Getting Through the Day

I thought I'd try something new today, and keep a blog document open throughout the day, documenting various and sundry things that tumble through the ol' noggin…and maybe give you a glimpse inside my mind.

If that doesn't frighten you off, then, bless you.

9:34 a.m. Arrived at work after hand therapy*. As nice as it is to trot in here at around 8:30 due to construction on the interstate, it's even MORE fun to come in an hour later and feel like everyone is staring holes in me for daring to have the flexibility to come in later if need be. Also: will they EVER stop constructing or de-constructing or re-constructing the interstate? I'm thinking no.

*Don't get carpal tunnel problems and have multiple surgeries. Trust me on this.

11:24 a.m. Argued with gas company over bill payment debacle. They screwed up, won't take responsibility, and have caused multiple OD fees on my miniscule checking account. Their "experts" say that after reviewing the phone calls I made, they've determined I never even mentioned payments when I called them last week. Right, of course - I called them to ask them the correct time and also which movies are playing this weekend. Note: are there any decent human beings left? The almighty dollar rules all.

12:49 p.m. Fired off email to state public service commission re: gas payment debacle. Holding my breath for a quick, fair resolution.

Riiiiiight.

1:17 p.m. Call from supervisor at gas co. They won't pay the fees because I should've cancelled the payment that I was told didn't exist. She talked to me like I was a moron. I said, "Just do the right thing." Dragon Lady: "Ma'am, we aren't responsible for the fact that you didn't follow up on this. Our phone records show that there was no mention of payment."

I give up.

1:50 p.m. It has just come to my attention that someone else in the office – someone HIGHER up the ladder than yours truly, someone who has the reputation of being saint-like and perfect – made a mistake that could've proven disastrous (in the wild, wild world of academe). Is it bad that I want to dance around yelling out every detail at the top of my lungs?

1:57 p.m. Where are iCarly's parents? I mean, she lives in this weird loft with her even weirder brother, but…where are their parents? Did they explain that in the first episode? If they exist – where do THEY live? Are they fine with their teenage daughter having a webcam show on the internets?

And perhaps even more disturbing…why do I care? I don't watch this show. No one at my house watches it. All my iCarly knowledge comes from commercials that play in between Spongebob episodes.

Note: this question popped into my head as I was heading to the bathroom. And so there you have the randomness and spontaneous firing of neurons that is my brain.

2:43 p.m. I promise not to inflict this upon you each day, as much as I know you'd love to follow my each and every move, thought, and feeling.

I just got through tweaking the look of the blog a bit – because I felt like a change. I was feeling restless and so…I changed it. Took "autism" out of the title, 'cause I wanted to. Put a background image of some mountains and a meadow, 'cause it made me smile.

And now I'm having some yogurt and wondering if anyone is actually going to read this.

3:02 p.m. Stephen's probably home by now. I always stop and notice, and hope he's happy. Yesterday the box for a Blue's Clues video got lost in his room, and David had a time finding it. I was at work trying to figure out how to print out a mock-up of the video box on cardstock, which I was going to cut and glue into box-form, just in case.

Do I try too hard? Probably. But all I could imagine was a night of misery because nobody could find the box for "It's Joe Time!"

But he found it, folded into a blanket on Stephen's bed. No idea who could've done THAT. *whistling*

3:34 p.m. Home stretch.

This is the time of day when I've done most of the stuff that's been hanging out in my in-box, and am trying to look busy while surreptitiously reading a blog or two. My favorite one at the moment is stark.raving.mad.mommy. Fantastic stuff – it makes me laugh. Try doing that surreptitiously. It's like giggling in church. You want to SOOO bad, but you know that the nosy lady sitting beside you will frown and you'll get in trouble.

3:57 p.m. I'm hungry, tired of sitting in this chair, bored with work, hoping all is well at home, and wondering what would've happened if I had stayed in Honors English in the Fall of 1990 and become a famous English professor, teaching the masses and writing Pulitzer-prize winning novels every few years.

Time to hit submit and send this thing to press. Thanks for indulging me on this play-by-play entry.