I’ve done my share of ranting in the Pit about bad days, so I thought I’d try an un-rant about a good day.
This afternoon I was driving home through a park I must have driven through a few hundred times. I always tell myself I’ll stop and explore it, but somehow never get around to it. Today, it was a perfect, golden, sunny afternoon, and I asked myself, “So, are you finally going to do it?” This time I did. I started exploring down a trail which led into a steep valley, and I left all but a few traces of the city behind almost immediately. This park is a popular place for people to walk their dogs, so I got a chance to meet several (I love dogs!), including an adorably ugly English Bulldog. I had autumn leaves crackling underfoot, blue sky above, and it was absolutely beautiful!
The only thing is, I was telling a couple of friends about how I treated myself this nicely, and they said, “Excuse me, aliens? What have you done with CJ?”
Anyway, I know we’ve got a lot of stressed out Dopers these days, and I know I’m not the only one struggling. I’m terrible at this myself, but please, folks do one thing during the next few days which is good for you and you alone, and feel free to post it here, if you like. As for me, I’ve got some errands tomorrow, but I’m wondering if I can arrange them to end up at that park!
After an especially rediculous couple of months where I was beating myself up for. . . everything, it seemed, I’ve been taking some time to do things for myself.
Every day, I go out of my way to walk a path to class that doesn’t involve any vehicles and not too many pedestrians. It’s just pretty and makes me feel good.
I went to the movies last night and out with a friend, and that was nice, too, even if just to get away from my apartment for a bit.
And I painted my toenails. Yeah, I’m going all out.
If i’m feeling particularly stressed at work then when i hit that certain “f*ck this for a game of soldiers” point i take a break (my coworkers/boss don’t object - they are all smokers and spend half their lives on “fag breaks”.) and head out of the office.
I walk down to Waterloo Bridge, lean on the railing, watch the world/thames go by and just let my mind wander for about an hour.
At this time of year, if i time it right i even get to watch the sunset.
Today, I am stuck in the office doing incredibly tedious things like checking database schemas and Perl scripts.
Tomorrow, I have a day off! I will lie in bed listening to Radio 3 until nine in the morning, then stroll down to the centre of Oxford, where I will delve into second-hand bookshops and wander around the Ashmolean Museum. Then I will go home, put my feet up, and watch something mindless on TV. Possibly with a glass of Scotch.
My son and I raked the large bunch of leaves in our and our neighbor’s yards and made a pile.
Then my son jumped in it!
It was fun watching him (I wouldn’t do it!)
And its nice enjoying this weather, since its supposed to snow this weekend.
Then, maybe we will shovel the snow and make the snowman sitting on toilet I’ve always wanted to…
Woo hoo, exams are OVER and the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express is in town! I’m looking forward to a week of intensive theatergoing and assorted other celebrations before I do anything serious.
(However, I still wish I lived in Steve Wright’s town…)
What a great and touching idea. You’re all right with me, cj. I don’t care what <insert Doper here> says.
Lessee. How am I going to be good to myself today?
I think I’m going to grab some sushi, read some more of Lonesome Dove during my lunch hour and take a nice walk. I am a good person and I deserve it.
Tomorrow: Out to dinner with El Hubbo, a nice bottle of wine and some funky butt loving. (No, not IN the butt. The butts involved will, however, be funky.)
I looked at the trees around my condo building. There were about seven trees altogether, and the colors ranged from bright yellow, orange, red, burgundy, and deep green. The sky was blue, the air was crisp, and I wished the picture in my brain would last forever. It did, right up until I opened the picture to Michael Jackson’s melting nose.
I handed out colored star stickers to people at my school today which gave me this mini high I can ride on for a few days, and I put two golden ones under my eyes. I looked very pretty, BTW. And I even got complimented! Then a bunch of people on my bus wanted some so they got a sticker too. If I could’ve, I’dve given them a hug and a lollipop. But I’ll save that for some other day I guess. When I got home I listened to some tunes on my computer (including Blue Oyster Head, whom I recently discovered) and passed out. Right there in the chair. For an hour. Then I munched on some stuff, listened to more music, and watched most of an episode of Friends and laughed! Looking back, today was a nice day. And I didn’t even think of it at the time.
I went to bed wearing gorgeous lingerie and cuddled my boyfriend until I fell asleep. It would have been absolutely perfect with egyptian cotton sheets, but I’m not complaining.
And, for the first time in about a month, I woke up without hayfever!
I didn’t do it for myself, rather someone else did it for me which made it all the nicer.
This past week has been rotten on so many levels and last night at work left me feeling pretty horrible. I drove home, getting cut off by a traffic jackass as usual, and stump into the house like always. But there in the kitchen I see it right away… a couple of silver-wrapped packages with a birthday card and the most gorgeous little homemade cake you ever saw. My mother and brother, the birthday elves, had snuck into my house and left them for me.
I was suddenly so happy.
And the cake was delicious.
Today I voiced a concept I’ve been rather intense about for the last three weeks. There’s more to be done, and rather quickly next week, but it was a great release to know that our CEO knows and acknowledges what we’ve accomplished in recent weeks. Monday will once again engage the monster, but I can take the weekend off secure in the knowledge that I got it as far as it could go, so far.
I have a late shift today at the park, so I’m going to go to a competing theme park and ride the roller coaster a few times before I have to be in to work. A nice jump start for my morning.
And it might make me forget about being stood up for dinner by a friend last night.
