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Still Shifting!

10 Sunday Aug 2014

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To say it’s been a hell of a summer would be an understatement for sure.  I feel like I’m FINALLY beginning to relax and truly savor our glorious weather a little.  Getting abruptly cut from my job back in mid May, the ensuing job search, some drama with my unemployment benefits claim, the trip to Indy which I thought would result in an FTE job at their Seattle branch and getting me off the 8-year contractor merry go round…to now land in a (contract) job which is great on paper, but not where I truly think I should be right now.

I admit I have these thoughts in my head while in meetings and getting to know my new co-workers.  Thoughts like “I’m not supposed to be here!!  I’m supposed to be at [name of company]!!”  I feel like an impostor sometimes.  A poser.  Just going through the motions.  Feeling a little restless, unsettled and off-balance.  And it’s not my co-workers’ faults at ALL.  They’re GREAT.  A very hard working, energetic and somewhat nutty team.  That works for me!   Heck, I don’t even have the same manager after just three weeks.  That’s how fast this group moves.  Oh and if you’re easily offended, stay away from the offices near mine.  That other group drops F bombs like they’re going out of style.  Not in a hostile way though.  Kind of funny.

So I’m trying hard to be positive, get engaged and learn learn learn.  That’s the typical ramping up process when you do short-term consulting engagements.  Find out where you can contribute and add value right away.  Geez, I could write a fucking book about all of this.  Guess those F bomb-dropping neighbors are rubbing off on me.  Actually no…I’ve always had a potty mouth streak.

What’s kept me grounded through my stress this summer?  The Lean Eating for Women program I officially wrapped up in July.  Good nutrition habits.  Good exercise habits. Things we learned gradually over the last 12 months.  I learned that trying to do everything new or different all at once sets us up for failure and getting overwhelmed.  I missed my workout yesterday?  Well fuck it, that means I won’t work out the rest of the week.  Ever have that “all or nothing” mindset?  Yep, me too.  Rather, in Lean Eating we start very small practicing just one habit for a couple of weeks and then add on another.  That’s why the program is a full year in length.  There’s time built in to incorporate all of what we need, when we need it.

I’ve learned about taking action rather than “wondering and worrying”.  Meaning, what can I do RIGHT NOW to set myself up for success, whether that means planning my exercise and food prep for the upcoming week, or doing something about what’s bothering me.  What did I do when I worried about being out of work?  [Believe me, when you’re out of work there’s that terror of wondering how long it’s going to be.  Is my next job offer coming tomorrow?  6 months from now?  A year?]  And that can burn a lot of cycles for sure.  I learned that sometimes all the action I could take was to make sure I had a communications plan in place for the next day, next week, etc.  I’d review my job search log (kept on a spreadsheet) and mark who I needed to contact or email to follow up on a networking call or to follow-up with a recruiter on how a phone screen went a couple of days prior.  And I’d note new contacts to reach out to, or company websites to review for their open job positions.

I “officially” dropped 36 lbs (16.3 kg) in the 12 month PN/LE program timeframe.  But I’m not done yet, my body is telling me.  People often ask me “so now that you’re ‘done,’ what do you do?”  The answer is simple:  the same damn stuff I learned to do in the 12 months prior!  Keep doing the habits, keep practicing the workouts!  I’m still in the gym 5-6 nights a week and practicing good eating and nutrition habits.  My weight has dropped another 6 lbs since, and I’m still noticing shifts in my body and how my clothes fit. So we’re down 42 lbs now (19 kg).  Stuff I bought when the clothes from last year were too loose to be effectively worn anymore are now even getting loose themselves!  WORKOUT gear is getting a little looser too.  Kind of funny to have to pull up your yoga pants between weight lifting sets…anyone handy with sewing so I can put a string tie around my waist?

But it’s not just about the number on the scale.  I haven’t just lost weight.  I’ve gained muscle tone.  I have some biceps emerging now, my lats are getting stronger and my legs are in the best shape of my life.  I can wear shorts and sleeveless tops and feel pretty toned and confident.  I’m 47, not 25, keep in mind, but I do think I’m holding up alright.

