We Speak Your Names
Alex has been playing Howard 100 on Sirius non-stop since he picked me up today. Now I've got one of their songs stuck in my head... Makes me feel crazy.
So you know what sucks? When you're so busy and stressed at work that it takes over your life. I've been horrendously busy since the beginning of June and it sucks. I mean, I like my job. I like what I do. I like the people I work with. I just wish that I wasn't so f-ing overworked. It's insane. Insane. I get to work early every morning and immediately get on the phone or start answering emails. I'm on three or four training calls a day (each averageing an hour and a half) and when I'm not on a training call, I'm frantically trying to return calls and respond to emails. Oh, and trying to get my data-related work completed. Insane. I cannot wait until the summer is over and the pressure eases up a little bit. I'll still likely have almost 60 clients, but at least everyone won't be trying to meet an impossible-if-you-don't-work-12-hour-days deadline. Ugh.
Anyway, I hate that I'm sitting here at home, three hours after the workday is supposed to be over, still stressing over it. I hate that I'm so busy at work that I don't have time to respond to emails that my friends send me or chat on IM or make any phone calls. I think that my friends think that I'm a bitch. I really don't mean to lose touch with people. It's just that I'm so overwhelmed at work that I don't feel like I even have time to breathe. And when I get home from work, I'm still all stressed out... Half the time I bring work home with me so that I can try and catch up a bit. I don't feel like making any phone calls... I need to decompress. By the time I feel "normal", I need to go to bed so that I can get up the next day and do it all over again.
Everyone at work is in the same boat, which makes for a very stressful workday. We all feel as though we've got nowhere to turn. It's interesting to see how everyone deals with it... Some people totally tweak out and explode to coworkers every hour or so. Some walk around with glazed over expressions. Others seem to totally stop caring. I wish I could stop caring. That, at least seems less stressful.
Anyway, I have to stop thinking about work for at least a few hours tonight.
In other news, my birthday was a week ago yesterday! I'm old now. 27. I had a nice birthday. It would have been nicer if I'd taken the day off of work, but ah well. Alex took me out to dinner at Brindisi's in Saratoga, which was really great. The ambiance was very "us" and the food was awesome. Unfortunately, the air conditioning wasn't working and so it was very hot. But we had a good time. I had the Lobster Ravioli, which was the best I'd ever had. You could actually really taste the chunks of lobster filling. It was served in a champagne sauce which was pink and sweet and very good. He gave me a very sweet gift: the "stress away" package at Kimberley's, A Day Spa. Here's the description from the website:
"A wonderful way to balance the mind and body and melt the stress away. We start with a Hydrotherapy Bath followed by a One Hour Swedish Massage and a Paraffin Hand Treatment. You are then treated to a Kimberley’s Champagne Pedicure. You will feel soothed and stress-free, and will leave with a special Spa Gift Package."
Sounds awesome!! I'm going to call to book it for a Friday at the end of the summer so that I can just have the day off to get totally pampered and then have the next two days to totally relax. I can't wait! I got a lot of great gifts for my birthday... The Wham and Pa gave me some white servingware that I had on my wishlist, a Sex and the City season, and the Kitchenaid Ice Cream maker attachment (though I haven't been up to the house to pick that up yet!). My sister got me the Back to the Future trilogy and some adorable hot pink and bright green flowers. Dodi got me an exercise mat and some hand weights, along with a little wind-up go-fish game for my desk. Beck got me the Lucky Shopping Manual (filled with ideas for outfits and instructions on how to build a wardrobe), The Aristocats DVD and a mini Zen water fountain (works with a hand pump). I got a bracelet and anklet from Kelley and a DVD from Stacia... Oh, and my mom sent me a bunch of stuff that she picked up in Greece and Italy on their last cruise along with a single cup coffee maker. All in all, I made out great this year!
What else... Oh, I've been doing very well with cooking dinner every night and eating well at work so far this week. Well, it's only Tuesday, though. But it's a good start. Didn't get to the gym yesterday or today... But we're going tomorrow. I'm heinously fat right now (196.2) but I feel great about eating well and I'm pretty positive that I can make this stick. Yesterday, I made Broccoli & Tofu Stir-fry and Spiced Melon Salad for dinner (8 pts). It turned out pretty good, but I had a little bit larger package of Tofu than it called for and so there didn't seem to be enough sauce to get it marinated. Next time, I'll marinate the tofu overnight. I made the best thing for dessert, too: I took organic crunchy peanut butter and put a tablespoon of it in the bottom of a little bowl, then scooped 1/2 cup of fat free vanilla frozen yogurt on top of it, and topped it with a tablespoon of Hershey's chocolate syrup. It was so good and it was "only" 5.5 pts. The Stir-fry and Melon Salad recipe were from a book (Minutemeals, Quick and Healthy Menus), but I made up my little peanut butter cup sundae on my own. That's right. I rock. Tonight, I made Pasta with Boca Sausage & Zucchini, Spinach, Artichoke, & Mushroom salad and Carmel Apples & Grapes (15 pts). That menu was also from the book. I love that book. I bought it and the Vegetarian version from the bargin bin at Barnes & Noble one night. The books are awesome because they provide a complete menu with a game plan that you should be able to do in 20 minutes. They even have a shopping list for every menu (that takes into account what you already have in your pantry). I'm trying to cook at least 5 nights a week. I was able to do two in a row so far, and tomorrow won't be hard either, but we're going out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week so...
Anyway. Fun's over. Gotta go switch the wash.
