About 1 Month Later

New Bed

Sofie got a new bed and it's pretty swank. That's her new hedgehog she's pointing at - my boss bought it for her.

Ice Cream

Sofie and I went to an ice cream social tonight. It was at a nearby dog boutique and was for charity. Sofie really enjoyed her peanut butter dog sherbet and my chocolate chip people ice cream was good, too. She wasn't thrilled with the other dogs there since some of them were bigger but they were all pretty good. Especially the big bloodhound...

I Do Know What I'm Doing

I had another email altercation with a crew member. For your enjoyment...

Me: Did you guys really have 2 stand ins on Sunday 8/9? Because I never got vouchers...

M: Yes we did I gave them a call to get there info because D didn't have any vouchers with him on Sunday and they haven't called me back yet. I will try again on Monday and see if ML can give me their info so I can fill out a voucher for them. Thanks M

D: They should have gotten to you

Me: obviously they haven't or I wouldn't be asking about them

D: Easy. I asked for them to get done and m said she would do it. The 2 standins are on g.u. and didn't have their soc for the vouchers so I know she is waiting for the info

Me to D and M: whenever you get them please forward them to me for payment

D: Absolutely Also I just want to be sure you guys know production fee gets added for all 7th days thanks again D

Me:
D,
I know this is going to sound harsh and I mean it that way but if you tell me one more time how to pay the DGA I'm going to refuse to do it and send the cards to you. It's insulting.

D: I wasn't trying to insult you in any way it was something that came to my attention that I didn't know. And since you need to check something I told you about I am not sure threatening me is the correct response Sorry if I have made you angry because that was absolutely not my intention

Me:
D,
All you have done this week is tell me how to pay the DGA. That's my job. You don't approach me with the attitude of "hey, I got this info and wanted to see if it's correct." You bring it to me as if I don't know what I'm doing. Apparently you have had some shitty payroll people in the past but I am not one of them.
You may want to think about that the next time you find a tidbit of payroll info that you think needs to be passed on.

__
I'm really looking forward to the rest of this show... his comment about me needing to "check on something he told me about" really pisses me off. What he told me was bullshit and instead of arguing about it with him at set on Friday, I just told him I'd check on it. That was my polite way of saying "you don't know what the fuck you're talking about."

Yes, I Really Did It

and while I'm glad I did it, I don't think it's all that flattering. You were right about that husband.

Morning Blog

The Set Decorator was in the office yesterday. He looks great and is getting around as if he didn't just have brain surgery last Friday. I still don't know if they have details about his tumor, but it's nice to see him up and around.

Otherwise, the show is going ok. We start shooting on Monday with actors instead of just animals so we're in a push of hiring hair, makeup, and costume people. But that's business as usual.

We haven't had too much drama beyond the usual nepotism and political hirings. One of our producers will be an issue as he tends to make deals without specifics and then it's up to us to figure out how to make it happen. That's going to be fun.

Hard to believe it's the middle of August already. Harder to believe my 20th high school reunion is next weekend. I can't go, of course, but it would have been nice to see everyone. And unlike some people, I've always been overweight so it's not like that would have been something to dread. My tattoos might have made me stand out, though.

Anyway, I'm sitting here with Sofie blogging instead of going to the gym. I was up late last night with my belly dancing class and it's raining and I just couldn't do it. I could try and go tonight when I get home but I know I probably won't. I've been considering getting roller skates or a bicycle just to have something different to do. I can make it to my classes but going to the regular gym is getting boring.

I talked to my boss yesterday about my assistant. We've decided she may be a little OCD because her main problem is she gets focused on a course of action and it takes a real effort to get her to stop and change direction. She's going to have a hard time with payroll if she can't get past that because this job is all about switching gears at a moment's notice - depending on who is on the phone or has walked in the door. I'm going to have to try and talk to her about it at some point.

Set Decorator

Our Set Decorator had been having headaches for a while and his doctor told him he should get an MRI if they didn't stop. Well, they were getting worse from the job stress and last Wednesday he went to a doctor again. Turns out he has a brain tumor and had surgery on Friday to remove it. We haven't heard any more details yet but the surgery went fine.

