Yeah. She is. She being me. “Out” being sick. Again.

I wrote that scathing note to the News Media yesterday at around 2pm… I had been sick on Thursday, staying home from work because whoa! fever, which I never, ever get. I felt better on Friday morning and hauled myself out of bed and to the internship in Hartford. I went directly to work, after that, took some time to have some chicken noodle soup and orange juice (responsible, right? I thought so), and then proceeded to punch in.

I lasted 45 minutes before an irrational fear of vomit sent me running out the door. (Too much info?) I called out this morning, as well**, and have spent the day in bed. I do feel better, and the fever’s gone down, but this headache? Wicked. Absolutely wicked.

I’ve actually spent the day pairing things. It’s a new habit, spurred on by Facebook and Twitter status updates. After all, it’s boring to tell the world that you’re watching a movie. But if you’re “watching the Scarlet Empress and eating sushi” (not what I did today, by the way), it’s much more exciting. So I began with “recovering and Notting Hill.” I moved on to “research and Clue.” It’s now 10pm — my next update will look something like this: “Taking a shower and downloading Twilight.” (I’m sick, and I’M ALLOWED TO INDULGE IN THE CHEESE, OK.) After that, it’s anyone’s guess… Maybe I’ll watch Twilight, if it’s done, or maybe I’ll feel better and find myself in the midst of “more research and a Diet Coke.” I could add a third item, too, if the shower really helps — I could totally be the girl researching, drinking Diet Coke and watching Bend It Like Beckham. Why not, right? Live dangerously or not at all.

Tomorrow is the Walk Against Hunger, and while I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks, I’m suddenly having post-sickness doubts. Nonetheless, I will be there, snapping photos and being disgustingly optimistic and whatnot. And then I’ll probably come home and pass out.

I’m counting down the hours, here, until my Pennsylvania horseback-riding vacation, two days of which will apparently be spent indoors, cowering from thunder and lightning. So saith The Weather Channel. But c’est la vie, and at least I’ll have time to work on the In Progress. I’m pretty stoked.

But I have to get there, first, so sayonara for now… Let’s hope this shower clears my head a bit, or my status updates are going to be very, very depressing.

Hmph.

** By the way, Boss? I don’t need your guilt trip on top of my flu. Got it? Fabulous, thanks.

Clearly, I’m a pretty busy gal. So busy, in fact, that my schedule is generally inflexible, and I reallllly need things to work properly. The way they’re supposed to. For example, when I set an alarm for 8am, I need it to GO OFF at 8am. Because my schedule also means that I am almost constantly exhausted, and trust me – if that alarm doesn’t go off? My eyes are certainly not opening on their own.

So while I love, love, love! my new iPhone (Jayne), I am getting a little bit frustrated with this new routine. The two mornings this week when I didn’t set a backup alarm have been disaster. The other days, of course, were fine – I didn’t even need the backup. That, my friends, is crap. Plain and simple.

Off to my haircut, rescheduled for noon since I slept through the first appointment. Then bill paying and work for the rest of the day.

My life is so exciting, I can barely stand it.

Don’t forget, Project Dragonfly CT is participating in the Walk Against Hunger this Sunday! Please consider donating, if you can. :) www.dragonflyct.org

So all last week, my stomach was feeling TERRIBLE, to the point where I did ask for a postponement on my jury dury summons. (Also because HELLO, I’m barely keeping my stuff together NOW, forget about keeping it together should I be assigned to a trial and actually have to miss days and days.) So I didn’t think it would be granted, and then it was, and then I felt better, and then I went shopping, and then I got sick. Siiiiick. And felt gross and disgusting and slept a lot, and then worked a lot. And then had a lovely day on Sunday at a daffodil festival, and then felt gross again.

Which is about where I am right now.

Not cool. Very not cool.

Okay. Back to working through the “not cool.”

So after the WP-upgrade process gave me a brief heart attack (not cool, WP. Not cool), I realized that I did not, in fact lose my entire website, and WordPress 2.7.whatever was actually up and running and functional. I almost didn’t know what to do with myself.

Anyway, I think I’d like to talk a little bit about shopping, today. Because it has been a long winter, and it has been a winter of scrimping and saving and being financially responsible, since the words economy! and fail! and doom! are being bandied about with a pretty high level of frequency.

But the weather is (finnaallyy) getting warmer and it was time to shed that winter skin. And exchange some ill-fitting birthday gifts. And use some merchandise credits (49 cents? Really??).

Whatever the reason, I laid out this spread of brand! new! stuff! whilst putting laundry away this morning:

I’m not even sure you can actually SEE any of that, but oooooh — aren’t the colors pretty? And listen, before you’re all “OH my gosh, this girl talks about money being tight, and she goes out and buys all of THAT?!,” I need you to understand that I am a full-fledged bargain hunter. And gatherer, I guess, because I am good. Ever see that Gilmore Girls episode where Lorelai buys Luke a new wardrobe because everything was “six trillion percent off” ..? Yeah. That’s me. Six trillion percent off. (I also save coupons and merchandise credits worth 49 cents so DON’T JUDGE ME.)

Anyhow. ;)

It occurred to me (in the dressing room at H&M… Not where I usually have the most profound thoughts, outside of, “OH DEAR GOD, I need a gym membership!”) that even if I hadn’t found a single sale-item worth buying, just the act of engaging in such pointless, girly activity? WAS AMAZING. You don’t even know. I’d barely been feeling like a human being, lately, let alone a girl. So. Mission accomplished.

