florida without the heat and humidity is definitely tolerable

I'm home, some of my work clothes are in the washer, the dogs are sleeping at my feet, and I finally have some time for my blog.

Let's see. Well, the Cards are up 2-1 in the World Series, with game four tonight in St. Louis. That's pretty exciting, though I had to work last night and missed all but the last couple innings of that game.

The Rams had a bye, so I expect them to be in top form for the Chargers this Sunday. The Bengals won, but not by much. Still, it's a W on their record.

So anyway, let's back up. Saturday was an interesting day at work. As I've mentioned here, I've been transferred to a different and very very VERY busy store. This is good for professional reasons, but the store itself has a lot of issues that need to be dealt with. Lots of bad habits and substandard work ethics from a lot of the staff there, largely I guess because many of the baristas there are so young. I had had a long, not very successful week trying to pinpoint ways to deal with these issues there as a supervisor and also trying to position myself as someone with some authority, which isn't always easy when trying to also make some changes. I worked until 2 am Friday night and had to be back at 9:30 Saturday morning, by which time I was dragging and my spirits were on the ground. I felt defeated and like maybe I was being overly critical of this other store and maybe I was the one who needed to re-examine my own habits, etc. People there aren't warming up easily to the things I want to change, nor are some of them respecting my ability to run shifts. (This is not the case with everyone; some people there are awesome and I am so excited to be working with them.) After an hour on the clock Saturday, two baristas from my old store came in and were apparently covering shifts for people, which I didn't know. I was delighted to see them! They both immediately clocked in and enthusiastically said, "What do you need us to do?" They were awesome and made my work day. I had two members of my original team at this new store, if only for a day, and they both noticed the same problems there that I did and were both equally helpful in trying to improve things, even if they aren't there permanently. It made me so happy. And it reassured me that I am not being overly critical and that I am good in positions of authority and that, essentially, I'm not the one with the problem in this case. I was right! But of course, this only means that I have a long road of trying to fix things there.

After work, I went to a party at my friend Becca's house, which was--as expected--lots of fun. Becca is awesome. One of the first friends I made after moving down here, and she has been so sweet about getting me out there, introducing me to people, giving me a place to belong, and helping me enjoy my time here. I've met so many wonderful people through her, and I can't imagine how crappy things would be if none of that had happened.

One thing about Becca is that she likes to have people at her place. She likes to give people a place to be. And she throws some kick-ass parties. This most recent one was no exception. It included a totally insane game of truth or dare, a roomfull of lesbians, one gay man, a straight boy who's birthday we were celebrating, and the birthday boy's straight friend who none of us knew prior to the party, and who will likely never be the same after spending several hours with the likes of us. I'm pretty sure we totally corrupted a sweet innocent 22-year-old guy who had no idea when he arrived what he was about to walk into. I think I saw his ears cry during truth or dare.

Only one person actually left Becca's Saturday night. The rest of us either passed out or fell asleep; we were scattered around her townhouse. It was a good time and was fairly harmless. Also, I was one who slept, not passed out because I didn't drink so much, so I felt great the next day. Success!

Sunday was football day, even without a Rams game. I actually spent all day--from the time I got home from Becca's around 11 am until after game 2 of the world series late that night on the sofa in my pjs. I was so lazy, but it was wonderful and relaxing, and after the week I'd had at work, I deserved it.

Well, I did spend some time emailing Angela back and forth about poetry versus prose and the complexity of the short story form. And T.S. Eliot. And about cute little birds who wander into places where they aren't expected--like this one who joined my mom, sister, and me at a cafe in Florence, Italy:




How cute is that?

I opened Monday, which meant getting up in the middle of the night to go to work---and of course that's only a partial joke. Work was great and so was the nap I took when I came home. Monday night was all about one thing of course: Monday Night Football. Went back to Becca's to watch, but this time there was no truth or dare. Just a good time watching the Cowboys lose.

The weather here is fabulous (words I never thought would come from me), and yesterday was the best yet. As I said, to me it feels like early fall up north. Long sleeves, but a jacket would be too much. Floridians, however, aren't handling it well. We were swamped at work last night, with people in several layers of sweaters and jackets rushing in for hot chocolate and coffee. I actually heard someone's teeth chatter. It's amusing to witness this. It has also put me in a much better mood, but I know this weather won't last so I am trying to be outside as much as I can while it does last.

I'm off today. I plan to post this, run some errands, get some coffee, and then later on come back with another post. I've been so social lately, which isn't like me. It's been fun, but I crave some solitude and time with the book I'm reading as well as time with my own words. Maybe I'll talk more about that poetry vs. prose stuff. And I'll definitely get cracking on that top 100 books list. Still haven't finished it, but getting closer. Sort of. And it's been weeks since I touched the story I'm working on. It still needs a ton of work, but I definitely work best in revision so I feel positive about it, though there is so much work left to do. In a way, maybe unconsciously, I'm afraid to finish it because then I'll have to make a choice: put it away and forget about it or send it out and try to get it published. The latter of course is the better choice and the goal I'm working towards, but then that means dealing with rejection, which is scary.

Now, I'm going to take the dogs outside to play.