Love:
* The smell of laundry in the air in the mornings — my company is now located across the street from an apartment complex and as I walk from my car to the building, the scent of laundry in a dryer wafts through the air. It’s a comforting smell that I enjoy.
* Cracker Jacks. One of the “oldest” snacks, dating back to the late 1800’s, but I love the sweet treat as if it were invented yesterday. It’s also one of those things that I always forget about and then when I remember, I’m like, “Oh yeah, I really like those!”
* My weekly visit with Grace. I ♥ Grace.
* Rambutans. Tastes similar to the lychee, but way cooler looking.
* Carolina Pad’s Simply Chic line of products — really brightened up my dull cubicle, let me tell you! The best part is, I found nearly the entire line on clearance at my local Walmart. Although I did buy a few things off their website — it came all wrapped like a Christmas present in August. I was impressed. I may have become a teensy bit obsessed with that line…
Loathe:
* Chipped fingernail polish. One of those things that just bugs me.
* Waiting or being in limbo with things.
* The chairs we now have at work. They look nice and are somewhat comfortable, but the details of the chair’s design was not thought out for female sitters. For example, the wheel plate is metal instead of hard plastic, like most desk chairs. I know, you’re like, “So what?” Well, women wear heels. If the wheel plate is the metal bell, then women’s heels are the gong — all day long. Also, the back of the chair is terrible for women whose hair is past their shoulders. Tangles it like a windstorm. So I now wear my hair in a bun (no tangles) and listen to the radio by wearing ear pods (no gonging). But, like I said, the chairs look nice.
One Last Thing:
It seems as if something has changed the last few months and I’m mentally bringing work home with me. My boundaries are in place as far as no phone calls or e-mails once I leave the office, but mentally I’ve lost that boundary and I need to reinstate it. I examine and re-examine things that were said or done during the day and I need to figure out a way to stop. I need to figure out a way to focus on the here and now.
So, how do you leave work behind? Once you cross that threshold and get out the door, how do you focus on the moment you’re living instead of the moments you’ve finished?
Jammie J's Quest 
When you started talking about laundry and I saw that picture, I thought you had an interesting ball of dryer lint. One of my former MOW ladies lived in an apartment with the dryer vent right by the door and I guess she did her laundry every Wednesday. I used to love that smell too. As for leaving work at work, I can’t help you. When I used to work I would talk about it for about two hours after I got home. And then sometimes dream about it. I’m glad I don’t work anymore.
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Nope, no interesting dryer lint here… my dryer lint is always boring gray.
Well, maybe you can’t help with leaving work at work, but at least I don’t feel so alone.
~Jammie J.
Sorry, I can no longer agree with the laundry smell. My room is next to two laundry rooms that eight floors of students use. The air stinks in the hallway.
Thinking of work done? Maybe part of it is all the changes that have happened and just need to get that confidence back as time will give you.
Are you going to traffic school?
Love you,
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Too bad, Korean laundry ruined a good smell for you.
You may be right re: changes/work/time.
Dunno. We’ll see.
~Jammie J.
I am sorry sweetie, when you leave work just tell yourself you are done with work today, GOOD BYE!!!
And think of all the things you can go home and do now. Play on your computer, sleep with the kitties, see your sweetie, go to Disneyland, watch Survivor, Watch a movie and the most important thing, SWIM!!!! So say good bye to work and hello FUN!!!!!
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Maybe do like Dorothy in Wizard of Oz? There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home? 🙂 Hello FUN!
~Jammie J.
I used to love Cracker Jacks as a kid. Don’t eat them so much now. But the surprise in every box was the best part!
As far as leaving work at work, I’m sure you know I struggled with that for a while. You’ve taken the first big step in no email or calls. It’s hard not to think about some of the stuff that goes on in the office. I have that problem when there are personnel issues I’m dealing with. What I do now is focus on other things while at home. Excersize is good. I read to keep my mind occupied. I do the things I enjoy and simply recognize there’s nothing I can do about whatever it is at work when I’m not there.
