Daily check in

Did well yesterday, got my food in check, cardio in and even got some artwork done.  Now just need to work on my sleep.

Could not wake up this morning!  Didn't get my drink made and am now about to happily dive in to a breakfast burrito, did bring my lunch though!  If I get my greens in tonight I'm still on track - not too shabby.

Countdown: 24 days

The weekend

Why are they always so short?

Anyway this weekend did not go amazing in the countdown to the wedding and my focus on diet. Due, not in small part to the fact that I tried and succeeded way to well in completing one of my pinterest projects.  While I always fear ending up with a Pinstrosity, this weekend to my waistline's detriment I made these delicious things...



Tasty enough that I can't actually regret these.

This weekend was also great for me because for the first time in a long time I got back to doing some art, it's amazing how wonderful it can feel to do something that I've been missing for the last 8 years.  A terrifyingly long time but I do feel like I haven't really done art I've like, crafts yes, since I graduated in 2005 - I try not to focus on it because the numbers scare me.

Feeling grounded and happy for the moment....

Oh carpool

So I think I've mentioned that I get into the city in the morning in the casual carpool, a very northern California set up where anyone driving into SF from the East Bay and anyone riding in line up in designated spots and fill into strangers cars.  My friends from school in Massachusetts find this appalling and without fail say something along the lines of "damn hippies".

This has been around for at least 30 years at this point, my mom was the one who taught me how to use it when I worked summers in her office in San Fran.  There are some unwritten rules, these days it's generally polite to offer a dollar contribution to the toll, speaking is generally kept to a minimum unless the driver starts the conversation and more often than not you can expect to listen to npr on the ride in.

Like I said, it's generally very functional and frankly mundane, but every once in a while you get an odd experience.  Today it wasn't odd so much as funny and unintentionally voyeuristic.  When I got in it was clear that woman in the passenger seat already knew the driver, already the odd man out, I get in and say my polite "good morning" to no response.  I do not offer a dollar.

They are in the middle of a very engrossing conversation, in which the driver is telling her friend about a third woman, all clearly in they're 50s-early 60s, and how she has really bumped up her social life recently at the country club!  Seriously! It is really something to wake up to a pair of women my mother's age (or older) talking about orgasms! Yup. Good morning!

I mercifully was let out at about the moment when the driver started going into why she was reading Cosmo again so she can keep up with what's new - you know - new...

Oh carpool


p.s. on the fitness dress countdown - 29 days to go.  Did cardio yesterday and had a good dinner.  This morning I could not wake up so I bought a breakfast burrito on my walk in.  Refocus...

Too old for this...

Oh it's a sad day when you find yourself sitting through a night that is just exhausting you and all you are wondering is why you can't be curled up in your bed with a book and then that moment hits when you realize that you've had many nights just like this and you used to call it fun.  It's that moment when you realize how old you are.

Don't get me wrong, there are many many things about my early 20s that I have no desire to revisit, or frankly even work to remember.  However, when an evening with out of towners of dinner, some sight seeing and ending a Tuesday night at a, by all accounts, mellow dive bar in the mission knocks me on my ass the next day there is definitely that moment of mourning for the youthful exuberance I used to have for weekday drinking.

There were days I could power through nights out from Wednesday - Saturday and be fine with a couple advil and a kick-ass cup of coffee.  Those days are gone...

This morning, I woke up sure that I had multiple hours left to sleep (I must, I'm still so tired!), only to have the alarm go off at that moment. Get my self together (I think) quietly because aforementioned guests are all still soundly sleeping, and head out the door proud of myself for making it out even a bit early!  Only to find  just after the possibility of going back escapes that I have forgotten stuff for a meeting I have immediately following work...oy...but at least I'm on time.

Moral of the story?  I'm too old for this shit

That time

That time when one of the people in your casual carpool smells just like one of your ex boyfriends....

Office Health Program

Had a great health break today from work with one of my fabulous coworkers!  An hour walk around the city in this gorgeous weather with only a short beer break!

New Door!

Being a new homeowner is full of learning opportunities on a daily basis.  All those great times in apartment life when you can call the landlord are out the window as it dawns on you that you are in fact the landlord...oy.

I recently went through what turned out to be a two month process of ordering a new front door!  While all the steps were actually really smooth my dear house of 1912 doesn't like to make anything simple.  It was discovered that the front door is definitely wider than a standard front door therefore resulting in a special order which took 7 weeks!

