Wednesday, August 31, 2011

And Yet Another Foot!

We've got another one!

Foot, in running shoe, found off the coast of BC.

What the hell?  Someone has to know something!  Where are the rest of the bodies?  Are there a bunch of footless people running around in (ha - see what I did there?) in Canada?  Is there a cannibal out there who just doesn't eat the feet?

I must know!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

What's Up With Me

The job is going very well.  I'm feeling very stable.  And Super Boss is a hoot.

Since that's not consuming my every emotion now, I've had some free brain power.  And Todd and I have discovered some new music.  The Civil Wars.  They're amazing.

So amazing that it makes me sad.  I wanna sing music like this.



The chemistry between them is almost uncomfortable, as they're both married to other people and they look so in love with each other.  It just kills me.

And keeping with the powerful music theme......

Kayleigh asked me to sing with her last night.  Now that she has her braces and torture device, there are some letters she can't pronounce.  So singing is no fun.  Since I was in a good mood and had no plans at all for the night and already had a glass of white wine in me, I said sure.

And she played Adele's "Someone Like You".  On the guitar.  By finger picking.

The kid is freakin' amazing.

Don't know the song?  Here.



I've heard the song a few times, and I know the chorus pretty well, but I'd never heard the rest of the lyrics.  So as I was reading them for the first time and singing them, my breath just caught. 

Oh, the flashbacks.  That moment where you hear that someone you used to be with is getting married, or has already gotten married, and while you're very happy for them because you weren't entirely satisfied in the relationship (if you can call it a relationship, which you can't because he literally hid the fact that you were spending five nights a week together and he would even leave the party early, then hide around the corner until all of your friends left so they wouldn't see that he was spending the night, even though he would hardly acknowledge you at the party because he didn't want people to think that he actually liked you), a little part of you wants to show them how sad you are.  And you kind of hope that it makes them a little sad.  Kind of.  Maybe. 

Could just be me.

Anywho, I'm happy it's over and we've moved on and I am very much in love with my wonderful husband, but dammit, why didn't he want to marry me?!

I can blog about this because Todd knows all of this and he understands and he knows that I love him (as do you, my faithful reader) and he knows I'm very happy where I am.

The song just struck a major chord.

So, that's what's been up with me.  Music stuff.  And planning the launch party for the web series.  And gearing up for fall.  And trying to find a red pencil skirt.

Life ain't too bad right now.

Friday, August 26, 2011

What A Difference A Week Can Make!

The OMD (Office Manager Dude) asked me how I was doing yesterday. I genuinely beamed and said “Fantastic”.

This week has been so much more comfortable. I’m feeling very sturdy and competent and take charge. Like when I asked Super Boss how he liked the blinds on his windows. All the way up or down a little bit? Because there’s two windows, each with blinds, and the blinds didn’t match. They must match. He laughed and said, “I like them like that one.” Bam! Now they’re the same. A co-worker asked, “What do you do when the sun comes in?” I looked at Super Boss since he actually sits in the office. But Super Boss looked at me.

He said, “Well? He’s asking you, as you clearly run the office now.”

Perfect.

I’ve talked Archer and football with co-workers, I’ve rearranged my desk, and I’ve created my food drawer. I holler at Super Boss in his office, like everyone around here does. I gently reprimanded him Monday morning for leaving on Friday and not even telling me (I am your assistant. How can I assist you if you don’t tell me you’re leaving? Hmm?). And I moved the $70 bottle of wine that was sitting on his desk out of the sunshine so it would not get ruined.

I am full service, baby.

I’ve gotten some good feedback about my ideas and thought processes so I’m starting to feel like I’m in my element now.

Except for the whole bus thing.

I had a meeting at 8am in the UDistrict on Wednesday, so I drove and got validated for the day (I love validation. In every sense of the word). It was such a different experience. I got home and was relaxed and chipper and energetic. When I ride the bus, I’m in a constant ball of tension from the moment I get to the bus stop until I walk in the house. I thought I would be able to blog or read or sleep on the ride, but I’m overstimulated and can’t focus on anything except all of the freakin’ people around me and what they may or may not be doing and dear gawd, what is that smell? Todd says it’s my own personal hell – stuck in a moving vehicle with a crowd.

