If you think I am going to tell you about my sexual exploits because of the title of the post, you are just a pervert. Go wash your brain.
More likely, if you are a friend of mine, you thought of Friskies cat food. #catladyconfessions!
But for reals, yo. Jenn @ Something Clever 2.0 tagged me in a blog "ass grab" wherein I am supposed to tell you 5 of my wishes and then tag 5 additional bloggers. For the sake of some of the people I want to pass this along to, we can call it a "hiney handful" a "butt grab" or just "tag, you're it".
So what are 5 things I wish for? Hmmmmm.....
1. World Peace. Just kidding. I'm not Sandra Bullock. But it's kind of wrong to take back wanting world peace because that would be a good thing, right? And I saw Red Dawn and that actually happening would be really scary so I would like to avoid that. But I guess I would be more sincere if I narrowed the scope a little bit and said family peace.
I mean that on a couple of levels, to be honest. The one I talk about more is that I work with families who have experienced domestic violence. And it's really yucky. It is at the root of so many bigger societal ills. So I wish I could stop it. But even if I can't get that far, I wish people would be more willing to be non-judgmental about it so it could be less taboo and shameful for victims.
But I also wish this for myself, within my own family of origin. I wish I could erase the bad experiences, hear the sincere apologies from the right people and have holidays be drama free.
2. I wish people got paid what they were really worth. America has it's priorities all messed up. That is one of the things I have loved the most about the places I have traveled; I have seen that we could do some things differently and it could be better. We don't get enough vacation time. We don't get enough family time like maternity leaves and such. And we pay people who work on computers a ton more than we pay people who work with people. That's not right.
I would extend this to say that if this happened, I might be able to stay home some day. Not only would I like the opportunity to stay home with my someday family, which will likely not happen due to finances, but I would also like to stay home now, pre-kids. I'd like to not have to work two jobs. In fact, I would much prefer to be able to stay in comfortable clothes with my hair up, not think about what I will eat for lunch at breakfast time, and not grocery shop as the store is closing. Reading my new Kindle and watching shows on my DVR would just be frosting on the cake. I can dream, right? These are wishes. As in a genie could grant them. So I can ask for whatever I want!
3. I wish that it didn't cost so much for vet bills. I know that animal insurance exists but I don't know enough about it to say if it's worth it or not. I just know that having a sick animal is the pits. (I'm totally bringing that phrase back, by the way). And it's crazy that sometimes people have to choose between paying a ton of money to find out what is wrong with their animal and putting a pet down.
4. I wish that all jobs had summer vacation like schools. And the week between Christmas and New Year's Day off.
5. I wish vegetables tasted as appetizing as fudge and that things that are not healthy for you tasted appalling.
So with that, I will pass this game along to 5 bloggers who I enjoy catching up on.
http://imeanreallyhappy.blogspot.com/
http://big-lass.blogspot.com/
http://www.thedollsweetjournal.com/
http://acshepfam.blogspot.com/
http://toddbishopfamily.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Monday, October 15, 2012
This really happened. Otherwise known as "People are Odd Ducks"
So some of you might remember from a recent post that I am currently wearing a wrist brace. It's just for tendonitis and I'm really making out on the whole deal because every time I go in for my "certified hand therapy" I get a paraffin treatment to relax my muscles. Having never broken a bone, I had no idea how much attention braces/splints/casts get you.
In addition to my "real" job, I work a second job (the same one I worked when I was 16, thank you very much) and am a cashier/phone girl. Yes, he really calls the title Phone Girl and no, a man can't do it. I'm only there 1 or 2 nights a week, depending on the week and it's actually kind of relaxing because no one ever cries or puts their life in my hands; they just want their chicken parm. The other night I was ringing a guy up and when I handed him his change he asked about my wrist injury. It went a little something like this:
HIM: "So did you hurt your wrist cheerleading? Doing a handspring or something?"
ME: (a little caught off guard by the weirdness of this) "Ah, no".
HIM: "So did you hurt it playing softball?"
ME: (really perplexed by my options and what they imply) "Nope, not sure how I hurt it."
He eventually faded away and began to chew his food, leaving me stumped behind the register.
Is looking like a cheerleader a good thing? Is this a shout out to my youthful visage? Or should I feel bad that I am an adult doing a job that a high schooler could (and my high school version once did) do? And why is playing softball the default if I didn't get hurt at cheer practice? Is he questioning my sexual orientation? Is this his version of flirting? He was totally serious, by the way. It certainly didn't seem like flirting or joking or anything other than sincere guesses, even though they were the two most random guesses anyone so far has come up with.
In addition to my "real" job, I work a second job (the same one I worked when I was 16, thank you very much) and am a cashier/phone girl. Yes, he really calls the title Phone Girl and no, a man can't do it. I'm only there 1 or 2 nights a week, depending on the week and it's actually kind of relaxing because no one ever cries or puts their life in my hands; they just want their chicken parm. The other night I was ringing a guy up and when I handed him his change he asked about my wrist injury. It went a little something like this:
HIM: "So did you hurt your wrist cheerleading? Doing a handspring or something?"
ME: (a little caught off guard by the weirdness of this) "Ah, no".
HIM: "So did you hurt it playing softball?"
ME: (really perplexed by my options and what they imply) "Nope, not sure how I hurt it."
He eventually faded away and began to chew his food, leaving me stumped behind the register.
Is looking like a cheerleader a good thing? Is this a shout out to my youthful visage? Or should I feel bad that I am an adult doing a job that a high schooler could (and my high school version once did) do? And why is playing softball the default if I didn't get hurt at cheer practice? Is he questioning my sexual orientation? Is this his version of flirting? He was totally serious, by the way. It certainly didn't seem like flirting or joking or anything other than sincere guesses, even though they were the two most random guesses anyone so far has come up with.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Theme Thursday: My Dream Job
This week for Theme Thursday I had to think about what my dream job would be. Oddly enough, this isn't a topic I have given much thought to as I have been at my real life job for 7 years now. It's good work and though it's exhausting, I enjoy it. There's also a big part of me who wants to bounce this back to the stay at home moms (and a dad) who are blogging about this topic alongside me and tell them that their jobs are awesome because they don't have to wear bras if they don't want to and they don't have to pencil in trips to Target. Also, I assume they love their kids so that helps.
So when I started brainstorming my dream job, I really entered a land of fantasy in which prior training and experience are not at all considerations. You are judged solely on enthusiasm in the job interview, in which case I would ace my way into all of them.
First pick: Reality TV show casting director.
No humility here. I would be AMAZING at this. Having watched ever y episode of Flavor of Love, I love New York, Rock of Love, I love Money (need I go on....) and email critiqued them all afterwards with my bestie, I know who makes good tv. My psych experience will only help to inform the best combinations of people to create volatile and entertaining interactions. Not a dating competition show? No problem. I am also loyal to Survivor and catch The Amazing Race from time to time. I know how to tone it down if we are on a non-cable network, don't worry. And if the casting is already complete when I show up for my interview, I could always step in as an editor. I could help to omit just the right portion of the conversations to make the bad guy look worse and the good guy look better. And I would never miss a shot that would be totally humiliating to the average person, upping the shows odds of being featured on Tosh.O.
I would be VERY proud of this work.
Second Pick: If the world of reality tv crashes like the written word jobs of the characters in Gone Girl that lead them to their eventual demise (if you haven't read this book yet, run out and get it. You can refresh this page upon your return and keep reading), my backup plan will already be in place. Admittedly, it will have to be put on hold until my treatment for serious depression in response to said crash is completed. Assuming travel information shows don't count as reality tv, I want to replace Samantha Brown. She has the life! She gets to visit fun places, continent at a time, picking through the major cities. She sums each city up in a half hour segment including descriptions of the swank hotel she stayed at, the delicious food she ate, and the unique cultural experience she had. I can do that! In fact, I could one up Samantha. She is a little weak sauce for my taste most trips so I would throw in some scandalous interaction with a local like the time I went on a drug deal in Central America inadvertently or the time I decided it would be a good idea to have a Rastafarian pen pal or the time I crashed a prom and another time, a stag party. Does Samantha do that? Nope, that's the flavor I bring. If, somehow, travel shows are deemed part of the reality tv crash, I will be a travel blogger. I will write some brilliant post and hit it big instantly, with companies just throwing money and offers at me to promote them. The bottom line is that I am going to be traveling and making money doing it.
(YouTube was on strike from me or I would have a nice, mundane clip of Samantha in her hotel room in Rome right here)
If all else fails: I am applying at Barnes and Noble and Bed, Bath and Beyond. On my hardest days, I have an image of myself folding towels in the corner of a linens department. And I like to read a lot and give my opinions so I could be put to use in the young adult section of the bookstore, reviewing trilogies and series with Armageddon scenarios and pictures of girls in ruffly dresses to the young minds of America.
So I guess the moral of the story is that I should never have invested in graduate school since all of my favorite things include watching tv, going where I want, reading and relaxing, and hopefully only putting on a bra or mascara when I feel like it.
If you want to read what some other bloggers have to say about their dream jobs check out the following:
Something Clever 2.0http://www.somethingclever2point0.com/
So when I started brainstorming my dream job, I really entered a land of fantasy in which prior training and experience are not at all considerations. You are judged solely on enthusiasm in the job interview, in which case I would ace my way into all of them.
First pick: Reality TV show casting director.
