So today marks Shell's daughter's Sweet 16 birthday... of course, I should have expected that I would get a phone call today. Highly ironic that on HER daughter's birthday, she would take the time to finally call me back, isn't it?
This all came about because I put a Happy Birthday FB posting to the kid on her page. Shell also had a status stating that her daughter was turning 16 today.She used one of my wedding pics of her daughter (she was my flower girl) and cropped me out of the pic. Basically my comment was that I liked the original pic better with me in it. It kind of aggravated me that she cropped me out. She has SO many pics of all her friends on her page, but none of me and my son...but everyone else gets face time. I know, it's petty, but it still bothered me. To me, it seemed like yet another example of how unimportant I am in her life.
At any rate, this precipitated the obligatory phone call this morning inviting me to the "last minute" birthday bbq. She also made sure to mention that there was a Sweet 16 party in the works, but of course was not yet planned. Whatever. She has known about this for ages, why would she not plan this party ahead of time? WTF? Her very eloquent verbal invite also included the phrase "I understand if you don't want to come." Gee, you think? Do I really want to come to this little last minute soiree for your child? KNOWING that I was a last minute invite? Really? AND bring some sort of present too? No thanks, I'd rather have my wisdom teeth yanked from my head than attend this so called party. If she couldn't come to my boy's 1st party, then there's no way in hell would I have any interest in attending her girl's 16th. She didn't even bother to give him a gift. There's not a chance in hell that I will go to this party, or the one she hasn't planned yet. In my mind, it was a completely disingenuous and insincere invitation, done only to relieve her own guilt for being a crappy friend that can't be bothered to call me back once in a while. In her mind, as long as she extended the invitation, then the ball is in my court. If I refuse to go, she is off the hook once again. This is true, she will be off the hook in her mind, but not in mine.
I told Hubby about this and he said that I should call her back, "Be the bigger person." However, I am sick of being the bigger person. I have been that person for over 20 years. I am always the one who does the right thing and acquieces to her nonsense. This in turn enables her to wiggle her way into my good graces again, setting me up for yet another disappointment when she decides to not be bothered with me once something more titillating comes along; whether it is a new guy, a new friend, or an old friend she reconnected with, no matter, I always rank the lowest on the list. I am tired of being that person.
So as I sit here typing this, I am trying to decide whether I should do one of the following:
1) Return the phone call, and politely decline the "invitation."
2) Don't bother to call back and let her wonder if I ever got the message.
3) Text her back declining the invitation.
4) Call her and then decide to go.
Obviously #4 is out of the question- I don't think that it would be a good idea as it would just enable her to wiggle into my good graces that I don't want her to wiggle into anymore.
#1 is the most civilized option- not sure if I am feeling civilized today.
#2 is the most uncivilized option- not even I am that rude (although she is.)
#3 is the most impersonal option- I am leaning towards this as I have no interest in actually speaking to her.
So right now I have to make a decision how to respond, as the ball is now in my court.... we shall see!
That's it and that's all for now.....
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Sept 11th- Never Forget
I wanted to make this post separate from the other one since I felt it deserves it's own. Today is September 11, 2010. 9 years ago today were the tragic attacks of terrorism on our country. Thousands of innocent people lost their lives that day- both civilians and first responders. It is due to these events that we are in a war in Iraq and Afghanistan. This war has been 9 years long. Many of our nation's soldiers both young and old gave their lives there. I pray for their souls and hope that they have a place next to God up in Heaven, as they should be. Recently our president announced that the troop reduction was going into effect and the Iraqi people will now be responsible for keeping order in their own country. Afghanistan will be next. I hope that all of our troops will be home soon safe and sound and allowed to live their lives in peace. It's been a long 9 years, and although I supported president Bush for his reasons for getting involved there, I am glad that Obama was able to bring some trips home. Don't get me wrong, I am a devout Rebublican, and a Bush supporter (as unpopular as that is in some areas of the country.) I think about all of the families affected by this entire situation and pray that there is peace and recovery.
So today I will light a candle in honor of the fallen heroes, the civilian casualties of all the nations involved and pray for peace.
God Bless America- Land of the Free, Home of the Brave!!
That's it and that's all!
So today I will light a candle in honor of the fallen heroes, the civilian casualties of all the nations involved and pray for peace.
God Bless America- Land of the Free, Home of the Brave!!
That's it and that's all!
It's Been Awhile....
I guess it's becoming a habit to only get in here to blog every 2 months- I think about blogging, and then inexplicably become distracted by some other thing, usually involving my son.
Speaking of my son, he is now 19 months old. He's still not saying a lot of words, he currently has about 9 words: Mama, Dada, Poppa (my father), ball, butt, what, no, hi & moon. He also says "uh-huh" instead of yes when I ask him if he wants something. I have yet to get him to say "milk", which I thought he would learn quickly because it's the one thing he always asks for- he uses the sign for milk instead of saying it. He will also sign "all done" and "more" and that's about it. He recently started waving Hi and Bye and using it appropriately. His Pediatrician thinks he may have a speech delay, and I am supposed to check again at 22 months if he's not using more words he will have to go for evaluation and speech therapy. Since his 18 month checkup he went from 2-3 words to the 9 I mentioned, so he picked up a bunch this month. Hopefully he will get caught up- I really hope so, it makes me worry that he has a developmental delay. I always have the fear that he could be autistic like my nephew, who is the only other male grandchild on this side of the family. Autism affects boys more than girls, and does have a genetic connection, although we don't know of anyone with this disorder in our family, so we are not sure which side of the family has the gene- mine or my husband's, or in the case of my sister- her side or her husband's. It's never shown up before so we have no idea. So as a result, I am hyper-aware of every stage of development with my son, I am always watching for the outward signs. So far the only thing that has any concern is the language development. He seems to be social, looks people in the eye, although he is shy with new people. That could be his personality, and that in itself is not an autistic trait. He also started pointing and he does play with blocks and other toys. So this may just be a speech delay, and in that case it is easily remedied with the correct therapy. I work with him every day naming objects, and showing him things like turning on the light switch, closing the door, opening the refrigerator- all of which he LOVES to do REPEATEDLY btw... he definitely like to learn new things, so that is great. I love when he brings me his book and points to the picture of the moon- he tells me "Mun, Mun" that's how he pronounces it, lol! He also loves the picture of the monkey in the book, although he can't say that word yet. Other favorite pictures are of a girl, a goat, an elephant and a flag. Maybe these will be the next words, that remains to be seen. Another favorite thing is music- he LOVES music and dances when he hears a song he likes. He's especially fond of "Yo Gabba Gabba", "Jack's Big Music Show", "The Backyardigans" and "The Fresh Beat Band." He loves the Laurie Berkner Band, Moose and Zee, and all of the musical interludes on Nick Jr. There's a song called "Papa Moko Jumbie" that he just LOVES when it comes one..he dances to it all excitedly. So cute!!
