This makes me miss my dad like crazy. Super pumped I get to see my parents this weekend!

It always annoyed the piss out of me when people, upon finding out I had a masters degree in Forensic Science, would question why I worked at a music venue. This last week, I've been asking myself that daily.

If I were to use said degree, I'd probably be making twice as much money and with half as much stress.

Normal people probably don't get super excited over cleaning products; I, however, do. This shit's awesome. Spill something? This will get it up. Get fed up with the stains on the carpet of the apartment you moved into a year and a half ago? This will get it out. My roommate lived here with another friend for at least a year prior to me moving in; the stains on our living room carpet preceded their arrival. This stuff got it out. I am so pumped. And it smells awesome to boot.

Whether you despise felines or adore them, I can pretty much guarantee you'll love this. In fact, I'd venture to say that the only people who wouldn't like this are the rare few who completely lack a sense of humor. My friend Sean sent me the link to this today and I was literally crying at my desk. I'd highlight my favorite parts but I don't want to spoil it for anyone.

Yo, Monday...go screw!

Monday is seriously winning. Let me explain how:
1. I put my shirt on inside-out this morning. I wore it that way until about 2 minutes before I rushed out the door to catch my bus. Sure, I caught it...so it seems like I'd get that point but, in my rush to turn it right-side out and still make it to the bus stop, I got sidetracked and neglected to put on deodorant. I spent the whole day fretting I'd end up smelling like my boss.

2. Rush myself to the bus (freezing because who knew it was scarf weather after all the glorious indian summer days we've been having? Not this girl, that's for sure!), board and put my bus pass in the reader upside down. Thankfully, my bus driver loves me and the machine didn't jam, so it wasn't nearly as embarrassing or awful as it could have been.

3. Get to work, go about my business and say 'Hey, maybe today won't be soooo awful.' My coworker shows up and abruptly points out a disgusting cockroach roaming around on my processor. I smash the disgusting little guy (amidst a great deal of gagging & shrieking) and go back to my checklist. As I pass by later, the half-crushed nuisance is still crawling around. Smashfest 2 ensues.

4. My manager doesn't show up until late afternoon; he asks which nights I requested off to which I replied 'Wednesday and Friday...and I'd prefer not to work Saturday but if no one else can I will.' This means the only night I can work this week is Tuesday. I need the money like whoa. He knows I need the money like whoa. Schedules come out and what do I have? Absolutely nothing.

5. After bitching and moaning, I try to see the bright side. I can spend Thurs-Sun at my parents' for a nice, long Thanksgiving weekend. After getting pumped up on the thought of it, my friend texts to say she can't work Saturday; I'm the only one that can potentially work. I give up my long weekend in exchange for what will probably be enough money to cover the gas I'll be spending to get home from a now-shortened weekend in NY.

6. After observing 'Mental Health Monday' (aka relishing the fact that our boss leaves early on Mondays to go to his workout and then sharing a few shots) with my colleague, I decide I'm going to come home and rot my brain with some Gossip Girl (judge all you want but that shit's addictive). My roommate is actually home and watching John & Kate Plus Eight. Whaaat?!

7. I then decide that I'm going to use my free time to cook up stuff in my fridge/freezer to have for lunch and dinner the next few days. I make my turkey loaf and then realize I need a few things to make the broccoli & cheese chicken I've been craving. I go to Stop & Shop, get everything I need to make that and banana bread (since I keep forgetting to eat the bananas I buy before they are disgustingly ripe), get some olive oil heated up in a sauce pan, open the package of chicken I just defrosted and get hit with the overwhelming, foul aroma of chicken gone bad. Fuckin' A.

The sad part is there are a bunch of things I'm not remembering the specifics of right now. I do know Monday made it into the double digits in its wins while I remained at 0.

Lame.

This dealbreaker totally hit home. Can we talk about how difficult it was to date a dude who was clean & sober and regularly attended A.A.? I'm the most socially awkward girl ever and alcohol definitely makes the whole hanging out/dating/making out with a new dude thing less nerve-wracking.

Figures, I planned on being super productive today so I feel like total hell. Yesterday, despite being exhausted, I ran all my errands after work so they wouldn't interfere with what I wanted to/needed to do today. All I wanted to do before work tonight is demolish the huge pile of laundry in closet, go to a laundromat and clean my comforter and huge fleece blanket in preparation for the winter weather that's just around the corner, take my jacket to be dry-cleaned, and continue to clean my room (which looks vastly better than it did when I got home from work last night). Sounds easy enough. But this splitting headache and churning stomach are stopping that. Instead, I'll be perched on my bed, reading numerous dealbreakers and giggling over way too many episodes of The Office & It's Always Sunny.

Silly me. What I thought was a 4-day workweek was actually the first 1/3 or so of an 11-day workweek. At least "work" on Sunday will consist of sitting around and watching NFG load in while I answer phones and repeat "Yes, we still have tickets for tonight but you better get here early if you want one."

There have been two sets of lyrics stuck in my head for the last two days. Just the two on repeat, switching back and forth.The first is from a band I saw probably a few too many times while I was on vacation last week. The second is from a band I saw play their "last" show almost 2 years ago, that I will be seeing again next Friday. For some reason, these two simple sets of words have held a hell of a lot of meaning for me, so, I figured I might as well share them with anyone who stumbles across my boring ol' blog.

From ETID'S "Buffalo 666":
Despite what you think
I can offer you nothing
I'm seasick and strung out and tired of adjusting


From Hot Rod Circuit's "The Best You Ever Knew":
It's hard to be strong when your heart is weak
and your head is barely sown on
when your taste is bitter sweet
and you're singing the same old song

While it's only a 4-day workweek for me, this week has the potential to be one of the toughest, most awkward weeks I've had to deal with in a while. After moving 8 hrs away for 3 months, breaking my heart and not speaking to me for a solid month, the ex is back in town and back in my life; the boy I crushed on forever who continually got my hopes up is back in the picture and, this time, seems genuine in his interest and intentions; I have a million things to do; work is busy but boring as ever; and I'm stuck pondering some difficult choices. At least, I'll have these songs to comfort me as I get through it all?