moving

They say moving is one of life's most stressful events, right up there with death and divorce.

Today in Cubeland, we're moving cubes. I spent the last couple hours packing up my work life from the last two years. It's hard to believe the amount of stuff that can accumulate in such a small space in a short amount of time. I've thrown out a bunch of stuff that I've been hanging on to for whatever reason and now the time is right to pitch it! I like that part. I like the clean slate part, I just don't like the process you have to go through to get to the clean slate. There's some lesson about life in there, I think. Something about the rewards of hard work.

Right now though, it's just a pain. All my stuff is packed, most of it is in the new cube (still in boxes) and I'm waiting for the new cube to be vacated so the computer can make the move. Did I mention I have a pounding headache?

I'm just glad it's only a Cubeland move and not a house move for me. I've been in my house for the last 8 years or so and I can't imagine moving my entire house at this point. I love my house!

weekend recap

Saturday's long run (10.3 miles) went well. I managed to get out before the temperature dropped and things got dreary. The schedule for next week is 12 miles!

Saturday's long run was the highlight of my Saturday. It literally went down hill from there. Spent the better part of Saturday mired in a poor me mindset (somewhere I rarely visit, and I'm not too keen on visiting again!). If you're keeping score at home, the window delivery might actually work! Have friend willing to loan extension ladder. Have another friend who checked the windows and says they'll come out.

In light of my bed situation, I'm literally living/sleeping in my living room! Shall I sing the praises of my couch bed? It's actually quite comfortable and I've slept on it a time or two in the past. It's like having a sleep over at my own house.

Sunday brought a more dreary spot of weather, but a better mindset for me. Got to have a bagel breakfast with M and her kids. They regaled me with stories of seeing The Lion King at the Wharton Center.

Escaped for a bit in the after noon to see Duplicity. It was good, not amazing. Worked perfectly for the afternoon escape though. Made me sort of miss my days as a secret agent. Was thinking of capers that would be fun to stage.

Book club dinner was fab as usual. Always enjoy seeing my book gals! After BC, I met another friend for coffee. We laughed and laughed, which always helps a girl feel better about life!

What was your weekend highlight?

fail

so...i'm not sure if it was the extensive gratitude list i went through in my head today while running the last 2 or so miles of my 10 mile run that turned the day against me. "oh, you have so much to be grateful for, we'll even the score a bit and see how you deal with it."

i was to take delivery on a luxurious new bed this afternoon. guys showed up when they said they would. i'm more than psyched that my dream bed is about to become a reality. the first hiccup, the slat system for the bed frame is one solid piece that won't fit up the stairs. no problem, there's a lesser quality slat system that comes in three pieces. i'll just swap the one piece for that. guys say mattress should fit, no problem, since they're a little flexible. yeah, you guessed it, no dice. turns out the only way i'll ever have a queen bed is if i can figure out a way to remove the windows upstairs. the bed will have to come up through the window. the delivery guys weren't willing to touch the windows, but said if i can figure it out, they'd get the bed inside. where the f*ck is a macgyver when you need one? 

i'm sooo bummed. 

then after running a few errands i decide it would be a good night to rent some dvds. blockbuster didn't agree with me on that one. as i'm walking in the door seeing a giant winding line, the clerks are telling people they can "put items on hold" if they want. i was like, what are the computers down? yep! i walked right back out again. 

so of course what i really want to do is just go to bed and i can't even do that properly because my old bed is in pieces in the basement. *shakes fist* so over it already! why can't i just get what i want?  

a few things

I'm wearing a sweater I may or may not have worn already this week. I don't remember, so if I did wear it, I'm hoping nobody else remembers either.

******

They're rearranging cube land and for the next few days until I completely move to another cube, I can see into the IT guy across the hall's cube and vice versa. I feel like I have an audience. I'm sure he's thrilled too!

