Pigs Must Have Flown Today

A little background:
Two years ago I took a trip back to Kentucky by myself to visit family. While I was gone, something happened to the big TV we had in our bedroom, and Marc opted to buy a new one instead of having the old one fixed. Ever since that day, the old TV has sat against the side wall in our bedroom doing nothing but taking up space. I've tried to get Marc to sell it on craigslist, pay someone to haul it away, or just drop it off at Goodwill. As of this morning, it was still in our bedroom.

Fast forward:
Marc had it in his head that we needed a treadmill in the house now. I was adamantly against this idea for a few reasons:

1. We have NO room for it in the spare bedroom that serves as our workout room right now. It already houses the elliptical, weight set thingy, and a rowing machine, along with several "extra" pieces of furniture that don't fit anywhere else.
2. I wanted an exercise we would do outside. We have the elliptical to use when we want to be indoors.
3. I really wanted an exercise we would do together. With one treadmill, only one of us can work out at a time, so we either alternate or follow completely different schedules.

Do I ever win these arguments? No. But I did mandate that no treadmill was entering the house until the TV in our bedroom was gone and the extra crap in the workout room was moved or disposed of.

That motivated him. We hauled the TV downstairs, loaded it into the back of the Xterra, and dropped it off at a little TV shop where they should be able to harvest it for parts. Then we went to Sears, and Marc got a good deal on a close-out treadmill. As the Sears dudes were loading it into the back of the truck, they busted one of the pieces at the end of the cargo track and bent the track. Karma. Stupid treadmill.

Now Marc's working on clearing stuff out of the workout room so that he can bring the treadmill in and set up the new TV. And I'm sitting on my butt on the couch doing a whole lotta nothin'. I have to take advantage of these last few days off work. I don't have any more vacation days scheduled, so I have nothing to look forward to. Boo.

I Was Wrong

I was wrong about my bruise peaking. It no longer hurts, but it continues to look nastier and nastier. I keep taking pictures of it because I find it oddly fascinating, but I still won't be posting them here.

I slept in this morning (until 7:30! WOW!), and now I'm listening to Pandora and getting ready to go soak up some sun. If only every Wednesday could be like this.

Like a Happy Little Schoolgirl

I'm on vacation the rest of the week, so tonight's my Friday. Following our relatively usual Tuesday night tradition, Marc, Aaron, and I went to Newport Bay for drinks and dinner. And I got carded! I used to get carded all the time when Marc still had his braces, but it's a pretty rare occurrence anymore. Plus, I'm starting to freak out just a little bit about turning 30. When the waitress asked for my ID (but not Marc's or Aaron's), I had to contain my emotions to keep from kissing her in appreciation. She won bonus points when she acted very surprised about how old I was. I said, "Thank you!" and ordered my vodka cran. Happy times!

So this whole turning 30 thing is depressing. I'm seriously considering getting the tattoo that I've been thinking about for YEARS. I'm wondering whether I'll still be able to pull off wearing my hair in Princess Leia buns or pigtails. Is this a signal that I'm no longer a "girl" and instead a "lady" or "woman" or some crap like that? Do I have to change the way I dress? I don't like one bit of it. I don't know what it requires to not be in my 20s anymore. I'm sad.

Oh, and by the way, Aaron has the loudest laugh I've ever heard in my life. I came home from work today to find him and Marc watching Blades of Glory. After I finished groaning and rolling my eyes, I grabbed my computer and headed upstairs until they were ready to leave for happy hour. I could still hear Aaron laughing. Now, don't get me wrong. I love laughing, and if you know me, you know I'm no stranger to good belly laughs. But Aaron is LOUD. It's funny in itself, which makes it totally awesome. That's all I've got for now. Cheers!

A Mystery

I always like a good mystery. However, I'm not a fan of those that are unsolvable. Last week I noticed a good-sized bruise on my leg, just on the inside of my knee. I think it peaked today. It's about the size of a half dollar, and it's various shades of black, purple, green, blue, and yellow. Now, I'm not a stranger to bruises and other superficial injuries. They're something that have come along with the semi-athletic and ultra-clumsy life I've led. But this particular bruise is one of those mysteries that I'll never solve. I have no idea where it came from. I can't fathom how I managed to injure myself in this particular location. Fortunately, it only hurts when I press on. So I don't press on it.

I tried to take pictures, but of course they don't do it justice. And they make my leg look like Kate's prosthetic.

