since my heart is golden, i've got sense to hold it
So, my birthday was actually pretty damn awesome. Brad put a ton of effort into making sure I had a nice day, including putting together an amazingly delicious cheese platter for me and my friends. He also made up one of those plates with oil and balsamic vinegar for us to dip fresh bread into, mmmmmm so yummy. The weather did end up being super hot and gross, so I invited everyone to come hang out at our place. We ate a ton of tasty snacks (besides the cheese platter and bread-and-oil, we put out a bunch of fruit and chips and salsa, plus Lynn brought some lemon squares and chocolate cookies) and I opened the bottle of champagne one of my coworkers had given me to celebrate me getting my PR. We all played Cards Against Humanity, because that's rapidly becoming a must have at any gathering, and I think Amy was the most horrible this time. Last time, Brad was, and both times there were lots of great laughs. Lots of fun conversation too, and I'm really glad I got to hang out with people and have a great day. It was nice to do stuff with Brad AND my friends simultaneously; most of the time, I usually end up hanging out with one or the other, but since everyone came over, Brad hung out with us too, and I think everyone had a good time together. We ended the day by going to Thai Lime for dinner, and getting some delicious Thai avocado chicken, which Amy and Amanda generously paid for for me. It was definitely a fantastic day, and I'm glad I was able to put the stress aside long enough to enjoy it.
Actually, to be honest, since then I haven't really felt stressed as much as I was prior. I feel more optimistic about things again, like we're on the verge of things turning around and getting better. Again, there's nothing concrete to base this feeling on, but I'd much rather feel positive than depressed and stressed out, so I'll take it. I know that Service Canada has my ROEs from work as of Monday, so hopefully they'll make their decision about my claim soon. Fingers crossed. During the course of conversation on Monday, Brad found out that Lynn's dad is a recently retired chemist who still has lots of connections in the field, and Lynn said she'd hook them up via LinkedIn so Brad could talk to her dad about job opportunities. I really hope her dad is able to give Brad any kind of help; I feel like so often these days getting a job is about who you know, and Brad just doesn't have those kind of connections yet. (Really, how many people have great connections right out of school?) If her dad is even able to point Brad in the right direction towards places that are hiring people with bachelor's degrees, that would be great. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed about that, too.
Still not 100% sure what's going on with my Ohio trip. It's happening, for sure, but it could be happening tomorrow (ha!), or in another week or so. Kristian gets her schedule for August today, so she's going to email me when she does and we'll figure out what makes the most sense. In the meantime, my dad and his girlfriend are going to Detroit today to visit her family and they'll be there through Saturday. He asked me if I wanted to meet up with him in London to have dinner or something, since that's about halfway between Detroit and Toronto, and I will probably do that if I'm not going to Ohio this week. If I am going to Ohio, then I have to go right past Detroit anyway, and I'll just meet my dad there. Nothing like last minute decisions, right? It would kind of be awesome (aside from the frantic packing scramble that will ensue) if I could go tomorrow and stay till next Thursday, because that would make it more convenient to see my dad, plus seeing Kristian sooner would obviously be better. If I can't do it then because of her schedule, I'll probably have to wait a bit, because I need to be in town for Friday the 3rd, as that's my summer on call day for work. (We each have one day of the summer where we're on call if some crisis were to come up, but from what I understand, almost no one ever gets called, because there is usually nothing so pressing in the summer that it can't wait till September to be dealt with.)
So yeah. My husband is wonderful, my friends are fantastic, and I'm just generally in a better mood than I was a few days ago. If only the money would come in to continue to support this mood, that would be excellent. Oh, it also doesn't hurt that the weather vastly improved after Monday, and yesterday was an utterly gorgeous day. If summer weather were like yesterday's all the time, I'd be a happy camper. I'll keep you posted on everything else!
Actually, to be honest, since then I haven't really felt stressed as much as I was prior. I feel more optimistic about things again, like we're on the verge of things turning around and getting better. Again, there's nothing concrete to base this feeling on, but I'd much rather feel positive than depressed and stressed out, so I'll take it. I know that Service Canada has my ROEs from work as of Monday, so hopefully they'll make their decision about my claim soon. Fingers crossed. During the course of conversation on Monday, Brad found out that Lynn's dad is a recently retired chemist who still has lots of connections in the field, and Lynn said she'd hook them up via LinkedIn so Brad could talk to her dad about job opportunities. I really hope her dad is able to give Brad any kind of help; I feel like so often these days getting a job is about who you know, and Brad just doesn't have those kind of connections yet. (Really, how many people have great connections right out of school?) If her dad is even able to point Brad in the right direction towards places that are hiring people with bachelor's degrees, that would be great. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed about that, too.
Still not 100% sure what's going on with my Ohio trip. It's happening, for sure, but it could be happening tomorrow (ha!), or in another week or so. Kristian gets her schedule for August today, so she's going to email me when she does and we'll figure out what makes the most sense. In the meantime, my dad and his girlfriend are going to Detroit today to visit her family and they'll be there through Saturday. He asked me if I wanted to meet up with him in London to have dinner or something, since that's about halfway between Detroit and Toronto, and I will probably do that if I'm not going to Ohio this week. If I am going to Ohio, then I have to go right past Detroit anyway, and I'll just meet my dad there. Nothing like last minute decisions, right? It would kind of be awesome (aside from the frantic packing scramble that will ensue) if I could go tomorrow and stay till next Thursday, because that would make it more convenient to see my dad, plus seeing Kristian sooner would obviously be better. If I can't do it then because of her schedule, I'll probably have to wait a bit, because I need to be in town for Friday the 3rd, as that's my summer on call day for work. (We each have one day of the summer where we're on call if some crisis were to come up, but from what I understand, almost no one ever gets called, because there is usually nothing so pressing in the summer that it can't wait till September to be dealt with.)
So yeah. My husband is wonderful, my friends are fantastic, and I'm just generally in a better mood than I was a few days ago. If only the money would come in to continue to support this mood, that would be excellent. Oh, it also doesn't hurt that the weather vastly improved after Monday, and yesterday was an utterly gorgeous day. If summer weather were like yesterday's all the time, I'd be a happy camper. I'll keep you posted on everything else!