Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Picture Pages Pt. 1

This is just cuteness.  My mom's sweet dog, Iris.
Sunset from the office window.  We have a great vantage point, but it is still a little sad.

Made it out early enough to catch the sunset on my run.
Getting more adventurous with my salad.  Added some frozen blackberries to my yogurt. 

 I am loving my salads.  This has spring mix greens, peppercorn turkey breast, orange peppers, grape tomatoes, feta, and dried cranberries, and it will have honey mustard dressing, of course.


Can't Stop Moving

A couple of weeks ago I asked my mother what Courtney and I were like when we were my niece's age (7, almost 8).  She said she couldn't remember.  My mother used to have a lot of migraines.  Some days she would just lay on the couch for the entire day with the lights off.  My mother said that the one thing she remembered about Courtney and I from that time was that we never stopped moving, we were just like blurs in her peripheral vision and that it was hard when she was having migraines.

So I have a desk job...and I still don't like to sit still.  I get very antsy at work and for the last 7 years of working a desk job, I have come up with ways to move.  I drink a lot of water, so I have to get up several times to refill my glass, and subsequently, use the bathroom.  I've taken walks around the block on my breaks.  I run up and down the stairs, and go to the printer, and organize and put away files.  Anything to find an excuse to move when I have a minute of downtime.  

We were recently in our slow period and because I had so much extra time I would just get up and walk around the office.  Get some coffee, wash my coffee mug, fill my water, get a snack, walk to say hi to someone, do some work, print my files to the printer on the other side of the office, get my papers, do some work, get some more water, use the bathroom....and on it went. Luckily, I am extremely efficient when I am completing my work.  Really, I am very good at my job.  

I was having lunch with a coworker, B, the other day and had asked him to join me for a walk after we ate.  While we were walking b looked at me and point blank asked, "where do you go when you're not at your desk?" This is the first time someone confronted me about my wandering.  I was a bit taken aback..."I don't know. I just walk around the office."  

Maybe it is time to reign in my wandering before other people start to notice.  My only consolation is that B probably notices what I do more than other people at the office since we're friends and he sits behind me.  Also, I don't wander when we are busy, only when I don't have something I could be doing.


Saturday, October 16, 2010

Staying on Track

What a crazy week it has been.  Peak season is upon us once again.  Luckily, I was able to avoid weekend work, but I did log 50 hours this week.  In public accounting we have the equivalent to the "freshmen 15." I'm trying to stay active despite the workload and avoid the busy season weight gain that comes as a result of long sedentary days and the unhealthy dinners that the company orders when we work late.  I missed my run on one of my 10 hour days, mostly because I gave in and ate the BBQ pulled pork they brought in for dinner.  Something about BBQ, baked beans, and mac n' cheese just doesn't lend itself to running.  The next day I finished my work quickly and thought I would be able to get out early enough for a run, but we ended up getting a work request in at 5:30, so I ended up working 12.5 hours.  I had told myself I wasn't going to make excuses for not making healthy choices, so I changed into my running clothes in the parking garage and headed out for my run.  I didn't end up getting there until 10 PM, but my route is well lit and even at 10 PM there are other people out for walks/jogs/bike rides.  I could tell that I was covering the miles quickly (relative to me) and felt really good about it. 

I've also been getting excited about the lunches I've been packing in my Go Green Lunchbox, which I bought as part of a fundraiser for my nieces' school.  The new designs are decidely more childish than some of the old designs, but I guess I did buy a children's lunchbox.  The design of my lunchbox is a black and white houndstooth, which they no longer carry.  I've been using this lunchbox for a while, and lately I've been trying to eat healthier, so the lunch box is convenient and there is enough room for not only my lunch, but also for snacks throughout the day. 

