Six Hours I Will Never Get Back

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.

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:

1. Kettlecorn
2. Pears
3. Dannon Yogurt Smoothies
4. Rice Krispy Treats
5. Ice Cream, currently non-fat items

(gee, the dieting doesn't show, does it?)

Five songs to which you know all the lyrics

1. Hush, Little Baby
2. Margaritaville by Jimmy Buffet
3. You are my Sunshine
4. Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson
5. Amazing Grace

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire

1. Build a really cool house
2. Pay off all our debts
3. Pay off our parents' debts
4. Travel with family
5. Send our kid to whatever college he likes

Five bad habits

1. Procrastination
2. Running my car too low on gas before refilling
3. Not pushing the drawers back in my bureau after I get something from them
4. Not giving my son enough time to transition between activities
5. Letting our laundry go until we are almost out of clothes

Five things you like doing

1. Playing with the Little Man
2. Reading
3. Hanging out with my friends & family
4. Singing in the car
5. Playing volleyball

Five things you would never wear again

1. Legwarmers (shudder)
2. Mall bangs
3. Tube tops
4. A perm - poodle, anyone?
5. A bikini

Five favorite toys

1. Palm Treo phone - love it!
2. Video iPod
3. Dell laptop
4. TiVo
5. 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!