A post in which I have an entertaining supper

I started a new week today. My boss gave me back all the signed write-offs, so that hurdle is cleared. Now I just have to wait for the approvals from California. They did the announcement at work today that there would be no raises this year, yet we still have to go through the incredibly dildonic review process anyway. In the past you could at least hope for a raise after doing all that corporate PC bullshit. I get slightly queasy just thinking about it. Our review process is more a creative writing test than a measure of performance. You'd think I would do well, but I have so little patience for the whole ridiculous process that I generally just get it over with as quickly as possible. I wonder how the less literate (and they are legion) are able to do anything with it.

For some reason I was just lazy today. Just couldn't seem to care. Even with people being laid off all around me. I know I should be grateful just to have a job, but you can only milk that cow for so long. I've never been good with expected gratitude. I was just having one of those days.

Donnie called me today to talk about the party debacle. He had a conversation with the host. Apparently the host is blaming Nicole for the swing breaking, which is just nuts. I was in the swing too. Dan'l is still pissed off about it, telling Donnie that he felt we should have apologized (for what? sitting on a porch swing? If we had been roughhousing or something I could see it but we were just sitting in the damn thing!). Donnie told him he was lucky we didn't sue them. Anyway, for them still to invite me and exclude Nicole because of that is nuts anyway. So it looks like Donnie is planning to go - he told me he would RSVP today. So I guess it's OK for me to go. But now it just doesn't seem like much fun.

I had dinner scheduled tonight with Anna and her parents. She says they really like me and had been looking forward to seeing me again. Since we were going to dinner at 6:30, I just kind of hung around Woodruff Road after work. I looked in the Goodwill up there. No glass, but there was a very cool poster for Il Trovatore for only $15.50 - framed, matted and all. There was a little bit of damage in one corner, and a tiny bit fo warping in the mat from moisture, but you would have to look hard to see those. If I'd had a place for it I would have bought it. I just love Verdi.

I strolled through Kohl's just for the heck of it. I found some mugs there that had a very similar design to my hand thrown bear mugs. Michael had asked if I could get more of those before he moved, but there were no more of the ones like mine. I sent him the picture of the similar ones. They were a lot cheaper than mine too. I looked again at the microfiber sheets they're selling. They feel really soft, but I just can't get past the idea of plastic sheets. Plus I just got a new set, so I passed them by yet again. I am intrigued though.

Dinner was lovely. Anna is so excited about Ni Hao, and her parents seemed to enjoy the meal as well even though her mom isn't a huge buffet fan. After we ate and talked it was getting late, so I just brought in my bag o' glass that I had packed for them to look at and did show and tell in the restaurant. It was fun. They seemed to enjoy it, and her mom particularly seemed to enjoy looking at the couple of pieces that I bought. They are really nice people. By the time we finished dinner and talk it was almost 9. I headed home to feed an strident Jinx. I got a lot of backwards-ear attitude tonight over her late dinner.