Day 159: Polar Vortex, Take 2

It was another extremely cold day again here in the Midwest, but there is hope: we MIGHT get positive temperatures tomorrow! I have been getting cabin fever lately, so bad that last week I had my first anxiety attack since college. I used to get them sometimes during finals week, but last week was almost as bad as a finals week. It included a construction project, which threw me into a job I didn't sign up for: glorified babysitting. Usually I am able to do a fairly good group with about 4-10 people. This project moved a lot of people around and now I have up to 30 at a time. I lose my voice daily trying to talk over people, and that's just the staff. I know everyone is trying their hardest, though, it's stressful for everyone. Reason number two is a certain staff member made a very discriminatory remark about how no one from my generation knows how to work hard anymore. As my blog title says, I am 30. Anyone else out there in my generation? What do you think? Most of my friends actually work more than I do because the economy is so bad and no one has the money to go to college anymore. This staff member also referred to me in a written documentation that I am an aide. No offense to any other professions, but if I go to school to earn a certain title, I should be called by that title, whether it be music therapist, aide, or doctor. Of course I can't change signed documentation, and the staff had already left for the day, so instead I buried the disappointment.


By the weekend, I was ready to do something fun, no matter what. I needed to cut loose, get out of my apartment. I had been skipping the gym and eating fast food, and was developing skin rashes on my arms, which I figured was a form of shingles, caused by the stress piling up. I figured it was either the mental hospital or the open road. I have been trying to plan a road trip for quite some time, but with the cold and snow traveling far is a dumb idea. So instead, I had a mini "stay-cation." I had one of these last summer due to the state of my bank accounts, and I have to say sometimes they are more fun than anything else.


Saturday I called up a couple people asking if they wanted to hang out, maybe go on an "adventure" (I say this all the time to my friends, no one every says yes right away, but it's fun to call it that). Nobody felt like leaving their homes on that cold and snowy day, so I plotted that evening what I was going to do. It's a good thing I did go somewhere too, because my internet stopped working for the evening. I decided to head down to Apple Valley, because they have a lot of good shops and I was in need of some retail therapy. I waited until late, though, because I hate crowds. I hit up Savers, which is a thrift store, and $20 later I was feeling better already. I walked next door to Half Price Books. They had some really cool key covers, see picture, and I also got some great clearance books.

 

Next I decided to hit up the casino, since there's not much else to do at 9:30 at night. So I went to an ATM, got some cash, then headed up to Mystic, but not before getting some cheese curds from A & W. I figured my diet would be in full swing next week, I needed to let some steam off. My GPS took me on a back road, which took forever with all the wind and snow. When I got to Mystic, I felt so at peace. I didn't even get carded (first time ever). There was a live band doing one of my favorite songs, there were free drawings and games everywhere, and everybody seemed so happy. This was the first time I have pulled out ahead at the casino in years, too. I didn't win very much, but it was enough to cover the gas out there and my cheese curds.


When I got home, which was just shy of midnight, I changed into my pjs, flipped on the tv....and my phone rang! A couple of my friends wanted to know if I wanted to hang out and play board games late into the night. I almost declined, but knew I needed to go. I am heading into my 30's and know that my days are numbered where I can party late into the night. I will always be a night owl, but doubt I will always be able to pull off 6am when I'm in my 40's. Yep, went to bed at 6 in the morning, just late enough to see light coming over the trees. I felt like total crap the next day, and missed my workout session, but it was worth it for one evening of cutting loose and having fun.