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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
NYC is hot, hazy and humid. Summer snuck up on me, and I don't love it so much.
We had beautiful weather for most of June, which lulled me into believing that summer in NYC isn't really that bad — I must be getting acclimated, or maybe the misery was all in my imagination. Then BAM, it hits. Overnight the city changed from pleasant and breezy to still and stifling. One friend described it as being in the "armpit of Satan".
People become very cranky, and the city takes on the smell of a giant garbage dump. Then there are the power outages — the first of which was last night. They tend to be isolated, but they frequently shut down subway lines and make travel a nightmare. But wait, there is more fun! The newest development is that half the floors in my office building don't have adequate water pressure right now. Thus, I have to travel from 23 down to the lobby and up another elevator bank to the 28th floor to fill my water bottle or use the restroom. Fun for all!
Not to fear though, I will survive … tomorrow is the first "summer Friday" I have been able to take (one of the perks of publishing where employers offer half-day Fridays or every other Friday off).
I'm back in the office on Monday, and then on Tuesday I fly down to Mexico City to meet up with a friend from college … together we will take a bus to Oaxaca to stay with another friend that lives there.
We're then going to play it by ear but my list of things to do includes: taking advantage of a free place to stay and exploring Oaxaca City, taking a bus the 5.5 hours to Puerto Escondido on the Oaxaca coast so I can sit on the beach and watch the cute surfers, and then back to Mexico City for a day or two of museums and sight-seeing before heading back to NYC on July 11.
I figured a trip to Mexico was the proper way to mark my 29th birthday!
Yep, sorry about that. I know I haven't been keeping up my end of the bargain.
What bargain … have you forgotten already? I'm speaking of the bargain we made where I write humorous, witty things — you read them, and we all somehow feel better for having done so. Yeah, THAT bargain.
I hope you accept my apologies. I've been busy. I graduated, had the family in town, traveled for business, had friends in town, and have been involved in this crazy project for work. Not to mention that I had to make amends for my thesis hibernation and catch up on my social life before all my friends disowned me. I survived all of that though, and things are settling into a pleasant rhythm.
I've also managed to accomplish some things.
I no longer need an alarm clock to get up in the morning … I still can't make it to work by 9, but that is not because of the time I get up. I'm usually up by 7am, but then somehow I dilly-dally and next thing I know it's 8:30 and I haven't left and I have no chance of making it to work by 9. Sad but true.
I've been grocery shopping more, and spending more time in my apartment. (I know, I owe you pictures of the new place … I went to take some the other night, but then the camera was dead. I promise to post some soon!) Last night the roomies and I drank champagne and played darts. It was super fun despite the sad state of our darts (and the fact that I lost by a lot).
I've been reading. I think I'm on my third book in the past week. This also means that I am looking for book recommendations. I read anything and everything from YA novels to non-fiction, so please let me know if you have read anything fantastic lately!
I joined netflix — I figure I'm going to be broke when the student loans kick in, so I might as well have a list of DVDs I want to see. It's been fun so far. I have learned not to get foreign documentaries … they sit around forever because it takes a certain mood to watch them and read the subtitles. Right now I am sticking to fluffier movies and documentaries in English. This past weekend I watched EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED which was an interesting and well done interpretation of the book of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer as well as SPELLBOUND about eight kids looking to win the national spelling bee (I forgot that I had seen it before). Both were interesting and worth the time.
So that's what I've been up to, and I promise to post more interesting things in the near future. I have some creative non-fiction ideas floating around in my head, and hopefully I can get them in a written format soon.
Adventures in Katieland 