/rant

I know it's a little bit early still, but..

Happy New Year to all fellow Everwoodians! :cheerleader:

Here's also a rendition of the music in S1 finale that I made a few years ago and discovered again yesterday: https://app.box.com/s/j61e0h4bh7f45k9ds0ettt25m5ek9ty1 For me, 2017 hasn't been great really. A lot of setbacks and merely a handful of highs. But as Harold once put it so eloquently: "Life happens to us. We learn to be grateful when things are good and to count our blessings when things are bad. And the only certainty in all of it is that it all just keeps happening." Yeah, things have happened.. the beginning of the year I admitted feelings to a girl I liked and got rejected. Later in spring, a relative passed away ("step"-grandfather), then in July I had my appendix removed, because it was inflamed.. in September one of my very favourite cats passed away, he was the biggest, for me the bravest and most humble cats I ever knew. Fought valiantly against all neighbouring intruders in our countryside place, then came back inside purring and being lovely as ever. He had tooth / (pulp) infection and although we helped him as much as we could, he ultimately passed away, into the stars. To finish the year off, I had a terrible cold / virus that lasted over 3 weeks and is only now beginning to fade. It affected my vocal cords too, so I couldn't sing properly and had to cancel some concerts, which I never wanna do, but as I kept fighting and still going to work, the voice was just so tired in the end and the doctor said I had to rest for about 2 weeks. There were some positives too.. I did graduate in the beginning of summer, got my MA degree (not with flying colours), but I did finish up everything with school while working full-time in the choir that I sing in. Don't really recommend that as it's more strenuous than I ever thought, but yeah.. also in summer, as a sort of 'reward' I went to see my favourite band Coldplay in Dublin, Ireland and it was the best concert in my lifetime (and no exaggerations here), I loved it!

But yeah, as I was sitting there yesterday, I suddenly heard that song 'Home' again, and it gave me.. peace, hope again, as if suddenly erasing all the bad stuff that was. So I wish that all of you could have that little bit of hope and warmth every day in 2018, to enjoy the moments that come to you, and if things don't work out the way you have expected, to have people close by to help you get through and give you strength and courage to rise again :)

PS. If you have a 'New Year's Thread', feel free to copy this post over, I just came over to the cafeteria, hoping this would be the most crowded place!

/end of rant!

True your default setting has no ego :nod: . Like even below zero. It is negative. However those people I guess are bad enough to bring it out even from you :lol: .

Well if you ask the jerk he has no issues with people interaction. If people have problems with him, it's their problem and not the jerk. The jerk had had the audacity to tell me that I have issues working with people and I am not diplomatic enough. He told me this earlier this year. And the boss thinks that the others have no issues with the jerk. It's just M is so vocal and the others are complete idiots and follow M and this is why they have issues with said jerk. My boss thinks that people are idiots I guess :D.

Now I know that I am not Extrovert so I do avoid working with people by default. Especially if I don't value the intelligence of said people. I am also not the most diplomatic person. I do know that I need a bigger goal to be diplomatic. However such criticism coming from him is a complete absurd. He tried to discourage me to take the more leading role in May. I knew where he was going so I told him that I like challenge so I will accept anyway :lmao: . However I did told one of my German co-workers what he said and asked him for his opinion because we were supposed to work together. My German co-worker said that on the contrary has no issues with me at all and he prefers to work with me. In hindsight he might have said something to my German boss but this is the jerk's problem. He should not be allowed to criticize me in stuff he sucks big time :D.

To be honest both approaches would not work for M and I. In our mind you are paid to do your job. If you are not qualified enough you are not doing your job efficiently. If you consider your emotions and play favoritism then you are not professional and you are not doing your work efficiently. If you play games and think you can deceive us, you could only challenge us to beat you in your game. So yeah this approach would not work long term for me or M.

They did want to get rid of M even though I specifically told the boss that out of M, O and P M is the only one that is knowledgeable enough in this area I was talking about and we need this. M was the one that had no issues questioning the decisions of the French that are supposedly specialists in this area. And he ended up right in the end and they had to do what he suggested.

