except on party business

This winter shape up 2014 workout program is no joke. My body aches. It's like I gained 20 years - I'm all achy in the morning and I can't move fast until my joints warm up. The act of sitting down is the worst. Can't wait until I'm in shape and it goes away. Tomorrow is a rest day, but if it's warm enough, I'll just go for a short run post-work, and then my hair needs definite attention.

I had no weekend plans, and now I might have 2. Yay for things that get me out of my cozy apt. Last weekend I did grocery shopping Saturday morning and then basically never left again until Monday! One event this weekend is official party business, but the other one is a maybe / maybe not meet-up with CS.

LOTR is relevant to everything

Because there's so much food at work, I'm really trying to breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. My version is more regular person breakfast, king of lunch, and tea plus dark chocolate for dinner. Dark chocolate with sea salt. Yeah, I realize all salt comes from the sea, but sea salt right there on the package makes it sound poetic.

you tart, you

Brain surgery is going around. Successful ones luckily. All those days of starving and today I got free food at work from 3 different places. The potluck was the best.

I got Donna Tartt's book from the library. I had to place a hold on it, which I did maybe a month or two ago. And now I shall finally be able to read it. I mainly want to read it because The Secret History is one of my favorite novels and I'm waiting for her to write something again that blows me away.

I was moody today. I had to go to a lab meeting and socialize for 45 minutes while trying to stuff myself with green beans. I gave up. I didn't. I mostly thought about brain surgery and how there aren't enough women in science. A room full of scientists and only 4 including me were women. 3 including me were Black. 3 were Asian. How do boys do so poorly in grade school, but then by college there are like 2 girls in the higher level math and science classes? I should know - I've been one of the two girls. Is it like this in other countries?

Wondering. Wondering about that phd. At this point it won't happen unless I reach out and contact the university. Should I let this chance slip away? Is it a chance? I guess I just want permanence, and that's just an illusion, a thing I thought existed. I wish school would give that to me, but I'd have the degree and then still search for a job, bounce around, I don't want to bounce around with uncertainty, which is why the military lifestyle appeals to me. You're bouncing around with certainty, with purpose, with the security that you'll have a job, with minimal risk.

I started the Winter Shape Up 2014 program on Monday and I am sore. It lasts for a month. I don't mind because I need to get toned again. I still fit in my clothes, but what if that's only because my body is gradually stretching them? It should be warm enough by Friday for me to run outside. Yay to the yay.

i could do that.

42 - the answer to the question of life, the universe, and everything

Having my own address means getting a bunch of mail. I used to love that Blues Clues "Mail Time" song. I still really love getting mail, but I've become selective, as in, I love getting letters/cards/notes from people I actually know. Today after work I threw on my anorak coat and ventured to the mailbox before I got to used to the warmth of inside, and there was a whole bunch of mail in my box.

this is basically the coat

Since I moved here, I've lived in a state of perpetual guilt towards the mailman because I don't check the mail every day. Heck, I don't even check it every other day.  Anyway, instead of the usual junk mail (insurance stuff, grocery store sales, etc.), I got some goodies:

• EG's book
• new baby card from E and P (naked baby pics are still happening)

And then I got some goodies that were only "good" in a practical way... like tax forms and rental insurance agreements. Why do they print it all out on separate pages? Such a waste of trees. We could at least do double sided. And the paper feels so nice - there's no way it's recycled.

Mail time was good time today. Also, how is is that 36 degrees this morning felt positively balmy? The ability of humans to adapt continues to shock me. A little over a month ago I was in 80 degree Hawaii and feeling cold at night, when let's face it, the low was 72. And now here I am feeling that a scarf was overdressing for 36. At least my body is prepared for tomorrow's high of 18. If this is what global warming brings in the winter, then I am sorry I ever was the tiniest bit glad that it was warming because I thought that meant I would be warmer. Yes - I'm ashamed okay? That was before I got a master's in geography and wrote a thesis in the environmental planning field. But oh even during the time I was earning my degree I still reveled in warm weather. I have problems, okay? Leave me alone in my shame.