No humility here. I would be AMAZING at this. Having watched ever y episode of Flavor of Love, I love New York, Rock of Love, I love Money (need I go on....) and email critiqued them all afterwards with my bestie, I know who makes good tv. My psych experience will only help to inform the best combinations of people to create volatile and entertaining interactions. Not a dating competition show? No problem. I am also loyal to Survivor and catch The Amazing Race from time to time. I know how to tone it down if we are on a non-cable network, don't worry. And if the casting is already complete when I show up for my interview, I could always step in as an editor. I could help to omit just the right portion of the conversations to make the bad guy look worse and the good guy look better. And I would never miss a shot that would be totally humiliating to the average person, upping the shows odds of being featured on Tosh.O.
I would be VERY proud of this work.
Second Pick: If the world of reality tv crashes like the written word jobs of the characters in Gone Girl that lead them to their eventual demise (if you haven't read this book yet, run out and get it. You can refresh this page upon your return and keep reading), my backup plan will already be in place. Admittedly, it will have to be put on hold until my treatment for serious depression in response to said crash is completed. Assuming travel information shows don't count as reality tv, I want to replace Samantha Brown. She has the life! She gets to visit fun places, continent at a time, picking through the major cities. She sums each city up in a half hour segment including descriptions of the swank hotel she stayed at, the delicious food she ate, and the unique cultural experience she had. I can do that! In fact, I could one up Samantha. She is a little weak sauce for my taste most trips so I would throw in some scandalous interaction with a local like the time I went on a drug deal in Central America inadvertently or the time I decided it would be a good idea to have a Rastafarian pen pal or the time I crashed a prom and another time, a stag party. Does Samantha do that? Nope, that's the flavor I bring. If, somehow, travel shows are deemed part of the reality tv crash, I will be a travel blogger. I will write some brilliant post and hit it big instantly, with companies just throwing money and offers at me to promote them. The bottom line is that I am going to be traveling and making money doing it.
(YouTube was on strike from me or I would have a nice, mundane clip of Samantha in her hotel room in Rome right here)
If all else fails: I am applying at Barnes and Noble and Bed, Bath and Beyond. On my hardest days, I have an image of myself folding towels in the corner of a linens department. And I like to read a lot and give my opinions so I could be put to use in the young adult section of the bookstore, reviewing trilogies and series with Armageddon scenarios and pictures of girls in ruffly dresses to the young minds of America.
So I guess the moral of the story is that I should never have invested in graduate school since all of my favorite things include watching tv, going where I want, reading and relaxing, and hopefully only putting on a bra or mascara when I feel like it.
If you want to read what some other bloggers have to say about their dream jobs check out the following:
Something Clever 2.0http://www.somethingclever2point0.com/
Cloudy With a Chance of Winehttp://cloudywithachanceofwine.com/
I like beer and babies.http://www.ilikebeerandbabies.com/
Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom http://modmombeyondindiedom.blogspot.com/
Mommy Rotten
http://blog.mommyrotten.com/
The Next Step http://lorihokie.blogspot.com/
A calibama state of mind http://calibamamom.wordpress.com/
Shit I Don't Tell Most Peoplehttp://shitidonttell.blogspot.com/
Mom With Her Running Shoes On http://momwithherrunningshoeson.blogspot.com/
Who Woulda Thought? http://whowouldathought-kevin.blogspot.com
The Insomniac's Dream http://hypnoticbard.blogspot.com/
Friday, October 5, 2012
A Goodbye to Baked Goods
I'm publicly declaring that I am going on strike from baked goods for a week. I started yesterday and it was just for the day but when I realized how hard it felt, I recognized the need to extend my strike.
I have frequently bragged that I don't love pastries (chocolate croissants to indulge my Francophile moods aside) because I grew up in a house with a constant supply of them. That's why I am one of those people who believes that banning kids from eating certain foods is not the way to go. Don't "they" get that the more you withhold something the more it is desired? Why does that logic somehow not apply to children? Based on my previous bragging, I was really shocked to assess my intake of baked goods Sunday through Tuesday. It could be argued that pastries and baked goods are not specifically one and the same but they are, at the very least, very close cousins who like to have sleepovers and make fun of their grandparents together. So when I realized I had eaten multiple apple cider donuts, a cupcake, banana bread, a muffin and a bagel within such a short span of time, some major alarms started sounding in my head.
Now I can blame it on lots of things, sure. Excuse #1: I went to a big fair on Sunday and part of the tradition is to buy apple cider donuts; they are delicious and a native food in the land of New England apple picking. Excuse #2: I haven't grocery shopped in a week and half so I have to eat whatever food is made available to me at work. The first Monday of each month is staff breakfast at work and we are gifted with both free bagels and a free hour of work time to sit, socialize and eat. That happened this week and even though I was at a doctor's appointment, I don't look a free bagel gift horse in the mouth so I asked my friend to hide one for me for when I came in later. That's called planning ahead, folks. Excuse #3: As I wrote about here, Tuesdays can be nuts at work, often referred to as Trauma Tuesdays, so when some treats were there to soothe my raw emotions, it just made sense.
Work can be the worst/best as there are always baked goods. When I went to the kitchen recently there were three bags of cookies-chocolate chip, peanut butter chip, and brownie cookies. Next to those there was a bag of mystery flavored white cookies that appeared to be home made. A little ways down in another plastic bag were some brownies. And all the leftover bagels are in the freezer, calling my name since I didn't have time to pack food for my 12 hour work day today and wouldn't have had much to draw from anyway since I haven't shopped.
So even though there are still some cider donuts in a bag in my office, I am sadly going to watch them age without enjoying them. It feels sad to even write that. But I need to prove to myself that baked goods don't control me. What can't you resist??
I have frequently bragged that I don't love pastries (chocolate croissants to indulge my Francophile moods aside) because I grew up in a house with a constant supply of them. That's why I am one of those people who believes that banning kids from eating certain foods is not the way to go. Don't "they" get that the more you withhold something the more it is desired? Why does that logic somehow not apply to children? Based on my previous bragging, I was really shocked to assess my intake of baked goods Sunday through Tuesday. It could be argued that pastries and baked goods are not specifically one and the same but they are, at the very least, very close cousins who like to have sleepovers and make fun of their grandparents together. So when I realized I had eaten multiple apple cider donuts, a cupcake, banana bread, a muffin and a bagel within such a short span of time, some major alarms started sounding in my head.
Now I can blame it on lots of things, sure. Excuse #1: I went to a big fair on Sunday and part of the tradition is to buy apple cider donuts; they are delicious and a native food in the land of New England apple picking. Excuse #2: I haven't grocery shopped in a week and half so I have to eat whatever food is made available to me at work. The first Monday of each month is staff breakfast at work and we are gifted with both free bagels and a free hour of work time to sit, socialize and eat. That happened this week and even though I was at a doctor's appointment, I don't look a free bagel gift horse in the mouth so I asked my friend to hide one for me for when I came in later. That's called planning ahead, folks. Excuse #3: As I wrote about here, Tuesdays can be nuts at work, often referred to as Trauma Tuesdays, so when some treats were there to soothe my raw emotions, it just made sense.
Work can be the worst/best as there are always baked goods. When I went to the kitchen recently there were three bags of cookies-chocolate chip, peanut butter chip, and brownie cookies. Next to those there was a bag of mystery flavored white cookies that appeared to be home made. A little ways down in another plastic bag were some brownies. And all the leftover bagels are in the freezer, calling my name since I didn't have time to pack food for my 12 hour work day today and wouldn't have had much to draw from anyway since I haven't shopped.
So even though there are still some cider donuts in a bag in my office, I am sadly going to watch them age without enjoying them. It feels sad to even write that. But I need to prove to myself that baked goods don't control me. What can't you resist??
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Theme Thursday: Playground Etiquette
Hooray for the first weekly edition of Theme Thursdays, in which I will be blogging about a selected topic as part of a larger blogging group. My good friend Jenn came up with this fun experiment that will consist of a number of bloggers writing about the same topic, each offering our personal take on it. It was going to be Topic Tuesday but we negotiated into Themed Thursdays so feel free to take all of your earlier excitement for Tuesdays and schedule it to resurface on Thursdays, thanks. Links are at the bottom of this post so you can keep on reading and hear many different voices about one concept. Hello sociology!
I think all of the other bloggers in the group at the moment are mothers. I'm not sure how many are stay at home moms but I know that all of them know their way around a playground. Our first topic, therefore, was selected as playgrounds or playground etiquette.
I would like to think I can offer a unique perspective on some parenting issues as someone who is not yet a parent but had a couple parents, works with parents and knows a lot of them. To be honest, though, writing about playgrounds and playground etiquette kind of had me stumped. Let me review my experience with playgrounds up to this point:
- As a kid I played on them. It was always a big treat when my mom would stop at one of those wooden playgrounds (they must have been new and exciting in the 80s). Of note, my mom was a bit of a self proclaimed gypsy and really enjoyed road tripping for the day. We once drove to Canada just to say we did and often went to New Hampshire or Rhode Island-from Massachusetts-for lunch. So I have vivid memories of driving to Cape Cod for the day and my reward for tolerating hours in the car was to stop at a wooden playground in Wareham.
- I also had my first kiss at a playground. It was right by my parent's house and it was a glorious summer day. I still feel like that park and I share a secret camaraderie when I drive by the section where it took place.
- As a young adult, playgrounds were places to go after all the kiddos went to bed. I am sure I don't have to elaborate on the kinds of activities that were on the table at that stage. And who am I kidding? I am still kind of in this stage.
