Layoff

So I'm sure some of you may have noticed that I haven't posted in several weeks. I guess I'll just come right out and say it, my firm had a layoff and I was let go. I'm not sure I'm ready to blog in detail about it. The sense of loss I'm feeling is so painful it's still hard to speak about. I just wanted to let those of you who follow my little blog know why I haven't been around. I have a lot to say, but I'm just not sure I'm ready to say it yet. I'm starting to cry just thinking about it which indicates to me that I'm just not ready to start blogging about it yet.

Overheard in the Lawfirm - Personal Calls

Personal calls at work are always interesting to overhear. The assistant that sits outside of my office is a very nice lady. She's very Italian and talks with a pretty thick Boston accent. She's really nice to me, but I would be afraid to be on her bad side. She works for three very busy senior partners. One of the senior partners is notoriously rude and she's always talking crap about him behind his back, it's hysterical. Anyways, she loves to make personal calls at work and she is of course very very loud. She talks to her mother at least three times a day. They get into arguments and sometimes all I can her for like 10 minutes is her going "MA, MA, MA, MA stop, MA, MA" and then she'll hang up on her. Then of course when clients call and they are rude to her she loves to put them on hold and talk shit about them before transferring them into the partners office. She's pretty entertaining. Then of course there's the time that one of the partners bought her an expensive Christmas gift and then the next day they gave her the receipt for the gift to expense. She lost it and was cursing him out for a few days after that incident.

Well today takes the cake. She is on the phone with her doctor about some sort of rash that she has. Apparently it's spreading, and not just up her arm, but into places that shouldn't be discussed at work. I'm trying my hardest not to listen, but she's talking so loud. I wonder if she doesn't understand that I can hear every word she's saying or if she's just that comfortable with herself that she doesn't care who hears her. At the end of her conversation with the doctor she asks him how many refills she has left on her Celexa. Now there's nothing wrong with her taking anti-depressants, I take them too. I just couldn't believe that she was completely fine with discussing her medical problems in the open like that. I guess the Celexa explains a few things.

UPDATE: Forgot to add that she loves to flirt with people she doesn't know over the phone. Example, just now she was making an reservation for one of the partners and she is telling the airline employee that he has a sexy voice. I have also overheard her in the past say things to friends on the phone that she performed a strip tease last night for her husband, that she has a pole in her basement and that she plans on wearing her "stripper heels" over the weekend. Way, way too much information for me.

Static Cling

Ugh! I hate this part of winter, when it gets really cold and really staticy (sp?). I used to hate having to drive in the winter because every time I got out of my car it would give me an unbelievable electric shock. I used to remedy the situation by touching my key to the car before closing the door. Neat trick, worked every time. Well...I guess that's all I've got for today.

Gagging at the Dentist

This morning I had a dentist appointment before work. I usually love going to the dentist in the morning. I can sleep in and be late for work (with an excuse) and my mouth also feels so fresh and clean for the rest of the day.

Today was not just a routine cleaning. I was fitted for a night guard because apparently my job is causing me so much stress that I'm grinding my jaw at night which causes me unbelievable pain in the morning. That's right, I'm not grinding my teeth, I'm grinding my jaw. One might ask how this is possible. When my dentist first told me what was happening a few weeks ago I went home and googled "jaw grinding". To my shock and amazement it is a common symptom for individuals who are speed/meth addicts. Great, my dentist probably thinks I'm a drug addict. I asked him about this when I went back today and he assured me that he thinks my grinding is caused by stress.

To start with all of the trays the dentist had to make impressions with were too big to fit into my mouth. My dentist actually had to go next door to his colleague's office, who is a pediatric dentist, to borrow a child size tray. Great, so I've got a small mouth. My dentist puts the trays into my mouth to make an impression onf my bottom teeth. So far everything is fine until he starts to notice that it's not hardening. Apparently his assistant put too much water in so it literally takes 15 minutes for this thing to harden in my mouth. Of course my jaw is already sore from the grinding so it's becoming excruciatingly painful to hold my mouth open for so long. I relax my jaw and instantly I'm clamped down on the dentist's thumb. Oops.

Next comes the top impression. Now I have a very strong gag reflex. I literally gag myself brushing my teeth in the morning. Seriously, when I brush my back teeth or try to brush my tongue I occasionally make myself throw up. It's pretty gross. MP thinks is so comical that he waits around the bathroom in the morning while I'm brushing my teeth just to get a good laugh (he's such a sweetheart). So anyways, the top tray goes in and instantly I can feel the gross gooey paste inching toward my throat and I immediately start to dry heave. My dentist is looking at me like I'm totally crazy. He's telling me to calm down, breathe through my nose, anything to keep me from clamping down on his fingers or worse throwing up on him. Luckily I haven't eaten breakfast (for this very reason) so I have nothing to throw up, but I'm making these horrible gaging noises and I can feel bile coming up from my stomach (sorry I didn't think this post would get so graphic). Thankfully the impression was much quicker on the top, so after only a few minutes of gagging I was done.

Now my dentist is probably rethinking his "stress" assessment and is calling the MA bar to report me as a drug addict. The worst part is I can still feel the yucky paste between my teeth. I was also so embarrassed about the entire scene I made that I rushed out before the dental assistant could give me one of those handy warm towels to wipe the crusted paste off my face. When I walked into my office this morning my assistant kindly told me that I had some "white stuff" all over my face. Good times.

