Monday surprise

It truly amazes me when I start a day off with one perspective and see it come to an end in an entirely different light. After spending such a great, relaxing, work-free weekend, I was dreading 8:45am this morning when I'd have to leave for work. Lately things have been so stressful and tense there, and every time my boss crosses the threshold you can cut the atmosphere with a knife. This past Friday, as has been the case for several weeks now, the work week ended with yet another huge argument between my boss and Cristina, his main secretary. Thankfully I had our pastor's surprise party to distract my thoughts when I left the office, but even still I was really overwhelmed when I left work that day, desperate to find a way out.
This morning, almost immediately after coming into work the two of them went at it again, only this time Cristina cut the argument short by getting up and walking out for good, leaving behind a sea of unfinished work to be sorted out and deciphered. However, the chaos that I was expecting would result from her abrupt departure miraculously never came. Granted, the rest of us had to work double to try to start getting things organized again, but in the midst of it all there was a sense of calm and, dare I say, unity between the three of us to get things done. I actually stayed a half hour later to finish up some extra work because I wanted to and not because I begrudgingly felt compelled to hang around.

I got along well with Cristina, and I find it very unfortunate that she and the boss were'nt able to work out their differences in a more amicable way. However, whether she wanted to be or not, I think that Cristina was actually a part of the problem in the office. With her absence, a new leaf has been turned over there and I think we'll all end up being a lot happier.

Regardless of all that though, I'm still aggressively looking for a new job!

I spent a quiet, relaxing birthday with my husband and his family yesterday and had a great time. I got some very nice gifts and Chechu and I also went out to dinner at one of my favorite American restaurants here in Almeria. Before dinner we went to play a couple rounds of pool-- I'm starting to get good at it! I made some shots that actually surprised me!

Chechu's best friend Angel is in town for the week and tomorrrow he'll be coming over for lunch with us. Some soul food requests have been made, hehe, but I plan to do my best to keep everything low-fat and healthy. Today I stuck with protein and vegetables for my main meal, and I made myself a low-fat banana smoothie for dinner. Amazing. I'm still reading up on the SBD since I wasn't able to get through it all over the weekend. It definitely looks like it could be a good fit. Some of the foods and recipes I'll have to tweak a little bit since some products are different here in Spain. But for the most part we should be able to do it without a problem.

Looking forward to working out tomorrow morning!