I Need to Get Away

OMG, OMG, OMGeeeeee…this day needs to be OVER! There are approximately six hours and three minutes until I clock out, before making the mad(denning) rush to the Port Authority, punching someone in the face, getting on a bus to New Jersey, sitting in an hour of traffic, and then getting in a car and driving to the Catskills. Sigh….so many hours away from anything resembling relaxation!

I am in DESPERATE need of a change of scenery. The past few months have been a roller coaster of busy-ness which has recently come to a screeching halt. My motivation and productivity have sunk to an all time low,  the weather is disgusting, my apartment is hot, and I haven’t slept well in weeks! My desire to do anything besides drink margaritas and online shop is getting to hang out, and MY HAIR LOOKS HORRIBLE. I am a hot mess of emotions!

I am honestly just over summer. It’s only July, and I’m already dreaming of crisp fall weather, apple picking, and tweed.  Plus, the fact that my vacation is still an entire month away is just unfathomable at this point! Will my toes ever touch soft sand or feel the  lap of the ocean waves?  Will my skin ever not be pale and sallow?? Will I ever leave this city for more than three days at a time??? Hopefully a weekend of fresh air and ice pops will help reset my mental clarity and put me in a better mood. If not, it’s a LONG time until the end of August!

A Schedule of Sloth

My productivity level has officially hit a brick wall. After last week’s busy yet rewarding work week, I knew I’d have some down time, which I was both looking forward to and dreading! As much as I try to anticipate it, I’m still struck by how quickly I fall back into the pattern of lackadaisical laziness! Time and time again, the week works itself out like clockwork:

Friday afternoon: After a race to the finish, I finish up early and pat myself and my coworkers on the back, before busting out of work early and heading to the happy hour/social activity/…far more likely, the comfort of my bed.

Friday night: I make it to 9:30 PM, then fall asleep to the steady lull of my own lameness and the ending credits of Grey’s Anatomy. 

Saturday-Sunday: I catch up on sleep, talk about how tired I am, brag about my busy work week, and am all together a very pleasant person to be around, obviously.

Monday morning: I come in charged and refreshed, only to get distracted by People magazine, before getting my third cup of coffee, before moving onto my New York Times queue, before giving myself a pass because it’s Monday and I was busy last week and then leaving at 5:30.

Tuesday-Friday: See Monday morning. 

I don’t know what gets into me, but unless I am working like crazy, I barely do any work at all! All of the motivation that fuels my busiest weeks must get stored someplace far away from my brain. My intentions are to keep myself busy–there are always things to organize, stories to pitch, memoirs to write, right?! But instead, I find myself day after day shopping for summer dresses, daydreaming about my vacation, and researching adult ballet classes (still looking for that hobby…).

Ugh, I need to get in the game! Snap out of it, me! Find that ambition, reignite that spark! O…it’s 5:30, you say? Well in that case, I guess it’s time to call it a day!

The March to Margaritas

Five o’clock is here, with just an hour to go! This has been a long week and I am whooped! I came in Monday morning expecting to be moderately busy, but plans quickly changed and the week motored by! Three thirteen-hour days, four humus wraps and a few pats-on-the-back later, I’m now sitting semi-comatose at my desk, researching happy hours. Friday ow ow!

Despite my exhaustion, this was a really great week, and I’m proud of the results! All the hard work and craziness from the last few weeks was all worth it when things went smoothly and everyone was happy. Regardless, it’s still hard to keep up that kind of work schedule, so it will be nice to wake up a little later than 6:30 am and sip–rather than guzzle–my morning joe!

But of course, it never really ends. Just minutes ago, while packing my purse and breathing a cleansing sigh of relief,  I got an email with one final time-consuming task! Looks like those margaritas will have to wait! O well…with my weekend waiting in the wings and visions of colorful cocktails dancing across my mind, I have my last gasp of motivation standing at the ready! Let’s do this…so I can bust out of this joint!

A Breath of…Air

Finally, sweet relief! This was the first day in over a week I haven’t been slumped over my desk, drained from the heat. I managed to get through the New York heat wave alive, but was completely exhausted everyday! Not only was I barely sleeping, but my five-block walk to work zapped any left over energy I had, leaving me lethargic and sweaty. It’s been awesome and extremely attractive.

When I moved to New York last November, I conveniently forgot that summer around here is pretty sweltering. But looking back, how could I have blocked out such hellish humidity? When I first started working, I was commuting during the hottest part of the day. I was also broke, and didn’t want to waste my gas, so I used to ride to and from the parking lot sans AC! The only saving grace from that hellish experience was the frigid temps of my office and the constant tears to cool my cheeks! Then, last summer, I sublet an apartment during August and spent the month with permanently wind-blown hair from the box fan I put an inch from my head! Heck, even when I first moved, my broken radiator was churning out enough heat to keep me sweating through the coldest months of the year! How quickly we forget!

But none of these served as a learning lesson on how to beat the heat this time around. I neglected to buy an air conditioner when they were on sale, and my one little fan spun its three little blades until the thing was practically smoking! But I’ve been too exhausted to do anything but fill a Ziploc bag with ice and stick it down my back before bed, which invariably melts, pops, and soaks my bed. And I wonder why I’m always in such a bad mood in the mornings!

Fortunately, it’s cooled off considerably since last week, and even though my apartment is stuffy, I actually slept with a sheet over my body for the first time in two weeks! It was nice to put my makeup on without throwing my liner on the floor and running for the fan before the sweat droplets exposed themselves across my brow! Ah, city living.

Triple Fresh

Yesterday was not only the first day of the week, but also of the month, and then also the first day of the second half of the year! Talk about a fresh start! I’ve always loved Sundays, because it’s like pressing the reset button and starting fresh. Sunday nights I sit down and plot out my week, all in the hopes of finally reaching some organizational nirvana, where my outfits are pre-planned and my lunches pre-made! I go to bed Sunday night absolutely convinced I’ll finally be waking up on time this week!

The ante is exponentially up-ed on the first of the month. All my bad habits and unfinished to-dos get re-printed neatly and started again. I leave the previous month in the dust and pat myself on the back for managing to do less than half of the things I set out to accomplish. Yayyy me. I’m not crazy at all! “This will be the month!” I always think–the month I stop eating cereal for dinner, the month I spend Friday nights not in my bed, watching Netflix…and eating cereal for dinner.

So give me this triple whammy, and I’m going crazy! I’ve updated my calendar, refreshed my New Year’s Resolution list, and started out on the right foot by going to bed early last night, and making it to work today ON TIME! Yes! My type-A, hyper-control freak tendencies really do have a place in this world! It’s the perfect storm of OCD! I better get busy…lots to do!