i am working today from mozart's on town lake. its such a gorgeous day- the sun is shining and the breeze feels amazing. this is the view from my picnic table.

the amount of freedom that i have at this job is a shock to the system after filling out time cards at apple and having to keep a consistent lunch hour.

i'm going to finish up some stuff here and then go for a jog before a few conference calls i have this afternoon. who knows, maybe i'll even take casey for a w-a-l-k. shhh... don't tell him. i want it to be a surprise.

i didn't exercise this weekend, but you could say i was in hardcore training. have you ever shopped for 5+ hours the day after thanksgiving? that would put anyone's stamina (not to mention patience) to the test.

the visit home was great. thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays- it seems to be the most relaxing of holidays. casey had a *fantastic*holiday. he has finally warmed up to my parents' dogs - the first couple of times they met, he wasn't sure about them but he seems to have decided that they can belong to his club.

its nice to be home now gearing up to celebrate Christmas- the most important holiday of the year and my favorite to decorate for. the tree is up, the lights are on, and i'm ready to roast chestnuts on an open fire.

walter dewey pickerell
august 6, 1916 - november 13, 2005

i think i just closed my first deal at work. i should know this afternoon for sure, but based on the phone call i just had, i'd be surprised if it didn't go through.

this calls for some celebrating! good thing i'm meeting tim for lunch- its never good to drink alone!

mollie burpo. how weird does that sound?

mary kathleen donovan burpo. what a mouthfull! as far as the social security administration is concerned, that's my name! i got my new social security card this week.

it was so strange on the first day of work, the president walked me around and introduced me to everyone as "mollie burpo" and i chuckled inside (and out loud) every time i heard it.

its one thing to add "burpo" to the end of my name with people who have known me for years as "mollie donovan", but its entirely different to meet someone and have their impression of me not include "donovan".

i blame it on my parents. if they hadn't given me such a kickass name that i love so much, maybe it wouldn't make me so sad to leave it behind. i know it makes kevin a little sad inside when i make fun of the name "burpo" and i'm sure one day it will be second nature to sign credit card slips with that name, but for now? its just plain awkward.

this weekend kevin and i attended a wedding shower for my sister and her fiancee. it was a very trendy wine tasting hosted by two of the hippest twins in history.

i am happy to report that after playing a very heated game of "who is cooler: mike or erin" i learned that my new brother-in-law has a grasp of street slang that would rival a rapper.

in other news, california says "hi!"

i'm still fumbling around in the dark for the most part with this new job, but i'm sure to come across a light switch before too long... right? right. (i hope)

just in time for thanksgiving, i have something to add to my "things to be thankful for" list.

i was sitting in a meeting yesterday, perched gingerly on my seat in the conference room at AMD. we were discussing an upcoming project for about an hour and a half.

a little background: i am uncomfortably dressed in work clothes that i have chosen based on the fact that they rub my open wounds less than my other options. i have a giant piece of tegaderm on my hip that is slowly filling with goo.

about 45 minutes into the meeting, i feel something warm tricking down my leg and a brief glance confirms my dread- i am dripping down my leg. i tried to casually stuff kleenex under my leg and sit through the last half of the meeting just wanting to get up and run to the bathroom.

by the time the meeting ends and i can finally get out of my chair to hurry to the ladies room...i realize i have left a dark circle of ooze on the fabric chair.

the lessons we should all learn from this?
#1. be thankful for things like skin. hooray for skin! thanks to skin, we usually don't have to be concerned with things like oozing on furniture.

#2. next time you are about to sit down in a conference room or waiting room chair with mysterious stains...find another chair.

there i was, cruising down bee cave on my bike yesterday, enjoying the warm sun, chatting with jenny on my left.

suddenly all i remember is realizing our bikes are too close together, yelling "shit! shit! shit! SHIT!", pushing off her shoulder to try and regain my balance and the next thing i know, i am scraping myself across the shoulder of the road, gravel in my hands, my leg, my stomach.

OUCH. that freaking hurt. the pain of the accident compared to the pain of cleaning the asphalt out of my skin? doesn't even compare. the pain of cleaning out the asphalt compared to spraying open skin with bactine? forget about it.

thankfully brenda was kind enough to come pick me up and didn't seem too worried about whether or not i was going to get blood all over her brother's pickup truck. thank goodness for good friends.

all in all, i'm doing ok. its just some road rash afterall, but its gonna sting for a few days.

working from home definitely has its benefits. so far i've had the pleasure of learning via 'good morning america' that molly is one of the top three female dog names.

tell me something i don't know.

sitting in the airport yesterday afternoon, i was thinking about how much of a bummer it is to be on a southwest airlines flight holding a ticket marked with anything but an "A". when you have a lousy "B" or the dreaded "C", you know you are most likely going to be confined to a middle seat.

i struck up a conversation with a friendly guy next to me in line and we were talking about being in line "C" and what criteria you use to pick your seat. as we walked down the row, i spotted a coveted empty aisle seat!

the two older guys in the row were in the window and middle seat and were both wearing camoflauged ballcaps. i sat down and quickly realized that they had been saving the seat for a third "real tree" clad guy who was coming down the row behind me. they yelled to him "you'd better find yourself a seat because our row is full!" their friend walks up to our row and says, "well i was going to try and find a seat next to the prettiest lady on the plane, but you two beat me to it."

ahh, good old fashioned charm.

over the course of the flight i learned that the guys were on their first plane ride in over 20 years and their destination was bow hunting for boar out in burnett. they were such nice guys. its funny how quickly you adjust to your surroundings. pretty soon i was trading in words like "thanksgiving" for the colloquial "thanks givin".

when i landed and was waiting for my bags at the carousel with kevin, i challenged him to pick who i would have chosen to sit next to on the plane and he was not surprised when i pointed at the camo group. when he asked why- i answered "it was the closest thing to riding next to my dad!"

cruel and unusual punishment.

my feet are sore. i think yesterday was the first day in at least 2 years that i wore shoes with a hard sole for 8+ hours in a row. i'm serious.

so despite the fancy shoes, the only other shocker came when i met the other new business developer for design reactor - his name is kevin and he appears to be in his late thirties.

i learned at lunch that he is not. he is in his late forties.

i asked him if he had a good deal of sales experience before joining design reactor. his answer? "actually i have about 18 years of experience as an art director for various advertising agencies and then about 6 years of experience in management consulting"

just so you know, he wears fancy shoes. and they match his belt.

the new job is going well so far (just ignore this ugly black laptop i'll be using from now on). everyone here is really great and the work they are doing is fantastic.

my freak out moments so far have not been kept to a minimum... but i kind of expected that. i had to fly to california with sinus pressure, which was not fun at all. i kept trying to nap to make the 4 hour flight go faster, but resting my chin in my palm would shut my mouth and breathing through my nose was NOT an option... so it was a long flight.

then i got lost. then kevin saved me. then i got mad and frustrated and sick and tired and cranky. and kevin still saved me.

then i tried to complain about things like sore feet and sinus pressure to my sister who had been with a friend whose husband unexpectedly passed away on sunday... and that saved me again.

i'm tired. and cranky. i'm going to bed.