Am flipping back and forth on online dating. Mostly because I don't know if I even want to. I know I want to hang out with friends. The times I wish there was a man around are when I have to shovel snow or fix a car. That's not a good reason to start dating.  Ever since I was little, I've heard people talking about how you get too old to live with anyone b/c you can't adjust and compromise. I now see how that could happen, because I don't have to compromise with anyone right now and I'm loath to change that. Also, I talked with my sisters and I don't have to get married until I'm 42 now, so the pressure's off. And as always, breaking up is hard to do.

in case of frostbite

I've been writing more with a pen lately, so slacking off on becoming an adult. On trying to become an adult, which is what this writing exercise was supposed to be. Also, having a blog that I have to write isn't as fun frankly. I guess once it becomes work, the fun gets taken out of it. Which is how all things are I suppose.

I want spring so bad.

Still so much ice in the parking lot. Pulling in and out of a spot is a decided crunch. Spent only 2 days at work this past week due to the snow and it being code blue. Made some real progress with this monster excel file which I'm only mentioning because you can't make progress unless you have unreal attention to detail and figure out logic. I admit when I first started working I didn't even want to try to understand If() statements, but now I'm reasoning out what a formula is doing much easier. It's progress, and it may bring me closer to being not so horrible at computer programming. I don't want to computer program, I just hate that there is something which defeats me soundly every time I try it. Math is that thing for a lot of people, but I was a math major, so I guess it had to be something else. At least it's not writing.

Woke up and went to walmart in style this morning. I had a list that I'd made and I managed to get most key things on it, except for bouillon cubes, which they were flat out of. That's the trouble with walmart and why I'll have to stop at a weis or something on my way back from goodwill-ing tomorrow.

Have started pestering AC to go with me to a Wizards game. I am prepared to spent up to $100 on my ticket. I am prepared to go any day that she has off. I've never been to an NBA game before, and I want to do it right. They cost more than baseball games if you want to get good seats. I wonder if it's better to buy ahead, or to wait until you get there and see if they have any good seats left. That's what I did for that Orioles game I went to last summer with MC. We wound up in the outfield, but in the first row of the outfield. I like sports games b/c you're so close to other people that you make acquaintances. In the case of the wizards, we have to go soon b/c they're so bad that I doubt they'll make it into the playoffs. I don't even know who's on the wizards, so at this point I'll be going for the sake of the other team. I just googled them, and I don't know a single player. Yes, this will be for the sake of the other team, and can I bring some binoculars?

For the extreme cold that's sticking around, I need to take AK's advice and buy some mittens. Or start wearing 2 pairs of gloves at once. Every time I spend more than a minute or so outside my fingers start to ache. I see why they're the first to go in a case of frostbite.

the top of my list

Snow days spoil me. I hope tomorrow there's a delay and I get to stay home and telework instead of going in. Yes, I am actually lazy.  Half the time I wish I could just go home (my parents' home) and lie around for two months. Then I'd be ready to work again.

Started freaking out because I suddenly started to itch. I looked at my leg and I think there's hives. It has to be the orange juice I just drank. I mean, other than that I only had rice and there's no way that I'm allergic to rice. The orange juice might be expired. Anyway, I started frantically looking around for a Benadryl and lo and behold, I don't have any. So that's on the top of my list the next time I stop by the grocery store. And I was just in Walmart this morning, but stupidly I didn't buy any medicine at all. I need my mom to make me a list of the items I should always have on hand. That'll prevent the freakout - because if I did have a real allergic reaction, I'd have to call an ambulance since the apartment complex has not yet shoveled or plowed anything at all.

they plowed nothing, i tell you

Must sleep now because I have to wake up at the regular time and probably shovel snow. If there's a delay, I still have to do that. If there's not a delay, I am going to be late to work. If the center is closed (which I doubt), then I'll sleep in and not bother to go outside until noon.