As you can tell, I have been pretty busy with my baby lately- between work, and taking him for his swimming lessons, and shuttling him back and forth to Grandma's house, I have so little time in the day. It's gonna get more hectic starting next week because my boss leaves for China on this coming Tuesday and will be gone for 3 weeks. He had planned the trip prior to this, but had to move it up unexpectedly when we discovered that our Chinese vendors are running behind in our shipments that are supposed to get here right in the heart of our busy season. Our leadtime for product is 60 days and some of the orders are already going to be a month late and they haven't even hit production yet. My boss feels that if he is on-site then his presence will ensure that they get going on our orders and don't put anyone else's in front of ours. It's the only tactic he has to make sure we get our delivery on time, or else risk the wrath of the almighty Wal-Mart. We are going to lose some of their business come February as it is, as they have decided to take our lower level product out of their stores in favor of a competitor's, but they are keeping the premium level product. The problem is, the premium level product has less of a profit margin on it as we pay fees for the branding on them, whereas our lower level brand product (which Wal-Mart has as their store brand) is completely ours and even though it is cheaper, we make more money on it. The loss of this business is going to completely derail our 2011 sales, and to combat it we have started rolling out a new product to our international customers that we are trying to get sold here in the US. Right now we have no national distribution of this product, but our marketing department is courting the larger retail chains to get them interested. To sweeten the pot, we are offering all kinds of discounts and incentives to the retailers that take us on- and a FREE national TV ad campaign that mentions which store you can buy it at. You can't beat free promotion for your store. My company is going to put up 5 mil just for the advertising, so you know it's a serious deal. We need to replace the lost Wal-Mart sales, and for my peace of mind I hope they do. I'd hate to be job hunting again after finally finding a great job that I love. Keep your fingers crossed on this one.
Now for a Shell update: basically, she hasn't called or anything since her birthday in June. So the update is, there is nothing to tell. However, I have decided to not be bothered with her anymore. I just can't stay on the rollercoaster wondering if and when she'll return my calls or messages, or continue to think and over think why she doesn't respond, or obsess over what I possibly did to her to make her not speak to me anymore. It's too much energy to waste on someone who obviously doesn't give a crap about me. I need to move on from it. So that is my decision- let the friendship go, let it go to the great big friendship graveyard and be free of it. I have always been the one who kept the friendship alive and it takes 2 people to maintain one. She gave up reciprocating, therefore so will I. My only regret is not coming to this conclusion sooner than I did. Perhaps I never wanted to face the fact that I will truly be alone and not have a best friend any longer. The fact is- I haven't had a best friend for many years, and although I dearly miss having a best friend, I have been able to get by without her. Having my son and the responsibility of parenting helped to clarify this - I need to give 100% of my energy to worthy pursuits that enable me to be the best Mother I could possibly be. If there is something that mentally or emotionally takes me out of that zone, it's taking away from my son, and I can't allow that to happen. I need to be mentally happy and healthy for my boy, period. Therefore, it is with great sadness that I make this decision, however, the one priority I have is my son, and he will always come first. I don't have time for conditional friendships or part-time friends. My time is too valuable, and my mental health and emotional health are too valuable.
So I will sign off on that note, and hopefully things will return to normal, if there ever was normal to begin with !! :0)
That's it and that's all!!
Speaking of my son, he is now 19 months old. He's still not saying a lot of words, he currently has about 9 words: Mama, Dada, Poppa (my father), ball, butt, what, no, hi & moon. He also says "uh-huh" instead of yes when I ask him if he wants something. I have yet to get him to say "milk", which I thought he would learn quickly because it's the one thing he always asks for- he uses the sign for milk instead of saying it. He will also sign "all done" and "more" and that's about it. He recently started waving Hi and Bye and using it appropriately. His Pediatrician thinks he may have a speech delay, and I am supposed to check again at 22 months if he's not using more words he will have to go for evaluation and speech therapy. Since his 18 month checkup he went from 2-3 words to the 9 I mentioned, so he picked up a bunch this month. Hopefully he will get caught up- I really hope so, it makes me worry that he has a developmental delay. I always have the fear that he could be autistic like my nephew, who is the only other male grandchild on this side of the family. Autism affects boys more than girls, and does have a genetic connection, although we don't know of anyone with this disorder in our family, so we are not sure which side of the family has the gene- mine or my husband's, or in the case of my sister- her side or her husband's. It's never shown up before so we have no idea. So as a result, I am hyper-aware of every stage of development with my son, I am always watching for the outward signs. So far the only thing that has any concern is the language development. He seems to be social, looks people in the eye, although he is shy with new people. That could be his personality, and that in itself is not an autistic trait. He also started pointing and he does play with blocks and other toys. So this may just be a speech delay, and in that case it is easily remedied with the correct therapy. I work with him every day naming objects, and showing him things like turning on the light switch, closing the door, opening the refrigerator- all of which he LOVES to do REPEATEDLY btw... he definitely like to learn new things, so that is great. I love when he brings me his book and points to the picture of the moon- he tells me "Mun, Mun" that's how he pronounces it, lol! He also loves the picture of the monkey in the book, although he can't say that word yet. Other favorite pictures are of a girl, a goat, an elephant and a flag. Maybe these will be the next words, that remains to be seen. Another favorite thing is music- he LOVES music and dances when he hears a song he likes. He's especially fond of "Yo Gabba Gabba", "Jack's Big Music Show", "The Backyardigans" and "The Fresh Beat Band." He loves the Laurie Berkner Band, Moose and Zee, and all of the musical interludes on Nick Jr. There's a song called "Papa Moko Jumbie" that he just LOVES when it comes one..he dances to it all excitedly. So cute!!
