Do you need some time. On your own.

The days just fly by and I forget to blog!

Not really. I think about it and then I don’t do it, that’s the real problem.

Anyway, Halloween came and went, and I didn’t do any of the dressing up I’d planned, not even a good bible character. I did go to the church party, however, and was very impressed by everyone’s costumes. Also, we had to act out skits as part of the fun, and two different groups chose the story of Elisha and the kids and the bears, which is a gruesome story, but super fun to act out. Hey, at least we can have fun with Old Testament horror.

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My current obsession is Battlestar Galactica. I am, as one of my co-workers said, the “Michael Phelps of DVD watching” and that is true. But mostly because I become obsessed and stay up too late and watch nothing but episode after episode. In a week I’ve finished Season 1 and moved on to Season 2. And I was just reading an article online (completely unrelated to BSG) where someone had posted a list of names in the comment section. I passed over that comment without really paying attention, but then I noticed that someone in the same thread was like “OMG BSG spoiler” and I realized that the list of names WAS related to BSG and also probably was a spoiler. I closed the window quickly, but you can’t un-see that! I actually wish the second commenter hadn’t pointed it out.

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The heat is not on in my house yet! It’s a holiday miracle! After a freezing cold October, November really warmed up and thus I haven’t had to turn the heat on, nor has it turned ITSELF on. If I can make it to Thanksgiving, that will be amazing.

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I have to do a lot of phone call interviews for work these days, and it blows. I hate hate hate the phone and everything about phone calls—unless it’s to people I know very well—and even then I’m just as happy with email and texts and IMs. So I’m stalling on the phone interviews bigtime, but I can’t put it off forever. The dreading is actually worse than the calling, so I should just bite the bullet and deal.

A Cricket Near Penn Square

I came to Barnes and Noble to work and kill some time this afternoon – it’s interesting to see what people are up to in the middle of the day. It’s been a weird week for working – on Wednesday I bailed altogether and went to Delaware with my cousins. But this is one of the perks of working remotely; I’ve got to get my social interaction SOMEHOW.

There’s a girl sitting near me who looks like she’s about twelve, although she might be older or younger. I can only WISH we’d had a Barnes and Noble when I was 12—I would’ve been there every weekend for a sugary drink and BOOKS! As it is now, I come to the big chain bookstores now to read the books I don’t want to wait for at the library—usually 3 or 4 hours and I’m all finished and happy. But I think of all the times I spent waiting to either buy or borrow books back when I was 14, and it makes me sad. I could’ve had such good afternoons at B&N!

My house is overrun by crickets. I’ve killed one in the kitchen and one in my bedroom. I’ve seen one in the basement that I didn’t bother to kill. And then last night, when the lights were off and the computer was on, a freaking cricket hopped across my laptop. Hopped slowly, not jumped, which is good. Had it come flying out of nowhere onto my laptop, I probably would’ve screamed. And then I couldn’t find it to kill it. I don’t love killing bugs, but I draw the line when they show up in my bed.

As far as bug infestations go, crickets aren’t the worst. (Although there is one currently in my kitchen tweeting away that needs to die. Talk about annoying.) But the thing is, I really hate the hopping things. They’re just so unpredictable – they could be in your hair or your mouth or up your pant leg at any moment! – and that’s what makes me crazy. Mice, too, because they can run so fast. Give me roaches and stink bugs and snakes and even spiders any day. While they can run and slither, they don’t seem so uncontrollable.

This is the first year I’ve ever seen crickets in my house, though, and it’s very strange. Where are they coming from—and why?

Okay, back to work. I need to go research baby boomer marketing strategies.

Silence is Golden

This week has been very busy . . . I’m at a convention that lasts all week, and I’m working, and I’m spending a lot of time with people, none of whom I’m very close to, although we all get along just fine.

But I’m running up against my natural introversion tendencies, mixed with my desire to NOT be an introvert and somehow suddenly become sparkling and witty and the center of most social interactions. When will I learn that wishing for this is a lost cause?

The theme of this convention, so far, for me, has been kind of crazy hippie talk – at least those are the conversations I’ve been listening to. Really good stuff about living out your Christian values in communities, where everyone shares their stuff and isn’t focused on getting ahead or making money or whatever. I may run off and join a commune (or not). Community living would require interaction with PEOPLE on a regular basis. And I like SOME people, in small doses. So once again my introversion conflicts with what I actually think I should be doing.

