Ohhh!

Today a vendor brought a homemade dark chocolate cake with thick, gooey, and very, very sweet coconut icing that made me eternally grateful I've been passing up 95% of the goodies around the office. I took a small slice (considered larger) and called it breakfast.

I don't understand people who use the expression "too sweet." To me there is no such thing. After I ate that piece of cake, I was happy, satisfied and energized for hours. Nothing lifts my mood like sugar.

temptation pt II

Thursday: Later in the day someone put a macadamia nut and fudge pie in the break room. You can bet I was jazzed I didn't eat a donut when I cut myself a bite-sized piece. Oh, was it ever delicious!

Friday: We had our company holiday party and I figured my diet was shot. Surprisingly, the buffet was small (but nice) and not as dangerous as buffets can be. I filled half my plate with salad and had about 1/3 of a cup of pasta and ate a couple of ounces of chicken breast. The dessert table had mini (1" size) items. I had just 2, German choc cake and a fruit tart. Diet accomplished!

I also won a prize, which should be titled "temptation pt III", a $50 gift card to the Cheesecake Factory and a $25 gift card to the movies. It's partially my fault I won this particular prize. There were 30 prizes and we received 3 tickets to put in a little box next to the prizes we wanted. Being Healthy Lifestyle Girl, I could have put all three of them into the women's bike box, but I didn't. :)

Life is full of temptation at this time of year. The closer we get to Christmas, the greater the temptation. So far, so good. I lost 1/2 pound last week and am fitting into stuff I haven't been able to wear in a couple of years, like the red pantsuit I wore to the party yesterday. I liked the way I looked in it, so I'm not going to let myself go too crazy this season.

What's been going on

The day job:
Tomorrow is officially one month since I started training T. She's really come into her own in the last week. I handed over most of my files and almost everyone who usually calls me is calling her now. We have yet to go over every single little thing, but we share an office now, so it's going to be a much easier transition than if we didn't. Yeah! Tomorrow is her birthday and she's taking the day off. I hope she has a nice time. it will be interesting trying to do the job with everything at her desk. :)

Also, today I was given my first lesson at my new job. I totally get what T's been going through this past month. The hour-long overview was a lot to take in, but I'm so excited about learning this new job. I'm a perfectionist and I often get frusterated when learning something new because I feel like I have to be perfect right off the bat. Everything I'm learning will be new so there's no way I'll be close to perfect for a very long time. Surprisingly, I feel ok with it and I'm excited about what lies ahead. It seems I've learned much from T this last month as she's learned from me. Work, the ultimate adventure.

On writing:
My WIP is moving right along. My plotting is nearly done and I've been reading tons of research material. I wrote the first couple of pages Sunday just to get a feel of my Protagonist, the (still) nameless witch. I don't really know her yet (purposely) and I'm going to continue my quest for knowledge of all things Witchy, Wiccan, Spells, Werewolf and the like for a while.

It feels good to work on something new, though. While I dearly love my Healer story, I was stuck for a long time. Working on something else feels like such a blessing to me. I'm actually making progress. Being stuck on the other story made me feel like a failure, but this feels productive. I bet all kinds of ideas will pop in my head for my Healer story as I work on this Witch story, especially since so much of what I'm reading (herbs, spells, etc.) is related.

Life:
Life is crazy-busy right now and will be for the next month. I'm trying to organize myself so it won't make me too crazy. I don't really like it when things are too scheduled, but I'll deal with it. Some of the stuff I'm reading for the WIP about meditating and channeling power is really interesting and I've tried it a bit. It really works. How cool is it that something I needed for research might help me deal with some of my daily stresses? Writing is so much more than just putting a story together. It affects all areas of your life.

Book Fun:
Please join us in the Cherry Forums for Book Club. May 1-May 15 we are discussing Ice Blue by Anne Stuart, the infamous Sister Krissie. :) She will be with us May 1-7 to answer questions and gab. We've already had some good conversation today and we'd love to have you join us too. I am the moderator for Ice Blue and I've read this book, as well as the previous two Ice books, Black Ice and Cold as Ice. The category is romantic suspense and they are very, very good.

That's all for now. I hope you are all having a great week. :)

Teaching, Writing, Rambling

Today is day 9 of the teaching project. :) T is doing very well. I wish I could say she's all trained and ready to go, but the job isn't quite that easy to teach. I was thinking about the comment Dee made on one of my previous teaching posts. I actually do like teaching. It's true, I am a private person and I do enjoy the solitude of being alone in my workspace, but having someone with me isn't annoying in the least. I don't mind answering questions or explaining things to her. I know it's a difficult job and I never expected her to learn it all very quickly. Plus, I really am pleased to be able to teach her. I basically had to teach myself the job and that was very frustrating and nerve wracking for me.

