My boss recovering from COVID-19 and my sleepiness due to humidity

My manager caught COVID-19, as did his entire family. He returned to work yesterday, working remotely.

We had a virtual interview to conduct. I had asked the person who had set up this interview to reschedule it to accommodate my manager.

My manager started losing his voice today. He talked for maybe two minutes during the interview. I did all the talking in the interview with the candidate.

The kicker is that this candidate wasn't a perfect fit right off the bat. I wanted to shut down the interview immediately because she has no writing experience.

Such a waste of time!

Anyway, I didn't sleep well last night. It was way too humid overnight. Having the air conditioning on has made things better. I've been napping throughout the day to make up for my sleepiness.

Back from a last-minute trip back to the Twin Cities

Hello! I hope that you're doing well.

I got playoff ticket for the Minnesota Wild. Two Sundays ago, I flew down to the Twin Cities. It was the most rushed trip that I have ever done, but it worked out well.

I saw the Wild lose their first game, but win their second one. It was my first and second times seeing the Wild in playoff hockey mode. I had wonderful experiences.

Taking a break from blogging is both needed and missed. I am currently writing on a Microsoft Surface laptop. I never thought that I'd get one, but I like it so far. The touchscreen takes getting used to!

I returned home on Sunday night. I am relatively settled again to blog. I find writing here to be therapeutic, which I have missed.

Thoughts about the in-person Immersive Van Gogh experience

Yesterday, I went to the walk-in version of the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit. Between the drive-in and walk-in versions, I like the former better. I felt safer in my car.

I was lining up to get into the exhibit. I woman behind me asked if it was the lineup. Seriously, you can't tell? I turned around and she was a foot away. On top of that lack of physical distancing, she was not wearing a mask. It explains why she couldn't tell that there was a lineup.

The QR code used for contact tracing didn't work for my phone. On the whole, I can typically get one to work, but not this one. I don't know why places don't include the URL with the QR code. I'd be happy to manually enter the URL into my phone's browser.

Instead, I had to fill out a form using a clipboard and pen that weren't sanitized. Ugh.

The experience seeing Van Gogh's works come to life was the same. I stayed there for three iterations and loved it.

You got to sit in circles to take in the artwork. I don't know how staff sanitize the circles on the floor where folks have sat down and touched it. I saw none of that. They also handed out cushions to sit on. I didn't get one and I don't know whether they get sanitized, either.

I miss the drive-thru where I didn't have to deal with or think about these risks.

Day off and the KitKat Chocolatory

I took Tuesday off as a personal day. I got a lot done, from getting my car serviced, to hitting the KitKat Chocolatory.

What's the KitKat Chocolatory? You can make your own KitKat bar. It's pretty cool! I got a voucher to make a free KitKat bar and it was a lot of fun.

I'm still going through the entire experience in my head. It was such an enjoyable day.

Avengers STATION

I went out on Wednesday night. I visited the Avengers STATION experience and had a fabulous time.

I'm soaking the experience all in. It was wonderful and free!

Scheduling meetings and having my performance review

My first day back at work went well. I impressed myself getting up at 6:45 am for a 7 am conference call.

I had a performance review meeting with my manager just after lunch. Before I went on vacation, he made it for 3 pm for an hour. I had 3:30 pm onwards blocked off as being out of the office on my calendar due to my early start. I also had a meeting at 3 pm.

I got to love when folks don't look at other people's calendars to schedule meetings. My favourite is my diva colleague who asked me to specify what time would work for best for me for her meeting when she clearly knew that I was training our new intern for two weeks.

Dumb. Just dumb.

Anyway, my performance review went well. My boss called me a "rock star." Not to sound weird or pompous, but I have earned it.

A human resources person recently spoke to my manager and did a review of each team member's salary. This HR guy asked my boss why my salary was "significantly higher" than the rest of my team colleagues.

Here's my short list:

• Experience - I have been doing my job for years. I have the most experience on the team.
• Competence - I do my job well and take pride in it. I also complete many tasks with quality and at a faster pace than the rest of my peers.
• Education - I'm the only one with a master's degree in this field.
• Knowledge - I have a lot of it. It explains why I train new employees joining our team.

My manager said everything he had to say about my skills and performance. I am working at a different level than the rest of the team. It's true, which satisfied the HR guy.

I have earned my salary through hard work. It's nice that I have a manager who agrees. I am looking forward to a bonus!

Looking back through external drive files

I have spent a good hour looking at files on an old external hard drive. It's interesting looking back at a snapshot of my life.

I looked at files from 2007. There were photos that I had taken. Music that I was listening to. A resume that was developing. It was cool looking at me back then and how much I have grown since then.

Things seemed so simple then. I wasn't heartbroken. Then again, there was so much drama at work that perhaps things weren't as simple on the surface.

Life is definitely mine to discover. I wouldn't change a thing from my past.

Healing and reading my book on healing after a breakup

I managed to continue reading my book on healing after a breakup. It has been helpful.

