To leave a call back number, press 5

As part of my job, I get the pleasure of leaving lots of voicemails. Drives me crazy to hear the system-generated voicemails!! How many of you out there have ever pressed "5" to leave your call back number? I'll bet it's none of you, so why do they even put that option in there?! :) I really wish they'd shorten those messages because trust you me, it's gets old to listen to them time and time again!

I probably need to update you on my tri training. Or lack thereof! :) Nah, I've been slowly but surely working on it. I've now officially been on my bike three times and it's getting easier. Now that the days are longer, I'll be able to ride it after work. The biking part remains the hardest event for me, but I'm sure more practice will make it easier. A friend of mine sent me a 12 week training schedule (goal of schedule is to complete, not compete, which is right up my alley) and now I just need to follow it!

I ordered an AC unit yesterday!! After four summers of sweating during the summer in my hot upstairs apartment, I am finally giving in. A neighbor is going to install it for me and I really hope it works. It's an old building, so I'm not even sure if I'll be able to have it on with other appliances without blowing a circuit . . .

Cheers!

e post

I am bored. Here I sit in the great city of San Fran yet am stuck at a boring conference. Blah. Kinda cool that I can post via my cell phone but that won't keep me entertained for too long. You should see the pharmaceutical reps .. Perfect suits, perfect hair, etc. I once concidered being a rep but am too far from perfect, I think! :)

Walked around the city last night ... Uphill and downhill. Was great!

SF

Another flight, another blog. You should know the routine by now. Heading down to San Fran (I understand the locals hate it when I call it that) for a conference. Gotta find me (uh, sorry, my company) some doctors! Hopefully there will be enough time to get out and have some fun as well.

Cheers!

Perfect . . . even after 10 years

I had my mini college reunion last Friday night and am still smiling! It was perfect! I was sure people would start leaving around 11:00, but we all managed to stay out until about 2:00 a.m.! Who says we can't still party like college students! I love all my friends and they bring me true happiness. The photos are hilarious and a riot to go through the next day. It went off far better than I ever could have imagined.

The next day was a little rough for some, as my dear friend, Dave, summarized in an e-mail to me this morning:

So, then vs. now:
10+ drinks (I guess...my memory is fuzzy. Not sure why :)) vs. 7
Bounced out of bed vs. fall out of bed
No headache vs. headache
Bike into class the next day vs. vacuum the house
Tackle the day at full speed vs. take a nap on the couch
Do it again the following night vs. crash on the couch @ 8:00pm

10 Years?

Has it really been 10 years since I graduated from college? In some ways, it feels like it was just yesterday, yet it other ways, it feels like it's been forever. I'm organizing a mini college reunion with the friends I hung out with the most during those years. We are meeting up this Friday, and just thinking about seeing everyone again brings back a flood of memories. I can still envision the bar we all went to every Thursday. I can picture everyone's faces, I can hear the music, the whole works. The memories are so vivid that I can almost just take myself back in time and imagine myself still there. No way has it been 10 years! :) Have I accomplished what I set out to do within those 10 years? I had pictured myself married with children by now, yet am so incredibly thankful that I didn't hit that goal. I am pleased with where I am in my career, I am happy and healthy, and I have the most wonderful friends and family . . . yes, I guess I have accomplished something with those 10 years. Go Beavs!

Funny names

Here are some names I've come across over the last few months that still make me laugh:

Phat Ho
Christian Tramp
Dick Wiggle (OK, so his real last name was Wigle, but in my version, he'd spell it with two g's)
Dr. Weiwei (and he's a urologist, of course!)
Dr. Doubledee (think he has man boobs?)

There have been others, so if I can remember them, I'll be sure to share my sophomoric humor with the rest of you in a later post. ;)

Ergo

So I got a new ergodynamic setup at work. I've never been in so much pain! Why can't I just slouch all the time? Now I have to be all prim and proper and 90-degree-angley! :)

I don't have any of my usual muses on life to share with you today. I'm a little down, but there's some old school rap on the radio and I'm going to just dance my way back up! "Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn . . ."

_SOON_

My grandmother has always put the pressure on me to go to church. Therefore, I made sure to send her some of my new business cards and let her know I am now working for a Catholic organization. Sure, it's not the same as going to church, but I was happy I could at least share with her the mission of my new company.

Here's what Grandma wrote back to me on this year's Easter card: "Your business cards are great! I'm so happy to hear that you are enjoying your new position. Also - I hope you end up marrying a Catholic doctor. I would love to hear that soon."

