January 2004 Archives

What a wonderful day. We did go to the Sugarloaf craft show and we did go to the Air and Space Museum Annex.

Firstly, the craft show was big fun. I bought some fabulous soap from the Pretty Baby Soap Company. I love their soap and am very pleased. and I also picked up up some hand crafted pickles and BBQ sauce. Yum!

The A&SMA was amazing. Honestly, I don't know a bi-plane from a bottle rocket, but I was impressed. They have the Enterprise shuttle on display which was really impressive. It's a great facility and I KNOW we will be back.

Now it is time to make dinner and I am off to the store.

Wow, Friday ended up being a long day for both and I. Now we have exciting plans in big, beautiful, Chantilly VA. Ok, I have never been there and I actually imagine it isn't much of a town. However, that is where the National Air and Space Museum Annex and Sugar Loaf Craft Festival are so hence we shall go.

Tomorrow I have promised Mom some time. I don't know what we will do. Perhaps shop for Flounder's birthday present? We shall see. :)

Quote of the Day:
"There are only two ways to live your life. 
One is as though nothing is a miracle. 
The other is as if everything is."  
Albert Einstein

I have been sucked in by crap news today! My friends and I often play board games, and Taboo is one of my favorites! Thankfully, no one has ever pulled a gun during our games!

Tempers Flare During 'Taboo' Board Game

Please don't click this link if you have a weak tummy. I am not even sure why I am sharing this, but here you have it:

Dead Whale Explodes

First lets start off the day with a big WTF? Below are snippets of the article I found on the CNN site.

Headline: Georgia considers banning 'evolution'

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The state's school superintendent has proposed striking the word evolution from Georgia's science curriculum and replacing it with the phrase "biological changes over time."

Superintendent Kathy Cox said the concept of evolution would still be taught under the proposal, but the word would not be used. The proposal would not require schools to buy new textbooks omitting the word evolution and would not prevent teachers from using it.

Cox repeatedly referred to evolution as a "buzzword" Thursday and said the ban was proposed, in part, to alleviate pressure on teachers in socially conservative areas where parents object to its teaching.

Now, I am a Christian. Heck, I was once even a Southern Baptist, but this is crazy. Personally, I have doubts about how much we truly know about our evolutionary track, but I feel pretty confident that the creation story (as told in the Bible) is more a or less an outline for how life on our planet was formed. Regardless, I guess the kids of Georgia learning about theories beyond Creationism is a darn good thing...but are the parents of these kids really stupid enough to believe the schools aren't teaching evolution just because they aren't using that word to descride it?

So yesterday did I say I was going to clean up and make an action plan? In think I said something like that. I was very wrong. Once I finally returned home, I planted my butt in my big, red, comfy chair and watched TV. Then I moved to my bedroom and watched TV. I DID  put the clean sheets back on my bed. But really that was last nights major accomplishment. On the upside, I go lots of sleep, and arrived at work on time for the first time this week! Whoo Hoo!

Now it is time for work. I must buckle down and wrap up all of the loose ends that are waving around my desk. But when the day is over I have the bliss of the weekend with no commitments to look forward to! :)

Quote for the Day:
Whatever you can do, or dream you can . . . begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.
- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

No more pitty party for me. Thanks to my wonder friend S for reminding me of what I have accomplished. *hugs* Instead of moping, I am moving on to the next stage: Planning.

It has often been said that I am great at making grand schemes and crap at following through. I am sad to say that this is a correct assesment of my M.O. Regardlless, I will take tonight to brain storm, create a plan and break it into tiny mini steps I can handle. Oh yeah, and I will clean my bedroom. :)

Finally, I have dug out my car. Which mean sleeping in my bed tonight. It's about time, I was pushing the three week mark.

In less dramatic (yet exciting) news, I beat the 500 point mark in the Whack the Penguin game! 574.3 I believe. Haha! Triumph!

Quote of the Day:
"If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."   Vincent Van Gogh

Ok, I still haven't gone home. I did however have a wonderful dinner at P.F. Changs. Big Yum! I also did a little window shopping with . He was very patient while I petted the beautiful Valencia bed and Laurel desk at Pottery Barn. Oh, how I love them! I am taking donations for the desk by the way. ;) I also got to point to pretty sparklies in the jeweler's window -- always fun. Anyway, despite my off-kilter mood I managed to enjoy myself. We also had a little fun when my dear BF left his Debit Card in the restaurant. It was reminiscent of our first date...though this time we found the card safe and sound.

