Loose Leafing: It's Complicated!

Have you ever had one of those weeks where it seems like everything is about 10 times more complicated than it needed to be?  Last Sunday was my birthday, so I, with much more foresight and common sense than I displayed last year, took some time off to enjoy it.  Last year, I worked on my birthday, had a miserable day, and vowed never to do it again.  This year I overcompensated by taking a four day weekend and going to a concert, but I digress. 

It is the fate of a 3 day work week to do its level best to complicate your life enough that it feels like a 5 day work week or perhaps an even longer one (horrors!), so of course, we had to have a long, complicated discourse on just what to do to celebrate my birthday.  I mean, there's nothing more celebratory than taking an hour or few to decide just what to do for your birthday and with whom to do it that ultimately seems to leave nobody happy despite the fact that it ended up being a perfectly acceptable celebration of my next step on the journey to being old and geezerly.

So, with the birthday thing decided, next came the further complications of a week without mercy.  Very sadly, one of my co-workers lost her father to cancer this week, much more quickly than even she (or anybody) really expected.  Besides being heartbreaking, this comes with yet another slew of complications that involve lengthy and circuitous conversations about who's going to work late to cover her shifts, what kind of gift we're going to send (Everybody already sent flowers!  That gift's too untraditional!  That's too personal!), and who should go to the funeral and how long it's appropriate for them to stay, and who's going to ride with who to the funeral home... and on and on and on until you just want to grab some people by the shoulders and shake them vigorously while bellowing, "JUST MAKE A DECISION ALREADY!"  Ultimately, birthdays were planned, gifts were sent, and funerals were attended, but we definitely didn't make it look easy.

Despite the black cloud hanging over the week, I was definitely grateful for it and a few days off from the whole "earning a paycheck" thing that life often necessitates.  The break was way overdue.  Plus, I finally got to do something I'd been hoping to do for years, see my favorite indie band, Enter the Haggis, in concert with Gaelic Storm.  Unfortunately, having a bizarre affinity for not-so-mainstream music comes with some drawbacks, and I literally had to bribe my dad to attend this musical extravaganza with me by buying both his ticket and a steak dinner just so I wouldn't have to attend alone.  The good news is, it was a great show.  I loved both bands, had an incredible time, and even had the opportunity to meet most of the band members and get some autographs.  Had a few of my brain cells been functioning, I would have gotten some pictures, too (fail).  I would do it all over again (bribery included) just to bring such joy to my inner fangirl who only very rarely shows her face.  And the bribed dad?  He had a great time, too, that punk.  Maybe next time he'll go of his own free will?  ;-)

This week has been less complicated, so what are the chances that next week won't be complicated at all?  Too much to ask? 

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