So, like most decent, hard-working people, I feel like my job is sucking my soul out through my nose and then slapping me in the face with it.

Is that so wrong?

It is also encroaching on my non-work time in a way that is quite disturbing. I think maybe I need to set some boundaries regarding work contact. Here goes:

If I am not at work and I choose to vent about work with a friend or colleague, that is fine, but if I can't stop or I start crying hysterically or eating an entire box of Oreos, my husband has the responsibility to tell me I look pretty and to either buy me a new pair of shoes or to take me to the movies and get me popcorn AND candy.

Also, if anyone calls me at home about work on my day off when it isn't an emergency and it could've just waited until I was at work the next day, I have the right to tell them exactly what I think of them, with no holds barred (results on that one are going to vary greatly). I also have the right to make a fart noise into the phone and then hang up immediately before I hear what the problem is.

Because I am a musician first (and that will never change, no matter how much my day job tries to worm its way into being the highest priority in life), if anyone bothers me about work in a way that disrupts me while I'm working on a piece of music, it is my responsibility to rip them a new....

...you get the point. That's a very, very, very bad thing to do. Sometimes, I'll have been working on the same stinking two measures for an hour and have just gotten to the point where I think I've figured out what it is that's causing the problem, and I'll get a work text or call, which is never about anything that can't wait.

Think The Incredible Hulk, but with more hormonal fluctuation. Yeah, that's going to be a problem for you.

So, I think if we can all agree on these rules, I'll be good to go.

Thank you very much for your cooperation,

Love and Kisses,

Miss Merry Sunshine