Debt and credit card reductions

I'm working on reducing my debt. It's a constant battle.

I am hoping to pay off one of them in a couple of months. I have been working on it for a while and I see a bit of light.

My ultimate goal is to get rid of a grand total of two credit cards this year. Last year, I got rid of one. I don't know what possessed me to have so many credit cards. They are evil!

My guy feels the same way about credit cards. You only need one or two.

It's nice that we can chat about finances. It's healthy.

Odd events lead to good karma

Sometimes, I wonder about various events. Yesterday, my guy had landed in Seattle for work. I was happy as can be, as I was going to join him for the Thanksgiving long weekend.

My guy left home without his driver's licence. It may have foreshadowed the events that took place after that.

On Monday, I had the worst time trying to troubleshoot various things with three new folks on my team. The worst was with the new writer who says that she knows everything. However, she ends up clicking various sites on her own that it causes even more problems. Her laptop had the most difficult time connecting to our company's wifi.

It was humourous how the rest of us simply assumed that her laptop was troublesome every time she tried a task on it. It's not me!

My guy texted me after I was done work, which was around 17:20. He indicated that his course was cancelled and that no one had told him about it. Bummer. Such horrible communication!

I had booked a one-way ticket to Seattle. I had also booked a hotel room to stay closer to the airport, for my flight was at 08:00. I had also booked a rental car.

All our our plans were dashed. My guy said that he looked forward to my joining him this trip, which was the highlight for him. He's sweet.

Looking on the bright side, I had already booked a staycation this weekend in his hometown. I had cancelled that reservation, but managed to rebook the same duration at a cheaper rate.

There is no penalty when I cancel my flight within 24 hours. I also managed to cancel my car and hotel reservations with ease. No harm on these fronts.

My guy flies back on Tuesday. We are meeting for some quality time. He told me that he wants to spank me for being a bad girl. Naturally, that turns me on.

We chatted twice on Tuesday. I got him off on the phone. He was so lethargic that he ended up singing.

Although our original plans didn't work out, our alternative ones are equally as good.

Job analysis and prospective interview

On Thursday morning, i had to give a presentation to my entire team, which consists of over twenty writers from four different locations.

My presentation went well. I had a couple of technical issues. Otherwise, I was pleased with how it went.

I train folks and meet with students so often that speaking in front of groups doesn't rattle me like it used to. Sure, I still get a little nervous. To me, that's normal. It simply means that I care about what I am doing.

I ended up with an odd acknowledgement from my manager in our team meeting later on that day for whipping together a high-level process description for something that I do often. He normally doesn't make such an acknowledgement in front of the team. It was sweet that those in the room clapped. Perhaps my manager realized how valuable I am as an employee.

I am the longest-serving writer in our group and am the overall team lead for it. It has taken me a while to build up to this stage in my career.

With the job interview on Friday, I assessed whether I would be happy in that position. I wouldn't be a team lead. I wouldn't be coaching other writers. I wouldn't be training students. I love all these aspects of my job.

Sure, I would be saving in highway toll fees, travel time, and gas. I would also be taking a pay cut. It's interesting, but money has never been my main motivator. It's how I feel about the job that makes me happy.

All my development work, meaning writing to support our software products, will go to two other writers. I will focus on a migration tools task, performance statistics, and process work.

I have wanted a change and a reduction in my workload for a while. I will continue training students, supporting my team, and more. I like this change.

I made the difficult decision to decline my interview on Friday. It feels right. The recruiter was understanding. It is the first time in my life where I have declined coming in for a job interview.

I let my guy know. As usual, he is supportive. Whatever makes me happy, makes my guy happy, too. As usual, he is his sweet self.

Floss, noise-cancelling earbuds, and quality time

A while back, I bought a couple of Flosstime dental floss dispensers for my guy and me. They arrived within the last couple of weeks. On Monday, I remembered to bring his to work.

On Sunday, my guy and I were talking about noise-cancelling headphones. My guy travels on planes far more than I do these days. Having these earbuds helps a ton.

I recall having an extra pair of Sony noise-cancelling earbuds that I had purchased a while back. I had done some cleaning up around my home and said that I would look for them. Sure enough, it didn't take me long to locate them.

We were eating lunch at our usual restaurant on Monday. My guy opened his presents and was so happy.

"I can't wait to try this flossing dispenser. It's more than I thought it would be," he admitted.
"It's pretty neat. I just started using mine," I remarked.
"How much do I owe you for the earbuds?" he asked me.
"You don't owe me anything," I replied.
"No, I said that I would pay you back. How much did you pay for them?" he replied.
"I don't recall. It has been a while," I admitted.
"Well, I will have to pay you in pleasurable services, then," he noted, smiling at me.

Sure enough, after we had finished lunch, we headed to a place across from our usual parking lot (it had a number of tents set up) for some quality treehouse time.

Missed lunch, but a dinner date is a pretty good substitute

My guy and I were planning on having lunch together on Monday. Unfortunately, he had an online meeting to attend at noon. Instead, he said that we could go out for dinner after work.

When he was done with his workday, he sent me an instant message, asking if I was done with work. I was. I went down to see him in one of the project rooms.

We talked. I caressed his hair and loved how soft it felt between my fingers. I was leaning forward and he liked the cardigan that I was wearing. Of course, he liked it. He bought it for me!

"You have a black bra on," he remarked after he used his hand to move my cardigan down.
"You're so bad," I said, smiling at him.
"No, bad would be this," he noted, unbuttoning my cardigan to reveal my black bra.
"You normally put me back together. How come you're not buttoning my cardigan up?"
"I am admiring the view," he said, continuing to look at me.

We left work and drove to our regular Chinese restaurant. We ordered dinner. He went with the Thai red curry with chicken. I had the spicy Thai chilli chicken that my guy had recommended.

His dish was probably lacking the heat that he normally likes. He let me try some. I liked the coconut milk in his dish. I loved my dinner. I had left some onions, so my guy ate them with his rice. He liked it better.

We had a good chat. We held hands. He liked my red nail polish. I caressed his knee and upper thigh from under the table. He enjoyed it.

Date night after work is nice. It's a great start to the workweek.