It's Not "Slacking", It's Busy!

Well, I've finally entered into the mistical 33 year-old period. I'm still inclined to say I'm 35, but 33 it's such a fine number, I guess I'll keep it while it lasts. However, from next year and all the way to 2011 I'll be 35, and then 40 until 2016. Rounding up a few years is so convenient!

Inspite of me really, really wanting to write and write and write, I couldn't. Thanks Hyne I've developped the "Nin complex" a few years ago, and so I've my journal with me for me to delve and write whenever the time is right but the Internet is not available. Inspite of Mr. B behaving as the inssuferable s.o.w. he is, I had a wonderful time. Mr. B, thinking that inspite of me being a real little angel and not complaining about what an amazing, outrageous m.f. he can be 24/7, not to mention loading me with "urgent stuff" such as "make a project file out of this Excel sheet"... sheet which has no activities, btw, only articles from a regulation; decided that "we are too busy" for me to take half a day, even though I offered to work the hours off (an insana amount of 3 hours!), because I, in all honesty, and respecting our new agreement of "transparent conversation", told him that a few friends of mine wanted to celebrate with me, and he said that "there's no way I can give you permission for that because I can't explain it". Well, I thought that's what "personal matters" were for. But then again, a birthday is not explainable, like it is to take a day to take the car to the mechanic.

Of course, then I decided that if we are "so busy" I might as well make myself busy... with a meeting. And a meeting I've got, which turned into a HUGE blessing, because that way I could spend part of my birthday away from the s.o.w. Of course, unhappy because I "managed to escape" the s.o.w. did everything humanly and inhumanly possible to load me up with annoying tasks, such as adjusting over and over and over a project schedule, which his reduced, tiny brain-oide couldn't understand. Yeah, he finds it so hard to understand that tasks take "time", that "time" is "limited" and that ONE human being is able to do only a CERTAIN amount of work during a GIVEN period of time. Yeah, in his puny little brain, the job of twenty dedicated people with an arrange of different special skills can be done by one single person who has other duties too, and has none of the requiered skills or knowledge, within the same period of time, if said person "works hard".

Knowing that I had a meeting in the afternoon in San Pedro, my dear, dear, dear coworkers arranged a lovely celebration in of the offices with a huge, beautiful yellow cake, which looked like a smiling Sun and had scribbled on "Felicidades, Su" (Congratulations, Su). They've got bread, cheese and made this delicious hot, melted cheese sandwiches, brewed coffee and sang "happy birthday" two times for me. ^_^ Then I've got this deluxe "Casillero del Diablo" Historic Vintage 2007 bottle of wine. To say that I was impressed and swept off my feet would be a crass understatement. Really, my coworkers are simply adorable! I broght them some brownies and coke because I thought the wouldn't celebrate my birthday (I'm from a different department), but I wanted to share a little something with them.

I planned to be out by 11 am, since the meeting was at 1 pm, and I had to get my lunch before that (and the trip from Sabana Sur to San Pedro at that time of the day does take 1 hour, at least). I ended up leaving later, since I had to bound some documents, but I still made it in time, and had a wonderful meeting filled with reminiscense, tight, warm hugs, huge smiles and the camaraderie of those who once belonged to the same area and still think of themselves as "us, the Mobile Service area". Dude, those were hard, difficult times, but it was beautiful, the work hard and chellenging. Those were my best years in this company.

The meeting was amazing, not to mention I realized that my boss had lied about several things, have hid information, lied about who sent what and orchestrated a gigamontic chaos. It's only sheer luck that no one respect him, therefore no one followed his crazy ideas and kept working the way that has been done and has worked all this years.

Beauty came when I met with my dear, dear friends and workmates. Smiles, greetings and hugs from my old boss, Manuel Córdoba, and one of his men, Manuel Ramos, then there was Ivannia Conejo, Tavo, Melissa, David, Kenneth, Karol Núňez, Tatiana, Sonia, Pao, Ana Teresa...

