I know I'm a little late, but I finally have some downtime now, so I figured I'd check in and let you all know how the new job is going.

Week 2 in Danville, PA was a productive one. I worked until 7 p.m. on Wednesday and 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. Things are coming together slowly. They expect me to transition the everyday operations of the daily-valued retirement plans from the home office here to the Valley Forge office next week. I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it will be fine.

Did I mention it's freaking RIDICULOUSLY cold here??? There's about a ten-degree difference in temperature between Danville and the Philadelphia metro area. I wish it weren't so cold; I desperately need the exercise, and I'd like to be able to get outside and walk around a bit, but it just isn't happening. The nights are so frigid here that it hurts to breathe if I spend more than a minute or two outside. Granted, the hotel I'm staying at does have a "fitness room" (read: closet) and I have visited it a few times in the past two weeks, but it's a total joke. There is a treadmill, an elliptical, and a LifeCycle in the fitness room, all of which look like they were transported here from the set of Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" video, circa 1981. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack my coordinating legwarmers and leotard, so I just don't feel right exercising in there.

Last Thursday after I left the office, I was feeling adventurous, so I drove about 15 miles down Route 11 South to Selinsgrove, PA. I found the Susquehanna Valley Mall and stopped there for dinner and a manicure. The folks out this way are very nice but many of them are kinda stuck in the 80s. Bleached blondes with terrible perms, electric blue eyeshadow, clothes that appear to have been purchased from G+G or Marianne or Merry-Go-Round (remember that one??), and mullets. Many, many mullets. And not just on the dudes!

The highlight of last week came late Thursday night. After my jaunt to the mall, I returned to my room and played around online for a bit. Around 11 p.m. I decided it was bedtime. I pulled down the comforter and fleece blanket of the king-sized bed just in time to witness a large, silver-colored spider crawling up the fitted sheet toward the pillows. For an arachnophobe like me, this was NOT a welcome sight.

First, I screeched like a hyena for a moment and honestly considered calling my husband for moral support. I decided against it, though. Too late at night for that. Then, with what little presence of mind I still possessed, I dashed into the bathroom and grabbed a water glass from the sink. I ran back to the bed and scooped the spider up into the glass, flew back into the bathroom, and flushed it down the toilet while holding my breath. Then I flushed the toilet again. Just in case. You can NEVER be too sure when killing an insect.

After that, I proceeded to live out my rockstar fantasy of trashing a hotel room...but not because I was flying high on coke or Jack, sorry to say. No, I simply freaked out like a mental case and tore all the bedding off the bed, shaking the sheets, comforter, and blanket out over the carpet. Then I pulled the pillowcases off all four pillows. Still not satisfied, I pushed the mattress off the boxspring and inspected underneath. Then I got on all fours and peered under the bed itself. No more spiders.

Finally, I pulled out a pair of socks, put them on my feet, and tucked the bottom of my yoga pants into them, thereby ensuring that no creepy-crawlies could breach my pants during my slumber. I also pulled on a long-sleeved sweatshirt before putting the bed back in order and climbing between the sheets, exhausted. I didn't actually fall asleep until well after 1 a.m. It seemed that every time sleep was about to overtake me, I'd feel (or imagined I felt) something brushing against me. I guess I got about four hours of sleep total. Not a good night.

I'm hoping that my third and final week here is a little less, uh...eventful.

Good night!

Labels: funny stuff, health, travel, work

Well, Week Two of my new job began today. So far, so good. The people in the home office couldn’t be nicer, and I’ve enjoyed the tasks I’ve accomplished so far.

Danville is a quaint little town about fifteen miles outside of Bloomsburg, PA, right on the Susquehanna River. The drive here is fantastic. I take Route 61, which cuts right through the Blue Mountain Ridge and passes through the Weiser State Forest. I even get to drive through Centralia, which is both super-cool and pretty damn creepy at the same time.

I bought a laptop last week before I left for my first day here, which helps to pass the evenings in my room after work. I’ve been catching up on my pleasure reading, too, which is nice.