As you can tell, I have been pretty busy with my baby lately- between work, and taking him for his swimming lessons, and shuttling him back and forth to Grandma's house, I have so little time in the day. It's gonna get more hectic starting next week because my boss leaves for China on this coming Tuesday and will be gone for 3 weeks. He had planned the trip prior to this, but had to move it up unexpectedly when we discovered that our Chinese vendors are running behind in our shipments that are supposed to get here right in the heart of our busy season. Our leadtime for product is 60 days and some of the orders are already going to be a month late and they haven't even hit production yet. My boss feels that if he is on-site then his presence will ensure that they get going on our orders and don't put anyone else's in front of ours. It's the only tactic he has to make sure we get our delivery on time, or else risk the wrath of the almighty Wal-Mart. We are going to lose some of their business come February as it is, as they have decided to take our lower level product out of their stores in favor of a competitor's, but they are keeping the premium level product. The problem is, the premium level product has less of a profit margin on it as we pay fees for the branding on them, whereas our lower level brand product (which Wal-Mart has as their store brand) is completely ours and even though it is cheaper, we make more money on it. The loss of this business is going to completely derail our 2011 sales, and to combat it we have started rolling out a new product to our international customers that we are trying to get sold here in the US. Right now we have no national distribution of this product, but our marketing department is courting the larger retail chains to get them interested. To sweeten the pot, we are offering all kinds of discounts and incentives to the retailers that take us on- and a FREE national TV ad campaign that mentions which store you can buy it at. You can't beat free promotion for your store. My company is going to put up 5 mil just for the advertising, so you know it's a serious deal. We need to replace the lost Wal-Mart sales, and for my peace of mind I hope they do. I'd hate to be job hunting again after finally finding a great job that I love. Keep your fingers crossed on this one.
Now for a Shell update: basically, she hasn't called or anything since her birthday in June. So the update is, there is nothing to tell. However, I have decided to not be bothered with her anymore. I just can't stay on the rollercoaster wondering if and when she'll return my calls or messages, or continue to think and over think why she doesn't respond, or obsess over what I possibly did to her to make her not speak to me anymore. It's too much energy to waste on someone who obviously doesn't give a crap about me. I need to move on from it. So that is my decision- let the friendship go, let it go to the great big friendship graveyard and be free of it. I have always been the one who kept the friendship alive and it takes 2 people to maintain one. She gave up reciprocating, therefore so will I. My only regret is not coming to this conclusion sooner than I did. Perhaps I never wanted to face the fact that I will truly be alone and not have a best friend any longer. The fact is- I haven't had a best friend for many years, and although I dearly miss having a best friend, I have been able to get by without her. Having my son and the responsibility of parenting helped to clarify this - I need to give 100% of my energy to worthy pursuits that enable me to be the best Mother I could possibly be. If there is something that mentally or emotionally takes me out of that zone, it's taking away from my son, and I can't allow that to happen. I need to be mentally happy and healthy for my boy, period. Therefore, it is with great sadness that I make this decision, however, the one priority I have is my son, and he will always come first. I don't have time for conditional friendships or part-time friends. My time is too valuable, and my mental health and emotional health are too valuable.
So I will sign off on that note, and hopefully things will return to normal, if there ever was normal to begin with !! :0)
That's it and that's all!!
Saturday, July 10, 2010
17 months old!
I realize that I haven't made an entry in this blog in months....I've been relatively busy. My boy is 17 months old, has FINALLY given up the bottle and drinks out of the sippy exclusively. He is taking survival swimming lessons for the past 5 weeks and is finally getting used to the instructor and not screaming..lol. He climbs on the furniture, opens doors and is generally a menace, but in a good way. He's still not talking yet, per se. He says "mama" and "dada" and ironically "oh shit!" but not much else. He jabbers alot though- he has entire conversations in his own language that only he and his stuffed animals understand. He's just too damned cute!
An update on Shell: She finally called me back after getting a 40th bday card from me. I know that she went to NY for the 4th and to celebrate her bday. She didn't clue me in on whether she wanted to do a local celebration, so I didn't bring it up. As of right now, I have no clue if she is going to make the next move and bother to keep in touch with me on a regular basis. I feel that her heart and her head are in NY, and she is trying to figure out how she can make a move back there permanently. She mentioned that she wants to find a new job. I think she is looking for a job up there, personally, although she didn't say it, I read it between the lines. She also casually mentioned that her daughter wants to move up there to finish HS and if I am right it will prove to me why she's being so distant- she wants to break ties now so it won't be as hard to move away. That's my theory, it will have to play itself out before we know for sure.
Another "incident"- I had a little health scare- long story short, I had found what I thought was a lump under my breast, had it checked out by my dr and had a mammogram and ultrasound- that lump wasn't even there. The radiologist however did find a cyst in the same breast that I was unaware of, and didn't feel it because it's so deep inside the tissue. She reassured me that it was nothing to worry about and was benign. Thank the good Lord that it all turned out ok. Incidentally, I told Shell about this whole thing, and she was naturally concerned (remember she has a friend battling BC and not doing well.) I think that is the only reason why she called me semi-regularly for a week anyway. Then she went on her vacay to NY and although I have texted her, she hasn't bothered to answer me back.
Since I am in the midst of updates, I have one for "A". About a week ago he called me out of the blue at work. I didn't even remember giving him my work #, but I must have at some point. I had a couple of IM convos with him on FB and I must have given it to him. I was pretty shocked that he called, I think it's been a couple years at least since I have spoken to him. He didn't really let on what's going on with him, but I can only infer that from previous run-ins with him, that he's probably on the rocks with B. Maybe they had another fight, who knows? I kept the conversation very neutral, talking mostly about my boy, and he talked about his kids too. His son is PDD like my nephew- and I was telling him that there's hope for him, because my nephew at 8 years old has finally learned how to socialize with other boys his age and has friends in the neighborhood and stuff. I told him that his boy will get there too, as long as the whole family works with him and he has the help he needs at school. But that was the extent of the convo. We spoke about 45 min. I left off on good terms. We didn't discuss the past, thank goodness. I have no interest in rehashing all that drama. I've moved on from it.
