Estoy Nueces

I am quite happy today for a wide variety of reason. First and foremost, and I thought of this last night, the creep who caused me great distress over the last four months and fired me two weeks ago is gone. Not only is he gone and I now live in a "jerk-free zone" (at least that one jerk), but he woke up in Detroit this morning and I woke up in Austin. Right now it is 38 degrees in Detroit and we have our windows open and it has been a very pleasant "winter" day. He may think he got the better of me and he thinks he is in a place where he can excell at his craft, but he is in DETROIT. I am in AUSTIN. There are many people that will not understand this paragraph. None of those people live in AUSTIN.

I am also happy today because I saw a patch of bluebonnets on I-35. Mark saw some a couple of weeks ago but this was a whole patch on the sunny hillside and that means that after a few more days of sunshine and warmth they will be springing forth everywhere. Everywhere in AUSTIN, that is. No bluebonnets in DETROIT. Chalk up another plus for ME ME ME.

And I started the new job today. And it went well. There wasn't a lot to do. The task for which they hired me was not needed until late in the day. But they didn't seem to panic that I had nothing to do, nor did they find busy work and pile me high with unnecessary work. Finally I got to do my first paid transcription. It was certainly different than working with the tapes from school. The doctor mumbles and talks quickly and would turn the machine on and off and miss half a word here and there. All in all, I think I did rather well and I think I will get better quickly. I'm looking forward to the second day on the job.

Mark and I finally had a little bit of Valentine's on Saturday. We had a nice lunch together at Guero's and people watched. Then we walked down Congress and did some looking. I am sad now, though, because Mark found a sweet little rhinestone pin in the shape of a star and immediately bought it for me. It was very cute and old-fashioned. I wore it to the cafe last night and pinned it on our uniform t-shirt where there is a star printed. After a busy night I came home and Mark's first words were "where is your pin?" It had fallen off at some point and I'm sure swept up and thrown away. I'm very sad to have lost it and hardly had a chance to wear it.

Mark left Saturday afternoon and played in Dallas that night. I stayed home and had Saturday evening all to myself. Mark had gone to see Kasey Chambers Friday night and he really wanted me to go see her in Austin Saturday night but that would have involved getting up and dressed and downtown, etc. etc. and I couldn't make myself go. I stayed home and painted and cleaned and did stuff that I needed to do.

Sunday I got even more stuff done before Mark got home. He came in and I went out and to work. I made some really bonehead mistakes at work and again realized I am not made to be a waitress. The tips are nice but Ihope there is more for me in life than restaurants.