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      Category: stress (Page 5 of 5)

      Cut & Paste

      August 31, 2007 /

      This is an email I sent the Wo yesterday afternoon. Yesterday? Brutal. Today? Will be a different kind of brutal, but brutal nonetheless. I am looking forward to sleeping this cold right outta me. And not working on Monday. And? Finishing Mystery Stole #3!!! Anyway, I think this email says it all – rather than rewrite the events, I’ll let you see how I communicate with my hubby in times of stress….

      First of all, EVERYTHING IS OK.
      But it’s been a really stressful day & the last five minutes just shaved a year off my life. Brinks called at work that the alarm was going off in zones 2,3 & 5 (or whatever) and did I want the police sent & was anyone supposed to be there. I told them we have cleaning people, but yes, go ahead and send the police, and then I see Christine has called my cell (twice) because the front door was locked & :almost: shut, but not shut completely? (but enough that I could set the alarm today) and so the cleaning people didn’t want to go in because they were freaked out, because while they were debating on going in, some tweeker drove by in a silver mini van really slowly, twice, and then five minutes later came by in a different car, they swear, and of course we have the history of The Day Your Cleaning People Came We Was Robbed, so Christine went ahead and called the police and they “cleared the house” (that would be my COPS lingo talkin’) and they’re the ones who set OFF the alarm, because of course they had to clear the house first, and then they had Angela go through to make sure it looked “normal” & so who knows if a second unit was actually dispatched or not. Let’s just note that it definitely took less time than 20 minutes for all of this to happen. WHERE WERE YOU ASS CLOWNS A YEAR AGO.

      I’m just fucking relieved, and of course I’m in the post-adrenaline rush so all my muscles are twitching, though it could be combining with the cold meds too, so who the hell knows. Jesus. I agreed with Christine, better safe than sorry, and I’d rather have them call the police to make sure it’s all ok than to walk in on a freakjob who shreds them with a pizza cutter.

      So I guess on cleaning people days we make sure the door’s shut. Heh. And I have so much work to do I am about to snap. Yay!

      —-end of email—–
      Now, I must say, despite the fifteen minutes of Xtreme! Stress! Now with More Worry! Topped with Confusion! I feel 100x better about having our alarm system and that it operates as it’s supposed to. And the fact that burly police officers went through our house with guns drawn is very exciting. (Well, I don’t know that they had guns drawn, but it does enhance the imagined incident, so I’m running with it.) Perhaps I’ve watched a little too much Kansas City SWAT. Or COPS. Or both. Oh baby. Long weekend, Court TV/A&E marathons…… it can’t get here fast enough!

      Marathon

      August 30, 2007 /

      The next two days are going to be marathoners. I’ve got two plans due by tomorrow, and a presentation tomorrow afternoon (for a third plan), and today’s full of meetings. I caught JWo’s cold, so I’m also a bit bleary, but fortunately, his lasted all of three days, so I’m hoping mine follows the same timeline. It’s not even a regular sort of cold, it’s just a cough/sore throat with some congestion, but not the sort that feels like someone packed your brain in cotton. Which is good, because none of my clients want those cotton-padding plans!

      I do sound like Kathleen Turner, doing the voice-over for a cartoon frog. And my lungs feel like I’ve just run a half mile (15 yards) as fast as I possibly could – the searing/burning sensation – it’s sweepin’ the nation.

      I am excited about a small project that my buddies in the design department are working on – our department went out on Monday & took some wacky pictures, and they’re going to convert them into a Warhol-esque, enormous photo quad that will go behind my desk in my new office. The current artwork there contains a montage of numerous clients, most of whom are old & aren’t there anymore, and it needs updating. I got the idea last week, and couldn’t stop laughing, so I guess I was able to convince my boss (who will also be in the quad) and the head designer to have some fun with the idea.

      In the interim, here’s what messing around with one of my photos looks like. You can see why I’ll have this BEHIND me. :)

      jencutout1

      I’m Pulling This Merry-Go-Round Over, RIGHT NOW.

      July 27, 2007 /

      I’m hearing the sharp, tinny sounds of a carnival in the background as I write this.
      (Not really. Let’s not cart me off for hallucinations. Yet.)

      However, I am about out of rope this week, and as I ponder the length I have left, I start to think about using it to its maximum potential, which usually has the goal of bringing the madness to a screeching halt.