One last thing- I attended my 20th HS reunion on 6/12/10. I decided at the last minute (literally the morning of) to go. I managed to get hair and nails done, and find a dress at Ross all in one day. It was as if I was meant to go. Although I do not look my best right now (still have baby weight, plus some) I was really glad I went. I saw a lot of people that i hadn't seen in OVER 20 years, There were a few guys I went to Middle School with that only went to HS with me until 10th grade that didn't graduate with us, that still came. It was a great nite for me. I reconnected with another one of my good friends from HS that happened to be there with her hubby (she married a Dr!) When I last saw her at the 10 yr reunion, she was engaged- now she's married with 3 kids, stay at home Mom, etc. Her parents still live in the area, so she was down here visiting a couple of weeks ago and I got to meet her out for dinner and drinks and have a girls nite out. I haven't done that in YEARS. It was so nice to be out with other ladies my age and have a nice time. And it didn't include Shell. I want to hang out with people that have nothing to do with her, so I can be my own person again. It was a great time, I hope to do it again when she comes to town. She lives in Orlando, about 20 minutes from my sister...so I hope to see her when I go up there too.
So that's it and that's all for now... Ciao!
An update on Shell: She finally called me back after getting a 40th bday card from me. I know that she went to NY for the 4th and to celebrate her bday. She didn't clue me in on whether she wanted to do a local celebration, so I didn't bring it up. As of right now, I have no clue if she is going to make the next move and bother to keep in touch with me on a regular basis. I feel that her heart and her head are in NY, and she is trying to figure out how she can make a move back there permanently. She mentioned that she wants to find a new job. I think she is looking for a job up there, personally, although she didn't say it, I read it between the lines. She also casually mentioned that her daughter wants to move up there to finish HS and if I am right it will prove to me why she's being so distant- she wants to break ties now so it won't be as hard to move away. That's my theory, it will have to play itself out before we know for sure.
Another "incident"- I had a little health scare- long story short, I had found what I thought was a lump under my breast, had it checked out by my dr and had a mammogram and ultrasound- that lump wasn't even there. The radiologist however did find a cyst in the same breast that I was unaware of, and didn't feel it because it's so deep inside the tissue. She reassured me that it was nothing to worry about and was benign. Thank the good Lord that it all turned out ok. Incidentally, I told Shell about this whole thing, and she was naturally concerned (remember she has a friend battling BC and not doing well.) I think that is the only reason why she called me semi-regularly for a week anyway. Then she went on her vacay to NY and although I have texted her, she hasn't bothered to answer me back.
Since I am in the midst of updates, I have one for "A". About a week ago he called me out of the blue at work. I didn't even remember giving him my work #, but I must have at some point. I had a couple of IM convos with him on FB and I must have given it to him. I was pretty shocked that he called, I think it's been a couple years at least since I have spoken to him. He didn't really let on what's going on with him, but I can only infer that from previous run-ins with him, that he's probably on the rocks with B. Maybe they had another fight, who knows? I kept the conversation very neutral, talking mostly about my boy, and he talked about his kids too. His son is PDD like my nephew- and I was telling him that there's hope for him, because my nephew at 8 years old has finally learned how to socialize with other boys his age and has friends in the neighborhood and stuff. I told him that his boy will get there too, as long as the whole family works with him and he has the help he needs at school. But that was the extent of the convo. We spoke about 45 min. I left off on good terms. We didn't discuss the past, thank goodness. I have no interest in rehashing all that drama. I've moved on from it.
One last thing- I attended my 20th HS reunion on 6/12/10. I decided at the last minute (literally the morning of) to go. I managed to get hair and nails done, and find a dress at Ross all in one day. It was as if I was meant to go. Although I do not look my best right now (still have baby weight, plus some) I was really glad I went. I saw a lot of people that i hadn't seen in OVER 20 years, There were a few guys I went to Middle School with that only went to HS with me until 10th grade that didn't graduate with us, that still came. It was a great nite for me. I reconnected with another one of my good friends from HS that happened to be there with her hubby (she married a Dr!) When I last saw her at the 10 yr reunion, she was engaged- now she's married with 3 kids, stay at home Mom, etc. Her parents still live in the area, so she was down here visiting a couple of weeks ago and I got to meet her out for dinner and drinks and have a girls nite out. I haven't done that in YEARS. It was so nice to be out with other ladies my age and have a nice time. And it didn't include Shell. I want to hang out with people that have nothing to do with her, so I can be my own person again. It was a great time, I hope to do it again when she comes to town. She lives in Orlando, about 20 minutes from my sister...so I hope to see her when I go up there too.
So that's it and that's all for now... Ciao!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Wackos on the Job
Before I get to the main topic, I'd like to just update on baby boy: he had his appt with the pediatric cardiologist and everything is FINE. Thank God. He does have a murmur, as I suspected, but the Dr was unconcerned with it- she said they are often related to growth spurts- so that could explain his. He will have a follow up appt in 15 months when he's 3 years old.
Now, on to the topic- I mentioned in a previous post that I love my job, but there are some people there that I could do without. Here is the cast of characters:
The Spin Doctor- ie: Controller
Papparazzi- ie: Warehouse Supervisor
The Wicked Witch- ie: Customer Service Supervisor
The Wanderer- ie: Engineering/QA Manager
Useless- ie: Executive Assistant
Puppet- ie: HR Clerk
Yahoo- ie: Maintenance Supervisor
Flying Monkeys- ie: any random idiot in the office, especially if they report to any of the above.
So, as you may be able to tell, I have put a lot of thought into these nicknames, as has my Boss. He and I use these terms when discussing these people. The names are mostly derived from their actions or lack of actions). For example, Papparazzi is known to stalk people and spy on them, all in the name of "being in the know." This woman is the nosiest person in the office, and should be avoided at all costs. She is the object of my derision today because she pissed me off. In a nutshell, I went to her about a receiving discrepancy (ie: screw up on her part) and she proceeded to give me a lecture about the shoes I was wearing. Apparently, my shoes are against the rules for the warehouse. I was unaware of that, obviously. I have worn these shoes almost every day since I started, and this was the first I heard anything about it. She had the gall to tell me that she was only telling me this because she knows that someone was going to make a complaint about it. Apparently, it really pisses people off when someone wears incorrect shoes when making a quick run to the warehouse office.. Hmm... I seriously don't think that anyone else is going to make a fuss over this but her. It's mostly men in the warehouse and I seriously doubt any of them give a flying fig what anyone wears on their feet- especially since I work in the office and not the warehouse. She's a jealous troll anyway. Not for anything, she was wearing a denim mini and wedge sneakers (kind of a sneaker with a heel) so who the hell is she to lecture me on apparel? There's no way that you could say her attire was appropriate for warehouse work. Whatever. It just irked me. If I hear from HR on this I'll claim innocence and bring in an extra pair of shoes. I will make it my mission to not give her anything else to make a complaint to management. She'd better watch out though, because I could play her game too. She messed with the wrong girl, she has no clue how wily I can be as well. 'Nuff said on that.
