Chapter 356: Mouthwash

So, today was a pretty boring day. I don’t really have a ton to report about this day, really. I woke up just after 8am and didn’t really have a ton of energy, so I just got out of bed and sat on the couch for a while in one of those only half-awake states. I knew that I had a big day of cleaning and such ahead of me, so I figured I might as well use that little bit of time in the morning to just relax and not move very much. It was just after 8:30am when I received a text from a friend of mine from work telling me that the co-worker that I had switched shifts with had not shown up yet. My boss/sister had told me when we switched shifts that if one or the other didn’t show up on the days we switched then we would both get “issues.” The way that issues work at the place that shall not be named for security purposes is that you get one issue for missing less than two hours of your shift, and two issues for missing your entire shift or more than two hours of it. You are allowed six issues per calendar month, so it is actually a really lenient system. There are a lot of people who work that system to their advantage in various ways and wind up with 5 issues every month, so they avoid getting written up or anything but still get to screw around a little bit with their schedules. I know that I have a couple of issues currently. I think it is only two but if it is more than two it is three at the most. So, I figured that if I got issues for my co-worker not showing up today I would still be safe from getting written up. Still, I wasn’t entirely sure what I should do, like if perhaps I should have gotten myself dressed and ready and just gone in today in her place. So, I called my sister and acted like I was just calling to make sure that she did come in and acted like I was surprised to hear that she hadn’t. She told me to just stay home and sort it all out tomorrow, so that was what I went with. Fortunately, I heard through the grapevine that the co-worker I had switched with did wind up showing up, she had just overslept or some bullshit like that. So, there was no actual problem and my day off today was still secured. I talked to my Mom for a little bit before she had to go in at 9:30am, which was good, then I just kind of sat around on the couch for a long time. Then I dicked around with my iPod for a while, creating a revised version of the playlist I had created last week to shuffle at my Halloween party. The initial playlist included something like 1,100 songs and this new one had 1,701 songs. I feel like this new one is much more cohesive and, regardless of how the shuffle function decides to mix them up, will flow much better than the previous one. It is a big mish-mash of different styles of music, from hip-hop/R&B, like Lil’ Kim, Missy Elliott and such, to genuine rock, like Foo Fighters, Nirvana and The Pretty Reckless, to dance stuff, like Robyn or Agnes, to even a little bit of country, like Taylor Swift, Carrie Underwood and Dolly Parton. Probably the biggest factor in this playlist is the classic divas, though, like Dolly, Madonna, Barbra, Celine, Cher, Janet, etc., and a few good male divas thrown in, like Prince and George Michael. It is a really good mix this time, I think. This one is much more cohesive than the last one, as well, because it is pretty much 100% upbeat, which is really important for a party. Music, in my opinion, is one of the most important factors of throwing a party. I know that, at any good party that is not officially related to music in any way, music should really just serve as background noise but I know from my own personal experience that the background noise in any environment can really affect your mood and your feelings towards that environment. So, in that sense, while it is just the background noise it really does make a major difference to the entire vibe of any party. I tried really hard to include a little bit of every type of music so that there would be a little something for everybody and made it a point to include more songs that are kind of classics or staples that most people would actually know. There are still a lot of songs on the playlist that I’m sure I will be the only person at the party knowing beforehand. I kind of did that on purpose, though, because I love exposing people to new and different things in terms of music. As I keep saying, I am extremely excited for this party. I just have this feeling that this night is going to be epic!

