Here at the Wonderful World of W. (my employer) our fearless leaders used to give out "kudos" during meetings to those who went "beyond the call of duty" (which basically means they actually did their job). Now they have budgeted for these tokens of appreciation, changed the "kudos" to "bravos," and give out less of them.

Today, I not only had attention drawn to me during a meeting for my accomplishment of some menial task, but I received a "bravo" ($10 gift certificate for Barnes & Noble, not bad).

I now believe that I have fully succeeded in my attempts to convince my coworkers that I am a great employee. They are more naive than initially suspected.

In other news, I've finally wrapped up Tolstoy and have moved to Forster. Fitzgerald is on deck and Lewis is right behind. I was also bitten or stung by something this morning and have a large, painful welt on my right forearm, which of course has nothing to do with anything.

I've also managed to spend a whole lot of money in the last twenty four hours. It started with the new Alias DVDs, followed by some adorable Halloween bat candles, a large gargoyle that followed me through the store, nipping at my heels until I finally agreed to take him home, some new colored pencils and sticky flags for my reading obsession, another book, two DVDs, a few Rubbermaid storage totes, enough protein bars to fill an entire backpack, two CDs, and finally ended today with the purchase of 2 tickets for Social D. My debit card is gasping, panting, and cowering at the bottom of my purse, fearing futher abuse.

And now that it's nearing three weeks since I quit smoking, I've reviewed the symptoms of withdrawal as listed by the American Cancer Society and have noticed some glaring omissions, which I will include here:

1. Reckless urge to buy crap (see gargoyle reference, above).

2. Need to walk dogs about four miles a day (resulting in mild joint pain and exhausted beagles).

3. Need to organize everything in my house (see Rubbermaid tote reference, above) including old photos, seventh grade book reports, bank statements, closet space, book shelves, freezer, silverware drawer, and medicine cabinet).

4. Need to read every book ever written while marking favorite passages, reading supplementary texts, writing chapter-by-chapter synopses, and generally annoying everyone I know by discussing them.

5. Desire to decorate for Halloween weeks before it is appropriate to decorate for Halloween.

These appear to be the most pressing side effects at the moment, but I'll be sure to update the symtoms here.

Oh...and I've been waking up and walking the dogs at 6:30 every morning. Neighbors have expressed concern.