And still shifting.

Nike’s got it Right: Just Do It

03 Sunday Nov 2013

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JDIEvery day in this Lean Eating for Women program I started back in late July, we get some reading material.  Nothing overwhelmingly long…just maybe 10-15 minutes to read through.  And the material is archived so we can always go back and re-read something if needed.  The timing on these works out great for my daily routine:  given my time zone I usually get “tomorrow’s” reading in the evening here.  So I can take a sneak peek at it…and then I re-read it again in more depth after I get home from work and the gym that next evening.  And so on.  I’m blocked from lots of external sites by design at work (it’s a secure IT environment) and taking the time to read small print on my phone during a lunch break doesn’t really work for me.  And I’ve yet to pull the trigger on some sort of tablet.  Hmmmm.

OH, by the way, it’s one of my absolute favorite days of the year.  The Sunday after the end of Daylight Savings Time.  YES.  One extra, gloriously blissful hour.  Yeah, I know when we ‘spring forward’ we have the benefit of longer evening daylight hours in the summer, but the price to pay is a steep one.  Setting our clocks ahead an hour makes me feel tired, cranky and like I’m constantly running late for a good week or so until I adjust.  So now…the bliss of extra time.  Time – one of our most precious commodities of all.

Now, back to these daily readings from PN!  One of them (thankfully) shattered some weird mind perception I’ve had about people who are experts in fitness and nutrition.  Those of Olympic athlete caliber…or someone like one of my trainers at the gym who is probably 10 years my senior and puts people half his age to shame at how fit he is.  His spinning class is jam-packed with a waiting list for a reason.  I can always tell when he’s teaching, because the gym parking lot is extra packed those nights!

For some reason I had it in my head that fitness gurus are ALWAYS without fail super jazzed about what they’re doing and their workouts.  Endorphins perhaps?  Just extra happy, positive people by nature?  Motivated by achieving their fitness goals and inspiring others to do the same?

Well, maybe some or most days, but some days, well, notsomuch as it turns out!!

How illuminating this was for me, this new realization!  OK, I think I get it – there are days I’m not really going to feel like working out for all sorts of reasons.  It’s easy to come up with lots of excuses.  I just figured that as I stayed with this program and did the workouts that I would feel happier because I’m getting regular exercise, seeing improvements in my strength and muscle tone and I’m now down nearly 15 lbs since late July!  YES!  That in itself should be motivating, right?  I even had a shocker a couple of weeks ago when I actually was looking forward to working out during the workday!  Meaning, during the workday I knew later that evening I’d be at the gym…and was excited about it!  WOW! And what the hell?

But now I know I’m not going to always feel that way.  Not even when I get in more peak condition, whatever that might look like.

The point of this lesson in PN is to just do it anyway if you don’t feel like it.  Action before motivation, everyone!!  Get a routine scheduled and get what you need to surround yourself with for success!  For example, before I go to bed at night on weeknights I make sure my gym clothes, shoes, iPod and my workout printout are all ready for me to grab on the dining room table on the way out the door when leaving for work.  I make sure I have my lunch and snacks in the front of the fridge and ready to throw into my lunch bag that morning as well.  Mornings are not my strong suit.  I need my clothes, shoes and jewelry all picked out and laid out the night before so I can just get dressed, put on some makeup and get going to work as quickly and mindlessly as possible.  I don’t have time to linger and my mind is just too fuzzy at that hour to make any sense.

And when I get to the gym after work, I have my list of exercises printed out and ready to take with me!  I make sure to watch the short video clips the night before to mentally ‘practice’ them.  Maybe that in itself provides some motivation for me to keep practicing the exercises.  Every time I do them I get a little better and a little stronger.  And improved muscle tone – yes!

So action first…then motivation.  Great stuff for those days I just won’t feel like working out.  Love it!