      Man, the madness has just flown in from multiple directions – work, life, my head – and I actually had someone declare something my friend & I did (To my face!) “Stupid”. Wow. I felt a few feet of rope slip right through my hands, but then I pulled it back. And when I say “pulled it back”, I mean, I wasn’t going to let it go. Use up more rope. I responded. Not swinging, but firmly, and I don’t think this person EVER has other people do that to her. Wow. It was not comfortable. For me, or my friends, and I don’t think for her, either. But I’m learning this week that there are people who don’t even come close to responding the way most of us do in similar situations. BECAUSE THEY’RE BATSHIT CRAZY. Or just different, whatever.

      ANYhoo, we’re having our annual fish fry tomorrow, and I’m looking forward to the weekend. We’ve got a lot of cleaning to do between now and tomorrow, but it’ll be fine, and we’ll have a lovely time with friends and family, we’ll confront :another: table full of tomatoes at some point, and the merry-go-round music will take on a fuller, robust sound, with less flats and sharps and grating. Even though I get riled up, more and more I see the longer view, which is that the road you are on is still your road. You walk it today, tomorrow, you walk it next week – deity willing –
      and things move on. Staying stuck and putting in land mines or digging holes isn’t progress, it’s distraction.

      So, let’s see. Now I have how many metaphors going on? Yes, 1) Merry-Go-Round (Insanity of Life), 2) Rope (Patience, Wisdom), 3)The Road (Life’s Journey and 4) Theme Music (the Soundtrack of Your Life). I think that’s enough of a mix for today. I’m excited to do some knitting this weekend, make some progress on MS3, and begin something new and exciting. And in the next couple of weeks, I’m also going to start designing a sweater for JWo, to wear when he goes hunting. I’ve gotten some awesome advice from Ravelry, and given the old-timey Fisherman sweaters’ ability to stand up to fierce conditions, I’m waiting for a book I ordered to arrive and help me make the sturdiest sweater I can so he’ll have many happy hunting seasons in it. (His won’t be cabled and such like the Aran sweaters, but the construction is what I want to see.) It’s new! It’s a challenge, and I’m excited to try out my puzzling mind on something different. Same old round-n-round can drive a gal wonkers, eh?
      Happy weekend, peeps.

      OH my. What a day, what a week!

      July 12, 2007 /

      I think it sums it all right up when BOTH Kristin & I are talking about needing booze before the day is over. Not that either of us are big drinkers. But stressful it was today. Again, everyone just be grateful about the airhorn not sitting on my desk.

      I did, however, start the day with the aforementioned Celebration Soap!

      celebrationsoap

      It’s from Indigo Wild, one of my favoritest places & companies here in Kansas City. The women who own the place are dog-friendly, somewhat crazy (it’s a compliment, I’m crazy, too) and the products are awesome. I bought this um, well, like SEVERAL weeks ago and this morning was the first day I got to get my shower back & so I used my soap. It’s vanilla-orange, despite the patriotic colors, and I suppose if someone wanted to wash my profanity-laden mouth out with soap, I would choose this one. Or the lavender-mint. Their Magic Stick is, indeed, magic? And it has magical properties that make Suzy go crazy. JWo put some on the chigger bites (center of my back! Awesome place for a giant bug bite welt!) and within seconds, Suzy was following me around the house, trying to get at me and lick me. Cracks me up! It was delightful to have my shower space back, and the Wo will gently tell the idiot plumber where he can put his (still wrong) part.

      And, right before I got to work, I heard “Lady” by the Commodores, and that put me in a good mood. I didn’t care WHO saw or heard me dancing & singing along. More and more, slowly but surely, I feel myself morphing into Kathy Bates’ character in Fried Green Tomatoes. Specifically, her really bitchy scene in her car in the parking lot.

      Peeps, it’s almost Friday. I have re-started the Mystery Stole, and am already feeling better about the smaller needles and the new beads. I will (fingers/toes crossed) finish the monkey socks this weekend, and have some progress accomplished on the lace. Then, next weekend? Will involve sewing. Lots and lots of sewing. At least two very specific things. And I’m writing it here so I don’t forget (I do that a lot, just tilt my head ever so slightly and POOF! SLOOSH! There it goes, right out the side and into the ether.)

      I leave you with a shot of what continues to be the kitchen table…. We’re drying tomatoes to make Tomato Confit, from Chez Pim, which is a site I randomly discovered and I am in uber-awe of her palate & experiences; he’s canning hot mix right now, and we’ve got loads more tomatoes begging to be canned! It’s definitely summertime at the NuWo’s……

      'Maters, 'Maters Everywhere.....

