Letters to November ||| 30

Dear November,

Today is our last day together.

Today is also my last day of my old shift. Tomorrow is when the new shift starts.

Today was a good day. Slept. Was lazy in my jammies listening to the rain. Eventually got ready and headed out to Jess's house where she had made me a lovely birthday dinner.

All in all, good day,

Now let's see what tomorrow brings.

Goodbye November. I will miss you.

Until we meet again.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 29

Dear November,

I'm currently sitting in the office all by myself. All orders are done, janitors have come and gone, and I am enjoying the peace and quiet as I quickly write this little letter to you.

This is my second to last letter to you, November, and I'm kind of sad about it. After tomorrow, I won't see you for another year. But you'll be back. You always are.

Nothing much to tell you today. I left my mom's house this morning, gassed up Nameless and headed home. Drove through some rain (and some crazy drivers) but made it to work on time.

Set out some cookies and biscotti that my mom sent me home with (an obscene amount) and noshed a little bit on the lunch she packed for me. I didn't eat it all. I'll save it for later.

Just enjoying the peace and quiet before I head home to crazy town.

I like this.

This is nice.

I still need to work on my writing though.

Sorry this is so short. But I'll write you again tomorrow. *waves*

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 28

Dear November,

I hate Black Friday. Having worked retail before (and technically still do), it is hellish to deal with, but seeing the stuff on the news where people are fighting each other while others are getting trampled on. And sometimes it feels like no one is really shopping for others but really just themselves.

My brother and his sister went to pick up a Christmas tree, and said they saw everyone at the store with a TV in their cart. Now really... who do you think that TV was for?

I get there are great deals and all that during that time, but I don't care for the stores opening on Thanksgiving when people should be with their loved ones, but just the treatment of people with each other. It saddens me.

Today my mother wanted to go shopping and asked me to take her to one store. I did, but even though the news was reporting that the day's shopping chaos had cooled somewhat, there were still TONS of people around, and everywhere I walked, I saw displays destroyed, stuff on the floor -- utter chaos.

And speaking as a retail veteran, I know that people have been hired by whichever company to take care of displays and stock and all that, but that does not give everyone in the world the right to act like animals and thrash the place. It just angers me.

Mom picked up some things, paid for them, and then we headed home making a pit stop for some French fries since my mom was craving some.

Later I went to my brother's place. His mother-in-law was there. We all hung out chatting. Later me and my bro went to check out this beer place that I had never been. It was nice but it wasn't all that impressive. Had a nice Stout Float. Yum! But then it was off to our usual place in Tower for some stogies and tea and chit-chat.

Then home... and some writing.

Another good day, all things considered. :)

Have Goodness!
Rae


*actually posted on 11/29/14 but written for 11/28/14

Letters to November ||| 27

Dear November,

I'm in Fresno.

Traffic was crap leaving town to get here. I had been on the road for a while but then got sort of pushed off the freeway since it was bumper to bumper and I was stuck in a lane that was one of two lanes that were "exit only". Eventually when I got back on the freeway, it was still bumper to bumper... but I waited it out and got to my alternate route area and was fine... but then I REALLY had to pee so I had to stop at ol' Casa De Fruita, use the facilities and then hightailed it outta there.

I got into town around 10pm, but my niece was still up so I got tons of hugs and kisses. (I love that little girl to pieces.)

Eventually my bro and his family had to go to bed, so I headed off to my mom's. Just as I thought she wanted me to "fix" her phone - which meant adding the emoji keyboard since she wanted the same little happy faces I had. Now she sends a ton of them with each text. Watching her text my brother today was adorable since it took her forever to type out the message and then she added a bunch of emoji and when she hit send, she rocked back and forth giggling like a little kid.

My brother made turkey day breakfast for his in-laws and then later he and his little family came over to my mom's to have dinner... and ice cream birthday cake (for me and my mom's husband since our birthdays just passed).

My brother and his wife then did a little shopping while Mom and I tended to their little weirdo. After they were done, they came back, and my brother and I had bro-sis time with a nice cigar at one of his hangouts that was open until 10pm. Woot!

Then it was back home and all was well.

I tried working on my novel when I got back to my mom's, but I find I cannot write there since the TV is distracting (not so much as I want to watch it as to the stuff her and her husband watch is distracting... as are they). But I tried my best. My mom kept trying to read my stuff, and I kept telling her, "It's not done yet!"

All in all, good turkey day. xo

Have Goodness!
Rae


*actually posted on 11/29/14 but written for 11/27/14

Letters to November ||| 26

Dear November,

Today is my last day before a pseudo-vacation of sorts.

One of my co-workers offered to take my Thanksgiving Day shift so that leaves me with Thursday and Friday completely off, but I still have to come in to work on Saturday night.

So today I'm leaving straight from work to head out and surprise everyone showing up a day early. I'm hoping there isn't a lot of traffic.

I'm excited to see my niece. Even though it's only been two months, it feels like I haven't seen her in ages. And every time I see her, she runs to me and gives me big hugs. It warms my heart when she does that. I'm sure there will come a time where she won't do that anymore... though I hope it never comes. My mother thinks that I'll be the cool Auntie that she wants to escape to when she wants to get away from her parents... but her parents are pretty cool, so I don't think that'll happen.

I think my niece and I will be cool since I'm an eternal child and can adapt to any age. *wink*

I'm also preparing myself for my mother's onslaught of iPhone questions - since her and her husband both got iPhones recently, the very same one I have. But she's at least texting now... which trust me, is a feat in itself.

Okay, almost done with lunch. Gotta go. Talk to you later.