- By day, currently, my office overlooks a playground. It's a little chilly but there are 4 adults, 4 kids and a dog out there at the moment I am writing this. My voyeurism is my greatest connection to playgrounds at this point and I think this is where I might have something to add to the conversation....
- Puppies being tossed down slides. Yes, that happened one day for an extended period of time. The kids were having a blast, they actually did have parental supervision and the little dog was at their mercy. I don't know if the dog was as up in arms (paws?) as I was but I went around the office trying to get back up to go out and have a confrontation.
- Men without kids. It's just creepy. Especially when they are shirtless. Exception: if they are playing basketball. Worst scenario: they are sitting on a bench just leering. I do always kind of enjoy the gender switch on Friday afternoons, though, when a lot of dads take their kids to the playground. In my mind, I know all of their stories. They are all on their weekend visitation with kids they don't see all week long and they don't really know what else to do with them.
- The metal detector guy. This guy is not necessarily a creep but is definitely odd. What amazing treasure do you expect to find under a plastic swingset? Pokeman cards? (are those even a things, still? ). If a parent lost something like a ring, it's just wood chips-it could be easily relocated and not left behind for a metal detector. And I'm not looking out the window onto an amazingly wealthy neighborhood so I think if I were in search of goodies, I would find a different park.
- Kids assaulting one another. This is the most common sight and I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I would miss it if it stopped. Before you judge that comment, let me preface that these are not teens brutally beating one another but rather preschool aged kids, usually, pushing each other. It's really interesting to see how it all shakes out. Most often, they have some kind of showdown and moments later run away with each other as if it's already resolved. No intervention. No long talks. Just simple instincts. How great would it be if you could be irritated by someone, act accordingly and then all is well between the two of you? My dream come true. Instead, we have to learn all these feelings words and how to delicately communicate (says the person with a license to practice therapy).
- Children who appear to be lifeless. I know this is a weird one but the park I get to gaze out at has this plastic suspension type bridge. On more than one occasion, I have seen children laying on this, seemingly injured. I stare at them the way you check if someone is still breathing, waiting for a sign of movement or life. Sometimes, I am amazed how long this kids can play possum. Or this playing opossum like the car insurance commercial that I love? Either way, they all eventually move before I feel the need to call in first responders; it must just be a really relaxing spot.
- So that's all the insight I can muster into playground etiquette since I haven't used a playground for something that I couldn't potentially be arrested for being caught doing in about 20 years. Want to hear some more first hand accounts? Check out the amazing ladies below and make sure to check back next Thursday for the next theme!
Mod Mom Beyond IndieDom
A Calibama State of Mind
The Next Step
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Any Given Tuesday
As I have muddled through the first half of my Tuesday, a couple of noteworthy things have already happened. In addition to that, my Tuesdays are generally the most full in terms of the number of different environments I need to be in. My favorite email buddy knows that I am less available on Tuesdays and she frequently writes it off to me being in court with survivors so I thought it might be fun to walk through my day thus far to give a snapshot of any given Tuesday in my life. For this purpose, today I would define it as a day in the life of a cat owner/commuter/advocate/clinician.
Ok, so it starts out with my sick kitty. My older cat, who I love like I gave birth to her, was diagnosed with kidney failure last week. It was pretty tragic for me but I am doing all that I can to keep her life as normal and natural as possible and to ensure that she has good quality of life for as long as she can. One of the things this involves is a diet switch but food is no joking matter in our house. We have a 2 year old cat that is a heifer. And then this older one is like 5 lbs. So it's actually a really strategic process to split the food in half, mash it up, and put it on two sides of a plate and make sure each cat gets his or her designated side. The little one will only eat if she is on the left. Odd but true.
Then I get in my car to begin my commute that usually takes about 45 minutes but it's about 15 miles so that number can vary widely depending on the time of day, the road I take, etc. I prefer back roads over the highway, usually. And back roads are especially scenic in New England at this time of year. So I was on a lovely road near a body of water and had just passed an elementary school when I saw a mother and three small children kneeling by the curb on my left. In front of them was an animal in the road the size of a medium dog with brown fur. At first my heart wrenched as I feared a family pet had just been injured. I worried about the trauma these children would remember for the rest of their lives. I drove a few more feet and realized it wasn't a dog but a giant beaver. Giant. And there was blood splatter abounding like it was a CSI episode. While it was still sad and certainly interesting, I became a little alarmed now that the mother was showing this off to her little ones. Being near the school and just after 9 am, I'm pretty sure they were running late for classes so they could get this life lesson. This wasn't just pointing it out; it was getting down to street level within a foot of a very bloody dead animal and these were really little kids. Again, I worried about the traumatic impact. I certainly would expect nightmares at that house tonight.
I'm making pretty good time and feeling pretty good about that because last Tuesday this same commute made me a little late for my work day because the road was under construction in about 46 places. I actually saw a woman I used to babysit for out on her morning run and was kind of racing her as I had to keep stopping at lights. As she passed me for the fourth time, something shifted in the traffic pattern. I was stopped and probably five solid minutes passed before I realized it wasn't just stop and go, slow and inching. It was put your car in park and do your makeup stopped. First a cop car came by. Then a fire truck. Then 2 more cop cars. Then an undercover cop car. Cars behind me started turning around but I was stuck between a Peter Pan bus and a tractor trailer. I got out of my car to see what was happening and I could see that it was right in front of me but the action shot was being blocked by the bus. I could see a photographer and some construction equipment in the middle of the road. Fifteen minutes had passed. Curious but impatient, I did a multi-point turn to unwedge myself and turned down a road I had never been on but somehow it delivered me to a main route and I was on my way again!
Twenty minutes late for a group I had all the supplies for that I was co-leading with my boss, I arrived at a residential facility for mothers in early substance abuse recovery. We had a discussion about a topic related to domestic violence, substance use and transactional sex and then moved on to craft time. We used Mod Podge to collage hat boxes as a means of "defining your own reality" and a good time was had by all.
After an hour, I left to head to the local trauma clinic where, each week, I sit on a team that talks about families they are working with who are experiencing domestic violence. Often, they are also families I am working with so we pow wow about how we can collaborate. I know it sounds wacky but it's actually really fun. It's nice to be in it with other like-minded people. I grabbed some baked goods off of the table before heading into my office for the first time today. Filled up from the goodies, I could take less time eating my actual lunch and could sneak in a quick blog post. Voila!
And that was only by 1 pm....I still have a few more hours to go and then head to my part time job tonight!
Ok, so it starts out with my sick kitty. My older cat, who I love like I gave birth to her, was diagnosed with kidney failure last week. It was pretty tragic for me but I am doing all that I can to keep her life as normal and natural as possible and to ensure that she has good quality of life for as long as she can. One of the things this involves is a diet switch but food is no joking matter in our house. We have a 2 year old cat that is a heifer. And then this older one is like 5 lbs. So it's actually a really strategic process to split the food in half, mash it up, and put it on two sides of a plate and make sure each cat gets his or her designated side. The little one will only eat if she is on the left. Odd but true.
Then I get in my car to begin my commute that usually takes about 45 minutes but it's about 15 miles so that number can vary widely depending on the time of day, the road I take, etc. I prefer back roads over the highway, usually. And back roads are especially scenic in New England at this time of year. So I was on a lovely road near a body of water and had just passed an elementary school when I saw a mother and three small children kneeling by the curb on my left. In front of them was an animal in the road the size of a medium dog with brown fur. At first my heart wrenched as I feared a family pet had just been injured. I worried about the trauma these children would remember for the rest of their lives. I drove a few more feet and realized it wasn't a dog but a giant beaver. Giant. And there was blood splatter abounding like it was a CSI episode. While it was still sad and certainly interesting, I became a little alarmed now that the mother was showing this off to her little ones. Being near the school and just after 9 am, I'm pretty sure they were running late for classes so they could get this life lesson. This wasn't just pointing it out; it was getting down to street level within a foot of a very bloody dead animal and these were really little kids. Again, I worried about the traumatic impact. I certainly would expect nightmares at that house tonight.
I'm making pretty good time and feeling pretty good about that because last Tuesday this same commute made me a little late for my work day because the road was under construction in about 46 places. I actually saw a woman I used to babysit for out on her morning run and was kind of racing her as I had to keep stopping at lights. As she passed me for the fourth time, something shifted in the traffic pattern. I was stopped and probably five solid minutes passed before I realized it wasn't just stop and go, slow and inching. It was put your car in park and do your makeup stopped. First a cop car came by. Then a fire truck. Then 2 more cop cars. Then an undercover cop car. Cars behind me started turning around but I was stuck between a Peter Pan bus and a tractor trailer. I got out of my car to see what was happening and I could see that it was right in front of me but the action shot was being blocked by the bus. I could see a photographer and some construction equipment in the middle of the road. Fifteen minutes had passed. Curious but impatient, I did a multi-point turn to unwedge myself and turned down a road I had never been on but somehow it delivered me to a main route and I was on my way again!
Twenty minutes late for a group I had all the supplies for that I was co-leading with my boss, I arrived at a residential facility for mothers in early substance abuse recovery. We had a discussion about a topic related to domestic violence, substance use and transactional sex and then moved on to craft time. We used Mod Podge to collage hat boxes as a means of "defining your own reality" and a good time was had by all.
After an hour, I left to head to the local trauma clinic where, each week, I sit on a team that talks about families they are working with who are experiencing domestic violence. Often, they are also families I am working with so we pow wow about how we can collaborate. I know it sounds wacky but it's actually really fun. It's nice to be in it with other like-minded people. I grabbed some baked goods off of the table before heading into my office for the first time today. Filled up from the goodies, I could take less time eating my actual lunch and could sneak in a quick blog post. Voila!
