Flying

Logan has pretty much switched over from the old fashioned metal detectors to the full body scans. As I was standing in line, barefoot, waiting my turn to pass through so that all could be revealed, it dawned on me - why didn't they engineer the system, not just to be able to see through your clothes, but also your shoes!? You would think with this next generation of security they could make it a bit more civilized for all of us and let us leave our shoes on.

On the upside, I was issued a ticket but no seat - had to wait for the gate to get assigned one. When I checked in all I could see were middle seats for this long flight. At the gate, while she was giving me a seat I asked if there wasn't any chance I could get a window. She didn't say a word but I saw that she canceled the ticket she had just printed and got me the last window seat! It never hurts to ask!

Of course, after I wrote this, I settled down into my seat only to find out the headset connection to the TV was broken.  That was the whole point why I chose JetBlue - they have good in flight entertainment.  My headphone jack kept falling out of the chair plug.  If only I had some duct tape.  And then it dawned on me, I always travel with bandaids.  Two band-aids later and I was good to go!  Well, sound in at least one ear, which is better than none for a 3 to 4 hour flight.

3.5 Miles

This morning I find myself coordinating a multi-office corporate run. Ironic since I'm not a runner and haven't run a mile since high school. But I'm really excited and now I'm starting to toy with the idea of participating. Am I crazy?

Here's my thinking.
1. Everyone assumes I already am a runner since I'm skinnyish.
2. It would be fun socially. I'd totally be missing out.
3. I'm not getting any younger so need to do more exercising.
4. Speaking of which, I'm really noticing a difference taking stairs instead of elevators/escalators. I'm climbing about 20 flights a day.
5. Yesterday I had to make a mad dash to catch my bus twice. Normally I would have been winded but now it was no problem.
6. How much of a difference is there really between sprinting a block and running 3.5 miles?
7. OK, I just looked it up and 3.5 miles is kind of far. I could definitely walk it.
8. What if I started walking to the subway instead of taking the bus in the mornings? That would be a start.
9. The run isn't until June, I'd have plenty of time to get up to speed.
10. What would I wear? I'll need to buy a running outfit. And thinking about it, probably some running shoes too.
11. Totally doable - June is very far away.
12. What am I thinking!?! I haven't run in decades and even back then I hated running any distance. I was a sprinter.
13. But people keep talking about the running high. Maybe it won't take too long practicing before I'm a convert.
14. What am I thinking!?! I'll be running with coworkers, some being my own staff. I can't look like a fool!
15. Ugh - I have to decide in a week if I am in or out.
16. Oh god, I'm starting to remember what it was like to run - being all sweaty and red in the face. The shin splints.
17. And I'm old. Running isn't very kind to the joints.
18. But then again, lots of people run, even people older than me. Tons of older people.
19. OK, maybe I can do this. I have a week to decide. This weekend I'll go for a run and see how I fare.
20. In the meantime I'll be running my stairs. (Yesterday, I was a little lazy and late to meetings and took the elevator twice).
21. Oh crap, that's right - I'm lazy. You can't last minute train, like the weekend before go from running 3 blocks to 3 miles. Right?
22. But maybe this is what I need- a hard goal with dire consequences - embarrassment.
23. There is always one way to find out.
24. OK- good thing my weekend is fairly light. I'll go for a run and go shopping for an outfit. Then I'll decide.

Birthday

First, I meant redundant, not oxymoron in my previous post about snow blizzard. Strange I used the antonym. Secondly, I find it frustrating that I have lost not one but two earrings this past two weeks. And no, not from the same pair. I am really bummed as they are the ones I use all the time. I’m hoping the one I lost today was lost inside my house this morning before I headed out. I feel very naked without the earrings on at work today.