******

I watched this Nova Marathon Challenge DVD from the library last night and it has me thinking about a marathon. There are seven more weeks left until my 25k and I'm thinking I could just keep training and run the whole Grand Rapids Marathon in October. Just a thought after seeing completely sedentary folks train for and finish a marathon in less than 10 months. I'm thinking it might not be out of my grasp. We'll see how I feel after the 25k.

******

I can't wait for my new bed to arrive!

******

My co-worker keeps talking about Sasquatch Music Festival. Every band I've been listening to recently and then some is playing. Kings! of! Leon! I want to go there! It's Memorial Day weekend. Anyone want to go with me?

******

Cannot wait for this movie to come out! It's not until October, but like someone in Cubeland just said, we get to go to the beach between now and then. At least we'll have something nice to do while we're waiting!

run like the wind

There are about seven more weeks until my 25k race! I can't believe it. Training has been going pretty well. I finally feel like I've fully bounced back and am at the level I should be after being sick at the end of February - that was like a month ago already! Wow! 

I'm always amazed when I don't want to run, but do it anyway and it turns out so well. I so did not want to run today. I'm working between two different training schedules and one offers Tuesdays as an optional short run. The other schedule counts Tuesdays as a regular (yet short) run. I had all but made up my mind to skip tonight until I started thinking about how it would probably be more painful to make up the miles tacked on to longer runs later this week than to just run them today. So that's what got me out the door. It was a great little 3 mile work out + hills. Felt energized and hungry afterward! Take that "excuse part" of my brain! 

The sleep part of my brain is winning now. Good night.

hobo

I've heard the word "hobo" popping up in conversation more and more these days. I'm guessing it's related to people's fears about our precarious economic situation. I wasn't sure of the word's roots until reading something a couple days ago - it's shorthand for Homeward Bound. Like back in the day when one might hop a train or hitchhike and say "I'm homeward bound". Apparently all it took was enough of these cats floating around and a new word is born - hobo! (I just looked up hobo on Wiki and apparently there are many differing theories about where the word came from. So draw your own conclusions!)

I just saw this today and apparently candy sales are doing well despite the economy. I can attest to that (say hello to Mike and Ike in my desk drawer!) I can safely say, however, no matter how hard up I get for some sugary satisfaction, I will not EVER grab for some Hobo Beans. They're maple flavored, people! Who in their right mind thought that would ever be okay?! Can you imagine the pitch meeting for them?

"So Hobo Beans will be baked bean flavored jelly beans. Consider it an homage to the days of yore - when people actually ate out of can warmed over a fire. They'll come in a cute tin can with an adorable dog watching its master warm food over a barrel fire. And best part ever - MAPLE is the only flavor they'll come in! I think we've got ourselves a winner. Kids will eat 'em up."

Um, no they won't. This 35 year old kid is disgusted by anything maple flavored. And anyone old enough to have actually eaten out of a can during the Great Depression, probably doesn't have any teeth left or isn't even around for this candy resurgence! I would bet they'd be glad for it!

Soul Mate

From the book Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, this is the most eloquent and real description of the term "soul mate" I think I've ever read. It made me cry because I know the truth of that which is written:

"He probably was (your soul mate.) Your problem is you don't understand what that word means. People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you and then they leave. Thank God for it. Your problem is you just can't let this one go. It's over. (His) purpose was to shake you up, drive you out of that (relationship) that you needed to leave, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart so that you HAD to transform your life, then introduce you to your spiritual master and beat it. That was his job, and he did great, but now it's over. Problem is, you can't accept that this relationship had a real short shelf life. You're like a dog at the dump, baby - you're just lickin' at an empty tin can, trying to get more nutrition out of it. And if you're not careful, that can's gonna get stuck on your snout forever and make your life miserable. So drop it."

The passage goes on from there about what can happen if we do drop it...it's beautiful!