Mostly Cloudy vs. Partly Sunny

I've always been annoyed by meteorological descriptions like "partly" and "mostly." In particular, I'm bothered by the apparent lack of logical distinction between a pair of descriptions like "partly sunny" and "mostly cloudy." To me, one implies the other, so how do they choose which to communicate as the official forecast?

After years of wondering about this, I finally was unlazy enough to ask the internet about it. And the answer is: There's no difference. They're just playing mind games with us.

Check out what Seattle's ABC affiliate has to say about it. I feel duped. I really wanted to believe that there was a difference between the two.

New Couch

Our new couch got delivered today. When I got home from work, I found Marc had placed the old couch on its back in the space between the dining area and the loveseat. Max and Miji are very excited about this--Miji in particular. They've been playing and sleeping on it all afternoon. Honestly I'm surprised that they aren't more interested in the new couch. Silly cats. Now we just need to find someone to give the old one away to.

Unfulfilled Band Dreams

At the track today, the Sunset High School marching band was practicing on the adjoining field. I'm so jealous.

When we moved from Florida to Kentucky, one of the things I decided on during the car ride north was that I was going to learn how to play the flute. I'd played the piano for years and dabbled in violin. I really liked playing the recorder in elementary school though, so the flute seemed like a logical choice. When I started junior high in Kentucky, I was in band as a flute player. Before long I moved up from the third row to third chair. I really enjoyed playing, and I looked forward to marching band in high school. When I realized that my parents favored private schools over public ones for high school, my dreams were dashed. There's not much need for a marching band at an all-female, 600 student school. I never got to march.

And that's why I'm jealous of those kids we saw today. They're living my silly, lost dream.

Oddities of my memory

I got my hair colored today. Interestingly, my hair's gotten long enough that the blow drying portion of the appointment now takes longer than the coloring or the setting. Anyway, there was a lady there with her two kids, and the boy kid totally reminded me of a boy I knew when I lived in St. Louis. His name was Matt. He had read hair and freckles. We always sat next to each other because we both had last names that started with "A." I have vivid memories of sitting in class at a round table, learning how to write cursive, and having him help me remember how to make a z. (WTF is up with the cursive z, anyway? It just looks like someone had a hand seizure. It doesn't look anything like a z.) When he found out at the end of third grade that I was moving away, he gave me a rock--a craggly, pink rock--and a ring. If I recall correctly, he thought we might get married someday; maybe that ring was supposed to be an engagement ring. I don't know why I remember this kid. I never saw him again after we moved to Florida in 1987.

I want to write something...

..but I can't think of anything fun to write about. So here's some bad news (for me anyway). My officemate/partner-in-crime--and more importantly, friend--has decided to be a stay-at-home mom. This is a real bummer because I've lost my brainstorming partner, sanity checker, and in-office entertainer. I guess there are a couple of good things to result from this change: I won't spend nearly as much money on Starbucks hot chocolates anymore, and, maybe more importantly, she'll get to spend a lot of time with her new daughter and be delighted doing it. Seriously, I'm happy that she was able to make a hard choice that is best for her.

Back to the grind

My week of leisure is over. Tomorrow I go back to work. Usually I like going to work, but after having the last 10 days at home to do whatever I wanted, it's a bit of a bummer to be going back. I'm working a full week this week, but next week I only work Monday and Tuesday. Then I have no other vacation days scheduled until we win the $245 million Powerball on Wednesday and schedule a trip back to Hawaii again this winter.

Though I haven't been writing about it much, we've been good about sticking to our running routine even though Marc's knee has been bothering him. I don't think it's something I really love to do, but at least I'm sticking with it and don't hate it.

3:30 a.m. Saturday morning

Saturday morning. 3:30 a.m. The phone rings. I wake up on the first ring but don't immediately register what the noise was--alarm clock, cell phone, land line? I hear it again and recognize it as the land line. I nudge Marc (phone's on his side) and the questions start pouring through my head. Who could it be? What has happened? It has to be bad. Even on the East Coast--where my whole family is--it's only 6:30 a.m. Nobody should be calling us for anything.

Turns out it's Jamal. We don't know Jamal. We can only assume that Jamal is drunk dialing someone. Dammit.

Though I'd only been asleep for a couple of hours, I was then wide awake. I laid in bed for almost 3 hours before I fell asleep again. Then Marc tries to mock me for sleeping in until 10:00, until he found out that I hadn't fallen back asleep after the phone call.

