ruledbymercury’s blog

My new position is totally kicking my bum.  It is SO stressful and as a whole, our department is SO behind.  I still have to get over a lot of my insecurities when it comes to handling unhappy people on the phone, and I still have a lot to learn.  I have been coming home every night exhausted and have been working remotely from home after hours to keep up.  I'm trying not to worry so much about it, but the stress does get to me and I have found myself longing for my old position where I knew what I was doing and could do it quickly and efficiently.  Hopefully that day will come again soon...

Luckily, we have a few fun things going on to distract me.  Tadd and I talked to my mother-in-law last night more in-depth about her plans for when she comes to visit in October.  I actually put in for a quote with a travel agent last night and am waiting to hear back.  She wants to do a few nights in a Fort Wilderness cabin, which should be so much fun!  We're planning on getting there about mid-morning Monday of the week they are going to be in town, go to a late lunch at Whispering Canyon Cafe in the Wilderness Lodge, then the Halloween Party at Magic Kingdom.  Then Tuesday we'll be at Epcot most of the day for Food & Wine Fest.  Then Wednesday we have breakfast at Kona in the Polynesian, followed by a day exploring Fort Wilderness, maybe mini-golfing, hanging out at Downtown Disney, etc.  We're going to rent a golf cart while we're there to get around the Fort, and I plan on decorating our cabin (and our golf cart) for Halloween/Autumn.

Also, Tadd found out that his boss might be sending us to Las Vegas!  We don't have many details yet, but he wants to take Tadd to an industry convention and said if I pay my own airfare, I was welcome join them.  We'll have to see about work time-off and such, but it would be tough to turn down, especially since I think it is right around our anniversary.

Well, after less than 5 months at my new company, I was able to do what I never was able to do in four years at AAA.  I officially got the promotion to Benefits Specialist as well as a 16% raise!  I start my new job Monday and they have actually already hired my replacement.  Things are moving so fast my head is spinning.  I'm nervous about my new responsibilities, but luckily I have a few weeks of training before I have to start dealing with brokers on a regular basis. 

So instead of worrying about everything that lies ahead of me, I'm just taking a little time to bask in the glow of my achievement.  Take THAT AAA!  Ha!

Ahhh...Finally some time off...  This is my first time using paid vacation at this job and it is much-needed.

I get a 25 hour birthday this year because we'll be crossing a timezone tomorrow.  Fun!

See everyone next week!

Am I the only nerd who looks up and reads articles on wikipedia about various historical figures on their lunch break?  Yeah, thought so...

I'm LOVING this season of The Tudors SO much.  I get so excited before each and every episode and even Tadd is into it.  This season is focused on the fall of the Boleyns and they just introduced Jane Seymour.  Next season has already been announced and will focus on Henry's marriages to Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and the fall of Sir Thomas Cromwell.  So now I'm wondering how many more season we'll get.  Will we get to see his marriage to Catherine Howard (and her execution for cheating on Henry) and Catherine Parr (who outlived Henry)?  Will we get to see Jonathan Rhys Meyers don a fat suit?  Will they get to his son Edward's reign followed by the whole Lady Jane Grey debacle and ("Bloody") Mary's 5 years on the throne before Elizabeth I takes over?  SOOOOO much drama in this family.  I love it!

Anyone else watching?

At least I have something to hold me over until Big Love starts back up again (although who knows how long that will be...).

I know I'm a little late, but I wanted to update on my weekend.  Friday night I hung out at my parents house after work because my grandparents had come down for the weekend to watch the Kentucky Derby and place bets at the nearby dog track (they do this every year...my grandmother just LOVES the Derby).  I ate dinner with them and then came home to watch my Friday night shows.  Tadd got home from work shortly after I got back and we just vegged and watched TV for the rest of the night.

Saturday morning I went shopping for the finishing touches for our costumes for Joe's graduation party that night at Betsy & Richard's.  The party was school-themed and guests were encouraged to come in costume, so I decided to go as a librarian and Tadd went as a gym teacher.  I picked up some track pants on clearance and a soccer whistle for Tadd's costume, and some fake glasses and a scarf for mine.  I got home and cleaned a bit, then started getting ready for the party.  My brother came by to tag along to the party.  He decided to come last-minute, so he threw together a "school sports fan" costume by wearing a Boston College t-shirt, visor, and one of those giant "#1" finger things that people wave around at sporting events.  