I think that they do know that M is smart enough to see their game. They are also smart enough to know that I see their game. They can't get rid of me. I mean I have questioned their authority enough and I am the first person to publicly announce a war against the jerk and they have not done anything so it's safe to assume that their hands are tied. They just did not want in the team another one like me who sees right through them. Especially because M is more vocal and does not back down from an argument and does not fear conflict. Compared to him I am more inclined to find another ways to solve my issues without direct confrontation. I do not like the direct confrontation because I will have to show them my true self and I do not want that. So I save this for special cases. Another thing they did not need is for me and this other person to get along and M and I get along great. Now do not get me wrong. We are not friends, but we could work together smoothly without issues. M has never questioned my authority. If I ask him to do something (both work related and not directly work related like I could tell him I will call you in this meeting and I want you to complain about the jerk) he will do it. And that was before the direct conversation we had. Now he is even more willing to do stuff for me. And lastly O who is the boss/jerk favorite as he is easily manipulated gets along the best with M and me. In any other case O would defend the boss and jerk. If it's for me he would not argue with me and just accept that I dislike the boss and the jerk. He tried to bring peace between M and the jerk and I told him to leave it as it is if he wants to keep his friendship with M. O not just agreed with me, but I am sure that he had talked to the boss about M.

They were smart enough to identify how much issues M could cause them. They were not smart enough to realize that I am as smart as them and I know how M could help me so I would force them to keep M. My boss is not good in thinking about the future and devising contingency plans. I am. I tried to be direct with him and tell him that M is someone I want and need. He ignored my wish and I had to be really direct.

However to be honest in the end they helped me :lol: . I would not have been that open and direct with M if this had not happened. I mean I have never lied to M, but I did not have the need to show my true identity to him as we do not communicate at work. We mostly talk every day when we travel together and quite often we discuss work matters. Due to this issue I had to show a little bit more of me. Not my feelings, but my thoughts and what I value and what I want and I was completely direct with him. I told him I need you to do this and that in the project. In exchange I will do that. He told me that this works for him. I feel that this helped both M and I tremendously. It actually improved our work communication, it motivated M to work more and the project is actually getting better because of this. Now we have conversations where we even decide who to assign what task based on their competence, the task urgency and how they fit into the team. For example there was nasty bug and I told him to assign this bug to a guy. He was like "Why are you screwing up with the guy, the bug is tricky and he will be demotivated". M still assigned the bug to the guy and the guy managed to resolve it without issues. I had this conversation with him in front of a member of another team and she was surprised that we could discuss work matters like that. We both see our team members as chess figures and we know how to move them from one place another. Not that we manipulate the people, we just know the weakness and strengths of each one of them so we make conscious decisions on how to use those guys efficiently.

He even started opening to me about personal issues. Nothing big but he would talk about his family and issues he might have with them, his childhood, future plans related to his living situation, even what he likes about women and how he flirts with women and goes for them. So I guess this is our silver lining in the end.

I have no idea :). On pictures it seems spacious enough but I do not know how many people will be there.

Wow see this is a sure sign that it's super super super cold. If Buddy has issues with it then it's really bad. Good that you found a way to help Buddy a little bit with the cold.

Amont, sorry for your bad year! Thanks for all the good wishes and I hope your 2018 is super as well! It's wonderful that Everwood and its music still comforts you!

Michelle, we have been happen a really cold spell here in my area and there is no letup. I just can't imagine what it must be like for you because this is seriously too much cold than I can handle!

I second what Betty said, Amont. It's interesting Everwood music is being talked about because just last night on OT2 I posted the Everwood theme song and received goosebumps just listening to it again. :love: Wishing you a great New Year. :hug:

Amont sorry that this year was not the best :hug: ! I hope that the new year will bring more on the positive side!

Congrats on finishing your studies! The girl that rejected you does not know what she lost. It's her loss :). I am sure that you will find a girl that will appreciate you!

What are your plans for today guys? We already covered mine and Michelle's.

Do you still have some of your stuff in your parent's home? I kids rooms are like a shrine to them. I can't get them to take all of their belongings and I don't have the heart to throw it out!

