First the good news

Okay, the good news is first because I need to remind myself of it so I don't go ballistic. I attended a wedding reception in sunny (ha) Portland Oregon last weekend, and not only was it lovely, I am very happy for the couple. In addition, I was thrilled to spend time with the members of Piggs' family who were able to attend. I also just had a good time with sweetie and his/our friends, too. I feel really enriched by the people in his life. They're all interesting, great people that I'm happy to know.
Also, my mom had a birthday this weekend, and we had a nice (though smaller than usual) celebration. I made a German's Chocolate cake )go look at the package, I'm right) that came out wonderfully. In fact, while I was making the frosting, it was storming out, and the frosting wasn't setting up right, so I was mentally preparing myself for the third worst cake ever (#1 -- the one that wouldn't de-pan properly and was served as a large pile of crumbs, #2, the frosting never set up and the wet part sank into the cake, while the coconut and pecans sat in a dry heap on top), but as it turned out, I just had to cook it for about 30 minutes longer than usual, and it turned out great. The cake itself was extra fluffy, too. I think she had a good birthday. She seemed to like my presents, which always thrills me. And the only time every year that she eats her very favorite ice cream is on her birthday, and I was able to pick that up, too. Yay!
Monkeygirl got a cute duplex. I can't wait to help her move, buy her housewarming presents, and hang out there with her. I will really miss her as a roommate (she is by far the BEST roommate ever), but I'm happy that she's getting her own place for the first time in a long time, and I owe her thanks, too, because of why she decided to move out. Which is . . .
Piggs is moving in. I'm excited. I feel really confident and happy about our relationship, and I'm glad to be taking another step.
The band is back together! And getting shows! We had one last week and have another coming up in mid-October, and probably one the first week of November. It's fun to play!

Now for the stressful stuff. First, I am feeling extremely overwhelmed at my job. Partly it's just that it's the beginning of the year, and I have yet to fall into a rythym with the classes. But I also seem to have a lot more things encroaching on my time. I have the liaison committee (which sucks), drama club, the leadership team, house meetings, and department meetings. Now, I had some of these things before, but they've changed -- like the liaison committee: we used to be able to meet during lunch, but now we have different lunch periods, so have to meet after school. Or department meetings, which have doubled from once a month to twice, and changed from taking place during our prep period to after school. Consider that I work about 20 days a month -- that's 17 days out of 20 that I have something scheduled for at least an hour after school. And those hours, even the paid ones, tend to sneak into overtime. Like leadership meetings, for which I get an hour's pay, but which start 15 minutes after school and usually run half an hour or so long. Which, if you're keeping a tally, gets my ass to my car almost 2 hours after school, if I completely skip doing any errands, paperwork, parent phone calls, grading . . . And you know, I still have to do all that stuff at some time.
I'm also still cranky about my weight, and I have a sore throat and a constantly stuffy nose (I might have a sinus infection), plus my ankle and shoulder are both a little sore, and just in general I'm feeling a little emotional and tired. It's probably all stress-related, and I need to chill out. I have ballet in an hour, but I might skip it just to have some time where I'm not on the go. Still, that makes me feel guilty, because I need the exercise and also because I know that going usually makes me feel better. But when I think of running around gathering all my ballet stuff, driving across town through traffic, and getting home after 8 my head hurts.
Also, I'm a little worried about money. I'm not totally without money, it's just that I wanted to pay off my couch and then save all the rest of it for a future vacation, but I also needed some career clothes, and soon I will need a new toilet, printer, and bed. Which would EASILY eat up all my savings and more, even with sweetie helping where appropriate.
Ugh. That's all for now, I've just been so busy I haven't even had time to write! I had to get some of this off my chest. Thanks for reading if you did. -- The Count.