Stress Relief

Things at work have been unbelievably stressful lately. Not much you can do about it but try to stay focused, keep working toward your goal, and wait for things to improve. *sigh*

It's taking a toll, no doubt about it. My energy level is down to nearly nothing, my stress-induced psoriasis is running rampant, and as an added bonus I woke up with a fever blister this morning. *double sigh*

So, what am I going to do today? I'm going to make some attempts toward stress relief. When I finish this blog entry, I'm going to treat myself to a long, hot shower and shampoo my hair with some new Gilchrist & Soames shampoo I bought a couple of weeks ago and haven't used yet. Then I'm going to dress in comfy shorts and a tee.

Next I'm going to put a pot of vegetable soup on the stove, partly because it's a good healthy lunch, but mostly because I want to smell it cooking.

I have a Netflix movie I've not watched, so I'm going to crawl into the recliner with a big mug of hot coffee, some mindless knitting, and the remote control.

Sounds like a relaxing day, right? I surely hope so.

Where's That Stupid Groundhog??

Today we had a completely unexpected snowfall. When I watched the local newscast this morning, they were predicting a rainy day with highs in the mid-50s.

Today is Mom's birthday, and I'd planned to go visit her and Dad this afternoon. Imagine my surprise when I opened my apartment door to leave and found that it was flurrying! I called Mom to see if they needed me to bring anything from town as I came down, and she told me the ground was already white there. (They live about 10 minutes from me!)

Moments later the snow began in earnest, large wet flakes that accumulated quickly. Halfway to Mom and Dad's I seriously considered turning around and going back home.

The snow fell fast and furious. There were probably a couple of inches of heavy, wet snow on the ground by the time it stopped. Luckily, it soon melted off the roadway surfaces, so my drive home was safe. When I left their house, though, it was spitting very fine snow again.

Weird. A snow that measurable hardly ever sneaks past the local forecasters that handily!

Makes me glad to be back home, safe and sound, snug in my apartment with the icky weather locked outside.

Sunshine at Last

The sun in shining in my little corner of the world today. It's still cool, but beautiful. Or so they tell me....the view in my office, unfortunately, never changes. No windows, you see. My view always consists of painted cinderblock walls and fluorescent lighting. *sigh*

Of course, on a beautiful day like today, maybe that's a good thing. I have LOTS to do and can't afford to be distracted! My lunch break (which I'm using a few moments of to post this blog entry) is a very welcome break from the grind. Some folks choose to go out for lunch to soak up a few rays of sunlight. I say that a 30-minute break just whets my appetite for sun and I'm better off to stay inside!

Speaking of breaks....mine's nearly over, so I'd better get back to the grindstone. *grumble, grumble*

Internet Friends

I have a friend in Pittsburgh who's been a friend for many years now. We've never met face to face, but spent a LOT of time in a long-defunct chat room back in the early days of the internet, WBS (Web Broadcasting System). For a good long while, a group of us met in a chat room on Wednesday evenings to play trivia games.

I'd wandered into the Wednesday Night Trivia room on a whim. I was brand new to WBS and still trying to find a chat room that had people my own age (adults, in other words) who talked in whole words instead of abbreviations (other than the usual "LOL" or "ROTFL") and weren't trying to find someone to talk dirty to on the internet. Okay, to be fair I'm sure a little of that probably went on in the "private chat" section, but hey.....live and let live as long as they're not talking dirty in front of everyone, right?

And so I became a Wednesday night regular. The people who frequented the chat room were witty folks who enjoyed gathering to pursue a bit of trivia and talking about what was going on in our fairly uneventful lives.

WBS eventually went into cyberspace oblivion, and we trivia-lovin' folks drifted off into other interests online. A few of us stayed in loose contact by e-mail and such, but didn't stay as close as we were when we met weekly in WBS.

Sunday I received the dreadful news that the 29-year-old son of one of my old internet friends had been accidentally shot and killed. He was by all accounts a wonderful man, a loving husband and father of a beautiful two-year-old daughter. Adding to the tragedy is the fact that his wife is expecting their second child in a few short months.

Even though my friend and I have never met face-to-face, I ache for her. Such a senseless tragedy.