Our Lady of Lourdes

I am coming to accept that, as things currently are, I am going to be much too busy at work, and much too tired once I get home, to be able to blog during the week.  This is a hard acceptance for me.  I love telling you guys things.  But the way things have been, I’ve been lucky to tear myself away from work after only working ten hours, and then sometimes only because I had somewhere I had to be in twenty minutes.  One side benefit to this is that I’m getting to be friends with the second shift police officers on duty (they don’t like it when you call them Security, and they really are police officers), and then there’s all that overtime pay, but it is rather draining.  I know that officially I’m an Extrovert, but even Extroverts sometimes hit their limit of socialization.

I have hopes that once the hospital is officially open (in about a week and a half), things will calm down a little, and I’ll have a little breathing room.  But until then, I think I’m going to have to keep my head down and just keep plowing through.  So if I haven’t returned your phone call, or finked out on a social engagement, or otherwise haven’t been able to be as present in the rest of my life as my friends and family would probably wish, I’m terribly sorry, I didn’t mean to, and one of these days I will make it up to you, I swear.  Really.

In the meantime, I’ve been learning things like pantyhose is freaking expensive, and unavailable in any form that does not attempt to shame the buyer for their less than acceptable physique.  Seriously, it is impossible to buy pantyhose that does not promise to “shape” you in some way, because obviously the shape you currently are is Not Good Enough.  There is no other kind available.  I looked.  I really looked hard.  But even if you’re a size 2, it seems that hosiery manufacturers think your form could use improving.  And doesn’t that just say it all about our sick, sick society’s approach to women’s bodies?

My other lesson for the week is that it doesn’t pay to become too good of friends with the really cute police officer if his girlfriend works in the ER and is the jealous type.  Seriously, the whole thing is such a surreal mind trip.  From my perspective, I had a buddy whom I viewed with the exact same delight and affection as I view my brothers and some of my male friends.  I was thrilled to have a buddy because, as I’ve mentioned before, my job gets pretty lonely.  I’m pretty much on my own at my location, and while I have lots and lots of customers whom I like, and who like me in return, I don’t really have a team on site, and I don’t have very many buddies.  I don’t know what was happening from his perspective.  All I know was that on Monday we were good friends, on Tuesday she came to get her badge renewed and was not at all interested in my attempts to be friendly, and by Wednesday he was no longer speaking to me or even meeting my eyes.

It was very sad, first because my job suddenly got that much lonelier, and second, because I am the last woman in the world any other woman needs to be jealous of.  I’m not like that.  I don’t do that.  When I was young I made a rule for myself that I would not even make a play for a guy who was already taken.  It wasn’t about the guy, it was about putting a priority on female solidarity.  For me, if a guy is dating, married, engaged, or has even just made it clear that he likes another girl, he’s off limits.  She was in no danger from me whatsoever.  But I lost my buddy anyway.  Sigh.

On the plus side, I just got off the phone with my Uncle C, who is yarn shopping on my behalf at Purl Soho this afternoon.  He had me in the Extended Family Gift Exchange this year, but since he and Aunt C didn’t visit Dayton for Christmas this year (they had just been here for The Duchess’s wedding, after all), he hadn’t been able to get me my present.  He asked me if I wanted money, or special New York yarn, and I said yarn, please! and immediately thought of Purl Soho.  I’ve been reading their blog for a long time, and they always have such pretty stuff!  So today he headed over there, and with me on the phone, examined the various fingering weight yarns, and talked colors while I looked at the options on the computer.  We decided that he’s going to pick two complimentary colors each of Brooklyn Tweed Loft and Koigu fingering, suitable for making colorwork mittens or similar, and have them shipped to me.  I’m excited to see which colors he picks.  Uncle C is a very gifted artist, and I know he’ll choose cool color combinations.

Today I’m enjoying a quiet day at home.  This morning I slept until I woke naturally (an unheard of luxury!), and then puttered around the house some while wearing my new heels for work to break them in.  I gotta tell you, walking in heels takes some getting used to!  It helps that the shoes are super cute, with little cut out details across the toe and around the top, and three little straps across the instep.  My polyester uniforms may be ugly, but by God, my feet will be cute!  In a little while I’ll put on my real shoes and head off to tutoring.  I don’t have many plans for the rest of the day, except putting together packages for Project Valentinus, and maybe doing a little more on the house.  At some point I need to take my uniform skirts over to the Family Homestead so that Indy can help me mark them for hemming.  I have to start wearing them next week, so I can’t put it off any longer.  And before I know it, it will be Monday again.

But let’s not think about that just yet.