Living, Learning and Kelly Clarkson Cures All

I'll admit I'm a little more guarded than most. Be it friendship, love, or just plain sex, I don't give of myself easily. And so when I do give of myself, I tend to give a lot. For the most part I think rationally. This in and of itself is not necessarily a bad thing, but when one can not escape the realities of being a stupid girl it mades those stupid mistakes all the more difficult to bear and it makes getting over those stupid mistakes nearly impossible. I found myself in an extremely awkward position last night and one which I feel I overcame with a fair amount of grace. It wasn't easy: my ears burned and I briefly wanted to die, but in the end I realized that that there are few things that can't be forgotten over a few beers with friends followed by a long walk in the sunshine with my dog and my all girl guilty pleasure playlist.

Happy Mother's Day

From IMDB:
Hilton's Mother's Day Marred by Thieves

Hotel heiress Paris Hilton is fuming after thieves made off with a $10,000 bag of Mother's Day presents on Sunday. The brazen robbers snatched the gifts, which included Christian Dior shoes, sunglasses, handbags and perfume, from outside the Hiltons' palatial residence in Los Angeles. The bag had been left unwatched at the gate as the delivery person rang the intercom to gain access to the house. Hilton's spokesman Elliot Mintz says, "A fellow just whizzed by (in a car) and grabbed the package. (Paris) spent three or four hours shopping to put together this wonderful collection of things for her mom." Instead of being showered with presents, Kathy Hilton was treated to dinner at an exclusive nearby restaurant instead.

Geez, my sister and I thought we were doing good with our giftcard for Chico's and I thought I was doing really good by emptying the dishwasher without complaining. Sorry, Mom! We love you!

On the Job

When I was first out of graduate school and looking for a job, I read in one of those women's magazines (the ones that women buy under the guise of beauty or health advice and the latest fashions but are indeed picking up to find out how to better their orgasm or please their man) that you learn more from the jobs that you don't get than the ones you do. At the time, I was living with my parents and living with looming thought that perhaps my dad was right, maybe I should have gone to law school, maybe I should have majored in business so I naturally thought the comment was bullshit.

It's only now over two years later that I realized that the magazine had it right. I recently applied for and was offered an interview for another position. And turned it down. It was the first time since I'd looked for a job that I was in the position to reject and it felt incredible. I like my job and I'm still learning, not many people can say that. It presents some unique challenges and I've had some interesting opportunities.

I'd been taking for granted. Applying for that job opened my eyes to the possibilities that still exist in my own job and has allowed me to take a renewed interest in a position with which I thought I was finished. I can't say that I approach each task with newfound fervor, but I'm looking forward to coming to work each day and that was something I'd been missing for awhile. I don't know that I'd have found that had I not been in a position to reject the interview. So what do you know? That damn magazine was right (not about the orgasm, though).

For Me?

So I walk into the office this morning a little late. I stop briefly to drop off the goodies I've baked er bought for a baby shower and head to my office where I find a nondescript, wrapped package sitting in my chair. From the wrapping it was impossible to tell the nature of the gift. I knew it came from Kaufmann's and that the Post-it contained my name, but was unsure of anything else. I'll admit I was a bit giddy at the thought of receiving a present, just because, and so perhaps I ripped into it a little more eagerly than I should have or would have normally. I opened it and found a cute little dress obviously intended for a baby girl. Thinking first of the attorney (who I knew was having a girl) being given the shower that afternoon, I turned on my computer to begin drafting an email attempting to explain my mistake and let her know that I'd be sending the unwrapped gift her way. As my email program loaded, I noticed an email from one of our members with the subject line: GIFT.

As it turns out the gift was not for our attorney, but the g.c. for one of our clients. Upon learning this, I notified the receptionist that I would be out of the office for a bit and headed to the mall to have the gift rewrapped. So maybe I stopped for a caramel machiatto (with soymilk) along the way and maybe I went into Yankee Candle, but whatever, I was in obvious distress; it was understandable. When I arrived at Kaufmann's I found that the gift wrap counter would not be open until 11:oo. Rather than wait an hour, I headed to the nearest stationer where I purchased wrapping paper and performed the emergency surgery on the table outside the Dairy Queen. When I snuck back into my office, I found another email from the attorney this one telling me that there was "no rush."