Though I have relaxed a bit since this afternoon, I still feel a cloud of unease hanging over me. Looking around me, I wonder what I have really accomplished. Perhaps a quarter century crisis? I catch my self projecting down the road to my ideal vision -- I am 30, health, svelte, financially secure, doing a job I love that I have been educated to do it. What have I been doing to work towards those goals? A big fat ZERO. So tonight I am having a quiet little pity party, feeling like a rather large failure and not liking myself so much at the moment.

I think I will go get a hug.

I went on a walk around the office. My firm holds 4 floors (plus 2 half floors) of the building I work in. I just did one lap around each continuous floor, taking the stairs down between floors. This little lunch time jaunt gave me another 1731 steps! I do believe I have found a good way to get exercise without leaving the building, subjecting myself to the elements or spending any money. Whoo Hoo! As long I keep a comfy pair of shoes under my desk, and I will be set.

Now here is the real news. For months, I have been talking about going back to school. The first step was finding a program that works with learning disabled adults (that's me!). Specifically, I needed an organization that did educational evaluation and remedial ramp-up classes. I have been out of the educational fray for such a long time and I was so unprepared for college after HS that I want to make sure I have all of the resources lined up that I will need to get it right this time. I had heard of The Lab School when I was kicking around the idea of going back to school in the past, but had forgotten the name. Now that I have found it again, I have a couple problems. Money is one of them, but I figure if this is something I REALLY want, I will find the money. My greater issue is fear. When I went to the Lab School website and realized it was the place I was looking for, a shot of fear rippled through my body. Now that I have the resources I was (rather half-heartedly) looking for, I am out of excuses. I no longer have a viable reason for living with the status quo. I am completely freaked out. Alarms are buzzing and the bells of failure are going off.  Rationally, I know it will be a challenge, but nothing I can't handle. However, the rational part of my brain is not winning out here.

So sue me! Gotta tell you, standing out in the freezing rain and sleet is not my idea of a good time. So as you can imagine, my car is still under snow and I took the boyfriend shuttle into work again today.

Meanwhile, I am feeling a little disjointed. I think it is due to all the disorganization around me. I am still dedicated to getting everything together (read: my life) by February. TPS is canceled tonight, so I should have plenty of time tonight (after I dig out my car and get home that is) to pull myself together.

Here is a fabulous new time waster : Whack the Penquin
http://meph.eu.org/

Quote of the Day:
When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don’t blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument.

That is my experience.

No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding.

If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

The office is closing early today because of the "winter mix" on it's way. Granted the nasty weather may mean I don't head home tonight after all (since my car is in G-town)...but we shall see.

Maybe I will get back in time for Oprah!

I was commuting in with this morning when I realized, I wasn't sure when I had last slept in my own bed. The last few days I have been hiding out at Flounder's place and taking the boyfriend shuttle to work. Very nice. :) Before that though I was away at the beach, and I spent sometime at  Mom's the weekend before...it has probably been 2 weeks since I have slept in my own bed. It is calling to me. It's such a wonderful soft, tall bed too! Tonight! I will return home. Heck if I am feeling energetic, I might even clean up, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. The thing is, since havn't been home, chances are I have no food. I know for sure my bedroom is a disaster area. I think it is time to set things right. Therefore, I hereby declare I will have my bedroom (and subsequently, my life) back in order before the beginning of February!  I will report back on my progress.

In other news, I have found a program I have been looking for on and on for a few weeks. It is a recipe program that organizes one's recipies. The feature that is most important to me however is the nutrition listing. When you enter a recipe, it will analyze the contents and give you all the nutritional info. Fab! I am starting to cook more often, and getting more concerned about my waistline by the nano-second. Maybe this will help? We shall see!

Quote of the Day:
Your work is to discover your world 
and then with all your heart give yourself to it.  

The Buddha

It is SO cold in the office today. Not only is it f-ing cold outside, the ground is slushy with snow. I would guess we got about 6 inches of the fluffy stuff last night. Of course tonight we will be getting freezing rain and sleet. Whoo Hoo!

