Green eyed monster

I've been feeling a little sorry for myself lately. I hurt my neck again last weekend and spent all last week in a good deal of pain, was unable to exercise as much as I wanted to, and we had to scrap our plans to go camping over the long weekend because if sleeping in my own bed makes my neck hurt, I can't imagine what sleeping on the ground would do to it. So we didn't go camping.

Good things, exciting things, are happening to lots of people around me (and people I know from afar) - Dan got to volunteer during the DNC, which was super exciting because he saw all kinds of famous people speak and got to experience the positives of the ridiculousness that was the week, while I just had to go in and out the front door of my building and wear a stupid ID card. Also, Loki chose Dan to deposit the mystery rodent upon, though that may have just been timing (I wasn't home). Leah is writing about how awesome her gestating wombat is these days (a wombat, I might add, that is my wedding baby since that's when he was conceived, ie, had I gotten knocked up right at the wedding I'd be as far along as she is). Hillary just got married, Jive Turkey is freshly stuffed with a mini turkey of her own, and Amanda's due soon with Baby Brown #2. My sister just started her phD program and my husband is taking some awesome classes that involve him making movies of John Wayne vs. the Wolfman and subverting billboards (McDonalds: 100% beef rat). My other sister got a fabulous new job, EEK is moving in with Zipp (and got a new kitty!) and even my landlord just casually mentioned she had a baby in July (when I didn't even know she was pregnant!). A FOAF* had a going-away party on Friday to which we were invited; he'll be doing secret govmint work in Afghanistan, and we toasted to his new endeover with fancy, expensive infused vodka. All in all, great things, life-changing events, excitement and adventure.

And me? I'm fielding phone calls from angry school districts who have to start doing additional burdensome paperwork, thanks to a change in rules from the Feds that I had no say in. I'm annoyed that my body just doesn't want to give me a break and feel I deserve a new neck, a new shoulder, and new hips at the very least. My out-of-state-travel request for the possible Philly trip is languishing in the upper eschelons of bureaucracy, I am tired of all of my clothes (and wish the ones I have fit better - I've figured out that it's muscle gain that's made the difference, not fat, which is better, I guess, but I'm still annoyed that my clothes won't fit), and we don't have a trip on the horizon other than Thanksgiving, which is eminently frustrating. Nobody has any plans to visit us and our 87 coffee mugs. My toes need polishing. My attitude needs adjusting. And the season abruptly changed yesterday, going from 90 degrees to the mid 60s (Monday vs. Tuesday) and the air feels like fall. Now, don't get me wrong, I love the change of seasons and love fall, but with the job I have fall is an exhausting two months of travel and being ON and wanting out.

Also, my office is moving to another building, and our cubes are going to be tiny, cramped, and overwhelmingly crowded (right now, I sit in a dark basement amongst only 8 other people, which makes for ease of longer lunches, leaving early, and little noise and office gossip, but after the move that all goes away. The only upside? Actual light). I have to go through all my files, toss/recycle years worth of paperwork, and pack everything up by the end of this week. Blech.

But I'll tell you something. Even though I may be jealous of other people, people with big exciting lives and projects and loves and novelty, I can honestly say there are some people I'm glad I'm not. Bristol Palin? I wouldn't trade lives with her in a hot second. I don't live in a hurricane zone, my cat is a mighty hunter (we knew this due to his prowess at bug catching/eating; this may have been his first opportunity to catch a mouse), and my husband thinks I'm pretty even if I don't sometimes. Our zucchini plant is finally setting fruit (very tasty, I might add) and the bell peppers are finally ripe enough to eat. We've got herbs coming out our ears and will have a second crop of tomatoes shortly. And having an empty uterus (for quite some time yet, relatives who read this blog!) means I get to drink mojitos with home-grown mint, eat sushi to my heart's content, and keep eating cold turkey lunchmeat as an afternoon protein-y snack.

Give me some other reasons to be happy, internet. What's floating your boat these days?

*FOAF = Friend of a friend