      No Tagging, Just Fun, and OH MY GOD WHEN WILL THIS DAY BE OVER?!

      June 21, 2007 /

      It’s 4:30. Here is my workday:
      Type, type, type. Furiously on an RFP.
      Client Meeting. It was good, informative, but I had to excuse myself to go to the dentist, and I felt bad about leaving. But I was going to get my permanent crown! And it wasn’t terrible, it had some zinging moments, but everything’s in, cemented down, and beyond the water/air pain on the exposed tooth before it was cemented down, the worst part was the cement stuck to the tooth behind it, and the serious efforts three hands made (IN MY MOUTH) to get floss through it to chunk it out. Dandy!
      Came back to work, ate a sandwich while I continued to bang out my portion of the proposal, talked to the plumber, it’s going to be another week because his ordering person got the wrong part, hung up the phone & had a little stress-cry because something had to crack and I’ve already had a tooth & a valve part crack on me, why not be next? Then I finished the RFP, dashed off to another client meeting, and now I’m back at my desk, having knocked out a couple more important must-get-done-now projects – and am waiting for a couple reps to get back to me – and then I go to the airport to collect my dear Auntie. So I’m a little fried. In that vein, I give you a little game I espied over on Bag’n’Trash:

      The game is SCATTERGORIES, and it’s harder than it looks!
      Here are the rules:

      Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They MUST be real places, names, things…NOTHING made up! If you can’t think of anything, skip it. Try to use different answers if the person before you had the same 1st initial. You CAN’T use your name for the boy/girl name question. Have fun!

      Your Name: Jennifer

      1. Famous Singer/Band: Janis Joplin (note the double J’s there, mmm-hm!)

      2. 4 letter word: Jerk

      3. Street: Johnson Drive

      4. Color: Jade

      5. Gifts/Presents: Jewelry

      6. Vehicle: Jetta

      7. Things in a Souvenir Shop: Jigsaw Puzzles

      8. Boy Name: James!

      9. Girl Name: Jessica

      10. Movie Title: Jurassic Park

      11. Drink: Jack Daniels

      12. Occupation: Janitor

      13. Celebrity: Janet Jackson

      14. Magazine: Jane

      15. U.S. City: Juneau

      16. Pro Sports Teams: Jacksonville Jaguars

      18. Reason for Being Late for Work: Jitters (?) !

      19. Something You Throw Away: Junk

      20. Things You Shout: Jesus!!!!

      21. Cartoon Character: Jerry (of Tom and Jerry!)

      I’m not tagging anyone – if you want to do it, put it on your page & leave me a comment so we can all pop over & read yours!

      Short On Everything…

      June 13, 2007 /

      I’m running from work to an after-work par-tay, and I was trying to think of something fast (and engaging, and clever) to blog about and really, the only picture I got in my mind was of the wee little dude, years ago, who came charging out of the gate at the American Royal, clutching the side of his sheep as if his life depended upon it. And kept that little hand raised, cowboy-style, even as most of him disappeared behind the side of said racing sheep.

      I found this great picture here, by photojournalist Wendell Phillips, who pretty much captures the essence of what this week feels like. Meeting after Meeting after Meeting. Work piling up like chocolate on Lucy & Ethel. Commitments, phone calls, errands, laundry – the list, it never ends! And it’s appropriate for me, you know, to cling to wool in times of stress. I’m hesitant to plaster his picture on my website since I don’t have permission, so I trust you to click on through……
      Gotta go – about to be late, something I excel at!

      The Puzzle Is Jenga.

      May 31, 2007 /

      I am working on an outdoor/billboard campaign for a client, and I’m working with two vendors & two time frames. I am slowly, sometimes rapidly, going insane. I told one of my reps today that it’s the equivalent of playing Jenga over and over and over, but every time you take out one single block, the whole damn thing falls down. And when I get input from one vendor, it changes what I need from the other, and honestly, this is the kind of stuff I love, the mental juggling and whatnot, but this has been pretty extreme, and I’ve had a bunch of OTHER stuff to do in the same amount of time. Plus I’m getting a crown on my tooth tomorrow, and I have The Anxiety.