Have Goodness!
Rae


*actually posted on 11/29/14 but written for 11/26/14

Letters to November ||| 25

Dear November,

Today was rather uneventful. Went to work. Met some new people (aka new hires). Talked on the phone. Texted with my mom. Ate some salad. Wrote some. Drank a lot of water. Dreamed of a better life. Left work. Visited Jess. Chatted a bit. Came home. Started laundry. And now here we are. Me sitting on my bed eating left over butternut squash lasagna while I try not to be irritated with the present.

I'm hoping next month won't be as bad as I dread... but then again, that's what cocktails are for, right?

In other news, writing is going slowly. If I could minus out the backpain and maybe sit in a comfy chair at a desk undisturbed for a while, that'd be grand.

Laundry drying. Sitting herE trying to find some energy to write, but it's killing me just to write this little blurb of "oh this is how my day went" -- back pains and aches aren't helping either.

I think I'll sign this off now. I'll try to write more later.

The next few "letters" might be post marked for late since I'll be out of town for the holidays, but I'll try to find a way to post my letters to you,

In the meantime, I'll talk to you later.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 24

Dear November,

Went to bed with a ponytail and woke up with a side pony and my sleep mask off my face and knotted up in the side pony.

Yeah, so that was pretty.

Last night I shut off my phone, put in my ear plugs, sleep mask on, and just zoned out until I woke up on my own. No alarms, no disturbances. It was nice.

I went to bed around 4-5am and didn't wake up until about 12 hours later. I guess I needed the sleep.

Right now I'm working on my novel. Listening to my Songza app under the "Being Creative" activities selection playlist called "Blank Page". So far so good.

This week I need to do at least one load of laundry before I head out to Fresno for the holiday. I also need to plot out what the frak I'm bringing, etc. Ugh ugh ugh. I usually get it done, but right now I have writing preoccupations, and it's leaving me with that "I don't have time for this" feeling. But I'll get it done. I always do.

But I guess I should get back to writing since I feel somewhere in the zone.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 23

Dear November,

Today was a lovely day.

I woke up after a strange dream where Carrie Fletcher, and I were getting ready for something, and to make me feel better, she said, "Come here," and took a pair of scissors to the back of my hair and cut big chunk of my hair off. And I was completely devastated screaming WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! And after I'd calmed down, I kept saying "I am really sad."

Now I know this would never happen because: 1) We don't know each other in real life, and 2) Even if we did know each other, she would never do that to me because she is a fellow curly girl, and she also seems to be the kind of person that doesn't like making people sad.

Speaking of hair, I've been getting a lot of compliments lately about my curls. Since I dye my hair (Garnier Nutrisse R3 Light Intense Auburn), whenever I get a compliment like "I love your hair", I always feel compelled to say "If it's the color, that comes from a box. If it's the curl, thanks." I've had people come up to me before saying I have pretty hair, and after I say "thank you," they then tell me the color is amazing. That's when I feel weird since I don't like taking credit for something I didn't do or was responsible for (and the opposite is true that I will not take blame for something I didn't do, but I feel that goes without saying).

But back to my day.

I went to the meadery again today. They were open but there was a game going on at the new Levi Stadium down the street so traffic was weird. Small group. Just sat around and chatted with Maria and Jon and drank yummy goodness until they closed. Fellow regular Victor C came in as did three other guys who I don't remember seeing them in my other visits.

Last night was CS Bowling where I had one cocktail and a shot called a Blueberry Hooter. (I showed late due to being the one that closes on Saturdays.) Mixed with pizza, bowling and taking my adorably drunk co-worker home, it was a fun evening.

I just thought it was funny that I was going to drink today, too. *shrug*

After the meadery, I headed to the store for meat type stuff. The meat I got wasn't all that great. It was "supposed" to be teriyaki... but it wasn't. I'm pretty sure if I had my own kitchen, I would have been able to sauce it up a bit or something, but I ate most of it as is so yay me? I had some mushrooms in a balsamic glaze of sorts but didn't want brown rice so I put a layer of white mashed potatoes and then the mushrooms sans the juice (since the shrooms themselves were juicy enough). That was tasty. I have a small box of brussel sprouts with pancetta and pecans (if I remember that correctly). I'm saving those for later. There's also jalapeno hummus (also for later), but right now I'm staring at the niblets of cheese I bought. YUM!

There's also Cold-Pressed Organic Spicy Lemonade... which is pretty tasty.

I should write now. I'm trying not to stress since I only have about a week left of NaNoWriMo, and I don't think I'm going to make it. But I'm going to try. And I will. Yeah, that's what I mean. I'm going to do this!

Now where's my cheese!!!???

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 22

Dear November,

Taking this brief moment to write this before it gets busy again. *headdesk*

Can you please make my head stop hurting?

I originally thought it was a sinus headache, but it might just be a good old fashioned migraine. The pressure is at the top of my face near my hairline above my left eye and the left side of my nose. There is a pinching feeling on the bridge of my nose that is SO not happy making but now the spike seems to have melted and is now spreading across my from the original piercing to my nose.

I am REALLY hating this.

I'm all by myself tonight (I'm a bit grumbly about it but won't start on THAT rant). Of course it gets busy when I'm flying solo, but this headache is not helping matters. And the people? Sheesh! There was a lady on chat that was being so dramatic and some of the messages she was sending me I don't even think were for me. I mean, she was upset that her order wasn't there, but then when I looked at her account, the order wasn't there. Now there is a tiny chance that the interwebs ate it up, but she couldn't talk to me in coherent sentences but in random comments in ALL CAPS! Then I called her, and she was sane. It's like "Do you not internet well?" I don't think she does.

AND FOR THE LOVE OF GAWD, STOP USING CAPS LOCK!!!

Ugh. I just want to sleep.

Double ugh. The phone is ringing. I should probably go.

