Tomorrow is my last day with my current company.  I have one boss who has decided to respond to my 2 weeks notice by completely ignoring me.  Not even looking me in the eye and directing any required answers (to my questions) to my sister.  Interesting.  And I have another boss who is sending me regular emails like this: PS, I’m going to miss you when you’re gone.  I wish you would stay.  :’’’’’’(    The third, he hasn't seemed to acknowledge or accept it at all in any way.  And the wife of the first one sent me an email saying she's still hoping her husband realizes his loss and convinces me to stay.

It should come as no surprise then that I have a big mix of feelings inside right now.  This has been a looooong couple ofmonths.  And no could describe it better than our good friend,

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way..."

Dickens, right?  ;)


LLF, I am going to miss you.  And I'm especially going to miss working with my sis.  It's been real.

LBL talking with Kristin:  "You are going to be very impressed by my perspicacity, my ability to see reality, something Katrina has.  She is very good at seeing reality.  Actually, that is not true.  Katrina, you are a bit in a fantasy world." 

I left the room laughing at that point...


WORD OF THE DAY AT LLF:  PERSPICACITY. 
This word has been brought to you by the letters L, B, and L and the color yellow.

[ When I asked LBL to repeat it just now, he responded, "You're an English major for God's sake, Katrina!" ]

On Monday, LBL took Kristin and I out to lunch and then decided we had to try this amazing smoked salmon he discovered at Pike Place Market. He was right! Incredible.  Truly.... sooo delicious! 

Not to mention, this is just evidence of how generous and sweet he can be.  After lunch, and coffee and treats, he insisted on walking over to the shop and buying us each a large piece of the salmon for us to eat "later."  He had it cut up and packed individually for each of us. 

Grateful for these fun memories from working at LLF.

One reason I love working downtown. :) 

After crepes, LBL took kristin and I to La Panier for coffee and treats. I enjoyed a pistachio macaroon and a delicious vanilla latte.

LBL reads The Scientific American Mind each month. This morning,

he left each of us tagged articles to read. This was mine. :)
(you can read the whole article by going to the page/tab above "Minds of Others")

He also left two packages of cupcake Baking Cups from Sur La Table on my desk. 

Said they were my Christmas present. (He knows I love that place!)

I almost forgot how kind he is when he gets back from Maui.
Here's to the happy month.
: )

I have worked here for a year and 3 months. And today is the first

time I have ever seen LBL wear real shoes.

His first comment to me: "Katrina, I LOVE your hair. You've changed."

Still at work. Yep.


Choosing to control my thoughts right now,
because they are screaming to go crazy.

LBL's lending me a movie, Spellbound.  A documentary on the National Spelling Bee competitors.  He didn't really give me a choice.  He just told me I need to borrow it, and he told me I have until Friday to watch it.  "And you ought to have friends over to watch it Katrina.  Put out some chips or snacks or something.  Don't people do that?"  "I don't think any of my friends could come over tonight or tomorrow to watch it."  "Do you have friends, Katrina?"  "No."  "Well that's me.  You're my only friend Katrina.  That's why I'm lending you this."  

And this is what we refer to as the constant game. ;)

I don't have a lot of "comforts" at work.  The comforts that our office supplies, are my responsibilities generally.  As in Latte Fridays, which trust me I enjoy, but I also get to print out the form, make sure everyone writes down what they want (which is more of a pain than it should be and I've come more and more to the point of just telling people what they want.  No one seems to mind this oddly enough), and make the run.  Or, I started ordering and stocking the break room and fridge with snacks and sodas.  Why I decided to start doing that, I don't know.  I don't even drink soda.  But there's no going back now.  All this to say, there is one thing I consider a great pleasure and joy at work, a responsibility of mine that I have taken to the inth degree and have discovered no one gets more comfort from than me.  The moose.  He's been a reindeer, donned a bikini on the first day of summer, been a Husky, a leprechaun with pretty blond braids, he's been Lars (one of the attorneys), he's been a sunbather on Kristin's desk with a good book and a very tall margarita (he was then left hungover on the floor behind my desk the next Monday), whatever the season or celebration the LLF moose is there.  He's become a staple item for our seasonal and holiday decorations and I've been plotting the past two days about what the Moose will be for Halloween.  I think I've figured it out.  LBL says no one will get it, because he doesn't get it.  I'm really quite excited. :)

Would you rather be sitting outside some cafe, or on a bench someplace on the West Bank, with your favorite coffee next to you, sometime in the fall or spring, in a sweater, reading a book... Or, on a beach someplace hot and beautiful in a bikini, reading a book..?  


