Team lunch and a budget

In a couple of days, I am having a team lunch. I haven't seen many of these folks in person in 1.5 years.

I look forward to seeing most of them. There are a few people that I could do without, but you can't win 'em all!

I had a one-on-one online meeting with my manager yesterday. He asked if I could pay for our entire meal. It was an odd way to make a request without my follow-up question. I asked whether I was to expense it, too. Yes.

Here's where I put my foot down. I don't think it should be my responsibility to put the charge on my personal credit card. Frankly, my manager doesn't have a backbone to charge and expense things himself because it goes to his manager for approval. He'd rather hide that fact and have me do it. I have a budget. This request was unplanned in said budget. I'm not dipping into my emergency fund. It's not an emergency.

I suggested charging it to my corporate credit card. He indicated that he went out with his management team and two people had their corporate credit cards declined.

My thought is that there is a limit for charging expenses on this card for restaurants. I called the credit card company to ask what limit was established. I had to answer eight questions, with some of them being ridiculous, to get an answer to check with my plan administrator.

Not helpful. I tore a strip off this guy. He said that he asks many customers for a verification ID and none of them know what that is. Neither did I. So, why not get rid of that question?

Asking for my work phone number is also ridiculous. I don't call myself. It's a virtual number. Why not ask for my cell phone number first?

Finally, asking for my employee number, when I feel that providing my name, date of birth with the year, my cell phone number, and mailing address are sufficient to verify that I am who I am for a single question about my account. I do not want an interrogation when I call. Posing eight questions is excessive.

Anyway, I had to open a ticket at work to ask what my limit was on restaurant transactions on this corporate credit card. We'll see if I get an answer later on today.

It's painful trying to get an answer to what I believe is a straightforward answer. Things shouldn't be so complicated.

Weird text conversation

I sometimes wonder about my new love interest. He says things that kind of make me wonder why.

Here's an example in the form of texts:

"Babe, what are we going to talk about?" he texted.
"What an odd question," I texted back.
"Yeah, I think so. I'm going to bed early," he wrote.
"Okay, what time were you thinking of turning in?" I asked.
"Soon. I don't have a time yet," he wrote.

Okay, perhaps he's not a natural conversationalist, but it's not like we have a set agenda when we start a conversation. You take a topic and you run with it. Yesterday, I found out that it was national pizza day and I didn't know. I ended up getting a pizza before knowing about this tidbit. So, we talked about it.

The other thing is that if you typically want to go to bed early, you have some idea as to when you want to go to bed. It was weird that he finally said soon. Twenty minutes later, we said goodnight.

Weird. Maybe it'll make sense to me later. Right now, it just seems odd all around.

Birthday gift question

When my birthday is coming up, my guy always asks me what I'd like as a gift. I decided to try his method out on him.

My guy's birthday is in a couple of weeks. Although I have a gift in mind, I decided to ask him what gift he'd like.

"Hey, your birthday is coming up. What would you like?" I asked him.
"I like whatever gift you give me. You're good at it," he said.
"That's nice of you to say. But, is there a gift that you really want?" I asked him.
"I have everything. I have you," he said.

He's sweet. It's one reason why I'm keeping him.

Where are you from?

A few weeks ago, I had dinner with a number of academics. Most folks at my table had doctorate degrees. I was one of two who did not.

My guy has always said that I can hold my own ground no matter whom I'm with. All because you have earned a doctorate degree does not necessarily mean that that you the brightest person on the planet.

I was sitting next to a woman who possessed a doctorate degree at the table. I knew most of the people, except for this woman and my friend's husband. Many of them flew into Toronto from the States for a conference.

The American woman tried to strike up a conversation with me.

"So, where are you from?" she asked me.
"Toronto. I'm born and raised here," I said.

And so, the conversation stopped there.

My guess is that, to her, I do not seem like a typical Canadian. However, as Canada is incredibly multicultural, it's not odd that I can say that I was born and raised in Toronto.

If she had asked about my heritage, I would have said that I'm Chinese. The question was never posed that way.

Perhaps she was expecting me to say that I am Chinese-Canadian. I could have. That's more common to hear stateside. I'm Canadian. I happen to also be Chinese.

Her question has stuck with me ever since. I liked my answer. I still do.

A compliment on my nail colour goes a long way

As crazy as work is these days, I find that the new folks that I have welcomed and trained recently bring a smile to my face when I least expect it.

I was in our regular team meeting on Thursday. I don't normally bring my laptop into these meetings because I don't like being distracted. However, I had another meeting after this one that required my pulling up information that I had prepared on my laptop.

