Trip to Chicago

Trev and I had a great weekend in Chicago - we spent time doing some wedding planning and then socializing. Check out the pics.

04-24-09 Trip to Chicago

On Friday we visited Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs (baseball team) and the restaurant is where the wedding reception is going to be held. It's sooo "them". It's a lovely place and we'll probably be able to go out of the field for pictures. Very cool.

Then, Trev, Rach and I headed downtown so that we could check out what the Chicago skyline would look like in their wedding photos. The plan is for them to have a photo right at sunset - we tested by the water, up on the grass, halfway down the grass etc etc. We decided we liked down by the water the best.

After that we headed out to dinner. Following day Mike and Trev stayed in the bar while Rach and I went to check out linens for the reception. Didn't take too long, and then that was all decided which was great.

That afternoon we rested well and then headed out to dinner with Paul and BJ (who'd come up from St Louis) and Denise, Mike's Mum. Had a great time.

Today we're hanging out before taking a late afternoon flight home. We had a great time, and it was really nice relaxing with them both and seeing all the plans they've made. The wedding plans are so under control which is awesome.

Back to work tomorrow....

I'm a Great Aunt!

Welcome to Abbie Janet Wilson, born April 20th at 1.42pm weighing 8lb 2oz. This is the most beautiful pic of Liz and Abbie - Colin took it. Liz is Trevor's niece.

Britain's got talent

You just have to check this out.....not that I ever watch this program, or the American version, but this woman has had millions of hits on youtube....and deservedly so. Oh my - I hope she makes it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

And here's a UK article following up to that show... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1170309/I-wont-let-Simon-Cowell-Hollywood-makeover-vows-Amanda-Holden-TV-angel-internet-hit.html

Spring Blossom 2009

Check out these beee-uuuu-ti-ful pictures of the Spring blossom. These are taken over 2 days at 6.30am by my bus stop. I'm in awe....

April 13th 2009 - 10 year anniversary

Today is an important day for me. The last 10 years have flown by .... when I think back it seems like just yesterday. A lot's happened since then.

10 years ago today I had a hysterectomy, age 31. It wasn't all plain sailing but I can truly say that it was one of the best decisions I made. No periods, mood swings, food cravings etc etc etc. I've learnt to deal with the other stuff (hot flashes if I don't take HRT etc) and it's really not a big deal.

I'm healthier than I've ever been and I know that at some point the endometriosis will return and I'll end up with bowel surgery - the doc said 5-10 years at the time....and I'm getting no symptoms that means I have to go through with all that.

Every time I think of that I know that the investment (ie Billy) I make in my health is worth it.

Wooohooo! Here's to the next 10 years!

Ladies, if you're ever in doubt - don't be. Just do it! While recovery takes a little while, it's worth it in the long run!

Clearing out the closet

Growing up I was always used to celebrating Easter - and still do, it's just different here. In England Easter starts on Thursday lunchtime where you clear out of work and then Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays. None of these days are public holidays here - I get Good Friday off, but Trevor has always had to work. That makes it a strange holiday.

So today my original plan was to work the morning, then go into town to meet Trev for lunch before heading off to physio. Next I thought I'd head off to the mall to go shopping.... then I decided I had enough clothes. So I spent most of the morning clearing out my closet. At work there's a been a clothes drive the past couple of weeks, especially for business wear as it goes to an organization who focuses on women who are on welfare and getting back into the work place. Last year I participated and gave some stuff away, this year I have even more reason to.

While I've stalled in weightloss during March due to all the trips and parties since last fall I've lost about 20 pounds. I've gone from size US 14/16 to size 10, and even that's getting loose. I've also been working out well and it's really beginning to show. Not only are my pants getting smaller, and the bra size shrunk (which I'm so happy about!!) but now all the sweaters and tops I have are starting to get too big. Rather than ditch everything I've just spent the morning going through everything - trying it on and putting in piles that stuff that I just can't wear.

I'm happy - but what's awful is all the money spent on these clothes. I have suits and jackets I've just got to give away because they don't fit. I do have the "woo-hoo" going on - but at the same time I'm just thinking of all the money I'll have to spend to replace it all.

For now as long as I have 2-3 pairs of work pants, 2-3 pairs of jeans and a dozen tops or so for work then I'll be good. I don't want to buy too much in case I keep shrinking.

Certainly the brown jeans I bought in England last summer with my friend Debbie, that were just way way too tight are getting to the point where they're too loose. Yippee! Hopefully I'll get back soon so I can show off!!

This has given me the motivation to keep off the chocolate and partying and start focusing on my butt. I have a wedding in Mexico at the end of May and I'd like to drop at least another 5lb by then.....let's see if I can do that!!

The one about the screaming woman....

Looking back, this is pretty funny..... but at the time I was so, so mad. It's been many years since I've been yelled at (and I mean YELLED at!) in my job. Funny how some people react.

I have to preface this with what my job is..... for this particular story. Not only do I run a global team of peeps (one reporting directly to me, the others in a matrix style), but I am responsible for the detail of the programming when it comes to performance reporting. This is not something that I've trained for - I've picked it up over the years. I've said many times that learning this has given me several career opportunities and I'm always floored about how easy it can be to WOW people:) That's my secret....and I'm keeping it. I'm forever thankful to Trevor for refusing me reporting resources when we worked together when I first joined my current company. ..... because without that I wouldn't be where I am today.

Anyway.....back to the weirdo. In one of the projects we launched this quarter a new team lead in the UK was responsible for co-ordinating with everyone globally to ensure that all requirements were taken care of. Two things happened. First in order for this project to execute the team needs a list of clients for their teams to go and visit. Seems easy, right? Yeah well.....not so much. Second, it's important that all the regions agree. What I should also say here is that my boss had distributed "final" documents to some VERY senior people around the company. What I didn't know when this happened was that a war was brewing under the surface.....trust me to be the catalyst!!

Let's take the first one - the list of clients. Now the thing that's really important is that the list is accurate and relevant to the topic of the project. I spent time on the phone with the owner of the project asking for the criteria. I explained the information I needed and tried to walk her through the process of a) why she needed to do it and b) how to do it. I had a Webex running so she could see what I was doing (it's a tool where she can go to a website and watch what I'm doing on my PC) but it was clear from right at the beginning that she had already decided my role in this..... which wasn't quite what I had planned! Hahhahahaha. Anyway..... she wanted a number of clients by product and country. Easy enough.....except that I know when dealing with her colleagues that while they will want that information they will want other information also (like exactly WHO to go and see and WHERE they are located). What a freaking dumb ass. So, after about half hour of me trying to explain this I gave up. She complained that I asked too many questions - as I explained to her many times it's important she's specific so that she can give the team the CORRECT information. In the end I sent her what she asked for..... I still can't believe she was screaming at me down the phone....no joke.

What got me was this. I took time out to give her information and recommendations (especially as I already knew what my boss was after.....because a) I confirmed my thinking was correct and b) I know her too flipping well!!) but it was ignored. She took what I sent her, deleted half of it, and then sent out basic info that was totally no help to anyone. Overnight all the other people asked for the specific client information that I had originally recommended. Now, I have no problem providing it - I'm just too damn busy to do things more than once....and would have preferred to do this originally. What really peed me off was that when someone emailed her with a request she had the audacity to reply to an email and said "well, Phil is our data whiz, so i'm sure she can provide this information". WTF. Who am I? Her admin? C'mon people....get with the program. What I didn't realize at this moment was that every other person in the team was already peed off with her - and I had no idea. I thought it was just me - and that maybe it was the moon or something giving me no tolerance. Everyone was coming to me with questions because they trust me. So, I fixed the data and sent it out. Problem over.....or so I thought....