You all don't know my grandma, but she's totally serious. No joking from that woman. And the emphasis under the word "soon" is all her's. I'll see what I can do, Grandma!

Found it!

I finally found a triathlon to replace the one I originally wanted to do! http://www.uswts.com/wa/welcome.htm

It's perfect -- still an all women event, it supports a cause I can get behind, and it's not until September, which means I still have ample time to get ready! The distances for the Super Sprint are pretty short, so I don't think it will be a huge problem. Yipeee!!! I signed up for it today!!

Don't tell me I can't . . .

Ever notice that when someone tells you that you can't do or think something, that you then can't help but do or think it anyway? Put me in a Catholic church and tell me to think holy thoughts, and I can promise you that I'll be thinking anything but! I read on someone's blog today that one shouldn't write about what they eat for lunch on their blogs ('cuz it's darn boring!). That's grand advice, except that as I was eating lunch today, all I could think about was blogging my thoughts on consumption. And the author was right -- they were boring thoughts. But I'm going to write about lunch anyway today:

Noodles from TJ's -- needed meat included.
Edamame -- ummm, where's the salt? HATE having edamame without enough salt on them.
Diet Coke -- why, oh why, can't they have Pepsi products downstairs?!

OK, I'll never write about my lunch again. But I won't make any promises about what I'll think about in church . . . :)

Cell phone charger

I realized on my way to the airport this morning that I'd forgotten my cell phone charger. No biggie; I'll just shut it off and deal. But I realized today just how hooked I am on that device. I went to the mall after work today and found a Cingular store. I was talking to the sales man about finding the cheapest way to charge my phone when I got distracted by the display of nice, new phones. Ohhhhhh! I then remembered how much I hate my phone and asked him which of the new phones he recommended. He said the Blackberry Pearl . . . and here's the clincher . . . went on to tell me it now comes in RED! So here I was, complaining about having to spend $27 on a charger and ended up spending way more. Yeah, way to stick it to the man! :)

LOVE the Davenport hotel in Spokane. Not only am on laying on the world's most comfortable bed while watching the flat screen TV, but one of the staff just rang the doorbell (yes, the doorbell) on my door and offered me some peanut brittle!

OK, now I'm going to program everything into my new phone! It's probably going to take me hours to learn how to use it! :)

I'd like to tell PDX where to stuff my saline solution

As usual, I had to fly today. I haven't flown using only my carry on luggage since the whole "liquid ban" took place, but I was bound and determined to figure it all out and not check my bags this morning. Trust me, it's not easy to get 5 days worth of stuff into a carry on, but I perservered!

I was concerned about my contact lense solution as it's in a container larger than the 3 oz. limit. I looked in a few different stores and even looked online, but it's only available in that one size (I use a specific kind). But I read on TSA's website the following information:

Saline solution - You are allowed to carry up to 3 oz., of eye drops in a clear, one-quart plastic bag. Volumes greater than 3 oz. must be declared to the Security Officer and cannot be carried in your clear, one-quart bag.

So I get up to the screening area and I pull out my quart size plastic bag filled with all my appropriately sized products, along with my saline solution, which is outside of the bag, just as they told me to do. I declared its presence! Guess where that saline solution is now???? The garbage can. I tried to explain to the guy that he was wrong and even made his supervisor come over. But I lost. And Able Cable doesn't like to lose! Needless to say, the Portland Airport will be getting a nasty gram from me. And a bill for the $20 I'm going to have to spend to get another bottle, which yes, I'll have to transfer into a smaller bottle and throw the larger bottle away . . . again.

On another note, I have pretty new shoes today. (For all the men reading this, yes, I am a woman and I can rant one minute and then be distracted by pretty shoes the next.) :-D

Let's add in one more state today

Here's a list of the states (and yes, for this exercise, DC is a state) I've been in over the last few weeks:

Oregon (probably a given)
California
Arizona
New Mexico
Texas
DC
Virginia
Maryland
Nevada
Utah
Washington

That's 11 different places! Craziness. Is it any wonder why I just feel like staying home for awhile?!

I did it!!

I'm happy to report I ran my first 5K today! It was actually pretty great. Weird to have all these people running around me, but kinda cool at the same time. Trisha made signs for us to wear on our backs that said "wish me luck, it's my first time" (in honor of St. Patrick's Day) and so as people passed us (and boy oh boy, they did pass us), they wished us luck. :-D I would do a fun run again!

