Aggravation

This morning when I woke up at 5am in Minneapolis, the “feels like” temperature was -30 degrees. “How am I going to make it from the hotel to my car?” I was legitimately afraid that somewhere in that 500 feet, I would freeze, suddenly, like a Neanderthal. But my 7am flight would be leaving with…

Back in December, a natural gas leak was discovered in the crawl space beneath my house. The inspector from Xcel told me that it wasn’t urgent, and that I could have it repaired at my leisure (pronounced “lehh-zhure” in my mind). So this past Friday, I finally had someone come take a look. He shut…

When I left the office last night, my inbox was down to 5 messages (a record!). When I arrived this morning, I had 181 emails.   Here was the original message:           And then came the replies:                   Dozens of times. Eventually, the sender…

Are you stressed? Aggravated? Fed up? Worn out? Call Annie Parsons – the Bullshit Exterminator. This is what one of my beloved co-workers called me today – a moniker I proudly accept. Listen, life is too much these days. I’m inordinately stressed at work. I’m in the midst of an insurance battle over my roof….

Ever had one of those weeks? Last Monday and Tuesday, I got four parking tickets in 24 hours. My license plates had expired at the end of March (news to me!), and before I could find an opening in my work schedule to hit the DMV, Denver’s parking patrol graced me. Four times. I have…

This weekend, something that I wanted to work out didn’t work out, leaving me sad and disappointed. Then my bike seat broke. Then I tried to fix my bathtub drain, but realized I don’t have the right tools. Then several people told me, in various ways, that a dream that I’ve been working toward is…

I am the girl who balances her checkbook. Makes her bed every day. Drives the speed limit. Plans in advance. Goes to bed at a decent hour. Projects ahead so the future will never take her by surprise. Always has a responsible amount of gas in the tank of her car. This is what’s known…

Today I re-enter real life after a 9-day vacation – and oh, the pain. I mean that figuratively, of course – but also literally. My body hurts. I climbed three 14ers last week, and I’m all scabs and bruises today. On a steep slope a week ago Sunday, a rock the size of a bowling…

All of you over-achieving, perfectionistic control freaks out there, raise your hand. I mean, I can’t be the only one, right? I have a really hard time when I can’t do something perfectly, which is unfortunate because I can do basically nothing perfectly.  And lately, I’ve been doing a lot of things, which means that…

All of last year, I lived in the apartment above the most silent man of all time.  The only time I ever saw him was when he would stand outside his front door smoking cigarettes with his headphones in, avoiding my eye contact as I would pass him on my way to the third floor. …