Pumped in Packrat

I know I’ve been whining about needing a vacation, and I do, but the prospect of getting my hands on the paper again pumps.me.UP!

I don’t really want to travel in December, and with various matters arising I wouldn’t have been able to let myself go in the next couple of months anyway. So working on the paper gets me out of my office and out in the world somewhat; I’ve been letting myself become a hermit. I haven’t been taking part in anything. This allows me to shake off some of the dust and interact more with people. Left to myself, I wouldn’t do it - and indeed haven’t done it - because my little brother is never coming back and it hurts too much to keep breathing and being in the world.

And, as I said, I know I won’t be doing everything all by myself, so no more setting copy until 2 a.m.

Working on the newspaper until 10 p.m. one Friday is how I acquired one of my dogs. She had been on the grounds all day and had curled up by one of the buildings’ back doors, left by her owner who works here, and I wasn’t about to leave her without food, water, or shelter at the beginning of the weekend. She willingly climbed into my car, and she’s been with me ever since. She’s my sweet girl, and she knows it.

I worked on the paper when I met Free Spirit.

I’m finishing a report, but I wanted to give myself a break. I truly love my job and sometimes I really can’t believe I get paid to do what I do. When I first started this job nearly 20 years ago I told myself, “This is what I can be happy doing for the rest of my life.”

So it was, and it still holds true.

Previously other jobs, including the newspaper, lasted only three years before I left. The newspaper is why I became a paralegal; in both are the facts that you record but in a way that will best favor your client. In both are careful research (I got excited in class researching property laws for our case about a worm farm where the mother worm sang to her children). S used to be a journalist before he became an attorney; we both went to the same Journalism school in college.

So while I’m ready and raring to go on the newspaper, which opened a lot of doors for me, it’s my old flame, and I won’t be leaving my enduring love for it (although I never really left it, either, since I still write and suggest articles for the paper).

I’ve been wanting to look at my old journals, feeling no spark and trying to find what I wrote about every day. I think that’s partly why this opportunity thrills me - it’ll keep my mind working, and in a way I’m going back to old haunts. This time around technology and a helper will make things much easier and quicker.

A relative moved into my little brother’s house and found his high school yearbooks; two of the years were when I was there as well - involved in journalism, government, and the theater. My, my, how much I’ve changed! haha