It's been a difficult week, and I can't wait for the weekend.

One of my coworkers, Joann, is taking the next three weeks off to go to Rome with her boyfriend. She's really the person who holds this office together, and it's going to be tricky with her gone. Luckily, they've hired a temp to replace her, because I don't know that the rest of us could have shouldered her responsibilities for a whole month.

Let me just say that I am not the ideal worker. Frankly, I do as little as possible at work. Largely, I answer the phones, make the coffee, and maintain the company database and phone system. If anybody asks me to do anything else, I do it, but I don't go looking for extra work, if you know what I mean. My husband jokes, saying, "You should try working sometime; it's extremely rewarding!" I didn't get this job for personal fulfillment; I got it for a paycheck. If I wanted fulfillment, I'd be looking for work in music. As it is, I get my personal satisfaction without the accoutrement of cash reward.

So when Joann starts telling me which of her responsibilities I'm to pick up, I'm somewhat nonplussed. Thank God they decided to get the temp; I'm free to maintain my current level of (in)activity.

Tomorrow I start my first session at Weigh Down Workshop. It's a Bible based weight loss program. Mom and two of my cousins had pretty good success with it, and Mom offered to pay my way. I'm pretty excited about it, which is saying quite a bit, because it's on Saturday mornings at 8:30. Oh, well. When I went to the orientation, which was held two weeks ago at the same time, I noticed how pretty the neighborhood was at that time of the morning. Because I didn't sleep late, the day felt so much longer that usual. I hope I can keep that positive outlook through the rest of the course, especially when there's snow on the ground.