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April 29, 2005
Women of Athena
Well I've been so busy here, running around taking care of last minute details. At night I've been pretty busy too! On Wednesday night, I went over to Steph and James's house for a cheeseburger barbaque! James has a special sauce that he made for the burgers (which was delicious) and special french fries dip! It was so yummy!!! And really good to see Steph one last time before I leave.
Last night, Janet and I went over to Shelly and Jamie's for a steak BBQ! WOW! It was really reallly reallly great steak. Probably the best steak I've had in Texas so far. We had corn on the cob, steam on the grill, and bread! Yummmmyyy...I'm hungry just thinking about it. Anyway, we consumed lots of wine, and spent the evening belly dancing, salsa dancing, and swing dancing...oh yeah, and Irish dancing (yes, I tried all 4 but I am not very good.) Janet had the belly dancing award!!! SHe was awesome and Shelly let her use the special belt so she made tons of noise when she danced! It was really cool. I called Seymen twice so he could hear how cool it sounded :-) Poor Jamie konked out on us a little bit later in the night. Sooo...once he left, the real fun began. Shelly pulled out her really pretty italian Tarot cards, and we read each one of our cards.
The most amazing and ironic part about our card readings, is that for all three of us, we all had the Queen of Swords (Athena) in the same spot...for the near to immediate future. It was very interesting and very powerful! I definitely believe it is a sign of something about the three of us!!!
Anyway, I have to go now. It's time to pack up the good ole computer and bring it over to Jennifers. I'll write again soon before we leave, or during the road trip! Seymen's coming in tonight!!! I can't believe it's already here. CRAZYYYYY.
Posted by beth at 11:19 AM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2005
In the way?
Hi...I'm sitting here in my apartment and the movers are here packing up all my stuff into the HUGE truck :-) I feel pretty useless, as I'm just sitting here staring at them when they carry everything around...
But anyway, off that subject. I had a fun surprise last night. I received a call from Christian telling me that he and Sun are in Austin, and come to find out, they are staying 1 exit away from my apartment. At the Hilton on Duval! I was so excited! So we met for dinner with another Fuji guy--who is based here in Austin, at Texas Land and Cattle. It was a fun evening, full of Fuji business talk. It really reminded me of being home with Seymen and my dad :-) So we met again for breakfast this morning at 6:30AM, and I left at 7:15 to be in time for the moving company...which showed up promptly at 8. (major points for Graebel Moving Company) I may meet Christian and Sun for lunch too, at the Chuy's down south, depending on how long it takes for the movers to finish...but at the rate they are working it shouldn't be long. By the time the guy finished taking inventory, the other guy had all the boxes downstairs in the truck! I am impressed :-)
Anyway...I'm just sitting here trying to use up some time so I don't get in their way. Maybe I'll go sit on the porch.
Posted by beth at 09:23 AM | Comments (0)
April 24, 2005
The Great Plant Napping Incident
Do you remember a few postings back, when I wrote about the Practical Joke Day? Well Steph sent me her accounts of the day, told from her perspective. I just finished reading the e-mail. I was cracking up all over again. Laughing out loud in my empty apartment that's all echo-ey. Anyway, you have to read it from Steph's point of view...I just have to say...maaaaaaaaaaaaan am I EVER going to miss my little Development Team at Guaranty Bank. Although my time here in Texas was short, it was FUN filled with great memories, and great people, whom I hope to stay friends with FOREVER. I should also mention, that I added a picture album of the going away present that they made me. The actual labor credit needs to go to Steph for making the book for me over three nights last week. I think you'll see how close mine and Steph's relationship is once you read her account of the Joke on Beth Day.
The Great Plant Napping Incident
By: Stephanie Schwerdtfeger
Hi Beth,
I've finally written my side of the story....for your reading enjoyment.
Here is my account of what happened in the “Great Plant-napping Incident.”
Friday morning I returned to work after being out of the office for a day and a half. As I walk up to my cube I notice that Beth is particularly attentive and has a huge smile on her face, something that is a little unusual for her at 7:15 in the morning. We chat for a little bit as I turn my computer on and get settled in. As I bend to put my purse in the usual file cabinet drawer, I discover that the drawers have been turned around. I look at Beth and she giggles like a girl caught playing in her mother’s make-up. I get my early morning muscle wake-up turning them around. In the meantime, Beth tells me that they also unplugged my power strip but she felt guilty and plugged it back in before I got in. I thanked her and we chatted awhile longer.
About 9:30, Jeff asks me if I want to go to the call center with him to get a donut from Gail. A donut sounds good so we head off. We are gone about 30 minutes and when I return there is an inner-office envelope on my desk. I don’t receive mail often so I get a little excited. I pull the contents from the envelope and discover that it is a ransom note and the my beloved plant, Fred, has been plant-napped in my absence. Up until that moment I had not noticed he was gone, what kind of mom am I?
