Operation 23: Day 19

So, I'm lying here watching Music and Lyrics. Not Oscar winning, but I like it! I also went down to my building's store and got some movie SweetTarts. They just started to taste like I'm eating pure sugar, so I still have many left. Anyway, I realized that my time is due for work on a day that I'm off, so I'll be figuring it out this weekend. I'll also be packing and cleaning. Jealous yet?

I so need a break. My mind is gone. . .just gone. . .I'm kind of on auto-pilot and going through the motions. I could also quite possibly need sleep, since I passed out on my bed at 10:30 last night.

Ok, I swear Drew Barrymore's hair just went from blonde to red in the movie. Weird.

Operation 23: Day 18

Do you know how many people are born in December? So many! Had my roomie's bday dinner last night at Deleece Grill. . .pretty good! I woke up still full! I enjoy big dinners though - it's always nice to see everybody.

Ok, so at my office we're closed for the holiday. As a result, we get less vacation time, because you get the holiday time off too. Well, now they expect us to possibly work during our holiday days. It's kind of an interesting dilemma because if I took them as vacation days, there would be no such expectation. Then, however, we would all be fighting over the holiday days. . .so I guess you can't win. Anyway, after all the holiday craziness, it makes me grumpy to think about it.

On another note: I finished all of my XMas shopping! Well. . .except for my little dog. . .but she'll deal. So nice to have that done. Now I just need to pack. . .

Operation 23: Day 17

I've been asked why I didn't do the obligitory "OMFG. There was a blizzard. It took SO long to get home last night!". Well, I can see the traffic from my office, so I knew I should take the train. Commute was a breeze!

Another crazy workload day. . .meeting all morning and catching up all afternoon. Escaped at lunch to do some Xmas shopping and stumbled upon the Gap's $10 scarves/hats/gloves sale. Bought 3 scarves just for me. . .and hats for the boys in my life. Called those closest to me from the Gap to see what they wanted and my mom mentioned that my brother needed a hat. So, since he's super picky, I called him to see what stipulations he had. Convo went something like this:

Me: Ian! They have $10 hats/scarves/gloves at the Gap! Mom said you need a hat, what kind do you want?
Ian: Well, the kind I lost was a driver's cap but -
Me: Did I mention that I'm at the Gap? What kind of knit winter hat do you want? Stripes? No stripes? Any specific manly dark color?
Ian: Oh. Uh, gray is fine. I guess anything without a cartoon character will do.

But, my afternoon came to a screeching halt when I found out that the Cowardly Lion found his very own Dorothy (well. . .if the Cowardly Lion and Dorothy ever hooked up. . .which might appear in the sequel to Wicked. . .who knows). Anyway, Drew Peterson is engaged again. . .to a 23 year-old. All I could think of are those creepy guys who go "I keep getting older and they stay the same age! heh heh." I don't know her name, because I call her Death Wish. Hopefully this one will stay alive. . .but I don't have high hopes.

Also, found this little gem online. Apparently LG doesn't know what a washer and dryer are (ok, dirty little secret. . .sometimes I like to look at appliances online. shutup.). You click on it and it shows you refrigerators. It's like being the first girl to fall asleep at the slumber party all over again. . .

ooh! My washer/dryer has an ice maker!

Operation 23: Day 16

Holiday parties are catching up with me. . .physically. Had planned to wear an outfit today and the skirt was a little tight. whoopsies! It's super cold out, so I sported running pants under my skirt today. . .hott (side note: homegirl don't run. I just own the pants).

We're getting to the part of the year that is pretty nuts. We're starting to feel the impact of not being around most of next week and having to get stuff out the door. The meetings, lunches, etc. are also happening more frequently, so there are less hours in the office. Cap that with a blizzard and us being told to get out early, and there is 0 time for anything. For example, here was my schedule today:

9:10: Arrive at work. Missed the 9am meeting due to a late bus.
10am: Call
11am: Call
11:45am: Leave for holiday lunch with client
3pm: Get back to office
3:30pm: Internal Meeting
4pm: Agency-wide meeting
4:15: More internal meeting

So yeah, work doesn't get done. Anyway, tomorrow I get to try to finish my holiday shopping and then hopefully get even closer to 23!