And that was only by 1 pm....I still have a few more hours to go and then head to my part time job tonight!
Monday, September 10, 2012
Blog Censorship
In my last post I mentioned feeling censored on my blog and I felt compelled to elaborate. Of course Blogger is not red flagging any of what I could or do put out there and the internet is a cesspool of raunchy ideas. So I guess it would be more appropriate for me to correct myself by clarifying that I censor MYSELF. Why?
1. I like having friends.
If I wrote candidly about my thoughts/reactions/judgments in a given day they obviously would have to come from people with whom I interact. That may be you. And if I publicly maligned your most recent Facebook status, you might not like it. Now what I say "you", know that I probably don't actually mean YOU. But I could. Get my drift? Every YOU out there in Youville would assume I was insulting them when, really, I have a select group of people I like to make fun of. But even that kind of makes me a bad person.
Recently, my BFF came up with the genius idea of video blogging her response to people's Facebook posts while she read through them. We were on vacation together and she had internet access while I didn't so to amuse me one night she started reading what people wrote, some of whom I knew and others I didn't but all were lame. We made a sport of mocking them and, honestly, it was FUN. Again, I know that kind of makes me a bad person but we all have personal interests. Of course we didn't actually record these sessions, which became a nightly routine. If we did, all the fun material would be yanked away because those people would revoke our "friend" access. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
2. I have a job.
I actually don't just have A job. I have a nice person's job. I am nice to people that other people are mean to and I like it. But I use up all my niceness at work. And if I started letting it all out, I would not only lose the faith of the people I am nice to, I might lose the faith of the people who assume I am nice enough that I deserve to have my paycheck issued a couple times a month.
Also, who doesn't complain about work? (Other than my mother who, it seems, can't make it through a conversation/grocery store/fast food drive through without telling someone how much she loves her job. I actually think it's great that she is so happy even if I sometimes think she doesn't have to share that detail.) Because I do work that is sensitive in nature and confidential, it would be frowned upon -using the lightest phrase possible here- to complain about work. I have to admit, I have some amazing stories from my work experiences and, sad for you, I am usually legally bound to keep them to myself. This also the reason I sometimes feel like I can't get more personal here-you never know what bad guy is lurking around. Isn't that a horrible thought? But it's a reality in my line of work.
3. I go to church.
Well, at least 50% of the time it's offered I try to go. Judging, swearing, and overall offending is not strongly encouraged. I don't think it would be smiled upon for me to be candid all the time knowing that I have an amazing talent for offending people without even knowing it.
I really love anonymous blogs that poke fun at certain groups or topics. But how do you get people to read your blog if you don't tell them it's your blog?? So here I am, keeping my work stories to myself, not video blogging about the wildly inappropriate pictures you posted on Facebook and with invitations to visit with friends. And here is where I hope to stay.
1. I like having friends.
If I wrote candidly about my thoughts/reactions/judgments in a given day they obviously would have to come from people with whom I interact. That may be you. And if I publicly maligned your most recent Facebook status, you might not like it. Now what I say "you", know that I probably don't actually mean YOU. But I could. Get my drift? Every YOU out there in Youville would assume I was insulting them when, really, I have a select group of people I like to make fun of. But even that kind of makes me a bad person.
Recently, my BFF came up with the genius idea of video blogging her response to people's Facebook posts while she read through them. We were on vacation together and she had internet access while I didn't so to amuse me one night she started reading what people wrote, some of whom I knew and others I didn't but all were lame. We made a sport of mocking them and, honestly, it was FUN. Again, I know that kind of makes me a bad person but we all have personal interests. Of course we didn't actually record these sessions, which became a nightly routine. If we did, all the fun material would be yanked away because those people would revoke our "friend" access. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.
2. I have a job.
I actually don't just have A job. I have a nice person's job. I am nice to people that other people are mean to and I like it. But I use up all my niceness at work. And if I started letting it all out, I would not only lose the faith of the people I am nice to, I might lose the faith of the people who assume I am nice enough that I deserve to have my paycheck issued a couple times a month.
Also, who doesn't complain about work? (Other than my mother who, it seems, can't make it through a conversation/grocery store/fast food drive through without telling someone how much she loves her job. I actually think it's great that she is so happy even if I sometimes think she doesn't have to share that detail.) Because I do work that is sensitive in nature and confidential, it would be frowned upon -using the lightest phrase possible here- to complain about work. I have to admit, I have some amazing stories from my work experiences and, sad for you, I am usually legally bound to keep them to myself. This also the reason I sometimes feel like I can't get more personal here-you never know what bad guy is lurking around. Isn't that a horrible thought? But it's a reality in my line of work.
3. I go to church.
Well, at least 50% of the time it's offered I try to go. Judging, swearing, and overall offending is not strongly encouraged. I don't think it would be smiled upon for me to be candid all the time knowing that I have an amazing talent for offending people without even knowing it.
I really love anonymous blogs that poke fun at certain groups or topics. But how do you get people to read your blog if you don't tell them it's your blog?? So here I am, keeping my work stories to myself, not video blogging about the wildly inappropriate pictures you posted on Facebook and with invitations to visit with friends. And here is where I hope to stay.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Karma is Real
I don't believe in Deja Vu or any of that other funny business. And, generally, I believe the concept of karma to be true but have not believed in it's actuality. Until this morning's commute.
Each morning I am in my car for a minimum of 45 minutes. That's a lot of time to find new songs I like, think about the chores I need to find someone to do and get mad at other drivers. This morning I had one really nice thought. Like so nice I had to touch my heart and get misty. But then I had a lot of not so nice thoughts. And at least one that was so naughty I had to talk it out of my head.
Shortly after the really not so nice thought I got caught behind a student driver. How's that for karma? And it was seriously like the student drivers lack of skill was commensurate with the degree of my bad thought. This was the worst student driver I have ever been within a 4 mile radius of. At one point we rounded a bend that had one of those speed marker things and it clocked the student driver (and, thus, me stuck behind him/her) at 11 mph. I'm pretty sure I could push my car faster than that. My leg was cramping from hovering over the break because cars do not want to go 11 mph.
After being stuck behind the student driver from Hell for the longest 3 miles of my life, I was lucky enough to be able to take a right hand turn and escape. I really wanted to look into the car and identify what kind of person could drive that bad but I knew I couldn't look at them without saying mean things so I just said the mean things while I looked straight ahead instead. One of my favorite things to do whenever I am stuck behind an especially frustrating driver and I have the chance to pass them on my way to turn or something is to slow down and glare in at them to sufficiently communicate my wrath for them, by the way.
So I take the turn and start on my alternate route when I come across some fat town workers repainting the cross walks. I am all for that since I once got pulled over for failing to stop for a little girl in a cross walk and my defense, in all honesty, was that I didn't see that there was even a cross walk there because it was so faint. And I don't stop for jaywalkers. That's like encouraging delinquency. The fat painters were taking up a whole lane of traffic and forced me to drive like I was in London for a minute, which unnerved me when my body had just started to regulated itself in the aftermath of the anger that surged through it as a result of the student driver. Just another couple blocks after that obstacle I found some road construction blocking my path. Really??Being the resourceful girl that I am, I took another turn that would help me get around the construction without being spit out onto the main road where people like to open their car doors just to dare you to hit them. Feeling pretty proud of myself and just around the corner from work, I had to stop at a stop sign in order to take a left. Now no one likes to take left turns, right? Looking in two directions is exhausting. So I was understanding when the car in front of me took a minute to make the turn. But then another minute went by and I was starting to feel less understanding so I decided to assess the situation. What would karma do if you successfully got away from the worst student driver ever? Karma would put a funeral procession in your path next. Yup. All those purple flags on the car with sad people mourning a loss inside and I can usually muster up some empathy, if not jealousy for the fact that they get a day off when I am on my way to work. But this morning all I could think was that they were in my way and it was some cosmic retribution.
So the moral of the story is that when you are cranky you shouldn't drive. And if you don't drive then you can't go to work. And if all the cranky people in the world didn't go to work, think of how nice all the people who waited on you at restaurants and stores all day would be!!
Each morning I am in my car for a minimum of 45 minutes. That's a lot of time to find new songs I like, think about the chores I need to find someone to do and get mad at other drivers. This morning I had one really nice thought. Like so nice I had to touch my heart and get misty. But then I had a lot of not so nice thoughts. And at least one that was so naughty I had to talk it out of my head.
Shortly after the really not so nice thought I got caught behind a student driver. How's that for karma? And it was seriously like the student drivers lack of skill was commensurate with the degree of my bad thought. This was the worst student driver I have ever been within a 4 mile radius of. At one point we rounded a bend that had one of those speed marker things and it clocked the student driver (and, thus, me stuck behind him/her) at 11 mph. I'm pretty sure I could push my car faster than that. My leg was cramping from hovering over the break because cars do not want to go 11 mph.
After being stuck behind the student driver from Hell for the longest 3 miles of my life, I was lucky enough to be able to take a right hand turn and escape. I really wanted to look into the car and identify what kind of person could drive that bad but I knew I couldn't look at them without saying mean things so I just said the mean things while I looked straight ahead instead. One of my favorite things to do whenever I am stuck behind an especially frustrating driver and I have the chance to pass them on my way to turn or something is to slow down and glare in at them to sufficiently communicate my wrath for them, by the way.
