your tax dollars at work #1

Having a job where I don't have much to do is seriously almost as bad at having a job where I can't expect to leave before the 12-hour mark. Not only is the work scarce (our Gov contract requires a certain number of people in our department whether we are needed or not), but the security measures are pretty steep; no IPOD or cell phone in the building, no personal email account access, no personal pages, instant messengers or streaming media. Thus, the stuff I could have filled my time with when work was limited is banned.

So, I've been creative. Things which so far are not blocked are most magazine's webpages, thus their blogs. Apartment Therapy, inexplicably. Amazon.com, as well as pretty much every store's online site. Martha Stewart.com, and Oprah.com. Then of course CNN, MSNBC, etc etc, and today I discovered so is The New York Post's Page Six (yay! Celebrity gossip!!!)

Anywho, this job's lead to some seriously bizarre habits:

1. Every Monday I plan the week's menu using Real Simple's website, Martha Stewart, and Recipes.com. I type up the prettiest shopping list ever from this and head to the store immediately after work.
2. I read the "Eat Like Me" blog at Self magazine's website every day even though the pictures don't load on my monitor. I am a vicarious nutrition fanatic while I sit and eat chips and salsa.
3. I drink 3 cups of coffee; one at 7 (when I come in), one at 8, and one at 3, when I feel like I might literally climb the walls. It doesn't help, but it gives me something to do.
4. I refresh CNN.com about 20 times I day and become obsessed over some of the stories, especially those involving republican senator sex scandals.
5. Each time I go to the restroom, I make 4 long loops through the halls of my building. It's awkward seeing the same people throughout the day, though, who likely think I'm the biggest slacker. So I've started carrying a folder or something, so it looks like I'm on my way to the lab to document some software procedures.
6. My favorite (and most embarrassing): sending stuff to my personal email account to blog later. It's just a sad existence.

SO my new favorite thing might just be posting the things that make my day a little brighter... because I can. So, here are today's favorite things:

This apple print as seen in the Domino blogs:


Cute food packaging by Martha Stewart Crafts:


Sharilyn Wright's apartment as seen at Apartment Therapy: LA: