"My foot feels better but I don't think it's 100%. I'm paranoid that if I start running too soon I'll mess it up again and have to be out even longer."
"You need to go back to the doctor."
"I don't want to go back to that doctor. If I was going to see a doctor I think I want to see a sports injury doctor but not that doctor I went to before."
"Then go to a sports injury doctor."
"I don't know who to go to. I'll have to talk to some people and see if anyone knows of someone I could go see."
"Let me call you back."
"Here, write down this phone number."
"What for."
"So you can call and set up an appointment to see this sports doctor."
"You found a sports doctor?"
"Yes, it wasn't very hard. You just needed to look. Are you ready?"
"I've got a lot of things going on right now."
"Take down the number and call them. Are you ready?"
"Okay, yes, okay...what it is."
"What's that sticky note on your phone?"
"Jay made me write down a number to a sports doctor."
"Why is it stuck to your phone?"
"I'm supposed to call and make an appointment."
"So why is it still stuck to your phone?"
"I haven't called yet."
"What are you waiting for?"
"I've been busy."
"Okay, I'm walking back to my desk so you can call...I'm walking...I don't here you dialing."
My appointment to have my foot - torn achilles stuff that has been keeping me from running - was this morning. Yes, I finally dialed the number and set up the appointment. I was getting a little harried to say the least. It's been four weeks since I've run and I was not all that hopeful. I made the appointment and went in to see the sports doctor this morning.
So get this...the doctor says I have a perfectly healthy foot. Yes. He said I have a strain and needed to take care of the inflammation and he gave me two anti-inflammatory prescriptions. One is a weeks dose of a fast acting anti-inflammatory and the other I take simultaneously with the fast acting but for 30 days. But then he wants me to come back in a week to see him again. My next appointment is for next Wednesday.
But the doctor said my foot was healthy and he pretty much said the rest is mental. He didn't mean I am a hypochondriac. He said I was pushing too hard. My foot was sore and tired but my brain was ignoring it. He used the example of a person practicing throwing a baseball for long periods of time. He would eventually stop and realize his arm was sore but would start up again without allowing himself to rest and re-coup. There wasn't anything medically wrong with his arm but it was still sore from going at it so long and hard.
So I was pushing too hard yet my brain was telling me I could keep going when my foot was trying to tell me it needed a break. So the fatigue finally caught up to my brain and registered the foot pain. I had been ignoring it for a long time. That foot was pissed - inflammed to be exact.
I took my pills today and will see the doctor again in a week. I think he's going to talk me through some start up training that I should be looking at realistically.
Um. Am I supposed to feel stupid that my foot is okay? No, probably not, but I could use that as a diversionary tactic to avoid feeling stupid that my brain doesn't listen too well. It doesn't listen too well when my body needs a break or when someone tries to tell me what's good for me. I wonder where it got that?
TT
Monday, August 30, 2010
PC & MAC
I finally made a test batch of my two new concept cookies I've been thinking about. I will be bringing them into work to share and let others taste to see what they think of the flavor combinations. I discovered when I tested batch after batch of my Turtle cookies I had stumbled across a good base for the chocolate cookie dough. It was a smoother flavor than the chocolate I used in the five chocolate cookie which has more of a brownie flavor. When I realized I wanted to use the new chocolate dough I felt like I needed to add another ingredient. That's when a dear friend suggested I use pecans. Well, yeah. Good idea! So that was the beginnings of the idea of the PC cookie - Pecan Chocolate.
It was a good idea but once I thought of it as PC, I knew I had to come up with the other half - MAC. PC & MAC - I mean one or the other. I had to come up with a companion cookie. I had to think of something. I just had to and couldn't seem to bring myself to test the PC cookies until I had the idea for the MAC. I went through different ingredients until finally I thought - Macadamia nut, Apricot and Coconut!
That seemed like a good flavor profile. It was kind of tropical and different from the standard Pecan and Chocolate. That might work.
The MAC ingredients tasted good when I mixed them together. The color was bright and had the right tang from the apricot combined with the sweet of the coconut and crunch of the nut. The chocolate in the PC cookie was melted down from semi-sweet chips with butter and added to the dough.
So - we shall see. Two new concept cookies tested. They might need some tweeks or upgrades but I will let the taste testers take over for now.
Then I can ask...What's your preference - PC or MAC?
TT
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thanks blog
I am using my quiet time now to forge ahead on my story. I am in a good spot though to come back here and appreciate the work I have done. It truly has pushed me ahead and hasn't been a waste of time. I'm always afraid of wasting time whether it be my own or if I am taking someone else's.
I am not sure why I stopped to check the properties on my documents for my story when I got to a writing stopping point this morning. I guess I know statistics are facts you can't really argue about too much and when the idea came into my head I thought why not check. They are what they state and good for some good reality checks - at least for me when I have that temptation to wander down Doubt Street which forks into Underconfidence Lane. I think I also knew it might prove that this blog is working the way I had intended. I didn't know it would and I now have this concrete proof that it is. I am not holding myself back from adding words to my pages by constantly going back to edit the few words I have written. They don't have to be perfect before going on any further. I will have time to go back and fix them once they are there.
But as far as the statistics, here is what I just found.
I started my initial prologue to my story on 4/16/2008 at 7:13:00 pm. It has 948 words and here is the kicker...51 revisions for 207 minutes since that time.
The chapter I last worked on was on 6/17/2010 (I know - lot's of lost time) at 7:09:00 am. It has 2569 words and...wait for it...8 revisions for 92 minutes.
Let me see..51 revisions for 948 words...8 revisions for 2569 words. Hmmm...something is working. Could it possibly be the commitment to this blog actually might be working?
So in my mind the simple summary is: more words, less revisions, and taking less time to complete. Tell me this isn't my tool. Tell me this crazy idea of tricking myself and making myself responsible for writing every day won't work. I can try to tell myself that but then I have to just look at the statistics. Then I have to take a moment to pause and appreciate the time I've spent on this blog and recognize it as not being wasted time and to actually have a value I wasn't sure it really had.
But now you will need to excuse me, please. My main character is talking to her father right now and they want me in on the conversation.
TT
-----------------------------
I didn't realize until much later today (it's 8:06 pm now) that this is the 200th post this year. It's not on line with one post a day since today is the 241th day of the year but since this is all about stats...well.
I am not sure why I stopped to check the properties on my documents for my story when I got to a writing stopping point this morning. I guess I know statistics are facts you can't really argue about too much and when the idea came into my head I thought why not check. They are what they state and good for some good reality checks - at least for me when I have that temptation to wander down Doubt Street which forks into Underconfidence Lane. I think I also knew it might prove that this blog is working the way I had intended. I didn't know it would and I now have this concrete proof that it is. I am not holding myself back from adding words to my pages by constantly going back to edit the few words I have written. They don't have to be perfect before going on any further. I will have time to go back and fix them once they are there.
But as far as the statistics, here is what I just found.
I started my initial prologue to my story on 4/16/2008 at 7:13:00 pm. It has 948 words and here is the kicker...51 revisions for 207 minutes since that time.
The chapter I last worked on was on 6/17/2010 (I know - lot's of lost time) at 7:09:00 am. It has 2569 words and...wait for it...8 revisions for 92 minutes.
Let me see..51 revisions for 948 words...8 revisions for 2569 words. Hmmm...something is working. Could it possibly be the commitment to this blog actually might be working?
So in my mind the simple summary is: more words, less revisions, and taking less time to complete. Tell me this isn't my tool. Tell me this crazy idea of tricking myself and making myself responsible for writing every day won't work. I can try to tell myself that but then I have to just look at the statistics. Then I have to take a moment to pause and appreciate the time I've spent on this blog and recognize it as not being wasted time and to actually have a value I wasn't sure it really had.
But now you will need to excuse me, please. My main character is talking to her father right now and they want me in on the conversation.
TT
-----------------------------
I didn't realize until much later today (it's 8:06 pm now) that this is the 200th post this year. It's not on line with one post a day since today is the 241th day of the year but since this is all about stats...well.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Stop the writing
I saved a draft that I wrote yesterday morning even though I knew I would never post it. It definitely was one of those that - thank goodness - I had the sense to know it was utter garbage. Why I even saved it I am not sure but I knew the discipline of writing was good even if the content was a pity party with me as the only attendee. Like I said - thank goodness - I had some sense to know I wasn't posting it...as I said yesterday...I am not ever posting this but have to get some words written because somehow I can't seem to stop the writing no matter how bad I am at it. I'm better than the bad I was before, but so bad I can't...
Egads (or should that be eGads)! Either way I was feeling miserable and it went on for a good 250 words and I thankfully ran out of time and stopped. The feeling lingered with me that morning but not as it has done in the past. Somehow I was able to flip my own switch to cut it out and stop the negativity very quickly. Truth be told, I have been re-reading some of my pieces and am realizing there is something there. I can try to dump on myself but I am proving that to be a harder debate with myself than it used to be. I have no real reason not to forge ahead and continue. Why not? I can try to complain but why? And complain about what and to whom?
My ability was positively reinforced when I got a reaction from a very short piece I let someone read yesterday. I had to go back to that person and thank them before I left work. I am particularly proud of it because I think I was able to capture an important element in writing. This particular element is to be able to conjure a picture of what I am relaying on the page in the readers head and that was exactly what my reader said happened while they were reading it. "It was like a short movie in my head."
I knew that one was a good piece. Yesterdays draft was utter garbage and I knew that too but I wrote anyway and was able to build something here from the garbage. That's the way it works. Keep writing. Good pieces and utter garbage. I call it work. I call it discipline. I call it writing.
...somehow I can't seem to stop the writing...
TT
Egads (or should that be eGads)! Either way I was feeling miserable and it went on for a good 250 words and I thankfully ran out of time and stopped. The feeling lingered with me that morning but not as it has done in the past. Somehow I was able to flip my own switch to cut it out and stop the negativity very quickly. Truth be told, I have been re-reading some of my pieces and am realizing there is something there. I can try to dump on myself but I am proving that to be a harder debate with myself than it used to be. I have no real reason not to forge ahead and continue. Why not? I can try to complain but why? And complain about what and to whom?
