a long weekend
first, today, i must express frustration with my overly hands-on manager. the past 3 years, i've worked with managers who have been relatively hands-off. they were laid back and were there if you needed help, but assumed that no news was good news. i was allowed to work at my own pace and as long as i helped produce quality books and adhered (as much as possible) to our standards, they left me alone. i get along GREAT with hands-off managers. this isn't to say that i don't like getting together to regroup. i at least want a manager who knows what i'm up to and keeps in touch. a hands-off manager isn't necessarily an absent manager, in my opinion. in any case, this all changed when our production group was reorganized and i was put on a completely different discipline list and placed under a different boss. i'd known this woman since i started and she's moved up the ranks to a director. she's a nice enough woman, too, and always willing to help out and provide answers to questions you have about standard procedure and whatnot. the thing is, she's SUPER hands-on, overly so, in fact. i remember talking to one of the project managers who worked for her and said that she (the manager) would go into her titles in our database and monitor her schedules, sometimes to the point of putting in information that was otherwise overlooked. not cool. earlier today i got an email from her with a link to one of my titles in our database. she asked whether or not this book would still meet it's publish date, being that some aspects of the project are slightly behind schedule, according to the estimated dates currently in my schedule. honestly, i don't spend my days hovering over my schedules. i update them when i need to and when i have new information to provide. otherwise, i leave my schedules alone. yes, i know other people look at them, not only me, but i've never had any questions posed to me by others outside of production about my schedule. when i got this message, i had actually just been into that schedule and updated a few dates, which had passed (due to the "schedule compliance report" that was sent out this morning by my manager). i assured her i was on top of everything and that the design for the book was finishing up and i should start seeing page proofs with the next week or so. yes, things will be hectic the last week of may and all of june to meet our july 3 files-to-printer date, but i have all the confidence in the world we'll meet our august 7 publish date.
messages like hers make me more stressed out than i feel i need to be, when it comes to my projects. yes, i know things are slightly behind schedule, but i also know that things will start to pick up again once the design is with the compositor and they can start churning out page proofs. it'll be hectic, but i'm fine with hectic. message like hers also give me the impression that she doesn't think i'm doing my job, or at least doing it right. i'm doing my job fine. leave me be and i'll actually do my job better.
now that that's out of the way...
the weekend was lovely, if not 10 degrees hotter than i would've liked. marshall and i stayed the weekend at my sister's house- and dog-sitting. we got there friday evening to feed the dogs dinner and then walked down the streets with our thank-you money, left on the counter by my sister, to have dinner at a wine bar. it was tasty and delightful. we even left room for ice cream, as we walked by the baskin-and-robbins 2 blocks from my sister's house. my sister and her husband aren't super tech people, but they finally hooked up their DVD player and we were able to watch a movie before turning in early.
saturday morning started early, making sure the dogs got their breakfast when they normally do. we also wanted to make sure they got a walk in before we headed out for the day. we walked them before it got too hot outside and then headed over to willow glen to meet the breakfast club. during breakfast, as planned, we discussed our upcoming camping trip in 2 weeks. we wanted to settle on dinner, breakfast, snacks and equipment. as promised, i was the meeting's factotum and by the time breakfast was over, we were finished with our planning. i'm super excited and looking forward to our little trip. it's funny, the last time marshall and i went camping, we went with another couple and there wasn't nearly this much planning and we were staying for 3 nights! when you're dealing with 7 people's tastes for food and what they would want to do on a camping trip, things get a little touchy. however, i think we figured out enough to make at least everyone satisfied.
