This morning I awoke with a blinding headache. Andrea brought me some drugs and shut the blind on the skylight above my head. The cat kept me company until it blew over. Andrea called it an “empath headache” which is an apt description.
I’m still “working” remote for my company through the end of the week. It’s sort of like being undercover on call. Actually, I'm not sure what the expectations are so I scoured my work calendar for important appointments like "hair" and "dentist". I watched an episode of Marie Kondo’s Netflix show today too. I like the idea of asking if your possessions spark joy. I can imagine Kondo coming to my house and me explaining that, yes, my bat skeleton DOES spark joy. I like how Kondo keeps smiling as she tours the home with the occupants and wonder what she's really thinking and if she would smile at my taxidermy raccoon. Kondo has no life changing magic tips for cleaning the dregs of your email inbox in your waning days of employment so I worked on that too. Kondo has some great tips but I can safely say that I will not being putting all of my clothing into mountain any time soon. Although,maybe I should because as I tucked an umbrella into a guest room closet, I was surprised to find a nice dress shirt of mine in there. Anyway, I also tackled finding a place for the things from my office, farewell gifts and the remains of Christmas. I changed the channel to my preferred true crime and felt inspired to toss a plant away. My cat Dex put an end to that plant and we’d re-positioned the plant near a window with naive hope. Clearly, my plant needed a miracle on par with Jesus and Lazarus. If you go to Lowe’s, they often sell plants for half price. They are in varying stages of wilt but you can find one that can be coaxed to health if you keep it away from asshole cats.
I ran to the town hall at lunch to grab a pass for the dump. I think it's almost charming how we call them transfer stations, as if we're not transferring trash. These passes cost $10 a year or they're free if you're a veteran, which I am. I walked in hoping no one would ask for proof
It seems a lot of people read the post about my work yesterday – which is a topic I usually try to avoid posting about for what are likely obvious reasons. It’s tough to write about anything that you’re going to filter. Usually, I try to write like no one is reading which is a lot like dancing like no one is watching. But I think you all got what I was putting down – minus the part where Andrea admitted that she was not familiar with Mama, I’m Coming Home. I was surprised by this and pointed out that this was fairly “new” Ozzy - - 1991. She then texted this:
The weekend after I'd accepted the full circle job, Andrea and I were away at the Getaway House and we had take out Chinese food one night. I held a fortune cookie in the palm of my hand and said, "The entire year of 2019 can be summed up by the fortune in this cookie."
"That's a lot of weight to put into one cookie." Andrea cautioned.
"Nope. This is it." I said, cracking the cookie open to reveal this....
Or I am coming back to them. So I'd say my cookie got it right. Smart cookie.
I had launched my job search before the breakfast meeting I'd written about yesterday. And I was feeling good about making a change as I was making connections and traction. I didn't feel like going down another rabbit hole - I've heard great things from so many about the evolution that my last company has been going through. And, the people! There is no guarantee on the people or the leadership. Lesson learned.
So while I was winding up my job this week, I was also at rehearsals for the New Works Winter Festival of short plays that I work on each year. Usually, I schlep furniture on and off stage in the dark. This year, I am the stage manager and will call the cues for all the shows. In the past, each director called the cues for their own show. For me, this falls into do one thing a day that scares you. I'm sure the directors and people affiliated with the shows are scared too. I will be reviewing all the cues before heading to the theater tomorrow and packing a small, brown paper bag in case I have to breathe into it backstage. I am glad Dave keeps believing into me. I know he wouldn't breathe into a bag - well, not in front of me anyway.