It certainly is Friday . . . and thank God for that!

I've been at work all of 2 hours and I'm already a bit of a mess. Well, really I was a bit of a mess before I got to work and it became clear how much of a mess once I got here.

During my walk to work is when I first noticed something was awry. The wind in DC this morning is just fierce! It's icy cold and strong. I almost got pushed off the sidewalk by the wind when I was waiting for the light to change! While I was walking in the wind I realized I really should have worn a slip with my skirt because corduroy and tights tend to stick. So not only is my skirt being pulled in odd directions because of the wind, its being pulled around by my tights - not pretty and rather uncomfortable. Now as I'm walking down the hallway at work I feel self-conscious about the little hike my skirt is taking up my leg!

Shortly after getting to work, while sitting at my desk catching up on e-mail, I took a quick look down at my hands and noticed that I have what looks like a rash or tiny ruptured vessels in my finger tips! Right away I think that I must be having an allergic reaction to something I've touched. As I'm thinking through all the things I've touched since getting to work that might have caused a reaction I realize that while reading my e-mail I was folding and refolding a Post-it note that I had written on in purple ink. *sigh* Really. I was starting to mildly flip out over ink on my finger tips.

After I had finished running a couple errands around the office - dropping off supplies, getting some water, making some copies, all the while worrying about my skirt riding up my leg - I get back to my desk mildly annoyed by something scratching my lower back. Assuming that it was a clothing label sticking up in an awkward direction I go to fix it but instead of a soft piece of fabric I feel cardboard. What? It slowly dawns on me, I haven't cut the tag out off my skirt! I'm wearing it price tag, spare buttons, and all. Lovely. I've had it in my closet so long that it didn't even occur to me that the price tag might still be in it.

Really, so ridiculous. And it's not even lunch time yet! All I can say is thank goodness it's Friday and that I'll have the weekend to regain my sense and sanity.

Why, hello there!

It has been over a year since I last posted. And I can only humbly apologize to those of you who have faithfully followed the blog, checking in from time to time. Shortly after my last post I was offered the job that I interviewed for, accepted said job, went to Japan for 10 days for a visit and a wedding, and then moved to the opposite side of the country to start my new job. Since then life has been spent speeding along in the fast lane and the blog has been forgotten on the shoulder of the road. From time to time I'd think about posting but something would come up between the time of the thought and getting to a computer to actually post. Lately though the urge to post has increased manifold which leads us to the present. I won't recap the past year that would be . . . well, not tedious but close . . . so it's all "upwards and onwards" from here on out.

And with a gust of wind . . .

And with a gust of wind autumn has arrived. During the middle of the week it was still humid and warm as it rained but today it was chilly and blustery. The gusts of wind were so strong today that the power went out at work. We were operating in the dark, which was amusing to say the least. We had brought in our usual welcome sign, Mitten Man, earlier in the day because he'd had two rather unpleasant encounters with the pavement, he biffed it and biffed it good. So, from the outside with the lights out we looked closed. People kept walking in and saying, "Are you guys open?" or worse, "Are you guys going out of business?" The smart-ass in me wanted to retort, "Um, did you read the sign on the door that says OPEN?" Needless to say I restrained myself. Business had to be conducted in the old fashioned way though, hand written receipts and the big clunky credit card imprinters. One customer gleefully announced upon seeing the credit card machine, "Whoa, I haven't seen one of those in like 15 years when I used to go shopping with my mom!" Shopping for yarn in the dark isn't very productive though, unless you know exactly what you're looking for, which is rare except for the most disciplined of knitters. Thankfully the power was back before the end of the day. I had a chilly and windy walk home from work. It's a pleasant sort of chill when the sky is the color of navy blue velvet and lined with the palest shade of orange. It makes me want to curl up and knit a cozy sweater to warm up my chilly limbs but leave just the tip of my nose still a little wind chilled. And so sweater season has officially arrived too.

Alone

I've never minded being alone. I don't know if that's because I'm an only child and have spent a fair amount of time by myself or if it's just the person that I am. Frankly, there are plenty of times when I prefer to be alone. There is a certain amount of comfort in the freedom of being by oneself. I like both the anonymity of being alone in a swarming crowd of strangers in the city and the isolation of being alone when standing on a deserted lakeshore. I think most of all I like being alone because it rarely lets me down. I know exactly what to expect and don't have to be disappointed by raised hopes. It is heartbreaking to be with people, to share time with them, and yet feel completely alone. The pain is even more acute when those people are friends, people that one should feel at home with and enjoy spending time with. Perhaps I seek solitude because it's easier and I'd rather not face disappointment. Does that make me cowardly or practical?