the rest of saturday was lazy with the sole purpose of staying out of the heat. marshall and i enjoyed the cool temperature of our apartment and WoW'ed for most of the afternoon. i'm barreling my way through to 80 on my rogue and dinged 77 this weekend. in fact, i logged out saturday afternoon when i was only 0.5% of a level from dinging. it made sunday that much more exciting. :P anyway, i'm happy to be back in WoW-land again. i actually missed playing while i was busy with school (grades still haven't been posted. grrr...). i'm looking forward to 80 and running heroic-level instances and gearing up for raiding. i don't PVP, so raiding is the only end-game i see. i also wouldn't mind working on getting some achievements, but those are secondary. anyway, back to saturday...another great way to beat the heat? the movies. there wasn't much playing at this point, but luckily our local theater was still showing sunshine cleaning. i wanted to see that, so we caught an evening showing. i thought it was a great movie and amy adams was fantastic. sure, it made me cry, but whatever. :) we grabbed some dinner and then it was back at my sister's to feed the hungry dogs and do as little as possible. that meant sitting down and watching freaky friday. yes, i netflix'ed it. i happen to like jamie lee curtis. plus, it's pre-skank lindsay lohan, so i'm OK with that. i thought it was a cute adaptation of the original, which i totally loved. there were a few plot points which bothered me, like the fact that a mother would be OK with her 15-year-old daughter dating an 18-yr-old high school graduate. i'm sorry, i dated a 20-yr-old when i was 16 and my mom was SO not OK with that and it turned out to be a complete disaster. i also was skeptical about lohan being able to play the guitar and singing in a band. i guess it just added to the "complexity" of her character. i'm sure it wasn't her, anyway.
sunday started much earlier than normal, due to making sure dogs were fed breakfast at a decent hour. we also were interested in getting them to the dog park, which becks really enjoys. shiner, being the peoples-dog that she is, could take it our leave it, but becks plays with the other dogs and will play fetch. :) anyway, we headed over to the park before it got too hot and enjoyed throwing the ball with becks and seeing the other dogs from the neighborhood. i find it amusing when i walk shiner, and now becks, people who are familiar with the weimaraner breed and those who are not. the people who are usually exclaim "ooo - weimaraners!!", while everyone else "what kind of dog is he/she?" and thoroughly interested. both shiner and becks are gorgeous dogs and i was really kicking myself for not bringing our camera to take a few snaps. anyway, everyone had a good time and the dogs really behaved themselves. :)
by the time we got home to feed our little ones it was still only 11am. i originally thought of going on a bike ride, but the 80-degree morning heat nixed that idea. i didn't want to be cooped up inside the entire day, so i suggested to marshall going to the pool. we headed there as soon as we got things done at home, in order to beat the crowd of people, especially kids, who would inevitably be at the pool on a hot day. it was nice and the pool was the perfect temperature. marshall poked fun at my "swimming" technique and after about 30 solid minutes in the water, we laid out in the sun. i only got a little pink, which is saying a lot for being in the sun for almost a full hour. we managed to start our sunday errands early, which was nice, and was done with everything before 4pm. at this point, marshall and i were ready for some WoW'ing and he helped my rogue run DTK. i also dinged 77 and immediately headed to shadowmoon valley for my flying mount. yay!! :) while i was there i initiated and completed all the preliminary netherdrake quests, so i can see about getting a netherdrake later on, when i have enough money again to buy epic flying. i'm hoping it won't take very long, but once i buy my cold-weather flying ability, i'll still need almost 4000g for epic flying. i don't have much money on my other characters, because i haven't been playing them at all. i could just pool all that money together, leave everyone with just enough to survive and get it over with. marshall said he'd be willing to help me out a bit, which is very generous. i remember rolling in the money a while back, but now i'm pretty broke. in any case, i'm at the last step before opening up the daily quests, but it's definitely a group quest. at 77, i simply cannot take 71-elite mobs on my own, especially when they're surrounded by level 70-elite archers. :)
marshall and i had dinner at the counter. it was delicious as it usually is, even if our waitress wasn't having a very good night herself. the manager was nice enough to comp our fries because our waitress forgot to put them in. oops. dinner was followed up by a trip to border's. i could've done worse, but ended up walking away with 4 new books: julie and julia: my year of cooking dangerously, the omnivore's dilemma: a natural history of four meals, the time traveler's wife, and the fortune cookie chronicles: adventures the world of chinese food. as you can see, i'm on a bit of a food book kick right now. last thursday i started michael ruhlman's the soul of a chef: the journey toward perfection. it's a really exciting book and i simply love reading about food. :) i'm looking forward to my new books, although it completely throws away the promise i made last year that i would read all the books i haven't read that are currently on my bookshelf before buying any more new books. oh well!
