2004-09-13
Birthday dinners, work issues, and life getting rad.
I'm very happy right now. Yesterday sucked, but last night was incredible.
Saturday was Lee's birthday. We had him over for an intimate dinner, and I cooked everything from scratch. I made real garlic bread, fettuccini alfredo with homemade sauce, and an apple crisp for dessert. After dinner, Lee wanted to go out, and as it was his birthday, I thought I would oblige him. Our original plan was to go to Vision, a nightclub at which Puff Daddy was supposed to make an appearance. It turns out that he was there Thursday evening, and was going to be at a place called Insomnia that night. After hearing about the $30 cover fee, we decided to just try out Vision after all.
Upon arriving at Vision, we found that there was no available parking in the surrounding five blocks, so we gave up and decided to see what Club BP was all about. It was really interesting, and jam packed. Just go read the article.
After we'd hit our fifteen minute time limit, we decided to see what MJQ was like on Saturday nights. We got in free, and it wasn't bad, but Lee wasn't feeling it. I'd gotten really dressed up to go out, so I felt more relaxed and fun than usual, and was therefore enjoying dancing, etc., but Lee was not. I ran into Tim Nassar, and he told me how hot he thought my hair was, and told me he'd call me to hang out sometime. Shortly afterwards, Lee and I left with the intention of seeing what Masquerade was like on a Saturday night.
As we neared Masquerade, Lee remembered that Saturday nights are "freak nights." As in, people into BDSM get dressed up and come out to play. Taking that and the fact we were both broke and I had to get up early into consideration, we decided not to go in. Lee told me of a place like Club BP for hipsters, and we tried to find it but failed. I showed him the warehouses where Robley lived, and then we called it a night. When we got to our apartment building, we decided to go see Sharon's new apartment, and chatted with her for a while. I did not climb into bed until 2 something in the morning.
Sunday morning I was supposed to be at work at 8 (well technically I just needed to come in, but there was no set time), but I woke up at 7:45 and was late. I was also exhausted, and stressed out. I got to work, and Willis was training a new girl named Idiogno ("Idion"), who's quite awesome. There are a lot of churches around the coffeeshop, and I was given free drink coupon-fliers to put on people's cars. I put them on all the cars lined up around us on Boulevard, then headed over to Auburn Avenue, and saw Martin Luther King Jr.'s birh home and read some history on him (on the slabs they have posted up and down the street) while canvassing.
I was quite proud of all the coupon-fliers I'd passed out, and felt better after my walk, but my mood soon changed upon getting back to the shop. When I returned, another new girl, Aimee, was there. Aimee's a trained barista, and turned out to be great to work with, because she's on top of things. It was just weird because usually it's just me and Willis and Morgan, and I'm the only young girl there. However, on Sunday there were two girls in their early twenties besides me, and I felt like I'd just lost what I had going for me most. I know it sounds stupid, silly, and petty, and it is. It's just how I felt. Don't misunderstand, I loved working with Idiongo and Aimee. They're awesome girls. I just felt like I was no longer . . . special? It's silly, but I was already stressed out and exhausted, not to mention more emotional than usual due to my current hormones.
I spent the rest of the day feeling slighted, even though I was in no way made to feel that way. In fact, Willis came over several times to tell me what a great job I was doing. Actually, Morgan was a lot different with me on Sunday than he usually is, but 1) we're both moody, and 2) some of that may have been my own doing. I guess it's like when you're an only child, and then your parents have a new child. That's really the only way I can describe it, and yes, I know it's silly.
On another note, Lee has not been getting any hours lately, which he reminds me of whenever I have to go into work. Naturally, I feel bad and partially guilty, because I've worked 46 hours in the past week, whereas he's worked maybe 12. He's a good friend of mine, and I feel somewhat responsible for him, for whatever reason. As a result, I brought this up with Morgan. Actually, I just asked if they'd be needing Lee to work anytime soon. Perhaps I should have added that if Lee works, I'll probably be the one driving him, hence the question, but I didn't, because it's only an excuse. Morgan bluntly informed me that if they did need Lee to work, they would let Lee know and that would be between them and Lee. I wanted to retort that they'd have to call me to get in touch with Lee anyway, since his phone is turned off, but I was so embarassed that I had brought it up in the first place that I did not. When James and I discussed this later, he pointed out that it was very unprofessional of me to have brought that up, and I agree with him, but at the same time, I still feel less guilty by having said something.
Later, Aimee, Idiongo, and I were discussing what time we were all supposed to get off work. Out of curiosity, one of us had asked who else was supposed to work later that afternoon, and Morgan said that as far as he knew, nobody else was coming in. Idiongo had come in at 7 to start training, I came in around 8, and Aimee came in at 10:30. Aimee said that when she was called in, Willis had asked her to work until 7. Willis had already told me that Idiongo would be leaving before I would, so naturally I wondered what time I was supposed to be getting off work (since I'm never told ahead of time). I feared I would be the one there until closing (11), and I've worked so much lately and haven't had much rest that I just really didn't feel like working that late. During a slow time, I went up to Morgan with the intention of asking what time I was getting off, and set the question up by sweetly saying, "Willis told Aimee she was only working until 7, and Idiongo's getting off soon-", and Morgan interrupted me and said, "Since when have you become the spokesperson for all the employees? This is the third time today that you've brought up something that isn't any of your business." I felt like I'd been slapped, dropped the niceties, and evenly said, "I said that to ask what time I was getting off work, since you've already said nobody else is coming in this afternoon, thanks." Morgan told me that when it was time for me to get off, they'd let me know. I was really pissed off. For starters, how professional is it to randomly call people to come into work, not have a schedule made, and then not even tell them what time to expect to get off? If I'm getting chastened for being unprofessional, I can understand that. However, if someone is going to be short, abrupt verging on being rude, (we'll just say 'sharp-tongued') then I'm going to react by not being understanding about things, such as a lack of a schedule and I am going to want to demand nothing but a professional attitude about everything from people. The thing is, I don't want it to be like that. I want to be able to relax at work. However, I also don't want my head bitten off if I ask a question, either. Because I am so emotional and moody due to present hormones, it was all I could do not to burst into tears right then and there. I also wanted to yell some, but mostly, I just wanted to cry. I kept it under control for a few minutes, and then before I knew it, was crying. I don't think anybody saw or noticed, and I really hope no one did.
