Here are some things I think about that I want to put into words, but are not, in and of themselves a full blog post.
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Rotting in bed is a new thing you hear about, only it's not new. We've been doing it for centuries, kids - it used to be called "taken to (his/her) bed". Did you hear about Maybelle? Reginald walked out on her, and she has taken to her bed. It's a withdrawal caused by emotional and/or physical malaise, and they did it in the olden times without the benefit of doom-scrolling. There is nothing new under the sun, young people. You are just rebranding depression.
Fun fact: did you know that "horizontal refreshment" is an old slang term for sex? It's certainly more clever than "making the beast with two backs". Well, maybe just equally clever, but certainly more genteel.
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You know how everyone just loves watching The Office, and there's all these memes and podcasts and whatnot about this show? Well, you know how they made the plot of that show work? They actually had to GO INTO THE OFFICE. So, yes - I know everyone seems to love working from home, but imagine what a terrible show *that* would have been. So, you know - maybe there's some merit in an actual physical workplace that isn't your spare bedroom.
To that end, I just read an article that used the phrase "third space" - which is where a person spends time outside their home and work. So, like Starbucks, or the YMCA, or your improv rehearsals, or whatever. But the thing is, many of us are missing a second space (an office), so the "third space" becomes a second space, and it's not really even that good of a second space. That's why it was previously relegated to third. This is not my first encounter of the phrase, but I have been thinking of it a lot lately.
I guess my point is, I miss having a physical office. Our office shut down in October, and that's when Mom was sickest and I needed the flexibility of being able to run down to Atlanta and handle things. But that's not the case now. So, I find myself thinking, "Well, I can take care of that on my way home from... oh, wait... never mind. I don't commute any more."
I also find myself thinking "I need to call Mom". That one may take awhile to unlearn.
My point is, I miss the office. I was in a meeting yesterday, comprised of mostly Chattanooga-based folks and they were talking about all the amazing things going on with the new training room in Chattanooga, and so on and so on... it was hard to not just leave the call. I made a point to respectfully mention the travel freeze and those not located in Chattanooga. I mean, represent, yo. Today we found out that the annual sort of "state of the union" meetings they have in past held in multiple locations will all be in Chattanooga. And since there's a travel freeze... yeah, you get me. If this were an episode of The Office, a camera would cut to my reaction take.
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I'm getting a haircut tomorrow. I cannot wait. I mean, honestly, I've had it up in either a hairband or a clip since the last haircut - I think it may be time to lose a little of the length in back. It's a lot of hair. Even though I'm losing a lot of it in the washing process, I still have tons of hair.
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Prom Dress season is here. This is what I want to say. I hate both prom and bridal gowns where, what used to be infrastructure is now the actual dress:
It's like, "Oh, honey - that's a pretty longline bra, now go put the rest of your outfit on."
Also, girls, I beg of you - you have the rest of your life to wear black. Prom should be about being pretty, wearing a color, and honestly, showing some skin (although I also hate dresses with cutouts, but that's just me). If you want to do the sneakers with a ballgown thing, I'm not going to stop you, but there are cute shoes that won't hurt your pretty little feetsies that might look more cohesive.
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One of the things I am working on with my staff this year is letting them spread their wings a little. It pains me, though. Because I'm letting them write some materials, and some educational emails - and I hate to give up that control because I have some really stringent standards I hold myself to when it comes to communication, both written and verbal. I am told that's classist, and that as long as the message is clear to those who need to understand it, I need to chill out about improper verb tenses and superfluous apostrophes.
Fine, I'm a word snob. I am trying to let go.
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It is cold here, being winter and all - and to combat the fact that my office is drafty - and by my office, I mean the dining room formerly known as mine - I purchased two cardigans; one navy, one red. I am reminded of my 10th grade year, and how I had this adorable cardigan from The Gap in red - I wore it with a white t shirt, navy shorts, white crew socks and red Keds. I was too preppy for words. I loved that look. I think I had the same one in teal. I did that a lot, same sweater, different colors. A few years prior, I had done one in teal, one in burgundy. I may be, not on the spectrum, but near it.
These days, I prefer Converse to Keds - though both are stupid expensive. Anyway, these cardigans come from Wal-Mart, and should arrive tomorrow. So, you know - new hair, new cardigans... same old me.
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Another of my cold weather defense systems is hot showers each morning. I mean, if I have to get out of bed, and it turns out I do, then I should get to strip all the natural oil from my skin and waste water/electricity to reward that baseline achievement. But let's talk for a minute about the idea of
"Everything Showers". Shouldn't most showers be everything showers? It's not like I'm going to skip washing my feet because I didn't use them much on any given day. Yes, I understand that the everything shower is more like, exfoliation, shaving, more shaving, shampooing, deep conditioning, and so on - but even on my most everythingiest day, it's not going to be a multi-hour endeavor, because we don't have that much hot water. And I like my water unbearably hot. In the winter. In the summer, I'd say I can take it down from lava to scalding and be OK. Also, I'm fairly low-maintenance. I do like a good exfoliation as much as the next girl, but let's be honest - I'm impatient with that kind of thing. And honestly, if I chose to be more sensible with the temperature water I am using, then maybe I would need less exfoliation? Probably not. I don't know how that works. I do know I have terrible skin, and that some retinol, Eucerin, sunscreen, and cooler bathing temps might help. But, meh. I'll take dry skin and hot showers any day.
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That's all I have at the moment. Hang in, hang out, and hang on.
ae
Comments
Also don't stop being a word snob. I appreciate clear communication. I see so little of it.