It's Time For Good News!

This week, I've really been struggling with the news. It's been bright and sunny outside, so the Seattle area has generally had a sunny disposition, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the local news outlets.

Generally, I watch King 5's news broadcast during the last 15 minutes or so before I leave for work in the morning so that I can be up-to-date on current events and also am aware of the current traffic situation. Then, at lunch, I will peruse our local newspaper's Web site, www.seattletimes.com.

But this week, it's been really bleak on the news front. I opened up the newspaper the other day and tried to find a positive headline to read. Instead, I was greeted by headlines about multiple dead bodies, starving children, financial issues, and all things depressing. I decided to dial down my news habits, but still seem to be presented with bad news as I'm going through my day. When I watched the morning news, I was hoping for some softer stories about school children doing good or maybe even a "Gardening with Ciscoe" segment next to the weather and traffic. Instead I was greeted with stories on suicides and roadside bombings. Ugh!

So, I'm starting to seek out the good news. There's got to be good things happening in the world, and I'm ready to hear about them. Let's put the smiles on our faces and start to look for the good side of life... consider it a challenge from me. What's your good news? Share it here, I'm ready to smile and cheer for everyone! :-)

Sunshine, Sunshine!

The sun has been shining in the Seattle area for a consecutive days now, and I have to say that I have been quite distracted by it. With the temperatures hitting almost 70, I'm definitely not complaining! I've gotten out a few times to enjoy the sun, including a great two hour walk to start of my weekend and to return the smile to my face. There is nothing better than taking in nature and reconnecting with a great friend!

I've also had my nose buried in a few books lately. In the past two weeks, I have finished "The Appeal" by John Grisham (I give it three and a half out of five stars) and "Handle with Care" by Jodi Piccoult (I give that one four out of five stars). Ms. Piccoult's book was definitely a page-turner, and it held my attention... but I was quite disappointed by the ending. (That's all I'm going to say, as I don't want to ruin the book for you.) I guess it just didn't deliver the punch that the rest of the book had for me. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy the journey through the pages.

Not much else to report here, just enjoying the sunshine and getting into the rhythm of life. How are y'all doing?

Easter and the End of Lent

This year I decided that rather than give up something for Lent, I would try to pick up some good habits instead. So, for Lent, I "gave up" being ill in an effort to get healthy. (You may remember that for a few months leading up to Lent, we had something similar to the plague in our household...) So, we started going to the gym regularly, and I got back to walking and enjoying the outdoors. It has felt really good to be in the habit of going to the gym, and I've definitely started to enjoy my time on the elyptical machine. Some say that it takes 3 weeks to make a habit, and I'm really hopeful that this is now a habit of mine that's going to stick around.

For Lent, and actually for 2009, I also decided to pursue happiness. So, every day I tried to find something joyful or happy to reflect on. Sometimes it was the sunrise or a view on the way to work, other times it was seeing a geat quality in someone that I came in contact with. So far, I'd have to say that I have really enjoyed looking for happiness in everything I do. I highly recommend it, in fact! :-)

I hope you all had a great Easter. Here's to continued health and happiness throughout the year!

Banking & Customer Service

On Friday, I decided to stop at Starbucks for a morning mocha before work. As I sat at the drive through, I handed my debit card to the barista (as I have done many times before), and awaited my coffee and my receipt. Instead, I was embarassingly informed that my card was declined four times. Yep, declined. I was incedulous, to say the least, because I had just been paid, and there was well more than the $5 required in my account. After paying for my purchase with a different card, I hurried to the office and called the bank.

Once I finally got through to Bank of America's customer service line, I was informed that my card was turned off because I was part of a "mass compromise," and a letter would be mailed to me; my new card, it seems, was mailed to my original bank branch without my knowledge, and had been sitting there for the better part of two weeks. Nice. The nice customer service lady informed me that the police had simply called and provided the bank with accounts that may have been stolen and needed to be turned off. This would have been all fine and dandy if they had informed me that they were turning my card off. Instead, the letter telling me that the card was beind deactivated was attached to the new cards; the same cards that were mailed without my knowledge to the bank branch. UGH.