The Good Earthquake…continued

13 Sunday May 2012

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Last week was a happy whirlwind.  I’m astonished at how much of a catapult/slingshot/echo… not sure what I’m going to call it – has boing’d into my life the last two weeks. 

And I remember part of that was blogging last Saturday rather than Sunday.  L and I had planned on doing more of the home renovation projects in here that day, but later in the day he said that would not work out and we’d have to reschedule.  OK, no biggy.  I thought of the blank slate of Sunday ahead of me and wondered what I would do.  So many options.

Sunday morning I was dozing on and off.  It was 9:30am, 10:00am and I kept drifting back off to sleep.  The sunshine was streaming through the blinds and I knew I’d just be wasting the day if I didn’t get up soon.

Then I heard a knock at the front door downstairs.  I sat upright and wondered who it was.  I figured it was my neighbor, as I still owe him the latter half of what I paid him and his brother to power wash and re-stain my back deck.  Ummm, OK I sleep nude most of the time except in the coldest of winter (TMI, sorry) so I quickly grabbed a t-shirt and sweats and went downstairs still in a semi-fog.  Before I could get to the peephole I asked “who is it?”  It was L!!

I opened the door slightly and smiled.  I’m sure I looked a sleepy mess and whatnot.  My mind was spinning…did we agree to do the home project work today after all and I dreamt that we canceled?  His friend M’s dog was poking her nose through the doorway.  I think I mumbled and smiled…”…how are you?” 

And then the question from him that made me giggle.  “…are you alone?”  BAHAHAHA that cracked me up.  Gotta hand it to the guy giving me credit that there might be a possibility that I wouldn’t be.  That’s fodder for another post I suppose.  No, I am not dating anyone right now, Le Sigh.

So he and the dog came bouncing in and I asked if he wanted coffee.  Oh no, he said, he’d already had about 5 shots of espresso and was doing just fine…he sure was wide awake alright. He just thought it would be fun to go for a walk and just hang out and watch hockey playoffs later.  OK! 

I got showered an dressed and we headed down the street to Juanita Beach Park.  This park was purchased by the city of Kirkland from the County and was all torn up in renovations for a good year or so.  Now it’s reopened and better than ever.  I love the semi-circle boardwalk that goes far out onto the lake and back.  I drank in the sunshine, the smells, the voices of everyone around me, the beautiful green trees and the rippling blue water of Lake Washington.  THIS is the great Pacific Northwest at its finest. 

Later we cooked up a pizza and watched a little hockey.  This whole Sunday recap may not seem like a super big deal to many, but for me it sure was.  It’s extremely rare for people to show up on my doorstep spontaneously on a Sunday morning, just wanting to hang out!  Usually it’s planned a day prior or so!  I cherish my weekend sleep more than anything.  L knows this and I’m glad he showed up when he did and not much earlier!

Then another hectic workweek and lots of busy (and fun!) icing on top almost every evening:

Actually, no, wait.  Monday was a bye/breather for me.  I had a Silpada jewelry team meeting that night and just needed to decompress and chill instead.  I love the team and the jewelry we represent – I was just feeling dragged down and sluggish and needed to just have some alone time and chill.

Tuesday:  one of my brothers turned 40!  How did a YOUNGER brother of mine get to be 40??  We met up at our folks’ house for a spectacular meal of (raw) oysters for appetizers and later some glorious barbecued salmon.  Yes, everyone, I adore raw oysters.  Don’t even need cocktail sauce here.  Just a small fork and bottoms up!  YUM.

