December Confessions

You know when you love something … and then suddenly it’s gone? It feels like a hole in your life that you don’t know how to fill.

For me, that hole is Harry Potter.

Okay, maybe that’s just a bit dramatic, but reading Harry Potter every night has become an essential part of my schedule. Work has been crazy busy, with long hours and lots of stress, and reading about that dorky little kid every night before bed has been a savior.

I’m in the market for a new obsession. I’m thinking it definitely has to be in the form of something to read, because if it’s a TV series or something like that, I’ll never go to sleep. That was the problem when I was obsessed with Felicity – I would stay up all night, promising myself “just one more episode.” My friend Dawn and I were just laughing the other day about how addicting that show is – I distinctly remember the relief in her voice when she finished the series finale. “I feel like I finally have my life back!”

I’m open to your book suggestions. However, fair warning, I’ve recently come to an epiphany about books and life in general. A friend loaned this book to me that she loved, and I gave it a shot. About 80 pages in, I was miserable. I was bored and hated every second of reading this book. It just wasn’t for me. But, I didn’t want to quit – I’ve never given up reading a book in my entire life.

And then it hit me: Life is too short to waste your time doing something you don’t love.

This is not a call for you all to quit your jobs, or stop cleaning your houses and paying your bills. Obviously you can’t love what you are doing every second of the day. But if you find that you are doing more things that don’t fulfill you than things that do, maybe it’s time for reconsideration.

End of public service announcement.

Now that we’re deep in the holiday season, I’m reminded of how much pressure there is at this time of the year to be perfect. No one’s perfect, everyone says, yet everywhere you look, there are perfect families, perfect presents, perfect Christmas trees, seemingly perfect lives … it’s a little overwhelming.

I am so not perfect. Not even close. And there a few imperfections and confessions I need to get off my chest. Without further ado, here are my December confessions:

• When people tell me to tell someone hi for them or to give them a hug, I never do it. NEVER. I am an unreliable messenger.
• My Words with Friends obsession is comparable to Alec Baldwin’s.
• I own a Slanket. Like a Snuggie, but better.
• I watch the Chicago WGN news more often than my own local news. It comes on every night right after How I Met Your Mother, and I’ve developed this strange affinity for the crazy happenings of Chicago.
• I will do absolutely anything to avoid folding laundry. When I need to fold laundry, I do about a million other things instead. Sweep, mop, vacuum, clean the toilet, make the bed, volunteer at a soup kitchen, whew, I’m exhausted. Guess the laundry can wait another day to be folded. Hell, I’ll even wash more laundry to avoid folding the laundry that’s already clean. Chef saw my mountain of laundry (about four months of clean clothes) and offered to help with the folding. But, the thought of him holding up my pants pondering the size of my ass made me deny his generous offer.
• My problem letting go is well documented. I recently realized I also have a problem letting go of office supplies. I have a stapler at work that only brings me heartache and fury. It barely works and I can often be found cussing in my office at how useless it is. I’m also still using my calculator from the ninth grade. Yes, you heard me right. Ninth grade. It was the first scientific calculator I’ve ever bought, and I can distinctly remember my dad complaining about how expensive it was. I used this same calculator through high school, college and my first six years at my agency. Well, the trouble is, the decimal point and the 0 barely work. You can see how this is a problem. Yet I refuse to let it go.
• I have a receipt hoarding problem. I have kept almost every receipt for the past 10 years. This is how it starts: I keep a bunch of receipts in my wallet. I primarily hold on to them so I can double-check that the right amount has been charged on my credit card. Eventually, I have too many receipts to fit in my wallet, so I fold them and keep them in my purse. When I have too many receipts in my purse, I move them to a shoe box. So –> wallet. Too big for wallet –> purse. Too big for purse – >shoe box. Shoe box is full –> another shoe box. Times that by 10 years. You will see my problem.
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  Photo courtesy of Leo Reynolds

  I wish that Chef worked at a more wholesome restaurant. Like Cracker Barrel. When I first started dating Chef, he co-owned a restaurant in Richmond. While he works to sell his shares of that restaurant, he is now a sous chef at a popular restaurant/night club (you may remember my fun times there). He loves his job – and I’m happy for him – but lately I’ve been struggling with some feelings of inadequacy and nervousness related to his job. You see, this night club is chock full of go-go dancers, half-dressed female bartenders and hundreds of beautiful women in skin-tight dresses and miniskirts. I trust Chef, but knowing he’s surrounded by these women every single night at work is making me really anxious.

• I’m too lazy for Christmas. Maybe the Christmas tree debacle of last year is deterring me, but I am once again having troubles getting my tree up. Chef put the tree up, and we have now scheduled two times to decorate it together. We spent those two times when we should have been decorating, sitting on the couch, staring at the tree, and bemoaning how we don’t feel like getting up and decorating it. I also have yet to buy a single Christmas gift. #FAIL

Now it’s your turn: Any confessions you want to get off your chest? Any book suggestions? Is it just me or are those little slips that fall out of magazines the most annoying thing on earth? They are like the only legal form of littering!

Copyright 2011. Simply Solo blog by Catherine Gryp. All Rights Reserved.