The note tells me to fold a sign that says “I’m a fire-starter” and place it on my cabinet where Fred used to sit for all to see. I comply all the while looking at Beth. She is giving herself away, trying to look innocent and act concerned. I know she is responsible as she tries to hide a laugh behind her hand. I confront her and she denies it, saying that Jeff took my plant. I know better than that because Jeff wouldn’t touch my plant for fear of losing all his plants again.
I share the note with Jeff and then walk to the water cooler for some
water. I return to find another envelope on my desk. Through the holes in the envelope I notice the type telling me that this is my second ransom note. I set it aside and start working on a few things. In my rear-view mirror, I can see Beth watching me out of the corner of her eye, trying to be nonchalant. At that moment I decide that the silent treatment is in order. I know she cannot take the pressure and will break down. I’m beating it will be before lunch. I get busy with the tasks at hand and almost forget about the note as it gets buried under a stack of papers. About an hour later I have worked through the stack and the note resurfaces. I wait until Beth goes on break I and open the note. It tells me to write “Steph and Plant Forever” on my white board. I don’t like this note so much so I tuck it away.
Lunchtime is approaching and I am getting a little frustrated because I’m starting to wonder if Jeff really is the culprit, and if he is, my brain starts thinking about what I can do to get back at him. I’m heading out of the office for lunch so I decide to wait until everyone is gone to start the search for Fred. I know he can’t be far. I’m a little surprised that my silent treatment hasn’t drawn Beth to confession (come to find out Jeff was telling her to suck it up and be strong). Everyone heads to the cafeteria and I sneak over to Cheryl’s cube to grab the key to the storage room. Fred is big as far as office plants go so I figured they’d have to hide him someplace out of the line of sight. I came up empty handed and while coming out of the storage room, I am caught by Jeff. He doesn’t seem to know what I’m doing in there but asks me if I’m mad. “Mad,” I ask, “why would I be mad that you all took and hid a plant that one of my closest co-workers gave to me, a plant that means a lot to me?”
Jeff’s eyes get wide and I realize I’m being a little harsh. No I’m not mad I reassure him. He then tells me that Beth thinks I’m mad at her and it is eating her up.
Well, at this point I clue in and realize that my plant is in Ben
Anderson’s cube. I discuss with Jeff the prospect of turning this thing
around and getting Beth back but I don’t want to just take the plant
because that is too obvious. He suggests that we get Ben involved and we head down the hall to turn the tables. I ask Ben if he has ever seen Jaime Kennedy and tell him that I want to prank the prankster. He sends an email to Jeff and Beth asking them if they have already returned my plant. Short, sweet and loaded with possibilities. We move all of the plants out of Ben’s cube to make it look like the plant people cleaned house and I head to lunch, snickering to myself that Beth has no idea what awaits her.
Lunch is good and I pick up another prank device that will come into play later in the story. I return to the office and look down the hall to see one of my co-workers coming from Ben’s area with a red face and I know that the fun has already begun. Someone (I think it was Jeff) approaches my cube and tells me that Beth is “freaking out” because she thinks my plant is missing. Cool, I think, this is going to be better than I had hoped. Then he informs me that she has even made a trip to facilities to report the missing plant so they would start looking for it. At that moment, the entire thing looses its humor because I keep thinking that we are going to be in so much trouble when they find it tucked only two cubes away.
We notice that Beth is coming so we sit down at our desks and pretend to work. Beth comes to her desk and doesn’t say a word to me. Suddenly I start to get emails. Jeff is blind-copying me so that I can see just how much this is eating at Beth. She wants to tell me but doesn’t know how. Then Jeff asks me when I’m going to ask for my plant back so I send an email to both of them. It says: “I know you two took my plant and it makes me very sad because he was just an innocent bystander. When am I going to get him back?” I think this is the last straw and Beth sends a few more emails to Jeff telling him that she wants us to go outside so she can tell me. She doesn’t know what she is going to say but she is willing to take the heat, as long as Jeff is there to support her. What does Jeff say? Okay, good idea in case she makes a scene. Gee, what type of person does he think I am?
So Beth sends an email asking if we can go outside. At this point I’m
having a hard time keeping a straight face so I ask for a minute to go to the restroom, for one final good laugh. Before heading back to my cube I go to find an empty conference room and try to call Jeff. He isn’t at his desk so I head back and spot him around the corner. We have an impromptu meeting hidden behind a pole and I ask him when he thinks we should tell Beth. He suggests that we let her confess and see where it goes from there. I agree and he calmly walks off, clearing me before disappearing around a corner. The whole thing almost feels like a scene out of Alias and for a minute I feel like a super-sleuth.