But this journey has, hopefully, come to an end yesterday when I finally got the new door installed! I only documented the end result which I now regret because about three hours into a 6 hour process I had a moment of panic.  I looked over and there was plaster all over the floor, gaping holes, exposed inside walls and ripped frame on the outside!  I'm not sure what I thought would happen but it was more shocking than I thought.  I decided to do some deep breathing that my sister had taught me, trust the very capable quirky installer toiling away and have some faith.  In this case it was rewarded!

Ta da!  I now have a front door that does not put myself and my home on display which I'm sure the neighborhood appreciates because I still maintain my opinion that a person should not have to wear clothes in their own home!

Boston

Yesterday's events in Boston really shook me.  I have lots of people there, family and friends and everyone I knew was ok but there were lots of others who weren't.  The video and the panic shook me all the way on the other coast.

One image that started going around social media that made me really happy was this one:



This was incredibly true yesterday and it made my heart smile through the tears.

That happened

So I'm not a big Sing Along type of girl and they do seem to be becoming more and more popular, or at least present, in my life.  This weekend however, a sing along presented itself that I could not skip!

R. Kelly's Trapped In The Closet - A Sing Along!  I'm serious!  It was at The New Parkway and it was everything you imagine it could be, definitely a solid choice for my Saturday night and a solid 2 hours of my life.

If you are not aware of R. Kelly's hip hopera you should be.  According to Wikipedia there are currently 33 chapters with twists and turns that any soap opera would be jealous of.  See Chapter 1 below and if you can't stop the other chapters are there too!'

You're welcome!

Observations at Olive Garden

While definitely late to the game I went to Olive Garden for the first time in my life this past weekend.

There are many reasons this has not yet happened in my life, a few of which are:

1. My father has Celiac and so can't eat pasta, taking him to a restaurant where 90% of the menu is pasta based could be considered cruel and unusual by some.
2. I have always been a fat kid at heart, which concerned my parents, so I'm pretty sure there was a conscious effort to steer clear of any place that advertised "unlimited" anything.
3. Aversion to commercial marketing, I'm pretty sure that if they've seen it on a tv commercial my family assumes its not a place they want to be, whether that is driven by snobbery, dislike of crowds or just assumption that the commercial is lying about how good a restaurant is so it must be awful.

The result is the same - I was an Olive Garden virgin.

It's a lot to take in at once.  The "Italian" decor, the multitude of fake walls, the overly large bottles of wine... At the one we went to there was a wall that ended in the middle of a window...why?  The next shock was the menu, they are offering what I thought at first was a "deal" of buy one get one meals.  However, upon closer inspection there is no discount on the second meal, they are really just letting you know its ok if you want to order two whole meals!  That is some incredible marketing - establishing that this is something your customers may already do and instead of offering a discount just make it acceptable to keep doing what they already do.  Genius and it works!  There was a couple behind us who went home with 3 large doggy bags - for themselves!  I know this because they talked about it specifically being for themselves with their server.

There is just an immense amount of food being purchased and consumed at this place!  I am not a supporter of "California Cuisine" with an entree the size of a coaster but this is ridiculous. Even the after dinner coffee was enough to float you away!  We were just two people and thought we ordered a cup of coffee - and this is what we got, which only begs the question: If you are going to give two people this much coffee, how can you give them so little cream!?

So, I'm not sure I'll be returning to Olive Garden soon but it was definitely an experience I won't forget.

I'm back!

So it's been a tough few months and definitely a noted lack of blogging.

I may work on getting into some of the ish that's been going on but may just keep looking forward from here.

I'm feeling like myself again and feeling like, with the change of the seasons, I too am experiencing a spring of sorts, with new and perennial blooms!

I have started a new job!  We are at the start of the third week and while there is not quite a regular flow of work yet I do feel like I've been able to take in all that I've been given and the projects I have been working on feel good.  In addition I feel like I get to think again - I realize now that for the last year+ I have been on autopilot and was not engaging my brain in a way that I have truly missed.

Old friends - it has been the season of rekindled friendships, in the last two weeks I have had visits from friends from my Smithie days who I have not seen for over 5 years. Each visit reinforced what a special and unique place Smith was and how incredible the people I met there are.  They are friends who 5 years later you can pick up with and be happy around without skipping a beat.

Actual Spring!  There are incredible blooming trees and flowers and plants all over town and with that and the sun you can't help but smile!

Thanks for the break and happy to be back