Operation 23: Day 15

Brrrr. I'm laying in bed in my comforter and my feet are freezing! The heater doesn't reach my room, so I have to sleep with my door open in the winter. Boo.

Today flew by. . .which could be good and bad. I have a ton to do, and it feels like I have no time to accomplish everything. The downside to all this holiday merriment is that it takes hours out of my work day when we leave early to go to parties, or have holiday lunches. . .or whatnot. Today was holiday party #5 - the account team outing. We left around 4 (or 4:15 if you're me) and headed to Elephant and Castle for some appetizers and drinks (or Coke if you're me again, thanks to my loverly sinus infectch). Typically our account team outings are:

1) long
and
B) way out of hand

This one only lasted 2 hours and was pretty tame. Fun fact: They don't do slumber parties in England! I learned that tonight.

Got my new knee-length down coat. . .just in time! Stupid deep freeze. It also has a hood. So crucial. What's worse than 5-degree weather? 5-degree weather and Chicago winds off the lake. If you've never felt your sinuses freeze, it's quite the experience. Thank goodness I'll get to be in balmy, tropical Cleveland soon. . .where it's actually warm enough to snow!

Have holiday party #6 tomorrow. Until then. . .

Operation 23: Day 14

Today was improvriffic. Had my 3 hour class, which was the last class of the session. Some of my favorite classmates are taking different teachers next session, so that's always rough. With only 2 sessions left, I hope to have them in class again, but it may not work out that way.

Grabbed a Happy Meal and McDonalds totally changed their hot chocolate recipe. It used to be phenomenal, and now it takes like warm Hershey's chocolate milk. yuck! I threw it away. And they didn't give a My Little Pony toy, I got the Bionacle one instead Clearly I'm a girl! I demand ponies!

Had to head back to the theater by 6:30 for call time for our class show tonight. Jennifer, Melissa, and Jack came, so we headed out for a drink after. Basically, we do a 25 minute show that explores themes of a suggestion provided by the audience. The suggestion we got: gay people. Really? Ugh. Not an easy one. Also not a great show for me, but the nice thing about improv is that when you have a bad show, you never have to do that show again.

I just realized who Joel Osteen reminds me of (in looks only). . .Ed Grimley.


Going completely mental, they must say.

Operation 23: Day 13

Got to sleep in, which is always well-needed. Decided to be lazy and watch tv most of the day. I can't even tell you what I watched. . .I believe What Not to Wear was involved. Oh! And lots of my Office DVD extras.

Went to Shawn's Holiday Party (that's party #4 for those of you keeping score at home). Due to the antibiotics I'm on for my sinus infection, I'm not supposed to drink. It was a complete shame because they had gourmet jello shots that I hear were really good. I ended up getting a horrible migraine and having to leave early. Only with a migraine, does your head pound, you feel like puking, and you can't even have the pleasure of watching tv.

Also, how creepy is Joel Osteen? He's on Larry King Live right now and is creeping the crap out of me. Too much crooked smiling. I bet the Duggars love him.

Operation 23: Day 12

Feeling a little crappy today. . .went to the doctor to check out this sinus blockage situation. I met a woman who has some major heart problems and wanted to know if the doctor was nice. She was telling me about her heart deformity and mentioned that her friend who had it also had an aneurysm. As I talked to her, I noticed that she had tears in her eyes. I can't imagine her fear.

Anyway, I do have a sinus infection (sounds fairly minor), so I had to get nasal spray and a Z-pack. awesome.

Lots going on at work, but I'm just kinda tired. Getting my stuff done, but still. . .

