Three Days in St. Louis

I got to spend three lovely days in St. Louis over the weekend.

I stayed with a good friend who recently moved back to St. Louis from Seattle.  He lives in an amazing restored apartment in Maplewood.

 

Saturday evening, I attended a gala at the Chase. I love the Chase, and used to live a block away from it.  I’d love to live there, but it’s a little out of my price range. 

What’s a gala without an after party? We hit Bailey’s Chocolate Bar in Lafayette Square and overindulged. Love that place.

 

On Sunday morning, my host and I had breakfast in the CWE at an amazing farm-to-table type restaurant. It’s inside of a greenhouse and just gorgeous. I picked up some Paperwhite bulbs to take back to Atlanta. I’ve already planted some and one of my favorite parts of the holiday season is forcing bulbs.

I spent Sunday afternoon with friends and their new puppy and then had a great dinner with my host and his partner.

Monday was spent running all over St. Louis and visiting my alma mater. I loved catching up with friends, former bosses and colleagues.

 

It was a fantastic visit to St. Louis and it makes me miss living there.  The good thing is that it looks like I'll be visiting again in the spring!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, Off to Work I Go

The government has been shut down since October 1 and reopened today.  That means I got to report back to work today!! I enjoyed having time off in Atlanta. I’ve been here about a year and it was fun to do some exploring with my friend. We explored the Botanical Gardens, some dog parks, shopping areas, new restaurants, and the best part was that I got to see his lab! I also spent time everyday doing something I always say I’m too busy for-going to the gym and yoga and cooking real meals.  Yoga is fantastic, it’s taught by a Russian Jewish woman named Mariam and I feel so great after the hour and a half session.  As for cooking, I’ve made salmon, some spaghetti squash dishes, lasagna with eggplant for noodles, and a few other dishes I had on Pinterest.  I was also able to go to a fundraiser for a Dachshund Rescue, Halloweenie, and of course, Scooter was in costume.

My mom is in town and I’ve enjoyed having her with me. I love my mom so much, and I appreciate the time I get to spend with her.  The animals adore her, even Alex.

 

The one downside to the shutdown was that I didn’t get to go to a scheduled conference where I was slated to present a panel discussion on some work I’ve done the past year.  However, I know others were impacted by the shutdown a lot harsher than just missing a conference session. 

As for reporting back to work today, it felt like the first day back to school from summer vacation. I was happy and excited to get to my office. I arrived by 7:45 a.m.! I’m usually strolling in at the 9 o’clock hour.  It makes me realize how much I like my position and the team I’m on here.    

I'm 31.5 Now

I started this blog when I was 27.5, newly engaged, living in St. Louis, and optimistic.

Today, I’m 31.5, singlish, living in Atlanta, and optimistic.

So much can happen in such a short amount of time. Truly, four years isn’t that long in the span of a lifetime. However, when those four years are marred with heartache, sickness, lost relationships, and gigantic shifts in perspective, that time can feel decades long.

In case I ever forget, here’s a typical day in my life in Atlanta that occurred on Friday, September 13.

6:00am-                Run Scooter out to pee. Be wary of the opossum that lives in our woods.

6:15am-                Feed the animals, shower, dress, make up, hair.

7:30am-                Scooter goes to daycare today as the A/C unit is being repaired. Scooter would have a heart attack if left home alone with the A/C repair men. He hates the following: men (old, young, black, white, Hispanic), bikes, motorcycles, skateboards, runners, school busses, dishwashers, hair dryers, squirrels).

8:00am-                Sit in traffic after dropping  Scooter off at daycare. Traffic in Hotlanta is no joke. Since school is back in session, I can sit for about 45 minutes in traffic and move 3 miles.

8:15am-                If I’m going to sit in traffic, I might as well be caffeinated. 

8:30am-                Arrive at the office. Hurry up and review a few things before a staff meeting.

9:00am-                Staff meeting.

11:30am-             Debriefing and next steps from staff meeting.

12:45pm-             Ahhh. . . . fight traffic to get downtown for a class I’m teaching.

5:05pm-               Fight traffic to get back uptown. Pick up a prescription at Walgreens, then pick up  the Scoot Poot at daycare.

6:00pm-               Run home, feed the animals, and do a quick load of laundry.

7:00pm-             Fight traffic to get to the other side of midtown for dinner with M.

12:15am-          Late night out means a late night walk for the Scoot. He enjoys hunting for the opossum, while I’m terrified of it after a close encounter a few weeks back.

12:30am-          Feed the cat. I’ve found if he gets a late night feeding, he’ll skip his 4am banshee cries to be fed. Usually.

12:45am-          Shower. The a/c isn’t fixed yet, so it’s hot and humid in the condo. I take a cool shower, prop the fan in the bedroom window and cuddle with Scoot and Alex while checking Pintrest.

2:00am-             Sleep.

 

This is my life at 31. It's not what I pictured, and that's okay.

Eleven Months, One Week, Two Days Update on 30 While 30

Eleven Months, One Week, Two Days Update on 30 While 30

1. Visit the ocean. Big plans for this towards the end of the year.  Scheduled for March, so it’ll be a couple of days past the deadline.
2. Lose 30 pounds. Down 10.
3. Volunteer in my community. I started a program where I tutor recent immigrants in reading. I’ve moved to a new city, and I volunteer at a charter school on Saturdays.
4. Forgive and forget about Ken. Work-in-progress. Great strides here. I've received calls and emails from him and I just ignore.  It.feels.so.good. Done. Finally : )
5. Read 30 books. Hmmm. . . I’ve read about 10 books since my birthday. Passed 30 books.
6. Make a terrarium. Damn, I still need/want to do this.
7. Visit Yellow Springs, Ohio. Sadly, I didn’t have a chance to do this one.
8. Organize my living room. Work-in-progress. Fail. New digs in a new city, and the living room is organized!
9. Organize my bedroom. Work-in-progress. Fail Done!
10. Drink water. Everyday. Lots of it. Working on this! Done!
11. Wear lipstick or lip gloss more often. Winning! Everyday, friends, I wear some! Having Birchbox helps a lot too! Done!
12. Spend (at least) one weekend a month with my mom. So far, I’ve accomplished at least twice-a-month visits. Big changes on the horizon, so I've been spending EVERY weekend in Cincinnati. I was able to do this while I lived within an hour of her, since moving, I’ve visited her October, she visited in December, and she’ll be back in the spring.
13. Take my grandma to visit her sister-in-law in the spring. Fail. My grandmother's SIL passed away a few months ago.  :(
14. Visit my cousin's special education class. Didn’t get this one done.
15. Load lots of music onto my mom's MP3 player. I downloaded lots of music, I just need to put it on her MP3 player. Done and done.
16. See at least one opera. Done! Saw La Traviata in July. 
17. Take Katie to see a play.  I didn’t get this one accomplished. But I took her to ballet lessons and threw her a wonderful 5th birthday party, so we’re going to count that as being accomplished.
18. Go to an art museum.
19. See a 3-D movie. How did I not accomplish this one? But I did see the opera!
20. Go to a play. Done! Saw a play in July (same weekend I went to the Opera).
21. Buy a bottle of the wine I had on vacation.  Fail.
22. Give Charles an amazing birthday present.  Oh, I did that, alright.
23. Wash and vacuum my car at least once month. So far, so good! Done.
24. Visit at least one city park. I’ve visited several city parks, and I take Scooter to the dog park at least once a week. My favorite is a metro park with a boat dock and stone bridges and the children's garden downtown. 
25. Pack my lunch for an entire month. April is the month to do this! So far, so good. Fail Yep, a fail.
26. Use the crockpot 12 times. Fail
27. Celebrate my mom's 60th birthday with something special. I don't know how special it was, but I'm planning a trip to Savannah over Christmas holiday. Does that count?
28. Adopt a rescue dog. Scooter was adopted in March 2012!!Love me some Scoot! Things are going so well with him, he's stopped the accidents in the house and hasn't chewed up a shoe in a months (knock on wood)! Love my Scooter!
29. Host a brunch at my apartment. Fail.  Hmmm. . didn’t get this one done.
30. Go to a comedy club. Yes! Last weekend!

