I kick major butt!!!

My afternoon was filled with meetings from 3 until 5:30 today and you know what.....I finally realize that I have found my place in the world. I'm sure most of you have seen me as the quiet, passive, studious girl that does what she is told and tries to stay in the mold that I've created for myself. As of today, that is no more!!!
Let me replay the situation for you:
Last Thursday I received a phone call from one of our customers....it appears as though our Operations department put their account on hold because we were having a hard time with contracts and loads, etc. Well, their Operations department called me and made me aware of the situation. Why...I'm a little unsure....I mean I have tried to resolve some of the issues, but some of the things are out of my hands, but I listened to their side of the story and then I went to our VP of Operations. I didn't think it was right to suspend their account because we were as much at fault for the situation as they were and since I had been a point of contact for payment and billing, they felt I should know about the situation and see what I could do to help them. I about lost it though with our VP because of a lack of procedures with his people and I made him aware of the problems I saw within our firm. Well, this week was the big Ops meeting for his department and he requested that both myself and the billing department get involved with the meeting and explain what exactly we need to be a successful leader in the industry. Of course, I was nervous as anything. I feel like I know my job, but I'm not always comfortable trying to tell people in another department what they need to do in order to make things flow correctly. I was the one to start off the meeting today and I must say....not only did I sound intelligent....I believe I have made a difference. I had the attention of the entire Ops department in our office as well as all of Laredo on the phone and I did not stumble once!!! If this would have been two years ago, I would have lost it and been so nervous that I would have not been able to talk. I think I'm finally starting to fit into who I was supposed to be years ago. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would take the leadership role in my position after only a year and run with it. I just hope I didn't tick off my co-workers too much. Everything I said, I said with respect and maturity and I believe I came across that way. Not only that, but I get to throw my ideas into flowcharts and forms and anything else I feel that is imperative for growth. That is f-in' awesome!!!

To top off my afternoon, Josh called me and told me he got a 95% on his Historiography article review and that just made my day.

I'm so full of energy right now and I feel like I could just go out and party....too bad I have to get up for work in the morning early otherwise you'd find me out at one of my favorite dancing spots. Oh well, I guess I'll just settle for creating a flowchart of our transportation customers! I'm such a brown-noser! HA!

Hope everyone has a good weekend! I'm working on Saturday and then Sunday is laundry and grocery-shopping day. Woo hoo!

That's a winner....

This past week has gone by in a blur. I can't believe it's Saturday again already! Since I don't want anyone to think I have fallen off of the face of the earth, I decided to update. The concert last Saturday night was awesome! My bro is one of the coolest guys I know. We had a blast...even if he and his girlfriend and his best friend did decide to harass me all night long. I think Foreigner is one of my new favorites and Styx was great as well. I'm a little ticked though...Styx did not play "Babe." What the heck! In any case, I've had both bands songs flowing through my head all week long.

Work is extremely hectic right now. We all are continuing to work weekends so that we don't fall too far behind. I know Josh probably thinks my life revolves around work and spreadsheets and right now, it pretty much does. Speaking of Josh, I was lucky enough to go have dinner with him on Wednesday night after we both got off of work. Now driving to Cape on a Wednesday night would have been completely crazy (although, if he would have asked, I would have done it) so we met halfway at Ruby Tuesday's in Festus. It was delish....and we finally got to catch up a bit. He, like almost everyone else in my life, hasn't gotten much of an update from me lately due to all of the craziness and it was great just to sit back and get to enjoy a few hours together. I felt like I was a teenager again while we were out because after dinner we decided to drop off a few boxes of stuff from his place in Cape at his dad's which is just about a mile or two away from where we met. Well...considering it was like 10 at night and his dad would most likely be asleep because he has to work early in the morning, we tip-toed into the house like 10 times carrying all sorts of stuff and each time we stopped to make sure that we didn't wake him. It reminded me of high school and trying to sneak into the house at the crazy hours I did without waking up my parents. Anyway, it ended up being a terrific night and it was sad to see us driving in opposite directions going back home.

Friday, some of the work gang decided to go to Fairmount Park and watch the horse races. It was the first time I'd ever been to a horse race and it was actually pretty fun. I don't know much about odds and jockeys and horses, but it was at least neat to watch. I actually bet in race 5 and my horse won! For some reason when I decided to bet, I picked a horse whose name and number I liked. It was #3 Lady Diazo. One of my co-workers noted before I officially decided to place a bet that the jockey was pretty good too...so I went to the window and bet $2.00 win on #3. The race was only like a minute and a half long and for the first part of it my horse was like #5 out of 7 horses...but as they came around the bend she started moving up. It was an easy win though when it came down to the finish and my horse pulled through and as a result.....drum roll please....I won $5! Look at me over here -- the big spender and big winner at the track. WOO HOO!!! And that was the last of my betting for the night. It was a good time though and I'm glad the gang was able to get together and go out for a change.

As for today, I got up and went into work around 10 along with M & S and we worked on getting billing caught up while most of the guys we work with went and played in a golf tournament. (I guess they didn't realize that girls know how to play golf too because we weren't invited.) We put in another full day....and finally at 5 we decided to call it a day. M & I decided that since we didn't take a lunch and since we had no plans for the evening that we were going to go have dinner so we went to Red Lobster and tried to solve all of the world's problems in just an hour and a half. Actually it was nice getting to go out and talk to her for a change. We never really get much of a chance to just have a nice conversation....at work now we are in an office with 6 other people and everyone overhears everything said and some of the things we talk about aren't appropriate. Let me rephrase that....it's appropriate but it's mean. There is quite a bit of tension between certain people and it's affecting the jobs of others....it's that way at every company though and really just to let off some steam....mean things get said. She understands it and so do I and we're usually each others support system when that happens. Lately though, with the commotion we don't have much time to catch up and talk so this was a great way to fix that.

That's this past week in a nutshell. Tomorrow I'm planning on relaxing for a bit and catching up on some much needed sleep and then there is a family dinner at my Grandma's house with everyone. It should be a nice day though before the craziness starts again at 8 am on Monday morning. Have a great weekend everyone!

Thank You Bro!

I just have to send a thank you out to my bro who got me a ticket to tonight's Styx and Foreigner concert. Bro...you are awesome! It should be a great concert and I'm excited that I get to go. It's hard to believe that my 19 year old brother likes Styx & Foreigner....it's before both of our times....but it's darn good music.