The second thing that happened was even worse.....well, it took longer to fix. I was looking at the detailed programming to make sure that I could report correctly at the end of the month. I took the "final" documents my boss had distributed and started reconciling with the previous information. I had given this task to the person who works for me - figuring it'd take her about 2 hours to get this information together. Well after a day I was getting VERY frustrated with her that she didn't have the answers. So, at the end of the day we both sat down with the information in order to figure it out - my view being at that time was "blinking heck, give to me I'll do it myself!!". What I quickly realized was that it wasn't us.....it was the project owner. Hmmmmphf. To confirm my thinking I quickly sent emails off to people in Asia and Europe to give them the two sets of info I had and asked them to confirm what I should be programming. Well......this gave me the confirmation I needed that this woman is a total nut job.

So to finish the story....the following day at our global team meeting I asked her to present the project. I confirmed with her that all the regions had signed off on her project and that they were all happy. She said "yes". Now....given the story above AND the fact that all the regional heads were on this conference call I was pretty surprised she confirmed they were all happy. Well, can you imagine what happened when I said "Thanks....I'm not sure that's correct - and then opened it up to the regions". Sit back and watching the fireworks..... was pretty funny to me. Luckily everyone else trusts me - the question is do I try and turn her around, or just wait for her to bury herself.

Maybe this woman just needs some mentoring, maybe she's nuts - who flipping knows. All I know is that this coming week all these people are in NYC at a global management meeting - and she has to face all these people that she's peed off. This should be fun! How dumb must she feel? Or maybe she's too stupid to even know.....

Luckily I'm a smartarse and I can fix everything.....it just means there was loads of stuff I couldn't get done and I have to work over my 3 day weekend! That said....that's why these guys trust me - they know I have their back!

Ok, ranting and raving over....

Rhubarb, bikes, my ankle and hair

The week went by in a whirlwind as always. I'll get onto the crappy parts later, but let's start with this weekend. So first, check out the pic below - if you remember back to last year I thought I'd killed the rhubarb. It had blackfly and totally died. I figured that I'd just start again this year. Anyway, we went out on the balcony this weekend - and CHECK IT OUT! I'm soooooo excited we might be eating it this year!















We also achieved something else this weekend - Trev bought a bike. I'm excited about that too - Billy (our trainer) has a new bike, I have mine from last year, so it's looking like we'll have lots of trips out and about. That is so cool. At the same time we got bike shoes - and they make such a difference in spin class. I never thought they would - but now my toes don't go numb!

I've also had my hair done again - getting ready for Mexico in May I've had it brightened for the summer - so while I'm still red, it's definitely brighter. When I get my act together I'll take a pic!

Onto the ankle....which is coming up for it's first anniversary.....I saw the doctor again last week. I got stuck with a needle of cortizone. The doc thinks that it'll help. What I wasn't ready for was a flipping big kick ass bruise that hurts like hell! Anyway.....we'll wait and see:) You never know - it may do the job!!

Trip to Cedar Rapids

Sorry I've been so absent - between trips and work, I've got out of the habit of writing. I'm hoping to rectify that right now. We had a riot in Iowa - check out the pics below. We just had so much fun - with catching up with everyone, to our friend Jane's 40th birthday party. It's great to see so many friends come out for us. Makes me want to visit more often.



It was also great to see Carrieanne in her own world. She's got a great house and a wonderful set of friends. I got to visit where she works - and everyone LOVES her! While she may not end up staying in her house (forces not under her control...blame the landlord!) she clearly has carved out a great lifestyle. It was fun to hang out - even with Louie, the weird ass cat!

Work is still nuts. I don't have time to eat or sleep. I feel like I'm permanently sick and that I'm even giving up important classes at the gym. I'm turning over a new leaf on April 1st - I have to limit work and start doing the things I love - especially as it's spring and I want to get my bike out.

Trip to Colorado

So, last weekend we headed out to Colorado to see Peter, celebrate Trev's birthday and meet Stephanie. As you'll see from the pics, we had a blast! We were tired all week trying to recover, but we had fun.

