Monday, October 13, 2008

Just Another Manic Monday?

Accomplishments

  • On Saturday, I asked my super cute coach on a date (for this coming Saturday, and he said yes).
  • I was totally in control of my spending when I went to the Park City outlet mall this weekend. I only bought pieces if I could use them to put together outfits with other clothes I already own.
  • Yesterday, I baked. We hosted Sunday treat night at our apartment and I made peanut butter cookies and coffee cake.
  • Instead of staying up late playing games with my friends last night, I went to bed early enough to be rested and alert for my temple shift this morning.
  • I spent five hours organizing my room today. I rearranged the bed, my desk, and several other pieces of furniture. My bed is now prepared with flannel sheets and a down comforter to fight the winter chill with minimal impact on my energy bill. All my clothes are clean and put away, except for the ones in the mending hamper and the pile that I am saving for the day when my stomach miraculously returns to its once flat state with the defining line down the middle.
  • Vegetables won out over coffee cake and somehow ended up filling my tummy for lunch.
  • I was offered a job today, as an aide at a residential treatment center for women with eating disorders. They rejected me a year ago. I accepted the job, of course.

Whenever life goes this well, I wonder if my mind is about to be swallowed by that familiar black cloud of depression that follows the brisk winds of mania so closely. But this doesn't feel like mania. I don't know what this is.

Current songs: all of the Viva la Vida album by Coldplay but "Strawberry Swing" and "Violet Hill" in particular

12 comments:

Bekah said...

Balance, perhaps?

Deja said...

Congrats on the job!

I've been trying to just ride the up mode, rather than looking down the potential drop. Boy, it's hard.

Glad to hear you're doing so well.

Karen said...

It's called normal people's happy. I say just go with it. And congratulations on the job.

Stipey Sullivan said...

Congratulations on the job, but I will miss the *reflections on a pizza job*. Brings back old times for an old Doughboy

Katie said...

Hey congratulations, bubs. When do you start?

Sad for a While said...

Thanks! I have to meet with my employer this week to fill out paperwork and settle scheduling. Also, I have to wait for my background check, so I'll probably start in a couple weeks.

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Sad for a While said...

Perhaps they would not be happy. However, if employees at a mental health facility (such as the one that has just hired me) are unable to weigh circumstances and intentions and insist on condemning people for their imperfections rather than forgiving mistakes and charitably encouraging improvement, they are poor counselors, indeed, and I would not want to work with them.

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Sad for a While said...

There is a subtle but important distinction between judgement and condemnation. We judge people all the time: we see how they behave and we decide if that behavior is good or bad. Judgment is both unavoidable and acceptable as a means of navigating a world where good and bad exist. Condemnation is to look at someone's actions and decide that the person (not the action) is good or bad and cannot, will not, or does not change.

Yes, I tend to point out flaws when it is not my place to criticize, and occasionally I make the mistake of overextending those judgements, but most of the time I take a step back and catch myself (often with the help of others). Bramble acted like a jackass when I met him--apparently, he often acts like a jackass--but if you have read my posts on the subject, you must know that I speculated that he has used his considerable power to do good things. And, yes, I made fun of Mike Ridgway, but I concede his noble cause and believe that if he would change his approach he might do a lot of good. I make judgements all the time, but I allow for change--sometimes during the moment that I judge and sometimes later as I reconsider my judgements.

You, however, seem to have decided that, because you have heard me judge a couple people here, I cannot withhold criticism or forgive mistakes. You seem to think I cannot be a different person than the one with whom my soundbites have acquainted you. There is more to me than what I post on my blog, just as there is more to Ridgway and Bramble than I saw and presented. The difference is that I acknowledge--not immediately, but eventually--that my perceptions and judgments of their actions are not the final word.

More Bacon said...

I figure that there are a LOT more people in your life that you could talk about on your blog that have been all kinds of nasty, but you draw the line. I trust you. Of course you understand the difference between pizza delivery and mental health/eating disorder counseling...two really, really different things.

Don't worry about what anyone says--this is your moment! What an amazing day! Tons of bravery and accomplishment!!! That's a big, big day. It's time to revel in it. Forget what they think. They don't know you anyway. Anyone who thinks they actually know another person simply from a blog is mistaken--I'd hope no one who only knew me from reading my blog thought that that was all there was to me--just one little window into my life, not the whole thing.

You deserve several days of celebration. Commence celebration...NOW!! :)

PS--so impressed that you asked cute coach boy out--you've got GUTS!!