Monday, March 23, 2009

Friday, March 20, 2009

This is What is Not

My division at work has a new leader who decided to start a 'fun committee.' The group will be responsible for planning events, volunteer activities, and building team spirit and community. I thought it was a cool idea, even if the name was lame, and signed up. We had our first meeting yesterday. I can confirm one thing after the meeting, having a two page agenda with time allocations for each item is not really my idea of fun.

Thursday, March 19, 2009

It could have been a great beginning.


Yesterday I was excited to learn that Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett is being made into a movie. I told my boss how cute the trailer was and she paused and said, "Great title, but I have no idea what you are talking about." I was sad because she has a little one and I decided that it's a book he needs to grow up with. So last night I went to remedy it.

I went to Half Price Books on Capitol Hill and poked around the kids book section for a while until I realized I had no idea who the author or any hope of finding it. I went to the front desk and asked the very cute guy working at the desk for the author. I said the title and he gave me a surprised look. I said, "It's a kid's book." He said, "No, I know! I was just thinking I should know the author, I totally remember that book!" I explained to him why I looking for the book at 10:00pm on a Wednesday, which I'm sure made me look even weirder. After I got the author I wandered back to the section and found one copy. I sat on the floor and read the book cover to cover, reveling in the story of the people of Chewandswallow. I then walked by the front desk as I was going to the lower level to look in the adult books.

As I walked by the desk, the previously mentioned cute guy said, "Oh, did you not find it?" I said, "No, I found it. I was just reading it. It was still good." He smiled. I asked him if he wanted to read it while I looked downstairs. He looked a little hesitant, I said, "You know you want to*." He said, "Yes, I do." When I got back upstairs he was changing shifts at the front desk, but telling the guy taking over for him to make sure to give the book back to me. He thanked me for sharing the book. Sadly, this ends my tale, but as Carrie Bradshaw would say, "I couldn't help but wonder..."

* Author's note: Clearly reading a book from the 1980's transported me back to my elementary school manners. I should have just pinched him and ran away.

This is What I Actually Love

Recently one of my co-workers accused me of being a hater (in an over the top sort of way). As many people around the office started to weigh in on my the things I abhor I started to think about all the stuff I like. This evening I found myself digging through some old boxes to find my happy thoughts list. My friends and I all started making list in eight grade when 14,000 Things to Be Happy About: The Happy Book was really popular.

Here are some excerpts from my personal list, most of which was written in 8th & 9th grade, but I still agree with:
  • leaves changing color
  • Q cards
  • thunderstorms
  • soccer
  • snow near Christmas
  • ... and they lived happily ever after. The End
  • cherry trees in bloom
  • otters
  • tea time
  • the smell of summer rain
  • vegetable gardens
  • soft wool socks
  • frost
  • coffee
  • getting mail
  • skeeball
  • hedgehogs
  • clothes fresh out of the dryer
  • valentines
  • fro yo
  • sidewalk chalk
  • art classes
  • phone calls from friends just to say hello
  • fresh mint
  • weekends
  • Queen Anne's lace
  • family
  • yoga
  • waking up in the middle of the night to the sound of rain
  • Mariner's 1995 season
  • road trips
  • the Garden of the Gods
  • Westminster Chimes
  • freesia
  • secret compartments
  • saving the best for last
  • giving people presents
  • the edge of sleep
  • scarves
  • taking pictures
  • friends
  • snorkeling
  • mix tapes
  • home

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Ab Time

I joined a new gym three weeks ago and yesterday while I was there I decided to look at the class schedule to see if there was a class I wanted to attend. This comes with the caveat that I have an intense fear of any aerobics type class. I have no rhythm and find that these classes provide much more stress that they are worth for me. By the time I finally get the hang of any move the class has invariably moved on to the next step and it's always awful to be watching yourself in a mirror and see you are the one always the one person on the opposite beat of everyone else.

On the class schedule there was a 25 minute class entitled "Awesome Abs." I figured that this class wouldn't have any aerobics or dance moves I could screw up and if it did I could handle 25 minutes of humiliation if I was on the road to "awesome abs."
I showed up at the class which is held on the gym's basketball court, I looked all around and couldn't figure out who the instructor was going to be so I asked one of the students what I needed for the class. She told me I'd need a mat, step, barbell, band and hand weights. The class started and about 15 minutes into the class we had only used the mat. I thought it was a little odd. What I did not know was that "Awesome Abs" leads directly into "NRC Bar." I still don't know what NRC stands for, but what I do know that it was an hour long class full of crazy aerobic moves while you are holding a barbell, hand weights or jumping on and off a step.

The best part was that I got a barbell without really knowing what I was going to be using it for, thinking that in a 25 minute ab class I could go for a heavier barbell. This was a big mistake. I also have terrible balance which made the whole experience even more interesting. In the end, I couldn't help but just laugh at myself and enjoy my totally uncoordinated workout.