03-07-09 Trev's B-day in Colorado

First day Peter, Trev and I went ski-ing. It was a little slushy but not too bad. I was totally paranoid regarding my ankle but did OK after a while. I did stop after lunch and let the boys carry on as I didn't want to hurt myself - gave me an excuse to sit on one's behind and do nothing much. Lovely.

Friday we hung out in Boulder all day. We went and saw Peter's office, had a great lunch, did a little work (well c'mon....it's not like I couldn't), and then ate ourselves silly. Stephanie and I spent a great deal of time shopping at Ann Taylor (or Ann Taylor Loft) as she gets a fantastic employee discount - woooohoooo! Love it. I think over the course of the weekend I was in one of these stores at least 6 times:) I have the bill to prove it. I just keep telling myself it would have been a lot worse had I not had the big ass discount!

Saturday Trev and Peter went ski-ing again while Steph and I went shopping again:) It ended all too soon with us returning home late on Sunday. It was fun!

We're off to Iowa this coming weekend - so it'll be another round of catching up and partying. Can't wait.

I knew it was true....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2316487.ece

Hahah - I'm a stickler for this. I like my tea "just so". This is a cup of hot, strong, English tea.

Boiling water has to be put on the tea, a little milk. It must be strong and hot. I am happiest when I drink it from a favourite mug.

Now it's in print - I know I'm not nuts!

My hellish fortnight ended in Colorado

Now I'm safely with Peter in Colorado and have done a day's ski-ing I can relax and reply the past few weeks. This may go on a bit....don't say I didn't warn you:)

Every time I think I'm getting somewhere at work I relax, feel better, start working normal hours....and then it all blows up again. I had a cathartic afternoon last Friday by basically telling the guy that's been giving me grief EXACTLY how I felt. This is the same dude that has hounded me for the last 4 years - he's worked for me directly a few times, and I've even threatened to fire him if his behaviour didn't change (but changed my job before I could follow through). It never ceases to amaze me that he assumes everyone (regardless of their level!) is an idiot and has done absolutely nothing, and even if they had, it would be crap. It's infuriating. It was so bad about a month ago in my 121 with my boss I asked her to clarify my role in the project. It was simple....I was her. This made such a difference - it was clear that I was running the program. This made it really easy for me and i was back on track. That was my first 'serenity' moment - when clarity hit and I didn't need to worry about feelings so much.

OK, back to Friday. I have put together a program and presentation for this project to start communicating to staff proactively. I have lots of experience and am clear on the detail I want to portray. I sent a note stating the agenda, asked for feedback and then asked the team to provide me with their slides to include. Good, right? OK...what set me off was that he replied to my email, copied my boss (yeah, that's right - copied my boss!!!!!) and said he didn't agree with the agenda. Never talked to me, called or anything. Un - freaking - real. I went nuts - it takes a lot for me to lose my temper but I was not happy for a few reasons:

1) not talking to me if you're not happy shows a lack of respect....
2) my boss doesn't give a crap....her view is simple - she's paying you to fix the problems
3) my boss doesn't understand the word "NO" :):):)
4) I was running the project/program

Anyway, I told him he needed to find me on Friday and we WOULD TALK.....not exchange email. It took until 3.30pm for him to find me.... and it started nice enough. He then started saying he was annoyed that I didn't consult him, that I was interfering etc etc. I said that I agreed, I was interfering but that's because he's worked on this project a year and there's no plan, documentation, issues list, task list or ANYTHING. I had also asked around for feedback on the current team structure and people weren't happy. I immediately asked him if he understood my role (he said no) and then clarified. I gave it back to him right between the eyes.

1) I have asked several times for the agenda before his meetings in case I want to add anything. I never get it
2) He makes comments in meetings that are not correct
3) he keeps complaining/escalating about resources, but he doesn't actually have a plan or documentation to demonstrate it's an issue at this point
4) He excludes me from decisions he's unilaterally made for the department that miss key items. Because he doesn't consult me ever the only time I can challenge is at a meeting

I could go on, but I feel my blood pressure rising.