:hug: Thanks. I know, it's so bad it is affecting where we're going. We were going to go to a Polish market in downtown Minneapolis this morning and have decided to wait until Tuesday. The weather is simply dangerous right now. Whenever it gets near the -20 F range (it was over -40 F in certain parts of Minnesota a few days ago!) it's not even about being cold anymore... you are cold, it goes without saying! But the focus is on the dangerous health conditions that can develop... not just frostbite (which happens being outside in this weather for just a few minutes if any skin is exposed) but way more serious conditions as well. It really sucks for people who look forward to outdoor hockey, sledding, snowmobiling, skiing during the holiday break. You really can't go there in this weather. Too dangerous.

My mother is instructed to not throw out my math books and some biology/chemistry books. Same for my notebooks and notes in general as my notebooks are like school books. They could be useful for any kid that starts going to school as they are quite organized, everything is colored, lots of tables, lots of graphics. Also there are specific childhood toys that I do not want to throw out as believe it or not they are in great condition and are even better than what is sold now. My niece could play with them once she gets older.

However those are safely kept in our attic. They are not in my room. The only toys my mother keep in my room are the ones she uses to play with my niece when she comes home.

We did renovations few years ago and my mother consulted with me on how to decorate the room. The room is like my alter ego. It's pink/purple and yet completely classic. No wallpapers, no pictures on the walls, nothing. The things that you will see in my room is my desktop computer (I do not use it and my mother does not use it either because I bought her laptop), my kiddie keyboard (it has 3 octaves and sometimes I could play with it though I have a better one in my apartment) and my Architecture Lego sets that my niece loves. The room now has nothing to do with the room I have grown up. We completely changed the setup. I gave my mother some instructions but as it's their house I told her that ultimately she decides what she wants to do.

Yes, none of that trio will see the light on their faults and weaknesses. They don't care. They know they don't even have to care because they are this weird, united cult.

Sounds like you have a personal fondness for M. I could feel this a while ago but it's becoming more and more apparent now. Yes, that is your silver lining if that is your desire. :)

Betty, what are your plans over the next two days?

True :lol: .

More like I admire smart people and he is smart :lol: . I love to give chances to smart capable people because I believe that they deserve it. Now if he crosses me over, he would pay and he is warned about this :lol: . I specifically told him that what he does with our boss would not work for me and I give chances to people, but he better own up to the deal we made. Otherwise I could tell him to go find another job quite easy. Arrogant jerks is not what I need.

What happened is that I used to rely a lot on the female co-worker that left the company in May because of the jerk. I know that I know my project quite well but I find it more and more difficult to deal with everything. Having too many meetings, too much negotiations and then on top of it to train like 25 people is not something I can handle. Too many people, too many tangents and I can't deal with all of that. Once she left, I needed someone to complete the void. I also needed someone that could support me with the battle between me and the trio :lol: . For this I need someone smart, aggressive and brave. I needed time to find suitable person. For now he fits the mold the most. I did not feel comfortable actually being open with him because really we have never connected on personal level. And I had no idea how he would react. Like t could have ended really bad :lol: .

However the fondness I have for him is more like the fondness I have in general for smart people. I love interacting with smart people. You could always learn something from them as they present you new information or new way of seeing things. So it's more challenging than talking about mundane routine stuff you know.

Ah sorry that you could not go to Minneapolis :hug: ! I know that you wanted to go there! You are right. Considering such conditions you simply have to stay at home.

Btw when Anna and Sara come back to school? I hope that till then the weather gets better because I can't imagine going to school with such temperatures.

Smart move. Sometimes we moms feel like it's still not our house and just a storage unit for our kids! :lol:

I am having a few friends over for dinner tonight and then we're going to the movies!
Nadine is coming back tomorrow from NYC...she has spent a few days there in the worse possible climate conditions to be walking around the city. Oh well. :lol:

Tomorrow morning I am helping out a friend. She runs a 5K race for her Rotary organization and I help her register the runners...set up food (bagels, orange slices, bananas, coffee, etc) for the runners to have after the race. This is an annual thing that I have been with her for several years.