Saturday Day 79 2010

It's been a nice day. Coffee with my peeps always starts the day right. I hit up Trader Joe's to lay in some provisions for the week, stopped at the Goodwill Store to make some donations and take a quick look through the store, then headed home. At home I made a power fruit smoothie for breakfast, it's been a long time since I've made one and I have no idea why it has been so long. I really love them. I think I will get back to making them a regular thing.

I spent the better part of the day cleaning up the kitchen and trying to organize the stuff in the "spare room" so the spare room is more of a spare room and less of a catchall for everything that doesn't have a place. I threw some stuff out and put some more stuff in the car to drop off at Goodwill. I worked at it for a good five hours before deciding that enough was enough. I walked for a couple of miles around the village, then came home, made a salad and heated up a can of soup. As I was making the salad I realized that I had forgotten the dressing and didn't have any in the house. The funny thing is between the humas, feta cheese, and black olives the salad didn't actually need dressing.

While I ate I sat and watched the first couple of episodes of Nurse Jackie.

While I was busy cleaning the neighborhood cats kept coming around and peering into the window, much to the consternation of my cat. I thought this photo was interesting with my cat named Shadow on the inside and the light colored cat named God knows what on the outside.

I did meet someone today I thought was quite interesting that I really should have invited out for coffee and shame on me for not doing it. It caught me a little off guard and let's face it, I am a little out of practice.

Saturday Day 70 2010

I started the day with a latte at Starbucks, breakfast with friends at Einsteins, shopped at Trader Joe's, stopped at Lowe's for a padlock and hasp, ran by the gas station to make sure my tires had air, and then headed home. Installed lock on basement/crawlspace door, did most of the laundry, changed the bed linens, and puttered around the house a bit. Watched an episode of Castle and finished an interesting French film Cache. Made an avocado feta spinach salad with poppyseed dressing to go with a couple of turkey burgers wrapped in a flour tortilla shell and topped with cream cheese. I ate too much Greek yogurt and granola for desert.

A little worried tonight about all the things that need doing around the house from the daily chores, to critter proofing, to fixing whatever is going on in the southeast corner with the soffit, and if there is a leak in the roof that is causing the problem or just overflow from the gutter. I'm feeling a bit on edge tonight for whatever reason. Wish I had the house a bit more together and had found some folks to come over and watch 2012 with me.

Time change tonight, have to remember to set my clock forward an hour as I go to bed.

Saturday Day 65 2010

Well my healthy eating resolution lasted as far as breakfast. I ended up meeting 5 friends at the Original Pancake House. I did however eat relatively healthy the rest of the day. I made pretty good use of my Saturday. After breakfast I came home and started organizing. I pulled all the 2009 bills, receipts, and tax forms from my working files and put them in their own box for longer term storage. I sorted through the stuff piled on my desk and managed to process some of it.

I fiddled with Quicken for quite awhile trying to get it to be a little more useful for me. I think I ended up knowing a little bit more about my financial picture. I took some steps in the right direction anyway. I have a lot more that I need to do. The good news is that I am close to having a positive net worth. In the next few months I anticipate being able to move the number from the negative to a positive value. 

I still have a bedroom full of random stuff that does not have a place. I spent sometime going through it finding that there is yet more stuff for the donation pile and the trash pile. I did my laundry, folded it, and stowed it away. I stripped the bed, washed the linens, and remade the bed. I cleaned the kitchen. I watched two cute movies, The Village Barbershop and Waitress. I loved them both. Independent films with plucky heroines that win out in the end are like chicken soup to my soul. The only downside at the moment I don't have a cute and plucky heroine to watch them with.

Moments

I need to get better at hitting pause and enjoying the moment. Particularly when things are stressful. What better way to start than actually stopping for a second to drink my latte @ Starbucks instead of drinking it while walking to work. It's only a few minutes out of the day and maybe it will set the right note for the day.

Sent from my iPhone

Day 47 2010

Not a bad day as days tend to go. I did buy myself a Starbucks (coffee not Latte) on the way to work. Had to put in a good long walk to get it, but didn't eat out or spend any other money.

After work I went to visit a friend who organized a Mardi Gras fundraiser for the Georgia Parent Support Network being held in one of the ballrooms at the Fox Theater.

Got home pretty late, had a snack, then stumbled off to bed.