The three of us head outside, Jeff and I chat some but Beth is solemn,
straight-faced and silent. Whoa, I think, this is getting really hard on her, should I break the news now. I decide to wait for a better moment. Beth starts out by saying that she wanted to play one more prank on me before she left but she regretted it now because it went wrong and my plant was missing! She then tears up and says that she understands if I am mad and don’t want to be her friend and she’ll buy me a new plant if the other one isn’t found. I look at Jeff, who is as shocked as I am to see that Beth is actually crying! Stop it Beth, I want to scream, but I try to stay calm. I tell her that I don’t hate her and that she is still my friend, it is, after all, just a plant. Meanwhile, my mind is racing and I wonder how we are going to get ourselves out of this without hurting Beth, or worse yet, making her hate us.
She sheds a few more tears and I reassure her that she is still my friend. She gives me a hug and Jeff looks at me like I am the most horrible person on the face of the earth. Thanks Jeff.
We head back inside and Jeff offers to go to Ben’s cube and check for the plant one more time. He appears a few minutes later announcing, “look what I found.” Beth is overjoyed and jumps up. At that minute I loose it. Everyone starts to gather and Beth says “what’s going on.” Then she sees my face and the realization sets in. You knew about this didn’t you, she says. I shake my head and ask her if she is able to forgive me and still be my friend. She starts to cry and laugh all at the same time and I keep asking her if she is okay. She assures me that she is and she doesn’t hate me. “That was really good,” she says and she confesses that she is crying because she is so relieved that the plant isn’t really missing.
Then the whole story comes out. I confess that a little bird clued me in to where the plant was and they begin to tell me about Beth’s frantic search for the plant. How she rushes to facilities while Jeff drags his feet saying that the stress has made him need to use the restroom. She can’t believe how he can be so calm when they have such a crisis on their hands. Jeff shares how Beth tried to describe the plant for the lady in facilities, using gestures and vague descriptions, how the lady looked at Beth with an expression that said “can she be serious,” and how Beth told her it was very important that the plant was found.
Beth shared that she wanted to crack before lunch but Jeff kept telling her to be strong and then she said that he was going to let her take all the heat for it. Jeff cut in to tell her that he had been blind-copying me on all the emails and that at one point he looked over and saw me laughing so hard my face was red.
Come to find out, Beth was so torn up about taking my plant that she
worried about it all through lunch and everyone finally just told her to give it back. As all the pieces started coming together, the story became more and more funny. After we all had a good laugh, Beth gave me the remaining 3 ransom notes and I told her that she did a really good job planning the prank. Come to find out, Jeff almost jumped ship while they were planning it just because he could see it coming back on him. No wonder he jumped ship so fast! Later, while Beth was writing about it in her blog, I kept glancing over to find her with her face down on her desk, just laughing at the humor of it all.
This is definitely one prank we won’t soon forget…The great plant-napping incident. All I can say is New York better watch out. After 9 months in Texas, Beth will be a force to be reckoned with.
But the day’s festivities did not end there (though I’m sure poor Beth
wishes they had). While she went out for a second break after the air had cleared, I pulled out the prank device I had gotten at lunch…a
remote-controlled fart machine. I was sure that Beth couldn’t handle much more torture and was going to wait until Monday but Jeff convinced me that we needed to do it as the grand finale, so I planted the machine behind the file cabinet right under where her computer sits on the desk. That was after Kristina, Jeff, Vicki and I laughed so hard that Vicki was actually crying.
So it is planted and I am trying to stay cool, all the while envisioning what Beth’s face is going to look like the first time she hears the machine fart. Kristina asks me to wait until she returns from her meeting so we have about an hour and a half to calm down. Finally Kristina comes back and Shelly is in her cube talking about the meeting. This is a perfect opportunity, I realize, so I hide the remote in my lap and send Jeff an email that says “Are you ready for this…I think this is going to be the end of me.” As Shelly walks by the cube I push the button and the machine lets one rip, a nice loud one. I’m watching for Beth’s reaction in my mirror and Shelly stops and turns around, an astounded look on her face. I think Beth was just going to play it off until Shelly questioned her. At that moment, Beth rips her head phones off and says “that wasn’t me, I didn’t fart.” She proceeds to blame her chair, her shoes and even the box under her desk. Shelly gives her the knowing, sympathetic look and goes to her cube.
I am facing my computer laughing so hard, silently of course, that my
shoulders are shaking. Beth gets up and I stand to look at Jeff who is
equally amused by the whole thing. Then we hear Beth over in Shelly’s cube. What is she doing, well, we conclude that she is trying to convince herself that she didn’t fart.
