Pull the fire alarm. I smell smoke!

Happy hours are so much fun. It is amazing how much time you spend at one because they usually start pretty much right after work and then for some reason, you find yourself there until 1:00 am.... Now, the pollution from the booze is bad enough. (I did make up a drink that does not have a ton of sugar in it. Vodka, soda and a splash of grapefruit and cranberry. Most excellent. ) But the reason I am suffering this morning is because I feel like I smoked a pack of cigarettes. All my clothes are saturated with the delightful scent (yay, in home washing machine!), and I feel like I was hit by a brick. (I would like to hit my co-worker with a brick.) The worst part is the booze does not do this to me, it's the smoke. The crazy thing is that (The bar) is pretty well ventilated. So, how would be feeling had we have gone to a cellar-type place that is just a big ball of smoke? I can't wait for all the bars in the world to be smoke free.
Thank you.
>Steps off her soap box<

Thanks Jen!

My cup runneth over.

Two new loves.. Does this mean I am easy?

I got cable internet today after the slow, painful death of the dial up internet on my pathetically slow computer. I can actually do stuff on the internet now. BUT, this relationship did not come easily. I had to beg for attention. The modem and my computer were not getting along. As a matter of fact, the computer (who has been with me for an awfully long time) absolutely refused to acknowledge the presence of what it must have considered an interloper. I soothed the poor machine and before long, the two were happily humming along. And I get to play on the internet.
I also got a DVR on my cable box today. I can tape all sorts of shows now. No more missing Lost or ER. I can set it to tape anything and to tape it forever. So if I suddenly jet off to Tuscany, I'll still know what Joey is up to. Damn, I watch a lot of TV.

After 10 days...

Time to take a look at my project for Lent. Several of the items on my list are daily. This is how I have faired in my first ten days.

• Glucosamine/Vitamin intake is 9/10. I started this project on the second day of Lent, so most of the daily stuff was not done on day one because I did not know I was supposed to do it.
• Exercise: 8 days out of ten. Average of 35 minutes a day when I did. 8/10
• I drank about 4 bottles of water a day. I only missed day one. 9/10
• I flossed EVERYDAY! 10/10
• I used nail strengthener on my nails 7 out ten days. Don't know why I got so lazy on those two days. It takes ten seconds! I did put it on my toenails, though. Does that count as a pedicure? (No) 7/10
• I have eaten no chips at all. 10/10
• I have moisturized my body everyday. It really makes a difference. 10/10
• I have only done 4 pages in my photo album. No chance of getting into 2004 at this rate.
• On non-weekend days I got up at or before 7am 6 out of 8 times. Not great. Not bad. I truly am not a morning person. 6/8
• I left no dirty dishes in the sink 9 out 10 times. There was a lot of food, some wine and a late night on the one night I did no dishes. 9/10
• I put my clothes away every night! This is huge! I hate putting clothes away! 10/10
• Five out of ten nights were spent with friends. (That's #14 being heavily accomplished.)
• I spent one day with my mum in those 10 days, but to be fair, she was out of the country until day 4.
• I read a book. Ellen Degeneres's "The Funny Thing Is...". (#15)
• I figured out how to forward my pictures off of my phone and I sent them to my computer and also to my pals. (Does that count as time spent with them... no, guess not.) (#31)
• I got my jeans altered to fit me and also my pants dry-cleaned.(#24)
• I recycled! And they actually picked it up. (#35)
• I totally forgot that I took a class. I was at the Capitol Hill Club all day on Monday, Feb. 14, learning about the President's Budget. (#23)

That's it for the first ten days. I have to say I am feeling really good about my list and my accomplishments with it. I still have a ton of stuff to do, but my belly is getting tighter, and I feel great with the vitamins and the lack of sugar and the amounts of water. I still have a ton of stuff to do, and I don't know what I was thinking when I said I would get my photo album into 2004. Not going to happen. As for the other stuff. I am confident it will. My sister is coming soon with some friends and I am sure I can get the museum and one of the new restaurants scratched off that way. The next ten day report is only 6 days away. Woooo...

40 new things for me

It's Lent, and while Catholic people are giving things up left and right, I decided maybe these 40 days would be a good time to start up some better habits for myself. Here is my list of 40 things that I would like to accomplish in the next 40 days. I can change the rules because I am not Catholic. So there!

