Goodbye, little baby tooth. Hello, hillbilly jokes.

I have several of my baby teeth left, and most of them are in fairly good shape, but one loose tooth has been hanging on in the front of my mouth since, well, since it grew in when I was just a wee little thing. Well, it *was* hanging on. As of this afternoon, it is no longer a resident of my mouth and is instead now resting in peace in a green tooth-shaped plastic container in my handbag.

I knocked the tooth loose when I was a young 'un, and it hung on for another 20 years. Twenty years, I kid you not. During my regular checkup a few weeks ago, my dentist noted the baby tooth had held on for about as long as it could, and it was time for it to go. This afternoon, she yanked it out. A co-worker offered to pull it for me, and I could have saved the cost of going to the dentist, but I prefer the kind of tooth pulling that comes with numbing the surrounding area first.

Now I have a minor gap where the tooth used to hang out. It's really not much of a gap, since the surrounding grown-up teeth had already shoved the baby tooth out of their way, and it has been leaning forward for years, as if trying to keep its options open, willing to stay if things are good but ready to jump ship if relations with neighboring teeth went sour.

Loosing the tooth wasn't too bad, but dang it if I don't feel queasy from the numbing stuff they gave me. Yuck. But that's okay. I'll just eat a whole package of chebe rolls and then I'll feel better. Right?

In other news, JLR and I had this conversation tonight.
Me: I forgot to put salt in the rice when I was making it, so I just put in rice in the rice in my bowl. I mean, I put salt in the rice. Do you want me to put rice in your --salt, SALT, do you want me to put SALT in yours?
JLR: Yes, thanks. Gosh, that was about a 9 on the ol' tension, [RR]. I mean, on the tension scale [if you're familiar with The Burbs, you'll realize she misspoke].
And then we each said something else wrong, I don't remember what, but we are doing really well tonight. Really extra special well. Oh my word, you'd think we've been drinking. It's not really funny in the re-telling, but believe you me, it's, well, actually, it's not really funny in the moment, either. It's actually quite annoying. It's funny later, though, when JLR starts wondering if our carbon monoxide detector is broken. I guess that's not really funny either. I just took half a benadryl 'cause JLR says my face is looking a little puffy, and she's thinks it's the peanut butter.

Good night, y'all!

Nice Try, But No, Thanks

I'm not giving you my cell phone number, Google. If I lose my password, you can send it to my backup email address, and if you won't do that, I'll just wash my hands of my blog. Seriously. You're not getting my mobile number, so stop asking.

Sheesh.

Incidents and Other Stuff

Work lately has been, I don't know, sort of...totally and completely out of control. It's always busy, mind you, but lately it's as though I'm behind and will never catch up. It's completely frustrating, but at least at the mandatory office holiday party (such fun! required merriment!), we'll be having sushi so that there's something I can eat, too. We're going to make the sushi ourselves, and several of the people participating have never made their own sushi before. They'll be looking to me for guidance, and since my sushi often turns out rather squishy looking and uneven, I'm afraid they'll be disappointed in my ability to lead them to new heights of sushi fantastic-ness. Should be interesting.

The other day, this happened:
1. Forgot to post the agenda for a board meeting with the required amount of notice, had to cancel the meeting, and had to tell everyone the meeting was cancelled because I forgot a very important task.
2. Locked my keys in the car. Wasn't too bad, since I'd left my windows rolled down, but it was a case of "Of course this happened, because that's how this day is going."
3. Paper cut.
4. Lots of other stuff I can't remember now, but it was more of items 1 and 2.

Blah.

Last week, we held an exploratory meeting about creating an historical society, and I think this is actually going to happen! At the meeting, I used the word "hankering," and the mayor made sure to make fun of me for saying it. In a nice way, but also making it clear he still remembered the time I'd used the word "hooligans" in a public meeting. Yikes, that reminds me, I need to get cracking on those articles of incorporation.

