Not quite rainbows and puppies, but I’ll take it

Today was a good day with good things in it.

Thing the first: I wasn’t able to leave work early enough to go for a run before dinner, but I did get out of the office to enjoy the weather a little bit.  I had an appointment in the late morning (quick trim), so I headed out (running late) and rushed over.  Got there just in time.  It was fast, so I felt like I could take some time to myself before going back to the office.  I walked over to Starbucks, picked up an iced chai latte, and sat on a bench with my book for about 15 minutes.  It was SUCH a nice day.  All the trees are still in bloom, I FINALLY saw lots of daffodils, the sky was blue and clear, and the air was warm-ish.  I would have stayed a little longer, but a landscaping company showed up and started making a TON of noise.  It got a lot less peaceful, so I headed back to work.  Just as well, I guess.

Thing the second: My officemate has decided she’s getting too worked up over every little thing, so she’s going to let all those annoyances roll off.   I’m supposed to help her remember that.  It’ll help me remember it, too.  Now we’re listening to soothing sounds on YouTube.  All we need is a palm tree.  (“I just wanna see some paaaalm trees.“)

Thing the third: my friend (and coworker) Stephanie asked me to check on something that hasn’t been working lately, and when we found that it IS working now, she sent this back to me in her emailed reply:

internet high-five

I’m sure it’s not new, but it was exactly what I needed to see, and now I laugh every time I look at it.  (Did I high-five my screen?  Yes.  Yes, I did.  And I might do it again right now.)

Update (8:08pm): I just found out today was National High Five Day.  So many things are clearer now.  Except why, exactly, we have a National High Five Day.  Happy Random Holiday Day!

What a difference a mortgage makes

It’s amazing how much more relaxed I feel now that we’ve closed on the house.  It’s noticeable, apparently.  Several people at work have commented on it.  I was stressed about not having a contract on the house.  Then we got a contract, and I was stressed about our buyers not having a contract.  Then they got a contract, and I was stressed about packing and moving and timing and holding both deals together until closing.  That’s all over, we’re 100% moved, and I have fewer things to be stressed about.  It’s a wonderful thing.  AND I don’t have to worry about looking for a new job for a while.  Even better.  AND AND spring is coming.  It’s warmer, the days are longer, the sun is out, the birds are chirping* – I should stop before I jinx everything.

*Someone said that yesterday (the birds are chirping), and another coworker told us that her dad always said “the chirds are burping”.  Ruined forever (you’re welcome).  He also calls a parking spot a “sparking pot”, and it has rubbed off on her.  Dads are annoying that way, Dad.  Anyone: “What’s today?”  Me: “Friday.  Unless it rains.”  I do it EVERY TIME.

I picked a good day for it

I scheduled a spa day (a spa couple of hours, anyway) right in the middle of my vacation, and it was SO good.  I had an 80-minute deep tissue massage, and the people at the spa said to come an hour early with a bathing suit.  That hour was almost better (definitely as good) as the massage.

Except for the first ten minutes.

I spent the first ten minutes in the steam room.  I had never been in a steam room before, and I found out I don’t like it.  It might have been the lavender scent they added.  I love lavender, but it was a bit strong in there with all that steam.  Then again, I might have felt the same way if it was just unscented steam.  I couldn’t take any deep breaths, so I was pretty much incapable of relaxing while sitting in there.  I had to pop out into the hallway twice in those ten minutes just to clear my lungs and breathe.  On top of that, I was wearing my contacts, and they were fogging up, so I kept my eyes closed, except when I was groping for the door to get a breath of air.  Then I’d take a deep breath of dry air, open the door again, and plunge into the steam looking for my towel so I could sit down.  I don’t know why I didn’t just give up.  No one said I HAD to sit in the steam room.  Seems a little obvious now…  Thank goodness I was alone and that it was only ten minutes.  I was already out in the hall when my valet (I had a valet!) came to get me.

Next was a cold (by comparison) shower with nozzles spraying water at me from sides from my ankles to over my head.  Nice change.  Then the sauna.  That I could handle.  I was about ready to take a nap in there.  After the sauna, my valet brought me to the jacuzzi.  It was inside, but one whole wall was glass with a view of the gulf and the beach).  SO nice.  I was happy enough in the jacuzzi, but I had similar breathing problems – too much heat and steam.  Hm.  So maybe an unscented steam room wouldn’t work for me, either.  After maybe another 10 minutes in the jacuzzi, it was time to get in the pool.  Again, comparatively cold water, but this pool started inside and where the jacuzzi had windows, the pool had glass doors that opened to the outside.  I headed there right away.  So I was in this pool, two stories up (maybe three) in this hotel, outside overlooking the beach and the gulf, all by myself.  And as if that’s not cool enough, there was a storm coming in from the southeast.  I could see where the rain started, and I could see it take over the other hotels (you know, when I couldn’t see the hotels further south down the beach anymore).  It was awesome.  I headed in when the rain started to fall on me.  It was time for my massage anyway, which was really really nice, and then I went back out to find Mel (who sat out the rain on her beach chair, under the umbrella).