Jeff sends me an email telling me to do it again when he walks by and I
tell him that I need a few minutes to breathe. He doesn’t give me long and he walks by. My timing is perfect and the machine sounds again. At this point I know Beth is thinking that the machine doesn’t sound like a real fart but she still has no idea what is going on. She offers to try to fart just to convince us that it isn’t her, but we all turn down her offer.
Beth follows Jeff to his desk and begins to search his hands for the
culprit. He is only holding a paper clip. Kristina is next and she raises her hands telling Beth that she has nothing to do with it. She hits the magic mark and the machine goes off. Someone screams and Beth bolts out of her cube. She begins to look in the plant and walk back and forth trying to trigger the thing. She lifts her hands, walks slow, walks fast and keeps asking us what is going on.
Finally we give in and Jeff pushes the button until she finds the machine under her desk. The day was over for us and no work was going to get done from that point on.
It was such a pleasure to work with Beth. She is such a good sport! I think there are a few lessons she has learned in her time with us. One, fart machines don’t sound like real farts. And two, if you are gullible, you will be on the receiving end of many pranks :) Thanks Beth, for all of the fun memories. I will miss you!
Posted by beth at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)
April 22, 2005
Last Day @ GB
Well the day finally arrived. It's my last day. We just had a cube gathering, and the team gave me my going away present. It was so sweet, I of course started to cry. :-) But Stephanie made a little mini scrapbook for me with my memories from Guaranty Bank and Texas. Everyone wrote a little note about what they will miss about me :-) It was so sweet, and she did an EXCELLENT job on it!!! There's one picture where Janet, Steph and I were posing in the garage for our last Charlie's Angel's pose. She cleaned it up and changed the background and it looks SOOOOOOOOOOO REAL!!! :-)
Anyway, I have to go because I have actual work to do right now...and I'm VERY happy because I started it at 8AM and I'm still working on it. (That is a very good sign)...I will have to start packing up my desk after lunch...
Oh yeah, and my celebratory going away lunch...is at our favorite team lunch spot: Central Market :-) So I can have my hamburger and french fries :-)
Posted by beth at 12:01 PM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2005
Confessions of an Impulse Buyer
I have to make a confession...Janet and I went to the mall today for lunch. Going in, we were planning on just browsing. My great idea of the day, was to go to Nordstrom’s and just smell the perfumes so I could find the mystery scent that I was planning on saving to buy...or maybe ask for, for my birthday...Well, we got there asked the sales guy if we could just smell all the Chanel perfumes, since I couldn't remember the name. Well low and behold, the first scent that he gave us a sample of was Chanel Chance. That was the ONE! Tracy and one of the women at work: Deb --she's the manager of the call center, both wear this scent. I almost attacked Deb one day in the hallway to find out what perfume it was :-) She of course told me, but I had forgotten.
Anyway, back to Nordstrom’s...We were at the counter, and I of course asked the age old question: "How much for the small one?" Well, I went back and forth between the small bottle, the small bottle with accessories bag, and the medium bottle...But a small voice inside my head said: "Beth...You are not supposed to even be buying ANY bottles of perfume...so if you are intent on wasting your money, at least just buy the SMALL BOTTLE!"
So, that's what I did...and now of course I have the feeling of buyer’s remorse (or is that Guilt?). Anyway, I was going to write Seymen an e-mail and confess to him about my impulse buy, but he's not answering my e-mail...so maybe, by the time I get out of work I'll have forgotten my guilt, or forgotten my purchase all together and not have to confess :-)
Posted by beth at 01:47 PM | Comments (0)
April 18, 2005
Progress Has Been Made!
Well I've finished packing! Yesterday after Spa day with Tracy, I spent the rest of the evening packing away. I have about 20 boxes all together. Seymen will be happy to know that I have made sure my car is NOT as full as it was when I drove out to Texas with Tori.
Anyway, the activities list keeps growing...This weekend, is another Friday night happy hour. Saturday Janet, Shelly, Jamie, maybe Jennifer and Li-Wei, and anyone else we can think of to invite, we are going to Pedernales Falls right outside Johnson City, Texas! It's going to be wonderful. The weather forecast says that it is going to be 87 degrees and partly cloudy! Perfect weather for laying in the sun and floating in the water.
Let's see...I'm going to stay at Jennifer and Li-Wei's house for a week the next Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday (maybe Monday...that's when Jennifer wants me to come :-) after the moving company comes and takes my furniture away...and then my new roommate SHOULD arrive from London Thursday night. Seymen arrives Friday night! Saturday (no plans...YET...but possibly a cook out with Tracy and Ozan) and Sunday Seymen and I head out towards Memphis.
