Strategery

"Where do you see yourself next year? Or in the next three to five years?"

These are the questions my supervisor asked me yesterday. I didn't have to answer right then but now I do have to think about it. And that stinks. I'm a planner but I'm not really a strategizer (Is that a word? Whatevs. I'm using it). I run scenarios through my head almost constantly but these are like short movie clips, not long term plans. So, yes, I know what color I want my bridesmaid dresses to be. What I'm going to plant in my yard when I have my first house. How I want my living room set up. How I'll tell my (potentially) future children that I love them. These are simple things. Small things. A five year plan is not.

One of my student workers has been teasing me about being on the five year plan in regards to the BF. As it turns out, despite my protestations that I'm not, I am. Because now when I'm thinking long(ish) term, I have to (get to) think of him too. Where is he going to fit in all this? If I leave for my career, what would that do to his? Would he come with me? Does he want to? And now I have to ask him these things just so I can answer two, seemingly simple, questions my supervisor asked me.

Anyone who says their personal life and their work life are separate is either lying to you or lying to themselves.

Is that you, Summer?

I think it might be almost that time of year. My favorite time of year. When it's hot and sunny a lot. Back home, we had spring and we could kind of ease into those 100 degree, 90% humidity days. Here, in this part of Texas, we just go from 30 degrees to 75 and breezy beautiful in one day. A lot of people complain about the heat here and I can't say that I blame them. Lord knows I'll be griping with the best of them when I go hauling my dolly over to Rudder Tower full of presentation materials a few times a week. It's tough to present in a calm and professional manner, and feel capable of answering crazy questions thrown at you by parents, when you're cheeks are bright red and you're concerned that people can see the wet marks under your armpits. Gross, I know, but that's my summer reality.

I'm pumped though. I wore a skirt (AND shaved my legs, thank you very much) today just to feel the warm sun on my (pasty, winter white) legs. I'll wander a little more slowly when walking the dog (as opposed to the penguin shuffle, which is what I do when it's 25 and the wind is blowing 25 miles an hour and I have on so many layers I can barely move) and let her linger to sniff things. I'll walk her to the dog park and let her get stinky and dirty playing with other dogs. And perhaps the best part: Laying out by the pool.

I love the water. Love the sun. And I like being tan-ish. Plus, I hear the MOST RIDICULOUS stories at my pool. I'm an avid eavesdropper at places like this. I may have my (probably trashy) novel, but I'm totally listening to you. If you're going to talk so loud about how you think vodka has no calories because it's clear, it's hard NOT to hear you. And the guy-trying-to-impress-the-girl convo about your friend the hitman who went to jail? Probably not gonna work, buddy. That's shady and probably a lie. Your ex who wanted you to elope to Mexico? Fascinating. Who got drunk and hooked up with someone else boyfriend? Tragic and like a real life reality show. Bring it on. I'll be right there, trying not to laugh out loud or interrupt you to point out your incredible misconceptions.

For the record, I did recommend that they Google the nutritional information in vodka.

Underpants

Here's the thing about underwear: you wear them under your clothes. You put them on and unless they ride up or give you VPL (Visible Panty Line), you hardly even think about them. So, you go all day at work, thinking you've got it going on. You like your outfit; you're confident; you're getting things done. You have it together. You quickly change clothes in your off and hit the gym. Because you were so awesome all day, you knock out a killer work out. Sweaty, tired but feeling good, you head home. You walk the dog (after layering up due to the frigid winter conditions). Then, you finally change clothes before dinner and you realize: my underwear have been on inside out all day.

This Weather is Gross

I woke up about 4:30 a.m. today. This is not a pleasant time for me to wake up. I had the weird moment of something's-not-quite-right-but-I-don't-know-what-it-is. Did my alarm go off? No. Was there an intruder? No. Did the dog step on me? No. Wait, why's it so dark? Oh right. The power's off. At first, I was excited because a) I love candles and b) You can't do morning P90X with no power. But then I couldn't fall back asleep. I had another hour and a half of quality sleep time I couldn't take advantage of. It was a sad day. So, I started creating my back up plan for getting ready. Flashlights and candles in the bathroom for a dark shower. Makeup by candlelight. Breakfast from Starbucks. Drying my hair at work. Then I remembered I was an adult and I should probably call the utility company and report my outage so I could get power back at some point. Despite my epic level of preparation for things that will probably never happen, I did not have the number of my utility company or working internet on my laptop or phone. Adult move, thwarted. So, I did what any resourceful daughter does: I called home. I'm sure my mom was a little concerned about getting a phone call from me at 6:11 a.m. EST but she found the number for me (which I wrote down in the dark). I called it in a lo and behold, I had power back in a little less than an hour.

Of course, that meant I didn't really have an excuse to go by Starbucks so that stunk.

Now, it's windy. What started as a rainy, 60 degree morning has morphed into a miserable, cloudy, 38 degree day with 25-30 mph winds and a wind chill of 26. It's only supposed to get worse, too. At about 6 a.m. tomorrow morning, right when I'm supposed to be walking my dog, it'll be about 20 degrees, 20-25 mph winds and a wind chill of 4 degrees. Four! I have more fingers on one hand than that! When I'm walking across campus for our Division meeting, it will have warmed up to about 7 degrees. This is NOT the Texas weather I expected. I want my 110 degrees and sunny back. Or, failing that, I want a snow or ice day. Not just miserable wind with no reason not to go to work expect for the fact that my sweatpants are awesome. I want something tangible to go with my cold weather.