The new blog...

is up.

http://puremettle.blogspot.com

Maybe I'll see you over there.

Signing off.

Oy.

Sorry little bloggy. I think it's time to abandon you.

For many, many, many reasons... I feel the desperate need to start over.

This blog pretty much did what I wanted it to do, which was give me an outlet for just getting things OUT. I want to keep blogging, but I really feel like I need a new home. So, if you care to be updated when I start my new one, let me know and I'll keep you in the loop.

Twenty-ten

2010 is going to be a fantastic year. I feel it.

Lots of changes coming to the blog, not sure if I'll keep it here or just start a whole new one. Or, both?

In the meantime, the three of you that read this, forgive my absence. Things have been so busy and I honestly haven't had much to say. And now I do have things to say but well, can't quite say them yet.

I made a few resolutions this year but I'm already re-working them. More on that later.

Any of you make a resolution or two?

Hm.

Well, apparently when you abandon your blog for months you start getting weird penis-enlargement ads in your comment sections.

So I thought I'd just say a quick Hello, stop asking me to enlarge my penis, and while you're at it, you can take a peek at this YouTube video my mother-in-law forwarded to me.

Here is the description from YouTube: Our employees put together this video to generate breast cancer awareness throughout our hospital system. We had a ton of fun putting this together and hope it inspires others to join in the cause

The older gentleman who is a janitor - he really gets down. It's impressive as well as adorable.

Continuing Education (part 1?)

I'm very lucky. In this terrible horrible no good very bad economy, I have a solid job with a great boss, fun coworkers, and generally interesting tasks. How I feel about what I'm doing doesn't always reflect how I lucky I feel to be doing it. Does that make sense?

Anyway, over the last couple of weeks I've felt really motivated. I am considering auditioning for a show here in Boston (though it looks like the timing may not work out.) I'm writing more (and not just on the blog.)I have been cooking and cleaning and organizing more often the last two weeks than I did all summer. I'm sure some of it is the changing of seasons, a good deal of it is all the working-out, and maybe throw a little bit of the beautiful weather in there too.

All of this motivation in every-day life is bleeding over and becoming a strong desire to learn something new. I'm a student at heart. If I could afford it, I'd get 7 degrees. I'd take continuing ed classes every year. I'd live at the Boston Center for Adult Education. If I had my way, I would immediately - IMMEDIATELY - enroll in the following:

- Personal Training sessions
- A photography class
- Indian cooking class
- Spanish lessons
- Theology classes
- World history classes (Hubby's influence is rubbing off!)
- Sewing lessons
- Home Brewing workshop
- Jewelry making

Really. Those are just the things I can think of off the top of my head. What I spent my lunch break wondering if I could locate/pass/afford.

I'm guessing that I can pull off at least a few of these things. For instance, I don't actually *need* a home brewing workshop. I understand the brewing process and could pick up a kit and instructions for the house - from there, it's really just trial and error. I could probably grab an Indian cookbook and some equipment and again, figure it out as I go. Books and the internet make it easy to learn about world religions and history, and the fact that Hubs is a social studies teacher means I have access to a lot of resources. Still, there's something about being in a classroom or a workshop. Sitting at a desk surrounded by the other students and the materials, doodling in the notebook margins when there are breaks. Going home with your head full of new ideas, wondering what old, no-longer-useful information has been kicked out in favor of something more interesting, more relevant. But my work days tend to be long, and classes are expensive.

The good news is that my work days are long because I have a flex schedule. I work longer hours Monday through Wednesday and every other week I get a Thursday or Friday off (for instance, last week I had Friday off, I work 5 days this week, then next week I get Thursday off.) I think I need to start putting those Flex Days to better use. Usually I do a lot of cleaning and laundry on those days, but maybe I can also start using those days to try something new.

Of course, that means I'll have to find another time to do what I normally do on those days: watch "A Baby Story" and cry.

Just a quick ramble on the gym...

Well, it's going to be a while before I'm buying a whole new wardrobe, but there are definitely some immediate benefits of this whole, wake-up-and-work-out thing. I've noticed that getting up at 4:30, I'm really not any more tired than I am when I wake up at 5. I mean, it's 30 minutes. For some reason, that can make a huge difference when I'm taking a quick nap (or a Quap, as Wifey calls it) but in the morning, that extra 30 minutes of sleep does nothing for me. Last week, on Wednesday I didn't go to the gym and instead slept until 5... and I felt like crap all day. I was just as tired when I got up, couldn't stay awake on the train, and needed 3 times more caffeine than I did my gym-going days.

SO... the immediate benefits:
- Getting a work out in and not having to worry about it later in the day.
- Feeling less bloaty and gross all day long.
- No more french toast cravings. After the gym I really want healthy food.
- Things that would normally stress me out are just... not.
- More productive at work.
- Sleeping better at night.

Does it sound like I'm trying to convince myself that waking up so early to work out is a good idea?! That might not be too far off. It's definitely not easy for me.

Adults Behaving Badly

We grow weary of your nonsense.


Is there anything more annoying than dealing with an adult who has such a sense of entitlement that he or she routinely acts like an overgrown Veruca Salt? It's something that, I think I can say with a fair amount of certainty, one will have to deal with in any profession, any social circle.

In my job - a job in which I daily have to explain to people what they have done wrong to result in damage to their precious 1997 Corolla, or that they've been caught lying in order to try and save money - there are three kinds of "guilty" parties:

1. The "I know I did something wrong" crowd who was just hoping to not get caught. They will either accept their fate or fight you to try and put on a show, threatening lawyers and calls to the local news... but it's just embarrassment and you'll never hear from them again after you hang up.

2. The "I had no idea I was doing something wrong" group - they'll cry and give you some sob story, but usually you can just advise them to read some law somewhere and that's the end of it.

3. The "the rules don't apply to me" bunch. These are the guys (and they come in both genders) that really get to me. They are almost impossible. There is no logic, no cause-and-effect speech that will make them understand that they, too, have to be decent human beings. We are not all here to serve them. They will fight with you about anything and everything that doesn't result in the answer they want. For HOURS if you let them. I had a guy argue with me for 15 minutes the other day that Town A is RIGHT NEXT TO Town B, when in actuality they are on opposite sides of the state - one near Rhode Island and one closer to New Hampshire. Yes, I fought him on this for 15 minutes before realizing how stupid it was (at that point, my response became: "GO LOOK AT A MAP!")

There was another example of "better than the rules" behavior in my state very recently, where a school superintendent literally threw a hissy fit at a (taped) meeting because he was asked to stop being so rude. This is the SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENT. And what's more, he's a man who insists on professionalism from all of those around him - apparently, he doesn't require it from himself. Needless to say, he is no longer superintendent, and now it's becoming clear that he was a bully for a good deal of his career.

What happened to "The Golden Rule"? I believe that there are more decent, conscientious people out there than not, but sometimes it seems like the world is being taken over by those who believe they're above the rules of simple human decency - commonly known as "Inconsiderate Assholes."

Sometimes I really miss working with kids. At least when they act like children, they have an excuse.