My manager posed a question to me that he should have known the answer to. He had booked the meeting, for heaven's sake! So, I answered it and continued to listen to him.

A new writer (NW), whom I interviewed and helped train with one of my co-op students a few weeks ago, shot me an instant message. As of late, our corporate instant messaging systems causes me stress when folks pick my brains.

I enjoyed this brief exchange:

NW: Hi, Cutiebootie. I love your nail colour!
Me: Thanks, NW! I thought that I needed a bright colour to liven up our workplace. =)
NW: I agree

All it takes is a small compliment to make someone's day. I have a cheerful berry colour polish on my nails. She made this meeting far more bearable!

Work-related question, almond beverage, and thoughtfulness

On Saturday, my guy missed me so much that he wanted to talk to me before and after his course. He is sweet that way.

The second chat that we had over the phone, I was having a late lunch at a shawarma place. He recommended that I get the beef shawarma. It was nice that he was keeping me company and making a food suggestion while I was there.

"I have a work-related question," he stated.
"What happened to your usual by-the-way lead-in, which tips me off that it's work-related?" I asked.
"I didn't want to alarm you, but I guess that I should have started it off that way," he admitted.

He described his issue. I told him the scoop and advised that I would provide links to the work that my team produces. His work is now dependent on what my team writes. It's isn't a newsflash, but it puts pressure on his group to deliver faster.

"You're lucky that you have me to help you out here," I pointed out.
"I'm lucky to have you all the time. I owe you a lot," he said.
"You're so mushy. You did buy me almond beverage from our favourite liquidation place," I said.
"Yes. Don't forget to take them from me tomorrow," he advised.
"We'll need to do it before our date. Otherwise, we'll both forget," I stated.
"True. I can't wait to see you."

He's thoughtful and sweet. I'm lucky to have him.

I can't wait till incompetent writer leaves... the countdown continues!

Thursday made me realize that it is truly good news that the incompetent writer is leaving the company. Yesterday was her farewell lunch.

I am a nice person. Perhaps I am too nice. Even though she initiated uninviting me to lunch get-togethers, I'm not the type to reciprocate out of spite. I organized her farewell lunch.

You would think that to add insult to injury that she decided to ride in my car along with my manager. I had a doctor's appointment after this lunch, so my giving folks a ride to and from the restaurant was fine.

She didn't realize that I had bought a new car. She just assumed that I still had a neatly kept Prius.

It wasn't a surprise to my boss. He has been a passenger in my car a number of times. She was surprised.

Well, that's what you get when you don't want to hang out with me at lunchtime or even talk to me. You don't have any insight on my life, let alone anything because you live in your own twisted bubble. You just assume that things remain the same with me.

In reality, things are the same with her. That cliche about not being able to teach a dog new tricks? She can get the old tricks down pat, let alone new ones.

To start, our team had a day-long work session yesterday. She literally had to look up the location of our room before going there. I had remembered it from reading the e-mail the day before, meaning that I didn't have to waste ten minutes finding the information.

Our team had the task of updating document numbers for specific user guides. I delegated all tasks, including giving myself work.

The co-ops always ask questions when they are unsure about anything. They know that I am happy to answer. We have a male writer who also was fine asking questions.

Incompetent writer? It took her forever to ask me a question. It wasn't until I asked if everyone was done so that we could run a documentation build that she approached me. Clearly, she had no idea what to do. She renamed the file. Renaming it does not update the document number. Considering that she used to do this task fairly regularly in the past, she couldn't do it now.

The co-op students, who have been with the company for over a month now, can do this task effortlessly. Incompetent writer cannot.

The same goes with expensing her meal. I had to expense it. She nearly paid for it herself after our manager told her to let me pay for it. What part of guest of honour does she not understand?

I am simply relieved that I do not have to work with her for much longer. Every time she has to complete a task, there is something wrong that happens. I am weary of it, but know that relief is in sight.

Questions on happiness

Jay posted a handful of thought-provoking questions on happiness. Instead of attempting to answer them all on her blog post, in her comments section, I thought that these questions merit a blog post of my own. After all, it is still March, which is question-and-answer month!

1. What made you happy when you were younger?
   Going to school to spend time with friend and to learn made me happy. I liked recess and skipping rope in elementary school. I liked doing arts and crafts, and learning calligraphy as I grew up. I also liked playing music and sports.
   
   
2. What makes you happy now?
   Listening to music still makes me happy. Being with friends and family makes me happy, too. I am also fortunate to be loved by my best friend, who happens to be a wonderful boyfriend.
   
