Rainy Painy Saturday

I decided to spend today trying to catch up on school work. I did the most important thing, which was get my statement of intent done for my final paper for my Ethics class. It was the most arduous thing I had to take care, so I decided I'd better do it first. But, after I finished it, I didn't feel like doing J**k Sh*t productively speaking. (See the Sweet Potato Queens books for the pleasures of doing J**k Sh*t)

I also had the joy of getting just over eight hours of sleep last night, which is both good news and bad news. While my psyche craves eight hours of sleep, my spine and hips simply can't stand being in bed that long. Then I spent a boatload of time sitting at my computer, or other location, working on school work. This is all VERY BAD for my chronic pain issues.

It's been raining non-stop for about four days here. We haven't quite reached flood conditions, but it is way ugly outside. A little bit of raininess is a good thing for my mood. Four days is pushing it, big time.

I haven't been out of the house all day, and I'm not about to go out this late in the day in massive weather. Then there's the fact that I'm in massive pain. It's definitely time for a cocktail or three.

Attention Deficit Life

My life is way to busy. I have too many commitments and too many interests. But still, I hear of other things that I could be doing and my initial reaction is to figure out how I can do that TOO. I am not alone in this affliction. Everyone I know is over-committed and utterly exhausted.

I am thinking about designating a "no commitment/no tech" night at my house. The evening would be unavailable for commitments of any kind. In addition, we would all agree not to watch TV or fritter away our time with any other electronic distractions (ex. computers & game systems). We could then play games as a family, or read, or do other things that we never seem to have time or energy for.

If I can't get my family to agree to it, maybe I'll just make the agreement with myself.

A less-weighty matter

So, I had hoped to get down to below 200lbs before our vacation, but didn't quite make it. Then, I had hoped to only gain 5lbs while we were on vacation and ended up gaining 9lbs when I checked on the Saturday following our return. But, I got back into the full diet and exercise swing, and The Fates took pity on me. I lost all that I gained over vacation in a week's time. I'm still not under 200lbs, but VERY close.

My clothes are all too big for me, including clothes that I bought a month ago. So, I decided that I deserved two new pairs of interview-appropriate pants. The Fates again rewarded me. I purchased two pairs of size 16 trousers today and two size 14-16 tops to go with them. While this is still larger than I would like to be, size 16 clothing has been a stranger to my body for nearly a decade.

Now, to resist the tempation to indulge in a celebratory eating binge! ;)

Payback is a ... well, you know

While I had a great vacation, it's been a tough week trying to play catch up with work and with school. I'm still not caught up with either, really. The killing blow is that I am working Sunday. "Not a half day." (for fans of Office Space) I am working on a project to upgrade our entire install base, and it can really only be done on a Sunday when it will have the least impact to our customer base. I spent a lot of this week paving the way for the smoothest execution of my Sunday project plan. Today, I barely even touched my regular work. I figure I can catch up on Sunday while a bunch of scripts and such run.

The good news is that I have an interview on Tuesday morning. It's for a network security position, of sorts, in a major egghead facility (read DoD + prestigious university). I'm slightly uncomfortable with the DoD aspect of the place, but not enough to ignore a really great opportunity to do something I really want to do in a place with great benefits and a new workplace cultural environment for me. I definitely need something VERY different right now, or I might as well get over it and go work at the post office so I can have me psychotic break where it won't seem too out of place.

I plan to take the rest of Tuesday to catch up on my school work. I hate being this far behind.

Vacation state of mind

Our vacation to the DC area was great, minus the whole flying thing, mind you. We got to spend time with lots of friends and family who we haven't seen in a while (some, not since we moved to New England 5.5 years ago). Plus, I got to meet two wonderful relatively new human beings: my niece A and R "No Fly List" W (the famous son of two of my dearest friends).

The highlight of our tourist activities was the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center out in Chantilly, VA. Well worth the drive out to Dulles Airport. And remember, this recommendation is coming from someone who despises air travel.

The biggest problem with coming back from vacation, aside from the mounds of laundry, is having to readjust to your mundane life. Because of vacation, I'm a week behind in school. Also, there are things at work that only I'm capable of doing, apparently.

We got home on Friday evening in time for dinner. We extended the vacation state of mind somewhat by watching DVDs on Saturday and Sunday night. Adrian Brody's "The Jacket" was an intriguing drama about a Gulf War veteran who was undergoing an experimental treatment at an institution for the criminally insane, after being wrongly convicted of killing a police officer. The treatment resulted in his being able to time travel to a specific point in the future. Very engaging film.

The other movie was the antithesis of the first. K picked "The Wedding Crashers". The two main characters, the "crashers", was loathesome exploitive sex-seekers. The situations in the movie were sometimes painful to watch. However, I find myself laughing out loud a great deal. By the end, both characters redeem themselves. If you rent it, get the "uncorked" edition, if for no other reason, so you can read the "rules of wedding crashing" in the bonus features section. Read it after the movie or else you really won't see the full humor of it.

Any way, I've got a ton of school work and work-work to deal with. So, of course, I'll probably post more this week than I have in a long time. Can you say "procrastination"? I knew you could.