Matterweekend

Scott took the weekend off, so we had a Matterweekend - always a nice surprise. Seattle is in the usual "gorgeous sunny warm days until the weekend when it's gray and wet" cycle it loves to throw at us this time of year. But yesterday the weather held enough for us to go to the University District Street Fair for a few hours, up by the University of Washington. It's your typical street fair, with the same food and music and vendors as every other street fair throughout the season, but it's the first street fair of the season and is pretty fun - and about the only time during the entire year that I enjoy going to that neighborhood (normally way too crowded and skater-punkish for my tastes). Of course, after an hour or two, every vendor booth looked the same; I'm sure the only categories available on the vendor applications were "nature photographer", "locally-made scented soaps and candles", "Pacific Northwest Native American art/fabrics/carvings", and "true Indian-print dresses, carpets and shawls." I had to look up past the vendor tents to get my bearings, since I couldn't tell anymore if I was on 40th or 50th Street. But still, fun. We ran into our unbelievably cool friend Jody (who is building a house in Bali and will be retiring there in a few years, although she's close to our age and looks younger than me), and I got to eat Polish sausage with sauerkraut and onions. Scott would never let me do that at home.

Today it's grey and wet and we're supposed to get hail and thunderstorms, so we're hanging out in the hood. Scott's playing Neverwinter Nights on his computer after helping me get the house cleaned, the doggies are outside wondering how to get back inside (although Kali is having a ball catching water drops coming down from the deck above her), and it's nice to be relaxing a little before going back to The Grind.

A few thoughts about the new job, since you're all dying to hear:

• I am still wildly crazy about the new job. Perfect, perfect fit, and I'm constantly encouraged by various people from all over the firm telling me how glad they are that I'm back and that someone is taking care of some things that had been neglected. One of the other managers told me (again) the other day how nice it is to know that I'm taking care of things and she doesn't have to worry about stuff falling through the cracks.
• I am, however, having instances of wanting to bang my head against the desk for extended periods of time. The majority of the staff that report to me (whom I'm supposed to be mentoring/team-building) have been with the firm for many, many years, and are ... umm, reluctant to embrace change, to put it nicely. My patience is already wearing thin, and I may soon be changing from "yes I'm your boss but I'm championing your cause" to "if you don't want my shoe prints all OVER your face you best shape it up, gurrrll". Don't MAKE me go all Julia Sugarbaker on yo ass.
• I am, however, jazzed about being someone who's actually in charge of looking at The Big Picture. SO SO SO SO SO the place I've wanted to be in. This is comfortable, but in a cool, challenging way.
• I drove to work for the first time last Thursday. Then I did it again on Friday. I'm addicted. I get to work in half the time I would get there on the bus, I don't have to wait for a bus that's stuck in traffic, I don't have to stand up for two miles pressed up against, umm, "natural-smelling" types who just smoked a pack and a half of Marlboro Reds three seconds before they got on. I love my car and I want to drive it. But I feel guilty about the carbon footprint I'm leaving. Please - make me feel better while supporting my love of driving.

That's all for now. Off to finish laundry, get the steak marinating for the burritos I'm making for dinner, and relax as much as I can before tomorrow's 5:20 a.m. alarm treat. Have a great night ...