Inane Chatter

I feel somewhat down today.  I’ve been trying to figure out why.  I’m sure it’s partly because John has been sick.  It’s hard for me to feel upbeat when John is miserable.  And because he’s been sick, he hasn’t been at work, and the office atmosphere is different.  I haven’t been running.  I have all kinds of excuses (temps in the teens, sleepless nights ’cause John is sleepless, rain this morning), but it still boils down to not running.  I feel better when I run regularly, and I haven’t been doing that for a while.  I also haven’t been watching my eating as much.  I need to get back to my good habits from the summer.  That combination (no running, not being careful about eating) has one MAJOR consequence for me.  I have put somewhere between 5 and 7 pounds back on.  Yeah, I know that’s not really a lot, but it means the scale is going in the wrong direction!

I behaved myself at breakfast and lunch today, but those are usually not my problem meals.  It’s dinner.  It’s always dinner.  But I’m going to Subway tonight so I can be good.  6″ turkey on wheat with spicy mustard and green peppers.  It’s calling out my name.

I can do this.

John is braving the great outdoors to go to class tonight.  He met Greg before class to work out some issues with their project, so hopefully he won’t have to stay late.  He was considering skipping class, but I know he feels like he needs the review. He told me this morning that he felt like he’d been beat up.  I don’t think he really improved much today.  So he’ll stay home again tomorrow.

This morning was kind of a disaster.  Last night, when John decided he was probably staying home today, he said he didn’t think he had a shift, but he wasn’t sure.  I told him that I had looked at the schedule (I did, I swear) and that he definitely didn’t have a shift, but I would doublecheck.  Then I forgot to doublecheck.  So naturally, shortly after I left the house this morning,  I got a phone call from Dan (coworker) wondering where John was.  Apparently, he had the morning email shift.  Oops.  It’s so unusual for him to have the morning shift!  I covered it for him, but he’s still kind of in the doghouse with the boss since it’s really bad form to skip out on a shift without arranging for someone to cover.  I tried to take full responsibility for it by explaining to our boss how I essentially (but unknowingly) lied to him last night.  It may have helped.  Not sure.

People in toothpaste and mouthwash commercials have the whitest teeth.  Totally unrealistic.  How many people do you know with really white teeth?

I’m watching a dumb movie.  Just because it’s on TV.  I just can’t help it.  I mean, if there was a show on that  I liked, I would watch that instead.  But even Law & Order has abandoned me.  And I think my Tuesday night shows are done until after the New Year.  What movie am I watching?  Ten Things I Hate About You. No, wait, I actually like that movie.  It’s that other movie with the number 10 in it.  How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. Not a good movie.  But Kate Hudson is likable (in other movies), and Matthew McConaughey is nice to look at (in all movies).  The movie is near the end, and I’m supposed to feel sorry for her?  She did every annoying thing she could think of to make the guy dump her, and then her feelings are hurt when she finds out he didn’t really care about her?  Please.  Except, of course, they both fell in love while during the hellish week they spent together.  Whatever.  And yet, I’m watching it.

It’s over.  I feel dumber.

Seriously, today seems to be taking forever.  I have work to do, but I haven’t been able to do it because I got sidetracked by other work that I really don’t want to do.  But it has to come first.  So delaying the work I don’t want to do is delaying the work I really should be doing.  Notice I didn’t say that the work I don’t want to do is delaying the work I do want to do.  That just doesn’t exist.    Well, I’m sure it does, just not at this job.

Okay, the work I didn’t want to do is done.  Now I have to do the other stuff.

Work today was kinda hard (one person missing) and kinda normal.  Which made it weird.  I spent the day getting up to speed on the project our missing person had been working on so I can take over as lead.  I was the lead on it last year, so it wasn’t that hard, but I’ve been completely unplugged from that whole project for more than two months, so it’s a bit of a shock to shift over to that way of thinking all of a sudden.  We start testing tomorrow.  It’s going to be busy, but in a tedious way, not a time-flies way.

John didn’t go to work today and probably won’t go tomorrow.  He has a sore throat.  Painful.  He couldn’t sleep much last night.  I got up to find the cough medicine and get him more water around 3:30.  And let the dogs out.  They go nuts if we come downstairs in the middle of the night.  He went to the doctor this morning.  He doesn’t have strep, but he does have a sinus infection, and they prescribed him cough medicine with codeine.  So he’ll sleep well tonight.    He was supposed to rest all day, but he didn’t really.  He was home and on the couch all day, but he was messing with his laptop (linux problems) most of the time.  Hopefully he’ll rest more tomorrow.

