Victory over losers

So, today Jade and I had to go return a lost ID card to the ID office, where my horrible ex works. I generally avoid the office like the plague, but I've since started feeling much better about myself and the bad decisions I made (I still wish I hadn't made them, but I've stopped beating myself up for it) and I decided it was time to go do this. I have no reason to be afraid of going there or of giving him the satisfaction of knowing that he somehow has the upper hand. He doesn't. So, I went there. He hid his face like the coward that he was and forced someone else to help us and then he hid in his computer until I left. And you know what? I felt fine. Great, really. I mean, I used to see him and just start sobbing, and I literally have not felt bad about seeing him for even a second today. Which is pretty awesome. It looks like it took me two years to get over him, but now here I stand and I'm feeling pretty good. He's a loser, I'm not and he and his "fiancee" will be very happy together (until they divorce because he won't stop sleeping with other people, which he won't).

In other news, fall has... fallen. (Ok, so is there some sort of "spring has sprung" equivalent for fall that doesn't suck?) It was a chilly 60 degrees when I left work last night and damp. It got down into the upper-40s last night and it should be there again tonight. I'm absolutely a warm-weather person, but I love the season when it's still warm (70-80 degrees) but there's a crispness in the air and you can wear a light sweater/cardigan. I'm feeling very autumnal. I have a sudden urge to go out to a field and pick a pumpkin, sit on a hay bale, and wear a plaid shirt. I'm not sure why "autumnal" to me means Farmer Jane, but to each their own. I also am interested in sitting around in cable knit sweaters in front of a fire, drinking a hot toddy, and doing something else equally appropriate. I imagine I will be clutching my mug with both hands and have my elbows resting gently on the arm of the couch, with my feet curled up under me in large woolen socks. (Ok, it was like 75 degrees today, so maybe we're not quite there yet, but come December, this is what I want to be doing.) Also, I don't know what a hot toddy tastes like, but I've decided I want one. Cold Weather Project #1: Use Jack Daniels from Nashville trip to make hot toddy.

As it gets colder, my office will inevitably turn into the Arctic wasteland that it devolves into during the winter months. I have an adorable little space heater purchased on the company dime, but last year they told us we couldn't have them because they "fixed the heat." I'm not sure where exactly they did that, but it wasn't at Ice Station Zebra, as I have taken to calling my office.

Anyway, I will likely continue to use my illegal space heater, but in an effort to be somewhat more environmentally conscious (and help the university save a few bucks that they'll pay to a needy employee... what? That won't happen? Oh.) I think that I will get myself an office Snuggie. I already have a regular Snuggie. It is beautiful and leopard print and it is, after all, the blanket with sleeves, so there's nothing that could ever be wrong with it. But my friend Olivia has her office Snuggie and I think it's an awesome idea. Her's is UMD (vomit) so I think I might get a UVA one. I mean, how awesome would it be to look like this in my office:

Answer: SO awesome.

Though I'm not entirely sure how I'll afford to buy my Snuggie (or my new shoes, or anything ever) because we had a Fidelity at-work education presentation today and I decided to up my retirement contributions. I'll now be putting 10% into my 403(b), which I was already doing, and an additional 5% into a Roth IRA. (God, is this the most boring thing I could ever talk about? Possibly.) So I guess we'll see how I make-do with less money. I don't have a lot of it now, but I think I'd rather have a lot of it later. Speaking of which, I finally am getting a real paycheck again because they will no longer be taxing me on my tuition and taking it out of my measly paycheck. Yay for money! Now I can pay down my CC bill that built up while they were taxing me like crazy. Oh wait, now my money is gone. *sigh*