Itchy Feet

So, I haven't been using this LJ much lately beyond small updates and memes, so here's one of those "what I've been up to" posts that reassure my parents I'm alive and well. ;) *waves to Mum and Dad*

1) Work: has been busy. Lots of trial prep (since we've had a lot of trials), lots of filing, lots of document preparation and, with the end of financial year, lots of expenses. I was here until 8 p.m. (I started at 9:30 a.m.) last night processing Alvin's expenses. Yes, yet again, he stitched me up and had almost a years' worth to go through. And now he's on vacation for a week, so I get to clean things up ready for filing when he gets back. I am already sick of spreadsheets and I still have Jane's on Thursday. *wry*

In the good news side, my merit backpay should come through this Thursday. I'm not sure how much it is, but it ought to at least cover my Canadian credit card, which is a nice little bonus. I also subitted my taxes on Sunday, and according to the initial calculations, I'm looking at about $600. Again, earmarked for my credit card (the Aussie one this time) but still a good windfall. I'm also the go-to girl for pretty much everything, so hey, yay for not being expendable? My performance appraisal is coming up in a week or so, and I'm anticipating it should go well. Well, apart from the fact I'm back on the absentee program due to sinus-related headaches caused by the wacky winter weather.

2) Social stuff: I've been quite busy with that, too. Open house at the roomie's parents' in Hamilton weekend before last, book launch for my friend Jill a couple of Wednesdays ago, Hamlet marathon in Hamilton last Sunday. There's also Drunkard's Christmas, otherwise known as St. Patrick's Day coming up this Thursday, and I've taken the Friday off since there's no way I'd be functional and also, apparently, I should be taking more time off than I do, according to Sonia.

3) Health. The meds have settled down and the side effects are back to manageable, which is good since I've been sleeping ten hours a night lately and it's still not enough. Therapy continues apace, and while I get frustrated at myself - I hate being like this and I hate what the depression does to me and my relationships - I'm making progress, slowly. We've started using drawing as a way to express things, which is useful despite the fact I'm limited to stick figures. I've also been converted to flu shots - I got mine this year and I've actually avoided most of the lurghi that's plagued my co-workers, apart from a bout of bronchitis at the start of winter. And the sinuses. No infections, just pressure - I can predict snow from the way my head tightens up, whee.

4) Weather. Has been weird and wacky the past two weeks. Sleet, rain, sun (it's lovely and sunny today, although still cold), snow then thaw... it's all very hard to keep up with. Yay for rubber boots, since they've coped with everything thrown at them so far and for the first winter ever, I haven't had cold or wet feet.

That's pretty much it for me. How are you guys going?

Still no backpay. Oh, the joys of working for the government.

Seriously, what kind of Court operates with no-one answering the phones!? I've tried six different numbers and gotten six different voicemails and I need something I've already asked for twice done today. I swear, I am ready to strangle someone with the telephone cord.

I have really good news and no-one to squee with. *mock pout* Oh, wait I have LJ!

So, as I was leaving (late) tonight, Sonia asks if I have a minute. Sure I do. It turns out that at my performance appraisal last October, I was recommended for a merit. In public servant terms, it's a small increase in my standing. Nothing big, I thought at the time - most of my performance reviews have included something like that, but nothing in the way of an actual monetary element.

Any way, Sonia told me tonight my merit had finally processed, which apparently means a small pay raise. Backdated to October, 2010. It comes through either this pay coming up (this Thursday) of the next pay (in two weeks). It's very good timing and should be a nice relief.

In other, not so good news, Australia's taking another weather beating, this time from Tropical Storm Yasi. It's a category 5, half the size of Queensland itself and has winds of 300 km per hour (that's 186 mph for the non-metric). It is, to put it frankly, terrifying. And coming down on the area that just had major flooding not more than a month ago. It really makes you wonder about this whole climate change thing being a myth, y'know? /sarcasm

Stay safe, people of northern Queensland.

