Shamefully Neglectful (A Long One)

I actually had to count on the calendar to figure out what day this was in my challenges.  I was surprised to find it was Day Eight already.  I have been terribly remiss in both completing my challenges and writing about them.  With one exception, the only challenge I have stuck to over the last few days is getting up early.  For the last few days, the East Coast has been battling Hurricane Sandy.  This had a small impact on my ability to be challenged but I'm not looking for a scapegoat.  I am responsible for making these things happen and I failed.  Worse, I'm not sure I can say I have a renewed energy towards this undertaking.

Covering some lost ground.  Day Five-Sunday, October 28, 2012.  My plans included being lazy around the house and waiting for the Hurricane to hit.  There was never any intention to leave the house, thus making leaving a word somewhere a little tricky.  Trying to determine whether I was going to brave the weather, I decided I would go to the office Sunday night and bring home some work so I could stay home Monday with a clean conscience.  Naturally, as I was driving to the office, I got an email saying the office would be closed on Monday.

Nevertheless, already out, John and I continued our journey and decided to turn the venture into a chance to visit one of our favorite restaurants.  (*I realized I never identified John as my boyfriend but simply slipped his name in a few posts ago.  Consider yourselves brought up to speed).  I arrived at the office around 7:30pm Sunday and rounded up a few files to bring home with me.  I noticed that on my desk was an ornament of what I'm almost 100% sure is the Sears Tower but had "Chicago" written across the bottom so I figured this was a good guess.

One of my bosses had just spent the last week on vacation.  He had driven to Chicago and St. Louis.  I thought "Aw, how nice" and went about my business.  While gathering my work, I had cause to visit the desks of a few of the staff.  I noticed that they also had little trinkets on their desks, awaiting their return.  Having decided I'd boxed up enough, John and I left the office and continued on to dinner.

A word on my boss.  Well, a paragraph.  Though I'll try to keep it brief as he firmly believes a paragraph should never be longer than 10 lines.  This particular partner at the firm (there are 4 total) has been a mentor to me.  I started the work not really knowing what I was doing and he has spent innumerable hours explaining and re-explaining things.  He's an invaluable resource and one that I am very grateful to have access to.  We also have lunch together regularly and he is wonderful company.  He is also single and has never married.  Family is very important to him and it is a genuine shame that he's never been able to have one of his own.  As a result, he is very considerate of those in the office and is frequently providing delicious treats in addition to his time and expertise to those of us fortunate enough to work with him.  Obviously, for the sake of brevity his actions seem trivialized but I don't mean to characterize him as nothing more than a genial Muffin Man.  Anyway, having just received my token of his thoughtfulness, I decided I would send him a note.  It read "What I Like About You: Is that you are always thinking of others."  Having been out of the office the last week, he hadn't heard any discussion of these challenges and was thus blindsided and had a genuine reaction to an out-of-the-blue compliment.  He responded with "Thanks!  I don't know what I did.  Thank you."  (Ok, 14 lines, but he's always telling me I'm too wordy).

We arrived at the restaurant where I enlisted John's help in deciding on a word.  I wanted a word that captured just how great this place is and how much I always enjoy eating here.  It's a burger place.  They have lots of unusual meats.  I never eat them, I always get a grilled portabella, but it's always out of this world.  We searched synonyms for feast and purveyor of food to start.  After considering a few options, I was torn between two choices:  potlatch and jollification.  I liked the sound of potlatch better but decided it wouldn't work.  (pot-latch noun (among AMerican Indians of the northern Pacific coast, especially the Kwakiutl) a ceremonial festival at which gifts are bestowed on the guests and property is destroyed by its owner in a show of wealth that the guests later attempt to surpass.  It just didn't fit.)

By default, jollification was the winner. Then the hard part: where to put it. Searching discreetly for a place to leave my mark, and finding nothing, I returned to my comfort zone and excused myself to the restroom. I decided that I liked the idea that my words needed to be discovered. At least that's how I'm justifying my continued besmirching of bathrooms for now.

Anyway, I'm thinking this challenge needs some re-envisioning. While what I'm hoping for is a challenge, this is becoming a chore with no real pay off. I don't get any thrill from continuing to write on different bathroom surfaces. There's not any identifiable purpose that I can find and the initial novelty of doing something I shouldn't be has worn off. I don't know whether I should abandon this challenge altogether or somehow find a way to give it some meaning. Maybe I should watch Love Happens again and see what her reason was. Eh, I don't think I can assume a movie character's meaning behind doing something as my own. This one might be finished.

Today I didn't even bother trying to complete my tasks. Though I was up at 5am so I did stick to being an Early Riser. And this way getting up at 6am tomorrow will seem like sleeping in! And I did have lunch with a friend today. Perhaps it's not too late to make today a semi-successful 2 out of 3. In fact, I've just decided on my “What I Like About You.” Wouldn't you like to know?