31 posts from 2007

sorry, mostly to myself for not keeping up with the goal.

off to Wyoming early tomorrow morning. i am hoping chicago o'hare reopens and cooperates so i can make it home! i think i have luck on my side -- i missed Christmas last year with the whole denver airport shut-down, and it would be cruel to have that happen two years in a row.

off to bed right now, hoping for a few hours of sleep before holiday travel chaos begins.

happy holidays!

Not much to say this morning, but I said I would write daily so here I am.

I am in shock that it is already 12/20! Where does the time go?

We have our "Holiday Gathering" at work today. It is basically snacks in the boardroom with a raffle. We don't call it a party because there are no DJs or dancing.

My roommate has a Christmas show at 10pm tonight at Rodeo Bar. Her Patsy Cline band will be performing, and it should be fun. I am really excited for her, but wondering how I can possibly stay up late enough to go to it.

Yep, I really don't have much to say.

I was going to write today about the "Board Meeting" I had last night ... where once a month I get together with three other women who work in publishing. We spend the night talking about our careers, troubleshooting problems, working toward personal goals. It is a dedicated time to constructively tackle issues we have with work and life. Members can request interventions ... we look at time management ... we discuss ethics, how to interview people, anything really that relates to work and life. Most importantly we laugh a lot and enjoy each others company.

Yes, I was going to write a brilliant post about what "Board Meetings" have given me (and I still will). But, this morning I ran out of time.

I also discovered THE BEST 404 ERROR MESSAGE PAGE EVER. I hope you check it out, and read it all because it made me laugh ...

I have been having really weird dreams lately. I only remember bits and pieces of them, but I know they are on the bizarre side. I've been dreaming about people and places I haven't seen in years as well as celebrities I've never met ... you know. I'm not sure what triggers them, but I need to pay more attention.

This morning, I found myself dreaming that I was talking to Ani DiFranco. I apparently "saw" her recently, but she was insisting she wasn't in town. I had tentative plans to see her speak at the 92nd Street Y last week, and I ended up not going ... I am sure the dream has something to do with that, but why is my brain even going there? I did eat REALLY last last night which I suspect makes me dream more. The Ani one was right before I woke up this morning, and I slept hard last night -- so hard that my light alarm didn't have any effect and I was startled awake by my real alarm.

The other night I dreamt about cougars, snow and childhood friends among other things. I sometimes dream I am someone else. My favorite though is when I dream of places that look nothing like their real life counter parts yet I know it is that place. I love that these places come back to me throughout my life so I experience weird moments of dream deja vu where I know I have been here before in my dreams, but can't quite place when or where.

I'd love to keep better track of my dream world, but these days I just get murky bits of them. I guess it will take some ninja training.

I am done Christmas shopping and did my NYC wrapping last night. I am looking forward to heading out to Wyoming next week. I still can't believe it is mid-December, but that's the way my world works.

Countdown to China trip: 22 days, and I am getting nervous about both going, and getting everything together in time!

P.S. My roommate's new Christmas song is available for download on MySpace it's a love song to George Baily of It's A Wonderful Life and I LOVE the song. It is fun and catchy and I am really glad that she decided to do this project. She also recorded a new arrangement of Blue Christmas that I love too! Feel free to check her out at carolynsills.com. The music will be available on iTunes soon!

I never win anything. Ever.

I've won a cake walk or two, some candy, the usual ... the one "big" thing I won was a Jem and the Holograms car with a radio in the trunk from the Moran School Halloween Party when I was like 11. It was a cool car for my Barbies to drive around in, but in rural Wyoming the radio was pointless. There weren't any stations to pick up. I think that Barbie, Ken and friends would have preferred having a place to put their suitcases on long road trips.

My luck has changed. This morning I had an email announcing that I won a holiday giveaway for steaks from Peter Luger. I am SO EXCITED. Peter Luger Steakhouse is probably the top steakhouse in NYC, and it has a long and storied history. Peter Luger has been a chophouse since the late 1800's ... you can read more about it here.

I have never eaten there, but have always wanted to -- and now I get to have some of their porterhouse's delivered to ME! I am having the steaks sent to Wyoming where with my dad's help we can grill them up proper and enjoy.

My mouth is watering.

I win.

For those of you who stop by anxious for witty musings and stories, I am sorry I don't update very often. I am trying to get better.

