Thursday, May 13, 2010

my caffeine addiction

hi, i'm abby, and i'm addicted to caffeine.

because really, i am. how did i learn about this addiction? it's all simple observation.

about four sunday nights ago, i was minding my own business, doing what i do on pretty much every sunday night: i was playing a board game with my neighbors. we've kind of taken sunday evenings for our neighbor-nights. we play games, watch movies, and generally de-stress before a week of work or school. it's a really good system.

anyway, i was minding my own business, and suddenly, around 4 p.m., i had a MASSIVE headache! it just came out of nowhere, and it invaded my brain, and it hurt real bad. i tried taking ibuprofen, i tried massaging my temples. nothing. then, i realized that i hadn't had coffee all weekend! because coffee is free at work and it's comforting to use as a wake-up in the morning. i sleep in on the weekends, and i am usually too lazy to make myself coffee (my husband doesn't drink it).

to remedy the headache, i had one small cup of coffee. about half a mug. and then the headache melted away.

this headache came at around the same time every sunday for a month.

then, i had the brilliant idea of preventing the headache by drinking a cup of coffee this past sunday morning. voila! no headache. :)

except now, i know that i am addicted to caffeine in the form of coffee. i think i'm switching to decaf. i'll let you know how that goes.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

dreams

a co-worker and i had a fun little conversation today about dreaming of being at work or dreaming of work-related stuff. please, please feel free to add your own comments on this one! i would love to hear about your crazy work dreams.

this co-worker of mine dreamed about a man who had called yesterday and yelled at her for a supervisor. in the dream, he called back and yelled some more. hmmm...

according to www.dreammoods.com:



To see a man in your dream, denotes the masculine aspect of yourself - the side that is assertive, rational, aggressive, and/or competitive. If the man is known to you, then the dream may reflect you feelings and concerns you have about him.
If you are a woman and dream that you are in the arms of a man, suggests that you are accepting and welcoming your stronger assertive personality . It may also highlight your desires to be in a relationship and your image of the ideal man.
To see an old man in your dream, represents wisdom or forgiveness. The old man may be a archetypal figure who is offering guidance to some daily problem.

To see or hear a telephone in your dream, signifies a message from your unconscious or some sort of telepathic communication. You may be forced to confront issues which you have tried to avoid. Alternatively, the telephone represents your communication and relationship with others.
To dream that you do not want to answer the ringing telephone, indicates lack of communication. There is a situation or relationship that you are tying to keep at a distance.
To dream that you are having a telephone conversation with someone your know,  signifies an issue that you need to confront with that person. This issue may have to do with letting go some part of yourself. 

To dream that you or someone is yelling, represents repressed anger that need to be expressed. If you are yelling and no one hears, then it suggests that you are being ignored. You feel that your voice does not matter or that your opinion doesn't count.

in waking life, this person is on day 9 without a cigarette. quitting is tough, and she hasn't caved once! so, good job. ok, here's my interpretation of this dream:

she picked up the phone, which means she has a desire to communicate. the person is yelling, so there is repressed anger there, so she's wanting to communicate anger. it was an angry man, so that makes sense. ummm... 

maybe she was just stressed out by the yelling man on the phone. 

i have had dreams about work and working on our computer system. during the first few months of marriage, my husband would come to bed after me and think i was awake and ask me a question. i would answer, barely conscious, that he needed a claim form or that the system was something... being a wonderful and caring husband, he asked another question -- just so that i would keep talking nonsense. now, i know there are those HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act) privacy laws, so i hope i didn't mention anybody's PII (Personal Identifiable Information) or PHI (Personal Health Information), because that would be bad. but actually, i wasn't fully conscious. would that hold up in court? 

The Office quote of the week: "Nobody steals from Creed Bratton and gets away with it. The last person to do this disappeared. His name? Creed Bratton." -- Creed

tonight is another meeting of The Finer Things Club! we will be discussing Les Miserables. most of us read the movie and are planning to watch the book eventually. i admit, i only got to page 200-something. but i did watch the movie with Liam Neeson. but i keep thinking Uma Thurman when i read about Fantine... and i don't want that. 

Monday, May 3, 2010

minimalism

the cool, new thing in the office is minimalism. so, in the spirit of minimalism, i'm sharing these really cool links:


also, i've de-cluttered my office and especially my desk. it's pretty much like a breath of fresh air to have my desk free of clutter. i'm also trying to only work on one thing at a time. i've heard that multitasking isn't really productive. and it's so stressful!

i also spent saturday morning attempting to de-clutter my apartment, including dusting all surfaces, especially focusing on the bedroom, which has been ignored for far too long. simple organization is so freeing.

oh, and i've been into yoga lately. i'm just borrowing dvd's from the library, taking half an hour or so in the morning to stretch and pray so i can face the day. i'm a little disappointed in the choices netflix has to offer, but i sure do love my library.

speaking of praying, i'm doing this 40 Days of Prayer thing with my small group. it's already Day 9, but if you're interested, comment to this post with your email address and i'll forward the stuff to you!

song of the day: "i still haven't found what i'm looking for" by U2. for the time when Sue was looking for an email and, as far as i know, she still hasn't found what she was looking for!