November 23, 2009

• thanksgiving resolutions

  It seems like everyone is posting things to be thankful for on Xanga and Facebook. ‘Tis the season to be thankful.

  I have lots of things to be thankful for, and I really should remind myself of them, since I’ve been particularly frustrated at work for the past few weeks. I’ve been working hard, which isn’t a bad thing — it’s just that I happen to be doing all this hard work for my least favorite client (the Legal department calls all of the groups we work with “clients,” even though we all work for the same company). Hard work becomes even harder when it’s with difficult people and projects of questionable merit. What is it about people who work in marketing that raises my blood pressure so much? Even just the mention of their group gets me riled up. I think it’s their lack of logic, their inability to communicate in full sentences, their refusal to acknowledge reasonable time lines, and their UTTER STUPIDITY. People joke about reincarnation, that if you live your life badly, you’ll come back as a lower form of life, like a worm or a paramecium. I think you’d come back as a marketing person.

  There I go again.

  Calm down.

  Breathe.

  Be thankful.

  Things to be thankful for, roughly sorted by “area of life,” but not really ranked:

  (1) In stark contrast to the utter stupidity and insanity of the marketing people, my coworkers are smart, funny, nice people who are interesting to talk to, fun to hang out with, and willing to add on to their workloads to lighten mine. They really are amazing.

  (2) The company is just an awesome place to be. It would be even more awesome without those marketing people. But even with them, it’s awesome. They love their employees, treat us right, and protect us from the harsh economic realities out there. Lobster and filet mignon have started making more frequent appearances on the menus again, economy be damned.

  (3) My family is all kinds of crazy, but all kinds of supportive, too. My parents don’t always understand me, but they are getting better at accepting me. Mostly. My sister usually understands me, and has been really instrumental in helping my parents to accept me.

  (4) Superman is super. He knows me better than anyone I’ve ever dated, he is able to manage me, and still somehow loves me. He’s going to see his family tomorrow night, and will be gone for four days. I’m actually a little bit excited, because it will give me a chance to miss him while he’s gone.

  (5) My dog has put up with over seven years of endless torment and pestering from me, and still gets excited every time he sees me when I come out of my room in the morning.

  (6) I have good friends all over the place, which is both a blessing and a curse. It means that I don’t get to see all of my friends as often as I’d like, but it also means that wherever I’m traveling, chances are pretty good that I can see someone I know, and whatever time of day it is, chances are pretty good that if I really need to talk to someone, I can probably call someone in a time zone where it isn’t too big of an imposition.

  It’s hard to leave a list at six. Not really a great number. But I’m going to do it. One of the reasons I’m going to do it has to do with this next section.

  I’m feel like I’m always running behind on things I should get around to doing, so for once, I’m going to get something done before everyone else does. I’m going to get some New Year’s resolutions out there, even though New Year’s is over a month away. I can make more later, but at least I have some to think about now. If I’m really good, I can even beat everyone else at breaking my resolutions — I could break mine before anyone else even makes theirs.

  (1) Step outside my comfort zone and do things differently sometimes. (See? Leaving the previous list at six items goes with this.)

  (2) Wear something other than my sweater/t-shirt/jeans/sneakers uniform once a week. (To clarify: I can still wear jeans on that day, or sneakers, or a sweater, or a t-shirt, just not all four at once.)

  (3) Be a little less of a slob when I’m in my apartment. (Stretchy pants count as a step up from men’s pajama bottoms.)

  (4) Sleep without Ambien once a week. (This is a tough one for me. I’ve managed it twice in the last two weeks, but both times, I’ve had terrible nightmares, bad sleep, and a vicious headache in the morning.)

  (5) Do things my way if it makes me happier. (I’m ending this list at five items.)

  • 1:39 am
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