Teaching this sort of job isn't easy, and learning this sort of job must be very frustrating for T too. Basically, there are some tasks that must be done weekly, some monthly, and some quarterly. The phone rings all day and everyone's problem becomes my problem. It is nearly impossible to do one task for more than 10 minutes due to constant interruptions. So, technical data entry or running reports that require flipping back and forth between various screens, etc are very hard to learn. Also, there is a ton of paperwork to keep organized. I know that some of the things I am teaching her make no sense now, but they will later.

Anyway, after two weeks, I am very impressed with T. I hope she is feeling good about the job too.

* * *

I have decided on the opening scene of my WIP. It actually feels odd to call it that since all I have are plotting notes and no story written down yet. The Witch who shall remain nameless (my protagonist) is going to witness a murder. The scene will open with her hiding (somewhere--maybe in some bushes) and seeing one of her Coven Sisters brutally murdered. Unlike Roma (my Fantasy story protagonist) she does not carry a gun, doesn't know Martial Arts, was not raised knowing that it was her duty to protect herself for her people. She is a regular every day Southern CA girl, who has a lipstick and keys in her purse, rather than a gun. She won't be totally helpless, she is a witch after all and she has her Magick, but it won't be enough to help her Coven Sister.

So, it feels really good to know how the book opens (so far) and it helps me fill in the gap between the beginning and middle of the book. (I pretty much had the middle to the end plotted out.)

* * *

I don't think I'll get much writing done this weekend. Tomorrow Barbara Samuel is speaking at my OCC meeting and Michele is coming too. Barbara Samuel is a fabulous speaker and I know I will leave the meeting Saturday afternoon feeling very inspired.

Sunday is my niece Elise's baptism. That should be fun. I imagine the church service and party afterward should take up most of the day. I probably should have done some laundry tonight, but oh well.

I'll try to do my 15 minutes each day. Really, what's my excuse for not doing 15 minutes, right?

Happy weekend everyone. Sorry I've been scarce on Blogs and LJs. Life's been very hectic.

Teaching day 3/ Michele's Manuscript

Making wonderful progress today! I'd planned to build on what I taught T yesterday and it worked out perfectly. She's starting to see how all the little (seemingly random) pieces of the job fit together. Today I taught her a new skill that built on what I'd showed her in a very brief overview Monday and in slightly more detail yesterday. Everything totally clicked for her with this particular new skill. She even commented that she enjoyed doing it! I was proud of her (and I told her so) and even better, she was proud of herself. Yay! Here's hoping I'm as good a student when I start learning my new position as T is!

In other news, Michele e-mailed me her newly re-written manuscript last night and I've read the first 30 pages already. The story is wonderful and I was sucked in from the first page. My critique partner rocks! Go Michele!

Teaching

This week (and probably next week as well) I am teaching another employee how to do my job. I applied for another position within the same company and was "hired" over 4 months ago, but it took this long to find someone to replace me. She too is changing positions. That's the good part. She's not learning everything from scratch--she's actually worked for the company longer than I have.

I haven't trained anyone since I was in high school working at the ice cream shop. It's sort of interesting. I'm a shy person and I'm used to working fairly independently in this job. (At the ice cream shop I had to be outgoing. It was part of the persona.) It's kind of odd to have someone sitting next to me all day, waiting for direction. I wonder if I'm doing a good job with her. Am I explaining things enough? Am I giving her enough to do? Am I watching her too closely? Training has got to be stressful for her too, though she doesn't let it show.

Today I looked back at my teaching technique from yesterday and decided that she needed to be doing more. So I showed her things and had her do them right away. I didn't do much except answer questions, dictate what we'd do next and attempt to explain ongoing projects. I think that will be the hardest part of all, passing on the current projects.

Oh well. Tomorrow is another day and I am exhausted! Must get to bed early tonight.

Yet another birthday update

I forgot to mention that J (my fabulous work officemate) bought me some wonderful gifts for my birthday. This girl really listens when I talk.

At RWA National in Reno last year, Michele and I each dropped a buck in a slot machine. I won $10 and spent it all on some rocks for my WIP. (My Protagonist is a Healer. They were more for her than me.) So I have this collection of beautiful rocks and I've been looking for a bowl to put them in. J remembered this. She found me a pewter bowl with these curly decorative feet at a local antique store. When I opened it she said, "It's for your rocks." at the same time I said, "It's for my rocks." which really was the coolest thing ever. :) They look so pretty in the bowl with it's lovely patina, and there's even room for more rocks. I can't wait to get some more!

She also bought me two tea cups and saucers. But not just any teacups and saucers--oh no--these are made of ruby red glass. And they're square! I just love square plates and dishes and things and she remembered that. Even the dainty little tea cups are sort of squared off. I love them!

Current mood: Pleased. There is really nothing sweeter than someone putting so much thought into a gift. Awww...