All sorts of upset

Would you believe the registration for the Seattle Danskin Tri was just closed a few days ago?!!! And I missed it!!!! The darn event doesn't even happen until August and they closed registration in February? Well, that's just screwed up! I know there are plenty of other tri's to sign up for, but really had my heart set on that particular one. Frick.

No title

One of my mini pleasures is to create titles to my blog, but my head is so tired (and hungover) that it's just stopping my creative juices from flowing. Vegas can do that to you! I've been in a sensory overload state for the last 6 days. My hands are all cracked and red from lack of moisture. Give me my Pacific NW!

I really hadn't gone out much during my trip here, but decided I'd better prove to my new co-workers that I'm not a complete loser. I usually put off letting new people see me drunk and dancing until I've know them for quite some time, but broke that rule last night! We had a good time at an outside bar. At least it was one way to get some exercise.

The food journal starts again when I return home. I'm also thinking of starting up my morning Pilates routine again since I now don't start work until 8:00. Three weeks of traveling is NOT good! I can't believe I'm supposed to do the Shamrock Run next weekend. I'm really not ready and my hip still hurts a bit. I'll see what I can do about it this week, but must admit I'm more than a little worried that I won't be able to cross the finish line. I'm reading The Secret and according to it, all I have to do is imagine myself successfully finishing the race and it will just magically happen. . . .

Money lost gambling: $250
Money spent on alcohol: $75
Getting to sleep in my own bed tonight: Priceless

Vegas, baby

On the road *again*. Our fearless traveler has now found herself in the siniest of all sin cities -- Vegas. So many people told me how jealous they were that I was going to be here for a whole week, but I've been here so many times over the years that it's just lost any thrill. I've been here since Sunday and haven't even left the hotel. I promise to do better the next few days and not be a complete loser! :) Blackjack tonight!!

There was free wine available after the seminar yesterday. Need I say more? You all know just how great I must be feeling today. :} Free Wine and Able Cable are two things that go together well!

Wish me luck!

Let us pray . . .

Started my new job today! What better way to start than with . . . prayer? As I now work for a Catholic organization, it is common practice to pray before each meeting. That will take some getting used to for sure! I've always been told to not bring religion into the workplace.

I've been running! And I've been hurting!! If anyone out there in Blogger Land has a cure for the hip pain I'm experiencing, please bring it on. (And no, simply not running is not an answer.)

I'm going to "pray" that my latest "prey" is a good one! Is it possible . . . ?

Snow?

I've been watching the weather reports for the last week and seems to be a decent possibility that 6-8 inches of snow is going to fall in the DC area starting Monday night. Therefore, I decided to fly out a couple days earlier (tomorrow). I know the storm might not hit, but if it did, I'd be sure to be stuck out here longer and I really have some things I need to get back home for.

So, brief catch-up: Got to see Brian and meet his family last night, which was very cool. Cousin Nancy picked me up today and brought me out to her home in Virginia. She and her husband, Jim, took me out for a very nice lunch. After a bit more time back at their home, we headed off to College Park, Maryland, to see my Great Aunt and Uncle. This was truly the highlight of the whole trip and the real reason I came all the way out here. It was soooo wonderful to see them!! We talked a lot about my family, especially my grandfather, who we all miss terribly. My Aunt and Uncle are getting up in years, but are still as sharp as ever. Almost started crying many times with all the remembrances. Also almost puked again due to all the curves on the road!! :) How fitting that my adventure could have both started and ended with vomit! Ha! :)

Great trip and I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be to start my new job back home. Oh, no, I never did go running. Much making up to do on that end!!

DC-licious!

Greetings from DC! Today was great! Very cold, but the sun was shining and the crowds were few -- perfect! I hiked around Arlington Cemetary (caught tail end of guard changing and Eternal Flame), saw a bunch of famous monuments, and went to the Museum of Natural History. The museum did a good job of putting things in perspective. I got to see meteorites, information on evolution, charts showing how much the earth has changed and how recent we humans are in the whole scheme of things. I didn't get lost once today!!! This is a first. :)

The hotel has free washers and dryers available, so I decided to do a load tonight. Out of socks, so timing is perfect! I put everything into one load and what did I end up with? That's right, white shirts that were no longer white. I haven't made this mistake forever! I've got the whites re-washing now, so let's hope they return to their normal color. I thought I could defy the laws of laundry, but alas, could not.

I'll tour more museums tomorrow and am meeting up with a friend I haven't seen since high school for dinner.