Wishing you a lovely day, November!

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 21

Dear November,

I am currently in my room listening to Ed Sheeran and writing you after a day of work, napping, food, and an errand or two.

Been feeling okay. Changes at work, but nothing out of the ordinary really. Trying to keep up, and I think I'm doing okay. Finally got my assigned tickets down to 10 or 11. Then again, she might have assigned me stuff after I left which would be crap but oh well. Who's gonna stop her? If I can just get caught up, I'll feel better about work... at least a little bit, anyway.

Eight more days of NaNoWriMo, and I REALLY want to finish. I can do this. I know I can. I just have to write faster?

Looking forward to seeing my family next week - especially my niece. Bella hugs are great, and I am in serious need of one... or several.

I'm having difficulty focusing on my writing. Maybe it's the lack of energy from work, etc. I dunno. Maybe I need more energy. Maybe if I could just sleep all day (and get paid for it?) and then just write all of the next day? Maybe that would work.

Maybe.

Okay, I think that is all for now seeing as I'm finding it hard to focus even on this and perhaps I should be spending this time refocusing my focus on my novel.

Did that even make sense?

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 20

Dear November,

Today is my birthday.

What things happened today?

Work.

I dressed in a white v-neck t-shirt, jeans and sneakers but decided to apply a little make up that consisted of mascara and a nude lip balm. The "makeup" got a lot of notice and some compliments. One of my favorites - something like "You're lips look so pretty. What did you do?" Lipstick?

Apparently just wearing lipstick means I'm "all dressed up".

And I guess I don't look my age (which I would have thought I didn't act it, but whatever). I'm not one that actually cares about age. My body is old, the spirit is young. That's my thing.

It rained today which made me happy since I love the rain. It wasn't too bad though it did make traffic a little annoying on the way to get Kathy after work.

Kathy and I met Geoff at the college theatre to watch our friend Fredric in the play "First Person Shooter". It was good. And I really liked the theatre. Very cozy.

After the play, we all headed to the pub for grub and food. Steve met us there since he didn't come along for the play. And I have a separate birthday date with Jess since she ended up not going tonight either.

All in all, it was a nice cozy evening.

After the pub, we all went our separate ways. Immediately when I got home, I logged on to write you, November. And now I will cut this post short as I need to get some writing in before I eventually pass out. Right now I have a heat pack on my Charlie Horse from a couple days ago. (It's mostly gone. I'm just trying to help the knot untie itself.)

Talk to you later. :)

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 19

Dear November,

Today was a stupid work day but the brief I took to the lunch truck brightened my mood.

The weather today was perfect - sunny and cool with enough breeze to blow my hair and make me feel like I was at the beach.

Overall it was a good day.

Tomorrow is my birthday. I kind of want people to make a big deal over me tomorrow, but that's just a small part of me (probably remnant of my childhood and on/off again deep dark desire to be popular). The rest of me just wants to have a good day - just a happy, good day.

Right now just thinking about tomorrow makes me sad - the point of tearing up a little - and I have no idea why. It's not how old I'll be or the lack of a big blowout of a party.

I dunno. I'm just babbling again.

Tonight was spent with friends and on occasion I feel a little left out of the circle. It's not always. Just once in a while. I don't like those moments, but it most likely has to do more with low self-image and minor jealousy hiccups I have yet to truly get over. I don't think I'll ever be free of those.

Gee, what a great thing to be thinking about on the eve of my birthday.

I'm just babbling at this point. I should really get some writing done before bed.

Later November! :)

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 18

Dear November,

Today was one of the evil days of powerloss. Ugh. How I hate it. Why during my later years dealing with it that the achey chest and nausea kick in? It's bad enough it takes every little ache and pain I have and magnifies it by a bajillion-trillion.

I miss the days when Midol would actually do something and take the pain away. Now I have days where the pain is just so crappy... ugh. I can't take it.

In other news, I think I'm finally making a dent in my production tasks at work. Today went a little wonky so I'm going to wait and talk to Wes H tomorrow to see wassup!

Headed to Jess's after work for a quick visit and then headed home but realized I was out of milk and honey for my tea at work... so I made a detour stop at the grocery store... and ended up getting some coffee I wanted to try, kombucha for tomorrow morning, and some figs.

I like figs.

This morning I forgot my hoodie which was fine since my car (and car seat) are heated, and the walk from my car to the door at work isn't far (though it wasn't too cold this morning). This evening however? Yeah, A bit brisk.

My birthday is in two days. So far - haven't talked about it much - the plan for the day of is for me, Kathy, Geoff (and maybe Jess and Steve) to go see Fredric in his show (First Person Shooter) and quite possibly dinner and cocktails after.

I feel weird asking if anyone wants to do anything with me for my birthday on a different date since I'm not a good planner of things, and I already have plans the day of.

Next week is Turkey Day. I get to see my niece so that makes me happy.

All in all, aside from the stupid at work, today was... a day.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 17

Dear November,

I'm currently at the library sharing a table with a tutor and one of her student. They're talking math. I remember math. I liked math in high school.

And who/what the hell just quacked?

Right now I'm trying to tap into the library's wifi but so far it's not liking me.

I've been working on my novel through Google docs, and I only recently figured out how to work offline. But still I can't figure out what the hell is going on...

HUZZAH!!! I GOT IN!!!

Well, okay. I have been writing this letter to you, but for some reason my Google docs were not responding and that makes me rather unhappy seeing as the whole reason I came to the library was to sit at a grown up table and not have my lower back and my shoulders scream at me to knock it off.

