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...that's better than water being turned into wine, especially if there is enough wine anyway.
Yesterday was a public Austrian holiday, so I wouldn't have had to work, but since we had a delegation from Austria visiting, who only flew home in the early afternoon, I had to see to it that they weren't bored or anything -- official part of the visit had ended on Monday evening. Knowing that working breakfasts are always a safe bet, I'd organized one and invited a few business people. Things went swimmingly, and fortunately the weather was fine so we could do the planned tour of the Old City.
Knowing that boss would be fretting over his speech and generally feel very lonely and abandoned at the Embassy, I wrote him a text message asking whether I ought to drop by and help. I had to get the CD with the national anthems anyway, so it wasn't much trouble.
Boss in abysmal mood when I arrived, because he must've eaten or drunk something on Monday night, which he's allergic to. The area under his eyes was all puffed up and reddish; he said it had been worse in the morning but it still didn't look too good. So of course there was the "I'm not going to step on a podium tonight if I look like this" moment. At least I got him to laugh with various suggestions like wearing a spiffy mardi gras masque, wearing sunglasses and a borsalino and carrying a violin case etc.etc.
So we went over the speech, polished both the English and Macedonian version, and then he read it to me aloud. Reading brought a few more minor blemishes to light, so we eliminated those. By then I was more or less panting for a cigarette and therefore suggested another rehearsal, this time with me standing out on the balcony and smoking, and him standing inside, so as to convey a more stage-y feel to the whole thing.
It was shortly after 2.30 when we finished, and he dropped me off at a supermarket on the way home (the first third of our ways home is the same).
Spent the rest of the afternoon with Irene and Janine, the latter of which is still sick but at least it didn't get any worse, so the flight home will only be light torture. But of course she couldn't come to the reception, which was a pity.
Then I made myself pretty and got picked up by Blerim at 5.45 -- I wanted to be on the premises an hour early, in case there were any last-minute disasters (like having no tonic water last year...) There weren't, and so the hour before the reception started was surprisingly stress-free.
This year's turnout was way higher than last year's -- shaking 400 people's hands is by no means an easy task, but the strength acquired through tennis helped a lot. Then came the speech: boss did very well. As I said to Erin, I was feeling like a mother watching her youngest at the school play. Having two gin-and-tonics for stress relief on an empty stomach was maybe not one of my brightest ideas -- not that anything untoward occurred, but I was beginning to feel dreadfully tipsy -- so I had to have quite a lot of finger food (delicious) in order to balance out the alcohol. Fortunately it worked, and when it was over I was a sober as a judge in spite of a third gin-and-tonic. Boss, Irene and I went home in the embassy car, stopping first at the residence. On the doormat, an idyll: three semi-adult kittens curled up into a cat heap and sleeping. Boss urged us to get out of the car and admire bear cat, a beautiful Chartreuse kitten -- probably not purebred but very close -- with the sweetest, stupidest face you can imagine. Ten very agreeable minutes were spent cuddling kittens and feeding them leftovers from the reception, and then we finally went home.
Irene came in for a nightcap, and we told Janine some of the more interesting tidbits, the whole underscored by me massaging my feet and yowling. Standing more than 4 hrs on 5-inch heels is no mean feat, after all.
Short encounter with Mr H went well, BTW.
Following Carla's advice I'd written him a brief email informing him that I was inviting 3 of his staff to lunch today, which coincides with his departure for Vienna. I'd written something along the lines of "Dear H, since you're going to Vienna on the 27th, and I'm inviting ..., ..., and ... to lunch on the same day, I just wanted to avoid any possible misunderstandings of the 'when the cat's away the mice will play' kind. Of course I promise to send them back to their desks ASAP ;-)"
So we bumped into each other, and after exchanging a few words he thanked me for the message and said he apreciated it a lot, and that he gave his permission.
This occurred between the fist and second gin-and-tonic, i.e. when I was feeling pretty exhilarated anyway, and so I merely smiled brightly and said he'd misunderstood me: I hadn't asked his permission but merely given him the information. Have a good flight to Vienna -- oh, there's somebody I must say hello to -- bye! *cackles*
I have today off, so now there'll be pedicure (very necessary), then I'll put Janine into her taxi and leave for my lunch, after which I'll be playing tennis with Elena (who BTW came to the reception, and we had a hilarious moment seeing each other dressed up and wearing makeup). Not sure yet whether I'll be going to the get-together tonight. Nothing formal, just a few Austrians meeting up, so let's see.
Oh, and I got 7 hrs of sleep. So today might be another good day for yours truly.
