The case of the missing artwork

I have a theory (okay, several, but only one I'll write about here). Feel free to borrow it.

When faced with a dilemma and no ideas present themselves, I often find it helpful to share the situation with a few people who are outside the immediate scope of the problem. I find that the answers sometimes hide behind unlikely doors.

The new CEO of our European-based company is a man who held a similar position for our company eight years ago when I first came on board. He left several years ago but was brought back earlier this month.

When the Chicago office first opened, the CEO purchased a piece of artwork and hung it in our lobby. Now he wanted to know if it's still here. In the time that I've been with this company, we have moved not once, but twice! If you've ever moved, you know how often things get lost, damaged or just left behind. This can't have happened to this picture!

I had a very good reputation with this man years ago and it was critical that I continue to shine in his eyes.

Although I had no idea if this picture survived our moves, something told me that it had...and that it was in our current office SOMEWHERE. And no, it wasn't hanging up in someone's office. That would be too easy.

After checking every nook and cranny, every storage room, every closet, I came across another veteran of our company, a man who worked in the original office. He works for a different division of our company, so our paths don't cross very often.

Of course he has it! As a gag (since it's actually pretty ugly), he grabbed it when we moved out and kept it in his office. It's leaning against the wall next to his desk and sure! I can have it.

Whew!

An American bride...and a Spanish groom

In the course of our many years on this planet, we have the potential to meet thousands of people. How do we decide which ones to keep in our lives and which do we allow to simply pass through?

Of course, it isn't always our choice.

As many of my readers already know, I recently received an invitation to a bridal shower for a woman with whom I'd lost touch several years ago. A few days ago, I received the actual wedding invitation, addressed to "The Writer and Guest." Oh yay! Another opportunity to flaunt my single-ness in a room full of couples.

I've already written off the shower, but I haven't decided about the wedding. It's in Chicago, so travel isn't the issue. The person I know the most at the wedding is the person I'll be able to talk to the least (the bride).

This morning, I received another wedding invitation. This one is from a former colleague who left the Chicago office at least three years ago. Our contact since then has been limited to an email or two per year. We also got a chance to catch up at one of the European weddings I attended last year.

And now it's his turn.

Oh, did I mention he's Spanish and the wedding is in a small village north of Barcelona?? And he's inviting several of the same former colleagues that I partied with in Germany last summer and North Carolina earlier this month.

Hmmmnn... Which wedding to go to?

Another update on FA

He's on a plane!!! Unfortunately, it's going to Mexico City, not Chicago. He said he's going to be in Chicago on Sunday afternoon. Well, fat lotta good that does me now, sitting here with TWO TICKETS behind the Cubs dugout!

I know, I know, I shouldn't have bought the tickets without getting info from him, especially since it's only about 40 degrees outside!. Oh well! This uncertainty goes a long way toward explaining why FA is still single.

After contacting Firecracker and FC2 (neither can go), I called a client/friend of mine (no go) and even Cub Fan (doesn't want to freeze again and still mourning the missed cruise). Firecracker has a colleague that's a baseball fan despite his upbringing in California, so that's a possibility.

FA also txt that he'll be in Chicago on Sunday (or did he mean that he'll be home on Sunday??). As you can tell, this is a situation where it'll be better for me to keep my expectations at a minimum.

Go Cubs! BRRRR!!!

Update on folks I know...

specifically, guys I know.

Lion King - - had dinner with me on Friday. I had hoped it would be a laughter-filled evening of good food and great conversation. Unfortunately, it felt much more like a session with a shrink. Lion King has a way of asking very probing questions and eliciting much more information that I think should be shared with someone who is JUST A FRIEND.

Cub Fan - - brought the final three cubes of my storage unit and installed the entire thing on Sunday afternoon. We worked together to get all the pieces together in the proper order with the brushed nickel pulls installed. When a screw was loose on one of the nightstand drawers, Cub Fan put the drawer on my bed and pulled out a cordless drill. Finally! There's some screwing going on in here! (No, I didn't say it out loud, I only thought it..and not about him.)

Cub Fan booked his first-ever cruise to celebrate finally getting a job and was planning to leave Monday morning, so when I received an email from him Tuesday morning, I was concerned. The bad weather on the East Coast delayed his stopover, so he missed the connection and therefore, the cruise! Worse yet, he won't get the pre-payment back because the delay was weather-related! I offered to try to help him find a last-minute cheap trip to a beach somewhere, but his travel budget was already shot. I feel terrible for him.

But kinda good for me because I got a txt msg from FA last night...several, in fact.

FA - - Might be on his way to Chicago right now. We txt during the Cubs' comeback win last night (Go Cubs!!!!) and he invited me to join him at the Cubs game in mid-May and said that he's trying to get a flight to Chicago to go to the game tonight. I was already planning to go anyway, but in my excitement, I ordered two tickets online. They're behind the Cubs dugout!!!
Okay, so it's supposed to be ridiculously cold tonight. I'll bring a blanket and MIGHT have someone to keep me warm!!

The room is finally finished!!!!!!!!!!

Ha! Ha! Fooled you! This is actually the BEFORE pictures, because, after all, what would a good before-and-after story be without the terrible "before" pictures.

But prior to the room unveiling, I have to share with you some of the fun activities that helped me to keep my sanity (insert joke here) during this very trying time...





It should come as no surprise that they are Cubs-related, specifically, the bleacher recontruction project, Cubs Spring Training and also the highlight of every spring...Opening Day. For the record, if you check the spring training game lineup on the day shown, it includes Marquis Grissom. Just so you know, he retired before the season started...and before my room was finished (nothing implied here, I'm just saying.)

Without further delay, my new master bedroom!!