Here comes the cathartic moment. He started going on at me about a million things. "I sent notes, or copy notes to Deb (my boss) and I get no response". That was so funny to me. I looked at him and asked him if he was expecting direction from her.....he said yes. This is when I started laughing. I said to him that it's not her style - and that she's expecting us to provide that direction to the team. She's expecting regular updates that she can give to her management, she needs documentation that can show her we have it under control, she needs to be able to work with competing forces and look at all of them - and that his number 1 priority should be to cover her ass! Anyway that's when I realized that this kid for all his BS actually likes to be told what to do. Interesting.

Now, I thought everything was clear, I sent out a kick off meeting notice for planning with all key players in our group globally for next Wednesday. He then tells me again that the agenda is wrong. WTF is wrong with this guy? There's nothing I can do while I'm watching the beautiful Colorado mountains....

the other thing that drives me nuts is that he challenges everyone but without a context. Example - "so, when do you think you'll have it? Wednesday? No, why not? It has to be Friday at the latest" he doesn't know he needs it by then and the other guys have lots of work going on. What amazes me is that the don't push back on him....because I know I would.

Anyway, it's now just a matter of time before I kick his ass out. His usefulness is gone I think.

I talked to my boss again, just to verify my approach and what I'm doing and she's fine. Hopefully this will resolve itself.

Anyway, here we are in Colorado. We ski'ed yesterday and I think today we're hanging out in Boulder. Had great indian food last night and enjoying getting away for a few days.

The clock goes forward Saturday night for us, with the 2 hour time difference, and landing at home at 11pm Sunday night our Monday is going to be tiring.

Two weeks from now we're back in Iowa. I'm so looking forward to that weekend it's not even funny! I can catch up with friends and enjoy - but it'll be another knackering weekend!

Training with Billy

Check out our second bedroom. We lost the right to train with Billy at the last place back in December, we joined a different gym because our old one was terrible and we finally made a decision to modify our spare bedroom into a home gym so we could work out with Billy (our trainer). We have minimalist equipment but it's awesome.

We've both worked out 3 times each and can honestly say it's worse (ie better) than being in a regular gym. You can't escape and take a break by walking around the gym. We are now in a 12x12 room with no escape. We also have no cardio equipment so our warm up/warm down is by weights. Therefore it's constant for 90 minutes at a time. Here are some pics. All we have to do now is put stuff on the walls.

The weights are awesome. They're in 2 blocks....and have filters so you can go from 2.5lb to 50lb on each arm. We feel so much better already!

Another zero down!

Woooohoooo! So, I'm just loving this weight loss thing. I still can't figure out what I'm doing different this time, but it's working so who cares. I have officially gone past another zero - and since October have lost 21lb and since the beginning of the whole carb/protein diet 31lb. How exciting is it?

I can definitely tell you that taking each day/meal at a time, following a set of rules most of the time is working. In addition I have a regular exercise schedule that I follow - and it all is now part of my lifestyle. I miss it if I don't do it. It's only taken 4 years! About freaking time.

We're off to Mexico in May - I actually have to shop for clothes as none of my dresses, skirts or shorts fit. Now....that's what I call an excuse for shopping!

Who's more stressed?

It's an age old question right? Is it the person who goes out to work or the person who's at home looking after kids? Admittedly this article focused on the 2 parents, 2 children scenario but it's an interesting read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1153566/Who-pressure-breadwinner-homemaker-Nick-Harding-wife-stress-test-.html

It does make you wonder though what a single parent goes through.... I bet their stress levels are double everyone elses. Penny, I'm thinking of you!

Billy's back, back, back!

If you remember back to the beginning of December when the girls came to visit I set them up with personal training sessions to kick start their diet and training program getting ready for Rach's wedding in November......and on the second session they got kicked out of the gym we used. We were using a gym attached to a building that a friend of mine managed (she's the assistant to the owner of the building) and said it was OK if we trained there.....well he was having a bad day - and kicked us out. We tried and tried to organize it to no avail... everything from "we need to open our own gym" to "why can't our 2nd bedroom be a gym".