On Friday, I was supposed to go to a subcommittee meeting with a bunch of other planners from other cities in the area to work on programs for an event we have coming up, but my boss threw something at me at the last minute, and I had to skip the meeting, even though I'd said I'd be there. This is the second time this has happened. I'm so embarrassed, y'all. I think I might have to resign from the subcommittee. Either that, or get the courage the next time this happens to tell my boss that I can't do the last minute thing he needs me to do in the next couple of hours because I've already committed to being elsewhere. *Sigh.* I really need to do the latter, but I'm afraid it will be the former.

In more positive news, I'm doing my laundry today, so I'm finally whittling down the scary, scary pile of dirty clothes in my closet. And if all goes well, I may even vacuum. Hurray for a clean house!

Yesterday, JLR and I went to the grocery store, and one of the employees who saw us looking for a bottle of makoli said, "Ladies, we'll be having a tasting tomorrow if you want to come back." He said "ladies" in a way that sounded very much like "Hi, dear little old ladies." Good to know I'm already approaching the age when I'm considered past usefulness but worthy of politeness.

I sure wish there were something interesting going on that I could tell you about. Um... (thinking....thinking...thinking...) no. There's nothing. Oh, wait, my grandmother is still in the rehabilitation facility recovering from her hip surgery, but she is doing much, much better. And...there's nothing else. Maybe next time.

To-Do Lists, So Far This Week

Sunday’s to-do list

1. Work -- DONE
2. Go to grocery store -- DONE
3. Eat enough cayenne-dusted almonds to make my lips burn and my stomach hurt -- DONE
4. Follow item (3) with eating spicy ginger candy -- DONE
5. Work some more -- DONE
6. For dinner, eat homemade pizza with chili pepper olive oil spread on the crust, followed by pepper paste sauce with wasabi and cheese made with peppers -- DONE
7. Re-consider my food options for the day, considering I have a medical condition that calls for avoiding irritating my esophagus as much as possible --DONE
   

Monday’s to-do list

1. Work – DONE
2. Go home on lunch break to check to see if expensive, allergy-friendly candy had been delivered, put in ‘fridge -- DONE
3. Attend first historical society meeting in city where I work—DONE!

Today’s to-do list

1. Don’t get sick from flu shot--PENDING
   

What I Learned This Week

If you keep your cardigan in your purse, by the time you arrive at your meeting in the evening, it will be wrinkled and smell funny.

So I won't be doing that anymore.

Incident Report, 8.26.2011

1. Snark Control

Things have been a bit, um,…at work lately. I can’t think of the word. But basically, there have been lots of things dumped on me that are not my job. And I don’t mean that in a “that’s beneath me, therefore I will say it is not my job” way. I mean “not by job” because it’s already someone else’s job. Either it’s an existing task that already is someone else’s job, or it’s a new task that clearly falls within the purview of someone else. For example, the meeting we were invited to attend that has to do with pollution from stormwater runoff. One might think that the person to attend the meeting should be someone from the department responsible for overseeing our stormwater program, but one would be wrong, apparently. That department can’t be bothered with attending meetings. Or, you know, doing any actual work. So it falls to me. And that makes me snarky. I just sent a snarky email to three of my co-workers that probably shouldn’t have been sent until after I stepped away for a while and took some deep breaths. I'm sure there will be repurcussions.

2. Dropped my banana on the floor this morning.

3. And then knocked the dish towel to the floor.

4. Yesterday, I was very happy to have removed the stain from my one my favorite shirts and wore said newly-cleaned shirt to work. Before the day was half over, spilled something on the shirt. I’m not sure what it was.

5. May have alienated a co-worker by telling her she was being kind of selfish with the way she parks her overly-large truck.

*Sigh.*

***UPDATE*****

This afternoon, I wasn't able to go to a meeting I wanted to attend because I hadn't had a chance to put out some signs I was required to post for work. And I couldn't put out the signs earlier because, well, it just worked out that way (it's been one of those days), bother, and when my co-worker and I went out to post the sign, on a vacant lot across from the house where we posted the sign was a dead horse. Yes, that's right. A dead horse.

It's been one of those days.

A bitter butter pill

Don't make me take the pill, okay? Okay?

