Monday, November 30, 2009

11/30/09

215.6

I'm still feeling disinclined to blog but wanted to check in--in case anyone actually still reads my blog--and say that I'm alive and things are going fine.

MM and I spent Thanksgiving with my dad and stepmom in New Mexico. We all got along fine, and our travel was uneventful. Last Saturday was our first wedding anniversary. MM sent me a beautiful mixed bouquet of flowers to commemorate the occasion, and he was smart enough to send it several days early so that I could enjoy the flowers before leaving town. Hard to believe we have already been married a year!

I gained some weight over the weekend, but I'm not surprised. I'm at the point in my cycle where I'd normally retain water, in addition to flying and eating less healthfully than usual. I predict that by next week, the scale will be back to the 213-214 range without much real effort on my part.

Today it's back to work after four days off. I could've used another four. I think I need to start looking in earnest for another lawyering gig.

And on that note, I need to get crackin' on some billable work. Ugh.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Wah. . . .

213.2

(No Peeves & Pleasures today because in my current mood, I would only be listing peeves)

I woke up with a migraine Tuesday morning at 5:30, and it has been present to some degree or another ever since then. Even as I type this, I have a dull throbbing in my head and feel "off." In addition, I started my period early Wednesday morning and have had some bad cramps. Lovely.

Nevertheless, I have continued to work, including a 360-mile round trip on Tuesday to attend two depositions, a deposition yesterday afternoon, and stuff in the office yesterday morning and today. I would love to just go home and lie in a dark room, but I need to work, and I haven't found lying in a dark room to be all that effective the past two evenings anyway.

I have scheduled a massage for 3:30 this afternoon in hopes that it will help my headache. I will have to come back to the office after and/or come in Sunday to make up the time, but I hope it will be worth it.

Needless to say, on day 3 of a three-day migraine, I am not exactly on top of my game or in the best of moods. I have not gone to the gym this week, though that had been my intention since Tuesday and my bag is packed and in my office. My eating has been so-so; mostly, I have been eating a lot less than usual because I have had nausea off and on.

I've hardly seen MM at all this week: he was home late Monday, when I had to go to bed early to get up early and drive to Kingman; he was out working until after I went to bed Tuesday night; and I saw him last night for about an hour before I went to bed. I am hoping to be able to spend some time with him tonight because he has to do field work again on Friday evening, but at this point, I'm not sure that I'll be very good company.

The fun continues tomorrow, when I have to drive to Tucson for another deposition. I will also be stopping by to visit M while I am there and taking her some pants I bought for her, so though I'm not looking forward to the drive, it promises to be a fruitful trip in a few ways.

I wish I didn't get headaches. I hate days like this.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Not feelin' it

213.0

As anyone who is still reading has probably guessed from my lack of recent posts, I continue to not feel much like blogging. (I also still haven't written a single word for NaNoWriMo. One more broken promise to myself. . . ) Again, my lack of interest isn't due to being particularly busy or anything else I can pinpoint. It just is.

I am proud to note that, despite the fact that I have not been going to the gym more than once or twice a week for the past month, my weight continues to stay about the same. I was 213.0 on 11/4, and I was the same weight this morning. It would be nice to see the scale moving down, but given my effort of late--or lack thereof--I will take maintenance.

I really have made an effort to eat "cleaner" for the past several weeks. That is not to say that I have been 100%, or that I have in any way limited portion sizes, or that I am eating enough fruits and vegetables. I have done pretty well about eliminating (most) processed foods and sugar from my diet, though. Baby steps.

As usual, I feel better when I limited my "white" carbs and eat more lean protein. I feel especially good on the days when I get in at least five servings of fruits and vegetables. I waver between enthusiasm for eating right, which leads to better planning and results, and laziness, which inclines me to choose quicker, easier food options. (NOT fast food: just not the healthiest choice.)

I saw a TV show the other day that really inspired me to get back into weight lifting. Alas, the next two evenings I had commitments, and the next day that I had an opportunity to get to the gym and turn my inspiration into action, the moment had passed. ;-)

MM has had some recent changes in his job that have led to his working more in the evenings, and that has played a factor in my going to the gym less as well. Sad to "blame" my husband for this, but I admit that the fact that I know he is going to work out five days a week often motivates me to go to the gym also. When that is lacking, or when our schedules don't mesh, it's just one more excuse not to work out.