Other than that, I've been doing the same ol' stuff. Work has picked back up and with one less person in our department, we're definitely working hard and spending a lot more time at the office in order to get caught up. But, I guess it's good job security. Anyone with a background in transportation billing...feel free to send me your resume. We could be adding more people in the near future if we don't get caught up quick enough! Of course, then you would be stuck working in an office with me....and if that doesn't appeal to you...then maybe reconsider. HA!
I spent most of my week getting everything organized so that my boss and I can crank out financials next week....nothing too exciting but just a lot of number crunching for accruals. Josh thinks I'm absolutely nuts for actually thinking this is fun, but I do enjoy it. Go ahead...call me crazy...someday you'll want me to be your personal accountant though!

New Post...Finally!

Because an update has been demanded, I figured I would put something together. I wish I had something exciting to report, but like always, I'm just working a ton of hours and in my spare time, trying to do a little research on bettering myself. (I can't say anymore than that right now because of a confidentiality agreement that is in place, but if something changes, say in the next month, then I will be more than happy to spill the beans....until then....let's just say, I've been doing alot of thinking and trying to figure out what is best for me.)

Ok, so since I haven't had much of a life, I decided to post some tidbits of information and I'm calling it: Things You Probably Didn't Know About Me.

If you did know these...well I guess some people know me better than what I think. If you didn't know these things...well maybe you learned a little something today...not that it really matters though, but here we go:

- I am a loyal & trustworthy friend.
- I listen more than I talk.
- I like to cook and can actually make edible meals.
- I make a mean confetti angel food cake.
- I am a romantic at heart.
- I love to listen to music & dance.
- I sing in my car constantly & don't care if people think I'm crazy when I'm belting it out.
- I have just as much fun hanging out at home by myself as I do going out with a group of friends.
- I love reading romance novels.
- I value intelligence (in myself and other people).
- I balance my bank accounts monthly.
- I am a control freak.
- I am the queen of Excel spreadsheets.
- I clip coupons & actually use them when I shop.
- I have written in a journal since I was 13 years old.
- I have more male friends than female friends.
- My favorite channel on TV is Food Network.
- When I was in high school, I planned on moving to Mexico after graduation.
- I wish I was strong enough mentally and physically to join the Army.
- I do not regret any of my actions over the past 23 years -- I have learned every step of the way...even if it meant doing something out of the ordinary for me.
- I am a rule follower.
- I am self-conscious.

So there's a start. These types of things have been running through my head lately and I thought I'd just get them all out in an entry. Are you happy now Joe? I updated for you. Anyway, how many of these things did you know?

It's back to work tomorrow and hopefully things go smooth. I know I have a cash projection to put together for the rest of the month and the rest is up in the air....like usual.

Happy Anniversary to Me

Any minute now I feel like there is going to be a flashback reel replaying the last year of my life. It's been a crazy year and as I celebrate my one year anniversary at work tomorrow, I know even greater things will come with time. I still remember my first day last year. I was scared to death that no one would like me and that I would not be able to do the job. Well, both of those turned out to be completely false. I have some of the greatest friends at work, including my best friend and I've succeeded with flying colors when it came to all of the stuff thrown my way. (Ok, maybe not with flying colors and not without partially losing my mind, but it has definitely been a learning experience!)
So here are some of the highlights of the last year:
- Trying to get my desk and computer up and running with a 50 foot network cable stretched across two rooms because nothing was ready in our office.
- Working out of boxes for the first two months because we didn't have filing cabinets.
- Learning to clothes the month-end books just 11 days after starting at the company and having to call my boss in England because I was stuck.
- The first Parties at the Plaza with the work crowd.
- My first trip to C-town with M last September. We had no clue what we were in for!
- Bowling with J and a few others and throwing my bowling ball behind me rather than down the lane. (I will never forget how hard J was laughing at me for that one!)
- Taking J out for his birthday and him spilling his beer all over M.
- Going to the Bottleneck Blues Bar numerous times with J, C, M and the rest of the crew and dancing our butts off.
- The Party Planning Committee succeeding at throwing the happy hour of the year celebrating J's promotion to Laredo Operations Manager.
- The Christmas party at Cannoli's where I spent much of the evening hob-knobbing with the owner of the company.
- The trip to C-town 3 days before Christmas where M and I had to learn billing and then take over when the "Christmas flu" was going around the office.
- Finding the drive-thru liquor store in C-town and driving around to find the houses of everyone who lived down there before they moved to St. Louis.
- FedExing cookies to Laredo for my bestest buddy.
- Going out with M for New Years and calling C and J at midnight to wish them a happy 2006.
- Spending my birthday dancing the night away with my coworkers at America's Pub and Patrick's.
- Having an "AR meeting" at the Eastern Conference Center with the President of the Company, Director of Operations, Billing and Accounts Payable.
- Going to Kobe Steakhouse of Japan with the President, Owner, Director of Operations & M and catching a flying shrimp in my mouth and also having the owner spit water on me after the president told a very funny joke.
- Watching the Owner play the air guitar when we went out for drinks.
- Getting AR down to 13%.
- Having everyone think M and I are fighting because we're switching desks and she moved to another part of the office for 2 days while her desk is being built. (This was late last week and today and it was hilarious to watch because we're closer than ever...but everyone was worried.)
- Becoming "Carrier of the Year" and finally settling in after a long 11 and 3/4 months!
- And finally, today...packing up my desk and putting everything aside this afternoon so that my new desk can be built in the morning. Tomorrow will start out just like my first day last year!

One final note, I would like to say thanks to Josh for putting up with me over the past year. (Heck...the past 3 years for that matter!) But really, if there was one person who had faith in me from the beginning, it was him. I still remember the day of my interview on July 1st last year and then him coming up that night to spend some time with me. He knew that night that I would get the job and do great things even when I wasn't so sure of myself and I appreciate that tremendously! And no Josh, I'm not moving to Texas anytime soon...you're stuck with me in Missouri!

Ahhh...the memories! Anyway, I'm in for a fun-filled day tomorrow. Besides trying to get my new desk organized, I have to get ready for my weekly meeting tomorrow afternoon and get all of my other Tuesday duties completed. It should be quite the day....and I'm definitely looking forward to coming home tomorrow night and celebrating with a Smirnoff!