Wally has health problems. If you’ve read this blog before (and the fact that you’re reading it now indicates you have, since we don’t get a lot of visitors around here), you know he has a special diet and a sensitive tummy. Well, now the little guy has taken to eating plastic—plastic—and the vet thinks he may have pica. He’s part Oriental and is easily frightened, I mean, upset (in a very manly feline way, of course), and the vet thinks he’s finding comfort in eating non-food substances. To be specific, he’s been eating bubble wrap. Thank God we *finally* found his stash. Now that the bubble wrap has been thrown out and we’ve Wally-proofed the house as best we can, we have to deal with the aftermath. That is to say, we have to give Wally bitter-tasting pills, and we have to make him swallow them. I don’t know how the vet tech knows they taste bitter, but I do know that Wally drools rather badly after ingesting some of it. I say “some of it” because we’ve never succeeded in getting him to swallow a whole pill. I know, I know, good pet owners would have it figured out by now. No need to say it.



By now, we’re about a week into it, and we think we’ve figured out a system that will work. Our vet tech suggested coating the pill in butter to help it go down. That didn’t work. Instead, Wally wound up with butter all over his face, and the greasy coating made it easier for him to spit the pill out. Someone online suggested putting the medicine inside a small gelatin capsule, so we gave that a try tonight. Only, once the pill was in his mouth, we realized that it wasn’t going to go down easily, it being a dry capsule and Wally not being inclined to take a swig of water to wash it down. All that was going to happen was that the gelatin would slowly dissolve, and then the nasty pill would slowly dissolve, while we all sat there, JLR and I holding Wally's mouth closed and Wally trying to kills us with his eyes. We ought to have coated the gelatin capsule in butter, yes? So that’s the plan for tomorrow night.

*Sigh*.

And that’s about the most excitement we’ve had around here lately.

Incident Report, Today
1. Knocked over my cup of water at work, which spilled all over my floor but not, thank God, on my keyboard or on the white shirt I wore to work today.
2. Five minutes later, knocked bottle of lotion onto the floor.
3. This morning, asked potential intern if I could call him this afternoon to discuss potential internship, and then forgot to call him.
4. Spent all day today and yesterday making a map for each of the 8 parts of the city we’ll be discussing during a meeting on Thursday, then realized at about 9 o’clock tonight that I could have just made one map showing all 8 locations instead of 8 individual maps and would have saved myself about, oh, a day and a half worth of time.

But in other news, it rained on Saturday. Hurray!

Hang on, Wally, RR's having a bit of a crise right now.

--said JLR to Wally at meal time

I have a cold, y'all. I have a cold that came on at the same time I was getting over a disagreement with my digestive system, and I am not happy about it. Look out, y'all! It's making me cranky, and cranky = whiny. At least I've gotten past the part where every time I look down, stuff runs out of my nose (sure made things more interesting when trying to take notes during four hours worth of meetings on Friday). Now I'm just at the point where I've hurt my neck from the gale-force sneezing. I hurt my neck, y'all. From sneezing.

In other news, I think I'm generally healthy, over all. Went to the family doctor last month for my annual see if I'm still okay appointment and discovered I am supposedly a 1/4 inch shorter, but I'm sorry, I refuse to believe that. They already took a 1/4 inch away from me last year, I'm not giving up another one this early in the game. I'm not even 40 yet! So I'm still telling people (when asked) that I'm 5' 4 1/2". Also, my doctor gently scolded me for not coming in for follow-up blood work like I was supposed to last year and for not refilling my Vitamin D.

Doctor: Your Vitamin D level was 9.
Me: Oh, is that...What is it supposed to be?
Doctor: It should be around 40. You were at 9 (said with concern physician expression).
Me: Oh.
Doctor: Promise me you'll take your supplement and come in next month for blood work.
Me: Okay.
Doctor: Promise.

And last week, I receive a reminder from my gastroenterologist that it's time to come in for my annual check-up. JLR laughed. She laughed because my doctor no longer trusts me. Last year when I went for my check up, it was the first time I'd been in three years. The doctor, he was not thrilled. And now that he knows I won't go if someone doesn't tell me I need to go, I've been added to a mailing list. Apparently. But I feel so silly when I go in for these appointments! I don't notice symptoms, so when the doctor asks me if I've had any changes or symptoms in the past year, I have to say I don't know, I'm too oblivious to notice things like chronic reflux, so I guess you'll just have to do a scope. (insert nervous laughter) Good thing my doctor is super nice.

