Stinging Injustice

I was victim to two acts of injustice today. Both came from the same person. The sunshiny, happy, but law-abiding, lawsuit-fearing HR lady.

The first offense concerned the Halloween costume contest. I went to work as a gypsy today. I had bells around my ankles and neck, a colorful, floor-length silk skirt, hoop earrings, ornate scarves, bangles, etc. I didn't put any effort into it - one of my coworkers provided me with most of the stuff - and I didn't expect to win. I wasn't even going to bother participating very much.

When I went down for my lunch, I inadvertently found myself smack dab in the middle of the costume parade. I was stuck in a mass of people. Figuring that I should make the best of an awkward situation, I danced and waved like a good little gypsy around in the circle. The judges ate it up - everyone else was marching somberly.

I still didn't think I'd win. Without giving it a second thought, I went up to cover the receptionist's lunch break. She mentioned that the judges had been up there discussing the winner and for the individuals, they unanimously picked "the cute gypsy girl." I was surprised and rather pleased... until I heard that the HR lady had vetoed their decision.

Huh?

It was all in the name of preventing strife among the employees. You see, I am a temp. According to some menopausal, cranky pants women people, since temps are not company employees, they are not entitled to win any company contests... or even eat company-provided meals. It was too risky to announce that the winner of the company costume contest was a temp. Horror of horrors, right?

Anyway, so I didn't win. I didn't get anything. Not that I expected anything... but I should have won. That makes me feel good on the inside. Missing out on the $200 Visa card because I'm not a permanent employee... that doesn't make me feel so good on the inside. Oh well.

The second injustice is the reason that I am able to bring this blog post to you so early in the day. You see, I have a tendency to pass out. If you know me, you also know that this is very, very normal. Not a big deal. Give me a few minutes, I'll be up and moving. Well, I passed out yesterday and today. The HR lady flipped out. Not my boss, not my supervisor... the HR lady. And she sent me home. She asked if someone could pick me up. I explained that my mom could get there in about 20 minutes, but I would be fine in five or ten. I insisted that I was fine. But she wouldn't let me stay. She nearly ordered me out of the building. I had work to do. Money to make. But no. She made me leave because she's afraid of liability.

So much injustice. Just because I'm me. How is this fair???

Happy Halloween.

Stuff

I am such an undisciplined blogger. I do apologize.

Things have been pretty quiet around here. Just the same ol' same ol'. I'm ok with that, though. Here's some random facts about my life:

I made my very first divorce card this week. Not really my specialty, but a good friend from work's divorce was finalized and I bought her a bottle of wine to celebrate. If that's even the right word. I wasn't very... verbose. What do you say on such an occasion? I went with Mum's suggestion of "Onward and Upward." That's all it said. Oh, and my name. I made the front pretty with a doily and ribbon and such things. Not really my specialty. I hope it isn't a task I have to repeat.

I'm going to visit my dear, darling friend Augusta this weekend. My train leaves at oh dark thirty tomorrow morning. You know I must love her if I'm sacrificing my Saturday morning sleep-in to get an extra five hours with her. So excited to spend time with this girl.

We have an iMac. Yay! Pretty pretty.

In the two confirmation classes we've had, we've talked about gay marriage and contraception. We weren't really supposed to be talking about those things, but the kids brought them up and really wanted to talk about them. And we couldn't leave these things hanging. After all, they thought that Catholics hated gay people and that the solution to abortion was birth control. Oh boy. They also seem to be an odd mixture of excited/awkward about the fact that they have to talk to their catechists about s e x for six weeks next semester. Ha!

My boss-boss amuses me. He says funny things.

"Next time you pass out, can I please call 911? It's for your own good... they might be cute."

So does my mama.

"Whatever you do, don't forget your shirt. I mean, your medicine. Though the other thing would be bad too."

Oh, and I had this strange conversation with my boss-boss this morning.

him: "Perception is reality."
me: "Uh, I don't think so. Reality is reality."
him: "No, reality is what you perceive it to be."
me: "I am not Cartesian, thank you very much."
him: "Carty-what?"
me:"Cartesian. As in Descartes. The philosopher."
him: "What's that?"

Sometimes I feel so alone in the accounting department... 

BABY!!!

