Little Miss Cranky

I've seen Mr. Men and Little Miss T-Shirts at department stores lately. Mr. J said that two women in his office even wore theirs to work on the same day. If I had one, it would say "Little Miss Cranky."

Why? Lots of reasons. But mainly because I rarely am cranky or mad. Wait, no... I mean I rarely show that I'm cranky or mad. I let the little things slide until they pile up and then I go apeshit. I know, not healthy. I'm working on it. Believe me. I'm trying hard. But the past few days have been especially trying.

One thing I've learned is that my tongue is sharper than I ever thought it would be. When I was still a New Yorker, I was very short tempered. In fact, it wasn't surprising if customer service in New York was better and faster than anywhere else in the United States--and yet the customer was still unsatisfied. Now that I've been a Chicago resident for more than six years, I have finally adjusted. I move slower, I am more patient with people, and pretty easy-going in most cases. But then, I have my mad days like everyone else. Oh, I pity the fool who pisses me off.

This week was a doozy. First, I criticized the answering service of a work colleague so much, that the woman at the other end of the phone hung up on me. I probably deserved it too.
She said, "He doesn't have voicemail."
"Don't lie and don't be so lazy. I left him voicemail yesterday." I replied. "If you're going to make up a reason why you don't want to press transfer, his extension, and transfer, then come up with something more creative."

Then I ripped apart an aggressive sales rep at my gym because she called me three days in a row to renew my membership. "When I tell you that I'm not ready to sign up for the gym, that means to leave me the fuck alone. I will sign up when I feel like it. Stop calling me and go fuck yourself!" Is what I think I screamed at her before I hung up my phone.

But, since I was steaming mad about it, I called the sales rep's manager and gave him a piece of my mind for another 15 minutes.

I hung up on a ex-friend when she went on and on about herself today--because I told her I was busy at work and she wanted to play this annoying game called, "I need to talk to you about something."
"Okay tell me."
"I can't."
"Okay don't tell me then." I say.
"I can't talk about it right now, it's personal.'
"Oh. Okay. But are you alright?"
"Yes, all is well. I wish I could tell you this thing going on in my life."
"Okay, what is it then? Are you sick? Did you lose an arm? What?"
"I can't talk about it."
"I CANNOT READ YOUR MIND, SO IF YOU DON'T TELL ME WHAT THE HELL YOU WANT TO SAY, THEN STOP MENTIONING IT!!!!!"
"I guess I'll stop mentioning it then."

So... I slammed the phone down.

Part of me thinks that I have gone too far. But another part of me realizes that we all get angry once in a while. I need to own my anger a little more often, so that it comes out at appropriate times. I also need to let people know what my boundaries are. And just not fly off the handle so quickly.

I read an article once about a former judge who was mad at his dry-cleaner and sued him for millions of dollars. It took many months, and caused the small business owner quite a lot of grief. Eventually, the former judge lost case. I'm glad. I certainly don't want to end up like that guy. He just seems so pathetic.

So... in the meantime, I'm going to take baby steps. Maybe I'll start by e-mailing the people who's answering service is sub-par instead of calling.

I Heart Chicago

I got up really late this morning and watched the Duke vs. Navy football game. What a heartbreaker for the Dukies. Oh well.

To blow off steam, I took a walk around the retail district of my neighborhood: Armitage and Webster avenues. It's a fun place to window shop, but the weather was the superstar of the day. It was sunny out, and everyone was still wearing summery clothing. It wasn't too hot or humid either.

I chatted with my friend Vixen for a bit on my cell. She used to live in the neighborhood in grad school, but now is back home in San Francisco. Ironically, I was amused that she was spending her day at home, because it was dreary outside, as she described it. Who would have thunk it?

As I walked around, I was occasionally interrupted by the rumble of the El, or noise wafting out of many an Irish Bar showing many Big Ten football games. It was fun to catch up with my buddy. I miss her so much. But it was pretty fun to describe the sights and sounds to her. She found it funny when I said, "The El is saying hello to you. It's saying I miss you! Move back to Chicago!!!"

At one point I spied an old-fashioned bakery--the cute little girl sitting in front with pink buttercream frosting on her chin was hard to miss.

"Hey Catherine, I'm not sure if this place was here when you lived in Chicago, but I just walked into a cupcake place. It's really cute." I told Vixen, as I walked in the shop.
"Sweet Mandy B's?" She asked, "I love that place. I used to go there every other night for either a cookie or a cupcake. That reminds me, I should go outside and get myself something sweet."
We said our goodbyes and hung up our cell phones.

Although she's across the country, I'm glad we can still share experiences and have cupcakes together.