this morning was back to the gym after a week and a half of being sick and recovering. i'm actually looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. i was starting to feel sluggish and i didn't like that. my weight training this morning was tough, but rather enjoyable. my legs need work, as do my core muscles. i've got a few exercises that help work both. i'm also working on strengthening my shoulders, since those get a beating at work (i end to lean on one side when i'm staring at my computer) and they also are the first thing to get tired when i ride my bike. i've got 11 weeks before our triathlon in august and i need to get in shape. i also would like to look nice at BFF-sarah's wedding the day before. :P
messages like hers make me more stressed out than i feel i need to be, when it comes to my projects. yes, i know things are slightly behind schedule, but i also know that things will start to pick up again once the design is with the compositor and they can start churning out page proofs. it'll be hectic, but i'm fine with hectic. message like hers also give me the impression that she doesn't think i'm doing my job, or at least doing it right. i'm doing my job fine. leave me be and i'll actually do my job better.
now that that's out of the way...
the weekend was lovely, if not 10 degrees hotter than i would've liked. marshall and i stayed the weekend at my sister's house- and dog-sitting. we got there friday evening to feed the dogs dinner and then walked down the streets with our thank-you money, left on the counter by my sister, to have dinner at a wine bar. it was tasty and delightful. we even left room for ice cream, as we walked by the baskin-and-robbins 2 blocks from my sister's house. my sister and her husband aren't super tech people, but they finally hooked up their DVD player and we were able to watch a movie before turning in early.
saturday morning started early, making sure the dogs got their breakfast when they normally do. we also wanted to make sure they got a walk in before we headed out for the day. we walked them before it got too hot outside and then headed over to willow glen to meet the breakfast club. during breakfast, as planned, we discussed our upcoming camping trip in 2 weeks. we wanted to settle on dinner, breakfast, snacks and equipment. as promised, i was the meeting's factotum and by the time breakfast was over, we were finished with our planning. i'm super excited and looking forward to our little trip. it's funny, the last time marshall and i went camping, we went with another couple and there wasn't nearly this much planning and we were staying for 3 nights! when you're dealing with 7 people's tastes for food and what they would want to do on a camping trip, things get a little touchy. however, i think we figured out enough to make at least everyone satisfied.
the rest of saturday was lazy with the sole purpose of staying out of the heat. marshall and i enjoyed the cool temperature of our apartment and WoW'ed for most of the afternoon. i'm barreling my way through to 80 on my rogue and dinged 77 this weekend. in fact, i logged out saturday afternoon when i was only 0.5% of a level from dinging. it made sunday that much more exciting. :P anyway, i'm happy to be back in WoW-land again. i actually missed playing while i was busy with school (grades still haven't been posted. grrr...). i'm looking forward to 80 and running heroic-level instances and gearing up for raiding. i don't PVP, so raiding is the only end-game i see. i also wouldn't mind working on getting some achievements, but those are secondary. anyway, back to saturday...another great way to beat the heat? the movies. there wasn't much playing at this point, but luckily our local theater was still showing sunshine cleaning. i wanted to see that, so we caught an evening showing. i thought it was a great movie and amy adams was fantastic. sure, it made me cry, but whatever. :) we grabbed some dinner and then it was back at my sister's to feed the hungry dogs and do as little as possible. that meant sitting down and watching freaky friday. yes, i netflix'ed it. i happen to like jamie lee curtis. plus, it's pre-skank lindsay lohan, so i'm OK with that. i thought it was a cute adaptation of the original, which i totally loved. there were a few plot points which bothered me, like the fact that a mother would be OK with her 15-year-old daughter dating an 18-yr-old high school graduate. i'm sorry, i dated a 20-yr-old when i was 16 and my mom was SO not OK with that and it turned out to be a complete disaster. i also was skeptical about lohan being able to play the guitar and singing in a band. i guess it just added to the "complexity" of her character. i'm sure it wasn't her, anyway.