Despite the fact that I really wasn't in a party mood for most of the day, we ended up having a GREAT time, as we always do at Betsy & Richard's parties.  As a matter of fact, we were among the last to leave at the end of the night and I didn't go to sleep until around 3:30am.

Sunday we got a late start, but we decided to head over to the Magic Kingdom for a few hours.  This is going to sound really strange, but I totally rediscovered the Hall of Presidents.  I know I had seen it before when I was very young, but it's one of those things in the MK that I always forget about completely.  I know it has the reputation of being the biggest snoozefest on property, but knowing that I hadn't experienced it in probably 15 years, plus with how much I love history, I decided to give it another try.  The waiting room is really neat...it's like a portrait gallery of various presidents, with a glass case on one wall containing all sorts of presidential artifacts. 

There's also a small domed rotunda in the center of the room with the presidential seal on the floor.  The show itself starts with a short film about the trials and tribulations of America's history and how it shaped us into the country we are today.  Then the curtains raise and you see all of the presidents in all their audio-animatronic glory, some are seated, some are standing.  All are in the contemporary fashions of their day.  The announcer goes through and introduces each of them, which takes quite awhile, but what I LOVED was that throughout the introductions, the animatronics stayed subtly animated.  They would randomly tap their feet, shift their weights, twiddle their fingers, etc.  When it was their turn to be announced, they would nod their heads slightly at the sound of their name.  And their heads would turn based on where the spotlight was at any given time.  Very subtle stuff, but quite effective and realistic.  We were seated close to the back, so I told Tadd I want to do it again and sit closer so I can take in the details better.  After introductions, Dubya gave a brief speech, followed by Lincoln.  It got me wondering...I wonder how soon after the new president is elected will they have their audio-animatronic added to the show.  I'm actually really excited about that, not just because I'd rather hear someone other than Dubya speak, but just because I want to see what they do next with this attraction to keep it current.  If we renew our passes as we plan to, we will very likely be able to see the new addition.  Anyways, all that to say that I give the Hall of Presidents two thumbs up.  No line, nice and cool, relaxing, great for history buffs, and you just HAVE to appreciate the amazing job the Imagineers have done with the audio-animatronics.  If you only have one day to do everything in the Magic Kingdom, this is easy to skip, but if you've already seen all the major attractions a million times, this is a HIGHLY underrated show.  A true hidden gem!

In the spirit of trying things we usually skip over, we also decided to give the Liberty Belle a try.  That's the giant white steamboat that sails around the Rivers of America.  This ride wasn't quite as big of a hit, but we were able to get some great shots of the Haunted Mansion and Thunder Mountain.  It wasn't bad, but not all that exciting either.  I much prefered Hall of Presidents.  We also did Tomorrowland Transportation Authority, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Carousel of Progress.  Believe it or not, this was Tadd's FIRST time on CoP!  With as many times as he and I have both been to MK (he used to WORK there, for heaven's sake), I couldn't believe it.  He thought it was hilarious how at the end, in the pseudo-futuristic-1989's-version-of-ultra-modern scene, the daughter says that she can't believe that there was ever a time when people lived without car phones.  That part REALLY needs to be updated.  Anyways, we ended our day with the Philharmagic 3-D movie, which I am a total sucker for.  I just think it's too cute!  Especially the part when Donald Duck is trying to fly with Peter Pan & Tinkerbell.  Anyways, it was a really relaxing day.  It was pretty crowded, but pretty much everything we did had no line because we totally avoided the most popular attractions.  I think the longest we waited was 15 minutes for Pirates (but since the line is inside and air-conditioned, we didn't mind a bit...it was HOT outside!).