We've decided that the next time we're awake at 3:30 on some random weekday, we'll give Jamal a call and see how he feels about being woken up. Heh.

In other news, on Friday night, after some predrinking at B-Dubs, we headed downtown to Ringler's at Phil's request (since he's the birthday boy and all). I played pool for the first time in a few years. I was on Marc's team, and in the course of two games, I hit one whole ball in. Good thing he's a much better player than I am, and that Greg sucks just about as badly as I do (he was on Phil's team). Earlier in the day, I'd met up with Laura for lunch and some shopping downtown. It was a good day. And so ends my entirely backwards recap of yesterday.

Today we caught Superbad (which was pretty good) and went shopping for a new wedding band for Marc because his original one has been known to tear up leather steering wheels. And I don't want the new car's steering wheel to get messed up.

I think this is hilarious

Where does time go?

Since I haven't had many plans for my week off, I expected it to go pretty slowly. That's not the case, though. We kept up with running about every other day, I did some cleaning around the house, and I finished a book I started a couple weeks ago. Our wheeling trip yesterday was fun. We found a trail that Marc didn't remember running before. Of course we weren't smart enough to print out a map before we went out, so we spent most of the afternoon putzing around not remembering where any good trails were. Today we got the car windows tinted and ran some errands. Tomorrow after a lunch date with Laura and Amelia, I'll try to catch Superbad with Marc, and then we'll head to a going away party for my former boss. It's also Phil's birthday tomorrow, so who knows where we'll end up after the going away shindig. Busy days!

MS Office 2007

I like new stuff--especially anything technology-related. (Just call me Kip from Napoleon, except don't think that I don't chat online with babes all day.) When I found out that I could get the entire Office 2007 suite for a mere $19.99 through a deal at work, I jumped on it. The disc showed up today, and I installed it. I haven't delved into everything yet, but from reading about the changes, it seems pretty cool. Outlook got a face lift and a cool To-Do bar to show more on your main inbox page. Word and Excel got a new menu "ribbon" that's going to take some getting used to. There are some actual improvements in functionality (from what I've read) as well. Unfortunately, it seems like most of those changes would benefit me more at work than at home. Do I have Office 2007 at work? Of course not. (sigh)

Tomorrow we're meeting up with Aaron and a buddy of his for breakfast and then some wheeling. I hope it'll be cooler tomorrow than it was today...

Pics of the new ride

Here are some pictures of the old (black 2004) and new (slate blue 2007) G35s.

I'm stuck at home today waiting for UPS to deliver something that requires a signature for Marc while he's out selling locks (and making big bucks!). I've been listening to XM online and trying to figure out what stations we'll want programmed in the new G since the new car came with XM installed instead of Sirius--bummer. I picked up the kitchen, cleaned out the fridge and freezer, vacuumed the wood floors, and started some laundry, so at least I'm being productive. Now I'm gonna go sneak in some rays out back where I can hopefully still hear Mr. UPS Man if/when he shows up.

Further proof of our automotive insanity

We're a bit obsessive with anything automotive. We catch a lot of flack from people about how often we cycle through cars. Today we made it even worse. I could try to rationalize why this happened, but ultimately, we just like new cars. So we got a 2007 G35 Sport. It's sweet and has all sorts of cool stuff--touch-screen navigation system, voice-controls (for nav, sound system, heating/cooling, etc), 9.3 GB hard drive for music, steerable headlights, backup camera, and 305 horsepower. We spent way too many hours at the dealer. I'm tired. Look for more info and some pics sometime tomorrow or later this week.

Kickin' butt

Today was a good day. I had a vacation day, but I did a little work this morning anyway. Then we ran--week 1 is now complete, and I'm starving all the time. I sunbathed for a bit to get some color. And tonight after dinner we went over to Chris and Slimey's where I kicked everyone's butt at Settlers. That's the one game I can often win, no matter who we play with. As an added bonus, Chris made banana pudding that we got to help them eat.

My plans for my week off are pretty exciting. I'll clean out the freezer. I'll soak our shower head in CLR. Fun stuff like that.