On the upside, I had a good review this morning. It helped me deal with a short term financial quandary. I’m very aggressive with my retirement savings. Which is to say I do what I feel like is the minimum to retire without having to worry about running out of money when I’m a little old lady. I like cats but don’t want to be eating cat food. I’m still amazed at how little some (most) of my friends prioritize retirement savings and instead, focus on the now and immediate satisfaction. I have a master plan, and due to the joys of house ownership, my allocations for the different pots I have, had to be shifted. Basically, I held off buying my 2012 IRA to make everything work out. I was trying to figure out how to swing it, and it just wasn’t working which was bumming me out. But now, it looks like my bonus covers the gap I was staring at. Hurrah!
This morning I completely forgot it was Valentine’s day until I was sitting on the subway and noticed a bunch of people carrying stuff. It dawned on me and that was the end of that. I’m not a big Valentine’s day person since my birthday outshines the holiday. But this morning I get into work and on my desk I had a nice little treat. Someone had left me a special dunkin donuts bag with a pink iced, crème filled, heart-shaped donut. It was so sweet. I then proceed to gobble it up since I had too light a breakfast and didn’t even think to take a picture until after. Luckily there is a stock photo out in internet land.

I have a good working relationship with a lot of my coworkers, who are almost mostly guys. It’s funny seeing them scramble today getting last minute cards, flowers, chocolates to bring home. So I could see it being from someone doing something nice. But then I started wondering if it was someone who is a “secret admirer”. I’ve asked a bunch of people and no one has fessed up to it yet. Now I’m really curious.
I do love my sweets. Some people are really big about celebrating their birthdays. I’m in the middle. Not a big fan of the spotlight on my birthday. I like to do something special, if nothing other than having dinner with friends or family to share it with. But at the very least, it’s not a birthday without cake. I always insist of having cake. Last night, as I was running through what I still have to do before I leave for the weekend, it dawned on me that I’m getting not one but three birthday cakes this year! And I’m looking forward to all three. The first cake is perfect - I get to be all sneaky. It’s at work and it’s not for me. I’m at that strange age. I like to be thought of as young but I also want to be considered old and wise, especially at work. Basically I want to be ambiguous and keep people guessing. And if you celebrate your birthday at work, you inevitably get asked the question - how old are you? So Fred, who is turning 65 BTW, is on my floor and I got a special invite to celebrate his birthday on Friday. So cake #1 for me.

And then cake #2 is later Friday night. It’s funny how much I’m looking forward to spending my birthday with “friends”. My special dinner friends I get to pick up at pre-school (yes it’s Cameron and Maggie) and I’ve been told they’ve been preparing for the big day, including baking a cake - that they already made yesterday (they better not be nibbling at it!) We should have a blast and I get to par-tah with them into the wee hours since I’m spending the night and enjoying a birthday breakfast too!

This weekend I’m planning on heading up to VT to visit family and get some skiing in. So I get my cake #3 on Saturday. Seems like a lot of cake, but not for me. It’s just the way I like it.

Snow Blizzard

Is that an oxymoron? Are there any other types of blizzards? I'm happy to report I weathered the storm quite well. Some observations:

• I need to listen to the news more. By Wednesday I started realizing that what I thought of as just a normal snow storm was a bit more. Two feet of snow - no problem. What didn’t register was the wind portion. I guess that is what takes a storm to blizzard conditions.
• I have no idea what “be prepared” means. Food and water, right? And maybe some candles and flashlights for when the power goes out. 
• I can get swept up in it all. By Friday I had drunk the kool-aid. I quickly popped into work to grab some files, wrap up some loose ends and then ran errands to get prepared (again). I went grocery shopping again, this time trying to buy food that was dependent on me cooking it or heating it up. I even gassed up my car, although don’t know why since it probably would be stuck if there was a storm.
• I’m not the only one who leaves things to the last minute - the stores were mobbed - had trouble finding a parking spot at the grocery store. But I made it home with enough food to last me a week or more. And not a drop of snow. I was starting to wonder if there really was a storm.
• I felt like I should be fine since I had different types of power for cooking - the microwave (electricity) and stove/oven (gas). And not too much concern about losing water. I did turn up the heat though, just in case, so that I had a warmer house.
• And then it started to snow Friday afternoon. Where I was, there was a ban on all the streets after 4 pm (I think). Strangely, by the time the ban came into effect, I kept wondering if we really had a storm coming since there was very little snow flurries.
• Friday evening, I started thinking of all the things I couldn’t do without electricity. I started vacuuming, doing loads of laundry, charging all my devices and everything else I could think of. I didn’t really need to do laundry, and I can live with dirty floors, but I knew that if I left them undone, they would rub me the wrong way once I lost power and could no longer clean.
• By the time I went to bed, not too much snow. About 8 inches I would guess. Decent but nothing to shut down the city for. I kept watching the news to see if there was a change in projections, the storm loosing it’s oomph or something. It was windy outside and at times when you looked out the window you couldn’t see much other than just white.
• Saturday morning - it was still snowing, but nothing too stormy. There was a gorgeous white calm that had descended upon everything. It was super sunny and so pleasant. I started on my first of the mega meals I had planned. Poached eggs and bacon and cinnamon toast and grapefruit and kiwis and OJ. Nothing like a quiet morning, hunkering down to enjoy the storm.
• Best time to catch up on Downton Abbey? During a snow blizzard! I fell behind with season 3 and haven’t had time to catch up. Unfortunately I’ve caught bits and pieces these last few weeks so knew about some of the big turns, but still - OMG - gotta love the show.
• By late morning, the storm had quieted down and everyone was starting to emerge from their houses to explore and start digging everything out. It didn’t seem like that much snow looking out from the windows, but once you’re in the middle of it, shoveling, you start to see how much there is.
• Snow blowers are not always there for you. My neighbor below me has a snow blower that lasted all of 2 minutes. In preparation he had checked the oil and gas but forgot to check the tires. Who knew?! Our neighbor next door offered to help out. They brought their snow blower over after they had done their driveway and about 2 minutes in it chugged to its end. I think it was just tired.
• Ended up clearing the snow old school style. Saturday, my neighbor and I worked on the sidewalks. It took quite a long time. It was still quite windy, and challenging to find places to put snow sometimes. But was fun, talking with the neighbors, I even went exploring a little to see what the main street at the end of my block looked like. It was completely empty, all the street lights flashing since the street ban was still in effect.
• Saturday night I crashed and was thankful that it looked like the storm was over and we never had any flicker of power loss. Good thing since I forgot where I put the candles, again.
• Sunday I woke up with a heavy head cold. I swear I had a science teacher tell me you can’t catch a cold from going outside, but I don’t know. I spend my day exposing myself to a million germs from hundreds of people, between work and riding public transportation. And it’s when I’m outside with almost no one around that I catch a cold.
• My solution to a beginning of a cold - napping extensively. By dinner time I was feeling better, but now was faced with a herculean task. My neighbor had shoveled a bit of the driveway, but not much, just around their car. And there was rain and ice on the menu for the next day. So it was now or never to shovel the driveway if I wanted to use my car in the near future.
• Why is it that I can go for weeks without using my car, but timing has it that I need my car for this Friday.
• I head out at about 5 pm all bundled up. I load up a ‘Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me’ podcast and hunker down for some serious shoveling. I look at the pile of snow at the end of the driveway which the plow had piled high and decided to ignore that part. Instead I tackle the driveway on the other side of the sidewalk. About two minutes in and I’m leaning on my shovel already.
• Throwing snow onto piles above your head is hard work. I’ve been wanting to figure out some exercises to work on the abs. For some reason my weight seems to like to sit there these days. And who knew, shoveling high piles of snow gives you an ab work out. If it was just a normal snow storm, no work out, but lifting that weight up and above your head makes you use your core - lesson learned.
• Who knew you could shovel without a jacket and mittens - the site by the wayside while I really get into this shoveling business.
