Parties that slap you in the face with the fact that time has passed

This last weekend, some organizer-type people I once knew kindly organized a meet to celebrate 20 years since we finished high school.  My high school experience wasn’t the traumatic experience it was for a lot of people, so nosiness won out over laziness and off we went.  (My husband came along, because he’s a good sport and also he knew at least two other people who were going.)

It was at a bar.  No one really dressed up, I don’t think.  Although I did put on mascara.  Because I’m classy like that.  There were pub appetizers and desserts from somewhere like Costco.  The bar was kind enough to play hits from 1997, including some screens with the videos, which was amazing.  (Hi Spice Girls!)

Taking it Back

I quit my job.

This was a big thing for me.  I’ve been with my employer for over eight years.  There has been so much that is positive that has happened over that time for me there: I’ve learned a lot and built confidence; I’ve explored leadership, which was an unexpected treat; I’ve developed relationships with so many wonderful and talented people; and I’ve spent the past five years under a great mentor and role model of a boss whose lessons and example I will always remember.

I promise not to turn into a Mommy blog, but this happened and it was kind of intense, so I’m going to tell you about it.

So, as those of you who have both read my last few posts and can do basic math may have realized – I had a kid.  And I survived.

The Attention Span of a Newt

Hi!

Remember me?

I’m not hurt if you don’t.  I’ve been neglecting the hell out of this blog.  For any of you who may have been emotionally invested in my ramblings, I am deeply sorry.

I have an excellent reason though: my brain no longer works.  (Pregnancy brain – I thought it was an excuse people made for poor work performance and that it wouldn’t happen to me, but seriously you guys, it is real and pretty freaking humbling.)  Specifically, I cannot stay focused on anything for more than a couple of minutes. 

When Does the Penny Drop?

This whole pregnancy thing – I don’t know.  It is just not sinking in.  I mean on one level, yes, I know this is happening.  Clearly.  I am not stupid.  And I planned this.  And I’m an excellent planner.  But my brain – it’s just not processing the information in the fully aware way I would have expected it to.

Isn’t it Romantic?

So, in book club the other week, we read this book (I’m not telling you what it was, because I’m going to give away the ending here and I don’t want to wreck it for you.)   It was a lovely book about star-crossed lovers dealing with a major impediment to their being together.  There was some magic involved.  The ending was somewhat convoluted and a little melancholy, but the gist was that they more or less sorted it out and kind of/sort of died/became immortal and were thereby able to live together happily ever after.

Forever.

Because they were immortal.

Until the end of time.

What a Good Day Looks Like

When I was in high school, someone decided the theme for all the literature we would read in grades 11 and 12 English would be “imprisoned lives.”  We did read some great books, but it was a gloomy couple of years.

One of the more painful offerings we studied was “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Aleksandr Solzhentisyn.  In case you’ve missed this one, (spoilers) it’s about a day in the life of a guy in a Soviet labour camp in the 1950s.  It’s a rough day, by our standards.  He’s sick and hungry and cold and he lays bricks and life is hard.  But at the end of the day, he’s kind of happy because it was a good day, comparatively, I think because he wasn’t beaten and maybe someone gave him a cigarette.  I don’t completely remember.  I can’t say I loved this book.

Why Can’t I Just See Things Simply?

It’s very frustrating.  I know some people who see the world in black and white, and while I almost never agree with them, I am also a little jealous.  Because I think sometimes it must be nice to not have a little voice in your head constantly saying, “But what about grey?  What about looking at it like this?  Or this?  Or this?”

So I went to Disney on Ice the other night and saw the “Dare to Dream” show.  As you know, I was very excited.  And it was great.  They had condensed stories from The Princess and the Frog, Cinderella, and Tangled, with Mickey, Minnie, Donald and Goofy introducing.  There was also a procession at the end giving face time to all the other famous human characters.  The skating was good; the music was fun and familiar; the energy was high.  Also, the little kids (a lot of them dressed up) there were SO thrilled, and that was pretty cute to watch.

But.

Let’s Make English Better

Sometimes I think it would be great if people just banded together to make things better.  And I’m not talking here about big things.  I’m not talking about revolutions or unions or protests that fight major injustices (although those can be good too.)

I’m talking about little things that pretty much everyone hates.  And if everyone hates something, why can’t we just all agree to stop supporting it?  And then maybe it’ll go away.

Your Logic Is Not Actually Logic.

I see these kinds of little motivational signs and posters all over the place.  They kill me.  I suppose they’re supposed to make you feel better about the bad stuff going on in your life, but half the time they don’t even make sense.  The first part about the arrow?  Ok, I am with you.  But the second part saying that because that’s how arrows work, that’s how your life will work?  No.  I am not an arrow.  Lives are not arrows.  There is actually no correlation between lives and arrows.  “So” is not remotely the right word here.  I supposed you could fix it a bit with a “life is like an arrow” and a “sometimes” added in there.  But really, some people have rough lives.  Difficulties do drag them back constantly and it’s got nothing to do with any launch.  If I was going through a rough time and someone said this to me, I would not feel better; I would just think they were stupid.