Morning Rant

I think I woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I have had such an aggravating morning. I feel the need to rant in order to be completely rid of it and ready to start the day fresh. Here goes:

1) I get on the bus at one of the last stops before downtown so of course it is already packed when I get on. I hate that it takes a freaking cattle prod to get everyone to move back a few feet so that I can get on the bus and stand behind the stupid yellow line. Then those same people that wouldn't move back for me, try to squeeze their way past me, while the bus is still moving, to be the closest to the door when it opens. This morning a creepy middle aged guy is standing next to me grunting and groaning about the traffic and the line of buses waiting to get into the next stop. Mind you I'm crammed between the wall of the bus and a baby carriage and he asks me if I can move so he can be that much closer to the door of the bus that isn't going to open anytime soon. I was so fed up I looked at him, with MP standing right next to me, and said "where would you like me to go, I can't really move until the bus stops". He just kind of stared at me for a second. MP was trying his hardest not to crack up. Well of course this guy doesn't even give it a second thought and attempts to squeeze between me and the baby carriage. Would it kill him to wait another few minutes for the bus to stop, me to exit and him to get off. Give me a break.

2) I hate, hate, hate people who stroll down the busy sidewalk at 8:30 in the morning without a care in the world. Hello, you're blocking everyone behind you who is trying to get to work. Boston sidewalks are pretty narrow as it is and with a million people cramming those sidewalks every morning trying to get to work it doesn't help when some annoying person with nowhere to go is holding us all up. It always seems like I'm the only person headed face on into a swarm of pedestrians headed the other way. Half of the time I end up walking in the street in order to get by because far be it for anyone to allow me to squeeze past them when I'm headed in the other direction. This morning I was completely infuriated when I had to get to work ASAP to send something to a partner who was on a train somewhere and needed me to send him something. Of course I get stuck behind this woman who is not only sipping on her DD coffee, but is also reading a novel as she walks. Hello, do you not realize that everyone behind you is trying to get past.

3) People who smoke on busy sidewalks, do they not think about the fact that they might burn someone with that cigarette? I want to scream every time I'm walking behind someone with a lit cigarette that comes within inches of my coat or scarf. What's worse is that a lot of these people are arm swingers, yes with the cigarette in hand. Do you not realize how dangerous that is. Not only are you killing yourself, but you're endangering everyone around you. Get a clue.

4) I hate, hate, hate when I see 20 something girls straight out of college frolicking down the street in their mini skirts and 3 inch heels. Hello, it's Boston, it's cold, get some pants or at least a pair of tights. I too wear skirts to work, but they come to at least my knees and I wear tights under them in the winter. I also do not commute to work in high heels. First of all Boston is practically 1/2 cobblestones, it's impossible to walk in heels over cobblestones. I don't care if you're a supermodel it's just not possible and you're ruining your heels in the process. Wear a pair of UGGs or some tennis shoes to work and change at your desk like everybody else. Besides, when you're hobbling around on the sidewalk you're holding the rest of us up back here.

Wow, I feel much better.

Simba

I've badgered MP to the point where he has finally agreed to let me get a cat when we move next year. I've been wanting a pet for so long and he has finally agreed that I can get one. I've been researching various cat breeds and I really think that I want a singapura:

The are the smallest cat breed and are quite rare. There is actually a cattery near where I think/hope we will be moving next year. I've already been in contact with the owner and she said that a new litter will probably be ready for adoption around that time. I'm so excited. I really want to name the cat Simba, I know it's kind of corny, but it's such a pretty name. I'm really really excited, I've never had a cat or dog before. I've been researching everything about how to take care of them to the pros and cons of different kinds of litter. I'm really excited.

The only drawback is that one of these kitties costs $800. I feel like that's so much money to spend on a kitten. I'd love to adopt one from an animal shelter, but I feel like there just aren't as many options. I have some pretty specific requirements in a cat. It has to have short hair because MP has a lot of allergies and I know that cat hair would not only be bad for his allergies, but would just generally aggravate him. I also want to get a kitten at the youngest possible time so that I can bond with it. Maybe I'll adopt a cat from an animal shelter when I'm ready to get a second one.

A New Day

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. I will assure you that my clothes did in fact remain on and nobody was hurt in the process of the evening. I am a grateful that my fellow colleagues graciously sent me home in a cab, but what I can't figure out is how the cab was paid for. My colleagues of course made sure I had money in my wallet before they sent me off, but when I checked the next day I still had the same amount of money (possibly even more) than I remember leaving with. This makes me wonder if the cab driver took pity on me or something, hopefully I didn't stiff the guy. I'm just going to chalk this one up to one of these things that I'm better off not knowing.

In other news, I'm staying moderately busy at work. Tomorrow night there is a second and third year associate dinner at an Italian restaurant nearby. I'm not planning to drink so don't even ask. Should be a good time to chat with what remains of my summer class (and the class above me) and catch up with friends in other departments I never see.

I can't believe the holidays are just around the corner. MP and I are terrible at spoiling each other for Christmas (I'm talking over the top, way too much money spent). MP loves Christmas and I have so much fun wrapping presents that things just get out of hand. Last year it took us over an hour to unwrap all of the gifts we got for each other (I know, but we were helping to stimulate the economy). I keep telling MP that things will be different when we have children which I think just encourages him even more to keep up the tradition now, while it lasts.

This year will probably be much more scaled back with my job situation, a potential move coming up, the wedding, and just the general state of the economy. However, because I can't help myself I have already begun to purchase a few Christmas gifts (god I love Internet shopping). I bought MP the coolest gift today. It may sounds sort of nerdy, but he's been talking about getting a globe for our office desk (it has a huge hutch above it with shelves). I bought him this awesome globe.

It's made of gemstones and it will look so nice next to this antique clock we have from MP's great-grandmother. I love buying Christmas presents, but I'm really going to have to watch my spending this year.