The workplace edition
- Directionless meetings. Meetings in general are painful for me. Meetings where no one seems to be in charge, or where the person who IS in charge is unable to reign in the participants make me want to weep.
- People who use the word “task” as a verb. If I continue to hear this in EVERY SINGLE MEETING I attend, I will be tasked to kick someone’s ass.
- Email groups. I participate in several email list-servs (or whatever the heck they are called). Every once in a while, someone will simply hit “reply” and accidentally reply to everyone on the list rather than just the person who wrote the original email. No Biggie. Yesterday, there were emails sent out in 2 of my groups, and for whatever reason EVERYONE simply hit “reply”, so I spent the day deleting emails that said stupid stuff like “ok, got the info.” AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!
Filed under: Body
For quite some time I’ve been thinking to myself that maybe, just maybe, I need to put a little more thought and pride into my appearance. Hygenically speaking, I’m fine, but clothingwise, I’m a little rough. I dress fine for work, but outside of working hours I live in clothes that are WAY too big for me – sweatpants and sweatshirts that were roomy 50 lbs ago. And yes, I go out in public in these clothes. I go to the VIM’s house in these clothes. Jeans – too big. Sweaters – bulky. Shirts – too long. Slobby slobby slobby. 80% of the time when I’m leaving the house (except when I’m heading to work), I always think “God, I hope I don’t run into anyone I know.”
Even though I KNOW all of this, it’s hard to break habits. These are perfectly good clothes. So they’re a little big. So what?
Then my friend sent pictures from a recent get together. Yes, I DID have a big sweatshirt and sweatpants on. And dear Lord, did I look a fright. I looked like some kind of street urchin – the seams on the sweatshirt shoulders hung to my elbows, the collar was so big and crooked I was close to flashing my friends. EEK!
Then…THEN my friends, I was watching “What Not to Wear”, and one of my favorite sweaters was featured on the show…the beginning of the show where they throw away all the wrong and horrible clothes. *sob*
The scheduled hike was nixed because the trail was closed due to wind damage. Instead, the VIM and I took a nice leisurely walk, which gave me a chance to take more pictures.
How lucky for you.
Filed under: General
- The VIM was out of town yesterday, so I’ve spent most of the weekend doing nothing…a GOOD kind of nothing. I cooked Minestrone. I paid my bills. I reorganized my little website design website. I read. I updated the categories over there < —- on the left hand side. I did not, however, shower between Friday morning and this morning. Sometimes it’s good being single.
- Right now I feel like a tiny little man is using a scouring pad on the inside of my stomach. I guess it could be from the two evil S’s I had for lunch: Sauerkraut and Strawberries.
- I’m heading out to go on a short hike (distance wise) with the VIM. 2 miles is quite doable. I’m a little worried that he said I’ll be cursing him about halfway through it, though. I’m pretty sure that means there will be some climbing involved. Crap. I hate hills.
- I’m thinking that eating sauerkraut before heading out for an afternoon in the woods is probably NOT the smartest thing I’ve done this weekend.
I had some vacation time to burn up, so I decided to take yesterday and today off. No plans other than maybe some cleaning and laundry.
Because I knew I’d be off yesterday, I wasn’t too bent out of shape about working 16 hrs on Wednesday. Even the fact that the last 2 of the 16 hours were spent driving on the interstate late at night didn’t bother me because I knew I could relax on Thursday and Friday.
When I finally got home and got ready for bed on Wednesday, I decided to not set my alarm for the next morning. I suspected I might need to catch up on a little extra sleep, and I was looking forward to seeing just how late I could sleep in (10am? Scandalous!). I’m still not sure how late I could have slept in because the phone woke me up…
…at 1:15PM!!!
Holy Cats! I cannot tell you the last time I slept past noon.
The rest of the day, of course, was a waste. I finally got dressed at 5pm, did some laundry, had some dinner, then was asleep again on the couch at 8:30.
Today – the second day of my little vacation is starting out a little better. I’m up and awake at a respectable time, having some lovely coffee (still instant…still haven’t decided on a coffee pot…), making my plan for the rest of the day.
Yesterday literally feels like a dream.
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And before I go – one last spooky werewolf camping picture for Bill.
Sorry I’ve been so distant. It’s not you. It’s me. I’ve just been…well, distant. Away from my computer. Far, far away from my computer.
I’ve been spending a lot of time away from home. I’m with the VIM most evenings, and I’ve been out of town on the weekends.
This past weekend the VIM and I celebrated the impending Spring by going camping. Yes, camping in March. If that doesn’t tell you how insane dedicated we are to living on the egde, I don’t know what will. We rented a nice “primitive” cabin in a state park. Actually, primitive living isn’t bad at all – there was electric heat that was set to a permanent 55 degrees, a stove, refrig, and microwave. The only thing missing was running water. We spent the weekend hiking, napping, reading, playing (guitars and board games), and walking a quarter mile to pee.
Our streak of good weather luck for road trips held out and we had perfect weather for the weekend. Hiking in March with no coat on – amazing.
Filed under: The VIM
Last night I bent over to pick something up off the floor, and the waistband of my jeans slid down a bit, temporarily allowing my underwear to show. The VIM, of course, could not let the moment pass.
VIM: I see your underrrrrrrwearrrrrrr! I’m peeking at your pantaloooooooons! Your knickers are sticking out! Your lingerieeeeeeee is exposed! I see your panties! I see your unbelievables!
Me: ummm…I think the term is unMENTIONABLES, not unBELIEVABLES.
He ponders it a moment, then agrees. “Yeah, I guess that changes the meaning a little bit.”
Then he spent the rest of the evening interjecting things like, “I just cannot BELIEVE those are your underwear.”, and “Wow! I never would have guessed that your panties looked like THAT!” into conversation as often as he could.
Filed under: General
I always get a little antsy when the seasons change. It’s still definitely winter, but there is no doubt spring isn’t far away. The buds on the lilac tree give it away.
I like spring. I like the promise, the color, the scent, the quality of the air. And I LOVE squishy ground…when the ground finally thaws out, and everything smells like soil and earthworms. I’m a garden kind of gal, and it won’t be long before I’m outside, obsessively looking for the first tulip shoot.
But I like winter, too. I like the crispness of the air, the weight of my blankets, I like turtlenecks and giant wool sweaters. I’ll even admit that some nights I don’t mind the early sunset – there are days when the best part of the day is the feeling of retiring early and hibernating, safe and sound under the blankets knowing that the snow is falling and blowing outside.
Spring is on the way, and I’m excited. I’m turning toward it, and waiting for it to energize me. But as I’m waiting, I’m holding on to winter with my giant wooly gloves as long as I can.
