The Strange Irregularity of Time

Time is a funny thing. Sometimes, it goes so quickly that it's impossible to hold onto as much as a single minute before it's gone.

Then there are times when it slows down so much, it stops.

Today was one of those slow times. It seems that in the recruiting world, the holidays are already here. No one is answering their phone. No one is answering emails. Half the staff of our office have already left until after Christmas.

The other half of us are here through tomorrow morning and then we, too, can leave.

It hasn't been a bad day. It's just been very, very quiet. I tried to work but when you're leaving messages and sending emails into a great empty universe, it makes it a little hard.

Ironically, in contrast, the time away from work is passing at a record speed. Fortunately, my 'to do' list for the holidays has been whittled down to merely needing to pack to spend a week at my parent's and load up the car. I've shopped and wrapped and watched almost all of the Christmas movies I love to watch.

The exception is "Love Actually" which I plan on watching shortly with a glass of Baileys, two puppies on my lap and with the glow of the Christmas lights in the background. It's almost time to stop preparing for Christmas and actually letting it be Christmas.

I'll be sad. I've enjoyed the parties and holiday gatherings this year. Last night, we had the gathering at my bosses house. The chicken Wellington turned out rather well although it's not something I'd probably ever make nor order from a restaurant. It's just not my type of thing. I think it's a childhood thing. When I was a non-foodie, an extremely finicky child, I much preferred 'teas' to dinners. This meant I'd rather have toast or a sandwich than a real meal. I never liked casseroles or other 'gravy' type of dinners. I only like simple, plain things that weren't 'messed around.'

Most of that has changed with age. With my love of cooking and food, a sense of adventure also arrived so I'll eat almost anything. However, as a rule, I still don't really like casseroles and things very much. While it didn't resemble a casserole at all, Chicken Wellington is one of those meals that as a child, I wouldn't have touched because it was heavy and 'fussed around.'

As a grown-up, I ate it. It tasted good. It just wasn't something that really...suits me and the type of food I like to eat.

Still, it was nice to learn that my boss is a very good cook. Also, he has an amazing house. It's one of those catalog-homes you see where it's beautifully decorated and every single thing in the house belongs where it is. There's no clutter. The kitchen...well, let's just say if I were the type of person to covet (which I'd like to think I'm not), I'd covet that kitchen. Also, he had a real Le Creuset dutch oven. I have a lovely dutch oven of my own- a Mario Batali. However, there's still a part of me that sees the Le Creusets and tilts my head with an "ooooh."

You'll be pleased to hear I did not steal my bosses Le Creuset dutch oven. Also, when he showed me the rest of his Le Creuset cookware in response to my compliments on his cookware (yes- I'm a huge cooking geek), I also did not steal those.

It was nice to get a taste of where he lived. It's a very nice house. It makes my homey little house seem very...homey. When I look at a home like that, I wonder if it's the type of place I'd really like to live. After all, I tend to like just a wee bit of clutter but not enough to make a mess. I also have a lot of things that don't belong in a place like that- my Harry Potter collectibles, in fact. In a house like that, collectibles are relegated to the attic or a basement room where visitors won't see it.

The whole evening was nice. As expected, my coworkers got a little sloshed. We exchanged Secret Santa gifts (I got a $20 gift card for Barnes and Noble- yay!) and we ate far too much. It was very nice holiday party.

Of course, when we got to work this morning, half the staff was dragging a little from the night before which didn't help with the overly quiet atmosphere.

Still, it made for some fun teasing which sped time up for a little while.

Tomorrow is my last day at work for over a week. We're only going to be in the office for about three and a half hours.

I have a feeling they may be the longest three and a half hours in the world.

Happy Thursday!

Good Endings to Mediocre Days...

There's nothing more frustrating than a computer that doesn't want to cooperate. I've been trying to get this blog posted for a while but for some unknown reason, my browser decided it was no longer accepting cookies and wouldn't let me log in. I find that fascinating. I changed nothing; I downloaded nothing. Yet my computer seems to have a mind of its own. I can't decide if that's fascinating or scary.

Obviously, I managed to conquer my computer's attempt at independence. I merely let it do it's thing then exuded my superiority over the thing. I think, really, that's probably a natural tendency. I am, after all, quite British. We conquer and become victors. Well, we did, at least...a few decades back. Nowadays, our victories tend to be a little less bloody and a little less bombastic. Still, I say...it's in our blood! We reign victorious!

My computer, at least, obeys when I shout at it.

And yes, thank you very much, I am fully aware that my computer is a non-thinking machine comprised of processors, chipsets, motherboards and other techie sounding things. I may have been relegated to the naughty corner of my company, the corner in which I am now, officially, the only member of staff NOT to be promised a new computer, but in my heyday- two years ago, at least- I used to be a respected technical support person. Nowadays, I'm sad to say if I even so much dare to imply that I know what my boss and the programmers are talking about when they discuss backend computer processes, they look at me as though I'm insane. My boss has said to me on several occasions that he's sure the technical stuff bores me and that he changes the subject even though I've tried to explain that I want him to continue because, shockingly, I am quite intelligent enough to follow what they're saying. It's sad that just two years ago, that was what I did for a living and I greatly enjoyed it but, alas, I can't get my current boss to even look at my resume and see that.

Pardon me, I think I'm starting to get a little bitter. I'm working on that. In fact, I intend to begin next year by fully discarding my bitterness. I can't promise it will vanish completely but I will do everything I can to remind myself that it's ok not to love my job and to focus on everything else in life.

Still, I have a couple of days before the New Year. I get to be a wee bit frustrated before I turn over my new leaf. It wasn't so bad today. Ok, so out of 27 or so employees, at best, there were only nine people working all day. Also, it was very quiet. However, someone did make popcorn in the popcorn maker so that was exciting.

Ok, I admit...I have absolutely nothing exciting to share with you about my work day. My evening, however, did include a trip to Jungle Jim's. I decided tonight would be the best night to go and complete my shopping list. I love going on week nights; it's much less busy and I can actually browse without feeling like I'm holding up a line. I went last weekend and, let me tell you, it was a scary zoo. Being a regular shopper there, I know my way around. I think I'm a little spoiled. I have my little route through the shop and I know where and how I want to navigate. I get a little bit frustrated when I'm scanning the wine specials and, without failure, there's someone cackling over the bottle of "Bitch" wine that they find. It's funny, I suppose. Yet, like with everything else, the charm wears off over time. Thus, I tend to dodge those folk and head instead to the next aisle. Sometimes, that works out well. Take tonight, for example. I found an absolutely lovely bottle of Kenwood red table wine on sale. I'm a sucker for red table wines. While I like a good, expensive bottle that's aged and mature, there's something soothing about a good, basic table wine. I think wine deserves respect but I also like it when it's respectful of someone who doesn't necessarily want to do the full production of sniffing, swirling, sipping, savouring and declaring. Table wine is meant to be consumed, it's meant to be enjoyed without pretense. I've had some bad ones- Sutter Home, for example- but, for the most part, many of them are innocent and flavourful.

I didn't intend to do too much shopping tonight but, as is usually the case, I bought more than I planned. My weaknesses are the cheese and produce section. I escaped the cheese tonight, thankfully. Yet the produce section seduced me. I ended up with far more than I needed. I was just so excited to find cardoons. I got Mario Batali's "Molto Italiano" cookbook for Christmas and there's a lovely recipe for "Cardoons- Roman Style" in there. I couldn't resist.

In case you haven't figured out, I'm becoming a bit of a Jungle Jim's junkie. If you've read my blog comments, you'll see that I'm fortunate enough to have someone from Jungle Jim's actually reading my blog when I tout the store's fabulousness. Thus, I shall give a subtle shout out to Phill Adams, Director of Development who occasionally is kind enough to comment on my blog. I'm eternally grateful whenever someone actually reads my blog, never mind commenting on it. So thank you, Phill Adams. You and your store are greatly appreciated.

As a side note, I actually did print out the application for the Assistant Manager of the Cheese Department and I'm seriously considering turning it in. Clearly, I'm dissatisfied about my job and I think it would be rather nice to do something I actually enjoyed. Also, I've recently decided that in addition to novels, I'd rather like to write about food and wine. I'm not sure how you actually get to do that but I think I'd quite enjoy it. I even confess I considered culinary school but there's a huge difference between pretending I'm Iron Chef Monkeypants and actually having to show that I can chop onions correctly. Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't imagined you're on the Food Network when you're in the kitchen.

And now, as I realize that I may, indeed, be alone in that delusion, I'm slightly embarrassed. Yet not enough that I'm going to stop. I'm also not going to stop longingly caressing the Le Creuset Dutch Ovens whenever I see them nor the Mario Batali one that Jungle Jim's has in stock. One day, I shall own one. However, it may take a while. Those things are expensive. However, the orange ones would go just lovely in my kitchen which now has a rather attractive orange/persimmon accent to the utensils. I love my family for indulging my obsessions at Christmas.

I just realized that I spent eight hours of my day at work and only one hour at Jungle Jim's market. However, the one hour was infinitely more enjoyable than the preceeding eight. I think that's a bad sign. Also, it helped that when I came out of Jungle Jim's, it was snowing heavily. There's nothing better than a good snowfall to make me wax poetic about the simplicity and beauty of life. It doesn't matter whether the simplicity and beauty comes from a good snowfall or a trip to a good grocery store, it's how we feel in the end that counts. The end of my day was far better than my beginning and, for that, I am thankful. Sometimes...that's all I need.

Happy Tuesday!