"Out of Office Reply:

The Recipient Lost Her Mind and Has Gone Home to Search For it."

That's the reply I sent my boy boss today when he emailed me the gazillionth piece of electronic dictation that I haven't a hope of getting to any time soon. Later in the day, he commented that I seemed a little . . . uh . . . feisty?! Yeah? Ya think?!

Stress is a funny thing with me. Literally. I cope with stress by getting kind of funny. I think maybe stress just pushes my mind past its normal boundaries and on into the land of the absurd. And yes, I can hear some of you muttering that I must be stressed quite often, right? Hummm. Maybe.

Now that boy boss and girl boss are full-fledged attorneys, they're becoming reasonably productive, and they keep me pretty busy. Add to that the fact that new attorneys are the dumping grounds for last minute rushes, and you will begin to see why I tend to be funny on occasion. Now imagine that on top of coping with the demands of boy boss and girl boss, I've had to take on the demands of one of the senior partner bosses because his secretary is out with the flu. Yep, she called me Monday morning from the pharmacy after seeing her doctor. She was running a 103 degree fever and was waiting to pick up some liquid mega dose of antibiotics that was supposed to make her feel like hurling the rest of the day but would hopefully start her down the road to recovery. In the meantime, her doctor wanted her to rest for a few days. I think I need a referral.

And can I just mention here that this week, I'm a disgruntled employee? Yep, I realized that since my pay is based on a monthly salary, my employers are getting AN EXTRA DAY of work out of me this year, since it's leap year. Aargh!

I was hoping to come home tonight and spend a relaxing evening basting the next applique pieces I plan to add to my tulip quilt, but having scrolled--SEVERAL TIMES--through the TV listings, I found there's absolutely nothing I wanted to watch. And generally speaking, I'll watch just about anything, so there being NOTHING that (1) interested me or (2) I hadn't already seen--several times in some cases--is unusual. Didn't the writers' strike end? And what were they doing with all that time off? Couldn't they have at least come up with some ideas while they were off so these TV shows could get back up and running quickly?! Sheesh!

So, instead of relaxing, basting, and watching TV, my younger cat and I went to take a nice, long bath. Yes, you're right: I took a bath and she watched. Then she got bored and decided to try to dig up the bath towel I had laid on the floor next to the tub. That part was really fun! Every time she'd start to dig, I'd flick water on her. She'd stop and look around and maybe twitch a little and then start to dig again. And I'd flick water again. Well, this went on and on for awhile until she decided to watch from afar. Then I got bored, and we played peek-a-boo with the shower curtain. See what I mean? I think I've lost my mind.

Once I was all nice and clean and wrinkled to the point that I was starting to resemble my 80-year-old mother, I got out of the tub and got onto the computer and ordered a couple bunny quilt patterns from Canada. What fun! The best part is that since it was Canadian money, I don't know how much I spent! I figure you really can't feel guilty buying something if you don't know how much money you spent, right? I mean: Is it even REAL money? Hummm.

I think it's time to go to bed with a good book, a slightly damp cat, and a cup of hot chocolate. Chocolate's good for stress right?!