When my ex-guy told me that he wanted to end our relationship this past May, I went through a mild panic attack. When I told him the following day, he asked whether I should see a doctor to get medication. I told him that it's sorting out my feelings about losing someone that I love and that popping pills wasn't the first thing that I needed to do.

I know how I handle this type of panic attack. It's a question of knowing that I will be okay without him and that I will find happiness with someone down the road that makes the panic attack go away.

I was right. With time and the right frame of mind, I don't experience this mild panic anymore.

However, I still have moments of sadness. According to the book, it's normal. I knew that, too. It's nice to get confirmation that I'm doing just fine as I continue healing.

Diagnosing my mom's pink eye

I visited my parents after work on Friday night. My mom asked me to take a look at her left eye. It was all red where it should be whitish. It made me think that she has pink eye, which is also known as conjunctivitis.

I have had two bouts of it in my lifetime. The first was a good decade ago and it was the worst. An intern at my workplace had used the washroom and didn't wash her hands. I had washed my hands and then touched the same doorknob. I probably rubbed my eye and there it was. Pink eye.

After work that day, I went to get over-the-counter pink eye drops. A few days later, my pink eye had cleared up.

After letting my mom know what I think she had, I went to the local grocery store to get the same eye drops. I told my mom to give them a try.

On Saturday, I dropped by to see how she was doing. I could see some white in her left eye. She told me that she feels better, and that both my dad and she feel that she's getting better. Cool.

I'm not a doctor, but I am kind of glad that I have experienced pink eye to recognize it in my mom. Here's hoping that she's on the road to recovery.

Turnips and learning

I had a good Saturday. I slept in and got nearly eight hours of sleep.

I went out to run some errands. I am the odd one who enjoys grocery shopping on a Saturday.

I drove a few towns over to a discount grocery store that specializes in frozen items. I like the frozen, cubed turnips. There is no need to spend time peeling them. They are also uniform in size and cook evenly.

At the checkout counter, I took everything out of my basket. The cashier asked whether the turnips take long to cook. I said not really. I put them in soups and pan-fry them. She liked my answer.

I am a foodie at heart. Perhaps I look like I know what I'm doing. Not really. I learned that I enjoy eating turnips about half a year ago! I am still learning and it's a journey.

The cashier was great at packing all my groceries into my single reusable bag. I was impressed. I need to learn how to bag like she does!

Botox

I would classify myself as low maintenance. I don't wear makeup all that often. I am very much a tomboy, except that I like doing my nails, and shopping for clothes now and again.

I did something different on Wednesday. I am an elite member on Yelp and decided to take part in an event at a beauty place. It provided your choice of a facial, filler (for lips), or botox for free.

All of these selections are so foreign to me. However, it would be a good introduction to any of them. I have never done any of these services in my life.

Both my guy and I have full lips. So, the filler option wasn't for me. I decided not to do a facial. The last thing I need is for my oily skin to break out because my face has been massaged more than usual.

Yep, I did botox. There is a first for everything.

For the longest time, I have had this fairly deep crease on my forehead. It is probably due to working with folks who possess either poor judgment or lack common sense. So, I probably raise my eyebrows a lot and end up saying, "Huh?"

I wanted to see whether my deep creasy line could be faded in some way.

This event was wonderful. I was greeted promptly and given a bottle of water. I filled out forms and waited until my technician was free. She was knowledgeable. She is a registered nurse. She explained the procedure and answered all my questions.

Sure enough, my deep forehead line could be faded away. She administered botox on my forehead. The needle didn't hurt. I just felt small pricks here and there.

It has been a day and I am seeing a difference. My crease line is shorter. It's pretty neat. And, yes, and I can still crack a smile and my forehead still moves.

Botox is expensive, though. My treatment would have been $300 had I not been invited to this special event. I am grateful for being invited. It is effective and I had a good first experience.

Art, students, and learning

Things are good, but busy. My guy and I continue to chat on Skype while he is away on business, which makes us less miserable while we are apart.

Today's post is different. Since early May, I have been working closely with two co-op students. I have trained them and guided them through a number of work tasks.

Perhaps I am in the wrong field. Part of me is thinking that I should have become a teacher. Instead, I drifted from being a mathematician, to a computer scientist, to a writer.

It's funny how things happen. I have no regrets about being a writer. I enjoy it. I also get to explain in writing how to do tasks, which benefits the reader.

I have been told that I am a good teacher by my last two student interns. It's a nice feeling.

This internship is the first one that I have supervised in which we have two interns. It has been wonderful seeing their progress and how they have become stronger writers.

One impressed me so much that I decided to nominate her for an intern award. She finally got the word last Friday. She wrote a lovely, heartfelt e-mail to me. It is one of those e-mails that you want to print out and never delete.

The other intern showed how giving she is. She had a number of tickets to various tourist sites. However, she couldn't go. She offered them to me. This past Tuesday, I decided to book the day off and go to an art exhibit that I have wanted to attend for a while.

