A right proper post

Have you ever had that feeling of your stomach dropping? The one where you've suddenly realized that you didn't do some vitally important task? When you think you have screwed something up so badly that it can't be fixed and you are likely to get fired/flunked/arrested?

I hate that feeling.

I had an opportunity to become familiar with that feeling today when I received a text from a classmate asking me if the literature review for a huge research paper was really due tomorrow. Cue the ultimate Oh Shit moment.

As I was preparing for an all-nighter, not the greatest idea following a two-day bout with the stomach flu, my generous professor emailed an extension to our woefully unprepared class. I'm not sure I have ever been more relieved.

Now if you will excuse me, I have some research to attend to...

Twitch.

This week has been full of challenges, which is to say, things that make my eye twitch.

I'm serious. I can't get my eye to stop twitching. It's really weird to look at, and I think it scares Mitch a little.

What's stressing me out, you ask?

1. My bag got stolen at the gym.
Luckily, after freaking out, filing a report and being generally angry, some nice guys turned my bag in to the Colvin Center managers a few hours later. They noticed my bag just sitting in the corner of the gym they were in (NOT the one I had been) with the phone ringing uncontrollably, so they returned it to management. Nothing was missing, thank God!

As wonderful as it is to have my stuff back, I'm really curious what happened. When the cop had come originally, he checked the gym where my bag was found and said there was nothing in there. So it was either dumped after he checked, or he missed it the first time. And we still don't know why someone took it. Our best guesses are that it was a mistake (highly unlikely, my bag is very unique and girly), that it was a prank or that someone took it intending to steal but didn't like my meager belongings (crappy cell phone and old ipod with my name engraved in it). I'm glad to be done with the ordeal, but I think it shortened 3 years off my life.

2. My car is acting all freaky deaky.
After my dentist appointment yesterday, my car decided that it would freak out and the electrical panel on the dashboard went nutzo. The clock and odometer were flashing and going on and off, the gas gauge read empty and wouldn't work for a while and it made a horrible beeping sound for nearly 3 minutes. Also, my airbag light is on, which means I might be driving without airbags. Hooray! I managed to have a mechanic glance at it since we were in OKC and didn't want to drive a deathtrap back to Stillwater. He said "Volkswagens are weird. Sometimes warning lights just go on and off. There's really no rhyme or reason to it." Fantastic.

The car has recovered slightly, but the airbag light is still on. The mechanic said to give it a few weeks and see if it just goes off on its own, as VWs are prone to do. Sigh.

3. My freaking eye is twitching! Apparently it is caused by eye fatigue and stress (I'm looking at you, annual report and InDesign!). The irony? The twitching eye is increasing my stress.

Does anyone else get the twitches? How do you handle your stress?