It was a good day.

Thank goodness for beach umbrellas

Hello, everyone!  I’m sorry I was missing for a week.  I was in (mostly) sunny, (mostly) warm Cancun with my sister, Ilyana Clover Mel, having a wonderfully relaxing time.  I came home basically the same shade of pale that I was when I left.  I consider that a win.

See how relaxed we look?

See how relaxed we look?

It was great.  Easy to get to (although we had to fly through JFK – wrong direction, guys!), no reason to leave the resort.  Every day was the same, in the best possible way.  We got up early every day so we could watch the sun rise on the beach.  (Sun rise was around 7:20 – getting up in time for that was still sleeping in for both of us.)  I left Mel meditating on the beach (and/or taking pictures – there was time for both) to go to the gym at 8am.  The first day was yoga, on the beach, just me and the instructor.  (It was always just me and the instructor, three days in a row.  I took a well-deserved day off on Thursday, and we left Friday morning.) Yoga on the beach, in the morning before anyone else is out, is SO COOL.  The other two mornings were aerobics/resistance/pilates-type workouts in the gym, and they were HARD.  The instructor (Israel) kicked my ass.  But it made me feel better about all the food I was eating.  Totally worth it.  Anyway, after the class ended (9am), I’d go back to the beach, round up Mel, and we’d go to breakfast.  Mimosas arrived shortly after we were seated and were kept filled.  After breakfast, back to the beach, lunch in one of the beachside restaurants or the grill, more beach time (so much reading), then off to the pool in the midafternoon, where we made friends at the swim-up bar (and Mel practiced her accents and various personalities – she had a LOT of people completely fooled).  Pool until early evening, then shower and dinner, and we were in bed nearly every night by 9:30.  Rinse and repeat.  It was a little bit of a shock to have to return to winter.

This is the sunrise when God gave us our instructions.  "I'm averting my eyes, oh Lord."

This is the sunrise when God gave us our instructions. “I’m averting my eyes, oh Lord.”

Context, for those who need it.

Who dun it?

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but I’m always relieved to pull into our driveway after a few days’ absence and find the house still standing.  And there’s always the relief of being HOME.  I’m HOME.  I’m wearing comfy pajamas and sitting on my own comfy couch about to finish watching Broadchurch and what on earth am I still doing online?

Puzzles and movies and games, oh my!

It was a rainy Christmas Eve, and our plans to walk around the historic part of the nearby town were scuttled (it’s a lot less pleasant in the wet), so we had a cozy day inside.  Molly and I started a puzzle, we played some card games, watched Superman (Molly had never seen it before), went out to dinner, played Cranium, and then played several rounds of Bananagrams while waiting for Tom and Tania to arrive.  We had a good time, very low-key, but I’m exhausted.  Now it’s a foggy Christmas Eve (although it’s past midnight, so I suppose it’s actually a foggy Christmas – regardless, it looks like Rudolph has some work to do), and I’m heading to bed.

My couch is a nice place to be

Online shopping is the best.  It’s the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and John and I are nearly done with our Christmas shopping (it’s low-key this year, anyway).  We have yet to see the inside of a mall.  I’m sure we’ll go, but by then it’ll be more to enjoy the decorations and the music.  I like the mall during the holidays as long as I’m not one of the desperate shoppers.  Also, I’m on the couch, laptop on lap, wearing my pjs.  It’s 2pm.  🙂  This is okay with me.

THIS

This is how I’m supposed to be living.  (Sometimes.)  Our open house this week was from 11-1 (our agent got someone to cover for him instead of totally flaking), so John and I headed to a nearby historic district to hang out in a coffee shop/cafe.  We sat at a counter that used to be a shoe shine stand in the front window, ate English muffins, and I had the best chai latte I’ve ever had.  It was a little loud, but you know, Sunday morning coffee and brunch crowd – I don’t know anywhere we could go for coffee that time of morning on a Sunday and not find a ton of people. We were lucky to find this unoccupied counter space at all.

It was so nice and pleasant on a chilly, overcast November morning.  Lots of people walking by with dogs and kids.  People wearing cute coats.  (I can feel the urge to shop coming on.  Must step away from the computer.)

Making an effort to relax (Is that an oxymoron?) (YOU’RE an oxymoron.)