I was thankful that she asked me if I wanted to go. Although it would have been nice if she had the opportunity to go to the museum and see all the art exhibits, I bought her a book showing all the beautiful artifacts that I had experienced. The book also came with a DVD. She was elated.

It's nice to make the day of folks that you work closely with. They have also taught me so much in return. The learning experience has been enriching for all of us.

Happy new year!

Happy 2016, everyone!

Thanks for your support and encouragement by stopping by and reading my blog. I managed to write 215 blog entries in 2015, which is by far the most that I have ever written in a year.

It takes a bunch of fun experiences and inspiration to write blog posts. It also helps that I have fellow bloggers who freely share their experiences with the world. I am happy to be a part of the community!

Here's to more fun, laugher, and spankings!

All the best this year,
Cutiebootie

Whiskers update

Over a month ago, I wrote about buying a hair removal system that slows down your hair growth to the point where the hair is permanently removed. This post is an update.

The idea is that you use this system every two weeks. You have to shave the areas where you have hair that you want to remove, and then you use the device to safely zap the area. This week will be my fourth application.

The verdict so far? It does work. You just need a lot of patience.

I have dark hair and a medium complexion. They are the perfect combination for this device.

I am also tall for a woman and have long legs. It takes a long time to thoroughly use the device to treat each leg. It takes me an hour to do both legs.

It has only been three treatments. Here are my results:

• A few hairs remain around my navel (yes, I did have a sort of hairy ring around my belly button)
• Roughly ten to twenty hairs under each armpit (I had moderate hair growth there, which is no longer the case)
• Practically no hair around my nipples (yay!)
• Small patches of stumble along my legs
• Some whiskers on my face, although the growth has slowed down
• Very few hairs on my forearms

I have yet to do my bikini area. I finally got around to lady-scaping it recently.

It's a good product. Most want results quickly. This device won't give fast results. If you're patient, you will see the results in phases. Patience, young grasshopper, as they say.

I'll keep you posted. I am pleased with not shaving as much. 

The unpleasant part about this exercise? I don't like shaving my face. I feel like a man. I get 5 o'clock shadow! My guy is happy that I get to experience what he does every day. However, he is jealous that it takes me a minute for me to shave my face!

W is for whiskers and belt welts

This post is a mix of thoughts that I have had recently.

The other day, I decided to purchase a hair removal system that permanently gets rid of unwanted hair. There have been some promising scientific studies on this device.

Several years ago, I tried one product that seemed to work. My guy has remarked that my legs are smooth, even if I forget to shave my legs. The downside to the device that I used back then is that I can't get replacement sticky pads for it.

Since my twenties, I have had facial stubble around my chin and jawline. I tend to pluck them. However, I cannot do any plucking while using this new hair removal system. Instead, I need to shave daily.

I must have at least forty hairs. I do feel like a guy when I shave my face, but only for a minute.

I have also been thinking about having the belt used for a future spanking. My guy wants to try it. It does turn me on when he holds his brown belt in his hand, moments after he has removed it from his belt loop.

I still fear getting welts, although I have been reassured that it won't happen and that my guy will take it easy on me. My guy encourages me to try it. I may like it. He has always been more of a risk taker than I am. I admire that quality in him.

I will keep you posted on both experiences down the road.

March question: When did you used to give spankings?

This question is a rather loaded one from Autumn, but it's a good one. I will begin with her questions and her thoughts:

OK, I don't know you very well, so this question may have been answered, but when DID you used to give spankings? I sometimes wonder if I would enjoy it--I certainly love getting them, and I absolutely love-tapping and squeezing my husband's butt, but I'm not sure I would enjoy giving a full out spanking. Tell me your experiences! 

The easiest answer would be to read through the beginning of my blog. I talk about how I am a switch and how I became interested in spanking. At the time, I was married to a man who enjoyed being spanked, so it was easy for me to enjoy giving spankings as much as I enjoyed receiving them.

I think that giving a spanking depends on several factors. For me, I gave birthday spankings growing up, and both experienced and witnessed spankings. It stopped until I started dating my then-boyfriend, who is now my ex-husband, so I had some experience. However, spanking him was my first adult experience.

You obviously need your husband's support. Has he hinted that he would like to trying receiving a spanking?

It doesn't hurt (no pun intended!) to experiment. You can continue giving him love taps or playfully administer a light spanking and see how he feels. It will also allow you to figure out whether you enjoy this role or if you'd sooner be on the receiving end.

For me, I have always been turned on by either my doing the spanking or my getting my backside warmed up. So, go ahead and try it out. You will never know whether you'll truly like it until you start with small steps and work your way up. If it doesn't go well, you know that you'll always have a rosy red bottom to look forward to.

I hope that my answer helps! I wish you all the best.

If you have any questions for me, please let me know in the Comments section. Thanks!