So I take the turn and start on my alternate route when I come across some fat town workers repainting the cross walks. I am all for that since I once got pulled over for failing to stop for a little girl in a cross walk and my defense, in all honesty, was that I didn't see that there was even a cross walk there because it was so faint. And I don't stop for jaywalkers. That's like encouraging delinquency. The fat painters were taking up a whole lane of traffic and forced me to drive like I was in London for a minute, which unnerved me when my body had just started to regulated itself in the aftermath of the anger that surged through it as a result of the student driver. Just another couple blocks after that obstacle I found some road construction blocking my path. Really??Being the resourceful girl that I am, I took another turn that would help me get around the construction without being spit out onto the main road where people like to open their car doors just to dare you to hit them. Feeling pretty proud of myself and just around the corner from work, I had to stop at a stop sign in order to take a left. Now no one likes to take left turns, right? Looking in two directions is exhausting. So I was understanding when the car in front of me took a minute to make the turn. But then another minute went by and I was starting to feel less understanding so I decided to assess the situation. What would karma do if you successfully got away from the worst student driver ever? Karma would put a funeral procession in your path next. Yup. All those purple flags on the car with sad people mourning a loss inside and I can usually muster up some empathy, if not jealousy for the fact that they get a day off when I am on my way to work. But this morning all I could think was that they were in my way and it was some cosmic retribution.
So the moral of the story is that when you are cranky you shouldn't drive. And if you don't drive then you can't go to work. And if all the cranky people in the world didn't go to work, think of how nice all the people who waited on you at restaurants and stores all day would be!!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Nothing tastes as good as thin feels....except a Blizzard
It amuses me that I can go three weeks feeling so overwhelmed that I consider never writing a blog post again and then one day I wake up and think of all the things I want to blog about. Therefore, I am now officially considering blogging a sign of health. If I feel good enough to want to blog, my stress level must be manageable.
Last week my stress level was not manageable. I was in one of those places where you are either very hostile or crying. One of the themes this blog revolves around is self-care. It's a very social workery term but it's got a great meaning that everyone should adopt. Self care is what it sounds like: taking care of yourself. But it's really more about the awareness of the ways you are already doing it or making a conscious effort to do more. Or, really, acknowledging that you need to take care of yourself because things are hard and taking care of yourself helps.
For example, yesterday I had a crappy afternoon of working with a struggling mom and facing stupid restrictions from big systems that are supposed to help such as the welfare/homelessness system. As I was driving away from a maddening meeting, I turned on the radio to help distract me. The first verbal commentary from the dj was about how it's hard to believe Rihanna playing a "tough girl" in the movie Battleship after "you know who did you know what". If I began to tell you how infuriating I found this, it would be a very long, very unfunny post about social injustice so I will spare you but I really hope anyone reading this recognizes how un-okay that is! Someone isn't weak because they were victimized.
Needless to say, I needed to do some self-care STAT. Lucky for me, I just happen to drive by a Dairy Queen on my way between jobs. A good friend often jokes about "eating her feelings" and that's so what I did. And you know those people who say "nothing tastes as good as thin feels"? They lied. You know how you look back at pictures and think "wow, I looked good" but you remember that, at the time, you didn't think you looked good? When you are thin, you often don't feel thin enough. That doesn't feel good! But a Blizzard....it really did feel good. By the last spoonful I was even dreaming up new Ryan Gosling Tumblrs!! That's a drastic turn around and you can't even deny it.
Last week my stress level was not manageable. I was in one of those places where you are either very hostile or crying. One of the themes this blog revolves around is self-care. It's a very social workery term but it's got a great meaning that everyone should adopt. Self care is what it sounds like: taking care of yourself. But it's really more about the awareness of the ways you are already doing it or making a conscious effort to do more. Or, really, acknowledging that you need to take care of yourself because things are hard and taking care of yourself helps.
For example, yesterday I had a crappy afternoon of working with a struggling mom and facing stupid restrictions from big systems that are supposed to help such as the welfare/homelessness system. As I was driving away from a maddening meeting, I turned on the radio to help distract me. The first verbal commentary from the dj was about how it's hard to believe Rihanna playing a "tough girl" in the movie Battleship after "you know who did you know what". If I began to tell you how infuriating I found this, it would be a very long, very unfunny post about social injustice so I will spare you but I really hope anyone reading this recognizes how un-okay that is! Someone isn't weak because they were victimized.
Needless to say, I needed to do some self-care STAT. Lucky for me, I just happen to drive by a Dairy Queen on my way between jobs. A good friend often jokes about "eating her feelings" and that's so what I did. And you know those people who say "nothing tastes as good as thin feels"? They lied. You know how you look back at pictures and think "wow, I looked good" but you remember that, at the time, you didn't think you looked good? When you are thin, you often don't feel thin enough. That doesn't feel good! But a Blizzard....it really did feel good. By the last spoonful I was even dreaming up new Ryan Gosling Tumblrs!! That's a drastic turn around and you can't even deny it.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Further evidence of Circadian Rhythms
rhythm. when is the last time you wrote that word? what a weird word to write. it doesn't feel right at all.
anyway, i know next to nothing about circadian rhythms but i think i believe in them. the basic idea is that our bodies are all different in their wake/sleep/high/low pattern. basically, you are naturally a morning person or a night owl because your body prefers one or the other. not being a morning person in a world that clearly values them and their circadian rhythms over mine, i feel comforted by some research that justifies that i am not more lazy or less motivated than my hubby and/or mother who can wake up at 630am after only 5 hours of sleep and smile at the world. how's that for a run on sentence?
my job start time changes from day to day as does where that day begins. one day recently i had to be in a court 33 miles from home before 9am. scheduling like that hurts my brain and my soul for days in advance and i genuinely feel the residual impact for days in its wake. but what can't be cured must be endured so i woke up extra early, pulled myself together and got in the car for my monster commute. i averaged 28 mph for the first hour and it took another half hour to get the remaining 5 miles. given that at least half of this trip was on the highway, this is just coo-coo pants. along the way, i almost got in a head on collision with an aggressive suv pushing the boundaries of his traffic line in 4 lanes of traffic on a road that really fits 3, saw a man run across the street barefoot while carrying his boots in his hand, and made up at least one new curse word. did i mention i don't drink coffee? so there's nothing that is really a logical fix for these kinds of mornings.
the following day, still tired from the day before, i at least got to sleep in a bit because i was scheduled to work a meeting that would run until like 9pm. i had every intention of making it to an am yoga class but am workouts are kind of like gnomes to me: i have no evidence that they actually exist because i never see them. instead of yoga, i caught a little of the view as i got ready. that is one show i could never be on! their "debates" get really anger filled. at first i thought "why are they so angry so early in the morning?" and then i realized it's probably about their circadian rhythms. maybe elizabeth hasselback or whatever her name is should argue with larry king instead.
anyway, i know next to nothing about circadian rhythms but i think i believe in them. the basic idea is that our bodies are all different in their wake/sleep/high/low pattern. basically, you are naturally a morning person or a night owl because your body prefers one or the other. not being a morning person in a world that clearly values them and their circadian rhythms over mine, i feel comforted by some research that justifies that i am not more lazy or less motivated than my hubby and/or mother who can wake up at 630am after only 5 hours of sleep and smile at the world. how's that for a run on sentence?
my job start time changes from day to day as does where that day begins. one day recently i had to be in a court 33 miles from home before 9am. scheduling like that hurts my brain and my soul for days in advance and i genuinely feel the residual impact for days in its wake. but what can't be cured must be endured so i woke up extra early, pulled myself together and got in the car for my monster commute. i averaged 28 mph for the first hour and it took another half hour to get the remaining 5 miles. given that at least half of this trip was on the highway, this is just coo-coo pants. along the way, i almost got in a head on collision with an aggressive suv pushing the boundaries of his traffic line in 4 lanes of traffic on a road that really fits 3, saw a man run across the street barefoot while carrying his boots in his hand, and made up at least one new curse word. did i mention i don't drink coffee? so there's nothing that is really a logical fix for these kinds of mornings.
the following day, still tired from the day before, i at least got to sleep in a bit because i was scheduled to work a meeting that would run until like 9pm. i had every intention of making it to an am yoga class but am workouts are kind of like gnomes to me: i have no evidence that they actually exist because i never see them. instead of yoga, i caught a little of the view as i got ready. that is one show i could never be on! their "debates" get really anger filled. at first i thought "why are they so angry so early in the morning?" and then i realized it's probably about their circadian rhythms. maybe elizabeth hasselback or whatever her name is should argue with larry king instead.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Service
So I am really blessed to actually get two Christmases. This is one of those times when it is truly better to give than to receive.
My experience with all of this has left me with an overwhelming testimony of service and impressed upon me that it is one of the things I want to make sure any future child of mine learns. I am always so in awe of children who understand the value of putting others first sometimes and wowed by the parents who are able to instill that. Last week in the midst of all the holiday party planning, a mother brought her daughter, who helped to carry loads of bags of goodies that would be given to other children. Later in the week, while visiting my grandmother in the nursing home, a group of carolers from a local church came to sing and among them were two kids. One was probably too young to understand or choose, even, where he was but the other may have an enduring memory of her parents making service to others a priority and the way it made her feel. Finally, I got a little emotional when the news actually reported a nice story: a little boy donating his "life savings" to buy Christmas gifts for his friends' family who had just lost everything when their mobile home burned down. When the community caught wind of his donation, others matched it and were able to provide a thousand dollars worth of items, including essentials, to this family.