Then vs. Now

Ok, so before I go make my frozen margaritas for the happy hour before the Cardinals game tomorrow night, I have decided to fill out a survey and post it on here rather than email it out. This one is a little different than the ones that have seen in the past and I thought it would be a breeze to fill out, but it was a little harder than I imagined...only because I had a heck of a time thinking back to what I was up to 5 years ago. That seems like so long ago now, especially since so much has changed for me in that amount of time. Here are the results:

5 years ago...
How old were you?: 18
What school year were you in?: I was getting ready to start college
Where did you go to school?: I had just graduated from Hazelwood East and I was getting ready to start McKendree College
Where did you work?: Korte as a part-time accounting clerk
Where did you live?: Highland, IL
Where did you hang out?: mostly at home or at my high school friends' houses before we all went to college
How was your hair style?: shoulder length and light brown
Did you wear braces?: no, that was back in junior high
Did you wear glasses?: yes
Who was your best friend?: my cousin Mary and my mom
Who was your boyfriend?: I was single
Who was your celebrity crush?: Ricky Martin
Who was your regular person crush?: Greg...he was my conversational spanish partner senior year in high school
How many piercings did you have?: my ears double-pierced
How many tattoos did you have?: zero
What was your favorite band?: Journey
What was your worst fear?: not fitting in at college and not graduating within 4 years
Had you smoked a cigarette yet?: no, smoking is not for me
Had you gotten drunk yet?: no, I didn't really drink then
Had you driven yet?: yes, I had been driving for two years
Had you had sex yet?: no, I had always planned to wait until marriage

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HA HA HA!!! LETS SEE WHERE I AM NOW!!!!!
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How old are you? 23
What school year are you in?: I am happy to say I'm finished!
Where do you go to school?: in the real world...that's a school within itself
Where do you work?: at a transportation company in St. Louis, MO...I'm the Accountant
Where do you live?: Hazelwood, MO
Where do you hang out?: Sybergs, Bottleneck Blues Bar, Trainwreck, M's house
How is your hair style?: long with blonde highlights
Do you wear glasses?: I wear my contact more, but yes.
Who is your best friend?: M and my mom
Who is your boyfriend?: Josh
Who is your celebrity crush?: Kenny Chesney
Who is your regular person crush?: J in Laredo...he's a great friend and I love his Arkansas accent.
How many tattoos do you have?: zero and it is staying that way
How many piercings do you have?: my ears are still double-pierced
What is your favorite band?: Shinedown
What is your biggest fear?: failing at life or my job & letting down my family and friends
Have you driven yet?: yes, for nearly 8 years
Have you smoked a cigarette yet?: no, and I'm not planning on ever smoking one
Have you gotten drunk yet?: throwing up drunk no, but I have been quite buzzed a few times
Have you had sex yet?: yes, my attitude on sex before marriage changed a little

So there we go. Now I'm off to make my margaritas. Four of us from work are going to the Cardinals game tomorrow night and we thought we'd throw a little tailgate party. It is going to be a blast and I'm sure I will have a few stories to post. The seats we have for the game are awesome too since they are company ones. Hopefully the Cards can pull off a win or I'll even settle for seeing Pujols hit a homer!

Burning Bright

For some reason I feel like posting and I really don't have a whole lot to say. The week has gone by and I haven't done anything besides work and come home every night to an empty apartment. Tonight we went out for drinks at Casa after work, but that only lasted about 2 hours and now I'm back home. That's for the best though because Nicole is spending the rest of the weekend with me and I don't need to be hungover for her visit. Plus, I'm really looking forward to shopping and swimming and spending time with her.

In my spare time I've been listening to a lot of music. Ok, not really, I've listened to the same CDs over and over again and I'm absolutely loving the 2 Shinedown CDs I have. J got me hooked on them before he left for Laredo and I must say his taste in music is superb. Well, I actually started listening to all of the words I've been belting out lately and for some strange reason I'm stuck on "Burning Bright." I think the song is a good representation of me and some of the stuff I've gone through in the past 7 or 8 months. I'm sure there are only 2 people right now who understand why this fits me so well. Who knows -- it might only be one.
In any case, I've decided to post the lyrics. Usually I'm not the type of person to do something like that, but considering I think this song describes me to a tee, I thought I'd let everyone in a little bit. If you don't know how exactly this applies to me, that's ok....I'm not expecting you to, but I just thought I'd let others in on how I currently see things.

So, here we go:

"Burning Bright"

I feel like there is no need for conversation
Some questions are better left without a reason
And I would rather reveal myself than my situation
Now and then I consider, my hesitation
The more the light shines through me
I pretend to close my eyes
The more the dark consumes me
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright

I wonder if the things I did were just to be different
To spare myself of the constant shame of my existence
And I would surely redeem myself in my desperation
Here and now I'll express, my situation

There's nothing ever wrong but nothing's ever right
Such a cruel contradiction
I know I cross the lines its not easy to define
I'm born to indecision
There's always something new some path I'm supposed to choose
With no particular rhyme or reason

I'm sure that when the guys of Shinedown wrote this song, they weren't thinking of me and the meaning I got from it, but I bet if I went back and explained myself to my friends it would make a lot more sense. However, I'm not going to take the time to explain all that. Don't worry...I'm not emo or anything like that. In fact, if you don't know who Shinedown is, they're good ol' Southern Rock. They've got the strong voices that make me quiver when I hear their songs, especially the acoustic versions.
Anyway, if you have any questions regarding any of this, feel free to send them my way. But, I feel so much better just to get this out a little bit....even if everyone else is lost.

Hope everyone has a great weekend! I'm going to relax before my fun-filled weekend starts tomorrow morning!

Independence Day

Happy 4th of July! While most people take this as a day off to relax and sleep in, I was up at 7 am. So much for taking it easy!