The whole living-in-a-hotel thing during the week isn’t too awful, either. After all, the company is paying for three meals a day, my lodging, and my mileage to and from Danville every week. In fact, I rather enjoy coming back to my quiet, cozy hotel room at the end of the day: the bed is made, fresh towels are laid out in the bathroom, the rug has been vacuumed…a girl could get used to this kind of treatment.

I’m just sayin’.

Labels: technology, travel, work

I am gainfully employed again! I'm excited and a little nervous, too.

I start the new job on Monday. It's much closer to my house, so my commute time will be almost halved. The hours are flexible and the office has a very casual dress code. It's also a much smaller firm than the one I worked at before, but that doesn't bother me at all. I'll be doing some extensive traveling for the first three weeks to central PA, where the home office is located. That means I'll be living in a motel during the week for approximately three weeks and coming home just on the weekends.

This staying at home thing just doesn't work for me. I've been practically climbing the walls. I thought that I'd enjoy the time off, but I really haven't. Other than doing a bit of housework and making a lot more home-cooked meals, I haven't been productive at all. To be perfectly honest, I've really been teetering on the edge of depression.

Yippeee! Thank you for all your well wishes and thoughts. I really, really appreciated them.

Labels: travel, work

I was reviewing the post from the beginning of the year in which I listed my goals for 2006. I wanted to see how many of them I actually accomplished during the year. Here's an update:

1. Be in bed and asleep by 10 p.m. on work nights. Hah!

Even as I wrote that goal, I knew there was no way I'd ever be able to do it consistently. Over the summer I was doing really well, because I was getting up at 5:30 a.m. and going to the gym before work. But in the last couple months, I have been suffering from a serious lack of sleep. So this goal was not fully attained. Bummer.

2. Take a daily multi-vitamin. Even if it's Flintstones.

As if! I took a vitamin faithfully... for about two weeks! Then I forgot. I'm so bad at remembering to take pills, it's a miracle I remembered to take my birth control pills for ten years without any "accidents."

3. Get some form of exercise for at least 30 minutes, at least four days a week. Racquetball, weight-lifting, walking are some ideas.

Unless the weather is really bad, I walk close to three miles every day. Lately I've been slacking off due to holiday crazyness, but otherwise I've stuck to the walking pretty religiously. I do need to start lifting again, though.

4. Plan my meals better so that when I'm hungry, I can eat something nutritious and homemade, thereby reducing the frequency of eating out.

Hmmm...I've tried to do this. Lately I've lost interest in cooking, so I need to get my mojo back in this area.

5. Study for and pass the ASPPA DC-2 exam, so I can get the QKA designation for my job.

Done! In fact I just received my ASPPA QKA certificate and membership card two weeks ago. Yay, me! Now I'm thinking about getting the next designation, which is the Qualified Pension Administrator (QPA). That would entail two more torturous exams, one of which is dedicated solely to Defined Benefit plans...ugh.

6. Start thinking about having a baby. Perhaps.

Still thinking about it. I've been having a lot of baby lust, particularly when I interact with our friends' kids. When we visited Rochester for Thanksgiving, we saw Brian's friends' babies (a one-year old and a six-month old) and when I held them, I really thought my ovaries were going to explode! I just love babies. Frankly, we just need to start having more sex. A LOT more.

7. Travel somewhere fun. No more Caribbean islands, please...I'm talking Europe, Africa, or somewhere I've never visited within the borders of these great United States. I've always wanted to go to a dude ranch. Brian thinks I'm nuts but I'm totally serious. Hee-haw!

Unfortunately, the most exciting trip we took in 2006 was two days outside of Syracuse, NY for a wedding. Not exactly what I had in mind when I wrote "somewhere fun." This year, we MUST go somewhere awesome. Hint, hint...

8. Pay off all the new appliances that we bought when we moved into the new house.

Done! I think we had them all paid off by May.

9. Volunteer.

I was way too busy studying for those ASPPA exams to even think about volunteering. Oh well.

10. Continue on the home improvement spree. I slowed down due to studying for DC-1 and then the holiday onslaught began. Now I have all the time in the world to paint and strip wallpaper!