To make matters worse, they cut off my hubby's card too -- his new cards should be at our house sometime soon, we think, but the customer service people don't seem to know, nor are they willing to give us more information. Nice...

Lesson learned: the key to good customer service is to communicate with the customer. Let them know what is going on with their account before it is rudely cut off... or before it sends your customers in a panic thinking that their accounts have been drained. Yep, simple communication would have made me a much happier customer!

Getting in Shape

Over the past few weeks, I've been trying to get back to the gym and get in better shape. So far, so good... I've gotten in to the gym three to four days a week, and have found that if I can simply get my car into the garage at the gym, I'm home free -- getting there is half the battle, I guess. Anyhow, my body has been responding to the trips to the gym, mostly in a good way, but I'm also pretty sore. Isn't it funny how making your body better through working out involves some pain? Ugh, when do the sore muscles stop?

My company moved offices yesterday, which meant carrying a lot of boxes and heavy items up and down two flights of stairs. We made great progress, but in the middle of the day, my body said to me: "Why didn't you call in sick today? That would have been way more fun!" Alas, I made it through, and I get to set-up my new desk with a view of 405 Monday morning. Fun!

So, I'm ready to start the weekend after moving the office... perhaps one or two trips to the gym and some quality time with my hubby... who knows what the weekend brings! :-)

Save the Drama for your Mama

This week, I've found myself saying "save the drama for your mama" more than I would like. It's not that I'm having a dramatic week (far from it), it's just that it seems that there are a few parts of my life that seem to be overly dramatic, and I'm kind of tired of the drama and energy that goes into it. So, I say: save the drama for your mama.

In other news, our association has decided that grills with "open flames" are too dangerous and must be removed from all of our units "or else." Thus, we have to get rid of our propane BBQ grill. It kind of makes me angry that I'm being denied the right to go out onto my porch to grill up some salmon and or make a great burger. I guess that's the price that you pay for living in a condo complex...

I'm ready, though, to think about moving to a place where we don't share walls with our neighbors, and where I'm allowed to have a simple barbeque grill. Needless to say: anyone need a BBQ?

Where the Pets Go?!

I am the proud owner of two fantail goldfish. They're pretty low maintenance, nice to look at, and sometimes entertaining. I recently cleaned out the fish tank and discovered that I was in need of some supplies to keep the tank in tip-top condition. So, I ventured to the nearest chain pet supply store at the mall to grab a few items. As I was standing in the back of the store looking at the different options on the shelf, I noticed something moving by my foot. Not just any something... oh no, it was a big fat roach skittering across the floor, coming out from it's hiding place right underneath the shelf I was looking at. To say that I was grossed out would be a little bit of an understatement. My first instinct was to stomp on it and then run away completely grossed out.

But then, I had one little thought: "Is it really okay to kill an animal (okay, a roach) in a pet store, or is there something a little wrong about that?" Needless to say, I let the little critter live.

A little disconcerting, though was the response that I got from the completely appethetic worker at the check-out stand. I walked up quite calmly and stated that perhaps they should consider cleaning the fish section of the store, as there was a little roach friend who was making his home there. The checker looked at me blankly and said, "Uh, okay... did you find everything today?" Yeah... and then some!

Perhaps it's time for me to start shopping at the non-chain pet store down the street... at least I haven't encountered any roaches there yet!

Busy, Busy, Busy

It's been pretty busy around our house lately. Last week, I turned another year older. Lennie organized a fun night out with friends to celebrate, and I enjoyed spending time with everyone. Man, I have a great husband, and I'm so grateful for all of the work that he did (and does)! Every year, I go through a funny phase just before my birthday... I get in a little bit of a funk, and am just not really sure how put my feelings together. It's not that I don't like getting older, or fear grey hairs or something, I just get funny. As soon as my birthday is here, life is good again. Weird.