Anyway, good thing I'm up because there is a lot to report on and this is the first chance I've gotten to update. Last week went by in a blur, I was busy the entire week and finally when I got home last night I just sat there and vegged out on my couch for the night. I had dinner with Shell to start the week last week. I got off of work at 5 and high-tailed it home to change clothes and drive back to the neighborhood I grew up in. Usually it doesn't take that long to get there from where I live considering it is only like 12 miles away but with traffic on the highway it took me over 45 minutes to get to her house. It was nice to be able to catch up with her, especially since we've been friends since first grade and I haven't been the greatest at keeping in contact with people I grew up with. When I graduated from high school, I always thought I would keep in touch with that close-knit group of friends and now 5 years after graduating, I barely keep in touch with one of them. But, I will say I had a lot of fun hanging out with Shell and we both decided we'll have to make this a regular thing.
Last Wednesday, I drove back over to my Grandma's in that same exact neighborhood and had dinner with her, my step-dad and a friend of my Grandma's. Traffic that day was even worse and all of the highways were closed due to the President being in town for a fundraiser. By the time I made it to my Grandma's I had sat in traffic for about an hour and a half and I was a little peeved when I did finally make it to her house and in my personal opinion, Sen. Talent made a big mistake by inviting the President. He's definitely lost my vote, and not because I dislike Bush (don't get me wrong though, I don't think he's the greatest) but because they shut down the highways at rush hour and that's just wrong!!! But, dinner ended up being a lot of fun. My Grandma's friend actually works for another local trucking company as a fleet manager so I spent most of the night talking trucking with him. I think he was impressed that I knew so much for being so young and only working at a transportation company for 11 months. I actually impressed myself too...I have learned a lot in that amount of time!
Thursday and Friday, Tom was in town so Joe, Lindsay, Tom and myself went out after I got off of work. Thursday we went to Fast Eddie's and then to play pool and then Friday we went to Hooter's at Westport. I wasn't much fun to hang out with though, I was worn out and I probably seemed out of it both nights, but that's what you get from me when it's the end of the month and I've got a million other things on my mind and I'm working a ton of extra hours. Friday night I had month end and nothing went as scheduled and that didn't help and as a result, I had to go into work on Saturday morning to see if I could fix the mess. So Saturday, I got up and got ready for work and went to breakfast with Tom before he set out for Oklahoma and then worked a few hours fixing nothing, but at least getting started on everything needed for July.
Saturday night ended up being a complete blast! M was having a graduation party for her daughter who recently graduated from high school and the work crowd was invited along with all of her kids friends, both sides of the family and other friends. I came a little early to help M get some things set because I knew she would be stressing a little as it came down to the wire. Well, I ended up not leaving until like 3 in the morning! All of the 20 somethings that were there ended up causing a few problems and I was trying to talk some sense into them. Imagine that...me -- another 20 something trying to talk sense into others! Actually most of the time I was there I was with the older crowd because I know most of them from work or they are friends of M's that I have gone out with before so I felt more comfortable with them. The President of the company I work for ended up coming and I got to talk to him for quite awhile which was a great relief to me. Actually, he pulled me aside and talked to me about work for a bit also and come to find out he is extremely pleased with what I have done so far. It was a big help for me to hear everything from him because I think I'm doing a decent job, but until you hear it from the President of the company, you never know if it is true or not. We also talked about how my year anniversary is coming up and that I will have my annual review with him around the 18th of July and he assured me that I have nothing to worry about. I know I have some improvements to make and I'm always looking to move forward and I think he realizes that too. Overall it was a great night!
Sunday I headed over to my mom's to do laundry and for BBQ. And because I was up so late the night before I ended up napping most of the day in between switching laundry loads. Not sleeping a lot during the week definitely caught up with me! But it did help me feel refreshed for work yesterday and it ended up being a great day. The next few weeks are going to be slower for us operationally but that should help the administrative side get caught up with our backlog and by the time we get through this little slump (it's a yearly slump due to the automotive industry taking a two week hiatus to change over the plants). Although from what I heard we shouldn't be nearly as slow as last year because we have found quite a few logistics companies that need our help moving the loads that they broker out.
As for the rest of the week, it should be fairly smooth. Tomorrow is M's one year anniversary at work and I have something up my sleeve for that and I have an AR meeting with my buddy C. Friday we're going to try to go out after work. It's been quite a few weeks since we've gone out after work and I'm having dancing withdrawals so I think we're going to go up to the Bottleneck Blues bar.
And finally, I'm looking forward to Saturday. My aunt called me last weekend and asked if my 9 year cousin could come spend the night at my apartment this weekend and of course I agreed. My cousin is the absolute cutest and considering I lived with her for nearly two years and she's like a little sister to me I love getting to spend time with her. I'm sure it will be a jam-packed Saturday and Sunday for us but I know it will be fun!

All Quiet on the Western Front

Well I must say, I feel much better about everything and all it took was an apology and explanation of the situation at hand. This past week went much better and I have definitely seen an push for the things I have been trying to get accomplished. On Thursday, the owner of the company came into town for his monthly meeting with our managers. First thing he does when he comes into the office is walk into our accounting office, grab a chair from across the room and sits right next to me and says, "show me numbers." I'm in awe basically because there are plenty more people who are more important than me, but he wanted to see cash and my receivables percentages since I had been plugging how much better they would be on Wednesday after a little negotiation I pulled off with one of our largest customers. Much to his chagrin, the numbers were better...8% better than the Friday before. I think he was shocked and a little speechless. While I try to make myself look good 95% of the time, I know I mess up and that there are things that I have put off because I either don't know what to do to fix them or I trust people too much and believe most of what they say, even though I know they are probably saying whatever they can to please me and they aren't going to follow through. In any case, he was excited about my hard work and gave me pointers for moving forward. That is one cool thing about the owner....he thinks of me as a person and a vital part of the team. Most owners that I have dealt with barely know my name and he's pulling a chair up to my desk and wants to know the status of things from the "accountant's" standpoint. That is awesome! Of course, he should do that...it's his money that started our company and it's his money that continues to grow as our company becomes successful. I'm hoping at some point though he'll realize my hard work and reward me for it! A trip somewhere would be nice!
So anyway, I ended the week on a positive note. I'm glad that things went smoother and that people finally realize what exactly it takes to do my job and to do it well.

Tuesday around midnight I got quite a scare. I was dozing off and all of a sudden my cell phone starts playing Save Me by Shinedown. It means only one thing....I have a text message so I opened my phone and it was from Josh. I was excited and very happy to hear from him since we haven't had much contact lately. In any case, he tells me that he's in Branson and that he's got National Guard training in mid-July. Of course, now I'm freaking out. Yes, I knew his two weeks would come up eventually but I'm a nervous wreck! Thank goodness I didn't know him while he was in the Army, I don't know how I would have slept at night. So we texted back and forth a few times and tried to update one another on what's going on the next few weeks and all I can continue to think about is how am I going to get through July knowing he's got training. It's nothing for him...he says: Linds, it's just the National Guard. I know it's the National Guard, but do you know how much the National Guard is doing now??? A whole lot! For all I know he could be shipped down to protect the border or who knows where else. I know I'm probably over-reacting but that is my nature. No wonder we get along so well, our personalities compliment each other. I'm the worrier and he's the one that just goes with the flow and lives life the way he wants to.

As for this upcoming week, well there could be a whole lot going on or there might not be. It all depends on everyone else. Tuesday night is the Lynyrd Skynyrd and 3 Doors Down concert -- I would love to go but my work crowd and I haven't gotten tickets yet. Thursday, Tom is making a stop in St. Louis on his summer roadie. We'll see what he wants to do and if Joe and Lindsay (the other Lindsay) are free. I'm sure we'll go hang out somewhere, but who knows where. I was joking with Tom the other day and telling him I was going to take him to one of my happy hour spots around town. I could definitely use a happy hour right now!

