Life and Love and Bug Bites

I came into work tonight without blemish, so to speak, and right now have two giant bug bits of some type on my right ankle.

Because I am one of those fair-skinned types who reacts to any kind of bug bite, no matter how harmless to other people, the bites are big, red and itchy as heck.

So I sent a cheery email off to my supervisory counterpart and our manager telling them of the incident. I do not expect a reply nor do I expect any information regarding what solution may be considered to prevent future bug bites. Well, wait..I take that back. I would not be surprised if I was told to wear insect repellent and just shut up.

Which is not a bad idea - the insect repellent part, anyway. I may stop and get me some 'Off' on the way home from work this morning.

I had high hopes about a month ago that there would be positive changes here at the office. The training I had been sent to in San Diego had been mind-blowing, and I had even started to make some personal headway in terms of liking what I was doing and feeling more comfortable. However, there always seems to be a 'two steps forward, one step back' atmosphere here at the ol' Office which I would bet dollars to donuts (where did that expression come from, anyone know?) is pretty par for the course in any office.

There is, right now, a feeling being blasted towards me of 'just do this, do not ask questions and do not contribute any input'. I take that as a personal challenge and give my input. I do this because, frankly, the idea put to me regarding a step being eliminated and replaced by a cumbersome process was a bad idea.

I look to someone like a St Thomas Moore and wonder, "Did you ever get tired of working with clunkheads?'. As the patron saint of clerical workers and lawyers (interesting combination, since one can exist without the other while one falls flat on its face if the other disappears for even an hour), he must have had practical experience dealing with 'pointy-headed bosses' of all types. It can't just have been the King that was a doofus. I mean, he was the KING....there had to be lower level dumb bunnies all over the place. I know there were a giant pile of weak-willed scaredy cats St Thomas had to suffer but outright dum-dums?

Redemptive Suffering allows us to unite more closely with Jesus Christ. It is a spirituality understood by Catholics of all intellectual and/or educational levels. From the time we are little tiny Catholics, we are taught to 'offer up' whatever ails or disturbs us. Hopefully, as we mature (or at least grow older) we learn that we can offer up every part of our life, not just the painful stuff, and we become (gradually) a living prayer.

I'm not there yet. I forget a lot of times and am fulling into my complaining or whining before I remember that whatever I am in the middle of at the moment, it is an opportunity for growth, for rescue, for Love. The good news is I usually remember now before I make anyone around me join into the suffering.....there is an old saying in my 12 step program: "I am an alcoholic. I do not suffer well, and I do not suffer alone".

So, I will put some sort of cream on my ankle which will make my stocking stick to me but oh well....and I will stop and get some 'Off'. And I will take a benedryl when I get home. And I will wait and see what E and V decide about the process they tried to improve and the ravenous bugs living in the office.

St Thomas Moore, pray for me!