Thaaaat's right, folks! My dear, dear, dear friends had their first child today!!! A little boy. I am distracted with happiness. I cannot stop GRINNING. I'm "Auntie Bagel." HA! I am so excited and happy for them!!!!!!

Welcome to the world, Daniel!!!

Military Love

Crickey. It's been a while.

In the past couple of weeks my life was turned upside-down, shaken violently, and then put back. Kind of like a snow globe. My brain kind of resembled that blizzard. The little fluttery pieces are falling back into place, though. They move slowly, suspended as they are in some sort of watery substance, but gravity wins out in the end.

Geez. I got excited about that metaphor. Moving on.

I would love to show you a new layout... but I ran out of adhesive. I know. TRAGEDY.  I was in the middle of a layout and POW, no more adhesive. Tears were shed.

So what I will do is tell you about the MCAS Miramar Airshow. It was on Saturday. It was fantabulous. There were loud, fast airplanes, big guns and explosions, paratroopers falling from thousands of feet up in the air...

... and cute men.

EVERYWHERE.

The last time I went to an airshow, I was 17. For some reason, the fact that there were cute, young, in-shape, uniformed men every five feet didn't make an impression. But it did this year. Oh man. Talk about a target-rich environment. I was so besottedly happy.

I spent most of the day flirting with talking to them. There was the Osprey pilot from Sacramento and the helicopter crew captain from Indiana. Then there were all of the men from the local battalions and squadrons selling stuff to raise money for their events. I may or may not have bought not one, but two, hoodies. One of which is an XL... it's huge. But I couldn't say no. How could I? The Death Rattlers are cool!

I should, however, consider more carefully the relative lengths of my hoodies and dresses before I combine them. Ha!

One of my favorite moments of the day was right at the beginning. The guy who was manning the metal detector at the gate asked me, "You want to go to Sea World? Six Flags? We can go anywhere you want, girl."

I love Marines.

{on a cheerful note}

A layout for my mama :)

Blog Your Heart, September

I've never done one of these before, but I felt inspired by my new hero. And these days I have a lot on my heart. Maybe none of it is that important, but the pile of little things makes it necessary to remind myself to keep breathing and put one foot in front of the other. I can do this.

If you don't know the "rules," you can follow the link above to Stephanie's blog where she's listed the rules along with her BYH post. :)

1. I don't have any local friends... and this makes me sad. I have a lot of friends... but they're all up at school or moved away to other parts of the country... or, in some cases, Europe. I have the young adults from the parish, but I'm not close to any of them. I have what Aristotle would call "friendships of pleasure" - I enjoy their company, but it doesn't go beyond that. It feels shallow and dry... at least for now. Maybe after I've been here longer, things will get better. Trying to live with hope over here.

2. I hate my job. Ok, maybe that's too strong. I dislike my job. I don't find fulfillment in it or look forward to it. It's mind numbing repetitive tasks that don't require any brain power. I tested this by listening to music while I did it the other day... and I could do it just as quickly. I always did homework with music, but it definitely slowed me down a bit. I wish I could derive some pleasure from it... but no. *sigh*

3. I don't like having a pharmacy living in my stomach. I am on so many pills... all for hormonal imbalances. And I never wanted to be "that person." I know that sometimes prescriptions have to get filled, that it's not my fault, etc. I know all of the "right answers." I just don't like it. I don't like needing help. I like... helping.

4. I miss my best friend. This one's a long story, but it's probably the #1 thing on my heart and mind right now. I just miss him. I feel like I'm walking around with a large part of me missing. And it hurts. I don't see this changing... the definition of stupidity is to do the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result. So I'm trying to stop missing him... but as soon as I think about it at all, I start crying. Honestly... it would be easier if I could be mad at him.

5. Grad school scares me. Driving scares me. Life scares me. Apparently, that has something to do with my hormonal imbalances, but it's an unpleasant feeling. Everything scares me.

6. On a positive note, I love scrapbooking. It's my new outlet to relax and have some quiet time. It doesn't really require thinking, so it allows for some quiet, non-stressed time. I just focus on the task at hand... and then I'm happy. :)

That's all I can think of at the moment. Happy Sunday!

Titleless, Even

A mostly wordless post about a titleless layout. Nothing was coming to me. So I just embellished it like crazy. Bahaha!

Have I ever mentioned how much I love scrapbooking? and my big brother superhero? and doilies???