You know that you've settled into your new job when...
You zone our your entire commute through exoburbia, not noticing a single landmark.
Then, as you turn into your place of employment, you realize that your brain spent the last 10 minutes in a different dimension than your body. And it dawns on you that this route to work has been novel for the past 4 months but suddenly is just one more habit.
28.3.06
27.3.06
the negotiator
Have I mentioned lately that I'm pretty sure my charming, delightful daughter is so going to be a diplomat or lawyer when she grows up?
OK... she's not quite 3, so maybe it's a little early to start making predictions of this nature (at 4, I wanted to be the first artist in space... don't you think modern art from the moon would just sell like hotcakes?). That being said, let me explain her aptitudes and skills at this ripe age:
1) Generally speaking (and I'm doing my best to not say this from a "she's my kid and I'm inherently biased" position), she's a charming little ham. I cannot remember the last time we went to the store when I didn't get some comment about, "well, isn't she smart as a whip/cute as a button/a little pistol/adorable/some variation thereof".
2) She has no natural fear of others. Perhaps this is because we tried very hard to help her be comfortable in a variety of social settings from infancy onward... so in retrospect, I may indeed have created a monster. But she is completely comfortable going up to a stranger, or the police officer who pulled me over Friday night, and saying, "This is my mommy. Her name's Sarah. You be nice to my mommy."
3) The child has a memory like a bear trap. I (feebly) attempted to bribe her to take a nap yesterday with the promise of the park afterward. Shouldn't the nap erase that memory? Nuh-uh. She held me to it like it was a biblical covenant.
4) She has the uncanny ability to negotiate by simply throwing the rules of logic out the window and being terrifically persistent. For instance, right now Paige gets a dum-dum sucker everytime she USES (not just attempts) the potty (yes, my life has been reduced to the lowest-common-denominator). Yesterday afternoon, she attempted to reason with me that IF she got the dum-dum sucker first, she would FOR SURE use the big girl potty. And persisted along this line of argument for about 20 minutes (which is more than the attention span she has for most cartoons.)
My greatest acheivement -- and the thing I will probably look back and beat my head on the wall for when she's 14 -- is raising an independent thinker who relentlessly pursues her goals.
On the bright side, only 15 more years til college... (at which time I'll just be crossing my fingers and worrying).
OK... she's not quite 3, so maybe it's a little early to start making predictions of this nature (at 4, I wanted to be the first artist in space... don't you think modern art from the moon would just sell like hotcakes?). That being said, let me explain her aptitudes and skills at this ripe age:
1) Generally speaking (and I'm doing my best to not say this from a "she's my kid and I'm inherently biased" position), she's a charming little ham. I cannot remember the last time we went to the store when I didn't get some comment about, "well, isn't she smart as a whip/cute as a button/a little pistol/adorable/some variation thereof".
2) She has no natural fear of others. Perhaps this is because we tried very hard to help her be comfortable in a variety of social settings from infancy onward... so in retrospect, I may indeed have created a monster. But she is completely comfortable going up to a stranger, or the police officer who pulled me over Friday night, and saying, "This is my mommy. Her name's Sarah. You be nice to my mommy."
3) The child has a memory like a bear trap. I (feebly) attempted to bribe her to take a nap yesterday with the promise of the park afterward. Shouldn't the nap erase that memory? Nuh-uh. She held me to it like it was a biblical covenant.
4) She has the uncanny ability to negotiate by simply throwing the rules of logic out the window and being terrifically persistent. For instance, right now Paige gets a dum-dum sucker everytime she USES (not just attempts) the potty (yes, my life has been reduced to the lowest-common-denominator). Yesterday afternoon, she attempted to reason with me that IF she got the dum-dum sucker first, she would FOR SURE use the big girl potty. And persisted along this line of argument for about 20 minutes (which is more than the attention span she has for most cartoons.)
My greatest acheivement -- and the thing I will probably look back and beat my head on the wall for when she's 14 -- is raising an independent thinker who relentlessly pursues her goals.
On the bright side, only 15 more years til college... (at which time I'll just be crossing my fingers and worrying).
21.3.06
Crocus
I defied this year's wintry March and took a run for lunch today.
It was amazing -- I have more running stamina than I thought, getting to the gym this winter definitely helped that. I tfor about 2 miles total -- something I wasn't even physically able to do a year and a half ago, even if it took me about 45 minutes to do it.