Whatever happened to 'no take backs'?

It's the quintessential rule of all childhood games, "no take backs!!" I seem to remember it applying to all games regardless of whether it made sense or not. For example, a game of hide and seek with 'no take backs,' tag with 'no take backs,' kick the can with 'no take backs,' etc. I mean seriously, what is there to take back in hide and seek?! Children are curious creatures.

Anyway, the aforementioned job interview has been 'taken back,' if you will. Apparently, they can do phone interviews and since that is the case they don't need me to fly out there just yet. On one hand it's sort of a relief, on the other it's a little bit confusing and intimidating. I am glad that I don't have to fly out there on such short notice without being sure of how good of a chance I have of actually getting this job. I am curious though as to why they've changed their minds (or if they've changed their minds). Whatever the case, I'm still pretty excited about the whole thing. But I'll admit when I was reading the e-mail from them, the little impish child in my head was running around pouting and shouting "but no takes backs! no take backs!" and the impish almost-adult in me was wistfully thinking "whatever happened to 'no take backs'?"

Exciting news and close encounters of the squirrel kind

Today was unintentionally exciting . . . which sounds odd since I suppose we don't exactly go about having intentionally exciting days. Anyways, my point is that it was an exciting day.

Things started out pretty normally with a walk to campus to pick up box lids to use to pack up some of my bosses files then hopping on the bus to go to her place to pack the boxes. Then midday I had a brief phone interview about a job I'd applied for a little while back . . . and now they want me to come in for a real interview! I'm trying really hard to not get too excited about this but . . . I can't help myself. I wasn't really expecting to hear back from them in the first place so getting the request for a phone call was a big surprise. I'm not going to say anything else about it though, if I talk too much about it I'll just work myself up over something that will probably end up being nothing. The interview does involve flying across the country though so I hope that I have some chance of actually getting this job . . . because it would just be mean of them to make me fly across the country to interview if they're not seriously considering me.

To get back to my exciting day, when I got back home I got a phone call from the shop saying that there was a package for me there. I was a little confused as to why anyone would send me something addressed to the shop but it all became clear when my co-worker told me it was from Blythe! As a former employee there herself Blythe would know that even if I wasn't working the day it got there someone would call me about the package. So what was in the package you ask? Well, my birthday present of course! It's only two months late but no matter. I got some delightful peanut butter cookies and a handcrafted bowl made by the guy who sells his wares next to Blythe's farm at their farmer's market.

The excitement of the day wound down with an encounter with an overly friendly squirrel in the park behind my house. I was sitting on a bench having a late afternoon snack of a boysenberry milkshake (oh so delicious!) and french fries when I noticed that the squirrels that had been chasing each other around the nearby tree trunk had stopped chasing one another and were making their way onto the grass. One of them kept getting closer and closer to me. He's stop and rear up on his hind legs and sort of look at me and then take a few steps (or maybe hops since its a squirrel) closer. He was definitely eying my fries. The first couple of times I'd move he'd scamper off but never too far. Finally, he was within two feet of me and I had to shoo him off multiple times while lecturing him on the fact that he should not be that bold or unafraid of humans because it really wasn't safe for him. I can't figure out if he was too young to know better or if people have been feeding the squirrels so they're getting used to people. In either case its not very good situation, wild animals should be admired from afar and should lead their own wild lives.

The space between here and there

I'm about to dash out the door and off to work (and by 'work' I mean my play job not a 'real' job - I don't know why I need to differentiate but somehow it felt necessary after conversations that I've been having lately), but I wanted to post a short update to my life. So, still indecisive about my life I'm living temporarily with a friend/my boss. It was strange to get back from a short visit to Michigan and be staying in a place that didn't feel quite my own. I feel as though just I'm a visitor here, not only in my room but in Seattle too. Is that strange?

There is part of me that wants to run back to Michigan (not literally) and hide out in the house there, comfortable amongst all of my belongings and familiar surroundings. How can location be so important to a person? The only thing that has changed here is my actual living space, otherwise I live only a few blocks from my old apartment, in the same neighborhood, amongst all my familiar surroundings. Is it really so important to find a space and a place for oneself? I guess it is.