23 Jan
Allow me to bend your ear for a moment.
I am stealing precious minutes to be temporarily smug as I announce that I have completed the arduous task the Boss handed down to us (or, should I say, that we inherited due to various situations). Let’s just say that in the space of a week or two, I have accomplished approximately thrice the amount of work that is normally due.
Allow me an internal victory dance.
HOWEVER.
1 Jan
And I don’t feel any different.
(Obligatory song link as the walking iPod [aka jPod, for the in-joke folks] now has the song stuck in her head and is determined to get it stuck in yours, too.)
Which reminds me: I never completed my “New Year” playlist. How can I celebrate anything without carefully crafting a proper playlist? (Yes, I am a total dork. Live with it. I do.)
I know that I talked about scary RESOLUTIONS last posting, but the reality is I’m absolute rubbish when it comes to committing to anything new, so I shan’t bother. If I want to change something, I will, on my own terms, on my own schedule, in my own way. Because I am excessively stubborn like that.
However, I’ve signed up for a ballroom dancing class.
29 Dec
Isn’t there some unspoken rule that the days between Christmas and the New Year aren’t supposed to be very productive?
Or maybe it’s just me.
But after a month of constant go-go-go-get-this-done-by-yesterday stress, my brain is a little fried. I long for a holiday. A nice quiet weekend without any major responsibility. Or stress. I’m not good with stress.
That’s why it has been so tempting lately to bow out of any social commitment (or not commit in the first place). This severe introvert needs her down-time. And by down-time, I don’t mean “pack up and move” time. I don’t mean “unpack from the move” time. I don’t mean “venture into a shopping mall right before Christmas” time. I don’t mean “save the holiday by offering to cook the Christmas meal” time.
I mean some time of serious, quiet solitude.
However.
28 Dec
I’ve added a few more pictures from this year’s trip to Austria (and Bavaria. And Lichtenstein). I haven’t been able to go through and give them all snappy titles or descriptions, but at least they’re available for viewing.
Except for Vienna.
I’ve been able to pare Vienna down to a mere 161 photos. But they still need to be rearranged and, perhaps, weeded down even further.
Enjoy.
23 Dec
I wonder what the odds are that we’ll get to go home early today.
Last year we were practically kicked out at noon – I was one of the last people here (as a temp, even!), frantically helping my boss finish ordering office supplies, the last day to use up the budget. Then again, it was Christmas Eve, and today is only Christmas Eve Eve.
But it’s a lovely snowglobe world out. Incredibly slick. But lovely.
I’ve been racking my brain to think of what to get certain family members for Christmas. Normally I’m better prepared. I am prepared, actually; I just don’t think I have the time to do what I originally planned.
11 Dec
I now possess shiny keys for my new place. The keys aren’t new. But at least they are coded. The red one is for the deadbolt. The “new” green is for the handle. The “old” green is for the back door.
Spiderman opens the front door.
We couldn’t figure out what the Buffalo opens.
Does it amuse me that I will now be jangling a handful of keys, two of which proudly display Spiderman and the CU Buffs logo? Yes. Especially since I have no ties to either of those, but people think I will, because hey, look, fancy keys!
17 Nov
I’m currently listening to a newly downloaded acoustic version of Phil Wickham’s latest album (in stores today), which means I’m reeling with warm-and-fuzzies and general swoon-like reactions.
So perhaps it’s time to tackle Saturday Night Cabin Time.
Where to begin?
First, let me set the record straight. I liked our guest speaker, Jake. As mentioned yesterday, I respect the fact that he took on this difficult challenge and tried to find a way to make it accessible to our kids, that he willingly shared what are very likely personal and vulnerable parts of his life. (Plus, he’s the one who tipped me off that Phil Wickham was coming out with a new album this week, so he’s automatically a friend-for-life.)
Second, I have to confess that I have this bizarre habit of unconsciously mimicking people. I’ve been working on growing more aware and stopping it before it starts (or before it gets out of hand). I’m cautious when I’m around people with strong accents, because I will pick up their accent, whether I like it or not. I’ll mirror gestures and verbal tics. I think it’s my brain and body trying to reassure the person I’m engaging, that I’m listening and care about what they have to say by responding in kind.
But it may not seem that way for them.
So when I discovered I was recapping the evening’s teach-time by mimicking Jake’s posture and vocal inflection, I laughed it off to the girls and made some silly little joke that I don’t recall at the moment.
But that was when the floodgates opened and whoosh, there went cabin time.
You see, it turns out that our guest speaker managed to alienate and royally piss off my entire cabin.
16 Nov
The last Silver Cliff weekend.
I’ve been wrestling with how to describe the weekend. I’ll admit I went a little manic in an effort to make it the “Best Weekend Evah!” – which was also an attempt to disguise and ignore the fact that it saddens me to think that I may not return to a place that has brought me so many amazing adventures and memories.
I did cry, in case you’re wondering. But in the privacy of the bathroom so no one could make fun of my ridiculous tears.
Not that they would. I love this youth staff. But knowing this was my last Silver Cliff is also knowing that I’ve only a month left with the youth. And while I’m confident I’m making the right move in stepping down from this ministry, it still kills me a little inside. I love these students. Even the ones that drive me batty.
However. On to Silver Cliff!
3 Nov
Arrived safe’n’sound from the little 50-seater express flight from Little Rock to home.
I missed all the snow.
Which makes me sad.
Because, as you know, I lovelovelove snow. Especially the kind that makes you snowbound — and then melts of in a couple of days. (I came back to a hefty two feet of snow on my porch — today, it’s all melted off, like it never was.)
But I’m a wiser employee now. Or something.
All told, my memories of Little Rock will be of rain, super-friendly people, rain, trying to explain to super-friendly taxi drivers where this unknown meeting place is, rain, my guitar-playing-shower-singing neighbor, rain, and oh, did I mention TORRENTIAL POURING RAIN?
I’ll find out in a few weeks whether I’ll be certified (aka passed the test). I’m pretty sure I will be, despite some agonizing minutes when I realized I had miscalculated something in the very beginning and had to do the whole thing over again. (Ah, reminds me of those ITBS testing days… scantron sheet ‘n’ everything).
At least I didn’t get off a line.
I’m off to buy a new electric kettle. Mine decided to stop working today. Which made me said, because I had to heat up the water in the microwave, and that, my friends, is just not the same. (And if you think I’m going to use my terrifying gas stove to boil water, you’re crazy).
24 Oct
The thing about working on Saturdays is I accomplish so much more than I do on a workday.
Maybe it’s because there are fewer distractions (no phone ringing, and if it is, I’m not obligated to answer; no clients requesting my presence at the front desk; no questions/issues to solve from other workmates).
Maybe it’s because I feel the pressure to get a lot done so I don’t feel grumpy about coming in on a weekend.
Maybe it’s because I feel I need to work harder for that time-and-a-half pay.
Maybe it’s because I turn up the volume and listen to whatever dang music I want without worrying about disturbing anyone else.
Yes, it’s that last one. I’m sure of it.
