It’s almost 9:30 and I just got home from work. I boarded the train at 7:30. The reason I was late is that I opted to get a drink with my colleagues after work. It wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been– in fact it was rather pleasant. And the one drink turned into two. The unpleasantness occurred as I was driving home. I actually considered peeing into a water bottle. Knowing my all encompassing lack of aim, I instead chose to pray and was somehow delivered home without incident. I hate when things like that sneak up on a person.

Yesterday morning I made banana bread. I used the recipe I posted not too long ago. The bread didn’t come out well at all. I think I used too many bananas. The recipe called for 3-4 bananas and I used 5. And I kinda ran out of butter and so I substituted artificial butter spread. The bread emerged from the oven thoroughly uncooked and rather flat looking. I kept putting it back into the oven but after an hour and a half I just gave up. Perhaps the real reason for the goopy bread is that as I was mixing the ingredients, MacArthur Park played on the radio. It seems rather fitting that as I snickered about a cake left out in the rain, the bread I was baking would come out goopy.

Tomorrow I have a lunch meeting out in the middle of nowhere and I decided I would work from home in the morning. It seems silly driving to my office only to pay 24.00 for a couple hours of parking. Besides, I got home so late tonight, it’s only right to be able to take it a little easy in the morning.

I am heading off to the train station to catch a train to NYC. The Stockholder’s meeting was postponed so I didn’t have to make any final decision although I most likely would have gone had it been held. Instead I am going to the NYC office to spend the day. It’s been awhile since I was there and they like me to show my face every now and then.

Ever since Lisa moved out of the loft, I’ve been thinking about what to do with the area. The other day, Rob and I painted it. Admiring the walls, I figured a futon would look nice in the space. As luck would have it, my mother’s friend’s son was getting rid of a futon and so it was passed to me. Free! It’s not the nicest looking futon but it does the trick. My hope is that when I come home at night, instead of heading into my bedroom and plopping into bed, I will go up to the loft and plop down on the futon. Perhaps this will keep me a little more alert in the evenings since it seems the act of simply sitting on my bed lulls me into slumber. We shall see.

The weekend is almost over. I am still deciding what to do for tomorrow . My father is going to NYC for a stockholders’ meeting and I would like to accompany him. My sales conference call is at 11 and it should be pretty easy for me to pop out and make it. Of course, I was out of the office all day on Friday (I was at a business appointment) and I am wondering if it is a good idea to take off Monday morning. It’s typical of me to resist taking time for myself. I remember last year, Rob wanted me to take a couple days off work and I resisted because I wasn’t anywhere near my quota for the month and I felt if I took a couple days off it would be frowned upon and it would somehow negatively affect me. Looking back, working those two days, I still didn’t make my quota and if for some reason my absence was frowned upon, what would that mean to me now? Those days I spent working resulted in nothing. And so I think, I should go with my dad to NYC for the stockholders’ meeting. It’s just a couple hours and I can make my 11:00 meeting. And once it’s all said and done, I can work the remainder of the day from the NYC office.

I still haven’t convinced myself.

I’ll keep working on it.

I am at work. It’s quarter of six. I opted to stay late and catch the 6:30 train. This way I could get work done here and now rather than later at home. HA! As what normally happens, I start losing focus. Before I know it, I am no longer working but rather putzing. I should have caught the 5:40. Staying late just doesn’t work for me.

The last few days were it. You know, when you can actually feel Autumn in the air. The temperature was cool. A sweater was needed. Tea seemed like a real good idea.

Fall is my favorite season yet as I get older I find myself becoming less and less tolerant of cold weather. So even though I love this time, I hate to think what follows it.

This morning I actually pulled on socks! My first pair since May! And full shoes– no sandals! I feel an excitement. I love the changing of the seasons! Let’s all hope for a long fall, short winter, long spring, and normal yet mild summer.

Yesterday, Rob came over and we spackled and painted the loft. We didn’t change the color, the point was to cover the scuffs and spackled areas. It didn’t take long at all. Rob is an incredible painter. He was so methodical painting 3 foot squares and filling them in using a v formation with the roller. I didn’t compare. He kept telling me to use more paint on my brush. And then he went over the parts I painted. Since the paint dried, I’ve spent hours staring at the wall, just admiring its beauty. It’s amazing how much better a room looks when it is freshly painted.

This weekend went by so quickly. I could really use one more day. Of course, I did absolutely nothing today. If I was miraculously presented with a second Sunday, I’d probably do nothing again and then whine at night that I needed another day. One thing I did do was spend an inordinate amount of time watching scenes of The Family Guy. I warn you not to search Youtube for Family Guy because you might hurt yourself laughing so hard. Here’s one you should definitely avoid:

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy is on TV and I’m watching it. I would be enjoying it if it weren’t for the fact that I keep remembering the first time I saw it. I was working in Chicago and Lisa was visiting me. We had lunch at Cafe Baci where I had a delicious dish of couscous and chick peas. I went back to my office and as the day wore on I began to feel worse and worse. After work, I was unable to take Lisa out for a night on the town. All I could do was roll back and forth in bed grabbing my stomach and moaning. Lisa ordered the movie on pay per view. We watched about 1/2 of it until I ran to the bathroom and began to vomit. It came out so forcefully it actually was also coming out of my nose. Sweet memories!

Hysterical! It’s a Bollywood video with subtitles showing what the words sound like in English.

RELIEF! I just put the envelopes for my two parking tickets and dentist bill into the mailbox! I finally gave up trying to access the New Jersey Court Web site. Each time I tried to access the payment portion of the Web site, the site would stop responding or I would get a message that the payment center was closed. I finally decided to just send it snail mail.

I am bothered by both tickets, especially because I was only a little late getting back to the meter. I wanted to fight both of them but I had a hard time finding the time to pay the tickets, how would I find the time to fight them?

What really gets me is how I had to remit payment within 10 days of the ticket. IF I CAN’T GET BACK TO THE METER IN TIME, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I WILL BE ABLE TO MAKE THIS PAYMENT IN TIME??? I need a good three months. But I think that is what they want– money is made in late fees. So evil!

I awoke this morning feeling pretty much the same as when I went to sleep. In fact, I kept having to remind myself that it wasn’t the night before. It’s tough when it’s still dark out when you wake up. I can’t help but wonder if my colleagues from other offices are struggling with the hours. I get in at 7:00 or 7:30 and I don’t leave until 5:45-6:30. I put another hour in on the train and sometimes I’ll work from 9-10 in the evening. Perhaps these aren’t terribly long hours but I really feel it. Especially towards the end of the week. I know I am going to crash probably around 4:00. My mind will just shut off and it will be a struggle to get the last bits accomplished. I’ve read articles that said years ago, working hours encompassed the entire day and early evening and few had days off. I have no clue how they handled it. Vitamins. Gotta use vitamins.