The Great White North

Hey Everybody!  I'm posting from Canada today as I'm here most of the week for work.  Can we say awesome?  Indeed it is.

It is not, however, white.  We've really lucked out and gotten some amazing weather- way awesomer than Portland weather this time of year.  It's been in the upper 50's and mid 60's and sunny and the fall foliage is  breathtaking.  I'll be uploading pictures as soon as I get home (left my cable at home... sad).

Just so I don't forget, here's a list of things I LOVE about Canada:

1. Everything's in French and English. 
2.  Winter Tuke (sp?)- winter knit hats
3. the crazy accents that aren't even close to French Canadian or just Canadian
4.  The close ties to Scotland and Ireland
5.  Maple candy
6. Friendliness- Canadians are so polite!
7.  Asian restaurants- there are TONS and they are good!
8.  Salmon, we have it at home but it's everywhere here.
9. First passport stamp



I'm happy to be here, but also happy I get to go home soon.  I'm missing Rudy and the BF.

Excuse This "Type A Personality" Rant for a Moment

I'm sorry, but I've got to get it off my chest...


Dear Coworkers and Peers,

If you haven't noticed by now, I do not get paid your salary on top of mine which means that I do NOT do your job, even if you ask nicely.  Even if you don't know how to do it.  Even if your boss asks me (because they aren't my boss). I know that I do a lot of things and you may be confused to my actual role, but I'm not confused and neither are my managers and I can say no.  Oh wait, that's right, I can say no to the things you are asking me to do because I have my own job and my own schedule to keep.

You  may also think that some of my job duties are performed well by me and that it would be easy for me to do a similar thing for you. But again, not the case.  If something in your department/geography/group needs to be done it's your responsibility to do it.  I know I've coordinated similar events to the ones you are supposed to be doing and they were successful, but that doesn't mean that I am responsible for ALL events- only the ones in my department/geography/group. 

I try to anticipate what questions you may have and information you may need and neatly compile links, resources and How To's frequently for you to keep and reference so that when it's your turn to do something similar you don't have to start from scratch.  I do not have to do this, I'm doing it to be helpful so you don't spend hours researching something the way I had to.  I would appreciate it if you actually looked at and read those resources/links/How To's so you don't call or email me incessantly when you are trying to get your projects together and have "Urgent Questions".  Again, about 99% of the time your questions have already been answered in one of my communications that you forgot about or deleted. 

Another thing that I've not been appreciating is the idea you have about dictating my schedule.  A few times recently I have found notes or emails regarding trainings and conference calls that you've volunteered me to lead.  I have my own schedule to keep and you do not know it so the hour notice for a training you set up that I'm expected to execute is just plain rude.  If there is a need and you all feel that I am the one to lead the charge on a training, etc then how about partnering with me on it and we can collaborate to figure out trainings, times and calls the suite everyone's schedules. 

It all boils down to the following:

1.  I am not your mom.
2.  I cannot read minds.
3.  I don't get paid to do your job, you do.
4.  Work together and share.
5.  If you're not organized it's not my problem.  You're an adult.

Regards,

Heather

What Happens in Vegas...

...happens because of the Food Network.

I'm in sunny Vegas this week for work! Yay, I get to see some summer weather this year, although it's not in Oregon.  This week has been pretty packed with meetings so far, but last night we split up into groups by work territory and went to dinner.  My group picked Tao, to my delight, for dinner.  I had first heard about Tao on the Food Network show, "Best Thing I Ever Ate...".  That particular episode featured the Chilean Sea Bass over asparagus from Tao and ever since I've wanted to go.  Lucky for me my work peers wanted to go as well.


It was a pretty interesting night because Tao also has an adjoining nightclub so the mix of people there was kind of funny. We were seated and instead of ordering separate dishes, we decided to do a family style 3 course meal.  It. Was. Fabulous.  Everything we ate I absolutely loved.  It was also SPENDY.  I will not tell you how much it cost for a group of 7 to eat dinner, but it was almost my 2 week paycheck. 

Giant Buddha in the center of the restuarant

Since it was a group dinner we decided to have the dinner served family style in 3 courses instead of everyone ordering separate dishes.  The first course was a Kobe beef tartar, a Tuna tartar, and a chicken potsticker.  I was hesitant to try to Kobe beef since it is RAW MEAT, however I was pleasantly surprised and truly enjoyed it.  The flavor was akin to a very rare steak instead of the bloody-iron taste I exptected.  The potstickers and the tuna were excellent as well.

The second course was a sushi and sashimi course.  They brought Kobe beef and avocado rolls, and Surf and Turf roll with Kobe beef and assorted fish, and then a shrimp roll with fish.  All were fabulous and I would have been happy to eat more of the same for the main course.

