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Thursday, April 28, 2005
Little shopping to lift the spirits
After 21 hours of overtime last week I was finally able to slip out a little early today. Was really planning 1/2 a day off but of course it didn't work out quite that way. I was at least able to leave around 2:45'ish which still felt like a treat. I have spent way too much time at work lately.
Was able to walk over to the mall. (I am fortunate enough to work across the biggest mall in New England). Didn't go crazy on the shopping but basically got what I had been planning to get. Some jeans from Old Navy (my old ones are getting all frayed on the bottom), some cards from Hallmark and .. well I can't tell you the last one since it's a Mother's Day gift and I know my mom reads this blog. :)
Got all my shopping done and then sat by the big fountain near the center court and read my book. It was actually quite relaxing and I got all the way to page 100 which felt nice. I have been meaning to read this book for ages. It's set in England, by Marcia Willett called "Second Time Around". Very good so far. I love books set in England. Am a big Rosamunde Pilcher fan as well.
Off to our favorite bar TK's now for some dinner. I am starving .. even though I had pizza for lunch. A day for spoiling myself I guess. :)
Posted by Hanna at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Sunday, April 24, 2005
Let's play ball
Still fighting my cold, dealing with an annoying cough and sore throat now. Besides that I have been extremely busy at work. Lots going on, training, interviewing, ... the whole shebang.
At least I had the day off today. We went to a baseball game (NY Mets against Washington Nationals). Thankfully it didn't rain but it was pretty cold. Unfortunately the Mets lost pretty miserably as well. Back home now, warming up with a cup of tea.
Gonna go out and try a Mexican place we haven't been to yet called "Senor Panchos" in Monroe, CT. Let's hope it's good. :)
Posted by Hanna at 06:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Sneezing Once ... Sneezing Twice ...
Ha .. Ha .. Tschu ...
Yes, I've been sneezing quite a bit lately. Caught a cold over the weekend and been fighting it ever since. Sneezing, runny nose, congestion, headache, all the fun stuff.
I am actually feeling a bit better today, the achiness has gone away. But I am sounding WORSE. Now my voice is starting to go. At the end of today I was almost not able to talk. VERY frustrating, especially when you are trying to train people, answer the phone and so on.
Let's hope I'll have a voice tomorrow. I am gonna need it. :) It's definitely been a busy week. Seems like the employees in my department are dropping like flies and I am constantly replacing somebody else. More resume reading, interviewing, training and whatnot. How fun. :)
Posted by Hanna at 09:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Saturday, April 16, 2005
Relaxing Saturday
I am lucky enough to have another weekend off. Usually only get every other weekend so two weekends in a row is a nice treat. Guess I'll make it up next week by having to work 6 days in a row, Mon-Sat, with having to close and work late two out of the six days. Joy. :)
This past week was busy and draining but at least it's the weekend now. Got up around 11 and headed to Trumbull, CT (about a 40 min ride) to eat at a really yummy bagel place. We discovered Bruegger's the first time when we were in Pittsburgh. It's a chain based in Vermont. We also ate at one in Boston. They have absolutely delicious bagels and really good bagel sandwiches. Wish we had one in our town. :)
After that we headed to Milford, CT to get some donuts from Krispy Kreme. They have the BEST glazed donuts EVER. If you have never eaten at a Krispy Kreme you have truly missed out. We got a dozen to take home so I have some more to eat later. YUM. :)
Spending the rest of the day being lazy, probably playing some Sims 2, maybe reading or writing letters. Although who am I kidding .. once I get sucked into the game I am probably gonna spend the rest of the day playing. :) Guess I still have tomorrow to do some reading and catching up on my letters. Who doesn't love weekends ? So nice.
Posted by Hanna at 04:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack
Monday, April 11, 2005
Garfield Moment
That's what I felt like this morning. :) Just didn't feel like getting up at all. Got to bed late last night and just couldn't get up this morning.
Now it's 8 pm and I feel like crashing. It's been a really long day and I am soo tired. Spent the entire day training the new guy on a very time-consuming, intense job while trying to manage a department, answer the phone and take care of customer complaints. What joy.