1. Better teeth habits. i.e. flossing.
2. Exercise at least 20 minutes every day.
3. No more chips. Not potato or corn. There will be none of that.
4. Learn something new, like knitting or something.
5. Drink more water.
6. Go through my closet and get rid of stuff I don't use and organize the rest.
7. Do a solid cleaning of my home.
8. Clean my car. (Inside and out)
9. Get my DVD player fixed or get rid of it.
10. Get a shelf for over my toilet. (Lots of storage for me in there!)
11. Organize my kitchen. Why do I have so much stuff in there? Get rid of the stuff I don't use.)
12. Cut down on my sugar intake. Who needs THAT MUCH sugar?
13. Spend more time with my mommy.
14. Spend more time with my friends.
15. Finish at least 3 books. (This is a sad addition, because I never used to have to force myself to read)
16. Use moisturizer every day on my skin. No need to be a lizard. Yuck.
17. Get my haircut. (This is a gimme...:)
18. Dine in two new restaurants.
19. Go to at least one museum.
20. Do some random free event that DC always is offering and I never try.
21. Get into 2004 in my photo album. (That would be a full year!)
22. Get into a daily Glucosamine/vitamin regime.
23. Take a class of some sort.
24. Get my super long jeans altered to fit me.
25. Wake up no later than 7:00 am on work days.
26. Do my dishes every day.
27. Put my clothes away right away.
28. Figure out what is wrong with my bedroom lamp.
29. Get a pedicure.. Or give myself one, because seriously...
30. Send in my broken cellphone.
31. Figure out how to get the pictures off my cellphone and onto my computer.
32. Clean out my hall closet.
33. Repaint the door of my bedroom closet.
34. Repaint the bedroom wall that Snickers destroyed.
35. Recycle.
36. Apply nail strengthener to my nails every day.
37. Give everyone the art they made on modern art painting day.
38. Do something with the art I keep.
39. Make that video tape I have not yet made.
40. Transpose those tapes of Papa and his brother or give the tapes to Sven to do so.

That's it. 40 things I would like to accomplish in 40 days. I will keep track on here. I will make comments in another color to explain my progress. Maybe by March 20 I will be a better person. (By the way, this was started yesterday and Feb. 9 - March 20 is 40 days.)

Utterly Random Thoughts

• I like booze and I like to drink. But I like it best when it is all in fun and no one gets hammered. I hate that feeling of being blitzed.
• Hellboy is a really (long) stupid movie.
• I really love my friends. I do not give them nearly enough credit, nor do I spend enough time with them. But five minutes with good friends makes a change in me that is remarkable.
• I made this page in order to entertain those friends I just talked about.
• I think it is important that the person you love is also your best friend. Otherwise, I can't see how couples last.
• I miss my mom.
• I can't understand why I have the hardest time staying awake when I am lounging on my sofa, but as soon as I go to bed, I am wide awake and can't go to sleep for hours.
• I brought my gym bag to work today. Spent the first couple hours of the day patting myself on the back until I realized that I have a dental appointment at 3:00 pm. Oh, well. the bag is here now. I will work out tomorrow. Maybe I will pump up the tires on my bike and go for a ride. It is nice outside. Then off! to Happy Hour! Wooooo...
• I want to box again. I loved hitting the hand-pads my coach would hold up. I loved the speed and the intensity. Marci, let's get back into it! You think we could sneak in for a class?

Rut

I think I am in a rut. It seems to be a common denominator amongst my friends. It seems like everything is freaking me out and I have absolutely no vision of where my future could take me. That's so scary. I am going to be 32 this year. I remember when I was 17 and Madonna was 32. It seemed like she had it going on. It was a great year for the (prepare for overused moniker) Material Girl. And when Sheryl Crow turned 32, she had a banner year. So, I always thought that 32 would be the year for me. My thoughts were that at 32, life had been lived. I always had it in mind that by the time I hit 32, I would have lived long enough to have made mistakes I would learn from, have gone through the troubles and be wise enough to make the most of my life. I thought that at 32 you were old enough to recognize who you were and young enough to appreciate it.
I will be 32 this year. I have no idea who I am.
I thought that the career thing would be taking off... I have no career.
I am still living for futures that might possibly never happen. I work for a company where I can't even check this blog. My car is dented. My new washer does not work. My tooth is broken and is hurting my tongue. I am not out of debt. I don't have a dog, or even a ferret. I never learned Italian. I have never even been to Italy.
And I hate when I feel sorry for myself. I mean, seriously... I have a new washer/dryer (might not work.. but the idea is there.), I can speak German and have been to Germany. I don't really want a dog right now. It would be so hard to try to go out of town all the time. My tooth is broken, but I have an appointment at the dentist on Wednesday. My car is brand new, so beyond the dent, it doesn't cause me any stress at all. Who is really ever out of debt? At least I am getting close.
It's funny how my state of mind completely affects my view of my life. And how a simple thing like hanging out with a good friend can straighten me out.
I am not looking forward to this birthday, because all the things I said about being 32 really are firmly planted in my head. But, I also have 5 months to get myself closer to that goal.
Jeepers. 32! I don't feel old, but I remember how grown up I thought that was when I was 17. I don't feel grown up at all.

PS: It cost a mazillion dollars to get the washer/dryer installed. So when the washer suddenly stopped draining, I called the guy who installed it to make it better. The thing is that in order to speak to "Ken", one must first call the company and have him paged. Alas, Ken never calls you back. So, after many times paging Ken and not being called back, I left a particularly hostile message for him. One that he responded to right away. But when told about my machine, he said that the problem was not the tubing, but rather a problem with the machine's pump. So I went home, examined my machine and felt that this man, who is a mazillion dollars richer because of this machine, should come and look at it and tell me for certain that the problem lies in the machine and not in his workmanship. Therefore the paging started anew. Two weeks go by and it takes another particularly hostile call to get Ken to return to me. I tell him that he needs to check it out and if I am wrong about it being the hose, I will apologize. (We all know this is huge payment from me.) He contemplates and decides that he can take a precious 5 minute break from his hectic day to examine his work at my place. So when he called me today to tell me that the hose was indeed broken, he did not offer an apology. But at least my washer will be fixed and I can say I TOLD YOU SO! Punkass. Why can't people just do things when I ask them the first time?