How’s that for enthusiasm?  I went to the outlet mall today to finally shop for my boots.  I bought boots.    I went to Naturalizer first, and they were having INCREDIBLE sales.  Have you ever bought a pair of knee-high boots for $40?  I have.    But I didn’t buy them immediately.  I asked them to hold a pair of black boots for me.  I checked out Easy Spirit and Nine West (nothing I liked) and then went to Clarks-Bostonian.  I couldn’t decide if I wanted to buy black or brown boots (I have more stuff that goes with black boots, but that sweater dress I bought would look great with brown), so I was just checking everything out.  Clarks had the most perfect, most comfortable (of course) pair of black boots.  On sale naturally, because everything’s on sale right now.  So I bought them.  Then I went back to Naturalizer because I wanted those $40 boots in brown.  They didn’t have them in brown in my size!  Boo!  But the salespeople told me I could order them, same price, and have them delivered at home.    So I will get them in a week or so.  I’m so very happy.    Now I want more clothes to go with my awesome boots.

We went to Melodee Music (in Sterling) and went directly to the drum section.  They had four electronic drumsets set up, but they were roped off with a sign saying to ask for help.  We didn’t have go very far, though, before a store employee showed up.  VERY helpful.  If he works on commission at all, I can see why.  The cheapest drumset (which is apparently for beginners or kids) is on sale for $800.  The two he demonstrated for us (and then let us play) were the upper two, on sale for $2000 and $3600.  That shouldn’t count as “on sale”.  But whatever – they were both REALLY cool and lots of fun to play.  We played Roland sets.  There are plenty of other companies making these, but I haven’t done any research to find out how much they go for and who makes the best ones.  I really haven’t done any research at all.  And because of the price for the upper level models (the ones with the most flexibility, the ones both John and I would prefer to have), this will be a future purchase.  But it’s so cool.    They have presets so you can change the sound of the entire set or of each pad individually.  The bigger ones have room to add on pieces, and because it’s electronic, you can plug the whole thing into a computer, so John could use it for his studio.

We finished playing around on the drums and John found a guitar to try out.  He wasn’t really crazy about it, but he says that may have been because of the amp he was playing through.  Also, the strings were too thin (lightweight, maybe?) or something.  I was sitting on a stool in the same room, half-listening, half-daydreaming.  I have no idea now what I was thinking about, but I was entertaining myself.  Apparently, I looked bored out of my mind, so John decided one guitar was enough to try today and said we could leave.  I didn’t realize he did that for me until we were most of the way home, though.  I just thought he was done.  I didn’t mean to look bored.  I was just deep in thought.  Honest. 

We’re settling in for the night with a fire, a movie, and dinner.  And for the record, I did run today.

John and I were just discussing where we might need to go to get some shopping today, when we realized (duh) that we really can do all of this online.  So then we decided not to go.  Until John realized that Melodee Music is open and they have this guitar he was thinking about and he wants to play it.  And I can mess around on an electronic drumset.  So we ARE going out.

35°  Look!  The degree symbol!  I had to paste it in from Word.  Jess – go to Insert, Symbol, and then at the bottom of the Symbol box, type 0176 in the Character Code field and choose ASCII (decimal) from the dropdown menu in the next field.  So you can insert it in to the Word doc and paste it into your blog post.  There’s supposed to be a keyboard shortcut (CTRL 0176), but it can only be used on the keypad, and I don’t have one on my laptop.  (At least, that’s why I think it’s not working for me.)

Today started out boring and got…not boring.  Interesting.  But not the good kind of interesting.

I ran this morning (just two miles with the dogs) and it was cold enough that I could try out my new winter running clothes.  All that moisture-wicking stuff.  Worked great!  Well, I don’t know about the wicking, but it was an effective extra layer.  I wasn’t really cold.  Okay, review’s over.

Now for the not-boring part.

One of our friends at work got fired laid off today.  He didn’t get any notice.  It was one of those Friday afternoon bombshells.  John found out when he asked for boxes so he could pack up his office.  The last time our boss laid people off, she gave them two weeks.  That was over a year ago, when the economy was much stronger.  And that is just one of the many things that bother us about this whole thing.  I was about to list other things, but because I’m deliberately being vague about this, the list lacks substance.

