Saturday Update

I'm sitting down with my java on this rainy Saturday morning and it's time to update. Our modest little abode has turned into a New England wilderness with all the rain. If you ever watched the latest version of Little Women, you have seen the green summer foliage of New England. The rain hasn't stopped since Tuesday. When will it end? I'm ready!

Viola, you are too sweet! No, I didn't study music in college, but I've always been a singy girl. I did musical theatre for years but my love of dance probably trumped my singing. I'm so glad you like my music!

I began my new job Wednesday and, well, it's odd. I like everyone and I think I'll like the job, but my boss is out of town and the girl who was supposed to train me on quite a bit of stuff has also been out sick, so we've been winging it. I have been reading everything I can, contacting people about meeting with me, etc. There is a list of "down time" activities for me to have done by next Friday and I'm almost finished with it already. There is another trainee going through this with me but he was a temp for the company the last three weeks and he seems to feel that training is beneath him. He continually interrupts those who present information to us, brags constantly, loves to hear himself talk, refuses to do the homework assigned to us, etc. It's awkward for me because 1) the answers to his questions are in the manual that we are supposed to have read (and I read it), and 2) I am not interested in listening to him brag. That being said, this program is pretty competitive, and he's making SURE to point out how great he is in every instance--particularly whenever he can also work in how "new" and "inexperienced" I am. I can't let that happen, but I don't exactly know what to do about it. He stays late every evening (though I don't see that he's actually that productive) so I've been arriving early. I want to look like the most professional, competant woman I can be, but I tend to veer on the side of letting my work speak for itself. My colleague, conversely, brags at the drop of a hat. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

Last night was pretty interesting. Let me give you some background. I had to skip my husband's annual work dinner to go out for drinks with "Ed," a consultant of some sort who comes to improve the ability of salesmen to sell. I'll get to work with him in probably six months, but not yet. The entire sales and marketing team was expected to go--particularly sales. I was told by my boss via email that this guy pretty much picks who gets promoted, fired, etc. I also got the strong impression from my colleagues that this guy was a heavy drinker and heavy partier...greaaaaaaaat, right? I had met him a couple of times, but of course couldn't get a word in edgewise due to my colleague's shameless self-promotion, and when Ed noticed me, he admonished the rest of my colleagues and told them, "Don't hide this little light under a bushel!" He was very kind and remembered my name, and I saw him in passing a few times over the next few days.

Skip to last night at the bar. I showed up and got a glass of wine and began chatting with my colleagues--many of whom I hardly knew. That was fun because they're all terribly interesting and witty. After awhile, Ed worked his way over, and he was wearing a flannel shirt. Flannel! Everyone else was in fancy suits and he was wearing a lumberjack shirt! For whatever reason, I forgot about impressing him because he was just a regular flannel shirted guy, just like my husband. We had a great conversation and after he left, the other person I was talking with turned to me and told me exactly how important Ed was in the company. Ed gets upwards of 50k a WEEK for consulting! (Of course this is rumor, so it probably isn't even close to that, but still, he's very, very important to our promotion.) Ed also does NOT take well to anyone who is nervous or a butt kisser. Okay, so at this point in the evening I wondered if I blew it, but Ed kept working his way back to my table and my conversation all evening. I honestly really liked him. He's not much of a drinker, has been married to his wife nearly 40 years, and is full of lively conversation. He's also a Scorpio like I am. We hit it off well, I think, and other people told me later how impressed he seemed to be with me. He winked at me a few times in a conspiratorial, non-sexual way and I got the strong impression that he enjoyed my company. He'll be at the office until Friday so perhaps I'll get a chance to say hello before he leaves town. I also spent an hour or so talking with my boss's boss's boss, and he was a hoot also. We got to talking about bear hunting and speeding and Maine and I laughed myself silly. I told him my embarrassing lobster story too. So I am *guessing* I did well, but since that was my first outing, I don't know how it was supposed to go.

Today I have to write a paper. Before I do that (but after I finish this coffee) the dog is going to get a bath. He has the strong smell of Wet Dog and it'll subside somewhat with a good shampoo. My husband is working until about two today. I plan also to get some housework done so that when my husband gets home we can concentrate on our homework.