My appetite is funky. I'm hungry and then I eat and I'm like "Whoa. This is a lot of food." Seriously, I couldn't finish a Boca burger patty today. Not even a burger, just the patty. wtf?

Have you seen the Give Joy Give More commercial for Carson Pirie Scott? I hate it. They play it twice a commercial break. I tried to find it online to link here, but it's not available. tear.

Ok, getting a bit woozy. later-o!

Operation 23: Day 10

For a split second today, I thought XMas is next week. P.S. It's not.

A rare quiet day at work. . .rather nice! I felt kinda directionless as a result, but whatevs. Nasty sinus pressure, which I never get! I had used a Neti Pot earlier in the day (YouTube it), and I couldn't get the fluid to come out my other nostil, so I was convinced it was stuck in my face all day. Yuck!

Got home around 6 and Got about 3.5 hours worth of stuff off my DVR. Yay! Was gonna make salad for dinner, but my lettuce was gross. . .like liquid gross. So, instead I had waffles (Kashi Waffles, so I feel slightly less guilty).

Tried the Neti Pot again and almost got it to work. Saw some of the gunk in my nasal passages (hope you're eating right now!), so I count it an almost success. Everybody on YouTube makes it look so easy. I think my sinuses are layed out like the streets in Shaker Heights (Google Map it. It's f-ing impossible to get around there).

Also cleared Dad off my XMas list and found my mom and he the coolest gift. I'll need to remember to tell you about it after the holidays. . .in case they read my blog. If you leave a comment, I'll email you what it is. It's great for snowy locations and it's only $10!

Ok, time for sleepy. yay! Gonna start the process on my 3-day brownies tomorrow.

Operation 23: Day 9

How are we still in single-digit days on this operation? my oh my.

Had Holiday Party #3 last night. It was a function for advertising professionals who belong to a variety of different ad/mktg orgs at Rockit. Rockit is a bar downtown where if somebody famous is in town, odds are they are hanging out there. swank. Took some clients and there was actually substantial food (a carvery! yay!), and I didn't eat anything fried.

Work is calming down a little bit, which is nice. . .and it's also nice not to have any more work holiday parties for the rest of the week.

Ended up catching up with a couple of former coworkers at the event, and met the person who took over one of my accounts. Poor thing! I decided to schlep over to catch a bus (I just don't trust cab drivers in icy/slushy weather) and waited for about 10 minutes in a blizzard, and then the bus was full. At 9:30pm the bus was packed!! Some dude scooted by me (presumably to get off the bus), and then I see him seated in the back! It was all I could do not to march back there and go "Seriously? Are you serious? You knocked over a dozen people so YOU could sit DOWN?" But then he'd probably give me some story about how his leg hurt because a car hit it as he helped an elderly lady down the street, but he's ok with it, because at least it was him getting hurt and not her. Or everybody would look at me like I'm a crazy bitch with some major issues. Or. . .both.

Ended up getting home around 10. Watched last week's Top Chef and went to bed. sigh.

Operation 23: Day 8

How come none of these days feel like I'm getting any closer to 23? sigh.

Had to get to the Blue Line in the Loop this morning to visit a client for a morning meeting. Decided to plot out my trip the night before on the CTA Website, got to the stop early and then. . .no buses. I then saw the bus I needed pass the stop, completely bulging with people, with no buses behind it. Awesome. Got on this not-so-express bus that didn't really go near where I needed, and ended up almost knocking over a couple post-menopausal women to meet my coworkers.

There has to be little worse than a half day meeting to start off a Monday. I want some doctor to give me a medical condition that indicates my inability to focus throughout a 3 hour meeting. They're brutal. I'm also a little bitter because I had scheduled a vacay day for today. . .

Some weird vibes and defensiveness in the office, but I'm so past taking the blame for shit that isn't my fault. So annoying.