Wednesday:  And now for something completely different – for the first time in my nearly 45 (gulp) years on earth…I went to the movies by myself!  Come with me on this journey, for it’s likely going to ring odd with a lot of you who do this all the time or are movie buffs.  First of all, going to the movies (in a theatre) is wayyyyy down on my list of things I like to do.  I’m sure I miss out on a lot of great films; when I learn of the Golden Globe and Oscar nominations every year I MIGHT have seen one or two of the films, heh.  It’s just not my thing.  I’m VERY much an eat/drink/conversation type of person when I go out (or stay in!).  Sitting in a dark theatre for two hours makes me restless.  And on a first date?  Well, if the guy suggests going to the movies…ummm…well, that’s not my first choice.  I’d rather go out and socialize with him before sitting next to someone I barely know in a theatre.  Just seems odd to me.   The last time I was in a movie theatre was 2008.  I know, try not to laugh.  I saw Slumdog Millionaire and also Sex and the City.  That’s the first SATC, by the way; I saw the 2nd one on HBO the other day and it was truly an insult to fans of the series everywhere.  Glad I saved my money.

Anyway, fast forward to 2012 and I had my pick:  The Hunger Games!  I’d purchased a ticket online ahead of time and set my sights on Lincoln Square Cinemas in downtown Bellevue. I figured I could do a little shopping or grab a drink and munchies prior.

I got into Bellevue and walked around Lincoln Square.  I was absolutely SHOCKED how empty the buildings were.  True, it was around dinner hour, but still.  This is a densely packed urban-suburban city and Lincoln Square is right in its heart!  Weird.  Usually when I’m here it’s a Friday night or a weekend and it’s a packed scene.  So strange seeing it so empty. 

About a half hour prior to the movie start, I rode the escalators up to the theatre and got a small bag of $6 popcorn. Ooops…make that $6.02 with sales tax.  And silly me, I’d brought a very small black clutch so I wouldn’t have to lug my large purse from work with me into the theatre.  And I left my debit card in the big purse which was down in my car in the parking garage.  All I had was $6 cash.  I smiled at the popcorn girl sheepishly…can you float me two cents?  Sure, no problem.  I felt so silly but grateful.

I purposely got to the theatre a little earlier.  Years ago I remember going with my ex to this theatre and arriving literally 5 minutes before the movie started (punctuality was not a strong point).  And he’d get so pissed that there were no decent seats left.  Well DUH already!

I walked into the theatre (each seats around 200), peeked my head around the corner and there it was. 

Empty, and dark with just a little light classical music playing in the background.  I was the first one there!  I giggled and was a little shocked too.  So I walked in, sat down and had a moment.  Here I was in a large theatre right smack in the middle of downtown Bellevue…alone!  How surreal.  I absent-mindedly munched on my popcorn in the dark and relaxed into my seat.  Had not had that much solitude in weeks.

Turns out there were only about 10 of us in the theatre total – guess the movie has been out a little while and it was midweek. I LOVED the Hunger Games.  (No spoilers in here, don’t worry).  I will say that I’m VERY glad I read the book first, for it has so much more detail that you could not possibly incorporate into a movie.  The casting was amazing and the plot is – thankfully – spot on with the book.  And I also learned (actually CONFIRMED) that, while I’m glad I went out on a limb and tried something different, nope, I don’t like going to the movies by myself.  Aha.

Thursday:  I met my dear friend T for an early birthday dinner celebration at the Flat Iron Grill in Issaquah.  Now THIS is a superb evening out in Gilman Village.  Very warm, great service and fantastic food….with a wonderful friend!  We enjoyed a couple of cocktails…T picked out a beautiful steak and I went with the Paella, complete with clams and some sausage too.  Delicious!  And of course some gourmet French vanilla ice cream and a small creme brulee for dessert. 

Friday:   L came over in the evening so we could get started on the home renovation work again the next morning.  I made shrimp with roasted jalapenos and pancetta over linguine…oops, actually the deli had sliced up prosciutto instead of pancetta and I did not take a moment to double-check.  But it still tasted great.  And it’s a very light and healthy dish – no cream sauces.

By 10pm I was exhausted.  L crashed on the couch and I drifted upstairs to sleep.

