Blog #41: Triumphant Tuesday

So far, so good. The sun is shining, the cookies are a hit, and I can't stop listening to The Airborne Toxic Event. They are FINALLY releasing a new album at the end of April and I am dying for it. I die. I die for them. I would list their first/self titled album among my favorites of all time. There has not been a band that I have connected to like I have them probably since college. There have been others that I have liked, loved even. It's all about the connection though. When I can come back months later and still really feel it when I listen to the music. So good. I hope their second album lives up to the standard set by the first. If the single, "Changing" is any indication, the answer is that it will. For my triumphant Tuesday outfit I am donning my strapless khaki dress for the first time this season (with tights and a cardigan though... it's only in the 50s outside and there was still frost on my car this morning). The real winning part of it is a beautiful ivory scarf. If I were cool like Kendi Everyday, I would have awesome pictures of me looking awesome in my awesome outfits but I don't have those kind of resources. Plus, she is way more awesome than me. Probably the only thing I'm going to miss about winter is getting to wear tights. I love the tights/boots combination. However, Jergens self tanning/firming lotion and I have been hard at work these past few days preparing for the warmer weather and I can now say that I am ready for my legs to come back out. Be looking for them on Thursday.

Blog #40: The guy with the power drill in the next office obviously doesn't realize how much I need to hear my music today.

But that's beside the point. It is my 40th blog. Before you panic and start to have post traumatic flashbacks of Blog #25 when I got it into my head that I was going to make a list of 25 things that ended up being long AND physically painful, let me give a disclaimer. I am not going to try to commemorate the number 40. Let's all collectively breathe a sigh of relief together. There, that's better. I've found that life at work gets increasingly dull when the boss is out of the office. I'm going to need to think of ways to spice things up on my own. I think I'll give each day this week a theme. Today doesn't count because it's snowy and gross and I just thought of the idea. Tuesday will be "Triumphant Tuesday." I will celebrate the things that I am good at. I will wear an outfit I'm particularly proud of, bring cookies because I'm the best at cookies, and listen to the playlists that I'm most proud of making. That works because so far it's the only day of the week that I have anything at Solace House, and I like to think I'm good at that too. Wednesday: "Warm Weather Wednesday". My outfit will be beach inspired and I'll enjoy an icy cold beverage (non alcoholic of course) at my desk. I'll also be listening to all of my favorite summer tunes, including "Kokomo" by The Beach Boys. Get there fast and take it slow. Thursday obviously is St. Patrick's day. I will wear green and probably also some leprechaun ears. Then that night I will drink some green beer because it is the right thing to do. I will consider eating corned beef but not cabbage because cooked cabbage is gross. I'll have the Elders playing all day though, maybe with a little Flogging Molly. Friday: Freak Out Friday - dance party all day long at my desk. Outfit to be slightly "club" inspired (though still work appropriate) and disco/80's tunes will be playing. Feel free to join me in any of these days.

Blog #39: I feel foolish.

Wednesday afternoon, I lamented "Why God?" because my office smelled like buttered popcorn. This morning, a massive earthquake & tsunami obliterated Japan. I believe that is what is often referred to as "perspective." I am, as always, grateful for stability and safety in my life. I'm saddened by yet mindful of those who aren't as fortunate. Please keep Japan in your thoughts and prayers and donate to the Red Cross if you can. You should be able to text "RED CROSS" to 90999 to donate $10 added to your phone bill.

Blog #38: Let's-a-go!

