Valentine's Day

The day before Valentine's Day, I got a wonderful thank-you gift from our National Sales Director for making the whirlwind trip to Connecticut a few weeks back. It was two lobster tails and two filet mignon! While always leary of his grilling skills, I was craving a wonderful dinner and "A" stepped up to the plate to make our feast for the night.

Part of me was dreading this holiday - how does one go about buying a card for someone about whom one feels ambivalent? Half-hartedly, I stopped at the grocery store on the way home from work and (along with a jillion MEN) picked up a card and some chocolates.

I arrived to find the usual dozen roses and stuffed puppy on the bar - along with a card with an unbelievable inscription that went on and on about how much I'm loved and adored. In return, his card said, "you're a great cuddler" with a picture of two adorable puppies on the front. I bound up the chocolate bars (his favorites) with some leftover Valentine's decorations from the bow box under the bed and I was done.

Back to the meal: it's always a big production when "A" cooks. He gets all intense and type-A and yells at the dog, the food, the stove and the grill alot. Such a great way to put dinner guests in the mood to enjoy a festive dinner! Valentine's night was no different. Suffice it to say that my fears of his grilling skills were confirmed as my steak ended up still cold in the middle and the potatoes were still raw. I, of course, made the best of it and made light of the whole thing... but he stormed off upstairs for the remainder of the evening and didn't come down until I was long-since asleep. THAT was my Valentine's Day.

For those who asked, the malcontent did talk to his supervisor about his salary and was promptly referred to the head of the department - who is out of the country until the end of the month. There's nothing worse than getting all worked up over something and then being put on hold for weeks at a time. It kind of puts a damper on things, you know? We'll just have to wait and see what he does come March 1st (when I start my new job and he's fully vested in his retirement plan). Yeah - that'll be interesting indeed.

And Virginia goes to...

a dichotomous duo: Obama and McCain -- creating an interesting night, to say the least. The voting process was once again a source of discord in my household with the malcontent non-citizen preaching to the politically active citizen about how she should have voted. As you can imagine, that went over like a fart in church.

I was also informed this morning that today is the day that the aforementioned malcontent is going to give his boss an ultimatum about his salary and that if he doesn't get the answer he wants, he's "out of there." Didn't I predict that he'd quit his job in March? Anyone living in the "Potomac Primary" area be prepared to see an explosion of nuclear proportions if he actually goes through with it.

My start date for my new job is March 1st. The reactions have been mixed and very few people have seemed genuinely happy for me. But that's okay... it's not about THEM... it's MY promotion and no one can take that away from me -- not even a gaggle of kill-joys!!!

The Drama

I knew that telling my agent partners was going to be difficult. What I didn't know was that telling the area managers was going to create so much drama! You would have thought that I was taking food from his mouth or burning his boat or kicking his dog or something! I was absolutely astounded when this guy made MY promotion all about HIM! I thought only "A" did that.

The first words out of HIS mouth, "well, I don't know how I'm EVER going to hit my numbers now." This comment was followed shortly thereafter by a phone call to his boss, who then called MY new boss, who then called me. What a great way to start my new venture. Oy ve!

So, that's how my day began and it just ENDED with a temper tantrum: 'A' yelled at me that Las Vegas was on. I guess he didn't hear my answer, so he yelled again and I yelled back. He then stormed upstairs. Ah... how pleasant that I get to watch it by myself in peace and quiet! Note to self: perhaps I should have had a kitchen and bath added upstairs. Then I'd NEVER have to see him!

The Boat

Today, I got the job offer. It's more money than I ever imagined I would make in a year. The bonus, the car, the expense account... it all just leaves me speechless. The fact that the National Director of Sales is the one who recommended me for the job makes it all the more special.

The part that makes me want to cry is that before the first sip of champagne had been swallowed, "A" made his request... "Now that you're going to be making so much money, do you think you could buy me a boat?"

Not so much as the first check in the bank and it's already about him.

Need I say more?

The Rings

This post over at Tall Glass of Vino got me to thinking about my own rings. As most of you know, my marriage is pretty much a sham and there are days when putting on "the rings" just seems to be too much for me to bear. They feel like shackles - reminders of this hellish prison in which I live day to day. I feel a physical aversion to putting them on my ring finger - even though the diamond in my engagement ring belonged to my grandmother and my diamond wedding band to my mother. It's the fact that they represent a marriage that is so far gone and a relationship that drains the very lifeblood from my body that causes me to recoil at the mere thought of donning them.

Who ever thought that such gorgeous gems could cause such a reaction?

Update

Well, I was going to post a recording of our latest rehearsal, but the more I investigated that idea, the more I realized that it would probably be an infringement on some songwriters' legal rights and decided against it. I'm bummed out about it, as I was really looking forward to getting some feedback on our progress. I'm excited about our work and I think we're going to have a lot of fun with this! Our next step is to record a demo and start marketing the band to local venues.

Things are looking up on the job front. I have an "unofficial" offer for the management position - pending the person who's currently in the job getting her hubby's buy-in for a switch to another job with the company. I'm expecting a financial package tomorrow.

"A" and I continue to live separate lives under the same roof. He's now found a job opening in Arizona for which he wants to apply. I'm sure he knows that I'm not going to walk away from a new promotion to move out there with him... at least I HOPE he knows that!

I'll try to come up with something witty or mildly interesting to post about here soon. Until then...