Saturday: I woke up around 6:30am hearing the gentle thud of my front door closing.  True confession:  I had a split second “oh no” go through my body as awhile back L had left in the morning instead of doing the work in the townhouse here.  [Long story but it’s all good now].  I got up, walked downstairs and smiled.  His laptop and stuff were all still here.  I smiled more and started making coffee.  He’d just popped out for a bit to grab a coffee and fresh fruit is all.  I later made us scrambled eggs with Tabasco and toasted some bagels and we talked more about our plan of attack for the day.  How was I up so early in the morning, and so refreshed-feeling?  On a Saturday??  I was ready for us to get started but L thought we should wait until at least 9:00am given I share a common wall with my neighbor.  Oh my goodness…it was already (only!) 8:00am!!  So THIS is what it’s like when you get your ass out of bed early!!

We finished scraping and sanding down the master bedroom ceiling and vanity so it’s ready for a few coats of primer and later some paint.  For those of you just tuning in, my townhouse has that horrific popcorn ceiling nearly everywhere save for the bathrooms and kitchen.  L and I had found a tool online that has a scraper attached and you can attach an extension pole onto it like you would for a paint roll.  But UGH, no such luck.  The tool blade is too flimsy and too dull, as my ceiling is unfortunately covered with a thick coat of white paint.  So we resorted back to the 6″ joint knife (looks like a putty knife), which is harder on the back as you can’t attach an extension pole to it. 

So we’ve finished the largest room upstairs.  Next weekend (maybe Sunday) is the attack on one of the guest bedrooms.  While it’s messy, ugly work, I am hopeful the rest of the upstairs will go faster as we’ve learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t with the drop cloth taping/draping and how much/how little to do at a time.  Plus the remaining rooms and hallway are a lot smaller.

Later in the day I went to his house and he made dinner – a wonderful stir fry with green beans, onions and peppers and a spinach salad – delicious!  And watched hockey, of course.  New York Rangers are onto the East Division Finals…starting tomorrow!

I truly appreciate L’s help – it’s not the most fun way to spend a sunny weekend day but the results are going to be great.  My ceiling already seems taller and it’s yet to get primed and painted!!  Yay for Man Help!!

And yay for another Routine Shaken week!!

Routine…shaken

05 Saturday May 2012

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And I’m not saying like in a James Bond-ish “shaken, not stirred” way.  I mean shook hard down to the CORE.  Shifts that are still internally shifting.  I don’t know where, when or how all the pieces are going to land and that’s OK.  I’m just enjoying the process as they float, flutter and spin all around me. 

Here it is Saturday and I’m blogging.  Typically the past nearly 3 years this has been a wonderful Sunday ritual for me (and hopefully also for the handful of you who tune in here regularly or stumble in here accidentally…thanks!!)   I’m sitting here typing and part of me mentally is in an “OK it’s Sunday” mode.  But I’m smiling inside knowing I have one more delicious day of the weekend to savor.  To replenish myself.  Refill my tanks.

I feel like a different person than when I last posted in here.  And hmmm…I might make more of those green onion “pancakes” I posted a couple of weeks ago come to think of it.

Other than a very small handful of mental vacations, I’ve posted in here like clockwork on Sundays.  It’s a wonderful ritual and I look forward to it.  It’s “me” time that I get to share with others, but I don’t write here like anyone will read it if that makes sense.  Just self-expression, musings and lately a few food recipes too.  Last weekend was jam-packed and I knew I would not be home until late Sunday evening.  I figured oh, no biggy, I’ll be home around 8 or 8:30pm and just do a quick blog post and get to sleep.  Obviously that didn’t happen.

Last Sunday I came home feeling on the brink of a transformation.  A shift…a…damn, I don’t even know how to describe it.  So I guess I’ll just explain what I did and what happened…and what has happened since.

I shook up my routine and went to a weekend-long transformational workshop.  I can’t tell you how so out of my element something like that is for me.  Two days, 10am to 7pm.  Two precious weekend days.  I giggled when I learned the time the workshops started.  True confession:  I’m barely even AWAKE at 10am on Saturdays and Sundays.  So to be in these workshops I’d have to be awake, showered, dressed, awake (yes, repeated intentionally) for a 40 minute drive to the workshop location.  I also don’t consider myself very “workshoppy.”  BUT, my dear friend T recommended it so strongly, so I knew it would be great.  And boy was it ever. 

