It has flown so fast that somehow I felt compelled doing a last ditch effort to write my thoughts before year 2008 ends. A quick recap on how our last few weeks of December went by:
1. Hubby was flown in from the workplace by a twin otter. It was dang cold where he was that normal flights were cancelled and because the employer still has to transport their employees, they made darn sure that they got hauled in safely - thus, the twin otter. He arrived 5 hours later than usual but am grateful to the Lord and the Angels and Mother Mary who made sure my husband and the rest of the crew are all in one piece - safe and sound to their destinations. Yes, I was storming heavens with prayers as it was ghastly cold and snowy!
2. I have learned to really like my North Face snowboots which for the longest time, I have detested since I thought it looked more like steel-toed boots, therefore, has zero fashion points! Yet, the grip was awesome and the warmth it provides is unbelievable - so to heck with fashion if it means I will freeze when all I need are smart-gears in order to survive Canada's winters!
3. Parties galore. There is the office party which was great but I find that there was just too much going on at work that I am not so sure if everyone enjoyed, to be honest. We had one team member resign, lots of people already away for their vacation, and then there was us in Admissions who were slaving to the very last day because our numbers are down! :( The other party was with a friend's place where we had lobster everything. OMG, I swear I had my fill of eating lobster for the year! Last but not least, my sister's birthday Chinese buffet. It was a simple affair but lots of great food! ;)
4. Kisses and make ups. So I had been keeping grudge about a person who I have loathed (yes, I said it, loathed!!!) for quite awhile because of the stupid assumptions made and who never bothered to check the facts only for this person to realize that I've been right all along and I was doing the expectation that is my job. This person came down to see me and handed me (yes, moi!!!) a Christmas present (more like a peace offering) on behalf of their group. I was floored to say the least. This person is a bigwig and from what I heard - is someone who does not put up with BS. Well, so do I! When we finally met for the first time, he shook my hand with a quick quip that went like this:
2 days before he gave the gift:
Me: Hello Dr. XX XXXXXX! I'm MN from the XXX Office.
Dr.: M?? Oh yes, I've seen your name all over the place.
(My inside voice was saying, you @$$h0!e!!!, remember this face because you will be sorry for what you said over the phone last 2 weeks ago without checking the realities of the facts and I don't care if you are the King of Sheba because I was doing my job!)
Me: (In my sarcastic voice) Of course you did and you will see more of it sometime soon! *big smile*
On the Friday before most of the people went for their holidays, and while I was chatting with our big boss in her office, the Dr. was rushing thru the doors then stopped on his tracks to ask me:
Dr.: M, right?
Me: Yes, Dr. XX.
Dr.: You are the person I was looking for!
While the big boss who knew the story of the big blowup was looking on and was also startled by the inquiry -
Me: Well, how can I help you?
Dr.: I am here delivering this (handed the present) for you and actually the whole XX team. Well, actually, this came from Santa...
Me: (in my probably strangest and surprised expression) Oh.....wow! Thank you, and Merry Christmas.
Dr.: Merry Christmas!
And then we shook hands again. But I felt humbled. Not because he gave us a gift - but I felt something quite sincere when he said he was looking for me then shifted to saying it's from Santa then had a warm smile when he said Merry Christmas back.
You know the feeling when someone is almost saying 'sorry' but is actually NOT saying it? That's how it felt like. He must have known that among the other members of our office, yours truly and my rep are two people who work hard for his group to get the numbers they need. And, perhaps he realized why I had to stand up for what I believed in and not buckled down on his impositions even if he's the most important person in their department. Somehow, the greeting we exchanged and with him probably seeing my expression of amazement from being stoic must have signalled that yes, we are ok now. And, we can forget that we started off with the wrong foot at first.
In relation to this, the Manager who was supposed to be in the know about the episode/issue that the Dr was angry about but opted to play dumb and who I have been giving cold shoulders to broke down to asking me this: "Are we still friends? You don't call me back nor answer any of my emails..."
I chose to stay neutral and went with the professional answer - when in reality, yes, I still can't believe she has done this dumb act and cowered in a corner - then put me in bad light because she didn't want to get in the bad side of the Dr.! Technically, I did not answer her question about being friends but I said, I can't always give a timely answer to all the questions (as believe me, she tries to connect every friggin half an hour!!!) as work is taller than me!
I just can't bring myself to agreeing to be friends with people I can't respect, you know what I'm saying? I am usually pretty agreeable but when you cross the line, I don't take things sitting down either. It would have been better if she just came out and said that she screwed up but she never admitted anything even if she knew what's going on. Liars I will not up with - ever! So what's my point? I think she knew that it has caused a strain in what used to be a really good working relationship. I'm still professional towards her anyway - just not overly helpful. Too bad, so sad to ya!
5. Quiet yet happy reunions. My side of the family may be predictable - we go to Mass on the eve, we eat a lot, take pictures, then, we open gifts - but they are always the peaceful, happy types of memories. Mom is back home with my youngest sister so it's all just us 3 with our spouses and Lola Be. The 25th, we spent with B's brother in Innisfail then the 27th was with B's mom. Incidentally, hubby's mom was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy - which although is not a good thing when it's still Christmas time but nevertheless, is better than a full blown stroke. We hope she recuperates fast and that it becomes a wakeup call for us to not take for granted one's health.
All in all, the year that was had been pretty interesting, to say the least. There were high points and there were lows. Lots of hellos and a few goodbyes - though, not permanently. New discoveries and old treasured friends and finds found.
As we close the year, I am putting out a prayer of thanks for the continued blessings. There were lots to be thankful for despite the current economic picture. Our bonds are strengthened and there is renewed interest to reconnect, understand others more, and love and help others like we've never been.
There are new goals in our list, new adventures we would like to try out, stronger relationships we would like to carry forth and hopefully more positive thoughts and acts of generosity that we would like to pay forward. It's 2009 in 24 hours. Face it with hope, love and gratitude!!!
Merry Christmas and a Glorious 2009 to you and yours. Cheers!
1 comment:
so much happened in just a short while... but all's well that ends well. :)
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