Hola Amigos!
Sorry for my absence. As usual, the schedule has been completely hectic, but unfortunately mostly from a work perspective. I had 5 major meetings in three weeks, 3 in New York, 1 in Connecticut and 1 in Montreal.
Montreal is a beautiful city - well, the drive between the hotel and the airport anyway, but unfortunately, I fell sick with a terrible cold whilst I was there. That was Friday week ago (smack bang in the middle of meeting #3 - 2 dayer). Said cold lasted until Tuesday (day 2 of meeting #4). Luckily, I recovered and was back in form for meeting #5.
So, last weekend I'm laden with a nasty cold and I had to submit my paperwork for my US tax and I had an assignment due on Sunday night. Oh joy! I flew back home from Montreal midday Saturday and embark on my tax submission - and 5 hours later finished it. I had a birthday party to go to on Saturday night, so I made it there, and stayed for an hour, but the stabbing pains in my throat were overwhelming (and could not be numbed by champagne), so I came home early. I drag myself out of bed Sunday morning (a horrible, wet day - it was pouring all day) and seat myself at the dining room table and embark on finishing the assignment. At least this time I had started it already - all my research was done, I just had to put words around it. Well, until 11:45pm I worked on the assignment non-stop (well, not really, I did have a nanna nap for two hours in the middle of the afternoon), and then it was finished! A masterpiece I must say. It was at least on a very interesting topic close to my heart on why women in Australia aren't making it to senior leadership or board positions, so that kept the motivation alive, breaking through the pain of the cold. I go to submit online through the Monash portal, and what do you know, it's not due until next week! Ok, do I laugh or cry????? I can't believe I'm up this late and I don't even need to be when I have an important meeting the next day that I'm not really prepared for (had to be up at 5.30am) , tears start welling; but then again, at least it's done, and hell, the weather was crappy this weekend, what else would you have done today? Tears dry up and lips start to curl up; then realization that by Friday all assignments and hellish load of workload will be finished and I don't have to worry about doing my assignment or any work next weekend, now a full blown smile - though a lethargic one!
Dragging myself up the stairs, full of relief that assignment is finished, but still with the weight of the week ahead of me, I slide into bed. Lying there completely wired, I hear a strange tingy sound every few seconds, I turn on the lamp, look around briefly and don't see anything, but the sounds still going. I some reason put my hand on the other side of fthe bed and it's wet (!!!). On closer inspection, the whole bed side table is pooled with water - oh no, the bloody roof is leaking! I quickly unplug the portable phone that now has a pool of water in the cradle (yes, it is connected to electricity), grab a bucket and chuck a towel on the ground. Determined not to let the dripping noise stop me from sleeping, I put on the radio (love songs and dedications - my fave) and nod off eventually. I'm not too concerned about my leak. The rain on Sunday was exceptional - it went all day and there was reported flooding all over the tri-state (NY, NJ and Connecticut) area.
Well, this weekend has been just fabulous. Friday night I took a couple of ladies from my team for some afterwork drinks (not too many - home by 10), I have sprung out of bed both mornings, knowing I can do whatever I want! Yesterday, I went down to the shop to pick up some groceries, then went over to Manhattan to visit the Tribeca Film Festival Carnival. I walked down there from the bus terminal - a good hour walk. It was good fun. I had then planned to meet a lady I met on the booze cruise NYE - Lindsay, who coincidently is only 2 months younger than me. Since meeting, we haven't managed to catch up since, but finally we caught up. We went to bowling in Times Square - this joint was a crack up. They have 50 lanes over two floors and it's completely OTT! Not that I'm competitive, but I did win 2 out of 3 games :) . But gee, I was in poor form. I think it was all the flashing lights and the 3 meter screen that was distracting me - a little bit of a change from the old Narre Warren bowl that I'm used to.
Today, I went for a walk for 1 1/2 hours this morning around the park, it was really nice. Then I basically just cleaned the house, my backlog of washing, refined my assignment a little bit more before submitting it, and played with my photos on the computer - basically nothing, which was very good!
I started my spanish lessons three weeks ago. I'm terrible - it's so hard to learn a language, and dare I say it, it just feels so foreign. You'd think with Spanish speaking employees I'd get plenty of practice, but as soon as you say something to them in Spanish they respond so quickly that there's no chance of my understanding what they're saying. The ones based in NY are Argentinian too, who have a self-confessed very different accent, and dialogue, and speak so damn quickly. My instructor, Sole, is even Argentinian, but she's 'neutralized' her accent to be a better teacher. I have more lessons this week, and need to make sure I get some more practice in beforehand.
Well, that's about it for now! Hope you're all doing well.
Hasta Luego! (See you later),
Michele
Michele
xxx
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