Just kind of stops you in your tracks.

New Camera Phone

There's my Sofie girl sitting in the passenger seat while I drove us to work this morning. I wasn't really aiming but it's a good shot. Doesn't she look thrilled?

Payroll Asst.

I am not thrilled with my assistant on this show. A woman I worked with before recommended her as being just fabulous. She's a local and really wants to learn payroll since it's almost guaranteed employment, but I don't think she has what it takes. She's eager to learn and tries hard but it just doesn't seem to be catching on.

Part of the problem is that after 3 months, she still doesn't seem to know which questions to ask. The same situations come up over and over and each time I have to tell her to go back and ask something that she should have asked already. I'm having a hard time trusting her to do stuff on her own, which makes it even harder for me.

And even though she's nice enough, she's lacking in some office etiquette that I can't put my finger on - she walks into my office and starts talking without taking the time to see if I can even pay attention to her. Or she comes in and just stands there looking at me until I say something.

My biggest peeve right now is the fact she can't separate the paychecks into the correct departments even though they are 95% sorted to begin with...

But there's still time and I'm hoping I can train her on a few more things before we get any busier. It's in my best interest to get her as far along as possible before 8/17.

Saturdays Off

It's been a while, I know. I have gmail for my work email account and I can't log out of it to get into blogger.

Never friend a coworker on Facebook - you can never gripe about them. Which says something about a coworker - namely my assistant. She's smart and eager to learn but I don't know that she has what it takes to do this job. Some days I have to jump from one project to another w/o getting to finish. I have to prioritize and come back to stuff as I can. She doesn't seem able to do that - she gets very focused and doesn't always listen when I try and change her direction. I know I'm going to need the help it's just such a hassle to train someone.

The visual effects shooting of the animals is going ok. We're behind a little bit - mostly because of the rain but also because the bears don't like having the lions around. They catch the scent or hear the noises and it freaks them out to have another predator nearby. Then a lion stepped on a screw and wouldn't work anymore. It wasn't hurt just a bit wigged out.

The zoo set is amazing. It doesn't look like a real zoo in person but I know on screen it's going to be perfect and beautiful. We did get to meet some of the animals a couple of weeks ago (not the bears yet). We met Rosie the elephant - got to pet her and had her sniff my hand with her trunk (elephant snot smells BAD). Then we met Tweet the giraffe - fed him carrots and tried to pet him, but he was only in it for the carrots. We couldn't get too close to the lions that day but 20 feet is close enough. Then we met the African vulture, the Austrailian eagles (Sydney and Darwin), and the crow (can't remember his name). They were all beautiful and kind of scary up close. Those beaks are vicious looking.

Sofie and I care relaxing at home today. We worked 6 days this past week and will work 6 days this coming week. If this get settled then we'll switch to 5 days but for now I'm taking it easy on my day off.

I did sign up for a couple of classes at the gym. They have free ones that I haven't made it to, but I signed up for belly dancing on Wednesday nights and kickboxing on Saturday at noon. They just started this week and I love both of them. I'm not the most graceful dancer - having trouble with some of the steps, but I love making the belt jingle. And of course I love punching things. I just wish there were more people in the class - 2 in belly dancing and only me in kickboxing. But I'll go to all 8 and work my butt off (hopefully literally).

Ok, I think it's time to take a nice bath and either watch a movie or take a nap. It's getting late so it may be the nap.

Animals

The bear trainers invited us to come down and meet the grizzlies - Bart and Honey Bump. I met Bart while working on Evan, but I'm not going to pass up the chance to see him again. Not to mention his sister Honey Bump! Not that we can pet them or anything but we can get within 10 feet of them - plenty close.

Crystal the capuchin (not white-faced) has been back to the office a couple of times. I haven't gotten to have her sit on my shoulder yet - all I've done is shake her hand, played "tilt your head" with her, and gotten a high five - but everybody seems to think she's really taken with me. When the guys were walking her out she kept staring at me. I didn't think there was anything going on but other people mentioned it so maybe... Next time I hope to get a pic.