The workshop is for women and is about understanding (and celebrating) men and their behavior.  Yep, ’tis true!  Now, many people have asked me what I learned and what it was like.  Details, please!  Honestly that is not what I’m going to write about in here.  I did take lots of notes and have them safely stashed on the laptop here.  But I don’t want to go on and on about the workshop content.  I truly think it would be a disservice writing about it in here.  First of all, I’ve just been exposed to the material and am just learning and applying it myself.  Also, the workshop experience is led by a seasoned instructor and includes several steps we as women needed to commit to doing before we could even proceed further in the workshop.  If we weren’t willing to, we’d be able to leave early and get a full refund on our tuition.  (No one did, by the way).  But I will share a couple nuggets that are really at the core and foundation of the workshop content:

What if men are responding to women?  And…when we as women get upset, confused or frustrated when men do something we don’t understand or don’t like, we need to ask ourselves…what if there’s a good reason for it?  Seeing things I’ve seen all my life now in a different perspective (an illumination really) is phenomenal. 

The workshop was such an incredible experience that I was emotionally drained (and filled too actually at the same time) when I got home Sunday night.  I celebrated and just went home giddy and tingling…full of so many “aha” moments as things popped and clicked for me over the weekend.  I met amazing women too.  Lots of great bonding and I hope to see them again at future workshops.  But I came home so exhausted too.  And I knew the week ahead would be a busy one.  Lots going on at work.  Was I ready to face the week?  Ready or not, it happened!

Monday: After work I went over to my parents’ house for dinner.  This is definitely not something I normally do on a Monday night.  But, they were heading out of town the next day and my Mom wanted to borrow one of my books to read on their trip.  And she wanted to see some of my new jewelry collection as well.  After dinner, Dad went to go watch TV and Mom and I played with jewelry.  I’d quickly put together a few trays of what I thought she might like the night before.  Keep in mind I represent a wonderful line of sterling silver jewelry.  And my Mom prefers gold.  So, I had to really think through what I would bring to show her.  I picked out pieces that have a lot of warmer-toned semi precious stones, brass and pearl detail.  I also showed her our latest charms and brought my (sterling silver) charm bracelet loaded up with charms and showed her how the bracelet can attach onto a matching charm necklace with a couple of double-lobster clasps.  I thought this would just be a random thing she might think was interesting or amusing and I also wanted to ‘practice’ doing this for my future jewelry parties with friends. 

What happened next blew my mind.  My Mom got so excited, left the room and returned with a small pouch.  Inside was a sterling silver charm bracelet she had not worn in decades.  She explained that she is at an age where she is not comfortable drawing attention to her hands.  She prefers necklaces over bracelets or attention-grabbing rings.  Now thanks to the charm necklace and the double-lobster clasps she can wear her vintage charm bracelet around her neck in a modern way…in a way that makes her happy and comfortable!  And THIS was the giant underscore/exclamation point on one thing we learn in our training as jewelry reps:  don’t ever pre-judge anyone when sharing more about the jewelry or the business opportunity to represent the jewelry.  And yet I had (subconsciously) pre-judged my own Mom!  I assumed that since she prefers gold jewelry she would have zero interest in a sterling silver necklace.  Boy was I mistaken!!

Tuesday:  What a small world!  My youngest brother is now the sales account manager for the company where I am currently consulting!  Meaning, the place where I work is a client of his!  He flew up here to come to the campus to get his access cardkey and laptop set up.  How joyful it was to see him, introduce him to my manager and co-workers and have lunch.  We are quite close despite being nearly 8 years apart and such different lives.  He got married right out of college and he and his wife have 3 kids under age 9…and I am single with no kids.  Boy, I adore my nephews and niece!  So it was wonderful reconnecting with my brother and seeing him discover where I work – his new client – for the first time.  Glorious.

