Embrace Your Inner Eight-Year-Old

I went into this weekend with a set of rules from my co-worker.

1. Don’t get hit by a bus

2. Don’t fall through any ice

3. Show up Monday with your A game.

You see, I work in HR and tomorrow is probably the single most stressful day of the year for us. Did we cause this ourselves? Kinda. We’re switching payroll software providers and tomorrow is the day we go ‘live’. This could essentially screw up hundreds of employee’s pay checks across Canada – so you know, no pressure. On top of this our deadline for having payroll complete is now 3 hours prior to what it used to be. If tomorrow doesn’t go well I could be hunted down and shot by hundreds of angry workers who didn’t receive pay am skipping the country.

Probably not a good weekend to embrace my inner 8 eight year old you're thinking....

I grew up in a very small town (population of 12,000) near the US border, and spent my holidays visiting my grandparents in the town of Kincardine along Lake Huron. The drive between the two places was roughly 3 hours along hwy 21. This weekend T & I decided to visit friends in Kincardine and drove the route I had years previously in the back seat of my parents car. Back came memories of listening to my dad’s Genesis tapes while starring out the window thinking about whatever boy I currently had a crush on, and being pissed that they were taking me so far away from him. I saw places where we used to stop and get gas, or eat, and even the park in Bayfield where my parents would kick us (my brother, sister & I) out of the car to burn some pent up energy because we were driving them crazy. I felt the sudden urge to play ‘straight up’ by Paula Abdul as this was the tape I had for my walkman when I got tired of listening to Genesis. Would T let me? No.

I know what you’re thinking - age 8 and thinking about boys? Please, by age 8 I had gotten married in the school yard and been kissed by my 'husband' on the cheek.

Once in Kincardine I could not resist playing on the ‘snow mountains’. Not so much mountains now that I’m bigger, but still a lot of fun when you’re not wearing appropriate foot wear to be climbing large hills of ice

How could you not want to play on these?

Next was on to the grocery store my grandma used to take us, to get ‘mix’ for drinks. Not my grandma getting mix when we were younger, we were…, ah you know what I mean. Well there I found:

EXACTLY the same as when I was a kid. So of course it had to be purchased, and now that I’m older it’s a complete rip off. The candy was hard and the toy was not a toy without having my 8 year old imagination.

We spent the night with friends drinking and playing cards and domino’s, almost exactly the same as when I was a kid, only I got to ‘taste’ the booze this time!

So now on Sunday night coming up to the most important, most stressful work day of the year I should revert back to an adult and prepare for tomorrow right? Wrong. I’m not done being an 8 year old. I’ve been playing video games, painted my toenails, and poured myself two rather large rye & cokes. Screw being responsible! Canada is playing the US in Olympic hockey tonight and to me that is WAY more important than growing up.

Monday at 3pm is due or die time. Maybe I should have come up with my ‘Plan B’ before embarking on this weekend? Or maybe this blog will come to you from Mexico come Tuesday??!