Vacation draws to a close today - I'll be back in the office tomorrow.

I'm strangely nervous about going back to work. I hope I will be able to live up to the new expectations that will no doubt be in effect now that I'm a full-time employee.

Text for the SimSequel is pretty much done, so I don't need to worry my pretty little head about that any longer. At least that will help. The disorganization of that effort was making me pretty cranky.

But the fact is that I really have no idea about the scope of this project and what kinds of things I will be doing on a daily basis. If I am truly to be in charge of the Game Boy product on a day to day level I have a hell of a lot to learn. And it's pretty intimidating that I'm trying to manage people who have been in the industry for years.

So I'm a little gun-shy, but this is what I wanted and I will meet the challenge head-on. We can proceed with a clear plate now that all three products I worked on last year are on shelves [the SimSequel is not, but my involvement is over.] It's a new ball game.

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Meanwhile, Hunter is still sick. That boy needs to take better care of himself. I TOLD him to go to bed at a reasonable hour but he was up playing Final Fantasy until 2AM.

Ugh.

He's been working the past couple of days, too. no rest for the weary, especially when the weary are in any way involved with the SimSequel.

But I'm a bit thankful for the SimSequel today, because dear friend Esther is coming back from the Netherlands to test for it! Esther is the closest I've come to a real girl friend that I can confide in since I've come to California. Of course, she's Dutch, as these things go.

Even better, now that I have a respectable apartment with furniture, I can have her over and maybe some of the other foriegn testers too. :)

Yay! I shall be very sad to see her leave again in a month or two.

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There were fire engines at our main building today. I wonder why. There were LOTS of sirens - they woke me up this morning.

Yesterday I made another attempt to spend some money, but this time I definitely succeeded. I dropped off my boots at the shoe repair shop, because the soles are worn through. That's something I've been meaning to do for a year. Yay.

Then I stopped at Ann Taylor, where I bought a silk sweater and a silk top - very nice classy officewear for those days when people come from other offices. [On normal days at SimCompany I will have no problem fitting in with my powder blue velour tracksuit if I like. Heh. Mmm velour.]

I wanted a cashmere sweater but they were still a little too expensive. I'll never get used to the idea of spending over $60 on one piece of clothing unless it's formalwear.

Then it was off to Victoria's Secret. Now, they're having their annual sale, so I was SHOCKED to discover a horrifying lack of the Bra Bins. You ladies know what I mean. Large bins full of clearance bras at rock-bottom prices. Women become horrifying feral beasts around these things. But there were none in sight. Sigh.

But I found the most awesome lacy panties that won't give me pantilines, and I got carried away and bought 3 pairs at $28 apiece. They were so cuuuute and I don't have any fun lingerie...

The grand total for the experience was more than I would have liked, but I only do a big lingerie run about once a year, and truth be told some of my older bras are ready to go to the Great Trashcan in the Sky.

I was amused while standing in line, however - at one point someone got on the loudspeaker and said "Lingerie, Line 1." Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a Victoria's Secret we're talking about. That's sort of like saying "Shoes, Line 1" at a Skechers store.

Oh well.

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Today will be another Sit On My Ass Day in the grand tradition of this largely unproductive vacation. I need to play the SimSequel since there's a playgroup meeting on Tuesday afternoon and it's one of those times that I better be witty and intelligent about game design. So I suppose it is again apt to say: It is my intention to play video games for many hours.

Have a good Sunday.