Wonderful.

So on Wednesday, I listened to my music, I waited patiently behind a car turning left and got home in half the time. Totally worth paying for parking, if you ask me.

Which you didn’t, but I’m telling you anyway because I can’t lie or withhold information very well.
So there.

Don't judge me.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Now This Is What I'm Talkin' About!

It is a gorgeous day here in Seattle.
The bags under my eyes are gone, I'm in my black boots and a skirt, the sun is bright, and both of my bosses are apparently gone for the day.

Happy Friday, indeed.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

New Job, Transitioning and My Mental Health

The new job is fantastic.
Transitioning is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
And my mental health is shit.

So, I started the new job on Tuesday.  Super Boss introduced me as his new assistant, his "new handler" and "the savior".  No pressure at all.  Everyone is super, the Office Manager Dude (OMD) took me to lunch at P.F. Chang's and I made it all the way home on the bus.  BY MYSELF.

But then day two rolled around.  My faithful readers know that I am not one to badmouth anyone on this blog, and I don't generally don't divulge details that may identify someone.  I'm not that kind of blogger.  So let's just say that the person who did this job before me, and now works in another office, spent all of day two "training" me and that stressed me out completely (not the work itself - that's pie), but because it was only my second day and I was downtown and out of my comfort zone and homesick and I didn't even have my car to sit in and I don't have any "buddies" yet and well, I cried on the phone to Todd on my lunch hour.  And then I got home and I curled up with him and cried some more and started to wonder if I made a mistake, blah blah blah.

And then I had wine.  And upon bedtime, I sobbed and cried and vented and wailed to Todd, who understood that I was freakin' the &*$# out.

Gawd bless him.

Despite this complete emotional breakdown, my ass was up at 5:50am this morning, and I made the bus and I got to work 10 minutes early. But then I couldn't do anything but cry.  Super Boss came in, asked how I was, I said fine, and he said "Bullshit.  What's wrong?"

I love Super Boss.

I told him I was just having a rough morning, no big thang.  He said "So take off.  Do what you gotta do.  Take care of yourself."  It's my third day!  Are you kidding me?

However.  I wasn't doing well, so I went in to talk to OMD.  He was wonderful.  He completely understood and said I needed to regroup so that I could give this job my best.  So, I called Todd to come get me and I came home, got in my jammies and slept until 3:30pm.

After a lot of reflection and internal conversations, I've come to the conclusion that I really didn't do much "preparing" for this job.  I thought I could just quit my comfy job of six years where I could wear jeans every day and magically become a high powered downtown Executive Assistant who suddenly commutes by bus and wears heels everyday.

HA!

Guess what?  It's not really that easy.

But now that we know what the problem is, we can start to fix it.

Time to make this job my bitch! 
And you know Rae-rae can do it.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

The Shoot - Power Posse, Ho!

Up at 5:30am.  Two days in a row.  Driving to Lynnwood.  Lifting heavy stuff.  Lots of standing.  Hot, hot, hot.  But lots of fans.  Laughing until my stomach hurt.  Love my friends.

Todd summed it up best in his post.

Good freakin' night.

Friday, August 12, 2011

A Week Off

On the calendar, it's labeled "Raechelle's transitioning period".  I had lunch with my new boss on Monday, and if I wasn't excited enough about this new job, I'm freakin' ecstatic now.  It sounds like a great opportunity for me to run the show.  You know how I love doing that.

On Tuesday, Todd and I went to a Seahawks training camp.  It was only $5 a person, you park at a shopping center and take a school bus over to the field to watch the team practice for two hours. Easy, right?

Wrong.

Hellafreakin' long line of people (why aren't all of you at work?!) then once at the field, you threw down a blanket and kicked back and watched.  Oh, and there were two speakers blaring gangster rap, heavy metal and other "pump up the team" music.  After about 30 minutes, I asked one of the staff members if this shit plays for the entire two hours.  He told me yes.  The players make the playlist.  They like it.

