what do you say, do you do, when it all comes down

I'm sure I've used this title before, but I'm too tired to think of another, or try to write a real blog post with actual content. However, Vidya and my parents (quite possibly in that order, given Vidya could get to me faster) will kill me if I don't update soon. I'm really exhausted though - all weeks are bad, but this week is worse, if only because I somehow wound up with 39 hours of meetings in a 45 hour work-week (40 if you consider that three of those days I don't get a real lunch break, and the other two have lunch meetings). Seven of those meetings were reviews, five of which I had to write, and writing the reviews takes me a couple of hours each because I'm too freaking verbose. Bleh.

But, I have news! It's official at work now - I'm taking six months off starting sometime at the end of January or beginning of February to write my romance novel and make some decisions about what I want to do with the rest of my life. It's still unclear as to the exact date when this will start, or where I will spend the majority of that time, but it's safe to say I'm v. excited. However, it was really hard to tell my team - in fact, when the time came in our meeting yesterday, I almost threw up because it came much sooner in the mtg than I anticipated, and it was a hard thing to do. But, in general, I'm excited.

I'm also excited because I had some Super Bubble bubblegum today - it's weird how taste evokes memory. I found a piece in the microkitchen at work, took it without really thinking, and popped it into my mouth - and when I bit down and released the flavor, for a split second I was eight years old, sitting in my grandparents' store and chewing Super Bubble while reading a Nancy Drew book. It was so fast and so real and so fleeting that it made my heart ache just a little - a feeling that I had to brutally shove aside even before the gum lost its flavor (which takes about five minutes) because I was on my way to another meeting. I'm looking forward to taking some time off and living again so I can create more of those intense memories - but right now, it's time for bed.