday, I was glad to be coming off the road for a bit of rest.

Of course, since I'd been gone, all the houseplants needed watering - and the patio containers all needed to be dead-headed, rotated and tended (I hired the neighbor's children to keep those watered during the trips).  I had no less than eight loads of clothes to wash, and needed to replenish both personal and household stock items - necessitating trips to the bookstore, Harry's Whole Foods, Target, Walmart, Tuesday Morning,  Best Buy, Bruster's, Publix and Koger.  With two weeks worth of mail to sort through, stuff to unpack and put away, and the fact I was more than ready to do a little cooking... well, let's just say I'm not ready for Monday even though it's rapidly approaching.   I did manage to make some dark chocolate chunk pecan brownies; some lamb / feta burgers (using my home grown mint, oregano & thyme; served with a lovely galangal scented jasmine rice); and a pair of Enchilada casseroles - one for now, and one for the freezer.  I also managed to finish two books, watch some TV with hubby, catch up with a girlfriend, and walk the yard surveying the frost damage a few times.

Why do I list all this out?  To console myself, really.   I can take some comfort in all that's gotten done - instead of focusing on everything NOT yet done, such as:

• Writing & posting my resume - because with aforesaid boss's resignation, I really can't afford to ignore the handwriting on the wall at work any longer
• Actually taking action on the stack of mail: pay it, file it, shred it but one way or the other - get rid of it
• Picking a realtor & listing the house, even though 60% of me thinks it's going to be another exercise in futility
• Finding that cleverly organized envelope of year end paperwork and getting over to the accountants to file taxes
• Finding stuff to purge that equates in value to the new acquistions made on these two trips

I won't apologize for being driven.  But I do need to be a little nicer to myself about it, and remember that it's really ok to pursue the stuff I want to do - like travel and dine out and read and cook and shop and visit/socialize - the non-fun stuff doesn't ALL have to get done immediately nor must it all be complete before I allow myself to do things that are strictly for my own gratification.  This isn't a "eat your supper before you get dessert" situation - it's my life. 

And I'd much rather spend Sunday evening thinking of all the fun I've had than thinking of all the not-yet-finished "gotta do" items.