I just arrived home in a formal dress and heels with a Sonic bag swinging from my hand and a wine headache as big as Texas. I attended our local advertising club awards show this evening for the first time, which I have since concluded is naught but a communal circle-jerk for the local ad agencies in my metro area. Needless to day, I was not really impressed.
I decided to go because I worked my ass off on a project last year that was entered in the competition. We know it won, just not what level of award it won, and I wanted to be there to see it win big. Also, because I had never been before and I thought it would be fun. HA, ha ha ha ha, silly girl.
Acting on information (as it turns out, erroneous information) that this was a black-tie event, I started suiting up about 4:30. Hair, makeup, layers of restrictive undergarments, heels - it's been a while since my toilette has been this extensive. The Little Man wasn't sure quite what to make of it. At one point he walked in the bathroom when I was standing in undergarments with a mask on my face. He got this look of horror on his little mug, left the room, then reappeared in seconds with a pair of my pajama pants that he tried to hand to me. "If you're going to look this scary, woman, at least put on some pants!"
I left for The Event around 6:00, all gussied up with my Little Man in tears because Mommy was leaving, and Mommy didn't want him touching her or her clothing just then for fear of ick tranfer to her clothes. Poor guy.
I arrived at the Event completely uncomfortable and overdressed, displaying cleavage out to here which my boss's boss and my boss's boss's boss were privy to - not the most comfortable feeling. And without a buddy. This was my critical mistake. I didn't ensure that at least ONE of my cohorts was going, consequently, I ended up being on my own most of the evening. There were plenty of people from the agency I worked for there, but I didn't really know any of them & they seemed disinclined to take in a fledgling. At least they gave us $20 apiece for booze, so the wine headache was free.
The awards started, the MC did his shtick, and they slowly started through the categories. Finally they got to Interactive. They went through all the winners - not ONE was a project I worked on, and we had submitted FIVE! Shut out. Damn.
A few more categories in, our VP came up to the table with our award. Apparently one of our projects actually did win, but they FORGOT TO ANNOUNCE IT. The awards themselves don't have the specific name of the project on it, so I still don't know which of the five it was. Even if it was the one I poured sweat and tears into and completely railroaded through to deadline myself, whoever sent in the nomination form listed me as the assistant producer instead of the lead producer anyway. Sigh.
Oh yeah, the Sonic. There I was, in a rotten mood, being slowly strangled to death by my clothing, and slightly drunk, and they KEPT PLAYING SONIC COMMERCIALS because the Sonic creative was a big winner. So, I left early and stopped by for a small burger and tots. It was the least I could do for myself, right?
And in answer to your invitation to go to that upcoming awards show or fancy-dress party, HELL NO.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Friday, February 17, 2006
I'm It!
I've been Tagged by Average Jane! So, a meme for you.
What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was a senior in college, desperately sick of school and working two part-time jobs and just trying to GET OUT. I was dating my husband, and living in an old apartment with a co-worker and her boyfriend. As I recall, I was a receptionist at a plastics manufacturing plant by day and a mutual teller at the local dog track by night.
What were you doing 1 year ago?
I had just agreed to work an extra day a week to meet deadline on a huge client project. I was also preparing for the Little Man's first birthday party. And, according to the blog, I was sick and whining about Mr. Me's lack of helpfulness. Yuck. Glad this is this year and not last!
Five snacks you enjoy:
What were you doing 10 years ago?
I was a senior in college, desperately sick of school and working two part-time jobs and just trying to GET OUT. I was dating my husband, and living in an old apartment with a co-worker and her boyfriend. As I recall, I was a receptionist at a plastics manufacturing plant by day and a mutual teller at the local dog track by night.
What were you doing 1 year ago?
I had just agreed to work an extra day a week to meet deadline on a huge client project. I was also preparing for the Little Man's first birthday party. And, according to the blog, I was sick and whining about Mr. Me's lack of helpfulness. Yuck. Glad this is this year and not last!
Five snacks you enjoy:
- Kettlecorn
- Pears
- Dannon Yogurt Smoothies
- Rice Krispy Treats
- Ice Cream, currently non-fat items
(gee, the dieting doesn't show, does it?)
Five songs to which you know all the lyrics
- Hush, Little Baby
- Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet
- You are my Sunshine
- Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson
- Amazing Grace
- Build a really cool house
- Pay off all our debts
- Pay off our parents' debts
- Travel with family
- Send our kid to whatever college he likes
Five bad habits
- Procrastination
- Running my car too low on gas before refilling
- Not pushing the drawers back in my bureau after I get something from them
- Not giving my son enough time to transition between activities
- Letting our laundry go until we are almost out of clothes
Five things you like doing
- Playing with the Little Man
- Reading
- Hanging out with my friends & family
- Singing in the car
- Playing volleyball
Five things you would never wear again
- Legwarmers (shudder)
- Mall bangs
- Tube tops
- A perm - poodle, anyone?
- A bikini
Five favorite toys
- Palm Treo phone - love it!
- Video iPod
- Dell laptop
- TiVo
- Bobble-head velveteen moose that I bought in New Hampshire
More and Less
The medication seems to be doing the trick for the kitty. Mojo begs for food constantly, has a little more flesh on her bones, and, boy oh boy has the volume in the cat box gone nuts. Yick. Thank you , my wonderful vet, for having the guts to try something that, at least for now, is working out great.
I, on the other hand, am becoming less of myself daily. I joined Weight Watchers mid-January so far it's working pretty well. I've been losing steadily at a pretty good clip, and it's not been as hard as I thought it would be. I don't really like to talk about weight loss efforts because it seems to ensure that they tank. Feeling pretty optimistic about this one, though, so maybe it's safe to proclaim that next year, though I doubt I'm a super model, at least there should be much less of me and hopefully more energy to go around!
