EXCUSES. Or, S'MUG: Not just about coffee anymore.

Dear (my one follower and anyone else who may have ever read this blog),

It has been a long absence, and for that S'mug Bitch apologizes. But in the same breath, she would like to offer you a legion of excuses:

1) During her final semester of graduate school, S'bitch was composed of anxiety of a greater density than ever before. Caffeine would have caused an explosion that may have ruptured the San Andreas Fault.

http://thulescientific.com/

2) Due to said anxiety, S'Bitch was mostly trying to avoid work, mostly by doing lots of this and this

meditation-online.net

wrinklepage.com

and also this

wkdp.com

3) Following the Semester of All Dooms, S'Bitch drove across 2/3 of the US, taking the long way back to the Motherland: WISCONSIN. At this point it took her 4.5 months to land a job, and now

4) She is too poor to go out for coffee!

BUT

That doesn't mean the blog has to be over. S'Bitch is still S'MUG as ever. Perhaps even moreso. S'MUG is now going to shift focus to a broader spectrum of life, outside the cafe scene. Plenty of things to judge out here, too. Which leads me to:

The Best Bad Day Ever

Right off the bat, I just need to say that this is not a rant. It's going to sound like it at first, but keep reading--it turns around later.

Let me tell you a bit about my job, so that I can explain about yesterday. I work almost-full-time at a kennel and doggie daycare. This means I am out the door by 6am, at work when it's still dark, on my feet and outside all day, regardless of weather. I'm with a group of anywhere from 25-75 dogs, making sure nobody gets into fights, barks too much, eats rocks, that sort of thing. It's not entirely different from teaching, actually, except that when they're out of control, I can leash them and throw them in a time-out.

Yesterday, it was rainy and around 38° all day. So, half of the time we were soaked and freezing, and the other half we were inside, trapped in a not very large room with a pack of wild beasties. They are all nutso when they are inside, so they fight and bark a lot. In a very resonant room, this is extremely loud and piercing.

By the time I got home yesterday evening, I would have described myself thusly: Soaked, frozen, exhausted, hungry, smelly, headachy, bitten, scratched, bruised, and sporting one smashed finger. But even as I made this assessment, I realized that I still felt better than I ever did at the end of a day of grad school. So I started counting reasons.

-I get to see the sunrise and sunset every day at work. In the words of one of my favorite authors, Gregory Miller, "Life is too short to forego such easily attained pleasures."

-In my first three weeks at this job, I have (unintentionally and unexpectedly) lost 10lbs. This is not a good thing in and of itself, because I am a Fairly Skinny Bitch to begin with and I'll need the insulation, but the upshot is that I have really great energy, despite sometimes working 6:30am-6:30pm.

-My coworkers are great. Some have worked with horses as well, so I get to tap into a part of my personal makeup that has seemed too distant for too long. Also, we make fun of each other a lot. If you know me personally, you know that this is my favorite form of human communication.

-I spend every day surrounded by a bunch of (mostly) adorable furry things who love me so hard they want to knock me over and lick my face off. It's good for the self esteem.

-Even though I am still not earning enough to pay the bills (it's 50° in my apartment, so heat is still an unnecessary luxury), it feels good to be scraping by on my own, forcing life to give me what I need. Plus there's pride to be gained from the fact that I've managed to secure three different jobs in the current market (the first I had to quit after a week because of a physical problem).

-This job is the opposite of grad school in so many ways, which is exactly what I needed at this point in my life. It's task oriented, and I know when I've finished something. I know that I'm good at my job, and always getting better. I get recognition when I do something extra. When my shift is over, I am done working for the day, and I have to go home and do something else.

-Because of the previous point, I am doing a much better job of building a social life. It's hard to make friends when you're not in school, but I'm making progress. I'm even dating...I think. I hope. It's complicated and confusing, but thrilling. At any rate, I've met some people who I am really excited to get to know. They're already making me want to be a better version of myself.

In conclusion, life's rough, but a S'mug Bitch is rougher. 

Coming soon: How this S'Bitch is makin' it work (Keyword: DINOSAURS)