Run-of-the-mill job woes

Work has slowed down considerably. It's back to "busy" work for too much of the day. I can't stand trying to look occupied.

As usual, I've been keeping an eye on the job postings. There's one I've been thinking about applying for since last week. It one grade higher and pays significantly better. I can't help but wonder if I should talk to my boss about it. I'd have to use her as a reference anyway, and she would know if it's a good work environment and whether it's even worth my time and yada yada yada. But I don't want her thinking I'm hellbent on jumping ship. That can't be good come review time.

I hate that everything boils down to money. And the fact I need more of it (who doesn't?). This is the best job I've ever had, and I'm still just barely scraping by.

So do I try to find something that pays more but might be even less enjoyable, or do I just stick my head back in the sand?

Procrastination

I need to do my French homework, especially since I didn't do all of it while I was sick. But my brain doesn't feel like thinking in a foreign language at the moment. We have our first exam on Wednesday (Happy Valentine's Day, right?), so not only should I be doing my homework, but I should also be studying.

Bah! I want to read instead. I finished the novel I was reading for the last month last night and started a new book, My Life in France by Julia Child. I figured it was an appropriate subject matter, but now I am much more interested in that than in classwork. Duh!

I am having a nightmare of a time with my registration. It is way too complicated and dull to go into here, but as of right now I am not even registered for this darn class anymore. I will be pretty bitter if I'm doing all this work for nothing. All I can say is, bureaucracy sucks ass.

Diningroom/Kitchen

OK, so I was going for more of a terracotta feel. But I can live with lobster bisque. Once the new counter tops are installed, it will all come together better (like it does in my head). The floors are a whole other issue. Even though the linoleum pattern was picked "to hide the dirt," it is just plain ugly and from an altogether different decade.

The mirror was a gift to my mom from my father's sister and brother-in-law. I have always like it, and so I rehung it after painting in virtually the same spot that it has hung for the last twenty-five years, sandwiched between the dining room window and the backdoor (which still needs to be repainted).

At some point, I have been meaning to blog about making a home in a house that has previously played a role in your life. In my case, that would include two grandparental homes and now the home from my youth. But I will leave that for another day.

My mouse hand is already quite chilled.

And I still need to offer Happy Birthday wishes to Marni and Jenny F.

Here we go again

I received another letter from my girly doctor saying they were unable to contact me by phone and to call the office to schedule a repeat pap.

First of all, they have both of my phone numbers, so, really, how hard did they try to contact me?

Second, this will make three paps in six months. I feel certain that is too many. Not to mention the vaginal ultrasounds that I've had (two? three? I've lost count), and the fact that I'm supposed to have another one of those next month. Perhaps we should just set up a standing monthly appointment and they can poke and prod me to their hearts content.

Oy.

Sorry menfolk, hopefully you stopped reading this quite sometime ago.

Home Sick

This cold is kicking my ass, so I elected to not go to work today. That's why I have all those sick days, right?

I've been laying on the couch watching TV and drinking hot herbal tea. My fiance brought me chicken noodle soup when he stopped home for lunch, although he claimed not to have enough time to take Paulie out, so I had to drag myself out into the frigid wind for the third time today. Damn dogs.

The best thing about this wretched day is that it is brightly sunny so the solar has been running. For the first time since we've moved in, it's actually above 65 degrees in the downstairs. But since the computer is upstairs, I'm outta here.

Don't worry couch, I'm coming back!

Nada

If you're wondering why I have been writing mostly about the past of late, it's because I don't have much of anything going on in the present. I've been working six days a week and I have class two nights a week. By the time I get home from work and we eat dinner, I'm ready to fall asleep on the couch. I have done no painting, no unpacking, no organizing, and no reading.

It's too cold outside to do anything more than take the dogs out. In fact it's too cold inside to do anything more than huddle beneath the goose down comforter. The thermostat is the stupid kind that doesn't tell the temperature. You just set it and assume it is doing it's job. We bought an indoor-outdoor thermometer last weekend because I can't start the day without knowing how painfully cold or how ridiculously warm it is. It turns out that the reason it felt extremely cold in the house is that even though I have the thermostat set at 63, the house is consistently between 56 and 58 degrees. Brrrh.

Plus, now I think I'm coming down with something (my throat hurts and I feel weak). I can't call in sick tomorrow because I have class and we have a quiz. I'm sure I'm going ace that.

That about sums it up. I did hang a bird feeder though. I wonder how long it will take for the birdies to find it.

Wish Lists

When I was a teenager, I used to make wish lists. They consisted of items that I hoped to accomplish at some point in my life. Last night, while hunting in an old diary for a letter written by the old friend that has recently found me again, I happened upon two of the lists I'd written in the early 90s.

On March 30, 1992 I wrote a list of 25 items. Running though them, I see that I can check 12 of them off as done. Some of them are rather objective: to go to a "good" college, to get a "good" job, and to have "fun" at college (clearly, I was a big fan of quotes). Then there are the ones that fall along a very specific time line: to get my driver's licence before the age of 18 and to graduate from high school in the top 20. Others are more obscure: to have a boyfriend, to fall in love, to meet someone famous.

One of my favorite ones is to get a bikini, wear it, and feel good about it. I'm checking that one off. I also get to check off to ride in a stretched white limo, something I have done only once on National Guinness Day when my roommate and I weaseled our way into the entourage of some radio station promoters.

Just about the only one that I will never be able to achieve was my wish to not be "sweet sixteen." Nothing I can do about the fact no one wanted to kiss me back then.

Some of the wishes I can still work on are to go scuba diving, to go on a cruise, and to travel.

I wouldn't be able to write one of these lists now. The unflagging optimism of youth is long gone. But it is still fun to read through them and try to remember what it felt like to be that girl.