Where will you find me tonight? On couch, under a blanket, wearing every piece of clothing I own, shivering.

Here is a news story I never expected to see!
Papal blessing for break-dancers

Quote of the Day:
To be nobody-but-yourself -- in a world which is doing its best night and day, to make you everybody else--means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting.
e. e. cummings

I am back from my girls weekend at the beach. We stayed at my roommate KT's family vacation home -- always a pleasure! We shopped ($8 workout pants, $20 bra and new sunglasses for me!) our way around the outlet malls around Rehobeth, DE, enjoying the lack of sales tax. We ate more than was good for us, including fabulous Mexican at Tequila Mockingbird and crepes at the Bayside Skillet this morning. Of course there was the requisite mocking each other (always with love of course!), gossiping about those who weren't with us and, well, girly talk. You know, relationship stuff, sex stuff, work stuff, fashion stuff and everything else women chat about when there men are gone.

The fun level was ratched up a few notches once the drinks started flowing. There were some really choice moment worth recalling -- such as when Signe and J.Wo decided what they really needed in the deserted beach town at 11:00 at night was cake, cookies or brownies. Any of the three would do! Of course none of use were in any shape to drive and there was no one open at that time of night. So very sad.

The incident culminated when a box of low-fat blueberry muffin mix (from 1997) was found the pantry. Needing only water to create the batter, we stupidly thought it was worth a go, despite the fact that we had no muffin tins. Before you knew it we had a strange blueberry pancake coming out of the oven. Signe insisted on eating it despite the fact that it was disgustingly stale. Oh, how we laughed! It was about this time that I called . What a wonderful and tolerant man he is. He listened to 5 women (primarily me) cackle into the phone for a while because we were a giggly group. Someone had the bright idea that Flounder should bring us eggs so that we could make the brownie mix we found in the pantry with muffin mix. I refused to make such a insane request for a while and finally gave in after much badgering and too much booze. To his credit, he declined to grant our request. I think it was rather reasonable of him considering it would have meant a 3 hour drive in the middle of the night.

Anyway, enough of our drunken fun. It all boils down to one thing -- I love spending time with my girls! Cheers ladies!

And right now? It's snowing! We are looking forward to 4-7 inches by this morning and I am praying for a good reason not go to work in the morning, perhaps my prayers will be answered! See current traffic conditions with area traffic cameras here!

Now time for bed!

Quote of the Day:
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus

Granted it wasn't the first time NPR had me crying at the wheel. Last night the story about the underfunded, understaffed, problem ridden state of the NJ Child Welfare System really upset me. I have always thought adoption is something I would like to do (why make more babies when there are so many out there who are need love?) but this story really got me considering being a foster parent someday. It wouldn't be something I would undertake lightly, and only after having several years of parenting under my belt and assuming I wasn't parenting alone, there would need to be spousal support....

It just drives me nuts knowing that there are so many kids out there who bounce from house to house with no stability and no family.

Here is the audio transcript of the story from last night:
http://www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1612376

Here is a story that CNN covered which helped bring the issue to the forefront:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/US/Northeast/10/27/neglected.brothers/index.html

Quote of the Day:
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all.  Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle.
The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours
Ayn Rand

The Takoma Park Singers have begun rehearsing for the spring concert season. The theme is for our spring concerts will be Singing. I a little trite I must say....but whatever.  I am very excited about a beautiful piece we started working on last night. I Have Had Singing is a modern choral piece based on a poem written by a man in rural England. There is a cool back story  I am going to try to find out more about. Below is the text of the poem. I have not heard such a moving and stirring piece of choral music in a long time and I really just hope we do it justice!

"The singing, oh the singing,
there was always so much singing then,
and that was my pleasure too.
Oh, we all sang!
The boys in the fields...
the chapels were full of singing.
Now here I lie,
I have had pleasures enough.
I have had singing.
I have had singing."

Fred Mitchell at age 85
(an English Horseman)

Also, I am very please to be taking off for a girls weekend at the beach on Friday! It seems I have been missed out on the last few trips so I had to make sure to go on this one. I will be eating bad food, spending to much money and in general enjoying the girlienss of it all!

Quote of the Day:
"Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content."
Helen Keller

I love Andy Serkis and am endlessly fascinated with his performance in LotR.

