Friday 27 June 2014

I Need to Write the Dictionary

I've done it. It's happened. My life is complete. My name has become a noun.

At least, it has in my department. We have a new VP and when I asked my manager how her first meeting with him went, she replied "Ugh. I totally andread right in front of him."

Ha, ha, ha, ha, wait. What?


To andrea: make a fool of yourself in front of upper management.

My foray into the world of office-buffoonery started with an ill-timed f-bomb as the elevator doors opened to reveal our C.E.O. Whoops!


Then I made screaming noises and Chewbacca sounds in front of a project manager... twice... in the same day.


And I dribbled coffee down the front of my shirt saying hello to our C.F.O. before accidentally throwing a knife at him.


Those are just the first three incidents. I have - not on purpose despite my joking about it - pretty much said or done something stupid or silly in front of every upper manager in my office. It became a running joke at our weekly status meetings. "And what have you done to embarrass yourself this week, Andrea?"

Even some of upper management are in on the joke.

And now, my name has become a noun. I feel oddly proud about this.

Now, to go and andrea in front of the new VP...

Hey, I have a reputation to maintain!


(No, this post was not sponsored by Supernatural. I'm just catching up on Season 9 so...)

Question: Ever made a fool of yourself at work?

Thursday 26 June 2014

Well, That Didn't Go As Planned...

I was really excited to check my blog this morning to see if my scheduled post had gone up. What a disappointment when I saw that it hadn't.

This was pretty much my reaction... in part because I hadn't had my coffee yet.
I'm super-stabby before I get my cup of calming juice.
I scheduled it for July 25th. So despite the fact that it's been in use for over 500 years, the Gregorian calendar is apparently too challenging for me to use. Meh, I'll try again but in the meantime, it's been a busy week so let's talk about that instead.

First off, did you know that you can sprain your shoulder? It's one of those really obvious things that had just never occurred to me as a possibility. Second, did you know that you can do it opening a door? Because that really didn't occur to me. 

Go ahead, laugh. If the roles were reversed, I'd be yucking it up.
The downside is that I haven't been able to go to the gym this week because jumpy movements that don't directly affect my arm still make my shoulder hurt. At the rate of improvement, I should be back at the gym with a modified workout plan next week. The upside is that even once I'm back at the gym, it's going to be a little while before I can do burpees. Doctor's orders.

Pretty much! Except I can't do that with my left arm right now.
Also, push ups are off the list for a while. That I'm a little bummed about but I think I'll get over it because NO BURPEES!

I've been creative and artsy this week. 


I would like to credit my nail art with the reason both my teams won this week and moved on to the Round of 16. Yup, totally. All because of my nails. And if all that sports-talk sounds like gibberish to you, don't worry. Just know that I'm sitting at my computer doing this:


And the last big thing to happen this week (so far) is that my friend and I signed up for GISHWHES (Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen) because we're both crazy and weird. And awesome.

Mostly awesome.


Question: What have you done that's made you awesome this week?

Sunday 22 June 2014

Mid-June Catch Up

I had originally planned to take a trip to Ireland in the Fall instead of in the Spring. The only reason that didn't happen was because I have a work project that launches in the Fall and I knew that asking for time off would be like asking for furlough from prison.

Why, yes. I did binge watch Season 2 of Orange is the New Black this week.
I did that instead of writing blog posts.
It also means that returning home pretty much meant I had to hit the ground running with work. Time off between now and when this project finishes is going to be a precious, precious commodity. It also meant that after 7 hours staring at a computer screen writing, I've found it really hard to come home and write for fun. It's like being in university again, when you didn't read any 'fun' books because there were so many bloody textbooks you had to read. Also, the World Cup started so there goes a huge chunk of my weekends until July 13th.

New favourite goal keeper: Guillermo Ochoa from Mexico.
That man is the only reason Mexico tied with Brazil instead of losing.
But it hasn't all been work, eat, sleep since I got home. I spent a day volunteering for the UrbaCity Challenge with my friend. We ran the challenge station at the beach volleyball courts on the roof of the Sticky Wicket pub. Six hours spent running around in the sand, laughing with the challenge participants, and raising funds for the Prostate Centre in the lead up to Father's Day and all I got was a lousy shirt, a farmer's tan, and this awesome picture from our set up.

We're ready to rock this station!
I will definitely be volunteering next year, I'm just sad that my partner-in-crime will be off on mat leave. If you're in the Victoria area next June, I strongly encourage you to get a buddy and compete next year. (And say 'hi' if you make it to my station. I gladly hand out free high-fives to participants.)

I tried Crossfit for the first time... and the second time... in the same day... in fact, in the same hour... because my trainer is evil. I did not care for it. (Luckily, my trainer doesn't either.) This pretty much sums up my opinion:


I spent an awesome Thursday night with friends drinking beer for charity (no, really) before taking a dry erase to a certain store front in the name of the World Cup. I was at that same store the next day watching Switzerland lose to France... badly. The upside to watching this happen with them? I got a consolation macaron with every goal France scored. It made up for losing the bet to them on the game.

Like the rest of the known Geek Realm, I watched the season finale of Game of Thrones. I understand why a certain character wasn't shown in the season finale (especially given how much is going on) but said character better still be included in season five. I also did that quiz and ended up with my Game of Thrones name.

I'll take it!
The highlight of the past few weeks, however, was eavesdropping on the conspiracy-fuelled coffee shop conversation of a Putin-supporting, capitalist-loving but corporation-hating, Chavez-defending, anti-media spouting, global-warming-denying, devout Catholic. Seriously. I half expected someone to jump out and shout "Surprise. You're on Candid Camera!" Sadly, it did not happen.

All-in-all, not a bad June.

And I have a few posts actually scheduled for this week so you won't have to wait so long to hear from me again!

Question: Anyone else following the World Cup? Who are you supporting? Favourite moment so far?