On this day, ten years ago, Tadd asked me to be his girlfriend.  I'd say that's quite an achievement that we've come so far.  Let's take a look back:

1998

I really love Earl Grey tea, especially Twinings brand.  I used to drink tea all the time, but I think I got sick of it, especially green tea.  I was in a tea mood this morning, so I brought two bags of Tazo green tea into work today and brewed some early this morning.  It was just too bland and weak for me.  We have a huge box of Twinings Earl Grey teabags in our break room, so after lunch I decided to give it a try.  MUCH better.  I guess I just need a tea with more oomph.  Last time we were at Epcot, I saw a bunch of great exotic-flavored Twinings teas in the UK pavilion's tea shop, but I didn't buy any because I figured they would be in my grocery store for much less money.  Haven't been able to find them anywhere.  So next trip to Epcot, I will go tea shopping.  In the meantime, I will enjoy the free Earl Grey at work and maybe buy myself a box of my very favorite tea ever...Bigelow Vanilla Hazelnut.  Yum.

We ended up not doing too much this weekend.  We got a bottle of wine and drank while we watched our usual shows on Friday night (The Soup & Real Time w/ Bill Maher).  Saturday was cleaning day, then in the evening we ordered pizza, finished off the wine, and watched For Your Consideration and Borat.  Did a little shopping yesterday, since I had a bunch of Mall coupons to use.  Had lunch at the Elephant Bar, which was nice.  We didn't go to DHS like we planned because Tadd was too tired.  I was bummed, but there's always next weekend.

Speaking of next weekend, Saturday is 10 years since Tadd and I first started dating!  I can't believe it has been a decade.  Not sure yet what/if we are going to do anything to celebrate.  We've been invited to a party that night, so I guess we should figure things out pretty soon so we can make plans and RSVP yes or no to the party.

Potential big things going on with Tadd's career, but since I don't know the details yet, I'm keeping quiet!

Apparently there is a doctor in NYC whose last name is Chelsea-Clinton.  I don't know why, but I found that really amusing.

STILL waiting on my 90-day review.  At this rate, it will be a 120-day review.  My hopes for getting offered a raise are dwindling...

I've been catching up on the new HBO mini-series John Adams, which I have really enjoyed.  The plot is a bit slow at times and it's somewhat dry, but being the history nerd that I am, I can get past all that.  Paul Giamatti is SUPERB as John Adams.  Icing on the cake is that I found out that the very last book my grandfather read was the book that the movie is based on.  So now I have a sentimental tie with it as well.

I've been doing freaking AWESOME at my CVSing.  The cabinet in the master bath is overflowing with free stuff.  Just yesterday I spent a little over $3 for two 16-packs of AAA batteries, three large bottles of body wash, three exfoliating facial scrubbers, and a 12-count box of Alavert allergy medicine, and I got back $25.47 in ECBs for next time!  I love it!

Looking forward to the weekend.  Hoping we get to go to DHS on Sunday.  We'll see...

That is all for now.

I know I promised F&G Fest pics.  They are still coming.  In the meantime, I've already posted the majority of them over on Facebook.  We had a lovely time!  It was hot, but we both had our brand new Misty Mate personal misters, which worked like a charm to keep us cool.  Epcot looks stunning, seriously.  Especially the hydrangeas!  We were walking around the perfume garden in the back of France and happened upon a large quantity of them in the very back of the garden.  I just had to stop and stare at them for a few minutes.  They looked like a field of gorgeous pink and purple clouds.  Breathtaking!  I loved all the topiaries too, especially the one with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.

Tadd, Bet, and I went to the new Orlando Ikea last Sunday and were quite impressed.  I believe this is the first one open in Florida, and we had never been before.  It's definitely a sensory overload.  I'm going again tonight with my mom.  My parents are (FINALLY, after many years of going back and forth about it) getting ready to redo their kitchen, so I thought she might get some inspirations for some of the smaller details, like those little shelving systems you can get for your backsplash area to help you maximize space between the bottom of your cabinets and the countertops.  They have all sorts of nifty little things at that place.  When we were there last weekend, we spent $25 and got a 4-piece knife set, 2 pillows, 4 picture frames, 100 tealights, a wall clock, and a cutting board.  You can't beat that!

Vacation and birthday are exactly one month from Tuesday!

I'm soooooooo glad it's the weekend.

Flower & Garden Festival tomorrow!  I'm so psyched.  It isn't as cool as the Food & Wine Festival, but it's still going to be fun and wonderful.  Tadd and I are ready with our camera, sunscreen, and new Misty Mate personal misting systems, which will be useful since the high temp tomorrow is 88 degrees.  Yuck!

Look forward to copious amounts of photos of beautiful topiaries and other fun stuff upon my return.