Last week, my supervisor left me deal with a customer who was angry with him. They have a history of not being happy with each other, and after my supervisor exchanged about 5 sentences with the guy, he just walked out. Left the building and went home. Now, to be fair to him, he was sick. He hadn't kept any food down that day. But just the same, a text message or email saying "sorry I left you to deal with the person who is angry at me" would have been nice.

In more positive news, my sweet potato plants and cannas are still alive! One of the sweet potato plants has been eaten quite a bit by bugs, but it's still alive, by golly. I'm also growing an oak tree. Most folks pull those out when they start growing amongst their plants, but I'm so happy to have another living plant, I let it stick around. The rosemary is not doing so well. I think I may need to move it? Maybe? Plant-y people seem to do that when some of their plants aren't doing well, right? 'Cause maybe it needs more shade? Or better soil?

And finally, my good friend MJ may be out of the country this summer, but that doesn't mean we can't still see each other. We've been talking once a week by Skype. The only trouble with it is that sometimes her mom will pop into the conversation to say hi, and since we video chat, I have to make sure my house is clean before talking to MJ. I can't let her mom see I'm a slob. MJ knows, but her mom doesn't need to know, too.

Social Media Paranoia

Is it odd that I never check Facebook while I'm logged into my email account because I'm afraid Facebook will hack into my email account if I'm signed in?

I would just stop using Facebook (one of these days Facebook, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart will combine forces to take over the world), seeing that I don't trust it, but it's the only way I stay in touch with some of my friends and relatives.

In other news, it's hot outside, y'all. It's really, really hot.

Incident Report, 6-6-2011: Noraebang, A Wasp, and Water

My friend MJ is moving. She went out of the country for the summer, and when she comes back, she’s moving across the country. I was fine with it at first because I didn’t really accept it. Then, the weekend before she left, we went to lunch with my family, and MJ mentioned I was taking her to the airport and we would say goodbye there. And that’s when it hit me. And I was really, really sad.

To help offset the sadness of MJ leaving, JLR and I packed in a lot of activities with her the few days before she left. One of our activities was to go back to the noraebang one more time, since we enjoy it so much. JLR and I surprised MJ with a song in Korean that we had worked really hard to learn ahead of time (okay, JLR worked hard to learn it), and MJ seemed quite touched. We found plenty of songs we all liked, we were getting great scores, which none of us thought we really deserved, and everything was going so well, it seemed as though the universe wanted to make sure we had a good time at the noraebang before MJ left.

There was just one thing wrong with the evening: the videos. Have y’all been to a noraebang in the States? And if so, may I ask what the videos are like?

If case you haven’t been to a noraebang, allow me to provide a brief description. Essentially, it’s a karaoke place. But instead of having to sing in front of strangers, you and your friends get your own room (“noraebang” translates to “song room”). You can order food and drinks, and it’s a lot of fun. Except…jim-i-neeee, the videos. While the song is playing and the words roll across the screen, they play videos, but the videos are not for the song you’re singing. And my word, are they ever depressing. In the course of a 2 or 3 hour stay at the noraebang, only one or two of the videos are not depressing. And by “depressing,” I mean they depict loss and betrayal, and many, many of them are about loved ones dying in tragic ways. I hate to admit it, but by the end of this last trip to the noraebang, it was hard not to feel really down. And not just because MJ was leaving.

Also, there was a wasp in the car with me for part of the drive home from work today. A WASP! IN THE CAR! A WASP IN THE CAR! WASP IN THE CAR! ON *MY* SIDE OF THE CAR! I hope the all caps adequately portray how upset I was.

And I spilled water on myself at work today while trying to drink from a spill-proof cup. Sadly, I couldn’t figure out how to open the spill-proof top, so I removed the top and promptly spilled on myself.

Other than that, everything is okay.

