Interesting work week

My job is a very low-stress, kick-back job. I have a great boss, pretty good co-workers and flexible schedule. I come in, I work, I leave and never think about it til I get there the next day. I rarely have people in the office that I need to deal with.

This week has been really interesting! I've had auditors in since Monday and I went out with them on Tuesday night. They are both from South Carolina and the woman *really* wanted to see a celebrity. Unfortunately, I have no idea where to see them because all my celebrity sightings have been surprises. Their hotel was next to CityWalk, so we just met there and had dinner (and three beers) at Karl Strauss Brewery Company and then walked across over to Howl at the Moon. That night, HatM was doing "You sing it" which is basically karaoke with a life band. We proceeded to have more drinks and shut the place down at 1:30 AM. We had so much fun! I went home, drank a bunch of water, popped an Aleve, slept a bit and felt like a million bucks (other than being tired). On Wednesday, our workday dragged a bit considering we were ALL yawning.

Yesterday, one of the auditors left and a supervisor type came in to oversee how everything is going. He wanted to go to the beach. So, when it came time for lunch and I was asking what he would like for lunch, he said, "Well, if you were really nice, you'd take us to the beach for lunch!" I said, "Fine with me. We can take a long lunch and stay as late as you'd like." So, off we went to Manhattan Beach for lunch. We went to Rock'n Fish, which was really good. It's practically right on the beach. It has a great atmosphere. We sat out on the patio. Then we walked down the pier and enjoyed the sunshine. I could do that for lunch every day. I don't think I've ever taken a three hour lunch before. I could get used to that. I ended up staying til 6:45 when normally I'd leave around 4, but still!

Last night, the supervisor guy wanted fabulous Italian food and fabulous wine and asked me for a recommendation. Then he asked if I wanted to go, so I agreed to. I called my friend Mike and he recommended Valentino Italian Restaurant. Mike said that it would definitely be his #1 choice if he was going out for Italian and didn't care how much he spent. And you know what? He made an excellent recommendation. It was fabulous. We had a great time. The food was divine. It's beautiful inside, the service was attentive, but not intrusive, the wine list HUGE! It was a book. I think they have something like 2,500 wines on the list. I am not a huge wine drinker, so we settled on a bottle of champagne instead. Great food, good conversation, and overall quite fun. And most importantly, the supervisor guy liked it tremendously.

The thing that is funny about all this is that my boss has been on vacation this week. If he had been here, I think he probably would've been discouraging me from going out with the out-of-towners. But I've really enjoyed it. It was really fun and great to meet more people from other parts of the country and hear about life there. I love talking to people about stuff like that. I knew this week would be busy and I'm so glad I didn't make any plans for the evenings so that I was able to go out with them. I've never "entertained" people for work purposes. It's really fun. I could do that all the time.

Flight of the Conchords

Have you heard of this show? I don't have cable, much less HBO, so I haven't, but check it out! A friend recommended it and I've been cracking up at it ever since. I especially love the goofy dancing...

Declutter your life!

My goodness! I helped a friend pack up his townhouse so that he could move on Sunday and let me tell you... it was madness! Part of it is packrat tendencies, part of it is being a media whore, part of it is just plain ol' OCD.

The result? Boxes and boxes of STUFF!!! Stuff that won't matter when he dies one day, stuff that will largely go unused probably until the next time he moves, and just stuff upon stuff upon stuff!! I did have some small victories. He threw out the two feet high stack of LA Weeklys that have been there since we starting hanging out last year. He threw out some game sprues that had not yet been "filed" and about 2 years of three different magazines! Progress!

It was inspirational for me. It inspired me to whittle down the stuff *I* have and just get rid of it. My week is relatively unplanned so far and I plan on using it to do some stuff around my place, like throwing out stuff that really should be gone and donating items that could be useful to someone else. No point in me lugging it around. I figure... I've lived in my apartment for over a year. If I haven't used it, it can go! Unless, I love it, have to have it, or can't live without it. If that's the case, it stays!