I know there are a lot of holiday sentiment and well wishes being thrown around this week but service is something we can all do all year long. We all have unique strengths that were given to us to help fill in others voids. Use yours wisely.
And, in conclusion, just to lighten things up, I will use a quote from a reality tv show....remember who is writing here!! "Live a life of love and service."-Bob Forrest (Celebrity Rehab on VH1)
Friday, October 28, 2011
TGIF
Do you ever have days when you are just vacant? I'm sure you do. We all do. I'm having one of those hard-to-focus, want-to-to-nothing kinds of days. Actually, I wouldn't mind napping. Or watching a movie. Or even reading. But as far as accomplishing things, today would not be my day.
Maybe it's because it's not even Halloween and it snowed last night and they are predicting a Nor'easter for tomorrow night when I should be dressing up and going to a party. It's generally shocking when it snows a dusting before Thanksgiving but this....this is just ridiculous weather. It's extra silly that just two weekends ago we broke records for being in the 80's. I didn't realize until I started blogging just how much I talk about the weather but there's no denying that what you see outside your window impacts your state of mind.
Or maybe it's because we had a big work event last night and I didn't get home until like 11:30. I usually go to bed between 12:30-1:00 so it's not that being up that late was a problem. But part of the reason I go to bed so late is because when I get home, which is still typically later like 9ish, I need a little time to just unwind. For me that most often means I need to watch some tv and zone out a bit. So when you get home at 11:30 and still need time to zone, it gets late fast.
I'm also working a little part time job on the side now. It would be embarrassing if it wasn't so much fun. Even though it's only 1-2 nights a week, it makes my weeks feel even more full. Now every night of the week has an assignment. One night for the gym, one for the pt job, one for date night, one working at my ft job and the weekends are more variable. It's increasingly challenging to find the balance between work time, time with hubby, time with friends and family and time just for me. Add the basics like cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry to the mix. Now sprinkle in some much needed exercise and trying to attend church services. And, of course, keeping up with all the reality tv shows I need to stay grounded. And occasionally reading. Or writing this blog.
Now with all of this, when life throws a legit curve ball and offers up something into the universe that genuinely warrants my stress levels increasing, it's kind of like walking through a white carpeted room with a glass of tropical punch Kool Aid at a fast clip.
So, I guess a vacant day is warranted. And I assume you will understand why the blog doesn't always get the love it deserves. Or why sometimes I stray from my topics of focus. Or why this post has almost no complete sentences. I am not thinking in complete sentences today. Cheers to the weekend!
Maybe it's because it's not even Halloween and it snowed last night and they are predicting a Nor'easter for tomorrow night when I should be dressing up and going to a party. It's generally shocking when it snows a dusting before Thanksgiving but this....this is just ridiculous weather. It's extra silly that just two weekends ago we broke records for being in the 80's. I didn't realize until I started blogging just how much I talk about the weather but there's no denying that what you see outside your window impacts your state of mind.
Or maybe it's because we had a big work event last night and I didn't get home until like 11:30. I usually go to bed between 12:30-1:00 so it's not that being up that late was a problem. But part of the reason I go to bed so late is because when I get home, which is still typically later like 9ish, I need a little time to just unwind. For me that most often means I need to watch some tv and zone out a bit. So when you get home at 11:30 and still need time to zone, it gets late fast.
I'm also working a little part time job on the side now. It would be embarrassing if it wasn't so much fun. Even though it's only 1-2 nights a week, it makes my weeks feel even more full. Now every night of the week has an assignment. One night for the gym, one for the pt job, one for date night, one working at my ft job and the weekends are more variable. It's increasingly challenging to find the balance between work time, time with hubby, time with friends and family and time just for me. Add the basics like cleaning, grocery shopping and laundry to the mix. Now sprinkle in some much needed exercise and trying to attend church services. And, of course, keeping up with all the reality tv shows I need to stay grounded. And occasionally reading. Or writing this blog.
Now with all of this, when life throws a legit curve ball and offers up something into the universe that genuinely warrants my stress levels increasing, it's kind of like walking through a white carpeted room with a glass of tropical punch Kool Aid at a fast clip.
So, I guess a vacant day is warranted. And I assume you will understand why the blog doesn't always get the love it deserves. Or why sometimes I stray from my topics of focus. Or why this post has almost no complete sentences. I am not thinking in complete sentences today. Cheers to the weekend!
Friday, September 16, 2011
Creeper in the Bathroom
So there's this guy who works in my office building (which only has three floors and houses only a few companies) who always uses our bathroom and I think it should be stopped.
My organization takes up two suites = the whole top floor. This guy works on the basement floor. Point being he has to walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to our bathroom. Oh, and those four flights are in a structure that is topped with glass that acts much like a greenhouse, creating intense and often uncomfortable temperatures the higher you climb. For further illustration, he has a bathroom (technically two) on his floor and the same options on the floor in between us. For purposes of gender identity inclusion, we don't have a "men's room" and a "ladies room" but rather two restrooms that anyone could use. One of them, "the suite", is a one person stall and you can lock the door and have the space all to yourself. Which one do you think he comes up and invades? You guessed it. He hikes up four flights of stairs in the grueling heat past two other sets of bathrooms to muck up the one place no one will knock on the door and disrupt you.
A firm believer in citizen justice leagues (and if you know how I can start one of these, please let me know), I feel it's my duty to confront/shame/stop him from this intolerable practice. It's gotten to the point that if the door to the bathroom suite is shut and I don't know all my coworkers whereabouts, I sometimes hide behind the office door, peeping through a tiny window awaiting a glimpse of the bathroom hog. Usually it ends up being a legitimate coworker who somehow fell off my radar. And this guy is good.....he seems to only physically appear when I have a client with me or am otherwise truly busy with the important work that goes on here to be able to stage my planned bathroom intervention. But I hear rumors of him being around much more often than I see him and just the thought of him in our sacred spaces creeps me out.
Most fascinating to me is his motive. What is going on with this guy that he has to go so far away from his coworkers for his bathroom break? It can't be that he is embarrassed because he shows absolutely no pride in busting onto a floor that is soley occupied by one company and, I might add, IS FILLED SOLELY WITH FEMALE EMPLOYEES. We didn't need a men's room so we got rid of it and he keeps coming up here and imposing his will!
What's up with this guy? I am now accepting hypotheses.
My organization takes up two suites = the whole top floor. This guy works on the basement floor. Point being he has to walk up 4 flights of stairs to get to our bathroom. Oh, and those four flights are in a structure that is topped with glass that acts much like a greenhouse, creating intense and often uncomfortable temperatures the higher you climb. For further illustration, he has a bathroom (technically two) on his floor and the same options on the floor in between us. For purposes of gender identity inclusion, we don't have a "men's room" and a "ladies room" but rather two restrooms that anyone could use. One of them, "the suite", is a one person stall and you can lock the door and have the space all to yourself. Which one do you think he comes up and invades? You guessed it. He hikes up four flights of stairs in the grueling heat past two other sets of bathrooms to muck up the one place no one will knock on the door and disrupt you.
A firm believer in citizen justice leagues (and if you know how I can start one of these, please let me know), I feel it's my duty to confront/shame/stop him from this intolerable practice. It's gotten to the point that if the door to the bathroom suite is shut and I don't know all my coworkers whereabouts, I sometimes hide behind the office door, peeping through a tiny window awaiting a glimpse of the bathroom hog. Usually it ends up being a legitimate coworker who somehow fell off my radar. And this guy is good.....he seems to only physically appear when I have a client with me or am otherwise truly busy with the important work that goes on here to be able to stage my planned bathroom intervention. But I hear rumors of him being around much more often than I see him and just the thought of him in our sacred spaces creeps me out.
Most fascinating to me is his motive. What is going on with this guy that he has to go so far away from his coworkers for his bathroom break? It can't be that he is embarrassed because he shows absolutely no pride in busting onto a floor that is soley occupied by one company and, I might add, IS FILLED SOLELY WITH FEMALE EMPLOYEES. We didn't need a men's room so we got rid of it and he keeps coming up here and imposing his will!
What's up with this guy? I am now accepting hypotheses.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Follow up on the Stress Less Initiative
I wanted to update you on the state of my Stress Less Initiative. Returned from my first trip to mainland Europe and deeply impacted by the cultural emphasis on enjoying life instead of rushing through it, as the focus seems to be in the States, I made a vow of sorts. Instead of "Vacation Maureen" making an appearance slightly before, during, and as long as possible after my trip, I would strive to incorporate some of her better attributes into my "real life".
While there are days that are setbacks, overall, I think I have been pretty successful in making a shift. Similar to the philosophy that it takes 21 days of a behavior to make it a habit, I have been hanging on to a more laid back take on life for over two months now!
Here's what's helping and working:
1. It's still summer. I love the sun, the pool, the beach and all other things summery. Even though I haven't had a full summer vacation since I was in high school, there is something magical about the months that schools are not in session. Traffic on my commute is lighter. My actual work load tends to be lighter. Summer week days and weekend days seem to have blurrier lines than other times of year.
2. I have been immersing myself in travel daydreams. One of my best friends, with whom I most recently traveled, is also obsessed with exploring new destinations and is committed to planning future trips. In addition to having two trips planned for September and one in November, I have a week off this month for some beach time. When I am not actually going somewhere or planning to go somewhere, I read about other people going somewhere and get excited.
