Things they should teach in school

There should be a negotiating class taught in High School or College. I mean I don't know how to negotiate! I don't know how to place a value on myself. I am freaking out. I've been made an offer and I'm expected to make a counter offer (I think) but I cannot for the life of me determine what is a fair counter offer.

Will they think I'm a greedy bitch with the counter offer I'm about to send?

Should I go in with what I would be willing to accept?

Higher than what I would be willing to accept?

Is my idea of an acceptable salary too high?

Am I expecting to much?

Am I worth that much?

It's all making my head hurt and is giving me panic attacks. I need to send this email today, but am terrified that I'm going to ruin something by asking for more money. In my head I know this is probably not true. They may look at my request laugh (or not) and then make a counter offer or stick with what they originally offered, but they will not walk away. Despite this rational thought my heart is beating a million times a minute and the little woman inside me is saying, "Just take what you're given before they change their mind." Where she comes from I don't know but standing up for myself and declaring this is how much I'm worth is freaking terrifying.

I don't like it and I want it to go away.

European Standards

If I take this job in Morocco:

1. I get a plane ticket home once a year. (I will be able to eat at Wood Tavern again!) :)

2. I get 26 days of vacation a year!!!

That's 5 weeks. I'm a little speechless at this point. I haven't had that much vacation since I was a student in high school. I mean 5 weeks. Oh man. What I could do with 5 weeks. This is the best and most convincing reason to take this job yet.

Screw you, you currently measly 2 weeks paid vacation. Screw you!

Cat Wars

Willoughby 2, Cat Carriers 0

Garren locked Willoughby in the second cat carrier early this morning. I found a very subdued Willoughby (sitting in the living room) when I got up and a slashed carrier on its side in the kitchen. I'm off to Ace Hardware to get duct tape later this afternoon.

Breathe

So that went well. I think. Offer was conveyed. He's going to send it to me in writing. From working the limited numbers I got it's making about what I make right now (including my bonus) so it would be guaranteed that amount and not dependent on production of certain things which is always good. Course this is the total offer including a housing and phone allowance not all cash, but either way it works out as I would have to spend money on these things anyways.

Also with a lower standard of living and me not having a car or insurance or gas costs it should mean that there will be plenty of money left over for daily living expenses etc. I think I will probably go back though and ask for more. My boss gave me a good indication of what she thought the minimum should be for the position and it's not really asking much more than what they're offering so I think it could be do-able. But we'll see. Garren and I will probably dissect it a lot more once we have everything in writing.

Once the salary issue is done apparently then I would have a chat with the Director of Sales and Marketing and the General Manager. So there it is. Morocco one step closer. And looking more likely every day. I'm signing up for French classes today. Even if I don't end up going, I'll have brushed up my French and if I am going, I'll have brushed up my French.

For those interested if this all goes through it looks like Garren and I would be in Morocco sometime in July. Ahhh. Freak out.

Good Thoughts

Compenstation talk today at 10am. Think good thoughts. Details to follow later.

PS It is way to early to be at work.

Crap!

I got an email from the Rooms Division Manager in Morocco this morning asking me to let me know when I'm available to talk this week about compensation.

This might seriously be happening. I've been ignoring it for the past week as I hadn't heard anything. It was an abstract idea. Now it's real again. F**k.

Paging Garren, Part 2

Desserts and drinks with Alex tonight at 8:30pm at Citizen Cake. If you are out of work way before that call Alex and see where he is. He's going to dinner before hand with someone....who I do not know. I'm going to leave class by 8pm and drive to Hayes Valley. Hopefully I don't kill myself. Call me if you get a chance so I know you got this.

Kisses!

A Day in Monterey

Garren and I had the day off together yesterday. Shocker of shockers! This is like the 3rd day off we've had together in the last few weeks. I think it's a record. Since we've been having this time off together we've been trying to do something and not be stuck at home. We tend to be homebodies, but with the nice weather lately we just feel the need to be out and about and not waste another day in front of a TV or inside ignoring the weather. 

We contemplated going to Great America as it's something we've been talking about for a while but I wasn't in the mood for roller coasters so we decided on the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Garren hadn't been since he was little and our friend Courtney lives in Monterey and we haven't seen her in a year.

We probably picked the wrong day to go to the Aquarium. I mean the Saturday before Easter was not the smartest choice, but we're last minute planners. Either way it was a beautiful day and after spending some agonizing time finding parking we made it to the Aquarium around 1:00pm. Two things we learned while there:

1. In the battle between man and stroller the stroller always seems to win

2. Going to the Aquarium when packed with kids is the best advocate for birth control.

We saw some cute sea otters! They look like a cross little old men and cats. What with their grooming and rolling and big Willoughby like tummies. They are the cutest sea animal, there is no denying it. We also saw the Deep Sea tank (it's got a better name than that, but I call it the deep sea tank). I could spend hours watching all those fish swim by. I find it so relaxing. (When there aren't a million kids pressed up against the glass blocking your view). We also saw the new seahorse display. So cool! There's one that looks like a twig and another that looks like a big green plant. So bizarre. And we of course made a trip to see the Penguins. Except for Garren getting hit by the same stroller three times and me grabbing the arm of some guy I thought was Garren at one point it and asking if he wanted to step outside (oops!), it was relatively calm uneventful fun day oogling at underwater creatures.

In the evening we went to Courntey's and had dinner with her family. With the new baby niece it was a great way to spend the Easter holiday. We had a great time catching up, eating and drinking, and Garren and Courtney conspired behind my back so that we could spend the night and hence drink as much as we liked. By the time they revealed that I wouldn't be going home until the morning I was secretly relieved. 

