Don't Cry When You're Hoppy

It has been 2 weeks into the new year and I have already stuck my hand into the toilet twice as many times as last year.... Lessons learned:

• Close the toilet seat when handling droppable objects in the bathroom, and
• Nothing in the back pocket, folks.

Besides the decline in motor skills and the irresponsible bathroom behavior, I'm feeling positive about the new year.  Why? You may ask.  Mainly because during my first week back at work I was given a "hoptimist" from my project manager:

Sad?  Frustrated? Stressed?.... Hop to Optimism!

What is a hoptimist?  It is what it looks like: a spring-necked, bobble headed plastic toy that sits on my cubicle shelf and keeps my other work friends happy:

The geisha was a gift from the administrative assistant at work. She said her son's girlfriend broke up with him and the ex had given him this asian statue.  My co-worker thought it was worth a lot of money so she didn't want her son to throw it out.  I was the only one she could think to give it to.... 

I thanked my project manager for the thoughtful, kind, hoptimistic gesture and said something along the lines of "it's nice to get something back from the company even if it is in the form of a cheap little toy..." to which she replied something like "oh good!! I'm glad you like it, because they really are quite expensive!"   40 bucks these things are going for!  That's almost equal to my annual pay increase! 

But I do love it... makes me hoppy...