We opted for the second option. It was a hard choice especially as it's important to me that when we have guests they're comfortable so I don't really want to rely on an inflatable bed - most people don't come for a couple of days, it's usually a week or more. So, what we've decided to do is sell on Craigslist the bedframe/headboard/chest of drawers and store the mattress and box spring in the hallway. Then all I have to do is buy a cheap bed frame that's easy to put together when we have visitors.

Yesterday was the first step in the process. We had ordered everything a week or so back and everything had been delivered (trust me...our apartment was covered in boxes!). I was sooooo excited I booked Billy's time for yesterday afternoon, which meant that the morning was spent unpacking all the boxes and putting everything together. I have to tell you by the time Billy arrived we were exhausted.

So, this is what we have:
- Bench and weights (powerblock.com - very consolidated set of weights. Awesome)
- Bosu ball
- Exercise ball
- Bands
- Mats
- Padded floor (arriving Tuesday)

Our first workouts went great. My butt cheeks are telling me that today - I hurt like hell. But that's good -right? I'm determined by the time I'm in Iowa at the end of March that I'm fabulous and not hurting anymore.

We have a few things to get like medicine balls but that'll come....I'm so excited that we are now in total control of our gym and personal trainer.....we don't miss our old gym, we love our new gym for all the cardio workouts so it's all working out well!

A Tribute....to Jade Goody

I can't believe I'm writing this....especially as it all started with reality TV, but I just can't help myself. Here's the latest on Jade http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1147323/Jade-Goody-earns-1-5m-magazine-TV-deals-Sunday-wedding-ceremony.html

Jade burst on the UK TV reality scene in 2002 or 2003. She was young and stupid. During the Big Brother season she was seen doing lots of weird things - like getting her geography wrong, or saying words incorrectly. She was common and always spoke without thinking. But, no matter how much you didn't want to watch, there was something about her that kept you interested. More recently she drew international notoriety a year or so back in a racism row during the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother. All of that said, what has happened to her over the past 6 months is just awful. I can't stop thinking about it.

Her children are 4 and 5. Over the years she's had unexplained health issues which has always ended with nothing. Until last August that is. After the bad TV exposure the previous January Jade had agreed to go on the Indian version of Big Brother to fix the race issues that had occurred. Can you believe that at the age of 27 with two young children this poor woman found out that she had cervical cancer.....on Big Brother. Over the past several months Jade has been undergoing chemo etc....and two weeks ago found out that it hadn't worked and that the cancer has spread. Today I read that she has a few weeks left to live. She's marrying her boyfriend this coming weekend and depending on which report you read there's not a lot of time.

Jade has lived her life in the limelight...and during her cancer battle hired a TV company to follow her treatments and her daily life. She has made it very clear that her focus is on her children and keeping in the limelight at this time is meaning she's securing their future.

Doesn't it make you think? How in an instant the plans for your life can be gone? I'd like to think that I have no regrets and I think that's the case. I do put things off until tomorrow, when I know I shouldn't and time passes so quickly. I also know, when weird medical things happen and there's no explanation you don't accept no result....Jade is testimony to that.

So ladies, if you haven't had your annual physical yet.....go get it.

The Lion's Balls...

Read this article.....this guy clearly has more gonads than I EVER EVER EVER would.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2246717.ece

Valentines Day

Apart from the fact that I have a terrible sinus cold we had a good Valentines Day. Trev arranged for me to have a facial at our local salon which was great - the steam really helped clear my head and over the whole hour I got to hear about how bad my skin was:) In St Louis I'd have a facial every few months - I considered it a luxury, but it did mean that zits were at a minimum. Here in NY I think that was my second facial in 3 years - that said, I do look after my skin so I don't consider it a necessity at all. Personally, I'd rather do it myself and then go get a massage:)