And so here I am back in Berkeley, doing my laundry and dreading having to go back to work tomorrow. sigh. Oh well. So yea to Spring and Happy Easter.

This is me.....

and my sister, but when we were little and in our living room where no one could see us.

Mom I thought you'd like this. Makes me want to watch the movie and sing along to all the songs....

On to Step 2

I just had the interview. It was a more of a chat really. He was nice enough to speak in English with me. I was very up front that my French is rusty. We didn't a little portion in French. He could tell it was in there somewhere but that it needed some refreshing. I assured him that if this was to move forward that I would be taking classes prior to my arrival and probably afterwards as well. He assured me that the hotel will be very international. He says French is the common language but that he speaks French with some, German with others and English with someone else. And the man is Italian too! Good god that's a lot of languages.

Mostly he asked if I had questions and I was able to get some of my outstanding concerns put to rest. It sounds as if they have already hired quite a few women for the other management positions including the Front Office Manager, PR Manager and Director of Sales and Marketing and two of them are single women around my age. This makes me feel much more comfortable about moving there, because if they can do it, I SOOO can do it with my man along for the ride. Also I found out that there will be complimentary transportation for the employees to the resort so I will not have to buy a car which is a plus.

So there it is. One interview down, 3 more to go apparently. I have to speak with the Corporate Director of Revenue, Director of Sales and Marketing (once they are officially hired) and lastly the GM. So I should have MORE interviews to freak about about for next week. He did tell me that we should know definitely one way or the other by the end of this month and ballpark start date would by June/July.

In the meantime more movies to be watched in French. I will be moving onto a classic French Summer film of Rocky IV and for slang purposes 40 Year old Virgin after finishing Aladdin and The Incredibles.

Lestat anyone?

=

I decided to indulge myself tonight. I got a huge freaking burrito for dinner got home and decided to REALLY indulge and finally watch Twilight.

I hated the book and I refused to see the movie when it was out in the theaters, but with all the hoopla about it I couldn't help but want to see the movie to see if it really is as bad as I remember or if I was too harsh on the book. Well I'm still in the middle of watching it as I type and it is in fact WORSE. Why this series is a so popular I cannot understand.

I've always said that the reason I didn't like the book is because Bella is so passive. I like heroines who are more aggressive I guess. More active in their fate. Bella just lets things happen to her. I know people would probably argue this point, but in the end I just find her blah. Her entire personality leaves something to be desired.

Watching the movie I've come to realize that Edward is also part of the reason I hate the story in general. He is so self loathing. When he first reveals himself to Bella he's trying to show how ugly/horrible he is, he takes her out into the sunlight to show her how he sparkles. I mean how is that ugly? Why be so self loathing about that? Because it's different? I mean I get it. He's a vampire. He's drank human blood at one point. But he's reformed. He doesn't drink human blood anymore. For a long time. He lives among the humans. I mean isn't it time to forgive yourself for any transgressions you may have done when you first became a vampire and didn't realize the error of your predator ways?! And I think it is the fact that Bella falls in love with this self loathing, sometimes UBER whiny vampire is freaking ridiculous. Or maybe just annoying. I mean the level of angst is just a little over the top. Give me Lestat any day over any of these vamps. He at least embraces what he is and reveals in it. He is so much more fun. And Interview with the Vampire is another example of the whiny I'm tortured vampire. Louis was always my lease favorite character of Anne Rice's vampires too.

As to the movie in general. I particularly love how all the vampires look like washed out crazy people or Tom Cruise. I mean I know vampires are UBER pale but do they have to make the make up look so bad? And some of the lines....I think the one that made me laugh the most was, "So the lion fell in love with the lamb." Oh the melodrama.

So overall, movie really was as painful as the book. I wish I could like this story. I feel like I should but to me it feels like it's trying to hard and I just cannot care enough about the characters to want to know more. So seeing the movie did not make me want to read the rest of the series. I hoped it would. But no. I might watch the rest of the movies. The brooding looks by Edward might make it worth it. Drinking every time Edward gives a brooding glare should be mandatory when watching the movie.

So that's it. My rant about Twilight and how really it's just as horrible as I remember.

Bright Spot in my Day

Vin Disel & Paul Walker in Fast and Furious, New Model, Original Parts.

Oh the cheesiness, oh the action, oh the bad Paul Walker acting. I'm so excited! Thank god for good friends like Michele who are just as excited to see this as I am. What would I do without you? Well let's admit it, I'd go by myself but that is not nearly as much fun.

Here we go

Interview scheduled for Tuesday, April 7th at 8:30am. Not with the GM but the Rooms Division Manger who I hear is nice. But I might also have to interview with the GM if I pass this interview. Who knows? ughh.

Oh boy. My sister had a great suggestion of watching my favorite movies dubbed in French to help get me listening to French more regularly. I think it's a great idea. So that is probably what I'm going to be doing all week. That and having Garren make me speak in French to him if I want anything. NO EXCUSES!

I am feeling a bit more relaxed at least about this whole thing. I've realized that if they decide not to hire me, it's ok. I'll be disappointed sure but I really am VERY happy here in SF right now and the idea of not having to pack up all my stuff, my cats, and move somewhere uber foreign with insane new challenges is ok. I do not have to be ashamed of being happy with the same old routine.

So Tuesday, 8:30am. Think good thoughts.