Went out to dinner after work, had 3 glasses of wine which helped mellow me out a little but now I am just tired. What a day. I hate Mondays. :) Let's see what the rest of the week has in store for me.
Posted by Hanna at 08:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Another beautiful day
This weekend has turned to be really nice. It's perfect, sunny and warm outside. My cat Ollie was sitting on the couch all day yesterday, looking outside and feeling the slight breeze on his fur. He was absolutely content.
I enjoyed the day as well, relaxing from a long week at work. Really didn't do much, talked to my mom on the phone for a while, making plans for our Europe trip next month. Yes, yes you heard right. We finalized our plans for our trip and booked our flights - I am SO excited. :)
Here is our itinerary:
Wed., May 11th: NY-London
Tues, May 17th: London-Vienna
Mon, May 23rd: Vienna-NY
I was looking through some websites yesterday, looking for things to do while we are in England. Let me tell you, there are plenty of options and of course way more things to do than we have time for. But hey, there's always next time right ? :)
England will be our "sightseeing portion" of the trip. Besides visiting with my best friend Joanne (can't wait to see her new house) we'll probably spend most of our time out and about looking at castles, gardens, towns, drinking lots of tea and browsing through shops.
Austria is a different story. It's not really a sightseeing trip, more a visiting friends and family trip. I haven't been back home in almost 2 years now so it should be fun to be back and try and see as many people as possible. It's always difficult to squeeze everyone in especially in such a short amount of time but I am sure it will be fun anyway. It's always good to be back, visit familiar places, meet up with friends, eat familiar foods I can't get in the US and just enjoy hanging out.
Not too much else new really. Enjoying another beautiful day today, took a ride to get some lunch and am back home now. Probably gonna relax, maybe sit outside on the front step and write some letters. Will see how the day develops.
Posted by Hanna at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
Almost Summer
It's gorgeous outside today. It's slowly getting dark now which is nice cause it's almost 7:30 pm. I am never happy when we first change the time in the spring, losing sleep and all. But I am very happy after a short while with it being lighter out much longer.
Have had a rough week at work so far and it was nice leaving late and it still being light out. Makes you feel a little better after a long day.
I won't even go into detail about all the stuff that's going on at work. To make a long story short I am having lots of employee troubles, trying to hire, interview, people leaving, ... stuff like that. I guess it will all work itself out eventually.
Went for a walk after getting home from work today. Nothing clears my head like a nice walk on a sunny day. It was so gorgeous outside today, warm, sunny, just a really nice day. The only thing that's missing now are the leaves on the trees. Can't wait for summer. :)
Posted by Hanna at 07:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Saturday, April 02, 2005
April Showers
Wow, it's sure been a while since I last posted anything. I guess I am getting lazy. :)
Nothing much has really happened. Met up with my English pal Kirsty and her girlfriend Laraine in NY last weekend. 
Went to eat pizza at our favorite pizza place Arturo's and then had drinks at their hotel in Soho. What a trendy hotel and a really nice hotel bar. Really cool hotel.
Monday we spent at the Immigration Office in Hartford which is never any fun. It was pouring and an all and all miserable day. We spent 4 hours to finally get a stamp in my passport to renew my temporary Green Card. I am still waiting for my permanent Green Card. The backlog is just crazy and it seems to take them forever to approve things. I won't bore you with all the details. Will just say this much: Spending 4 hours in a government office waiting room, watching the rain outside the window, is NO fun.
The rest of the week was spent with hectic days at work, interviewing people, juggling different responsibilities, ... Yes, I am hiring yet again. At least this time the person is leaving on good terms, transferring to a different department inside the company. I still don't like to go over resumes and do the interviewing. You just never know how things are gonna work out. Oh well. :) I did hire a guy who is gonna start Monday so let's see how that goes.
It's pouring again today ... been raining all day. I am sure there is lots of flooding in different places since the leftover snow is melting now as well. I think it's supposed to keep raining all day tomorrow as well. I guess it's better than snow.
Well, I am looking forward to a day off tomorrow. I plan to be lazy, stay home, drink some tea and maybe read a book. This weather is good tea drinking weather. :)
Posted by Hanna at 08:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack