For the first time in about a month, I didn't have to work for two whole days. My past 3 work weeks have been:
Week 1: 50+
Week 2: 68 hours
Week 3: 55 hours

I've been tired and needing friends.
And to be honest, I've been in an odd, panicky state. I'm like the dog from "Up" (squirrel!) as I frantically dart between job searches, potential grad schools, and my slowly-progressing portfolio, which should be about 30 pages of creative nonfiction by the end of this fall.

So here are some things I've learned in this odd time of kaleidoscope emotions:
--Peppermint tums are WAY better than those fruit smoothie wannabes.
--Eating peppermint tums for breakfast makes me messed up.
--If you get an ulcer, you will die. Or you'll feel like it anyway.
--$8.25 an hour isn't worth dealing with misplaced anger issues.
--Sometimes, people just aren't nice.
--Sometimes, people are extremely nice and will bring you gravy and biscuits to work.
--If music were the only thing in church, I don't think I'd ever leave.
--Today, I listened to the best church music I'd ever heard. Piano, acoustic guitar, a violin, and a cello. No loudness, no screaming vocals, no theatrics. Just brilliant.
--When I become discontent with things, I want to move somewhere. Start new. I like doing that.
--I need to stop being a doormat. At least I'm an approachable one.
--I need to try out an older style of music.
--Sadly, coffee and I may have to part ways, or else my diet will consist mostly of peppermint tums. And Zantac. *Pouty face.*
--I miss working in a service-learning environment. I miss volunteering somewhere. When you're providing a service, people don't scream at you for making mistakes. People smile more often. They say thank you and mean it. I need that.

Living in this setting is wonderful, but sometimes I feel as though I were made for bucket baths and houses with no televisions. I need to find a mountain man with a lumberjack beard and have him build me a cabin in the woods. I like lumberjack beards, you know.