So now I have my Songza app working its music magic, Google docs likes me, my phone is on silent and in my pocket, and everything is hunky dory. Sad that the library closer to my house was actually closed. I was hoping to check it out and possibly get an account there, but the library that I'm at is kinda my favorite. They need a high school wing though. I'm sure that are some kids - like the chic with the tutor at the table I'm at - that are here to learn, but there are others that just hang out here like it's a coffee shop or something. They make so much noise and make such a mess... there's a security guard that runs around patrolling the place. I've seen them actually have kids leave. Once I pulled up and saw a group of girls walking around outside the building. A group of boys were about to walk into the building and they saw the girls and asked why they weren't inside already. They said they weren't allowed in. The boys ended up not going in because apparently all they wanted to do was hang out with the girls, but they all seemed genuinely irritated that they just couldn't hang out inside. I'm fine if they want to hang out. Now if they can do that quietly without running around - yes, running around - then yeah, come on in.

But it's a LIBRARY!!! A quiet place. They even have signs up that are color-coated and that say what type of zone it is - like minimal noise, etc. Just be courteous to others around you. This is not your house. This is a public place. Treat others the way you would like to be treated... and I doubt that's like an inconsiderate douchebag.

Okay. The guard came by the area that I'm sitting in and did another round... and the last time she came by was maybe 5 minutes ago? I think I'll get to writing now.

Talk to you later November.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 16

Dear November,

Today was spent with friends.

First it was off to the meadery to see Maria F (who I haven't seen in FOREVER since work has me closing every Saturday night now). They are trying out opening on Sundays (which is one of my days off) so yayhoo!!! I FINALLY got to go to the meadery and see Maria!

My friends - Jess, Ron (aka ObiRon), and Jon (aka Jaquas)... as well as John G - met me there. There were also some other patrons that came in and out during the few hours they were open, but overall it was a nice quiet gathering of people/friends... and, of course, to get to see Maria.

At closing, me and my three fellow amigos went in search of food... and ended up at Denny's where we played Monty Python Flux and noshed.

Jess and I were amazed at how early it was. Everyone seemed to be tired, and it was only 5:30pm. Jess lived nearby so her and Ron headed to her place for a nap. Jon was tired, too, so he and I post-poned our plans for the movie for tomorrow. He went home to get some sleep. Meanwhile I headed out to run some errands.

Then I came home to check in with you and work on my novel.

All in all today was a good day. A little chilly, but that's okay. Just reminding me that I need to break out my sweaters and get a pair of long johns... and maybe some better socks?

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 15

Dear November,

My birthday is coming up, and every year the closer it gets to the day, I always think "Maybe I should have planned something?"

My birthday is so close to Thanksgiving, that I've been used to - in my life - people always busy with holiday stuff to have time to do anything big, etc, so I never really plan anything.

One year I just wanted my friends to get together for dinner and a movie and maybe cocktails later. Presents were not required, but if you felt the need to buy me something, a cocktail was good enough for me. (There were a few people that couldn't make it so I was given cash to buy myself a beverage on their behalf.) Back then, my simple drink of choice was Malibu rum and pineapple juice. (Yum yum doodle dum.)

Also there used to be drama around my birthday - some strange event that would leave me a little bummed and moody - and I feel that if it's your birthday, there should be no drama. One complete day of utter happy happy joy joy.

The last few years I've had that. One year, I remember the retro theatre was playing a Terry Gilliam double feature of Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen... actually on the day of my birthday. Kathy and Steve came with. Then after the movies, I went to Jim and Leah's for dinner, cake and shows. (Another year, was originally going to just hang out with my friend at her place and watch movies and drink cocktails, but then other friends wanted to come by. Jessie made me wonderful bloody glass shard cupcakes and brought fixings for a drink I like called "A Sweet Piece of Ass". Dawn came with her, too.)

I will admit it does warm my heart when people ask me what I'm doing for my birthday or when they ask, and I tell them what I'm doing, they ask if they can come along. It's just nice when people want to spend time with you, but extra special in some ways when it's your birthday.

Maybe one of these days I'll have some big party or whatever. Don't care if it's themed or whatever. I just like having loved ones around sharing in a good time.

Okay, I've babbled enough at you tonight. I'll leave you alone until tomorrow. Hope you have a lovely evening.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 14

Dear November,

I think I ate too much... which is odd since I don't think I've been eating all that much these days.

This morning on the way to work I polished off the small amount of BBQ Rice Thins (from the people that brought you Wheat Thins... yeah, those people). I think I managed to sneak into the break room and snag one half of a breakfast sandwich (cheese and egg) around 10:30am or so. I also made some tea.

For lunch (which was a a little after 1:30pm), I ate the food I ordered lunch from NOLA and got a kale and cabbage salad with apples (chose not to add chicken today)... but I did indulge in a piece of bread pudding;

My official work day ended at 5pm, but with the approved 5 hours of OT this week, I decided to take my remaining hours and work on catching up on my production. In three hours, I accomplished less than I would have liked, but that's okay. I did some, so that was good. I think my tickets now are down to 13 or something like that.

Around 8pm, I left work, sat in my car, and zoned out... but my tummy was also telling me to fill it with something or my body as a whole would not be happy. I decided to head to Whole Foods for some dinner. I made a salad, scooped up a piece of butternut squash lasagna, got some water, coconut honey kefir, a little sampler of cheese, some curry lentil dip, chips to go with the dip, a beer and a chocolate chip cookie.

When I got home, I drank the kefir, ate most of my salad (mostly veggies with some currants, teriyaki tofu and shredded chicken), and tasted a corner of the lasagna. I finished the kefir, repackaged my salad into a smaller tupperware container, and rewrapped the lasagna in its original container. I took the salad, lasagna, dips, and cheese and put them in the fridge. I haven't touched the chips or the cookie.