Thank goodness for Flylady. My place used to look a lot more like his does, but she has really helped me to declutter my life. I'm so grateful for that. But there's still room for improvement. I followed some of her advice this weekend and got some sleep. She's always saying "Get your rest!" It really does help. I have felt so much more focused today at work and I think it's because I'm not about to fall asleep! Imagine that! It also helps me to feel calmer if I'm not rushing because I'm late because I woke up late. I'm hoping that this more sleep thing will help me get more organized at home and get me up a bit earlier for some exercising!

What's your Personality Type?

Have you ever taken the Myers-Briggs personality test? I went to a college prep junior/senior high school (rated #1 in the nation this year!). They were really big on tests (personality, aptitudes, career placement, etc.). It was required in 7th and 10th grade to take the Myers-Briggs test. In 7th grade, I was an ENTP. In 10th grade, I had morphed slightly into an ESTP. I recently took a test online in a much shortened form and found out I'm now an ESFJ! Wow! Other than the E=Extrovert, everything else has flipped since 7th grade!

When I read a couple descriptions of the ESFJ, I thought, yep, that sounds like me! I think it's really remarkable that I can answer a handful of questions online and from that I can be categorized into one of 16 categories and feel like it really describes me.

Do you know what your personality type is? My description was right about one thing in particular. If I didn't care about money, I would totally be doing a more service-oriented job. It's probably one of the reasons I enjoyed waitressing so much!

Kitty Update

I finally got results from Evie's blood test and urinalysis yesterday. The good news is that she's not diabetic and her kidneys & liver seem fine. The bad news is that she had a fever this time (which she did not on Monday) and they still aren't sure what's wrong with her.

The most likely prospects at the moment are pancreatitis or some kind of intestinal issue. When I took Evie in yesterday, they did an IV rehydration again and gave her three shots: pencillin (to help the fever), pain killer (so that she would hopefully start eating again) and vitamin B-12 (apparently, the beginning of a course of treatment for her if it is pancreatitis).

I have to take her in again today, so that they can check to see if her fever has gone down. She has been a bit more mobile and she's been seeming more interested in food, but she still won't eat anything. Surprisingly, she still hasn't lost any weight yet either. Hrmmm...

One thing that sucks is that this has cost some serious cash! I spent $172 yesterday for the visit, so now we're up to $414. The only way to diagnose pancreatitis for sure is to do an ultrasound and I don't know how much that costs, but my guess is that it's like $500 or something. Geez! It's a good thing I got a bonus check last week! Between Evie getting sick and doing the 120K mile major service on my car today, that should just about take care of it!

And thank you to everyone who's been inquiring about her. She is doing a bit better and I'm happy about that!

My kitty is sick!

I was somewhat busy this past weekend and when I got home late Sunday night, I noticed that my kitty Evie was acting weird. First off, she always greets me at the door, which she did not do on Sunday night. I noticed that and looked for her and she was laying a bit awkwardly behind the dining room table. She wobbly walked over to the cat box to pee and then plopped herself back down next to the water. She was still in the same spot when I woke up, which is also weird because she is usually planted right next to me at bedtime.

I have no idea what could be wrong with her, but I made an appointment to take her to the vet at noon today. It's a new vet for me, but I have a friend who goes there. We'll see what they can figure out!


Update: I took her to the vet and she doesn't have a fever. The vet couldn't tell what was wrong with her from looking at her, so she took some blood and rehydrated her (since she was a little dehydrated). I'm in the process of trying to collect a urine sample too. FUN! I have Evie locked up in the bathroom with some food and water and a makeshift litter box with fake kitty litter in it. I hope she uses it while I'm gone. All I know is that she isn't interested in eating which is REALLY weird for my cats. They are usually pigs (in cats' clothing...)! Total cost so far? $242

It's over... sorta

I talked to #5 on the phone last night for three hours! We basically came to the conclusion we are not matched up as far as the pacing of the relationship is concerned. While I'm a more "jump in and go" type (when I think I like someone), he needs more time to figure out if he can be serious about someone... A LOT more time. Which is fine, it just means we're not a match at this point. I do like him and I know he likes me, so I told him that he is welcome to call me and we can still talk and maybe get to know each other better gradually, but I'm going to go out with other people and he can't get mad about it. So, we're going with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

I was so relieved when I got off the phone! Now I can quit trying to figure him out. Partly because we're not going to be dating on a serious level and partly because I found out more about him and his thinking processes last night. I think it's for the best. He said that he would call me, so I will wait and let him make that first move to see if he was serious about keeping in touch and talking. At this point, I honestly could go either way.