I'm only about half way through the book and I'm loving it. I got it at the library and think I need to own my own copy. Have you ever heard the saying that books find us when we're supposed to read them? It was my turn to pick the book for my book club and this book was my pick without knowing too much about it other than the synopsis. It was SO the book for me right now. It's amazing. Yay for books and my book club, because otherwise I probably never would have read this wonderful book!

sleep and dreams

I got another good night's sleep last night, more than 7 hours of sleep. Perhaps that's why I had some strange dreams? Or just had enough sleep to be able to remember them. I love remembering my dreams, it's like visiting a whole other world without leaving the comfort of your own bed! Here's a sample from last night:

Working with a few other kids on a giant graffiti piece that covered a wall the size of a semi truck. We were working mostly with black and red. I could feel the spray back in the wind and smell the smell of the paint as it wafted by my nose.

I was part of a group that was going to take part in a police/fire department school. By luck of the draw, I was going to be in the group that went with the fire department. Good thing, since I've already done the police department school in real life!

I was whipped into a frenzy because there were going to be repairs/renovations where I was living in the dream (not my real life house). I was worried about all of my things/the furniture, which appeared to be antique. For some reason my clothes were all over the house - not strewn, but in like three different closets in different parts of the house and I was ranting about how it didn't make sense and made getting dressed a ridiculous affair each morning. Guess there was good reason for the renovation!

Image via Shawn Lovell Metalworks

Do you remember your dreams? Dream in color? Have recurring dreams? So fascinating!! Here's to another good night's sleep later and interesting dreams!

Luck o' the Irish?

Considering the fact that there are mornings I can barely get myself out the door and to work I'm not sure how all this transpired this morning:

up at 6:30 a.m. (actually awake and out of bed)

shower

make up

blow dry hair

put together healthy lunch (included boiling water for mini ravioli that I tossed with pre-made red sauce and grilled asparagus from last night)

iron pants

get dressed in said pants, white v-neck T and a festive green and white cardigan

pull in parking lot at work only mere minutes after 8:00 a.m.

I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that I got an extra hour of sleep last night and that I knew we'd be having another beautiful spring day on this St. Patrick's Day. I'm feeling some good energy!

Tonight, after my run, I'm going to Graydon's Crossings with some friends. It should be quite the scene - not exactly sure I'm feeling it, but we do have a Plan B in case it's out of control.

better mouse trap?

How do you build a better mouse trap? The folks at d-Con think they've done it. I was curious and happen to have a bit of a mouse-travaganza going on at my house, so I thought I'd help them out with some field research. I set two last night, baited with creamy peanut butter. If the mice are able to foil the trap and still eat the peanut butter, as they've done one a previous trap, there's still the offside chance they'll get salmonella! I will check them tonight for the combined yield from last night and all day today.

The fact that I have to actively eradicate another species from my home is painful. I don't like it. But even more I dislike the fact that from time to time I can hear them creeping around in my walls. I haven't seen them like previous invasions. Are they afraid of me? Or just trying to keep it on the D-L? Hello, you're not doing a very good job.

I. Can. Hear. You!

Clearly, they are not familiar with the phrase "quiet as a mouse"! Amateurs!

I'm horrified to imagine how many there might be teeming around in my house.

Cathy vs. Cathy

I've seen this Saturday Night Live Weekend Update clip with Andy Samberg as comic strip character Cathy and Justin Timberlake as her husband Irving a couple times this week and laugh every time. Just want to share the laughs! Although I have a newspaper subscription, I don't read the comics, but I did know who Cathy was so it was that much more funny. I looked up some Cathy cartoons on line and there is liberal use of sweat drops, the frustration squiggle and the confident point!

hot/not

things catching my eye, or making me feel like i want to gouge my own eyes out these days:

hot: cookies of the home made oatmeal chocolate chip variety.

not: facebook. we're not friends right now. we may make up at some point, but i'm not ready yet.

hot: neko case. her song "this tornado loves you" has been going through my head all week.

not: old wounds

hot: the prospect of some extra green in this week's pay check.

not: the prospect of my entire department moving cubes.

hot: sleeping and thinking about getting a new bed.

not: talk that rihanna is back with the "man" who beat her. rihanna, don't give him permission to hit you again by going back. like oprah said, any man who hits you once will hit you again given the chance. and the only chance a guy prone to violence needs is proximity. if you're not in his life, he can't hit you.