P.S. The service at Sweet Mandy B's was awful, but the cupcakes were great. However, that is for another post.

Life is Real Simple

My friend, Maureen, says I am constantly streamlining--or finding things to get rid of in our house. My list is long, but I cannot bear to just throw things away. It's an ongoing project.

I have clothes in my closet that I haven't worn in years. Instead of giving everything to Goodwill, I try to find either new owners (like my mom), drop them off at a consignment store, or try to sell them on eBay first. Sometimes I'm successful, other times, not. But it can be time consuming. When my attempts at gaining greater value from these items are moot, I try to find the appropriate organization to benefit from the goods. Bottomless Closet gets a few suits from each year to help out women who are looking for work and need formal work clothing. The Glass Slipper Project is a great place to donate tea-length and formal dresses for high school girls in need of a fairy godmother for their prom.

I have things lying around the house that are broken. Slowly, but surely I am trying to get them fixed or salvaged. My laptop died and a friend, James, pointed out that the hard drive died but it's otherwise usable. It turns out that someone in the Philippines can make use of it and my parents are headed there next month. Yippee! I don't have to trash it. My 15 year old barrette can be re-sodered by a jeweler for a mere $5. And, oh yes, Denim Therapy; I just sent another pair to them. It's my best find thus far. I've saved a few hundreds of dollars by having the holes in our jeans repaired instead of buying new premium denim. And they look as good as new!

But in my effort to clear our home of the clutter, I also realized that I'm making my life less stressful and less complicated. There was a time when I needed the latest and greatest gadget, but only to find it sitting in a junk drawer collecting dust--bluetooth headset, anyone? Last month I was rear-ended by a gal who accelerated at a stoplight instead of braking. When she checked to see if I was okay, her headset was dangling from her ear. We both learned our lesson that morning. These days I try not to use my phone at all while driving. I should be concentrating on the road and nothing else.

If anyone wants my bluetooth headset, e-mail me and I'll give it to you for free.

Yummy!!!

My girlfriends were in town 8 days ago. They wanted mini-bagels for breakfast, which we procured. But Mr. J and I aren't really bagel eaters... until now.
I slapped pizza sauce and shredded fontina cheese on them before baking them in the oven for 8 minutes. Voila! Pizza bagels. I ate every last one. Hooray!

Is Anyone Out There?

I just read this blog post, and found it interesting. I think the author is right. Even on the elevator, no one speaks--just stares at the little news monitor mounted in the cab. So strange. Are we really present in our lives? My thumbs ache by Friday because of my Blackberry typing... so sad, too bad.

Four Things

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1) Camp Counselor
2) Office Administrator
3) Ettiquette Instructor
4) Library Assistant

Four TV shows I love to watch:
1) How I Met Your Mother
2) The Hills
3) CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
4) The Pick-Up Artist

Four places I have lived:
1) Chicago, IL
2) Wellesley, MA
3) New York, NY
4) South Holland, IL

Four of my favorite foods:
1) Sushi
2) Lechon Asado
3) My daddy's spaghetti
4) Pizza

Four places I would like to be right now:
1) Kauai, HI
2) 10022-SHOE
3) My bed
4) At a bar having drinks with Emily Feinberg

Retail Therapy

Not going into details, but I've faced a series of disappointments in the last nine months. One thing I try to do is just pick myself up again and just keep going. You know, remember to wake up in the morning and breathe in and out sort of thing. Overall, I think I'm doing okay. But my closet would say otherwise. When 'something sad' happens, I buy myself a present. Not just any sort of present, but some big ticket item that I've wanted for a while. At times, I am lucky enough to get them on sale. Other times I just pay retail because I just don't care.

Here's a short list of presents to myself:
- Ferragamo black frame handbag--it's a classic. I just love it.
- Christian Louboutin garnet red patent leather slingback stillettos--they are spectacular. I did a post just about them a few months ago.
- Christian Louboutin black pointed toe stillettos--I channel Angelina Jolie in Mr. and Mrs. Smith when I put them on.

Don't get me wrong, I am not spendthrift. Mr. J and I aren't in debt because of my Louboutin addiction. I have plenty of classics in my closets and have used them for many years. I don't follow trends that look bad on me. I shunned bell bottoms, leggings, neon anything, etc. At this point in my life, I'm trying to develop a more Parisian sensibility when it comes to fashion. I like simple stuff, and then try to stay current with accessories. One thing I try to remember is that I cannot afford to by cheaply. Badly sewn clothing either looks bad, or doesn't hold up. Cheaper shoes don't fit and give me blisters--plus they cost more to rehab than they did to purchase. Also, I don't like clutter. No really. NO REALLY.