Got home around 6:15. . .downright early! Finished up my South Park script (actually formatted it. . .blech) and watched the uber creepy Duggar family.

Gift idea: www.wholesomewear.com. I recommend the culotte suit. hott.

Operation 23: Day 7

Ah, another non-work day. I could get used to this! Today, I did nothing holiday related. It was glorious.

Went to improv and nearly bit it on a sheet of ice near Wrigley. Awesome. We just registered for the next session of class on Friday, so we were all talking about who's taking whom. Sadly, most of my class is taking other teachers, but I met someone in my new class, and she said that the people are pretty supportive and cool, so that's nice to hear. We have our class show next week, which made this week kinda weird. That and having 2 weeks off. . .so hopefully next week we'll be great!

Popped into Whole Foods and got a pizza for Jack and me. It takes 20 minutes, so usually I just go around and eat all the samples (today: panettone, sourdough, and tortilla chips) and then buy something I don't really need. I'm now the proud new owner of a jar of Burt's Bees Almond Milk hand cream. Seeing as the tops of my hands were so dry they were bleeding the other day, I think it will be put to good use.

Watched the finale of the Amazing Race. . .no spoilers, but I always love at the end when the team runs to the mat and all the other teams clap for them. If you look closely, Dallas and his mom didn't make it. I have a feeling they were stuck in Russia since Dallas lost their passports!

I'm having major DVR guilt, since I have most of my shows from last week still on it! I think I know what I'll be doing tomorrow night. . .

Operation 23: Day 6

Typically, I schedule my hair appts pretty early. Thankfully, I didn't do that this time, so I got to sleep in a little. And yeah, I think I slept about 14 hours total. Clearly all this holiday partying doesn't agree with my circadian rhythm.

After my haircut, I treated myself to a donut from this awesome family-owned bakery. After all, I earned it. . .with my not making it to the gym and eating appetizers for dinner for 3 days straight.

Needed to meet up with another friend who was visiting, but also needed to return a library book. There were 2 buses I could catch and I saw one of them as I'm just around the corner from the library. I'm like "Ok, if I walk/run, I can just put it in the book drop and catch the bus." Well, after trying to run and going "Don't fall, Don't fall, Don't fall" in my head due to the snow/ice mixture on the sidewalk, I realize there's no book drop. So, I wait at the counter behind these two elderly Polish women who don't really know what they want to do. I'm getting increasingly impatient, as I know I've already missed the bus. Finally, I give the guy my book and get out. Check ctabustracker.com and realize that another one of the bus I saw isn't coming for 12 minutes. And it's like -23 degrees (ok, maybe like 19 degrees, but it felt like an arctic freeze). So, I turned the other way to see if the other bus was there. . .and it was, but across the street. BUT, the light was red, so I walk/ran, doing my "Don't fall" chanting and caught it!

Went to Argo Tea with Jean, Meesh, and Justin and we caught up for a couple hours (enough for 2 samples of quiche. . .), then Jean, Meesh, and I headed to Best Buy to get Burn Notice DVDs (they're obsessed with the lead actor, and Jean came into town to see him in a play here), and I got Season 4 of the Office. We hung out and watched 3-4 eps of Burn Notice (which I had never seen, but it's pretty good), and ordered in Thai food.

Side note: Instead of Crab Rangoon, they called them Crispy Crab Cream Triangles. Mmm. . .nothing sounds better than "Crab Cream". ew.

We went over to Dunlay Arms and met up with Becky, Steff and Putter. I had woken up with a wicked sore throat that was turning into some weird drainage sitch, so I headed out around 11:30 to try to get some sleep.

So yeah, busy busy! Very good to see Miss Jean though. We're already planning a trip to Disney World/Universal. There IS a great big beautiful tomorrow.

Operation 23: Day 5

Got a couple days behind. . .so let me catch up!

