The meeting went well, and I find myself in a far better mood tonight than I was in last night.

My task at the meeting was a lot easier than I had thought it would be. I did not have to give tours (whew!) but I did have to do a brief presentation on the books I chose as potential big sellers to each of the groups of booksellers going through the store. I chose several, so there is more of a chance that I will be right on at least one of them. Two are on the bestseller list already, so that adds to my confidence.

The one problem with not doing the tour like I thought we were is that I didn't have the chance to make sure everyone knew that the art wall is now in order and had better stay that way. I have a few dire threats in mind for anyone caught shoving things in the wrong place.

We ended the meeting with yearbook-style superlatives, which encompassed everything from best all-around employee to most likely to be in a movie to who was most likely to be zonked out in the breakroom. If you have heard my voice post, then you know I won "best phone voice" Barry White got a write-in vote (do we sound alike?). I was also voted "most knowledgeable about Barnes & Noble" (this time the write-in went to CEO Len Riggio). Needless to say, I was pleased, in a somewhat dorky teacher's pet kind of way.

To nearly everyone's relief, we were spared the corporate videos. New assistant manager J viewed them all and gave every one a thumbs-down. From what little I saw, I couldn't have agreed more strongly. I hadn't realized that M was a champion of an older film that features a really obnoxious idiot making a film about B&N. *sigh* I really like M, but I wonder about him at times.

So now, on to hell season. I should stock up on alcohol.

One more thing: I was not prepared for how weird it would be to hear a recording of myself. I sound like a stranger. Sorry for the crappy cell-phone sound, but they don't have a local number and I wanted to skip long-distance charges.

Work sucked. It was really busy in the store, but no one was asking questions. This left those of us at the customer service desk with very little to do. Very odd.

And I was in a foul mood. I had overslept, so I was late this morning. And I felt horrible. I have a cold that will not go away and I had not been able to sleep until very late the night before.

So I rushed to work, clocked in, put my stuff away, walked out to the information desk, and suddenly started sobbing.

I don't know what set me off. It's partly because of the anniversary coming up, but the rest of it? I really don't know. I was a complete mess for my entire freaking shift, either with tears running down my cheeks or feeling very drained and out of it.

Two hours before the end of my shift, I decided I had been through enough. I was not needed and my head was pounding. The manager on duty let me go early.

At least I get to sleep in tomorrow. We have the holiday meeting after the store closes so I will be going in an hour later than I usually would for a Sunday closing shift. I do have a little bit of preparation I have to do before the meeting; I need to choose some books that I think will be hot sellers this season and I have to have at least a rough idea of what to tell my coworkers as I give everyone (yes, everyone) a tour of my section. Even more difficult is the fact that I have to come up with something appropriate to wear for a Hawaii-themed meeting. I wish I could call in sick for this thing.

I do hope that my book picks do better this year than last year. I chose two books from my old section last year that were new titles by really popular writers. I thought they were sure bets. Both were fifty percent off before Christmas. Ouch.

I am also rather hoping that I don't start crying during one of my tours.

I miss you, Cat.