Here is my lunch on Thursday, that is the first day I decided to start taking pictures of my lunch:

 The side salad compartment is actually where a stainless steel drink holder goes. 
My mom has been making chicken salad and keeping it in the fridge.  I love my mom's chicken salad and it is easy to throw into a pita with some romaine for lunch.  I got her to begin using plain greek yogurt in the chicken salad instead of mayo.  She adds a little bit of honey to the yogurt to sweeten it up. There is salad dressing at the cafeteria at work, so I can grab some honey mustard there.  This was the first time I brought a salad in my lunchbox.

I liked the salad so much that I made it my main course the following day:



Now I just need to think of more ideas for my lunches. 

In addition to making myself go for my runs and focusing on what I eat (trying to stay on track especially where snacking is concerned), I have set a running goal for myself.  Last year I was signed up for the Gasparilla half marathon which I didn't end up running because I hurt my knee shortly before the race.  The next race is coming up in February and I would really like to be able to run it this time.  Last year before the race I was up to 9 - 11 mile long runs, I'm currently at three and a half miles, so I've got some work ahead of me.  I also need to add strength work to my currently all cardio regime.  I've noticed that making these changes makes a huge difference in my energy level, my confidence level, and and my overall happiness.  I just get so down and slow when I make poor choices.  I need to remind myself of that when I'm feeling lazy or my work orders the delicious sugar cookies or cakes from Wright's.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Under the Pillow

I seriously need to do laundry.  Formerly, when I lived in a place with a washer and dryer, I was really good about keeping up with the laundry.  But when I moved into an apartment without a washer/dryer, I began to hoard dirty laundry.  It would pile up until I was out of underwear (and I have a lot of underwear), forcing me to go to either my sister's house (she has three girls and a never ending pile of laundry) or my mother's house.  My mother's house was usually a better bet because she worked late and had cable.  I didn't even have a TV, so cable was a real treat...hours of food network to watch.  Plus, if the last load was taking too long to dry, and I was tired and had to wake up for work the next morning, my mom would fold the last load and she would send me home with a lunch to take to work the next day. Score!  She would  even fold my underwear, which as I said, there is a lot of.  The first time my mom folded my laundry she asked if I changed my underwear several times a day (depends if I workout, but really just twice a day, that's normal, right?).

So I have since moved in with my mother (go 28 year old me!), and thus have full-time access to a washer and dryer.  My laundry is still piling up, but one advantage of living with my mom is that she washes my towels and robe when she does a load.  So, I was posting about under the pillow...I am at the point where I have a huge pile of laundry in my basket, and while I am not yet out of underwear, I am out of workout clothes and pajamas. Pajamas were what I was actually looking for, since I've been wearing nothing but my robe for the past several hours (total house outfit of choice, since I no longer live alone and naked is no longer an option) and it is time for bed.  So I look in the drawer and I don't have pajamas...then I remembered they were under the pillow.

Why do I keep my pajamas under the pillow?  Because I over think way too many things.  As mentioned above, I generally prefer to be sans clothing when I am at home by myself (unless I'm cooking), and I also prefer to sleep naked.  One night, while laying in bed naked, it occurred to me that should something happen, such as a fire, I would have to run out of the house naked, and how embarrassing would that be?   One possible option I considered was just wrapping up in a sheet and running out of the house if necessary.  However, should I grab my blanket to run out with, there would be a good possibility it would drag and either (a) catch on fire or (b) get caught on something, and in both scenarios, I would still end up outside, naked, and possibly cold (although this is Florida, so maybe not cold).  From that point forward, I began neatly folding a tank top or t-shirt and boxers and keeping them under my pillow (because the end table might be too far to reach during a fire).

Sure enough, I lifted up my pillow and found my pajamas.  Then I remembered the story of how it came about that I started leaving my pajamas under my pillow and decided to share it.  It is much like the story of why, from the age of 12, I began almost exclusively wearing my hair in a ponytail.  But that is another story.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

An All-In Great Weekend

I had a really great, albeit, contemplative weekend.  The weather has begun to cool off a bit and spending time outside has become much more enjoyable (this is Florida, so the weather cools down here a bit later).