 

This was the question of the day from LBL. We have a conversation similar to this once a week, where he tells me all about where I SHOULD be, and then gives me a handful of tapes and projects and emails.  : /  And then, I get to practice gratefulness for my life, and patience for the future. :)

I'm kind of antsy to go hike Granite now... thanks to a good 'ol chat with LBL accompanied by a roll of photos he took two weeks ago.  Anyone?? Up for a hike, perhaps next weekend? 

The conversation began something like this:

LBL: Yes, Katrina?
Me: Oh, just wanted to look out the windows. (His office is all windows and looks out at the mountains and the Sound - we'd been talking earlier this morning about how I have NO windows where I sit.)
LBL: Oh yes, it's important.
Me: It looks like it's going to storm! :)
LBL: What are you going to do this weekend Katrina?
Me: Oh, lots of things.  You wouldn't approve of my weekend plans. (He criticizes me for being too busy with things that are for other people.)
LBL:  What about boys? Are you going to meet any boys?
Me:  Mmm, nope.
LBL:  Oh well then it's all a waste! A waste, Katrina!
.....

This is real life.

"Morning Katrina, you look terrible. Like exhausted, are you hungover?"

"That's it, I'm driving to Kristin's. Want to come along?" (Kristin is home sick. Really. LBL can't accept that people really do get sick.)

"Katrina, I want you to call this client. He's at a funeral. His wife died. Tell him to head over to the office after. Katrina, business goes on. He won't answer, he's in the funeral."

"Katrina, next time you consider just taking off on a random roadtrip, do it. Here, I'll give you $200, no questions asked if you'll do it this weekend, just take off Saturday morning. [Pulls out his money clip.]

Staying home sick = not acceptable. Admitting that you almost took off and bailed on Thursday/Friday of work = Paid Awesomeness.

You best believe this is good stuff for a character one day. No one would suspect how true it all is.

...LBL explaining all the phone calls he made regarding his car rental cost and how he played around with the girl's head, who answered the phone at the car rental place.


LBL: "And look at this! __(name removed for protection)__, my favorite company.."
Kristin: "You mean your favorite company to sue."
LBL: "(smirk)They pay well on their suits."
Me: "You sued them, personally?"
Kristin: "Yes, he did."
Me: "What did you sew them for?"
LBL: "They hurt my feelings. Twice, when I picked up the car, it was dirty. I like to pick up a clean car. I like to feel like a top notch somebody. They made me feel bad about myself, so I sued them."


Another highlight from the conversation:
LBL: She didn't even offer me the discount until I asked. Then she gave me some A-A-A discount. I don't even know what that is, but I said, yeah, I got that."
Me: LBL, you mean "Triple A"?
LBL: American Arbitration Association?
Me: You knwo they are going to ask to see your Triple A card.
(Pretty sure he has the card, he's just playing games...as always. Still, it made us laugh."

"Katrina, WHERE have you been?"
"Sorry LBL, I was riding the elevators.  Did you realize they just go back up? and down? and up? and down? It's so fun, I just couldn't stop. Besides, you meet a lot of very interesting people.  You know, I don't need an online dating profile, I just need to ride more elevators. You know they have a job, because they're on their way there.  And you can see how they're dressed and what they look like."
"Alright ladies, you hear that? That's it! Let's step up the elevator traffic!"

[I know for a fact Kristin had told him I was stuck in the lobby because a smoke detector on the 23rd floor shut down all the elevators.]

"I haven't seen color on Katrina in over a week.  I'm concerned about you, Katrina. I'm concerned."  -LBL

Happy Tuesday (?)

 ...you seem so normal at times.

-LBL

"Katrina, I have to say, Ben, next door, totally has something for you... I lost my key card and told him you know, just call us when you have a new one and I'll come over and get it and he says, "Oh no, I'll just bring it over to Katrina."  He's just looking for pretenses to see you.  And there's nothing wrong with that Katrina. Nothing wrong with that."

Ben, next door, is gay. 
We've met his partner.  I keep telling LBL this.

Happy Monday.

I walked into the office to find this, I'm hoping it's no indication of my day. Kristin is out of the office today and LBL has already given me the, "That means you're going to have to pick up the slack today, Katrina." My favorite words.

Happy Monday my friends, I hope you had a beautiful weekend.

PS, non-soccer fan, sorry for the last 3 or 4 posts. And probably a few more to come (yay Semi-Finals!).