The Way I See It... Call Me ''Nanny''

Have you read The Nanny Diaries? Read it. It's hilarious, and an easy read (took me about a day and a half). I haven't seen the movie, but if you have, I'm sure its close enough for you to follow where I'm going with this.

I got a call this morning--eight o' clock in the morning, mind you--asking if I can babysit this weekend. "I'm sorry," I say, "I moved about a month ago, and I can't really travel an hour and a half just to babysit." "That's fine!" She says. "We're going to be really close to your apartment! My husband is blah blah..." "Oh, ok then! Sounds great." I say; babysitting is great. I like kids, I'm good with kids, and it brings in some extra money.

"Alright. We're staying at the Ritz Carlton, and I'll need you for about eight hours, is that okay?" Wow. Double wow. Ritz Carlton?? Awesome. Eight hours?? Not as awesome, but it'll bring in good money. "Yeah... thats... thats great, sounds good." "Ok! I'll text you later with details."

Six hours later, she texts me with the address and information that I'll be babysitting for nine and a half hours rather than eight. Alright, I think. That's fine. Means a little bit more than I would have gotten for eight. Then I Google-mapped the Ritz Carlton. Its an hour and a half away from my apartment. AH!! No, I can't travel that long to go to her house to babysit, but going equally as long to a five-star hotel is totally fine. Like, are you kidding?? Do you know the MPG of my '94 Explorer? 12. That's half a tank of gas for me to go there and back to watch two girls under three years old who don't speak English (oh yeah, forgot to mention that)!!

I realize its probably not a huge deal. I mean I will be paid for it, and the mom is really nice... I don't know, its just that sometimes I feel like people don't think as much as they should. Ughhh... struggles...


Thanks, just needed to vent. I'm probably just being weird.

The Way I See It... Procrastination Is Key

Procrastination. Gotta love it. It's a tool I use often. Right now, I am procrastinating. Really, I should be doing laundry, cleaning dishes, vacuuming, maybe taking a shower--all that good, productive stuff. But my laptop was sitting there as I rushed by, that green light slowly blinking, just waiting for me to open the darn thing and while away the day in cyberspace. So here I am.

I tend to find ways to justify my procrastination. Do you? Is that normal? Probably. Right now, for instance, I feel completely fine ignoring the pile of laundry and stack of dishes. "Well," I said to myself, "I did say that I would post something today... and if I don't do it now, who is to say that I'll do it later? Shouldn't I do it now, while the mood strikes me, instead of waiting and then not doing it because I don't feel like it? What's that saying? 'Strike while the iron is hot'?" So here I am.

Have you seen He's Just Not That Into You? Oh my gosh. If you haven't seen it, STOP READING, go to your friendly neighborhood Blockbuster, and rent it. It is my favorite movie (currently). Keep in mind that I am Gigi. Anyway, there's this part where the adorable Justin Long is describing how we girls like the drama. How maybe we wait until the last minute to pay a bill, or push the deadline, or whatever. Why do we do this? Justin explains. We like the drama! The drama of not knowing how things are going to work out. We get an adrenaline rush (<-- that's me, not Justin) from waiting until the last minute to get something done. I'm sorry if this is not true for you, but keep reading. You may find yourself being enlightened.

I had an adrenaline rush ("you can Google it") this morning. I rolled out of bed (or off the couch, whichever) and jump-started my day with the realization that my roommates are coming back today, and the apartment, while not necessarily a pig-sty, was not in ideal shape. I downed my coffee and shoved clothes into the washer, started the dishwasher, and started tidying. That rush lasted about an hour before I saw the beckoning green light of my laptop... oh well. So now, I have no idea when the girls are coming--could be in two minutes, could be in two hours--and I have not showered, emptied the dishwasher, or put away my laundry. I'm so excited :).

Procrastination is good for me, I believe. Without procrastination, there's no excitement, no pressing need to meet the deadline. And I just don't work as well without the imminent deadline, without the need to finish. Thus, I am confident that procrastination is the key to success--at least in my case.

The Way I See It... Am I Alone in the Cyber Universe?

Ok, nonexistent cyber-buddies! Now's the time to speak up if you're out there! I was excited to start this blog--un-proportionately, compared to the astounding lack of feedback I've received. Granted, I've posted three unimportant, hopelessly un-capturing posts, but I'm the kind of person who needs words of affirmation to keep me going. Part of me would like to keep going, but inspiration is hard to come by when I feel like I'm shooting tidbits of the workings of my mind out into nothingness!

I saw Julie&Julia yesterday. Absolutely adorable--please, go see it. Take your mom or grandmother with you; she'll enjoy it and it will be good bonding time. Let her buy the popcorn. So anyway, I saw the movie. In it, Julie starts a blog. She (both Julie and Amy Adams, but in this case specifically, Julie) is the kind of blogger (Julie)/person I aspire to be. She starts off a bit unsuccessful, like me, posting things no one reads and getting an equivocal amount of responses. However, she perseveres. I am not to this point yet. I want to give up. Such is my character unfortunately; to quit when I'm behind is a very ME thing to do. Though as I write this, I am becoming more determined. Julie got comments. Julie got consistent readers. Julie got a following. I'm not asking for that kind of success, but a couple people commenting and looking forward to my posts wouldn't kill me.

I am determined to keep going. I will post tomorrow (or later today, seeing as it is two in the morning) a post that is not threatening, does not boast, does not try to be anything other than what it is--a desperate attempt to not quit.

Really all I'm looking for in a comment is something positive. "Hey, your grammar needs work, but other than that, I liked it," is a very acceptable comment. "I like Regina Spektor too!" is another. "Your blog sucks; you should quit," is, while not necessarily wanted, an opinion I would try to value. Comments directly related to this post could go along the lines of, "I'm out here! And I can't wait to hear from you again!" Or, "I'm out here!" Even "Here!" or "Present," would bring a little bit of joy. Anything you can muster up to prove your existence would be greatly appreciated. :)

Thank you, nonexistent cyber-buddies. I'm glad we had this talk.