And I came home after work and the damn laptop here was at a crawl pace.  I rebooted it several times and my Start menu was all jacked up.  Arrrghh!!  I figured I probably had a computer virus or some other nightmare.  After about an hour on the phone with the nice people at Dell (yep, I’m a hard-core PC gal…no Macs here) I had a new registry cleaner/virus protection program installed.  And got rid of the old one.  And it’s like I have a new laptop.  Amazing improved performance!!

Wednesday:  After another very hectic day at work I went to my co-worker K’s house for dinner.  We used to share a large office – she’s since moved to a different group at our company and I miss working with her immensely.  Over the past few months working together we became friends and discovered we both have a passion for cooking!  She made a wonderful dinner in her new tagine and I brought the wine!  I got to meet her 3 kids (her husband was out of town on business) and share a seat at their dinner table.  K has girlfriends over for dinner all the time while her husband is away.  It’s really important for her to show her kids that while she loves being a wife and being their Mom, she’s also a friend to many.  After dinner the kids went to do homework and K and I talked.  And “all of a sudden” it was 10:30pm.  I cherish those conversations immensely.

When I got home I realized I had not gone to my mailbox in a few days.  Voila…there was my NEW PASSPORT!!  Oh, the possibilities.  If I had been there when the postman delivered it I would have hugged him.

Thursday:  Yet another hectic day at work (do we detect a pattern here folks?) and afterwards I headed into the city to meet L (my guy BFF) at a sports bar to watch hockey.  Years ago when he and I had decided that we were better off as friends than dating we had gone to this place a couple of times.  What a trip coming back to this place after 6-7 years.  The last time he and I were here it was before the no-smoking regulation went into effect in bars in the state of Washington here.  I remember the smoke hanging 4 feet from the ceiling it was so thick.  A much more pleasant experience this time around with no smoke.  And, the Stanley Cup playoffs go on…and I have no team to cheer for.  When Vancouver and Pittsburgh (my two favorite teams) each got eliminated in the first round, I was stunned.  And with no “plan C” on my radar to cheer for because I didn’t think I’d need one so soon.  And I still don’t have one.  I never get tired of watching the playoffs but it’s weird not having a favorite picked out.  And I’m totally bummed that the Canucks are out.  I’d hoped with my new passport to drive up with L and catch a game at a Vancouver sports bar.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think they’d be out so soon.  New passport…alas, too late for this Canucks season.

Friday:  Ah, fabulous Friday.  My whole work team is head down buried in WORK.  We are a great team and work wonderfully well together – one of the healthiest groups I’ve had the pleasure to consult with ever – but boy we are feeling the burn. We’re tired.  I see it in everyone’s eyes.  Voices.  Mannerisms.  We will get through everything we need to and support one another.

So after this wonderful week I was so ready to just go home and CRASH.  And sleep for days and not give a shit.  I left work probably two hours later than I usually do.  And I figured the commute would not take too long given it was after peak time. 

About halfway home (I commute on mostly two-lane surface streets between two suburbs) I turned a corner and traffic was at a dead stop at a major intersection.  With a long, long line of cars just waiting.  What was going on?  The stoplight was out!  UGH.  I painfully crawled through two major intersections with no functioning stoplight.  I thought I was slowly dying.  I just wanted to get HOME!

I just am confounded at how much LIFE got crammed into this past week.  It was like a slingshot after that weekend workshop…my perspectives are shifting…everything is shifting.  New things happened BAM BAM BAM every evening this week.  THIS is what happens when you shake up your routine.

So what’s next?  I don’t know but whatever it is is going to be extraordinary.  And why am I blogging on Saturday?  Well, L and I had planned on doing more popcorn ceiling scraping here in the townhouse tomorrow.  But it turns out he has a lot of work and a deadline so we have to reschedule.  What will I do tomorrow instead?  Probably sleep…well not all day.

And next Wednesday I’m going to see The Hunger Games.  After work.  By myself.  THIS is another Shake in my routine.  And lots more to follow.