Wednesday, February 27, 2008

New Shoes

I had the greatest day today, and I attribute a lot of it to my new shoes (and possibly short-timers syndrome, but who knows?!). You see, I bought a cool pair of new kicks last weekend at the Nordstrom Rack, and I actually think that they're cool. They're Nike sneakers that are light on my feet and actually make me a little bouncy. And how can you not feel happy when you have great shoes on that make you want to skip around?

Coincidentally, I've had the New Shoes song by Paolo Nutini running though my head today too:
Hey, I put some new shoes on,
And suddenly everything is right,
I said, hey, I put some new shoes on and everybody's smiling,
It so inviting,
Oh, short on money,
But long on time,
Slowly strolling in the sweet sunshine,
And I'm running late,
And I dont need an excuse,
'cause I'm wearing my brand new shoes.


I love my new kicks. I'm so excited about them that I've included a photo here too:


You might have to trust me when I say that these shoes make my feet look really cute. :-)

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Win the War?

I've been pondering this question all morning, so I'm going to give it out to you, the blogosphere: how exactly does one "win" a war? Or, how do you define "winning the war?"

This question has been rolling around in my brain since I watched the morning news as I was getting ready. One of the stories on the news was about how if one of the presidential candidates had a shot at winning the upcoming election, he had to "prove to America that we're winning the war." Which made me wonder: how do we really know if we're winning the war? Are there benchmarks or signs that I should be looking for? What does "winning" look like?

Does anyone really "win" in war? I dunno, but I sure wish that someone would clear it up for me...

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Happy Birthday To Me (and Things you Learn in a Bar)

Today was my 31st birthday. Aside from my knees reminding me on the stairs this evening that I'm 31, I feel great! Lennie and I decided to treat ourselves to a nice burger and bottomless fries to mark this momentous occasion. We sat in the bar, and got some good people watching in... which brings me to the thrust of this post: sometimes you need to know when to stop talking on a first date.

Let me explain: while we were in the bar awaiting our food (which came out cold and had to be returned, so it took exponentially longer than normal), a couple came in to the bar who were in their late 20's or early 30's. It was very apparent that they were on a first date, as she launched in to loud commentary that included "I'm not really one to wear jeans, I hope that I'm not over dressed..." All seemed to be going well until I noticed that she never stopped shopping. Ladies, if there is one thing that I have heard over the years, it's that one of the ways to get a man is to listen and ask questions at least once in a while in the date. If nothing else, it gives you the chance to catch your breath and gaze into his beautiful eyes.

Alas, throughout our meal, I came up with a few sure-fire ways to tell that the date was not going well (note: I don't think that she picked up on these clues):

  • If you're telling your date that your gallbladder "literally rotted" and that you had to be on a funky diet for a month, you've gone too far.


  • When the waiter came by and asked if you wanted another drink (because you're only ordering drinks, not food), and your date doesn't order another drink (and makes a funny face like "save me!" to the waiter), perhaps you shouldn't order another drink either...


  • You should never tell your date that you've "gained a little date due to {insert excuse here}," but you're sure that you can "lose it in no time."


  • All of this was learned while we waited for our food, got cold burgers, returned said cold burgers, awaited new burgers, and enjoyed warm-ish burgers. I kind of wanted to have one of those dating interventions, where you played back the video of the date and told the daters where they went wrong... I wonder what it's like to be a waiter or waitress who has to watch first dates like this... do you get to say anything or try to bail the failing daters out?

    Man, I do love people watching...

    Monday, February 18, 2008

    A Great Weekend

    Monday was one of those days where you had a super-productive day (unexpectedly), and then it sets the standard for other days a little out of whack. Since the 18th was President's Day, I had the day off from work (yippee!). I slept until 7:30 am (isn't it a little sad that that is considered "sleeping in" these days), got up and had some breakfast, got a load of laundry started, did the dishes (and started the dishwasher), got dressed, and got my booty out the door by 9:15 a.m. Heck yes, this is going to be a good day. Had to drop some paperwork off in Kirkland (more on this tidbit in the coming weeks, I promise), then went over to a cute nail place in Bridle Trails to get a mani and pedi. Still going to be a great day! :-) Stopped and purchased some things at the store, and then proceeded in to Bellevue to return some items and then work out at the (potential) new gym. By noon I was sweating to the oldies (reruns on TBS, that is) on the elliptical trainer and enjoying life. Home by 1:15, giving me enough time to change before going to a new spa for a massage. This is the life, I tell ya! Then back home by 4 or so to change my clothes for a special birthday dinner at JaK's, the world's best steak place, with Lennie and my family. Yum!

    Happy day before my birthday, that's what I say!

    Saturday, February 16, 2008

    Brain Overdrive

    So lately, I've been really stressed and my mind has been on overdrive, which stinks. Over the past two weekends, I've had the opportunity to sleep in, but it seems that my brain has been turning on at the most in opportune times. That is to say that at about 4:15 every morning, my brain just turns on (despite my protests) and goes into overdrive. Not good. (Although, I will say that today I did get the luxury of going back to sleep and realaxing more, what a treat!)