My ability was positively reinforced when I got a reaction from a very short piece I let someone read yesterday. I had to go back to that person and thank them before I left work. I am particularly proud of it because I think I was able to capture an important element in writing. This particular element is to be able to conjure a picture of what I am relaying on the page in the readers head and that was exactly what my reader said happened while they were reading it. "It was like a short movie in my head."
I knew that one was a good piece. Yesterdays draft was utter garbage and I knew that too but I wrote anyway and was able to build something here from the garbage. That's the way it works. Keep writing. Good pieces and utter garbage. I call it work. I call it discipline. I call it writing.
...somehow I can't seem to stop the writing...
TT
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
CRD
It turns out McDonald's really does have free wi-fi. Go in, sit at a table, power up, find the attwifi and connect. It will take you to a McDonalds window that asks if you agree to the terms and conditions, click yes, then click continue and you're there. Internet...go for it. It was Monday afternoon when we were out of town and I didn't even do anything except get it set up and turned the laptop over to Jay. He placed his order and I don't know what else from the angle I was sitting but he was wise and kept me pre-occupied by buying me an ice cream cone to keep me busy and distracted. It worked. I didn't even get a chance to check anything of my own but I didn't really mind. I hadn't had a soft-serve vanilla cone in ages! I've been on the internet very recently. It was a good trade off.
The weather while I was gone was beautiful, not too breezy by the water but just enough. I had nothing to do but relax and I finished the book I brought the first day. I bought another and finished that one too but it was another quick read...I mean the name is Finger lickin' Fifteen...and yes...book #fifteen in that particular series. I went on to my writing magazines and took those down and finished them like the two books. I am beginning to realize how well I can procrastinate my own writing at this stage by reading too much about writing. I am beginning to see where I know some of the stuff they are telling me in these articles and how I don't really need to keep relying on knowing more about writing but just keep doing what I should be doing which is writing.
I spent some time reading the last 2500 words I had written to my story and was more than pleasantly surprised that it didn't sound too bad. I usually read something back to myself after a period of time and can sometimes get that feeling of knowing it's off - but not this time. That feeling is called Creeping Rot Disease. At least that is what it was called in the article from my magazine and it says that every writer is stricken. "CRD begins as a dark feeling that takes over your mind and heart when you least expect it. You look at your manuscript and the feeling creeps over you that all you've done is foul a perfectly good stack of paper. It's lousy. It's not original....I'm wasting my life, you think."
Well, I can't deny that I haven't had that feeling before! I just didn't know it was CRD. It had a solution to take a break and turn off your computer because the problem was not with your manuscript but with you. I liked the idea that it also had a few bullet pointed options to solve it including: get some good coffee or phone a friend and spill your guts. I can do the coffee...but I'm afraid I don't have a friend left that I could call and spill to. Hopefully that won't make my CRD get any worse. I don't think so, I hope not.
I guess if I really needed I could always go to McDonalds and get myself an ice cream cone. Then after I had distracted myself and I felt better I could log into the Internet and start writing again.
TT
----------------------------
CRD excerpt taken from Writer's Digest September 2010 issue - article by Elizabeth Sims - 10 minute fixes to 10 common plot problems (#10!).
The weather while I was gone was beautiful, not too breezy by the water but just enough. I had nothing to do but relax and I finished the book I brought the first day. I bought another and finished that one too but it was another quick read...I mean the name is Finger lickin' Fifteen...and yes...book #fifteen in that particular series. I went on to my writing magazines and took those down and finished them like the two books. I am beginning to realize how well I can procrastinate my own writing at this stage by reading too much about writing. I am beginning to see where I know some of the stuff they are telling me in these articles and how I don't really need to keep relying on knowing more about writing but just keep doing what I should be doing which is writing.
I spent some time reading the last 2500 words I had written to my story and was more than pleasantly surprised that it didn't sound too bad. I usually read something back to myself after a period of time and can sometimes get that feeling of knowing it's off - but not this time. That feeling is called Creeping Rot Disease. At least that is what it was called in the article from my magazine and it says that every writer is stricken. "CRD begins as a dark feeling that takes over your mind and heart when you least expect it. You look at your manuscript and the feeling creeps over you that all you've done is foul a perfectly good stack of paper. It's lousy. It's not original....I'm wasting my life, you think."
Well, I can't deny that I haven't had that feeling before! I just didn't know it was CRD. It had a solution to take a break and turn off your computer because the problem was not with your manuscript but with you. I liked the idea that it also had a few bullet pointed options to solve it including: get some good coffee or phone a friend and spill your guts. I can do the coffee...but I'm afraid I don't have a friend left that I could call and spill to. Hopefully that won't make my CRD get any worse. I don't think so, I hope not.
I guess if I really needed I could always go to McDonalds and get myself an ice cream cone. Then after I had distracted myself and I felt better I could log into the Internet and start writing again.
TT
----------------------------
CRD excerpt taken from Writer's Digest September 2010 issue - article by Elizabeth Sims - 10 minute fixes to 10 common plot problems (#10!).
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Are we there yet?
I woke up way too early this morning. It was about 5:30 and I had a good feeling I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep. I tried but it wasn't working so I got up. I thought I would sleep much later today given all the things I got done yesterday. I didn't stop when I should have late yesterday but proceeded to make a simple chicken salad from the last of the leftover baked chicken I had. I put it in the fridge and went out to the deck and grabbed a small towel and wiped down the tables and turned on the sprinkler when I was supposed to be sitting still out there.
So I was a little surprised to wake up so early this morning. I guess I am more anxious to get on my way out-of-town than I thought. I'm like a little child filled with nervous excitement about some great adventure. I know I'm ready to go but it's too early so I have managed to keep myself busy (again). I folded the clean towels and vacuumed my office space here upstairs. I cleared off my work table by picking up my running magazines and putting them aside for now. The articles will keep. I will take my writers digest magazines with me. I have flipped through them periodically before but I will be able to give them a more concentrated look now that I have time. They do have some good ideas and it is somehow reassuring to know how neurotic others are about writing and it isn't only me. Or maybe the only bits of articles I've glanced through have coincidentally mentioned the self-doubt that I keep experiencing. They all say to just keep doing it, keep writing, stay focused. I didn't need the magazine to know that I needed to do just that. That is why I have made sure my entire story is saved to my USB flashdrive to take with me. That was one of the first things I did this morning when I got up so early and couldn't sleep any longer thinking about going away and taking my downtime the way I should. It seems the way I should is reading, relaxing, and getting together with some characters that I have neglected. I will be adding more words to their story and not only getting reacquainted with these characters but getting them moving and interacting again. I am actually looking forward to spending some time doing that. I have equipped myself with what I need and maybe this change of scene is the best way to get it all started again.
Did I say I was so looking forward to it? Just in case I didn't ... I am so looking forward to it!
TT
So I was a little surprised to wake up so early this morning. I guess I am more anxious to get on my way out-of-town than I thought. I'm like a little child filled with nervous excitement about some great adventure. I know I'm ready to go but it's too early so I have managed to keep myself busy (again). I folded the clean towels and vacuumed my office space here upstairs. I cleared off my work table by picking up my running magazines and putting them aside for now. The articles will keep. I will take my writers digest magazines with me. I have flipped through them periodically before but I will be able to give them a more concentrated look now that I have time. They do have some good ideas and it is somehow reassuring to know how neurotic others are about writing and it isn't only me. Or maybe the only bits of articles I've glanced through have coincidentally mentioned the self-doubt that I keep experiencing. They all say to just keep doing it, keep writing, stay focused. I didn't need the magazine to know that I needed to do just that. That is why I have made sure my entire story is saved to my USB flashdrive to take with me. That was one of the first things I did this morning when I got up so early and couldn't sleep any longer thinking about going away and taking my downtime the way I should. It seems the way I should is reading, relaxing, and getting together with some characters that I have neglected. I will be adding more words to their story and not only getting reacquainted with these characters but getting them moving and interacting again. I am actually looking forward to spending some time doing that. I have equipped myself with what I need and maybe this change of scene is the best way to get it all started again.
Did I say I was so looking forward to it? Just in case I didn't ... I am so looking forward to it!
TT
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Hurry up and relax
Busy, busy. I woke up this morning wound pretty tight. It was a great Saturday morning, no question about that. I am scheduled to be off for the next four days and I am leaving for my own personal piece of paradise tomorrow morning so what or why do I manage to get myself so bound up inside myself. But I had and I knew I needed to do something about it and keeping busy comes naturally to me and it's a great distraction. I had a few things to do and my thought was to take care of things out of the house first. I had a deposit for the shop ready since I had done the book work for Jay early. I had a few invoices of his paid and ready to mail so I needed to get myself going. I put the top down on my two-seater convertible and left the house. It was great, maybe that is what I needed. It always makes me feel good to take that kind of drive in my own car and I made quick work of the running around. Oh, but wait...house keys...I didn't have them with me.
I keep my house keys separate from my car keys so I don't have to carry a big bundle of keys when I run. (I am breezing over that running comment since I can't yet.) I am usually very good at making sure I have my house keys because I use them to lock my deadbolt but I was such a twittering mess this morning my only thought was to get things done. I hadn't locked the deadbolt and left the keys behind but then I hadn't locked the back door either. Whew, well, at least I saved myself a drive to the shop to pick up Jay's key to let myself in although a longer drive probably wouldn't have been such a bad thing for me at that point.
But I was able to get into the house and then start on the few chores I wanted to get done. I thought it was a few chores but I ended up working on the kitchen and bathroom. Then I vacuumed, did three loads of laundry, dusted, and ironed. I wanted to be able to leave the house in order and come back to it already clean. I realized I was keeping very busy, what next, what else to do and why not? It didn't matter that I almost forgot to eat...okay...I finally made a turkey sandwich, and it didn't matter I was getting tired. It would be all the better when I got to my spot tomorrow and would be able to laze around and relax and have the time to do it. I might even be able to nap, well, possibly, but I am not so sure about that.
