How do you handle stress?
My co-workers and I sat around the conference table wide-eyed and searching for a response to the loaded question my boss had just asked.

“How do you handle stress?”

It was a loaded question because just a week ago my boss dropped an economic bomb on us and we had spent the last seven days more stressed out than we’ve ever been in our entire careers.

Career? Did ten years at a job turn it into a career? It didn’t feel like a career when my dreams went in an entirely different direction.

It was also a loaded question because my boss wasn’t asking it to alleviate our stress; it was his icebreaker.

So there we sat, three managers and my boss, searching for politically correct words to answer his loaded question while he waited.

“I shut myself up in my garage and build things.” One of my co-workers responded.

My boss nodded his head and looked at me.

“I shut the world out, watch DVD’s, read books and eat ice cream.” I replied.

He nodded again and turned to my other co-worker who just shrugged his shoulders and remained silent.

Avoidance! Apparently that’s how we handled stress.

Avoidance wasn’t a new revelation for me. I’d been handling stress through avoidance for years. During my divorce I was practically a hermit and read five books a week; the used bookstore knew me by name. I always reverted to avoidance or escapism when under extreme stress.

I had been practicing my stress avoidance regime for the last several months while buying my first home. I was a pro at it. You see I was buying a house from a bank that wouldn’t respond while loan documents, interest rates, and commitment letters expired over and over again. Every time I turned around, I was being charged another five hundred dollars because the seller’s bank wasn’t responding. I had given notice on my rental because my home was supposed to close in April. I had to be out by the 31st and I didn’t know where I was going to live. Estimates to move and store my belongings were outrageous, and my boss’ economic bomb, that just upped the stress ante. Every day was a ‘bucket day’!



It had gotten to the point that I was having a hard time functioning; writing would have been impossible, so my blog suffered. All I wanted to do was crawl into the darkness and escape my problems until by some miracle everything worked out.


Darkness by Darren Hayes

I still believed deep down inside that everything would eventually work out. I was still fighting for my dreams. But right now… I was just handling the stress.

Labels: avoid truth, avoidance, Blogging, career, economy, ice cream, money, stress, Writing

  posted by Matildakay at 2:28 PM 0 comments

Lecture Circuit Live Wire
"Life is not a stress rehearsal."

~Loretta Laroche, lecture circuit live wire.

Labels: daily quote, lecture, life, live wire, Loretta Laroche, rehearsal, stress, wild women, wild words, Wild words from wild women

  posted by Matildakay at 3:44 PM 1 comments

Meditation...

Labels: cartoons, Meditation, peace of mind, relaxation, stress, women

  posted by Matildakay at 10:50 PM 0 comments

When it rains, it pours…
Everything always seems to happen all at the same time. Isn’t that always the case? I think seeing just how much we can handle is God’s test. “She’s not stressed to the point of having a stroke yet, let’s give her more!”

It’s definitely been pouring in my life lately...

My computers are rebelling. The warranty on my laptop expired the same month I paid it off. Talk about timing! I don’t always renew warranties, but since I can’t afford to replace or repair the laptop right now, I thought I better renew. Well the dang warranty cost $300! At least I can make payments.

My desktop monitor is dying. There are fluorescent squiggly lines in crazy patterns all over the screen. Its as if the pixels are breaking. Or the screen is about to give birth to an alien! It’s gotten so bad that I can’t see photos on the screen. And I have some really cool photos I’ve wanted to post but can’t because I can’t see through the fluorescent squiggles. So frustrating! Not to mention that now is not the most opportune time financially for me to have to buy a new monitor.

I went monitor shopping the other night and the sales rep suggested that I plug my computer into another monitor to make sure it’s the monitor and not the video card. The VIDEO CARD! I wonder how much a video card is? I should have priced the video cards, but I was afraid. If it’s the video card, I’ll have to enlist the help of a computer friend because I’m clueless. Todd if you read this, help! Needless to say, I haven't solved my computer issues yet.

And then for some unknown reason the plumbing at my house declared war. The shower and bathtub backed up and wouldn’t drain. I found myself knee deep in water fighting a clog and cleaning up a mess when a friend texted me, “I just met Dwight Yoakam.” Totally unfair! Thankfully the toilet stayed in neutral territory. The kitchen facet however did not. It was leaking all over the kitchen counter. A sprinkler valve outside was also leaking and causing puddles of standing water. Which normally wouldn’t be a problem, but with the West Nile epidemic in Kern County and the crop dusters spraying the city with pesticides, standing water is a problem.

When you rent, dealing with a property management company for repairs can be a pain in the butt. I’m always afraid they will raise my rent if they have to fix a lot of things; however, I needed a plumber, so I broke down and called the management company and now the plumbing has been beaten into submission.

Did I mention that my fridge is leaking? After ten years of keeping my Pepsi/diet Pepsi’s cold, of moving from house to house with me, my fridge is sick and dying. It’s leaking bodily fluids all over the kitchen floor. It randomly soaks my socks when I unknowingly step in a puddle of water on the kitchen floor. Yuck! I can’t afford a new fridge. I keep babying it hoping it will hold on a little bit longer… but in its critical condition, it could go at any time.

If the computers, the plumbing and the fridge weren’t enough to give me a stroke, my PG&E bill almost did. It’s sky high! So high it needs its own zip code. I didn’t know you could use that much electricity in one month. Obviously you can.

And that’s just what’s been going on at home. Thank goodness nothing is wrong with my car at the moment.

My professional life has been in a complete uproar this past month. With the housing market bubble popped, things have been quite uncertain and tough business decisions have had to be made. Unfortunately, I’ve had to be a part of the decision making process while dealing with double the work as I assumed project manager duties on top of my regular office manager duties and dealing with employee’s unwillingness to adjust. Basically I’ve had a migraine headache and stress up the wazu for weeks now. I need a vacation!

I did get to go to the coast for a couple days. However, it was a destination wedding trip, no not mine, and not a relaxing vacation. I had forgotten how stressed out brides were, and mother’s of the bride, and sister’s of the bride… people snap really fast under wedding stress. But I was there to support my dear friend, mother of the bride, and her daughters, so I shut my mouth and stayed out of their way. “Everything looks so beautiful!” Goes a long way towards soothing bridezilla. And the wedding truly was beautiful. If I can ever see photos on my computer screen again, I will post a couple.

Add physical therapy and my insurance claim and my stress cup runneth over! Excuse me while I go stand out in the rain for a while...

Labels: Bakersfield, central coast, computer problems, pesticides, plumbing problems, stress, vacation, weddings, West Nile Virus

  posted by Matildakay at 11:13 PM 2 comments