Despite my fabulous weekend, Thursday was a little weird for me.  I have been single now for about 6 months, prior to this I had one other period of my dating life (approx. 12 years total) where I was single for a year.  The first period of being single I was just so massively distraught and down about the way in which my (3 year) relationship ended, that even though I missed companionship, I was not in a place to even think about dating anyone else.  When ending my (2 year) relationship this time around, which is actually the only relationship I've had since the terrible break-up relationship prior to this, things ended rather amicably in a "we're both ready to move on" kind of way.  When I ended the relationship I did want to move on, preferably to something casual and easy where needs could be met and that would be fine, with no other expectations. However, I tend to not be the type of person that forms loose attachments to guys I am only so-so about. I want to feel like someone I am with can be more than someone I am with right now, even if I am not intent on having more in the relationship at the time. I found my few ventures into casual relationships to be disappointing and decided that for the time being I am happy being single, and enjoying life, and not searching for something or someone. My life has settled into a comfortable routine in which I have many non-"relationship"-y relationships, that is, I am finding more time for both friends and family.

Thursday I stayed late to study at the office and then met Andrea out for a free concert downtown after receiving a phone call from her.  I wasn't in the mood to go out, and probably should have heeded this.  All the nights I have gone out despite not really wanting to ended badly, but usually because I drank too much.  I went to meet Andrea at her pseudo-boyfriend's place downtown so we could walk to the concert. I ran into many friends that night, old and new, but all of my interactions with people felt forced and uncomfortable. I guess I just wasn't in a people mood that night.  It also didn't help that the people I was with were paired off for the evening and I ended up feeling like the odd man out.  I turned down invitations to go for drinks after the concert from each of the old friends that I ran into and simply headed home.

Friday we had a team lunch planned for work, which would pair my old work team with our new senior and manager in a social setting for the first time.  We had been working on the new team for a couple of weeks and the transition had been tough.  To be fair to the new senior and manager, they had a lot to live up to, we all loved our old team and our old senior and manager.   Lunch was good and our manager really made an effort to get to know us outside of a work environment.

We needed to do some planning for a Halloween decorating contest at work so after a long lunch, some of my team members and I headed to the store to pick up some supplies.  It was a nice little break from work, especially considering how busy we are going to be coming into peak period. I am lucky to work with the people I do. Working for a big accounting firm can be stressful and intense and frustrating, but the people you work with are usually great. The camaraderie balances the culture, as do the non-peak periods when we all get to relax, and take long lunches, and plan how to decorate the office. After getting back from lunch, we got very little work done until it was time to go home.

After work some coworkers and I headed out for sushi, and ultimately sake.  We ate some delicious food and then decided to go out for a drink, before deciding to head to C's house to drink in a more relaxed environment.  We ended up picking up some beer and chips and  playing board games until 2 am.

Saturday I had plans to decorate the office and to meet up with Andrea to go to the street market.  I collected some tree branches from my mom's brush pile and picked up Andrea, who was going to help us decorate before we went to the market.  It was pretty interesting getting through security at the building with bundles of brush, but we were able to get in to decorate successfully.




After decorating, which ended up taking longer than anticipated, we headed to get something to eat outside at a great little crepe cafe, and then walk around the little village before doing some shopping.

Andrea got a hat and I got some scarves and then we walked to the Saturday market so I could find some pumpkins to carve.  After shopping I went to pick up Josie and drop Andrea off.  At which time Josie and I decided to carve some of the pumpkins I just got.  We had a great time, but unfortunately my older niece was a little disappointed that she did not get to carve a pumpkin too.  Luckily I bought extra pumpkins.  Looks like that will be another special Aunt Bear day.  [Sidenote: my nieces are obsessed with the Ghost Buster's lately.  Josie was doing the Ghost Buster dance for me while we carved pumpkins and telling me all about Slimer. Then I saw Jewel mentioned Ghost Busters in her 'disappointed' blog above.]


