Quite an eventful week for sure.

The week started well. I invited Maria over to my apartment for dinner on Monday. I've not hung out with her for some time and since she's working on the other side of the building, we don't really get to catch up with one another that much. It was nice to just chat with her and hear how things are going in her neck of the woods.

On Wednesday, I had my annual review and aced it. I got a mini pay increase which is always nice. Overall, everyone is happy with me and basically, I was told to keep doing what I'm doing. I did bring up the fact the since I "lost" Maria to the case management department, I don't have anyone to help me file and the stack is getting to be pretty high because of all the reregistrations that are coming in. Margaret said she'll she'll speak to Carol who is Maria's supervisor and figure something out. I told Margaret that if push comes to shove, I'll come in over the weekend to clear some of the stuff, but I know the agency does not really want people to comp their hours. I'll leave it for the supervisors to hash it out among themselves.

Thursday was fun because it was the first day of the Iowa State Fair and the young adults group were to meet there and just hang out. I left for the fairgrounds right after work which gave me more than enough time to see some of the things I wanted to see like the art and photography exhibits. It's pretty amazing when you see some of the skills/talents people have when it comes to art and photography. All in all there were four people who came and that was fine by me. We watched the "Vocal Trash" performance which was really good. The best way to describe this group would be to call them "Stomp" but add singing to their act. It was a lot of fun. Oh, I should say that one of the people in the group who came was a Moslem and she was a headscarf and what I would call a very traditional/conservative dress. Needless to say, the people at the fair kept looking at her. She was at the fair two years ago and felt very uncomfortable because people kept staring at her. I told her that people are bound to stare at our group because here's this Asian guy walking next to Moslem girl and in front of us were two Americans! As the day went on, she felt more comfortable but some yahoo did yell something to the effect that there's a terrorist in our midt. She laughed but I could tell it was a little uncomfortable. It's amazing how ignorant some people are. She was born in Jordan and migrated to the US some years ago. She even told me that her mom's Catholic! All in all, I have to say we had a good time walking the fair and just people watching. The last group we saw was the "Nadas". They are a local band who have a pretty large following. I've heard of them before but have never listened to their music. It was a good opportunity for me to hear them. Needless to say there were quiet a lot of people at their performance and the people up front were most definitely huge Nadas fan. I can see their appeal. I can't really classify their music but would say it's close to rock/adult contemporary. It was a good way to end the day at the fair.

Did not do a whole lot on Friday and Saturday. I stayed in the apartment for the most part as it was hot and very humid. I did walk over to the library and read some magazines and newspaper. Today (Sunday) as I stepped into my car, I found a huge crack on my windshield and it's definitely from the contruction that's takinng place right next to the parking lot. I remember the former manager sending all residents a note saying that during the contruction period, if something were to fall and cause a crack/dent, to let her know. I called the manager right after Mass and told her about it. I even called my insurance agent just to be on the safe side. It'll be interesting to see what happens and how it will be taken care of. I'm very certain nothing is going to come out of my pocket, but I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

That's pretty much how the week has been for me. John just got back from his cruise to the Baltic region so I'm fairly certain we'll be meeting up so I can see photos of his vacation. Apart from that, there's not a whole lot going on this coming week. I'm kind of getting a little sick and tired of the hot weather, but there's nothing I can do about it.