I'm currently drinking my beer. It's tasty. I think I'll be passing out after this.

Goodnight!

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 13

Dear November,

Nothing much happened today. It rained last night - which I fell asleep to, which was lovely - but then no rain today... and that made me a little sad.

One of the guys that was sitting next to me helped me out with me out with my batch of checks. I thought that was really nice, and it helped me work on some production.

There is one menu that I'm working on. The note was from a co-worker who spoke with the restaurant. The prices hadn't changed. They just wanted us to check the spelling, ingredients, that sort of thing.

So I printed out the menu from the restaurant's site and oh for frak sakes. I wonder if they know it's up and how badly everything is spelled. Sheesh. All I got to say is no one wants to plunk their fries into some "ranch deep". There were also choices of getting something fried or "backed". In any case, I'm almost done. I just have to call them for a couple things.

Trying to decide if I want to do some OT tomorrow. I have three hours (of the originally approved 5 or this week) left. Since I have nothing planned tomorrow, I'm thinking of doing at least one extra hour... maybe two... just to get stuff done. As it was before I left today, I was whittling things down to maybe 13 or 12, and then my manager started assigning me more stuff. I would REALLY like to make a serious dent in my assignments without SOMEONE giving me more and then reminding us all about how we're behind. (Really? No kiddin'?)

*makes a very large rum and coke... light on the coke*

But that's been it for today. I ordered lunch that was much more food than I thought it was going to be. Hung out with Kathy W and Steve C after work at their place. Went home to write this and now?

Now I'm going to pass out.

Hope you had a lovely day today, November. See you tomorrow. :)

Have Goodness!
Rae  

Letters to November ||| 12

Dear November,

I just got home from and am feeling rather exhausted so I'm going to keep this brief (unlike yesterday's post).

Today was all right. We got another new guy in my department today, and per our department meeting, it sounds like there will two more new hires in days to come... I think.

So all in all, that's about 6 new people (including the two dudes that have been with us for a few weeks).

While I'm enjoying the idea of being fully staffed up and having one of the newbies be half CS and half production (concentrating only on the menus... huzzah!), I'm still a little worried about seating since they haven't really done anything yet to make new seating... which is NO BUENO at all! We broke down the one giant manager cube to make four little cubes (which are all occupied) and then there were the two cubes made later that are behind me... which are taken as well. I'm still waiting for them to tear down the one giant cube by the window. The IT guy comes in twice a week and sits there, but spends most of his time in the conference room with big boss guy talking about IT stuff. He just plugs in his laptop, works, unplugs and goes home. So there's REALLY no need, in my opinion, for him to have all that space to himself when in reality he only uses about a quarter (or even less) of it.

There was also talk about the schedule changing to accommodate the new people which worries me a little since my holiday schedule actually worked out really well. I'm just afraid now it's not going to. (I didn't get a chance to visit my family last month, and I am in desperate need of Bella hugs and kisses.)

My mom and her husband recently got iPhones so I know I'll be bothered with teaching my mother how to do things. Her husband is a little on the stubborn "I don't need anyone's help" side, and when I have helped him with stuff in the past, I don't remember ever getting a "thank you".

Getting caught up on my production tickets. I've been forgetting due dates and just pumping out the quickest assignments I can so I can spend the rest of my time on the "takes a frakkin lot of time" ones. (I miss the days when I could whittle my list down to nothing in two days and keep the average number of tickets under ten. *sigh*)

After work was nabbing Kathy W and heading to Geoff T's place where it was more of a full house than usual. There was his sister Alison T, friend Sierra and other friend Michael and his puppy Atlas. There was hummus and nachos and cocktails and shows. I helped re-light the pilot light in the oven. Then by the end of the night after I dropped Kathy at home, I just frakkin wanted to collapse.

But I wanted to talk to you first, November. I was quite close in not keeping up with my daily babble to you, but - if any other writing I do, I at least am keeping up with that.

But now I'm quickly fading. The momentary rainfall has faded away as am I, and I shall see you tomorrow.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 11

Dear November,

Today was an okay day. There was an awkward moment at work, but in the end it was okay.

We got another new guy who was in before my manager was, and no one knew what to do with him. He was seated next to the other new guy who has been with us for a few weeks. Both being trained by our manager.

Later in the day, she emailed all us saying that since we're all behind on production, we have been granted a total of 5 hours of OT (to schedule and use at our discretion this week) to work on production. We are officially logged out of the system, not taking any calls, and just working on our production items.

Since I have set plans every Wednesday and Thursday after work, I took advantage of the OT today. (I meant to only stay an hour but ended up staying two.) I know how much I got done last time we spent an hour doing production. I got perhaps three items done... which was a menu I was already closed to finishing, removing a couple items on another menu, and changing the hours for a restaurant.

Today I think I had about 20 tickets assigned to me - half of which seemed to be new menus, and a few of those where the menu was done and just needed to be entered into the system as a new restaurant. I was off at 5pm and stayed until 7pm, and I think I got (maybe) 3-4 tickets done. (One was from a sushi place that only sent us their sake menu... and we don't deliver booze, so I had to call and let them know we STILL didn't have a menu. So I got to close out that ticket.) I revised one menu, updated another one, and removed an item or two from a couple. Fortunately the system started acting a little wonky when it was time for me to leave, but oh well. I'll take it as a sign.

But still, my tickets are in the double digits and back when we were aptly staffed, I always managed to either keep them under 10 (maybe between 5-7 on average) or have them completely done by the end of my shift. Now? Even though I know why my ticket list is so long (and totally not my fault), I still feel a little bit like a failure and unaccomplished.

Yeah, I know. I need to get over myself, but still. I hate seeing all that stuff that's past due. I know I'm not the only one but sheesh. I hate it.

