Did you know I don't like shopping?

I guess working from home (now known affectionately as "the Buda Conference Room") for seven years has really taken a toll on my wardrobe.  Rest assured (and despite what you all think), I am always dressed when I log into work or dial into calls; the truth is that I'm sitting in my workout gear till I can go for a walk outside or on the treadmill.  After I shower (yes more information then you'll ever want to know), I'm in jeans and a t-shirt.  That's it, nothing special.  I'm surprised, on the rare occasion that I do go into the IBM offices, that jeans and a nicer shirt can pass in a meeting.  Getting ready for this assignment has been a total SHOCK! and not just on my wallet either.  What exactly is business casual or as they say in Kyiv, Business Smart?  Where's the IBM handbook for that?  I'm going to have to find / make up some reasons to go into the office when I return just to get value out of all these clothes I've had to buy.  And when is the last time any of you saw me in makeup?  Well today, with the help of Sydney, I managed to find and buy what I hope is my last purchase, black flip flops.  I have spent what feels like a small fortune on pants and tops and what I find so ironic in all this, as you can imagine, is that my work productivity and my assessments aren't going to change when I put on a pair of high-heels - yes I bought some of those as well.  Sigh!

Well, when I start the assignment in seventeen days, one of my goals is to snap a picture of my wardrobe for the day along with the daily meal because I'm not sure I'm going to get Tex-Mex over there and I'm really hoping I can get some hot tea each day.  Have I mentioned that we're not supposed to drink the tap water, not even the water in the hotel?

We finally received our list of clients yesterday, two are co-sponsored by USAID and two are State Government Agencies.  Of course everyone on the team is trying to figure out which client we'll be assigned to, but those notices wont come out till next Monday - stay tuned.  Here are the clients:

Financial Sector Development Program, Banking University of the National Bank of Ukraine
Ukrainian Women's Fund
State Agency on Science, Innovations and Information of Ukraine
Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications, National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine

Let the speculation start on which client I'll be working with, like I said, we'll find out Monday.