A Brand New Day

I love Van Morrison. I kept his words in my mind all the way up the hill this morning, repeating them like my mantra. Somehow, it did the trick.

I bet you won't be surprised when I tell you it's been a shitty week. The days that followed the previous two posts were quite long, stressful and frustrating... I would have been better off going back to bed, really. It was basically just a series of unfortunate events. On their own each would have been manageable, but there was really one too many... and one too major: my computer died. DIED. Like damage to the mother board dead. It's my work computer, so my employers have to deal with it, but really it's my only computer. If you give a grad student a computer you would expect her to use it for everything, right? (I know I'm spoiled. I was hoping to avoid buying one until the next stage of my life became clear. We'll see how that works out for me. And, in my defense, it makes sense for me to use one computer for everything, since the parts of my life are so hectic and overlapping). So, it is so dead that the tech people told my boss they have to get me a new system. I don't know what she is going to do, since I am technically a TA now and I had a good computer from when I was a lecturer. I mean, they have to get me something, right? At the moment I am working on a temporary laptop, but I don't have any of my stuff. ANY OF MY WORK. My computer is like my security blanket, you know? Again, it's lucky it's a work computer because all of my work should be backed up on the university system, and should be able to be restored once I have a new system, should being the operative word. I don't think I need to tell you how stressful it is, not really being certain that I will get any of it back. Also, I don't think I need to explain how difficult it is to do your work when you don't have any of your work. That was yesterday's drama. On top of that, I have been working way more hours than I am supposed to. Things have generally been quite stressful...I'm constantly keyed up, and I wake up in a panic. Thank goodness I am finally picking up my mouth guard tomorrow. Surprise, surprise, my teeth hurt in the mornings now.

So, now for the flip side. Today was a MUCH better day. A brand new day. I woke up with a mind to shift my perspective. I just have to trust that my computer stuff will work out. I told my boss I was working too much (this was a huge breakthrough for me) and she lightened the load for the rest of the week (the major excitement is that I don't have to go to the staff meeting) and told me not to worry- she's concerned because I never complain, and I knew she was getting concerned anyway. TMH just sent me flowers (a gorgeous purple and red PMP bouquet!), and I got two cards and another Valentine's Day package (my mom sent me yummy homemade cookies)! And, most importantly, TMH is coming to visit this weekend. YAY!

Ah, and for those of you interested in weather updates, it warmed up dramatically, enough to rain, and then it proceeded to rain and snow and sleet and ice and such, just like the other week. I guess it was what you might call a wintry mix, which sounds way more exciting than it actually is. It's pretty disgusting out now, because it's all freezing over, so we'll have lots of crunchy, crusty slush, but I don't care. See, even the weather was no match for my "brand new day" attitude. Let's see how long I can keep it up...

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!