So now it's after 5:00pm and I've gotten all of those things done and I am feeling a little better than the wound bound stress mess I was this morning. I have a fairly clean house to leave and come back to and I am adequately tired and can start relaxing now and start my vacation. I should first check the fridge for dinner since I didn't grocery shop but I am pretty sure there must be something I can put together without too much fuss. I should go check...and I think I might pick up some beer now before I have to go and put the top up on my car anyway. I don't know why I think I have to work so hard to deserve the break. It doesn't matter. I relax better when I feel I've accomplished something. I figure it that this way I am ahead on both fields...here and away. But I need to hurry now...there a still a few things I could do.
TT
I keep my house keys separate from my car keys so I don't have to carry a big bundle of keys when I run. (I am breezing over that running comment since I can't yet.) I am usually very good at making sure I have my house keys because I use them to lock my deadbolt but I was such a twittering mess this morning my only thought was to get things done. I hadn't locked the deadbolt and left the keys behind but then I hadn't locked the back door either. Whew, well, at least I saved myself a drive to the shop to pick up Jay's key to let myself in although a longer drive probably wouldn't have been such a bad thing for me at that point.
But I was able to get into the house and then start on the few chores I wanted to get done. I thought it was a few chores but I ended up working on the kitchen and bathroom. Then I vacuumed, did three loads of laundry, dusted, and ironed. I wanted to be able to leave the house in order and come back to it already clean. I realized I was keeping very busy, what next, what else to do and why not? It didn't matter that I almost forgot to eat...okay...I finally made a turkey sandwich, and it didn't matter I was getting tired. It would be all the better when I got to my spot tomorrow and would be able to laze around and relax and have the time to do it. I might even be able to nap, well, possibly, but I am not so sure about that.
So now it's after 5:00pm and I've gotten all of those things done and I am feeling a little better than the wound bound stress mess I was this morning. I have a fairly clean house to leave and come back to and I am adequately tired and can start relaxing now and start my vacation. I should first check the fridge for dinner since I didn't grocery shop but I am pretty sure there must be something I can put together without too much fuss. I should go check...and I think I might pick up some beer now before I have to go and put the top up on my car anyway. I don't know why I think I have to work so hard to deserve the break. It doesn't matter. I relax better when I feel I've accomplished something. I figure it that this way I am ahead on both fields...here and away. But I need to hurry now...there a still a few things I could do.
TT
Friday, August 20, 2010
Have another
I've managed to have two cups of coffee this morning and it's still early. That's a wonderful thing for me. That means I have some time before buzzing off to work for another cup and a chance to take it a bit slower. Just a tiny bit slower since I still have a full work day ahead of me. But Friday jeans day makes it simple and I hear it will be jeans day all next week for back-to-school. I will miss out on the first two of those jeans days but no matter. I will be wearing less than jeans out by the water where I will be.
I have been caught in the tiniest dilema's about taking my laptop, not taking my laptop, this time the way I usually do when I go out to the water. I no longer have my aircard to hook up to internet anywhere I choose. I had to fight a good connection when I went out into that area anyway and they don't have a Starbucks or Barnes & Noble any closer than 30 minutes away. I've thought of just leaving it behind and forgetting I have it for a while. I could do that. I was thinking I would. Jay then asked me about it and I explained the wireless situation or lack of.
He usually places an order on Mondays and I had forgotten he uses my laptop for that when we were away. It seems he found a McDonalds that is supposed to offer wi-fi. Oh, really? McDonalds? I'm not a big fan and haven't paid attention. I guess. So with or without I can't imagine me spending too much time at a McDonalds. I guess the coffee is supposed to be good. I guess.
But today first, that later. I'm grabbing another cup of coffee then will be off to set my out of office at work! All the rest of the stuff will work itself out...I'll be thinking of the coast.
TT
I have been caught in the tiniest dilema's about taking my laptop, not taking my laptop, this time the way I usually do when I go out to the water. I no longer have my aircard to hook up to internet anywhere I choose. I had to fight a good connection when I went out into that area anyway and they don't have a Starbucks or Barnes & Noble any closer than 30 minutes away. I've thought of just leaving it behind and forgetting I have it for a while. I could do that. I was thinking I would. Jay then asked me about it and I explained the wireless situation or lack of.
He usually places an order on Mondays and I had forgotten he uses my laptop for that when we were away. It seems he found a McDonalds that is supposed to offer wi-fi. Oh, really? McDonalds? I'm not a big fan and haven't paid attention. I guess. So with or without I can't imagine me spending too much time at a McDonalds. I guess the coffee is supposed to be good. I guess.
But today first, that later. I'm grabbing another cup of coffee then will be off to set my out of office at work! All the rest of the stuff will work itself out...I'll be thinking of the coast.
TT
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Not any book
I finished reading another of my series books - #14 to be exact. This was one I have been particularly partial to not only because it's a good series but it was first loaned and suggested to me by someone who isn't around any more. Like many of the books I read this one was suggested by a friend at work. He past away one December. He had been in the hospital for a short amount of time and never recovered from pneumonia. I remember asking another co-worker about him on the Friday before going home that weekend. Monday morning the smallish crew that wasn't on vacation was called into a conference room and told the news that our co-worker and friend hadn't made it through Sunday. Everyone was stunned and so sorry and sad. It was only 9:00am in the morning and we needed to go back to our cubes and work through the day.
I tried really hard but there was no stopping my tears as I faced my computer monitor and tried to sob without any sound. I would have gotten up and moved away but it came upon me so quickly and unexpectedly that I couldn't bring myself to move. I was frozen in place, with shoulders wracking, and tears streaming, with hopes that any sounds I made were muffled and not noticed by anyone else close by.
It's been many Decembers since and now I remember this gruff, soft-spoken (at least always to me) man, kindly lending me a book because he knew I loved to read. I had even asked him if I could borrow others in the series. He seemed to hesitate at my outrageous request and told me something to the effect that he would have to look. But they were on my desk the next morning when I came in. I picked them up and turned to face him to say thanks. He waved me off like it was nothing, but I knew it was something.
So I've read the most current in this series and it brought to mind the person that lent me the first and a few others along the way.
After I read the latest book I was asked recently if I had read 61 Hours. I said, "yes", and he asked, "Well, what do you think...did Reacher live?"
I had to pause for a minute and think. Well, you wouldn't think it by the way it ended but yes...he lives on.
TT
I tried really hard but there was no stopping my tears as I faced my computer monitor and tried to sob without any sound. I would have gotten up and moved away but it came upon me so quickly and unexpectedly that I couldn't bring myself to move. I was frozen in place, with shoulders wracking, and tears streaming, with hopes that any sounds I made were muffled and not noticed by anyone else close by.
It's been many Decembers since and now I remember this gruff, soft-spoken (at least always to me) man, kindly lending me a book because he knew I loved to read. I had even asked him if I could borrow others in the series. He seemed to hesitate at my outrageous request and told me something to the effect that he would have to look. But they were on my desk the next morning when I came in. I picked them up and turned to face him to say thanks. He waved me off like it was nothing, but I knew it was something.
So I've read the most current in this series and it brought to mind the person that lent me the first and a few others along the way.
After I read the latest book I was asked recently if I had read 61 Hours. I said, "yes", and he asked, "Well, what do you think...did Reacher live?"
I had to pause for a minute and think. Well, you wouldn't think it by the way it ended but yes...he lives on.
TT
Change it
I read somewhere a change of self is needed instead of a change in scene. I know it was on one of my index cards but I can't tell you where it was before I wrote it there. I also didn't write any other notes or thoughts I might have had when I wrote it. Now I am making myself write about something I cannot remember why I thought it was significant in the first place. I guess that is what being creative is all about although I don't think that was my original intention when I put this down on an index card. I don't think I was consciously trying to push my creativity. I believe I thought I would remember what the heck I was going to write about that statement automatically without any other notes.
Well, it won't be the first time I disappointed myself. Nope, no, cannot for the life of me figure out what I thought was significant about the line. The fact of the matter is...right now...I don't even think I agree with it.
I think I have had enough change of self for a while. I think I've had enough of changing things for myself to last me. I really do think a change in scene is more of what I need instead. And I will be doing just that soon. I am heading out for another short trip to my personal paradise again on Sunday. I hope to get away, get some sun, enjoy the quiet, and change it up for a few days.
Change is good. It's even better when I can get away.
TT
Well, it won't be the first time I disappointed myself. Nope, no, cannot for the life of me figure out what I thought was significant about the line. The fact of the matter is...right now...I don't even think I agree with it.
I think I have had enough change of self for a while. I think I've had enough of changing things for myself to last me. I really do think a change in scene is more of what I need instead. And I will be doing just that soon. I am heading out for another short trip to my personal paradise again on Sunday. I hope to get away, get some sun, enjoy the quiet, and change it up for a few days.
Change is good. It's even better when I can get away.
TT
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
About time
I am going to ask you to try not to concentrate too hard on the fact that this post makes me sound crazy. Anyone who knows me realizes there is that certain percentage of insanity that is going to be shown by me at any given time and this is one of those times, so please...don't think about that part right now, it isn't the issue.
I have been hearing my fictional story characters trying to talk to me. I can’t help that they seem to be reaching out to me and I keep trying to ignore them. I’ve actually done a fairly good job of it. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not but I’ve ignored them up until this point. It sounds crazy, yes, but also sort of spooky. It’s like a piece from a bad horror movie where the main character hears things behind a door in the attic and doesn’t do anything about it. Then that main character keeps hearing these things and even though everyone in the audience knows they should never open that door and let the things behind it out, the main character does it anyway despite the telepathic wishes and warnings of those watching. Well, I don’t have an audience and even if I did I don’t know that they would be telepathically trying to get me to do this thing or the other. I don’t think they would have a care if I was hearing fictional characters talk to me unless I started answering them out loud, or maybe telepathically. I can assure you none of those things have been happening.
