Monday, July 5, 2021

Weekly Whatever: 30 Hours to Go!!!

 

This isn't really an eats post, it's not really a workout post, we're in total wazzup territory.

Werk

If I had it to do all over again, I would have just walked out instead of giving my soon-to-be-ex-employer three weeks notice.  Each day brings a new low.  I said at the onset of this mess that work problems are way better than "real" problems since jobs are relatively easy to change but ye gods work has done a number on me.  

I took work email and Slack off my phone so the only way that work has to communicate with me is during working hours when I'm physically in front of my work computer - well they could text or call if they were desperate enough but so far no one has.  My system access will be turned off this Friday at 3:00, and I will not be working longer than 8 hours a day until then, so tick-tock the comedy will be over in 30 work hours.  95% of my job is obsolete with the completion of Project MegaBig and everyone seems pretty panicked at taking over the remaining 5%, so it's been amusing to watch the corporate game of hot potato.  All I know is that at 3:01 next Friday I will walk my laptop down to the nearby FedEx to ship it back to the mothership and then I am DONE with these people.  I'm very excited to move on to "not my circus not my monkeys" status.

Food

The only new and notable thing to report is that I tried frozen Ahi tuna this week and I like it a lot.  I'd heard about it but only recently found it at the posh grocery store in my town.  Of course when I was looking at recipes I saw a million "oh no, the frozen stuff is garbage, thou must get fresh or nothing."  For whatever reason getting fresh sushi grade fish seems intimidating (plus I've never really looked for it so I'm not sure if the local grocery stores sell it and also I live quite a distance from the ocean and I've heard that all of our fish is frozen to start with anyway) but just taking it out of the freezer is completely in my comfort zone. And it's perfectly fine for my hillbilly taste buds.  I went with a riff on Skinny Taste's Poke Bowls - you can't see it but there really is a layer of rice under there, carrots, cucumber, avocado, sushi ginger, and of course the Ahi.  It is a very pleasant way to get 30 grams of protein.

Sweats

I ran my slowest 10k ever last weekend.  It was 80 degrees at the race start and I started to feel dizzy and disoriented by the end of mile 2.  I hung in there and was rewarded with my slowest mile split in a race ever.  It's no big deal to bomb a race BUT I am swearing off summer races longer than 5k going forward.  It's just not worth it.  The hydration pack and electrolytes help a ton when we're dealing with high 60's/low 70's, but once it gets warmer than that my body just can't handle it.

But I can't say that I totally regret the race because I got my first post-pandemic physical contact with non family members.  I hugged a coworker and high fived a complete stranger at the finish line.

The Single Life

Stepdog and I have been single ladies recently thanks to Boy Scout Camp season.  Not so many years ago this was my normal life (except back then I was only a dog owner for two weeks out of the year when I would dog sit my friend's German Shepherd when my friend went on vacation).  Yes it's fine but the thrill of having a clean house 24/7 has worn thin.  I think that stepdog would tell you that being allowed to sleep in the bed all night instead of having to move to her own bed when the lights go out is nice but pretty lame as well.  The art of being alone is a necessary life skill and I had a happy single life, but I don't miss those days.

The Family Life

Our entire family is in town this weekend and it is everything.  My fellas were home for an entire 36 hours between camps this weekend and since they went back to the woods I've been representing on my own.  We finally got to meet the new baby in our family (SIL#2's granddaughter) and catch up with people that we haven't seen since my FIL's funeral last year.  We just need to find a way to get my two out-of-town SIL's to move back here and we'll be set.  Though SIL #2 seems to be making a play to get the boys to go to college in Chicago (we're a few years out but close enough to start thinking about it).  I'm not quite clear if her scheme has me and the hubs in CHI with the boys or if we're just coming to visit so there are some details to work out.  People are going to start going back home tomorrow so we'll have our final bash this evening.

That's all I've got for right now!  Anything good happening in your world?


17 comments:

  1. Yay for the work countdown. Boo to the bitter end. The poke bowl looks great. I’ll pay for the catch of the day at a restaurant but prefer farm-raised Atlantic salmon to the “good” stuff.

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    1. Totally! I can't beat the convenience of pulling a great meal out of the freezer.

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  2. This week will fly by, Birchie, and then you will be DONE!!! What are you going to do on Friday at 3:01pm? Open a bottle of bubbly? I'll be raising my glass to you!
    Will you be starting at the new place the following Monday?

    Well done on your 10k. Hey, you battled right to the end. Having a slow race doesn't matter. Your plan of doing 5Ks in the heat of summer sound perfect to me.

    Have a good last(!) week!

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    1. There's a beer festival in my town this weekend within walking distance of my house! So the plan is walk my computer to FedEx and then keep walking for beer. Then walk or crawl home!

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  3. I'm so excited for you to be free of your work woes. You spend so much of your life at work, that when it sucks- it really sucks! Also, regarding being alone- I do think that's a really important skill to have. To be independent enough to live alone and be on your own. But yes, it's not really ideal!

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    1. One thing that makes me sad is the number of people who stay in bad jobs because they don't want to be "job hoppers" or for whatever reason they're scared to leave. I've had a few bad jobs and once I left I realized how much work was spilling over into the rest of my life and putting a damper on everything. Not worth it!

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  4. Ahhh, I can just smell the freedom you're going to be enjoying in a few days ;-) Sorry to hear the 10K was so rough in those hot conditions. But you were a mega trooper for gutting it out and finishing. Good luck this week as you prepare for the grand finale ;-)

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    1. Thanks Kim! So far running this week has been really rough with the heat, but as I finish each run I somehow can't wait to get back out there...you know exactly how it is.

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  5. OOOH! I'm reading this on Friday so I'm imagining you opening a bottle of champagne right about now! Yay!!! You did it!
    Having all the guys gone will just make you appreciate them more, right? My husband was out of town last week and after the initial elation of having more space in the bed, things started to feel a bit empty.
    I hope you have fun plans for the weekend!

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    1. Yes I'm glad that my "boys" get to go off into the woods but I like having them home so much more.

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  6. I'm finally getting around to reading this... you've got a lot of stuff going on - and a whole lot less work now? I hope it all ended well and look forward to "catching up" with you soon :)

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    1. Yes it's over!!! I'm back to having work take up a third of my day instead of my entire life.

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  7. I'm reading this on Sunday and thinking hooray, you are done!!! I bet it felt great to drop the laptop off. When I transferred clinics 4 years ago, I never looked back. I still get PTSD thinking about my old job.

    With both my boys grown and flown, I do get lonely sometimes, especially when the hubs is away. I'm very independent and I like my solo time, but I don't think I'd like to live alone.

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    1. I'm trying to compartmentalize and only remember the "good" part of the job and not the last six months but it's going to take a while...PTSD for sure.

      I lived alone for the first 20 years of my adult life. On the one hand it was fine but on the other hand it pales to the life I have now. I'm in no hurry to get to the empty nest stage.

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  8. Definitely hard to race in heat and humidity. I wouldn't give up racing just go out and enjoy it with NO time goals.

    I hate my current job and LOVED my last one (but they eliminated my position). I think about it daily but I', accepting what it is because it's not the right time to change jobs.

    Hope you like your new one.

    I love being home alone because it never happens. lol My hubby is a homebody and I am very independent. I'm looking forward to travel just to be alone.

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    1. I've definitely had situations where I had to stay in a job and had to write it off as "accept the things that I cannot change". I hope that things change with your situation - that the job gets better or that it becomes the right time to change.

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