We have all our hotels reserved and ready...On Sunday night we're going to stay at the Ramada Limited in Memphis...and Monday night The Drake Hotel in Chicago. We are also supposed to see Vir while we're in Chicago. Hopefully that will work out...since I haven't seen him since we graduated from RIT!
Anyway. I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks. It'll be great to have a 2-week break from work, and visiting with all my new friends in Texas and old friends in and on the way to Rochester :-) But I have to say...I CAN'T WAIT TO GET HOME! :-) I miss New York :-))
Posted by beth at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
April 16, 2005
Adventures with Janet
Wow! I'm BEAT!!! Janet and I had a whirlwind day of activities and adventures. We started out at about 10:30AM, and drove down to Fredericksburg. We stopped briefly for a yummy German lunch! (Potatoes Soup and Cornbread as big as my FACE!) Afterwards, we quickly pushed on to Enchanted Rock. After hiking to the top in a record breaking 30 minutes, we found our way down and headed out again to Dripping Springs. On the way, we stopped in Johnson City to get a drink/moo-latté. While we were there, we ran into a guy with a BMW Z8. (What happened to the Z5? Z5? Z7??) Anyway, he had New York plates so I felt a special kinship with him. Janet thought it was a sign that we should hop into his car and finish our adventure in that ;-) A little further down the road, he zoomed past us. I tried to push Freedom as far as her little engine would go, but we just couldn't catch up. But we did a lot of whooping and I yelled to him that I was from NY too!!! :-)
Anyway, we made it in perfect time to Dripping Springs for their Founders Day Festival! It was so cute! Totally Texas! Smokers and BBQers going, beer, little kids in cowboy hats, men in cowboy hats, BBQed corn on the cob! Shiner Bock Beer in a Can! :-) It was awesome. We met up with Shelly and her boyfriend Jamie and their friends to watch their OTHER friend's Bluegrass Band -- The Leaky Faucets (Do you see a theme here with the water?)
Anyway, they were excellent and we had a great time baking in the sun. After a walk down main street, checking out all the goodies at the tents we headed back to Austin...I have now showered and put on my comfy PJs. I am totally exhausted and ready to lay back and absorb myself in TV.
Tomorrow morning Tracy and I have Spa day at Halina. I am psyched for that and was scheduled perfectly after such a "grueling day of activity". OK...gotta go...The TBS moving is getting good now! :-)
Posted by beth at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)
April 15, 2005
Practical Joke Friday
So...remember yesterday when I wrote about Jeff and I playing a practical joke on Steph? Well we went through with it last night. Jeff took her plant to Ben's cube down the hall and we left it there. We then made interoffice ransom notes. This morning I dropped off the first note when she wasn't at her desk. A little bit later I put the 2nd one down...but I started getting nervous. She was really quiet this morning, and wouldn't turn around and talk to me randomly. I started e-mailing Jeff telling him I wanted to put the plant back because I thought that Steph was mad:
To: Haas, Jeff
Subject: I think...
I think she's mad at us...I feel really guilty now :-((((
To: Brownstein, Beth
Subject: RE: I think...
Don't fall for it...suck it up! Don't crack on me now!!! She's bluffing!!!
To: Haas, Jeff
Subject: RE: I think...
....I don't know dude....the feeling of guilt is eating me up on the inside...
To: Brownstein, Beth
Subject: RE: I think...
I'm serious...you're so close to pulling off a prank...don't ruin it...you'll regret it and never forgive yourself!!!! This is a learning experience...eye of the tiger!!!
To: Haas, Jeff
Subject: RE: I think...
OKKK...if you say so...but then you have to promise to still be my friend when Stephanie erases me from her list of friends...
To: Brownstein, Beth
Subject: RE: I think...
I'm there for you, now get back into character! Remember, you're down on your luck and you really need the ransom from this plant-napping in order to pay for an operation that could save your dying puppy's life!!!! You've got no time for sympathy here!!!
To: Haas, Jeff
Subject: RE: I think...
Ok...Ok..I"m pumped...I have to save little golden retriever Sultie (that's my "imaginary puppy's" name)
To: Brownstein, Beth
Subject: RE: I think...
There ya go...that's the Beth I know!!!!
So anyway, I made it through lunch. I spent the entire lunch telling everyone how I knew Steph was mad at me, and I wanted to put the plant back. Jeff finally relented and told me to go ahead and put it back if I need to. When we returned lunch, Ben e-mailed us asking if we had already came and got Steph's plant. We ran over there and it was GONEEE!!! Ben said that facilities must have come during lunch and taken it away...