By the way, I must mention that Papparazzi is married to Yahoo. The 2 of them cause more drama than a group of high school girls. It's truly amazing the emotional immaturity at work there.
Spin Doctor, our intrepid Controller, puts his nose in everyone's business. For some unknown reason, the Puppet (HR lady) reports to him. He makes her sit in on our production meeting every morning, even though she has no business there. She takes notes in her Coach leather daytimer and I bet types them up and sends them to him daily. Not really sure why he needs to be involved, but for some reason he is, and gets away with it, as our CEO can't be bothered with him. My Boss detests the guy,and after dealing with him myself, I concur with my Boss. The guy is a total tool bag.
I will elaborate further in a future post...my new laptop is getting a little hot and could use a charge.
That's it and that's all for now!!
Now, on to the topic- I mentioned in a previous post that I love my job, but there are some people there that I could do without. Here is the cast of characters:
The Spin Doctor- ie: Controller
Papparazzi- ie: Warehouse Supervisor
The Wicked Witch- ie: Customer Service Supervisor
The Wanderer- ie: Engineering/QA Manager
Useless- ie: Executive Assistant
Puppet- ie: HR Clerk
Yahoo- ie: Maintenance Supervisor
Flying Monkeys- ie: any random idiot in the office, especially if they report to any of the above.
So, as you may be able to tell, I have put a lot of thought into these nicknames, as has my Boss. He and I use these terms when discussing these people. The names are mostly derived from their actions or lack of actions). For example, Papparazzi is known to stalk people and spy on them, all in the name of "being in the know." This woman is the nosiest person in the office, and should be avoided at all costs. She is the object of my derision today because she pissed me off. In a nutshell, I went to her about a receiving discrepancy (ie: screw up on her part) and she proceeded to give me a lecture about the shoes I was wearing. Apparently, my shoes are against the rules for the warehouse. I was unaware of that, obviously. I have worn these shoes almost every day since I started, and this was the first I heard anything about it. She had the gall to tell me that she was only telling me this because she knows that someone was going to make a complaint about it. Apparently, it really pisses people off when someone wears incorrect shoes when making a quick run to the warehouse office.. Hmm... I seriously don't think that anyone else is going to make a fuss over this but her. It's mostly men in the warehouse and I seriously doubt any of them give a flying fig what anyone wears on their feet- especially since I work in the office and not the warehouse. She's a jealous troll anyway. Not for anything, she was wearing a denim mini and wedge sneakers (kind of a sneaker with a heel) so who the hell is she to lecture me on apparel? There's no way that you could say her attire was appropriate for warehouse work. Whatever. It just irked me. If I hear from HR on this I'll claim innocence and bring in an extra pair of shoes. I will make it my mission to not give her anything else to make a complaint to management. She'd better watch out though, because I could play her game too. She messed with the wrong girl, she has no clue how wily I can be as well. 'Nuff said on that.
By the way, I must mention that Papparazzi is married to Yahoo. The 2 of them cause more drama than a group of high school girls. It's truly amazing the emotional immaturity at work there.
Spin Doctor, our intrepid Controller, puts his nose in everyone's business. For some unknown reason, the Puppet (HR lady) reports to him. He makes her sit in on our production meeting every morning, even though she has no business there. She takes notes in her Coach leather daytimer and I bet types them up and sends them to him daily. Not really sure why he needs to be involved, but for some reason he is, and gets away with it, as our CEO can't be bothered with him. My Boss detests the guy,and after dealing with him myself, I concur with my Boss. The guy is a total tool bag.
I will elaborate further in a future post...my new laptop is getting a little hot and could use a charge.
That's it and that's all for now!!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
And The Rant Continues...
It recently occurred to me that I hadn't blogged in 2 months.... I have been so busy that I have had no time to get on here, as a result this entry will be a tossed salad of sorts...a little of updates on the baby, a little bit of job update and of course, a "bad friend" update. My blog would NOT be complete without a rant about my so called friends. I wonder if any of you are as sick of hearing about it as I am... I hate that I have to whine about it, but I have no other outlet for my feelings and if you have kept up with me this long then I would suppose you have an interest in what happened. So here goes:
Baby Update:
My baby boy is 14 1/2 months old. He started walking on 2/27/10 while we were at my sister's house in Orlando for my nephew's birthday. He just all of a sudden started walking... I was so excited that I applauded and he got scared and fell down... lol! Within a week he was walking all over the place and now almost 2 months later he is running and is really quick, I can barely keep up with him! Now you know why I have no time to get on here to blog... ;) He is 31.5 in tall and 24.2 lbs as of his last appointment with the GI Dr. We are finally weaning him off the Prevacid for the reflux that he had since he was an infant. He will probably have his last dose on Sunday or Monday and that should be it. God willing he will not need to go back on it again. We are taking him to see a Pediatric Cardiologist on Tuesday- the GI Dr noticed a strange heart rhythm on 2 different occasions when he checked him so he recommended it get checked out. It's likely some sort of heart murmur, that is something that is predominant on my Mom's side of the family...My Mom, brother and I all have murmurs. I have faith that this will only be a precautionary appointment and will be nothing serious. Keep praying for a good and positive result.
Baby boy was a great eater up until the past 2 weeks or so. He went from eating anything I gave him to being extremely fussy. He often refuses even things that are his favorites like fresh bananas and his cereal and fruit. About the only foods that I can guarantee he'll eat are Goldfish crackers, YoBaby yogurt and Gerber snacks (Puffs and Little Crunchers.) Oh, and cookies. The kid has a sweet tooth... it was inevitable...once he had his birthday cake and got a taste for sugar, that was it... I knew it then!