This week will be a busy one for me. I am slated to travel out of town for depositions tomorrow, Thursday and Friday. (Just to other cities in Arizona, nowhere exciting.) All that time in the car is going to make it less likely that I'll be going to the gym. Such is life.

I wish I could be an inspiration and a motivator, but lately I have a hard time even motivating and inspiring myself.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

PEEVES & PLEASURES THURSDAY

(212.4)

PEEVES
  • Partners who think that the assignment they have given me is the only, and/or most important, thing I have to get done
  • People who don't return phone calls or answer letters
  • People who don't do their jobs
PLEASURES
  • Having the whole bed to myself
  • High-thread-count sheets
  • Cheese

Monday, November 09, 2009

Proust Questionnaire

Once again, I lifted this from someone else's blog. (She did, too.)

What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Hmm, tough one. To live a life with meaningful work to do, and loving family and friends and dogs around me, with enough money to meet all my basic needs without difficulty.

What is your greatest fear?
That, at the end of my life, I will feel that it was meaningless.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
My tendency to procrastinate

What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Stupidity

On what occasion do you lie?
I rarely lie. For one thing, morality notwithstanding, I'm horrible at it! I might lie to spare someone's feelings if I thought s/he couldn't handle hearing the truth at that moment.

What is your greatest extravagance?
Travel

What is your current state of mind?
Contented

What is the quality you most like in a man?
Sense of humor.

What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Whatever. The F word

When and where were you happiest?
The happiest time of my life was during my second year of law school. I was loving school and the daily intellectual stimulation; was surrounded by great friends with a busy social life; was eating healthier and exercising more than nearly any other time as an adult; and Sebastian was quite young. I was far enough along in school not to be stressed out and not far enough along to be worrying yet about taking the bar and finding a "real" job.

Who are your favorite writers?
John Grisham, Victoria Holt, Dean Koontz, just to name a few.

Which talent would you most like to have?
Creativity.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?
I would have liked to have had another sibling or two, probably a brother.

If you died and came back as a person or thing, what do you think it would be?
A well-loved golden retriever.

What do you dislike most about your appearance?
My weight.

Where would you like to live?
Cost no object? northern California coast

What is your most treasured possession?
My golden retrievers, though I don't really think of them as possessions. If not them, then the list is too long to choose one item. I have many beloved items from both my grandmothers that are irreplaceable.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?
Self pity.

What do you most value in your friends?
Honesty, loyalty, and sense of humor

What are your favorite names?
I prefer not to share them here. The last time we mentioned one of the names MM and I like to anyone, MM's coworker used it for her bulldog puppy!

What is it that you most dislike?
Worrying about money.

What is your greatest regret?
That I didn't choose a career that was a good fit for my personality and talents while I was in college.

How would you like to die?
In my sleep, sometime in my 90s.

What is your motto?
If I have one, I think it's something like "Make use of the gifts you've been given." (I had a therapist once in my 20s who said my motto was "Be all you can be," like the U.S. Army commercials.)

Sunday, November 08, 2009

DC trip

Here is my long-delayed post about our trip to northern Virginia/DC in September.

The day after we arrived, Rowan was baptized, and I was the godmother. (The godfather was V's husband's stepdad; he is the only adult male they know who is a practicing Catholic and is also one of Rowan's favorite people, so it made sense.) Rowan behaved very well, all things considered. He had to sit through an hour-long mass prior to the baptism, so we were there over two hours, all told.

Just after the deacon poured the water on his head, he said "I got baptized!" All the other parents (all of young infants) laughed; it was quite cute. As his father was carrying him away from the font so that the next baby could take his turn, he said "I get baptized again!" So I guess he liked it!

Here is a photo of him giving a "high five" right after being baptized:


Rowan also modeled his Halloween costume for us, which he picked out himself. In case it's not obvious, he is an old-time golfer. He had a matching golf bag with clubs, too.


Rowan "flexing" at Uncle MM's request:

My mom was at V's also for Rowan's baptism, and it was good to see her, too. She had headed home to Ohio by the time MM and I returned for our second weekend at V's.

Here is a photo I took of Mom and V that I especially like:


On Monday morning, we drove into the city with my sister and got an early start on our day. First, we visited Ford's Theater, where President Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth. MM and his parents had visited Ford's Theater before, but it had been closed for remodeling during our July 2008 visit to the city; I had never been there. We both quite enjoyed it.