On dealing with big companies

I don't like The Phone Company. I appreciate that they provide my phone service, but apparently they don't provide any other kind of service, and in particular they don't provide good customer service. My phone line isn't working, so two weeks ago, I filled out a report on the company's website. Online seemed better for reporting a problem because I knew if I called, I would sit on hold for a long time, and the problem might still go unresolved (see link below concerning previous experience). The website popped up a message saying that the line would be reset by 7 PM the following Saturday. I knew this was not true, as the problem had to be fixed at the network interface thing inside my house, and no one from the phone company had proposed a visit. Previous experience with this same issue let me know this is not something to be fixed remotely. Sure enough, Saturday came and went, and the phone line still is not working. Sure wish I could remember to call The Phone Company. Maybe reporting it over the phone would encourage them to come out and fix it after all. Maybe. But previous experience also tells me that The Phone Company doesn't respond well to phone calls, either.

Also, I'm sending some student loan-related paper work to A Large Bank. My online login security image looks, to me, like a side of bacon. I'm not sure what they're trying to say about me. Anyway, they asked me to send a copy of my most recent W-2 and a pay stub. I scanned and emailed a pay stub but couldn't find where I'd put my W-2, so in the body of the email I said that I would send the W-2 the next day. In reply, I received an email message saying I needed to send a W-2. Yes, I know, I said to the computer. I told you that yesterday. I started to replay "Dear nitwits, attached to this message is the W-2 I told you yesterday I would send today." But I figured that might make the Large Bank mad, and they might mess with the student loans. So I sent the W-2 with no attachment.

I spilled coffee in the hallway at work today. It was a mild spill, no damage to clothing or flooring. But I did manage get something non-coffee on my pants, don't know what. And last week I knocked over my coffee cup with the phone cord. It's what I get for using a disposable cup.

Lately and Other Things

So, my grandfather passed away on Tuesday night. We found out about it last night. We tend to have delayed emotional reactions in my family, so I'm fine right now, but I know later (maybe in a few months, maybe next year), I'll be really, really sad and will grieve then. In the meantime, there is my family to deal with. We're not ones for communicating well with each other, and in fact, I'm almost surprised we already know Grandpa passed away.

I went to the grocery store last night to buy allergy-safe food for the road trip to the funeral. I'm in the process of filling up my ipod (thanks again, Deals!) so that I don't have to listen to my family members in the car. We love each other and usually get along very well, but on a road trip, we turn on each other (see this description from ImpatientChicken).

In other news, I am taking a tai chi class with JLR and our friend MJ. Last Monday, I was waiting for JLR at the entrance to the gardens where the class is held, and the instructor happened by. He made the mistake of saying hello. I started talking. Five, maybe ten minutes later, I saw his eyes make a very familiar motion. They made that surreptitious sideways glance that says "I want to be in *there* (eyes pointing in the direction of where the person wants to be), but I'm stuck out here because that person won't stop talking (eyes looking at the person--me--who won't stop talking)." And then I tried to figure out a way to turn off the verbal faucet, but I'm not good at that sort of thing. And then, praise God, one of our classmates walked up, and we had someone else to talk to (with whom to talk).

That's all for now. I'm signing off to go pack for the road trip.

I spent a lot of time last night saying, "I can't believe I'm *that* stupid."

Last night, in a moment of sheer genius, I forgot I was allergic to tomatoes. No, actually, that's not true. I forgot that barbecue sauce is made with tomatoes and that I am therefore also allergic to barbecue sauce.

Took an antihistamine, probably no real harm done on the EE side, but still! I can't believe I'm that stupid.

In other news, I love kabocha squash. Come to think of it, that's not really "news," since it isn't new information. So I will amend my statement to say, On a different topic, I love kabocha squash.

Song in My Head

JLR posted the other day about songs that get stuck in her head. It made me think of the songs that get stuck in my head on a regular basis, and then I decided to share them with you. They are: Good King Wenceslas (not just at Christmas!) and The Night They Invented Champagne. Go figure.

So, the other day, I accidentally sprayed vinegar in my hair just as I was about to leave for work. Needless to say, I was a bit late that day.