Day 45 2010

Sunday started in the usual manner. Coffee with friends, then going by Trader Joe's to do the rest of the grocery shopping for the week. When I got home I really wanted breakfast to make itself. After awhile it became apparent that was not going to happen no matter how hard I wished it would, so got off my duff and fixed myself some breakfast.

Called Mom and decided to go to a movie, Crazy Heart, with her. The first theater was sold out before we got there so we just got back in the car and drove over to another  and got in just fine. I wasn't all that impressed with the film. It didn't strike a chord with me and I thought there were a number of elements that almost worked. I was not that impressed with the Oscar nominated performance of Jeff Bridges. I was slightly more impressed with the Oscar nominated performance of Maggie Gyllenhaal, but that could have been heavily influenced by the fact I think she is lovely and adorable.

After the movie I stayed for dinner.... salmon, you kidding, of course I stayed for dinner and got to spend some time with Dad as well. 

Day 44 2010

This was the view off of the front stoop this morning. For a change I stayed in on a Saturday morning. I slept in too, if sleeping to five am can be called sleeping in. I spent most of the morning either working or worrying about work. Finally about noon I realized that I needed some type of distraction and watched this weeks Grey's Anatomy.

One of the themes, and one of the reasons I love Grey's Anatomy is the fact that there is almost always a theme, was change, adaption, reinvention, and transformation. There is scene where Lexi has transformed her appearance by going blonde and another character challenges on her on the superficial nature of the change: My point is you can't just change your hair. Yeah you want to be unforgettable? You want to not be mousy? You can't just change your hair, you have to actually change.

Cooper in the Afternoon Light

For me there is something so Zen-like and peaceful about this picture. Something in it makes me think of an Edward Hooper painting.

Day 38 2010

Sunday I met friends for coffee, came home, and got busy around the house. I made breakfast, then cleaned and mopped the kitchen. I striped both beds, washed, dried, and the linens, and remade the beds. I did a couple of loads of laundry and then folded that and the backlogged of laundry and put all of it away. I cleaned the bathroom toilet, sink, and floor, then vacuumed the rest of the house. I was feeling quite stressed and keeping busy seemed to help.

Around 4pm I went to pick up a friend to go to a Super Bowl party, we ran by Wolf Camera so she could pick up some photos and and stopped by Kroger to pick up some ice for the party.

I ended up watching the game on this brand new 50 inch plasma television. All I can say is wow. If I didn't have other priorities in life I would run out and buy one. It's as big a step up from my 21 inch conventional tube television as my television is from radio. But I don't even have cable at the moment!

It was a good game, hotly contested right up until New Orleans made a key interception late in the second half. Although the real turning point of the game was when New Orleans opened the second half with a dramatic surprise onside kick.

Moments Missed

Taken 2/2/2010. It's a Tuesday and I am walking from the train station to work. It's been raining and is a nippy 40 degrees. On this particularly morning I'm making a diversion down a different street to Starbucks to treat myself. Starbucks. Starbucks is a bit a walk from the office, I would say at least a mile. This is probably a good thing. It means that if I go to Starbucks I am going to be getting my exercise and it means that the degree of difficultly in getting Starbucks helps me stick to my budget, which  does not include much Starbucks. I have about a latte a week budgeted for Starbucks.

In this photo, I love the rain and the way the lights reflect off of every surface. I love walking the streets all bundled up in cold weather. I don't like how I let myself get preoccupied with negative thoughts and emotions which diminishes my enjoyment and I miss moments in time that would otherwise make me profoundly happy.

Day 37 2010

I made it to the weekend. I wish it has been with a great sigh of relief, but it's not that easy to leave the stress of the week behind me. It took most of the day to get myself down off the ledge that I'd climbed on, but eventually I managed to do it.

I started the day with Starbucks and met up for breakfast with friends at West Egg. While waiting to be seated we took a photo in the photo booth in the waiting area. (That is me in the back.) Breakfast was nice, afterwards I headed over to Ikea, not really to buy anything, most just to wander aimlessly, think of how I might want to decorate at some point, and to people watch. I did end up buying a vase, an artificial flower, and a night-light for a grand total was $6.

Post-Ikea I came home, looked up mom's directions for making spinach dip, and for good measure made a grocery list for the week. Then I hit up Trader Joe's and Publix both of which were mad houses on the day before the Super Bowl. It took a couple of hours, but eventually I was home with a full week's worth of groceries.

When I got home, I made the spinach dip for the party I am going to Sunday. I cooked chili and brown rice for dinner. I curled up as best I could in my office chair with my chili and watched Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice on the computer. For some reason I don't get the local ABC affiliate even though I am right smack in the middle of the city, so there are some shows I can only watch on the computer.

