Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Best Night Ever

To give you some background, I used to act and sing a lot in my high school/college years. I was very comfortable in front of an audience. I loved speaking extemporaneously. Then I had my stroke where I not only had trouble speaking, I also lost all my confidence in speaking. For a year I thought I sounded like a stilted retard so I just avoided speaking when I could.

In fall 2003, when I entered the MBA program, I was a complete anxious, emotional mess. I had crying jags (or weekends), sleepless nights filled with self doubt and dread. I didn't think I was smart enough for the program and since usually 50% of my grade was volunteering class, I felt trapped. Every course I took, there was a presentation. Semester after semester, I couldn't get over my nerves. I knew I didn't sound like I had a stroke but every stutter or misplaced consonant was like someone jabbing me with a hot poker. I remember after my first presentation in fall 2003, I left class immediately and spent the ride home crying rather than joining my friends for a drink. If I had notecards, it was even worse. My hands shook or I lost my place when I try to do the whole glance up eye contact thing.

The self doubts and mental lashing has eased up over the last year thanks to many things: medication, a great job, therapy, and kicking ass in classes. I always volunteer in class nowadays. My favorite time to volunteer is at the beginning of class when everyone is hesitant to say anything and just gives the professor blank looks.

Why was tonight the best night ever? I had a group presentation. It was the most last minute, ill-prepared presentation I have done in 4 years. We had good data but we couldn't find time to pull together the presentation and basically we spent a second before class assigning who would say what. It turned out that our group was second to last for a 1.5 hour class. This worried me because I am so programmed, I expected my speech to get crappier as I get more tired.

What happened? I was fine, I made a couple jokes, and only stumbled once. Not only that, I had a classmate ask me if I take acting lessons! She told me that she could imagine me doing the news. It's been a while but I'm back baby! For some reason, "Southern Cross" by Crosby, Stills & Nash is in my head now. Think about how many times, I have fallen...

More Car Accident Headaches

Repairing my car will take 3-4 days so I will be bringing the car in next Monday and getting a rental. Since the accident wasn't my fault, I decided to ask Shorty McBaldy's insurance to pay for the rental.

I just got off the phone with them and they told me that they haven't determined liaibility yet so they can't pay. When I asked them how long would it take to determine liability, they didn't have an answer.

Typical Tae Kwon Do Class




I takes classes Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Tues & Thurs are at 6:30PM and Sat is 9:30AM. This is what we did last night:

- There were 16 people in class so we warmed up by playing dodge ball. The first game, I lasted pretty long but the second game Sabunim pointed at me and completely nailed me with a ball.

- After warm up, we paired up with kicking pads. The task was to do a front roundhouse left then right and two jumping jacks as fast as you can in good form.

- The next task was 1 front roundhouse (left), turn around, 2 front roundhouse (right), turn around, 1 front roundhouse (left), and two jumping jacks. I really had to work on this one because I don't do my turning correctly. I'm supposed to turn mid-air but I basically take a million tiny steps to turn. With help from an instructor, I got the turn correct at the end.

- A whistle was involved in the next task. One toot, front kick, two toots back roundhouse, three toots a flutter, and four toots jumping jacks. A flutter is like a mini can can kicking a pad. This task completely wiped me out and I was dripping afterwards.

- We got punching shield pads and went through a new task. No whistle this time. 1 was a side kick, 2 was a back roundhouse, 3 was a flutter, and 4 was jumping jacks. A side kick is really easy - it's kicking with your heel to the side. I have trouble kicking with my heel on my left side which was annoying and frustrating. Hence the many bruises on my left foot.

- We ended the evening playing Sabunim Says. It's like Simon says but with tae kwon do moves.

A Classy Dame


After a long flight where margarita after margarita was imbibed, Helen Mirren stumbled off the plane - Oscar in hand, slurring, "I can't get to the chocolate center."

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Cat Commitment

After research and thinking, I decided that I am willing to pay for a certain breed, maine coon. With that decision made, I searched petfinder and found the maine coon pickings are slim. So, I started searching local catteries. I found the perfect one and when I contacted them, they gave me a plethora of information quickly.