Well, call me old, but it totally killed the fun.  I like hearing the players and coaches yell at each other and I could hardly hear Todd when he'd shout in my ear.  Luckily, after an hour, they turned the music off by some stroke of luck, and it was much more enjoyable. 

Note to self - been there, done that.  Don't need to do it again.

On Wednesday, I found it hard to get out of bed and do anything.  I think the reality of the situation sank in and I was just exhausted.  I did manage to clean up the kitchen and do a couple of loads of laundry.  All the while, in my jammies.

Thursday was better.  I went to Steph's for some help hemming my pants, then accompanied Kayleigh and Todd to Kayleigh's dentist appointment where she got her first few braces and her pallet spreader.  Good times.  And then, it was time for the very first Seahawks pre-season game!  Except it was on ESPN!  Shit!

But Steve saved the day - one of the off channels was showing the game.  The day was saved.

And today, I shopped.  Kind of.  A little bit.  Kayleigh went off to camp with the Rainbow Girls (Masonic Girl Scouts), Todd and I went up to the set of The Collectibles to drop some stuff off for the shoot this weekend, then had dinner with Kyle, of Kirby Krackle, and his fiance, Kristin.

It was a bit much to squeeze in before we have to wake up at 5:30am tomorrow morning, but still worth it.   It was a nice wrap up to a lovely week.

And now, we work our asses off.

Power posse, ho!

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Did You Miss Me?

It's Saturday night.  Todd is working feverishly on an Airship Daedalus comic strip in his new office, Kayleigh is downstairs in her new bedroom, and Tyler is out in his cottage.  I've got When Harry Met Sally... on the teevee, and a fresh glass of champagne on the table beside me. 

And the carpet is freshly vacuumed.

Life just can't get much better right about now.

Well, it would be nice if I had all of my pictures, music and documents on my computer.  It seems I got a virus a while back and it wiped out Windows.  So Todd reloaded Windows and yay!  I can work on my computer again!  But now we have to find all my stuff that was backed up.

Fortunately, I have plenty of time this week to work on it.  Because, oh did I tell you?  I got a new job and my last day at my clinic was yesterday. 

LAST DAY OF WORK.

I still can't believe I don't work there.  I've been there six years.

I started packing up my stuff around 2pm.  Come 3:30pm, CB was ready to drag me to my going away happy hour.  People stopped by and said good luck, but only three people came to my happy hour.  And that was just fine.  They were my three true friends at work - CB, Mr. Cranky Non-Decorating Co-worker and HK, my dance partner.  It was lovely.  And a bit sad.  I got a little choked when I hugged CB goodbye.

But Todd and I kept the party going when we got home.  Neighbors came over, Steve and Steph came over, we played Rock Band and I sucked down Jack-n-Cokes (Todd said it was okay to play with Jack since I would be well supervised.  At home.)

The impromptu party lasted until about 11pm, then it was time to retire.  And what great pleasure I took in turning off my alarm.

I'm off all this week.  And Monday of next week.  Nuthin' but time, baby.

Well, okay, I do have a few things on the calendar.  Tomorrow, I'm sanding and staining the new desk Todd and I found at Goodwill tonight.  Woohoo!*  Monday, I'm having lunch with my new boss, SuperBoss.  Cause he's super.  On Tuesday, Todd and I are going to watch a Seahawks training camp (which I have been dying to do for years!) and then on Thursday, the first pre-season game is on at 5pm!!

I kind of hope it's rainy that day.

And then that weekend, we shoot the first three episodes of The Collectibles.

Do you still not know about The Collectibles?  Shame on you.  Go Like them.  I'm the Line Producer.

So we shoot three episodes on Saturday and Sunday, which means Rae-rae is going to be freakin' exhausted on Monday.  Therefore, I start at the New Company on Tuesday.

I'll also have to squeeze some shopping in there at some point.  Oh Darn.

**********

*The "woohoo" is three fold.  One, this desk (picture soon, once I clean it up) is gorgeous and has loads of character.  Two, this desk was a mere $25 (I freakin' love Goodwill!) and three, it fit in my car even though there was ANOTHER desk in there, still in it's box, that we'd picked up for Todd from a craigslister.