I had a small lunch with my dear friend Skylar, who helped me get the meeting so fast. She surprised me with a lovely gift: a leather bound journal (in time, since I'm reaching the last pages of my current one, besides you never have "too many" journals), a bookmark so beautiful I'm afraid of removing it from the case, and the most interesting and funny book ever: a Harry Potter philosophy-like book which has been written assuming Aristotle ran Hogwarts, not Dumbledore. That might prove interesting. My Jetty hasn't changed a bit since we used to work together. She's ever so thoughtful! I gave her her birthday present with MONTHS of delay: brownies, Mozart Kugle, an Oriflame hand cream and Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5 in English.

After the meeting I went to see my dear, dear friend Dragonfly, who had written an entry for me yesterday and made me a happy birthday card, God Bless her giving heart! Just as I did with Skylar, we sat and talked and talked about work, boys, stuff going on, and then oogled on the blog of a friend of hers, María Palito, who actually designs jewelry. I tell you, this Mary-girl is one talented person! My Dragonfly is preparing to go to Mexico, and she told me that she got the ticket in such an amazing price, I've been thinking in telling my beloved Kari to forget Panama, and let's go check out Mexico. ^_^ Dragonfly had a present prepared for me too. She gave me a lovely green bag (because green is my absolute favorite color) with a beautiful crocheted green scarf, made by her mom with a technique I have never seen before, a green bead keychain made by here, with a large medal-like bead with a design much like a rose, which is perfect because it's not only my middle name, but also my favorite flower... and in my favorite color! Green! With it was another gift, a prize I won on her blog for suggesting the most popular name for her laptop. It was a white and green mug with a spoon, all in ceramic. It was so surprising that I won and that the mug was precisely green, since she bought it before the poll was started.

My beloved, beloved, beloved boyfriend, God may forever bless his precious heart, called me like three times or so to greet me. He got me an amazing Mont Blanc fountain pen, which I started using yesterday (I never use my birthday presents before my birthday), and I guess it will be the only pen I'll use from now on. I totally adore my fountain pen!


At four or so, I met with my friend Carrie, with whom I usually spend my birthday, for a small celebration of sorts. We went to the Terramall, a land of evil, where we went to our usual bookstorem where there were no worthy books, and add to it, the changed the conditions of the Birthday promotion, which upset me terribly. The Swatch store there had no decent Swatch, and those that were nice, I already had. That was terribly disappointing, but then again, I guess I'll have to extend my "hunt for my Birthday gift" for a few days more. After all, I do deserve a 22dn Swatch. ^_^

Carrie surprised me also with an extremely amazing birthday gift. I almost cried in joy and spent the whole night telling her how much I love her. She got me the Third Season of Supernatural, John Winchester's journal and a tiny, lovely bunny, which she explained to me, is a plot bunny, therefore will be known from now on as Plot.

My friend Jules called me, as usual, and it was lovely to hear his voice. Laura called me, but she had her personal tormentor on her back, so she couldn't say much, but hinted that her personal s.o.b. was driving her up the wall. Roo called me at night, when I was with Carrie, and told me, God bless her heart, that she was sending me the trilogy of the Sleeping Beauty from Anne Rice.

Carrie and I had coke and some foccaccia, but then we had to leave because my folks were waiting for me at home to toast for my birthday. Carrie's sister, Isis, wasn't half as dismissing as she usually is with me, which I found it... strange. Is she... getting to like me? Nahhhhhh....

The traffic from Cartago to Heredia was murderous, and even though we left rather early, I've got home by 10 pm. My mom and dad were waiting for me with an amazing present: a beautiful huge blue cord bag with white mooses, which I started using today, very, very comfortable and cool, really, a dream come true, and two CDs: one of Strauss and one of Baroque Music. Oh my Hyne! It made me remember when I was a child, and an early teen, when all my friends and cousins were crazy for groups as A-Ha, Wham, Menudo, Los Chicos and all the stuff from the eighties and the only thing I listened and the only thing I liked was classical music and my favorite above all was Strauss. Johann Sebastian Strauss. More than Bach, more than Brams, more than Mozart (have never been a big Mozart fan), more than Bethoveen or Franz List.

You know, this has been an AMAZING birthday! ^_^