What has been happening is that the fictional story that I should be working on has been silenced and put aside for at least the last two months. I had been doing a consistent job of writing and I had completed a good 20,000 plus words. Then I stopped and had life things to deal with and I haven’t started back up again. That was when I realized I could hear these characters again. They were almost complaining very quietly. I had left them in these spots and I was supposed to take them somewhere and I just left them. They had things to do and knew they should be getting on with things and where was I and why hadn’t I come back to take them where they needed to go? I didn’t pay any attention to their nudging at first. I was able to block them out when I heard them start to whine. It has gotten harder lately. They aren’t actually whining. They are starting to make some pretty good points. I know where I left them and I know about the places they should be going. I didn’t intend to leave them but there were other things that needed to be taken care of. I didn’t realize they would start to search me out. It isn’t as easy to ignore them now but I am a little nervous about picking it up again. I am a little anxious about starting the story again where I left off but I don’t think it will be anywhere as bad as I might think. I think these fictional characters will actually be pretty relieved, if not a little miffed with me. I can imagine them getting up, looking at their watches, shaking their head and saying “about time!” I think they just want to get on with it.
The zany thing here, of course, is that there isn't any they. It is me that needs to get on with it.
Crazy, isn't it?
TT
I have been hearing my fictional story characters trying to talk to me. I can’t help that they seem to be reaching out to me and I keep trying to ignore them. I’ve actually done a fairly good job of it. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or not but I’ve ignored them up until this point. It sounds crazy, yes, but also sort of spooky. It’s like a piece from a bad horror movie where the main character hears things behind a door in the attic and doesn’t do anything about it. Then that main character keeps hearing these things and even though everyone in the audience knows they should never open that door and let the things behind it out, the main character does it anyway despite the telepathic wishes and warnings of those watching. Well, I don’t have an audience and even if I did I don’t know that they would be telepathically trying to get me to do this thing or the other. I don’t think they would have a care if I was hearing fictional characters talk to me unless I started answering them out loud, or maybe telepathically. I can assure you none of those things have been happening.
What has been happening is that the fictional story that I should be working on has been silenced and put aside for at least the last two months. I had been doing a consistent job of writing and I had completed a good 20,000 plus words. Then I stopped and had life things to deal with and I haven’t started back up again. That was when I realized I could hear these characters again. They were almost complaining very quietly. I had left them in these spots and I was supposed to take them somewhere and I just left them. They had things to do and knew they should be getting on with things and where was I and why hadn’t I come back to take them where they needed to go? I didn’t pay any attention to their nudging at first. I was able to block them out when I heard them start to whine. It has gotten harder lately. They aren’t actually whining. They are starting to make some pretty good points. I know where I left them and I know about the places they should be going. I didn’t intend to leave them but there were other things that needed to be taken care of. I didn’t realize they would start to search me out. It isn’t as easy to ignore them now but I am a little nervous about picking it up again. I am a little anxious about starting the story again where I left off but I don’t think it will be anywhere as bad as I might think. I think these fictional characters will actually be pretty relieved, if not a little miffed with me. I can imagine them getting up, looking at their watches, shaking their head and saying “about time!” I think they just want to get on with it.
The zany thing here, of course, is that there isn't any they. It is me that needs to get on with it.
Crazy, isn't it?
TT
What to do
I am not sure what I am going to do. I know I need to get my (fat) butt to the gym today. I cannot believe the time I am spending piddling away with no future in sight to go back to running. I think I have forgotten everything I knew about it. I can't seem to pull up a memory of my last run or the ones before. (Okay, I think I remember my last run and it wasn't pleasant with the pain in my foot). I can't seem to remember how I did it, when I did it, why I did it? I am not sure if my foot was completely healed, fine, and ready to go right this minute that I would even remember what to do next. It feels like it has been ages since I've run. At this point, I am not sure I could even run again if I could. How? I don't remember how.
Well, nevermind. My foot is not healed. I can't run if I remembered how and I need to stay focused that I can't do a lot of anything else until it is finally fixed. So I will attempt another trip to the gym and do something simple like ride one of their stationary bicycles. It's not weight bearing, I (hopefully) won't have to put any extra strain on my foot and I have to do something!
It will probably be boring but I have a book to try to hold my attention. It's a paperback which is better than me trying to read one that is electronic. I don't think I want to be sitting on a bike with my mini-acer even if it's about the same size of a hardback. What a complete geek I would look like - not that I don't already - look like a geek or at least feel like one now that I don't know what I am going to do.
So bike today, maybe a swim after. I don't know, I will see but I will at least get myself there to the gym this afternoon. I have to do something.
TT
Well, nevermind. My foot is not healed. I can't run if I remembered how and I need to stay focused that I can't do a lot of anything else until it is finally fixed. So I will attempt another trip to the gym and do something simple like ride one of their stationary bicycles. It's not weight bearing, I (hopefully) won't have to put any extra strain on my foot and I have to do something!
It will probably be boring but I have a book to try to hold my attention. It's a paperback which is better than me trying to read one that is electronic. I don't think I want to be sitting on a bike with my mini-acer even if it's about the same size of a hardback. What a complete geek I would look like - not that I don't already - look like a geek or at least feel like one now that I don't know what I am going to do.
So bike today, maybe a swim after. I don't know, I will see but I will at least get myself there to the gym this afternoon. I have to do something.
TT
Monday, August 16, 2010
Cleaning out the fridge
We have eaten some unusual meals at times and sometimes things that don't necessarily seem like they might stand up in the culinary world have a satisfying taste and comfort to them. Okay, let's just say we were trying to eat what we had in the fridge and Jay came up with this interesting take on a taco. We had some really good salami and he decided instead of making sandwiches we would put it into a corn tortilla. I'm game to trying just about anything. I thought okay, but it has to be a good taco. He went about making everything and came up with this really good avocado sauce. He boiled some chopped onion and serrano peppers with a pinch of salt to cook and soften them. He put the avocado into the blender with the peppers and onions using only a bit of the water. He added some chopped cilantro and added a dash of oil to emulsify it and blended it all until it was creamy smooth. Ummm. He set out some queso fresco, lettuce and tomato to also be added to the tacos and the combination turned out to be really wonderful.
Who would have thought a salami taco would work with all those mexican ingredients, but it did. I had to have more of that avocado sauce so I set out to make some chips from the corn tortillas to scoop it up. It was even better with a sprinkling of the mild white cheese on top. It was a great balance of cool texture to the mild heat of the sauce and crunch of the chip. Did I say ummmm, already?
Of course, after that, something sweet was the proper order but the inexpensive one layer white cake mix I used crumbled terribly when I popped it out of it's pan. Now what to do!
Think, think....I needed to keep with the mexican theme but still come up with something for dessert. I had a ripe mango...and some half and half...and I chopped up some bittersweet chocolate. How about a trifle of sorts...?
I peeled and sliced the mango and put it between layers of white cake pieces. I whipped some half and half with a teaspoon of sugar and that also went inbetween. The bittersweet chocolate shavings crowned the top.
Nothing like coming up with something to eat from what you already have in the house!
Not such a bad meal for just cleaning out the fridge.
TT
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Strike plan A
This morning I knew I wanted to get myself to the gym to try a yoga class a friend had suggested. I have been stressing about not being able to run and for not doing anything by way of exercise which has not helped my stress level. I can ball myself up pretty tightly if I don’t watch it. Yoga seemed a good choice since it would be quiet and concentrating on my center yet stretching muscles and feeling like a massage of sorts. It sounded like a good thing for me to try.
I got myself ready and went out in time for the yoga class. I got myself situated and the class got started. It was going along fairly well. The breathing, the moves, the stretching were all seeming to work well. That was when I realized that one move that was a go-to in between other moves might have been a little too much for my right foot. The repetitiveness of, what I think they call the “dog down”, was beginning to aggravate my injury. Oh great. I was only half way through the class. Luckily, we moved on to other things that involved sitting and taking the weight off the legs – and my bum foot. That seemed to be going better until I started to get toe cramps.
I don’t know if you ever have experienced toe cramps. I get them sometimes in the evenings. It is a nasty little uncontrollable tightening of the toes that make them curl up on their own and cause pain. It can sometimes go on for 3-4 minutes and once one foot is done the other usually starts. The only way I have known to get relief is to get up, walk around, bounce the toes up and down off the floor while standing in place or coaxing them straight by contorting or pulling them into their proper places. It’s not fun and most people don’t know what’s wrong with you when you try to relieve an attack, not to mention two, while they are ending their workout by breathing deeply into scented towels. I guess they all might have been wondering what was going on with the new girl in the class. Or possibly not. They may be so good at this yoga thing that they were all centered and breathing deeply and didn’t notice me and my contorted toes. I would hope for that option.
I guess yoga isn’t going to work for me. I did have my swimsuit and after class I changed and spent at least 15 minutes in the lap pool. That might have actually helped. I’ll figure something out. I have to. My foot isn’t better. I can still feel it’s not right but I can’t sit around. I can at least say I tried yoga and can cross it off the list. Now I can go on to the next.
There should always be a plan B, right? I am thinking next time to cycle for a while and then try the pool again. That might prove to be the lower impact and non-weight bearing exercises I need right now.
That might be the way for me to go. Hopefully I won't need a plan C.
TT
I got myself ready and went out in time for the yoga class. I got myself situated and the class got started. It was going along fairly well. The breathing, the moves, the stretching were all seeming to work well. That was when I realized that one move that was a go-to in between other moves might have been a little too much for my right foot. The repetitiveness of, what I think they call the “dog down”, was beginning to aggravate my injury. Oh great. I was only half way through the class. Luckily, we moved on to other things that involved sitting and taking the weight off the legs – and my bum foot. That seemed to be going better until I started to get toe cramps.
I don’t know if you ever have experienced toe cramps. I get them sometimes in the evenings. It is a nasty little uncontrollable tightening of the toes that make them curl up on their own and cause pain. It can sometimes go on for 3-4 minutes and once one foot is done the other usually starts. The only way I have known to get relief is to get up, walk around, bounce the toes up and down off the floor while standing in place or coaxing them straight by contorting or pulling them into their proper places. It’s not fun and most people don’t know what’s wrong with you when you try to relieve an attack, not to mention two, while they are ending their workout by breathing deeply into scented towels. I guess they all might have been wondering what was going on with the new girl in the class. Or possibly not. They may be so good at this yoga thing that they were all centered and breathing deeply and didn’t notice me and my contorted toes. I would hope for that option.
I guess yoga isn’t going to work for me. I did have my swimsuit and after class I changed and spent at least 15 minutes in the lap pool. That might have actually helped. I’ll figure something out. I have to. My foot isn’t better. I can still feel it’s not right but I can’t sit around. I can at least say I tried yoga and can cross it off the list. Now I can go on to the next.
