Ladies, what are you doing this evening?

[swanson_eyes]

I ran by the store after work--a very quick trip--and came home and did the dishes and put away the laundry. It's now 10:14 and I don't know how that happened.

 

[St. Louis]

Had lots of sweet trick-or-treaters tonight, dressed up in terrific costumes. Some of them went all out with detailed & creative get-ups. I'm glad this holiday is still going strong, at least in my neighborhood. I just wish they'd eaten all the candy!

 

[QuirkyQueen]

I'm rooting out my Christmas decorations and putting them up!, then curling up n front of the stove with hubby watching 'Ripper St' and 'Victorian Baker' (on BBC)

 

[Lady Day]

I'm working on a story about werewolves.

 

[swanson_eyes]

I've been sort of out sick from my life for a few weeks due to a nerve issue in my arm so now that I'm finally feeling better I have lots of laundry to do. I'm also going to partially decorate with autumn stuff if I can get to it. I would've done it for Hallowe'en had I been able to, but it's still fall until after Thanksgiving, IMO.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Eating stale Rice Krispies and wondering how much worse my seasonal depression can get. Oh, wait, we turn the clocks back Sunday and it'll be dark at 430 in the afternoon. Bingo.

 

[Sharpsburg]

I live in Maryland and am dreading the stupidity of "falling back". We've had a few luxurious days of warm weather so I've been taking walks in the evening before the chill sets in this weekend. At least this horrifying election will be over soon - one way or another!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Cheer up, just nineteen weeks until spring. That's pretty much the only thing keeping me from walking into the ocean.

 

[St. Louis]

Sounds like you need some hot chocolate, Lizzie. That's what cheers me up on bleak evenings.

 

[swanson_eyes]

Lizzie, I busted a gut at "walking into the ocean". You have a way with words like no other! (Not that walking into the ocean is to be taken lightly, but still...)

 

[LizzieMaine]

I'm feeling a little better today -- there's a place across the street from the theatre that just installed a fryer, and they sell a big take-out portion of french fries for $3.50. Comfort food.

This morning, though, I had a very realistic dream that I was suffocating, gaping and gasping for breath. I finally woke up to find I'd pressed my face so deep into the pillow that I was, in fact, suffocating, gaping, and gasping for breath. My cat says it serves me right for shutting her out of the bedroom.

 

[Sharpsburg]

How about a brief get away? Jet Blue or Southwest are always having a sale. Maybe a change of venue is what you need Lizzie. You don't sound well at all.

 

[sheeplady]

Have you ever tried light therapy Lizzie? They make home units. It literally feels like a strong cup of tea (or coffee, I guess, but I've drunk like 4 cups of coffee in my life) if you look at it for 15 to 20 minutes. You put it at eye level, and can mount it in the bathroom or on a desk, etc.

I am working on a job application tonight (and much of tomorrow). Fingers crossed.

 

[swanson_eyes]

I think I saw one of those lights in the fabric store. I have no idea why it would be there. I've never tried it, but I feel it would be in order in February. I know I am not going to do well with the sun going down an hour earlier tomorrow. I think we should stop doing this daylight savings thing altogether.

 

[St. Louis]

I couldn't agree more, Swanson Eyes! How I wish they'd do away with DST (or at least, leave it in place & then quit messing with the clocks.) I was so dreading it that I couldn't bring myself to change the clocks. Decided to give myself one more day before biting the bullet.

Lizzie, thinking good thoughts for you. Enjoy the fries and report, please!

 

[LizzieMaine]

How about a brief get away? Jet Blue or Southwest are always having a sale. Maybe a change of venue is what you need Lizzie. You don't sound well at all.

It's mostly just crap going on at work. The new overtime law means I can only work 40 hours a week, so I've been trying to figure out how to cram 60 hours worth of stuff into a 40 hour bag, and it's gigantically frustrating, with all this happening against a background of cliquey office politics that have caused me to question certain assumptions about my place in the organization -- we've gone from being a little small-town operation to a non-profit with a board of directors which must be kept satisfied, and have had three different executive directors in the past three years, which adds to my stress, because each one has different demands. All I want to do is do my little song and dance for the customers and keep the family -- the kids who work with me -- together and employed, and that's becoming increasingly difficult.

That and several thousand dollars in new medical bills over the past eight months are combining to stress me beyond my usual quota of stress. I've noticed this week that my eyebrows have started to turn white -- rather abruptly -- under the increased stress, and I spent half an hour the other day trying to re-blacken them with a Sharpie.

 

[sheeplady]

I'm sorry Lizzie. I understand your frustrations, particularly about politics and med bills. I just had a round of politics at one of my jobs, it was not pleasant.

 

[swanson_eyes]

Lizzie, it sounds like your company is going the way of so many in this country. All my jobs have been like this: http://thebitchystitcher.blogspot.com/2014/09/behind-bolts.html Especially the retail ones.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Our main problem is, as they say, "all chiefs and no sailors." Everybody's a "director" of this and a "manager" of that, and everybody's so caught up in their own agendas there's no real communication. That's bad enough in a corporate environment, but when you're dealing with a mom-and-pop business with airs, it can be fatal.

 

[swanson_eyes]

I've worked for small businesses like that. Torture.