Return to blogging #242

Okay, so perhaps I haven’t stopped and started the process of blogging 242 times (yet), but I’ll admit it’s been an inconsistent effort. I make no promises as to how long this round shall last, but here I am at least for now. (Anybody out there still reading this thing? Probably not…)

Today was a momentous first for me – the first time I chose to leave a job. All other job departures resulted from moving, either moving to college or moving after college. But today, I said I was leaving because I wanted to. After five years and eight months at the first company I joined post-college, it’s simply time to move on. It’s bittersweet, because I know that the job I’m leaving for is a great step forward in my career, yet I’m leaving behind friends and memories. I learned more than I can even begin to describe from the people there, and they have supported me through many stages of growth in my early career. But every chapter must eventually end. And with the end of one comes the beginning of the next. My next chapter starts March 1. I expect it to be a great one.

NaBloWhat?!

Right, that NaBloPoMo thing. Clearly didn’t happen this year. I tried, and I rapidly stopped trying. With the lingering, feels-like-never-ending sickness and fatigue plus the insanity of puppy, I just didn’t have it in me. So, perhaps January (and all of 2010) will prove to be a more fruitful blogging year/month for me. I’m mulling over my reflections on 2009, especially considering my public commitment mid-year that the ’09 reflection wouldn’t be a rehash of the previous two years. In short, those posts said “I didn’t like this year all that much. Next!” This one will have a more positive spin. Do I think 2010 will be better than 2009? Absolutely. But that doesn’t mean 2009 didn’t have some highlights of its own.

When overachieving is bad for you

I’m a classic overachiever most of the time. Even when it comes to getting sick. Nice, isn’t it? I couldn’t just get the flu, be sick for a week, and be done with it. I had to get the flu combined with (or shortly followed by) bronchitis and a sinus infection. Score for me!

On the plus side, bronchitis and a sinus infection are treatable, so there’s an end in sight. But I must admit that I’m going slightly insane 12 days into being sick. See, part of being an overachiever means I don’t like limitations. And being sick for this long creates significant limitations that make me crazy. So, crazy I shall be until it all goes away. Soon, please? Pretty please?

Tuesday won.

That’s pretty much all there is to it. Seeing the doctor tomorrow and hoping for some sort of magic answer. In the meantime, I’m continuing to contemplate living in a bubble or just using lots of plastic gloves wherever I go to avoid picking up as many germs.

Monday – 1. Linda – 0.

In an effort to make up for my lack of a tangible post yesterday, I now present you with this gem.

After a restful weekend, I was determined to make my way into the office for at least a few hours today. I needed human interaction after nine days of near isolation, and I figured a brief test of my stamina would be good. Yet when I awoke this morning, I began to wonder if shouldn’t give myself one more day of rest. But no, true to my stubborn ways, I stuck to my original plan. After a restless night of sleep and a challenging morning with Luna reveling in the complete puppyness of her ways, I took my time getting ready and headed to the office around 8:00. Driving through the rainy, dreary morning in heavier traffic than my usual commute? Sure, no problem. Not my idea of fun, but I managed. Summoning the head-to-toe energy necessary to walk up the front steps to the office? Problem.

Knee/hands/elbow, meet concrete steps. Concrete steps, meet knee/hands/elbow. Y’all haven’t met before, but the knees/hands/elbows know some friends of yours in locations around Missouri, Oklahoma, and a handful of other states. Hey, nice to meet you.

With my brain preoccupied with whether I could manage even a half day, my body decided to rebel from the beginning. One second I was making my way up the steps, the next second I had stubbed a toe and down I went. In the rain. In front of a cute guy. Once my brain caught up with where my body had decided to go, I muttered a subdued “ouch” (impressive, I know) and picked myself up. He asked if I was okay, I said yes, but it apparently wasn’t my day. He replied that it was a Monday after all. Yep, Monday wins.

If my life were a romantic comedy, this embarrassing event would have sparked some entertaining conversation with the cute guy who witnessed my wonderful klutziness. Alas, my life is not a romantic comedy. Feeling rather self-conscious and in quite a bit of pain, I picked myself up, brushed some of the rain from my pants, picked up my stuff, and made my way into the building and the elevator with cute guy and two other people. Completely unable to look at anything but the ground.

But you know, I can’t leave embarrassing moments like this alone. I had to tell a few people in the office and now I’m posting it here for all to read. You know, just like this moment and these moments. Because I am a klutz, and I’m not afraid to admit it.

A part of me is tempted to just let Tuesday win before Tuesday even starts. Or not, because I’m clearly too stubborn for that. Bring it on, Tuesday.

Halfway, yet not halfway

It’s technically the halfway point on NaBloPoMo, yet I haven’t really posted half my entries yet. Maybe I’ll double post and somehow still end up with 30? Yeah, right. The downside to posting every day is that I’m forced to post on days I have little to say, or more accurately, little brain power with which to say it.

Today I feel almost human again. This is good. And thus continues the balance of returning to normal life without returning to completely full-speed-ahead normal life that results in relapse. One day at a time, I say, one day at a time.

Rebound?

Despite my infrequent posts in the past week, I’m still trying the NaBloPoMo thing. I may not post every day from here on out, but I’m still trying to post much more frequently than usual. We’ll see how that goes when I don’t have the flu to use as an excuse for not posting.

I don’t do sick well, which is funny considering my less-than-stellar lungs and susceptibility to turning common colds into respiratory infections and pneumonia. I’m going on day seven of being sick, and I’m slowly going crazy because of it. Except that today is so much worse, because today is the first day I actually feel like I have an ounce of energy. And after so long of doing absolutely nothing, it’s tempting to use that energy to accomplish something… anything, really. But the logical side of my brain says I should park myself on the couch for another couple days and resist the urge to do anything. I’m not talking running a marathon here, or even taking the dog for a walk. Just a load of laundry to extinguish some germs or maybe a little cleaning in the kitchen. It’s a fine line between doing just a little and doing too much though. Still, a little here and there is probably a good idea to work back up to normal. And who knows, maybe a teensy little dose of activity will actually help my immune system work back up to normal. A girl can hope, right?