• I finished the first chunk and am quite impressed with myself. The wall I’m creating on the side of my driveway is much taller than me and by the end half of every snow full I throw up falls back down. Still, I’m starting to figure out a system.
• I tackle the next chunk, chuckling at Paula Poundstone and getting into a rhythm. I still curse my thinking from the previous day. What was I thinking, pulling my car all the way to the back of the driveway, to make it easier to shovel. It just means that much more to shovel!
• I take a break and look up at the stars. I see my favorite constellation, Orion. I look back down at the work I’ve done and am impressed. I turn and look at what remains and curse. I start thinking of ways around needing my car on Friday/weekend. And then it dawns on me that I need my car the next day on Monday for a work thing too. Some more cursing ensues.
• By now I’m listening to a podcast of ‘Fresh Air’ and am onto my third chunk of the driveway and in the zone - listening to a funny interview that takes my mind off the shoveling. And then my podcast cuts out for a moment and I curse again. A moment later the phone rings. It’s from Florida, but I answer it anyways. It’s my brother skyping from India. Who knew it goes through Florida?!
• At first I talk to him while leaning on my shovel but then realize I’m getting cold. I put back on my jacket and mittens. And then it dawns on me that it’s warmer inside. So I take a bit of a break which is dangerous. I unfortunately cut the call short after a little while, knowing that if it lasts much longer I’ll never make it back out.
• I go in for my last hurrah. Now I’m listening to the latest ‘This American Life’ podcast and have finally reached just in front of my car, except now, where I throw the snow, there are a ton of bushes and the snow seems to be bouncing off of them and back into the driveway. I finally clear the front end of my car and up to the driver’s door.
• Now, I must say, I had just heard on the news that morning about the deaths of the storms, one being a young boy who died of carbon monoxide poisoning when he sat in a car to warm up and the tailpipe wasn’t clear. But the more I looked at my car the more daunting it was to shovel around it all. So I mustered up my courage, jumped in the car, turned it on and quickly moved it forward. Not a problem!
• It’s amazing how little snow falls where a car is. It had blown underneath but shoveling that last chunk of the driveway wasn’t too bad. I got my car cleaned off, shoveled to the end of the driveway, pulled the car back and reshoveled the part of the driveway where I had cleared my car off. Not too bad.
•  And then it dawned on me. I wasn’t done. In fact, I had really shortchanged myself. By now I was starting to get sore, a little hungry and very tired. And I still had the part of the driveway down between the road and the sidewalk left. The worst part. The heaviest, dirtiest, iciest, clumpiest snow. One last internal cursing session.
• I put on a new podcast, New Yorker Fiction this time and buckle down for the worst. I start chipping away at the snow. Trying to throw it as far away as possible, knowing the pile at the end of the driveway will be the tallest. By now, I’m shoveling in shorter stints, pausing to rest and look at the stars and just trying to put mind over matter and not even contemplate the warm coziness of my home.
• It’s amazing how many people were out and about at night. While I was shoveling, I had good excuse to pause periodically when people walked by. I must have seen a good dozen or so people go by - on their own or in pairs. A very friendly vibe and several commiserate folks of my ordeal.
• By my second New Yorker Fiction podcast, they were only 30 minutes each, I was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I was getting there. I was in the street shoveling out the last of the snow and looking back at all my handy work.
• There is something very appealing to me, after it’s all done, of shoveling massive amounts of snow at night. It’s quiet out, the wind had died down so there was a nice calm. I was able to enjoy watching the stars cross along the southern half of the sky which sounds so enticing and yet I never find myself in situations where I can just stargaze. And the end result is quite impressive. The photo doesn’t do it justice. I created mile high piles of snow that you would swear was done by machinery, but it was just little ol’ me.
• I can safely say it took me four hours to shovel that driveway - since the podcasts tracked time for me. I was trying to finish by 9 pm since I wanted to catch the latest Downton Abby. But figured I’d catch the repeat at 10. I came inside, grabbed a snack, and crashed to watch the show. Except this episode was two hours and I was in the middle of it. By now I didn’t mind and wasn’t about to move. But my muscles ached and being out in the cold for so long, my legs were taking a while to warm up.
• There’s nothing like a warm shower to sooth the sore muscles and warm up limbs. And the great thing is I discovered that WBUR plays old reruns of ‘My Word’ at 10 pm on Sunday nights - one of my favorite shows.
• I’m still sore as I write this but so happy I pushed through and got the driveway cleared as the rain and ice did arrive yesterday.
• One last observation: there are some idiots out there when it comes to snow. For my Monday morning meeting I had to park in the back part of this commercial parking lot. When I came back out to my car to zip over to my second meeting, I discover that I’m trapped. Some idiot decided to park at the end of the row of cars, blocking the pathway the cars in the next row over had used and could no longer exit the parking lot. I joined another vehicle that had been trapped there for about 15 minutes already. It took about 40 minutes, before they could find a driver to move a car to let the handful of us out that had accumulated, trapped. Needless to say, I had to cancel my meeting, which was the whole reason I needed my car!