Our first spontaneous date

Last night, I was sitting at home watching TV on DVD (Arrested Development Season 2 - thanks A!!) and my phone rang. I saw it was #5 so I ignored it (mainly because I was feeling grouchy about him in general). He left a message and then called again a little bit later, so this time I answered it.

He asked what I was doing, so I told him. Then he asked if I'd want to go for a walk with him and his pup. I said, "Sure." He picked me up and we walked and talked about what was bothering me. I had a hard time at first communicating it because I'd been having a very difficult time pinpointing what exactly was bothering me. But then I kind of flubbed through the random tidbits I could tell him. Even though nothing was really "resolved," it was good to discuss them with him.

I am a planner, there's no doubt about that, but it was nice to have him just call me up and for us to take the dog for a walk and talk. I really enjoyed it.

West Coast Meeple Fest

This past weekend, I headed up to San Jose/Santa Clara for Doug & Shelley's West Coast Meeple Fest, an invite-only con. It was their first year putting it on and I'd have to say it was pretty successful. I didn't meet anyone I wouldn't want to play with again and I got to play some new games! Some were oldies like Zoff in Buffalo (a fave of Leon's) and some were fairly new (like Thebes).

I paired up with Curt on Saturday for the Tichu tournament and that was a blast!! I love playing Tichu, but I hardly ever get a chance to play because we're always playing board games. We won the first two rounds and advanced to the finals against Ted and Mike. Ted was on the winning Tichu team at the Gathering and Mike was on the second place team, so I knew Curt and I might be in for it. And we were. We lost. The cards just weren't with us. I'm sure we could've played better, but oh well. More practice!! Ted & Mike are great players too, so that certainly didn't help!

Because I don't play very often, I always feel a little nervous calling Tichu (which means, you're betting you'll be the first person out). So, I was happy to make it the one time I called it. I should've called it at least a couple other times, but I chickened out. The most memorable thing that happened to me though was I had triple 4s and 5s and from my left I received a 4 and from my right I received a 5! So, I started the hand with two bombs! I don't think that's ever happened to me before. It was quite exciting.

I really enjoyed getting to see people that I haven't seen in a while, like Ted Alspach & the infamous Derk and Aldie (of BGG fame). The only time I had met them was last year at BGG.con 2006 and things were a bit stressful, so it was nice seeing them in a more relaxed atmosphere. I also got to see friends from the East Coast too again!! I think I've seen them now three times this summer which is more than I've seen some people that live in the same city as me!! But I like it. I feel like I'm actually getting to know them a bit, rather than just seeing them a couple times a year and having to get reacquainted each time.

As usual, I was part of the late night crew. We actually got some Werewolf in, so I was happy about that. I didn't play, I moderated. It's fascinating to watch people play knowing who is who. I love it! I'm looking forward to playing some in Dallas at BGG.con 2007!

And then, rather that take my flight home, I opted to drive home with D & S. It was great to spend time with them because they're married with kids, so it's difficult to get any alone time with them! It was nice to be able to chat with them on the 7 hour drive home and find out more about them. Usually, when I am with them, there are at least 5 other people around!! It was a blast and the time seemed to fly by!

Upon my return, I jetted over to #5's house for our date and I had asked him to show me his artwork. It's really good. I figured it would be, but I was *still* surprised. It was a lot of fun looking at the couple sketch books he had out for me to peruse. Now I wanna seem him draw. He's quite talented, which is very impressive to me. It's always cool to see the person you're dating do the thing that they're really good at and enjoy.

Sneak Preview at Guitar Hero 3

OMG, check out this video of Guitar Hero 3.

Whew!! I need to start practicing!!!