Corner of Bourbon & Division

I haven't been updating this thing properly lately. In fact, I haven't been doing much at all that involves the computer at home. Mostly, I've been too tired to do anything in the evening before going to bed other than read through the day's LJ entries, post something short and pithy about cleaning, and then collapse in a tired heap. I've been writing at work, so the August Writing challenge continues apace, even if I'm not posting the results every day.

Everything else has pretty much gone by the wayside.

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So this is what's been going on in Phnee's world of late. As you can see, dear readers, you're not missing all that much. Mostly it's cleaning and cooking and cats, a little bit of writing, and a lot of seeing friends and generally being all sociable-like. Nothing earth-shattering, just domestic tranquility.

I have been reading LJ, as mentioned, but just haven't had the energy to comment on most entries. My apologies for that. Once I get used to the new schedule I've imposed on myself, I shall doubtless start commenting more.

Today has been absolutely crazy at work. Emergencies and rushes and signings and important meetings and more phone calls than you can shake a stick at.

I've still managed to get a fair bit of filing done, in spite of all that. I'm very impressed with myself. I'm determined to get all my filing completely finished by the end of June. Well, by "completely finished" I mean "all caught up," really. There's no such thing as completely finishing with the filing. There are days (today included) when I feel a whole lot like Sisyphus: just when I get rid of one pile, someone else comes along and dumps another pile on my desk.

Still, if I've caught up with my filing by the end of June, it'll be one more reason to try to obtain a week or two off in July. I won't have to worry about old filing while I'm gone: only the new filing will pile up. I might not be able to get two weeks, but even a week would help. A week of nothing but domestic puttering, cooking and baking and taking walks and other nice, relaxing activities.

Also, the idea of being caught up on my filing appeals to me because it makes me feel as though I'd be able to leave the office on fairly short notice without feeling guilty that I'm leaving behind all this unfinished work. I'd like to be able to leave my successor with a clean desk, nothing pending, nothing in the inbox: tabula rasa, so to speak. Not that I have any kind of job lined up yet, but the idea that I'd be able to pick up and leave without any qualms is very appealing and reduces my stress levels like you wouldn't believe.

My job isn't all that stressful, to be honest. There are two things that stress me: one is the filing piling up while I deal with emergencies. I simply don't like having that much paper accumulate on my desk –it makes me feel incompetent and unproductive (regardless of whether or not that assessment is true). The other is New!Boss. I know he doesn't mean to stress me, but dear God is he a stressful little man to work for. It would help if I didn't always feel like some sort of bug about to be eaten by a hungry lizard every time he looks at me. I turn into a blithering idiot around him, because he's always staring. very. intently. at me, and I can't think straight because I don't know where to look that doesn't involve the Giant Staring Brown Eyes Of Doom. We just don't speak the same language: if I speak he doesn't get what I'm saying, and vice versa.

I'm hoping this will resolve itself as we each settle into the new routine. He's a nice enough guy, I just have trouble communicating with him. Time will tell.

The One Form has also made its monthly appearance on my desk. I am unthrilled, but I shall soldier on regardless. This month I get the added complication that some of the expenses are being paid by another department, but there's no procedure in place for them to do so. I anticipate many phone calls and a fair amount of aggravation. Whee.

So that's my exciting news from work. Thus far nothing new has happened at home either. The Parental Units are coming home tomorrow, so that should be fun. They're always in a splendid mood after their trips, so I'm looking forward to seeing them again.