I, on the other hand, am becoming less of myself daily. I joined Weight Watchers mid-January so far it's working pretty well. I've been losing steadily at a pretty good clip, and it's not been as hard as I thought it would be. I don't really like to talk about weight loss efforts because it seems to ensure that they tank. Feeling pretty optimistic about this one, though, so maybe it's safe to proclaim that next year, though I doubt I'm a super model, at least there should be much less of me and hopefully more energy to go around!
Sunday, February 05, 2006
Poor Kitty
My poor little kitty Mojo (or No-No, if you're the Little Man) is sick. She won't eat. She used to pork out on just about any cat food in range of her snout. Last summer she had gotten so hefty that she could barely squeeze her way through the banisters on our stairs to escape pursuit by the Little Man. Now, she can go through without touching.
Her weight loss was pretty gradual - I finally became concerned about it in November. When I took her to the kitty doc, she had lost 5 pounds - a lot for a 14-lb. cat. The doc did her exam thing, and the super-expensive blood test and the result was that hey! she's not eating! and it was causing her liver to start eating itself. So the answer was that I needed to feed her! Which I'm thinking I could have figured out without the $150 blood test, but I guess it's nice to know it wasn't something else.
We started plying her with a variety of wet cat foods, and discovered that she had become extremely finicky. We finally found some treats & food she would nibble at, but have to keep rotating them because all of a sudden the pick of the week will fall out of favor. We kept an eye on her and thought she was eating the appropriate amount, and maybe gaining a little weight. But I got worried again and took her in again last week, and she had lost an additional 2 pounds. And now has a heart murmur. After an x-ray and additional blood tests, we still know that Hey! She's still not eating! And they can't find anything wrong, so maybe it's irritable bowl, and maybe it's cancer. And for $2,500 in additional tests we can find out for sure.
I love my kitty, but I'm enough of a farm girl that it's hard for me to spend that kind of money on an pet. Especially since my vet told me that they may or may not find out for sure, and if it is cancer we could spend several more thousands of dollars for treatment to maybe extend her life for 15 months. With either diagnosis the treatment was the same medication - dosage was the only question.
So, we've decided to go with the pills without the tests. There's a chance they will kill her, and a chance they will make her better, and a chance they'll make her better for a little while and then she'll die anyway. I'm starting to get paranoid that I'll walk into my room and find her dead on my bed. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that.
She's sitting on my lap now, keeping warm. All bones and fur, curled up in a little ball, purring. I truly, truly hope she gets better soon.
Her weight loss was pretty gradual - I finally became concerned about it in November. When I took her to the kitty doc, she had lost 5 pounds - a lot for a 14-lb. cat. The doc did her exam thing, and the super-expensive blood test and the result was that hey! she's not eating! and it was causing her liver to start eating itself. So the answer was that I needed to feed her! Which I'm thinking I could have figured out without the $150 blood test, but I guess it's nice to know it wasn't something else.
We started plying her with a variety of wet cat foods, and discovered that she had become extremely finicky. We finally found some treats & food she would nibble at, but have to keep rotating them because all of a sudden the pick of the week will fall out of favor. We kept an eye on her and thought she was eating the appropriate amount, and maybe gaining a little weight. But I got worried again and took her in again last week, and she had lost an additional 2 pounds. And now has a heart murmur. After an x-ray and additional blood tests, we still know that Hey! She's still not eating! And they can't find anything wrong, so maybe it's irritable bowl, and maybe it's cancer. And for $2,500 in additional tests we can find out for sure.
I love my kitty, but I'm enough of a farm girl that it's hard for me to spend that kind of money on an pet. Especially since my vet told me that they may or may not find out for sure, and if it is cancer we could spend several more thousands of dollars for treatment to maybe extend her life for 15 months. With either diagnosis the treatment was the same medication - dosage was the only question.
So, we've decided to go with the pills without the tests. There's a chance they will kill her, and a chance they will make her better, and a chance they'll make her better for a little while and then she'll die anyway. I'm starting to get paranoid that I'll walk into my room and find her dead on my bed. I'm not sure how I'll deal with that.
She's sitting on my lap now, keeping warm. All bones and fur, curled up in a little ball, purring. I truly, truly hope she gets better soon.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Fantasy vs. Reality
I've been re-reading the Setephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich the past week. I love it. It is book candy - not much substance, but addictive and as fun as fiction gets. I found the series when we went on a trip to Florida. I was so hooked that I actually ended up buying every book in the series at airport bookshops and what Barnes & Nobles we could locate with our tourist navigational skills. I ended up hauling seven books home in my carry-on. Now THAT'S addiction.
When I read a series like this, sometimes I find myself slightly sucked into the "world" of the books in every-day life. I've noticed that every now and again I unconsciously try to make my internal dialogue funnier, like the main character's. Probably I'll end up starting a sentence with "probably," like the author does constantly. (d'oh!) Re-reading this post, my sentences are even a little choppier than normal, again, a la Evanovich. Yikes!
Does this ever happen to you, oh readers? Have you ever gotten sucked in by fiction?
When I read a series like this, sometimes I find myself slightly sucked into the "world" of the books in every-day life. I've noticed that every now and again I unconsciously try to make my internal dialogue funnier, like the main character's. Probably I'll end up starting a sentence with "probably," like the author does constantly. (d'oh!) Re-reading this post, my sentences are even a little choppier than normal, again, a la Evanovich. Yikes!
Does this ever happen to you, oh readers? Have you ever gotten sucked in by fiction?
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