There should always be a plan B, right? I am thinking next time to cycle for a while and then try the pool again. That might prove to be the lower impact and non-weight bearing exercises I need right now.
That might be the way for me to go. Hopefully I won't need a plan C.
TT
Friday, August 13, 2010
Friday 13th
I didn't even realize today was Friday the 13th. It is and my curiousity about it got the better of me. I had to go out and do a quick search of where that came from. I should probably do more research and find more information about why this combination of day and date is regarded as being so unlucky to satisfy my curiousity. I only took a quick minute instead and found a small bit of info.
It seems the superstition wasn't documented until the 19th century and first appeared in the 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini..."if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day".
Well, I am Italian but not supersitious and never really thought Friday as unlucky. I guess it might come from Italians being predominently Catholic and Jesus being crucified on a Friday? It was said Rossini also died on a Friday but what are the odds, there are only seven days to choose from for dying or anything else for that matter. There was also Black Friday. I guess Friday can get a pretty bad rap although I usually look forward to it as the end of my work week.
Then there is the number 13. It seems 12 is the better number with: 12 months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 apostles, 12 gods of Olympia, 12 movies in the Friday the 13th series. So 13 is the oddball, I guess. Someone thought so and started the snowball effect of combining it with Friday and making it bad. They talked it up and said, see, see...it happened on Friday the 13th, that bad thing! Then other people started to think the same thing and would point out the bad thing that happened to them or someone they knew on that day. Wow...Okay...that part didn't come from any research...complete fantasy on my part but can you see it happening that way, can't you? It's amazing the bad things you remember on certain days instead of good things that happen and keep those to remember.
So have a happy Friday the 13th! Remember something good that happens today and talk about it.
TT
It seems the superstition wasn't documented until the 19th century and first appeared in the 1869 biography of Gioachino Rossini..."if it be true that, like so many other Italians, he regarded Friday as an unlucky day".
Well, I am Italian but not supersitious and never really thought Friday as unlucky. I guess it might come from Italians being predominently Catholic and Jesus being crucified on a Friday? It was said Rossini also died on a Friday but what are the odds, there are only seven days to choose from for dying or anything else for that matter. There was also Black Friday. I guess Friday can get a pretty bad rap although I usually look forward to it as the end of my work week.
Then there is the number 13. It seems 12 is the better number with: 12 months of the year, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 apostles, 12 gods of Olympia, 12 movies in the Friday the 13th series. So 13 is the oddball, I guess. Someone thought so and started the snowball effect of combining it with Friday and making it bad. They talked it up and said, see, see...it happened on Friday the 13th, that bad thing! Then other people started to think the same thing and would point out the bad thing that happened to them or someone they knew on that day. Wow...Okay...that part didn't come from any research...complete fantasy on my part but can you see it happening that way, can't you? It's amazing the bad things you remember on certain days instead of good things that happen and keep those to remember.
So have a happy Friday the 13th! Remember something good that happens today and talk about it.
TT
Homemade Pizza
Pizza is something I will usually make on a Saturday. It comes from my growing up and would be a simple way for my Mom to satisfy different likes and dislikes without having to make different foods. She would do it for Saturday dinner since she wasn't working and she had more time to prepare it for the bunch of us. I had been thinking of making it but moved it up from Saturday to Thursday (last night). Why not?
It's a simple thing really...
It's a simple thing really...
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| Add packet of yeast to 1/2 cup warm water and dissolve. Add to 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1 cup of flour. |
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| Mix with fork until comes together. |
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With flour on your fingertips gently take it out of the bowl and form into ball. Flour the surface llightly, too! |
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| Oil a clean bowl and let dough rise. Put on top of the oven and cover with clean dish towel for 30 minutes or so. |
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| Turn out of the bowl on floured surface. Knead slightly, then roll out dough. |
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Go ahead and put on your oiled pan and let rest...whatever time...15 minutes is fine. |
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Grate your cheese. I also use my own quick tomato sauce. Sautéd onions, canned diced tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and about a tablespoon of sugar cooked down for 30 minutes. (Hint: basil & sugar - pizza sauce should be slightly sweeter than meat sauce) |
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| Fun part! Toppings can be anything you want. I had salami & spicy coppocola. |
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Out of the oven - I used mine as high as it would go- 550 degrees for 10-15 minutes? I'm not sure. I was watching the pizza not the clock. Yes...also added some veggies, but like I said...those can come off or more and different can be put on! |
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Have a slice! |
It's only Thursday evening but it feels like a Saturday!
TT
Thursday, August 12, 2010
5 mins
I don't think I can speed write. I have only managed to give myself five minutes here this morning. It wasn't due to oversleeping but doing other things. My regular routines are breaking apart and I am straying from my normal. I think that may be a good thing but it certainly feels odd not to have the luxury of sitting at my home desk, sipping my coffee, battling out words and watching the silence that comes through my window.
Well, now that I've put it that way the five minutes doesn't seem so short. I can cram a lot of good stuff in a few minutes if I try, I guess. Or if I just let myself pause and take advantage of the five minutes I have instead of stressing over having only five minutes.
The best part is even though I am off and running now I can come back again and even though it won't be exactly the same ever again, it will be close. I can do this again...just not now.
Well, I might have to take that first sentence back. Sometimes, maybe I can speed write.
Five minutes up.
TT
Well, now that I've put it that way the five minutes doesn't seem so short. I can cram a lot of good stuff in a few minutes if I try, I guess. Or if I just let myself pause and take advantage of the five minutes I have instead of stressing over having only five minutes.
The best part is even though I am off and running now I can come back again and even though it won't be exactly the same ever again, it will be close. I can do this again...just not now.
Well, I might have to take that first sentence back. Sometimes, maybe I can speed write.
Five minutes up.
TT
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Talking to strangers
Last Saturday I had an air conditioning repairman come out to the house to have my cooling system fixed. He arrived and set out to doing what he was called to do. When he was finished with his work he came in to settle the bill. I was sitting at the kitchen table with my netbook and I invited him to sit while he wrote up the invoice. He noticed the tiny computer and asked me about it. He was interested in one for his wife. She didn't need anything fancy, he explained, just to use for her facebook and such. Hmm, yeah, well, I told him this little machine should work fine.
He went on to explain that he often went to Woot.com because of the awesome specials they offered. Now, I know about as much about Woot as I did the dual capacitor he had just replaced and I was paying him for. But somehow people always find it easy to talk to me and tell me things and he seemed to be no exception. He went on to say that Woot had one item on sale daily until it was sold out or until midnight whichever came first and then changed the item to something else and did it all again each day. He was really excited about it and after seeing my netbook he was revved up to get his wife one...for her facebook and such. Then he told me about a game he had gotten that at some point in the game he needed a quote or a clue out of Bram Stokers Dracula. It was the only book he had read on-line. He told me he read the entire book but never found the clue or quote or whatever he needed for his game, but he thought the book was good. It was even better than the movie! Imagine that.
I read books all the time and always think they are better than the movie. Well, that would be the movie's I actually go to see which aren't many. I would much rather read the book. Imagine that.
I'm not sure how I manage to get strangers to talk to me and tell me things they might not mention to other strangers. I had just met this air conditioning repairman and only talked to him for maybe 5-10 minutes tops. I found out that he is kind enough to be on the lookout for sales on a computer to purchase for his wife. He will do this even though she only might be using it for something as simple as facebook. He is also a gamer which also might explain the need for another computer for his wife but such a gamer that he read an entire book to find a clue he never found. What he found was that he enjoyed the book and that he thinks Woot is such a great place to make purchases he wanted to pass on the word. There are other things I found out about him like the fact that he has a Lab and his son is living with him temporarily right now and smokes.
I don't know why or how I find out so much about people. I don’t know why they are so willing to share so much with me. I guess I shouldn't question it but I'm just curious. Is this something that happens to everyone or is it just me? I don’t know.
Mom never warned me what to do when strangers talk to me.
TT
He went on to explain that he often went to Woot.com because of the awesome specials they offered. Now, I know about as much about Woot as I did the dual capacitor he had just replaced and I was paying him for. But somehow people always find it easy to talk to me and tell me things and he seemed to be no exception. He went on to say that Woot had one item on sale daily until it was sold out or until midnight whichever came first and then changed the item to something else and did it all again each day. He was really excited about it and after seeing my netbook he was revved up to get his wife one...for her facebook and such. Then he told me about a game he had gotten that at some point in the game he needed a quote or a clue out of Bram Stokers Dracula. It was the only book he had read on-line. He told me he read the entire book but never found the clue or quote or whatever he needed for his game, but he thought the book was good. It was even better than the movie! Imagine that.
I read books all the time and always think they are better than the movie. Well, that would be the movie's I actually go to see which aren't many. I would much rather read the book. Imagine that.
I'm not sure how I manage to get strangers to talk to me and tell me things they might not mention to other strangers. I had just met this air conditioning repairman and only talked to him for maybe 5-10 minutes tops. I found out that he is kind enough to be on the lookout for sales on a computer to purchase for his wife. He will do this even though she only might be using it for something as simple as facebook. He is also a gamer which also might explain the need for another computer for his wife but such a gamer that he read an entire book to find a clue he never found. What he found was that he enjoyed the book and that he thinks Woot is such a great place to make purchases he wanted to pass on the word. There are other things I found out about him like the fact that he has a Lab and his son is living with him temporarily right now and smokes.
I don't know why or how I find out so much about people. I don’t know why they are so willing to share so much with me. I guess I shouldn't question it but I'm just curious. Is this something that happens to everyone or is it just me? I don’t know.
Mom never warned me what to do when strangers talk to me.
TT
One thing or another
Now that I have wiped my tears on my dry sweat towel for not being able to run since July 26th, I guess I can move along and share some positive information. It isn't any real groundbreaking information but for me it counts as an important issue I can put behind me.
I had my recent doctor appointment and had blood work taken late that same evening. It was the first blood work I had done since last December to correct my incredibly low, almost transfusion levels of iron. I had proven to be anemic for a good two years prior. It was frustrating and I am not one to put up with the miserable side effects of taking iron pills for an undetermined amount of time. And I didn't, wouldn't, and won't. Stubborn, little cuss, I am. Oh, yeah, how understated.