They will be breeding one cat this summer and I am on the waiting list for a male from the litter. They will only give him to me after he's 12 weeks old (which makes sense: socialization and litter training). But I can visit him in the interim. By my calculations, I should have my own kitten by November 2007.

What's so great about Maine coons? First off, Max was a Maine coon. So I know they are good, long-lived indoor cats. The Maine coon personality is completely infectious and heartwarming. Whether they're licking your ear as they lie on the back of the sofa or play fighting with your feet, they are happy lovable beings. I think it's because they have so much fur, it makes them jolly. They aren't necessarily too bright but they are excellent human mimics. Max could open doors but couldn't grasp that if it was raining outside, every door in the house would open out to rain. Max used to love tunneling in comforters and lying on my head while I was sleeping. I won't just be getting a pet, I will be getting a roomate with a Maine coon.

April Conversion

My rabbi feels like I'm ready to officially convert to Judaism so we're at the stage of picking mikveh dates. I feel ready too! Since I'm getting my MBA in May, I'm aiming for becoming a Jew in April.
What is left for me to do, once a date is chosen, is to go before a beit din for a Q&A then go through a ritual immersion (mikveh). I immerse three times and each time I say a Hebrew prayer. I will have a female witness and the rabbis stay outside. My Hebrew name will be Miriam. After that ceremony, my rabbi told me that sometimes there is some kind of welcoming celebration at the temple. I'm still trying to figure out if I want that and if I do, what kind of celebration.

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Shopping Saturday

I live pretty close to the Arsenal Mall and had some items I wanted to pick up. Plus, what better way to shop than completely exhausted? This wound up being the best shopping trip I've had in months.

First off, I found out that I have lost a pants size! I think it's a combo of Weight Watchers and Tae Kwon Do. Kicking really works out the abs as well as the legs. I also found out that I look kick ass in a denim dress. I got to use 2 coupons that saved me about $30.

This winter, my skin has been complete dry crap. I hate the itchiness and flaking so I stopped by Bath and Body Works. I love testing out new scents but since I know I have a crazy weak spot for this store, I went in with a plan. My favorite scent now is Coconut Lime Verbena and I just had shower gel, so I stocked up on the complete line of Coconut Lime (ooh rhymes!). Plus, I ventured into white cherry blossom body spray. I've been to the store so often, the cashier remembered me and hooked me up with coupons.

My final stop was at the best shoe store ever, Famous Footwear. I usually shop at Payless and have gone through dozens of black dress shoes with wedge heels. Since I had thrown out my latest pair Friday, I knew I needed a replacement. My problem with wedge heels is that I tend to roll my feet out so over time, the heel gets worn down on the outside and walking gets very bad for my knees and back. I also tend to buy dykey clunkers so I knew I wanted to expand my shoe horizons. At age 30, I finally got my first pair of "pizza shoes"*

*This description comes from a crazy lady on What Not to Wear. She was so ridiculously nuts, my mother and I adopted some of her crazyisms.

The Screaming Fight Heard 'Round the World

Friday night around 11:30pm, I was unwinding on my sofa, catching up on TiVo shows when I heard it begin. My downstairs neighbor and his girlfriend were having a screaming fight. Like any conscientious neighbor, I put my TV on mute and tried to hear what was going on. There was something about the guy leaving her and him saying over and over "Get out of my house." With a door slam, the whole blow up ended.

Except it didn't. I thought the door slam was her leaving but SHE HADN'T LEFT! More screaming for another hour and more fake out door slams that only paused the screaming. When she finally left, around 1AM, he continued the fight over the phone and wound up slamming things around in his apartment. So, that is how I got no sleep Friday night. I'm getting the feeling that my landlord was so desperate to find tenants, he didn't do a thorough background check with this guy. Or this guy tends to date illiterate losers.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Crushed Fetus Fashion

You know when I'm pregnant, I'll be very concerned about my silhouette. God forbid that I let flab jiggle around. Thank goodness spanx came up with these. Nothing will be more fun than jamming my baby bump into the provided hole. Actually, I think getting out of this contraption to pee will help me burn off that unwanted fat.

