On not being part of the team and birthday annoyances

Well, I often wonder if I think too much or if I read into things too much. Lately, it's been getting to me a bit, please excuse me as I vent/complain/voice my concerns out loud.

I started a new job a month ago and I've only recently started making any kind of progress socially. Even at that, it's hard! My cubicle is in the same area as 2 other girls. One barely even responds when I say hello and gives me the impression that she looks down on me. The other one responds to my hellos and we've had brief conversations. Yesterday, 3 girls were laughing at some sort of forward on the computer (one was almost crying from laughing so hard) so I said "something must be funny if she's on the verge of tears"... No one even aknowledged me. I have no clue what was so funny... Am I just wasting my time?

Also, it seems I try to always please others. For my birthday dinner this weekend, I decided to go to a Moroccan restaurant because 3 people I had consulted before were quite interested. I searched all over the place and decided on a restaurant. Now it seems half the people I invited can't come (I know, I invited people at the last minute) and people have complained about the parking (it's on St-Denis - parking is hard there but not too bad if you don't mind walking for 5 minutes)... So now I'm considering moving the whole event to a more parking-friendly area (and somewhere closer to the homes of the people coming) but they don't have Moroccan restaurants! So Now I'm looking at Thai places (I like Thai food) and of course, I'm wondering "will people be happy?"...

*SIGH* Big, Freaking SIGH!

When am I just going to make up my mind and not give a crap whether people are totally happy at my expense? It's my freaking birthday! Just one day a year where I'd like to have things 100% (or even just 90%) my way! I don't want to hear about the parking or that the soup that came with the table d'hote didn't have enough salt or that the proposed time is too early, etc etc etc. Seriously! It's just one meal out of the whole year! One! Maybe 3 hours of your time! Can you please just suck it up? Do I complain when people tell me where they want to go for their birthday? No! Why? Because it's their happiness that counts, it's their day!

It seems it's the same problem every year. Perhaps next year I'll just take a vacation somewhere sunny and not have to deal with any of this. It'll just be me, myself and I ... and the sand, beach and sun!

Distractions make me a bad, bad girl!

Well, I've been quite distracted lately by 2 things:

1 - Mom's 60th! I took her out to a Peruvian restaurant on the day of her birthday and gave her 75% of her gift. Why only 75%? Well, I got the other 25% but a part is missing so I have to return it... Of course, I've been slow in getting it to the post office. Surprise surprise!

2- I just started a new job last Monday! I love my new job! We are currently setting things up, I will be working out of 2 offices (in one of which I get to have my very own office/photo studio!) Wow!!!!!! The people are super nice, the benefits are amazing, etc etc etc!

Oh... And Salem's mother was down for 10 days or so! I got to spend a lot of time with her. She's very nice and I think we got along very well.

Overall, I am quite happy with things. I just finished up some slippers for my dad (I just need one last thing to be done).

Ok, bedtime! I need to wake up at 6 am! Ugh!

Ramadan Kareem / Mubarak!

Well everyone, I would like to wish all my fellow brothers and sisters Ramadan Kareem! Yes, I know, I am posting a day late, but distraction was the key to getting through day 1 of fasting! I kept myself busy with 4 loads of laundry, praying and then a 2 hour grocery shopping trip with Salem.

Dinner was oh so very yummy!!! We had kibbeh, fatteh, hummus, lentil and bean soup, stuffed zucchini in a yogourt sauce, amareddine and tamarind juice. Later on, we had some apple tea with cinnamon and some nuts.

The weekend was quite crazy. I had supper with Mom on Friday, bought some more scarves and some shoes. I discovered that Commensal is just too expensive for my taste. I've only been twice and sure you get to try new things but it's just too expensive!

Saturday, I mailed out my package to my spoilee and I hope it gets there on time but with the holiday... er... not looking too good. Sorry!

Then off I was to Oka beach with Salem, Lama and Lama's friend Noura. She's a very sweet girl. We enjoyed the water, sand, sun and food. We even stopped off at a roadside stand where I got corn, Lama got berries, caramel and sucre à la crème, Salem got some apples and Noura got drinks for everyone. As if all this wasn't enough, we even went out clubbing at Moomba later on. I only got home at 3:30 am - boy was I pooped!

Sunday was horseback riding with Lama and Noura. Everything was going great until Noura fell off her horse while galloping. She had a pretty bad fall but she's fine (thank God!). Once back in the city, I had a Labour Day barbecue to attend at Aunt Lise's. The food was good as per usual, but with every family reunion, it is more and more apparent that I have next to nothing in common with my family, namely my cousins. It does make me sad in a way, but not sad enough to make me change myself to be closer to them. I'm sorry, but I do not agree with their lifestyles and their decisions. Then again, they probably don't agree with some of my decisions.

I was most dissapointed when my cousin Katie and my godfather (my father's brother) left without saying goodbye to my father, his wife, Salem or me. I feel really bad for my dad. He always calls his brother for his birthday but his brother never calls him for his. Another uncle left without saying hello but chances are he was busy with one of hsi 3 grandkids. At least his wife said bye to everyone. This breaks my heart a bit... a bit for me, but mainly for my dad. :-(

This week will be a longer one... adjusting and all. But so far, so good! :-D Subhanallah!