3. There are lots of fun things on the social calendar to look forward to. Leaving home isn't the only way to have fun! The Boston area hosts restaurant week in August and I have some great dinner plans on the agenda. It's also triathlon season and my race date is speeding toward me far faster than I will be speeding across the finish line. There are pool parties to attend and weekend adventures to embark on. Life doesn't feel stagnant at all.
4. I'm listening to myself more. You know that part in Eat, Pray, Love in Italy when they are talking about the pleasure of doing nothing? Americans don't even have a word for it! I have been trying to pay attention both to the little things that bring me pleasure and doing them more often and also paying attention to when my mind and body need to slow down. I have broken plans because I needed a day of nothingness. I have resisted booking up all my free time so that I can decide what I really am in the mood for when the free time comes. I snuck in some sleeping late, a nap, and good reads. Sometimes I eat toast with nutella on it for dinner because I would rather eat that than chicken. This is just a small way I can bring the cultural component from Europe that I so appreciated home to my daily life.
What is not working?
1. I'm not getting enough workouts. In summers past, I have trained for my triathlons with a group, which was a huge motivation for me. This year, there were not enough people to form a training team. About once a week I get together with some tri friends from the past and we do a group bike ride and I love it. I also have a class at the gym once a week that I am very dedicated to; the teacher is wonderful and it's a great workout. Beyond that, though, in following what I really want to do, it's often more about laying by the pool with a book than it is about going for a run. I'm getting so good at indulging myself, in fact, that when I went for a run over the weekend, after 2.75 miles of dripping sweat I decided I really didn't like running and, even though I was still 2 miles from home, I chose to walk instead!
2. I play on the weeknights and am tired for work. In pursuit of the things that bring me pleasure, I have met up with friends frequently on week nights. We have had some amazing times!!! Until the alarm goes off the next morning and I have to go to work.....Yawn!
3. I can't seem to let go of the stress that housework creates. I'm learning to take work in stride much more but house work? Not so much. I could go on and on about this one but, for your sanity and my own, I will leave it at that.
So, overall, I feel like Vacation Maureen is a much larger presence in everyday life. Do I need a new name? If she is here so often, does Vacation Maureen even make sense anymore?
And yet, I am still fearful that as school starts again work will get busy and as fall descends and the days get shorter, life will feel less like a vacation and it's still possible that I may lose my grasp on the Stress Less Initiative.
While there are days that are setbacks, overall, I think I have been pretty successful in making a shift. Similar to the philosophy that it takes 21 days of a behavior to make it a habit, I have been hanging on to a more laid back take on life for over two months now!
Here's what's helping and working:
1. It's still summer. I love the sun, the pool, the beach and all other things summery. Even though I haven't had a full summer vacation since I was in high school, there is something magical about the months that schools are not in session. Traffic on my commute is lighter. My actual work load tends to be lighter. Summer week days and weekend days seem to have blurrier lines than other times of year.
2. I have been immersing myself in travel daydreams. One of my best friends, with whom I most recently traveled, is also obsessed with exploring new destinations and is committed to planning future trips. In addition to having two trips planned for September and one in November, I have a week off this month for some beach time. When I am not actually going somewhere or planning to go somewhere, I read about other people going somewhere and get excited.
3. There are lots of fun things on the social calendar to look forward to. Leaving home isn't the only way to have fun! The Boston area hosts restaurant week in August and I have some great dinner plans on the agenda. It's also triathlon season and my race date is speeding toward me far faster than I will be speeding across the finish line. There are pool parties to attend and weekend adventures to embark on. Life doesn't feel stagnant at all.
4. I'm listening to myself more. You know that part in Eat, Pray, Love in Italy when they are talking about the pleasure of doing nothing? Americans don't even have a word for it! I have been trying to pay attention both to the little things that bring me pleasure and doing them more often and also paying attention to when my mind and body need to slow down. I have broken plans because I needed a day of nothingness. I have resisted booking up all my free time so that I can decide what I really am in the mood for when the free time comes. I snuck in some sleeping late, a nap, and good reads. Sometimes I eat toast with nutella on it for dinner because I would rather eat that than chicken. This is just a small way I can bring the cultural component from Europe that I so appreciated home to my daily life.
What is not working?
1. I'm not getting enough workouts. In summers past, I have trained for my triathlons with a group, which was a huge motivation for me. This year, there were not enough people to form a training team. About once a week I get together with some tri friends from the past and we do a group bike ride and I love it. I also have a class at the gym once a week that I am very dedicated to; the teacher is wonderful and it's a great workout. Beyond that, though, in following what I really want to do, it's often more about laying by the pool with a book than it is about going for a run. I'm getting so good at indulging myself, in fact, that when I went for a run over the weekend, after 2.75 miles of dripping sweat I decided I really didn't like running and, even though I was still 2 miles from home, I chose to walk instead!
2. I play on the weeknights and am tired for work. In pursuit of the things that bring me pleasure, I have met up with friends frequently on week nights. We have had some amazing times!!! Until the alarm goes off the next morning and I have to go to work.....Yawn!
3. I can't seem to let go of the stress that housework creates. I'm learning to take work in stride much more but house work? Not so much. I could go on and on about this one but, for your sanity and my own, I will leave it at that.
So, overall, I feel like Vacation Maureen is a much larger presence in everyday life. Do I need a new name? If she is here so often, does Vacation Maureen even make sense anymore?
And yet, I am still fearful that as school starts again work will get busy and as fall descends and the days get shorter, life will feel less like a vacation and it's still possible that I may lose my grasp on the Stress Less Initiative.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Musings of a Thirty Something
 |
| This weekend I celebrated my 31st birthday. Last year, hitting the milestone of 30 felt like a big deal and cause for a party, as I ushered in a new decade and a new number with which to start my age. 31 feels like the 1991 of ages. 1990 is still too much like the 80's to be distinct but '91 starts to really be "the 90's". Using this logic, 31 means I'm really in "my 30's" so I spent this weekend quietly reflecting on what that means, both to me and in the broader society. Some researchers talk about the concept of a "thrisis", a wordsmash for a thirty-something crisis. (By the way, what is it about the world these days that everything has to be combined....brangelina? speidi? Are we really in such a hurry??) The premise is that people have bought into an idea of happiness that includes getting married, getting a house, getting a good job, etc. but once they get those things, they finally step back and wonder if that's what they wanted all along. Unlike the mid-life crisis we grew up seeing in movies and expecting in our 40's, thirty-somethings realize there's still time to make changes and get life on track. The trouble then becomes defining what happiness means to you, as an individual. On the flip side, most people I talk to express that their thirties were the most fun. They often talk about being confused and figuring things out in their twenties and getting to sit back and enjoy their thirties. Many people relate to feeling more confident, less worried about what others think, as they leave their twenties behind. It seems like we have set ourselves up to be molded up to this point and get to really define ourselves now, a true coming-of-age experience. I definitely find myself keeping a smaller social circle and investing more in myself and the people and activities that really bring me joy, rather than trying to keep in touch with everyone. But maybe that's just because Facebook keeps everyone in touch all the time! (not in an unwelcome way, in my opinion) So I look forward to 31 beginning a new chapter. I can be proud of the things I have accomplished, going down the checklist: marriage, home, education, career. People can continue to bug me about the next item on their checklist: baby. And maybe that will be next, who knows. But I can also revel in the fact that these things have brought me to a point where I can create opportunities for myself. In many ways, at 31 I have more options open to me than I did at 21. Real, viable options that can come to fruition in a year instead of a decade. I have enough stability to pursue my love of traveling and enough youth left to make those adventures really exciting. For an example from real life last week, in one day I met with the sheriff about prison programming and went to a Poison concert in a mini skirt at night. Here's to the 30's being the most fulfilling decade yet! |
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Self Care: More than a Concept
Right after I wrote up and published my post about my blogger identity crisis, I had a bit of what Oprah would call an Aha! moment. It's like airing my personal frustration and putting it all out in the Universe cleared my mind again.
The things I write about actually have a common thread of which I wasn't totally aware. They are all about "Self Care". Unsure of if this term is actually used in the real world or if we just made it up in the human service field, let me clarify that this self explanatory phrase is just a shortcut to capture any activities that help you replenish yourself. For me, these things include physical activity, spirituality, mind numbing pop culture, reading, humor, fixing up the house and, of course, travel! Those are the things I tend to blog about, too. They are the things that bring me pleasure, relaxation, escape.
At work, people sometimes tease me about being the self care queen. Part of the ritual I have worked into the closing of our support groups is to have everyone "check out" at the end of group with one thing they will do that week to take care of themselves, treat themselves. Sometimes it's as simple as getting a fountain soda! (I actually had a woman call me last week to let me know she had bought her very own soda, not to be shared with her kids.) One survivor of domestic violence that I have worked with for years, when asked what the organization has done for her so eloquently reported " taught me about self care as a concept and that I was deserving of it".
How amazing is that? What a gift! That, to me, totally speaks to the "give a man a fish/teach him to fish" proverb.
Maybe that's what my posts bring to the blogging world: A reminder to do the things that make you happy. To indulge a little bit each day. To take at least a brief break from nurturing everyone around you to nurture yourself.
The things I write about actually have a common thread of which I wasn't totally aware. They are all about "Self Care". Unsure of if this term is actually used in the real world or if we just made it up in the human service field, let me clarify that this self explanatory phrase is just a shortcut to capture any activities that help you replenish yourself. For me, these things include physical activity, spirituality, mind numbing pop culture, reading, humor, fixing up the house and, of course, travel! Those are the things I tend to blog about, too. They are the things that bring me pleasure, relaxation, escape.