I think all of the animals have made it into town by now so I'm also looking forward to meeting the elephant and the wolf (hybrid, I think). And the giraffe although I'm not sure you can really meet a giraffe...

The Monkey

The monkey that's going to be in the movie was brought into the office today. The director's dog Spuz took one look at it and peed - then barked. When we heard the monkey was there, I debated going to the other side of the office to see it because it meant taking Sofie with me and I didn't know how she'd react. But I went anyway and waited to see what would happen.

I'm not sure yet what kind of monkey it was - maybe a capuchin but it wasn't the typical white-face - I'll have to ask. Anyway, Sofie didn't notice it at first. It was sitting on my assistant's shoulder eating some chocolate. It wasn't until it climbed onto Mimi's shoulder that Sofie realized there was something new in the office. She stared at it and then walked over to Mimi and started to stand up (not jump, just stand) but I told her to stop and had her sit. Then she just stared as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

The monkey was familiar with dogs, but having a strange one staring made it a bit nervous and it started making noise, which made Sofie's ears perk up. Luckily, though, Sofie never did anything aggressive towards it in the slightest. She was just super-curious and would have loved to smell this new thing. I don't know what would have happened if the monkey had started moving around - that might have been too much for her.

The rest of the time Sofie just wandered around with this look on her face of "What is that? I must try to get closer and get a good sniff."

Sofie's a good girl - much better behaved and trained then I ever thought.

Dad & Cordelia

He took her from Susan and started walking her around the restaurant. The next time we saw him he was in the bar surrounded by a group of women. Turns out Cordelia is a chick magnet!

It's kind of sad because this is probably the closest he'll get to having another grandbaby. He actually caught himself saying "come to Grandpa" when he picked her up. Maybe he can be the 3rd grandpa...

Saturday

Saturday morning we got up and tried to take Sofie to the dog park. Sadly it was closed due to the wet weather (it's not a real dog park, just a school's fenced-in baseball field that is a dog park from dawn to 1pm on the weekends). We ended up driving down to the gravel-filled dog park that Sofie doesn't really like then over to work so she could be off-leash for a bit out behind the building. When leaving we decided to do a bit of exploring and went down to Castle Island and walked around the fort. A man fishing off the pier caught a huge fish while we watched and we met some good dogs. I hope to go back soon.

The husband and I then walked over to the Museum of Fine Arts, where an old man and his wife cut the line in front of us (and yes I did call them out on it). We bought the City Pass which would have been a better deal if we'd thought about it before we went to the aquarium, but it still saved us money. Anyway, we didn't pay extra for the special exhibits but the regular museum was enough. The ancient seals were just about the coolest things, very intricately carved.

After the MFA, we drove up to doggie day care and dropped Sofie off for the afternoon so we could do some shopping. We hit the cd shop, a bookstore, Trader Joe's, a Flag Day carnival and got lunch before picking her back up.

Saturday night we walked over to the Prudential and went up to the 50th floor to the Skywalk Observatory. I had wanted to go to the restaurant on the 52nd floor but heard it wasn't very good and since it was mostly about the view and not the food and since we had tickets from the City Pass, we did that. It was cloudy out but it didn't obscure the view of the city at all. It was just getting dark and was very pretty. It's always amazing to see what a small town Boston really is. I know the suburbs go on for quite a distance, but the city itself is compact.

We decided to get some dinner on the way home and stopped off at a restaurant we'd walked past several times. It was loud but the food was good - salt and pepper calamari and lobster mac and cheese.

My Brother's Pets

Scarlet the parrot

Carmen the dog

My Sister's Car

Maybe now she'll buy a new one that doesn't beep randomly...

My Mom

I am up way too late considering I have a 5:30am flight but it's been hard to part company with my mom. I've known for a while she wouldn't be around long but since Ma died, I've been feeling it even more. My mom is going to be 85 in August and I still don't think I know her that well. I'm glad she has seen me succeed in my career, but I regret that she'll never see one of her daughters have a baby. There's a lot going through my head right now and I thought writing it down would help, but it's just making me want to cry. So I'll call it done and hope that I have enough time to learn who my mother really is.