(Not a Tennessee) Volunteer

Awhile back, some people at work started coordinating a few volunteer opportunities with Habitat for Humanity and the Oregon Food Bank. Marc and I helped out with the Food Bank earlier this year, but then their volunteer coordinator left or was too busy or something, so it went on hiatus for a bit. This month, we're back in business with a new coordinator, and I went with about 10 other Sage employees this evening to help sort some food. In two hours, we packed over 4,000 pounds of food. I'll be okay if I never see another can of pickled beets again.

QBQ

Maybe I'm morphing a bit into a corporate drone, but sometimes I really enjoy the "created for the corporate masses" information that gets disseminated in various ways. I'm signed up for all sorts of industry and general business newsletters, and I read all the "hot" business-related books that my manager turns me onto. Some of these things are pretty valuable, and the best ones are applicable in our everyday lives.

QBQ and John G. Miller are a couple of my favorites. The QBQ books are short, easy reads that I'd recommend to anyone. The free e-mails you can sign up for are fun, relevant, and--for me anyway--inspiring. Here's a copy of the latest. I hope you like it.

From: John G. Miller [mailto:John@QBQ.com]
Subject: A Bridge Collapses: Let the Blame Begin!

QBQ! (The Question Behind the Question) QuickNote

Note: As always, we encourage you to email QBQ! QuickNotes on to all you know. And in this case, please send to every lawmaker and elected official you can reach by email. Thank you!

John G. Miller
--------------------

My wife, Karen, and I lived in Minneapolis, MN for 12 years. Three of our seven kids were born in the Twin Cities. I began my sales and training career there and QBQ! came to be in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. We love Minnesota. So we are feeling deep sadness over its recent tragedy. In fact, one of our client firms—Thrivent Financial for Lutherans—lost a beloved team member. Our hearts are heavy.

But I am discouraged over what's happening now politically. And sadly, what is occurring is so predictable and deeply woven into the fabric of our society, we hardly notice it. Right after of the collapse of the I-35W bridge into the Mississippi River, one Minnesota politician made a statement that was naive at best and gratuitous and false at worst. She said, "Bridges should not fall down in America!"

Huh? Really? Wow. It's always been my understanding that we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people who build imperfect things. And the truth is, things break. Tragic, but true.

Another politician in Washington, D.C made this statement: "We need to get to the bottom of this!" The bottom of what? There was no malice here. No person anywhere wanted this to happen.

These statements from our supposed leaders only have one aim: To initiate the Blame Game so they can score points against a political opponent. And it follows that if we buy into their propositions that human-made things shouldn't fail and we must find culprits, then the only choice left is to ask lousy questions such as, "Who made the mistake?" "Who allowed the bridge to crumble?" and "Who didn't fund the transportation bill?!"

But is acrimony, discord, and finger-pointing really what Minnesota and the United States need right now? Will this game of blame breed anything more than discontent, anger, and bitterness in those who have been impacted by this tragedy? Won't it simply leave the grieving stuck and unable to move forward? And isn't it all just a precursor to the legal suits that will soon follow?

When we look back, we'll all know it began with our elected officials setting the tone and leading the way by failing to remember or care that modeling is the most powerful of all teachers.

And what's odd is everyone I know will say, "Yes, blame is a bad thing!" and yet we continue to elect people who cannot wait to play gotcha. It's what many do best. Two years after a once-in-every-100-years storm swept over a city built below sea level, our two party political system and the media are still engaging in the whodunits. I often wonder what would've happened in September of 2005 if ninety million American adults had asked one simple question after Katrina: "What can I do right now to contribute?" I bet every home would be rebuilt, every pantry would be stocked, and every child would have new clothes.

I hope this time Minnesota will rise above what's become the accepted norm in our society. By ceasing the finger-pointing and recognizing the truth that all problems are in the past and solutions are now, we can work together to ensure a better future for us all. And then going forward when something breaks, we can stop asking, "Who broke it?" and start asking, "How can I help?" The answers that come may be good things like saying a prayer, hugging a friend, collaborating to solve real problems, and simply being thankful for every moment of this precious temporal journey we're all on called life.

So come on, Minnesota, we're pullin' for you to show the rest of us how to live. And once you've lead us through this tough time, let's all practice some personal accountability in this country by firing the blamers we put into office and find some real leaders.

Anybody with me?
---------------------------------------------
By: John G. Miller, Author of QBQ! and Flipping the Switch
Edited by: Kristin Lindeen

Please enjoy a CBS piece on QBQ! that ran recently: http://www.cbs4denver.com/video/?id=30433@kcnc.dayport.com

Please forward this QuickNote story to colleagues, clients, friends, and family who would enjoy being introduced to QBQ! Also, send us your QBQ! stories.

