Once again, that time has come where I feel I have some things to confess and some other things to say that I can spin into sounding like confessions so it seems like this blog post has a theme.
1. I posted about my introvert's weekend on Sunday. Upon reflection, I think another reason I couldn't handle human contact was because I was having really bad anxiety and couldn't deal with the added anxiety of social interaction on top of that.
The superintendent came to our school for the first day yesterday and it messed with my head. I think I can safely say that anytime you have a visit from someone higher on the food chain, in any line of work, it's stressful. When you work for an organization with almost 20,000 employees and the head honcho comes, it's a big deal.
tl:dr I'm even more neurotic than you thought.
2. I let the scale dictate my day yesterday.
Yeah, you're not really supposed to do that, but that's only for when you don't like the number. I usually weigh myself pretty rarely, but Operation Get Un-fat Post Cruise is in full effect. I was quite pleased to see I was back down to my pre-cruise weight. Not my pre-buttercream extravaganza weight, but baby steps.
3. I think I've gotten slower.
Right after my delightful weigh in yesterday I ran 6 miles. It was at an 8:59 pace. I don't even remember when I saw a pace that began with an 8 last, and it's not just because I haven't been wearing my Garmin. I'm happy with the pace, but it definitely felt like it took some effort. Of course, this morning I ran 7 miles at the same time of day on the same route at a 9:40 pace and it felt twice as hard, but running is weird like that.
4. Vacation was a little weird, because we are not that couple.
By "that couple", I mean the one that is in constant contact and does everything together, the way we were for 10 days. Obviously we like spending time together. But we also like spending time alone, and have a strict policy that if one of us has a social engagement that the other one doesn't find interesting, we just....go alone. Crazy, right? We also don't talk during the day, unless it's a text like "stopping at the grocery store, need anything?". I mean, we live together, I really don't see the point of talking on the phone all day when we can just talk in person at night. Maybe it's just the line of work I'm in. I'm pretty psycho about guarding every second of my child free time at work. I allow only the absolute minimum for chit chat. Every second I waste with that is one second more until I finish and can go home.
That being said, I loved spending every second together and we didn't even run out things to talk about! But the other 355 days of the year it's quality, not quantity.
5. I don't believe fruit is dessert, but I am obsessed with yonanas. Don't knock it till you try it. If you are laughing at me right now, you are probably a person who is able to do one or all of the following:
- eat one piece of chocolate and say "So rich! You really only need one to be satisfied!" and actually mean it
- make chocolate chip cookies, put a twist tie on the bag with leftover chocolate chips, and have those same chocolate chips when you go to make cookies again months later (because you didn't eat them by the handful
safter dinner as soon as the cookies were gone) - receive candy as a gift, put it in your pantry, and forget all about it
- have a blog and not name it after your love/addiction to chocolate
I have no idea this lifestyle is like, nor will I ever. These are actually all examples I've seen from members of my own family, so I'm not quite sure what went wrong with me.
My point is, I'm in love with chocolate, but it's a dangerous, abusive kind of love, the kind where it's impossible for me to have it in my house and not eat it, and I'm also in love with being able to zip my pants. That's where Yonanas comes in. It's delicious, it's something sweet after dinner, and it takes a hot minute to make so I can't go crazy with it.
Did you ever have such good customer service that you want to sing it from the rooftops? Probably not, because it never happens. I had a meltdown because I've been making Yonanas every single night and important part of my machine somehow disappeared. I swear, I washed it with all the other pieces and the next morning it wasn't in the dish drain. I emailed the company this morning to ask how to replace it, because they didn't have replacement parts for sale on their website. They shipped me a replacement part, free of cost, before the school day was even over! I really need all companies to learn from their example.
Ok, I really need answers here. Please leave in the comments what your job is, and what your average stress level is. One is laying here, looking at this.
 This post needed pictures, and I like reliving vacation. |
Nuclear engineer responsible for work related to accident analysis. 56
ReplyDeleteHahaha job? You're funny.
ReplyDeleteI feel so honored any time you talk to me during the school day now. Suck it Eric, she likes me better!
