I’m stuck in one of those midday, post-lunch, wanna-be-napping lulls.  I bought some fantastic tea (caramel vanilla Lipton pyramid tea bags.. they look as cool as they sound), but I keep it at home.  Here at work?  All decaf tea, because I figure I don’t need any more caffeine than I already force on my body.

I AM SO RETARDED.  Of course I need caffeine at work.  What was I thinking?

Days feel so much longer when you come in early.  I’ve been at work since 7 a.m. and it feels like I’ve been here since last night. 

Bryan went and worked out with me last night.  My gym has been totally full, even later, since the New Year.. all of the Resolutionists, stealing the equipment.  I just want to force them off.  “YOU WON’T LAST” and “I’LL GIVE YOU TWO MORE WEEKS”.  Sure, that’s nice of me, I know.. but I almost slugged one guy last night.  I had waited for a treadmill for 20 minutes, working instead on an elliptical*, and then I saw an open treadmill.  I also saw a towel hanging on it.  No biggie; people often leave stuff behind.  So I stood on it.  A big ole guy came out of ANOTHER room and said, “No, that’s MY treadmill.  I was just doing other stuff.”

Oh.  I see.  So if I were to leave, say, a booger on the treadmill, it would be mine until I was ready to use it?  No matter what?  And I could bully young women into letting me have my way? 

I let him have it, mostly because I was out of breath from that damn elliptical*.  But I have silently rued him ever since, and have sent much bad karma his way.

Anyway, Bryan worked out.  I was proud of him.  It was nice to exercise together.  But the thing is.. I get TIRED after I work out.  My body crashes.  Bryan?  He gets revved up.  This is not a good combo when I wake up at 5:30 and he gets up around 7:45. 

Oh, and cause I know it’s killing Steph..

* Lesson learned last night: 20 minutes on an elliptical machine burns ALMOST as many calories as 45 minutes on the treadmill.  And hurts more, too. 

I saw some woman wearing something that looked like a black garbage bag the other night while she was working out.  What IS that?

As much as I love that we’re both good at what we do, I’ll admit that it wounds my ego to have people call me looking for Bryan, because they want him to help in some realm of theatre. 

I have very little to say today, so I’m going to do a Challenge.

Blog challenge is: Share 5 Pieces of Wisdom You’ve Gathered, and Who Has Bestowed it Upon You.

If it was easy, anyone could do it.  This comes from my father, who is living inspiration that it is true.  Well into “retirement years”, he will finish up his Master’s Degree this fall.  Anytime I would whine that something was hard, he would retort with that, and it’s true.  I’m better than average.. sometimes I have to prove it.  I’ve actually morphed this into my own phrase that I use ALL-THE-TIME: “Sometimes things have to suck for a little while to be better in the long-run.”

You don’t work for fun, you work for money.  My mother.  I don’t know why, but my sister and I both grew up afraid of money.  We would work — HARD — and just assume payment would come to us.  If it didn’t?  We’d just wait longer.  We never thought to ask, we never thought to press.  My mother had to drill into me the fact that if you work, you should be paid.  It’s just how the world operates.

Life is an audition.  Have fun at it, and you don’t waste anyone’s time, regardless of if you get the part.  Debbie Fleischman.  My junior year of high school, I was so put out.  I wasn’t getting anywhere in the department, and I was tired of fighting for nothing.  Before our audition for the musical that year, I went to her for help.  She gave me this sage advice, telling me a story of when she auditioned for a tour of “Sound of Music”.  An older lady stormed out after saying she would ONLY audition for Maria, although they kept reading her for the Abbess.  Debbie had to follow her, and could only lighten the tension by saying, “I will ONLY audition for the Captain!”  She got the part.

Just take the note.  Bryan’s succinct phrasing of a constant irritation of mine can adapt itself to many different life situations.  When a director gives you a note, they are not asking your opinion.  They are not opening a dialogue.  They are merely telling you what to do.. because that’s their job.  You are to nod, to write it down, and to say, “Thank you”.. because that’s YOUR job.  When a superior gives you a note, they are telling you how to improve.. why argue with improvement?

The ship whose horn bellows loudest is a captain that’s lost in a fog.  I have no idea who wrote that, but it has helped me through some of the toughest situations, and to this day, it still holds true.  People who feel the need to proclaim themselves “good enough” in any arena are typically people who are insecure about their skills in said arena.  Barry Petty also used to say it during choir competitions: “If you have to tell someone how good (pretty/talented/godly/fantastic) you are, you probably aren’t.”

There ya go.  Five pearls of wisdom you may feel free to steal.