A Day in Powellhurst

Welcome to blogstravaganza, my attempt to see if I can find 31 days worth of writing. It is Day 2. So far so good. I should probably save this for a day when I don't have six half-written posts saved, but here is a day in my life:

3:30ish - Wake up to a woman's voice calling my name. There is no one there but me (and a large, snoring dog), so I decide it must have been a dream and go back to sleep.

6:45 - Wake up again. Briefly contemplate getting out of bed, but decide in favor of snuggling down into the covers to go back to sleep for another 45 minutes.

7:30 - Sun comes up, it's Tuesday morning. After a week off, I do not want to go back to work or even get out of bed. Luckily, the thought of my minty, new bar of Ice Blue soap (I love it even more than my former favorite, Demon in the Dark) from Lush draws me into the shower before I can think of a reason to call in sick.

7:45 - Put on my robe and step on the scale. My worst fears are confirmed. I am turning in to the Pillsbury Dough boy's taller, paler sister. My mood is immediately buoyed when I open the bathroom door to find three very excited dogs standing side by side in order of height, waiting for me to come out. While we have only been parted for about 15 minutes, they seem to think I've been gone for months. It is cause for copious wiggling and jubilation.

8:00 - I am in the garage looking for a suitable outfit to go with my adorable new shoes. I may not feel like going to work, but the first real day of 2007 will see me well shod.

8:15 - Toast an English muffin to share with Citizen R. This is what I am reduced to after the convivial atmosphere and pre-2007 gastronomic debauchery - muffin sharing.

8:45 - Leave for work. Spend the next 45 minutes singing with Ute Lemper and listening to the first of my second chance before consignment to the half.com resale bin cd's.

9:30 - Discover Mrs. M has left me a gift. Maybe returning to work is not so bad after all. I like gifts. This one is a 2007 calendar filled with castles in far away lands. It is like the 2006 castle calendar she gave me, but different.

9:35-11:00 - Boring work stuff. Highlights: 1) My favorite temp is back for a month. 2) My neighbor has set a date for her wedding in September and tells me to keep it open. Now everyone in my area but me will be married. I am undecided on whether this is good or bad. 3) The first e-mail I open is an irate homage to all the reasons why a woman in Iowa will never do business with us again. Frankly, if I were here, I wouldn't either. Her account was really jacked up, and my company did all the jacking itself. 4) After what feels like hours at my desk, I look at the clock and find it is only 10:30. All the time off has clearly spoiled me.

11:00 - While taking my morning break, I realize to my great joy that I now have 23 vacation/personal days at my disposal. I celebrate by asking for birthday week and Thanksgiving week off.

11:10 - 13:00 - More boring work stuff. It's busy, so the midday hours mercifully pass quickly.

13:40 - Discover that I have forgotten to bring along socks for my lunchtime walk. It is pouring rain. While my walking shoes are adorable and comfortable, they also have a lot of openings. Vow to exercise later today, then retire to the kitchen to heat a bowl of peanutty turkey noodle soup (so good!), catch up on reorg gossip, and read the last 40 pages of Charlaine Harris' Grave Sight.

14:00 - Distant coworker shows up with her new born baby. I am happy for her, but do not share my other coworkers' compulsion to drop everything to run and coo. Decide to stay in the lunchroom and read/work on some writing as I had planned, since I spent a good portion of the first half of my lunch chatting with the temp and then La Pretenziosa. Spend the next 10 minutes wondering if my lack of baby magnet means I'm a bad person. I think not. I actually do love kids and being around them. I just don't have that thing that a lot of women get around tiny babies.

14:40 - 16:00 - Even more boring work stuff.

16:00 - Sneak a peak at my library account to see if season 1 of Angel will be waiting for me tonight. It is still in transit. Briefly consider cursing the library, but realize that I love it, even if it does toy with my emotions.

16:10 - Realize that thinking about the library for this long cements my status as a massive nerd and go back to work. I start to become concerned that I will not be able to finish everything I need to get done today, but because I am fabulous, I do - with a half an hour to spare. This gives me time to take down the Christmas decorations in my area. As I am taking them down, I wonder what they would say if I erected an old school hollow holy family in my cubie next year. It would be crowded, but I think the room is there, It's probably not the best idea. Still, I make a mental note to revisit it next November.

18:00 - Lock up the building and head for home. It is one of those rainy nights that don't make me look forward to the long commute back to town, but with my Cabaret-Klezmer mix to cheer me on, I navigate the backroads and freeway safely, while singing along to Coin Operated Boy and other musical gems. When I'm not singing (i.e. in the case of the gypsy string songs), I imagine in my head how I would play them on the violin as I listen. Somehow this keeps me from freaking out about the slick roads, but still leaves enough of my attention available for me to drive carefully.

18:50 - Arrive at home and enjoy a dinner of ground turkey and blue cheese on a ciabatta role with a side of the pineapple casserole recipe I got from Wendy. I do believe I could live on Wendy's pineapple casserole.
19:30 - Check my e-mail. Even after all these months, I check out of habit when I first get home. There is nothing from him, but there is an interesting note from the hair goddess. She has a way of mailing me just when I've been thinking about her. My head needs repurpling. I make a mental note to give her a call later.

19:45 - Woo hoo, I've paid the last of my Itax online. A great burden lifts from my shoulders as the looming cloud of debtor's prison drifts away from my environs.

20:00 - Retire to the bathroom to take a bath and read. As I am soaking, I realize that I am a damn, dirty liar. I never did make up for the missed lunchtime walk. I am momentarily disappointed with myself, but then remember that I only promised to start with 3x a week and that I really did do an awesome job at staying on track with my diet today. I was not even tempted when L. (who also started a diet today) decided to make herself my dietary nemesis by trying to rid herself of a bag of Rollos by putting a large pile of them in the middle of my desk. Instead of eating them, I gave them to all the temp. This allowed me not only to stick to my plan, but also to be the kind of person who is nice to temporary employees.

21:00 - I am out of the bath, but still reading. The quiet is interrupted by a potential cat smack down. Sensing that there is trouble on his beat, Officer Baxter charges at Rudiger and Loki to break up the fight. As ist to be expected, Rudiger stands his ground while Loki flees. Baxter, who gives chase, is a bit overzealous, treating a threat level puce like it is a fuschia or even a magenta. I realize that if he were a real police officer, he'd be the sort who would smash your tail light just to have an excuse to give you ticket. Apparently my dog is an asshole.

21:43 - Log on to compose a post. I glance over at the couch to notice that Baxter is holding my library copy of Libba Bray's Rebel Angels neatly between his paws as he prepares to nibble at the cover. I am able to relieve him of it just in time.

21:45 - Respond to Jen's comments on my last two posts by accusing her of having a secret affinity for hippies, then spend the next 10 minutes contemplating minions. How does one get them? What would I do with them if I had them? Could they help me determine what I want to be when I grow up?

22:00 - Start working on blogstravaganza post #2

23:00 - Check to see if Jen is online, so we can chat for a few minutes. She is, alas, busy overseeing her magnet empire. Instead, I add a few links to my post.

23:30 - Retire to the couch to watch a South Park rerun (unless it is stupid, in which case I will read), then eventually go to sleep.

So, there you have it. A day. Not a special day, not an exciting day, just a Tuesday, but a day nevertheless.