Thusly, I MUST HAVE!

10. When you speak kno won no's you cantt spel, on paper they can. Did you know that one can compose in Word -SPELL CHECK- then cut & Paste? Try not to be too stupid all at once.

9. "My friends dared me." No they didn't. You're lonely. Don't tell the truth, makes people uncomfortable. No need to disemble though - we know - it's ok.

8. "Friends first, then...." Some people know how to be coy on paper. You don't. Let's just assume that if we like each other we'll have sex.

 7. "I love to: laugh, cuddle, walk on the beach," etc... As do we all dear. No one ever says that they would rather stay in their one room wallk-up and grumble.

6. Guys, even if there's no dating range and they're "just looking for a friend," if they're 18-25 and you're 37 & up they don't mean you.

5. Women, "Few extra lbs. but working on it." Duh duh duh duh DUH. We know; for g-ds sake. Don't state the obvious.

4. Men, don't check the squares just because you can. You may LIKE rock climbing or sky diving but that doesn't mean that you DO these things. Be honest. And don't check the "likes to dance" box if that means just at weddings and reunions. It's just mean.

3. Gals, if the header says "Looking for soulmate and life-long best friend" but your "Ideal Mate" must have an income between $100,000 - $200,000.00 a year, well, I fit the bill but sorry I can't write as I'm too busy coughing up hairballs at your crass crude American standards. "OH Heathcliff, I will love you forever, no matter what; as soon as you get your MBA!"

2. Girls, please don't use a Glamour Shot. Guys, please use a current photo - no one cares how you looked in college.

1. If you can't do any of the above, at least be funny. If you want to see an example let me know. I'll send you the link to mine. It's funny, really, and my frends just dared me to, not that I'm lonely or ANYTHING, really, I swear.

For more funny...

Number of steps taken yesterday? 7,245. Pretty good. I really wish it were warmer though. Given how blustery and firgid it has been, I can't even pretend I might do some extra walking in the evening to increase my steps. There was a time when I would get off the metro one stop early on my commute in the evening and walk home. This wasn't bad when if wasn't pitch black by 5:00. It's true, I do have a free gym in  my apartment complex and in theory I could go walk on the treadmill there. It just isn't a very nice place.

Yep, I am chocked full of excuse not to do the things that are best for me. On a positive note I did go to the dermatologist this morning and get a perscription for my poor itchy scalp. Reptile skin no more!

Quote of the Day:
What is man?
Hope turned to dust.
No.
What is man?
Dust turned to hope.
Elie Weisel                                                                                                               

There are many wonderful things about winter. Snowflakes, sweaters, hot chocolate. If I was outdoorsie, I might like winter sports -- as it is ice skating hurts my ankles. Both Christmas and Valentines day are nice.

There are many really good reasons to hate winter as well.

1. Ice - Specifically the black kind. Here in MD we get lots of ice and not so much snow. It is very dangerous and only a little bit pretty.

2. Reptile skin - All the moisture is sucked out of my skin, especially my lips and I instantly become untouchable. Stay away!

3. Cold - It is so freaking cold, going outside is a hardship. Perhaps this is a bit of an exageration. There are days that are perfectly tollerable. But then there are days when the wind whips up (like today!) and you wish you were dead as you skurry from car to house. Why not run? Because you are likely to slip on the evil black ice.

I am sure I could come up woth other things to hate, but really I am too lazy. Instead will give you the daily quote and bother you no further.

Quote of the Day:
"Live your beliefs and you can turn the world around."
Henry David Thoreau

Who would have thunk it? I did love My Little Ponies -- I even had the Dream Castle!

You are Apple Jack from My Little Ponies! You love
fantasy and like to get lost in totally
unrealistic adventures. In the end, though,
you're all about goodness and truth and
partying at the Dream Castle with loads of good
(multicolored) friends.


Which Forgotten 80s Cartoon Character Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

In other news...not related to toys of the 80s. Flounder surprised me with suggestions for agrand Valentines Day mini-break, just when I thought we would be laying low. I REALLY should have known better. After much searching, we settled on a long weekend in Williamsburg VA. I am sure we will have a romantic getaway to remember. :)

Meanwhile I am not feeling so hot. I think an early evening for me. What's the best part of a long weekend? A short week!