Work on Friday was notsogood. I think the lack of sleep and general weariness finally got to me and I reacted to something in a way that's incredibly a-typical of me in any situation. And that's all I'll say about that. And no, nobody got hurt. :)

We got to leave around 2:30 to head to our Holiday Party, which was at 10 Pin (upscale bowling alley). We played some practice rounds, then played for points and I did not do well at all! I think I practiced too much, so by the time it counted, my wrists were pretty sore. Luckily my team was filled with a bunch of ringers, so we had the highest score of all the lanes (ok, there were only 4. . .but still. . .). Then we did trick bowling, which was AWESOME! Below is a list of what we had to do and how I was at it:

Under the person's legs who bowls after you (good!)
Backwards through you're own legs (horrible!)
Eyes closed (good!)
On your knees (good!)
Opposite hand (good!)
1-footed (horrible!)
Kicking (horrible!)

Fun fun! We then went to Harry Caray's where we saw the bartender film his Comcast segment. Afterwards, everybody applauds and they ring a bell, and he does a little bow. Cute.

Bowed out after a drink (that I actually left on the bar) and headed home on the bus - saw one of those new heated bus stops. They're ok. . .not as warm as I thought. Got home around 7pm and fell asleep at 8, waking up around 12:30am. I was mad because I was supposed to meet up with a friend who is visiting from out of town, but I think the week just caught up with me. argh.

Operation 23: Day 4

Oh my gosh y'all. . .I'm tired. Got home around midnight from some post-work drinks with former coworkers. I miss them lots.

Was a little late to work today. . .oh wells. Work today was ok, but my coworker basically threatened that I wouldn't be able to go to the holiday party if he didn't approve of a presentation that we have to give on Monday. He decides to bring this up around 5pm. Oh, and he neglected to mention that it needed his approval. . oh. . .ever? So I'm mad and just say "I'm going bowling. This deck will get done". So he says "Maybe you should check with your boss." So I not only check with my boss, but I check with 2nd in command at my company. Dude, don't f- with me. If you're going to be an asshole, I'll make sure everybody damn well knows about it.

Anyway, Carrie and I headed out to John's bday drinks thing in Ukie Village, see Jennifer, eat lots of tater tots, tell lots of stories. Melissa shows up and we tell more stories (including one about some people with a pet raccoon!) and we head home. I leave my winter hat in John's car. Doh!

Ok, need sleep. Realized I have to get up early both Saturday and Sunday. blarf.

Operation 23: Day 3

Today began the Calamari Trail. . . the onslaught of work-related holiday parties, lunches, etc. We threw a holiday party for a client at a restaurant out in the 'burbs, which meant leaving at 3. I ended up leaving late for work, as I had to put on my party outfit in the morning (waste 2 outfits on a work day? I think not!), and throw my snow boots over tights. I couldn't find my flat (read: comfy!) shoes, so I grabbed a pair of 4-inch heels and ran out to catch the bus. Got the express bus, which means I stand and try not to smash the people seated near me in the head with my bag filled with makeup, shoes, presentations (oops! forgot to bring them back to work after the last meeting!), and other items.

Also, you know those "Caution: Falling Ice" signs below high-rises? They scare the crap out of me. Every time my thought process goes like this:

-Hmm. . ."Caution Falling Ice"
-Is any falling now?
(look up)
-No.
-Oh, I shouldn't have done that, it could have hit me in the face.
-Shit. . .I should probably get inside.
-I wish they made helmets for pedestrians
-Would those look stupid?
-No stupider than getting knocked out by falling ice.

I got to work and realized that I didn't bring comfy shoes to wear around the office, so I had to wear my boots. Argh. Drove with the coworkers around 3 out to the restaurant (after miraculously getting my work done - when does that happen?), and got stuck in some crappy weather.

