State of Things

October 19, 2009 By

This afternoon I took a big step in trying to improve my work situation, or to at least clarify if being royally screwed on a daily basis is legit in the business world. Turns out getting screwed over is TOTALLY legit and that administration has to start believing that the economy is improving before my salary ever will.

Any hope of curbing my daily urge to call in sick was crushed within 30 minutes. Instead, I was handed a flyer for three free sessions of therapy to help deal with stress at work and the number of a recruiter to help me find another job. Gracias for the help…kind of.

Filed Under: Personal, Update, Work Tagged With: , ,

When being easily amused comes in handy

October 14, 2009 By

Today was a particularly rough day at work.  I hit a wall, a very big wall that I didn’t want to walk around, tip-toe past, or climb over.  I wanted to jackhammer, judo-chop, kara-TAY kick, and headbutt my way THROUGH it just to illustrate my level of frustration to those around me.  Staying an hour late didn’t do much to salvage the last little bit of sanity I had left either.  Instead of heading straight home to sleep it off, I took to the roads mid-rush hour to run some errands.  Somewhere between flipping off the guy behind me, pressing the bejesus out of my roadrunner horn (press long enough and people will get the gist of the emotion behind it), or telling fellow motorists Exactly where to shove their driving skills, I realized how much I needed to chill out. It’s more than a little bit, maybe closer to needing to chill out a lot a bit.

That thought took me back to a beautifully sunny day with a breeze just light enough to keep from sweating, one of those days when staying indoors could actually be considered a sin.  I remember rushing home only to change into my sneakers and jog to the park to relish the few hours of sunlight left.  My favorite place at the park is toward the far side of the lake near a bench on the edge of the water.  Six miles later I would reward myself by taking a 10-minute break at that bench to sit, enjoy the day, the air, the sun, and the gratitude for moments like that.  During those ten minutes the urge to share that moment with others popped inside my head.  Unfortunately, I had no camera with me, so the plan was to go back on another beautiful day and videotape it to post later on.  Still hasn’t happened, but I did recall some other moments this afternoon that made me smile. Luckily, one of those moments was already recorded.

Though it’s not the best quality, here is a clip I took while decorating for a surprise bridal shower:

It has been my go-to memory for a few days now to help unwind after work.  Silly, but effective.  Hearing my joy after running through the paper streamers makes me thankful that smiles and laughter come so easily to me.  I’m thinking about taking the leftover decorations and some clear wire to stash in my drawer at work.  Next time I’m surrounded by figurative walls, I’ll tie a line, throw some colorful paper over it, and run through that paper until my frustration dissipates to make room for glee.  It may not work for everyone, but definitely gets the job done for me.  Cheers to that.

Filed Under: Update, Work Tagged With: , , , ,

Sqeezing One Out

October 13, 2009 By

Not really sure if it’s over-stimulation, exhaustion, work or what, but writing has been at the forefront of my projects yet somehow always gets pushed back to the last minute before bed, to midnight when I’ve finished watching a show and still have to get up at 6 am, or after a late night jog for a half-marathon three months away.  I do everything else possible only to wait until the moment when I can say, ‘I’m too tired.  I’ll write tomorrow’.

Subject after subject pops up, and my list of things to write about gets longer and longer, like a “to-do” on top of the normal “write something” part of my daily “To-Do” list.  Sometimes it kind of feels like this without the children to snap me out of it.

Yesterday, I had every intention of writing (like I do most days), but fell asleep around 5:45 pm and didn’t wake up until almost midnight.  To give an idea of exactly how tired I was, I lied down to rest for what was supposed to be a little while.  Six hours later my body went into panic mode by jolting me out of sleep and into a frantic search for a timepiece, clock, watch, whatever will tell me the frickin’ time.  My mantra when this happens has always been:  What time is it, and where am I supposed to be?  The clock near the bed read “12:01″.  My first thought was, “Shhhhhhhiiiitttt!  It’s already NOON!  How did I oversleep for that long?!?!“  Since I set my clock 30 minutes ahead, I checked my phone to find the correct time.  It was actually 11:34 pm.  Whew.  Relief set in, yet I tossed and turned the rest of the night and was still 30 minutes late to work this morning.  Last week wasn’t any better.  I woke up practically every day, looked at the clock, and let expletives fly as I ran to take a shower.

Today, I’m fighting through the drowsiness and cranking a few out.  Not all of them will be posted today, but should trickle onto your screen throughout the week.

Filed Under: Update
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