We also visited Peterson House across the street and saw the bedroom where Lincoln actually died from his injuries the following morning.

We then visited the nearby International Spy Museum. Going there was my idea because neither of us had ever been there, I had seen it listed on a few different Top Ten Things to See in DC lists, and it was just blocks from Ford's Theater and from our hotel. I enjoyed it, but MM did not.

We still had the afternoon and headed over to the National Museum of American History, a favorite of both mine and MM's which was also closed for remodeling during our July 2008 visit.

After visiting the National Museum of American History, we decided to walk over and visit the World War II Memorial. It was not included on the "Monuments by Moonlight" tour we took in July 2008, and neither of us had seen it before.

I didn't bring my camera with me on Monday's outing, so I only have one crappy shot from my BlackBerry of MM at the WWII Memorial:


By the time we were finished walking around the WWII Memorial, we both had tired, sore feet, and the evening rush hour was starting, so we headed back to our hotel. We had a quick dinner at a casual dining restaurant not far from our hotel. After dinner, we walked down to the White House, both because we wanted to see how it looked at night and because we wanted to make sure that we knew how to get there for our tour on Tuesday morning.

Tuesday morning was our White House tour. Despite the fact that I had visited DC 8-9 previous times, I had never visited the White House; neither had MM. (Why is kind of a long story.) The tour was slightly disappointing: we knew we'd only see the public areas on the East Wing but didn't realize that our tour group would be so large that it would be difficult to move around in the rooms--most of which were roped off to avoid visitors touching furniture and articles in them--and that we would be rushed through. The entire tour took less than 45 minutes start to finish and was led by a young Secret Service agent who, it seemed, wished that he'd been given any other assignment but this one.

We were done by 10:00 a.m. and after a quick trip back to the hotel to fetch my camera (they aren't allowed in the White House), we took the Metro out to Arlington National Cemetery. I had visited the Cemetery twice before--once in 1995, on my first adult trip to DC, and once in 2002, when my mom and I were in town for V's law school graduation--and MM had visited it once in 1995, but we both wanted to see it again.

We got to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknowns, always impressive:

We stopped off near George Washington University/Foggy Bottom for lunch. (MM got a crappy vendor hot dog, while I was lucky enough to locate a Chick-Fil-A in the student union.) We then headed back to our hotel for some rest before dinner.

That night we met my friend W and his wife for dinner. W and I became friends in law school. We were especially close during my third year. (So close, in fact, that some of her mutual acquaintances thought we were "an item," though our relationship has always been purely platonic.) I have kept in touch with W over the years since he moved away from Tucson to join the Army JAG, including a year-long stint in Iraq. We hadn't seen each other in over five years, and I had never met his wife, whom he married in October 2006. (I couldn't attend their wedding.) The four of us had a really fun time together.

Don't he and his wife make a cute couple?

Wednesday morning, MM wanted to check out the National Museum of Crime and Punishment which he had spotted on our way to dinner the night before. (Not surprising, considering he was a criminal justice major and is a history buff and a probation officer.) I wanted to save my energy for the afternoon, so I chilled at a nearby Starbucks while he checked it out.

After the National Museum of Crime and Punishment, which MM quite enjoyed, we headed to MM's favorite pizzeria for lunch: Armand's, conveniently located near Capitol Hill. No trip to DC would be complete for MM without eating at Armand's!

Wednesday afternoon was our Capitol Tour. Before heading to the Capitol, we visited our Senator's office so that we could get gallery tickets. We also walked around a little in the Senate office buildings because MM was hoping to see someone famous. (He didn't. The only famous person sighting of the week was when we saw Jesse Jackson in the lobby of the hotel adjacent to my sister's office building on Friday.)

The Capitol Tour was good, but for someone like me who toured the Capitol pre-9/11, a little disappointing. Our guide was very knowledgeable and had an obvious interest in history; in fact, we learned that he had a master's degree in history. The building was beautiful and impressive. The disappointing part was that you are watched like you're going to steal or vandalize the building and are not allowed to roam freely at all. (Also, we had to watch a LAME film about the different branches of government before starting the tour. Anyone who had taken a high school civics class wouldn't have found this to be new information. I told MM that I thought they should allow visitors to test out of it. LOL)

The (many) photos I took of the Capitol do not really do it justice, and I'm sure many (if not all) of you have seen it yourselves, either in person or in photos.

