Thanks, gang! Yeah, every time I get asked if I have a minute, I assume the worst. I don't know why because it's never happened! I actually had one boss who never told me any of the bad stuff until right before I left the company, though. I think he was the worst manager I ever had. As a person, he was very nice, but he had *no clue* how to manage employees. Other coworkers and managers would complain to him about me, but he wouldn't bother to tell me, and then he got mad that I didn't stop whatever people had complained to him about, but, uh, if you don't *tell the person screwing up* that she's screwing up, nothing is going to change. Especially when you work on the other side of the country and regularly go *weeks* without talking to your remote employees. He *finally* told me all of his issues *after* I had given notice that I was quitting. Ugh. So glad I'm not there any more for multiple reasons, but this is a big one!
And the really weird thing for me about having enough money to not be panicked about bills: I actually buy less stuff. The more money I have, the easier it is to not buy things. I have no clue why. I went to Sephora at lunch today (it's *gorgeous* out! Upper 40s, sunny and clear, and no breeze! Perfect walking-at-lunch weather) before the news because I still haven't had a splurge treat after my bonus, and I found not one single thing I wanted. I've been poking around on various websites I usually have a shopping list on, and my reaction is just, "Eh, nah." There are many things I want from GDE, but I've already placed my planned two orders this month, and I can wait until next month for another one, especially since the second order is still en route. I went so OMG MUST BUY ALL THE THINGS with them last year that I'm pacing myself now: I can get four sample jars at the beginning of the month, and then if there's a collection released later in the month, I can get that, too.
And I go on weird cleaning kicks when I feel more financially-secure, too. Tomorrow, I'm probably going to get up, clean out my car, take it in for an overdue tuneup (way past when it should have happened calendar-wise, just a couple hundred miles past it mile-wise, and this *must* happen before next weekend), hit Fred Meyer/Trader Joe's for just enough groceries to get me to Thursday morning, and come back home to spend the rest of the day cleaning. I might go grab takeout from the most epically fantastically dive-y Chinese restaurant** two blocks away in the afternoon, but it will cost ten bucks for enough food to last me two days, so that's not even really a splurge. I *must* clean clean clean this weekend because I'm going out of town next weekend, and I don't want the checker-uppers to have to deal with my crap.
** I have found that you can measure the dive quality of Chinese restaurants by the bar. One pineapple-rum in a smallish water glass that costs under three bucks and gets you so utterly shitfaced that you can't feel your teeth? Epic and fantastic. They hired a bartender used to pouring strong drinks at a hipster dive bar who actually had to learn to pour *stronger* drinks at this particular Chinese dive, and this place is a magical and amazing combination of hipster, gunge-era leftovers, white trash, drug dealers, hookers, and old people just there to play Keno and video poker. I tell ya, if anyone comes to Portland, let me know, and maybe we can hit karaoke night there! You won't even have to drive because you can pass out in my neighbor's little yard downstairs if you can't make it up my stairs!
Isn't it gorgeous?!?! and of course, for a girl who's scared of color, I go for the most intimidating one to wear...the color red. I think it'll be a good addition for the summer, though. The other item I got was their liquid mousse foundation. I got it one shade darker than my current skin tone so I can use it in the summer and/or mix it with much lighter foundations I have right now. The lipstick cost me a whooping $2-something (usually 6 bucks), and the foundation was like 3 dollars. All got covered by my rewards card, so it was nice. now to muster up the courage to wear that lippie outside of the house...