Only downside: I biffed on the ice and have a total "I fell off my bike" scrape on my right knee (which is why I don't go out in the winter). But I'm sick of not being able to enjoy being outside... so I'll suck it up.
And, on my way out of the yard, I noticed that I have 2 crocuses poking up in the south garden. Even though there's probably still 4-6 inches of snow in the yard. I am totally relating to their defiant cry as they fight their way through snow and sub-freezing temps. For the love of God, it's spring! Let's get on with the melt already!
a little puzzle about womanhood
So we recently did the annual "whoo-hoo, we're Irish" all-day pilgrimage to The Local. Beer, fish and chips, more beer... it's all good.
Except that I ran into the most perplexing display in the ladies' room. Like last year, the line for the women's restroom during the evening hours was inexplicably long. And, frankly, irritating when you've been consuming malt liquor all evening. So I FINALLY get in there and frantically do my thing... and I come out to wash my hands to see these two women, obviously eeking past what you would call middle-life, and even more obviously siliconed, botoxed, lifted, nipped and tucked to the nines. Whatever -- it takes all kinds.
But still -- while I wouldn't necessarily cosmetically augment myself til I was more chemical than organic parts -- there was more wrong with the situation then a silicone butt and permasmile.
1) These women were dressed as if they were underage. Like... things I would only see in the halls of a high school. They looked like idiots. Even if they were "I-had-my-stomach-stapled-even-though-there-was-no-medical-reason" skinny.
2) They were blocking the sinks where the rest of us, focused on peeing, then getting back to drinking, were attempting (feebly) to navigate around them so we could practice basic hygeine. And they didn't seem to notice they were in the way. Or singlehandedly testing everyone's bladder strength.
3) These women weren't even WASHING... they were trying to (in a very drunk manner, might I add) put on each other's lipliner. Now, I do OWN 1 lipliner... I wear it when I know I'm going to have my photo taken, or when I'm going for a job interview... and I wore it when I got married. But for St. Patrick's Day? It's going to come off about 4.3 seconds after you put your lips to your drink. And honestly -- the entire bar was too drunk to notice whether or not you are wearing LIP LINER. Give me, and the rest of womankind, a break.
4) Finally... these women were so drunk, so out of it, that they weren't even putting on their unnecessary lipliner in an orderly fashion. They both walked out of the ladies' room (finally) looking strangely like the Joker from a late 80s Batman flick.
Which, honestly... was some sort of strange poetic justice.
Except that I ran into the most perplexing display in the ladies' room. Like last year, the line for the women's restroom during the evening hours was inexplicably long. And, frankly, irritating when you've been consuming malt liquor all evening. So I FINALLY get in there and frantically do my thing... and I come out to wash my hands to see these two women, obviously eeking past what you would call middle-life, and even more obviously siliconed, botoxed, lifted, nipped and tucked to the nines. Whatever -- it takes all kinds.
But still -- while I wouldn't necessarily cosmetically augment myself til I was more chemical than organic parts -- there was more wrong with the situation then a silicone butt and permasmile.
1) These women were dressed as if they were underage. Like... things I would only see in the halls of a high school. They looked like idiots. Even if they were "I-had-my-stomach-stapled-even-though-there-was-no-medical-reason" skinny.
2) They were blocking the sinks where the rest of us, focused on peeing, then getting back to drinking, were attempting (feebly) to navigate around them so we could practice basic hygeine. And they didn't seem to notice they were in the way. Or singlehandedly testing everyone's bladder strength.
3) These women weren't even WASHING... they were trying to (in a very drunk manner, might I add) put on each other's lipliner. Now, I do OWN 1 lipliner... I wear it when I know I'm going to have my photo taken, or when I'm going for a job interview... and I wore it when I got married. But for St. Patrick's Day? It's going to come off about 4.3 seconds after you put your lips to your drink. And honestly -- the entire bar was too drunk to notice whether or not you are wearing LIP LINER. Give me, and the rest of womankind, a break.
4) Finally... these women were so drunk, so out of it, that they weren't even putting on their unnecessary lipliner in an orderly fashion. They both walked out of the ladies' room (finally) looking strangely like the Joker from a late 80s Batman flick.
Which, honestly... was some sort of strange poetic justice.