Well Jeff and I started freaking out. I felt so bad and so guilty. Ben said that we should go check on the 1st floor by HR, so I dragged Jeff down the hall trying to find the plant! He was dragging his feet and at one point, he stopped in the hallway and goes: "This is too much pressure..I have to pee" so we had to take a bathroom break. Anyway, we finally made it to facilities. We spoke to the woman there...she asked me to describe the plant...I was like: "Well it is about this high, and green...leaves this big, and it's in a black pot." Anyway, she took my number and promised to try to track it down.
We went upstairs, berating ourselves, feeling guilty. We decided that we needed to tell Steph. I was so worried that she'd hate me, and no longer be my friend. Then she came back from lunch, and I couldn't look at her...and Jeff was e-mailing me asking me how I was going to do this. (Yes, he was blaming it all on me)...so we finally agreed to take her outside and I'd do the talking, take all the responsibility and he just needed to apologize. So we all went outside. I told Steph what happened, and apologized, and started crying a little bit. But she was so nice. She said that it was Ok, it's just a plant, that she'd just tell her friend that gave it to her that she lost the plant. I felt so guilty, and offered to buy her a new one. But she promised that she wasn't mad and we were still friends.
So we went inside, me feeling so guilty and bad. I started writing a blog entry titled: Eating Crow. Why Beth is the most horrible person in the whole world. Oh here's the e-mail I sent to Seymen:
To Seymen
Subject: In Big Trouble
I'm in BIGGGGGGGGG trouble...You know that practical joke I told you that we played on Steph?
Yeah, well it back fired BIG TIMEEEEE!!! We put the plant in Ben's cube, and after lunch we went to go get it and bring it back to Steph...Well as it just so happens, ben wrote us an e-mail and told us that someone from Facilities came during lunch and took the plants. INCLUDING STEPH's plant!!! And now it's MISSING!!! And now I feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. She's totally going to hate me. COMPLETELY!!! I feel so guiltyyyyyyyyyy! And Jeff is trying to blame it on me so he doesn't get in trouble...
So we went to Facilities to see if they could find it and bring it back to us.
I'm so horrible! And I think that Steph was not so happy with the joke in the first place. :-(((((((
So I'm sitting here, feeling horrible, on the verge of tears...and suddenly, Ben and Jeff come down the hall with the plant! I was so relieved! I was like PHEWWWWWW!!!! WHEERE DID YOU FIND IT!!!! And then I noticed that everyone was being suspicious...The whole team had gathered around my cube, and Steph was not overly relieved to have her plant back! At this point, the TRUTH started spilling out. Steph had found the plant earlier in the morning, and plotted with Jeff and Ben to turn the prank around. They hid the plant, and supposedly everyone was in on it. Jeff had to follow me to make sure I didn't get us into trouble, and after my conversation with facilities, he went to Ben's desk and called her to tell her that it was fine, we had found the plant. That's why he was dragging his feet when we were trying to find the plant.
Well I was just so relieved and surprised that the joke had been turned on me, that I just cried and laughed, which made everyone laugh even harder. Steph and Jeff were feeling so guilty because I felt so bad and started tearing up when telling Steph the truth. Anyway, it was an excellent joke. Even Kristina our boss was in on it. Now everyone is just laughing and snickering.
So...that's the big drama at Guaranty Bank Training Development Department. Words of wisdom: 1. Don't mess with Steph. She's the ultimate prankster 2. Don't EVER...I mean EVERRRRRRRR align yourself as an ally of Jeff. He jumps ship so fast!!!
Posted by beth at 02:32 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2005
Enchanted Rock!
It's almost time for the weekend again!!! Yipppeee!! The good news is that I had a huge load of boxes dropped off at my apartment last night. I packed another three boxes last night and took out 3 garbage bags this morning! Now the only rooms I have left are the bathroom, kitchen dishes/cups, all my clothes and shoes, and living room decorations, ohh yeah and all my DVDs. It's not so bad. I think maybe 5 more boxes should cover it all...for a grand total of 13 boxes!!
Anyway, since I've been so productive I'm rewarding myself to a fun fill weekend! :-) Friday is my "Going-Away Happy Hour" at the Hula Hut. It's right on Lake Austin, which will be really pretty. It seems pretty fitting to have it there because that's where I went out for the first time with my Salsa friend Alex, and then again with Jennifer. :-)
Janet and I decided that this weekend is going to be outdoor exploration weekend! We're going to Fredricksburg, TX and the Enchanted Rock on Saturday for a day trip. Sunday Tracy and I are doing Spa day at Halina. (Many thanks to Seymen for the Valentine's day gift that covers both Tracy and I!!!)
Rumor has it that Maki MIGHT come next weekend (the 22nd) to help me out. (I think Seymen is worried because I've been kind of freaking out...so he wants to send Maki to the rescue ;-) But that'll be awesome if she comes because I miss her so much...and last night she called me up and told me that she NEEDS ME NOW. I need to come home RIGHT NOW because she REALLY NEEDS Me!!! Awww...poor Maki. :-) Anyway, hopefully she can come. They are going to try priceline tonight...and hopefully she can get Saturday night off from Shiki.
