Update continued :)

Tuesday was Gaelic, and it was a riot as usual. I didn't ignore Billy like the previous two weeks. We chatted during break, and laughed at the shared jokes, same as always. It was nice.

He had offered to give me his old printer, because he got a new one with the new computer. This was a really REALLY nice thing to do, and I appreciated it very much. So after class, we walked outside together (very unusual) and he gave me the printer and a bag of goodies—toner, the drivers, and a CD he'd made filled with Silly Wizard tunes. It was a great present. He wished me a Happy Birthday, and I went on home.

When I got home and was opening up the bag, I noticed an envelope. With a card in it. I was astounded. It may not seem like such an astonishing thing to you, but I happen to know that he's never purchased a card before in his life. It was particularly lovely to know that he'd gone to the effort of finding me a birthday card. It was also nice, as it was the only card I got this year. (Except an AWESOME e-greeting from Christine, and a rather lame notecard from my mother.)

Again—I'm working my way through to not being so angry.

Wednesday was my birthday, and I was off work. I didn't have any serious plans during the day, and nothing really planned for the evening either. I had no cash, so there was no serious carousing being planned. Also, all my girlfriends are still either knocked up, or paired up. That leaves the pickings for 'going out' friends rather slim. Steven, bless him, invited me out for beer. We went to the gym together (and ignored one another the whole time—perfect!) and then out for drinks and nachos at Finbar's. It was a really nice evening. He is a good sport, because he was exhausted and did it on purpose so that I wouldn't be home by myself on my birthday. He's a good egg, that Steven.

I had a rather melancholy day for my birthday, but the evening was lovely—and I appreciate all of you stopping in to say hello. Mike's a lovely fellow, even if he's a bit demanding of his readership! ;) Thanks, Mike, it was great!

Thursday was a cheery day. I worked during the day, and it was nice to have the well-wishes from the folks at work. One of my departments got together and bought me a lovely cyclamen plant, and gave me a nice card. It was highly unexpected, as we tend to not do things like that at the store. With 200 people, it's important to not get into the endless cycle of gifting and guilt. But I appreciated the gesture VERY much.

Thirstday night, I went for drinks. Bill and I met at the pub, which seems to be a good way for us to get there. We always stand outside a bit too long, talking instead of getting into our respective cars, but it's still quicker than me dropping him off and us sitting in the parking lot for half an hour while we chat some more. It was a nice time, and only a little bit awkward. I think we're well on our way to being able to pull this off.

(Man, these last two updates are crazy long. It's almost as though I actually have a life!!!)

(One of these days, I'll actually be caught up, and you can then have a post about actual STUFF instead of just 'stuff I did this week'…won't that be exciting? Yeah, you're right…probably not.)

Friday? I was tired. I closed. I was beat. I had to rest up for last night. I stayed in, read my book, read some blogs, and did some dishes. An exciting Friday night, all around!

Last night was our pub crawl at work. Now, our company is rather conservative, and we do not officially endorse these events. We don't even let the folks put up a poster or indicate what the 'social function' is that's being planned. Can everyone say 'uptight'? I knew that you could.

I never 'GO' on the pub crawls. I DO manage to always bump into a whole lot of people that I work with when I'm downtown that night. I don't know how it happens that I end up at the same bars, at the same times that a herd of people in matching t-shirts shows up too…but it always works out that way. Boggles the mind, really. I never imbibe on the crawls though, because in addition to being uptight, we're a very political company, and I still want another promotion or three. I like to go, because I like being invited. I'm the only manager that gets invited, and I like that…makes me the cool one. I think it's kinda like being the 'cool parent'. Not necessarily the best thing, but it sure feels good. I also like to see who's making a complete ass of themselves, who's smooching whom, and who's going to call in sick tomorrow. I'm all evil like that.

The crawl turned out fairly small, about 40 shirts sold, and about half were 'friends' and not associates. I invited Steve to come with me, so that when I had to bail on the crawl, I'd still have somebody to hang out with. Also, I wouldn't look like such a loser standing there by myself at the bar. He invited Duffy, so it was going to be fun.

After work (I closed again) I changed quickly, and drove downtown to Duffy's. His girlfriend, two of their male friends, and one of their girlfriends came with us, so there were 7 of us altogether. Fun times. We got to the Pogue around 10:45pm, just as the crawlers were finishing up to move on to Bubble's Mansion. I saw a few friends, chatted, got some gossip, and then spent the rest of the night with Steve and Duffy's crowd. We had a great time. I didn't intend to drink, and I didn't. Good times though, the band was fantastic, and the group we were with was fun.

We stayed until the end (2-ish) then went for food. After that, I drove Steve home and went home myself. I then got online. Yes, I'm an idiot. I had to work this morning at 8, but got online at 4 am. Dumb, dumb, dumb. However, fun.

Anyway…that was my weekend so far. Except that work has been a rather long day, as I'm freaking EXHAUSTED. It serves me right, really. I'm a hundred and seventy-billion years old now, and I can't keep up like I could back when I was young (last week).

There's another 2.5 hours at work to get through. I should go to the gym after, but I think I'm going home instead to do laundry, vacuum, and NAP. I'm really learning to appreciate the art of the nap as I get older. When I was younger, mum would go off for a nap, and I couldn't understand it. I couldn't grasp how anyone could willingly take a chunk out of their waking hours and waste it on something as mundane as sleep. But now? Now I get it, because there comes a point every now and again where my body just ceases to function normally. My body goes into crisis shutdown mode, and things stop working. My thoughts are muddled, my hand-eye coordination is wonky, and even my ability to string together a cohesive sentence is impaired. (Yes, I know, some of you would argue I can't string together a sentence at the best of times—I agree!)

Anyway…that's it for this post.

The Copasetic Fish sent me some interview questions last week, so I'll likely try to reply to those later tonight. I didn't find them in my in-box until a couple of days ago, so I apologize for the delay. But doesn't anticipation make it that much more worthwhile? No? Fine then. Be that way. But until later? No answers for you!

Happy Sunday afternoon.