Thirty items, minus # 13, so twenty-nine items, and completed twenty things: 69% completion rate!  That’s a “D” grade, right? Plus, technically, I still have about 2 weeks to knock off one or two more things off of my list, and to start on my 31 list. Yikes, 31?

Today

Today, my father died.

Six Month Update on 30 While 30

1. Visit the ocean. Big plans for this towards the end of the year. 
2. Lose 30 pounds.
3. Volunteer in my community. I started a program where I tutor recent immigrants in reading.
4. Forgive and forget about Ken. Work-in-progress. Great strides here. I've received calls and emails from him and I just ignore.  It.feels.so.good.
5. Read 30 books. Hmmm. . . I’ve read about 10 books since my birthday. Passed 30 books.
6. Make a terrarium.
7. Visit Yellow Springs, Ohio.
8. Organize my living room. Work-in-progress. Fail.
9. Organize my bedroom. Work-in-progress. Fail
10. Drink water. Everyday. Lots of it. Working on this!
11. Wear lipstick or lip gloss more often. Winning! Everyday, friends, I wear some! Having Birchbox helps a lot too!
12. Spend (at least) one weekend a month with my mom. So far, I’ve accomplished at least twice-a-month visits. Big changes on the horizon, so I've been spending EVERY weekend in Cincinnati.
13. Take my grandma to visit her sister-in-law in the spring. Fail. My grandmother's SIL passed away a few months ago.  :(
14. Visit my cousin's special education class.
15. Load lots of music onto my mom's MP3 player. I downloaded lots of music, I just need to put it on her MP3 player. Done and done.
16. See at least one opera. Done! Saw La Traviata in July. 
17. Take Katie to see a play.
18. Go to an art museum.
19. See a 3-D movie.
20. Go to a play. Done! Saw a play in July (same weekend I went to the Opera).
21. Buy a bottle of the wine I had on vacation.
22. Give Charles an amazing birthday present.
23. Wash and vacuum my car at least once month. So far, so good!
24. Visit at least one city park. I’ve visited several city parks, and I take Scooter to the dog park at least once a week. My favorite is a metro park with a boat dock and stone bridges and the children's garden downtown. 
25. Pack my lunch for an entire month. April is the month to do this! So far, so good. Fail
26. Use the crockpot 12 times.
27. Celebrate my mom's 60th birthday with something special. I don't know how special it was, but I'm planning a trip to Savannah over Christmas holiday. Does that count?
28. Adopt a rescue dog. Scooter was adopted in March 2012!!Love me some Scoot! Things are going so well with him, he's stopped the accidents in the house and hasn't chewed up a shoe in a months (knock on wood)!
29. Host a brunch at my apartment. Fail. 
30. Go to a comedy club. 

Okay, so nine out of 30, that makes a completion rate of 30%. Six months left to finish the list!

Grueling Pace

It's Sunday night and I'm working.  I'm writing up a section for a big annual report.  It was due Thursday at 5pm.  At the last minute I had to present on Thursday afternoon and then do another presentation on Friday morning, so this got pushed back to now.  I just want to finish it.  It's the last little bit and then I get a break from the grueling pace for a few days.  Whenever I think about 'grueling pace' I'm reminded of playing Oregon Trail in the 4th grade- when you could set the pace of your settlers.  Grueling pace was an option to get them there faster, but it also meant they were susceptible to illness and accidents.  My grueling pace has been working in the office all day, running home to take Scooter out, eating a quick dinner and then working on data until about 3 or 4 am, sleeping a few hours, shower, take Scooter out, go to work.  Exhausted!  I just have to get this little bit done tonight and then tomorrow finish up on some data. 

I did take a break yesterday to go out with a friend.  We had margaritas, went to see a roller derby game, and had Thai food.  It was just what I needed!  A little break and back to the salt mines.  Okay, and I did take another beak today to take Scooter to the dog park. 

Amidst the busyness, if I'm completely honest, I do still miss K.  It's like a bruise.  I think about him and see how much I hurt.  I'm still sore, but mostly, I'm okay.  The anger and sadness are still there, but not nearly as painful as at the beginning, or even three months ago.  As trite as it sounds, time does make it hurt less. I don't think the hurt will ever go completely away, but thinking about him doesn't cause me so much hurt that I stop breathing. 

Life goes on.