Fireball of Energy

It has only taken me nearly 24 years to realize that I have a different work ethic than 99% of the population and that most people are just happy with finishing something not whether it was done right, wrong or otherwise and I'm the kind of person that if I want something done correctly I should just do it myself. As a result, there has been some tension in my office. I guess I have to be the bigger person and perform damage control on Monday in order to fix the relationships with the people in my office who felt that I have wronged them by telling them their job....no matter how hard that is going to be for me to do because I know what I did and said was the correct thing for the situation in hand. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to surrender and apologize and just realize that most people just work for a paycheck and while yeah, that is nice, I'm there for the bigger picture.
Don't get me wrong, I have to work to support myself, but I'm there to keep moving up in the company. I didn't go to college and step into this position to sit, I came aboard to give them my ideas about business and accounting, learn more about trucking and help this company progress from being a "start-up" to a leader in the transportation industry....all of which are still on my agenda. Most of all, I look at the situation like this -- I look at how far we've come in the year's time I've been there and with a little more hard work on everyone's part, I can see the progression into a transportation giant. I'm just not sure if everyone is there to put in that little bit of extra effort and that bothers me tremendously that they aren't, especially since it would pay off in the end if they put in that extra umphh. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that when profits are up and expenses are down that it means more cash for a company and in my experience (granted I only have 7 years in the workforce), extra cash means bonuses and raises and other incentives. Perhaps I need to refresh everyone's memory...or maybe they know and just don't care. I don't understand why certain people feel like I have a bad attitude, I kinda think my attitude is the correct one to have and I would hope that the company's President and Owner would have the same attitude as me.

Overall this whole incident brings me to a realization that I just can't settle anymore...I'm a fireball of energy when it comes to business and my career and if I means stepping on the toes of my work friends to get in there and get the job done, I guess that's what I'll do and I'll apologize for it later.

In any case, I'm sure I'll have quite the week ahead of me smoothing over all of the issues considering very few people were talking to me at the end of the week after my little rant.

Finally, I just wanted to say Happy Father's Day to my dad and step-dad!
Dad, sorry I couldn't make it out to see you today, but I'll be out to visit in a few weeks. Try to have a relaxing day!

"Good Things Come to Those Who Wait" Pt. 2

This morning was a reality check for me. M, S and myself went downtown for The Susan G. Komen Race for a Cure. It didn't hit me until we were down there and walking with 65,000 other people that breast cancer affects more people than you can imagine. It was sad seeing "In Memory Of" on the back of t-shirts and seeing how many women are currently battling the disease. But, I will say I was very proud to see people lending their support to such a great cause. I think it was a cathartic experience for S too since she has been in remission for nearly 2 years and I'm glad I was able to be there for my friend. I definitely plan on participating for years to come.

As for everything else that has happened since my last entry...hmm...let's see. My mom and step-dad left for Hawaii a week ago to work on their house. It's been a bigger problem than the expected, but I've done what I can for them here so they can focus on that mess. I would have loved to go out there and spent some time in paradise but my job just wouldn't allow for it right now. Hopefully I'll make it out there soon though for a little R & R.
Last Sunday I was able to go to the Cardinals-Cubs game down at Busch. I took my grandma with me and we had a great time. The Cardinals ended up winning that game after losing the other two in the series. And even though Pujols was out because of an injury, I was able to see my other favorite player who now plays for the Cubs, John Mabry. He came in to hit in the 7th or 8th inning.

The rest of the week went pretty well. I'm finally starting to feel comfortable with the changes we've made over the last few weeks with procedures and financial issues and most of all receivables. While numbers are not exactly where they need to be, I was finally able to get some of the older stuff from before I took on this job collected. Like J said to me last night when I talked to him while I was out with the work crowd, "good things come to those who wait." If he only knew how true that is for so many situations I've been in lately.

Like I mentioned we went out last night after work and I had a lot of fun like normal. We went up to Syberg's because Deep Six was playing plus there is always a reason for us to party on a Friday night. It ended up being the usual bunch going out and C joined us for a bit as well as our former co-worker and fellow party girl D. Perhaps the coolest part of the night happened right before I left. D and I went to go freshen up in the bathroom before she left and I decided to go back in and see who was still in the bar. Well I walked back into the doors and before I got a foot in, the lead singer, drummer and bass player all stopped me and told me that they were taking a survey and wanted to know what 3 songs I wanted to hear. Well, being a little out of it, I didn't know. I love the band and whatever they wanted to play was fine with me and I told them that, but they wanted my opinion, so I stood there and thought about it and talked with them for awhile. The bass player still reminds me so much of Josh and he's got that magnetic personality that just makes you want to like him right off of the bat, the drummer and the lead singer are the same way also. In fact, I ended up talking to the lead singer for like 15 minutes. I found out the scoop on the band and where they'll be playing in the next few weeks and what kind of songs they are working on to add to their show. It was very cool and so unlike me to continue to talk with people I don't know without thinking twice about what I'm asking or talking about. Actually at that point everyone else I was with was long gone and on their way home so I figured why not talk and get to know these guys a little better. Heck, I'm on their website dancing from the last time I saw them perform at Syberg's so why not get to know them a little more. I ended up talking to them until they went back on stage for their next set and heard them get started and since I had to be up at the crack of dawn this morning for the race, I left to get home. I wouldn't have minded staying but with everyone else gone already I felt it was probably good for me to go also. I'll be there for their entire show the next time though! I think I'm becoming a groupie, or maybe I can be a backup singer/dancer for them... I'll run that by them next time!

Memorial Day means something special

Because the military is very close to my heart I would just like to say Happy Memorial Day! From my family alone both of my grandfathers served in the Army and Navy respectively and my step-dad served a full career in the Army as well. Not to mention Josh spending 4 years in the Army in military intelligence and as a paratrooper and then going back to serve in the National Guard.

I am so proud of those who have served our country and those who still do and we all owe our freedom to those who have been willing to fight for it. I remember going to Arlington National Cemetery in DC last summer and realizing that there are people out there who serve to protect the rest of us and it was unbelievable that so many think about the welfare of the world before themselves and I am truly grateful for that.

Thank you to all of the members of our United States military branches!

This reminds me of....

