Long time
It seems I am not very good at this... Not my best blogging year, that's for sure.
There are a lot of things I had this last year, but time was not really one of them. I am not even tempted to hope that this year will be any better. Experience has showed me that even when you think that things cannot get worse (in terms of the amount of things you have to do...), they do.
Oh well. Nothing really new under the sun, as they say. The house is coming along nicely. A lot of finishing off took place in the holidays, so now you actually get the impression that it's trulely almost done (the interior that is). We got some new furniture (chairs and armchairs).
Winter holidays were for once quite relaxing. I am not sure I got to sleep so extensively in a very very long time. Which was really worth it, and cannot happen if you go somewhere, no matter how fun that place would be.
Not sure I want to make any hopes or wishes or new year resolutions this time. I guess I'll take it one day at a time.
Today's remark: I hate cold mornings especially when it's your first working day after the holidays and there still is no hot chocolate in the damn machine!!!!
Activities
A lot going on lately. And more to come. It is by far the busiest period of the year at work, and when you actually have a life too (quite some colleagues don't...), it gets pretty jammed.
Good part, just spent 4 days in Paris. Not for business luckily. It is very much another planet even if it takes 1h15 to get there by train. Weather was just great, in the 20s, sunny and all. Then the moment we got back to Belgium, it was raining and 12°C. At least you wouldn't have the impression that you are still on holiday...
Even less so when next morning I spent 2h30 in a traffic jam to get to work. People should just stay home if they can't handle rain. Like the whole country should stay home. And I am surely not the only one to think so.
Future things to do: finish painting the livingroom, put the floor in the livingroom, wait for the fireplace to be placed, then sit and relax.
Three
Curious to make a review of what I wrote last year:
- I am not offended by being called Madam, or Madame, or Mevrouw -
they'd better, who do they think I am, some young chick they can mess up with?! - I feel delighted when people call me Miss -
still, but then I snap back: "Madam!"- I graduated both my degrees -
and I don't remember anything from them and I wouldn't go studying again not even if they paid me!- I have been partying more than in my teen years together -
broke the percentage, my idea of a perfect Saturday night became dropping dead tired after a whole day of cleaning the house- I have become wiser ;-) -
Absolutely!- I put on weight, lost weight, put on weight, lost weight, etc
- same, must be something wrong with my cooking: one month I cook, one month I don't cook...- I sleep less -
sure, there's so much more to life now that we have a TV- I started drinking espresso -
not only did I start, but I do it again and again, and it's sooo good, event bought a device to do it in the privacy of my kitchen- I became co-owner of a house -
for crying out loud, do we really have to pay that much??!!- I still haven't got my drivers licence -
oh, I have it, and it feels sooo good, and sooo liberating, and sooo fast, and I managed not to get a speed fine yet! I want another car now.- I go shopping more -
no comment- I cook less (just wait till I have a kitchen :-) -
connected to the above. kitchen is there. so what?- I shout more -
and more- I daydream less -
no way! far more! depends about what!- I nag more -
no comment; I should have a phase-out strategy on that...- I fall asleep at work easier -
sure, unless there's something entertaining to keep me awake...- I find jobs easier -
of course, I'm good- I lose my patience easier -
what's patience?...- I bike faster (than a snail) -
oh, is that the thing with two wheels rusting slowly in the garage?...- I speak better Dutch and worse Romanian -
ja zeker- I know more people -
do I really know somebody?...- I have better IT skills -
dha-ah. gimme a problem and I'll make it worse- I change my mind more often -
nope, I clearly know what I want- if I had a choice, I would never iron again (why is there a dishwasher but not an ironing-machine-slave-robot-slave-something?) -
Always. I mean, yes, never!!- the Husband hears/listens less what I say and more digital TV -
does he have ears? can't tell. :-)- he mumbles more -
don't know, I don't hear- he drinks more tea and less coffee -
just a PR strategy- we speak worse English -
wat?- he works a lot in the house -
ja, ja (thank you!)- I come home later, if I can, and wake up later, if I can too -
I wake up earlier and come home later, yes- the Husband still loves me (confirmed this morning)
- I still love the Husband (confirmed too)
Atlanta II
Luckily, there are no weird pictures showing up from my colleagues' cameras (yet...).
Also, I learned that the best place to be at 3am after a few cocktails and related drinks is behind the "official" event camera. Not sure how guilty I can be considered, since the camera wasn't mine and the person who put some photos online is yet somebody else - can they prove I pushed the button?... No, I'm not gonna give you that link, but I can show you what I was doing before taking over the above-mentioned camera:
This was 2am, in a hotel room. Oh, and yes, I had guys picking up the balls for me, I didn't break any window and I scored more than the 'champions'. Maybe I should count more on luck. Play the lottery or something.