Yesterday was a public Austrian holiday, so I wouldn't have had to work, but since we had a delegation from Austria visiting, who only flew home in the early afternoon, I had to see to it that they weren't bored or anything -- official part of the visit had ended on Monday evening. Knowing that working breakfasts are always a safe bet, I'd organized one and invited a few business people. Things went swimmingly, and fortunately the weather was fine so we could do the planned tour of the Old City.
Knowing that boss would be fretting over his speech and generally feel very lonely and abandoned at the Embassy, I wrote him a text message asking whether I ought to drop by and help. I had to get the CD with the national anthems anyway, so it wasn't much trouble.
Boss in abysmal mood when I arrived, because he must've eaten or drunk something on Monday night, which he's allergic to. The area under his eyes was all puffed up and reddish; he said it had been worse in the morning but it still didn't look too good. So of course there was the "I'm not going to step on a podium tonight if I look like this" moment. At least I got him to laugh with various suggestions like wearing a spiffy mardi gras masque, wearing sunglasses and a borsalino and carrying a violin case etc.etc.
So we went over the speech, polished both the English and Macedonian version, and then he read it to me aloud. Reading brought a few more minor blemishes to light, so we eliminated those. By then I was more or less panting for a cigarette and therefore suggested another rehearsal, this time with me standing out on the balcony and smoking, and him standing inside, so as to convey a more stage-y feel to the whole thing.
It was shortly after 2.30 when we finished, and he dropped me off at a supermarket on the way home (the first third of our ways home is the same).
Spent the rest of the afternoon with Irene and Janine, the latter of which is still sick but at least it didn't get any worse, so the flight home will only be light torture. But of course she couldn't come to the reception, which was a pity.
Then I made myself pretty and got picked up by Blerim at 5.45 -- I wanted to be on the premises an hour early, in case there were any last-minute disasters (like having no tonic water last year...) There weren't, and so the hour before the reception started was surprisingly stress-free.
This year's turnout was way higher than last year's -- shaking 400 people's hands is by no means an easy task, but the strength acquired through tennis helped a lot. Then came the speech: boss did very well. As I said to Erin, I was feeling like a mother watching her youngest at the school play. Having two gin-and-tonics for stress relief on an empty stomach was maybe not one of my brightest ideas -- not that anything untoward occurred, but I was beginning to feel dreadfully tipsy -- so I had to have quite a lot of finger food (delicious) in order to balance out the alcohol. Fortunately it worked, and when it was over I was a sober as a judge in spite of a third gin-and-tonic. Boss, Irene and I went home in the embassy car, stopping first at the residence. On the doormat, an idyll: three semi-adult kittens curled up into a cat heap and sleeping. Boss urged us to get out of the car and admire bear cat, a beautiful Chartreuse kitten -- probably not purebred but very close -- with the sweetest, stupidest face you can imagine. Ten very agreeable minutes were spent cuddling kittens and feeding them leftovers from the reception, and then we finally went home.
Irene came in for a nightcap, and we told Janine some of the more interesting tidbits, the whole underscored by me massaging my feet and yowling. Standing more than 4 hrs on 5-inch heels is no mean feat, after all.
Short encounter with Mr H went well, BTW.
Following Carla's advice I'd written him a brief email informing him that I was inviting 3 of his staff to lunch today, which coincides with his departure for Vienna. I'd written something along the lines of "Dear H, since you're going to Vienna on the 27th, and I'm inviting ..., ..., and ... to lunch on the same day, I just wanted to avoid any possible misunderstandings of the 'when the cat's away the mice will play' kind. Of course I promise to send them back to their desks ASAP ;-)"
So we bumped into each other, and after exchanging a few words he thanked me for the message and said he apreciated it a lot, and that he gave his permission.
This occurred between the fist and second gin-and-tonic, i.e. when I was feeling pretty exhilarated anyway, and so I merely smiled brightly and said he'd misunderstood me: I hadn't asked his permission but merely given him the information. Have a good flight to Vienna -- oh, there's somebody I must say hello to -- bye! *cackles*
I have today off, so now there'll be pedicure (very necessary), then I'll put Janine into her taxi and leave for my lunch, after which I'll be playing tennis with Elena (who BTW came to the reception, and we had a hilarious moment seeing each other dressed up and wearing makeup). Not sure yet whether I'll be going to the get-together tonight. Nothing formal, just a few Austrians meeting up, so let's see.
Oh, and I got 7 hrs of sleep. So today might be another good day for yours truly.