hot: grey's anatomy. finished season two and the search is on for season three drama.

not: the weather outside today feels colder than it's been all winter. 21 with a windchill of 11! the wind means business people!

hot: pie from the grand traverse pie company. anything with a cumb topping = delicious.

weekend

it's been a slow weekend by my choice. here's what i have done:

watched almost half of season 2 of Grey's Anatomy.

lounged in pajama pants and blankies while doing so.

slept.

ran 6 miles in the rain.

sprang forward.

baked oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

ate some of said cookies.

listened to it rain.

ate brunch at Gaia with my friend M.

still smell like the kitchen at Gaia.

laundry.

now debating the finer points of  McDreamy and McSteamy.

will make homemade pizza for dinner.

WTF?

Is there really a difference between being daring and not knowing better? I think there is. Knowing better takes history/level of danger/risk into account. Being daring, looks at the history/danger factor and decides the risk is worth the reward and that the possibility of loss isn’t that great. In other words, you can safely utter and answer the phrase, “what do I have to lose?” If I were more daring and/or didn’t know any better these are things I might do:

Quit my job and start a business catering to high net worth individuals who have more money than time.

Ask the next man who I fancy if he’ll marry me sooner rather than later.

Find a way to get what’s mine without it being traced back to me.

Find a way to go on tour with the Kings of Leon.

Sky dive.

Eat candy all day.

Get a giant visible tattoo.

Tell more people what I really think.

Max out as many credit cards as I can get my hands on.

It's probably a good thing for all involved that I know better/am not that daring. Just saying. What would you do if you didn't know better/were more daring?

Today...

...i was almost side-swiped by a youngish-looking girl driving what appeared to be her mother in the family mini-van. i was nearly run off the road.

...ran four miles, which is a few miles short of where i should be this week in my training. darn head cold! i guess it's better that i was sick this far out and not a few weeks before the race.

...went to the library. got several books and movies on DVD, including 21 and Isaac Mizrahi's book "How to Have Style". The book is about developing your own personal style and it has several "case studies" - exactly the kind of creative project I'd love to work on!

...had extreme cravings for candy - anything gummi, mike & ike's, dark chocolate - but did not carry out desire.

...also craving diet coke today. something about the sunshine, driving around with music blaring...it would have been a perfect day to add some liquid chemicals to my system. stayed strong though. i've been dodging the diet crack now for a couple months. the fact that i'm still craving and thinking about it really underscores the fact that it's an addiction!

...bought turbo tax. just need to DO the taxes now. have to be in the mood for it. not tonight!

...just started watching 21, and can tell i'm going to want to go to Vegas to beat the house after watching.

blah to bright

I don't know about you, but I've had about three months too many of this winter or blah weather. Tonight it's actually raining! There's the ever-present chance that temperatures will dip below freezing and the rain will turn into a full on blizzard of bad weather! 

My outlook usually tends to be pretty cheery, optimistic even. I'm hoping it's the weather. I'm usually pretty content with what the day lays out before me. These last few days have me wondering when something exciting is going to happen. When am I going to win the lottery so I can pursue more creative and less lucrative endeavors? I guess I need to actually play the lottery so that I might one day win. 

First thing I'd do - book a flight somewhere warm with nothing but a bikini, flip flops and a sundress in my bag. I might bring  a tooth brush, sun screen and a few of my peeps, too. While sunning my pasty bits, I'd map out my next millionaire move. 

There would likely be more travel, charity for sure, and doing a few projects around the house. I think I'd keep my house. It's too cute to  cast off. I might get another house somewhere else just for good measure, but I'm going to hang onto Old Ben. It's been very good to me. 

See, I already feel better...changed perspective always does me a world of good. Life is pretty darn swell where I sit. The bad weather can just suck it! I will prevail! 

birthday weekend (food) recap

My birthday weekend was fabulous! I feel really lucky to have such good people in my life. Some that I've known for a super long time and some that I'm just getting to know. The well-wishes from all were lovely and made me feel amazing! YAY!