I was mildly surprised when the morning after having my blood drawn the prior evening I received a phone call from my doctor. He called me himself. This could be very bad when a doctor gets on the line with you directly. His news was not bad. He called to reassure me that my iron numbers were well into the normal range and I was NOT anemic. He didn't have to call me directly. I had asked the office staff member how results were usually given and was told a nurse would call in two days or I could call the office in that timeframe. My doctor called me the next morning to give me the news himself. I wanted to hug him over the phone but was happy with the thought I had done that after my appointment. He must have to endure that quite a bit since women are his only clients. The best part is that I will not have to endure the repercussions of having oxygen stolen away from my cells. I will not have to endure the dilema of trying to improve my iron numbers in the form of pill taking. The doctor did want me to get a bone density test since I have never had one before.
Oh, great. Solve one problem and now this. Come on, I'm old...bone density? Why are they always setting me up for failure?
Where did I put that towel.
TT
I had my recent doctor appointment and had blood work taken late that same evening. It was the first blood work I had done since last December to correct my incredibly low, almost transfusion levels of iron. I had proven to be anemic for a good two years prior. It was frustrating and I am not one to put up with the miserable side effects of taking iron pills for an undetermined amount of time. And I didn't, wouldn't, and won't. Stubborn, little cuss, I am. Oh, yeah, how understated.
I was mildly surprised when the morning after having my blood drawn the prior evening I received a phone call from my doctor. He called me himself. This could be very bad when a doctor gets on the line with you directly. His news was not bad. He called to reassure me that my iron numbers were well into the normal range and I was NOT anemic. He didn't have to call me directly. I had asked the office staff member how results were usually given and was told a nurse would call in two days or I could call the office in that timeframe. My doctor called me the next morning to give me the news himself. I wanted to hug him over the phone but was happy with the thought I had done that after my appointment. He must have to endure that quite a bit since women are his only clients. The best part is that I will not have to endure the repercussions of having oxygen stolen away from my cells. I will not have to endure the dilema of trying to improve my iron numbers in the form of pill taking. The doctor did want me to get a bone density test since I have never had one before.
Oh, great. Solve one problem and now this. Come on, I'm old...bone density? Why are they always setting me up for failure?
Where did I put that towel.
TT
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Don't mention it
Should I mention my running or the lack there of? I could go on quietly not saying a word about this beloved pastime of mine and I would be perfectly happy not mentioning it. I would have not even thought about it until someone asked me, "Did you run this morning?" Then another person asked, "How long did you run today?" Maybe I was thinking about it but I certainly wasn't talking about it or bringing it up. The people asking me must have sensed how much I am missing my running. They seemed genuinely apologetic when I told them I have had to stop again.
I have not been running. I cannot run. I have re-damaged my torn achilles tendon on my right foot. I thought it might take a week to heal but I knew at the end of last week it was going to take longer. My foot was actually hurting on Thursday evening and all last Friday. I know. I am admitting it and even if it doesn't seem to be especially painful to me - others would consider this pain. I was caught limping again and wanted to deny it but it won't make the foot heal any faster. I don't even know how far behind I am in my training. I won't let myself think about it. I have signed up for a race in November and I don't have any idea what will happen on that front. I won't let myself think about that either.
It's not the best thing for a runner not to be able to run. I will wait it out. It's got to heal sometime even if it takes longer than I would like, but it will heal eventually. I should probably think of something else I could do. I guess I need to go to the gym and cycle. It was also suggested I swim or do weight training. I should - I should do any or all of those things. Maybe I will but I haven't yet because I am trying to heal a damaged foot as quickly and quietly as I can. I'll think about some cross training a little later. I would like to hold out for running but I am also knowing it might be a longer wait than I'd like for that.
I knew I shouldn't have brought up my running.
TT
I have not been running. I cannot run. I have re-damaged my torn achilles tendon on my right foot. I thought it might take a week to heal but I knew at the end of last week it was going to take longer. My foot was actually hurting on Thursday evening and all last Friday. I know. I am admitting it and even if it doesn't seem to be especially painful to me - others would consider this pain. I was caught limping again and wanted to deny it but it won't make the foot heal any faster. I don't even know how far behind I am in my training. I won't let myself think about it. I have signed up for a race in November and I don't have any idea what will happen on that front. I won't let myself think about that either.
It's not the best thing for a runner not to be able to run. I will wait it out. It's got to heal sometime even if it takes longer than I would like, but it will heal eventually. I should probably think of something else I could do. I guess I need to go to the gym and cycle. It was also suggested I swim or do weight training. I should - I should do any or all of those things. Maybe I will but I haven't yet because I am trying to heal a damaged foot as quickly and quietly as I can. I'll think about some cross training a little later. I would like to hold out for running but I am also knowing it might be a longer wait than I'd like for that.
I knew I shouldn't have brought up my running.
TT
Amateur writer
I don't know what possessed me to scroll through some very old sent emails at work today. It must have been the fact that I was incredibly caught up on my work and the same measure of being bored that led me to doing it. I read through some old messages that gave me a smile but I mostly scrolled through many months of old work. While I was flipping back through time I came across a note I had forwarded to myself from work to home. It was dated 4/13/09 at 4:13pm which meant I was almost done with work for the day since I leave at 4:30. More surprising to me was that it was just a few days within the time frame that I originally started this blog. The note had a subject line of amateur writer and the body contained this:
The thoughts of an amateur writer who is struggling to get the correct words, in the correct order on a blank page.
An amateur writer who is trying to figure out what the correct words are and whether or not they belong on a blank page.
An amateur writer that sometimes over thinks the words put on a blank page and replaces them.
It seems I was trying to come up with the line in my header. I completely dropped the amateur writer reference and you can almost hear my thought process and just being silly and playful with each line (or am I the only one that hears that)? I don't think I was taking it too seriously but I was staying very close to being truthful. None of the above was what I ended up with and the original read:
My thoughts as I struggle to get words on a page - and fit life in along the way.
I won't argue that I do well with editing as I did for these sentences. I found it a little exciting to see where my idea started and how I got it to where it is. I have even made a subtle change again but finding these old sentences that led up to it from well over a year ago was interesting.
Well, it was interesting to me.
TT
--------------------------------------------------
Update: 8/10/10 -7:23pm - Oh blast! I had a feeling I had used these sentences before and sure enough I found where I had already posted them. http://tessatoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/oh-yeah-wait.html
It was 6/5/09 and after reading it I can say it was a much weaker post. I even changed (edited myself yet again) some of the exact wording in the sentences, leaving out amateur writer...I guess I didn't want to think of myself as a writer at all back then.
So sorry to repeat myself - even if I did a better job now than back then. That's what this tool of mine is all about so I guess that is working even if my memory isn't.
The thoughts of an amateur writer who is struggling to get the correct words, in the correct order on a blank page.
An amateur writer who is trying to figure out what the correct words are and whether or not they belong on a blank page.
An amateur writer that sometimes over thinks the words put on a blank page and replaces them.
It seems I was trying to come up with the line in my header. I completely dropped the amateur writer reference and you can almost hear my thought process and just being silly and playful with each line (or am I the only one that hears that)? I don't think I was taking it too seriously but I was staying very close to being truthful. None of the above was what I ended up with and the original read:
My thoughts as I struggle to get words on a page - and fit life in along the way.
I won't argue that I do well with editing as I did for these sentences. I found it a little exciting to see where my idea started and how I got it to where it is. I have even made a subtle change again but finding these old sentences that led up to it from well over a year ago was interesting.
Well, it was interesting to me.
TT
--------------------------------------------------
Update: 8/10/10 -7:23pm - Oh blast! I had a feeling I had used these sentences before and sure enough I found where I had already posted them. http://tessatoday.blogspot.com/2009/06/oh-yeah-wait.html
It was 6/5/09 and after reading it I can say it was a much weaker post. I even changed (edited myself yet again) some of the exact wording in the sentences, leaving out amateur writer...I guess I didn't want to think of myself as a writer at all back then.
So sorry to repeat myself - even if I did a better job now than back then. That's what this tool of mine is all about so I guess that is working even if my memory isn't.
Getting organized
I need to carve out some time for organizing my writing again. I knew I had a draft post I had put together for the blog. When I checked this morning I found I had three draft posts I had put together. I realized at that moment that I really needed to clean out my files so I would have them stored in the proper place. This helps me keep my back stage area of blogger clean to my eye even though you never see it.
Last year when I was committed to posting daily I created a separate file with blank documents simply labeled Sunday through Saturday with one extra blank document. I would sometimes start a post within blogger in draft mode then pull it out and copy it into one of my labeled word documents to give me time to work on it. I could then delete the draft out of blogger keeping it "clean". It was the way I stayed organized and I had my material always at hand in a one stop shop, so to speak. I am sure I could use blogger the same way but having my posted entries and my draft entries all together doesn't work for me. I know it can be sorted but somehow pulling them into my separate documents works better for me. And I haven't been doing that and I need to. It is also easier for me to flash drive them when they are separated so I can switch computers to work on it. I also don't have to be on-line if I am working on a word document and that can be a plus if I am trying to keep myself from distractions. It sure sounds like I've convinced myself. The only thing now is I need to get on the ball and start putting things in order so I can actually do what all I've been talking so much about. Maybe I should have started that now instead of taking the time to talk about it.
Maybe...I have the smallest amount of time now so if you will excuse me. I have three documents that need to be moved. No time like the present.
TT
Last year when I was committed to posting daily I created a separate file with blank documents simply labeled Sunday through Saturday with one extra blank document. I would sometimes start a post within blogger in draft mode then pull it out and copy it into one of my labeled word documents to give me time to work on it. I could then delete the draft out of blogger keeping it "clean". It was the way I stayed organized and I had my material always at hand in a one stop shop, so to speak. I am sure I could use blogger the same way but having my posted entries and my draft entries all together doesn't work for me. I know it can be sorted but somehow pulling them into my separate documents works better for me. And I haven't been doing that and I need to. It is also easier for me to flash drive them when they are separated so I can switch computers to work on it. I also don't have to be on-line if I am working on a word document and that can be a plus if I am trying to keep myself from distractions. It sure sounds like I've convinced myself. The only thing now is I need to get on the ball and start putting things in order so I can actually do what all I've been talking so much about. Maybe I should have started that now instead of taking the time to talk about it.
