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
  

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.

Changing It Up

Spring is in the air (or at least I hope it is) and I've been gearing up to do the annual spring closet purge and try to sort through the detritus I seem to gather. I have a bit of a hard time getting rid of stuff and always feel daunted with the piles of stuff that accumulate around me.

As I was trying to sort through stuff I realized I wanted some sort of change in my room. It came in the form of a new bedside lamp. I purchased a couple lit branches from the University Bookstore and put them in a vase I had. The pictures don't quite do the best job because I had to turn off the flash for the "after" shot, but hopefully you'll get the idea.

Before:

After:

This is What I Get

My office is extremely casual. We have a large concentration of computer engineers in our building and we don't share any common space with other businesses which makes it even more casual. I routinely see people walking around in sweatpants, there are even a few who walk around in socks or bare feet. If you dress up it breeds a level of suspicion. I been hounded with questions about it I am going out to interview just because I've worn a skirt.

I wear jeans to work quite a bit, but I also try to dress up a few times a week just so I stay in the practice of looking somewhat presentable. Today, however, it bit me in the butt. My boss comes into my office and comes to my side of the desk to see what I am wearing. She says, "Oh good, you're dressed up today." I immediately sense trouble. I am wearing black flats, black slacks, a gray and black striped sweater, and little pseudo blazer made of sweatshirt material from H&M. Apparently I now have to go to what I've sure will be a very painful meeting with a potential client and one of our sales guys because I wore something nice.

Tomorrow I am going to wear sweatpants!

Happiness

It's been a down couple weeks for me. After growing up in Seattle I thought I was immune to the winter blues, but I think working in a windowless office has finally done it to me. I went to the doctor and got a recommendation of a combination of vitamins to take and that seems to have helped a little bit. However, I have finally found something to cheer me up...


Griffey is coming back to Seattle! While I personally was always a little more smitten with Dave Valle (I met him at a fan forum when I was 7 or 8), I will always have a soft spot for Griffey and all the fond memories he provided for me and my family in the Kingdom. I especially loved seeing him play with his dad during the 1990-1991 season. I'm hoping this means the Mariners will be back in top form this season.