Anyway...today is a crappy day at work. Stephanie is in San Antonio observing at a banking center, Shelly is in California piloting her course...So it's pretty quiet here...All my work is in review or at Reprographics being created...so I have a ton of down time. Jeff and I are planning the ultimate prank for Steph...one last BIG BANG before I leave :-) It's good...but I can't tell you about it yet in case she reads this ;-)
Posted by beth at 10:16 AM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2005
Torn...
Well I was very productive last night. I packed 5 boxes. Then I proceeded to have a panic attack about leaving, and packing. Poor Seymen had to sit on the phone with me listening to it :-) But it worked out for the best because he checked out of my panic attack and did his taxes online, and then I hung up because I was falling asleep.
Anyway...I'm supposed to get another supply of boxes from my moving company lady today. Which is good because my apartment is now a disaster. I have my kitchen pretty well packed, except for my dishes and cups. My plan is to live on Hot Pockets and cheese-its for the next two weeks...and maybe an occasional dinner at Tuscany. I think I'll feel better when I have more boxes to pack stuff in, but last night I started looking around realizing how much STUFF I have. And most of it UNNECESSARY! Why didn't I listen to Seymen when I moved here, and took only BARE NECESSITIES!??! Oh well :-) Not much I can do now.
Posted by beth at 10:21 AM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2005
Calender Quote
Stephanie gave me a calender quote today, that we thought suited me nicely:
A romantic is a person who appreciates and seeks after rich and varied experiences.
That's pretty nice huh? :-)
Posted by beth at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
April 11, 2005
Back to Reality
Hi! Well I'm back from my weekend spring break with Merrick! We had a good time :-) Probably spent more time driving there than we actually did at South Padre, but worth it to be on the beach and laying by the pool. I even had a little patch of sunburn on my back where I guess I missed when lathering up with sunblock. Anyway, it was an adventure. We leave San Antonio at 5:30 AM and arrived in South Padre at 10:30. It was so windy I thought we were having a hurricane! But the sun was shining and we had a fun fill water day. At night we went to this club/bar thing. The best thing about Texas is that they play country music in the bars/clubs. Although it was pretty deserted along with the rest of the island, we drank coronas and listen to country music. My mission was to be wing-man for Merrick. I was supposed to talk to the girls and get him hooked up ;-) I think I failed at the job, but then again it was my first opportunity to be wing-man so who knows :-) Anyway, I made it back to Austin around 3:30pm on Sunday. Exhausted, I spent the rest of the day finishing this book that I started over the weekend. It was kind of scary so I talked to Seymen in between his conference calls (Yeah, I know how does that work? COnference calls at 11:00PM-12:00AM on a sunday night? He's such a dedicated person) and talked for an hour to Eric in Tuscan. We made "tentative" plans for mine and Seymen's 2nd annual trip to La Paloma Spa and Resort in Tuscan during 4th of July.
My day at work today actually flew by pretty quickly. Usually we (our whole team because we usually eat together every day) can't make it untill 11:00AM for lunch, but today it was 12:00 and we still hadn't even asked what was happening. Janet and I decided to break out of the bank and go to the mall for lunch. After work I went and had girls night with Liz. It is so nice to have awesome girl friends. We just sat, drank wine, talked about life, ate dinner and then headed to Marble Slab for ice cream. I'm really going to miss girls night. But she and her husband Jason promise to come out to Rochester to visit.
We also had some really good news on our team for Stephanie! She was promoted today to instructional designer 2!!! This is very exciting for her because she has worked her butt off since we started and totally deserves it. She and I started working on the same day at GB, and as our time shortens together, the sadder we get. Our practical jokes on Jeff have been increasing as my time at GB come closer to ending. We made plans for my "going away happy hour" today. This friday is going to be the day, since Jeff will be out of town next week on my actual last day.
Sooo...all I really have left to do is pack up my stuff. Last night Seymen and I got into a conversation about how many pairs of shoes I'm allowed to bring in the car with me. We have compromised on 3.5 pairs. (Don't ask about the .5...it's just the principle of the fact that he can't get EVERYTHING he wants...Sometime I have just put my little foot down :-) Anyway, that decided...now I have the delima of deciding...WHICH THREE.5 PAIRS?!?!!? Ohhh the agony!! I can't decide! And they have to be good choices because I'll be without all the rest of my 50 million pairs of shoes for at least 2-3 weeks!!!