It's funny how certain things in your life remind you of the people you surround yourself with. Take for instance music...when I hear the song "These Days" by Rascal Flatts I'm automatically reminded of Josh. It brings back memories of our first date 3 years ago and how far we've come in that amount of time. Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down" reminds me of M and I in our old office and a conversation we had about a crazy night of celebrating and partying after training down in the Southern Missouri facility back in December. "Build Me Up Buttercup" reminds me of my mom and her singing me that song when I was just a tot. And I'm reminded of my bro every time I hear "Baby Got Back" by Sir Mix-A-Lot. My bro sings an awesome version of that song that I was quite shocked to hear at first because he doesn't seem like the type who could rap. In any case, I have a lot of good memories from songs and music in general.
Last night something else brought back some very good memories for me as well. It all started when M and I decided yesterday that we were going to go out after work. We haven't really had a chance to go dance or kick back in quite awhile (ok probably only a few weeks) and after the week that we had we felt we deserved a break. So I got online at lunch and tried to find out what bands were playing where and see what we could iron out. Well come to find out two of our favorite local bands were playing at the Bottleneck Blues Bar last night and we definitely wanted to go. But the bar didn't open until about an hour after we got off of work so we needed a plan for grabbing something quick to eat and possibly getting a drink there before dancing the night away. That's when we thought about SidePockets. SidePockets is a bar and billiards hall and we'd been there one time before with J and we only found it by accident after the other bar that we were at only accepted cash and all we had at the time were debit and credit cards. Anyway, our little stop in to SidePockets last night reminded me of that night and all the fun we had before J left for Laredo and then of course it brought back the memories of all of the crazy stuff that the 3 of us did for the 2 months he was in St. Louis by himself. The night at SidePockets, M lost her cell phone and J and I called it like 20 times to see if we could hear it ringing anywhere in the bar. Come to find out it was in J's truck and when he and I went out there looking for it all you could hear was what sounded to be a chicken clucking. It wasn't, but her ringtone sounded really funny and all I remember J saying in his Arkansas accent, "where the hell is that chicken noise coming from...who has chickens around here?" It was hilarious. Of course the thought of this brought back all of the memories of the fun times I've had with my coworkers at this company. Who would have thought a year ago that I would have met some of the greatest people in the world that I now call some of my closest friends.
What is also kind of funny when it comes down to it is that M completely agreed with me. We were talking yesterday about how it doesn't seem like either of us has changed that much but that we both think that some of our other friends are no longer on the same page as we are. Probably the biggest thing I have seen myself is the fact that I hardly keep in contact with the friends I had in high school and college. I always thought that I would have a small group of people from both high school and college that I would email or call and see on a semi-regular basis. While I know that lives move forward and priorities change it seems as the contact has fallen by the wayside. I know a lot of that is probably my fault since I don't get online every night like I used to and I'm not very good at calling people back. And it also boils down to the fact that I have been very dedicated to getting my feet off of the ground with my job and trying to adjust to living on my own. But like my new motto suggests, "live and learn" -- either I will go back to contact all of the people I thought I would remain friends with over the years or I will just move forward. I haven't decided which is best yet especially since I'm pretty much satisfied with my life at the moment, except for one small thing that hopefully will work itself out in enough time, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and enjoy the 3 day weekend if you're lucky enough to get Monday off!

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

The new Busch Stadium is awesome! And to top it off, Saturday's game is probably the best game I've gone to in a long time. Of course what made it even better is that I had the most important guy in my life sitting in the seat next to me. Josh was thoroughly impressed with the stadium and the company seats as well and I'm so glad that he was able to go with me. We got to the game at the bottom of the first inning because dinner took us a little longer than we expected but from the time we got there until we left it was an exciting game. The D'backs pitching was lacking a bit and the Cardinals took advantage of that. Rolen hit a home run with runners on 2nd and 3rd and then someone else knocked in a run later in the inning. In the 2nd inning, Albert the Great hit a homer and the crowd went wild. In fact, the rest of the night when he came to the plate the flashes were going like crazy to get a good shot of him hitting another one out of the park but it still was exciting to watch him every time. The Cardinals ended up winning the game 9-1 and moved into first place in the Central Division. But, perhaps the greatest part of the night was the time I got to spend with Josh. I updated him on all of the progress made with my job and everything else that has happended in the last 3 months. He told me about the National Guard and school next semester and of course we talked about everything we still wanted to go see and do this summer. It will be great if we get to take a weekend or even a few days one week and go on another one of our adventures. The last two years we've been lucky enough to be able to go to Vegas and Washington DC...who knows what this summer will bring and if we'll even get any time to go somewhere. I'm sure going to try though!

Sunday was Mother's day and like a good daughter, I went and spent the day with my mom and grandma. We ended up going to Longhorn for dinner and then came back to my apartment for cake. It wasn't a very eventful day because my mom was working on student assessments for her classes.

Today started another week of work. Time just flies by there. Our terminal manager from Laredo was supposed to come into town today however his flight was cancelled because of storms in the south so he won't be in until tomorrow. It will be nice to meet him, since most of us in our office have only talked to him on the phone. Plus, it will be nice to have him in the same office for a few days to help us with some issues in person. I've got a list of stuff for him to look at already and I'm sure more things will come up this week. M and I are also supposed to be planning a happy hour for later this week for everyone...not sure what is going on with that though yet. I wasn't able to give much thought to it today, but if we do something I'm sure it will be exciting. Tomorrow I have another AR meeting, but this week it's an hour earlier than normal. I'm sure I'll be running around the office like an idiot tomorrow trying to get everything accomplished before my meeting. The one good thing is that I'll be able to get my meeting minutes out a little earlier and I might be able to leave on time for a change and I am looking forward to that! It will be better though if my numbers are actually down this week. We'll see what happens though...I might have to start knocking some heads together to get results. Watch out now!

"Good Things Come To Those Who Wait"

So I was minding my own business, dealing with the everyday Monday stuff, sending out stern emails on what we need to change to make sure that operations are moving in the right direction and correcting problems when M gets a phone call from the President of the company. He tells her that he needs to see the two of us in his office immediately. I was freaking out. I haven't been the nicest person at work...I've been very demanding and I have started to question some of my coworkers actions because I want our company to grow and become one of the leaders in the industry and I thought he was going to come down on me for my attitude. As for M...I didn't know why he was calling her in but we both walked into his office together and he asked that we shut the door. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh no...this can't be good." So we sit down and asks what our plans are for the rest of the week. M had some family stuff going on but I told him I was free all week. The greatest thing happened. He told us he was very pleased with all of our work and he wanted to show his gratitude with Cardinals baseball tickets. We were very excited and we ended up getting two tickets a piece for Saturday's game against the D'backs. It was freaking awesome, especially since not everyone in our office will get a chance to get tickets for this season. Plus, I'm dying to see the new Busch Stadium and I'll have a great view from 11 rows off of the field.
After the meeting I sent Josh a text message telling him the good news and asking if he wanted to go with me to the game. Turns out he would love to! And that meant more awesome news for me! I'm so excited for Saturday! The game will be fun but more importantly I want to see Josh. It's been awhile and I miss him tremendously and I think it will be great for us to get to go to the game together. We definitely need to spend some time with each other and catch up.