Along with great friends and family, food played a major role in my birthday weekend! What a surprise! I had Ethyopian food at Little Africa on Friday night for my birthday dinner with my mom and M. I felt so special when the owner, Lou, came out with incense for a sort of birthday greeting/blessing and the restaurant broke into "Happy Birthday". Very special. We were the last to leave the restaurant full of delicious food and having had plenty of girl talk!

Saturday, I was rescued from the snowy/icy mess in my alley by my mom, and my Marquette aunt & uncle. We managed to carve a route through the blowing snow to have dinner at Big Bob's, a perennial favorite. We had pizza and fun conversation. We came back to my place for the last of my homemade carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a spot of tea.

Sunday. Popcorn during The Reader and random munching through the day leading up to dinner. My mom made a tasty veggie lasagna and green salad. I whipped up garlic bread with an ample amount of butter and fresh garlic. And for dessert, we had cute mini cheese cakes that mom made.

My cold is almost gone! With all the yummy food I've been indulging in and my almost restored ability to breath, there's no time like the present to get back to the running!

Oscars!

So the 81st Academy Awards have come and gone, again! The marriage of movies and fashion on a single evening in February has been a winter highlight for me for quite some time! This year's show was a little different - five past Oscar winners introducing the nominees in their category for the best actor/actress and best supporting actor/actress categories. I liked that better than the year's previous winners presenting video montages and the nominees names. It was more of a personal tribute for each nominee - and who doesn't like to hear nice things being said about them? I'd want it that way if I were up for best actress or best supporting actress!

I was pleased with most of the winners. Slumdog Millionaire was a big winner with eight awards. I actually saw and enjoyed the movie, so it was fun to see Bollywood take Hollywood by storm. I saw The Reader on Sunday, so I was also pleased that Kate Winslet won the award for best actress. I was pulling for Mickey Rourke after seeing The Wrestler on Friday and this interview he did on Charlie Rose. He just seems like an interesting guy who's been on quite a personal journey. My second choice was Sean Penn, so although I wanted Mickey to win, I was happy that it was Sean who beat him. He actually gave Mickey a cool shout out at the end of his acceptance speech. 

My dress picks. I like the 50's glamour feeling of Sarah Jessica Parker's Dior Haute Couture dress. Marisa Tomei's pearl gray Versace was beautiful, a layered orgami-like creation. Taraji P. Henson wore a deliciously textured/layered Roberto Cavalli gown that reminded me of frosting peaks.

Favorite jewels! Taraji P. Henson wore this Fred Leighton necklace that was simply stunning!

official birthday portrait

Let's call it "the Curious Case of Benjamin Button effect". Looking forward to another year of living one day at a time!

smoky topaz visits

when i'm not feeling well, this is what i really want:

• to be able to stay in my jammies all day


• to drink ginger ale (vernors)


• to drink juice


• to be in possession of soft tissues


• to have an ample amount of benadryl to knock me out at night


• to have a steady supply of interesting movies to watch while I doze on the couch


• to already have ample groceries in the house, so i don't have to go anywhere


• to feel better
  

this is how it's really going:

• cannot stay in jammies all day. technically not sick enough to warrant using paid time off. work might frown on my choice in jammies.


• drank vitamin water that i brought to work. brought two today, as one wasn't enough yesterday. oh, the thirst!


• soft tissues are plentiful. small blessings.


• benadryl is doing the trick at night, but getting "into" bed early is about a 50/50 gamble at this point.


• had to get groceries/sick supplies after work earlier this week.


• feeling slightly cloudy, less than focused, with some aches. dry cough. my voice sounds like i've been smoking 2 packs of cigs a day since i was 12.


• feeling grateful that i'm not as sick as i was this time last year. i was down for the count for a few days with a ridiculous cough.


• also grateful that i have not been kidnapped by a mexican drug cartel.