Makeup Scam

I have been cursed with dark circles under my eyes all my life. It hasn't bothered me until recently. I think the circles' hue changed so I look like death warmed over. A little pop-up ad caught my eye last month. It was for a free trial for an eye cream. I've had good success with free trials in my life so I signed up to get this cream. I just paid for shipping which is the usual arangement. The cream so far has been pretty good, I am just bad about remembering to use it nightly.

Last week, I noticed a $90 charge from iQ cosmetics on my credit card so I called them up. Apparently, I was supposed to send the cream back after a month or be charged the full price. News to me! Nowhere during the ordering process did they say that I needed to send the cream back. I had never heard of a free trial working this way. This is how they get you.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Cat Scratch Fever

Thank goodness I found out this weekend that I can get a cat because if I didn't have that happy little promise at the end of the tunnel, I would rip my hair out in frustration. No, not this.

I actually enjoyed the post-accident paperwork but I'm not enjoying the voicemail run around I'm getting from my insurance agency. To get my mind off of the hassle, I surf petfinder and petco. I think I'm going to shell out for one of those self-cleaning litter boxes. Or this one. I also found a bunch of Maine coon breeders in MA. I seriously love that breed so much, I'm willing to pay money! If the kitten has extra claws, I'd plunk down more money.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Another Winter, Another Fender Bender

As I was driving to go grocery shopping, the white car in front of me moved into the left lane and then took a right turn using no turn signal. I crashed into their passenger side. We were going maybe 30mph so there is minimal damage. Their car had a dent on the rear passenger side door plus some scrapes. A very nice pedestrian volunteered to be a witness and stick around until the cops showed up. The car I hit contained a man, a woman and a young boy in the back. The man is bald and short. As we waited for the cops, he proceeded to threaten and yell at my witness. Then he yelled at his wife/girlfriend because she wasn't writing fast enough.

Sufficiently freaked out, when I called the police, I told them that the other guy was being abusive and freaking me out. Little did I know, the Waltham PD have their own abusive freaked out cop that they could send to the accident scene. Officer Pratt lived up to his name by yelling at me when I tried to ask questions while calming shooting the shit with Baldy Mcshorty. Pratt also refused to write up an accident report or talk to the witness. My witness was so cool, he insisted talking to the cop.

A little tidbit I learned while taking Baldy Mcshorty's info was that the name on the car registration DIDN'T match his license. When I tried to ask Pratt, he yelled at me. Just another day in MA law enforcement eh? Sigh...

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Cat Campaign Success!



My months of subtle lobbying for a cat in September paid off today when my landlord told me that I can get a cat. So, I am putting my move plans on hold because this apartment, with this square footage and this rent PLUS a cat is a STEAL!

My plan is to take a week off in September to take care of the kitten. Hopefully, I'll get a +6 week old. Free from a shelter or adopted from a family are my preferences. I'm looking for a male cat. I'm good with tabbies but I have a special place in my heart for Mainecoons so they are my #1 choice. I'll name him Rasputin.

Friday, February 16, 2007

Mystery Office Fudge Saga

Some generous soul left 3 plates of fudge up in our cafeteria today. Throughout the day, people had pieces and slowly it melted into a congealed fudgey glob. I have a weakness for fudge so I had a piece. This afternoon, a bunch of us realized that we had no idea who made the fudge. There is one female co-worker who has something strange about her. Either it's really good drugs, or horrible converation skills but talking to her never makes sense and she seems to repeat herself constantly until she ends the conversation with verbal ellipses.

She called down to reception to find out who made the fudge and she explained 3 times to me that she's allergic to flour but she really wants a piece. The receptionist had no idea who made the fudge and no one in my department knew so the game was afoot. I asked around Engineering and the Production Floor.

The receptionist appeared at my cubicle doubled over in laughter since she had found out who was the mystery chef. It was a marketing manager who made the fudge for a party she was going to throw but had to cancel since all her guests had a stomach virus. Wish me and my stomach luck this weekend!

