OKMH - August Edition! Office Supplies

I have been waiting for this month...
It's OKMH August. The theme?

The Kitchen Girls

OFFICE SUPPLIES!

Truth time: I love office supplies. When I was little, my favorite night was the day after coming home with school supplies when I got to rip open packages and pack up my binder and backpack for the one clean, organized day of my school year: the FIRST DAY. Best day. I love sticky notes. I love different colors of pens. Colored Tabs? Want. Highlights? Love. Sharpie rainbows? NEED. 

Now that I'm an adult and actually need to use mountains of sticky notes and rivers of ink just to keep my cool, the allure of new supplies has not decreased. 
Did I finally run out of plain yellow sticky notes? Hurray! That means I finally have a good excuse to break into this neon orange pack. Ooo! 
Do I have to read a journal article and take notes? I have three highlighters that each mean something different - time to sit back and absorb (and highlight in perfectly neat boxes).
Do I need to organize study files? Pass over the binders and dividers. I have collating to do!!

Okay, while some of those office tasks are slightly exhagerated (I DO love a good hyperbole), I really do love office supplies. So obviously I was excitd by this month's theme. Hey, let's be honest - if I can find anything that keeps me excited about my office job, I should run at it full-speed, right?

This month I received from Kirsten - and it was a sa-WEET haul!

Desk Fluff

Includes: coloring book and new crayons (seriously), sassy napkins and mitt supplies, note pad and binder clips, and (my favorite) a huge pile of rainbow pens and sharpies, and some AWESOME sticky notes!!

Seriously and genuinely excited about these crayons. To use in THIS COLORING BOOK. I love coloring books. Shush - this will be great stress relief!

These sticky notes will come in very handy. I shall write seriously mustache'd notes with my serious and business-like stick-note tools. 

These desk fluffers (except for the crayons and coloring book) have already made it into my daily work. The sticky-notes stay safely in my desk drawer so I can look at them longingly but never use because then I might run out (*coughCLOSETHOARDERcough*).

Don't forget to check out the other "Kitchen Gals" (because my hubs can't be bothered to remember the whole group name ;-))
I sent to Mads at La Petite Pancake.
Mads sent to Kat at Tenaciously Yours
Kat  sent to Allison at Decadent Philistines Save the World
Allison sent to Megan at Wanna Be a Country Cleaver
Megan sent to Jeanne at Inside NanaBread's Head
Jeanne sent to Kirsten at Comfortably Domestic

 
What's your favorite part of a new school year? Or of your office?

Update on Life

I have so very much to catch up on. First of all, something that I didn't necessarily want to share openly on the blog while it was happening, but in March I was laid off from my real job. Unlike many other bloggers that I worship, this is (obviously) not something I do full-time, and honestly, I don’t want to. This is something I do for me, so I'm not sure the pressure of a full-time job in this creative outlet is a good fit for me.

During that time, I was very worried about getting a new job, but I did translate that stress the same way I normally do: into food. I did not, however, do a great job of snapping photos or writing down all my thoughts associated with these meals. Mostly because I had no thoughts. All of the stress, thoughts, free time, and stomach ulcers were devoted completely to finding new employment. Even while baking, I would rewrite cover letters between additions of eggs and vanilla.

I do have some new recipes coming at you, but they will be slow to post. The reason is that (Best Day) I have been employed for about 3 months now. As with any new job, the first few weeks were incredibly busy with travel and long work days (and learning, and reading, and organizing, and oh, did I mention the long work days?).

My unemployment lasted only about 7 weeks (I was incredibly lucky), but it still took a significant toll both emotionally and financially. As I get back to work after that much time off, I found it incredibly difficult to get back into a cooking schedule at night. I now work until about 6 pm, and if I run first thing, that still doesn't get dinner on the table before 8 pm. At the earliest. And in my constant battle with my alarm in the morning as it is (let alone trying to workout as well), I feel that the balance will, once again, come slowly.

I’m getting back into the swing of life, blogging, and, well, balance. My Plan for the next few weeks include regularly scheduled monthly posts (featuring the Many Hearts gals and the Theme Weavers), but hopefully some recipes (Oooo! Aaaahhh!). First to come, as I brush off the blogging dust, will be a few ramblings of recent trips.

From recent life.

Coming soon: Hangover Part Kvetchin Kitchen.