Monday and More Flat Visits

I was a bit nervous when I got up this morning, as I had a big presentation to give today. The entire Executive Committee of our team was going to be hearing about the research I'd been working on with my counterpart for the past three months. Okay, admittedly I'd done the bulk of the work, but I was still okay with sharing the credit and even letting my counterpart present half of the deck.

I rehearsed the presentation a few times leading up to the call and made sure I knew exactly what I was going to say. I had data at my fingertips, and had made sure I knew how to make it an engaging presentation. So perhaps you can imagine my feeling of frustration when I handed off half of the presentation to my counterpart, and she proceeded to simply READ THE SLIDES, word for word.

I don't know how that affected how people perceived the data in the end, but what an annoyance! I felt like it diminished the impact of the presentation (and hence all of my hard work) for her to give such a flat delivery. Maybe some people will accuse me of not being a team player, but I feel distinctly dis-inclined to share credit or presenting duties like that ever again...

Anyway, once the presentation was over, I finished out the work day, and when Emily got home she suggested that we both go grocery shopping (since we were both pretty low on supplies). Did a quick run through the grocery store, and then when I got home I had yet another flat to go see.

It was a nice enough place, although if I'd thought my room was small before, I couldn't believe how tiny this one was! Also the common room and kitchen weren't that large, and it seemed like a tiny space to be sharing with two other people. Although the girl was super-friendly, perhaps the nicest person I've met in all of this flat-hunting nonsense. I think I might be tempted by the place, but I'm realising more and more that the place across the street is probably the right place for me. Although I suppose there has been benefit to seeing these other places, to become a bit more confident in my decision.

I came back home and watched a cheesy television programme with Emily, which was kind of a nice way to round out the evening.

And then at the end of the day, B e-mailed (and I still hadn't even texted him back) saying, "How does around lunchtime on Friday sound?" I wrote back and he wrote back within seconds suggesting places. It's all a bit startling, because I still can't figure out if I've gotten this the right way around. If he's just being friendly and is really keen to have a random discussion about books, of course I'm up for it, but what kind of guy asks a girl out to lunch just to be friendly? It almost seems too good to be true that a gorgeous, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy would be so keen on me. But of course, what is there to do except say yes and see what happens?

I'll keep you updated...