Monday, February 15, 2010

Tech + Midterms= No posts

Hey guys,

I'm in tech for a show right now, I'm not sure if I'll be able to write some stuff during performances or not, but definitely no time this week. I'm in tech and midterms....because that's just how life goes for me, I guess. I'll try to write once the show goes up in performance, but if not, check back in the beginning of March and I'll start up writing around then.

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Temp Me No More

I still haven’t found a replacement for Janna, mostly because I haven’t even scheduled any interviews. I just think back to the last group and then cry myself to sleep at night, that is to say: I am not looking forward to the next set of interviews…at all. I stared at my computer screen with the job posting written in an e-mail to send to various job sites and hovered my mouse above the send button. Just then the temp who’s been keeping Janna’s seat warm came into my office with a stack of papers. I suddenly got a great idea!

“Hey Faith, I made those copies you asked for, I stapled them and collated them for you, too.”

“Kelly…have a seat.” Kelly sat down and I leaned back in my chair. She smiled and waited for me to begin.

“I want to offer you a job here; a permanent position as the paper’s secretary. You’ve been doing a fantastic job and I don’t think I’ll be able to find someone with your qualifications and attitude. What do you think?”

Kelly thought about what I was saying and I could tell I was going to lose her.

“I’ll give you a raise.” I used my last shot.

“How much?”

“I’ll give you a three dollar raise, optional health benefits, and a full week of vacation time upon hiring I’ll even count the last couple of weeks you’ve been working as a temp which will help the benefits come in quicker, should you want them.”
“It’s a deal.”

“I’ll start the paperwork right now.”

Kelly walked out of my office and I felt so much relief. It’s not that I don’t enjoy doing interviews with potential employees, there just always seems to be a large quantity of people who answer the ads for the secretary job every few months who think completely inappropriate behavior is perfectly acceptable at a job interview. The last time I had to find someone for a job, when I hired Janna, a male interviewee winked at me. I probably would have been willing to give Kelly a five dollar raise if she pushed me just to avoid one of those situations again.

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Ladies' Night

Elise finally got back from her photo shoot and we all decided to have some girl-time. We went to a spa for the first part of the day where we got massages and pedicures which were topped off with a really awesome lunch at a French place across the street. We all ordered the French onion soup and it was SO fantastic. After that we decided to go shoe shopping for a few hours and I got three pairs of shoes. One is a black patent leather bootie with a white lace overlay, a pair of subtle kitten heel Mary Janes, a pair of white 6-inch strappy stilettos. Elise only found one pair she wanted, but they were probably the coolest shoes any of us found, they have these deep blue rhinestones that go down the 4-inch heel while the rest of the shoe fades to white as you reach the toe. Zoey bought some basic pumps in basic colors, and Anna didn’t find anything she fell in love with and wanted to buy.

After shopping for so long we took in a movie nearby that all of us just loved to death and then followed it up with a late dinner at a pizza place.

“So, I’m dating Kevin…” I said to the group while we waited for our pizza.

“And? How’s the sex?” Elise asked, trying to control her excitement.

I paused.

“I mean….you have done it right?” Elise looked at me completely perplexed.

“Almost…” I said. I really wanted to avoid having to go into the details of the night we almost had sex and possibly bring up Anna’s recent miscarriage, as well.

“Faith, you were so into him when you were with Dean. You were having SEX DREAMS about him! How have you not jumped him yet?” Elise got a stare from a couple nearby who were on a first date and Anna shushed her jokingly.

“We just…haven’t. He hasn’t really brought up the issue since we had ‘the talk’ and we’ve been pretty tame with the affection. Maybe he thought about it and wants to take things slow, I’m okay with that.”

We moved on to Zoey who shared that she had a date for the first time since her last relationship and we were all very happy for her. Our pizza came and we scarfed it down in a matter of minutes because it was so delicious. The day was perfect.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

The V-Card

Kevin and I went out on a date yesterday. We decided to go to a museum in the area and then grab lunch at this really cute little bistro about a block from my apartment. The museum had this awesome indoor garden exhibit with all sorts of exotic flowers and there were even butterflies flying around in the atrium. We sat on a bench and started talking when Kevin brought up the subject of Valentine’s Day.

“So…do you celebrate it?”

“Well, not really, I think… If you love and care for someone that you’re in a relationship with, you shouldn’t feel like you need to show especially large amounts of affection with gifts on one specific day of the year. The sentiment is nice, but we don’t need to do the whole Valentine’s Day thing.”

“You’re sure? This isn’t one of those ‘You don’t need to get me a gift, but I’m going to be pissed if you don’t’ thing that girls say all the time?”

“No, I’m not going to be mad if you don’t get me a gift,” I started laughing, “we just started dating, anyway, and besides, my plans for Valentine’s Day seem to be heading in the direction of watching a really bad movie on television and sleeping in late.”

We just kind of sat in the garden quietly taking in the surrounding vegetation. It was really nice. It was kind of the perfect day for me. I just sat there enjoying Kevin’s company while we held hands and I felt really relaxed being around him. We eventually left because we were both starving and Kevin drove to the bistro. I ordered a sandwich wrap with a side of strawberries and glass of water while Kevin ordered an omelet with ham and cheese, a slice of toast, and some coffee.

“What did you do before you came to the paper?” I asked.

“I was an editor for a small magazine that went under, George held an advertisement in our magazine regularly and when he heard about me losing my job, it was right when Paula was diagnosed to be terminal. He thought he’d go to the board with my credentials and talk about resigning or at least taking a sabbatical with me as his replacement. The board understood George’s position and agreed to give him a leave of absence, he still has all of his benefits from the company and he’s actually been working there that he could retire whenever, but the board wanted to make sure that if and when George is ready to come back, the position will be there for him. I just keep his seat warm.”

Kevin laughed and I smiled because his positivity was refreshing. George could decide to come back at any time and Kevin would be out on the street but he was so relaxed about everything.

“You make me less anxious about my life.” I said, touching his hand.
Kevin looked at me and leaned over to give me a kiss. He walked me home a little while later and called Zoey to dish.