"I've got no motivation. Where is my motivation?"

A coworker got me interested in running a marathon next year. I figured that, given my determination and self-control, I’d be able to train to run two miles comfortably by 01.01.2007 and six miles by 04.01.2007--when many D.C. marathon training programs begin.

I had hoped to start my fitness routine at the beginning of November. To date, I haven't so much as run to catch the Metrobus. I don’t know why I’m not motivated, given that I want to look and feel healthy in 2007--especially in time for short and swimsuit season. But, I find it hard to exercise when it is so cold and dark outside. Ideally, I’d wake up early and train before work, but I know it’d be a struggle to get my butt out of bed before 7 AM.

Here’s hoping for inspiration. I’ll let you know when it comes.

Turkey Day Wrap-Up

All is well here after a nice holiday break. I’m totally not looking forward to going back to work on Monday, but I know that the next holiday break is not too far away. Floyd finally left for home. It was great having him around again and I look forward to his next visit. But for now, I gotta get back to being a single working girl in the city.

I had a great turkey day. I learned all about Texas Hold ‘Em Poker and was complimented for my cake and creamed corn contributions to the feast. It was a great holiday and I thank Floyd (I know you’re reading this) for sharing it with me.

Giving Thanks

I’m so thankful for all the developments of the past year. Most of all that I finally landed a job after several months of searching, interviewing and being rejected. With the job, came a larger disposable income and new friends within my field. Without a doubt, I thank my friends and family for putting up with all my crap during my period of underemployment--I know that I was a pain. Also, I thank them for being supportive as I adjusted to the hours, demands and dress of the modern workforce.

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. I plan on hanging out with Floyd and in general, relaxing. I hate that the fall/winter holiday season spoils me and makes me unprepared for the “dry” period from March to May when we don’t have any holidays (outside of spring break, of course). But whatever, things are good right now, so I shan’t complain.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I ate until I cried.

I don’t know if I should admit this, but I went to Red Lobster last night and ate at least two pounds of shrimp through their “Endless Shrimp” special. Given that overfishing and non-eco-friendly farming feeds such “all you can eat” specials, you would think that my environmental and moral concerns would outweigh my growling stomach and American need for excess. But, aparently it doesn’t as I continue to frequent buffet-style restaurants and over-consume at home.

This diatribe comes less than 48 hours from Thanksgiving Day—when just about everyone stuffs their belly with food. I need to stand up and fight this tendency of excess which harms not only the earth but also my waistline.

Yet, I think I'll wait until after I've had my fill of yummy turkey and pumpkin pie.

Casino Royale / Happy Feet double feature

I saw the new James Bond movie, Casino Royale, yesterday. It was great. I loved the action sequences, the humor, and the mini love story. I was a bit skeptical when I heard that the blonde, rugged Daniel Craig would be playing the new Bond, but I thought he did a great job in his role. Bond was hot, the women were hot and the locations were beautiful. I look forward to the next Bond movie.

My friend dragged me to the showing of Happy Feet. The movie was okay, though the plot was rather random and disjointed. I liked the inclusion of the devastation of fishing trawlers and zoo life from an animal captive's perspective, but story could have been done so much better.

Harry Potter: I was super excited to see the pre-trailer for the new Harry Potter movie which is set to be released 07/13/07. I've already made plans to visit Floyd in Texas in order that we can see the movie together. Ah, Harry Potter. I was once a skeptic but now I'm a believer.

It’s a Parade!

I had a great time at the Silver Spring Thanksgiving Parade on Saturday. I brought along Floyd, and I think that he had fun too. There were a bunch of children’s groups in the parade, in addition to an alarming number of Bolivia dance groups. The highlight of the parade was seeing the big hot-air penguin balloon and the Montgomery County Recycles Dog. They were both pretty cool.

One disturbing aspect of the parade was the fact that we were literally surrounded by kids. I know that parades are a kid’s event, but wow, there were babies and children everywhere. After a while, I started to feel a bit deficient for not having a baby on my hip and a stroller at my side. But, no worries, kids are not on my horizon.

Old friends and my former self

Over the weekend a friend from high school called to let me know that she was in town and today I ran into an acquaintance from freshman year of college. It's pretty weird to see and chat with people you haven't been around for a while and that you totally associate with a different time in your life.

Hearing my high school friend's voice reminded me of the stressful and amazing time as a teenager, navigating classes and a packed extracurricular/social schedule. Seeing the college fellow reminded me of my struggles and triumphs as a freshman attempting to fit in and figure out campus and "big city" life.

Seeing old classmates really makes you aware of how much you have (or haven't) changed since the last time you hung out. I think that I'm more secure and focused as a 25 year old than I was at 13 or 20. I just hope that my fellow graduates of '99 and '03 have found that sort of growth.

Who doesn't love free food?

I just got two free pizzas at the local diner. S-w-e-e-t!! I had a coupon for one free promotional pizza and the kitchen ended up mixing up the order and sending out two. So my friend and I got to pig out for free. Isn't it great when karma comes back around and brightens your day?

Even Hank Hill would kick your ass

If Hank Hill lived in my apartment building, he would kick the ass of whoever set off the fire alarm this morning. The last (false) fire alarm was set off about a month ago around midnight, which wasn’t so bad. But the alarm this morning went off at 545 AM. Unfortunate for me, I wake up at 7AM, so I wasn’t already awake at that time and of course, I couldn’t get back to sleep afterwards.

