Cake and boredom

I have not worked from home for over three weeks. I go into the office tomorrow, but will thankfully get to work from home on Wednesday.

My student is progressing well. I am thrilled about his progress.

We had a September cake break on Monday afternoon. We sat there and ate cake. I asked about a fellow student who was in a meeting with our development team earlier in the day. He looked bored out of his mind.

Our manager came over and I pointed out how bored he was earlier in our meeting. My manager indicated that he was loud the other day and wasted time gabbing with three employees. I let him know that he didn't say a peep in our meeting, which seemed amusing to us.

Perspectives are interesting. I have never asked a student to go into this meeting with me, as the information would be way over his head. I like my judgment in this case.

August staycation and pay

It's August. Summer seems to be breezing by fast!

The long weekend is coming up. I am doing a mini staycation. I am looking forward to it.

I have a few things to pack. I have travelled a fair amount in July that pretty much everything I need is still in that one piece of luggage.

I like August. I get paid three times, which makes me feel rich for a brief period. It's good.

A long wait - missing my guy already

I'm bummed out right now. My guy's flight is early today, which means that we won't be able to see each other.

Like last year, he is away from a month on business. It seems like an eternity.

Although he has reassured me that we'll chat while he is away, I'm still sad that we'll be apart for such a long time.

August travel and dinner date

My guy and I are both travelling on business at roughly the same time. He departs a day before I do.

"My flight leaves on a Friday at 7 pm. You'll be at work, so we can do dinner before I leave," he said, planning.
"That sounds good. I'd love to," I noted.

He is gone for a couple of weeks. I am gone just for a week. August is already shaping up to be a busy month for both of us.

Black Friday sales... ugh!

For the last three years, I am turned off when it comes to Black Friday sales. I don't know why it has become a tradition in Canada when this ritual comes for our neighbours to the south. However, I feel the same way about Black Friday as I do with Boxing Day sales, with some minor differences.

Black Friday used to be shopping on that particular day for bargains. Yes, you'd be shopping on a Friday. These days, you have pre-Black Friday sales. And, there's a catch, too. You can actually have a full weekend or more of these Black Friday sales.

One word: Ugh.

Boxing Day is a Canadian holiday. In the past, stores would be closed that day. There would be Boxing Day sales on December 27, which is a day after this holiday. These days, you can have your sale start on Christmas or even earlier. And, it's not a Boxing Day sale. Oh, no. It's a Boxing week sale, which could carry on for longer than week. Stores are also open on Boxing Day.

The same word: Ugh.

I don't have much to buy for either sale. It has to be something that I truly need. I am trying to adopt a minimalistic approach to debt and shopping these days.

I have also done all my Christmas shopping. I am that prepared.

On Friday, it took forever for me to drive home. It seemed like everyone was out shopping.

My guy called me from Egypt, where he is there for less than a month. It was great hearing from him.  He is over his jetlag and is safe. Chatting with him made my commute more bearable.

"How's my cute girl?" he asked me.
"I am stuck in traffic. I am literally under highway 400," I replied.
"Are you on highway 401?" he asked me.
"Nope, I'm backroading it," I replied. "It's Black Friday."
"Ah, I see," said my fellow shopper. "You don't get too many deals."
"I agree. You probably do in the States."

It's nice that my guy and I are on the same page. For Canadians, the deals are better during the Boxing Day, week, or month sales.

Eating my way through Friday and getting soaked in a downpour

I ate my way through Friday. Needless to say, I am pretty full right now!

At work, we have a special lunch at the beginning of each month. Those who have birthdays during that month get lunch paid for by the company. I end up expensing these lunches, although I have trained another writer to help me out.

We went to an East Indian restaurant. The food was good. However, it was strange that we all had to dip into a small, communal salad. It was definitely a different experience.

What I didn't like was that the server showed me an itemized list of what we had ordered on her iPad mini, which was the list of items that I would ultimately expense. However, when she printed out this itemized list, a gratuity was added. I noticed this after I had paid for our meals and included a tip. I ended up double-tipping. Ugh! So much for disclosing this detail...

After work, I decided to take part in a local ribfest. I haven't been for several years. It has changed venues. I got a ribs and chicken combo, with cornbread and baked beans as sides.

Unfortunately, I got caught in a downpour of rain. It was to the point where I had to take shelter in a restaurant. My entire front-facing self was soaked in rain. The backside of me was completely dry!

So, I waited in the lobby of this restaurant (I don't know what the name is, but I must thank the place for housing me and others) for forty minutes. I was going to eat my dinner at home. However, all this waiting made me hungry. It was a first for me to eat food that was not offered in the restaurant in said restaurant's lobby.

The food was delicious. When I noticed that the rain was easing and the sun was starting to break out, I headed out to my car. I was parked a couple of huge blocks away. I had to walk through a flooded part of the parking lot. Oh, joy!

There is never a dull moment in my life, especially when it comes to eating yummy food.

Belated, thoughtful birthday gifts

I returned home early Monday evening. The longer weekend was nice, but I feel like I need another vacation!

Last week, my guy got me some nice birthday gifts. He felt bad that he was late. I understood, as he is a traveller. It was still the same birthday month.

He normally asks me for a list of gifts that I'd like. He can then choose from that list. He doesn't need me to provide him with this list, but I do for suggestions.

He got me the following:

• A Beemo mug, a character from Adventure Time that I like
• A waffle maker, because I love to eat waffles

My guy surprised me by getting a gift that wasn't on my list, but I had mentioned a need for it in the past.

I got a new car earlier this year. It does not have heated seats. It's not a huge deal. However, when I have a sore back, it was always helpful to turn the heat on my seat, which would ease the pain.

My guy remembered my comment. He got me a plug-in heated seat in which the seat and back support both heat up. It plugs in to the car charger. I was thrilled.

"See, I told you that you're a great gift giver," I complimented him.
"Thanks, sweetie," he replied.

He's thoughtful and sweet.

March is question-and-answer month

Okay, so I am late with joining the question-and-answer bandwagon. Better late than not doing a thing, as they say!

It's March, so feel free to march over to my comments section and ask me a question about anything. I will try my best to answer them in a future blog post.

Thanks! I'm looking forward to getting at least one question. =)