And on a random side note, even though we all know that we're behind mainly due to being understaffed, I still feel that should be said every time production tasks are mentioned since not saying it makes me feel like there's blame... and also, I think it'd be nice when our department's behind that our manager help out to help get us back on track.

One of the drivers pointed out to me that when you go to a restaurant, you see the manager walking the floor, talking to customers, helping out in the kitchen, delivering orders, etc. Now I'm not sure what my manager does on a daily, but I feel that since she knows that we're behind (and WHY we're behind), it'd be kinda nice if she took some tickets on herself and revised some menus, etc. I mean, I had whittled my tickets down to 7 by Saturday night, and I was proud of that, but then I came back on Tuesday (I get Sundays and Mondays off), and I had 18 tickets total... and then 2 more added on to that.

I remember when I was a supervisor at a bookstore, I would see a long line of people at the register, I'd hop on a register and start to weed out the line. I saw people with questions? I'd man the info desk. I didn't just sit back and tell people what to do and remind them that things needed to get done. You don't think I didn't know that? That's why I helped out. To get stuff done. (I wonder if that's ever crossed her mind... to help us out when we're understaffed and projects are long past due. I mean, that's what I'd do.)

One of the questions I got during my interview for fast food while I was still in high school was if me and another employee were tasked with cleaning the lobby, and I was done with my tables first, what would I do? The answer was help the other person.

I help out when I can. I've been sent to dispatch on a few occasions, I help out with accounting to stuff customer invoices and mail them out. On alternate weeks, I'm given a chunk of restaurant checks to stuff and stamp and have out by the end of that week (usually with two days to do them). I help other people out with their production issues. I've been given postcards to stamp and label for customers. I've revised, refaxed, and pulled paperwork. I make phone calls, check e-faxes and forward the production ones to our group. I grab incoming chats from customers.

I know I'm customer service, and my job is to help people, but it'd be nice if someone helped me... and the rest of the team.

November, this letter to you has become more of a rant or a complaint, and I don't want to be sad or upset, so I think I'll end this now.

Wishing you well, November.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 10

Dear November,

I am currently sitting on my friend's couch, laptop before me, trying to think of what else to write on my story for NaNoWriMo2014.

As it currently it, I am behind on my daily doses of 2k words/day, but I'm too scared to actually check.

In other news (aka distractions), a few of my friends and I are going to see INTERSTELLAR at the Tech Museum downtown. No trailers, no commercials. Just glorious IMAX goodness.

I haven't been to the Tech in a while... and in a while, I'm talking YEARS. So this should be fun.

Nothing much else to report today, November. It was my second day of two off. Tomorrow is back to the grindstone. I managed to hit the library today and now have some audiobooks to listen to in my car. Yay me! I also got some writing done. Came up with some new bits for my novel. I was hoping to hit the library this weekend to sit and do some actual writing at an actual desk, but that didn't happen. Hopefully next weekend that can happen. And there's always my lunch break at work.

Other than that, just trying to figure out if I want to do anything for my birthday. A couple people have asked, but I don't know. Maybe someone should just plan something for me. I'd like to do something ON my actual birthday just on principle, but we'll see.

Okay. That's all for now. Talk to you tomorrow, November.

Have Goodness!
Rae 

Letters to November ||| 9

Dear November,

Today was a lazy day. It was my first of two days off, and all I did was veg out in my room (with, of course, the occasional pee break when needed).

My nose was also going haywire but eventually simmered down to a dull sniffle. I got some store brand Zyrtec, and the 24 hour stuff used to help my face from running like a river, but now it seems to only want to work half the day. Also takes a little longer to kick in initially, too.

Damn allergies.

The housemates were driving me a little batty after a while and so in desperate need to get out of the house, I freshened up and armed with snacks and a drink in my purse, I used one of my movie passes to see JOHN WICK.

Now let me state for the record that I am used to getting carded still for alcohol. It usually depends on the group I'm with. I think the signs in establishments say if someone looks under 35 years old, they get carded. So with that, I get it when I get carded sometimes since I am in my thirties.

But tonight? The guy at the ticket booth carded me for the movie... which was rated "R". You know??? "Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent or Adult Guardian". After I showed my ID and took my ticket, I walked toward the door thinking Did he really just card me??? On the way to the theatre, I stopped off at the ladies room and looked at myself in mirror. I was wearing my hair back in a ponytail, my black Jack Skellington sweater, blue jeans, and my warm Skecher boots. The only makeup I was wearing was powder (because I hate shiny face) and YES to Coconut Cooling Lip Oil. Regardless of all that, I SO don't think I looked like I was 17 or younger.

Who am I? Benjamin Button?

Anyway, that's all for me at the moment. About to get friendnapped by Jaquas cuz he's got the munchies and company sounds like a good idea.

Hope your Sunday was lovely.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 8

Dear November,

Drinking tea, thinking about writing, but sitting at my desk at work thinking those "I'd Rather Be Sailing" types of thoughts.

Considerably behind on my NaNoWriMo. Ugh. Insomnia is not helping either. For the past few nights, I have gone home and passed the frak out.

Why was I born with this weird body chemistry thing where "uppers and downers" do nothing for me? I kind of feel like Nathan from "Haven" but in his case, he just can't feel anything... well, until Audrey Parker touches him. But I don't have an Audrey Parker.

Wouldn't that be cool if I had a "trouble" which was sleep-related, and I met an Audrey Parker type that helped me sleep?

OH! The movie "Dream for an Insomniac" where the main chic Frankie has sleep issues until she meets David... and by the end of the movie (SPOILER ALERT!!!) they end up together, and she is able to finally get some sleep.