It's MAR10 today, which would be a lot more exciting if I got to spend it playing various forms of Mario Brothers video games . Instead, I'm at work putting numbers into spreadsheets and shopping online for a new bow tie for my boss so that he can meet Senator Moran (R-KS) in style. One time my best friend Catharine and I had an argument over who was the best at old school Mario Brothers but I'm pretty sure that ended in a tie. Yesterday, at approximately 3:15pm, the unthinkable happened. The smell of thickly buttered popcorn once again permeated my work area - the whole executive wing really. "WHY, GOD?" I lamented in anguish. I am hopeful that it was a one time occurrence but should the same faux paus be repeated, I'm going to have to get a little catty. "Can't you do that in the common break room? We'd rather not smell your fattening and unhealthy afternoon snack here in the executive wing." I need to get away. Thank the Lord for Southwest Airlines and my mini vacation planned in a mere 21 days (3 weeks!) Some wine would be really great right now. Come to think of it, there are several bottles in the bar in Bart's office and he is out for the next couple of weeks. Perhaps I would be more productive and all around likable if I took up morning drinking. I'm going to try my "be intentional about doing something nice for someone every day" plan for Lent again this year. Last night I brought treats to the Solace House gang. Let me know if you have any "random acts of kindness" ideas for me. The only thing I could give up right now that would actually be some kind of sacrifice would be coffee/caffeine, and that's just crazy talk. I'm a grad student who works full time. I'd kind of like to be able to function. If you read this far you should get a medal. Here:

Blog #37: I'm calling it Skinny Tuesday

Happy Fat Tuesday. I actually am kind of disgusted with the idea of a holiday with the word "fat" in the title so I am celebrating the fact that I weigh about 3 pounds less than usual today and plan to maintain that by NOT overindulging on crappy food. Maybe instead I will indulge in other kinds of guilty pleasures, like that Keri Hilson song, Pretty Girl Rock. She is an inspiration to girls everywhere. I told everyone on Facebook about how much I hoped my Research Design test was a test on how good I was at taking tests rather than a test on how much effort I've actually put into the class so far. (Aren't status updates wonderful? They're like mini little blogs that that people actually read. Or at least, I actually read everyone's status updates, but I am kind of loserish and a little obsessive compulsive in the need to be caught up on all my social media.) Anyhow, the good news is, it was. It was a test written basically like every other test I've taken and I happen to have this God-given ability to excel at taking tests even when I have decided not to prepare too seriously for them. This is good news because we've been in class for a good 6 weeks or something ridiculous like that and it has not even been a full week since I finally bought my text book. Additionally, I gave up on reading it after I came across this sentence, "Probably the most popular part of the internet is the World Wide Web." Okay, so I didn't necessarily give up on reading it at that point because then I was intrigued at what else awesome it might say and it did not disappoint when it used "search engine" as a bolded vocabulary word. So, instead of saying I gave up on reading it at that point in Chapter 3 (about gathering sources for a lit review) I should say I gave up taking it seriously. I gave up taking the class seriously before it started because that is what happens when you're about to take a class you really didn't want to take in the first place so you put it off to the last possible moment. I will keep going though because my teacher is a funny lady and I like funny ladies. Also, because despite the very little amount of motivation I have for the class, I still need to finish the program with a cumulative 4.0. Missing out at this point would be beyond demoralizing. I would talk about my weekend now but as wonderful as it was, it was also exhausting and talking about it is only going to negate the effects of the extra strength 5 hour energy shot I downed this morning. I'm debating throwing in a coffee because I have this weird, high risk addicition to caffeine but I am also neurotic about heart attacks so I'll probably hold off awhile. I did pick up these glasses though: Please don't judge me for buying $10 non prescription glasses. I actually do have the need for and occasionally wear prescription glasses and mine are like 4 years old and I need to get an eye exam and get new ones and I have been wanting to try these but just wasn't sure how much I would like them in the long run and if I was actually cool enough to pull them off so I thought I would spend $10 at Charming Charlie now and give them a test run rather than spending $300 only to find out that I can't pull them off. WOW, that was a long sentence. I better take a break.