This morning though my skin does feel smoother and the dry skin not so dry. That's all good. The one thing I didn't like was this woman was all "so, we're going to put you on this regimen which means you should come and see me monthly....". Yeah..........right! That REALLY annoys me. I know she wants to keep her business going but don't make me feel bad for not wanting to do that every month. Quite honestly having the "extraction" bit done (where they burst all the zits) I can only handle every so often:)

Trev's gift had a couple of bits. First I had downloaded a couple of audio books for him for his iPod. He's just got into listening to spoken word so thought it'd be cool. Then, I booked dinner and show at a comedy club in the city. We went and saw Judah Freelander - if you watch 30 Rock he's the dude with the hat and glasses. Was pretty flipping funny. It was great not to hear about politics. He was very clever - spent most of the time asking people questions and talking, so not a whole lot of preparation. It was fun.

I have to say though, I'd fed up with this sinus cold. I'm really glad I have tomorrow off of work because it'll give me a bit of time to recover. I wish it was spring.

And another week been and gone...

Amazing isn't it? You look round and suddenly it's the weekend again! I can honestly say that sometimes I don't know where the time goes. Had quite an eventful week...so here goes:

1. My ankle. I decided that it was time to consult a different doctor. I haven't been to physio and yesterday I had my first appointment with a recommended surgeon. The other thing I've done is also included my left knee in this consult as it's been bugging me ever since I wore the bootee back in the summer. I've had oodles of xrays taken of both the knee and ankle/foot. The knee looks fine (whew!) and the ankle may have a chip of bone and some calcium deposits. What she has asked for is the MRI results that I had done last summer for her to look at more closely. She has recommended I do physio at a different facility, so I start that on Tuesday. So, I'm on the case - and I'm back to the lawyer on Monday to decide next steps.

2. An old friend. On Thursday we had a surprise when a friend of ours from England pinged me and was in NY for the week. So Thursday we met for drinks and dinner. We ended up in one of my favourite restaurants, Les Halles. What a great time....thoroughly enjoyed it. Even better it looks like we'll be working together for the next year or so.

3. Work. I've been having a tough time with someone at work...I think I'm most mad at the fact this guy manages to get me emotional and then irrational. I hate it. I've tried everything, but after 4 years of dealing with this guy I'm realizing it's that one in a million relationships that's not going to work. I'm OK with that. I've tried understanding what he's doing on this big ass project but he's so flipping secretive and has the "I know something you don't" attitude which is ridiculous given we all work for the same team! I think I hit my wall this week when staff and managers were starting to complain to me about him. Not only that but things that I had put in place and was working on I was finding out from these people that he was doing his own thing. Now, that's what put me over the edge - I really don't have time to a) listen to the complaints and b) do the same thing more than once. This made me start to doubt what my role was in this project. So, at my one to one with my boss on Thursday I asked for clarification. The complication is that my boss knows I don't like him, but this really wasn't a personal thing - it was how other people were feeling/reacting and the fact they weren't getting what they needed to kick the project off. Anyway......I asked what my role was. She asked for examples of why etc etc and then she made it very clear what my role was. For the purposes of this project, I'm her. And with those words the fuzziness disappeared, my annoyance and frustration disappeared and all became clear. Now I understand my role - it's dead simple. He works to my timetable, and my project plan, not the other way round. VERY cool.

4. Weight. I'm really not sure what happened but since October I've lost nearly 20lb. I'm doing what I've always done but suddenly it seems to be paying off. I'm so happy that I can lose weight, go to the gym and then splurge occasionally and it all works. I hope it continues - for the sake of all the weddings I've got this year.

5. Hair. So, I had it cut again - check out the pic, do you like it this short? I feel like a boy - but what's weird is that I'm getting lots of compliments. I can't decide if I like it or not. This isn't the nicest pic in the world, but it gives you an idea.

So, now I'm off to the salon for a facial, courtesy of Trev for Valentines....and then we're going to a show tonight. Happy Valentines one and all!