Today, at the beginning of all things..

Today marks the end of the 2 week marathon that has been back to school prep.  School starts today!

It seems like my entire summer waiting for things to be done.  Waiting for carpeting for my office.  Waiting for the asbestos tiles to be removed.  Waiting for the shelves in the library to be taken down. Waiting for the quote for buying tables.  Waiting for my old junky furniture to be hauled away.  Waiting for my office to be put back together.

So of course, everything happened all at once.  The library shelves, the carpeting, the tiles.  Unfortunately not everything has happened.  Many of the contents of my office are still in he hall.  The junky furniture is still around.

Why?  The elevator in our building has been down for the last two weeks.  And all you nay sayers can tell me to just take the stairs all you want.  Have you tried to move heavy furniture down stairs?  Isn't it easier when there's an elevator?

So there I am.  Students are here.  I've bees basically running stairs for two weeks trying to cater lunches and clean up classrooms.

You know what?  I'm tired.  I've been getting 12,000 to 15,000 steps a day.  I've been having anxiety over the state of the department library.  And it's the time where everything is happening all at once.

Someone want to come bring me a margarita?  Please?

What a long strange week it's been....

The week before classes starts is usually this mad push to get everything done.  This year it's had some extra challenges.  Well, one challenge...

The building's elevator is being repaired!

And we just got new carpeting....

And rooms were painted....

So this was my week:

• Monday:  The contents of my office were in the hall.  But the asbestos-y tiles in my office were gone.  No elevator.  My list of unwanted furniture grew
• Tuesday: The carpeting arrived!  I then decided to start moving the furniture back into my office. 
• Wednesday:  I walked all over campus and rubbed all the skin off my little toe.
• Thursday and Friday:  I hauled crap everywhere!  Boards and shelving from the 3rd and 4th floors down to the second floor.  Food and sodas from my car to the library.  Food from various locations in town to the library...
• Saturday was PrideFest:  It was hot, and humid, and rainy....  I think my lips are sun burnt and now I'm dehydrated.  I think I might have enjoyed it more if I wasn't do damn tired!

I averaged 12,000 steps a day.  

Mind you, after I rubbed the skin off my toe, I stopped running.  That's a lot of steps!!  After seeing the totals, I felt rather OK with not exercising.  Apparently I was getting enough at work.

That craziness is over now.  This week is going to be spent waiting for the elevator to work again, and for Moving and Storage to haul many, many, many things away.

In other news, I start a new DietBet today.  Coincidentally, I also have to step up my half-marathon training.  Let's hope the promise of money will help me cheat less and exercise more!

And let's hope that 

Ferguson

I've watched the events unfold, and it's taken me a few days to figure out my feelings...

• I don't know why the regular police force is that darn armed.  I've heard accounts from military folks that claim the police are holding their guns in way that are threatening.  Seriously, this isn't Kabul.
• Protesting is a protected right.  And if you're simply standing there chanting, who are you hurting.  Why do the police feel the need to pepper spray people who are simply sitting and protesting.  Who are they hurting?
• Now looting and rioting is another thing all together.  Seriously, I get that you're pissed off, but does that give you the right to break into someone's business and take their stuff?  How is this solving anything?  And meeting violence with violence is never a smart idea.
• We all know that this comes down to race.  I don't think there would have been shots fired if it was a white guy. 
• And here's John Oliver, who said it better than I ever could:

What a long strange trip it's been.

I've been living out of moving boxes for weeks.  Not at home, but at work.

Why?  I'm getting new carpet.  Friday happened and my office started to look like this:

The Spousal Equivalent needed to be picked up from work, so we decided to make a night of it.  It's been a long, stressful week all around, and we decided that

We went to Busch Gardens to conquer my fears!

First up:  the Battering Ram.  I realized that I have a heights thing... so we decided to do the hard ride first.  We sat in the middle.  The easy seats.  It was terrifying!

But I did it!

I was dinner, so we went to New France for some BBQ.  While we were eating, I received a text.  A friend decided that she needed to have some fun too, so she decided to join us!

They went on Griffin.  We went on the Carousel.  We all squeezed into one car on Le Catapult.  (My new favorite ride).  We laughed harder than we have in a while.  It was wonderful!

Before we left I decided to try Trade Winds.  Loved it!

Saturday I decided to get stuff done.  I organized my clothes into my new fabric drawers.  I put up shelving.  I even weeded the garden!

We had free tickets, so we decided to see Guardians of the Galaxy again.  (In 3D IMAX this time, since it was free!).

Sunday, I mad a migraine.  There was much cuddling.

Monday the carpeting was supposed to be replaced.  One room was.  Which wasn't?  My office!

If you need me this week, I'll be on a borrowed laptop, on a TV tray, in my coworker's office.

Because there might be asbestos (or something) tiles in mine.

Great....

Pain in my brain!

The last few days have been rough around work....

You know that stressed feeling you get before you move, and you're living surrounded by boxes?

Well, that's me.  At work.  Except we only have a vague idea when the movers will be around...   You see, the carpeting in my office is getting replaced... so everything needs to be moved out, then moved back in again.  This, plus a few more projects have been a mite stressful.

Of course, all this stress has translated into pain.  Pain in my jaw.  It's taken me a while to recognize what I'm doing to myself...

When you swallow, you press your tongue to the top of your mouth.  So I swallow, and leave my tongue there.  I'm not grinding my teeth, I'm clenching my jaw.

What does this mean? That my face hurts.  My entire face.  My jaw.  My chin. My neck.  And we won't even get into the migraine that I've been living with....

How do I fix this?  Destress!!

A massage or a chiropractic adjustment might help, but it'll be another week until I can afford that.

I wish you could get margaritas delivered.....

The Worst Monday in the history of Mondays

(This is a post that was started on the 15th.... and not posted until the window was repaired)

After a long day at work, I went home.  Dinner was started.

I turned on the stove, to let my griddle pan warm up.  I then put some frozen veggies in a pan and turned it on.  I ran outside to pull a few weeds.

And the door locked behind me.

I'm out there.  No keys.  No phone.  No shoes.

What else could I do?  I panicked.

I tried to bust through my door.  No dice.

Finally a nice bystander offered to get over the fence to my back yard and break the window in my laundry room door.  I walked over broken glass, and turned off the stove.

And then I lost it.  It was a panic attack of epic proportions.  (So bad that I was shaky the NEXT day).  I called a multitude of people.  many came over to make sure that I was physically ok.

Friends came over.  The glass was cleaned up.  The glass was picked out of my feet.  I eventually cleaned the kitchen, and even managed to salvage my pans from the burnt dinner.

What is up with the face?????

The Spousal Equivalent ran out to the closest fast food joint and came back with a Happy Meal.  He knows what I like.

I discovered that the dog took a crap on the bed.  I'm not surprised.

Which was the perfect end to the crappiest day!




For a few weeks we lived with the cardboard on the door.  The dog's kennel was upstairs.  Life was a tad disrupted.

But yesterday that all changed!

Thanks to the most wonderful friend ever (and a trip to Lowes) my door is fixed!!

I now have to get a vacuum and make sure all the glass and paint chips and calk are up....

But it's fixed!!


And now I'm OBSESSIVE about having my keys on me.