On to the next update- Job:
I still love the job. My boss has given over a few more responsibilities to manage. I am ordering display modules and working on a special project for one of the sales guys. We recently endured an office remodel and I now have brand new carpeting in my office. Thankfully, they didn't end up stripping down the wallpaper in my office. I think they ran out of time. I don't think that I could have dealt with the chemical smell and then the paint smell. Now that there is new carpet down, it's unlikely that they will do anything with the wallpaper. That's fine with me, I like the office just the way it is. I still have some idiots to deal with there...I need to do a separate blog post about the individual characters I work with. My boss and I have given a bunch of them nicknames so we can openly talk about them without anyone knowing what we are talking about. It's all very "Code Name, the Cleaner".. lol. I get a kick out of it.
And Finally- what you have been waiting for- The "Bad Friend" Update:
Where do I start? I guess I'll start with where I left off... I was left hanging as to what happened with Shell's daughter and the hospital. Well, apparently the "rash" she had was a symptom of an illness that is blood born- I can't recall the name of it right now, but basically, she developed this condition asa result of having Mono earlier in the school year. It attacked her white blood cell count and her # was so low that she was admitted to the hospital. She was in for 5 days, during which time no one- not even her parents- answered the telephone so that I could be clued in to what happened. Long story short, the girl is ok. I'm glad she is ok, but I still take exception to the fact that I wasn't told about the situation, I was left hanging. And the fact that one of her OTHER friends was told about it, and was with her at the hospital during this whole ordeal. My point was..even if she herself couldn't make the call, couldn't she have had her friend at least call a couple of people, especially since her phone was ringing off the hook? The whole thing seems too fishy. I hate to be cold, but I am really thinking that the whole ordeal was exaggerated so that she had an out for the party. And this is why... a couple of weeks ago, Hubby and I were down in her neck of the woods (she lives 45 min away) on an errand so I called her to see if she would meet up with us, or if we could stop by. I called on the way (both home and cell) and NO answer (of course!) I called again after we left the store we were at- NO answer. Finally I got pissed off and told hubby..."We are only 2 minutes from her house...let's drive by and see if her car is there." Sure enough, her NEW car (yes, the one with no money somehow got money to put down on a car- the married bf perhaps?) Seeing that she was home really made me mad...so I text messaged her "I like your new car- silver is a nice color." Wouldn't you know it? She called me RIGHT back! She KNEW she was found out! Then I got a song and dance about how her phone was upstairs and she never heard it ring, etc. And she HAPPENED to go up there and saw the text. I said...what about the house phone? I called a couple of times... her answer? "No one ever answers that phone." NICE. Seriously what is wrong with her? So anyway. she tells us to come over, and we arrive there. It's the first time I have had baby boy at her house. Her mom had never met him, so she was excited to see him, etc. While we were there, which was about an hour and a half or so- her cell phone kept beeping with tons of text messages from some guy that she said was a "friend from NY." SO her excuse that she never got my messages is just that- an excuse. She always has that phone on her, she just chooses not to respond to any of my calls or text messages (or facebook messages, instant messages or emails.) Another piece of proof that makes me belive that her daughter's ordeal was exaggerated: she had no birthday gift for the baby. If this entire thing was true, and she had really intended to come to the party, then shouldn't she have had his gift waiting for him for when she saw him? I gave her an opportunity to make good on her promise to "bring him his gift", but there was NO GIFT. That means that she never intended to come, or to give the gift. Again I must reiterate that it's not the gift itself that bothers me..it's the intent (or lack, thereof) that bothers me.
If I were her I'd be mortified that I'd been caught in the lie...but she just ignored the fact, as is her usual custom. Since that day she called me once- she clued me in that her best friend from NY (the one she has ALWAYS blown me off for) was coming to town for a week... I knew that I wouldn't hear from her...and it's been 2 weeks since then and I STILL haven't heard from her. I am really tired of all the lies and the nonsense. Be my friend or not..but don't pretend to be what you are not. Get me?
So as of right now, this situation is still unfolding, and I don't have a resolution yet. Maybe, someday I will. I have had many conversations with myself the past couple of weeks on this topic- and the conclusion that I have come to is that I need to make a break- a clean break. Much like when you break a bone, and it needs a cast on it to heal before you can use it again. I need to put a cast on this friendship and wait to see how well the bone heals before I can use it again. I will not call, text, email or instant message her, I will not facebook comment any of her posts or pay any attention to her at all. I deserve a friend that values me enough to share things going on in her life, and to be supportive when things are going on in mine. When things got tough for me, she ran. When things were tough for her- I was there. I am the better friend of the 2 of us, and it's completely her loss to not have me in her life. Her 40th birthday is coming up in June. I originally thought about organizing some sort of party or dinner for her to celebrate it- but now that will not happen. Let her other friends do it for her. Its not likely I'd be included anyway. And when her daughter has her Sweet 16 party this coming September, she can count me out. I'm not going ot participate in it. I don't rank high enough in her life to be involved in the day to day goings on, so she doesn't need a gift or any support from me. Period.
That's it and that's all!!
Baby Update:
My baby boy is 14 1/2 months old. He started walking on 2/27/10 while we were at my sister's house in Orlando for my nephew's birthday. He just all of a sudden started walking... I was so excited that I applauded and he got scared and fell down... lol! Within a week he was walking all over the place and now almost 2 months later he is running and is really quick, I can barely keep up with him! Now you know why I have no time to get on here to blog... ;) He is 31.5 in tall and 24.2 lbs as of his last appointment with the GI Dr. We are finally weaning him off the Prevacid for the reflux that he had since he was an infant. He will probably have his last dose on Sunday or Monday and that should be it. God willing he will not need to go back on it again. We are taking him to see a Pediatric Cardiologist on Tuesday- the GI Dr noticed a strange heart rhythm on 2 different occasions when he checked him so he recommended it get checked out. It's likely some sort of heart murmur, that is something that is predominant on my Mom's side of the family...My Mom, brother and I all have murmurs. I have faith that this will only be a precautionary appointment and will be nothing serious. Keep praying for a good and positive result.
Baby boy was a great eater up until the past 2 weeks or so. He went from eating anything I gave him to being extremely fussy. He often refuses even things that are his favorites like fresh bananas and his cereal and fruit. About the only foods that I can guarantee he'll eat are Goldfish crackers, YoBaby yogurt and Gerber snacks (Puffs and Little Crunchers.) Oh, and cookies. The kid has a sweet tooth... it was inevitable...once he had his birthday cake and got a taste for sugar, that was it... I knew it then!