We definitely did a lot to the house this year. Let's see...we:

-painted the basement, the guest bathroom, the master bedroom, the two guest rooms, the upstairs hallway and stairwell
-removed, repainted, and rehung the vinyl shutters on all the windows, and repainted the front door and the trim around the garage and sidelight to match
-installed a new screen slider to the deck
-removed the old mailbox and installed a new wrought-iron Victorian style mailbox
-removed the handrail next to the front step that had rotted out
-had extensive landscaping done--still a work in progress--including pulling up two dead trees, planting a bunch of shrubs, and laying down 6 yards of mulch around the perimeter of the deck (thank you for doing that, honey!)
-installed a small water feature in the backyard all by ourselves
-installed new light fixtures in the hallway and the guest bathroom
-installed new ceiling fans in two bedrooms, the living room, the family room, and the kitchen
-had new carpeting installed throughout the second floor and the stairwell
-bought new furniture (sofa, chair, and tables) for the basement family room, along with a new TV and a home theatre system
-built a custom upholstered window cornice for the guest bathroom window all by ourselves!
-installed a remote control garage door keypad for outside access
-installed a doorbell chime extender so that we can hear the doorbell in the basement
-installed two self-timers for the outside lights (and almost blew up the house putting in the second one...oops!)
-had a new hot water heater installed
-had a new sump pump system installed
-hung various artwork, candle sconces, and curtain rods throughout the house

Jesus! We did more than I thought this year. Looking at this list, I'm amazed that we ever had any downtime on the weekends to just relax and hang out!

In 2007, I would like to get a shed for the backyard so we can move all the lawn and garden crap out of our garage. I would also like to get a new oven in the kitchen. And maybe a new bed.

Did you meet your goals in 2006? What are your goals for 2007?

Labels: accomplishments, food, health, home improvement, memories, travel, work

So today the first slots casino opened in PA: Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs, located in Wilkes-Barre, which is about 2 hours from where I live. Shoot, that means we might have to stop there and give the old one-armed bandit a pull on the ride up to Rochester next week.

What do you think?

Labels: local news, travel

Though I'm still toying with the idea of going for the QPFC designation, I saw some sobering statistics this morning:

Only 37 (!) people who sat for the PFC-1 exam passed it.

Only 17 (!!!) people who sat for the PFC-2 exam passed it.

Gulp.

Anyhoo...in keeping with the above title (quite literally), I'm going to a client meeting later this morning near Oxford, PA. With today's humidity level at nearly 100%, I'm sure to enjoy the lovely aroma of manure that permeates the air in that part of the world (DubyaTM). Most of the mushrooms consumed in the U.S. come from that region--Kennett Square, Toughkenamon, West Grove, et al. Called the "Mushroom Capital of the World." And you know what mushrooms are grown in, right? Yup. Horse and/or cow crap.

The last time I was down there for a client visit coincided with an intense heatwave back in July. I got out of my car and was just about knocked over by the stench of, um, that fresh country air.

I have no idea how people live there. It's a million miles away from everything, and it stinks.

That's all I got for today, folks.

Labels: decisions, travel, work

You know, I completely forgot (until reminded by Teri) that I never recapped the Michael Buble (henceforth known as MB for ease of writing) concert I attended a few weeks ago in Hershey, PA.

Some of you readers from way back might remember that my mom and I were originally supposed to see MB at Turning Stone Casino in Syracuse, NY in April. Then, the night before we were going to leave, my grandpa (mom's dad) died. So as you can imagine, it put quite a damper on things, and we never did go to the concert.

A few weeks after that, I was chatting about MB with my boss Tim. He asked me how the concert was, and I reminded him that I didn't go because of my grandfather's death. Then I mentioned that there were several dates added to MB's tour, and that he would be coming to Hershey in July.

"Hershey?" my boss echoed. "My cousin does all their PR stuff. When's he gonna be there?"

I told him that MB would be there the Sunday evening before July 4, but that tickets had not yet gone on sale. After about fifteen minutes and a couple phone calls, my boss's cousin had procured two outstanding tickets for my mom and me. Nineteenth row, center stage. Miraculous!

After I informed my mom that we would again be attempting to see MB in concert, I made a reservation at a cute little motor inn not far from Hersheypark. The plan was that we'd go up early on the concert day, do some sight-seeing and shopping, go to the show, and return home the following day.