The other thing I’d suggest is to focus on what you can do. We can’t control what others do or think, just what we do. So when at work, focus on the things you can do and forget about the things you have no control over. It’s not easy, but I found that when I put my energy into doing the things at work that made me successful in the past, that the rest took care of itself. Even if what I was doing wasn’t “good enough”, at least I knew that I did the best I could. So far, those things are making me successful again.
Remember, it’s only work. We rely on our jobs for income, but they’re not our lives. The world will not end and people won’t die regardless of what kind of job you do. So just do the best you know how.
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Cracker Jacks are so good! 🙂
They say to replace one behavior with another in order for change to be effective. I think I need to find the behavior that’ll work to replace it with. I like your summary… so just do the best you know how, coupled with the “at least you knew you did the best you could” from the previous paragraph. Those spoke to me… thanks.
~Jammie J.
I like the dryer smell, too. Especially since I’m not the person who does the laundry. tee hee! Well, not usually, anyway.
I love our visits, too. 😀 It’s always lovely to see you! 🙂
Now your cube is all fancy-pants! 😀
That doesn’t look like fruit. It looks furry and weird. Like a little weird hamster or something. heh…
Cracker Jacks toys suck now. It’s usually something super lame. Boo!
When I was working, I’d just vent for about 20 minutes (our commute home) and then by the time I got home, I was fine. Steve never had to vent, though. He was always fine when we left. He always left work at work. Maybe it’s a personality thing…
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What? I didn’t know you don’t do the laundry… how funny.
HA HA!! I LOL’ed at the fancypants cubicle comment. hehe
Man, the fruit is so good — hehehe, a weird hamster? hehehehe You’re on a roll!
Hey, I don’t eat the Cracker Jack toy… I just like the popcorn. None of the offtakes taste quite right.
You vented on your blog, too, so you essentially vented ALL DAY LONG — 😆 So can you ask Steve how he leaves it at the door? Course I know he’ll just shrug and mutter, “I don’t know” with that half smile of his. heh
~Jammie J.
I do it *sometimes* but not very often. hehe. It’s usually Steve. He doesn’t trust me. 😛 hehe. I tend to turn things grey or pink. hehe.
That’s true. I DID vent ALL DAY LONG. (Or as Mia says, “All the day long.” hehe.)
He TOTALLY did what you said he was going to do. And then he added, “It’s just work. I don’t take it personally.”
So there you have it. His secret. hehe. 🙂
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What’s wrong with grey and pink? 😯
There’s something so grounding about the way men say things sometimes. (sigh) Tony can say with such confidence, “Everything’s going to be just fine.” And I believe him. It’s weird. It’s like it shuts the voices in my head up.
~Jammie J.
I love rambutans!! So much fun to peel and so delicious! Sometimes I have so much fun playing with it, pretending it’s some alien pod about to unleash an alien baby or something, that I don’t even get around to eating it! Where did you get it? Last time I saw one was in Hawaii, and before that I was in the Philippines.
I hate waiting too. It makes the time slow down and takes even longer for what you’re waiting for to get there.
How do I disconnect from work? Two words. “Happy Hour.” 😀
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I found the rambutans in the exotic fruit section of the local Stater Bros. Crazy, huh? They were stupid expensive, but worth the price for a one-time try out. I actually spotted them, took a picture, and researched them on the Internet and THEN went back and bought them a couple weeks later. Like I said, they were expensive. I didn’t want to waste my money. You can’t make fun of me for that, by the way, because you just told me you pretend they’re alien pods from another planet. Hehe
Waiting sucks. Being in limbo sucks. Lately, that’s how I’ve been feeling. Thing is, I have no idea what I’m waiting or in limbo for. *grunt*
Happy hour… should’ve known. 🙂
~Jammie J.