Hot damn!!

I actually hugged the car and told him he was wonderful.  And then we named him.
Excalibur.

Exy, for short, I think.  We'll see.

Monday, August 1, 2011

Too….Sore..to…Type….

No sentences.  Only bullet points.
Ow.

Last week
Pack office crap on Tuesday evening
Landon arrives to rewire the cottage (and live with us for three days) on Wednesday

The Collectibles photo shoot Wednesday and Thursday evening
Kayleigh gets spacers to prepare for braces
I get a haircut.  Finally.

Friday
Salsa after work
Drive to Southcenter to meet family
Dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory
With Landon and Dallas.  Love them.
Awesome

Saturday
Cottage rewire done
Let’s start the moving!
Kayleigh and Lydia empty and clean her room
Everything ends up in the living and dining room
I clean the cottage
Lots of soot - everywhere
Todd and Landon have a two hour film shoot
Then a meeting in Northgate
Then drive down to Redondo Beach to drop Landon off
Flying solo – lifting, cleaning, moving boxes, delegating, managing
Hit my limit at 4pm
But Todd brings sandwiches!
And Steve shows up!
30 minutes to wrangle the sleeper sofa out of the cottage
After much deliberation, list the sleeper sofa
Finish cleaning cottage so Tyler can move in
6pm – done!
Shower and get pretty for Raff’s birthday party
Don my tiara
Arrive to “Raechelle’s here!!” (I love that)
Proceed to drink wine and socialize like a mad woman
Screw up.  Eat the rum cake.
Correction – eat the cake that was baked, then soaked in rum
Who knew?!
Touch a 20 year old boy's pale naked chest for the first time in 12 years.  It feels weird.  There's no hair. 
Todd escorts me home at midnight

Sunday
Ow.
Feet hurt, head hurts, back hurts, legs hurt, everything hurts
Hobble through the morning, much coffee
Drive to Marysville with Kayleigh to have lunch with Nancy and Omi and to pick up Zadra (aka More Child Labor)
Back home to boss the kids around some more
“If it’s trash, put it in the trashcan!  If it’s Goodwill, put it in the Goodwill pile! Just get it out of my kitchen!”
Completely loose my shit when both cats get out and no one runs out to get them
(In Todd's defense, he was on the phone wishing his best bud a happy birthday)
“What the hell?!  Did you expect ME to do it?!  What, am I’m not doing ANYTHING?!  I’m sick of it!  I have worked my ass off this weekend!  I’m not doing anything nice for you now!  I’m getting NOTHING in return! I AM DONE.”
Tyler brings in both cats
Todd talks me down
Discover all the windows in the house were open during my ranting.  Sorry neighbors….
Dash off to get paint for Kayleigh’s room
Back home to make dinner while the girls start painting
Food.  Couch.  Movie.  James Bond.
Girls go back to painting, Tyler retires to his cottage
Fall asleep on the couch
Hobble to bed

And have I mentioned that I can’t boot up my computer?  That’s just adding to the lack of posts and FB updates.  Gotta sit on the phone with Dell tech support tonight.  Ack.

On the bright side, Friday is my last day at work.  Happy hour!

Then I get a whole week off and we shoot the web series next weekend (which is why I start my new job on August 16, Tuesday.  Monday is for resting up.) 

Actually, before then, Kayleigh still needs to move her furniture and belongings downstairs, once the paint dries.  We need to order Todd's new desk for the office, I need a little table/desk for the office.  Oh, and a chair.  We have to unpack the office. We have a porch full of crap to take to Goodwill.  There are numerous computers/laptops/drives that need to go to Staples for recycling.  Todd has to get the couch to Dan and Trish (not one craigslist bite.  Not one.  So it's free to a good home).  We have to bag up the rat poop infested insulation that is piled out in the backyard and make a dump run.

Yeah, you heard me.  Dump run.

Oh, and the Neighborhood Night Out Block party is tomorrow!

Sigh.

When does mama get to take a soakie?