One Week

It's been a week since I last wrote. I feel like all I have done is work. I worked Monday through Friday and then spent 4 hours in a parade yesterday for one of our units. The parade was a blast, but I must say, I cannot control my stress level.

It's one thing to put on a mask at work and try my best not to show that I'm stressed. I know it shows the most in the morning when I'm tired and it's hard to put my game face on. There are three special events coming up at work and everyone is stressed out. I have a stress migraine coming on right now and have taken some advil and caffeine to hopefully keep it at bay. I don't have a free weekend until November. I've got something for work just about every weekend. Next weekend, I'm helping out at the Farmers Market to spread the word about one of our events. The weekend after that, I'll be recovering from surgery. The weekend after that we have an event. The weekend after that, I'm free and then we have the oh so fun board retreat the weekend after that. Last year's retreat, I think maybe an hour was worth the staff being there.

I really want to get out of here. I'm sick of being stressed all the time. I hate feeling like the world is going to end if I take a day off. I've tried all the stress relieving techniques I used with the mentally ill kids I worked with, but I have to say, nothing is working. I feel like I spent a lot of the weekend sleeping and reading which are my usual stress relievers with no result. Stress triggers my fibromyalgia which causes immense pain, which stresses me more, which causes more pain. Today I feel like I'm 80.

I don't eat when I'm stressed, but I always feel like I could sleep forever. One good thing is that the cats have been behaving themselves the past couple of days. Sleeping with the fan on keeps them from waking me up too many times in the middle of the night.

Book Reviews:

Booking Passage by Thomas Lynch. I cannot rate this book. I didn't get past chapter three. The author is so incredibly long winded, I couldn't take it anymore. How many times can the author tell you the names of the families that live in the town he writes about? Really. I could probably tell you all the families if you asked me because he tells you at least one a chapter if not three or four times. He continually repeats himself and it feels like he's filling the pages with fluff. It's like a high schooler trying to fill the pages of an essay. He's just blabbing.

Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs. 4.5/5 What a well-written and ODD novel. It's a memoir and the man has truly had one (excuse my language) fucked up life. Every chapter leaves you with your mouth open in shock. It also leaves you feeling sorry, or laughing, or any other variety of feelings you can have while reading a book. Tremendously written. The characters are well written and it's easy to imagine them in your head while you read.

Speaking of reading, I saw another Kindle in person yesterday. I think they're neat, but I cannot imagine reading a book without being able to smell what I call "book smell" and being able to feel the pages. Maybe someday, but I don't think I'd like it right now.

Men: My love life hasn't been what I'd like to call successful. The guy I wrote about earlier ended up not being as great as he seemed. I did go on another date which was nice, but the second time we hung out he wanted to clip his toenails in front of me and thought I'd play video games or at least watch him play. Sorry, I'm not looking to date another Andrew. I've had a couple other dates which have been fine, but I cannot imagine being serious with anyone right now. I've got too many things going on.

I'll take any suggestions on stress relievers. Pittsburgh is looking pretty great right now. I miss my family.

Book FINISHED

Last night, I finished Green City in the Sun. I'd give it a 4.5/5. The author certainly did her homework. I felt as though she had truly researched the time period and the Kikuyu people she writes about. There are some books that feel like they are so well researched, they could have happened. This is one of those books. It is also an amazing read. I read 647 pages in about 3 days. It may have been two days. It was a fast read, however long it took me.

Current Book Count: 499
Current Page Count: 160, 511

I've kept track since March of 2000. Let's see how far I can go!

Sick Sick Sick

It has been quite a while since I've actually been sick. I admit it, though. I am sick. Pretty sure I have a flu bug too. I missed work Friday and spent all day the past two days in bed/reading. If anything, I've gotten a lot of reading done, which I feel is good for the soul.

I'm currently reading Green City in the Sun about colonial Kenya. It is a very well written historical fiction novel. The author certainly did her homework. She took some liberties, of course, but that is why it is fiction. I'm enjoying the book and have read most of the six hundred pages in the past two days. I'm past page 500 now. I might actually finish it tonight.

I hate being sick as my to-do list gets longer and longer. I really need to do laundry, but the thought of dragging my laundry to the laundromat seems like carrying a boulder 100 miles since I'm sick. I actually don't mind laundry most of the time, but I feel pretty weak right now and there's no way I'm carrying my huge laundry basket. I am never getting an apartment without a washer/dryer again. I've had enough of this the past 2 years.

