The NB Diaries: Chapter 5

April 30, 2010 Laura

Remember the email I received back in Chapter 3? The email that said I should consider my answer carefully before deciding which character from Office Space NB resembles the most? Well, I kinda forgot about the email. She sent it on a Saturday afternoon but I didn't see it until last Monday morning. If you'll remember, my coworker that can quote all of the movie was out of town for the week. Because I thought my job could be on the line, I decided I would wait on him to return so he could help me decide on the best character. But then I forgot about the email.

My coworker has been back at work since last Monday and I completely forgot about the email until yesterday (Thursday). And do you know the only reason I remembered it? Because Coworker was in NB's office and she told him she was mad at me for not responding to her email! She even pulled the email up for him to see. How could I have forgotten to show him?!?!

So he and I put our heads together and decided which character she is the most like.

To: NB@newboss.com From: Lucy@workemailaddress.com Date: Thursday, 4:51pm

Subject: RE: Lucy, clarification is needed.

Two words: Michael Bolton.

Link to YouTube Video.

Lucy work phone #

The response was waiting in my Inbox when I arrived at work today.

To: Lucy@workemailaddress.com From: NB@newboss.com Date: Thursday, 8:01pm

Subject: RE: Lucy, clarification is needed.

I rap way better than he does!

New Boss

Home address Personal cell number Home phone number newboss@newboss.com

So, not really a very exciting response and I still have my job, so maybe it wasn't worth worrying over. She did include all of her personal information - including another email address - at the end of the email, which is weird in itself, but here's the real interesting part...

We're neighbors!

Sneak Peek

April 29, 2010 Laura

There have been lots of exciting things happening at our house this week and I can't wait to show you the finished results. Until then, I'll give you these sneak peek pictures of what I found at the house today when I got home.

I took these pictures of the painters right when I got home while I was out with Minnie. Then I left them alone and came upstairs to our bedroom, fully aware that they were right outside my windows. Minnie and I got settled in on the bed, her snoozing and me playing on the laptop. The painters were pretty easy to tune out, seeing as how we don't really speak the same language. I guess I had gotten really into uploading my pictures because when my balcony door opened, Minnie and I both jumped! It's not everyday someone opens your balcony door from the outside while you're sitting on your bed. Creepy! Turns out he was ready to paint the door and needed it to be cracked open. I'm just glad he didn't start painting that door ten minutes earlier when I was changing my clothes. Minnie and I decided to relocate to the kids' playroom.

The week's projects got off to a rocky start. Our new front door was supposed to be installed on Monday. We've been waiting on this door for about 3 months now so we were excited for it to finally arrive. And arrive it did. But then the installation guy noticed that the door had been hung on the frame backwards. That probably wouldn't be a big deal in some houses, but since our front door is in a corner, that would mean that when you opened the door you would be facing the wall of our house instead of the living room. So the door went back to store. It is now being rebuilt and will supposedly be installed next Monday. To say that it's been a frustrating ordeal would be putting it lightly.

The first step for the painters was to pressure-wash our house. They did a fine job with that but I noticed on Tuesday that a lot of the dirt and water had splattered onto our outdoor chair cushions. I figured I'd take the opportunity to go ahead and give them a good wash so they could be fresh and clean when the paint job was finished. It sounded like a good idea, but then I apparently filled the washing machine with too much water with the cushions and ended up flooding the laundry room and the hall carpet. Oops. Doc may be regretting staying in town this week...

But now things are back on track! (Hopefully, anyway.) I'm going to wash the cushions this weekend with a water hose instead, the painters should be done early tomorrow, and our new door will arrive a few days later. Oh, and I've been super nervous about the color we chose but I think I love it!

I took lots of "before" pictures last week so I can't wait to show you side-by-side comparison pictures. Hopefully everything will get done and I can post them by the middle of next week!

14 Hours Later, Updated to Add: We only have one window in our entire house that doesn't have blinds or window treatments on it. One. It's a small window in our bathroom that I love because of the natural light it lets in in the mornings. Our room is upstairs so no one can ever see in the window, but if you could you would only be able to see the bathtub and the toilet. Guess which one of those I was sitting on this morning when the painter's ladder appeared outside the window...

The Missing Piece

April 25, 2010 Laura

Warning: This post contains poor-quality iPhone photos. Finding this at JoAnn Fabrics and Craft store......$2.99.

Giving it a nice coat of green paint......free (already had paint).

Sanding the edges and wiping on some brown glaze......free.

Selecting pictures to go in the frames......free.

Making three holes in wall before finally getting the right spot......free.

Finally feeling like my random wall is complete......priceless!

I love a good, cheap project!

The NB Diaries: Chapter 4

April 21, 2010 Laura

One thing about NB that I've noticed since she started here a couple of months ago is that she has not done any decorating in her office at all. She has not done one thing, other than the erasers that sit by her keyboard, to personalize the space and make it her own. There are no pictures, no favorite quotes, no candy jar, notta. Her predecessor had tons and tons of family photos, some in frames on the wall, some in frames on the shelves, etc. But NB doesn't have anything. Her office is an interior office so there are no windows. Just 3 very blank walls (the 4th wall has the door). So you can imagine, then, as I walked by her empty office a few minutes ago, how quickly I noticed the one small picture hanging on her wall. It caught my eye and caused me to do a double-take. She must have just hung it today. Of course I had to go in and get a closer look.

And then I immediately ran back to my desk to get my camera phone.

After making sure the coast was clear, I stepped into her office to snap a photo of the picture.

Oh, what's that? You say you can't read it?

Lucky for you, I went in even farther for a better shot.

Can someone please explain this to me? Of all things she could have possibly chosen to hang in her office, why this?! It's a little too high to be eye-level when she's sitting down, and it's not even centered on the wall or above anything. It's just floating all by itself a little up and to the left of her computer screen. Why?