Blog #36: The Hard Way

I have a new obsession, and that is this song by Andrew Peterson. Holy mackerel. Love. It wins on so many levels. Okay, and speaking of "winning" I would just like to point out that I was ALL about winning before Charlie Sheen made it a catch phrase. Just goes to show you, it doesn't matter how much you say something - if Charlie Sheen says it later it becomes his legacy. We can't all be warlocks with tiger blood. I was thinking the other day about learning things the hard way and how that always seems to be something people want to avoid. Yesterday. I was thinking about this yesterday not the other day. Anyway, it occurred to me that maybe we all need to be a little less self protective when it comes to learning things the hard way. The lessons I remember the most and that have shaped my world view and paradigm of life are those that I learned the hard way. Sometimes I think you don't really learn something until you've learned it the hard way. Research design science calls that empiricism. (I had to throw that in there because I'm proud of myself for reading the first chapter of my textbook last night even though we've been in class for six weeks and have a test over the first five chapters on Monday). Anyhow, the basic tenet of empiricism is that you can't actually know something unless you experience it. Now, I believe there are a lot of things that you can know without having necessarily experienced them. That's how we have things like faith and instinct. However, when it comes to actually learning something - there has to be some sort of experience involved. For instance, just being told "don't pick up your straightening iron from the hot end" might be enough to learn not to do that, but after I actually picked up my straightening iron from the top end scalding my fingers and causing me to leave the following church service twice to run cold water over them to ease the pain, I really learned it. Here's another one. I can read in a professional etiquette class that you need to check, double check, and triple check the name in the "send to" box of emails but until I actually slipped up and sent a joke meant for my boss to a vendor I didn't really know it. Thankfully I didn't lose my job, but I was so mortified that I still physically cringe when I think about it. It's actually a hilarious story now but I can't share it on here because it doesn't sound as funny written. The way I view relationships and potential relationships would not be what it is now if I hadn't learned the hard way not to count my chickens before their hatched. Now, I don't have or want any actual chickens, but you get my point. It's a metaphoric way of saying "don't count on things working out a certain way when they haven't yet."That's something I think I'm in the process of learning the hard way. It's kind of a lot like learning not to pick up a hot straightener. Now some things you really shouldn't learn the hard way - like "don't shake a baby" or "don't use your hair dryer in the bath tub." Don't be afraid, though, to take risks and screw up and get hurt. Pain is an inevitable part of life and we have the opportunity to learn and improve from it.

Blog #35: Game

One of the really fantastic things going on in my life lately is the variety and excitement in my weekend plans. Instead of doing the same thing every weekend, I've had different people to hang out with and activities to enjoy. Probably my favorite thing is that I've had a chance to spend a lot of time "out" with my favorite girlfriends. Three of the past four weekends have included GNO type nights and I've got another one tomorrow. Being out and feeling like I look good is always a good time. The problem, though, is that I have absolutely zero game. Don't get me wrong, I don't have any interest in "hook ups", and I don't believe there's very much relationship potential with the guys that I meet while I'm out. I just wish that I could have a conversation and even flirt a little and enjoy some male attention. And I'm just not sure why that never happens for me (well, not when I'm at my most lucid anyway - if you know what I mean). Let me share with you my strategy: Step 1: Go to a local watering hole with two of your married friends and sit at a table. Step 2: Notice a very attractive guy sitting at the bar. Discuss with your friends. Step 3: Come up with several hilarious lines that you would use as opening lines in a conversation. Do not actually walk up to the guy and say any of these things. Step 4: Find a reason to walk by where the guy is sitting and then back to your table. Repeat once or twice. Step 5: While back at your table with your friends, pretend to make "come hither" faces while his back is turned. Step 6: Laugh at the very drunk girl hitting on the attractive guy. Step 7: Go up to the bar right next to attractive guy's spot. Do not make eye contact with attractive guy. Order a water. Go back to your table. Step 8: Animatedly engage in very exclusive people watching with your friends, so that it's clear you're not really interested in allowing new people into the circle. Step 9: Occasionally glance at attractive guy to see if he looks your way. Step 10: Pay your tab and leave. See, I just don't get why that doesn't work.