New Gene Discovered

Last weekend I discovered a new gene but since both my parents have it, I don't know if it's recessive or dominant. I can't think up a snappy name so here is the clunky descriptive: Fear of Dropping Keys Down a Sewer Drain.

While visiting my parents, they described how they react when they realize they have parked their car over a sewer drain. I am a combination of both their methods. I have my mother's internal mantra, "Oh God, don't drop the keys, don't drop..." and I have my father's strategic use of pockets (taking the key out of the pocket for the smallest amount of time and lots of patting of the pocket to make sure the key is there).

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Class Cancelled Tonight!

I had already planned on not going due to crazy driving conditions but now I can legitimately not go! Since I had an awesome TKD class last night, I wanted to summarize my experience so far

What Two Months of Tae Kwon Do Has Taught Me

- 20 basic forms

- A roundhouse kick

- How to break a wrist hold

- 3 variations on how to break a shoulder hold

I still get nervous at the beginning of class but it has gotten to the point where I know I won't make a fool of myself .

"Blizzard" Survived

Well, I'm at work and so far the snow isn't too bad. The sleet is going to foul things up though. I got into work early and people on the road weren't driving too stupidly. My town's schools are closed and every town in the surrounding area is closed yet my college is open and I have class tonight. Ugh!

A handful of people are actually in the office so I get the feeling that it will be a blow off day. Woohoo internet surfing/shopping!


Drive safe y'all.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Pride and Paranoia

After my reality check discussion with the HR manager last week, I went through a couple stages of dealing. Maybe grieving isn't the only situation that needs multiple stages? So my first stage was nauseating panic, my second stage was updating my resume and surfing Monster.com. My final stage is basically fatalistic. I've been working here about a year and a half and would like to stay for another year or two (until the work gets too ridiculously boring and limiting). I'd like to stay for several reasons: I'm fascinated with the work I'm doing, I'm still learning a lot, the commute is fantastic, and I love my co-workers. I was in a good space for the weekend but that disappeared yesterday when the Quality Control Manager told me that he was asked about my assistance to him. So, I found out my boss is collecting data in preparation for my review. So now I'm stuck with this looming dread of The Review.

If you have been a reader for a while, you'll know that my performance reviews at my last job were horrendous affairs. I was completely ambushed and had to fight for my job three years in a row. I'd usually end up sobbing in a bathroom stall after my reviews there. This is my first review at my new job and my first working in the private sector. All day yesterday if I saw the HR manager talking to my boss, they were talking about me. I hoped the paranoia would vanish after a good night's sleep. Nope! My boss and the production manager had a meeting this morning where they closed the door. IT'S ALL ABOUT ME! The hilarious part of paranoia is that it takes a really healthy ego.

Monday, February 12, 2007

Monday Office Talk

There is a snowstorm predicted for Wednesday and it has been the sole topic of conversation around the office today. Middle-aged executives get a gleam in their eyes as they talk about a possible snow day. Me and my fellow peons are reviewing the snow day policy, focusing on accumulation reports, and ignoring all the qualifying language. There are no "mights" or "maybes" in our world darn it! It's going to happen and we'll get to sleep in.

If this storm changed track or turns into rain, meterologists better hire bodyguards. If we don't get snow, then what's the point of our Puritanical "can do" attitude? New England without snow is basically New Jersey with fewer tolls.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

When Acting Like an Adult Backfires

With the dis-invitation this morning, I blogged and sat stewing in my cubicle. Since I've learned from experience that blogging and stewing is not appropriate or helpful while at work, I decided to do something positive. I'm pretty close with our HR manager and I trust her so I thought it would be nice to have a little non-official HR venting and hear her opinion.

I told her my concerns and why I was so disappointed. She listened and was very encouraging then she brought up a point that I have been trying to ignore for a while. Once I get my MBA, my current position will hold me back from professional growth and there are no openings in my department (or company). She also told me that she doesn't know if creating a position for me would be possible (my hope and dream) due to budgetary concerns. She also said that since performance reviews are coming up, that would be a time to sit down with management and figure out what to do with me. Yikes! So, by the end of the month I will know if I should be looking for a new job or if my professional dreams can come true here.