   
3. What do you think will make you happy in the future?
   Companionship with my guy will make me happy. Having strong friendships and family relationships will. And, yes, music will always be important to me.
   
   
4. Do any of these answers change if you get married? If you have children?
   I was married, so I became much happier when I dissolved the relationship. I don't think that my answers would change if I were to remarry. As for children, I have a feeling that my answers would.

Thanks for the questions, Jay!

March questions: Travel, favourite time of the year, books vs. e-readers, and kinks

Questions in March continue. They are a ton of fun to answer! This batch of questions comes from Ronnie:

Do you prefer to drive or fly when travelling? 

I like both methods! I love to do road trips. The longest road trip that I have taken was driving from Toronto eastbound, through almost all the Atlantic provinces, except for Newfoundland and Labrador. I then took a ferry from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia to Portland, Maine. I then drove through the United States, making my way back home. It was fabulous! 

I am a frequent flyer. I have no problems being on a plane, except for folks next to me who either hog the armrest or who elbow me. The latter annoys me more because I am ticklish. These days, I tend to visit European countries. I have only been to four countries so far and have plenty left to explore. This year, I hope to visit Shanghai.  

What's your favourite time of year? 

What a great question! I like early summer, because the snow is finally behind me! I love late summer and early fall. I like how warm it gets before change comes. There's a crispness in the air that I find comforting. It's just nice. 

Do you prefer to read actual books or use an e-reader? 

I sort of hinted about my preference when I had answered Han's question the other day. I prefer a physical newspaper or book. I suppose that I am old-fashioned that way because I like the feel of the pages between my fingers.  

I don't mind reading a book with an e-reader. It's convenient when you're on a plane or public transportation. I would sooner support my local library or bookstore by getting books, though. 

Do you have other kinks other than spanking? 

This question is similar to the one that Han had posed. Great minds think alike! I like light bondage. My guy and I are still exploring it. So far, it has been pleasurable and fun for both of us.

If you'd like to ask me a question or more, please feel free to leave them in the Comments section. Thanks!

March questions: Music, trains, and personality types

I received these wonderful questions from SheandHim:

What is your favourite genre of music? 

Such a tough question! I love music. I used to go to many concerts in a year. Perhaps I averaged a concert a month. These days, I am more selective. 

I like 80's synthesizer or electronic music the most. I have a weakness for Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Erasure, Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, and many more. I am tuned in to the 80's channel on Sirius XM radio. 

I do listen to all types of music. I have an extensive collection of songs. My iPod classic has over 22,000 songs! 

Have you ever ridden a train? 

I have. We have commuter trains in the greater Toronto area called GO trains that take you from various cities and towns. I loved being on it after work. The first stop took nearly twenty minutes to get there, so I had a decent nap. 

I have also taken the train from Metuchen, NJ to Penn Station in New York City when I was in Piscataway on a business trip. It was quite the experience that I wouldn't trade for the world! 

Are you easygoing or are you a worrier? 

I have been told that I am both easygoing and a bit of a worrier. I have a relaxed personality, which helps when things are stressful. I do worry about things, but it isn't to the point where I can't sleep or relax. I think it's a healthy version of being concerned.

Thanks for your answers! If you have questions that you would like me to answer, please leave them in the Comments section. I'd be happy to answer them.

March questions continue

The other day, I received a batch of fun questions from Han. Here are my answers:

Do you read a newspaper daily? 

Sadly, I don't read the paper version of a newspaper daily. Instead, I tend to read the online version as often as I can, which is pretty close to being daily. Otherwise, I get my news either on the radio or at night when I have a chance to watch the evening news on TV. 

Do you watch television a lot and what are your favourite programs? 

Great segue! I don't watch as much television as I should. I find that I watch more TV when I am on vacation, mainly because I am often in another country and like watching local programs. 

I probably watch television an average of fourteen hours a week. I tend to watch the news. I also like Live! with Kelly and Michael and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I do enjoy watching hockey games and special sporting events, but I haven't been doing that much these days. 

Are you interested in politics? 

This question is a good one. My ex-hubby taught politics. I follow politics, but I am nowhere near being a passionate political junkie like he was. Coincidentally, my guy is interested in politics, but he doesn't ram it down my throat. He can spend a decent amount of time debating his views with others on Facebook and other sites. He has cut down on that these days. 

As for me, I am a mathematical girl. So, when there is an election, I am far more interested in the poll results, statistical trends, and other tidbits that are math-related. 

I don't have a specific party that I will lean towards supporting. Rather, I will look at what each candidate's platform is and decide which one I support. 

If possible, do you vote for a male or a female, or is the gender irrelevant? 

