People continue to surprise me...

Final MoFo Post and Happy Halloween!

It's an odd thing. People continue to surprise me. Often in ways that leave me breathing a weighty sigh, it must be admitted, but not today. Today, I was pleasantly surprised and here's why....

I brought in the goodies I baked last night and we had a bit of a Halloween binge:




This was the finished cheesecake:



And here's a non-blurry shot of the fingers, complete with their spidery friends:



Thanks for the pix, Laura!

OK, so the other thing that was happening was that one of our 'corporate business partners' was bringing in lunch from Panera. I assumed that there would be nothing for me as Panera tends to use a lot of animals and their secretions as sandwich fillings, soups and the like. Plus, why would anyone think to get something separate for me?

Well, I was blown out of the water by the fact that when Bonnie arived with lunch, she'd brought for me some vegan tomato soup, a sourdough bread bowl, chips and salad. So within the space of 30 seconds, I went from having no lunch (the paninis of last night scarely lent themselves to offering leftovers!) to having a veritable feast. And it transpired that my boss had orchestrated the whole thing by calling her up and mentioning that I am vegan.

Now this is the sort of accommodation that makes me want to bake cookies and cheesecakes and cupcakes and whatever for these people Every Single Day. Because that kind of thoughtfulness and respect of my choices - even though they do not share them - are just a couple of traits that make the folks I work with the best on the face of the planet.

This Eagle Has Landed!

I am exhausted.

And thrilled.

And confused.

Happily challenged.

And getting results.

In short: my new job is great!


OK, you've all been very patient while I've been offline recently, so here are some pix....

Epicenter of the Chartpak Empire:



My workspace:



The 'Hot Seat' or 'where it all happens'...



Of particular note are the photo on the desk of My Beloved, and Cow Tse-Dung, who is dangling from the shelf on the left....I leave you to work it out....

:)

And here are my new coworkers, Tara (Sales Director) in the foreground and Lana (Creative Director) standing behind her:



And here's Jamie, fellow Haggis-head and my new boss...



Am not entirely sure what he's thinking...perhaps this is ripe for a 'caption competition'?

OK, so nothing particularly vegan about this post, but just keeping ya'll up to date!

Everyone has been really nice - very welcoming, easy going, receptive to new ideas (including my veganism) and the transition has been smooth as silk. Makes a change, right?

Stay Vegan, Friends!

One Chapter Ends and Another Begins...

Today was my final day at work. On Thursday I start my new job, so today entailed a lot of leaving. It took me pretty much the entire morning to do so in fact. And some of yesterday too.

There is always a get-together. A small celebration of someone's time with the organization, so I half-expected a few words and a glass of something slightly less caffeinated than my usual beverage of choice at work....

....a full-blown vegan extravaganza, however, I did **not** see coming.

Yes, you read that right!

The folks at my (now former) company catered a full vegan meal and it was lovely. Just lovely.

I hope they won't mind me sharing some of the pix....

This is my former boss, smiling so happily. I miss you already, Tom!



And see how wide people grin when there's great cruelty-free food on the table!



This is some of the spread, sadly I didn't get any close-ups as I was in a state of overwhelmed confusion at the whole thing and not quite in my right mind.





It's an odd fact that you really only learn how truly good people can be at certain, defining moments. Yesterday was one of those moments. Everyone at my organization is busy and overstretched, but still they took time to do something for me. Some people cooked at home and brought food in, others special-ordered 2 vegan cakes (I am usually the baker, and I would have made my own cake if I'd thought about it!!!), and still others brought a heart appetite and made it a really fun and relaxing lunch. And I am feeling humbled and grateful and sad to be leaving and excited to begin the next chapter of my life....all at once.

And perhaps becoming vegan has helped me in that regard too. I feel it's made me humbler, more open to seeing the compassion in others, quicker to offer kindness and more able to accept it from others.

And I really like that.

Tom, Rachel, Suzette, Chris, Jennifer, Tim, Humera, Katie, Angela, Bhavin...everyone...I will miss you all!



Stay Vegan, Friends!

Cupcake Friday!

So as you know, I love to cook and share food with folks. And you might also know that I now have a second part-time job. How are these two factoids connected?, I hear you ask in breathless anticipation. Well, bear with me....I really like the folks in my new place (I've worked there in the past too) and so, to show my generous, giving, likeable side, I decided to institute 'Cupcake Friday'. The absolute beauty of this scheme is that it simultaneously provides folks there with some end of week cheer, introduces them to the concept of yummy vegan food, and gives me with an outlet for all of this frenzied baking I'm doing lately.

So here was my grand plan for World Cupcake Domination. I drew up a chart with everyone's name on it and a choice of orgasmic vegan cupcakes: mexican hot chocolate, margarita, banana split, coconut-lime, rum 'n' raisin, etc etc etc. This jolly little chart was printed out and stuck in the kitchen with the strong suggestion that folks all vote for their favourite cupcake choice. When votes are tallied on Thursday, I will know what kind to bake that evening to bring in for Friday.

Sheer genius!

Even if I say so myself! :)

Stay Vegan, Friends!