sunday started much earlier than normal, due to making sure dogs were fed breakfast at a decent hour. we also were interested in getting them to the dog park, which becks really enjoys. shiner, being the peoples-dog that she is, could take it our leave it, but becks plays with the other dogs and will play fetch. :) anyway, we headed over to the park before it got too hot and enjoyed throwing the ball with becks and seeing the other dogs from the neighborhood. i find it amusing when i walk shiner, and now becks, people who are familiar with the weimaraner breed and those who are not. the people who are usually exclaim "ooo - weimaraners!!", while everyone else "what kind of dog is he/she?" and thoroughly interested. both shiner and becks are gorgeous dogs and i was really kicking myself for not bringing our camera to take a few snaps. anyway, everyone had a good time and the dogs really behaved themselves. :)
by the time we got home to feed our little ones it was still only 11am. i originally thought of going on a bike ride, but the 80-degree morning heat nixed that idea. i didn't want to be cooped up inside the entire day, so i suggested to marshall going to the pool. we headed there as soon as we got things done at home, in order to beat the crowd of people, especially kids, who would inevitably be at the pool on a hot day. it was nice and the pool was the perfect temperature. marshall poked fun at my "swimming" technique and after about 30 solid minutes in the water, we laid out in the sun. i only got a little pink, which is saying a lot for being in the sun for almost a full hour. we managed to start our sunday errands early, which was nice, and was done with everything before 4pm. at this point, marshall and i were ready for some WoW'ing and he helped my rogue run DTK. i also dinged 77 and immediately headed to shadowmoon valley for my flying mount. yay!! :) while i was there i initiated and completed all the preliminary netherdrake quests, so i can see about getting a netherdrake later on, when i have enough money again to buy epic flying. i'm hoping it won't take very long, but once i buy my cold-weather flying ability, i'll still need almost 4000g for epic flying. i don't have much money on my other characters, because i haven't been playing them at all. i could just pool all that money together, leave everyone with just enough to survive and get it over with. marshall said he'd be willing to help me out a bit, which is very generous. i remember rolling in the money a while back, but now i'm pretty broke. in any case, i'm at the last step before opening up the daily quests, but it's definitely a group quest. at 77, i simply cannot take 71-elite mobs on my own, especially when they're surrounded by level 70-elite archers. :)
marshall and i had dinner at the counter. it was delicious as it usually is, even if our waitress wasn't having a very good night herself. the manager was nice enough to comp our fries because our waitress forgot to put them in. oops. dinner was followed up by a trip to border's. i could've done worse, but ended up walking away with 4 new books: julie and julia: my year of cooking dangerously, the omnivore's dilemma: a natural history of four meals, the time traveler's wife, and the fortune cookie chronicles: adventures the world of chinese food. as you can see, i'm on a bit of a food book kick right now. last thursday i started michael ruhlman's the soul of a chef: the journey toward perfection. it's a really exciting book and i simply love reading about food. :) i'm looking forward to my new books, although it completely throws away the promise i made last year that i would read all the books i haven't read that are currently on my bookshelf before buying any more new books. oh well!
this morning was back to the gym after a week and a half of being sick and recovering. i'm actually looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. i was starting to feel sluggish and i didn't like that. my weight training this morning was tough, but rather enjoyable. my legs need work, as do my core muscles. i've got a few exercises that help work both. i'm also working on strengthening my shoulders, since those get a beating at work (i end to lean on one side when i'm staring at my computer) and they also are the first thing to get tired when i ride my bike. i've got 11 weeks before our triathlon in august and i need to get in shape. i also would like to look nice at BFF-sarah's wedding the day before. :P