Gender is irrelevant to me when I vote for a candidate. It's more about what the candidate stands for and whether that person is fit to govern. 

I am fortunate to live in Canada and be Canadian. We have had both male and female prime ministers. When I lived in Winnipeg, I had a gay mayor. Living in Ontario these days, I have a lesbian premier. As long as they do a decent job in standing up for what Canadians want and representing them, all is well. 

Do you miss giving spankings as much as you like receiving them? 

I do miss giving spankings. I still like giving my guy lovetaps here and there, but it's not the same. However, I don't miss them so much that I insist on spanking my guy hard. 

I must admit that I love being spanked these days. My guy does it well and he has embraced spanking me. At first, I thought that he would think that I was weird for liking to be spanked. He likes that I get so turned on that he doesn't find it strange at all. I love that and him, of course. 

Did you do other D/s activities we she should know about besides spankings? 

Such a great question! My guy and I have explored light bondage. I like being lightly tied up. I enjoy having my hands secured while he spanks me now and again. If we don't have a silky scarf or some velvety rope, I get aroused when he holds my hand behind my back.

One time when we were on vacation, he gave me an eye mask. I tried it on. He tickled me and kissed me while I had the mask on. It was fun and enjoyable. I wouldn't mind giving the eye mask another try soon.

Thanks for the questions, Han!

If you have any questions that you'd like me to answer, feel free to leave them in the Comments section. Thanks!

March question: guests for dinner and drinks

I received this wonderful question from Cat:

What four people (and their spouse/partner), living or dead, would you invite for an evening of drinks and dinner? Would your guy choose the same? If not, what are his choices (if he chooses to answer)?

Here's my answer:

• Madonna
  She can bring her latest boy toy to our soiree. I have loved her since I was twelve years old. I would ask her a ton of questions at dinner, but would ask about whether she is still interested in spankings. If so, I would ask whether I could give her one or she could put me over her knee.
  
• Pet Shop Boys
  I'd invite Neil and Chris. I don't know whether they are dating anyone these days. I have met them in person. They are wonderful together. You always get stimulating conversations when they are together.
  
• Jann Arden
  She is my favourite Canadian female singer. I have met her a number of times and love her dearly. She is so down-to-earth and has a wicked sense of humour. I think that we'd need our own talk show!
  
• My guy
  I don't think I need a reason for him to be at this dinner. Sure, he gets hungry often. However, he is a great conversationalist and is wonderful company to have. And, I don't care if I'm biased here!

I'll have to ask my guy the same question and let you know what his answer is.

If you have any questions for me to answer, please feel free to leave them in the Comments section. Thanks!

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. =)

Q is for questions for the queen

My blog post's title is quirky. Coincidentally, today's challenge is a topic that begins with the letter q.

My guy has made it safely to India. We have talked a couple of times since he arrived. We were supposed to talk on Monday afternoon, but a celebratory team lunch at work prevented me from chatting with him. By the time we were done eating and chatting over lunch for a whopping three hours, my guy was fast asleep.

This post's title is all about my guy. I will need to back up a bit.

My guy and I used to work in the same department. Within the last two years, our past company was acquired by a larger one. Due to moulding to this larger company's departmental structure, my guy and I no longer work in the same department.

It's interesting that my guy comes into the office, but doesn't technically belong to any department. He is his own department. So, he tends to have tons of work-related questions and doesn't have a true team locally to help him out. As a result, he often fires questions at me, but does it in a gentle manner. I don't mind helping him out and he genuinely appreciates my help.

Often, his questions will start with by the way. I have teased him about it. I always know that his work-related questions begin with that lead-in. He recently broke tradition, but qualified one of his questions by saying that it would be quick.

Well, it was quick at the beginning. However, I had to sit with him for half an hour to finally determine that he doesn't have the proper access rights anymore to access a network drive. He no longer works for our old department, so many of his access privileges have been revoked.

So, what is this queen thing all about? My guy frequently calls me his queen. He believes that I deserve to be treated like one. He will tell me that when we kiss, which can be pretty often, and when he has a strong desire to tell me how much he loves me. He is affectionate and sweet in his own way. He treats me like a queen, too. I don't take it for granted.

This queen misses her king tonight. 

I talked to him a couple of hours ago before he headed off to work. I was doing laundry while he was ironing a dress shirt. Even though we are miles apart from each other, we tend to do related tasks that we both find therapeutic while we chat about anything we feel like. We feel closer, which helps.

Mistletoe

My guy came to Canada over twenty years ago. He made a brief stop in the United States to get one of what seems to be many graduate degrees in his life before calling Canada his home.