Maybe...I have the smallest amount of time now so if you will excuse me. I have three documents that need to be moved. No time like the present.
TT
Saturday, August 7, 2010
No A/C
I am sitting and waiting for an air conditioning repairman to show up. Any outside activities I may have had lined up for this Saturday have been placed in a holding pattern and may never get a chance to land... or should that be to take flight? I guess it would be more accurate to say they never took off. Well, that would be if I were flying somewhere and that was never the case for today. What was I saying?
Last night while I was getting dinner together I felt a hot blast of air coming from the air conditioning vent. I have to mention that it has been a typically hot August and this week the temperatures have been at the three digit highs...like 102. It doesn't make no never mind to me. I happen to be one of those freaks of nature that prefers the incredibly hot weather. I have spent many years trying to stay within a certain higher temperature range and avoided colder (for me colder can be 50 degrees-okay sometimes 55) like the Wicked Witch of the West avoided buckets of water. But I knew something wasn't right with the A/C. Why does it feel like the heater is on? Uh-oh.
So things were checked within our limited expertise of air conditioning, like turning it on and off, and we knew it wasn't working. I opened some windows for cross ventilation and found a box fan that Jay had in the storage shed. It really wasn't all that bad as far as I was concerned except for the noise from the fan.
This morning I could tell Jay was getting stressed out about having to deal with this repair. Luckily, he was going off to work and wouldn't have to be in the house without a working cooling system. I told him not to worry. We have managed to take care of worse things and when it's all fixed and done it won't mean a thing. I think he liked the sentiment but wasn't wholly convinced. I got a call from him after he arrived at work that a repairman should be arriving between 12:00 and 3:00 today. Things were moving right along. I wasn't going anywhere so I decided to... Oh, wait...look outside...I think he just arrived!
So it turns out we need to replace the dual capacitor. OK, shrug, I have no clue what that means. He thinks he has one on the truck. I think, good...but it sounds like a really huge thing. No, nope...it's a small silver cylinder item smaller than a soda can with three thingy-boppys on the top. It's worth $220.00. To Jay it's priceless and you will have to excuse me so I can call him now to let him know the temperature inside is slowing making a descent. I will finally be able to take flight - well, after I change out of these clothes that are a little more than damp from the heat I have experienced indoors since last night. You would think I had been doused with a bucket of water.
TT
Last night while I was getting dinner together I felt a hot blast of air coming from the air conditioning vent. I have to mention that it has been a typically hot August and this week the temperatures have been at the three digit highs...like 102. It doesn't make no never mind to me. I happen to be one of those freaks of nature that prefers the incredibly hot weather. I have spent many years trying to stay within a certain higher temperature range and avoided colder (for me colder can be 50 degrees-okay sometimes 55) like the Wicked Witch of the West avoided buckets of water. But I knew something wasn't right with the A/C. Why does it feel like the heater is on? Uh-oh.
So things were checked within our limited expertise of air conditioning, like turning it on and off, and we knew it wasn't working. I opened some windows for cross ventilation and found a box fan that Jay had in the storage shed. It really wasn't all that bad as far as I was concerned except for the noise from the fan.
This morning I could tell Jay was getting stressed out about having to deal with this repair. Luckily, he was going off to work and wouldn't have to be in the house without a working cooling system. I told him not to worry. We have managed to take care of worse things and when it's all fixed and done it won't mean a thing. I think he liked the sentiment but wasn't wholly convinced. I got a call from him after he arrived at work that a repairman should be arriving between 12:00 and 3:00 today. Things were moving right along. I wasn't going anywhere so I decided to... Oh, wait...look outside...I think he just arrived!
So it turns out we need to replace the dual capacitor. OK, shrug, I have no clue what that means. He thinks he has one on the truck. I think, good...but it sounds like a really huge thing. No, nope...it's a small silver cylinder item smaller than a soda can with three thingy-boppys on the top. It's worth $220.00. To Jay it's priceless and you will have to excuse me so I can call him now to let him know the temperature inside is slowing making a descent. I will finally be able to take flight - well, after I change out of these clothes that are a little more than damp from the heat I have experienced indoors since last night. You would think I had been doused with a bucket of water.
TT
Wireless
I have come to the end of my two year contract for my wireless aircard. I knew it was coming up to deadline and I was searching the opportunities that staying and renewing the contract might bring. There was talk of getting a new 4G upgrade with no cost for the device. They tried to make believe that the 4G might even be available in my area already. I pondered and thought. What would I do? I wasn't sure. I couldn't seem to make a decision. I guess I must have mentioned it outloud at some point.
Jay stepped in and took care of the whole thing. He found out the RoadRunner internet system that we currently use already had wireless service within our package. He found out that we only needed to exchange the modem we were using for a wireless modem at no charge. He not only found these things out but he did the leg work and exchanges and brought home a wireless modem that I was able to immediately log into with my laptop upstairs and the netbook that I have.
I was a little skeptical at first but I have come to find that the connection is so much better than what I had been paying for monthly for my aircard. It's faster, doesn't drop the connection, and I can actually watch a video without frozen pictures, stop/start images, and recalibrations. I was able to watch a cooking demo seamlessly! I tried it just to see how it would work. And I was able to watch this demo downstairs on my bed on my mini-acer! I couldn't have done that with my aircard. I can't believe I was throwing my money at that aircard with monthly charges and now I have better, more convenient service without any additional costs to me and I've eliminated a bill! I am sitting upstairs right now conveniently using my laptop without having to skuutch it away from me and closer to my window to pick up a signal. It's amazing the things I was doing to accomodate a service I was paying for that wasn't delivering! But not now. Jay went out, made all the right decisions and handed it to me.
I do realize I won't be as mobile and have the aircard outside of the house but I know I wasn't really using it that much that way anyway. Besides, if I want to go out and hook up to write outside the house I can use the free wi-fi at Barnes & Noble. I've already uninstalled the aircard from my laptop and I am delighting in how much quicker my poor laptop is operating already. I know I am overly excited about all this but then...I get that way with my new gadgets. It doesn't take much, does it?
TT
Jay stepped in and took care of the whole thing. He found out the RoadRunner internet system that we currently use already had wireless service within our package. He found out that we only needed to exchange the modem we were using for a wireless modem at no charge. He not only found these things out but he did the leg work and exchanges and brought home a wireless modem that I was able to immediately log into with my laptop upstairs and the netbook that I have.
I was a little skeptical at first but I have come to find that the connection is so much better than what I had been paying for monthly for my aircard. It's faster, doesn't drop the connection, and I can actually watch a video without frozen pictures, stop/start images, and recalibrations. I was able to watch a cooking demo seamlessly! I tried it just to see how it would work. And I was able to watch this demo downstairs on my bed on my mini-acer! I couldn't have done that with my aircard. I can't believe I was throwing my money at that aircard with monthly charges and now I have better, more convenient service without any additional costs to me and I've eliminated a bill! I am sitting upstairs right now conveniently using my laptop without having to skuutch it away from me and closer to my window to pick up a signal. It's amazing the things I was doing to accomodate a service I was paying for that wasn't delivering! But not now. Jay went out, made all the right decisions and handed it to me.
I do realize I won't be as mobile and have the aircard outside of the house but I know I wasn't really using it that much that way anyway. Besides, if I want to go out and hook up to write outside the house I can use the free wi-fi at Barnes & Noble. I've already uninstalled the aircard from my laptop and I am delighting in how much quicker my poor laptop is operating already. I know I am overly excited about all this but then...I get that way with my new gadgets. It doesn't take much, does it?
TT
Friday, August 6, 2010
'Morning Friday
Somehow I have made it to Friday. The increasingly long weeks leading to incredibly short weekends seemed to have missed it's mark this time around. I do remembering saying one time yesterday that it should be Friday (when it was only Thursday afternoon) but it might have been said from habit instead of real feeling. Besides, today is Friday and it seems very mute at this point. It's the end of the workweek and since I have an appointment (yes, yet another!) at 3:30 I will be taking myself away from work even earlier.
It's not like I have a multitude of things that must get done, I really don't. People will ask what my plans are for the weekend and I really don't have anything that I could say...I will be doing this at such a time or that later. I seem to have a list of want to do or I could possibly do going around in my head at all times. It leaves me open to change my mind if I decide. It sounds pretty non-committal and almost lazy but I will challenge you to compare lists at the end of the weekend to see how many of my got done's will compare to yours.
Oh smile, already. I'm not throwing down any gauntlet on chores. I am just looking forward to my weekend and my list of want to do's. Aren't you?
TT
It's not like I have a multitude of things that must get done, I really don't. People will ask what my plans are for the weekend and I really don't have anything that I could say...I will be doing this at such a time or that later. I seem to have a list of want to do or I could possibly do going around in my head at all times. It leaves me open to change my mind if I decide. It sounds pretty non-committal and almost lazy but I will challenge you to compare lists at the end of the weekend to see how many of my got done's will compare to yours.
Oh smile, already. I'm not throwing down any gauntlet on chores. I am just looking forward to my weekend and my list of want to do's. Aren't you?
TT
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Dr appt
And again today I have another appointment after work although this one is of a more professional (Dr.) appointment instead of the mere hair appointment I had yesterday. It's just a yearly preventative check-up type visit but I will need to bring up the dreaded iron deficient blood problem I seem to have been suffering through the past two years. The suffering was mostly caused by the extensive amount of doctors and specialist I was required to see and the multitude of unwarranted tests I was persuaded to undergo. They couldn't seem to pinpoint a reason for my iron deficiency and wanted to check off every possibility from their clipboard list so it would come to an enormous total at the bottom that they could charge my insurance company. I think that was the only thing guiding them because they didn't seem to have any insight or even try to think of any real medical reasons for making me have the tests done. How very frustrating for me to keep seeing and paying different specialists to give some thought into a diagnosis and all they did was give me test after test without any regard to common sense and a lack of symptoms that you would think might trigger the need for a particular test in the first place!
