Tuesday, April 24, 2012

1111

I have a great job that I enjoy. I don’t even mind my commute most days. But lately I’ve just been feeling beaten down by life. And I have a good life! But this morning, as I was fighting the alarm for the umpteenth time (I am not a morning person!) I started wondering – how long have I been living counter to my body clock?

I’ve been working a 9ish to 5ish job on a regular basis since January 1991. I’d of course had jobs before then, but either they were in Africa (that wasn’t a job – it was an adventure!), or worked around my school schedule. So 1991 was my first real job. Of course, I had to do the math. That’s 1111 weeks of working (not counting holidays & vacations).

I’m thinking of the “good old days” when a person (usually a man) put in his 30 & retired. I’ve got 9 more years to go for my 30 – but I won’t be retiring. For one thing, I haven’t been at the same place for all those years. I just had my 10th anniversary at my current company – that’s the longest I’ve ever worked anywhere.

Oh it all just makes me too tired to think. Last night I thought – I don’t really want to win the lottery this week – it would just be too much to mess with. Maybe next week. Now that’s tired.

So I’m thinking that, since my job & my life are actually pretty swell & stress free, perhaps it’s those ole’ devil hormones talking. Can somebody tell me again when I get to be done with that?

I’m too tired to be the Drama Queen. Can I be the Drama Dowager* instead?

*the non-widow variety!





17 comments:

  1. LOL -- you know you're tired when you're too tired to win the lottery!

    I think those good ol' days of putting in your 30 and retiring probably weren't all they're cracked up to be. Besides, how cool that you had your time in Africa! We have less stability in modern life, but more opportunity for adventure...don't you think?

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  2. I hated the alarm clock. Of course I had to have it to get the kids up, fed and off to school. And we had employees that arrived at 8 AM. But by the time the kids graduated from high school we had scaled down, no more employees. So when the last one was out of school the alarm clock went off and it hasn't been on since. As for those hormones, mine gave up on me early...mid 40s.

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  3. The devil hormones do pass, but I'm afraid they do so at their own pace. They don't seem to like alarm clocks either!

    And I must be tired, too, because at first I thought you were too tired to go to Dairy Queen. Zoot! What heresy!

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  4. Dearest, I'll be 53 in a couple weeks, and I'm still being yanked around by my hormones most shockingly. The details are best left for another space, but fatigue, bouts of malaise, you name it, and I credit it all to Onrushing Menopause.

    Now, as far as Thirty And Out: For me, it is exactly what it "is cracked up to be." But I put in my time and earned every minute. Perhaps you and your Hormones need an influx of Vitamin B Complex and some change of scenery. (Always helps me.)

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  5. Chuckling and nodding my head over here.

    It started 8 years ago for me and so far there's no end in sight. But I have friends who whipped through this phase in a matter of a year or two. So everyone is different and you'll just have to hang in there and find out what your schedule is :) I do think some of it's genetic, 'cause I seem to be following a pattern similar to what my mom went through.

    There have even been times when I was too tired to eat. EAT! Which is one of my most favorite things to do! I think Eve has a lot more to account for that just difficult child birth :/

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  6. Thanks for the "encouragement" everyone. Looks like we're in this for the long haul :)

    But Anne has given me an EXCELLENT idea - I think I SHOULD be the Dairy Queen. Ice Cream for everyone!

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  7. Those "devil hormones" controlled Mrs. C, from the age of forty-five to fifty-two. I have the scars to prove it.

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  8. The dreaded hormones!! Ice cream definitely sounds like a good idea:)

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  9. If I had done my job right...I would have long since retired with 25 in the school system...but I chose to be a SAHM first, finish my degree second, then go to work....and so I won't be able to retire with 25 until 2015. I will be 61 and believe me it will be time for me to go....heck it is time for me to go now.

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  10. Keep your nose to the grindstone and your shoulder to the wheel and don't let the bar-stewards grind you down.

    I'm very good at giving useless advice Dana - hope it helps! ;-}

    Mind you, retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Sometimes I wonder how I ever found time to go to work - and certainly couldn't afford such time nowadays. Hope that is again useful, but sure it is NOT.
    Love, Phil

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  11. Maybe you'll be like me...a couple of hot flashes, and I was done! (not mentioning the AFTER-EFFECTS, which are worse than the flashes)

    As for work? I've been at it for 32 years, and I'm beginning to feel it. The Mr. is at home now, and I'm starting to feel jealous!

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  12. I think hormones are hereditary. Do you have female relations in the family you can check with? My mom and I both quit at 48. I've heard that late starters are early to give it up and early puberty means longer hormone woes at menopause. I am off to check my lottery tickets. I hope this helps. =D

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  13. Hey, we are all entitled to get a little down or bored about work at times. Nothing wrong with that. You just need a vacation, or maybe a long weekend, and spoil yourself a little.

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  14. Oh boy...I am going to send YOU a tulip! BUT, not the droopy kind!

    I feel ya. I too have a VERY good life but sometimes...ya know...it just gets ya down!

    I hope TODAY is an EXCEPTIONAL day!
    Enjoy the sunshine!

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  15. Girl, you must be really tired! Sounds like it's time for a few days off.

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  16. When I feel like this its usually because I've got into the habit of late-night blogging!

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  17. Africa? What? When? Where? I'm all interested in that, because I put in a few years there, too - in Liberia.

    I've got the it's-too-early-to-retire blues meself. I'm 65, but made that decision to leave the real world and start my own business 20 years ago. I've keep myself afloat, but there's no stopping, since there's no retirement account. I'm thinking I'll probably be working on boats until I'm 75.

    The upside, of course, is that I've had the flexibility to do some things - everything from sailing to taking care of Mom. Once she died last summer, I had that urge to throw it all over and do the things I hadn't been able to do. But time and money are both necessary ingredients, so on we go.

    I do have one suggestion. Forget Drama and Dairy Queens. You are to become a Sweet Potato Queen. Herewith, Ms. Jill Connor Browne, Sweet Potato Queen Extraordiare.

    Once you've gotten over that, find yourself a copy of "The Sweet Potato Queens' Big-Ass Cookbook and Financial Planner". After that, you're on your own. Google is your friend, although I will provide a link to the center of the SPQ Universe.

    I believe I might even pencil in a trip to Jackson for next year's festivities!

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