My old friend Pinot Grigio and I are getting reacquainted tonight. And after this week (and a half), I deserve it.
You know all my old hang ups from the other place I worked. Or maybe you don’t, but suffice it to say they are plenty. So last week was crazy trying to get ready for this week. This week started with a two day trip to Indianapolis, where we spent a total of nine hours (I think) presenting. On the plane home I feel asleep hard. Client meetings are draining, even if they go well, which they did. There always is a client meeting hangover. I never got my second wind, so I went to bed last night at 8:00, lights out at 8:30. Today we had a new business pitch, where the potential clients came in to the office for another four hour meeting.
Why do I think I am crazy? Because everything went well, like I knew it would. But that didn’t stop me from having several panic attacks over the weekend about it. What am I going to wear? What am I going to say? Why can’t I breathe?
Seriously, though. I may have mentioned this before, but I do think that my anxiety has gotten worse since the drive-by. All of a sudden I find myself short of breath, with fear gripping my heart, over the stupidest things. And I know it is irrational. It doesn’t make sense, right? I mean, I am rational to a fault.
Um, I have lost interest in myself. I think it might have something to do with the wine.
Oreos are interesting. I like crushed Oreos a lot - the kind you would find in ice cream, shakes, and, yes, pie. Oreo as a plain old cookie I was never so much into.
I am making a co-worker Oreo brownies for Christmas. At least I am when I go to the store and get butter. But I only need one and a half cups of crushed Oreos, which means I will have a lot leftover. I needed a taste of something sweet, so I thought I would take just one. That was Saturday and I forgot about them until now. For some reason, tonight they taste amazing. It’s almost like I had never truly tasted an Oreo until now.
Or maybe I am just stressed.
I returned to work this week. Tuesday night I started getting a stomachache like I did when I still worked at my old job. The stomachache was a sign of impending doom. I was mostly confused when the alarm went off at 6:30 AM and spent a good portion of the time before I left the house wandering around my condo trying to remember how I get myself to work. I finally figured it out and made it.
When I got to work I remember one key point of difference - I actually like my job. I like what I am doing and I like who I am doing it with. I felt silly about the stomachache from the night before.
So I feel like I had a million things to blog about since we last spoke and now I can’t remember any of them. I had brunch today with coworker Sharon and her friend LeAnn. It was great fun and we discussed starting a brunch club. Since brunch is my favorite meal (it seems more efficient eating two meals at the same time), I am very excited about the idea.
Maybe I will remember what it is that I was going to say. Then again, maybe I won’t.
So the last couple days must have been hysterical.
I had it all worked out - I’d go to my brother’s house on Friday to meet up with some old friends, then travel with him to my parents’ house on Sunday for our family Christmas. On Monday afternoon, I’d head back into the city and attend one of the handful of invitations I’d received for ringing in the New Year. Then I’d have a whole day to myself before I ended the nearly two week vacation I’ve been on and return to work.
The weather was the first deterrent, causing our friends to postpone their arrival from Friday to Saturday. The planned meal was frozen and adjustments were made. On Saturday I woke up with pink eye, as the majority of my brother’s kids had it the weekend prior, when we were all at my parents’ house for my grandmother’s birthday. Despite the stinging in my eye, we had a lovely Saturday; enjoying conversation with old friends.
The second deterrent came shortly after our arrival at our parents’ house. “Tummy. Ache,” my two-year-old niece said over and over. Thinking it was a reference to a book where Cookie Monster also had a tummy ache, we didn’t pay much attention. That is, until the vomiting started. In different rooms Mary and her brother began to vomit almost at exactly the same time.
When we woke up in the morning, Mary and Ben had spent the night vomiting, as did their older sister Priscilla. There were sick buckets everywhere. Then I realized that I didn’t feel so good. I moved to the couch and slept for most of the morning. Then I thought I was being a wuss, so I decided to take a shower to see if I felt better. By the time I got out of the shower, I had no remaining energy. I barely got my pjs back on before I fell out of the door and on to the couch. I laid down for thirty minutes before I could get back up and put my contacts back in and finish getting ready.
So I guess I wasn’t faking it.
My mom took my temperature and it turns out I did have a fever. So much for my plans. But, as my brother said, it was the cutest flu I ever had. My two-year-old niece was my “nurse,” bringing me water, toast and my shoes. Technically I didn’t ask for my shoes, but it was really important to her that I not only have them, but was also wearing them.
By the time I started feeling better, I thought I could maybe make it back into the city for the party(s). Except there was a blizzard. Plus, it would have been stupid to extend myself in that capacity. Instead I spent the final hours of 2007 with my family, playing dominoes and watching a movie. We actually did stay up until midnight, though no one would kiss me (not even my own mother) because of the flu and pink eye.
I am back in the city, and have accomplished a lot today. The laundry is clean, folded and put away, the bills are paid, the papers on my desk are organized and filed, everything is unpacked and the house is tidy. I even filed my benefit claims and sewed the buttons back on my coat.
I can’t believe I have to go to work tomorrow. Thank goodness it is a short week. I need to ease back into the swing of things. Ease.