I've been working my tail off for the last few days, getting up early and dealing with administrative crap in the morning and then putting in a full 8-hour day in the afternoon at work. I managed to get a sudden, inexplicable burst of energy this week, and I have been like those multi-tasker types I admire so much.
Besides the work and the banking and the school enrollment (nightmare) and the rest, I have also gone apeshit on the fall cleaning of my home. For some reason, I freaked out over the weekend and absolutely had to make my house less cluttered. If I had any sort of storage whatsoever, I would have locked all my stuff away and turned my house into a minimalist space. But no, I have no storage, so it became a "Do I want this, really?" party and I managed to keep it real and convince myself to let go of a few totally unecessary items.
I even managed to say goodbye to books. This is always hard for me. But two days ago, I gathered up a fair amount and then asked myself, "Why is this still on your bookshelf? Are ever considering reading it again or giving it to someone else to read?" If the answer was no, I brought them to the secondhand store for sale. I had lots of them. They were HEAVY and I carried two bags of them, along with a backpack full of stuff for Vegas that I was also getting rid of. Walking to the store at 10 am, I took a bad turn, and ended up walking for a good ten minutes in the wrong direction. That was awesome, because I had to turn around and go right back the way I came from, and by the time I got to the store, I was postively dripping sweat and had lost circulation in my hands. But hey, 70 euros is 70 euros.
I pretty much destroyed my back and shoulder muscles with that little adventure, and then I managed to further hurt myself by doing some serious heavy lifting at work. I spend a lot of my time carrying piles of books up and down stairs. Anybody who thinks that all that booksellers do is sit around and read has clearly never worked in a bookshop.
On top of the books, I have managed to do almost all of Paris on foot over the last few days. Montparnasse to Chatelet, check. Bourse to Odeon? Check. Les Halles to Gobelins? Check. I walk a lot in my normal life but this is really insane.
And THEN, I also had to enroll in school - a 3-day process. So I have been standing in line a lot.
What all of this comes down to is this: my legs are about to fall off. They HURT. So I have clearly been far too active recently. Time for me to just sit in front of a television for awhile.
And the timing couldn't be better, as I am flying to the US in a few hours. I can't wait to go home this time around; I am freakishly uber excited about this trip. I can't even exactly put my finger on why or how this time is even more thrilling than usual, but I don't care. Border's, here I come. I am also taking a mini-trip within my trip, out to see my sister and brother-in-law on the other side of the country. I love that. It was totally unexpected and thrown together last minute, but I'm absolutely game for that sort of random happiness being thrown my way.
So overall -- this bursting happiness thing is weird and100% appreciated. I've got a few fun things up on the horizon, and I am mentally in a space where I have very little stress and am able to just enjoy the goodness. I'm looking forward to the next two weeks.
Here's the really strange part, and the only drawback to going to the States (besides having to leave The Boy behind, who is, by the way, the sweetest and awesomest boy in the Universe at the moment, but that's a story for another day): I'm going to miss my job. Can you believe that? I am sad about leaving work to go on my vacation. What is wrong with me? Yesterday, I never wanted to leave work. Pinch me, because, damn, I'm lucky to be able to say that. My boss is awesome, the job itself is awesome, and my photo classes are going to start when I get back to Paris in October - so that's awesome. I don't want to discuss my job too much for fear of getting dooced or something, but the good part is that I have only said positive things. And I mean them. How weird is that?
Ok, I'm out. Next time I type, the q's and a's will be in the wrong spots.
You sound as high as a kite, in a non drug-induced way. Have a good holiday.
Have fun. I envy you in that you love your job. Sigh. Enjoy.
I am so excited you are coming to see your sister because that means Will and I get to see you too! Yay!
Em - My entire family (Jay and Gail, too) had a conversation last night about Will and his incredible cuteness. Not that you didn't know that, but I always think it's nice to know people were saying good things about you/your child even while you're not around. Means they really mean it, right?
Do you have to use "des gros mots" to express yoursellf?