Here I Go Again...

So.  Here I am again.  Getting ready to head down to Burningman.  Yet.  Again.

I'm in a bit of a frenzy right now - as we've been out of town a lot, so preparations have kiiiind of gone down the shitter.  NONETHELESS, I will persevere.  I always do.  This is how we do it...and not in a Montell Jordan kinda way either.

This year is going to be especially tough for me as I'm bringing down Cristal's ashes.  You may recall a post from my other blog about Cristal - she was a dear friend of mine that was diagnosed in 2008 with cervical cancer and a year later, passed away.  
She went to the playa with me in 2007 and had the time of her life.  I know she had a ball b/c I hardly saw her out there - she was too busy running around the desert creating her own adventures.  She made tons of friends, connections, and worked part time in accounting while attending massage therapy school (sound familiar?  It should).  She was a beautiful person, a loving being, and cancer took her away.  She was only 32.  

The week before she died, we were hanging out - both her and I on her twin hospital bed - talking about how we were going to go to Burningman together again.  I knew, but didn't expect it to be in this capacity - me taking her down in a tiny little box.  But here we are.  And here I am, getting ready to take (part of) her to the temple this year.  

At dusk, a group of friends will be taking another friend's ashes to the temple on Wednesday.  Another friend taken away by cancer.  I will join those friends with Cristal and we will all walk over together.  We will silently pray, meditate, and send our love to both of these amazing women.  When the sun finally sets, we will go wherever we are pulled to go and dance the night away in honour of Shura & Cristal.  They will be with us in spirit. 
...
As above
So below
...

**photo for Cristal, she loved mushrooms

Eeeeeeeeee

I've been trying to take better care of myself as of late - biking more, yoga more, taking Loki on frequent walks around the neighbourhoods - that kind of stuff.  

I realize that my stress level has gone way WAY down since I left my former job.  It was to be expected, I get that - I just didn't expect it to be as low as it's been these past couple of days.  I think I've halted the hair-turning-white-thing for a little while (PHEW!) and I'm much more at ease.  Spending a few hours at Olympus Spa probably helped, as well as the amount of sleep I'm getting - which has been heavenly.  It's like catching up on a year's worth of sleep!  My body is still freaking out a little bit - wondering what I'm doing ("what is this sleep thing?") and getting used to NOT sitting in a shitty work chair.

Currently I'm on stay-cation right now - dinking about town, seeing friends, and taking care of me, til I go back to the working world next Monday.  I'm avoiding cleaning out the garage, even though that's where I should be right now...oh well.

I should be ready to go back to work by next week - til then, I'm gonna do whatever I damn well please!

Enjoy the sun - cuz that's what I'm gonna do!

Goal

Must.  Stop.  Biting/chewing.  Cuticles.  

If you see me gnawing on my cuticles please slap my hand away.

Thank you.

I think

I often times think I might not be cut out for Human Resources, but it's what I do and I'm good at it - so you'd think I'd stick to what I know right?

I think part of me stays really objective during situations, but another part of me gets a wee emotionally involved and I start to fight for "the little guy" vs fighting for the company I work for.  I get really wrapped up in a situation, especially if it's someone that I like vs someone that's a complete douchebag employee.  Not that that's a bad thing, b/c technically, I'm here for the employees and not necessarily just the company, but still...I wonder if I should try be one of those people that only cares about the company.

HAHAHAHAHAHA
As if.
That's so not me.  I'm always going to be the HR person that fights for the employee - always.  I can't imagine it any other way.  Come to think of it, I think I'm always gonna be the person that fights for the employee regardless of whether or not I'm still in HR.  

Hmmm...I guess I really do care about people.

Riddle me this...

why why WHY do nice restaurants always have TV's in their bar areas?  WHY?  What is the point?  

With the exception of places like Mistral or Lark, I was shocked to see TV's at Palace Kitchen.  WTF?

It appears that almost every place I've been to for dinner - BAM!  There's a TV.  It just doesn't make sense to me - TV's in a restaurant says "sports bar" to me.  The last thing I want to see is some bloody sporting event on the tube when I'm trying to carry on a conversation or eat my meal.  It's distracting and really, aren't we surrounded by enough technological shit as it is?   

TV's - ok in your media room, living room, a sports bar or hell, any Irish bar for that matter, but in a nice restaurant?  NO.  Take those things out and replace them with some nice art.  Or a blank wall. 

**pic from nontoxin.com

Reminiscing...

...and not about something glamourous or good, either.

I'm in an HR seminar all week in Portland and this afternoon we talked about interviewing candidates, strategic planning, recruiting, blah blah blah.

Many years ago (ok, 5 or 6 to be exact), when I first moved to Seattle, I was interviewing for jobs...normal day jobs, after becoming disillusioned by the massage world and realizing that I needed to eat and pay rent.

So I registered w/ a staffing firm and they sent me on an interview at a travel site's corporate office, where I'd be interviewing for an online marketing position.  Mind you, I knew v little about that at the time, but figured I'd give it a shot and, at the very least, practice my interviewing skills.  

Why not, right?

WRONG.

I went in, and started answering questions the best way I knew how.  I knew I wasn't going to be offered the position, but like I said, it was perfect for me to practice!  

There were a few questions I didn't know the answer to, so I explained to this to the panel.

At one point, one of the interviewers leans forward and says, "Define obscure."

*blink blink*

I stared at him.  I knew what he was getting at - he figured I had no idea what I was talking about during the interview...which I really didn't, but that was plain rude.  I remember the exact moment too - his face, his demeanor (he was already condescending after he read thru my resume), his shitty preppy outfit.  I also remember his cohorts (there were 4 total) actually SNICKERING after he asked me.  Out of the 4 douchebags, only 1 looked like he felt kind of bad for me. 

I wound up getting a job elsewhere and since then, have continued to work in pretty awesome jobs.  I may not have made it in marketing, but that wasn't what I wanted to do anyway and definitely didn't want to work w/ people like that.

To that guy, I say:

Hey asshole, when your department got slashed over there, I'm pretty sure you lost your job in the process.  Karma's a bitch, huh?  Now who's obscure?

Well THAT'S odd

Ok...so the numb arm thing.  It's moved its way to numb left forefinger.  Wha happen...?

It's the weirdest sensation - you know what I'm talking about if you've ever slammed your fingers in a door or dropped something on your big toe and it goes numb for a bit before the pain sets in?  That's what my finger feels like - only w/ no pain.  Just numbness.  

It's been going on for about 3 weeks now.  It doesn't bother me, it's just...weird.  

Anyone else had this before?