Barbara Elizabeth Lomonaco

Ma passed away this morning around 6am. She got to meet her granddaughter and had her family around her.

I last saw her in person in March when she was in the hospital. She looked pretty good but we didn't get to talk like we both had hoped. I'll never know for sure what she wanted to talk about but I know I said what I wanted to say.

We Skyped in April after Cordelia was born and I was visiting and helping out. It felt like old times.

Ma always seemed to be about style, but she had the substance to back it up. If you got to hang out with her it always shone through.

Apparently I'm going to be responsible for helping to tell Cordelia about her Grandma Barb and making sure she knows about all the stupid things her mom did growing up.

I think I'm also going to take on the responsibility of buying Cordelia all the super-girly things Grandma Barb would have bought her. It may even be fun.

I'll miss you, Ma. I'm glad I knew you and I'm sorry you had to go so soon. I've had the privilege of having 3 moms in my life and now I've lost 2, both to ovarian cancer. I don't know what else to say. It's just not fair, which sounds childish, but it's not fair.

Wednesday

It's Wednesday. I don't have anything to do but wait for people on the west coast to get to work and call me back or send me stuff. It's my second week on this job and so far it's been fine. Everybody seems very nice and the director even brings his dog Spuz to work. Luckily, Spuz and Sofie get along. Sadly, Sofie does not like the director. It doesn't help that he wears a hat all the time.

We are going to look at apartments later today. We got permission to move out of the hotel last week and we've been trying to find something. It hasn't been easy, since we need to find something for only 6 months, furnished, that will take Sofie. I'm going to room with AH, who was a housemate last year. We've seen one place but it was a bit of a dump and the parking was ridiculous. $345 per month and they didn't even open until 7am. WTF?

The hotel we're staying in is very nice. Everyone seems to know Sofie by name and most of them seem to like her. I'm going to miss having her around, but I won't miss the random barking at people who walk by.

Despite the quality of the hotel, not having a kitchen is expensive. We have to get something out every night and I'm so over it. I actually want to make spaghetti again. Hopefully one of the three apartments we're seeing today will work out.

We had a great trip out here - stopped and saw so much. I'm glad we didn't have to make it in four days like last time. And since Sofie isn't staying with me, I can fly home in December and save the husband some miles.

I hope the guy from the studio calls me back soon. I need to get my computer fixed so I can print checks. I'm not sure what's wrong with it - it may have something to do with me installing my scanner or maybe something I picked up from the internet. It's not like I look at porn and crap but I do click on things that may be trouble. We'll see what happens.

I think I'll go and see if the boss' cat is in - Peewee is her name. She's about as old as Baxter and it's nice to pet her. I miss my kitties.

Last Day Driving

I'm in a Motel 6 in Sturbridge, MA this morning getting ready to go to the laundromat before finishing the trip to Boston. I don't know when I'll have time to do laundry again so I figure I'd better take care of it now. Especially since both the husband and I fell into the creek at Fallingwater.

Yes, I know you're not supposed to go down to the creek but I did anyway and took some pics. Then I slipped on the wet rocks and fell in and then husband fell trying to help me. Soaking wet jeans made for an uncomfortable tour of the grounds but since we didn't pay for the interior house tour, it was fine. We changed pants in the parking lot and continued on our way. But now we're both down to only 1 pair of jeans and that won't do. So it's off to the laundromat.

After that, I'm hoping to stop by Sturbridge Pottery. I think we'll have time since it's only an hour or so to Boston and the hotel probably won't be ready for us until 3pm.

Other than that, it's been a good trip. We are all three of us tired of being in the car but we've gotten to see a lot of sights and that's made it worthwhile. I especially liked seeing the baby kangaroo in the canvas bag at the animal park in Donegal. It was behind the register and they're having a naming contest. I went with Hamilton.