7 things

Betty tagged me with this meme ages ago and I've finally got my act together enough to do it.

1. Words are fun. I love playing with words and names. This has been pretty unfortunate for some of my pets, especially my rabbit Hopalong Casserole. I really enjoy stupid punning wars, and find they are a great shortcut to friendship. One of my favourite word games is based on a stupid joke. Q How many surrealists does it take to change a lightglobe? A Fish. The aim of the game is reverse word association. Whatever you say can't be associated with what the previous person said. It isn't easy - just don't do it when you are the driving.

2. I like voting. We have a Federal Election and I have to vote tomorrow. I hate the election campaign itself, and I'm so sick of seeing and hearing politicians ad nauseum, ad infinitum. I'm really excited that I get to walk down to the local tennis club or primary school, get myself ticked off the roll as having voted, get given 2 pieces of paper and a pencil and go and stand in a cardboard box to fill in the papers. I'll number 1 to 6 for the lower house, and then I'll select below the line for the house of review. I love standing in those cardboard boxes. Apparently that's odd.

3. I've always wanted to kiss the Blarney Stone. One thing I've always wondered is; if you already have the gift of the gab and you kiss it, does that mean you talk less? I'll try it September 10 next year, and I'll let you know.

4. I love that the spam folder of my gmail gives me Spam recipes. I can't imagine myself trying any of them in a pink fit, but I love some of the choices - Spam burritos, Spam Confetti Pasta, Spam and Cheese pancakes.

5. I'm a hoarder. I really struggle to throw anything out. What happens if I throw something out and I need it later?

6. I hate changing lightglobes.

7. I'm really scared of losing someone I love. My mum's recent emergency surgery and slow and painful recovery showed me just how scary it can be. It showed me just how much I wanted to say, and how much I can't imagine life without people I love.

If you want to do this meme, go for it. I'm leaving it open for anyone who wants to. Just let me know if you've done it and I'll come and read it.

Observation

I got a bit pouty at the boy today. Saturday last week I had my hair done and the previous Thursday I'd had a pedicure. He hadn't noticed. His reason?

He touched the corner of my eye, and said "the things I notice are your mind and soul", and then touched my chest and said "and your heart"

How do I stay mad at that?

My name is thisisme, and I'm a workaholic

I've been reverting to my workaholic habits again. Every day this week I've been sitting at my desk before 8 am, several before 7.30 am. I left work at 6.50 tonight. My earliest finish for the week. I took 20 minutes for lunch today too, so I've been really slack. I took a personal phone call too.

I don't want to turn back into the person I was 15 months ago. I'm tired. Naturally. I'm dreaming about work and getting frustrated. On the plus side, it did solve a problem that has been bugging me for months. I'm snappy. I know I'm doing it, and I hate it, but I think I've forgotten how to stop. My weekends are too short. I'm trying to pack in a whole world of life into the weekend. I think about packing it all in and becoming a checkout chick. All care and no responsibility. I'm not happy right now.

I love my early mornings and late finishes. They are the most productive parts of my day. My day goes downhill about 9 when all the questions start, and really improves about 5. It sounds egotistical, but I know I'm good at my job. I know that I wouldn't have the demands on me if I wasn't. The problem I'm facing now is that I've created a monster. I have ideas and suggestions, so my colleagues use them. I'm so busy helping them to their job, I'm struggling to get mine done.

I need some help here. I'm losing the balance I was starting to build in my life. I was lying in bed last night looking at my day. I got up, I had a shower and washed my hair, had coffee and breakfast while I was online, drove to work, worked, took 10 minutes to grab lunch to eat at my desk, worked, drove home, tried not to strangle my landlord, had a glass of wine, put on a face mask, watched TV and was online (yes, those 4 were concurrent. Multitasking anyone?), and went to bed. Did I make anyone happy? What made me happy (besides my call with the boy on my way home)? Did I add value to anyone's life yesterday? I know I made one of the richest men in the world richer. Wow, that's an achievement.

Help me out here. What helps you find balance? How do you stop work from being all consuming? What makes you happy? What helps you stop the world and take time?