    So, I want to know: why is it that my brain is turning on even when I have the time to let go and relax?

    Friday, February 15, 2008

    Wonderful Hubby

    I have a wonderful husband who loves me very much. I've been blessed to have him in my life, acting as a rock, my best friend, confidant, and just generally keeping me in check. Really, I couldn't have asked for a better guy.

    Valentine's Day has never been a favorite holiday of mine, either in a relationship or out. I believe that you should tell the people in your life that you love them throughout the year, not just on one day. As such, we usually stay at home and have a quiet night for Valentine's Day. This year, Lennie outdid himself for this holiday, sending me roses at the office on the 13th (surprise!), as well as bringing me roses at home on the 14th. What a fun and unexpected gesture. We went out to an early dinner (steak, yum!) and enjoyed each other's company as well as people watching. (A favorite passtime of ours...) It was so wonderful to spend time with the person that I love. No major gestures required -- just the gift of time.

    I have a wonderful hubby!

    Sunday, February 10, 2008

    Let's Get Political!

    For the first time in my life, I decided that I should get involved in the political process. (Don't get me wrong, I do vote in all of the elections, but I thought that maybe I should be a little more active this year since Washington's vote "really counted" this time around...) Here in the State of Washington, we decide our political candidate choices through a confusing combination of caucuses and primary ballot votes. I'm not sure how all of it works as far as the mathematics behind how the delegates are chosen, but I thought that I would go and "make my voice heard" at the caucus. This is where I discovered that perhaps the political process was lost on me.

    Saturday, 12:50ish, I pull into the high school parking lot so that I can be sure that I'm checked in by 1 p.m., when the caucus is supposed to start. So far, so good. I walk into the common area where the caucus is to be held. Alright... there's a lot of people there! On each table is a small sign with the number of each district, but they're not very easy to see around the sea of bodies. After checking out our condo on the map, I figure out which district I'm in, and navigate the room no less than four times before locating my district. After signing in and declaring my candidate choice (and why does the democratic party need to know what race I am and whether I'm gay / lesbian / transgendered?), I sit and wait for the caucus to begin. And I wait, wait, and wait. Chatted with a few people from my district, and I live next to some nice people from what I can tell. And again, we wait a little more... There were two people who seemed to be "in charge," and they were running around madly trying to get things going... which would have been fine if they weren't giving differing answers on how things were to be run.

    After 45 minutes and a lot of confusion, we got into our different districts and began the discussions. Our particular district had strong feelings on the side of Obama, and only one person got up to speak on behalf of Hillary Clinton. I guess that I would have liked it to be a little less one-sided, but I didn't have much to contribute to the conversation. I was really there to figure out how this all worked, and to learn more about the candidates. At the end of the day, we sent 6 of our 7 delegates in favor of Obama, and apparently our district had one of the highest delegate counts of any of the districts at our caucus location, which was kind of interesting.

    At the end of the day, though, I found the disorganization of the process frustrating, and realized why I'm not really that political... but at least I was there to "make my voice heard," which is all that counts, right?

    Saturday, February 09, 2008

    Singing At The Top Of Your Lungs!

    Last night we had the pleasure of going to dinner with a good friend and former co-worker of mine in Seattle. We laughed and caught up over tasty food, and generally had a great time.

    After dinner, Lennie and I trekked up to Everett to join another set of friends in celebrating a birthday over drinks at Chopstix, a dueling piano bar. There's not really a great way to explain this experience, other than to say that the musicians are talented, and once the crowd gets going, you get to sing at the top of your lungs to a myriad of songs. It's like karaoke without the embarassment (i.e. you're not singing alone at a microphone), and without the handy video screen telling you the words. Plenty of songs were sung throughout the night, including favorites like Bohemian Rhapsody (Queen), Margaritaville (Jimmy Buffet), and Sweet Caroline (Neil Diamond). I had forgotten how fun it was to sit back and sing along with the pianos!

    Friday, February 01, 2008

    Argh!

    So, I've been trying to take better care of myself lately. As such, there have been more trips to the gym, and I was just starting to get into the groove of things. In fact, I took today off so that I could go to the doctor, workout, and generally get in a better state of mind. This morning, I tromped off to the doctor's office in my workout clothes, ready to take on the world. After a longer than expected (but good) visit with my physician, I headed over to the gym. Low and behold, all of the gym's delightful electronic equipment was being wheeled out, and a very nice man told me that the gym closed as of last night. ARGH! And just when I was getting into the habit of going to the gym (and liking it), I'm thrown off track. I'm told that LA Fitness purchased all fo our memberships (did you know that you could be bought and sold like that?!), so I guess Lennie and I will be off to check out LA Fitness tomorrow... stay tuned!