Sosuna-o-Lata

Yesterday was a fairly sad day at the office. One of the partners is leaving after 16 years at the firm. A friend of his offered him a great position elsewhere which he had thought about for weeks before deciding to take the offer. Yesterday was his last day. We have to change our name, our email, our stationary, our website, etc. He has some annoying habits that I won’t miss. Like leaving the coat closet doors open each and every time he goes out of the office, leaving dirty dishes in the sink instead of putting them in the dishwasher, pouring the last of the coffee and not making more and stinking up the bathroom across the hall from me each and every morning. Besides all of that, he is genuinely a nice guy and will be missed at the office.

Gotta love it when your employer picks a holiday to have off just because there’s a length of time between holidays. This week was particularly stressful, Presidents’ Day couldn’t have come at a better time!
I just need to get through tonight. We’re babysitting the twins, they’ll be 4 yrs old next month. It’s not a sleepover, thank goodness!

Before I left the office yesterday I was told I was going to have to be at reception from 9-1 today.  I wasn’t too happy about it and even entertained the idea of taking a sick day as I hate answering the phone and being all nicey-nice to the clients but I’m a bad liar.  My co-workers feel the need to make small talk with me because I am in a central location.  Many people walk by me while I sit here.  Not that I’m mean and nasty to people but some days I’d just like to be left alone to do my own work. 

One good thing about being down here is I get to surf the net.  I can catch up on my blog, my emails and all the celebrity gossip.  Poor Britney.

So, the gift I brought to my office party was The Clapper. What a HUGE hit that was! It was “stolen” until it couldn’t be “stolen” anymore. I ended up “stealing” a gift of assorted things. I figured it was safe and stuff I normally would use, a few gift cards for coffee, some movie passes and scratch tickets. When I arrived at home I checked out my gift further and was shocked. The spending range was $25-$35, hence the $28 Clapper. My gift consisted of two movie passes including a free large popcorn and two regular soft drinks (easily $20 or more), four $5 scratch tickets, three bags of candy, a $20 gift card to Dunkin’ Donuts and a $20 gift card to Starbucks. I figured what I went home with was worth at least $85!! Apparently I went home with the gift my boss brought. I’m going to have to watch him walk through the door with his gift next year!

Well, here it is, our first named storm of the season. It’s been snowing for 2 hours and already there seems to be inches. The worst is yet to come and probably will not finish until around midnight. Total expected is 10 inches or more, we’re all at work waiting for them to send us on our way home. I’m going to try to snap pictures throughout the day, this is the first I took with my phone about an hour ago.

My holiday office party is Wednesday night. Good food, good drink and lots of laughter, I usually have a great time. Every year we do a Yankee Swap (AKA White elephant gift exchange, Dirty Santa, Dirty/Thieving Elves) after dinner. I’ve participated the last 5 years and am unsure if I will tomorrow. I don’t have a gift yet as they raised the amount to spend on a gift. The last five years it has been in the $20-25 range and they upped it to $30-35. I have no idea why the increase but I, at first, said “Forget it, I won’t play. Money is tight, I have tons of kids in my family and I buy gifts for all. I usually walk away with something I can’t use.” Last year I came home with a Victoria’s Secret gift card, they don’t even carry my size in that store!

So now, as I sit here the night before, thinking about what I’m going to wear to this thing, I’m thinking maybe I should just suck it up and participate. I don’t want to be the only one sitting out of the fun (it is lots of fun).

Now I ask of you, if you are reading this post, for some suggestions. What non-gender specific gift do you get for a bunch of Lawyers and Paralegals? I have 2 hours between work and the party when I can shop and I have big mall and tons of shops in the area to chose from. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I once said, a few years ago, that I would never leave my job. I would stay here until I retire. I was sure that I would just be there forever. I used to love my job and some days I still do but lately I feel like I could take it or leave it. Once in awhile I do look in the classifieds and on the net for employment opportunities. I have updated my resume and think that it’s only a matter of time before I move on to something new and/or different.

Never say never - six years is hardly forever.

I called in sick today but I wasn’t really sick. I’m just sick of going to work every day. It’s not the job, it’s more the drive and getting ready to go. And let me tell you, it felt good to not have to do anything today.

I googled “calling in sick” and this is what I found. How to call in sick.

That’s pretty much how my call went.