Hopefully, I've made myself so useful that firing me will be too much trouble. Who will run the daily production reports, who will process invoices, and who will crunch quality control data every month? In my dream world, a position will be made for me as either an assistant quality control manager or an assistant buyer. I basically work in both departments. The flip side of nailing down my job responsibilities is that I might lose responsibility for doing something I enjoy. That's why being a department floater works for me.

Apparently acting like an adult just makes you face reality and adds things to worry about. I think next time stewing in my cubicle will work!

Crumminess

I had class last night and there are so many people enrolled that if you arrive late, you have to scrounge for a seat. I always arrive early because God forbid that I lose my center row, center seat! Three classes in I had pinpointed a classmate who drives me nuts. I call him Pig Face Asshole. He made a really obnoxious comment about his ex-wife last class. My reaction went something like this: WTF, that is completely TMI, and issues much? Sure enough this loser wound up coming in late to class and ended up sitting next to me. His proximity drove me nuts especially since I could see him working on some other class assignment on his laptop. He's the type of asshole who doesn't do the assignment, skims the readings during discussion, and volunteers a brilliant insight that rewinds the entire discussion 5 minutes then repeats what someone else says. To my everlasting joy, Fabulous Funny woman loathes him as well.

Today, I was asked by the Production Manager to stop attending Quality Control meetings even though he still wants me to help research the data for the Quality Control Manager. He only wants his direct reports attending the meeting - which makes sense. I'm pissed. I get to do the work but not see how it fits into the bigger picture. I guess that's not my right since I'm the Staff Admin Associate. The whole reason why I liked working in Production is that I can see how my work fits into the bigger picture. I guess that doesn't matter. This is why getting an MBA as an Admin totally doesn't work. Sigh...

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Where My Peeps At?

That is how I started my workday today. I finally broke my streak of hauling my butt into the office anytime between 9:10 and 9:30. How? I put my alarm clock on the other side of my bedroom and turned it up really loud. My entire department consists of early birds who come in around 7/8. Proud of actually making it into the office before 9 today, I wanted witnesses. But nooo my entire dept was in a meeting. Yesterday, I discovered that the best place to lock your keys in your car is at a gas station. I got to gas up and have the garage guy work his wedge magic in only 10 minutes!

I'm steadily packing my weekend full of things to do. Saturday, I have Tae Kwon Do forms class, a hair appointment, dinner in Boston, and attending "Doubt". My hair is pretty short and flippy still. But since the hair on the back of my head grows faster than the front I am in an awkward stage between mullet and a cute "duck butt" flip. Plus, I have about 1 1/2 inches of roots showing. The timing is perfect since I have a night out on the town planned. I'm looking forward to "Doubt" because I adore Cherry Jones. Sunday, as usual, is errands and homework day.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Saturday Lunch Date Dissected

So I met this guy through Jdate. We've been emailing for about a month and had moved to phone calls last week. Our first phone call lasted 2 hours and I was on cloud 9. He was funny, had a good phone voice, and we had a lot in common. The second phone call was shorter and not as spectacular. We chose a time and place for a Saturday lunch date.

We wound up arriving at the same time Saturday. First off, I could see that he had fudged his height in his profile and used a picture that was a couple years old. It wasn't a big deal for me because I expect some flexible truths from online dates. The lunch lasted about an hour and a half. He was completely disinterested in me so about an hour in, I got sick of doing all the talking. The conversation died an awkward death. I left things pretty open since he's a nice guy. Even though there's no love connection, he could be a nice friend. Two things sent up red flags for me from our date:

1. He doesn't read books. He even complimented me on my spelling and variety of vocabulary.

2. He's dangerously overweight to the point that his liver has had problems yet he isn't adjusting his lifestyle to get healthier. He never eats fruit or vegetables.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Shallow Anna


Thanks to the USA network and Bravo, I think my TiVO will melt from Vincent D'Onofrio hotness. Every weekend there's a marathon of Law & Order: CI. He's obviously easy on the eyes but I really like him as Bobby Goren. Brilliant, quirky, flawed, and vulnerable. He's basically my TV boyfriend. I have 3 unwatched episodes waiting for me. Date night - woohoo! My grandpa doesn't like him so I guess I won't be able to bring him to holiday celebrations. Sigh...