Quote of the Day:
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It's Monday and I am not at work. I can't tell you how you how excited that makes me.

Keep in mind, when I say good I am not referring to the weather. It was quite cold Friday night, a bit warmer yesterday, but still chilly enough for about an inch of show to fall over night. Today of course the cold dripping rain. Fun.

Enough about the weather. The weekend really started when I hopped on the Metro to go collect from National Airport. She had tried for a few hours to get ahold of , finding only me. The original plan was for Flounder to pick J up from the airport that evening, however J was all but forced onto an earlier flight. After waiting patiently for a few hours, unable to raise Flounder on his cell phone she called me. Thanks to the magic of Blackberry the three of us managed to create a plan. Once we were all reunited, a lovely dinner was had (thanks J!) and I was introduced to a wonderful wine I had never before tried.

Saturday meant time with Mom and Ikea! It was time to trade in the extremely flimsy TV stand and small bookshelf for something a bit more substantial. It took a few hours but I managed to put the three new pieces together and I have to say my Mi Mama's family room is all the lovelier.

With my furniture duties completed I moved on to having a late lunch with Condorman today. It was very lovely to be able hear about his girlfriend (now that they have 6 months under their belts) and catch up since Christmas. Good times. Must do that more often.

I would like to say a big old THANK YOU to MLK today. He made our world a better place, and lent a voice of reason in the darkness. I will celebrate the day names in his honor by not working and reflecting on the importance of equal rights -- and of course spending time with my fab Flounder.

Quote of the Day:
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)

This has been floating around the web for awhile, but it still cracks me up!

http://ww12.e-tractions.com/snowglobe/globe.htm

Good God is it cold! True to my word, I Metroed in this morning when all I wanted to do was ride in the cozy car. Apparently cashmere lined leather gloves are no match for single digit wind chills! Damn am I glad I am not in New England today, I wouldn't be able to take it.

In other news Hurrah! for a visit from . She will be wisking away for the weekend. This leaves me with hot plans for furniture shopping with Mi Mama, possible plans with good friend Condorman. TGIF!

Quote of the Day:
"Look within! ... The secret is inside you."
Hui-neng

After walking to and from the Metro and around the office today I logged over 7,000 steps. Not too shabby! :)

I can't believe I forgot to include this earlier! This is a little piece of maddness a friend sent my yesterday.

http://www.badgerbadgerbadger.com

Last Friday I bought a pedometer. I have recent read articles in both Real Simple and Oprah (the magazine) about how an active person should be taking 8,000-10,000 steps a day. Since I am working on new fitness goals for 2004, I thought this would be a simple place to start -- walk more. Well, yesterday I strapped the thing on and found that during my work day I walked less than 2,200 steps. No good. Then today I found I had walked 2,100 steps before I even arrived at the office. What's the dif? you ask. Yesterday, I drove to work. Today, walked to the Metro and road in. There is good news and bad news here.

Good news: I can increase my activity easily without a giant time suck, and save money at the same time. Parking in DC is expensive, parking at home is free. Healthy + Rich = Good

Bad news: I can't be lazy and ride along in my temperature controled car everyday. Plus I may have to wake up a little earlier to make sure I am at work on time when taking the train -- especially on G-town days. Tired + Cold = Sad

So,  I resolve to drive to work no more than one day a week. Let's see how it goes.

Quote of the day:
"It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are."
e. e. cummings

This morning I am waging war on my desk. I have never claimed to be an organized person. On the contrary it takes far too much mental energy to keep my life in order. That said, my desk in the office is a disaster. But today is the day when that will change. By the end of the day it will be cleaned, organized and running in ship shape. Maybe I will even be able to keep it that way until Friday. Wish me luck as I dive into the brink.

Quote of the Day:
If I keep a green bough in my heart, the singing bird will come.
Chinese Proverb

I have been sucked in! After months of reading other peoples journals, specifically that of my wonderful boyfriend , I have finally given in. Perhaps I was feeling left out. Regardless, I now have an a very important question to answer... what do I have to say? I think I will start with a wonderful quote I found today:

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good." 

Author Unknown but much appreciated!

In general I am a sap, but I especially sappy when it comes to inspirational crap. For more inspirational crap see www.inspirationalpeak.com.

With that I will signoff. Thanks for your kind attention.