And we're back in ---5 ---4 ---

I've been on a cruise! And I have a new job at work! So .... dude, update thyself.

Well, it's been a not very quiet couple of weeks in Silver Spring. The admin staffer who supported our contracts department decided to leave the area and I was approached about taking over her job, which is a really cool job and includes fairly important work. (I won't describe it in detail, but let's just say that if I don't do my job well, people don't get paid and we don't collect money for work we've done. Both of which, as we all know, suck.) So, anyway, I said I would be delighted to take that postition and commenced learning that job, while doing my old one, while one admin staffer was on vacation, and after another had left the company. "May you train in interesting times..."

Here's a rough picture of how the job offer discussion went:

I was sitting at my desk one evening waiting for a phone call from Gaye about where/when we would be having dinner. I normally finish my work day around 5 and it was around 5:45. Mike (our CFO) stopped by my desk and said "When are you leaving? Oh, wait, you're probably leaving now. Never mind."

"No, it's okay, I'm waiting for a friend to call. What can I do for you?" (Clock watching is for people who never make personal phone calls or send personal e-mails from work. I am not one of those people.)

"Can you come down to my office for a few minutes?"

"Sure." (Said nice and casually. What I was thinking was "Why is Mike firing me? He's not my boss. Why isn't Laura firing me? I don't want to get fired. This sucks!!!") Then I realized why I couldn't find the shoes I had been hunting for. "Uhmm, is it okay if I'm not wearing any shoes? I left them at the at the front desk."

"No problem. Come on."

("Oh, my. He's going to fire me when I'm barefoot. That's just so wrong!") And I told him how whenever Jim catches me wandering around in my stockingfeet he always asks me doesn't the company pay me enough to buy shoes and how's it's a long-standing joke between us. You know, sort of whistling on my way to the scaffold.

So imagine my surprise when he offers me the job supporting the contracts department. It's a lateral move, but the company already pays me pretty darn well, so that's fine. I was pleased and flattered to be considered and they do interesting stuff. It meant that I was shifted from the admin department to the contracts department, so I will no longer do a bunch of stuff that I really enjoyed, like being Leta the Coffee Girl (I did actually enjoy this. Go figure.) or doing all of the supplies ordering (which I also enjoyed), but I get a very spiffy new computer and a much nicer desk and a cool group of folks to work with, so unless they decided to fire me while I was gone, I'm really enjoying the new job, even though I miss the old one. Our admin staff is a good team and I liked being a part of it. It's weird not knowing what's going on with them or sitting at the front desk for Tanya when she's on break, but I'll get used to it.

And, of course, one of the reasons why they wanted to get me in contracts is because it's pretty well known that I am always there. I'm almost never sick, I come in no matter what the weather, and - thanks to my mortgage - I no longer take-out-of-the-country vacations. So, naturally, Gaye's and my cruise was scheduled for my second full week in the Contracts Department.

"Cruise? What cruise?" I hear you cry. Why, the cruise that Gaye and I took to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. "Oh, that cruise." I'll update about that too, but not right now. (And, yes, I realize that Canada is, technically, out of the country. But not several-hours-on-a-plane, out of the country.)

Other exciting events since July 19th...

Brett and Cate and Charles moved back from England!! Hurrah, hurray!

Stacey had a birthday, so I took Stacey & John & Samantha & Charles & Cate to see "Schoolhouse Rock Live" at ESP, which was enormous fun. And I met Marty's daughter, Caitlyn, who has the same birthday Stacey does, so I introduced them.

I found a script that I like for "The Emperor's New Clothes" which means that Mary Ann can order scripts before the auditions (auditions: September 6 & 7, it'll be fun!).

And I'm about to spend two weeks remounting "Perfectly Good Airplanes" for the Stage's One Act Festival. (We go up August 19 - 21.) I'll have a couple of weeks after "Airplanes" closes and before "Emperor" auditions which I think I'll fill with seeing non-theater friends. And having a normal kind of life. Or as normal as I am llikely to have.

Coming soon --- more exciting updates! And travel pictures!