I swear to god, I'm going to strangle the next person at work who asks me if I'm going anywhere for Christmas. The answer would be: "No, my family all live in Australia, I don't have the cash to go back this year and in the last four Christmasses I've worked here, have I ever taken time off for Christmas? No, I haven't!"

*sigh* I know they mean well, but ffs, it's not like I haven't been here for four years already and explained this every bloody year, not to mention explained it at least a dozen times in the last couple of days.

Maybe I'm a tad oversensitive about it this year. *wry* Calm blue ocean, calm blue ocean...

Easier this time, I promise. :) I need holiday music in iPod playable format. I've asked my coworkers, but they're all terribly slow at things, so I'm extending the request. I have a bunch of stuff from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] from Straight No Chaser, but we have about 4 hours to cover here. I also want to avoid actually buying anything, since, you know, work party.

Help me Internet, you're my only hope!

It's also really cold out there today. Minus 11 walking into work from the subway.

Nightmares last night/this morning. Awful dreams about criminals and torturing people for information and executions and shootouts and all the rest. And with my whole body-swapping tendency in dreams, I got to experience it from all directions. Being the torturer... *shudders* Ugh.

Needless to say I woke up tired, but had to go to French this morning at 9:00, so no snooze button for me. As it was, I only just made it five minutes late and sans coffee/breakfast. An hour and a half of brain work on no sustenance is hard.

I had a day off yesterday, being a government type who gets Remembrance Day off. Today is dead quiet, with most of the staff taking a long weekend it seems, and it's chilly in the office due to the heating being off yesterday - it takes hours to heat the place up again so there is definite need for my emergency sweater that I keep in my filing drawer. I also got a hair cut yesterday, with my bangs coming back after months of hair in my face or brushed to the side so my forehead was the most prominent feature (I have a big forehead and when I don't have bangs, I tend to look like an egg with a toupee).

Kind of melancholy today. I was hoping it was just the lack of breakfast, but I've eaten and had my coffee and I'm still a bit meh. It's probably the bad sleep - one of the things I've learned in the past couple of years is that the depression is really susceptible to things like lack of sleep and low blood sugar and lack of sunlight. I can (and do) still get depressed for no apparent reason, but most of the time these days it's either to do with my physical state, or some kind of emotional turmoil. Both of which I'm getting much better at recognising and dealing with, or at least not giving more weight than they deserve (i.e., obsessing about my woes until they become all-consuming).

I guess I'm feeling a bit lonely. Money's been tight again, so I've been avoiding going out, which means I don't see anyone. The roomie's been working insane hours lately - I've seen him once since Wednesday - so I've been having a lot of solo evenings (although [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] came down last night and watched Avatar: The Last Airbender with me and we talked about her job stuffs, which was nice). I'm also stuck on my [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] for yesterday, so I'm behind again, which is annoying.

I bit the bullet and refriended some folks I defriended a while ago after the whole XP mess, which is nerve wracking as I still don't know what to say or what they might say to me. And I handed in my resignation from the XP modship, to take effect at the end of the year. So I guess I'm a bit worried about losing my... relevancy? Back to the old issue of worrying about people ignoring me if they don't actually need me for anything, I guess.

None of which is huge OMG drama, nor is it plunging me into the depths of despair (I don't get that as much any more, thank everything that might be responsible!), but it is contributing to a general feeling of "meh". Sandra the therapist has taught me how to focus on things and work my way through the emotional blah, so I'll try that - it's really quiet here today - and I'm sure I'll be fine by the time I get home and find a [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] on the couch. :)

In point form, since I'll be inevitably interrupted and lose my train of thought.