13.3.06
urban wanderlust
there's something enchanting me
in each brick I pass
in this close proximity
in a place close enough to feel familiarly like home
and far enough away to allow a lifetime of discovery.
my soul knows
that any city is home
as long as there are lights
and theaters
and millions of people
who frequent the tiny corner restaraunts.
so I am comforted
by the sounds my heels make as they plod along pavement, syncopating idling engines, rhythmic in accompaniment to the melodic hum cities make.
and there is contentment in the bubbling conversation of passers-by, in each nameless face that walks past me on the street.
Home is where the people are
at least for me.
in each brick I pass
in this close proximity
in a place close enough to feel familiarly like home
and far enough away to allow a lifetime of discovery.
my soul knows
that any city is home
as long as there are lights
and theaters
and millions of people
who frequent the tiny corner restaraunts.
so I am comforted
by the sounds my heels make as they plod along pavement, syncopating idling engines, rhythmic in accompaniment to the melodic hum cities make.
and there is contentment in the bubbling conversation of passers-by, in each nameless face that walks past me on the street.
Home is where the people are
at least for me.
6.3.06
four of...
Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Consultant, Carlson Companies, Plymouth
2. Instructional Designer, Metris, Minnetonka
3. Employment Specialist, JVS, Minneapolis
4. Training/Web Development Specialist, Target, Minneapolis
Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. White Christmas
2. Shrek
3. The Sound of Music
4. Braveheart
Four places you have lived:
1. Robbinsdale MN
2. Elbow Lake MN
3. Columbia Heights MN
4. St Paul MN
Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. CSI (any of them)
2. Really…everything else I watch is 3-year-old centric…
3.
4.
Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. Oregon Coast
4. Florida
Four websites I visit daily:
1. gmail
2. bloglines
3. work intranet
4. blogger
Four of my favorite foods:
1. crab legs
2. asparagus
3. A salad I didn’t have to prepare
4. Propel water
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. New York
2. St. Lucia
3. The cabin in mid-July
4. Backpacking through Europe
1. Consultant, Carlson Companies, Plymouth
2. Instructional Designer, Metris, Minnetonka
3. Employment Specialist, JVS, Minneapolis
4. Training/Web Development Specialist, Target, Minneapolis
Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. White Christmas
2. Shrek
3. The Sound of Music
4. Braveheart
Four places you have lived:
1. Robbinsdale MN
2. Elbow Lake MN
3. Columbia Heights MN
4. St Paul MN
Four TV shows you love to watch:
1. CSI (any of them)
2. Really…everything else I watch is 3-year-old centric…
3.
4.
Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Chicago
2. New York City
3. Oregon Coast
4. Florida
Four websites I visit daily:
1. gmail
2. bloglines
3. work intranet
4. blogger
Four of my favorite foods:
1. crab legs
2. asparagus
3. A salad I didn’t have to prepare
4. Propel water
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. New York
2. St. Lucia
3. The cabin in mid-July
4. Backpacking through Europe
2.3.06
In Like a Lamb
It's March 2nd.
And I think I'm in heaven.
Let me tell you how my life changes when I get my first whiff of spring:
And I think I'm in heaven.
Let me tell you how my life changes when I get my first whiff of spring:
- The sun rises at a reasonable hour. I do my best pre-10AM and post-8PM. This morning, it was light (which means, I was awake) at 6:30AM. Just a few more days, and I'll be able to rise with the sun and start jogging again (an activity I adore -- it's my own personal meditation space -- but I refuse to go out in a bitterly cold, pitch-black morning.)
- I'm all itchy to be outside. After getting a client deliverable out the door early this week (putting in some long hours Monday and Tuesday), I rewarded myself with a long lunch toay. Me, the iPod and my legs went on our official 1st jog of the season. It was an hour of pure bliss (although, I can already tell my legs aren't going to be saying that in the morning. The price I pay for letting my muscles atrophy all winter, I guess.)
- I cannot seem to stop thinking about my garden. I planned the whole lot last night. I ordered my seeds this morning. I want to get my hands dirty, I want to turn spades of loamy earth and watch intently as the seedlings I nursed from seeds germinated in the sunroom take root and stretch their green limbs skyward.
- I start planning vacations, birthday parties, and a new wardrobe. And let's not forget Easter. I have so much sewing (Easter dresses) and scrapbooking (Paige's 3rd birthday party) and... yay.
I feel re-born every spring, every time I watch my little corner of the earth renew itself. I relish the hints of warmth in the air, I luxuriate in the cool shadows and warming sunbeams. I wait and anticipate and watch intently as the world around me throws off its blanket of snow and wakes from winter's drowsy spell.
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