today...

In the past 48 hours, I have had the following comments directed at me:

• "You're an idiot."
• "This is probably the crappiest job I have ever seen anyone do. It's just awful!"
• "Well, clearly you don't know what you're doing at all."
• "You are not helpful." 

What really bothers me about it all is that
1) I did the best I could with the directions I was given (which were given by the person(s) who gave me the directions in the first place),
2) actually, I do know what I'm doing -- the person who said that has no idea what is needed to complete particular tasks which take time and are a little difficult when there are other people needing my attention as well, and
3) helping a person who can't make up his/her mind no matter how many options I give is not my fault.

 In short, I'm feeling exceptionally self-conscious and awkward with everyone I come in contact with. I don't want to go back to the writing center. I don't want to go back to work. No choice though. And so I'm trying to give people the benefit of the doubt -- maybe they were having a bad day or they were frustrated with things, then took it out on me because I was there.

All of this makes me very glad that the rest of the day was good. My friend Corby took me to see The Avengers with him and it was quite enjoyable (you'll be seeing a review of it later on -- if Ann ever posts pictures to go with it, that is). Corby is one of the nicest, funniest, smartest people I know (and I'm not just saying that because he sometimes reads this blog). Not only that, but he bought me a peanut butter shake at Iceburg, and then we talked for a couple of hours about a bajillion (almost) things. It was great to spend time with a good friend!

Then the evening got better. I got a text message from Brady telling me that I'm awesome times a million in all caps with a smiley face. And my dog snuggled with me for a long time because she didn't want me to put her down. And I realized that school is almost over. And I heard this song on the radio:

 

 

Not so great day ended much better than I thought it would. Good, good, good.

 

day 75...

a picture of something I don't leave the house without...

It's a rare thing when I don't take my phone with me. Sometimes my sister takes it with her to work (we now have the same employer, and communication is mainly through text messaging. Since she doesn't have a phone and we don't get scheduled at the same time, she uses mine), and I always leave it home when I go to my church meetings, but other than that I generally have my phone. There have been a couple of times when I haven't taken it with me somewhere, and one of those times I missed out on a date with a really, really nice boy (and deleted the number he called me with before realizing he'd gotten a new phone number because his name didn't show up on the missed calls list. Only the number. Grr). I'm still mad at myself for that one...anyone want to mention to him that I would totally be up for going out with him? Anyone? ;)

Having a phone has been kind of a safety device for me. I like being able to get in touch with friends or family quickly, and it has come in handy several times during sticky (or awkward...also sticky) situations. It's also very helpful for work and for choir, both of which rely on text messaging for the most part to communicate. So yes. Phone home or phone cell, talk to me. It's on 24/7. :)

"Call me, beep me, if you want to reach me!!"

day 43...

a picture of something I can't function without...

Yes, I know. Pretty pathetic. Especially now that people are coming out with studies saying that cell phones are linked to brain cancer. I don't talk on my cell phone very much, so I guess it's more like I'll get a cancerous tumor in my leg because it's always in my pocket. Joy. Texting really is dangerous.

I find it funny that every time we humans come up with some helpful, time saving device to make life more effecient and "easy", we find out a few years later that we've actually made things worse. Of course.