The new book Flipping the Switch … Unleash the Power of Personal Accountability can now be purchased at QBQ.com, and is available in stores and online everywhere! (Published by Putnam, publishers of QBQ! and Who Moved My Cheese?)

At our site John's complete QBQ! keynote presentation is available for listening or download. To receive QBQ! QuickNotes stop by www.QBQ.com today! Also explore "QBQ! Communication" keynotes and workshops conducted by David Levin (co-author of QBQ! and Flipping the Switch).

Speaker and facilitator Kristin (Miller) Lindeen calls youth to a higher standard in presenting "QBQ! for Youth" sessions, while also conducting interactive workshops for adults. Contact her dad at John@QBQ.com.

How to reach us:

QBQ, Inc.
Helping Organizations Make Personal Accountability a Core Value
11368 Nucla Street, Denver, CO 80022
303-286-9900, Fax: 303-286-9911
Email: info@QBQ.com

QuickNotes ™ may be forwarded by email or printed in their entirety for personal use. © QBQ, Inc. 2007.

All rights reserved. QBQ, QBQ!, and The Question Behind the Question are trademarks of QBQ, Inc.

Running, cont.

Big accomplishment--we ran again today. On the plus side, it was cool outside today. On the minus side, we decided to run on pavement around our neighborhood instead of hitting up a local high school's rubber track. Next time we'll be on a track. My feet were better today (since I had my blister covered up and my new running socks on), the iPods and headphones rocked, and my new running shorts were comfy. I think I can keep this up. I really want a runner's body...

This is another short week at work. I'm off on Friday and all next week. I don't know what to do with all this spare time!

Excuses, excuses

New hobbies are often a good reason to get new toys. The kickoff of our running routine yesterday + this being one of the months during the year when I get 3 paychecks instead of 2 = new iPods for me and Marc. We went to the Mac Store today, where I got a blue Shuffle (running with my 3rd gen iPod didn't seem feasible) and Marc got a green Nano. I've had my iPod for a few years now, but this is Marc's introduction to iPod mania and iTunes. So you can guess what we'll be doing this afternoon.

Also, we saw the Bourne Ultimatum this morning. Awesome movie. I'm a sucker for action flicks. Oh, and Matt Damon's pretty hot; that always helps a movie.

Big Nothing

We've been on quite the movie spree lately, taking advantage of the Blockbuster deal where you can exchange your mailed movies for free in-store rentals. Most recently, we got Hot Fuzz and Big Nothing, so it's been a bit of a Simon Pegg-athon at our house the past two nights. Hot Fuzz was good, but nothing spectacular. I really liked Big Nothing though. It was oddly, darkly amusing.

Tomorrow we start our running routine. Wish us luck!

Step 0

I know a lot of people who run. And they like it. This is a little beyond my comprehension--but then I'm the girl who volunteered to be the goalie on my field hockey team in high school purely so that I wouldn't have to run as many laps as everyone else. For whatever reason, I've become slightly obsessed with the idea of becoming a runner myself. So tonight Marc and I went out to Portland Running Company to get real running shoes. I knew that I needed help picking out shoes, and the employees at PRC did not disappoint. They watched us run, diagnosed our running style/issues, and brought out tons of shoes for us to try out. They watched us run again, and they let us run around the parking lot to try everything out. It was a great experience, so I highly recommend them to any runner in the PDX area.

That was step 0. Now the real fun begins with actually getting our butts off the couch--that'll be step 1.

An Inconvenient Use of Statistics

We watched An Inconvenient Truth a few days ago. While I have to credit Al Gore with a wonderful speaking ability, I'm really not a member of his fan club. I thought the movie was interesting, but it certainly didn't convince me of anything. I know the power of numbers and graphs and how easy it is to bend them to show (or distort) exactly what you want. That's about all Al did the whole time. I didn't come away with any profound truth or discovery that will change my life. If you liked that movie, you might also like to read about global dimming.

Part of my problem with the environmental battle is my awareness that there's a whole lot I don't know on both sides. I'd want to read it and examine the sources and their funding myself before I really take a stand one way or the other. Sorry, but I don't put a whole ton of faith in the views expressed by lifelong politician in a major motion picture.