I’m exhausted now, and ready to sleep, but I think I’ll try to write up a summary of the event I attended today, which I have to do for work. I don’t want to forget what happened.

Indiana Wants Me

I’m in Indiana this week to reconnect with the co-workers, attend some planning meetings, and just generally remind everybody that yes, I still work here. It’s fun to be here for a week, unlike my last six week stint, which just got really LONG. It’s nice to be able to go home on Saturday.

Tonight is the first night the sun’s really been shining since I arrived, and it’s freaking amazing . . . light until after 9 PM. I think the official sunset time is 9:12 or so these days, and my boss said in late June there will be light in the sky at 10:30. The state just started observing Daylight Savings Time, and my boss, a lifelong resident of Indiana, believes that’s just TOO much light time. Or at least, too much in the evening.

Speaking of my boss, tonight I had dinner with her and her husband, who are just a couple of hilarious nerds. They didn’t get married until they were in their late 30s, and they don’t have any kids, and they crack each other up with cynicism and goofiness. Since I am also a cynical and goofy nerd, I like hanging out with them. I made some jokes tonight that genuinely made them laugh, too, which always makes me pleased. My lifelong goal is to be the kind of person who cracks other people up—both fun AND funny—but I’m so not there yet.

However, today was a good day for my joke-to-flop ratio.

My boss also told me about sporcle.com, which is a trivia site full of categories, and all you do is type answers that fit within those. It’s so addicting. Can you name all the people, places, and things in the song We Didn’t Start the Fire? I would’ve said I could get most of them, but HA! Sporcle proved me wrong.

I’m done blogging! Off to play more Sporcle . . . .

Whatever Gets You THROUGH the Day

Today was my last physical therapy appointment for the knee injury. It’s not back to normal, but I think I’ve reached the outer limits of what PT can do. Basically what I’ve been doing there is just stuff I should be doing at the gym anyway – lunges, wall sits, etc. And it is nice to feel like I have a quad muscle again, as opposed to just a limp and floppy wet noodle.

Work is work. I miss the fun and excitement of my old job, but like the freedom and flexibility of not having a boss or coworkers in the area. I come and go as I please, and the longer I work like this, the harder it’s going to be for me to return to real work life . . . "You mean you want to me to be there at 8 AM?!"

Today Starbucks sold the last scone right out from under me . . . I had ordered it, but then the drive-through worker came up and took it for HIS customer. So I had to settle for an apple bran muffin. Blech.

Also: I do not like that “thru” is becoming an acceptable usage in written communication. I realize that language is always changing, and someday we’ll prolly all rite in txt spk, but I’d like to keep that day as far off as possible.

Fight back: use THROUGH!

Bloggy

Wha?!

Yes, I'm updating my blog. Does anyone even check this thing anymore?

Honestly, I don't know what happened. I turned 30 and I quit blogging. I felt like I didn't have anything to say anymore, but then I found out I do and I've just been suppressing it.

So I'm back, baby!

And here's what's happened . . .
--New president! Super exciting. Although less exciting now that we're in the thick of it than it was when it actually happened. Election day (and night) were so great, though. I can go back and watch footage whenever I'm feeling down and it makes me feel better.

--New job! Stuff started going to hell at my old job, my homegirls were both laid off, and I decided to get out before they forced me out. I'm lucky I found a job, quite frankly, and I'm surprised I've made still employed through the Great Recession (so far). So I'm still writing, and I'm writing things that are COMPLETELY OPPOSITE of what I was writing before. This writing is better for my conscious, but the old writing was fun, I must admit. (I've explained this to several people, and they always ask if I wrote porn at my old job. I don't know why saying it this way makes people think porn, but there was no porn involved.)

--Bad knee! I had to go to Indiana for job training and ended up dislocating my kneecap, which I like to tell people about because it skeeves them out. My kneecap was on the SIDE OF MY LEG, people! But it's all mostly recovered and I can almost bend it back as far as it used to go.

--New glasses! You turn 30 and your body falls apart. My eyes seem to be progressively getting worse; I'm fighting back.

Other than that, well, things remain the same. And I'm in local coffee shop that plays mostly songs I have on my iPod, which is weird and disconcerting. Also, every time I turn into the parking lot at the gym, I hear the new song by Plain White T's (not Delilah). This has happened THREE times and I never hear it at any other time . . . and I go to the gym at different times.

Strange.

Ahhh . . . Freak Out!

What is going on in the world? Seriously. Banks collapsing, the election going into the toilet, me not writing in my blog.

I recommend the Wikipedia article on the Great Depression. Very interesting stuff. I'm in the middle of reading it right now, because I can't focus on one thing at a time. My mind is easily distracted.

I talked briefly with my brother on Monday night, about turning 30 and my mild freakouts, which I like to play up for dramatic effect. He joked about talking me out of it--"it's just a number"--but really I don’t have much to be talked out of. When I'm good, I'm good. When I'm not feeling happy, turning 30 is just one more thing. This sucks and this sucks and this sucks AND I'm turning 30. Wahhh!

Christmas Eve is 14 weeks from today, if you were wondering. A woman at my 2nd job occasionally updates on us on where we are in relation to Xmas.

I don't know what else is happening. I had to change seats at work, a change that left me bereft and with no one to talk to. Our dept. (my old dept., now) has a reputation of being the chatty ones, not the hardest workers, and I used to think that reputation unfounded. Now that I moved though, I see everyone else just plugging away on their computers, rarely stopping to exchange more than a few words of chat, and I guess maybe it wasn't entirely unjustified. Still, I never felt as though the chat negatively affected my work. Writing doesn't work like that.

If we lived in the time of Mad Men we'd not only be chatting, but drinking, too!

Facebook is weirding me out these days. High school people, who I haven't actually thought about since about 1996, keep showing up and friending me, and then I've got all my current work friends, my relatives, and they're all there together in the People You May Know sidebar. Worlds are colliding! Soon my entire friend/acquaintance base will be on Facebook!

Except my dad. I can't quite imagine that. (if he ever reads this, he'll join just to prove me wrong)

It's 9:45, I’m at job #2, still waiting for the work to pick up. Sometimes I sit here more than I actually DO anything. If the Depression happens all over again, I'm toast.

Collection

I really, really like the new Coldplay single.

Season 5 of The Wire comes out in August! My coworker (my supplier) has promised he's buying it and will let me watch it! But my homegirl (who got hooked after I did) has downloaded it illegally and gets to watch it. I refuse to let her speak about it.

Why, oh why, do people get obsessed with living with bears?

I think yet another person at my office is getting separated/divorced. That's the rumor, anyway. That makes four in the department in the last 18 months.

I've become the default city dog-sitter. I may never get to sleep in on a Saturday again. I wonder if I could turn this into a business? I think I could SEO the heck out of a dog-sitting website.

Have I talked here about my girlcrush on Michelle Obama? She's just awesome, and I love her and Barack. One of my homegirls and I squeal about the two of them every other day. Sometimes I just love being ridiculous.

Friday Dos & Don'ts

I don’t like getting random invitations to Facebook events that I have no intention of attending from people I barely speak to or know.

I do like leaving work early and going to Chicago for the weekend.

I don’t like bad coffee.

I do like laughing hysterically with my co-workers.

I don’t like when my breakfast oatmeal dries on the inside of the bowl.

I do like hearing a Sales guy singing “Bleeding Love” in falsetto.

Bring in Da Noise

I expressed my displeasure with the heat already, but good gracious it’s hot *fans herself with southern lady fan and sips mint julep* Yesterday the air conditioning in our office malfunctioned, making the temperature (inside) climb into the 80s. We got out early as a result! Today, however, everything seems to be working fine.

My house, on the other hand, is a sauna. I’m fighting a losing battle against the heat with my window A/C. My fridge seemed suspiciously warm this morning, too, which makes me think the motor has given up trying to keep things cool. Last time my fridge motor died I had lots of stuff in the freezer that promptly rotted; right now I just have some old bananas which I was saving to make banana bread (when? probably in the year 2024), so I’m not so worried.

So, life is mostly quiet. I’m hoping for a giant crashing thunderstorm tonight.

2000 Years of Theological Debate Summed Up in One Brief Exchange
Co-Writer: Who's that baby? (pointing at my newest cousin, who's in my rotating picture slide show)
Me: My cousin's baby. He met [Designer]'s niece at the picnic last night.
Designer: He was eyeing her up? He better watch out--her mom won't want her to marry someone who's not a Christian.
Me: Oh, he's a Christian.*
[Laughter]
Designer: Maybe everyone's a Christian when they're 3 months old.
Me: Or maybe NO ONE is.

*This is not exactly what I meant to say, but it produced laughs, so I went with it. I'm mostly funny unintentionally.

Friday, Friday

Some things I do on a Friday (besides actual work):
--Eat at least one doughnut covered in either chocolate or peanut butter chips and glaze. Also possibly coconut.
--Talk to one of my co-writers about LOST and what the heck is going on
--Talk about how great it would be to get out early, but recognize that we got out early last week.
--Make a new rule with the homegirls that we are not going to bitch about anything before noon.
--Go out to lunch with a random collection of co-workers
--Discuss with random lunching co-workers if we'll get out early. Vote is no.
--Come back and start bitching.
--Listen to one or both of the homegirls complain about their boyfriends and said boyfriends' lack of ability to READ THEIR MINDS.
--Discuss why Russian and Thousand Island Dressing are essentially the same but have different names.
--Wonder aloud if we'll get out early. Decide we won't.
--Figure out if we were making 20,000 pounds per year how much our salary would be ($39,500)
--Get an email from boss saying because it's my anniversary I can leave at 4 PM.
Peace out.

Getting Warmer

It’s officially summer when the office temperature drops to ungodly cold levels. Today we had a meeting in one of the conference rooms and my teeth were literally chattering. It doesn’t help that summer means less clothing. I really should’ve learned my lesson the past two summers I’ve worked here and started dressing in lots of layers.

But nope, still wearing short-sleeves, a skirt, and sandals.

My official work anniversary isn’t until Friday, but two years ago I started here on the day after Memorial Day, so it was very much like today (plus I was wearing the same skirt and sandals!). My department contains four people who were here when I started and everyone else is newer (and younger) than me. Three people who were here when I started are gone, and there have been several others who both came and left in the time that I’ve been here.

So I suppose this is a time for self-reflection, thinking about my job and what my goals are and all that. I’m actually still not sure, although I have a clearer picture of what I want to do and how. And, wonder of wonders, I’m getting actual experience in a career that I might want, instead of a bunch of random office skills that I have to find a way to bullshit into a resume.

I’ve never been one for narrowing my options. Even now, at this job, I find myself fighting against being pigeon-holed. I don’t just want to write print, I want to write online. And marketing. Emails and brochures and ads and corporate materials and banners and direct response and whatever the opposite of that is. I can and will do it all! (It helps that I’m the only copywriter, or this stuff would’ve been divvied out a long time ago). But it’s mostly because I’m trying to keep my options open. To learn and do as much as I can, so that I’m qualified for everything (and specialized in nothing). I’ve already given up on sociology and urban planning and historic preservation and wedding planning and all the other career ideas I once entertained. Let me keep my options open at least here, in this little niche, for as long as possible.

(Plus the more I do on my own, the more valuable I am as an employee. Ha!)

And now I think it's time for some hot chocolate.

Boggle

You know what’s bewildering?

1) The six sections in the Mother’s Day edition of the Sunday paper devoted to pictures of mothers & their children. Just photos of women, with children, and names. They do this on Mother’s Day, and a couple of other times each year, and it boggles my mind. Is it that exciting to get your picture in a special newspaper supplement? Does your picture really need that legitimation? Do you just want people to look at you?

2) My skin and facials. The last time I got a facial, my skin looked amazing the day after. This time, not so much. In fact, it looks considerably worse. And I know that can happen if you use chemical peels and stuff, but it’s not that kind of worse. It’s broken out, marked up, disgusting kind of worse. I’m still holding out for post-facial miracle skin, but I doubt it’s going to happen, and it’s making me doubt everything the esthetician told me.
Granted, my skin is like its own little oil factory, and if they could set up refineries on the surface of my face, well, we’d go some distance toward ending the energy crisis.

But that’s why I GOT the facial. Clearly I need a new plan.

3) People who name their children things like Ryleigh MaKaeighla and think that they’re being individuals or “different.” No. Unique spellings do not make you an individual. They’re just a pain in the ass for everyone who comes in contact with them—and hello! it’s still pronounced Riley Michaela. The name Michaela was a perfectly interesting name until the unique spelling people got a hold of it—it lends itself nicely to mutations—and although I’ve never seen it spelled in the freaky version I used, I have no doubt there are worse variations out there.

(But I am a bit of a hypocrite, because Anne and Katherine are 100x preferable to Ann and Catherine, and I can’t explain why. But at least they’re all widely accepted and common spellings).

4) Why someone in our office would throw a perfectly good 9x13 aluminum pan into the trash. Not a particularly dirty pan, nor a cheap throwaway pan. A actual brownie/lasagna thick walled metal pan that just needs to be washed.

Post It

So nobody guessed anything on my last entry. Dudes! It’s Bunk and McNulty! There’s a guy who illustrates a bunch of The Wire characters in Simpson form. There are only 5, but you can see them all here.

Last week was Employee Appreciation Day here at the old job. We got lots o’ free food throughout the week, including two breakfasts. One day was video game day and I played Wii for the first time (tennis=hard, bowling=not so hard) and got a chair massage. Guitar Hero was also set up in the big room right across from my desk. If I hear Slow Ride one more time . . . .

May is quickly becoming my favorite month, I think. It’s just about perfect. The weather is mostly awesome and everything seems happy and full of potential. I take trips, Memorial Day comes (our first holiday off since New Year’s) and summer hasn’t gotten hot and old yet. Also this May I got an extra $600, which is pretty sweet and makes everything a little better.

I thought I had something of interest to write here. Apparently not.

Cha. Ching.

So all the buzz in the office today is about our money. Or the government’s money. Or whatever is going to be showing up in our bank accounts in the next week as a special gift from GWB. The homegirls and I all have direct deposit, and I’ve got the good fortune to have an SSN that ends in 02, so I’ve been expecting my money to appear all day.

So far, nothing.

*Please note, we all think this a bad idea. But neither are we going to complain when some faceless entity decides to give our strapped-for-cash-selves 600 bones. (Yes, I just used the term “bones.” I hope I used it correctly.)

Oh, a "no sugar" update. I actually have been eating some sugar—my plan to go completely cold turkey didn’t work, but that’s okay, because cold turkey is a bad idea anyway. I did, however, cut WAY back in the last two weeks and even went a few days eating no sugar at all. As for life improvement, I have noticed that I have more energy and don’t wind up completely exhausted after work or mid-afternoon. And I think I lost like 4 pounds, which is pretty sweet. In a completely sugar-free way.

And now we’ll stop discussing my eating habits, because really—who cares?

The weather here is dismal. I had a fun weekend. Now I’m going to go check my bank account again.

Tell me more, tell me more

Today in the office we were discussing gossip and if we like to know exactly what is going on with our coworkers. Drama, firings, romances, sex, whatever. My homegirls were both adamant that they don’t want to know this stuff, especially about coworkers they don’t really hang out with. But, as in most instances*, I came down on the opposite side of the fence from the two of them. I want to know everything. Indeed, I can’t imagine NOT wanting to know. If there is information out there, I want it. That’s why I love the internet. And trivia. I’m an information pack rat.

Now, granted, I only want to know stuff that doesn’t require any work. I don’t want to know calculus, for example, unless I can comprehend it in about five minutes. But I want all the gossip and news and political intrigue. I want to know weird science facts and what’s the latest in the marketing world, and the most popular baby names, and yes, even who’s sleeping with whom, both in Hollywood and right here in old Lancaster County, PA.

So I will never ever understand people who don’t care.

And I kind of think they’re lying.

*Other things my homegirls hate that I like: baby showers, the preppy look, really sugary things, organized religion.

Not Done Yet

Nearly everyone in my department left early today, so I’m very bored. And sleepy. And dreading the fact that I have to do second job tonight, too. I’m not scheduled to work on Fridays, but this is a special case. I guess I’m getting in good with the boss, although I’m not sure what good that will do me in the long run. So maybe I should’ve just said no. Hello, my name is Melanie and I’m a pleaser.

Having this second job has really cut down on my sit-around-and-think time, which is good and bad. Good, because I don’t have as much time to worry about stuff (although that gets done anyway) and bad because I need my think time. If I don’t get it I get burned out – or something. It’s hard to describe, but it’s a feeling that everything’s moving too fast, the world’s spinning faster and faster, and I’m not a part of it. It’s crazy-making. So working tonight isn’t helping. Friday nights are generally my fall-asleep-after-work-and-then-goof-around-on-the-internet nights.