Our boss came to each of the rest of us to tell us what happened and to reassure us that our jobs are safe.  It’s hard to believe that.  We’re not really worried, exactly, but it’s better to be prepared.  I’m pretty confident that we’ll have jobs at least through the rest of the fiscal year.

Anyway, John is outright angry.  It’s going to be an interesting weekend.  But thankfully, it IS the weekend.  In some ways, this has been a long week (TWO dentist appointments!), and in others, it’s gone pretty quickly.  No matter how I look at it, though, I’m tired.  We don’t have any major plans – well, I don’t.  John is meeting his project group Sunday morning.  I would like to get some holiday shopping done, although we’ll probably be scaling back on that, compared to other years.

I feel like we should be more careful (financially) that we’re being right now.  We’re not in any trouble, but SO many other people are that I think we should just be, well, more careful.  Who knows what could happen?  Especially after today.  So I’m thinking the big present idea I had for John might be off the table this year.  And if he’s planning on spending a lot on me, I’ll try to talk him out of it.  I’m worried about the what-ifs.  (Because I always have to have something to worry about.  Just ask John.  Or Mom.  It’s just that money isn’t usually it.  And it isn’t even it right now.  I feel like I should be worried about it.  So I am.)

I’m still going to have a nice weekend.  The no-major-plans part will help a lot.  I can just relax while John works on his project.  I can clean up our bedroom (which looks like a hurricane struck), maybe finally clean out the closets (although that might be too ambitious for this weekend), read, listen to the new Christmas albums that just got delivered, RUN – I have to run.  I keep saying that, but that’s only because I really mean it.

John and I ordered Chinese food tonight because his throat is starting to get scratchy and he wanted wonton soup (Mom, did you catch that?  He wanted SOUP(!) for his sore throat.).  We watched an episode of Rescue Me, and then his mom called.  They’re discussing the best way to crop our winning family picture, I’m assuming for Christmas cards.  Or maybe just to go in Christmas cards.  And that reminds me.  Last year, John and I sent holiday cards.  Actually, we made two lists.  One list was cards for me to send, and one was for him.  John never did get around to sending any on his list.  I sent all of mine, but here’s the problem: I didn’t keep the list.  I don’t know who I sent cards to last year.  I know some of them, but I’m sure I can’t remember all of them.  Here’s a thought.  If I sent you a holiday card last year, send me your address again.    I can’t believe I didn’t keep the list.  I can only think of seven or eight that I’m sure I sent.  And I’m sure I sent more than that.  So….if you don’t get a card from me this year, and you got one last year, I’m sorry.  I’m not snubbing you.  If you didn’t get a card from me last year, then yes, I am snubbing you. 

I ran this morning!  It feels like more of an accomplishment than it should.  I mean, I should be running almost every day, so the fact that I ran this morning shouldn’t feel so momentous.  I need to get back into the habit.  Whatever, I still did good.  I ran three miles today, no walking.  Usually, when I’ve taken this much time off, I have to add a couple of short stretches of walking.  Except for about a week’s worth of slow 2-mile jaunts with the dogs and two 3-mile workouts by myself (including today’s), the only running I’ve done in the last few weeks has been the races (three in November).  I’ve been lazy since the end of October.  I just reread that list of what I’ve done and it doesn’t come across as all that lazy, but to put it another way, I’ve gone running about 12 times in 6 weeks.  I should have gone running about 30 times (5 days a week, 6 weeks).

With colder weather coming, though, I’ll need to change my routine.  I should do that anyway.  Add strength training, something like that.

Well, I have to get ready to go.  Dentist appointment today (left side deep cleaning!  Woo!) and then work.  Exciting stuff.

I had the morning shift at work today (meaning I had to be there by 8am, instead of my normal 9:30 to 10).  I spent most of the day really annoyed.  It messed with my schedule (no snoozing, no running) and it was just TOO EARLY.  My perspective changed when 4 o’clock rolled around and I could go home. 

I’m forcing myself to write something.  I said I would post every day.  (Yes, I know I’ve already broken that rule, but I didn’t do it on purpose.)  I guess I could post what I have, but that feels like not enough.  On the other hand, whatever crap I’m writing right now won’t be much fun for anyone to read.  Of course, I didn’t promise quality stuff when I started this blog.  So if I’m boring you, feel free to skip this post.

I think we need to replace our thermostat.  It says it’s 70 degrees in the house, but I’m shivering.