An entire month of posts

Really, an entire month? I might not have had much to say, but at least I said it everyday. Breaking out the Blogger sweatshirt to celebrate. Cheers!

Day 31 2010

Blogging 31 days in a row? That might be a record of sorts. I might have to breakout my blogger sweatshirt in celebration.

I was up early this morning and finished watching Densha Otoko (Train Man), a Japanese romantic comedy. It was a pleasant film about a hopeless nerd who has a chance encounter with a beautiful young lady on a train and then needs the help of strangers on the Internet to help woo her.

I got a huge gas bill the other day due to sub-freezing temperatures, a poorly insulated house, and turning the thermostat up for a guest. Since then I turned the thermostat to it's lowest possible setting and every now and then go by and tap the lever to see if I can nudge it a little more to the left. As a result, the house can be quite nippy at times. But I have discovered the secret. Layers, lots and lots of layers. If you have enough layers, you are can be quite comfortable even in the coolest house. The long underwear is in the wash at the moment, but normally that would be the base layer. Instead I just have a white T-shirt followed by a long sleeve cotton shirt, a grey ringer shirt, a long sleeve cotton sweater, a fleece vest, and a cotton sweatshirt. A knit cap keeps the head and ears warm. About the only part of me that is cold at the moment is my fingers.

Around 2pm I spent over an hour cleaning the bathroom this afternoon. I went in to give it a touch up and then realized that far more than a just a touch up was in order. I am embarrassed to say I don't think I had given it a deep cleaning since moving in. Well, it's been deep cleaned now. It smells clean and fresh in there. Pretty much every surface, every little nook, cranny, wall tile, and floor tile is clean enough to eat off of.

Around 4pm I headed over to my parents for dinner. Mom's are the best. I was fed much better than necessary and treated like a prince. (Mashed potatoes, eye of round roast, a nice salad, coffee, cake, and ice cream)

Finally home and have fed the cat. Now catching up on my social networks and trying to decide what form of entertainment I want to fall asleep to tonight.

view from the bus stop going to work Friday morning

Day 12 2010

Was it only Tuesday? It hardly seems like it. Once again Monday was so long and stressful that Tuesday seemed more like Thursday.

It was a strange day. Somehow in the course of normal conversation I told my friends and officemates the story of the most shameful thing I'd ever done and one of them the true story of how I lost a particular job. I've only told a handful of people that stuff and it's not stuff I normally talk about. It's remarkable to have people at my job whom I trust and respect enough to feel comfortable being real with.

Yesterday seemed a slightly better day at work, although I still have more to do than hours in the day.

The good news about yesterday is that I got my car back from the repair shop! It turns out there was an after-market security system installed on the car that I didn't even know was there. My folks had never mentioned it to me. I don't know if they were even aware of it. The idea was that with this security system wired into the ignition system, you had to have this extra little dongle to start the car. So far as I know that dongle has been sitting plugged in just below the dash since 1995. Evidently last week in the bitter cold the electronics in the security system I didn't know existed gave up the ghost and even with the dongle would not allow the car to start. I could have read the entire Internet researching cars not starting and I don't know if I would have stumbled on that diagnosis. So the fix for the car was removing the security system that had never been used and restoring the car back to factor configuration, which cost me all of $140 including tow.

After picking up my car, I took my guest to the grocery store, came home, watched a new episode of NCIS and went to bed soon after. It looks like I will be able to return my guest this Saturday and it will be back to just me and the cat.

Day 8 2010

The Honda still will not start, I have not figured out where and how to get it fixed. But it was a good day to take the train into work. (Although this is a picture of the journey home. The predawn journey into work didn't really lend itself to photography.) The roads where not exactly impassible, but there were definitely some icy spots and Atlanta drivers are not known for their safe and cautious winter driving. They are more likely to dart around as fast as ever and act surprised when they find themselves skidding across ice towards a collision. I actually watched this phenomenon occur outside my office window. The side street was perfectly passable if you were slow and cautious, but would bite you if you were carrying any speed.

It was a long and stressful day at the call center. The snow, ice, and school closings resulted in a high number of call outs and I had to spend most of my time on the floor which is going to leave me with more work this weekend than I would like.

With the car temporarily disabled, I have been thinking again of a commuter bike, both the Surly Steamroller and the Raleigh One Way are starting to look very interesting.