So. . .the party. #1 - the food was mostly shrimp and should-be-hot food that was mostly cold. Boo. I set a 2 glasses of wine limit for myself at these things and felt kinda drunk, which meant that I way didn't eat enough (and I even had my contingency granola bar before I left the office). Met a whole bunch of people, including another improviser. Yay! They also brought out more pizza. . .thank goodness! I somehow convinced myself that switching from Diet Coke to regular Coke would fill me up, but um. . .that was dumb. I have no intention to become either drunkorexic or appetizorexic. I need meals! My coworker ended up getting hit on by a much older man, but handled it like a champ. But still. . .ick! Got home around 11:20. . .so basically a 6 hour day in the office and a 6 hour party afterwards.

(side note: Watching Jon and Kate Plus 8 right now, and they're watching a movie and lots of the kids are crying. precious. uh. notsomuch)

So tired. . .need to upload the pics to FB. 20 more days!

Um, also apparently John Krasinski is dating Emily Blunt (have I mentioned this yet?). Tear. At least I have my own Johnny K right now.

Operation 23: Day 2

Day dos. Raging headache right now. Argh.

If you recall yesterday, I left without finishing my hours. Well, I had an email this morning from accounting, then a post-it at lunch, then a call from my boss. I'm never late with my hours, so I'm not used to the barrage of "reminders". . .but wow. And. . .I did get them finished today.

So today. . .after talking to some coworkers, I realized that with Holiday Party #1 happening tomorrow, I needed to get something to wear with the skirt I bought for it. Ran to Ann Taylor LOFT during lunch, tried on like 800 things and ended up getting a ruffle shirt (which, when paired with my ruffle skirt, makes me look like a layer cake. . .so clearly didn't buy it for tomorrow), and a thing to throw over shirts that aren't work-appropriate.

(side note: Watching Biggest Loser and I swear every week, Heba finds a reason to say "I'm the heaviest woman here." Argh. Get over it!)

Today at work, had lots going on, but it wasn't quite as crazy. I also found out that with a coworker coming back from maternity leave, I may be able to take a day off next week after all. Yay!! Ate wayyy too much sugar (seriously? MORE Halloween candy? Nooo!!!). Made me more unproductive than I like to be toward the end of the day.

Had to run to the grocery store post-work to pick up milk and some ingredients for these amazing brownies I make once a year (mom's recipe). Amazingly, I left these things off my Peapod list. grr. Managed to get home around quarter of 7.

Tomorrow, our party is appetizers, so I'm trying to figure out how to strategically eat, so I don't come home starved! I'm thinking some granola bars are in order.

So anyway, get to leave work at 3 tomorrow to go to the party, but that means cramming lots of work into a short day. We'll see how it goes. . .another big deliverable due tomorrow.

Can't find my December InStyle either. . .it's my nighttime reading! How will I make it through Operation 23 without it?!

Operation 23: Day 1

Welcome to Operation 23. Named after how many days from when I go back to work post-TGivs to when my holiday break starts, I'll take you through this crazy whirlwind holiday season one dizzying day at a time. Feel free to tell your own holiday funtime stories!

So yeah, Day 1 back at work. My coworker mentioned heart palpitations during Brunch while thinking about going back. I had to concur. Today was busy, but got one major to-do off my list. Hours were due today (that fun part of the month where we have to document everything we did in a day in 15-minute increments), so between getting my normal work done, I had to figure out what I did on November 17th. Ugh. Oh, and I left with 3 days to go. Oh wells.

Otherwise, pretty uneventful, although I found out I have a client meeting on Monday, which I was gonna take off. Sorry laundry, I'll have to find another day to wash you. argh. Not happy.

Managed to get home by 6 to wait for the Peapod guy. Why do I always think it's a good idea to eat all my food before I go out of town? Now I'm back and having Golden Grahams for dinner.

(ok, side note, the Law and Order SVU I have on is ripping from the headlines both the girls who got preggers on purpose story and the mom who harassed that girl who killed herself on MySpace. Efficient!)

Also, scratched another person off my shopping list! Productive!