Today’s big work discussion: is putting “Get Laid Off” on a magazine cover a bad thing? Because of the “Get Laid” phrasing. Understand? Yeah, I didn’t either. The presence of the word “Off” changes everything.

In better news, spring is coming and I just got a $50 gift card to Outback. Who wants to go Outback [tomorrow] night?

Workin' & Writin'

I just wrote about how life was gaining momentum, and now I feel like it’s transitioning. To what, I don’t know, but it seems like everything is just—happening. Momentum to Momentous. People are moving and having babies and buying houses and blah, blah. I don’t know why it feels this way all of a sudden, though, since people are always doin’ stuff—probably something to do with spring.

Last week I was complaining about work, so today I’ll do the opposite. Every day I have to send my work out for various approvals—to sales, to clients, etc. It’s the bane of every copywriter’s existence, I think. But one of my production managers (who’s sort of the go-between) is hilarious. She loves exclamation points (which I wrote about here) and whenever something I write is approved by Sales, I get emails like: “he approved!!! Great job!!!” or today, when I literally wrote five words for her: “PERFECT!” Since I know she’s sincerely sweet, it’s always a little self-esteem boost. Damn right it’s perfect.

I’m rereading Bird by Bird right now, because I figured I could use a little writing inspiration. One of the things Anne Lamott writes about is K-Fucked Radio—that little station that plays—in stereo—in your head. In one ear the constant voice telling you you’re awesome, that people should bow down to you and your work, and in the other ear the consistent nagging voice that says you’re not good enough, what you do isn’t good enough, and that you should probably quit now. It’s the best description I’ve ever heard of that particular phenomenon, and I’ve embraced it wholly. Not the station, just the fact that it exists. Anne Lamott’s whole thing is that you have to believe you can do it, and jump in. Even if what you end up with is crap.


(I went to hyperlink to the book and got hung up reading the negative reviews on Amazon--wow. I realize that this book may not offer deep in-depth writing instruction (that's not the point), but good grief there are a lot of hateful people out there. It's funny that the condemnation in the negative reviews sounds exactly like the hateful (anonymous) crap that people post on blog comments. Who are these people and why are they so unhappy?)

I was thinking I had something else to write about. Easter, maybe, but that’s gone. More posts when I come up with something.

Wired

Spring isn't quite here yet, but more light after work and days where I throw my coat on without bundling up are making it seem imminent. And then there are plans being made--Florida this weekend, Easter next weekend, even some summer weekends. Very slowly, it seems like everything is gaining momentum--life is gaining momentum.

I'm working my second job now. Typing ads two nights a week. It's interesting, kind of mindless and relaxing, and I'm learning about all kinds of things I never knew before. I type ads for farm equipment, so I'm starting to learn that lingo. I drool over the real estate listings: who wants to buy 5000 acres in Clearfield County with me? Create a compound for the End-of-the-World-As-We-Know-It? Oh, and cars: I thought I understood the basics, but I never knew there was such a thing as a Cummins Diesel or an Allison transmission (those show up in a lot of ads). And what is GVW in reference to trucks? Usually with a number attached?

And of course, a Wire update. I have 3 episodes left in Season 4 and so I'm all caught up in the trials of the Baltimore City School District and the race for Mayor. Season 3 was also phenomenal--watch it if you haven't! Really, each season is like a book with chapters and you have to pay close attention if you want to catch everything. I recommend turning subtitles on for clarity.What's currently driving me nuts is all The Wire discussion on the web--because it's all about Season 5, and if I read it I will hear spoilers that I don't want to hear. But I want to read those discussions SO badly, especially when I see references to characters that I love (Omar! Cutty!). I hope it's all archived. My co-worker assured me that he will be purchasing Season 5, and that I can borrow it once he watches it (after it comes out on DVD, natch).

And that is all for now.

Big Girls

This week at work has been one of those weeks where you just want to pull your hair out and scream. What do you want from me? If you don't like what I'm doing, do it yourself!

And then I run upstairs and slam the door and fling myself onto my bed sobbing wildly.

But of course I haven't done any of those things. At one point I could've cried in frustration, but I am almost 30 years old and that isn't acceptable on any level. So I didn't. You know you're a grownup when you realize that the stuff you hate isn't going to go away just because you don't want to do it. When "I don't feel like it" isn't a valid excuse, and you can't say that to anyone anyway, because no one would care.

So my coworkers and I are doing the grownup thing and going out for margaritas after work instead.