Wednesday night, at MM's suggestion, we went to a Capitals pre-season game. We were able to get great seats from a scalper for only $20 a ticket:


The game was vs. the Chicago BlackHawks and was very fun. One of the best players in NHL, Alexander Ovechkin, plays for the Capitals. It was also just a short Metro ride from our hotel, so we weren't out terribly late.

By Thursday morning, we were both quite tired of walking around. Though it wasn't hot, it was humid, and our feet hurt. At first, we had a hard time agreeing on how to spend the day because we'd both already done and see basically everything we wanted to do on this trip to the city. After checking out of our hotel room, we went to the National Portrait Gallery, which is just a couple of blocks from my sister's office building. (We only saw about half of it, but it is very cool and definitely worth a visit.) Then in the afternoon, we wanted to sit and relax somewhere, so we went to movies and saw The Informant! Once the workday ended, we rode with V back out to their home in northern Virginia to spend the rest of the visit with them.

Friday morning, we drove into DC with V and took Rowan to meet friends KH and JH and their two little ones at the National Zoo. This outing was Rowan's first-ever with just Auntie S and Uncle MM, no Mama and Daddy. Given that he is firmly in the defiant 2-almost-3-year-old stage, it was an interesting day, with a lot of crying and meltdowns.


Rowan loved the Metro ride to the zoo. He enjoyed the first trip to the panda habitat and seeing the baby gorilla. Other than that, his two favorite parts of the zoo were the Pizza Garden play area and the ice cream cone he got near the end of the day. (At one point, he told me "I don't WANT to see the animals!")


Saturday morning, I got up early (while MM slept in) to go with V and Rowan to SoccerTots. He was so cute! (Two guesses who bought him his Diamondbacks T-shirt. . . )


Saturday evening, V and her husband attended a friend's wedding while MM and I watched Rowan. He behaved much better for us on Saturday afternoon/evening than he did on Sunday; I think he had learned what he could get away with (not much), and I'm sure it helped that he was at home and not in a new place with lots of attractive, and dangerous, things to explore. We watched the movie Bolt, which we had brought for him. He liked it, but thought parts of it were "scawy."

Don't my sister and her husband look nice all dressed up?


Sunday morning, the men slept in again while V and I took Rowan to brunch and to play at a nearby park. I enjoyed getting to spend a little more time with them before we had to fly home that afternoon.


And that was our trip! We packed a lot of sightseeing into a relatively short period of time. It will probably be our last trip to DC for a while because V has accepted a new position, starting January 1, that means a move to North Carolina for them. Selfishly, MM and I are sad that we will no longer be visiting them in DC, but we'll survive. ;-)

Thursday, November 05, 2009

PEEVES & PLEASURES THURSDAY

PEEVES
  • Billing my time (yes, I've mentioned it before; it bears repeating)
  • Pregnancy announcements on Facebook (I admit that I am probably just bitter. . . )
  • Finding out a friend is pregnant by receiving an invitation to her shower (this has actually happened to me three times in the past 6 months)
  • 90+ daytime highs in NOVEMBER (enough already with the heat!)
PLEASURES
  • Coloring my hair (although, at this point, perhaps more a necessity: gotta cover those grays. . . . )
  • Checking items off my "to do" list
  • "Found" money (ex: we had an "escrow overage" and received an unexpected check for nearly $1000!)
  • Red nail polish (toes only for me)

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Disinclined

213.0

I seem disinclined to blog of late. I *have* been busy, but normally that would not stop me; I tend to find the time to do the things I enjoy, no matter how busy I am. (Sometimes to the detriment of things I *have* to do, like work. Ahem.)

I really don't know why I've not been in a blogging mood. I still haven't even finished the entry I started about our trip to DC at the end of September, and let's face it: probably no one will want to read it now 'cause it's old news!

I am fine. Life is good. I have had some fun times lately and have many more things I am looking forward to (visit with my dad in a few weeks; a trip to Albuquerque to see an old friend in January; hockey games and comedy club later this month).

I guess maybe this is a case of "no news is good news."

P.S. I signed up for National Novel Writing Month, the goal of which is to write a rough, first draft of a novel by writing a little bit each day for 30 days during November. (I also have a very clever kit which my sister gave me for my 38th birthday to aid me in writing a novel in 30 days.) Today is November 4, and I have yet to write a single word. I suck.