A Good Day to Be Me

So yesterday was a really good day. Because THREE good things happened.

1. I don't have to go to Milan! Now I know for most sane people that does NOT sound like a good thing - but for me, it is an overjoying thing - so much so, that I called Mark when I found out and he said he hadn't heard me quite that giddy in a long time. There are quite a few reasons I don't want to go. First, it takes a heck of a long time to get there. And while my doctor assures me it is safe to do so, I am at increased risk of DVT - so I worry about that. And I also worry about something going wrong with the baby while I am there, and I'd have to find my way to a hospital and explain to a doctor in Italian, etc. Secondly, I still get feeling pretty miserable if I don't get enough sleep (which is about 9 hours per night for me now), and I don't constantly keep my stomach in the half-full state. I'm going to be working while I'm there, so I wouldn't have all day to wander from store to restaurant every time I thought I needed to eat something. Thirdly, the first two days I'd be there, I'd basically be on my own because the guy I'd be working with is tied up in meetings (we planned this trip a while ago before he knew of these, I guess) - so I'd be sitting at some table on my laptop all day long - which won't be ergonomically correct (I'm still sensitive to that) and frankly wouldn't have that much to work on - since I need this guy's input on the stuff I"m working on for him, and most of my normal work now is training my replacements (since I'm headed to a new job in a couple of weeks). Also, it's cold there and I don't have many clothes that would fit - so packing would be a hassle (I already hate packing for trips) - and I'd have to get laundry done while I was there. And finally, I really think traveling alone for business is NO fun - you don't have the luxury of getting lost, you have to find everything yourself (I'm awful with getting oriented in a new place), eat by yourself, and if you decide to go sightseeing, that's by yourself too. I'm a bit of an extrovert (wink), so all this doing stuff by yourself is no fun. Oh and finally (I know I already said that), I'd lose half of my weekend, as I'd have to leave Sunday (tomorrow) morning

Now that I've explained why I don't want to go in excruciating detail, I'll tell you how I got out of it. I've been working with this guy via conference call/ Netmeeting for the last couple of weeks, and have gotten a good amount of the work done. With his meeting on Monday/Tuesday, we'd only have two days together in the office - so I explained that it seemed like a lot of travel and cost (he has to pay for my airfare etc, plus I bill my hours to him as well - it's ExxonMobil funny money, but they take it very seriously nonetheless), and I felt confident I could complete the work remotely. He thought about it for a moment and then agreed! Yippee!!!! This was by far the best part of my day.

2. I gave a 4-minute speech to my entire division (a couple hundred people) during our year-end luncheon. And it went well!! I was asked to talk about my work on one of our recent safety initiatives and how it related to the objectives of the division. I'd been working on the speech for about a week, and pretty much could recite it in my sleep - which is necessary, because my brain pretty much turns off during public speaking. I got good comments afterwards, and people said I looked natural and calm (neither of which I felt - I hoped they couldn't see my hand shaking violently). On top of that, I had to speak into a handheld microphone - so it was something else I had to pay attention to with my non functioning brain. So yeah- that's done!! There were only two downers with the speech - one, the VP who I was supposed to "impress" was late, so he didn't hear the speech. And secondly, I got a hard question at the end - meaning I had no idea how to answer it (there were about 8 of us who gave speeches, followed by a Q&A) - and it wasn't fair, because nobody else got questions, except the VP - and I was the least tenured speaker. hmph! I was sitting next to the SH&E manager, and he offered to answer the question, which I quite happily accepted. So he stood up and began answering the question, to which the VP harassed him that I was supposed to answer the question. So I stood up and pretty much said I didn't know the answer, but perhaps Ray (the SHE manager) would like to field the question - to which everyone laughed (okay laughing - I know they all felt bad for me so they weren't laughing AT me). So Ray spent a couple of moments giving me an answer to recite back (which was totally obvious that's what was going on) - so I said "Let me see if I can repeat this accurately" (more laughter) and repeated his answer. I got a round of applause after I sat back down - so hopefully I didn't look like too much of a moron. But it stinks, because I nailed my speech, but then had to end on that note. Oh well. Still a good part of my day.

3. It's our division's custom to go home following the luncheon (not too many - actually ANY other customs like that) - so I got home at about 3 PM yesterday. Yeah!!! Our house is a pigsty (still haven't managed to do much productive once I get home from work) - so while Mark hung Christmas lights (yeah!) - I did a gazillion dishes while listening to Christmas music and drinking apple cider. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon (beats sitting behind my desk - AND I got to start the weekend with a clean kitchen).

So anyways, I thought I would share with you the joys that happened on Friday.

And finally, I am now officially in the second trimester - which all sources I can find promise to be a happy and magical place. So I am expecting the next three months to be full of bliss! I'll let you know how it goes! :)

Oh - one more thing - we've decided to go through the last round of genetic testing - which will take place a week from Monday - and it includes an ultrasound where we'll hopefully get to confirm Ziggy's gender. So once we see what kind of plumbing this baby has, we'll share the news! Think good thoughts about Ziggy's brain and spinal cord - because that's what this testing is for. :)

Have a great weekend!