My other TV boyfriend has been in rare form the past couple of weeks. I have to admit half the time I watch "The Colbert Report" I just want to see him crack up and break character. Thursday night's show was a treasure trove when he cracked himself up 3 separate times! The other week I caught a Law & Order: CI episode which had Stephen as a guest star. I was tickled that his character was an expert forger. Vincent and Stephen shared many scenes. Anna was happy


Friday, February 02, 2007

Bravo Juice Organics

On a whim last night, I picked this up at CVS. Ater trying it out last night, I'm glad I have an alternative to my pricey Elizabeth Grady cleansers!
The nourishing cleanser is effective and light. The antioxidant serum is pure magic in a bottle. My skin hasn't felt so good for months. The tinted mousturizer is decent but I could take it or leave it. It's not my thing. There is barely any fragance the little bit I whiffed is orangey. Since the patent is pending on their products, I was a little wary. In my Anna-certified FDA opinion, these products are good.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Bomb Hoax: Blog Hate

The local news organzations have been dissecting and weighing in on yesterday's bomb hoax. I find the whole situation amusing - since no one was hurt. In fact, several blogs knew what was going on yesterday morning. Reading through the reactions, I found this horrible blog. Whatever he writes, it's like flames, on the side of my face, heathing... breathle - , heathing breaths. Heathing breath... .

I know this blogger makes his living on paranoia and mass panic but calling a group of bloggers, "spaced-out slackers" for trying to make sense of yesterday's ridiculousness, doesn't help his cause. It makes him look like a generalizing ASS. He even places blame on the bloggers who recognized the cartoon character and didn't inform authorities. What does he imagine would happen if the police dept got a call saying it was a cartoon? The caller would probably be arrested. If he throws out "living in a post 9/11 world" one more time on his blog, people will start thinking he's Dick Cheney's twin! His obvious contempt of anyone younger than 30 is simply toxic. According to this Homeland Security guru, the under 30 set are:

-lazy
-unaware of reality
-twerps

Quite a broad brush huh? My fellow lazy slackers, when you make your first million in business make sure you NEVER hire this twerp!

Really Good Couple of Days

Ignoring the insanity from the state's capitol, the last couple of days have been really good! Granted, meterologists have been proven to be spectacularly wrong each morning I wake up expecting snow and not seeing an inch...

I had a good Tae Kwon Do lesson Tuesday where I found out what I was doing wrong with my roundhouse kicks. I was so focused on turning without wrenching my pivoting leg, I forgot to keep my knee high enough to kick with power. I got in some really good kicks. Plus, we practiced some street fighting techniques. I now know arm locks and the neck pinch. The black belts got to practice tossing people - which was fun to watch. My post-TKD routine is to stretch, guzzle down Gatorade and tylenol.

The Production Manager at work has started playing music softly in his office. I really like it so we got to talking about music tastes. It turns out we have very similar taste!As I was leaving work last night, I co-worker asked me if I was losing weight. How can you go wrong with a question like that? So that made my commute because I didn't feel like Weight Watchers and months of Tae Kwon Do has had any effect. Class last night went well. My Latino Eye Candy was in class sitting BEHIND me! Oh the irony... My gal friends got their eyefuls and gave me nods of approval. Hee!

I got home and my latest purchase from Old Navy was waiting for me. I bought the clothes online so I prepared myself to return at least half of what I ordered. Nope! Everything fit and the Old Navy sizing chart is the real deal. They don't run too small or big (cough*Chadwicks*cough). Here is what I got:







Last night, I made a mix CD for the Production Manager and he has been playing it softly all day today. It makes me smile to hear the Doobie Brothers coming from his office. Tonight is another phone call with my Saturday date to firm up plans for lunch. Whee!