Urgh. Rough few days. :P

Work here has seriously picked up the last few days, with the introduction of our two pieces of legislation into the House, and then very strange procedures to continue them through. I don't totally understand why or how things are going how they are, but it could just be part of a big ploy on the part of the government to look good for Canadians. No idea.

Monday night into Tuesday day was looking like a bunch of poo, though. Monday night I managed to burn my stomach on the edge of the frying pan I was using to cook my dinner (I was trying to get the spices down from my cupboard, above the stove where they're stored, and I leaned a bit too far and my shirt rode up, and voila, very minor burn -- there's a line, but that's it). Not too bad, but not the best of starts.

Tuesday, I was brought in for an "HR" meeting between my manager and director, whereby I had it confirmed that my contract won't be extended past its current end date of June 30th (yes, the end of this month). I also found out that the results of my French oral interaction test weren't as high as I'd hoped, so I started going into "paranoid monkey" mode about whether or not I'd still be hired.

Then, the spook called to say it looked like he was going to be stuck at work again until late, so my plans with him were more than likely off. Ouaf.

But... things picked up a bit. I worked out some plans with Stefan, whereby we drove out to the mall that I knew had an Old Navy, so I could get some shopping done, and his gf met us there and was a huge help to me. I bought a *tonne* of clothes, so I now have a work-suitable summer wardrobe, and I should be set for awhile, so long as I don't put on a tonne of weight (although some of the clothes have some room for growth, so I shouldn't be totally naked should I gain weight -- not the goal anyhow), and many of them are pretty, etc.

After the shopping expedition, we picked up Ben and Matt, and headed over to Stefan's place to hang out on the patio and eat pizza and drink. The spook had called while I was in the changing room (*everyone* had called on my cell, and more often than not, when I was getting one phone call, another was coming in and confusing me into thinking my battery was dying -- not to self, clean out your voice mail), so before we left the mall I called him back and we decided not to bother getting together. Then, en route to get the boys, I called him back and invited him to join us -- he said he was just about to call me to see if I wanted to do something similar. Problem solved.

So eventually we all wound up there, got pizza (which was ready about 20 minutes after they said it would be), and hung out and talked. Nothing too exciting, but the spook now has the "pinecone" nickname to go along with the "pickle" one he already had.

Needless to say, this week has kinda sucked. I keep going back and forth over the same stupid annoying speeches with (usually) brand-new headaches and changes everytime. Also, since I know the end is in sight (either through this new job or through the dead-end deadline), I'm even less inclined to put in a huge amount of effort, but right now is when it's actually required, so I am.

I don't care, and I don't think it's because I've been told I'm not coming back. I didn't care much before that, and it doesn't help that I have a bad manager. More on that at another date, although it's getting less and less important as each day goes by, especially since I wasn't out-and-out told she wouldn't provide me with a reference, but the conversation more or less indicated that, and I haven't been working with her that long (though it certainly feels like longer).

I placed a phone call to the director's assistant this morning and got voice mail; I said I was just looking to see what was going to happen now that my results were back (sounds like I went to a clinic) and I said that I was willing to come pick up the letter of offer when it was ready so it wouldn't have to travel through Canada Post. Almost immediately after I hung up, I got a phone call from the HR lady from the same place asking about my security clearance and its level, and asking for proof of it (which I sent), because they were going to continue the process (that they'd stopped when I got removed from the competition) of transferring my security clearance to their department... so this is a time of *cautious* optimism.

It's also a time of *tired.* Argh. I'm determined not to cancel my gym appointment tonight, because I already cancelled the last two, and I've eaten chocolate two days in a row, and a bit of ice cream before that. As you can tell, I'm doing very well at keeping to the diet.

I haven't fallen *completely* back into my old bad habits (tm), but I'm not doing as well as I was. I still try to eat veggies and other good things as snacks, and I try to stick to reasonable food items for my meals, but I haven't done much cooking the last while, and I've been wanting pizza. That's been my main indulgence over the last week or two. :)

Garh. I'm very tired. I'm not getting enough rest, and this marks the second or third day in a row that I've wanted to get coffee at this time. Today, however, I think I'm actually going to do it -- it might keep me from killing off various people around the office. I just really want to get my letter so that I don't have to spend another 3 weeks and a day here. It'd be so much nicer to leave earlier than they're anticipating, and during a busy time. I'm a horrible person, it's true. :)