I watched a very interesting documentary on my instant queue called "Born into Brothels". It follows the stories of several young kiddos in the red light district in Calcutta. They are taking photography classes and have taken some amazing pictures of their lives. The woman teaching the photography classes attempts to enroll them in school and give them a boost in life, but this ends up failing for most of them. The stories are very interesting, heart-breaking, and inspiring all at the same time. I'd recommend it. Then I attempted to watch "Tarnation" about a man dealing with his mother's schizophrenia, but it was so dramatic and bizarre (not a documentary style film, but more of a drama queen style video diary), I ended up turning it off.

I'm going to attempt to finish my book tonight and write my review tomorrow. Good night.

Back from Mom's...

Whew. I drove a total of AT LEAST 20 hours this weekend. It takes 7 hours normally to get from where I live to my parents' house in Pennsylvania. However, there was an hour and a half back up on I-71 due to gawking at a rear-end crash. By the time I got to the accident, I was thinking that somebody better be dead or in critical condition...but NO...it was a very minimal accident. Three lanes of highway backed up for an hour and a half. Ridiculous.

I had a great couple of days with my family. My grandma is convinced that something is wrong with me because I am not married and I don't have kids yet. I told her I think it is the guys around here, not me. She's still convinced it's my problem. I have to admit, it makes me feel like utter crap when my grandma tells me that there must be something wrong with me. It's not like I'm not trying. It's also not like I never want to get married and have children. I just haven't met the guy for me yet, I guess. I hope it happens eventually, but we'll see.

I have made the decision that I want to go to grad school in Pittsburgh. Soon. I need a year in Pennsylvania to gain in-state residency. The sooner I go, the better. I'm ready for a change.

I just finished The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. This is the second in the series. The first one is the one I wrote about in my last blog. Again, good story, some nice action. Again, too many sex scenes, unconvincing action scenes. I think the author really wanted to make this a book that would be both adventurous and sexy. It's both, but not in a way I like. It's like a romance novel on action steroids. The idea is a good idea; it's just not done well. Too bad. It could have been really great.

Again, I say:

Go buy The Price of Stones and The Love We Share Without Knowing if you want to read a couple of AMAZING books. These will not be a waste of your time. I want to read them both again very soon.

Labor Day....

Let's just say....TGILDW. Aka Thank God it's Labor Day Weekend!

I'm done with The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I'd give it a 3.5. It's a decent read, but I could tell what was going to happen 50 pages into the book. Lame. Especially when it is supposed to be a thriller. WAY too many sex scenes. Jesus...no one needs to have that much GRAPHIC sex. Ridiculous. No one is going to have sex behind a curtain while they're trying to hide and be spies. Ridiculous.

I bought the book because it was on sale on Amazon. I'm reading the second book in the series just because I bought it at the same time. Again, I'm not that impressed. Oh well..

I have gotten rid of over 50 books. I donated some to work and a bunch to the library. It's amazing how it feels to PURGE things. I'm the total opposite of a pack rat. If I could get away with owning nothing, I'd certainly try.

Side note: My cat, Oliver, is giving me quite the look right now. I think I must have woken him up from his precious nap. We call this the "stink eye" where I'm from.

Work has been incredibly stressful for me lately and I'll be very grateful to go visit my family this weekend. It is really hard to live so far away from them. I just need to get the hell out of this town. I'm so sick of this town. This weekend: mom's house. Next weekend: Darryn's house for the Renaissance Festival. Rock on!

In regards to work, some times I wonder if people realize how freaking hard I work and whether I'm appreciated or not. Yes, I may sit at a desk all day, but I get a TON done. Give me a list of things to get done in two weeks, I get them done in a week and then four times as many things. I suppose every one wonders whether or not they're appreciated, but I guess I'm pretty sensitive to it. I just wish I had a window and a decent chair/keyboard/computer mouse. I feel like I'm in a box most of the time and I savor the times I get to go someplace like the bank or the post office. The keyboard and mouse are just crappy. LOVE the monitor...but the keyboard and mouse drive me CRAZY.

Go buy The Price of Stones. Seriously. You'll never find a book more moving or more enjoyable.

Go buy The Love We Share Without Knowing. You'll never find a book better written.

DO IT.