I’m watching Happy Feet and deciding that I’m not all that crazy about it.  I like the tapdancing and I like the singing (and I like the penguin sidekicks), but the plot starts out kinda stupid and then just gets weird.

Okay, I think I’m done babbling about nothing.  I can’t even call that babbling.  That’s just filling space.  Sorry, guys.  Nothing much happened today.  I’m going to have some hot chocolate and read my book for a while and go to bed early.  I HAVE to run tomorrow morning.  Have to, have to, have to.  And then go to the dentist.  Again.  I’m just really tired and that doesn’t lead to writing.  I’m sure I’ll feel better, more alert, once I start running regularly again.  I’ve been really bad about it lately, 5Ks aside.

The results for the Thanksgiving Day Ashburn 5K were finally posted.  According to the official results (and considering the issues at the finish line, I have no idea how they measured this), I finished in 30:29.  Not terrible, but not below 30 minutes.  However.  These are results I don’t trust, don’t believe at all.  The problem is that I really have no way of estimating what my actual time was.  At the very least, I think I beat 30 minutes (in reality, in actual time) because it was about 20 seconds before I passed the start line and I was delayed for a while (definitely more than 10 seconds) at the finish line because of the line of runners backed up from the chute.  So I think I can comfortably tell myself I beat 30, without knowing my actual time.  I’m considering running with a watch in the future, and tracking my own time.  On the other hand, am I really that anal?  (Shut up, people.)  I’m not qualifying for anything, I’m not training for anything.  I’m running for weight loss and overall health.  I can be mildly competitive and not go overboard.  Right?  We’ll see.

It’s also possible that I didn’t beat 30 minutes.  I’ll never know.  So you know what?  No more obsessing.  About this race. 

…where “super cool” means funny in a musically geeky kind of way.  Oh, and really awesome.  The concert was great.  And it was a total surprise.  I didn’t even know they were in town.  By Friday I knew something was happening on Monday, but I had no idea what.  I got a call from my dentist’s office while we were driving to PA on Friday.  They wanted to know if I could move one of my appointments to Monday afternoon.  I was already telling them I couldn’t (because of work), when I noticed that John was saying that I definitely could not go to the dentist Monday afternoon.  Naturally (once I was off the phone), I wanted to know why he would all of a sudden care when I go to the dentist.  And he refused to tell me!

So I knew something was up but had no idea what.  And somehow, I managed to keep my curiosity in check all weekend.  Then it was Sunday night, and I started trying to find out if there was anything I needed to know.  You know, do I have be prepared for something?  Do I have to dress up?  Are we coming home after work or do I have to ready for whatever it is that morning?  I think I wore him down, so he told me before we went to sleep that he got us tickets for the Canadian Brass holiday concert at the Kennedy Center!  So cool.  I love them.

We left straight from work (fast food in the car for dinner) because I had to work until 6pm and the concert started at 7.  John got us box seats (!), so we were seated in the front row of the lower balcony level, stage left, in the Concert Hall.

All five of them (two trumpets, one french horn, a tuba, and a trombone) entered from the back of the hall, playing something slow (I don’t remember what).  They walked in step, in slow motion, in single file (I could go on) down the aisle towards the stage.  They were all wearing black suits with white Adidas sneakers and different color shirts.  They looked comfortable.  Fun.  Which is pretty much what they are.  Two of the members have been in the group since they started in 1970.  One of the trumpeters is only 20!  And he was GOOD.  Of course he was good, he’s in the Canadian Brass, but you know what I mean.

It was a really good, really fun, concert.  I love the way they sound, how it all blends.  Good surprise, John!

And on top of that, John got permission from our boss for us to take the morning off and not go to work until 1pm today.  He didn’t realize I had a dentist appointment at 10:20 and was already planning on not showing up until 1, but that doesn’t make it any less sweet.  So we slept in and had a lazy morning.  It was very nice.  And my dentist appointment was not painful, so that was good, too.  Once I got to work and the numbness wore off, my mouth started to ache, but hey, that’s what ibuprofen is for.  And I only have two more appointments.  This year.   This month, since it’s December already.  And now that I’m not hurting anymore, I can have turkey sandwiches for dinner.  Okay, one turkey sandwich.  And some leftover green bean casserole.  Leftover Thanksgiving food is not good for my diet.

John is carrying me off to a Canadian Brass holiday concert at the Kennedy Center tonight.  So this is the only update you get today.  (Work was actually really busy.)