Smiles of the week

New jobs are exhausting! The amount of information and complexity of issues and getting to know the people and trying to get a feel for the place with its (unspoken) rules can be somewhat overwhelming at times. But I can also safely say it’s been good, the people have been very nice to me, they have waited to start certain projects until I’d be around and I feel welcome. A new manager started the same day I did, had a talk with her yesterday, and she feels worlds removed from being a micro-manager, which is excellent news. Two or three clients (internal colleagues) who were frustrated because no one got back to them on certain issues (due to someone else leaving and there being no back up) were made happy by me because I was either able to solve something for them or at least able to listen to them, promising to look into the problem. I worked on Wednesday because they wanted me along for a work field trip, so I changed my day off to today without any micro-manager giving me shit about it. Heck, even the view from the 10th floor where I work is good! This is the view from the elevator hallway…

Yes, first full week at my new job has been exhausting but good, which makes me smile!

But there were more smiles. Richard had a lovely little Twitter exchange promoting his The Lodge movie…

… which means that for 3 days now this has been singing around in my head…

I’ve never been a big Grease fan (I know, sacrilege!) but I do like this song, not bad having that in my head and making me smile. 🙂

Another smile this week is the new second-hand car we bought and picked up on Wednesday, late in the afternoon. We had a guzzler for a car that could pull our caravan and, strictly speaking, we didn’t need it anymore, as we don’t have the caravan anymore. So, to make things a little cheaper for us (gas, taxes and insurance) and to be a little more environmentally friendly, we bought a hybrid Toyota Auris. My daughter had been with us when we bought the car 10 days ago but she was in Berlin with school for the week, so it was only our son who was with us when we picked it up.

The car has a ‘panorama roof’ (just glass, you can’t open it, but wonderful for gazing at the sky and daydreaming) which my son fell in love with. Yeah, the rain couldn’t take the smiles away.

Of course, the big smiley news is the news of Baby Sussex being born. Yes, Harry and Meghan have a son named Archie, who was born earlier this week. Pictures of the happy couple with baby were shared, which is worth a smile of its own…

WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 08: Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose with their newborn son during a photocall in St George’s Hall at Windsor Castle on May 8, 2019 in Windsor, England. The Duchess of Sussex gave birth at 05:26 on Monday 06 May, 2019. (Photo by Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

… and Harry was in The Netherlands yesterday for the Invictus Games which are apparently coming to The Hague next year. Het got a little onesie from Prinses Margriet (former queen’s sister, our king’s aunt)…

However, the best part was the jacket he was wearing during a short bike ride, which also said “I am daddy”…

Yeah, big time smiles for that one as well!

Early this morning my daughter came home from Berlin (they drove through the night)…

She’s been exahusted, napped through most of the day, and she is out now with Mr Esther, giving the new car a little exercise. 🙂

And finally, Simon Baker. After The Mentalist ended I lost touch a bit with what he’s up to and while he does have Instagram, he doesn’t post that much on it. But he did post this today. My first thought was: “oh my, he’s looking so good”! And that smile, he has one of the best smiles I have ever seen on anyone. Then I looked closer and see that his Mentalist co-star and the person he ends up marrying on the show, Robin Tunney, has reacted to his post…

… and then a short little exchange follows in the comments…

Now, wouldn’t it be lovely if these two meet up and take cute pictures together? A sort of happily ever after, after The Mentalist? Ah, the memories this brings back!

“White Orchids” — Lisbon accepts Jane’s surprise marriage proposal, but a killer’s quest for revenge may cost them the happy ending they’ve worked so hard to achieve, on the series two-part finale of THE MENTALIST on CBS Wednesday, February 18 (8:00-10:00, ET/PT). Pictured: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon. Photo: Robert Voets/Warner Bros./CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

“White Orchids” — Lisbon accepts Jane’s surprise marriage proposal, but a killer’s quest for revenge may cost them the happy ending they’ve worked so hard to achieve, on the series two-part finale of THE MENTALIST on CBS Wednesday, February 18 (8:00-10:00, ET/PT). Pictured: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon. Photo: Robert Voets/Warner Bros./CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

“White Orchids” — Lisbon accepts Jane’s surprise marriage proposal, but a killer’s quest for revenge may cost them the happy ending they’ve worked so hard to achieve, on the series two-part finale of THE MENTALIST on CBS Wednesday, February 18 (8:00-10:00, ET/PT). Pictured: Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, Robin Tunney as Teresa Lisbon. Photo: Robert Voets/Warner Bros./CBS ©2015 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved

I’m totally up for a reunion with some pictures for the fans. Here’s living in hope!