Today was mostly sitting in a conference room taking notes while some one loaded the a product to a law school in LA. The guy next to me nodded off a few times.

But still....so far so good.

Took me 1 hour 5 minutes to get into work, and 50 minutes to get home.

For lunch I found a place in the downtown Des Plaines area called the Choo Choo:Hamburger on Wheels.
Been around since 1951, and made me so happy! :)
I sat at a counter seat with my feet swinging.
They have a little train that goes around from the kitchen to the dining room that carries the food out to you. HOW CUTE IS THAT?!?!









There were lots of happy kids there, they all got sprinkle covered choo choo cupcakes.
My hamburger was delicious!

So far so good.
First day of the new job.
Took me an hour fifteen minutes to get into work. (ouch!) 294 was worse then usual they were saying.
Took me 35 minutes when I left early at 4:10 to get home. Smooth sailing.

Mostly going through orientation this week, start in on my own projects next week.
Went through the calendar of projects and stepping through the incident/project screens on how to get what info and from where.

Tomorrow we (me and 2 others guys, Brian & Wally) are sitting with another guy while he does one of his projects. So tomorrow will be a little more hands on.

Got a 7-11 for my slurpees down the street, no nearby Starbucks but they have a Nespresso machine (Nestle's espresso machine) that I figured out how to use to get my fix.

Brad and I went out to dinner to Red Robin just to sit down so he could hear all about my day. I went through my notes with him and some of the instructions I had printed out.

So so far I am doing good.

I got offered a job that I interviewed for yesterday.
It's in Des Plaines, so at least a half hour drive.
But I am excited and nervous about it.

Excited to have work, excited to work for a woman (she was excited to interview a woman for the position!), excited about the job description (sounds fun and challenging but not over my head).

Nervous about it being something new, wanting to do well, make Brad proud of me, and fit in with the new group.

The hiring manager seemed really nice though, close to my age, positive and bubbly demeanor, seems like she would be easy to get along with.

I start next Tuesday at 9am. 4 days of training to get my feet wet.

Not sure about how Christmas is gonna go now. I was supposed to go to Columbus over a 4 day weekend in early December. Not sure if I can now. I want to see my family in Columbus. So I might see about visiting during Christmas after all even though I HATE going anywhere for Christmas. My mother and I go back and forth on this every year... But then there is Brad and his schedule to deal with also and the fact that he may have a new job any day now as well. So kind of dread over this situation mixed with my excitement and nervousness.

I will have to go to Starbucks tomorrow to tell the gang.

I did a belly dancing class earlier this week with Emily and really liked it.
It was fun and I was good at it, I only like doing things I am good at. :) It's true.

Emily is opening her own shop in our local downtown area. She just signed the papers yesterday. I want to help her set up her displays, and I will take pictures of the place so everyone can see. She got a great location, it is old and has a lot of character. No that doesn't translate into run-down. And I was surprised at how much space she has too and really like the way the rooms are broken up, it just flows nice, upstairs, lots of mirrors, lots of windows, new and very large kitchen, bathroom (new toilet too!). I am just so excited for her, and trying to think of ideas to draw people in and let them know about it. It's gonna have yoga stuff, candles, incense, jewelery, stuff like that. And she is gonna do yoga classes and yoga classes for kids too.

Brad and I are watching the OSU Michigan game right now. Close game, 4th quarter.

Got a smoked turkey we are picking on for sandwiches, and I am gonna make some cabbage salad in a bit.

Still going to Starbucks and continuing to make new friends there daily.
Lenny works 3rd shift at EMC, separated and I keep telling him to make it official already, they have been separated for 3 years now! Adorable daughter. Super sweet and generous, a really happy guy. Lost over 100 pounds eating Seattle Sutton and taped a radio commercial for them too. Now he is obsessed with what he eats, calories and working out. He is afraid of getting fat again.
Jan is from a farm in Mississippi, married a guy from Costa Rica. Married 22 years, together for 30 and is almost ready to divorce him. She needs to. If and when she does she wants to go back to her family in Mississippi. Her daughter (who says she should divorce him too) also lives there. She spends all day alone and goes to Starbucks for the same reason I do, just to get out of the house and be around people and she likes that she is making friends there. She is pretty open minded. Her family didn't like that she married a Costa Rican so they just don't discuss it. She is also on anti-depressants, in therapy and is kinda quirky like me too. I really like talking one-on-one with her. I told her if it would help I would go with her to the attorney to get things in motion.
And just starting to get to know Wally, Jill and Dennis, don't have their background into yet though.
Jack is still my boyfriend.