1) Halloween was awesome. We went to a party on Saturday night in costume (I was Steve Irwin, complete with a stuffed crocodile) and had a lot of fun. John was playing and there were wings. Yay Wingporium! Sunday was our 'drive in at home' day, where we watched the original Dracula with Bela Legosi and then Bram Stoker's Dracula with the surround sound, and ate drive in food like hot dogs and popcorn and nachos, and then went down to 17 Steps to meet up with the roomie's dad and step-mum.

2) On Sunday we got our first snow. It wasn't much more than a few flakes coming down for a minute or two and they soon melted away, but it was snow! Accordingly, the weather has gotten a lot colder in a hurry.

3) Work has been busy. You might have seen my rant the other day about the high density filing, a project I wasn't even supposed to be in charge of, but now I am due to co-worker incompetence. *sigh* There's that, plus the news yesterday that one of my lawyers, A., is very ill at the moment, so I'm trying to make arrangements to cover his cases for the near future and deal with the investigators who have started flailing around like Chicken Little. *wry*

4) Back to therapy last night. I seem to have gotten out of practice, although I've been incorporating a lot of the lessons learned over the past year so the absence wasn't actually too bad.

5) Also back to writing. I'm using the [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] to catch up on 52 Pick Up. By the end of November I'll have 41 of the 52 stories I'm aiming at, so it's a very good way of making up lost time! Last night's effort was rather fun, written largely on my iPhone on the Notes function. Not as difficult as I thought it might be, except capitalising after quotations.

6) Not so much back to swimming. Over the past few months I've had the flu, bronchitis, the flu again and then a sinus infection. It's kept me out of the pool, since swimming with a stuffed up head is not a smart move. I'm aiming at this weekend, or if that fails, next Monday. I've been having sinus issues again and feeling like crap, so hopefully I don't have another infection. :P

7) The cats continue to be equal parts crazy and cute. Spike is huge - he's putting on his winter weight. They both sleep on my bed and keep my feet warm. Neither is particularly fond of my crocodile/alligator.

8) Christmas! My plans are fairly basic at the moment. Christmas Eve party at Sandy's, Christmas morning recovering and perhaps going to see a movie or something, then Boxing Day at the roomie's parents' open house. We're having the Toronto Christmas Do about a week before, since there's a lot of travelling happening.

Gift ideas for me, if you're wondering: gift vouchers for clothes and shoes; my Amazon wishlist; my other Amazon wishlist (with extras); LJ icon space and paid time; completion of Wiki page updates.

In point form, 'cause I be lazy:

1) Ceiling hasn't caved in, which is good. Apparently it was the woman upstairs' fault after all - whoever (possibly the same guy who screwed up her bathroom renovation so it leaked into the roomie's bedroom ceiling) she got to tile her patio was a moron who sloped it AWAY from the drainage hole. Water's been trickling into the walls for a while now. Also, we were lucky - the apartment across the hall from us had their ceiling practically cave in. There's a tarp up to keep new water out, the cooler is on the bar to catch old water still dripping out of the ceiling, and the guy's starting repairs on Tuesday.

2) We had a surprise fly-by visit from [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] over the weekend. The roomie certainly outdid himself with the food this time - I have lobster bruscetta and swordfish with risotto for lunch. :)

3) Work continues apace. Quieter day today, since all three lawyers are courting. Which means I should probably be photocopying. Or filing. Meh.

3a) One of the investigators had a brilliant idea for my career prospects and getting work to pay for a paralegal course. I shall talk to people this week.

4) I seem to be over the bronchitis, hooray. Which means I can go back to swimming.

5) I haven't had coffee yet. This needs to be rectified.

6) [Bad username or site: @ livejournal.com] made me sniffly this morning. Don't read his LJ if you're a cat owner or have recently lost a pet or are somewhere where people will see you cry, even if it is a truly lovely post.

Wow, that was some impressive cursing, oh Mr. Man leaving threatening voicemail messages on one of our client's phones. Way to get what you want. Not.

Ah, my job amuses me sometimes. Where else would I get to type the words "donkey raping uncle fucker" as part of a transcription task?