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!