We also prepared another decoration that I was going to include in the office decorations.  Which I've since used to scare a couple of people.  




Taking that guy into work on Monday should be interesting.  

Sunday was another beautiful day.  I rode my bike to my sister's house so we could walk to the Sunday market (Fall is such a great time for outdoor markets in Florida).  We took her three kids and her oldest daughter's best friend with us and they collected seeds on the way for their nature journals. We must have run into a dozen people we know both walking to and walking around the market.  Living in a small neighborhood within a big city definitely has it's advantages.  


Sunday, October 3, 2010

Not My Inspiration

During my last relationship, with someone who was very physically fit and active, I channeled much of my frustration with the relationship into also being physically fit.  Not that I wasn't fit before, I just began to identify myself more as 'this is what/who I am'.

A race M and I ran in AZ while visiting his family.



I was going to the gym several times a week, running, bicycling, and swimming.  I liked my body, and I loved the way I felt. I thought it was great that I could beat my personal records, and hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back up in one day, and go cycling in all the cities I visited. I was building up mileage, I could run pretty far and at a decent pace.  After running for half a year it wasn't uncommon for me to finish in the top of the middle of the pack.  Which was good enough for me.  I even got a couple of hats and division medals...or one of each, but who's counting?

When my relationship ended I sort of went off the deep end in terms of lifestyle.  I started going out more, making new friends, spending time with other people, and just generally not working out.  Add to that going out to eat and drinking, and I gained 10 pounds and lost muscle tone. 

It has been about 5 months since I stopped working out regularly.  I still get out every once in a while, but I definitely do not have the same level of fitness I once had. Since the time I stopped running several people have come up to me and told me how far they are running now, and that they never ran or worked out before, that they are training for this or that race.  Half marathons, 10K's, 10 miles...  Frankly, I am jealous.  These are people who told me I inspired them to start running, and I'm not even running 5K distances anymore. 

I am so glad people used my running as their impetus to start running.  I had people who were my inspiration to start running, and I always felt like it was a gift.  It is such a good feeling when you accomplish a longer distance, or finish a race faster than you expected to.  Hopefully they can now be my inspiration to start again, and then I can thank them for giving such a great gift to me.

After a race with some of the people who inspired me to start running.  I am on the left.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

How it Started

I realized at some point when I was young that people were right when they told me I could be anything I wanted.  Well, they were almost right...I am not a good singer and I don't have rhythm.  But I did recognize that I had the capacity to accomplish most of the things I set my mind to.  At 10, I was fairly certain that I would go into business law, because I didn't want to deal with criminals and I would never be an ambulance chaser (I read a lot of John Grisham at the time).  The only problem was that as I got older, I no longer knew what I wanted to do.  Circumstances with my family life had changed, negatively, and law school seemed out of reach.  I was admittedly lost for a while. 

However, I am extremely stubborn and contrary: I like to prove people wrong.  When I was a screw up in high school, and then afterwards as I sort of floated around and partied, people began to think that I wasn't going to amount to much more than a party girl.  So I dumped my friends and started college and I made sure that I had a 4.0 GPA.  The problem then was, I still didn't know what I wanted to be.  I was still interested in the idea of going into business, and teaching also seemed attractive because I would have summers off. 

I had started working in accounting after I got promoted from customer service.  My then boss and mentor, while acknowledging that I was adept at what I did, stated that he just didn't think I was cut-out to be an accountant. He even set up meetings between him and his lawyer friends to try and sway me away from accounting.

Because I read, "you wouldn't be a good accountant," when I should have read, "why would anyone want to be an accountant," I got my bachelor's and then my master's in accounting.  So now I'm working for a Big 4 accounting firm.  I'm getting ready to take the CPA exam, and all I can think is, "Why the eff am I an accountant?"  I still want summers off.  I'm more interested in having free time to do fun things, than in working 4 busy seasons a year and not having a weekend four months of the year, at least.  So that is where I am now, and this is how it started.