I don’t want to be stressed.  So I’m declaring the house a stress-free zone.  (We’ll ignore the fact that the house is part of the problem.)  I don’t want to mix home-time with the outside world.  I’d like to come home and just relax.  If it’s not in the house, I don’t want to think about it.  Tonight has been a good start.  John was home when I got home, and we sat down to eat.  Watched an hour of TV, and now we’re listening to classical music and playing on our laptops at the dining room table.  Bedtime is not far off (tomorrow morning starts at 4:45), and tomorrow night I might try going back to yoga.  I want time that is quiet and peaceful and smells like lavender.  (I always want to spell “lavender” like “calendar”, but I get to the -dar at the end, realize it’s wrong, wonder why it’s wrong, change it, and move on.  Every time.)

If I have to deal with winter (it got dark so EARLY), I want my winter to be warm and cozy and quiet and relaxing and you know, since our house isn’t selling, that doesn’t seem like too much to ask.  I want to stay HOME.

This kind of thing is on my list, so it’s okay

I’m staying home again today, resting.  Needed.  I’ve spent nearly two hours this morning online, catching up on Dooce archives.  (I haven’t been on her website for what seems like – and might actually be – a year.)  Now?  I feel guilty.  Like I should have spent that time doing something else.  What?  I don’t know.  How is this not resting?  Apparently, I should be more productive when I’m resting.  I suppose I could be learning something (French, MinutePhysics, Khan Academy), or I could be reading my book (I’m re-reading The Book Thief so it’s fresh when I see the movie – not always the smartest move, but I can’t help myself), or – hey! – I could be updating the book list on this very website, and maybe I will do those things today, but first I need to convince myself that two hours staring vacantly at someone else’s old blog posts isn’t wasted time.

 

What’s the rush?

I’m running out of steam on this house-selling business, which is silly, really.  It’s only been seven days, and the only thing I have to do is leave work occasionally to take the dog for a walk while people look at our house.  Hardly taxing.  We’re not in any hurry to sell – we don’t have any deadlines.  It would be nice to get rid of the mortgage, but I’m okay with putting off the actual move (that’s hard work).  I’m not sure how I have any steam to run out of, actually.  What would the steam be for?  If I have steam, I should put it to better use (like to Step 4).  This steam metaphor is putting Kylie Minogue’s “Locomotion” in my head.  After years of silence, I’ve heard it twice in the last few weeks – once on my mix tape and once at IHOP (we had pancakes for dinner on John’s birthday).

Now that I’ve established how little use I have for steam where the sale of the house is concerned, I will take a deep breath, enjoy the quiet of a clean and uncluttered house, and relax.  Om mani padme hum.

Free time? Is that really you?

I’d been hoping this would happen, and it finally has!  Kind of.  Keeping the house clean is easier than emptying it, rearranging it, and cleaning it, so after what feels like forever (and what was probably only a little over a month), I’m enjoying some time to myself.  Well, restful time with John, but when we’re both happily ensconced in our own activities, that’s basically the same thing.  We spent all of Saturday hanging out together – the morning (pre-open house) cleaning, the afternoon (during the open house) having a family photo taken, and then having a cupcake and coffee at a little cupcake place with outdoor seating, so Riley could drape himself over our feet and enjoy all the attention he got from passers-by.  What’s this about a family photo, you say?  We donated to our local volunteer fire department, and as a thank you, they brought in a photographer and gave all donors the opportunity to get a free family portrait taken.  They do it every year, and even though we’ve donated every year, we’ve never remembered/bothered to go.  They allow pets, so we took Riley.  It’ll be interesting to see how it turns out.

Sunday we had NO plans.  It was wonderful.  There was an afternoon showing, so we disappeared to the park for half an hour, but other than that, our time was our own.  Actually, since it was John’s birthday, our time was his to do with as he wished.  And he mostly wished for free time, so I call this birthday a success.

Open House

Typing “Open House” up there made me thing of Full House the TV show, and man, are those two things not at all related.  Unless John Stamos (now, not then) is going to come over to help sell the house.  Or move in and help us raise our sassy but cute dog.

Then

Now

Anyway, we had our open house yesterday.  Our agent said we had really good turnout.  One family stayed an hour, and other another family stayed for TWO hours.  The two-hour people are the ones who lingered for 40 minutes on Thursday, the first day we were on the market.  No offers yet.  (Be pessimistic!  Your optimism is scaring them away.  Don’t tempt fate!)  We had another showing this afternoon, and we have one tomorrow, too.  I’ve said (and I keep saying) that we’re not in any hurry here, but now we’re in limbo, and I don’t want to stay in limbo.  I should be putting this time to good use (see Step 4), but I figured I deserve a couple of days of relaxing before I start obsessing over the next thing.  It’ll come soon enough.  (Also, it’s John’s birthday today, so no doing not-fun things.)

