ride the wave....

coming back from vacation may be the absolute worst thing ever (aside from unpacking from said vacation). worse than mondays. and you know what really makes it worse? you usually start back on a monday. terrible. i know i have said it before, and i will most certainly say it again, but my life was meant to be lived out on a coastline. this landlocked mess is for the birds. the ocean quite literally cures everything. everything i tell you, everything.

there is no stress next to the ocean, no decisions to be made (aside from when and where to eat, sleep or should i have one more beer - always yes to that one), no nagging feeling of doom, nothing. none of those things exist when you are beachside. well, i can't confirm that statement in it's entirety, but i can say from my own personal experience, it's hard to get stressed out when at the beach. things just don't seem to matter that much. it may be just the fact that you are away from the stressful city life, or perhaps it's because if you can't actively see the problems then they don't exist. but something about the beach is calming. for me, a self-described anxious/hyper/nervous/can't slow down person, that is a neat trick. i will take anything that can get me to sit and forget for longer than 5 seconds at a time. and you know what? the ocean most definitely isn't a suck-y place for that to happen. i am certainly never going to say no to a beach trip.

i've often told my mom that i would quit a job to go to the beach. she refused to believe me until recently. no, i didn't quit my job, but i made it very clear that i was going to spend as much time at the/a beach as possible. i accomplished that last summer. 4 beaches over 3 months. not too shabby. not too shabby at all. where do i go when the world is collapsing on me? the beach. there is a frantic phone call to mom, who runs the message to the requisite parties and then wham, i am at the beach. forgetting that i was having a nervous breakdown and remembering the little things in life.

now when i came back this time, all i could think about was when can i go surfing again. surfing beats the snot out of you, but for some reason i wanted more. i signed up for a surf lesson, and when i got out in the water and stood up on the board, i was hooked. it is absolutely amazing. there is so much focus involved, but you forget everything. you just feel the ocean, the salt and the breeze. then you realize you are standing on a floating time bomb. but man, it is fun for that ride. and then you get right back out there and do it again. arms burning, eyes stinging, heart racing. it is absolutely indescribable. trying to just doesn't do it justice. you have to experience it. i've always wanted to learn to surf, and now that i have learned the basics and can stand on a board, it is the final nail in the proverbial coffin proving that i belong in the water, near the water, viewing the water. all of it. total water baby.

however, work had a different plan for me. it was to test my limits on patience. i don't do patience. i've tried, and i can manage it, but boy do i hate it. here's a little breakdown for you:

-insurance fighting

-office cleaning (never ending cycle there)

-quickbooks maintenance - never leave darwin alone with qb's....

-car insurance fighting - mine and works

-enterprise fighting - they are idiots over there BUT i do have a rental

-bank account shuffling

-company policy shuffling

i know there are others, but that was a lot to take in on day 1. not too mention trying to calm darwin. i'm usually pretty good at it, but lately it had been him calming me, so i had to switch gears there, and that took a hot minute.

everything is resolved for now. until another crisis hits and i am left sweeping up the pieces. so now i just sit and wait for the next encounter with the beach...ahem september...i can almost taste it. ride the wave, and remember you can control it only so much before you have to relax and trust that you will find the top and can take a gasp of air.

ciao.

slow down. you move to fast.

it has been a minute since i have actually written something about work on here, aside from ya know being the commander in chief and all. now that darwin is back for longer than a 10 minute period, i can finally breathe for a second. i think i forgot to breathe for those two weeks that he was gone. just holding my breath until i was about to explode. i came damn near close to that explosion i will say. i staved it off, but phew, it was a close one.

now that things are relatively back to normal and by that i mean i am leaving next week for vacation, and it cannot come fast enough. atlanta, is silly hot. you begin to think you are melting the moment you step outside. it is absolutely disgusting and not a pretty look at all. AT.ALL.

so now i sit here typing this and multi-tasking like a champ. currently this is what i am doing:

-researching - CNG, california architects, sustainable design/architecture/building

-car shopping - groan.

-phone answering - in the least possible sense

-updating facebook/work blog

-vigilante money obtaining - borders upon stalking....

-perpetual cleaning of the office

-crafting ideas

-realizing that i am starving - that waffle at 745 this morning just ain't cutting it

it's a glamorous life i lead folks. g.l.a.m.o.r.o.u.s.

wouldn't change it for the world. i will say as much as i run the ins and outs of mississippi wood trader, when darwin is around, it seems to flow much smoother. it astounds me sometimes the level of incompetence some people have, right up until darwin calls them. i know i sound like i am 12. i know that. i know i am girl. i am WELL aware of that. but sometimes, really just once, i want someone to listen to what i say and realize that i do in fact know what i am talking about.

i relayed all this information to darwin and he said he was going to coach me in the ways of talking to customers. (let's hope it goes smoother than teaching me to drive a stick shift in the warehouse...). he told me i need to slow down. SLOW DOWN? me, ha. i don't know how to slow down. and he is one to talk i might add. but i am trying to get better about slowing down.

another mantra to add to 2011. slow down. stay calm. breathe. those are things i don't do very well. that and sleep. but that is neither here nor there. why sleep when there are 24 useable hours in a day? ha, i would love to be able to sleep longer that 4-6 hours a day. not a night, a day. who has two thumbs and is a huge fan of naps? this kid.

as the mantras keep stacking up, i am noticing a theme. they all correlate with each other, and i should take note of that. you can't do one without partially using another. but that would require me to slow down...sensing a pattern yet? you can bet the farm on that one.

so all in all i am doing better about not freaking out about the little stuff. it was touch and go there for a hot minute, with the whole car stolen charade. but i've slowly moved back on track and refocused my energy. wish me luck with that one.

oh if you perhaps would want to purchase a caterpillar forklift, i know where you can obtain one....

ciao.

p.s. i don't recommend googling california architects. they make you realize you are missing out living in a landlocked city. missing out hardcore....

back in the saddle again.

"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

oh ralph, words have never been more true. now if i could just find a way to actually follow said words....