Okay, so that explanation makes it sound a little silly, but the movie makes sense if you watch it all the way through.

In any case, I think you get what I mean.

Now in both circumstances, it was true love that saved them, but I think my situation is a little less fairytale-like. I just need sleep.

In the meantime, I'm going to finish my tea and wait for the last driver to finish their delivery, and then I'm outta here.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 7

Dear November,

I SO did not want to get up this morning. Which is weird because I think I actually got some consecutive, good hours of sleep. But I woke up this morning and kept hitting snooze over and over again.

I need to master sleeping about 3-4 hours a night to the point where I'm well rested and ready to conquer the world when I wake up. I had a Women's Studies professor in college who was also a lawyer, and she admitted she only got maybe 3 hours sleep a night, and she was a beast! So yeah, if I could master that art form, I think I'd be okay.

Today was filled with work and lack of energy from lack of sleep and past due production. Due to my department being short-staffed, all of us have lots of production to get done. At one point I had nearly 20 tickets to solve when properly staffed up I think we each had about 10 or less. My manager usually assigns new tickets at the end of the day before she leaves (which is usually an hour or so after I leave) so when I have whittled it down to 9, I come back the next day to 18, Right now I think I have it down to 9-10 but she's added email notification to go out now that say "this is late, WTF?!" (of course I'm paraphrasing, but you get the gist.)

There are days where I don't think I'll ever finish everything assigned to me, but I'll keep at it. I will.

And on that note, back to the grindstone.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 6

Dear November,

I hate allergies.

I've been forgetting to take my allergy pill before heading off to work in the morning - have only forgotten for the past couple days - but by mid to 3/4 of my work shift, my nose starts to tickle and eventually creates a BIG sneeze which the loosens everything leaking my brain out my nostrils.

Everyone around me has been getting some sort of sick, and I am lucky to have not caught the plague (*knock on wood*) but instead I get to listen to the symphony of sinus dripping, Kleenex trumpeting, throat maraca nonsense. 

For me, it's the change in temperature. Like if it cool for a week and then out of nowhere it gets really humid and hot. My nose dries out, there's a possible nosey blood threats and... you get the picture. In a nutshell, it sucks. 

About a year ago I had this weird issue where my eyeball would water along with the corresponding nostril. It looked horrifying and felt SO unsexy. Ick. 

So now I take one of those 24hr Delois everyday with the vitamins. They aren't helping as well as they used to, but it still does something. 

Sprightly now I'm tucked in bed too tired (lazy) to whip open the laptop so here's my first post via iPhone. Yay me!

So insomnia, work and NaNoWriMo are taking their toll on me so I'm headed off to bed now. 

Goodnight November. See ya tomorrow!

Have Goodness!

Rae

Letters to November ||| 5

Dear November,

Today my alarm clock was pain.

On a scale of 1 to 10 - 1 being What pain? and 10 being OMFG! KILL ME NOW! - the initial pang was close to a 10 but tapered down to... maybe... a 6-7 before chilling the frak out.

What am I talking about, you ask? I'll tell you. I'm talking about charlie horses. (Man I hate those things.)

About an hour or so before my alarm was set to go off this morning, my body in all its glorious slumber slender stretches like bodies are wont to do, and as my legs straightened and my feet points, two giant boulder knots of pain shot from the mid-outer-portion of my calves and made me immediately pull into a ball and just wait for it to be over.

Needless to say I couldn't fall back asleep and walking became a chore. I was better after my morning shower, but I could still feel the "knots" when I walked if I fully extended my legs with each step. By the time I got to work, it was more irritating than painful, but there have been times when the knots appear trying to stretch them out is not exactly helpful. It's just one of those things where I have to wait... and in regards to this, waiting is no fun.

I have been told that it's a calcium thing, a hydration thing... I've personally only experienced it when it's been really cold. Once when I was really young, I had tossed and turned in bed, and one leg stuck out from the blankets. By morning, it was freezing in my room, and when I went to stretch, that one leg exposed to the cold air for who-knows-how-long was not pleased. I couldn't even straighten my leg all the way.

By the end of my work day, the ache/pain started to come back, and I started favoring my right leg, catering to a slight limp as I walked. (And of course the leg that was aching was the leg that was "hurt" during my car accident last year when a truck ran a red light and slammed into the left side of my car... which was SO not cool.) The left leg now has ankle issues, it's regular aches and pains, and not the ghost knot that is there but not there.

I wore two pairs of socks and my long Ugg type boots (Skechers) and so far everything is nice and toasty. I've since taken the boots off since I'm at home, but the socks are still on. I think I might have to buy a warm blanket to add to the two I already have.

In any case, I haven't really done any writing today, I feel like a loser and completely unaccomplished (save for this letter to you November), and now it's time for bed. Thanks for letting me vent to you.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 4

Dear November,

So you're progressing nicely. Breezy days. Chilly nights. All part and parcel of being you. I just wish I had my own place so I could sit in a big comfy chair with a nice mug of tea and appreciate the peace and quiet of your season. But as it is, I enjoy you whenever I can. Sometimes just sitting in my car with the sun roof open and the windows cracked letting in the cool night air while I listen to whatever audiobook I have on hand.

Sadly I have none at the moment. I turned them all in to the library. Meant to go back this past Monday, but I was scheduled to work so that was a bust. But hopefully this coming Sunday or Monday - one of my lovely and regular days off - I shall find something at the library to suit my commuter listening needs. I also have a new library to check out which I'm kind of excite about.

Yay BOOKS!!!