US
Not "us" as in "you and me", but "US",
THE "US", the one and only and centre of the Universe "US".
I do owe you some thoughts and pictures on my US trip last week.
- multiple
advantages- "diet" not "light" (what
diet?...)
- yes, all handsome men we saw were gay (ok, ok, I may be generalising, that's why another trip to the US would bring more evidence...)
- very, very hot outside and very, very cold inside (it was impossible to adjust temperature in the meeting rooms; I wish I had a picture of us going outside to 40° with long sleeves and trousers and a hot tea in our hands)
The view from the 28th floor of my hotel room wasn't bad.
Not sure you knew (I didn't...) that Atlanta is the hometown of Coke. So this brought us to a visit at the "World of Coca Cola". I can't say much, but it sure was a great proof of American entertainment.
Not sure this was a modern Southern attitude, but it was the Afro-American woman in the picture putting the bottles on the conveyor belt...
Special emphasis to be given to the Georgia Aquarium, which is by the way the world's largest. We also had a very nice dinner over there. And yes, it was fish...
First stop, the balugas. Have you every seen horny whales (pardon my straightforwardness...)? Well, I have. Size surely matters. These very nice big fish were up to something (couldn't tell if it was a group thing or not...). Couldn't really get interesting moments on the camera, since they were moving a bit too fast for my pocket Nikon. I cannot but wonder: considering extinction, is under-water really efficient?...
Now then. More fish. Nice fish, and ugly fish.
Me and Happy Feet:
Jelly fish...
The "screen saver" type of image:
Security warnings: (the undertext says "avalanche warning high today"...)
And the happy morning moments:
Mess update
Since renovation = mess...
These are rather old, but since I only managed to download my pictures yesterday evening...
It concerns the guest bedroom upstairs (in case you plan to stop by, to know what to expect). I only have the pictures of the wall we (my husband...) re-did completely.
Before... :
More "before"... :
Almost "after" (since now you can find carpet, door, furniture...):
More mess to come...
Away
I shall be travelling across the ocean.
It is for work, but colleagues tell me that it can be loads of fun. It is our annual trip to the
States for an intensive, unforgetable and prolongued exchange of best practices session.
It will be my first such direct contact with the American reality. I am really trying (hard...) to keep an open mind. I am currently making a list of things I should do / not do over there.
- not carry anything dangerous in my handluggage (like perfume or, god knows, mascara)
- not say "god", but "gosh"
- not stare at handsome (if any) male colleagues for trying to avoid lawsuits on harrassment
- not access questionable sites on the hotel connection
- not touch too many things since
they have my fingerprints already
- not expect good coffee or small portions
- take my big suitcase, you never know
- linked to the above, go shopping
- in the end, be able to imitate the Texas, Georgia and New York accents for starters
- play the sophisticated European
- show genuine interest in football, baseball, elections (with care), Oscars, cowboys, aliens, diets and Santa Claus
Provided I don't forget my camera, I will come back with interesing things to share.
Wish
This is one of the days where I have to repeat in my head "my job makes me feel important"* in order to go on. Must be the weather.
Coming to work at 7.30 in the morning has its ups and downs. People think I'm a bit crazy when by 9am I'm very hyper and eager to see things done, when nobody has yet started on their coffees. If they could actually say what they really think, it would probably be in the form of "Relax, take it ee-ee-sy, 'cause there is nothing that we can't do"... Luckily, singing is not a job requirement.
So, while they are adjusting to reality, I can have a daydreaming session (in line with "what women want"):
- I wish the weather were better cause I didn't pay that much on bikini to keep them in the cubboard, and my legs are still white
- I wish I could work on the beach (in relation to the above) and have a good cocktail next to me and some good-looking male assistants at my disposal
- I wish my car had better airco and bigger trunk and more horse-power and a "detecting and avoiding idiots on the road" mechanism and it should be red and it should be German not French
- I wish there were some masseurs around to deal with various aches and pains every half and hour or so
- I wish I could just go to sleep for a few hours and when awake, the above mentioned assistants will have finished all my work
- I wish I could do fun things every day; several times a day
- I wish I could go to a fancy restaurant every day; once a day is fine
- I wish this office were warmer than the North Pole and the internet were down at least every once in a while so that I don't find so many distractions...
All in all, I do a "very good" job. I was told. I have mails to prove it. That is actually what I'm trying to do now, I'm searching for mails of praise from clients and colleagues to attach to my up-coming half-year review.
*this is a quote from a recent employee satisfaction survey I had to fill in...
