Update... Aug 9, 2006

Wow!!! I am sure some of you have wondered if I was ever going to send out another update… you may have thought “has she forgotten?” “has she abandoned this ritual?” “has she been kidnapped by aliens?” or the worst one… “has she been just so bored to tears that nothing good is going on!” Well, rest assured that life has been heading down the tracks at full speed and it is definitely time for an Update.

There is so much to tell… so much to talk about… but so little time. So let’s just skim the surface, here is the “Cliff Notes” of Updates!

I had told you all that my company had been bought out, and yes the changing of the guard has happened. Someone came in and replaced “Big Brother” with “Bigger Other Brother”. There are now a new set of accountants wanting to know “why did you expense that?” and a whole new set of managers wanting to know “why do you need a day off?”, but you simply smile and give the same answers. Don’t get me wrong this wasn’t a completely painless process. There was bloodshed, there were layoffs, and there were a few days that we all were just sort of shell shocked. It was really strange you knew it was coming, you new the “re-org” was going to happen, but knowing about it and it happening are two different things. The re-org took one morning to do. You could almost see the mushroom cloud afterward. The entire reporting structure has changed, all of the teams have changed it was a complete facelift. We all stood in our aisles and talked about what new team you were on, who was let go, who is still here, and what were our predictions for the future. The entire cube farm was buzzing (yes I said “farm” that is what people are referring to these massive layouts of cubes, doesn’t that just sound like something out of the matrix? How 1984 is that?) Any way we were all talking like women in a sewing circle for days, but the storm is passing and we are at least starting to come back to life. Things are settling down, and it gives me that little slice of time to do things… like author an update.

Outside of work things have been going great, and only seem to be getting better! I have a vacation planned to NYC and one to Hawaii that are going to be happening in the next two months! Yay me!! I am going to “Sex and the City” and “Hawaii 5-0” all in a span of 4 weeks… Gonna go see a broadway show or two, and then head to hula lessons! Which means that my next few updates should be quite jam packed with stories from afar.

I have to put in a consumer note here. I am a patron of Starbucks. Why? You might ask, because the coffee here at the office is awful. It tastes like dirt, it actually tastes worse than dirt, more like dirt from the bottom of a landfill it is bad, bad I tell you. So if you need that morning coffee, you have to bring your own… it really is your only choice! So I go to the same starbucks everyday. I order the same thing everyday. And the same thing happens everyday… I walk in and the gentleman (same guy nearly everyday) looks at me and says with a smile on his face “Welcome to starbucks, what can I get for you today?” I say, “Two Venti Drips with Room at the top” (I carpool in and my carpool buddy gets a Venti drip as well). He then asks, “would you like anything to eat?” I always so “No thank you”. I am always thinking, I don’t want to eat one of your cinnamon rolls or muffins or coffee cakes that are 8000 calories. Then he says “would you like to sample our new Tangerine Orange Frappuccino?” I always so “No.” I don’t want to try anything, I don’t want to eat anything, I just want coffee… just coffee… don’t up sell me, I realize it is his job, I realize that is what he gets paid for, but if I have declined these repeated attempts a million times, why keep asking? Anyway, so some time back I go in to that Starbucks and I go up to the same guy and we go through the same dance we always do, and I think this is just who he is… and then it happens… a woman walks in and he looks at her and says “Good morning Michelle, Venti Non-Fat Latte?” she says “Yes!” He then says, “Wow you are dressed up today, do you have a meeting?” What?!?! How is it possible that she doesn’t have to go through the gauntlet? Why did he ask her if she wanted to try a “Green-tea white chocolate pomegranate frappuccino” or how about a piece of latest fattening pastry… oh look over there a walnut crumb cake, you want that? No, she merely walked through the door and got what she wanted… no frills, no time wasted on the unnecessary, I am actually surprised the drink wasn’t almost ready for her when she walked in. I need to know how she did it, how did she manage to get this guy to remember her drink… someone needs to tell me. So I still battle it. It still happens, but I dream of the day when all our children can walk into a starbucks and merely get what they order.

I have a bowling milestone for you. I am not a good bowler. I actually quite stink at it. But Jon and I have been bowling a few times. My whole goal in bowling is merely to break 100 in a game. If I do that I really feel like I did well. Even if the score is merely 101, I feel like I did a good job. So, last week we went bowling. I put on my little bowling shoes, go over and pick my ball and begin to bowl. The first game a got over 120… that is great! I am thinking that probably means that I am not going to see another score over 100, but the next game, I bowl 104. Whoa! That is great, two in a row, I am feeling like my name should be Marge and it should be embroidered, in cursive (they always use cursive just find that interesting) on a pink bowling shirt. So game 3 rolls around. I have NEVER bowled 3 games over 100… it has never happened. Game 3 is over, and I bowled again over 120. The last frame I bowled 2 strikes in row! I am elated, I am having a good time and ready to just bowl out the rest of our hour and go home happy. Well, we start the last game with like 8 minutes left on the lane. In the 6th frame we ran out of time, but I had just bowled a turkey! That is 3 strikes in a row!!! So, we ask the guys if we can have 5 more minutes to finish the game. I am feeling like that old guy on “Caddy Shack” who is golfing the best game of his life. I am waiting for the lightening! So, I throw the next ball… another strike. Four in a row. Ok, this is never going to happen again so I am just enjoying it! I have my seat belt on and I am along for the ride. I am excited. Things simmer down from the, but I ended the game with a 178. My highest score ever, and most likely a record that will stand until my dying day, but it was exciting. We ended up actually going out to celebrate, and how do you celebrate a score like that, beer and bar food baby!!! It was a great night, one for the ages. If you ever get a chance to bowl a 178, I highly recommend it.


Anyway, I am going to close this one here. Hope you all have a great day!

Peace, love, and high scoring bowling!!!
Martha