Friday* Night Leftovers

Started writing this on Friday:

• This has been a long week. A good week, but long. My mind and body are tired.
• My refrigerator is practically empty - I can’t wait until Whole Foods moves in next door later this year.
• This will mean I will have two Trader Joe’s and three Whole Foods within 2 miles of my place. And yet I still probably won’t be able to keep my fridge stocked.
• I’m also looking forward to my brother moving to the area. It’s not a done deal yet (and hopefully I’m not jinxing anything) but he may end up next town over for at least two years. I’m surprised how excited I am to have him as a neighbor. I’m hoping I can get a Sunday night dinner thing going where we can invite various family and friends over.
• I just got new shoes. $250 ballet flats in leopard print that I would have never considered. I have a coworker who has the same size feet and realized they didn’t fit. I got them for free and loving them, not just because they were free. It’s like it’s Christmas all over!
• I pulled out an old sweater in my drawer I keep clothes that are too small for me but I love too much so haven’t let go. Good news, the sweater fit. Bad news - it looks like something’s been eating them. I’m starting to think I have moths or whatever all over my place. I don’t even know where to start!
• I still wore the sweater to work today - they went with the new shoes and if I keep the sweater bunched at the bottom, no one notices. Plus I work with mostly men who don’t notice these things.
• I’m looking forward to catching up with some friends. Making a tour of north shore. Running by Wakefield for a craigslist pick-up, dinner in Danvers and then checking out a friends band in Beverly.

  

Ended writing this on Monday:

• Looks like the only piece of clothing with holes in the drawer with the sweater was the sweater. Isolated incident?
• I felt like an old foggie Saturday night, by 11 pm, I was ready to call it a night!
• Dinner was great - 9 Elm Street in Beverly. I had an amazing dish with roasted duck and risotto.
• Great fun hanging out with my friend Sarah, we’re both single, and it turns out the same age. Nice to share that perspective in life with someone.
• The bar my friend was playing at was a very townie bar so great fun people watching. Their band was a craigslist band - which is apparently a fairly common thing. Friends of the other band mates also showed up and had fun hanging out with people I wouldn’t necessarily hangout with.
• One guy served in Iraq with the drummer and worked at a bar himself - used to carding people. He had wicked good skills guessing ages. He guessed my friends age on the nose. When it came to me he ended up guessing 4 years younger! And then when I said he was off, he went even lower. Normally, at work, I’m always trying to be wise beyond my years and act older. But not when I’m out and about. It was a nice little compliment. Granted he was a big flirt.
• I’ve been rearranging my living room furniture trying to find a layout I like. The new arrangement is good, except for the big wall in the room. I’m itching to knock it down. It’s part of the master plan, but I still have a ways to go before I have funds. But now my coach is staring at it, feet away and it’s screaming - knock me down and make this room bigger! I think I’ll start painting the wall as a way to distract myself. I’m thinking some crazy mural. It’s fun in that I know it doesn’t have to be perfect since I’m knocking it down and in the meantime can always paint over it. Now I just got figure out the what. 
• Did I mention I've been really nesting lately?  I think it's because it's winter.