At work, people sometimes tease me about being the self care queen. Part of the ritual I have worked into the closing of our support groups is to have everyone "check out" at the end of group with one thing they will do that week to take care of themselves, treat themselves. Sometimes it's as simple as getting a fountain soda! (I actually had a woman call me last week to let me know she had bought her very own soda, not to be shared with her kids.) One survivor of domestic violence that I have worked with for years, when asked what the organization has done for her so eloquently reported " taught me about self care as a concept and that I was deserving of it".
How amazing is that? What a gift! That, to me, totally speaks to the "give a man a fish/teach him to fish" proverb.
Maybe that's what my posts bring to the blogging world: A reminder to do the things that make you happy. To indulge a little bit each day. To take at least a brief break from nurturing everyone around you to nurture yourself.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Blogger Identity Crisis
The blog has been quiet for a few days because I'm having a blogger identity crisis.
Do I write about whatever I want to on a given day or do I need more of a theme? Is there anyone out there who would be interested in the same things I am? At the moment, I'm addicted to reading other people's travel blogs but I don't think I travel enough yet to warrant that being my only focus. (I'm working on it, though!) A couple months ago, I was all about home decorating blogs (but then I ran out of rooms to keep playing with).
A friend who runs a writing group told me that some of the unique categories I fit into would be interesting fodder for a blog: domestic violence victim advocate, religious minority, triathlete. But here are some problems with that:
1. I am pretty sure I am the only not-great-at-practicing Mormon who is passionate about social justice and is a mediocre multi sport athlete.
2. Which gets to my next problem of not being great or conventional at most of those unique categories.... Religiously, I practice in a way most others don't and hold some beliefs and behaviors that are clearly outside the norm. Athletically, while I love to swim, and like to bike, I don't have very warm feelings or strong skill sets around running and am only doing one race this summer.
3. On the work front, I usually can't write about specifics because of confidentiality and safety and, let's be honest, it's not what I look forward to coming home and expounding on after a long, hard day.
So the point is that I don't know what my point is. Most days I want to write about what I am most excited about, which, at the moment is traveling. But some days I just want to write about the wacky story in the news, a good book I read, a great movie I saw, or the fun I have found in every day life that week. Most of my friends write Mommy Blogs so may not have run into this existential crisis:)
I am open to ideas, here, folks!
Do I write about whatever I want to on a given day or do I need more of a theme? Is there anyone out there who would be interested in the same things I am? At the moment, I'm addicted to reading other people's travel blogs but I don't think I travel enough yet to warrant that being my only focus. (I'm working on it, though!) A couple months ago, I was all about home decorating blogs (but then I ran out of rooms to keep playing with).
A friend who runs a writing group told me that some of the unique categories I fit into would be interesting fodder for a blog: domestic violence victim advocate, religious minority, triathlete. But here are some problems with that:
1. I am pretty sure I am the only not-great-at-practicing Mormon who is passionate about social justice and is a mediocre multi sport athlete.
2. Which gets to my next problem of not being great or conventional at most of those unique categories.... Religiously, I practice in a way most others don't and hold some beliefs and behaviors that are clearly outside the norm. Athletically, while I love to swim, and like to bike, I don't have very warm feelings or strong skill sets around running and am only doing one race this summer.
3. On the work front, I usually can't write about specifics because of confidentiality and safety and, let's be honest, it's not what I look forward to coming home and expounding on after a long, hard day.
So the point is that I don't know what my point is. Most days I want to write about what I am most excited about, which, at the moment is traveling. But some days I just want to write about the wacky story in the news, a good book I read, a great movie I saw, or the fun I have found in every day life that week. Most of my friends write Mommy Blogs so may not have run into this existential crisis:)
I am open to ideas, here, folks!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Vacation Discrimination
I'm officially coining the term "vacation discrimination". I have experienced it and it is real. It is when people judge you or hate on you for having cooler vacations than they have. Here's an example from yesterday:
Work announced some major cuts to our benefits that will hurt my already weakly padded wallet. I mentioned this to someone and got the response "you have had more international trips in the last year than anyone I know so I don't feel bad for you". Really??
Travel is a lifestyle choice. Some people spend a lot of money on fancy cars or clothes or designer purses. Some people go out for decadent meals. Others drink their money away at the local pub. A lot of people my age have children who cost a lot to clothe and feed. I don't have or do any of those things. I prioritize seeing new places and making memories that way. Why is it acceptable not only to judge that choice but to verbalize it to me?? Do I say, "Hey, nice khakis! Bet those cost you a pretty penny. Just for that, if you have to join the working poor, you won't get my sympathy!"? No, because the way we spend our money reflects our values and the ways we rejuvenate ourselves. Who says my values have to match yours?
Work announced some major cuts to our benefits that will hurt my already weakly padded wallet. I mentioned this to someone and got the response "you have had more international trips in the last year than anyone I know so I don't feel bad for you". Really??
Travel is a lifestyle choice. Some people spend a lot of money on fancy cars or clothes or designer purses. Some people go out for decadent meals. Others drink their money away at the local pub. A lot of people my age have children who cost a lot to clothe and feed. I don't have or do any of those things. I prioritize seeing new places and making memories that way. Why is it acceptable not only to judge that choice but to verbalize it to me?? Do I say, "Hey, nice khakis! Bet those cost you a pretty penny. Just for that, if you have to join the working poor, you won't get my sympathy!"? No, because the way we spend our money reflects our values and the ways we rejuvenate ourselves. Who says my values have to match yours?
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Just a minor setback...
Just a minor setback in the stress-less initiative, that is. Although I wrote about stressing less yesterday, it has actually been an unnamed resolution in my life for a few weeks. Therefore, it's actually less bad to have a set back today than it seems. It's not like I just came up with the plan to be less stressed yesterday and here I go, the next day, failing. I guess from the tone of this intro, though, that you can sense that failure. I'm kind of manic.
My pants are too tight today so I'm feeling a little less sassy. My hair is too flat. It's a stunning day outside and I'm locked at my desk, watching people in bathing suits at the water park through my window. Surely, it's just minutes until the ice cream man shows up to rub salt in my wound. Clients at work decided to burst forth with creative problems yesterday, spilling into today. I have to work a 12 hour day. I feel pretty guilty about eating Chinese food three days this week. Peking ravioli are kind of my new obsession.
Here's the good news: Last night I went to a comedy show and laughed until I cried. I particularly recommend a young comedian from Providence, Rhode Island named Daniel Martin. This weekend I am going to the Cape, aka Cape Cod, for a girl's weekend/mini bachelorette party for one of my best friends. That is something fabulous to look forward to. So, hopefully today's setback is just for the day. As my favorite leading lady, Scarlett O'Hara would say, "After all, tomorrow IS another day".
My pants are too tight today so I'm feeling a little less sassy. My hair is too flat. It's a stunning day outside and I'm locked at my desk, watching people in bathing suits at the water park through my window. Surely, it's just minutes until the ice cream man shows up to rub salt in my wound. Clients at work decided to burst forth with creative problems yesterday, spilling into today. I have to work a 12 hour day. I feel pretty guilty about eating Chinese food three days this week. Peking ravioli are kind of my new obsession.
Here's the good news: Last night I went to a comedy show and laughed until I cried. I particularly recommend a young comedian from Providence, Rhode Island named Daniel Martin. This weekend I am going to the Cape, aka Cape Cod, for a girl's weekend/mini bachelorette party for one of my best friends. That is something fabulous to look forward to. So, hopefully today's setback is just for the day. As my favorite leading lady, Scarlett O'Hara would say, "After all, tomorrow IS another day".
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Stress-Less Initiative
I have to admit that part of holding on to my vacation glow is about not really committing back to my "real" life. Monday night was the first time there were no dirty dishes in the sink. I only partially cleaned the house over the weekend and there are still some areas that deserve attention. I have yet to find my work cell phone and I even forgot the keys to my desk on Monday, rendering me fairly useless much of the day.
This is all part of my new stress-less initiative. Why does the American culture make long work hours, high stress, and dissatisfaction with __________ (fill in the blank with anything from your body to your marriage) the norm? The expectation?
I'm becoming a rebel. I'm fighting "the man" on this one.
I am thinking of this vacation glow now as more of a lifestyle change. You know how when people go on a diet, they fail and fall back into old eating patterns? What works is when people learn about nutrition and find exercise they enjoy for something more than losing weight. That's how I feel about my stress-less policy. If I think of it as a temporary shift post vacation, it sets me up to lose it at some point and fall back into the rut of being stressed out too much of the time. However, if it's a lifestyle shift, it becomes a new way of life.
This is just day one of this rant, be forewarned:) And I found a very viable option for my next trip online today.....
This is all part of my new stress-less initiative. Why does the American culture make long work hours, high stress, and dissatisfaction with __________ (fill in the blank with anything from your body to your marriage) the norm? The expectation?
I'm becoming a rebel. I'm fighting "the man" on this one.
I am thinking of this vacation glow now as more of a lifestyle change. You know how when people go on a diet, they fail and fall back into old eating patterns? What works is when people learn about nutrition and find exercise they enjoy for something more than losing weight. That's how I feel about my stress-less policy. If I think of it as a temporary shift post vacation, it sets me up to lose it at some point and fall back into the rut of being stressed out too much of the time. However, if it's a lifestyle shift, it becomes a new way of life.
This is just day one of this rant, be forewarned:) And I found a very viable option for my next trip online today.....
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