On the day of the concert, we headed to Hershey. It only took an hour and a half to get there from Limerick, and my mom drove, which was an unexpected bonus. Unfortunately, we got to the motel thirty minutes before check-in, and they wouldn't let us into our room. No biggie -- we got lunch at a nice little restaurant down the road called Duke's.

After lunch, we checked into our motel and got settled. It was only 3 p.m., so I suggested we visit Chocolate World, which is right across the parking lot from Hersheypark.

We pulled into the enormous lot and found a relatively close spot to Chocolate World's entrance. I jumped out of the car and waited for my mom to get out of the driver's seat. She closed the door and started walking away, just as I noticed a strange noise emanating from underneath the car's hood. I called her over and asked, "Is that the noise your air conditioner makes after you turn off the car?"

She paused and stared at the car, her expression turning quickly from puzzlement to dismay to pure horror.

"I locked my keys in the car!" she wailed. "And the car's still running!"

Well, all I could do for the first few minutes after this declaration was laugh. Not very helpful, I know. Then I somehow managed to calm her down, despite her occasional moans that we were clearly not destined to ever see MB in concert.

Luckily, she had the presence of mind to remember that she had Subaru's roadside assistance. She called the 800 number and within twenty minutes, Subaru had dispatched a local locksmith to help us. It took the guy literally three minutes to break into the car, roll down the passenger window, and reach in to shut the car off. All this with zero damage to her car. Amazing.

After she signed the work order and gave him a very generous tip for his services, we headed into Chocolate World. I really don't have much to say about that trip, since (gasp!) I'm not really a chocolate lover. I bought a lot of junk for my coworkers and for my husband, though.

We returned to our motel, took showers, and got generally gussied up for the show. We stopped at the motel office to ask about restaurants near the concert venue. The woman there told us there was a Red Robin right around the corner from the Giant Center. Long story short, the line of waiting customers at the Red Robin was out the door and around the building. We looked at each other as we drove past and said, "Uh...no."

Instead, we had a lovely dinner at a local biker bar. Yes, you read that right. A biker bar. I have plenty of photos to commemorate that meal, trust me.

After we ate, we hightailed it over to the Giant Center. Now, on to the important stuff:

- Our seats were indeed awesome.
- The female to male ratio of attendees was about 8 to 1. But there were many more younger women there than I thought there'd be. A lot of teenagers, actually.
- MB's opener was a fellow Canuck named Jan Arden. I had no idea who she was until she sung the one and only hit she's ever had, a little ditty called "Insensitive." I remember this song because they played it every single night on a now-defunct radio program called "Between the Sheets" on 104.5 FM about ten years ago. She was damn funny, though. If the music thing doesn't work out for her, she could definitely be a stand-up comedienne.
- MB is as cute as puppies! And funny too!
- There was a lot of audience interaction, which I think makes a good concert great. At one point, he jumped off the stage and went running back to the furthest rows of spectators, shaking their hands, giving hugs and kisses to people, and posing for pictures with them as his band played. That was definitely one of the best aspects of his show.
- He also has quite the potty mouth. I think my mom was a little disappointed by that. I was just surprised -- he sang all these retro standards but then he swore like a sailor while interacting with the audience between songs. It was unexpected.
- He allows, and even encourages, people to take pictures of him onstage. I spent a good twenty minutes at the base of the stage, with MB just an arm's length from me, snapping his photo. This is one of those times I really wish I had a digital camera. Or even just a scanner. I have some fantastic pictures of him looking directly into my camera and singing -- I was literally standing at his feet. I think that's the closest I've ever physically been to a famous person.
- He ended the show by singing a cappella WITH HIS MIKE TURNED OFF. Boy's got a real set of lungs on him. The audience was dead quiet and he really projected all the way to the back of the house. Very impressive.

Overall, the show was way more entertaining than I had anticipated. Initially, the only reason I went to this concert was because I knew how much my mom wanted to see him, but I wound up having a really great time. I would even go to see him again!

Plus, my mother will never be able to live down locking her keys in her (running) car. That little incident will provide plenty of comedic fodder for months, perhaps even years, to come...

Labels: concerts, family, funny stuff, Michael Buble, music, travel, vacations