On to the next update- Job:
I still love the job. My boss has given over a few more responsibilities to manage. I am ordering display modules and working on a special project for one of the sales guys. We recently endured an office remodel and I now have brand new carpeting in my office. Thankfully, they didn't end up stripping down the wallpaper in my office. I think they ran out of time. I don't think that I could have dealt with the chemical smell and then the paint smell. Now that there is new carpet down, it's unlikely that they will do anything with the wallpaper. That's fine with me, I like the office just the way it is. I still have some idiots to deal with there...I need to do a separate blog post about the individual characters I work with. My boss and I have given a bunch of them nicknames so we can openly talk about them without anyone knowing what we are talking about. It's all very "Code Name, the Cleaner".. lol. I get a kick out of it.
And Finally- what you have been waiting for- The "Bad Friend" Update:
Where do I start? I guess I'll start with where I left off... I was left hanging as to what happened with Shell's daughter and the hospital. Well, apparently the "rash" she had was a symptom of an illness that is blood born- I can't recall the name of it right now, but basically, she developed this condition asa result of having Mono earlier in the school year. It attacked her white blood cell count and her # was so low that she was admitted to the hospital. She was in for 5 days, during which time no one- not even her parents- answered the telephone so that I could be clued in to what happened. Long story short, the girl is ok. I'm glad she is ok, but I still take exception to the fact that I wasn't told about the situation, I was left hanging. And the fact that one of her OTHER friends was told about it, and was with her at the hospital during this whole ordeal. My point was..even if she herself couldn't make the call, couldn't she have had her friend at least call a couple of people, especially since her phone was ringing off the hook? The whole thing seems too fishy. I hate to be cold, but I am really thinking that the whole ordeal was exaggerated so that she had an out for the party. And this is why... a couple of weeks ago, Hubby and I were down in her neck of the woods (she lives 45 min away) on an errand so I called her to see if she would meet up with us, or if we could stop by. I called on the way (both home and cell) and NO answer (of course!) I called again after we left the store we were at- NO answer. Finally I got pissed off and told hubby..."We are only 2 minutes from her house...let's drive by and see if her car is there." Sure enough, her NEW car (yes, the one with no money somehow got money to put down on a car- the married bf perhaps?) Seeing that she was home really made me mad...so I text messaged her "I like your new car- silver is a nice color." Wouldn't you know it? She called me RIGHT back! She KNEW she was found out! Then I got a song and dance about how her phone was upstairs and she never heard it ring, etc. And she HAPPENED to go up there and saw the text. I said...what about the house phone? I called a couple of times... her answer? "No one ever answers that phone." NICE. Seriously what is wrong with her? So anyway. she tells us to come over, and we arrive there. It's the first time I have had baby boy at her house. Her mom had never met him, so she was excited to see him, etc. While we were there, which was about an hour and a half or so- her cell phone kept beeping with tons of text messages from some guy that she said was a "friend from NY." SO her excuse that she never got my messages is just that- an excuse. She always has that phone on her, she just chooses not to respond to any of my calls or text messages (or facebook messages, instant messages or emails.) Another piece of proof that makes me belive that her daughter's ordeal was exaggerated: she had no birthday gift for the baby. If this entire thing was true, and she had really intended to come to the party, then shouldn't she have had his gift waiting for him for when she saw him? I gave her an opportunity to make good on her promise to "bring him his gift", but there was NO GIFT. That means that she never intended to come, or to give the gift. Again I must reiterate that it's not the gift itself that bothers me..it's the intent (or lack, thereof) that bothers me.
If I were her I'd be mortified that I'd been caught in the lie...but she just ignored the fact, as is her usual custom. Since that day she called me once- she clued me in that her best friend from NY (the one she has ALWAYS blown me off for) was coming to town for a week... I knew that I wouldn't hear from her...and it's been 2 weeks since then and I STILL haven't heard from her. I am really tired of all the lies and the nonsense. Be my friend or not..but don't pretend to be what you are not. Get me?
So as of right now, this situation is still unfolding, and I don't have a resolution yet. Maybe, someday I will. I have had many conversations with myself the past couple of weeks on this topic- and the conclusion that I have come to is that I need to make a break- a clean break. Much like when you break a bone, and it needs a cast on it to heal before you can use it again. I need to put a cast on this friendship and wait to see how well the bone heals before I can use it again. I will not call, text, email or instant message her, I will not facebook comment any of her posts or pay any attention to her at all. I deserve a friend that values me enough to share things going on in her life, and to be supportive when things are going on in mine. When things got tough for me, she ran. When things were tough for her- I was there. I am the better friend of the 2 of us, and it's completely her loss to not have me in her life. Her 40th birthday is coming up in June. I originally thought about organizing some sort of party or dinner for her to celebrate it- but now that will not happen. Let her other friends do it for her. Its not likely I'd be included anyway. And when her daughter has her Sweet 16 party this coming September, she can count me out. I'm not going ot participate in it. I don't rank high enough in her life to be involved in the day to day goings on, so she doesn't need a gift or any support from me. Period.
That's it and that's all!!
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
My Baby Boy is 1 Year Old! and a Rant
I can't believe it...it's a new year and my baby boy turned 1 year old on Feb 6th. He's 30.5 in tall and 21.5 lbs. He's eating some table foods now and drinking less bottles. He is cutting 5 more teeth as we speak! It's been a busy year so far...he's getting close to walking too...he cruises everywhere and he says "mama" and "dada"too! We had a big birthday party for him this past Saturday and he enjoyed himself so much with all the kids, the bounce house and especially his birthday cake! It was a nice day.
I am still working part time, and I enjoy the job more and more. My boss is the nicest guy and he does not overload or stress me with work. I recently held down the fort for him for 2 weeks when he was on a business trip to China and I think I did pretty well. I pray that this company continues to be a good thing for me, and that I have some career growth there. So far so good.
