***Rebirth (and, no, this is not JLo's latest album)***

Funny how fast things can change.

Last Monday the client (and my boss) called me into his office and asked what was my hourly rate with the agency. I told him I didn't know: I rarely keep track once the funds are being deposited in my account. I excused myself and obtained the information. He thanked me and I heard nothing that day.

Last Tuesday the Human Resources department called me in. Now what, I thought as I scampered through the dizzle between the two buildings. In the HR office, I met with the smiling representative who presented me a permanent job offer. Whoa! Floored, I told her I need to think about it. I took the offer and some information with me and, for the next few hours, discussed the issue with co-workers, friends, family, and The Spouse. I even discussed the issue with my agency. All basically said I should take the position: while they understood my reasons for staying as a temp, the benefits (literally) of a perm job outweighed the disadvantages. Besides, The Spouse said, even permanent jobs are but "temporary" in today's economy.

So on March 1st, I signed the contract and submitted it to the beaming HR representative. I also took Thursday and Friday off since the official start date wasn't until the 7th.

I primarily ran errands on both days. I picked up some packages from the post office. I brought up R.'s car to the dealership for its free oil change. While waiting, I looked at the other cars in the nearby dealerships. On both days I indulged at one of my favorite restaurants. I must have easily gained a few pounds there alone. Evenings were spent watching anime.

The remodeling goes on. A few weeks ago, we made an appointment for a glass designer to visit on Saturday. She arrived late with one of the most well-behaved dogs we've ever encountered. Very interesting person with some very beautiful designs. It will be interesting to see what she creates for our bathroom windows.

After she left and a quick meal, we checked out more fixtures for the remodeling at Expo, Standards of Excellence, and Lamps Plus as well. Do you know how many types of faucets out there? I'm so glad we have the Internet. But it was a pleasant experience even though I still have problems telling the difference between bright brass and gold. More importantly, we not only narrowed our choices but made several purchases as well (i.e., the bar sink).

We found some unpleasant discoveries, though. There's an odd hum coming from our new oven/microwave appliance. Is it faulty wiring? And the minor "spill" by the contractor in the guest bathroom had soaked into the hallway carpet and into R.'s office, damaging some books and other papers. And we have yet to hear back from our countertop contractor whose call we promptly returned Saturday morning.

Evenings were primarily spent watching--you guessed it--anime. Sunday, though, we worked on prepping our business taxes as well.

Sigh. The trials and tribulations of remodeling, both a house and one's working career. R. pointed out (when I confided I was feeling a bit disoriented these days) that job changes are remodeling are some of the highest stressors for people. I filed the comment for future reference as we watched another murder on Detective Conan....