Fruit is not dessert. I thought we understood that? You're weighing yourself and having fruit instead of chocolate? I'm worried for you.
Have you tried putting chocolate sauce and nuts on the yonanas? If you did that, I would consider it dessert.
ReplyDeleteStress level at work? Generally a 3 or so, unless I'm facilitating a conference (read: public speaking for 8 hours a day in front of my boss)...then it's like a 6 or 7. Oh, and I am a consultant for the Dept of Defense. DoD doesn't do ANYTHING quickly, so that's probably why it isn't so stressful ;)
I work on a college campus in housing and we've been in training for a month and yesterday and today were opening. We also have opening later this week. I'd say my stress level is at a high 7 with bouts of 8 thrown in to spice it up. I get nervous/stressed anyway so right now I have broken out in stress rashes. It sucks. If I didn't have to work last weekend (or this weekend) I would barricade the door to my apt and not come out... at all.
ReplyDeleteI nanny. My stress level is around a 2 most days. The trade-off is that it's not exactly glamorous, and people meeting me for the first time assume I'm an idiot. ("Oh, you nanny! That's... nice." Etc.)
ReplyDeleteI will say that I used to teach and every day was AT LEAST a 9. If I made it through a day without crying on the floor of the faculty bathroom during my planning period, I'd be high-fiving myself on the way home. But my school was an utterly dysfunctional, underfunded, over-red-taped Title I nightmare.
Ahh my chest actually constricted just writing that, just from the memories. Mothers, don't let your children grow up to join Teach for America.
I am a college professor, and I would say my job is stressful, but not so much on a day-to-day basis. Obviously during the semester I am slammed with emails, papers, exams, pointless meetings, etc. But more generally, there is pressure to publish, sit on committees, advise, etc, and since we have no supervisor it's sort of up to us to figure everything out. So, it's stressful knowing that some day I may or may not get tenure based on what I'm doing now. Not sure if that makes sense to people outside my profession or not, but I will say that not having a boss is just as stressful as having one.
ReplyDeleteMy stress level goes through the roof when I have no work at all. Oh, not the first week, or even the second. Those feel like sneaky vacation time... and I'm still optimistic that more work is right around the corner. But by the third week I'm convinced something is horribly wrong, I've made some hideous unknown error and the universe is punishing me by withholding work. I start living on Craigslist and considering all sorts of deadly dull minimum wage tortures.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that stresses me out is some weird grammar thing that I can't find a rule about because my knowledge of the parts of speech is so lame I don't know what to call it to research the right way to write it. Why am I an editor, again?
My stress level is probably a 2, but is elevated randomly throughout the day when I have to deal with dumbasses. I'm starting to think the trade off is not worth it. I wouldn't mind a stress level that was higher if I could leave behind all the idiots.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've been wanting to buy the Yonanas thing, but then it's just ONE more kitchen appliance that we have. And we have a LOT.
Auditor in public accounting; At this time of year, it is not too stressful (3-4) but from Jan - April it is very stressful. I get so stressed about what needs to be accomplished in x amount of time that I get serious insomnia (60-80 hour work weeks, stress level starts around 7 in January and creeps up as time passes and the deadline is closer).
ReplyDeleteYou know my job. My stress level is usually about a 3?
ReplyDeleteMy stress level was pretty low up until about 1 day ago when the thought of putting Harrison in daycare became real, and now I like.. can't breathe.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to succinctly describe my job. But now I'm in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis, working with kiddos with autism and their families, helping with assessments, doing program development, analyzing data, writing reports, and supervising behavior therapists. Stress was probably a 7 for the first 7 months, but more due to being overworked and having nearly twice the caseload I do now, with half of it 40 miles away. Now that I have a reasonable caseload and rarely have to drive more than 15 miles from home, and often get to work from home, it's about a 3.
ReplyDeleteAnd for good customer service-- I benefit in no way from saying this, but Running Warehouse is amazing. Phone or email the response is so fast. Good return policy. Free shipping and returns. Fast return processing. If I could buy everything in life from them I would.
PS, my stress level as a school psych in a super affluent district was about a 9. All the time.
ReplyDelete