I’m pretty pissed off at whoever set off the fire alarm. You screwed up my REM sleep and wasted my tax money by dragging the fire department to our fireless building.

Worst Long Weekend Ever!

I was sick all Veterans’ Day weekend, and it sucked. I first started feeling bad on Thursday and it just got worse until today. I was totally looking forward to a great weekend of activities with my out of town guest, but nope, I spent the whole weekend barely eating, sleeping and just feeling miserable.

I finally went to a doctor on Monday and she was a quack. I had to laugh while watching the old lady fumble with the thermometer/blood pressure gauge. She had me put the thermometer in my mouth and then she pressed a button. But, instead of the equipment measuring my temperature, it started to inflate the arm (blood pressure measurement) device. Then she proceeded to poke and prod me and think aloud about my diagnoses (with my eager suggestions, of course)…Mono…Sinus Infection…Tonsillitis…Migraines…82-hour bug?

It is unfortunate that the healthcare system has become this horrid for average folks like me. I miss the pill-pushing student health and the huge university medical complex that I once called my own. Those were the days…

I think I need to go to medical school and learn all about human health and disease just so I can diagnose and treat myself without having to wait for two hours to see an inept medical practitioner.

Let's hear it for the Dems!

There was a lot of good news this election week. The Dems got the majority in both Houses and Rumsfeld got the boot.

I am excited about the possibilities for new session and hope that the political changes will result in real movement in both the House and Senate on important energy, environmental, education, health, and defense issues. But I’m not deluded enough to think that Democratic control automatically translates into real (enacted) solutions to our country’s problems. We’ll have to compromise on a lot of issues and reach across the aisle for sponsors or we’ll have yet another session where nothing gets done.

Election Day 2006

Well, its election time again and as you can imagine, things are tense in Washington, D.C. The races in the area, as well as many around the country, are close and many people have already reported fraud and called for recounts.

I’m nervous and excited about what the people will mandate for our country—what course we will take locally and nationally based on the ideologies of the leaders we elect.

Ultimately, I hope that my side wins (Go tree-hugging hippie liberals!), but most of all, I hope that a large percentage of Americans take the time out of their “busy” schedules to exercise one of their fundamental rights as America citizens and vote. It wasn’t too long ago that people in this country were systematically refused or deterred from voting, you just have to look back to the struggles of my mom’s and grandmother’s generation (and some would say it still happens today).

So many sacrifices were made during the past generations to ensure that I can vote, marry, work, and live however I choose (though, of course, within the limits of the law and my conscience—so no murdering or stealing for me!), and I make sure to show my appreciation for all that was done for me by voting every election cycle...and so should YOU. Otherwise, you don’t have any right to complain that the country is run by idiots and crooks because you just have to vote to ensure that the “right people” lead us.

Father knows best

Once a task has just begun, do it all until it’s done.
No matter if a task is great or small, do it well or not at all.

I remember when my father first said that to me as a little girl. I had wanted to quit some activity that I had signed up for, and my father was trying to teach me a valuable lesson about commitment and dedication. I don’t think the saying really meant much to me as an 8+ year old who just wanted to get her way, but I appreciate the lesson and saying now. It was something that my grandfather used to say to my father, so its pretty cool that it was passed down to me.

T.G.I.F.!

I am so happy that it is Friday. It has been a long week at work and at play. I look forward to a weekend of relaxing and running errands. My ex, Floyd, is coming back into town next week, so I need to clean my apartment in preparation for his stay. It will be good, though little weird, to have Floyd back in my life for a few weeks. I already have a bunch of things planned for us, but most of all I look forward to just being in the same space with him.

One more comment about Halloween

I have one at least one more thing to say about my Halloween outing. I hung out in Georgetown with my friend who wore a black hat and a V for Vendetta mask. While we were standing on the sidewalk checking out the costumes, this (old, White American) lady came up to her and said something like, “Oh, what a nice costume! She looks like a little Mexican girl—how wonderful!” Yeah, so apparently little Mexican girls have moustaches and goatees. What an idiot.

Good times had by all

I had a nice, low-keyed Halloween this year. I met up with friends for happy hour before heading to Georgetown. As always, there were tons of people flanking both sides of the street by the time we left at 11, and I'm sure that the crowd remained 'til last call. I have fond memories of hanging out in and around M street for Halloween when I was in college. It's always a blast toward the end of the night when there are just college kids and random folk who didn't have to work the next day--we'd fill the empty streets and head East to Foggy Bottom, North to AU & GT, or wherever else.

My favorite costume this year was the little boy dressed as a mariachi (with a little mustache!). He was so adorable. My friend took a picture of him and when she finally loads it onto Flickr (with all the other pictures from the past month…ahem, ahem), I'll post it on the site. There were definitely a lot of other amusing costumes last night.

My 2006 "Best Costume" Awards go to (drumroll please):

• Creative - the Twister girl (she wore the mat/board as a dress and the spinner as a hat)
• Not Creative - badly done cat (Me!! My costume consisted of cat ears)
• Sexy - all the crazy college kids who showed lots of skin
• Too Sexy - the 14 year olds in Hooters outfits--who let them out of the house?
• Disgusting - the 60 year old man with the booty shorts! OMG, I'm blind!
• Inappropriate - the guys dressed as Duke lacross players, though I don't think they had girls dressed as strippers with them...
• Other honorable mentions: Mr. Penis with balls and all the Borats I saw