I hate when I get so stressed that I get like that. It's not like I'm already not under a lot of pressure since James and I currently have $200 between the two of us, James is sick, and we have to drive to Alabama on Wednesday and then come back Thursday because I have my annual, and I have go to go. I wish I didn't have to go, that they would just send me another year's worth of birth control, and that I could save having to drive four hours one way two days in a row and stay and work (because God knows I need the money), but I can't. You know, it'd be nice to have a schedule right now instead of always being on-call, because then I could actually make plans for my days off, instead of looking sideways at the phone every 30 minutes. I do love my job, but I'd love it more if I knew when to expect to work, and when I could make plans because I'd be off. I'm happy that I get to see my family this week, but on the same hand, I'm only going to get to see them for a few hours on Wednesday evening, because they have to go to church. I wish I could take more time off so I could actually visit, but I can't. Anyway.
I ended up getting off work at 3:45. Willis asked if I was ready to go, and I heartily responded yes. He told me to wait until he could call somebody else in. I reminded him that if he was trying to get in touch with Lee, that his phone wasn't working, but I could run and get him if they needed him. I wasn't trying to have the conversation I had with Morgan all over again, I just was trying to explain what would happen if he did try to call Lee. To my delight, Willis looked at me and said, "You know what? That's a great idea! Why don't you run and get him, and then he can close? Thanks, Lauren!" He wasn't being sarcastic or anything, he genuinely liked the idea. It made me happy. I raced home, ran up to Lee's banged on his door, made him get dressed immediately (he'd just woken up), and raced him back to work. He worked till close last night, and left the nicest message ever on my voicemail, thanking me. He's also working tonight until close, which he swears would not have happened if I hadn't pushed Morgan and Willis about it. So, on one hand, I made myself look unprofessional, but I did help Lee out, so it's okay.
When I came home yesterday, I stripped and went to bed. James quit his video game and napped with me. I was sleeping soooo nicely when I was woken up by the building's fire alarm going off. This is the second time in the last week the thing has gone off; the first time I was utilizing the restroom. I put my clothes on, grabbed my purse, and when I couldn't find Liger's leash, grabbed him and went downstairs. The alarm startled him so badly he gave me a bad scratch right beside my eye. James stayed in to find his leash, and came out a little later. Once again, there was no fire, so it was all for nothing.
After the firemen (I didn't see any firewomen) came out and turned the alarm off, James and I decided we were starving, and wanted Fellini's pizza. We haven't hung out with our normal crew (Robley, Jason, etc.) in a while (try since my last trip home) because we're both tired of their attitudes, egos, and irresponsibility. However, Jason called James a few days ago to hang out, and Robley called him yesterday, so James thought he would try to make peace by going downstairs and inviting them out to dinner with us. While he did that, I got dressed and did my makeup. When he came back, he was furious. Not only did Jason, Robley, etc., refuse to go because they didn't want pizza again, but James also found out that Josh (who hasn't paid a dime of rent money, and owes James a lot of money) bought a $120 tattoo that day. James decided right there that he was kicking Josh out that night. We bagged up all his belongings and put them by the front door. Josh came up, James told him the deal, got the keys back, and Josh is now out for good. It all went really smoothly and there were no cross words, and afterwards we even invited him to dinner with us, but he declined.
James and I went to dinner (I paid!!), and it was a lot of fun. The reason I've gone out every night is because James has been sick this week, and he's always playing his video games, and when I've asked if he would rather that I stay home, he's said he doesn't care. If I don't think someone wants me around, then I'm not going to hang around. However, last night James told me how much he'd missed me this past week, and that he's been edgy with me because he wants to spend time with me, but he doesn't want to ask. It was just sweet, and we had a lot of fun relaxing. Afterwards, we went to Blockbuster. I picked out Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (I love Lindsay Lohan, and it was a good book) and Pieces of April, with Katie Holmes in it. Confessions was cute and a lot like the book. It was all done exactly how I remember reading the book, except a few parts. Thankfully, there's a second book, which means another movie. Pieces of April was better than I had ever imagined it would be. It was an incredibly sweet movie that made me very happy. I will be buying it, and I'll watch it at Thanksgiving. I went to bed very happy.
Last night James rented Together, which is a Chinese movie about a father and son. It looked incredible, but I was so exhausted I just couldn't watch all of it. As it appears that I'm off today (no complaints here), I'm loafing around. I'm about to heat up pasta and/or pizza leftovers, and then James and I are going to watch Together. I'll tell you, the past twelve hours have been pretty beautiful.
aigre-douce at 10:44 a.m.