Those of you who know me know I loved Veronica Mars and Pushing Daisies and Life, and how mad I was when Life was cancelled (I think it was the last of the three to go), and I pretty much swore off network television after that. But the other day something made me think about other television shows I wish had stuck around longer, and do you know what show I miss right now? This one.

It's plain as it can be, they thought of you and me....

Ack! That song is still stuck in my head.

Mmmmmmm, mochi.

Um...can you tell I'm procrastinating? I guess I should get back to work.

Incident Report, 2.21.2011

Today's post isn't so much an incident report as it is a Fatcident Report. I ate way too much. I started off the day with homemade cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting. JLR and I made these last evening based on a recipe for cinnamon bread. We made 6 rolls and then a mini-bundt cake loaf with the rest. We each had two rolls last night and then ate the rest today, so I pretty much had half a loaf of bread (with frosting) for breakfast. And then for lunch, I was not hungry, but I still had half a cup (?) of rice, half a piece of mackerel, and a whole lot of greens. And *then* I wasn't hungry for dinner, but since I was meeting a friend for sushi, I ate dinner anyway. And then when I got home, I had some yaksik. Just because it was there. And now I sit here typing with my jeans unbuttoned because my stomach is uncomfortably full.

*Sigh.*

In other news...there is no other news. So here are some incidents from a couple of weeks back:

The weather has been rather icky lately. The past few days have been lovely (ah, mid-February, I love your 70-degree wonderfulness), but the early part of the month? Not good. On Tuesday of one particular week, weather conditions were bad enough that many cities in this metro area were closed for business, but not the one that employs me, so I had to go in to work on the icy roads that had not yet been sanded. It was scary. And I got to the office only to discover that half the building had decided to stay home from work. Folks, I cannot express to you how angry I was. All the employees in my department, which provides no emergency services whatsoever, felt pressured to come in, but the other departments were allowed to stay home? So. not. happy.

Anyhow, I tell you about the bad weather to lead up to a series of incidents, to wit:

So the next day, roads were a bit better, but I was delaying going into work because my car door locks had frozen. George (my car) sleeps outside, you see, not in a garage. And the awful cold was just too much for him. I could put the key in the lock, but it would not turn. I marched the 50 or 60 feet back to the house, got a lighter, went back out to try to warm up my key and then maybe warm up the inside of the lock. Lighter wouldn't stay lit in the wind. Went back inside to get a different lighter, trudged back outside. This lighter fared marginally better, but still wouldn't work to unlock the doors. Back inside to figure out what to do, and JLR said I could take her car to work. Go to work in her car. JLR texts me later to tell me she managed to get the back passenger side door unlocked. After work, sit in car with engine running trying to warm up the car enough to unlock the doors. While car is running, I take a seat in the back. Close the only unlocked door to keep out the cold air. Realize door handle is broken on the inside, and I have just trapped myself in my car, since the other doors won't unlock. Call JLR on my cell phone and ask her to let me out. After a few minutes, press the unlock button repeatedly and manage to get the other doors unlocked.

The next day, JLR needed her car, so I had to take George to work, but not to worry! We had left my car unlocked the night before, so opening the doors wouldn't be a problem. Closing them, on the hand, was another matter. Went out to car in the morning to go to work, opened front passenger side door to drop purse, lunch bag, etc., in passenger seat, swing passenger door to, and passenger door will not close. Repeated attempts to close door, with no good result. Try warming the car up and then closing the door. Nothing. Go inside house, eat breakfast, text co-workers with "I'm late again because of my car" message, work on report due the next day. Go back out to car, finally get passenger door to close, but not without the driver's side door first failing to close on the first attempt, just to mock me, I think.

So that's the kind of week I was having. Then one day the next week, we decided to bake some things. We baked a loaf of bread, which requires a humid environment in the oven, so we did our usual trick of putting a glass baking dish with ice and water in the oven while we pre-heat, to add moisture. After the bread was done, we turned up the heat to 500 degrees for the pizza I was going to make. The oven was supposed to be at 500 for at least 30 minutes before we start baking the crust. After a little while, JLR comes downstairs and says "What's that burning smell?" I wonder if I've accidentally left something in the oven, open the door, and there's the glass baking dish, all dried out and angry. I carefully remove the baking dish. And that's when I did something extra stupid. I thought, 'Oh, that dish is too dry, it's going to be ruined, I need to put moisture in it.' So I poured in some water. From the tap. Some cold water from the tap. Despite having learned in elementary school that adding a cold liquid to a hot glass container is a bad, bad idea. And the baking dish broke into many pieces.

