I am driving to work today because afterward I am going to a cocktail hour, networking event, and awards ceremony. The event isn’t because I am a friendly, social person but rather because I believe in embedding myself in the industry/community that I sell into. So far it’s been a pretty successful plan.

Yesterday I had a successful sale and I joyously wrote my family an email telling them that I closed a big deal. My father sent me back a .wav file of the song, Hallelujah. It made me laugh because that’s exactly what I was thinking. It’s been lean but the tide is turning.

I may have fell into a wormhole this morning. I awoke at 5:00am but didn’t crawl out of bed until 5:30am. Eventually I was able to motivate myself to find an outfit and wash up. Once readied, I decided to make myself a cup of coffee since I had 15 minutes until I had to leave at 6:30am. I glanced at the clock to make sure I was on time and I was shocked to see it was actually 7:15! Somehow I lost an hour. I don’t know what exactly happened or where the time exactly went. I am thinking that perhaps I fell back to sleep and just assumed it was 5:30 when it was really 6:30. Or I fell into a wormhole that exists in my dining room. I sure hope it’s not the latter because how inconvenient would that be? And what else might be lurking in there that I might fall into or something may fall out of? One day I might come home to see a carbon copy of myself sporting a goatee! And we’d fight. And I’d have to send her to some limbo land and I’d feel real guilty. Let’s just hope it was just a little nap.

Gosh I want to go back to sleep. I also want to eat bread. And I wish I could sock away 30% of my income and retire at 40. Although I suspect I would be eating cat food within a couple of years. Today is going to be a good day just as October is going to be a really good month for business.

Last night The Donnas played at World Cafe Live. I almost called up Rob to see if he wanted to meet me there but I was dressed in my business best and had nothing else to wear. The Donnas would definitely have made fun of me upon my entrance to the concert hall, just as they poke fun at my name everyday of their existence. I really don’t understand why they chose Donna and not Angie or Sheila or Tanya? Certainly there are worse names out there.

I have a train to catch.

Today is Columbus Day and inexplicably, my company considers it a holiday and so I am off. However, there is a trade show that takes place today and I rented a booth so even though I should be off, I will be working instead. 11:45 – 2:13 and then 5:00 – 7:00.

This will be a good for my territory and it should mean more opportunity. Opportunity is a great thing thus I don’t mind not having the day off if it means more money in my pocket down the line.

Andrea came over on Saturday. It was her 30th birthday. Rob, Caren and Steve and I took her out. We went to what was once known as Gillian’s but the name has been changed to Dave and Buster’s. The place used to be a really fun joint. You could play pool or bowl or sit at a Hibachi table. I remember it was quite a popular place. We went in there Saturday night and the place looked worn down and there were quite a few dangerous looking people lurking around. They took forever to seat us even though there were tons of empty tables. Once we were seated, no one came to greet us or get our drink order. After 20 minutes, we decided to leave. We then went to Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse (Is it me or does the name of this restaurant sound like a horrible racial slur?). Andrea winced when we walked in to see tons of animal heads hanging from the walls. I told everyone we couldn’t eat here since Andrea, the birthday girl, is a vegetarian. We left and went to On The Border which is the place Rob and I met all those many months ago. We were told it would be about an hour to an hour and half before we would be seated because we have 5 people and it’s tough finding a 5 top table. At this point we were starving and tired and uninterested in waiting for what would essentially be beans, cheese and rice. Rob decided we would go back to the Donnavilla and order pizza. It was a good suggestion. The pizza hit the spot and I was grateful to be away from those restaurants. So what did I learn from this experience. Northeast Philly is really getting rundown, aways have a second plan in place and never go back to Dave and Buster’s. Andrea didn’t seem to mind all the hoopla. It was her second to last night in the US. Today she leaves for Berlin. It was so nice seeing her again especially since I thought she had disappeared forever.

“So I was in New York City yesterday and right before I caught the train I went to Duane Reade and bought a bottle of water and a chocolate bar”
“What kind of bar did you get?”
“I got a Cadbury bar. But here’s the thing, when I opened it the bar had this white-ish color to it.”
“The oil separated, that’s why it changed color.”
“I attempted to eat it because I am a chocoholic, I took two bites but I just wasn’t enjoying it so I threw it away.”
“WHAT?!?”
“I threw is away because I wasn’t enjoying it.”
“I thought you said you were a CHOCOHOLIC? Why didn’t you take it home and massage it with some vegetable oil? At least try to save it!”
“Massage it with oil?”
“Donna, c’mon, you could have shredded it onto a cookie or something— YOU DON’T THROW AWAY CHOCOLATE!?!”

It’s almost 6am. I am pretty much ready to face the day except all I want to do is go back to sleep. Today I am going to NYC. I can’t recall why I am going to NYC. Probably for a training or something. There is a small possibility that I might meet up again with my old German Gastschwester, provided she calls me. She’s here until Monday, I think. Last Saturday, I picked her up at the train station and we spent the day together in Philadelphia. It was a very nice time. She told me she works 9-2 or 2-7. I couldn’t believe that she could pull in enough money to support herself working those hours. She said her apartment is small and she does fine. I asked her what she does with the remaining part of the day. She said she gets home around 3:15 and she takes her dog to the park and they’ll play. I asked her if she had any goals, anything specific she wanted to accomplish in life. She said she lives day to day and has no goals and she’s happy. What a completely different life I lead! I am in awe and somewhat envious over the simplicity of her life. On the other hand, I think that type of life might bore me. As much as I complain, I thrive on the pressure and the workload and I love working toward a goal. I don’t know.

I decided not to run for the 6:31. Instead I would sit here at my kitchen table and drink coffee and read the Pontani Sisters’ MySpace pages and in a few minutes run for the 6:50. I made myself an egg muffin. It was so delish. I don’t know how I lived before I got my egg poacher/toaster machine. Yesterday I worked from home. How did I manage that, you ask? I had a 12:00 meeting right by my house. It seemed silly to spend time riding to and from Philly when I could just work out of my house. And can I tell you what a joy it was working from home? I forgot how comfortable it is and how I don’t get so terribly tired. I also forgot how tough it is to stop working since I ended up working until 8:00 and then I started again at 9:30. I wonder how I can work from home more often? I guess I could just do it. It’s not like anyone ever checks up on me.

My favorite month is here and I made a pact with myself to enjoy it. My sales this month will take care of themselves. I want to get out and enjoy the season and do things that I never seem to have time to do like calling friends and going out and visiting people and having fun. You guys are my witnesses!

There’s so many remakes anymore. I’ve been seeing ads for the Bionic Woman… my question is, why doesn’t Hollywood remake this tv show?

“Are you familiar with Opera?”
“Huh?”
“Opera, are you familiar with Opera?”
“The browser?”
“No, Lohrengrin”

Time to go to work. Tons of stuff to do since I’ve been out of the office all this week. Tomorrow I may be meeting an old German friend in NYC. I look forward to seeing her again. I think it’s been 6 years since we last saw each other.