Thoughts on a Wet Tuesday

 Rainy days and Tuesdays always get me down...

That's not how the song goes, but...

Tuesdays do tend to get me down since I don't have to physically go to the office on Mondays (for the most part).  So in a way, Tuesdays are my Mondays.  Or they are my commute Mondays, since I do work from home most Mondays.  Which means I can take a little more time in the morning as I am not packing up lunch and "preening" for work before running out the door to catch the bus.  (During which time any "preening" that I've done is destroyed...my hair is never going to look great if I'm waiting for a bus or the city subway.)  The fact that it's a rainy Tuesday does bring me down a bit and I'd definitely like to still be at home sipping coffee that my husband made (because he makes great coffee), catching the end of the first hour of CBS Mornings in more comfortable (and less "dressy") clothes before running upstairs to the "office" to start my work day.  (Which had most likely already started somewhat since I tend to turn on my laptop right after I do my morning "workout" when I am working from home.)

Instead I am sitting in a dark office with cold wet feet.  That the office is dark is my choice and one that will be taken away from me shortly.  The lighting around here is weird and there are three BRIGHT florescent lights over the row in which I sit.  There are NO lights behind me (where there is another row of workstations) and there are no lights in front of me (where there are no workstations, but there could be.)  My coworker to the left likes it bright, so she will turn on "her" light, which will be enough for our whole row and then some.  Although it LOOKS like you could dim the light somewhat, you can't.  (Great planning.)  So it's either dark or bright...no moderation.

My feet are cold and wet because, as you would guess, it is raining.  And what is rain without some wind?  (Which explains the destroyed bangs this morning.)  Yes, I had an umbrella.  (A really good umbrella which is nice and large.)  That didn't help out with all the puddles that I couldn't avoid on my way to the bus.  (I DID try.)  So I got on the bus with cold, wet feet and a wet umbrella, which collapsed nicely (hoorah, no fighting over getting it down), but sat against my left leg, which led to damp pants.

I am drying out at my dark workstation as I have my (loud) little heater going full blast to dry me out.  I love this little heater; even though it is quite noisy. (Though not as noisy as the construction going on a floor above me.  Maybe it's more than a floor above me.  I don't know but there is quite a lot of drilling and hammering and what have you even when I get in before 8 in the morning.)  I brought this heater in from home during the fall of last year.  It was a slight pain (more of an inconvenience), to throw it in a paper bag and carry it (along with my backpack full of "important" stuff that I feel I must bring with me each and every day), but it has paid off in spades.  (Especially today as my feet are starting to warm and get dry.)

I've had this heater for a while and it bothers me that I can't remember where it came from.  I THOUGHT it was an "acquisition" from my previous office.  (That would be the one on the marshland with the parking lot that would flood in the rain and you had to keep your eye on the tides if it was really raining as the banks of the inlet would encroach on the lot.  I almost always parked on the "higher" side of the building and if I couldn't, I made sure that I parked as close to the building as possible to avoid having my car surrounded by water.)  I THOUGHT someone had left it behind after leaving.  But now I'm not so sure.  Maybe that was the fan that I acquired?  Did I buy this at the Big Lots that was near the building where I worked BEFORE I started this position?  That seems more likely.  And if I did, I have to say that it was well worth whatever investment I made, since that would make it 10 years old and it's still chugging along.

So here I sit ready to start my day.  Or maybe get my coffee first.  (Maybe that should have been the first thing I did this morning after I got myself set up and settled.)  It's going to be a wet commuting week, but I should be (am?) grateful that at least it is warming up.  It's rain; not snow.  (How many feet did they get at the Donner Pass in California?  Six?  Seven?)  The days are getting longer/lighter.  (I actually feel like I am running late, when I'm not because it's getting light outside and I've become used to walking to the bus stop in the dark.)  Spring will be here in 14 days!  (Hoorah!  Although I STILL have not seen a robin.  I think this is the longest stretch of time where I have NOT and I'll admit that I'm obsessing over it.)  The weather WAS warm and sunny on Sunday.  It was somewhat warm and sunny yesterday.  Things are moving in the right direction.

Easter is only 26 days away.  (It's way too early this year.  It's my opinion and NOTHING can change that.)  So in only 26 days (only?)  I can enjoy chocolate and wine again.  (Although St. Patrick's Days falls on a Sunday and I may use a "cheat" Sunday to celebrate.)   And if I can find them, even before them I can enjoy Russell Stover jellybeans.  (I have a bad feeling that they have been discontinued because I can't find them ANYWHERE, including on the company's website.  They were the best jellybeans EVER and they seem to have gone away forever...pardon me while I go cry.)  Before we know it, Memorial Day will be here!  (And my son will have completed his first year of college!  OMG!)

So I'm not dwelling on the damp of today (although I AM still crying over the lack of jellybeans), but looking forward...  Because as yesterday told us:  March 4th!