And that's when JLR and I did something even more stupid. We immediately reached down and started cleaning up the hot, hot pieces. And then stood up and ran our hands under cold water and put neosporin on our minor burns.

So it's been like that lately.

I think I misspelled a word in this post somewhere. Just so you know.

This is why I don't like going new places.

The other day, I discovered that near my office is a health foods store where I could buy gluten-free food. I've been driving past this place for nigh on two years and had no idea it was there. On the way back, I made a wrong turn down the street to back to the office, figured out I was going the wrong way, looped back, decide to go to The Starbucks to get a banana, turned the wrong way again, decided, oh forget it, who needs a banana, if I get desperate, I'll just eat my peanut butter by itself.

And this is why I don't like to go new places. But at least at this point in my life, I've reached an "I'll just wing it" attitude instead of my former "I'm absolutely terrified I'll get lost and never see anyone I know again" mental state.

*

January, I'm Glad to See the Back of Ye

This January has not been my favorite month. In fact, it's about the worst few weeks in recent memory. Every week, I kept thinking it would get better, but instead every work day involved me crying on the way home because I was exhausted and couldn't see how there would be a time would I be not be exhausted. And the weekends were filled with chores and work and very little relaxation or fun. But January is over! And although February promises to be super busy as well, I'm cultivating an "I don't care what projects have to get dropped" attitude for work, and I think things will be better because of it. I'm not going to be rude or disrespectful, but things are just going to take longer to get done, and my co-workers and supervisors will have to accept it. I'm not going to work 10- or 12- or 14-hour days every work day and then a few hours on weekends, as well. I don't make enough money to pay someone to do my cooking and cleaning for me so that although I work a lot of hours, at least I don't also have to take time for chores.

In other news, I have no other news because I have no personal life. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm training to run a 5K in April. I'm excited about it.

Also, we're having a bit of warmer weather, and one of my plants is still alive.

Also, I have more food allergies now. Darn it. Or rather, I've had them for some time, but my body just recently realized it, I guess. But at least I'll feel better now that I'm avoiding those foods.

And I bought two new sports bras, so I feel all sporty and athletic. Still can't do more than one push up or run more than a mile, but at least I have the right clothing for working out.


So, the other night, my supervisor and I needed to make a site visit after an evening meeting, and he went out to warm up the city vehicle. I dashed out a minute later, and as I climbed into the vehicle, he laughed and said, "You're so cute." And I thought, 'Oh, great, not again.' You see, I recognized the tone of voice and the smile behind "You're so cute." It's not the "I would want to date you" smile or feeling. It's the same laugh or smile my dad gets when I do or say something that makes him think of me as still an 8-year-old. It's the same smile and tone of voice Hils uses when I say something, and then after a pause she says, "You're so pretty." I don't mind it, 'cause it's not as though they're suggesting I'm mentally deficient, but it is, as JLR puts it, the reason my mom suggested when I was looking for a place to live after college, that maybe the assisted living center would have a spot for me.

*Sigh.*

*

Coffee Desperation at Work Today

There I was, wandering down the hall shortly after 10 AM for my first cup of coffee of the day (first cup all day, y’all). I heard the sound of fast-moving footsteps behind me, turned, and saw my co-worker K. running down the hall in my direction.


“Why is she running?” I wondered. Then I thought, “Aw, she hasn’t seen me much today and is hurriedly coming to give me a hug while she’s on a break from her morning-long meeting.”


Then I noticed the head-down, determined look on her face...and the coffee cup clutched in her hand. And that’s when I realized she was trying to beat me to the break room to get the last cup of coffee in the pot.


Fortunately, I had a head start.

Nothing gets between me and the coffee!