But today I am only going for a check-up but I will need to broach the fact that I have not had a blood test since my iron problem seems to have finally been taken care of since last December. I am or was confident that it truly had been taken care of. I say "was" because there was a recent blood drive at work and I was turned away for not coming up to their standard for the necessary iron levels. It seems they needed a number of 38 to donate and I only hit the number 37. It bummed me out all day. I was so confident that everything was in place and I ended up getting turned away for too low an iron level albeit by one point.
So, I will ask the Doctor about it. I am sure there will be a test on his chart he will be able to check-off for me to get done. Hopefully it won't lead to another and than another test but I have learned to exercise my own insight and common sense when asked to have these tests done. It won't be the first doctor that doesn't particularly like to see me because of all the questions and arguments I've been known to give them. Ah, well. At least they are now seeing and hearing me instead of a list and balance at the bottom of a clipboard.
TT
But today I am only going for a check-up but I will need to broach the fact that I have not had a blood test since my iron problem seems to have finally been taken care of since last December. I am or was confident that it truly had been taken care of. I say "was" because there was a recent blood drive at work and I was turned away for not coming up to their standard for the necessary iron levels. It seems they needed a number of 38 to donate and I only hit the number 37. It bummed me out all day. I was so confident that everything was in place and I ended up getting turned away for too low an iron level albeit by one point.
So, I will ask the Doctor about it. I am sure there will be a test on his chart he will be able to check-off for me to get done. Hopefully it won't lead to another and than another test but I have learned to exercise my own insight and common sense when asked to have these tests done. It won't be the first doctor that doesn't particularly like to see me because of all the questions and arguments I've been known to give them. Ah, well. At least they are now seeing and hearing me instead of a list and balance at the bottom of a clipboard.
TT
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Hair appt
I have an appointment with my hairdresser this afternoon. I put it off as long as I could but it is past time for me to get a trim and shape. I have been trying to grow my length out after a year and a half of regularly scheduled 7 week cuts. I felt I needed to keep on a strict schedule at the time since I was growing out all the permanent chemical color I had been using in my hair. It took me about that full year and a half to do that and in the process I gained my natural hair color back without the chemcial enhancements (and a lot healthier hair) but sacrificed length. Since then I have been trying to grow my length back while still having a decent style. It sounds like a fairly easy task but my hair grows slower than a snails pace and my 7 week cuts have gone to 14 week cuts. You would think I would be able to get some length by doing that but I think I just get unshaped hair. It doesn't seem like it's grown all that much. It probably doesn't help that I have gone back to wearing my hair more naturally curly than the straight flat-ironed style I have been wearing until just recently. The curl can give the illusion it's not as long as it really is. But I am sure I will feel better about my sloppy mess of hair after my appointment this afternoon.
That's what these appointments are for anyway, aren't they? I go in specifically to talk to the person that has been managing my mop for all these months (years really) and we do a he said, she said, until I come out looking and feeling better than I did going in. It sounds like a win, win situation. I think I'm feeling better already. Okay, not really, not yet. Maybe later after the haircut.
TT
That's what these appointments are for anyway, aren't they? I go in specifically to talk to the person that has been managing my mop for all these months (years really) and we do a he said, she said, until I come out looking and feeling better than I did going in. It sounds like a win, win situation. I think I'm feeling better already. Okay, not really, not yet. Maybe later after the haircut.
TT
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Funny feet
"Your feet have no meat."
It sounded like a line from a Dr. Seuss book. I'm not sure what the title of that one would be but it had that same style of rhyming ring to it. Actually I was sitting outside after work last night with Jay. I had changed into a pair of shorts and kicked off my shoes as I am always barefoot at home. I was sitting comfortably in one of our outdoor chairs with my knees bent up to my chest and my feet on the edge. (Well, comfortably for me, maybe). I guess with my feet that high up in Jay's line of sight he couldn't resist saying something about them and the great Dr. Seuss-like line is what he came up with. It was funny but he meant it. I had never considered the fact. Why would I? Does it matter the amount of flesh someone has on their feet? I didn't think so.
I guess he thought so. He went on for a few moments describing my feet with it's visible bones and the length of my toes. He claimed I had extra long toes that started in the middle of my foot. I argued that point. He was just tracing the bone that connected to the toe and calling it extra long. He went so far as to remove his sock and shoe as to compare and show me a foot with meat. I wasn't sure that was such a good idea. I might have a narrow, slight foot but his are really chunky and big and...pale! Wow, I told him they didn't look healthy and maybe they should diet just a bit. He put his sock and shoe back on and didn't have too much more to say about my meatless feet.
Some people can sure dish it out but just try to point out something that they brought up and they get miffed. I must say we both had a giggle about it afterward. How do we always end up in these weird conversations?
TT
It sounded like a line from a Dr. Seuss book. I'm not sure what the title of that one would be but it had that same style of rhyming ring to it. Actually I was sitting outside after work last night with Jay. I had changed into a pair of shorts and kicked off my shoes as I am always barefoot at home. I was sitting comfortably in one of our outdoor chairs with my knees bent up to my chest and my feet on the edge. (Well, comfortably for me, maybe). I guess with my feet that high up in Jay's line of sight he couldn't resist saying something about them and the great Dr. Seuss-like line is what he came up with. It was funny but he meant it. I had never considered the fact. Why would I? Does it matter the amount of flesh someone has on their feet? I didn't think so.
I guess he thought so. He went on for a few moments describing my feet with it's visible bones and the length of my toes. He claimed I had extra long toes that started in the middle of my foot. I argued that point. He was just tracing the bone that connected to the toe and calling it extra long. He went so far as to remove his sock and shoe as to compare and show me a foot with meat. I wasn't sure that was such a good idea. I might have a narrow, slight foot but his are really chunky and big and...pale! Wow, I told him they didn't look healthy and maybe they should diet just a bit. He put his sock and shoe back on and didn't have too much more to say about my meatless feet.
Some people can sure dish it out but just try to point out something that they brought up and they get miffed. I must say we both had a giggle about it afterward. How do we always end up in these weird conversations?
TT
Monday, August 2, 2010
Disappearing weekends
And then it was Monday.
I am so not sure what exactly has been happening to my weekends. We all live for them. We all work all week until they roll around. I know I do, especially lately when work is just so much of a drag and I seem to have things I would rather be doing away from work. Then they are here and gone. The weekends. I have had at least the past two weekends come and go with an extremely long week in between. I am hoping that won't be the case again this week but I will have to wait it out to see.
It seems there has to be some type of balance by making the week seem so excruciatingly long in order to make the weekend so incredibly short. I guess it's some type of balance or it's just me and my not wanting to face another excruciatingly long week to have my weekend seem incredibly short. I guess I will have to take what I get and maybe the trick this week is to try to get some of those things that I want to do on the weekend done during the week. It might work. I will have to give that a try and maybe the long week won't be as excruciating or as long. I guess that makes sense if by filling it with things makes it less long. And now that I think of it I do have two appointments after work later in the week. I wonder if that will lengthen or shorten the seemly long week. But that's too much thought about it on a Monday or is it not enough. Either way time has gotten away from me this morning and now I need to wrap up because I have to go start what will either be a long or short week. It's too bad I can't just make the week disappear and be back at the weekend.
TT
I am so not sure what exactly has been happening to my weekends. We all live for them. We all work all week until they roll around. I know I do, especially lately when work is just so much of a drag and I seem to have things I would rather be doing away from work. Then they are here and gone. The weekends. I have had at least the past two weekends come and go with an extremely long week in between. I am hoping that won't be the case again this week but I will have to wait it out to see.
It seems there has to be some type of balance by making the week seem so excruciatingly long in order to make the weekend so incredibly short. I guess it's some type of balance or it's just me and my not wanting to face another excruciatingly long week to have my weekend seem incredibly short. I guess I will have to take what I get and maybe the trick this week is to try to get some of those things that I want to do on the weekend done during the week. It might work. I will have to give that a try and maybe the long week won't be as excruciating or as long. I guess that makes sense if by filling it with things makes it less long. And now that I think of it I do have two appointments after work later in the week. I wonder if that will lengthen or shorten the seemly long week. But that's too much thought about it on a Monday or is it not enough. Either way time has gotten away from me this morning and now I need to wrap up because I have to go start what will either be a long or short week. It's too bad I can't just make the week disappear and be back at the weekend.
TT
Sunday, August 1, 2010
1st?
Nike+ Celebration
Rock on
You placed 1st in the July 2010- Men v. Women challenge
This was part of an email I opened this morning. Funny how now that I have had to stop running again is the time I would get the mythical trophy for a challenge I had entered. I haven't even gone into the site to see where I actually placed among the 177 men and women that joined this particular challenge. The last time I checked on this one I think I was in 26th place or so.
I guess I shouldn't sound so flat and non-committal. I guess my ranking within the group is still a fairly good achievement considering the runners are randomly scattered in location and where they are within their own running experiences. I guess I should feel pretty good that what I was doing earned me a recognition of some sort.
It does. But timing seems to be a little off at the moment. It would seem a more deserved accomplishment if I had actually been running this past week and that I was continuing to do so. But, then...a trophy is a trophy. I am sure it's displayed on my nike+ site somewhere. I'll check on it later.
Rock on.
TT
Rock on
You placed 1st in the July 2010- Men v. Women challenge
This was part of an email I opened this morning. Funny how now that I have had to stop running again is the time I would get the mythical trophy for a challenge I had entered. I haven't even gone into the site to see where I actually placed among the 177 men and women that joined this particular challenge. The last time I checked on this one I think I was in 26th place or so.
I guess I shouldn't sound so flat and non-committal. I guess my ranking within the group is still a fairly good achievement considering the runners are randomly scattered in location and where they are within their own running experiences. I guess I should feel pretty good that what I was doing earned me a recognition of some sort.
It does. But timing seems to be a little off at the moment. It would seem a more deserved accomplishment if I had actually been running this past week and that I was continuing to do so. But, then...a trophy is a trophy. I am sure it's displayed on my nike+ site somewhere. I'll check on it later.
Rock on.
TT
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