Late September and work

Dragon Mood? -- waking up

It's 6:25 a.m. by the digital clock on my laptop, it's dark outside and cold here inside the house. I'm not wanting to turn on the heat just yet, but how much longer can I hold out?

I want to write about my job. I'm in my seventh or eighth week now; I've lost count of the weeks. In weeks four, five, six, my emotions were up and down about it. I'm so accustomed to being good at things I do, it was hard for me to work, work, work with little to no success.

My attitude is a little better now. Each week I am supposed to achieve ten submittals. That works out to two per day for the work week. Last week, I hit eight -- and felt pretty darn good about it. This past Monday, I got two submittals; my first two submittals for a Monday. Another small success.

I have talked with my boss several times about this. Actually, he's asked me how I think things are going. I really appreciate him doing this. It has given me an opportunity to vent a bit, but even better, he offered me feedback -- feedback that I'm doing just fine and he's happy with my work so far.

I enjoy talking with people. I know this sounds weird, but I try to project care and acceptance towards each person I talk to, over the phone. I smile and joke with them during our conversations. Frequently, these jobseekers make me laugh. I am amazed at how often I feel the goodwill of complete strangers.

In a sentence, the job is going well. I LIKE my job!

Remnant

Dragon Mood? -- [I don't know what my mood was that day.]

While I sit here awaiting a call from a prospective employer, I am diverting my attention to this blog. Busy, busy.

[I found this languishing in the "Draft" section of my blog posts. From the middle of July. Time to publish.]

Catching up, Madison visit

Dragon Mood? -- remembering and smiling

I knew this would happen. One day, it's Thursday and I can hardly wait to get on the road to Madison. Before you can say "lickety split," it's Wednesday, been there and back, and whew, where did the time go?

S was a champ and drove us the entire way. Driving her car may have had something to do with that. Not that she doesn't trust me. It's just that it's her car, you know?

We arrived about 1:15 a.m., Caroline met us at the door and Dakota stuck her nose in our crotches. And then danced and leapt around. Welcome!

Friday morning, Ron was in the kitchen, taking a break from his work routine, preparing to make Egg McRonbos for us. He not only made us breakfast, but French-pressed coffee as well. Delicious!

After eating, we cleaned up and headed out to St. Vinny's for our requisite visit. Gosh, what a visit! S found an aluminum frame lounger in near-perfect condition for $5, I found two pieces of pottery, Caroline a Fiesta dish along with a Hall china coffee mug. Steph also snagged four record albums (yes, vinyl!) for $1 a piece, while I picked up some 'pearl' earrings. Caroline got the best find though in a delightful, handmade rocking hobby horse for a small child. As she made her way across the big room, holding the hobby horse up to show me, I asked her, "Are you trying to tell me something?" Her answer was a big grin. (aside - While the 'deed' is not done, things are being set in motion for it to happen.) Oh yes, and Caroline also found a completely cute pair of angel wings, replete with feathers and shiny sequins sprinkled here and there. Halloween, watch out for a drunken angel!

Staggering out of St. Vinny's, arms loaded, we headed to a nearby Indian restaurant where Ron met us for lunch. Don't ask me what I ate. It was a buffet full of tasty, exotic dishes. I enjoyed virtually all of them ... well, maybe except the slightly chewy goat meat one. At Caroline's encouragement, I ordered a hot chai tea that was lovely and delicious. Not too sugary, with just the right amount of gingery warmth and zinginess. Hmm, I can still taste its yumminess.

Saturday was a bit of a slow start, but we made it to the Farmer's Market in downtown Madison. Oh my, it was every bit as busy and crowded with shoppers as I remembered. Every step of the four blocks-long market, there were stands replete with colorful veggies and tempting jams and humongous hearty mums and cheese curds and breads and honey and black Spanish radishes (just remember the amazing translation from 'jacquard' to 'daikon' -- "I speak Stephnie!")and too many other delicious treats to list. We went with two or three items in mind to purchase and left with Caroline's trusty backpack loaded to the brim. Chivalrous Ron toted the hefty thing around and never groaned, not even once.

We headed to the Soap Opera, but sidetracked ourselves into Paul's Club for the requisite spicy Bloody Marys. Yummy, as I knew they would be.

The Soap Opera was cozily intimate, busy and filled with sumptuous fragrances that always evoke an unexpected sense of well-being. I glided over to the table filled with Mistral soaps and began sniffing all the new 'flavors'. It's a place to simply give in to your senses, particularly the smell-icious one.

Saturday night, we all enjoyed Caroline's culinary gifts: corn chowder made with freshly frozen sweet corn and finely diced jalapenos (awesome!); Juliette tomatoes, fresh, backyard basil leaves and fresh mozzarella salad; and yummy fresh boiled shrimp with zingy homemade cocktail sauce bursting with horseradish. Talk about a feast! We ate our fill and then some.

The highlight of Sunday was a visit to the Sugar Shack, a vintage record shop. It was packed with album covers, vintage posters, memorabilia and crates and crates of old music. While Caroline and I poked around for a half an hour or so, Ron and S easily spent an hour plus sifting through the treasures awaiting their discovery. Meanwhile, Caroline and I settled down out in her trusty Mazda, called Uncle George for his early birthday celebration and talked with our cousins on speaker phone.

It was a great weekend!

Maybe TMI

Dragon Mood? -- sagging and annoyed

Reaching for my seat belt to buckle up, I felt this little *snap* and instantly knew what had happened. The underwire in my bra had broken, snapped in two pieces like a dry twig.

Honestly, if this were the first time this was happening, I wouldn't be so annoyed, maybe. But this is about the third or fourth time!

If my breasts were people, I think they would be two muscle-y bouncers in a gritty bar on the wrong side of the tracks. Not necessarily the biggest pair you've ever seen, but you don't want to mess with 'em.

Thursday's insight

Dragon Mood? -- a dim bulb brightened once again on the importance of attitude

Sometimes, the Divine drops an object lesson right in your lap, right when you need it.

I had a phone conversation with a fellow I'll call Mr. M this morning. Nice enough fellow, but when it came right down to it, he was afraid. Full of fear, mistrust and suspicion. I do not anticipate ever finding this fellow a job. In my humble opinion, his attitude will create roadblocks at every step, at every turn.

Just before lunch, I had another phone conversation with a fellow named Mr. R. What was he like? Pleasant, jovial, even helpful. We laughed over our shared perceptions of the predictable foibles of a large employer here in Michigan. "Hey, give us a quote on a car part. What's it gonna cost us? Yup, that's all the information we're gonna give you."

Similarly, "find us an employee who knows about car parts. We need him to start Monday. Yup, that's all the information we're gonna give you."

AaarghH! Crazy-making behavior to be sure, but this fellow demonstrated to me ever so clearly how to laugh about it. What an insight!

singing "An-tih-suh-PAY-shunnnn"

Dragon Mood? -- like a drop of water on a hot skillet

While you can't see it through the thick fog of the internet's atmosphere, I am sitting here virtually dancing with anticipation at driving to Madison tomorrow night to see my beautiful daughter, Caroline, and her hubby, Ron. S is dancing too though she doesn't know it yet.