      So, I’ve had all these awesome things I wanted to blog about, and then I forget them. Poof, right out of my head, leaving a dark hole of memory, like a brick out of a Jenga tower. I appreciate you checking in on me, but I also realize my blog’s been about as fun as watching paint dry of late. I have knitting pictures to share, I have foodie pics to share, I still have stuff to SAY! And shout! I did get my invitation to Ravelry, and I immediately snatched it up like fresh sock yarn and clutched it to my chest with great gusto. Then this afternoon, I got invited to the De-stash blog, and so I can only conclude the stars are aligning for me. Which is nice, because if I were going to write myself a retrospective horoscope, I would say, “For the past year, you will have a lot of suckage and unsolvable puzzles and big hard emotional blocks to work with, and they will collapse around you like a Jenga tower, sometimes multiple times a day. The Jenga will sometimes be impossible to balance and you must learn to accept this futility even as you never fully stop trying to solve the puzzle.”

      This Day Is No More!

      May 8, 2007 /

      OMG, I declared today dead at 5:15 today. I am so tired. I worked through lunch, went to a meeting that went an hour longer than anticipated, didn’t get the dogs to the vet, sent James to meet me at the vet (I was still in the meeting and could not tell him I was not AT the vet), drove on I-35 from Olathe (lots of traffic), called CVS to inquire as to whether they had my new prescription or not, they said “No”, my eyes shot laser beams, but it was 5:05 and my doctor’s office was closed, two minutes later JWo called (no longer at the vet) to say CVS just called and that they were filling my prescription right now.
      Whew.
      Until I got to CVS. I could see through the bank-teller-bulletproof glass that pandelerium had broken out. Baskets were being emptied (multiple baskets), paper bags being pawed through, and I continued to sit there while my helper person disappeared from my line of sight. Finally he reappeared with a “Sorry ’bout that” and I ascertained that they had just filled my prescription while I sat there burning gas at $2.89/gallon. I ascertained this from the “NU WAITING” at the top of my bag. And from the wait. Then, crazy beyotch from probably Olathe came up behind me, HONKED, and then backed up from the drop off lane to pull into the full service lane, and I could see she was on her cell phone the entire time and frankly, I was so tired and spent from the day I actually yelled, “HANG UP YOUR GODDAMN BARBIE PHONE AND PAY ATTENTION!” and of course she had no clue because we both had our windows up but I could see her magenta moto taser phone and she was an idiot and I needed to label someone at that point.

      I came home and had triscuits and potato salad for dinner. Oh yes. TOGETHER. Like a dip. And a pot pie. And pink lemonade. Because even if you’re staring a dead day right in the face, pink lemonade makes it a little bitty-bit better. And then I shredded things. Destruction with the shredder is therapeutic. However I jammed a check card somehow and had enough sense to just STOP because I had the shredder apart with a letter opener jammed into it (all while the thing’s still plugged in) and some gnome woke up from his pink-lemonade-and-carbs stupor and finally shouted, “HEY! Bad idea! You’ve shredded enough for one night!” Now I’m waiting for the Shield to come on so I can watch Vic Mackey shred it up and then I’m collapsing in bed.

      17:15, I had to call it. This day? Dead. Natural and unnatural causes. We shall try again tomorrow.

      Dancing As Fast As I Can

      January 30, 2007 /

      I know at some point I have written about that crazy kooky boss (there’ve been so many!) that had all sorts of expressions for how crazy-busy she was……. the ol’ one-armed paperhanger…… up to her ass in alligators….. but our favorite was always the “Dancing as fast as I can” because one of my co-workers did this hilarious Flashdance number, running in place.
      Maybe our skepticism was because she spent most of her time playing Free Cell….

      Anyway. I’m here. I’m working like mad, and going out of town tomorrow (oh yes, the world of business travel is so glamorous. Traveling for 6 hours in a car (round trip), but at least I’ll get some knitting done.) There have been a few funny things, a couple sad things, you know, just the basic life stuff. I’ve apparently completely abandoned the 365 Days project of self-portraiture;

      OH MY GOD if you are going to be interviewed on TV and you are seated in your car TAKE THE KEY OUT OF THE IGNITION. I can’t believe they’re airing this, the DING DING DING is about to send me out of my skin.

      So, I think I was about to say that I’ve had some difficulty concentrating, staying on-task, really not doing much focusing on anything that isn’t On Fire! Blazing! Cuidado! Automatic Caution Door! Danger! I’m pretty much trying to find an extra seventeen hours, and I will spend at least 5 on some extra sleep, 2 on organizing, 2 on shopping, 4 on knitting/TV time, and then maybe another 4 on personal improvements, cooking, and getting the car washed. I’m going to try to catch some of that sleep right now. More soon, I promise.

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