Sunshine is a wonderful thing

It has come to my attention (again – this is something I realize anew every so often) that I could never be a vampire.  After four days of nonstop rain (it started Wednesday night and didn’t stop until Sunday night) and constant gloominess, the sun came out on Monday, and I couldn’t have been happier.  I could never live in a world where I never saw the sun.  (Also, I don’t want to drink blood or be dead.)  I don’t have to see the sun all day, or even every day, but four days in a row without it – that’s too much.  I enjoy the rain, I like listening to it, I like falling asleep to it.  I don’t particularly want to be out in it much (I got fairly well soaked running errands on Friday – I had to buy mulch in the rain – and then we did our yardwork on Sunday in a constant drizzle.  Felt very British.), but it’s nice to look at, nice to be snuggled up warm and dry while frantically prepping your house for sale.  And then came the sun.  Monday was a perfect October day, all blue skies and leaves changing colors.  Days like that make all that rain worth it.

Good morning

I’m off to DC for work this morning, and I didn’t want to get up early enough to go to the gym for a real workout, so I decided to make it a yoga day.  I don’t feel like what I did counts as working out since I didn’t do it for long,  but it felt nice.  It was quiet and peaceful and full of stretching.  And I think I needed it to balance out the very stressful dream about traveling to Peru.  We were packing to get ready for the big vacation, but I couldn’t remember the name of the town or area in Peru we were going to, so I couldn’t look up the weather forecast, and I didn’t know what to pack.  I was scanning my email for the details, but all I could find were pictures of goats, and none of them were captioned with the name of the town.  Very stressful.  Then John’s alarm went off, and I bolted upright, arms flailing, totally startled awake.  I hate alarms.  I needed yoga.

Now I’m eating my breakfast of granola and yogurt, listening to the yoga station on Pandora (which is great until the ad breaks – jarring), and glancing at the clock to see how much more time I have before I have to get in the shower and get moving (not much).  But that way leads to rushing and stress, and who needs that?

Change of perspective

I have decided to stop feeling like I’m behind on everything.  I’m not behind on the internet; now I’ve got lots of wonderful things to catch up on.  I’m not behind on reading (now that I’ve finished my book club book); I’m reading at my own leisurely pace.  I’m not behind at work; I’ve just suddenly got two jobs to do, and I’m keeping up as best I can.  I’m not behind on blogging, either.  It’s not like I can go back and post something for all those days my mind was elsewhere.  I’m where I’m supposed to be, and that’s okay.

Yoga class was nice last night.  Can you tell?

Positive Thinking

This week is going to be a good week.  And when I say good, I mean uneventful, quiet, restful, and not at all like last week.  Work will slow down from last week’s breakneck pace.  John will continue to get better.  No one is coming over this weekend, so I won’t have to race around and plan and shop and clean.  It’s going to be heavenly.

Happy Place

During the meditation part of yoga class last night (my favorite part), I was thinking* about doing yoga at home.  I always mean to do it the rest of the week, but I never do.  Then last night, I realized that since we put the desk away (the one I had the puzzle out on – the table wasn’t big enough and the puzzle was going nowhere, so I quit), there’s a ton of open space in the library (that used to be the dining room).  It gets all of the morning and midday sunlight through the east window and the bay windows, so it’s a cheerful, sunny room, and ZOMG I’m going to do yoga in there!  Isn’t that just disgustingly perfect?  Yoga in a room with sunlight streaming from windows all around?  So I tried it this morning.  At 6:30.  Flaw #1: it’s still dark at 6:30.  Flaw #2: it was pouring down rain.  Actually, Flaw #2 was just fine with me.  I found a yoga station on Pandora, and that kind of music combined with the rain beating on the windows was very relaxing.  Then I lost all my zen peacefulness when I kicked the baby gate on my up the stairs and pulverized the toenail on my second toe.

*I don’t think I’m supposed to think during meditation, but it’s hard to just be.

 

Titles are hard when brain stops working

Sorry about yesterday.  This week was kind of odd.  Busy odd.  Like, I can’t remember sitting down and relaxing much odd, even though I know I must have.  My brain needs lots of help to get out of work-mode, which is why I’ve been relying on other websites so much.  Today will be no different.  Thanks to Tom and Lorenzo, let’s talk about Channing Tatum.

I like him okay (I’ve seen him in one movie and a couple of interviews, and he was plenty likeable), but I don’t find him attractive at all.  Certainly not HAWT, like so many other women seem to feel.  I think it’s his head.  And neck.  The combination of the two.  They’re thesame size.  I have the same issue with The Rock and Vin Diesel.  It’s a type, and it’s not mine.  Channing Tatum, at least in this suit, looks great if you only look from the shoulders down.

I still think he’s a little too body-builder for me.  I’m sure John will be relieved to know I’m not going to leave him for Channing Tatum.