This past weekend, I threw a baby shower for a good friend. Thanks to my long-time and great friend for some great ideas, the party was a success. (I'm not really that crafty, so her ideas came in really handy!) We decorated onesies for the baby, had a cupcake decorating contest, and generally had a great afternoon. It's always fun when you get a great group of ladies together! :-)

OH! And I finally downloaded the photos from my camera... so you can now see the shower evolution online. It's coming together nicely, and I'm looking forward to getting the last "odds and ends" completed in our bathrooms soon!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

After starting the third round of prescriptions, I am finally starting to feel better. For those of you keeping track, our household has been dealing with colds and sinus-y stuff for 90 days now. Ugh, to say the least.

Since we're starting to feel better, Lennie and I decided to get our butts back into the gym last night. While I had my moments of thinking "just kill me now!!", I did make it through the whole workout, and felt better afterwards. In fact, I felt so much better, I dragged us back to the gym tonight. Fortunately, today the workout felt a little better, and I'm sitting here smelling funky but happy that we're getting back to regularly scheduled programming.

25 Really Random Things About Me

I was "tagged" on Facebook with providing 25 random things about me, and I thought that it would be fun to share them here too. So, here goes:

1. I once had a dead mouse fall out of a heating duct in my car and hit my leg while I was driving down a street in Spokane. I was horrified, to say the least.

2. When I order at Starbucks, it's a grande non-fat raspberry mocha, extra stirred. Which really means: "please actually put the spoon in my drink and mix it together so that I don't miss out on any of that chocolate-y goodness at the bottom of the cup."

3. Dark chocolate is my favorite of the chocolate food group. Extra bonus if it's dark chocolate with raspberry.

4. I lived across the street from my elementary school, which meant that I was really envious of my friends who got to ride the bus.

5. I am terrified of rodents of all kinds. If I even think that there is a rodent within my vicinity, my skin crawls and I can't sleep or think of anything else... see #1 above.

6. I've always lived in Washington state.

7. Ever since Target came to our area, I've lived within 5 miles of a Target store.

8. I once believed that I would meet my future husband at Target, because you can get anything there.

9. I met my wonderful husband in a corn maze. Our first date was on Halloween.

10. I believe that things happen and people come into your life for a reason, season, or a lifetime.

11. I hated tomatoes until about 6 years ago. Now I can't get enough of them.

12. I own two fantail goldfish. They don't have names because I never really got around to naming them. It's been two years now...

13. I've never owned a brand new car, nor have I ever had a car payment.

14. Kenya, Denmark, France, England, Ireland, Greece, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Fiji, the Bahamas, Canada, and the Virgin Islands have all been international travel destinations for me.

15. Reality television is a less-than-secret fascination for me. Real Housewives, Top Chef, Celebrity Rehab, Amazing Race, I'll find a way to catch up on almost all of them.

16. My hair hasn't been it's "natural color" without help since I was 16 or so.

17. Just thinking about my hubby makes me smile.

18. I have friends that go "way back" to elementary school; and I have some of the greatest friends.

19. I'm in denial about the fact that I have been out of high school for almost 14 years.

20. I believe that I have just entered the best years of my life.

21. There are not many things that I could ask for to make my life any "better." I have it all: a great husband, fabulous friends, a kick-butt family, health, home, laughter, and love. Everything else is just icing on the cake.

22. If I could move anywhere and be a beach bum, I would move to Cabo San Lucas, Baja, Mexico.

23. "Say Anything" is one of my all-time favorite movies.

24. "If I had a $1,000,000" by the Barenaked Ladies is one of my favorite songs.

25. Harry Connick Jr. is my "other boyfriend" -- I love his music, love his movies, and think that he's hot. Harry, if you're reading this: call me! :-)