In other news, this weekend was pretty fun. Friday after work we went to Chevy's for Cinco de Mayo and had a great time drinking margaritas and eating chips and salsa. The Smash Band was playing and they were alright. We danced a bit and because we were completely worn out we left about 11. That's an early night for M and I, usually we're out until the bars close, but we had a wedding to attend on Saturday and I didn't want to feel like crap so I decided it was best to just grab something quick to eat and get home. Saturday one of the guys I work with got married and M and I and a bunch of other coworkers were invited to the ceremony and reception at Pere Marquette in Grafton. I didn't realize what a drive that is from my place, almost 100 miles round trip, but it was well worth it. We had fun with everyone from work and it ended up being a very nice afternoon and evening. No wild antics this weekend but it was a good time and I ended up finding out on Saturday night that I do in fact like whiskey sours. I wasn't sure if I would, but the few that I had were pretty tasty. You learn something new everyday!

And Sunday I just ended up staying home and getting caught up on ironing and other household duties that I have put off for weeks. I also found out that I like the show Deadliest Catch on the Discovery Channel. It was pretty interesting to watch Alaskan fishermen battle the weather and the sea and the other teams out there trying to get the most snow crab. I'm so easily amused.

As for the rest of the upcoming week, well I'm not sure what is in store yet. I have an accounts receivable meeting tomorrow afternoon with the bosses and the normal stuff going on, but I'm sure something will come up and frazzle me in no time. Luckily, I work with some of my closest friends too so I'm sure that either J or M will pull me out of my funk...they always do!

"Trust me...I really am a nice person"

There are a few people that might not agree with that, but it is only because I'm passionate about many things in life and I don't want to see things messed up if they don't have to be and perhaps that is the reason why I get a little testy with work and the rest of my life. Work is the main issue right now for me still however it is getting better by the day; however, me being the impulsive and demanding person I am -- that is not nearly fast enough. Geez...how do my friends and family put up with me???? No wonder Josh still lives 2 hours away from me.
Anyway, there was problem after problem at work this week, but I got most of it cleared up or at least fixed to the point to where I can deal with it this upcoming week should there not be any other fires to put out. My boss will be gone the next three days so I'm sure there will be a few things that come up and I will have to deal with. This past Friday night I stayed late to close the April books. It is very hard for me to believe that the first day of May is tomorrow. Where has almost half of 2006 gone? It's been 10 months since I walked into our office for the first time and was a nervous wreck in front of my current coworkers...almost been a year since I walked across that stage at McKendree for the commencement ceremony...and, it's been nearly 5 years since I graduated from high school. My how time flies!

As for this weekend, it has been pretty good. Friday night was an absolute blast! I stayed late at work to get the month-end stuff done and then M called me on my way home and told me that since I could finally drink again, she picked up some Smirnoff Ice's and Bud Select and the party was at her house. Really it wasn't a party, we had just decided that since next Friday is Cinco de Mayo and we were planning on going out that night that we would just take it easy this week and behave and have just a girls night in. So I went over to M's house and we had a few drinks and talked about all the stuff going on and danced our hearts out. M's husband thought we were nuts when he got home from work because it was just the two of us in the living room blasting the CD that M's son downloaded for her and singing and dancing around. I haven't had that much fun in a long time! I ended up leaving M's house at like 3 in the morning and I was completely worn out.
Yesterday morning my alarm went off waaaayyyy too early and I was out of it but I had to get up and drive out to my Grandma's to visit my dad and her out in S. Illinois. It was nice to get to see them especially since I haven't gotten out there in quite a few months because of my hectic schedule. I missed seeing my bro while I was out there but I was finally able to bring out his birthday card -- it's only a month and a half late!
Today I spent most of my day getting caught up with household things that I have put off the last few weeks and going grocery shopping, etc. Nothing too exciting but I have to get things like that done at some point and I knew it wouldn't happen next weekend with Cinco de Mayo on Friday and a wedding on Saturday. I'm sure I will just need Sunday to recover next weekend! But, I'll get an update in there somewhere!

Truckin' Accountant

Well I must say, I feel much better since that last post. Granted I am still working quite a few extra hours but I was able to meet with C after our AR meeting yesterday and he was a big help. Really I just wanted to let him know about some of the things I had been seeing with my job and even though he's not my boss directly (since he's in Operations and I'm in Administration) I knew he would be the most help to me getting things corrected. And I have to say, he seemed to take everything to heart and I have already seen some changes that will be beneficial to our company. I'm quite impressed too especially since I never thought that I had enough guts to go to anyone in an authority position and give them my ideas and have them agree with me on a majority of what I mentioned. Maybe I am growing up and actually learning something about the industry I work in...who knows I might be a Truckin' Accountant in no time. There is a reason I say that. Yesterday afternoon while I was getting ready for my meetings one of our fleet managers came back to the billing and accounting office to find someone else who is usually in his department and when he asked where she was at, someone else told him that he thought she might be in accounting. So he walks back to my desk, which is the first desk in the department and says, "is this accounting? I was told to come back to accounting to find so and so and I didn't know we had an accounting department here. Are you really accountants or just accounting wannabees?" My response to him was, "yes there are really accountants back here. You're staring at an accountant right now." He was amazed and of course he next question to me is, "do you have a real degree from a real college?" And in my head I'm thinking...no I just printed one out on my computer...but I was nice and just came back with, "of course, I graduated from McKendree College in December 2004." I guess it is hard for people to believe that I've been so serious and got myself through school so fast. So perhaps I educated one person yesterday afternoon and maybe now he realizes that I'm more than just the co-chairperson of the "Party Planning Committee in Accounting." HA!

In other news, I talked to my buddy J this afternoon before I left work. Even though I haven't had much of a chance to talk to him lately but nothing has really changed...he's still the great guy that seems to care so much about his pals up here in STL. I asked him when he expected to be back up this way and he's not sure. We would love to see him up here soon though or M and I just might have to make that trip to Texas sometime this summer!

Anyway tomorrow night is Parties at the Plaza after work and it should be fun. We all definitely need a happy hour after the last few days. M, S and I went out last Friday to our regular hotspot and had a great time dancing. This week will be no different....we have fun wherever we go. If anything exciting or noteworthy happens I'll be sure to remember it for the next time I write.

