>Morning! I have been drinking a lot of coffee this morning! and it is making me type really fast AND think in exclamation points! Using exclamation points is the sign of a writer who cannot articulate their thoughts well (!); but I am seriously seriously caffeinated!!!!!!!!!

So, I have a few topics that I have never been able to flesh out into a full posting; so I am going to try to clean out my “blog topic” file and give you a few tidbits.

• I know you all know me as smooth and charming, however (*snicker*) I am on occasion VERY awkward. The other day a co-worker was wandering by and I offered her a ride out. She is very nice, we have had dinner on occasion and have a few mutual friends. You know, that friend of a friend person. So, we are chatting about important relevant topics as weather, pets, weather, work, weather…and I just ran out of topics (you can only beat weather into the ground for so long). As I sat there in Bertha (my beast of a leased SUV) talking to her through the passenger window (she did not wish a ride out) and we had a few awkward seconds of silence I said, “okay, well I’m out of things to say…have a great night!” Only later did I realize how awkward that sentence was. *sigh*

• I work in a firehouse. There is one gal fireman, she is nice. Anyway, we kind of share a bathroom. There are also male firemen, and they keep stealing our stuff. This has led to me labeling the soap so that I can wash my hands. I wash my hands a lot. I wash them after I work with samples. I wash them before I eat. I really believe in washing my hands with soap and water–I have real irritation with the vast quantity of hand sanitizer being used. I mean, people, wash your damn hands. So, most of the time, after washing my hands I have a very bad habit of shaking them off and either letting them air dry or wiping them on my pants (or coveralls). I know, this is not a good habit–but I hate air dryers AND I feel guilty when I use paper towels (environment). Okay, there is the back story. The other day Anya (gal fireman) comes into the lab. She wanted to double check I hadn’t borrowed the paper towels before she went to disembowel the male fireman for stealing out stuff (again). I had not borrowed the towels. But during the conversation I could tell that she thought that since I hadn’t noticed they were missing that I was disgusting and didn’t wash my hands after using the bathroom. I could not dig my way out of that awkward conversation. *sigh*

>This week seems to be zooming by in comparison to the last few weeks. At this very moment I am sitting in The Bombay Club waiting for dinner. The food is wonderful, but best of all–the air conditioning is cold. 🙂

>Woke up this morning after being up most of the night with a headache. Blech. So in my infinite idiocy I decided to take a day off. That lasted precisely 2 hours and one bowl of spaghetti breakfast. Had some samples to complete on a rush basis. Seriously though, the spaghetti breakfast was *really* good.
Those of you who know me may be aware of my jovial nature (I know, shocking). The people I get along with best are, without a doubt, what my last performance review called, "blue collar workers" although I must tell you I feel creepy saying "blue collar" cause to me those are normal-type (ish) people and the folks in the dressy clothes with clean nails Freak. Me. Out.
Wow, okay, went of on a random tangent there. Back to my point, I tend to give a lot of the guys shit. In particular one insulator who brings me samples every day and talks about his yard with a bazillion kinds of local fruit; to him I say–bring me some dang fruit. I have been teasing him about this for a month. Well, today (the day I attempted to miss work) he did. So, besides feeling less guilty for missing work I also got a great fruity prize. My bounty included: 2 young pre-cut coconuts (1 gone), 1 giant soursop, 2 perfect ripe mangos (gone already), a few bananas, 1 sugar apple and approx. 10 carambolas (aka starfruit).
I am rich in fruit. 🙂
Goodnight folks!

>There is nothing so boring as reading someone say how they are sorry they haven't written more–that being said, people, I am sorry I haven't written more.
I have been swamped. Not with work, not with my husband being here (although both of these things take serious time), but I have been swamped in stress. I have been spending so much time panicking and worrying about the when and the if "they" are sending me back to Chicago that I have ceased enjoying what I have in the here and now. I am so lucky to have my husband here. I am so lucky to get to swim in the Caribbean sea every weekend. I am so incredibly lucky to be up in the coker unit and be able to see miles out into the Caribbean. I am blessed–and instead of embracing and loving my life I am clutching at it–fearful of letting go. So. As of today I am living my life fully, enjoying as much as possible, and unless something changes–I will be shipped back to Chicago at the end of September.
One step at a time, one day at a time.
With hope,
Heather