Now it’s Saturday, and I’ve done a ton of chores already this morning and plan to work on several more before I leave for work at 3:30. The weather is beautiful, and I’d rather not spend it indoors, but then again — money’s pretty necessary to continue feeding my habits, right? Like shopping, yes, but also food and water and shelter, all of which I’ve gotten pretty used to.

So I’m off to do all of that… Enjoy the sunshine, everyone, and oh! I almost forgot to show you my favorite purchases, all total bargains at $3.99:

I can’t even WAIT to get started on some of these recipes… They look amazing. The big red book that says “Ultimate Christmas”..? Yeah, it includes CRAFTS. Excitingggg.

:)

I really like bananas, and I really like my mom for randomly buying bananas for me, since I’ve been a total bum and haven’t visited the grocery store in entirely too long.

I did hit up the local natural food store, though, and, um, Greek yogurt? Where have you been all my life? Really.

So, okay — Grr! I kind of completely dropped the ball about a week ago, and I’m having a miserable time trying to get my routine back. I’m also feeling pretty overloaded with pressure to eat better, lose weight (I gained four pounds, according to the scale at the doctor’s office — NOT OKAY), dive right into everything I’m doing (in other words: not half-assing anything), read like seven books, and perform routine maintenance on my car. And laundry. And cleaning. And OH LORD, did I even mention my own nonprofit organizing??

I know this will all be worth it in the end, and I really am enjoying everything I’m doing. There’s just a lot of it, and when my energy plummets, I start to realize just how much I’m really involved in. I’m still wayyy behind on researching options for the summertime, and that is creeping up really quickly.

I don’t know. I think I lost my momentum for this entry. I wish my head would stop pounding. Ugh. Warm weather, please get here and stay!

Yikes. It’s not a full month, anyway, it’s only a couple of weeks! Do I get points for that? No? Figured as much.

If it makes my lack of blogging any more acceptable, I can also assure you that I’ve been experiencing a lack of sleeping, as well. And baking. And reading. And, you know, seeing family and friends. I have had an abundance, on the other hand, of the following things: caffeine in paper cups, carbs (vending-machine supplied, of course), backaches, traffic jams,  and really big tote bags. For all of my crap. Because there’s a lot, and “traveling lightly” has never been my strong point.

Anyway, happy first days of Spring! Don’t mind those snowflakes, by the way, they’re just here for the hors d’ouevres. The 40-degree temperature, too — all part of the celebration. Really.

I’ve actually always kind of hated March, and that’s really unfortunate, seeing as how it’s my birth month. Which I keep forgetting, by the way, because apparently, when I’m this busy, my brain misplaces vital information. Or, at least, information that should be pretty solidly in there, like the birthday I’ve been writing on applications and doctor’s office forms for the past 15 years, at least. I tried to make dinner plans with my parents for “a random Wednesday, you know, the 25th,” and my mother yelled, “That’s your birthday!”

…Oh. Right. That.

In the end, I did remember my birthday, and I had a pretty nice day… Had a nice half day at work, where I saw some of my favorites and had a nice conversation with an old coworker (hi Thom!), treated myself to a Frappuccino with! an extra shot of espresso, ate amazing Indian food, and — drumroll, please — had an editorial featured in a city newspaper. It was super-fun to see my name in print after these many long years of not writing much more than a grocery list, and even more fun to be referred to by some of the commenters as a whiner looking for a handout from my own state.

Me and AIG, baby. Livin’ for the bailout.

I think it really says something about the way we, as a society, are taught to frame the media we consume. My editorial was somewhat representative of my own experiences, but more than that, it was meant as an answer to a question; I pulled information from friends to shed some light on an issue currently facing our state, and so many took that opportunity to attempt to deconstruct my life — as if they could deduce, by my moderately-written op-ed, not only my opinion, but my personal drive, character and circumstances.

Do we do this when we feel threatened? I think we do. I think we are taught to explain away the idea, especially, of bad things happening by justifying them: “He has cancer because he never took care of himself.” – “She was in an accident because she wasn’t paying enoug attention.” That bad choice led to that bad outcome, and maybe it did — but maybe it didn’t. Maybe I’m not making $70,000 a year or living in my very own penthouse because I’m lazy or unintelligent or disinclined to forego trendy clothes or new electronics — but I’m not. We are so conditioned to assume the worst. We Americans are huge fans of the tidy explanation. We New Englanders are incredibly quick to judge. I think these are the two most significant reasons why positive change comes so slowly.

…Dear Young Girl Who Just Walked into Panera in the SUPER Short Shorts: It’s NOT THAT WARM. And if I were your mom, you would SO be Rapunzel-ing it up, locked in your room right now. So inappropriate.

…Dear Dude Talking Really Loudly On Your Cell While Wearing a Racing Jacket: Stop. Just stop.

… Love, Melissa.

In better news,  I have been writing again! Fiction-style, and I’m so excited. I once again have the lovely Miss Santiago to thank for inspiration. And while on the topic of Miss Santiago, I want to take a moment to send a big virtual hug to her and her new little baby, because it will be a lovely summer for them both — I am so, so certain of it. You should all check out her newest e-publication, Surfacing, because it’s great; I was completely hooked from the start, and I was not disappointed.

Anyway, back to work. And then off to more work tonight. Sigh.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone. :)