In spite of the fact that it started out as just something random that I was messing around with to pass time, I wound up working on this playlist until well after noon. What this really meant was that I had managed to avoid actually doing anything in terms of the cleaning and such that needed to be done around the house for the entire morning but could still sit there with a feeling of accomplishment. After that I dicked around with something else for a few hours until my Mom came home from work for her lunch break. I sat and talked with her during her lunch break, then after she left I figured it was time to start cleaning. Fortunately for me, I had overestimated the amount of work that actually needed to be done and I managed to whip through it all pretty quickly. It wasn’t all that quick, honestly, but that is only because of the fact that I kept stopping in the middle to do other things. Still, I got pretty much everything I needed to finished in a pretty quick time. I also found that the sickness that I had been feeling over the past few days felt like it was pretty much entirely gone. I still have the cough but the actual feeling of illness is completely gone at this point. Aside from all of the cleaning that I did, I also did a test run of the work version of my Halloween makeup, which I was VERY pleased with! I really loved the way that it turned out. I have kind of determined that I am doing the exact same costume for work on Friday and my party on Saturday, only what I am trying to do with it is represent two different sides – the Friday, safe for work version, is kind of a softer, more innocent looking devil, (if that even makes any sense,) and the Saturday, not safe for work version, is going to be much darker and more sinister looking. The main focus of this, in both cases, is the makeup I am doing with the costume. The actual outfit will have variations, as well, but the main focus is the makeup. I think it is going to come out looking pretty amazing! I am really excited for the whole thing. I am really considerably more excited for Halloween this year than I have been ever before in my life. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. This is the first time that I am actually throwing a party for Halloween, which I am really excited about. It is the first time in a really long time that I am throwing any sort of party, beyond small dinner parties, and I am really excited about it. I am already thinking about the next occasion for which I can throw a party. I am kind of considering doing a Holiday party in December but I suppose it depends on how this one goes. I don’t really have any concerns about how this one will go. The only thing I AM slightly concerned about is the noise in this apartment. I have never seen anybody else throw an actual party here in our building, although I’m sure it has happened at some point. I don’t think there will be any issues, as far as noise or anything. I know that people have spent a lot of time being very loud out in front of the building and haven’t had anybody call the cops on them or anything, like on the fourth of July and such, so I don’t think it will be an issue. I really don’t think there will be any issues with the party, honestly. I will just make sure to keep it under control as much as I can. I am very glad that Rachel is going to be here, as well, because she will be able to help me a lot in terms of keeping things controlled and such. It is going to be a lot of fun. Once again, I am really excited for it.

The only other thing I wanted to mention about today is that Jane Fonda was on Oprah this afternoon. My Mom and I sat down to watch it while we ate dinner this evening and were both really into it. I have never been too familiar with Jane Fonda’s work, honestly, aside from “Monster In Law” and “Georgia Rule,” and didn’t really know much about her as a person, except that she caused a LOT of controversy back in the day with her opinions about the Vietnam War. Also, she did a lot of workout videos in the 80s – in fact, hers are still the biggest selling exercise videos of all-time. Anyway, I didn’t realize exactly what an inspiration this woman truly is – she is 72 years old and doesn’t look a day over 55, and simply has the most positive, upbeat attitude towards life that I could possibly imagine a person having. I picked up a couple of very important things from her talk with Oprah on today’s show. The first of these things was something that she talked about towards the end of the interview – she said that her secret to staying young and the best advice she could give to others is to simply focus more on always trying to be interested as opposed to trying to be interesting. I have always lived my life with an attitude of always trying to gain new experiences and such, in many ways specifically for the purpose of trying to be a more interesting person. It never actually dawned on me that perhaps it IS more important to try to be more interested than interesting. After all, there is so much that each and everyone can stand to learn in this world but if we are too busy trying to be more interesting to others we are going to miss out. Plus, I think people can tell when you are genuinely interested in the things that they have to say and when you really aren’t. It is important to always remain curious and intrigued by the things and people around you. The other thing about this that dawned on me was that I am actually already a really interesting person – that isn’t really something I need to work on further, at least not at this point in my life. What I could use some work on, though, is being interested in the people and things around me and having a sense of curiosity and inquisitiveness about it all. So, that is definitely something I intend to work on moving forward. She also talked a lot about having done a “Life Review,” in which she went back over her entire life, even interviewing people that she knew at different points in her life to get an outside perspective on who she was at the time. She said that it is all about trying to recall the feelings that you felt about the major events of your life and such. It is a very fascinating concept to me and something that I am actually considering doing myself for the Messy Little Raindrops blog. We’ll see, though. In the meantime, it is almost 11:30pm and I am exhausted! Goodnight!