Speaking of... tonight was bookstore book group night. It was supposed to be last week Tuesday, but the World Series was happening so it got pushed a week. October's book was "The Children Act" by Ian McEwan. I liked the book. I got the audiobook from the library. The reader was Lindsay Duncan (who was the lady dancing in the fountain from the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun" based off the book by Frances Mayes - a fact that was pointed out at the group which I thought was wonderful since I like the movie and loved her in it).

It was a good group. Nice chatter.

Next month's (this month's) book is "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr. It sounds like a lovely book, but I think I have too much going on this month that I might just skip this book this time around. I feel so bad at this thought since I'm not giving up "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" by John Berendt for my Facebook friends book group. Maybe because I've seen the movie before and knew about this book choice a couple month's in advance as well as finding it a rather quick read.

I dunno. I just don't want to overwhelm myself. I already know that I'm going to flake out on NaNoWriMo when my birthday and Thanksgiving comes around.

Why does "NaNo" have to be in such a busy month? Sheesh.

I have even skipped my long-awaited return to the gym so I could go home and write. Trying to ignore how slothy and large I feel and concentrate on my writing. (Have you ever heard of the novelist diet? Where you write and write and write... and the pounds just drop off? Yeah... me neither.)

Okay. Enough babble blogging. Back to writing. See you tomorrow November. :)

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 3

Dear November,

Today was a long day. Perhaps it was because it started off with an errand and then graduated into an office day which I normally have off.

Now I'm at home, the chill of the night turning my feet to ice. I still have yet to find a decent pair of socks to comfort my feet's poor circulation in these colder months. Instead I am left to wear two or three pairs of socks just to keep my toes happy.

Work was... work. Most assignments are left pending until I hear from other people but first they have to return my calls or emails

Night comes quicker now that you're here. I kind of like that. Feels a little more normal to me - perhaps because by nature I am more nocturnal though the sun doesn't offend me much.

I often fantasize that days were longer - longer than the duration of 24 hours - yet we still only had to work 40 hours a week/8 hour shifts (mainly cuz that's what I'm used to now, but less hours at a better rate of pay would be wonderful as well - though that's just wishful fantasy thinking there).

Recently I was so tired at work that I thought it would be lovely just to have an eighth day of the week where all we did was sleep. That's usually what I do on my first day off, and I hate it because I feel like I've wasted the day away. If God can rest on the seventh day, humans can rest on the eighth day.

Yeah. I think I need some sleep. NaNoWriMo + Insomnia = Tired Rae Rae

I really need to write some tonight. Work didn't give me enough time to write. If I had the day off like originally expected, I would have hightailed it to the library and had some nice peace and quiet there, but no... that'll  have to wait until next week.

Okay, November, I shall leave you in hopes of making a dent in my daily word count. *waves*

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November ||| 2

Dear November,

Today was my day off, and the only thing I really had scheduled today was movies with friends. We saw The Boxtrolls which I totally loved. After the movie, we all went our separate ways - some to see families, others back home - but me? I felt it was early still and didn't want to go home, but the movie had started around 2pm and let out around 4pm so there really wasn't much to do on my own around then. Other friends were busy with other plans or wanted to stay in, and I didn't push if they wanted visitors.

But then my sinus headache came back in full swing so I went in search of a snack of some kind so I could take meds. Not sure if the meds or the caffeine helped with the headache or perhaps it was a little bit of both. A team effort. Like Wonder Twin powers ACTIVATE sort of thing.

I had thought about going to see another movie, but the headache and laziness won out so the plan consisted of the library (turned in some audiobooks), Whole Foods for a salad (for dinner), and then back home for some relaxing NaNoWriMo time. I made it to to 4k+ words today, so that's something at least.

Tomorrow was my day off but my lead at work is off for the week on vacation so I was tacked on for a shift to help with coverage. I get it, but working 10am-7pm doesn't really leave me anytime to do some things I had planned on doing Monday so now I have to try and squish it in before work and hope I'm not late.

My nose cannot decide what it wants to do. Block the left nostril. No, the right one. Drip, drip, drip, deluge! Build up a pressure point right between the eyes. Tickle, tickle, sneeze a BILLION TIMES!!! It might be that a cold is trying to invade my face, but I'm in denial. Aside from the nose issues and occasional headaches that make me want to die, there's been little else going on in the way of sickness. *knock on wood* And hopefully it stays that way.

Well, I hope you had a lovely day changing leaves different colors, giving everyone cooler climes, and don't forget it gets darker sooner due to Daylight Savings Time. Now when I work the closing shift, it'll feel like I've been at the office longer than I actually have been when I look out the window to see utter blackness.

But I still love you November.

Have Goodness!
Rae

Letters to November

Dear November,

Today is our first day together, and I just wanted to say hello.

You are my favorite month of the year, and you also are the tail end of my favorite season of the year - Autumn.

We seem to have gotten along famously over the years, but I don't think we've ever been formally introduced... so allow me to break down that fourth wall of nonsense, extend my hand and say, "Hello!"

You're a busy month for me, you know. It's true. Aside from my birthday and Thanksgiving, there's also NaNoWriMo which started the second your month started. Unfortunately I had to work today so I couldn't get to writing straight. But I had been outlining and making notes like mad to prepare for NaNoWriMo this year in hopes that I would actually finish something.

The first time I participated was back in 2010. I think I was close to my goal but I didn't quite finish.

And when I did it last year, I was hoping some jolt of inspirational lightning would metaphorically strike me, filling me with it's energy to write... but alas, tired, stressed with too much going on does not make for prime writing time.

I hate being tired, but then again, I hate having insomnia so there you go.

In any case, I did good tonight. I got 2,100 words out on my first day. Yay me!

But now it's time for sleep. Goodnight, November, and see you sometimes tomorrow.

Have Goodness!
Rae

*inspired by Letters to Autumn by Carrie Hope Fletcher