Anyway, it's now past my bedtime. I will write again soon...but keep praying for me to make the right decision about what shoes to wear!! (Little does Seymen know, that my shoe collection has doubled in size since the last time he came to visit Texas...He really doesn't understand the full weight of the decisions that I have to make very shortly. If he only understood that I have so many pairs of CUTE shoes he'd never make me suffer like this...OK...Enough about my shoes.) Goodnight!
Posted by beth at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
April 07, 2005
Mini Spring Break!
Merrick and I are going on a mini-spring break together this weekend! He wanted to go Ocean fishing, and I suggested omitting the ocean fishing and let's go to the beach @ Corpus Christi (4 hrs. from Austin)...Last night over IM we decided that if we're gonna do the beach, we have to REALLY do the beach...so we're going to drive down to South Padre Island tomorrow for the weekend (7 hrs. from Austin). Good think San Antonio is only an hour away so I don't have to drive very far alone! Anyway, the word around here is that South Padre is the hottest spring break spot in Texas :-) So I definitly have to give it a try before I move back to Cold Rochester in 3 weeks.
Posted by beth at 08:40 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2005
Ice Kool-Aid
I tried Apple Flavored Ice Kool-aid today. I'm still not exactly sure how I feel about it, but it leaves a ice feeling in your throat and stomach. Kind of like a menthol feeling but not in your mouth, in your throat. Anyway, it is very strange and I just wanted to share it with ya'll.
Posted by beth at 08:09 PM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2005
The End to a Perfect Weekend
Well, we had just the best weekend EVER! When I arrived at home on Friday night, the airplane gods were with me, and I made it home 10 minutes early. Seymen was out with everyone from Fuji celebrating his birthday with a happy hour. He came to pick me up and we met with my dad and Georgia for dinner. On Saturday morning, we got up bright and early to go look at the Corn Hill Landing apartments. (Seymen has been scoping the apartment scene for us) Anyway, 30 minutes into our wait for the land lady, Seymen checked his vm and found out she cancelled due to the weather. (Good thing because neither of us wanted to get out of the car! ;-) Anyway, we went driving around to see some other apartment buildings he found for us in the city.
Afterwards, we drove out to Irondequiot where I spent the afternoon helping my mom and sister finish Seymen's birthday present. (Homemade curtains for his room that block out any light at night. They are burgundy with black lining, and work EXCELLENT! We tested them last night) Anyway, that was a lot of fun. I helped Chrissy finish her quilt for baby Lucy too. We then had to leave and get ready for the big night! Seymen's surprise birthday party--That ceased to be a surprise a week before when Beth accidentally slipped up and told Seymen. (And it really was an accident. We weren't playing the "guess what the surprise is" game!
Anyway, we had a great night. Even though it was raining the entire time, we had a blast. All the pictures I have are from inside the limo...as you can see...but supposedly Johnny has a picture of Seymen eating his cake at Mr. Dominic's. I'm going to have to hunt down those pictures too.
SEYMEN'S BIRTHDAY PARTY PICTURES
Sunday, we were hung over but again dragged ourselves out of bed (after going to bed at 3AM after daylight savings) and went to family brunch at Newport House for Seymen's birthday with mom, Bill, and Chrissy. We hung out at moms for a few hours, then went to dads, hung out there, went and checked out a townhouse with them that Seymen and I were considering to buy, and then Seymen took me to the airport. Unfortunately, (yes...this is VERY unfortunate) my plane was delayed and I was going to get stuck in Cleveland for the night, so I opted to fly first thing this morning.
BAD CHOICE...The flight left at 6:30am. When we were flying, the plane lost is cabin pressure, and the oxygen masks popped out. The plane totally dropped (now in hindsight I realize it was to help equalize the pressure in the cabin--but still really scary when we were in the moment). Afterwards, we flew the rest of the way below 10K feet so we didn't have to wear the oxygen masks the whole time. But it was pretty freaking scary. I was really nervous on my next flight to Austin, but thank god, everything went smoothly. I'm just glad to be back on land...in my cozy apartment just relaxing and getting ready for bed at 6:30pm. And I won't have to fly home again, because the next time I'll be home is when Seymen and I drive home.
Seymen and I talked and have finalized the dates and our ETA in Rochester, NY is late evening on May 3rd, 2005. Halleluiah! I'm comin' home. We've decided to take the Northern Route home. Night 1: Memphis, TN. Night 2: Chicago, IL. Day 3: Short tourist stop in Ann Arbor, MI. Night 3: Rochester, NY. I can't wait. :-)
Posted by beth at 07:29 PM | Comments (0)
April 01, 2005
Happy 25th Birthday Seymen!
Today is Seymen's 25th birthday!! Happy Birthday Seymen!!!!!! :-) I'm heading home for the weekend at 2:00pm! I can't wait!!!! Yipppeeee!!!
Posted by beth at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)