Now on to the rant of the day- I have to say something about bad friends (AGAIN). It seems to be a broken record with me, this friend screws me over, that friend shuts off...etc. But I swear that this keeps happening, and it's a mystery to me WHY. I wish I knew. This particular rant is about Shell- my supposed oldest best friend. She has grown pretty distant since I had my baby, and she has pretty much turned back to her old man hunting ways, acting like a teenager again by carrying on with guys. She has been involved with a married guy for about a year now, he lives in NY and they go back and forth visiting one another and have their trysts. She thinks I am stupid and don't know anything about it, but one of her other friends gave me some details about it and told me what she has been up to and hasn't been telling me. Anyways, she has been acting really weird for the entire year- and it comes to my baby boy's 1st birthday party and she blew it off. First she RSVP's that she and her daughter are coming, then the day before the party...she calls me and tells me something about her daughter having a weird rash and she wanted to make sure it wasn't contagious, so she was taking her to the Dr that afternoon. I told her, fine, call me when you know something. Hours pass, and later that evening I get a text message from her sayins "At the hospital." No explanation was given...so I send her a message right back asking what happened and to call me, and she sends back. "Can't call, will call you later." So here I am...worrying that there is a serious problem with her daughter, and all she would text back is that the Dr sent them straight to the hospital. I texted her back to call me and let me know what happened and how her kid is doing, and I never hear back from her. The next morning, I put a FB wall post on her wall asking what happened and to call me, and I get no response. The party comes and goes, I never hear from her, and I call after the party and I get no answer at her house or cell. I left a message expressing my concern- and you got it...nothing.
By this point, I am plain pissed off. I think I deserve the courtesy of a return call, especially since I was left hanging Friday nite like that. Well, today Tuesday, she calls me cell phone as I am driving home from my boy's Dr appt and I decided NOT to answer it. I am pretty fed up with her excuses and her outlandish stories and I am not entirely certain that she hasn't exaggerated this whole thing to get out of buying a gift and attending the party. Not for anything, but I went to ALL her daughter's birthday parties, her christening, her communion and dance recitals. I always gave gifts too. I find it really rude to not reciprocate when I had been giving to her kid for 15 years. Aside from the gift issue, there is the blatant disrespect for me as a friend to not communicate to me what was supposed to be some sort of emergency and let me sit and wonder what the hell happened! She left a lame voice message saying that she just got back from the hospital today and her phone was ringing off the hook all weekend and it was going dead and she had SO many people to call back, etc and to call her so she can tell me what happened. At this point, I am NOT interested what happened. She is playing games again and I am sick and tired of it. This is the same type of BS that she has ALWAYS pulled and I am not forgiving and forgetting about it this time. She is only a friend when it's convenient for her to be, and I don't want any more part time friends- you're either in or your out. There's no in between anymore. I'm not an idiot- I have seen her ignore phone calls on her cell, where she looks to see who it is and just doesn't answer. She does it to me all the time and I am SICK of it. I am NOT going to pick up her calls anymore. I don't have room in my life for that type of stuff, and even though I am very hurt by her behavior, I am not going to allow her to weasel her way back in so she has me on standby for when she wants to be around. I'm DONE with it. Totally done.
Rant over... that's it and that's all!
I am still working part time, and I enjoy the job more and more. My boss is the nicest guy and he does not overload or stress me with work. I recently held down the fort for him for 2 weeks when he was on a business trip to China and I think I did pretty well. I pray that this company continues to be a good thing for me, and that I have some career growth there. So far so good.
Now on to the rant of the day- I have to say something about bad friends (AGAIN). It seems to be a broken record with me, this friend screws me over, that friend shuts off...etc. But I swear that this keeps happening, and it's a mystery to me WHY. I wish I knew. This particular rant is about Shell- my supposed oldest best friend. She has grown pretty distant since I had my baby, and she has pretty much turned back to her old man hunting ways, acting like a teenager again by carrying on with guys. She has been involved with a married guy for about a year now, he lives in NY and they go back and forth visiting one another and have their trysts. She thinks I am stupid and don't know anything about it, but one of her other friends gave me some details about it and told me what she has been up to and hasn't been telling me. Anyways, she has been acting really weird for the entire year- and it comes to my baby boy's 1st birthday party and she blew it off. First she RSVP's that she and her daughter are coming, then the day before the party...she calls me and tells me something about her daughter having a weird rash and she wanted to make sure it wasn't contagious, so she was taking her to the Dr that afternoon. I told her, fine, call me when you know something. Hours pass, and later that evening I get a text message from her sayins "At the hospital." No explanation was given...so I send her a message right back asking what happened and to call me, and she sends back. "Can't call, will call you later." So here I am...worrying that there is a serious problem with her daughter, and all she would text back is that the Dr sent them straight to the hospital. I texted her back to call me and let me know what happened and how her kid is doing, and I never hear back from her. The next morning, I put a FB wall post on her wall asking what happened and to call me, and I get no response. The party comes and goes, I never hear from her, and I call after the party and I get no answer at her house or cell. I left a message expressing my concern- and you got it...nothing.
By this point, I am plain pissed off. I think I deserve the courtesy of a return call, especially since I was left hanging Friday nite like that. Well, today Tuesday, she calls me cell phone as I am driving home from my boy's Dr appt and I decided NOT to answer it. I am pretty fed up with her excuses and her outlandish stories and I am not entirely certain that she hasn't exaggerated this whole thing to get out of buying a gift and attending the party. Not for anything, but I went to ALL her daughter's birthday parties, her christening, her communion and dance recitals. I always gave gifts too. I find it really rude to not reciprocate when I had been giving to her kid for 15 years. Aside from the gift issue, there is the blatant disrespect for me as a friend to not communicate to me what was supposed to be some sort of emergency and let me sit and wonder what the hell happened! She left a lame voice message saying that she just got back from the hospital today and her phone was ringing off the hook all weekend and it was going dead and she had SO many people to call back, etc and to call her so she can tell me what happened. At this point, I am NOT interested what happened. She is playing games again and I am sick and tired of it. This is the same type of BS that she has ALWAYS pulled and I am not forgiving and forgetting about it this time. She is only a friend when it's convenient for her to be, and I don't want any more part time friends- you're either in or your out. There's no in between anymore. I'm not an idiot- I have seen her ignore phone calls on her cell, where she looks to see who it is and just doesn't answer. She does it to me all the time and I am SICK of it. I am NOT going to pick up her calls anymore. I don't have room in my life for that type of stuff, and even though I am very hurt by her behavior, I am not going to allow her to weasel her way back in so she has me on standby for when she wants to be around. I'm DONE with it. Totally done.
Rant over... that's it and that's all!
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