Leaving on a jet plane

In a few weeks I will be going to Jamaica!! While I really couldn’t be more excited, there is one thing that I have been freaking out about.

Layovers.

I HATE layovers and usually do everything in my power to avoid them at all costs. I’m the person who doesn’t mind spending extra money if it means having a direct flight. Unfortunately for this trip there are very few direct flights to Jamaica and the ones that were available were just too much money.

So now I will have an 1 and a half layover going there and a 3 and a half one coming home. Ugh. The good news is that I will have some company to help pass the time. It’s not so much the waiting that I mind, it’s that I have a huge fear of my luggage being lost or not making the plane.

I know that it probably won’t happen but here’s the thing. It’s happened to me before. The ONE other layover I’ve ever done and my luggage was left behind. I was coming home from studying abroad and I had a quick 45-minute layover in Dublin. When I was booking it I was so excited that it was only 45 minutes.

Little did I know though that 45 minutes is not enough time when you have to recheck in (again), go through security (again) and run across an entire airport. I running like that scene in Home Alone. Also when I got to the gate the flight attendant and a guard was waiting for me and yelled at me for being so late! It was so creepy because they new my name before I even showed my ticket. I guess when you check in and don’t board a plane a whole bunch of security measures have to be taken to make sure I wasn’t some crazy person trying to bomb a plane. Good Times.

Anyway I finally made it and was happy to be one my way. When I finally arrived to my destination I went happily to retrieve my luggage. After 30 minutes and no more bags left on the carousel I realized that my bags didn’t make it. 45 minutes is also not enough time for luggage to be transferred from plane to plane.

It took 3 days before I finally got them back! Since I was traveling internationally my luggage was detained and completely ransacked by customs. After that whole experience I pretty much vowed to never again do a layover.

Here I am 3 years later and I have to do a layover. Also I just found out that the airline now charges for checking luggage. WTF. I can understand charging for a second bag but the first one?? That’s just wrong.

Now I’m seriously considering trying to carry on. It would give me piece of mind about not losing anything and also I won’t have to pay an extra fee. However I am the worst packer ever! I’m the girl that packs enough clothes for a month for only a week trip.

Which is why I’m asking you for some packing tips!! I’m desperate! Or would you check your bags and hope for the best?

One step at a time

Thank you soo much for your thoughtful comments on last post. They really meant a lot to me. Just writing that out I felt a lot better, but after reading your comments I knew I wasn’t alone. I mean I knew that before, but I never really KNEW it. If that makes any sense.

I have debated going to therapy again but I don’t think I’m there yet. I feel like this is a problem for me to face head on. If I was sinking into depression again I would be there, but, thankfully, I’m not depressed. Just confused and a little lost.

I used to go to therapy and this was a topic I very rarely discussed. Mostly because there was other more serious matters to discuss and I was embarrassed. I would brush over it when I was talking about something else but it was hard for me to focus on and voice out loud.

I was defiantly one of those people who went to therapy and was worried that my problems weren’t valid enough or that I would bore her. She helped me get over that fear but I could still never talk about it. I guess I wasn’t ready yet.

Now that I am ready, I want to face it alone. I think talking about it like I did was a huge stepping off point for me. Now I just need to take baby steps to getting better. I’m not expecting over night results, but I think if I face one small task at a time I will eventually build up my self-esteem.

What do you do to help build yourself up?

Spur of the moment

I am defiantly not a spontaneous girl. I’m the person that plots things out way ahead of time and when things don’t go according to plan I freak out a little.

Today a huge opportunity for me to actually be spontaneous came up and now I’m stalling because… well I don’t really know why I’m stalling. Here’s the deal.

My friend invited me to go to Mexico. We would leave THIS Saturday. It is a really great deal, flight and all-inclusive resort for around $1,100. I mean who wouldn’t want to drop everything and go to a beach with 85-degree weather?? Well apparently this girl.

Here’s what is holding me back.

I am supposed to go to see my college friends this weekend and they all got tickets to a dinner/theater. While it was only 20 bucks I would feel terrible about bailing out at the last minute. Plus I haven’t seen then in so long. Does this make me a horrible friend?

Also I wouldn’t really know anyone on this trip. Besides my best friend and one other girl who I don’t really like. I can occasionally be super awkward when meeting new people.

While it is a good deal, I’m not sure I want to be spending that much money right now.

I would be leaving my boss in a jam, but not so bad that I couldn’t make it work.

I still have a new puppy at home, and I would actually miss him a lot. I’m like a new mother.

So here I am sitting going back and forth about what I should do. I am terrible at making decisions, especially when there is a time limit. I don’t want to make the wrong choice and miss out on something great. I’m just so lost and confused.

What would you do????

Are you hiring??

Is it bad that after having 12 days off from work I am already looking forward to when I can take my next vacation?? I really wish I wasn’t like this. I am just so frustrated with my job. I’ve been back for only 4 days and already I can’t stand being back. I know I’ve mentioned this many times before, and I’m getting just as tired of it as you are probably with reading about it. But honestly, I don’t know how much longer I can take it.

It’s not just what I do here that I don’t like it’s the people. There is zero sense of camaraderie here. Everyone is plugged into their ipods or to busy making personal calls to befriend anyone. Plus my boss shows zero appreciation for all the extra work I do. Not only that but he is now actually criticizing my work that I do.

According to him I should not be making any mistakes, even small ones, EVER. Never mind the fact that I have triple the amount of work as other people. Maybe if he broke up the work a little bit I would be able to do my job much better. I hate the fact that I’m starting to slip but I literally just cannot handle this amount of work. I’m not capable. Even though I have tried to drop hints, subtle and not so subtle, he is just not doing it. He always tells me he will eventually do it, and then the whole month passes by. When will it happen??

I fear that when it comes time for my performance review, it won’t be that great because of this bullshit. You can bet your ass though that if it isn’t good I will speak up. I hate confrontation but I will not let them walk all over me.

I’ve been looking for a new job but really nothing has been peaking my interest and those that do I’m not getting any calls back from. What am I doing wrong? I know the economy is tough but geez. When am I going to get a break?

While I am scared that I won’t be able to find a good job anytime soon there is another thing I’m really scared of. Making the wrong move. What if I find a new job, take it and I hate it just as much as I hate it here? I understand in order to find what truly makes you happy there will be a certain amount of missteps, but I really don’t want to make another one when it comes to my career. I want my next career move to be the right one.

I’m just so frustrated and over the whole thing.

Can you die from boredom?

Work has been SLOW. I am so bored I am running out of things to do. I had to stop myself from checking my e-mail for the 1,000th time today. It doesn’t change every minute. Facebook is maxed out to. No one is updating their pages every minute (as they should) so my stalking is at a stand still. I cleared out my Google Reader. Even my beloved gossip sites aren’t updating as often as I keep on going back to check.

I need something to do! I’ve already cleared out my filing cabinets and put them away in boxes along with excel sheets in each box that labels what’s inside. I’ve cleared out my work e-mail, and organized my files on the computer. I’ve done so much billing that I can’t bill anymore until I get the folders back from accounting. I’ve even helped out another department do things to help them get caught up. Now they are and I’m back at my desk!

Now I am out of ideas. Which is why I am blogging about being so bored. It is giving me something else to do. However I fear for myself once I post this. It’s only 2:30 and I still have over 4 hours left here! I’m begging you to tell me what you do when you’re bored at work!! I need as many tips as possible.