Another week come and gone

Well I hope everyone had a merry Christmas! I know I had a great weekend -- no matter how busy it was. Santa was good to me and I finally can have the chili and margarita party I've been planning since I moved into my apartment now that I have a crock pot and blender! jk! Everyone knows margaritas go better with queso dip rather than chili. Anyway the weekend was a complete blur for me. I started out at my Dad's on Christmas Eve, then drove back to my Mom's and then to my Uncle's and then came home with a car packed to the roof at like 9 at night on Christmas night. Needless to say, I didn't want to do anything the Monday after Christmas even though it probably would have helped me a lot today if I would have gone in to work for a few hours.
Like the past few weeks, today was a complete mess. I don't know why Wednesdays are a crazy day for me. Every other department has a fairly slow day on Wednesday and I get slammed. Of course this week it didn't help that I only had two days in our corporate office and that I'll be down in the sticks for Thursday and Friday again this week. I shouldn't complain though. This week has to be better than last in that regard. Last Thursday was a complete disaster for us at work. I got up early on Thursday morning all ready for my 2.5 hour road trip and emailed our Executive Assistant at like 6 am because I forgot to get payroll numbers before leaving Wednesday night and started to get psyched for learning the billing cycle. As soon as I'm getting ready to walk out the door at 7 am, I get a call from our E.A. and she tells me that both people in billing called in sick and that I probably wasn't going down to train in billing that week. Then I get a call from M saying that our boss had decided that it would be better for us to just stay here and get our own work done and that she would come pick me up in like 5 minutes. So that was fine. I was pleased with being able to go into work up here because I had a million things to take care of anyway. So she picks me up and we get to work and start on our normal Thursday duties. J came into the office for a bit on his way back from picking up his truck up here. It was a nice surprise too because we didn't think he was going to come into the office and we were already suffering from J withdrawals. We ended up talking to him for a few minutes and then find out that the President of the company wanted M and I to go and work on billing in our other office because the billing department couldn't close down for 2 days, especially at the end of the year. So at 9:30 in the morning, we packed up everything we were doing up here and get things set for everyone else and head out on the 2.5 hour drive that we were supposed to make 2 hours prior. We got down there at 1:30 in the afternoon after making a few stops and started on billing right away and ended up working until after 7 that night. It was an extremely long day and after dinner we came back to the hotel and decided that instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we were going to party. Well there are not many places to party down there so we decided to go to the gas station and pick up a few things to drink. Yeah...they don't sell liquor at the truck stops down there so not knowing where else to go, we call J (since he lived down there for 6 months) and ask him where the nearest liquor store is. Not knowing exactly where we were anyway made it that much more fun too. We ended up finding it after J was able to decipher our location and lead us there while he himself was driving down to visit family in Arkansas. Come to find out the only liquor store down that way is a drive-thru one. KICK ASS! That was awesome! So we got our drinks and headed back to the hotel and ended up staying up way too late that night talking and trying to figure out the meaning of life. I know Josh thought I was absolutely nuts because he called me a few times while out Christmas shopping wondering what I wanted for Christmas and I was completely in another zone....not because I had too much to drink or anything but I just had a million things on my mind and I was ready for some fun rather than think about Christmas. I tried convincing him to make the 40 minute drive down but he had too much shopping to get done in only a few hours but I promised him another hotel party this week and I'm hoping he'll come by and visit, especially since we haven't seen each other in about a month and a half.
M and I and even our boss ended up working on billing again for a few hours on Friday and then made the trek back home. We made the drive back in record time too....2 hours and 10 minutes and that's even with stopping for gas! We just wanted to get back home because it had been a stressful two days. This week we're in for a treat again because Friday is the last day for one of the people in billing. I'm scared to death to think what is going to happen for the next few weeks but we will survive. We always do...but its still just scary to think about sometimes....I think that's why I have gone out for a few nights this week already. M and I are trying to get pumped to take over this stuff. Last night we went to dinner and then tonight we hit a happy hour for a bit and just talked and tried to be each others support system. I'm really thankful to have someone who understands exactly what I'm going through right now with work and we work so well together anyway. I'm truly lucky to have her as a friend.

So that's that. Not a whole lot is going on otherwise. I'm planning on behaving myself this weekend with New Year's....or at least that's my thought right now. I have to work on Monday next week and close out 2005. Hard to believe 2006 is so close already -- hard to believe so much has changed for me in 2005. Thinking back on it....in 2005 I acquired my first "real" full time job after graduating in December; quit that job for a better position as a full fledged accountant in July; moved into a place of my own; went on a weeklong vacation to DC with Josh; lost one of the most important people in my life (my Grandpa); met awesome coworkers, many of whom I consider some of my closest friends; became the queen of the dance floor (thanks to my buddies J, C & M); and even spoke up and told the owner of the current company I work for my ideas for helping our business succeed. I don't think I would have been outgoing for even some of that last year at this time....my how things change in a years time! I'm sure some of you have seen the difference lately too.

So I'll leave you all with those thoughts for tonight. I have to finish packing for good ol C-town tomorrow. If you're down that way...call me and you can come to our hotel party. ;) Anyway, Happy New Year to all! May 2006 bring you good health and happiness and lots of time for "kickin it!"