In fact, one of my goals is to post daily about food, life, work, whatever. Just something to get my brain thinking in a writerly way, and to give the people who stop by here something to read. I have received word from my mom that some people do peruse the site hoping for updates ... so I will try to update more regularly.

The end.

I was all set to start the job hunt out west. My recent travels for work and pleasure (New Orleans, 2 trips to Wyoming, San Fran, Seattle, Vancouver, Winnipeg, a train trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg, Newport Beach, and Las Vegas) coupled with life experiences had made me really think that it was time to leave New York. The death of a good friend's father in Wyoming made me wonder if I was living my dreams, and reading a combination cookbook/travelogue called THE WORLD IS A KITCHEN made me reconsider going into cooking as a profession – an idea I have toyed with FOREVER!

Everything in life seemed to be pointing to the fact that I would be happier out west and closer to my family. An opportunity came up at Apple in Cupertino in the form of a position I was perfect for working with someone I really respect. Clearly the universe didn't agree because the message HR left me got eaten by cyberspace and I never received it. Thus, they assumed I wasn't interested and the job went to someone else. But, I was ready to really start looking -- Business Analyst positions seemed to be doable. I was thinking Seattle or the bay area, anywhere but LA really. I even had an email drafted to send out to all my family, friends and contacts to solicit help.

Then things exploded at work: one colleague is on maternity leave, my boss's wife had a baby this week, my boss had been working on restructuring our department and he recently posted a new "Technical Process Manager" position (it is basically my current job on steroids with more decision making and opportunities to shape the future of our department, and a definite step up on the corporate ladder). I interviewed with my boss, even though I thought it was a long shot.

Tangent: For those of you who don't know what I do (and I know there are a lot of people in that group) I work for a not-for-profit that publishes safety codes & standards. My department builds and maintains proprietary, web-based software applications that facilitates the publishing process. We are essentially business analysts that develop electronic tools to replace paper-based practices. My boss likes to say we are efficiency experts ... maybe that makes things clearer, maybe it doesn't ... it is time to get on with my story though.

Then my close friend and colleague, S, resigned last week. She was the one person who was most likely to get the new position, but now she is moving to be near her family and have a better quality of life. I'm sad. We have been inseparable for almost 3 years … between graduate school, a close friendship, and working together we have put in A LOT of hours brainstorming and whatnot. I am also jealous because I want to be nearer my family, but in the end I am really excited and happy for her!

The aftermath is that they offered me the new position this week. In the period of a few days I managed to jump 3 whole rungs on the corporate ladder. It is a significant salary increase, and an interesting opportunity to help shape the future of my department. I feel like I am in WAY over my head! I'm now exclusively responsible for one of our software applications which means I will get to (sorry if this gets too technical) oversee/do everything from the development phase (design and functional specifications), to liaising with the programmer, to ensuring it is user-friendly, to managing the testing of new features, to training people on the system, to troubleshooting and fulfilling help desk support functions, etc. It's a lot of hats to wear.

So I guess my westward migration is on hold. That is not to say that if the perfect job came my way, I would turn it down, it just means that I am no longer actively looking. I see myself in NYC for another year or two or three and then heading west. The upside is that when I do head west I have better experience to go off of and a management title, even if the title feels meaningless.

I'm still wondering if I made the right decision though ... am I doing what I should be doing with my life? A friend pointed out that I should "make hay while the sun shines" and a few others said "take the money and run". They're right a higher salary in NYC is not a bad thing, but am I selling out? Am I really following my dreams? I guess only time will tell, but I am feeling rather insecure at the moment.

Then again, maybe it is just an effect of the cold meds I am currently taking. Stupid fall cold with sore throat has me feeling like I can't leave my bed.

So that's the news in my world, what's happening in yours?

um yeah, my roof leaked all over my bed today -- fun for all! i guess i need to change my sheets now. thank goodness i have the allergy casing on my mattress -- it's a good water barrier. i guess it's time to call the landlord.

are on flicker ... you can see them here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/katalia/sets/72157600788004740/

i will be blogging about my adventures soon!

oh, and these are the results for the luche libre wrestling match I saw (with photos). the site is in espanol, but it will give you an idea of the experience http://www.cmll.com/resultados/m_coliseo.html