Making plans

[jeanvieve]

In case anyone wonders, ENTJs are compulsive plan makers. Sometimes even list makers, but always always plans. I think it actually catches some people by surprise when they find themselves caught up in the middle of a Cunning Plan (tm), and it all unfolds and looks like pure serendipity. And perhaps the ENTJ in question rather enjoys continuing that mystique, that illusion that life always works out the way they wanted it rather than letting people glimpse the pulleys and levers behind the curtain.

Ahem.

So got the lyrics all printed out and such for tomorrow. This is definitely one of those 'Mom is tres enthused, so doing it to please her' type things, though the notion of a singing group is not an unpleasant one. Would rather have another bass though, as the boy from from Salem is.. okay, must say it. Dull and unimaginative. Tending to the negative, save when it's flirting with mom. I want to stop and lay a hand on his shoulder and say "You know you have no chance, right? Can't you just top flirting and be friendly? I might like you better." Oy. Anyway. I guess we're as ready as any four people that haven't rehearsed much can get.

How to rehearse was actually one of the issues of our last band. Michael and I were too used to the student ensemble method. Play something through once, woodshed it on your own, then bring it back to work out levels, blends, and arrangements. We had one or two in the band that didn't seem to practice things on their own, and it was constantly frustrating. Waste of rehearsal time, which for busy people is like a sin.

Also learning that not everyone just knows Christmas Carols. Weird.

Did a lot of house cleaning today, to balance my being incredibly tense and upset about stuff. Geof's car got impounded and towed because he hadn't gotten around to getting it AAA'd back to in front of our house. In weeks. No really, he left it on a side street a few blocks away in front of a stranger's house for weeks. And then needed to borrow money I didn't have to spare to get it out of hock, as it were. Then threw his back out at the bank, so had to drive over and rescue him and drive and use his card in the ATM and.. okay, this is why I'm attracted to incredibly capable men, and why I don't really have a white knight complex at all. Having to help someone that I think should be capable frustrates me, though I confess more so when I don't have the resources or energy to offer that help.  I need to feel that I can sometimes rely on people, though I fight hard not to have to ever. Still, one needs to know that when the chips are down, some folks can help you pick them up. Right now, I'm feeling like the only chipper picker upper in the house.

I'm sympathetic about his back pain. Truly. But it goes out 3-4 times a year like this, which I'm assured by specialists is not normal. For him, it's stress related. He gets stressed, he pulls his back. The pain is real, I know. But also incredibly predictable. Like another friend of mine that kept getting migraines every semester at test time. Hel-LO! It's not your diet or meds, it's your stress! Stress has direct physiological impacts on you! By 35 or so, I expect people to have more coping skills. It's not fair, maybe. But we all know that I can be judgmental sometimes.

So when I'm stressed and overworked, I clean and I make plans. It's how I relieve my stress, for one, because I get contingencies set up for all occasions which means I can relax more as I plan for literally everything including AD&D. As there's no way Geof will get a job between now and January, unless it's in LA with KY at NGC, I can't keep going like this. I've been searching Craigslist and am pretty sure I can find a renter. For the privilege of having a dog, and in that mom is willing to live with tenants with Histories, we can charge pretty decently for my room on a 6 month lease. That'll be time for me to figure out whether IBM is going to award my loyalty with the bonus, then give me a raise I deserve, or whether I'm going to stay in the Bay area for a while and pursue a much much higher pay level.

Just need to get through the next couple years, then it all gets easier. Maybe by then my 401k will stop looking like a lopped off poppy too. And I can help get John's house all spiffed up.

Comments

[balutakat.livejournal.com]

hugs! I totally absolutely completely concur about wanting to shoot people who don't get it about their stress levels. Only because it took me until 35 to get it. :)

On a more cheery note I had a great talk with your friend Ellie, she's a winner. We were commiserating on the inability to plan when you have dependents (or codependents, as it were). This is one of those very few moments I yearn sentimentally for singlehood when I could just GO somewhere.

[jeanvieve.livejournal.com]

Hey, the 20somethings? Totally sympathetic when they don't have it figured out yet. They're still in shock over having to pay all their own bills. God knows I was. But after 35, yup. Figure yourself out!

Ain't she fun? Yeah - feeling that myself. But mom gets social security in a couple years, so the huge pressure will lift.

[brat-grrl.livejournal.com]

I do like NTJ's -- especially when they are balanced like you -- I have known a LOT of others that are so judgemental and not at all whimsical.

You have a good balance there.

*hugs in regards to the $$ issues.. it will get better!*

oh yeah, and I am an XNFX (50/50 on the extrovert/introvert and 50/50 on the percieving vs judging)