The main course was immense.  I wasn't expecting that much food and was already pretty full  when it came.  We were served thinly sliced marinated Kobe beef (I think it was just seared) with shitake mushrooms, pork fried rice, Kung Pao chicken, Thai chicken, Chinese sausage fried rice and Chilean Sea Bass over asparagus.  I was in absolute heaven.  That Chilean sea bass was like butter.  No joke.  Every single dish was amazing. 

I pulled the waiter aside at one point and let him know that we were also celebrating the promotion of my NEW BOSS, Ryan, and I wanted to have a little something special sent to him at the end of our meal.  The wait staff blew me away and brought Ryan a chocolate pudding parfait and a huge tray of special desserts for the table to share, free of charge.  There was a giant fortune cookie filled with vanilla and chocolate mousse, coconut ice cream and a fortune for each person at the table, little milk/dark/white chocolate Buddhas, chocolate ganache filled "spring rolls" with citrus dipping sauce and a few other little cookie and chocolate items that I couldn't identify. 

I would definitely go back, but I think I can only afford the Chilean Sea Bass and one other item... but totally worth it.

Mini chocolate Buddha... too cute!

I'm Not Dead! and Other Amazing Things

Yesterday and Monday were the WORST DAYS EVER to be sick.  I just have so much going on that I didn't have time to sleep and get better, which is precisely why my body was like, "Hey, let's go ahead and catch this cold/flu thing that is going around."  But I survived and today I feel back to my old self again, with an added bonus of congestion.  And even though I didn't have time, it was nice to be in bed for a whole day and eat soup.  I love soup.  You can eat a whole can of it and it's only like 120 calories. 

Between naps the past two days I've been busy packing up my stuff because BF and I start moving TOMORROW.  If that isn't awesome I don't know what is.  I can't even handle it because we will have the best, coolest, funnest house EVER.  You are all invited to come and see/experience the superbness once we are all moved in.  Also we get to eat pizza.  Because apparently that's what you eat when you move.  I'm not going to argue with that.

BF also got his teacher business cards in the mail the other day.  I didn't realize that teachers had business cards, but I guess when you are substituting it's good to be able to leave contact info with schools.  Oh the things I don't think of.  Anyhow, they are pretty snazzy, with a blackboard and a jaunty pile of books on them.  Jealous?  I am.  Mine are plain white with alternating sports figures and sports equipment on them and orange lettering.  I want purple ones.


So now you all can rest easy because I am on the mend... I know you were worried.


To come... more product reviews and the deal with magnetic bracelets.

Texas, Tennessee, Texas, HOME

I've disappeared for over a week. I know.



I've been in Tennessee since the begining of last week and I'm currently in Texas again. Again because if you'll remember I was just in Texas.

Last weekend, as I was enjoying being back at home, doing laundry and watching movies, I found out that my grandfather had passed away.

I want to pause here and tell you what a truly wonderful man my grandpa was. We weren't really blood relatives, but he married my grandma and adopted my dad when he was very young so he's the only dad my father really knew and the only grandpa I've ever known on that side of the family. He worked hard serving his country in the military and then came back and served his community on the police force. He was very handy- always making furniture for us little kids and building all sorts of items for the house. I remember him always having multiple projects going on and he'd finish every single one of them. My grandpa was also a true gentleman. He treated my grandmother (and all "ladies") with the utmost respect. It was his goal to leave very little for my grandma to do around the house- not that it ever really stopped her from doing what she wanted to do anyway, but he tried.

One of my fondest memories of my grandpa is from Thanksgiving a few years back. We had flown out to visit a week before so no one else was in town just yet. He had a hankering for a pie, but it was getting late and we couldn't really run to the store so he poked around the kitchen and came up with his own idea for a pie. He called it "Buttermilk Pie", and guess what the main ingredient was? Buttermilk. I was curious since I don't normally think of buttermilk as being appetizing or as a main ingredient for any dessert. I watched as he combined sugar and eggs and some spices and then poured the creamy mixture into a pie crust and gently set it in the oven. A little while later he pulled out a pretty looking pie. We let it cool and then he cut a generous slice and set it on a plate in front of me. "Why don't you try that and tell me what you think," he said. I tentatively slid my fork into the custard-like filling and smelled the bite before I stuck it gingerly into my mouth. I was shocked. It was like Egg Nog and vanilla pudding had been combined into a silky delicious pie. I loved it. I've looked up recipes since for a "Buttermilk Pie" but none of them seem to be close to what he made.

Roy Gorman was a loving grandfather who had the warmest disposition and the sweetest, oddest nicknames for us all. I was "Heatherini", my cousin was dubbed "Turtle Head" (who knows why, he didn't look like a turtle at all), and countless other ones I won't mention here (to spare those involved the certain embarassment to follow).

I went to work on Monday not knowing what the plan was and I already had plane tickets to Dallas (for work). I waited all morning to hear from my family what was going on with the funeral, etc. Finally my dad called me and let me know the details. I talked to my wonderful boss and she told me to go ahead and cancel my work trip to Texas and get down to Tennessee to be with my family.

I flew out of Portland at ass o'clock in the morning (6am) on Tuesday which meant that I had to get up at 3:30 to leave the house shortly after 4 in order to arrive at PDX at 4:30 and make my boarding call. I had a quick layover in Denver and then continued to Nashville, TN where my dad and uncle picked my mom and myself up. We had to travel in our dress clothes because we went straight from the airport to the viewing.

We stayed at the funeral home for the viewing until 8 pm (central time) and I was exhausted and starving by then. Wednesday afternoon was the memorial service and funeral service. It was really strange looking at this skinny pale man lying in a casket with waxy looking skin and wispy hair. It didn't look like my grandpa or feel like my grandpa (yeah, I'm weird like that and stuck my hand into the casket to touch his hands- it just seemed like I should) or smell like his old man aftershave. I had a very hard time watching my grandma stop at the casket and kiss my grandpa one last time on the forehead and stroke his cheek

It was quite windy and cold out so we didn't linger that long in the cemetery. When we got back to the house the phone rang and before I could reach it the machine picked up. My grandpa's voice was still the greeting and it echoed through the house in a strange comforting way. I just sort of stood in the hall and listened to it and breathed really deeply- the house still smells like his aftershave and cologne. I think he's used the same ones since before I was born.

I think I was in a pretty good fog for a couple of days- I wasn't really super emotional, I was just sort of exhausted. I think sometimes that's how I handle tough situations; not getting overly emotional or stressed, I just sort of float through it and try to bouy every else up with me.

My grandma and dad did a wonderful job planning everything.

It was an emotionally draining few days. I stayed the rest of the week in Tennessee with the family; got to visit the "kin folk" that I normally don't get to see or talk to, so that was nice. The weather warmed up while we were there and by the time I flew out of Memphis on Sunday evening it was 70 degrees and sunny.

So now I'm in Texas for a few days.

AND it's my birthday week. I'm a quarter of a century old. I can now think of myself as old if I want to, but I don't have to... yet.

I'm exhausted and ready to be home, but being home won't slow life down. I've got a "To Do" list ten miles long.

I promise I'll post some pretty pictures from Texas and whatnot soon.

It's Too Nice Out to Work...

Today was "catch up" day at work because a bunch of people are out sick or traveling this week so I have some peace and quiet and time to finish straggling projects.

BUT it was so beautiful today it was hard to get anything done at all. I took a walk today and took some pictures just to get out before the rain and cold hits us again.
















Also, I have a complaint for the powers that be at work. Mostly, it's a complaint to the building designers.

On our floor there is one women's restroom. That restroom has 3 stalls. There are over 100 women on said floor. There is rarely a time where I don't have to wait to use the bathroom. Even when people are out sick or traveling.

I need to end on a positive note, but I'll have to just do a separate post because it is so not even close to related to this one.

Absence = Good News

So I might have been missing for a few weeks here. Why?
Because I'm so fancy...



I'm SO FANCY because I got a new job.


(giving you space to freak out here... I know you are excited)


I still work for the same company, but I got somewhat of a promotion. You see, the girl that had this job got a different job in a different department- which by most accounts needed to happen (don't judge me, I don't cause the office gossip). Also, my boss left the company (more office drama but I don't have the energy to go into it). So my ex-boss's boss, who the other girl was working for (lost yet?) called me up and was like, "Hey, why don't we have you fill in for So-and-So until we find a permanent replacement."

And of course I was like, "Sounds great."

So I was "filling in" for a couple of weeks and then got the job. Permanently.

What does this mean?


This means AWESOME. That's what it means.

But really it means that I now have my own office/work space in a really cool building at HQ. It means I can walk from my building across the sidewalk to our own private store/salon/restaurant/fancy hang out for lunch and hot cocoa. It means I can go for a run around WHQ if I feel like it. It means I can clip my badge on my pants pocket and look all important and stuff because I actually get to use it to GET INTO BUILDINGS... because, as I said, I am fancy like that.

More importantly, it means my morning commute has been cut in half.

Lastly, it means that I am the busiest I've ever been at work because a lot goes in to getting acquainted to a new job during the holidays. And a lot goes into trying to figure out how to best do my new job since the powers that be decided my role should evolve from what the job originally was (which is a good thing).

So, sorry my sweets, but until I get it more under control I will only be sneak-blogging while I can grab a second here and there.

In other news: OMG- it's almost Christmas!