Last week, we had phone sex (well, it was over Skype, so it's more accurate to call it Skype sex, but that sounds weird to me). I somehow made a reference to mistletoe.

"What's mistletoe?" my guy asked me, which abruptly stopped our fun time. I knew that he was serious.
"It's a green plant that is associated with Christmas," I started to explain. "If we were under it, the tradition is to kiss."
"Oh, I see," my guy remarked.
"We technically don't need mistletoe. We kiss all the time."
"True," he said in agreement.

We continued where we left off in our sexy chat. We didn't skip a beat. We both came.

I often seem surprised when I teach him something new. It's neat when I get the opportunity.

Stinky new dildo

I have mentioned a couple of times that my guy bought me my first dildo recently. I like how realistic it looks and feels.

There is one issue. It smells like rubber.

I have a feeling that I won't be able to get rid of this rubbery smell, no matter what I do. Right now, the dildo is airing out. I will try to use one of my sex toy cleaners on it and see if that helps.

I have already told my guy about it. He seemed a bit disappointed. The guy at the store in Amsterdam said that it was silicone. Nope, the packaging says rubber.

Some message boards say to just chuck it out and get a decent one that does not smell. The problem is that this dildo is a gift and is brand new!

So, we'll see if my cleaning experiment works. Hopefully, I won't have to throw it out. The worst case would be to store it in a freezer bag or something.

In the meantime, if you have any recommendations on other dildos to try out, please drop me a line. Apparently, glass ones don't smell, but how comfortable are they to use? I need help. I also need to conduct more research!

My only question to answer, spanning several upcoming posts!

You would think that receiving a single, multi-part question during the March question-and-answer post would bring me down. Sure, the number of questions I received wasn't exactly an explosion. That's okay.

In a way, I am glad that I have one question, because I have technically addressed all parts of this question in the early stages of this blog. However, it's nice to reread those posts and to add to them.

I received this question from Karl:

Hey Cutiebootie, I've been following your blog for quite a while, and find it a lot of fun. I think it would be great if you could describe for us the genesis and history of your interest in spanking. What made you start thinking about it. And how did you pursue that interest once it was awakened?

It will likely take me several posts to complete, for I wrote several of them to explain my spanking interest and how it evolved.

When my guy told me that he found me attractive and we started seeing each other, he asked me what interested me sexually. I was a bit hesitant to tell him that I enjoyed spanking -- both giving and receiving. I didn't know how he would take it, but I managed to gather enough courage to tell him. He was fine with it. He was interested in spanking me. He had never done it before. He has never stopped and has grown to enjoy it.

Our next conversation sparked him to ask how I got into spanking. My post from years ago, Pinches and lovetaps, still holds true. I do have some extra details to fill in, though.

When I was a child, I liked being carried in either my mom's or dad's arms. I look at photos of my day carrying me in his arms. It was sweet. Carrying a baby in one's arms requires an arm under the baby's backside. I believe that I have always had a soft spot (no pun intended... really!) when I have my bottom touched.

My guy has started to caress my bare bottom just before spanking me. I love his touch. I love the anticipation of being spanked soon. I love the contrast between how calm and loving it is to have my buttocks caressed before the hard smacks land. I also enjoy having my sore, red bottom rubbed after a spanking.

As I have mentioned before, I have always been a good girl. My guy tells me all the time that I am a good person. He told me recently that I come across as being a conservative woman. However, he has told me that he knows my "secret," and that what I do behind closed doors with him is far from being conservative.

To sum my old blog post and this one is that I love the idea of "making up" for not being a bad girl growing up. I love the feeling of being spanked for a ridiculous reason. I love the stinging sensation I get when being spanked. I love being held afterwards. I feel good. I feel safe. I feel closer to my spanker.

My guy has told me that when he spanks me harder, I tend to hold on to him tighter. I either hug him tighter or I squeeze his thigh more when I am over his lap. He enjoys when I do either to him. I simply love what he does to me. I especially enjoy when he scolds me as I get spanked.

Spanking is always on my mind. I just played a word game tonight.

My guy returns on Friday. It will be nice to receiving a real spanking then. Here's hoping that his flight gets in early!

March: question and answer month

I have seen a number of blog posts asking readers to post questions and the blogger responds. I love this idea, so I am giving it a try.

Please feel free to drop a burning question you may have and I will answer them. Hopefully, you will not stump me!

My guy told me that he is on the road for a few weeks. So, between answering your fine questions and my recounting my vacation time with my guy, they should keep me busy until he returns home.

Thanks!