Just call me a sucker...

I guess I have it written on my forehead because it's been 4 days since I've decided that I couldn't change everything at work and I was going back to working the 8 or 8.5 hours a day that I had agreed to. And what happens today I go back to working 10 hours at work and then I bring stuff home with me. My brain is telling me I'm a loser and I just let everyone walk all over me but I can't stop. Just from the few days that I decided not to go in early I've got an extra days worth of work to do and no time to get it done. Everyone has deadlines of 5 pm on Friday afternoon and of course I'm supposed to meet them. Is it possible? No. But, will I work myself into a shambled and emotional mess trying to please everyone.....of course. Something has to give and eventually it is going to be me, but that will only be when I become so frazzled I have a heart attack...maybe then someone will realize that I'm only one person because I sure as hell haven't realized it yet.

I feel so old...

In a little over a months time, I have found out about 4 upcoming weddings of friends of mine. This would not be that big of a deal to me but I have grown up with some of these people and it just does not seem possible that any of us are old enough to even start thinking about getting married. I wish all of them the best and I will be there to celebrate the big day, but wow, I'm starting to feel old now. I know I'm definitely not at the point in my life to get married myself and I'm just trying to have fun and experience what I can from life right now before taking that next step and completely settling down. I will say though that next Saturday(April 15th - tax day for all of you financial whiz kids) is the 3-year anniversary of Josh & mine's first date. I remember that day like it was yesterday. We met down in South County for lunch and watched a movie together. Hard to believe that he has been willing to put up with me for 3 years!
Speaking of Josh, he called the other night to tell me that he joined the National Guard in Cape and he's getting ready to take his test for pilot training. I am proud of him for deciding to do this, but I'm still scared for him too. Call me crazy, but even though he knows what he is doing, I worry about him. Hopefully we'll see each other soon because I do miss him tremendously right now.

As for my weekend, well I haven't really done much but I needed this time just to reflect a bit. Everyone at work was busy on Friday night so after I finished the last of my emails to customers and coworkers I came home and just took the time to unwind. It had been a very stressful week and the lack of sleep had finally caught up to me so I kicked back and watched a little tv and called it a night about 10:30. I must have been tired because M called my phone at like 10:50 pm and again at 11:15 pm and I didn't hear it play, "Sugar, We're Goin' Down" or even vibrate across the table onto the floor and it was barely a foot away from me. She went to the Train concert at the Pageant and they were playing my favorite Train song and she wanted me to hear it. It ended up going into my voicemail so I have a nice 3 and half minute message playing "Drops of Jupiter." Actually it did sound pretty neat though! M is good for playing these songs in my voicemail. The other night she was driving and left me a message playing Shinedown on my voicemail for me because it was on the radio and I absolutely love that band. For all of you that don't know also, when you call me and I don't have a specific ringtone set up for you...it plays Shinedown so if I don't answer my phone right away it's because I'm rocking out to "Save Me."
Yesterday I did a bit of spring cleaning and some organizing and just tried to get some of the stuff here at home in order and then last night I watched a few episodes of my new favorite show, Tuckerville. That show cracks me up!
Tomorrow all hell breaks loose at work again but I have decided that I can't change the world and I'm going to do the best I can and work normal hours again for the time being and maybe then I won't be so irritable all the time and I can go back to being the normal happy-go-lucky girl that everyone else has come to know. :)

Who am I becoming???

There is a reason why I haven't updated in well over a week and that reason is that really the only time that I have spent any time at my place I have been asleep or I've come home to change clothes and head back out. I think in the last two weeks I have gone out 6 nights for either happy hours or parties with friends...and that is just not me (ok, it's the new me). The other nights I've spent extra hours at work trying to get caught up with the new policies and procedures we have put into place. I do have a few good stories from this past week though.
Last weekend ended up being a lot of fun. Friday M and I hit a few spots around town with our co-workers and then went to Syberg's. The band there was amazing...I think I'm going to become their groupie. The bass player was a hottie and reminded me of Josh.
Saturday M and I hit a bar in Brentwood to celebrate her sister's boyfriend's birthday and then we drove out to Wildwood for another party, only to miss the people at that party and by the time I got home it was pretty late.
Tuesday night we went out for D's last day at our company. We went to HotShots after work and that was a nice release after my AR meeting that afternoon. Even though this was the second week for our meetings, I was still nervous and especially with C sitting right across from me rather than on a conference call from Laredo. But, I got through my meeting and I think we're making a little bit of progress. We'll see for sure after this Tuesday when I apply a somewhat large payment from one of our main customers. C made the comment that I'm becoming quite fiesty with taking care of the past dues and he knows I definitely want to try to make a difference.
Thursday ended up being a pretty good time too. Actually M and I were minding our own business working late when the owner of the company came in with the President after he came into town for a meeting. We got to talking and he told me what my goals should be for collecting AR and helping billing. M and I got back to working on our project while they went to talk in the President's office but around 7 or so they told us that they were going for drinks at one of our favorite hangouts and that if we wanted to we could join them. This was so awesome! I thought it was a perfect opportunity to mingle with the big shots again and we took them up on the offer. We made small talk while we were out having drinks and then they invited us to go have dinner. Since C was craving steak, the 5 of us hit a Japanese steakhouse. The night ended up being a blast -- I caught a piece of shrimp in my mouth when the chef launched it in my direction (the only one at the table who was able to do it also!), the owner of the company spit water at me when the president asked M what the key was for a long successful marriage and everyone was joking about my age, but I will say they are impressed as well!
Friday we hit HotShots again for another happy hour with our work bunch and then finally I was able to take my step-dad and mom out for dinner last night for my step-dad's birthday. We went for Mexican and celebrated with margaritas. I had a lot of fun...my parents sure know how to kick it! Anyway, I got home and pretty much crashed. Today was the kind of day where I would have loved to stay home but I'm actually glad I didn't because of the horrible storms this afternoon. We're getting back into the time of the year where tornadoes are a major factor and today was a good example of that. The weather changed drastically this afternoon and within a 10 minute gap the temperature dropped 20 degrees. Thank goodness my mom has a basement in her house otherwise I would have been freaking out. Luckily there was no real damage besides a few shingles coming off of the house and some of the soffits falling off.
Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone at work, but I think with working a few hours on Saturday morning, I will have a little less pressure on me than most Mondays. Granted, I say that now and tomorrow will end up being a complete disaster. In any case, I'm going to take these last few hours and go relax and try to clear my mind a bit.